Ill SCIENCE AND MORALS 125 



writer of Mr. Lilly's intelligence and good faith 

 is willing to father such a wastrel. If I am to deal 

 with the thing seriously, I find m3'self met by 

 one of the two horns of a dilemma. Either some 

 meaning, as unknown to usage as to the diction- 

 aries, attaches to "laboratory" and "chemical," 

 or the proposition is (what am I to say in my sore 

 need for a gentle and yet appropriate Avord ?) — 

 well — unhistorical. 



Does Mr. Lilly suppose that I put aside " as 

 unverifiable " all the truths of mathematics, of 

 philology, of history? And if I do not, will he 

 have the great goodness to say how the binomial 

 theorem is to be dealt with " chemically," even 

 in the best-appointed " laboratory " ; or where 

 the balances and crucibles are kept by which the 

 various theories of the nature of the Basque 

 language may be tested ; or what reagents 

 will extract the truth from any given History 

 of Rome, and leave the errors behind as a 

 residual calx ? 



I really cannot answer these questions, and 

 unless Mr. Lilly can, I think he would do well 

 hereafter to think more than twice before 

 attributing such preposterous notions to his 

 fellow-men, who, after all, as a learned counsel 

 said, are vertebrated animals. 



The whole thing perj^lexes me much; and 

 I am sure there must be an explanation which 

 will leave Mr. Lilly's reputation for common sense 



