ADDRESS TO THE READER, XI 



the living beings within the reach of actual observation. It 

 enforces the necessity of weighing the conflicting evidence 

 of apparently irreconcilable phenomena, of detecting dif- 

 ferences, and seeking analogies, and of generalizing and 

 combining an immense number of isolated facts. The mind 

 thus acquires the power of acute observation, of patient 

 investigation, and of salutary caution in drawing infe- 

 rences, and arriving at conclusions — habits of the first 

 importance in the discrimination and treatment of diseases. 

 And however little, in the present state of the public 

 mind, such qualities may be appreciated, the labour will 

 bring an ample reward in the self-conviction that the talents 

 entrusted to us have not been given in vain. 



" Better than Fame is still the toil for Fame, 



The constant training for the glorious strife ! " 



For it should ever be borne in mind that the primary object 

 of every study ought to be an inward one — that of enlarg- 

 ing and elevating the intellect ; and the direct aim of 

 science should be the discovery of the principles of unity, 

 order, and connexion, which are everywhere manifest in 

 the universal life of nature. 



In proof that intellectual pursuits of the highest order 

 are not incompatible with any situation in life, I would 

 earnestly solicit attention to the following eloquent appeal 

 by one of the most enlightened statesmen of our times : — 



" Heed not the sneers and foolish sarcasms against learn- 

 ing, of those who are unwilling that you should rise above 

 the level of their own contented ignorance. Do not for a 

 moment imagine that you have not time for acquiring 

 knowledge; it is only the idle man who wants time for 

 every thing. The industrious man knows the inestimable 

 value of the economy of time, and amidst the most multi- 



