2 



serves to excite an ever-unsatisfied longing to obtain a 

 deeper insight into the physical constitution of this barren, 

 rugged, volcanic and Voiceless wilderness. Nearly similar 

 conditions exist in the intellectual world, where, in the 

 domain of deep research into the mysteries and the prim- 

 eval creative forces of Nature, there are regions simi- 

 larly turned away from us and apparently unattainable ; 

 of which only a narrow^ margin has revealed itself, for 

 thousands of years to the human mind ; appearing from 

 time to time, faintly glimmering either in true or delu- 

 sive light. In the vast majority of cases, however, the 

 principal difficulty in attaining an exact comprehension 

 of the physical universe, lies in the extreme complexity 

 of plienomena and the apparent multiplicity of causes. 

 In these, the gradual progress of physical science will, to 

 some extent, dispel the apparent contradictions, and intro- 

 duce order, simplicity and harmony, in the place of irreg- 

 ularity, complexity and discord. In this process of 

 development, it is certain that we can only hope to 

 approximate towards a more complete knowledge of the 

 physical universe in its totality. Like the asymptote, 

 the human mind is continually verging towards an accu- 

 rate comprehension of Nature, without the possibility of 

 ever reaching the limit. Thus it is, that the realm of 

 fancy and imagination, which borders the domain of 

 reality, must always remain, and must continue to unfold 

 new wonders wdth every enlargement of its circumfer- 

 ence. The feebly glimmering nebulae which are scat- 

 tered through the awful depths of space, must always 

 be the field of the imagination ; while the variable and 

 colored stars, must continue to be the regions of graceful 

 fancy. And it is obvious, that every improvement in our 



