52 REMARKS, Ac. 



in a series of successively developed results to restore the balance 

 of frequency of occurrence, when this has been by accidental cir- 

 cumstances temporarily deranged. It is commonly thought that 

 this notion, which, as we know, is the foundation of many 

 unsuccessful attempts to circumvent fortune, is sufficiently refuted 

 by saying, that what is past can exert no influence on what is 

 yet to come. But in reality the past influences the future in a 

 thousand different ways ; and it is only in idea that we can 

 secure the possibility of an indefinite series of trials, of which 

 those which we regard as the permanent circumstances are not 

 progressively, however slowly, undergoing alteration. The dice 

 box for example wears smooth, and the edges of the die are 

 rounded ; and though, in this example, we cannot say what 

 result is facilitated by the change, yet this is not always the case. 

 Such progressive alterations may tend so to alter the ratio of 

 frequency of occurrence, as to restore the balance which the result 

 of past trials has disturbed. There is thus nothing absurd in the 

 notion of a restorative and balancing tendency, though the 

 grounds on which it is commonly assumed indicate much con- 

 fusion of thought. It would for instance be perfectly reasonable 

 to inquire, whether in the succession of seasons hot years are not 

 oftener followed by cold and cold by hot, than vice versd. Such 

 questions indicate a branch of the theory of methods of observa- 

 tion to which hitherto but little attention has been paid. 



