Organization and Life. 183 



conquest of the province by the Emperor Constantius, the 

 father of that Emperor Constant] ne who went from Britain to 

 make Christianity the State religion of the Roman empire. 

 How many such monuments, in appearance worthless, but 

 which might have assisted in throwing great light on the his- 

 tory of our country, have been destroyed through the igno- 

 rance of those who happened to find them ! It ought surely 

 to be a warning to us to be cautious in rejecting or neglect- 

 ing any relic of antiquity, because it may appear at first sight 

 of small value or of trifling importance. 



ORGANIZATION AND LIFE.* 



From the earliest ages of speculative thought, the human mind 

 has occupied itself with the vast and perplexing questions of 

 organization and life ; but notwithstanding centuries of ex- 

 perience to show the proper limitations of such an inquiry, it is 

 still rare to find a writer or an investigator who will adhere to 

 an inductive method, and abstain from mingling the guess- 

 work of mere hypothesis with the pursuit of experiment, or the 

 elucidation of fact. An inquiry into organization necessarily 

 belongs to the domain of physical science, and demands 

 physical methods of procedure, which are incapable of dealing 

 with elements of a purely metaphysical kind. Physical science 

 reveals a wondrous order and harmony of forces and arrange- 

 ments, extending through all the time and all the space with 

 with which we are acquainted ; and as our minds take cogni- 

 zance of such facts, we are irresistibly led to the contemplation of 

 an Intelligent First Cause. Let us, however, distinctly under- 

 stand that it is not a mechanical process, a chemical process^ 

 or a physiological process that conducts us to this result ; all 

 that the physical sciences do is to give us information, about 

 which we cogitate according to the laws of thought, and thus 

 arrive at a perception of their connection with a class of powers 

 that no physical methods can reach. The apparatus of the 

 chemist, the scalpel of the anatomist, the microscope of the 

 minute inquirer, or the telescope of the astronomer, cannot be 

 employed without displaying to us the results of Will, Intelli- 

 gence, and Design; and yet it cannot be said that it is through 

 them that we learn the primary truth concerning the Source 

 and Origin of all the phenomena which Nature presents. An 



* La Vie et ses Altributs dans leurs rapports avec la Philosophie, VSistoire 

 Naturelle et la Medecine, by L. Bouchut, Medecin de l'BTopital Sainte Eugenie. 

 Professeur agrege de la Faculte de Medecine, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, 

 Bailliere. 



