ABDRESS. XXXUl 



tions have been made, is hardly yet a science : yet the interpreters of this 

 part of the book ot nature have already begun to spell out some phrases, 

 which show that the language is not wholly unintelligible ; and here, there- 

 fore, we may go on hopefully, recollecting always that the collection of facts 

 is a matter of comparatively small value, except we can also trace in them 

 some rule or order. The mere gathering of raw facts may be compared to 

 the gathering of the cotton from the tree. The separate filaments must be 

 drawn into a connected thread, and the threads woven into an ample web, 

 before it can form the drapery of science. 



We ought to have meteorological observations and observers distributed 

 over the face of the globe : and even this would not be enough ; for we wish 

 to know not only what passes on the earth's surface, but through the whole 

 depth of the atmosphere ; hence it would be desirable to have observations 

 made at elevated points free from the action of the ground — such as can only 

 be attained by the aid of balloons. Such an undertaking has been under the 

 consideration of a committee during the past year, and a report on the sub- 

 ject has come before the Physical Section. 1 trust that on this subject you 

 will soon hear more. As other subjects on which we still want facts — that 

 is, numerous and systematical collections of facts, and laws deduced from 

 facts — I may mention the tides of the Pacific, the velocity of sea waves, and 

 subterraneous temperature. Another class of inquiries well fitted for our 

 labours, is the determination of the fundamental elements, or constants, of 

 operations of engineering, as the constants of railroads, steam-engines, and 

 other works of art, which form part of the wealth and resources of this great 

 empire. These are already under investigation. The addition of a Section 

 of Practical Mechanics and Engineering to the previous constitution of the 

 Association, which took place at Bristol, showed the interest which such in- 

 quiries inspire ; and various committees have collected much valuable informa- 

 tion of this kind, and will, we trust, collect much more. 



There is also another Section of the Association, added to its plan at Cam- 

 bridge, which has for its object researches of a highly interesting kind, — I 

 mean the Section of Statistics ; and we trust that there is ample employment 

 for this Section, in subjects which can be dealt with in the same calm specu- 

 lative spirit as the other sciences which we here cultivate. 



It may, perhaps, sometimes be useful to us to recollect that in many 

 statistical subjects, the discussion, and even the collection of facts, is rather 

 the office of a legislative than of a scientific body. The wise institutions of 

 Bacon's New Atlantis would have assigned to the governors of the land, and 

 not to the sages of Solomon's House, the collection of information respecting 

 the habits, numbers, and education of the people, where the information is 

 such as almost necessarily suggests legislation, or discussions having legisla- 

 tion for their natural end, and involving the deepest political and moral con- 

 siderations. There may very fitly be voluntary associations, which aim 

 directly at improving the intellectual, or moral, or social condition of our 

 population ; but we must ever remember that we are an association for a dif- 

 ferent purpose, namely, the advancement of science ; and we are bound alike 

 by our regard to the prosperity of our body, and by our most solemn and 

 repeated declarations, to avoid the storm of opinions which is always raised 

 when the parties which aim at social permanence and social progress are 

 brought into conflict. The pursuit of scientific truth is, no doubt, a means 

 of indirectly elevating man's intellectual and social condition ; but we 

 assemble in order to promote the direct pursuit of scientific truth ; and we 

 must not turn aside into the more wide and tangled paths of those who make 

 its collateral effects their main object. Knowledge is power, we are told. 



