7 ° 
PREFACE. il 
The course which has been pursued here was to suffer Nature to conduct her own argument. 
_ And in order that she might be free to act and lead, it became necessary that her votary should first 
divest himself of all preconceived hypotheses, the prejudices of others as well as his own. Guided on 
by facts such as those of Anatomy, what need had he of words? ‘And while there was every reason 
to apprehend that nomenclature, though unable to warp the actual state of facts, might nevertheless 
blindfold the ideas by dividing each of them between the ens itself and the name which falsely 
characterised it, what need was there of furnishing himself with that medium of nomenclature which, 
hike a coloured glass, would but dye all objects seen through it of its own hues. 
The present argument has been pointed to one idea, and to this end it was required that it should 
pass through many others, all of which were to be made parts of the argument ere this could develope the 
one idea. Unity, or the whole quantity, was the idea sought for, and this inquiry had to proceed through 
the countless evidences of a proportional variety which were necessary to be explained, taken up, and, as it 
were, assimilated to itself in order to grow to the recognisable dimensions of the unity. Thus it will 
be seen. that this inquiry being conducted after the footsteps of natural operation, bears the same 
doeaiat as this operation itself. As Nature is seen to pass from original unity through the variety, 
the present task has been to retrace her steps from the variety back to the unity. As Nature appeared 
to have descended from the compound integer of unity to the simples of a proportional variety, so has 
this imquiry ascended from the simples or elements of form to the compound integer of unity—the- 
archetype. 
The genuine face of Nature herself manifests a plain and legible character, hate it is we ourselves 
who bedim this character with the breath and halitus of words. When we would read her as she 
actually is, we should approach her with a timorous caution, lest we mingle ourselves in such a manner 
with her person as to make her a part-of us; ; by this connexion she loses character and we lose 
the truth; her facts are not describable by our trammelling and soiling nomenclature, and picneiane 
those facts will best interpret their own mode of creation. , 
When any complex. subject engages our. attention, we are required to disintegrate it and examine 
all its separate elements individually, to reduce the compound to its utmost simplicity, in order to 
know of what ingredients the conglomerate integer consists. Having ascertained the nature of the 
simples, we should then re-examine the effect of their combined state in a whole quantity, and this 
‘in reference to the principles or operative cause of the effect and actual condition of the ens. The 
form should be compared with not only those which manifest a nature similar to. itself, but also with 
those of a contrary nature or condition; for it is by the contrast of two or more things of opposite 
qualities and character that we are enabled to see what at first sight might have escaped notice. 
The farther we extend our comparisons, the more certain is our knowledge, because the more extensive 
are the inductions upon which we found and build it. 
_A principle or original cause of formation is that which I have sought for by means of those 
comparisons which are here recorded, and the result is as it is; that is to say, it stands in 
that condition which, if false, no words of mine own shall endeavour to excuse, or which, if 
true, will be equally in vain for the words of any one else to deny; for a theory founded upon 
certain and indisputable facts can neyer suffer an overturn by any assailants of less ufiport and effect 
than themselves, and if opposing facts of equal weight can be found, then let them confront those which 
. have been here arrayed in relationary order, and while truth is the goal of all our researches, let error 
experience the repulse from every hand that can deal it rationally; that is, by experiment or the 
argument in which facts are vocal. 
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