of the Smithsonian Institution. 309 
the least depend upon the fact that sae author is able to make a 
te sacrifice in giving the AC unt of his discoveries to 
the publi : 
Besides the advantage to the author of having his memo 
lished in the gappreee gas giber ot oe expense, ‘nie 
bors will be given to the world with the stamp of approval ¢ 
commission of learned men ; and his. merits “ewwege 2 e 
made known through the reports of | the inst on th u 
the premiums offered may be small, yet they v ve 
able effect in producing original articles. itty or ra red 
dollars awarded to the author of an oraia! at ee. any 
instances, suftice to supply the books, or to pay Hadley 
or the manual labor required, in prosecuting t the Wenciireds 
There is one proposition of the programme which has given 
rise to much discussion, ang which, therefore, requires particular 
explanation: I allude to that which excludes from the co contribu- 
tions all papers mae merely of unverified speculations on 
subjects of physical science. The object of this proposi itio’ n is 
to obviate the endless difficulties wiih would occur in in reject 
papers of an unphilosophical character ; and thongh it may in 
some eases exclude an interesting communication, | yett the strict 
observance of it will be found of so much practic 
- 
value abstract speculations : on the contrary, we know that all 
the advances in true science—nam ely, a knowledge of the Jaws | 
of phenomena—are made by provisionally adopting well-condi-~ 
tioned hypotheses, si product of the imagination, and subse~— 
oe verifying them by an appeal to experiment and observa-~ 
tion. Every new hypothesis of scientific value must not only — 
furnish an exact explanation of known facts, but must also ena~_ 
ble us to predict, in kind and quantity, the phenomena which’ 
will be exhibited under any given combination of circumstances, 
Thus, in the case of the undulatory hypothesis of light, it was 
inferred, as a logical consequence, that if. the supposition were 
true that light consisted of waves of an ethereal conn ee 
two rays of light, like two waves of water under certain cone di- 
sult was obtain 
ed. It is this exact agreement of the deduction with the actual 
result of experience that constitutes the verification of an hypo~ ss 
thesis, and which alone entitles it to the name of a theory, and 
co 
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