TRANSLATORS PKEFACE. 



TT may be said that tlie aim of all science is the 

 discovery of grand natural laws, which control 

 everything that holds a place within the universe. 

 This is its final object ; but in order to attain it, three 

 very distinct processes must be brought into opera- 

 tion. Firstly, it is necessary to observe closely the 

 various phenomena which Nature presents in all her 

 works : by this means facts are established. Secondly, 

 the information thus obtained, and which is unavoid- 

 ably of a very heterogeneous character, must be 

 submitted to a mental examination ; those portions 

 which are alike being associated with each other, and 

 with relation to the phenomena they refer to : in this 

 way, kindred ideas become grouped together. Thirdly, 

 the mind is required to investigate the relationship 

 between the ideas thus called into existence and the 

 things which may be said to have, indirectly, deve- 

 loped them ; and the result of this comparison is the 

 framing of certain generalizations, which are then 



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