TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 



T AW and order pervade the universe ; as 

 we proceed in unbiassed investigation 

 of the reahn of nature we see the clouds of 

 wonder and ignorance dispelled by the torch 

 of knowledge and truth. As the Italian 

 poet has it : — 



La maraviglia 



Deir ignoranz' e la figlia, 



E del saper 



La madre. 



I have always looked upon the idea of creation 

 from nothing as so absurd, so inconsistent, so 

 unphilosophical, as hardly to deserve the very 

 name of an idea except by way ot courtesy. 

 My favourite stud3% glossology, or the 

 science of language, was the first to convei't 



