i8o 



FACTS AND FANCIES 



mony with its other parts gives us some guaran- 

 tee for the absolute truth of scientific facts and 



> 



principles. 



We may now consider more in detail some 

 of the aspects under which mind presents itself 

 in nature. 



I. It may be maintained that nature is an 

 exhibition of regulated and determined power. 

 The first impression of nature presented to 

 a mind uninitiated in its mysteries is that it is 

 a mere conflict of opposing forces ; but so 

 soon as we study any natural phenomena in 

 detail, we see that this is an error, and that 

 everything is balanced in the nicest way by 

 the most subtle interactions of matter and 

 force. We find also that, while forces are 

 mutually convertible and atoms susceptible 

 of vast varieties of arrangement, all this is 

 determined by fixed law and carried out with 

 invariable regularity and constancy. 



The vapor of water, for example, disused 

 in the atmosphere, is condensed by extreme 

 cold and falls to the ground in snowflakes. In 

 these, particles of water previously kept asun- 

 der by heat are united by cohesive force ; and 

 the heat has gone on other missions. But 

 these particles do not merely unite: they 



