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SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



Maternity 

 Matter 



ence, and facilitated access to the more ab- 

 struse departments of astronomy, optics, 

 physical geography, and the theories of heat 

 and magnetism, which, without such aids, 

 would have remained unopened. HUMBOLDT 

 Cosmos, vol. ii, pt. ii, p. 227. (H., 1897.) 



20 1O. MATHEMATICS OF THE UNI- 

 VERSE Full Realization Possible Only to the 

 Divine Mind. But ascend with me above 

 the dust, above the cloud, to the realms of 

 the higher geometry, where the heavens are 

 never obscured; where there is no impure 

 vapor, and no delusive or imperfect obser- 

 vation; where the new truths are already 

 arisen, while they are yet dimly dawning 

 upon the earth below; where the earth is a 

 little planet; where the sun has dwindled 

 to a star; where all the stars are lost in 

 the Milky Way, to which they belong; where 

 the Milky Way is seen floating through 

 space like any other nebula; where the 

 whole great girdle of the nebulae has dimin- 

 ished to an atom, and has become as readily 

 and as completely submissive to the pen of 

 the geometer, and the slave of his formula, 

 as the single drop which falls from the 

 cloud, instinct with all the forces of the 

 material world. Try with me the precision 

 of measure with which the universe has 

 been meted out; observe how exactly all 

 the parts are fitted to the whole and to each 

 other, and then declare who was present in 

 the council-chamber when the Lord laid the 

 foundations of the earth. BENJAMIN PIERCE 

 Address on retiring from the duties of Presi- 

 dent (Proceedings of Amer. Assoc. for Ad- 

 vancement of Science, vol. viii, 1854, p. 2). 



2111. MATHEMATICS ON WORD 

 OF HONOR Story^ of the Due d'Angouleme. 

 I can hardly imitate here that Academi- 

 cian who, in order to prove a mathematical 

 truth, was contented to give his word of hon- 

 or because the intelligence of his pupil was 

 not equal to comprehending the demonstra- 

 tion. This pupil was the Duke d'Angouleme, 

 and I venture to hope that my readers are 

 somewhat superior to him in that respect. 

 We know that when he was nominated Chief 

 Minister of Marine it was perceived with 

 dismay that he could hardly count up to a 

 hundred. The most celebrated geometer of 

 France was at once sent for to instruct him 

 in the mathematics, as they said in old 

 times. But it was in vain that he tried to 

 prove the most elementary principles to his 

 august pupil. The latter listened with ex- 

 quisite politeness, but shook his head with 

 a mild air of incredulity. One day, at the 

 end of the arguments, the poor master ex- 

 claimed, "My lord, I give you my word!" 

 " Why did you not say so sooner, sir ?" said 

 the Duke, bowing; " I shall never permit 

 myself to doubt it." FLAMMARION Popular 

 Astronomy, bk. v, ch. 2, p. 491. (A.) 



2112. MATHEMATICS, POWER OF, 

 IN ASTRONOMY Discovery of Neptune. 

 It has been said, with reason, that the la- 

 bors of astronomy are those which give the 



highest measure of the powers of the human 

 mind. The discovery of Neptune, due to the 

 sole power of numbers, is one of the most 

 eloquent witnesses of this truth. The ex- 

 istence of this planet in the sky was re- 

 vealed by mathematics. This world, distant 

 more than 2,700 millions of miles from our 

 terrestrial station, is absolutely invisible to 

 the naked eye. The perturbations manifest- 

 ed by the motion of the planet Uranus per- 

 mitted the mathematician to say that the 

 cause of these perturbations was an un- 

 known planet which revolved beyond Uranus 

 at abou such a distance, and which, to pro- 

 duce the effect observed, should be found at a 

 certain point of the starry sky. A telescope 

 was directed towards the point indicated, 

 the unknown was searched for, and in less 

 than an hour it was found! FLAMMARION 

 Popular Astronomy, bk. iv, ch. 9, p. 463. (A.) 



2113. MATTER AND FORCE IN- 

 FERIOR TO mat-Probability that Higher 

 Attributes Exist in the Universe. No phi- 

 losophy can be true which allows that we 

 see in Nature the most intimate relations 

 with our intellectual conceptions of space 

 and time and force and numerical propor- 

 tion, but denies that we can ever see any 

 similar relation with our conceptions of 

 purpose and design, or with those still higher 

 conceptions which are embodied in our sense 

 of justice and in our love of righteousness, 

 and in our admiration of the " quality of 

 mercy."' These elements in the mind of man 

 are not less certain than others to have 

 some correlative in the mind which rules in 

 Nature. Assuredly, in the supreme govern- 

 ment of the universe these are not less likely 

 than other parts of our mental constitution 

 to have some part of the natural system 

 related to them so related that the knowl- 

 edge of that system shall be at once their 

 interpretation and fulfilment. Neither brute 

 matter nor inanimate force can supply 

 either the one or the other. If there be one 

 truth more certain than another, one con- 

 clusion more securely founded than another, 

 not on reason only, but on every other fac- 

 ulty of our nature, it is this that there 

 is nothing but mind that we can respect; 

 nothing but heart that we can love, nothing 

 but a perfect combination of the two that 

 we can adore. ARGYLL Unity of Nature, ch. 

 8, p. 184. (Burt.) 



2114. MATTER AND MOTION Made 

 by Descartes the Basis of All Phenomena of 

 the Universe. Descartes saw that the dis- 

 coveries of Galileo meant that the remotest 

 parts of the universe were governed by me- 

 chanical laws, while those of Harvey meant 

 that the same laws presided over the opera- 

 tions of that portion of the world which is 

 nearest to us, namely, our own bodily frame. 

 And crossing the interval between the center 

 and its vast circumference by one of the 

 great strides of genius, Descartes sought to 

 resolve all the phenomena of the universe 

 into matter and motion, or forces operating 



