OBSERVATION IS 



daisy with the crimson tipped petals, which has 

 been called "daisy," or "day's eye," from its 

 closing at night and opening in the morning, or 

 to any of the other composite, which are popularly 

 called by the same name. 



We must bear in mind that, though the present 

 momentary view is necessary to the obtaining of 

 knowledge, it is not useful knowledge, taken 

 merely in itself, Observations bear nearly the 

 same relation to knowledge that acorns have to 

 oaks, they are the seeds of knowledge, and we 

 can no more have the tree of knowledge without 

 first having the seed than we can any tree of the 

 forest ; but in the one case, as well as the other, 

 the seed must grow before we can have the tree. 

 A man who continued merely gathering acorns all 

 his life, would not be any more in possession of 

 an oak than a man who never saw an acorn ; and 

 just so a man, who kept all his life looking at 

 mere appearances, would have no more knowledge 

 than a man destitute of all the organs, or all the 

 means of observation. 



But if a man observed an acorn growing it would 

 be quite a different matter. If he noticed the 

 place and the circumstances under which it began 

 to grow and continued its growth, he would have 

 no more to do than to place another similar acorn 

 in circumstances exactly similar, in order to make 

 sure of obtaining another tree. 



Even then, the perfection and certainty of the 

 success would bear wholly on the similarity, both 

 of the object and the circumstances ; and there- 

 fore it is in that that the value of observation^ 

 consists. In all natural occurrences there is, to 

 our perception, a little play the circumstances 



