regarded as a love of truth, yet it ought rather 
to be called a love of these propositions, irre- 
spective of their truth. The lover of truth is 
ready to reject every previous opinion the 
moment he sees reason to doubt its exactness. 
This particular direction of the love of truth 
will lead its possessor to pursue truth in every 
direction, and especially to investigate those 
problems of society where the greatest addi- 
tions to knowledge may be hoped for. 
Scientific method we may define as simply 
generalized common sense. I believe it was 
described by Clifford as organized common 
sense. It differs from the method adopted by 
the man of business, to decide upon the best 
method of conducting his affairs, only in being 
founded on a more refined analysis of the con- 
ditions of the problem. Its necessity arises 
from the fact, that, when men apply their 
powers of reason and judgment to problems 
above those of every-day life, they are prone 
to loose that sobriety of judgment and that 
grasp upon the conditions of the case which 
they show in the conduct of their own private 
affairs. Business offers us an example of the 
most effectual elimination of the unfit and of 
‘the survival of the fittest.’ The man who 
acts upon false theories loses his money, drops 
out of society, and is no longer a factor in the 
result. But there is no such method of elimi- 
nation when the interests of society at large 
are considered. The ignorant theorizer and 
speculator can continue writing long after his 
theories have been proved groundless, and, in 
any case, the question whether he is right or 
wrong is only one of opinion. 
I ask leave to introduce an illustration of 
the possibilities of scientific method in the 
direction alluded to. Looking at the present 
state of knowledge, of the laws of wealth and 
prosperity of communities, we see a great re- 
semblance to the scientific ideas entertained 
by mankind at large many centuries ago. 
There is the same lack of precise ideas, the 
same countless differences of opinion, the same 
mass of meaningless speculation, and the 
same ignorance of how to analyze the problem 
before us in the two cases. Two or three cen- 
turies ago the modern method of investigating 
nature was illustrated by Galileo, generalized 
by Bacon, and perfected by Newton and his 
contemporaries. A few fundamental ideas 
gained, a vast load of useless rubbish thrown 
away, and a little knowledge how to go to work 
acquired, have put a new face upon society. 
Look at such questions as those of the tariff 
and currency. It is impossible not to feel the 
need of some revolution of the same kind 
SCIENCE, 
[Vou. III, No. 62, 
which shall lead to certain knowledge of the 
subject. ‘The enormous difference of opinion 
which prevails shows that certain knowledge 
is not reached by the majority, if it is by any. 
We find no fundamental principles on which 
there is a general agreement. From what 
point must we view the problem in order to see 
our way to its solution? 
I reply, from the scientific stand-point. All 
such political questions as those of the tariff 
and the currency are, in their nature, scientific 
questions. ‘They are not matters of sentiment 
or feeling, which can be decided by popular ~ 
vote, but questions of fact, as effected by the 
mutual action and interaction of a complicated 
series of causes. ‘The only way to get at the 
truth is to analyze these causes into their com- 
ponent elements, and see in what manner each 
acts by itself, and how that action is modified 
by the presence of the others: in other words, 
we must do what Galileo and Newton did to 
arrive at the truths of nature. With this ob- 
ject in view, whatever our views of culture, 
we may let science, scientific method, and the 
scientific spirit, be the fundamental object in 
every scheme of a liberal education. 
S. NEwcoms. 
ECCENTRIC FIGURES FROM 
ERN MOUNDS. 
In a recent publication,’ I have described a 
number of relics from the mounds, that present 
many new and remarkable features. The most 
important of these were two engraved shell 
disks, the designs upon which presented very 
marked variations from the work usually at- 
tributed to the mound-builders. ‘Tracings of 
these are given in figs. 1 and 2. 
Both specimens were found associated with 
characteristic mound relics, and had undoubt- 
edly been deposited with the dead by the 
builders of the mounds. The question of ori- 
gin was left for settlement to the light of 
future discoveries ; the only conclusion reached 
being, that, while the ornaments had a north- 
ern character, the designs engraved upon them 
were decidedly southern, that is to say, Mexi- 
can or Central-American. Recently some im- 
SOUT H- 
portant additions have been made to this class 
of works, and a flood of light has been thrown 
upon the subject. 
Explorations in Georgia, conducted by Dr. 
Thomas for the bureau of ethnology, have 
brought to light two more shell gorgets bearing 
Outlines 
engraved designs of human figures. 
of these are given in figs. 3 and 4. 
‘ 1 Proc. anthrop. soc. Washington, vol. ii. 
t 
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