EXCAVATORS. 369 



occurrence of certain facts, and phenomena, asks 

 naturally enough, what process, what kind of opera- 

 tion known to occur in nature, applied to the par- 

 ticular case, will unravel and explain the mystery ? 

 Hence you have the scientific hypothesis ; and its 

 value will be proportionate to the care and com- 

 pleteness with which its basis had been tested and 

 verified. It is in these matters, as in the commonest 

 affairs of practical life, the guess of the fool will be 

 folly, while the guess of the wise man will contain 

 wisdom. In all cases, you see that the value of the 

 result depends on the patience and faithfulness with 

 which the investigator applies to his hypothesis every 

 possible kind of verification." l 



1 " On our Knowledge of the Causes of the Phenomena of 

 Organic Nature," by Professor Huxley (1863), p. 66. 



2 B 



