214 HABIT AUD INTELLIGENCE. [chap. 



doubtless also of the sun and all the planets. JSText in the 

 order of descending magnitude, it would see the outlines 

 and forms of coasts, of rivers, of lakes, of mountains, and 

 aU that forms the subject-matter of geography ; and on 

 coming a little nearer, it would see glaciers among some 

 of the mountains, and volcanoes among others : it would 

 see differences not only of form but of structure and 

 composition between the masses that form the crust of 

 the earth, and all the things which constitute the sub- 

 ject-matter of geology. And last of all, supposing this 

 imaginary being to have microscopic powers as well as 

 telescopic, it would see those facts which constitute the 

 subject-matter of mineralog}'- and of palaeontology, and 

 the geographical distribution of life. At every step it 

 would see less general and more complex phenomena. 

 Chain of As we have seen, there is a chain of laws in nature, 

 laws ; each ^^^^-^ -^^^ presupposing that which comes before it. The 

 supposing laws of life presuppose the special laws of matter, espe- 

 comer^""^ cially those of chemistry and heat ; the special laws of 

 before it. matter presuppose the laws of general dynamics; and 

 the laws of general dynamics presuppose those of mathe- 

 matics, which are based on the properties of space and 

 Parallel to time. In the actual distribution of things, which con- 

 this m the g^j^^-.^j-gg ^j^g subiect-matter of the cosmic sciences, there is 



arrange- '' 



ment of a Set of parallel relations to these. It is a necessary con- 

 ^"^^' ditiou of life, that living beings should be surrounded 

 with vast masses of unorganized matter in earth, water, 

 and air. The air, the waters, and the surface of the earth 

 are the seat of that play of forces which, with their 

 results, constitute the subject-matter of meteorology and 

 geology with their allied sciences : but these forces have 

 no action except on the surfaces of the planets; their 

 central masses are inert. And the planets and stars them- 

 selves are but insignificant in magnitude when compared 

 with the vast empty spaces in which they move. To state 

 Living the foregoing in fewer words: — Living beings are but 

 beings are ingioiiificant in mass when compared with the masses of 



small m ° ^ 



proportion unorganized matter that surround them. Those masses 

 o ma ei. ^^ matter on the surface of our planet whereof the 



