964 Transactions of the American Institute. 



spiritual center are cast upon all things in the universe, bathing 

 them in a glory, a beauty, a chiritude so much greater than those 

 of the external sun as the spiritual is higher in rank than the 

 material. Nothing can be truly known except as the light of this 

 ineffably brilliant orb is shed upon it; and all things knowable in 

 the universe partake of the nature of. the mind which knows, in 

 like manner, as all things visible in the material universe are pene- 

 trated and permeated with the principle of external light. It is in 

 these subjective laws of the mind, then, that we are to seek the 

 ultimate explanation of all phenomena external to it, as in the reflex 

 fact of the earth's motion was found the solution of the complex 

 astronomical phenomena which before perplexed and deceived us. 



"AH philosophy has indeed aimed, in a sense, at this result, but 

 the methods of speculative philosophy are too vague to satisfy the 

 demands of the scientific world, and in the sense of a science, pro- 

 perly so called, the idea of anything universal has been almost 

 entirely wanting. The scientific men are specialists. Their labors 

 are as if a colony of learned ants were to have undertaken the 

 investigation of the human bod}'. One section of the little com- 

 munity devotes itself to the exhaustive examination of a finger nail, 

 another to that of a lobe of the ear, another to that of the hair of 

 the beard, and others to the investigation of all the various parts 

 and organs and systems, segregated and regarded singly; but they 

 have been so busy in these special and minute examinations, that it 

 never occurred to any one of them to guess even, or, in any event, 

 to give due consideration to the fact, that all of these various sub- 

 jects are the parts and constituents of a man; and that, therefore, 

 the first thing to know, logically spealdng, in order to know any- 

 thing rightly, of these particular subjects, is the general design and 

 exact outlay of the man himself." 



A member of the Association objected to consuming the time on 

 speculative questions. 



The Chairman remarked that the Association had in this instance 

 departed from its usual practice. Mr. Andrews having expressed 

 regret that he could not get a hearing in this city for the purpose 

 of presenting his new views on science, he was promptly invited on 

 to the free platform of the Polytechnic, with the understanding that 

 his new views should be subjected to criticism. The speaker has 

 certainly presented a pleasing view of what ought to be done for 

 science, although many will doubt the practicability of the scheme; 

 however, nothing has yet been presented in such form as to warrant 



