,,transcriber',s ,,note ,italic text is denoted by underscores4 ,footnote anchors are denoted by number1 and the footnotes have been placed at the end of the book4 ,some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book4 ,,bridgewater ,,treatises4 ,,carey1 ,,lea ,,blanchard ,,have ,,published1 ,,astronomy ,,and ,,general ,,physics1 considered with reference to ,natural ,theology1 by the ,rev4 ,,william ,,whewell1 ,m4 ,a41 ,fellow and ,tutor of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge2 being the ,third ,part of the ,bridgewater ,treatises on the ,power1 ,wisdom1 and ,goodness of ,god1 as manifested in the ,creation4 ,the series of ,treatises1 of which the present is one1 is published under the following circumstances3-- ,the ,right ,honourable and ,rev4 ,,francis ,,henry1 ,earl of ,bridgewater1 died in the month of ,february1 #ahbe2 he directed certain trustees therein named1 to invest in the public funds1 the sum of eight thousand pounds sterling2 this sum1 with the accruing dividends thereon1 to be held at the disposal of the ,president1 for the time being1 of the ,royal ,society of ,london1 to be paid to the person or persons nominated by him4 ,the ,testator farther directed1 that the person or persons selected by the said ,president1 should be appointed to write1 print and publish one thousand copies of a work1 on the ,power1 ,wisdom1 and ,goodness of ,god1 as manifested in the ,creation2 illustrating such work1 by all reasonable arguments1 as1 for instance1 the variety and formation of ,god's creatures in the ,animal1 ,vegetable1 and ,mineral ,kingdoms2 the effect of digestion1 and1 thereby1 of conversion2 the construction of the hand of man1 and an infinite variety of other arguments2 as also by discoveries1 ancient and modern1 in arts1 sciences1 and the whole extent of literature4 ,he desired1 moreover1 that the profits arising from the sale of the works so published1 should be paid to the authors of the works4 ,the late ,president of the ,royal ,society1 ,,davies ,,gilbert1 ,esq41 requested the assistance of his ,grace1 the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and of the ,bishop of ,london1 in determining upon the best mode of carrying into effect1 the intentions of the ,testator4 ,acting with their advice1 and with the concurrence of a nobleman immediately connected with the deceased1 ,mr4 ,davies ,gilbert appointed the following eight gentlemen to write separate ,treatises in the different branches of the subjects here stated3-- ,i4 ,the ,adaptation of ,external ,nature to the ,moral and ,intellectual ,constitution of ,man1 by the ,rev4 ,,thomas ,,chalmers1 ,d4 ,d41 ,professor of ,divinity in the ,university of ,edinburgh4 ,,ii4 ,the ,adaptation of ,external ,nature to the ,physical ,condition of ,man1 by ,,john ,,kidd1 ,m4 ,d41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s41 ,regius ,professor of ,medicine in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,,iii4 ,astronomy and ,general ,physics1 considered with reference to ,natural ,theology1 by the ,rev4 ,,william ,,whewell1 ,m4 ,a41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s41 ,fellow of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,,iv4 ,the ,hand3 its ,mechanism and ,vital ,endowments as evincing ,design1 by ,sir ,,charles ,,bell1 ,k4 ,h41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,v4 ,animal and ,vegetable ,physiology1 by ,,peter ,,mark ,,roget1 ,m4 ,d41 ,fellow of and ,secretary to the ,royal ,society4 ,,vi4 ,geology and ,mineralogy1 by the ,rev4 ,,william ,,buckland1 ,d4 ,d41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s41 ,canon of ,christ ,church1 and ,professor of ,geology in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,,vii4 ,the ,history1 ,habits1 and ,instincts of ,animals1 by the ,rev4 ,,william ,,kirby1 ,m4 ,a41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,viii4 ,chemistry1 ,meteorology1 and the ,function of ,digestion1 by ,,william ,,prout1 ,m4 ,d41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,the whole of these ,treatises are nearly finished1 and will be put to press as soon as received1 and published in a cheap and handsome form4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,christian ,,philosophy2 containing the ,doctrines1 ,duties1 ,admonitions1 and ,consolations of the ,christian ,religion1 by ,,john ,,burns1 ,m4 ,d41 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,from the fourth ,london edition4 ,in the press4 ,,conversations ,,with ,,lord ,,byron ,,on ,,the ,,subject ,,of ,,religion4 ,by ,j4 ,,kennedy1 ,m4 ,d4 #abmo4 ,,gleanings ,,in ,,natural ,,history1 ,,with ,,local ,,recollections4 ,by ,,edward ,,jesse1 ,esq4 ,to which are added1 ,maxims and ,hints for ,anglers4 ,from the second ,london edition1 in one volume1 being a ,companion to the ,journal of a ,naturalist4 ,we have occasionally selected a paragraph from a very pretty volume1 by ,mr4 ,jesse1 published under the above title4 ,the author lives in the neighbourhood of ,kew1 and like ,mr4 ,white of ,selborne1--who made a small village of ,hampshire one of the most interesting spots to the lover of nature1 by his ample descriptions of the natural objects which he saw around him1--,mr4 ,jesse has rendered his walks a vehicle for much instruction and amusement to himself and to others4 ,he principally confines his attention to zoology--the most generally attractive of the departments of natural history2 and he looks upon the animal world with so much practical wisdom1 being disposed to be happy himself1 and to see every creature around him happy1 that there are few persons who will not read his slight sketches with improvement to their hearts and understandings4--,penny ,magazine4 ,,the ,,mechanism ,,of ,,the ,,heavens4 ,by ,mrs4 ,,somerville4 ,in #ahmo4 ,is it asking too much of ,mrs4 ,somerville to express a hope that she will allow this beautiful preliminary ,dissertation to be printed separately for the delight and instruction of thousands of readers1 young and old1 who cannot understand1 or are too indolent to apply themselves to the more elaborate parts of the work8 ,if she will do this1 we hereby promise to exert our best endeavours to make its merits known4--,literary ,gazette4 ,,salmonia2 ,,or1 ,,days ,,of ,,fly ,,fishing4 ,by ,sir ,h4 ,,davy4 ,we are surprised in meeting with an ,american reprint of this delightful volume1 that a work so universally popular has not been before republished in this country4--,n4 ,y4 ,american4 ,one of the most delightful labours of leisure ever seen2 not a few of the most beautiful phenomena of nature are here lucidly explained4--,gent4 ,magazine4 ,,the ,,natural ,,history ,,of ,,selborne4 ,by the late ,rev4 ,,gilbert ,,white1 ,a4 ,m41 ,fellow of the ,oriel ,college1 ,oxford2 with additions by ,sir ,,william ,,jardine1 ,bart4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s41 ,e4 ,f4 ,l4 ,s41 ,m4 ,w4 ,s41 author of 8,illustrations of ,ornithology40 ,white's ,history of ,selborne1 the most fascinating piece of rural writing and sound ,english philosophy that has ever issued from the press4--,athenum4 ,,journal ,,of ,a ,,naturalist4 ,with ,plates4 ----,plants1 trees1 and stones we note2 ,birds1 insects1 beasts and rural things4 ,we again most strongly recommend this little unpretending volume to the attention of every lover of nature1 and more particularly of our country readers4 ,it will induce them1 we are sure1 to examine more closely than they have been accustomed to do1 into the objects of animated nature1 and such examination will prove one of the most innocent1 and the most satisfactory sources of gratification and amusement4 ,it is a book that ought to find its way into every rural drawing-room in the kingdom1 and one that may safely be placed in every lady's boudoir1 be her rank and station in life what they may4--,quart4 ,review1 ,no4 ,,lxxviii4 ,this is a most delightful book on the most delightful of all studies4 ,we are acquainted with no previous work which bears any resemblance to this1 except 8,white's ,history of ,selborne10 the most fascinating piece of rural writing and sound ,english philosophy that ever issued from the press4--,athenum4 ,,the ,,family ,,cabinet ,,atlas1 constructed upon an original plan3 being a ,companion to the ,encyclopdia ,americana1 ,cabinet ,cyclopdia1 ,family ,library1 ,cabinet ,library1 c4 ,this ,atlas comprises1 in a volume of the ,family ,library size1 nearly one hundred ,maps and ,tables1 which present equal to fifty thousand names of places2 a body of information three times as extensive as that supplied by the generality of ,quarto ,atlases4 ,this beautiful and most useful little volume1 says the ,literary ,gazette1 is a perfect picture of elegance1 containing a vast sum of geographical information4 ,a more instructive little present1 or a gift better calculated to be long preserved and often referred to1 could not be offered to favoured youth of either sex4 ,its cheapness1 we must add1 is another recommendation2 for1 although this elegant publication contains one hundred beautiful engravings1 it is issued at a price that can be no obstacle to its being procured by every parent and friend to youth4 ,this ,atlas far surpasses any thing of the kind which we have seen1 and is made to suit the popular libraries which ,dr4 ,lardner and ,mr4 ,murray are now sending into every family in the empire4--,monthly ,review4 ,its very ingenious method of arrangement secures to the geographical student the information for which hitherto he has been obliged to resort to works of the largest dimensions4--,athenum4 ,,the ,,rectory ,,of ,,valehead4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,robert ,,wilson ,,evans1 ,m4 ,a4 ,universally and cordially do we recommend this delightful volume4 ,impressed with the genuine spirit of ,christianity2 a diary1 as it were1 of the feelings1 hopes1 and sorrows of a family1--it comes home to all1 either in sympathy or example4 ,it is a beautiful picture of a religious household1 influencing to excellence all within its sphere4 ,we believe no person could read this work1 and not be better for its pious touching lessons4--,literary ,gaz4 ,we fearlessly pronounce this delightful little volume to be not only one of the most faultless1 but every way valuable works it has ever fallen to our lot to recommend to public perusal4--,stamford ,herald4 ,the ,rectory of ,valehead is a beautiful model of domestic life in the ,christian home of a well-regulated family1 and combines literary amusement with the most refined and intellectual improvement4--,scotsman4 ,a ,,general ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,progress ,,of ,,ethical ,,philosophy1 chiefly during the ,seventeenth and ,eighteenth ,centuries4 ,by ,sir ,,james ,,mackintosh1 ,m4 ,p4 ,in #hvo4 ,the best offspring of the pen of an author who in philosophical spirit1 knowledge and reflection1 richness of moral sentiment1 and elegance of style1 has altogether no superior--perhaps no equal--among his contemporaries4 ,some time ago we made copious extracts from the beautiful work4 ,we could not recommend the whole too earnestly4--,national ,gazette4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,the ,,seasons2 ,,or ,,the ,,calendar ,,of ,,nature4 ,by ,,william ,,howitt4 ,in one volume1 #abmo4 ,,the ,,bridgewater ,,treatises ,,on ,,the ,,power1 ,,wisdom1 ,,and ,,goodness ,,of ,,god ,,as ,,manifested ,,in ,,the ,,creation4 ,,treatise ,,iii4 ,,on ,,astronomy ,,and ,,general ,,physics4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,whewell4 ,,et ,h,c ,,de ,,deo1 ,,de ,,quo ,,utique ,,ex ,,ph,,nomenis ,,disserere ,,ad ,,philosophiam ,,naturalem ,,pertinet4 ,,newton1 ,,conclusion ,,of ,,the ,,principia4 ,,astronomy ,,and ,,general ,,physics ,,considered ,,with ,,reference ,,to ,,natural ,,theology4 ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,william ,,whewell1 ,m4 ,a4 ,,fellow ,,and ,,tutor ,,of ,,trinity ,,college1 ,,cambridge4 ,philadelphia3 ,,carey1 ,,lea ,,blanchard1 ,,chestnut ,,street4 #ahcc4 ,,to ,,the ,,right ,,honourable ,,and ,,right ,,reverend ,,charles ,,james1 ,,lord ,,bishop ,,of ,,london4 ,,my ,,lord-- ,i owe it to you that ,i was selected for the task attempted in the following pages1 a distinction which ,i feel to be honourable2 and on this account alone ,i should have a peculiar pleasure in dedicating the work to your lordship4 ,i do so with additional gratification on another account3 the ,treatise has been written within the walls of the ,college of which your lordship was formerly a resident member1 and its merits1 if it have any1 are mainly due to the spirit and habits of the place4 ,the society is always pleased and proud to recollect that a person of the eminent talents and high character of your lordship is one of its members2 and ,i am persuaded that any effort in the cause of letters and religion coming from that quarter1 will have for you an interest beyond what it would otherwise possess4 ,the subject proposed to me was limited3 my prescribed object is to lead the friends of religion to look with confidence and pleasure on the progress of the physical sciences1 by showing how admirably every advance in our knowledge of the universe harmonizes with the belief of a most wise and good ,god4 ,to do this effectually may be1 ,i trust1 a useful labour4 ,yet1 ,i feel most deeply1 what ,i would take this occasion to express1 that this1 and all that the speculator concerning ,natural ,theology can do1 is utterly insufficient for the great ends of ,religion2 namely1 for the purpose of reforming men's lives1 of purifying and elevating their characters1 of preparing them for a more exalted state of being4 ,it is the need of something fitted to do this1 which gives to religion its vast and incomparable importance2 and this can1 ,i well know1 be achieved only by that ,revealed ,religion of which we are ministers1 but on which the plan of the present work did not allow me to dwell4 ,that ,divine ,providence may prosper the labours of your lordship1 and of all who are joined with you in the task of maintaining and promoting this ,religion1 is1 my lord1 the earnest wish and prayer of ,your very faithful ,and much obliged servant1 ,,william ,,whewell4 ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge1 ,feb4 #be1 #ahcc4 ,,notice4 ,the series of ,treatises1 of which the present is one1 is published under the following circumstances3 ,the ,,right ,,honourable and ,,reverend ,,francis ,,henry1 ,,earl ,,of ,,bridgewater1 died in the month of ,february1 #ahbi2 and by his last ,will and ,testament1 bearing date the #beth of ,february1 #ahbe1 he directed certain ,trustees therein named to invest in the public funds the sum of ,eight thousand pounds sterling2 this sum1 with the accruing dividends thereon1 to be held at the disposal of the ,president1 for the time being1 of the ,royal ,society of ,london1 to be paid to the person or persons nominated by him4 ,the ,testator further directed1 that the person or persons selected by the said ,president should be appointed to write1 print1 and publish one thousand copies of a work ,on the ,power1 ,wisdom1 and ,goodness of ,god1 as manifested in the ,creation2 illustrating such work by all reasonable arguments1 as for instance the variety and formation of ,god's creatures in the animal1 vegetable1 and mineral kingdoms2 the effect of digestion1 and thereby of conversion2 the construction of the hand of man1 and an infinite variety of other arguments2 as also by discoveries ancient and modern1 in arts1 sciences1 and the whole extent of literature4 ,he desired1 moreover1 that the profits arising from the sale of the works so published should be paid to the authors of the works4 ,the late ,president of the ,royal ,society1 ,davies ,gilbert1 ,esq4 requested the assistance of his ,grace the ,archbishop of ,canterbury and of the ,bishop of ,london1 in determining upon the best mode of carrying into effect the intentions of the ,testator4 ,acting with their advice1 and with the concurrence of a nobleman immediately connected with the deceased1 ,mr4 ,davies ,gilbert appointed the following eight gentlemen to write separate ,treatises on the different branches of the subject as here stated3 ,,the ,,rev4 ,,thomas ,,chalmers1 ,d4 ,d4 ,professor of ,divinity in the ,university of ,edinburgh4 ,,on ,,the ,,adaptation ,,of ,,external ,,nature ,,to ,,the ,,moral ,,and ,,intellectual ,,constitution ,,of ,,man4 ,,john ,,kid1 ,m4 ,d4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,regius ,professor of ,medicine in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,,on ,,the ,,adaptation ,,of ,,external ,,nature ,,to ,,the ,,physical ,,condition ,,of ,,man4 ,,the ,,rev4 ,,william ,,whewell1 ,m4 ,a4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,fellow of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,,on ,,astronomy ,,and ,,general ,,physics4 ,,sir ,,charles ,,bell1 ,k4 ,h4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s1 ,,the ,,hand3 ,,its ,,mechanism ,,and ,,vital ,,endowments ,,as ,,evincing ,,design4 ,,peter ,,mark ,,roget1 ,m4 ,d4 ,fellow of and ,secretary to the ,royal ,society4 ,,on ,,animal ,,and ,,vegetable ,,physiology4 ,,the ,,rev4 ,,william ,,buckland1 ,d4 ,d4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,canon of ,christ ,church1 and ,professor of ,geology in the ,university of ,oxford4 ,,on ,,geology ,,and ,,mineralogy4 ,,the ,,rev4 ,,william ,,kirby1 ,m4 ,a4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,on ,,the ,,history1 ,,habits1 ,,and ,,instincts ,,of ,,animals4 ,,william ,,prout1 ,m4 ,d4 ,f4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,on ,,chemistry1 ,,meteorology1 ,,and ,,the ,,function ,,of ,,digestion4 ,,his ,,royal ,,highness ,,the ,,duke ,,of ,,sussex1 ,president of the ,royal ,society1 having desired that no unnecessary delay should take place in the publication of the above mentioned treatises1 they will appear at short intervals1 as they are ready for publication4 ,,contents4 ,within the last year or two1 several works have been published in this country on subjects more or less closely approaching to that here treated4 ,it may1 therefore1 be not superfluous to say that the author of the following pages believes that he has not borrowed any of his views or illustrations from recent ,english writers on ,natural ,theology4 ,page4 ,,introduction4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,object of the ,present ,treatise #ac ,,ii4 ,on ,laws of ,nature #ag ,,iii4 ,mutual ,adaptation of ,laws of ,nature #bj ,,iv4 ,division of the ,subject #bc ,,book ,i4 ,,terrestrial ,,adaptations #be ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,length of the ,year #bh ,,ii4 ,the ,length of the ,day #cg ,,iii4 ,the ,mass of the ,earth #dc ,,iv4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,ocean #ej ,v4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,atmosphere #ea ,,vi4 ,the ,constancy and ,variety of ,climates #eb ,,vii4 ,the ,variety of ,organization corresponding to the ,variety of ,climate #eg ,,viii4 ,the ,constituents of ,climate #ff ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to the ,earth #fg ,,ix4 ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to ,water #gj ,x4 ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to ,air #ha ,,xi4 ,the ,laws of ,electricity #ia ,,xii4 ,the ,laws of ,magnetism #ic ,,xiii4 ,the ,properties of ,light with regard to ,vegetation #id ,,xiv4 ,sound #if ,,xv4 ,the ,atmosphere #ajb ,,xvi4 ,light #ajd ,,xvii4 ,the ,ether #aaa ,,xviii4 ,recapitulation #aac ,,book ,,ii4 ,,cosmical ,,arrangements #aai ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,structure of the ,solar ,system #aba ,,ii4 ,the ,circular ,orbits of the ,planets round the ,sun #abc ,,iii4 ,the ,stability of the ,solar ,system #abg ,,iv4 ,the ,sun in the ,centre #acd ,v4 ,the ,satellites #acg ,,vi4 ,the ,stability of the ,ocean #adj ,,vii4 ,the ,nebular ,hypothesis #adc ,,viii4 ,the ,existence of a ,resisting ,medium in the ,solar ,system #aej ,,ix4 ,mechanical ,laws #afc ,x4 ,the ,law of ,gravitation #aff ,,xi4 ,the ,laws of ,motion #agh ,,xii4 ,friction #ahc ,,book ,,iii4 ,,religious ,,views #aic ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,creator of the ,physical ,world is the ,governor of the ,moral ,world #aie ,,ii4 ,on the ,vastness of the ,universe #bje ,,iii4 ,on ,man's ,place in the ,universe #bab ,,iv4 ,on the ,impression produced by the ,contemplation of ,laws of ,nature2 or1 on the ,conviction that ,law implies ,mind #bbc ,v4 ,on ,inductive ,habits2 or1 on the impression produced on ,men's ,minds by discovering ,laws of ,nature #bcj ,,vi4 ,on ,deductive ,habits2 or1 on the ,impression produced on ,men's ,minds by tracing the ,consequences of ascertained ,laws #bdc ,,vii4 ,on ,final ,causes #beg ,,viii4 ,on the ,physical ,agency of the ,deity #bfg ,,ix4 ,on the ,impression produced by considering the ,nature and ,prospects of ,science2 or1 on the ,impossibility of the ,progress of our ,knowledge ever enabling us to comprehend the ,nature of the ,deity #bgc ,,on ,,astronomy ,,and ,,general ,,physics4 ,,introduction4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,object of the ,present ,treatise4 ,the examination of the material world brings before us a number of things and relations of things which suggest to most minds the belief of a creating and presiding ,intelligence4 ,and this impression1 which arises with the most vague and superficial consideration of the objects by which we are surrounded1 is1 we conceive1 confirmed and expanded by a more exact and profound study of external nature4 ,many works have been written at different times with the view of showing how our knowledge of the elements and their operation1 of plants and animals and their construction1 may serve to nourish and unfold our idea of a ,creator and ,governor of the world4 ,but though this is the case1 a new work on the same subject may still have its use4 ,our views of the ,creator and ,governor of the world1 as collected from or combined with our views of the world itself1 undergo modifications1 as we are led by new discoveries1 new generalizations1 to regard nature in a new light4 ,the conceptions concerning the ,deity1 his mode of effecting his purposes1 the scheme of his government1 which are suggested by one stage of our knowledge of natural objects and operations1 may become manifestly imperfect or incongruous1 if adhered to and applied at a later period1 when our acquaintance with the immediate causes of natural events has been greatly extended4 ,on this account it may be interesting1 after such an advance1 to show how the views of the creation1 preservation1 and government of the universe1 which natural science opens to us1 harmonize with our belief in a ,creator1 ,governor1 and ,preserver of the world4 ,to do this with respect to certain departments of ,natural ,philosophy is the object of the following pages2 and the author will deem himself fortunate1 if he succeeds in removing any of the difficulties and obscurities which prevail in men's minds1 from the want of a clear mutual understanding between the religious and the scientific speculator4 ,it is needless here to remark the necessarily imperfect and scanty character of ,natural ,religion2 for most persons will allow that1 however imperfect may be the knowledge of a ,supreme ,intelligence which we gather from the contemplation of the natural world1 it is still of most essential use and value4 ,and our purpose on this occasion is1 not to show that ,natural ,theology is a perfect and satisfactory scheme1 but to bring up our ,natural ,theology to the point of view in which it may be contemplated by the aid of our ,natural ,philosophy4 ,now the peculiar point of view which at present belongs to ,natural ,philosophy1 and especially to the departments of it which have been most successfully cultivated1 is1 that nature1 so far as it is an object of scientific research1 is a collection of facts governed by laws3 our knowledge of nature is our knowledge of laws2 of laws of operation and connexion1 of laws of succession and co-existence1 among the various elements and appearances around us4 ,and it must therefore here be our aim to show how this view of the universe falls in with our conception of the ,divine ,author1 by whom we hold the universe to be made and governed4 ,nature acts by general laws2 that is1 the occurrences of the world in which we find ourselves1 result from causes which operate according to fixed and constant rules4 ,the succession of days1 and seasons1 and years1 is produced by the motions of the earth2 and these again are governed by the attraction of the sun1 a force which acts with undeviating steadiness and regularity4 ,the changes of winds and skies1 seemingly so capricious and casual1 are produced by the operation of the sun's heat upon air and moisture1 land and sea2 and though in this case we cannot trace the particular events to their general causes1 as we can trace the motions of the sun and moon1 no philosophical mind will doubt the generality and fixity of the rules by which these causes act4 ,the variety of the effects takes place1 because the circumstances in different cases vary2 and not because the action of material causes leaves anything to chance in the result4 ,and again1 though the vital movements which go on in the frame of vegetables and animals depend on agencies still less known1 and probably still more complex1 than those which rule the weather1 each of the powers on which such movements depend has its peculiar laws of action1 and these are as universal and as invariable as the law by which a stone falls to the earth when not supported4 ,the world then is governed by general laws2 and in order to collect from the world itself a judgment concerning the nature and character of its government1 we must consider the import and tendency of such laws1 so far as they come under our knowledge4 ,if there be1 in the administration of the universe1 intelligence and benevolence1 superintendence and foresight1 grounds for love and hope1 such qualities may be expected to appear in the constitution and combination of those fundamental regulations by which the course of nature is brought about1 and made to be what it is4 ,if a man were1 by some extraordinary event1 to find himself in a remote and unknown country1 so entirely strange to him that he did not know whether there existed in it any law or government at all2 he might in no long time ascertain whether the inhabitants were controlled by any superintending authority2 and with a little attention he might determine also whether such authority were exercised with a prudent care for the happiness and well-being of its subjects1 or without any regard and fitness to such ends2 whether the country were governed by laws at all1 and whether the laws were good4 ,and according to the laws which he thus found prevailing1 he would judge of the sagacity1 and the purposes of the legislative power4 ,by observing the laws of the material universe and their operation1 we may hope1 in a somewhat similar manner1 to be able to direct our judgment concerning the government of the universe3 concerning the mode in which the elements are regulated and controlled1 their effects combined and balanced4 ,and the general tendency of the results thus produced may discover to us something of the character of the power which has legislated for the material world4 ,we are not to push too far the analogy thus suggested4 ,there is undoubtedly a wide difference between the circumstances of man legislating for man1 and ,god legislating for matter4 ,still we shall1 it will appear1 find abundant reason to admire the wisdom and the goodness which have established the ,laws of ,nature1 however rigorously we may scrutinize the import of this expression4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,on ,laws of ,nature4 ,when we speak of material nature as being governed by laws1 it is sufficiently evident that we use the term in a manner somewhat metaphorical4 ,the laws to which man's attention is primarily directed are moral laws2 rules laid down for his actions2 rules for the conscious actions of a person2 rules which1 as a matter of possibility1 he may obey or may transgress2 the latter event being combined1 not with an impossibility1 but with a penalty4 ,but the ,laws of ,nature are something different from this2 they are rules for that which things are to do and suffer2 and this by no consciousness or will of theirs4 ,they are rules describing the mode in which things do act2 they are invariably obeyed2 their transgression is not punished1 it is excluded4 ,the language of a moral law is1 man shall not kill2 the language of a ,law of ,nature is1 a stone will fall to the earth4 ,these two kinds of laws direct the actions of persons and of things1 by the sort of control of which persons and things are respectively susceptible2 so that the metaphor is very simple2 but it is proper for us to recollect that it is a metaphor1 in order that we may clearly apprehend what is implied in speaking of the ,laws of ,nature4 ,in this phrase are included all properties of the portions of the material world2 all modes of action and rules of causation1 according to which they operate on each other4 ,the whole course of the visible universe therefore is but the collective result of such laws2 its movements are only the aggregate of their working4 ,all natural occurrences1 in the skies and on the earth1 in the organic and in the inorganic world1 are determined by the relations of the elements and the actions of the forces of which the rules are thus prescribed4 ,the relations and rules by which these occurrences are thus determined necessarily depend on measures of time and space1 motion and force2 on quantities which are subject to numerical measurement1 and capable of being connected by mathematical properties4 ,and thus all things are ordered by number and weight and measure4 8,god10 as was said by the ancients1 8works by geometry30 the legislation of the material universe is necessarily delivered in the language of mathematics2 the stars in their courses are regulated by the properties of conic sections1 and the winds depend on arithmetical and geometrical progressions of elasticity and pressure4 ,the constitution of the universe1 so far as it can be clearly apprehended by our intellect1 thus assumes a shape involving an assemblage of mathematical propositions3 certain algebraical formul1 and the knowledge when and how to apply them1 constitute the last step of the physical science to which we can attain4 ,the labour and the endowments of ages have been employed in bringing such science into the condition in which it now exists2 and an exact and extensive discipline in mathematics1 followed by a practical and profound study of the researches of natural philosophers1 can alone put any one in possession of the knowledge concerning the course of the material world1 which is at present open to man4 ,the general impression1 however1 which arises from the view thus obtained of the universe1 the results which we collect from the most careful scrutiny of its administration1 may1 we trust1 be rendered intelligible without this technical and laborious study1 and to do this is our present object4 ,it will be our business to show that the laws which really prevail in nature are1 by their form1 that is1 by the nature of the connexion which they establish among the quantities and properties which they regulate1 remarkably adapted to the office which is assigned them2 and thus offer evidence of selection1 design1 and goodness1 in the power by which they were established4 ,but these characters of the legislation of the universe may also be seen1 in many instances1 in a manner somewhat different from the selection of the law4 ,the nature of the connexion remaining the same1 the quantities which it regulates may also in their magnitude bear marks of selection and purpose4 ,for the law may be the same while the quantities to which it applies are different4 ,the law of the gravity which acts to the earth and to ,jupiter1 is the same2 but the intensity of the force at the surfaces of the two planets is different4 ,the law which regulates the density of the air at any point1 with reference to the height from the earth's surface1 would be the same1 if the atmosphere were ten times as large1 or only one-tenth as large as it is2 if the barometer at the earth's surface stood at three inches only1 or if it showed a pressure of thirty feet of mercury4 ,now this being understood1 the adaptation of a law to its purpose1 or to other laws1 may appear in two ways3--either in the form of the law1 or in the amount of the magnitudes which it regulates1 which are sometimes called arbitrary magnitudes4 ,if the attraction of the sun upon the planets did not vary inversely as the square of the distance1 the form of the law of gravitation would be changed2 if this attraction were1 at the earth's orbit1 of a different value from its present one1 the arbitrary magnitude would be changed2 and it will appear1 in a subsequent part of this work1 that either change would1 so far as we can trace its consequences1 be detrimental4 ,the form of the law determines in what manner the facts shall take place2 the arbitrary magnitude determines how fast1 how far1 how soon2 the one gives a model1 the other a measure of the phenomenon2 the one draws the plan1 the other gives the scale on which it is to be executed2 the one gives the rule1 the other the rate4 ,if either were wrongly taken1 the result would be wrong too4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,mutual ,adaptation in the ,laws of ,nature4 ,to ascertain such laws of nature as we have been describing1 is the peculiar business of science4 ,it is only with regard to a very small portion of the appearances of the universe1 that science1 in any strict application of the term1 exists4 ,in very few departments of research have men been able to trace a multitude of known facts to causes which appear to be the ultimate material causes1 or to discern the laws which seem to be the most general laws4 ,yet1 in one or two instances1 they have done this1 or something approaching to this2 and most especially in the instance of that part of nature1 which it is the object of this treatise more peculiarly to consider4 ,the apparent motions of the sun1 moon1 and stars have been more completely reduced to their causes and laws than any other class of phenomena4 ,astronomy1 the science which treats of these1 is already a wonderful example of the degree of such knowledge which man may attain4 ,the forms of its most important laws may be conceived to be certainly known2 and hundreds of observers in all parts of the world are daily employed in determining1 with additional accuracy1 the arbitrary magnitudes which these laws involve4 ,the inquiries in which the mutual effects of heat1 moisture1 air1 and the like elements are treated of1 including1 among other subjects1 all that we know of the causes of the weather 7meteorology7 is a far more imperfect science than astronomy4 ,yet1 with regard to these agents1 a great number of laws of nature have been discovered1 though1 undoubtedly1 a far greater number remain still unknown4 ,so far1 therefore1 as our knowledge goes1 astronomy and meteorology are parts of natural philosophy in which we may study the order of nature with such views as we have suggested2 in which we may hope to make out the adaptations and aims which exist in the laws of nature2 and thus to obtain some light on the tendency of this part of the legislation of the universe1 and on the character and disposition of the ,legislator4 ,the number and variety of the laws which we find established in the universe is so great1 that it would be idle to endeavour to enumerate them4 ,in their operation they are combined and intermixed in incalculable and endless perplexity1 influencing and modifying each other's effects in every direction4 ,if we attempt to comprehend at once the whole of this complex system1 we find ourselves utterly baffled and overwhelmed by its extent and multiplicity4 ,yet1 in so far as we consider the bearing of one part upon another1 we receive an impression of adaptation1 of mutual fitness1 of conspiring means1 of preparation and completion1 of purpose and provision4 ,this impression is suggested by the contemplation of every part of nature2 but the grounds of it1 from the very circumstances of the case1 cannot be conveyed in a few words4 ,it can only be fully educed by leading the reader through several views and details1 and must grow out of the combined influence of these on a sober and reflecting frame of mind4 ,however strong and solemn be the conviction which may be derived from a contemplation of nature1 concerning the existence1 the power1 the wisdom1 the goodness of our ,divine ,governor1 we cannot expect that this conviction1 as resulting from the extremely complex spectacle of the material world1 should be capable of being irresistibly conveyed by a few steps of reasoning1 like the conclusion of a geometrical proposition1 or the result of an arithmetical calculation4 ,we shall1 therefore1 endeavour to point out cases and circumstances in which the different parts of the universe exhibit this mutual adaptation1 and thus to bring before the mind of the reader the evidence of wisdom and providence1 which the external world affords4 ,when we have illustrated the correspondencies which exist in every province of nature1 between the qualities of brute matter and the constitution of living things1 between the tendency to derangement and the conservative influences by which such a tendency is counteracted1 between the office of the minutest speck and of the most general laws2 it will1 we trust1 be difficult or impossible to exclude from our conception of this wonderful system1 the idea of a harmonizing1 a preserving1 a contriving1 an intending ,mind2 of a ,wisdom1 ,power1 and ,goodness far exceeding the limits of our thoughts4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,division of the ,subject4 ,in making a survey of the universe1 for the purpose of pointing out such correspondencies and adaptations as we have mentioned1 we shall suppose the general leading facts of the course of nature to be known1 and the explanations of their causes now generally established among astronomers and natural philosophers to be conceded4 ,we shall assume therefore that the earth is a solid globe of ascertained magnitude1 which travels round the sun1 in an orbit nearly circular1 in a period of about three hundred and sixty-five days and a quarter1 and in the mean time revolves1 in an inclined position1 upon its own axis in about twenty-four hours1 thus producing the succession of appearances and effects which constitute seasons and climates1 day and night2--that this globe has its surface furrowed and ridged with various inequalities1 the waters of the ocean occupying the depressed parts3--that it is surrounded by an atmosphere1 or spherical covering of air2 and that various other physical agents1 moisture1 electricity1 magnetism1 light1 operate at the surface of the earth1 according to their peculiar laws4 ,this surface is1 as we know1 clothed with a covering of plants1 and inhabited by the various tribes of animals1 with all their variety of sensations1 wants1 and enjoyments4 ,the relations and connexions of the larger portions of the world1 the sun1 the planets1 and the stars1 the cosmical arrangements of the system1 as they are sometimes called1 determine the course of events among these bodies2 and the more remarkable features of these arrangements are therefore some of the subjects for our consideration4 ,these cosmical arrangements1 in their consequences1 affect also the physical agencies which are at work at the surface of the earth1 and hence come in contact with terrestrial occurrences4 ,they thus influence the functions of plants and animals4 ,the circumstances in the cosmical system of the universe1 and in the organic system of the earth1 which have thus a bearing on each other1 form another of the subjects of which we shall treat4 ,the former class of considerations attends principally to the stability and other apparent perfections of the solar system2 the latter to the well-being of the system of organic life by which the earth is occupied4 ,the two portions of the subject may be treated as ,cosmical ,arrangements and ,terrestrial ,adaptations4 ,we shall begin with the latter class of adaptations1 because in treating of these the facts are more familiar and tangible1 and the reasonings less abstract and technical1 than in the other division of the subject4 ,moreover1 in this case men have no difficulty in recognizing as desirable the end which is answered by such adaptations1 and they therefore the more readily consider it as an end4 ,the nourishment1 the enjoyment1 the diffusion of living things1 are willingly acknowledged to be a suitable object for contrivance2 the simplicity1 the permanence1 of an inert mechanical combination might not so readily be allowed to be a manifestly worthy aim of a ,creating ,wisdom4 ,the former branch of our argument may therefore be best suited to introduce to us the ,deity as the institutor of ,laws of ,nature1 though the latter may afterwards give us a wider view and a clearer insight into one province of his legislation4 ,,book ,i4 ,,terrestrial ,,adaptations4 ,we proceed in this book to point out relations which subsist between the laws of the inorganic world1 that is1 the general facts of astronomy and meteorology2 and the laws which prevail in the organic world1 the properties of plants and animals4 ,with regard to the first kind of laws1 they are in the highest degree various and unlike each other4 ,the intensity and activity of natural influences follow in different cases the most different rules4 ,in some instances they are periodical1 increasing and diminishing alternately1 in a perpetual succession of equal intervals of time4 ,this is the case with the heat at the earth's surface1 which has a period of a year2 with the light1 which has a period of a day4 ,other qualities are constant1 thus the force of gravity at the same place is always the same4 ,in some cases1 a very simple cause produces very complicated effects2 thus the globular form of the earth1 and the inclination of its axis during its annual motion1 give rise to all the variety of climates4 ,in other cases a very complex and variable system of causes produces effects comparatively steady and uniform2 thus solar and terrestrial heat1 air1 moisture1 and probably many other apparently conflicting agents1 join to produce our weather1 which never deviates very far from a certain average standard4 ,now a general fact1 which we shall endeavour to exemplify in the following chapters1 is this3--,that those properties of plants and animals which have reference to agencies of a periodical character1 have also by their nature a periodical mode of working2 while those properties which refer to agencies of constant intensity1 are adjusted to this constant intensity3 and again1 there are peculiarities in the nature of organized beings which have reference to a variety in the conditions of the external world1 as1 for instance1 the difference of the organized population of different regions3 and there are other peculiarities which have a reference to the constancy of the average of such conditions1 and the limited range of the deviations from that average2 as for example1 that constitution by which each plant and animal is fitted to exist and prosper in its usual place in the world4 ,and not only is there this general agreement between the nature of the laws which govern the organic and inorganic world1 but also there is a coincidence between the arbitrary magnitudes which such laws involve on the one hand and on the other4 ,plants and animals have1 in their construction1 certain periodical functions1 which have a reference to alternations of heat and cold2 the length of the period which belongs to these functions by their construction1 appears to be that of the period which belongs to the actual alternations of heat and cold1 namely1 a year4 ,plants and animals have again in their construction certain other periodical functions1 which have a reference to alternations of light and darkness2 the length of the period of such functions appears to coincide with the natural day4 ,in like manner the other arbitrary magnitudes which enter into the laws of gravity1 of the effects of air and moisture1 and of other causes of permanence1 and of change1 by which the influences of the elements operate1 are the same arbitrary magnitudes to which the members of the organic world are adapted by the various peculiarities of their construction4 ,the illustration of this view will be pursued in the succeeding chapters2 and when the coincidence here spoken of is distinctly brought before the reader1 it will1 we trust1 be found to convey the conviction of a wise and benevolent design1 which has been exercised in producing such an agreement between the internal constitution and the external circumstances of organized beings4 ,we shall adduce cases where there is an apparent relation between the course of operation of the elements and the course of vital functions2 between some fixed measure of time or space1 traced in the lifeless and in the living world2 where creatures are constructed on a certain plan1 or a certain scale1 and this plan or this scale is exactly the single one which is suited to their place on the earth2 where it was necessary for the ,creator 7if we may use such a mode of speaking7 to take account of the weight of the earth1 or the density of the air1 or the measure of the ocean1 and where these quantities are rightly taken account of in the arrangements of creation4 ,in such cases we conceive that we trace a ,creator1 who1 in producing one part of his work1 was not forgetful or careless of another part2 who did not cast his living creatures into the world to prosper or perish as they might find it suited to them or not2 but fitted together1 with the nicest skill1 the world and the constitution which he gave to its inhabitants2 so fashioning it and them1 that light and darkness1 sun and air1 moist and dry1 should become their ministers and benefactors1 the unwearied and unfailing causes of their well-being4 ,we have spoken of the mutual adaptation of the organic and the inorganic world4 ,if we were to conceive the contrivance of the world as taking place in an order of time in the contriving mind1 we might also have to conceive this adaptation as taking place in one of two ways3 we might either suppose the laws of inert nature to be accommodated to the foreseen wants of living things1 or the organization of life to be accommodated to the previously established laws of nature4 ,but we are not forced upon any such mode of conception1 or upon any decision between such suppositions3 since1 for the purpose of our argument1 the consequence of either view is the same4 ,there is an adaptation somewhere or other1 on either supposition4 ,there is account taken of one part of the system in framing the other3 and the mind which took such account can be no other than that of the ,intelligent ,author of the universe4 ,when indeed we come to see the vast number1 the variety1 the extent1 the interweaving1 the reconciling of such adaptations1 we shall readily allow1 that all things are so moulded upon and locked into each other1 connected by such subtilty and profundity of design1 that we may well abandon the idle attempt to trace the order of thought in the mind of the ,supreme ,ordainer4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,length of the ,year4 ,a year is the most important and obvious of the periods which occur in the organic1 and especially in the vegetable world4 ,in this interval of time the cycle of most of the external influences which operate upon plants is completed4 ,there is also in plants a cycle of internal functions1 corresponding to this succession of external causes4 ,the length of either of these periods might have been different from what it is1 according to any grounds of necessity which we can perceive4 ,but a certain length is selected in both instances1 and in both instances the same4 ,the length of the year is so determined as to be adapted to the constitution of most vegetables2 or the construction of vegetables is so adjusted as to be suited to the length which the year really has1 and unsuited to a duration longer or shorter by any considerable portion4 ,the vegetable clock-work is so set as to go for a year4 ,the length of the year or interval of recurrence of the seasons is determined by the time which the earth employs in performing its revolution round the sun3 and we can very easily conceive the solar system so adjusted that the year should be longer or shorter than it actually is4 ,we can imagine the earth to revolve round the sun at a distance greater or less than that which it at present has1 all the forces of the system remaining unaltered4 ,if the earth were removed towards the centre by about one-eighth of its distance1 the year would be diminished by about a month2 and in the same manner it would be increased by a month on increasing the distance by one-eighth4 ,we can suppose the earth at a distance of eighty-four or a hundred and eight millions of miles1 just as easily as at its present distance of ninety-six millions3 we can suppose the earth with its present stock of animals and vegetables placed where ,mars or where ,venus is1 and revolving in an orbit like one of theirs3 on the former supposition our year would become twenty-three1 on the latter seven of our present months4 ,or we can conceive the present distances of the parts of the system to continue what they are1 and the size1 or the density of the central mass1 the sun1 to be increased or diminished in any proportion2 and in this way the time of the earth's revolution might have been increased or diminished in any degree2 a greater velocity1 and consequently a diminished period1 being requisite in order to balance an augmented central attraction4 ,in any of these ways the length of the earth's natural year might have been different from what it now is3 in the last way without any necessary alteration1 so far as we can see1 of temperature4 ,now1 if any change of this kind were to take place1 the working of the botanical world would be thrown into utter disorder1 the functions of plants would be entirely deranged1 and the whole vegetable kingdom involved in instant decay and rapid extinction4 ,that this would be the case1 may be collected from innumerable indications4 ,most of our fruit trees1 for example1 require the year to be of its present length4 ,if the summer and the autumn were much shorter1 the fruit could not ripen2 if these seasons were much longer1 the tree would put forth a fresh suit of blossoms1 to be cut down by the winter4 ,or if the year were twice its present length1 a second crop of fruit would probably not be matured1 for want1 among other things1 of an intermediate season of rest and consolidation1 such as the winter is4 ,our forest trees in like manner appear to need all the seasons of our present year for their perfection2 the spring1 summer1 and autumn1 for the developement of their leaves and consequent formation of their proper juice1 and of wood from this2 and the winter for the hardening and solidifying the substance thus formed4 ,most plants1 indeed1 have some peculiar function adapted to each period of the year1 that is of the now existing year4 ,the sap ascends with extraordinary copiousness at two seasons1 in the spring and in the autumn1 especially the former4 ,the opening of the leaves and the opening of the flowers of the same plants are so constant to their times1 7their appointed times1 as we are naturally led to call them17 that such occurrences might be taken as indications of the times of the year4 ,it has been proposed in this way to select a series of botanical facts which should form a calendar2 and this has been termed a calendar of ,flora4 ,thus1 if we consider the time of putting forth leaves1#a the honeysuckle protrudes them in the month of ,january2 the gooseberry1 currant1 and elder in the end of ,february1 or beginning of ,march2 the willow1 elm1 and lime-tree in ,april2 the oak and ash1 which are always the latest among trees1 in the beginning or towards the middle of ,may4 ,in the same manner the flowering has its regular time3 the mezereon and snowdrop push forth their flowers in ,february2 the primrose in the month of ,march2 the cowslip in ,april2 the great mass of plants in ,may and ,june2 many in ,july1 ,august1 and ,september2 some1 not till the month of ,october1 as the meadow saffron2 and some not till the approach and arrival of winter1 as the laurustinus and arbutus4 ,the fact which we have here to notice1 is the recurrence of these stages in the developement of plants1 at intervals precisely or very nearly of twelve months4 ,undoubtedly1 this result is in part occasioned by the action of external stimulants upon the plant1 especially heat1 and by the recurrence of the intensity of such agents4 ,accordingly1 there are slight differences in the times of such occurrences1 according to the backwardness or forwardness of the season1 and according as the climate is genial or otherwise4 ,gardeners use artifices which will1 to a certain extent1 accelerate or retard the time of developement of a plant4 ,but there are various circumstances which show that this recurrence of the same events and equal intervals is not entirely owing to external causes1 and that it depends also upon something in the internal structure of vegetables4 ,alpine plants do not wait for the stimulus of the sun's heat1 but exert such a struggle to blossom1 that their flowers are seen among the yet unmelted snow4 ,and this is still more remarkable in the naturalization of plants from one hemisphere to the other4 ,when we transplant our fruit trees to the temperate regions south of the equator1 they continue for some years to flourish at the period which corresponds to our spring4 ,the reverse of this obtains1 with certain trees of the southern hemisphere4 ,plants from the ,cape of ,good ,hope1 and from ,australia1 countries whose summer is simultaneous with our winter1 exhibit their flowers in the coldest part of the year1 as the heaths4 ,this view of the subject agrees with that maintained by the best botanical writers4 ,thus ,decandolle observes that after making allowance for all meteorological causes1 which determine the epoch of flowering1 we must reckon as another cause the peculiar nature of each species4 ,the flowering once determined1 appears to be subject to a law of periodicity and habit4#b ,it appears then that the functions of plants have by their nature a periodical character2 and the length of the period thus belonging to vegetables is a result of their organization4 ,warmth and light1 soil and moisture1 may in some degree modify1 and hasten or retard the stages of this period2 but when the constraint is removed the natural period is again resumed4 ,such stimulants as we have mentioned are not the causes of this periodicity4 ,they do not produce the varied functions of the plant1 and could not occasion their performance at regular intervals1 except the plant possessed a suitable construction4 ,they could not alter the length of the cycle of vegetable functions1 except within certain very narrow limits4 ,the processes of the rising of the sap1 of the formation of proper juices1 of the unfolding of leaves1 the opening of flowers1 the fecundation of the fruit1 the ripening of the seed1 its proper deposition in order for the reproduction of a new plant2--all these operations require a certain portion of time1 and could not be compressed into a space less than a year1 or at least could not be abbreviated in any very great degree4 ,and on the other hand1 if the winter were greatly longer than it now is1 many seeds would not germinate at the return of spring4 ,seeds which have been kept too long require stimulants to make them fertile4 ,if therefore the duration of the seasons were much to change1 the processes of vegetable life would be interrupted1 deranged1 distempered4 ,what1 for instance1 would become of our calendar of ,flora1 if the year were lengthened or shortened by six months8 ,some of the dates would never arrive in the one case1 and the vegetable processes which mark them would be superseded2 some seasons would be without dates in the other case1 and these periods would be employed in a way harmful to the plants1 and no doubt speedily destructive4 ,we should have not only a year of confusion1 but1 if it were repeated and continued1 a year of death4 ,but in the existing state of things1 the duration of the earth's revolution round the sun1 and the duration of the revolution of the vegetable functions of most plants are equal4 ,these two periods are adjusted to each other4 ,the stimulants which the elements apply come at such intervals and continue for such times1 that the plant is supported in health and vigour1 and enabled to reproduce its kind4 ,just such a portion of time is measured out for the vegetable powers to execute their task1 as enables them to do so in the best manner4 ,now such an adjustment must surely be accepted as a proof of design1 exercised in the formation of the world4 ,why should the solar year be so long and no longer8 or1 this being of such a length1 why should the vegetable cycle be exactly of the same length8 ,can this be chance8 ,and this occurs1 it is to be observed1 not in one1 or in a few species of plants1 but in thousands4 ,take a small portion only of known species1 as the most obviously endowed with this adjustment1 and say ten thousand4 ,how should all these organized bodies be constructed for the same period of a year8 ,how should all these machines be wound up so as to go for the same time8 ,even allowing that they could bear a year of a month longer or shorter1 how do they all come within such limits8 ,no chance could produce such a result4 ,and if not by chance1 how otherwise could such a coincidence occur1 than by an intentional adjustment of these two things to one another8 by a selection of such an organization in plants1 as would fit them to the earth on which they were to grow2 by an adaptation of construction to conditions2 of the scale of the construction to the scale of the conditions4 ,it cannot be accepted as an explanation of this fact in the economy of plants1 that it is necessary to their existence2 that no plants could possibly have subsisted1 and come down to us1 except those which were thus suited to their place on earth4 ,this is true2 but this does not at all remove the necessity of recurring to design as the origin of the construction by which the existence and continuance of plants is made possible4 ,a watch could not go1 except there were the most exact adjustment in the forms and positions of its wheels2 yet no one would accept it as an explanation of the origin of such forms and positions1 that the watch would not go if these were other than they are4 ,if the objector were to suppose that plants were originally fitted to years of various lengths1 and that such only have survived to the present time1 as had a cycle of a length equal to our present year1 or one which could be accommodated to it2 we should reply1 that the assumption is too gratuitous and extravagant to require much consideration2 but that1 moreover1 it does not remove the difficulty4 ,how came the functions of plants to be periodical at all8 ,here is1 in the first instance1 an agreement in the form of the laws that prevail in the organic and in the inorganic world1 which appears to us a clear evidence of design in their ,author4 ,and the same kind of reply might be made to any similar objection to our argument4 ,any supposition that the universe has gradually approximated to that state of harmony among the operations of its different parts1 of which we have one instance in the coincidence now under consideration1 would make it necessary for the objector to assume a previous state of things preparatory to this perfect correspondence4 ,and in this preparatory condition we should still be able to trace the rudiments of that harmony1 for which it was proposed to account3 so that even the most unbounded license of hypothesis would not enable the opponent to obliterate the traces of an intentional adaptation of one part of nature to another4 ,nor would it at all affect the argument1 if these periodical occurrences could be traced to some proximate cause3 if for instance it could be shown1 that the budding or flowering of plants is brought about at particular intervals1 by the nutriment accumulated in their vessels during the preceding months4 ,for the question would still remain1 how their functions were so adjusted1 that the accumulation of the nutriment necessary for budding and flowering1 together with the operation itself1 comes to occupy exactly a year1 instead of a month only1 or ten years4 ,there must be in their structure some reference to time3 how did such a reference occur8 how was it i determined to the particular time of the earth's revolution round the sun8 ,this could be no otherwise1 as we conceive1 than by design and appointment4 ,we are left therefore with this manifest adjustment before us1 of two parts of the universe1 at first sight so remote2 the dimensions of the solar system and the powers of vegetable life4 ,these two things are so related1 that one has been made to fit the other4 ,the relation is as clear as that of a watch to a sundial4 ,if a person were to compare the watch with the dial1 hour after hour1 and day after day1 it would be impossible for him not to believe that the watch had been contrived to accommodate itself to the solar day4 ,we have at least ten thousand kinds of vegetable watches of the most various forms1 which are all accommodated to the solar year2 and the evidence of contrivance seems to be no more capable of being eluded in this case than in the other4 ,the same kind of argument might be applied to the animal creation4 ,the pairing1 nesting1 hatching1 fledging1 and flight of birds1 for instance1 occupy each its peculiar time of the year2 and1 together with a proper period of rest1 fill up the twelve months4 ,the transformations of most insects have a similar reference to the seasons1 their progress and duration4 8,in every species10 7except man17 says a writer#c on animals1 8there is a peculiar period of the year in which the reproductive system exercises its energies4 ,and the season of love and the period of gestation are so arranged that the young ones are produced at the time wherein the conditions of temperature are most suited to the commencement of life40 ,it is not our business here to consider the details of such provisions1 beautiful and striking as they are4 ,but the prevalence of the great law of periodicity in the vital functions of organized beings will be allowed to have a claim to be considered in its reference to astronomy1 when it is seen that their periodical constitution derives its use from the periodical nature of the motions of the planets round the sun2 and that the duration of such cycles in the existence of plants and animals has a reference to the arbitrary elements of the solar system3 a reference which1 we maintain1 is inexplicable and unintelligible1 except by admitting into our conceptions2 an ,intelligent ,author1 alike of the organic and inorganic universe4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,length of the ,day4 ,we shall now consider another astronomical element1 the time of the revolution of the earth on its axis2 and we shall find here also that the structure of organized bodies are suited to this element2--that the cosmical and physiological arrangements are adapted to each other4 ,we can very easily conceive the earth to revolve on her axis faster or slower than she does1 and thus the days to be longer or shorter than they are1 without supposing any other change to take place4 ,there is no apparent reason why this globe should turn on its axis just three hundred and sixty-six times while it describes its orbit round the sun4 ,the revolutions of the other planets1 so far as we know them1 do not appear to follow any rule by which they are connected with the distance from the sun4 ,mercury1 ,venus1 and ,mars have days nearly the length of ours4 ,jupiter and ,saturn revolve in about ten hours each4 ,for any thing we can discover1 the earth might have revolved in this or any other smaller period2 or we might have had1 without mechanical inconvenience1 much longer days than we have4 ,but the terrestrial day1 and consequently the length of the cycle of light and darkness1 being what it is1 we find various parts of the constitution both of animals and vegetables1 which have a periodical character in their functions1 corresponding to the diurnal succession of external conditions2 and we find that the length of the period1 as it exists in their constitution1 coincides with the length of the natural day4 ,the alternation of processes which takes place in plants by day and by night is less obvious1 and less obviously essential to their well-being1 than the annual series of changes4 ,but there are abundance of facts which serve to show that such an alternation is part of the vegetable economy4 ,in the same manner in which ,linnus proposed a ,calendar of ,flora1 he also proposed a ,dial of ,flora1 or ,flower-,clock2 and this was to consist1 as will readily be supposed1 of plants1 which mark certain hours of the day1 by opening and shutting their flowers4 ,thus the day-lily 7hemerocallis fulva7 opens at five in the morning2 the leontodon taraxacum1 or common dandelion1 at five or six2 the hieracium latifolium 7hawkweed71 at seven2 the hieracium pilosella1 at eight2 the calendula arvensis1 or marigold1 at nine2 the mesembryanthemum neapolitanum1 at ten or eleven2 and the closing of these and other flowers in the latter part of the day offers a similar system of hour marks4 ,some of these plants are thus expanded in consequence of the stimulating action of the light and heat of the day1 as appears by their changing their time1 when these influences are changed2 but others appear to be constant to the same hours1 and independent of the impulse of such external circumstances4 ,other flowers by their opening and shutting prognosticate the weather4 ,plants of the latter kind are called by ,linnus meteoric flowers1 as being regulated by atmospheric causes3 those which change their hour of opening and shutting with the length of the day1 he terms tropical2 and the hours which they measure are1 he observes1 like ,turkish hours1 of varying length at different seasons4 ,but there are other plants which he terms equinoctial2 their vegetable days1 like the days of the equator1 being always of equal length2 and these open1 and generally close1 at a fixed and positive hour of the day4 ,such plants clearly prove that the periodical character1 and the period of the motions above described1 do not depend altogether on external circumstances4 ,some curious experiments on this subject were made by ,decandolle4 ,he kept certain plants in two cellars1 one warmed by a stove and dark1 the other lighted by lamps4 ,on some of the plants the artificial light appeared to have no influence1 7convolvulus arvensis1 convolvulus cneorum1 silene fruticosa7 and they still followed the clock hours in their opening and closing4 ,the night-blowing plants appeared somewhat disturbed1 both by perpetual light and perpetual darkness4 ,in either condition they accelerated their going so much1 that in three days they had gained half a day1 and thus exchanged night for day as their time of opening4 ,other flowers went slower in the artificial light 7convolvulus purpureus47 ,in like manner those plants which fold and unfold their leaves were variously affected by this mode of treatment4 ,the oxalis stricta and oxalis incarnata kept their habits1 without regarding either artificial light or heat4 ,the mimosa leucocephala folded and unfolded at the usual times1 whether in light or in darkness1 but the folding up was not so complete as in the open air4 ,the mimosa pudica 7sensitive plant17 kept in darkness during the day time1 and illuminated during the night1 had in three days accommodated herself to the artificial state1 opening in the evening1 and closing in the morning2 restored to the open air1 she recovered her usual habits4 ,tropical plants in general1 as is remarked by our gardeners1 suffer from the length of our summer daylight2 and it has been found necessary to shade them during a certain part of the day4 ,it is clear from these facts1 that there is a diurnal period belonging to the constitution of vegetables2 though the succession of functions depends in part on external stimulants1 as light and heat1 their periodical character is a result of the structure of the plant2 and this structure is such1 that the length of the period1 under the common influences to which plants are exposed1 coincides with the astronomical day4 ,the power of accommodation which vegetables possess in this respect1 is far from being such as either to leave the existence of this periodical constitution doubtful1 or to entitle us to suppose that the day might be considerably lengthened or shortened without injury to the vegetable kingdom4 ,here then we have an adaptation between the structure of plants1 and the periodical order of light and darkness which arises from the earth's rotation2 and the arbitrary quantity1 the length of the cycle of the physiological and of the astronomical fact1 is the same4 ,can this have occurred any otherwise than by an intentional adjustment8 ,any supposition that the astronomical cycle has occasioned the physiological one1 that the structure of plants has been brought to be what it is by the action of external causes1 or that such plants as could not accommodate themselves to the existing day have perished1 would be not only an arbitrary and baseless assumption1 but moreover useless for the purposes of explanation which it professes1 as we have noticed of a similar supposition with respect to the annual cycle4 ,how came plants to have periodicity at all in those functions which have a relation to light and darkness8 ,this part of their constitution was suited to organized things which were to flourish on the earth1 and it is accordingly bestowed on them2 it was necessary for this end that the period should be of a certain length2 it is of that length and no other4 ,surely this looks like intentional provision4 ,animals also have a period in their functions and habits2 as in the habits of waking1 sleeping1 eating1 c4 and their well-being appears to depend on the coincidence of this period with the length of the natural day4 ,we see that in the day1 as it now is1 all animals find seasons for taking food and repose1 which agree perfectly with their health and comfort4 ,some animals feed during the day1 as nearly all the ruminating animals and land birds2 others feed only in the twilight1 as bats and owls1 and are called crepuscular2 while many beasts of prey1 aquatic birds1 and others1 take their food during the night4 ,those animals which are nocturnal feeders are diurnal sleepers1 while those which are crepuscular1 sleep partly in the night and partly in the day2 but in all1 the complete period of these functions is twenty-four hours4 ,man1 in like manner1 in all nations and ages1 takes his principal rest once in twenty-four hours2 and the regularity of this practice seems most suitable to his health1 though the duration of the time allotted to repose is extremely different in different cases4 ,so far as we can judge1 this period is of a length beneficial to the human frame1 independently of the effect of external agents4 ,in the voyages recently made into high northern latitudes1 where the sun did not rise for three months1 the crews of the ships were made to adhere1 with the utmost punctuality1 to the habit of retiring to rest at nine1 and rising a quarter before six2 and they enjoyed1 under circumstances apparently the most trying1 a state of salubrity quite remarkable4 ,this shows1 that according to the common constitution of such men1 the cycle of twenty-four hours is very commodious1 though not imposed on them by external circumstances4 ,the hours of food and repose are capable of such wide modifications in animals1 and above all in man1 by the influence of external stimulants and internal emotions1 that it is not easy to distinguish what portion of the tendency to such alternations depends on original constitution4 ,yet no one can doubt that the inclination to food and sleep is periodical1 or can maintain1 with any plausibility1 that the period may be lengthened or shortened without limit4 ,we may be tolerably certain that a constantly recurring period of forty-eight hours would be too long for one day of employment and one period of sleep1 with our present faculties2 and all1 whose bodies and minds are tolerably active1 will probably agree that1 independently of habit1 a perpetual alternation of eight hours up and four in bed would employ the human powers less advantageously and agreeably than an alternation of sixteen and eight4 ,a creature which could employ the full energies of his body and mind uninterruptedly for nine months1 and then take a single sleep of three months1 would not be a man4 ,when1 therefore1 we have subtracted from the daily cycle of the employments of men and animals1 that which is to be set down to the account of habits acquired1 and that which is occasioned by extraneous causes1 there still remains a periodical character2 and a period of a certain length1 which coincides with1 or at any rate easily accommodates itself to1 the duration of the earth's revolution4 ,the physiological analysis of this part of our constitution is not necessary for our purpose4 ,the succession of exertion and repose in the muscular system1 of excited and dormant sensibility in the nervous1 appear to be fundamentally connected with the muscular and nervous powers1 whatever the nature of these may be4 ,the necessity of these alternations is one of the measures of the intensity of those vital energies2 and it would seem that we cannot1 without assuming the human powers to be altered1 suppose the intervals of tranquillity which they require to be much changed4 ,this view agrees with the opinion of some of the most eminent physiologists4 ,thus ,cabanis#d notices the periodical and isochronous character of the desire of sleep1 as well as of other appetites4 ,he states also that sleep is more easy and more salutary1 in proportion as we go to rest and rise every day at the same hours2 and observes that this periodicity seems to have a reference to the motions of the solar system4 ,now how should such a reference be at first established in the constitution of man1 animals1 and plants1 and transmitted from one generation of them to another8 ,if we suppose a wise and benevolent ,creator1 by whom all the parts of nature were fitted to their uses and to each other1 this is what we might expect and can understand4 ,on any other supposition such a fact appears altogether incredible and inconceivable4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,mass of the ,earth4 ,we shall now consider the adaptation which may1 as we conceive1 be traced in the amount of some of the quantities which determine the course of events in the organic world2 and especially in the amount of the forces which are in action4 ,the life of vegetables and animals implies a constant motion of their fluid parts1 and this motion must be produced by forces which urge or draw the particles of the fluids4 ,the positions of the parts of vegetables are also the result of the flexibility and elasticity of their substance2 the voluntary motions of animals are produced by the tension of the muscles4 ,but in all those cases1 the effect really produced depends upon the force of gravity also2 and in order that the motions and positions may be such as answer their purpose1 the forces which produce them must have a due proportion to the force of gravity4 ,in human works1 if1 for instance1 we have a fluid to raise1 or a weight to move1 some calculation is requisite1 in order to determine the power which we must use1 relatively to the work which is to be done3 we have a mechanical problem to solve1 in order that we may adjust the one to the other4 ,and the same adjustment1 the same result of a comparison of quantities1 manifests itself in the relation which the forces of the organic world bear to the force of gravity4 ,the force of gravity might1 so far as we can judge1 have been different from what it now is4 ,it depends upon the mass of the earth2 and this mass is one of the elements of the solar system1 which is not determined by any cosmical necessity of which we are aware4 ,the masses of the several planets are very different1 and do not appear to follow any determinate rule1 except that upon the whole those nearer to the sun appear to be smaller1 and those nearer the outskirts of the system to be larger4 ,we cannot see any thing which would have prevented either the size or the density of the earth from being different1 to a very great extent1 from what they are4 ,now1 it will be very obvious that if the intensity of gravity were to be much increased1 or much diminished1 if every object were to become twice as heavy or only half as heavy as it now is1 all the forces1 both of involuntary and voluntary motion which produce the present orderly and suitable results by being properly proportioned to the resistance which they experience1 would be thrown off their balance2 they would produce motions too quick or too slow1 wrong positions1 jerks and stops1 instead of steady1 well conducted movements4 ,the universe would be like a machine ill regulated2 every thing would go wrong2 repeated collisions and a rapid disorganization must be the consequence4 ,we will1 however1 attempt to illustrate one or two of the cases in which this would take place1 by pointing out forces which act in the organic world1 and which are adjusted to the force of gravity4 #a4 ,the first instance we shall take1 is the force manifested by the ascent of the sap in vegetables4 ,it appears by a multitude of indisputable experiments1 7among the rest1 those of ,hales1 ,mirbel1 and ,dutrochet17 that all plants imbibe moisture by their roots1 and pump it up1 by some internal force1 into every part of their frame1 distributing it into every leaf4 ,it will be easily conceived that this operation must require a very considerable mechanical force2 for the fluid must be sustained as if it were a single column reaching to the top of the tree4 ,the division into minute parts and distribution through small vessels does not at all diminish the total force requisite to raise it4 ,if1 for instance1 the tree be thirty-three feet high1 the pressure must be fifteen pounds upon every square inch in the section of the vessels of the bottom in order merely to support the sap4 ,and it is not only supported1 but propelled upwards with great force1 so as to supply the constant evaporation of the leaves4 ,the pumping power of the tree must1 therefore1 be very considerable4 ,that this power is great1 has been confirmed by various curious experiments1 especially by those of ,hales4 ,he measured the force with which the stems and branches of trees draw the fluid from below1 and push it upwards4 ,he found1 for instance1 that a vine in the bleeding season could push up its sap in a glass tube to the height of twenty-one feet above the stump of an amputated branch4 ,the force which produces this effect is part of the economy of the vegetable world2 and it is clear that the due operation of the force depends upon its being rightly proportioned to the force of gravity4 ,the weight of the fluid must be counterbalanced1 and an excess of force must exist to produce the motion upwards4 ,in the common course of vegetable life1 the rate of ascent of the sap is regulated1 on the one hand1 by the upward pressure of the vegetable power1 and on the other1 by the amount of the gravity of the fluid1 along with the other resistances1 which are to be overcome4 ,if1 therefore1 we suppose gravity to increase1 the rapidity of this vegetable circulation will diminish1 and the rate at which this function proceeds1 will not correspond either to the course of the seasons1 or the other physiological processes with which this has to co-operate4 ,we might easily conceive such an increase of gravity as would stop the vital movements of the plant in a very short time4 ,in like manner1 a diminution of the gravity of the vegetable juices would accelerate the rising of the sap1 and would1 probably1 hurry and overload the leaves and other organs1 so as to interfere with their due operation4 ,some injurious change1 at least1 would take place4 ,here1 then1 we have the forces of the minutest parts of vegetables adjusted to the magnitude of the whole mass of the earth on which they exist4 ,there is no apparent connexion between the quantity of matter of the earth1 and the force of imbibition of the roots of a vine1 or the force of propulsion of the vessels of its branches4 ,yet1 these things have such a proportion as the well being of the vine requires4 ,how is this to be accounted for1 but by supposing that the circumstances under which the vine was to grow1 were attended to in devising its structure8 ,we have not here pretended to decide whether this force of propulsion of vegetables is mechanical or not1 because the argument is the same for our purpose on either supposition4 ,some very curious experiments have recently been made1 7by ,m4 ,dutrochet17 which are supposed to show that the force is mechanical2 that when two different fluids are separated by a thin membrane1 a force which ,m4 ,dutrochet calls endosmose urges one fluid through the membrane3 and that the roots of plants are provided with small vesicles which act the part of such a membrane4 ,m4 ,poisson has further attempted to show that this force of endosmose may be considered as a particular modification of capillary action4 ,if these views be true1 we have here two mechanical forces1 capillary action and gravity1 which are adjusted to each other in the manner precisely suited to the welfare of vegetables4 #b4 ,as another instance of adaptation between the force of gravity and forces which exist in the vegetable world1 we may take the positions of flowers4 ,some flowers grow with the hollow of their cup upwards3 others 8hang the pensive head10 and turn the opening downwards4 ,now of these 8nodding flowers10 as ,linnus calls them1 he observes that they are such as have their pistil longer than the stamens2 and1 in consequence of this position1 the dust from the anthers which are at the ends of the stamens can fall upon the stigma or extremity of the pistil2 which process is requisite for making the flower fertile4 ,he gives as instances the flowers campanula1 leucoium1 galanthus1 fritillaria4 ,other botanists have remarked that the position changes at different periods of the flower's progress4 ,the pistil of the ,euphorbia 7which is a little globe or germen on a slender stalk7 grows upright at first1 and is taller than the stamens3 at the period suited to its fecundation1 the stalk bends under the weight of the ball at its extremity1 so as to depress the germen below the stamens2 after this it again becomes erect1 the globe being now a fruit filled with fertile seeds4 ,the positions in all these cases depend upon the length and flexibility of the stalk which supports the flower1 or in the case of the ,euphorbia1 the germen4 ,it is clear that a very slight alteration in the force of gravity1 or in the stiffness of the stalk1 would entirely alter the position of the flower cup1 and thus make the continuation of the species impossible4 ,we have therefore here a little mechanical contrivance1 which would have been frustrated if the proper intensity of gravity had not been assumed in the reckoning4 ,an earth greater or smaller1 denser or rarer than the one on which we live1 would require a change in the structure and strength of the footstalks of all the little flowers that hang their heads under our hedges4 ,there is something curious in thus considering the whole mass of the earth from pole to pole1 and from circumference to centre1 as employed in keeping a snowdrop in the position most suited to the promotion of its vegetable health4 ,it would be easy to mention many other parts of the economy of vegetable life1 which depend for their use on their adaptation to the force of gravity4 ,such are the forces and conditions which determine the positions of leaves and of branches4 ,such again those parts of the vegetable constitution which have reference to the pressure of the atmosphere2 for differences in this pressure appear to exercise a powerful influence on the functions of plants1 and to require differences of structure4 ,but we pass over these considerations4 ,the slightest attention to the relations of natural objects will show that the subject is inexhaustible2 and all that we can or need do is to give a few examples1 such as may show the nature of the impression which the examination of the universe produces4 #c4 ,another instance of the adjustment of organic structure to the force of gravity may be pointed out in the muscular powers of animals4 ,if the force of gravity were increased in any considerable proportion at the surface of the earth1 it is manifest that all the swiftness1 and strength1 and grace of animal motions must disappear4 ,if1 for instance1 the earth were as large as ,jupiter1 gravity would be eleven times what it is1 the lightness of the fawn1 the speed of the hare1 the spring of the tiger1 could no longer exist with the existing muscular powers of those animals2 for man to lift himself upright1 or to crawl from place to place1 would be a labour slower and more painful than the motions of the sloth4 ,the density and pressure of the air too would be increased to an intolerable extent1 and the operation of respiration1 and others1 which depend upon these mechanical properties1 would be rendered laborious1 ineffectual1 and probably impossible4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the force of gravity were much lessened1 inconveniences of an opposite kind would occur4 ,the air would be too thin to breathe2 the weight of our bodies1 and of all the substances surrounding us1 would become too slight to resist the perpetually occurring causes of derangement and unsteadiness3 we should feel a want of ballast in our movements4 ,it has sometimes been maintained by fanciful theorists that the earth is merely a shell1 and that the central parts are hollow4 ,all the reasons we can collect appear to be in favour of its being a solid mass1 considerably denser than any known rock4 ,if this be so1 and if we suppose the interior to be at any time scooped out1 so as to leave only such a shell as the above mentioned speculators have asserted1 we should not be left in ignorance of the change1 though the appearance of the surface might remain the same4 ,we should discover the want of the usual force of gravity1 by the instability of all about us4 ,things would not lie where we placed them1 but would slide away with the slightest push4 ,we should have a difficulty in standing or walking1 something like what we have on ship-board when the deck is inclined2 and we should stagger helplessly through an atmosphere thinner than that which oppresses the respiration of the traveller on the tops of the highest mountains4 ,we see therefore that those dark and unknown central portions of the earth1 which are placed far beyond the reach of the miner and the geologist1 and of which man will probably never know anything directly1 are not to be considered as quite disconnected with us1 as deposits of useless lumber without effect or purpose4 ,we feel their influence on every step we take and on every breath we draw2 and the powers we possess1 and the comforts we enjoy would be unprofitable to us1 if they had not been prepared with a reference to those as well as to the near and visible portions of the earth's mass4 ,the arbitrary quantity1 therefore1 of which we have been treating1 the intensity of the force of gravity1 appears to have been taken account of1 in establishing the laws of those forces by which the processes of vegetable and animal life are carried on4 ,and this leads us inevitably1 we conceive1 to the belief of a supreme contriving mind1 by which these laws were thus devised and thus established4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,ocean4 ,there are several arbitrary quantities which contribute to determine the state of things at the earth's surface besides those already mentioned4 ,some of these we shall briefly refer to1 without pursuing the subject into detail4 ,we wish not only to show that the properties and processes of vegetable and animal life must be adjusted to each of these quantities in particular1 but also to point out how numerous and complicated the conditions of the existence of organized beings are2 and we shall thus be led to think less inadequately of the intelligence which has embraced at once1 and combined without confusion1 all these conditions4 ,we appear thus to be conducted to the conviction not only of design and intention1 but of supreme knowledge and wisdom4 ,one of the quantities which enters into the constitution of the terrestrial system of things is the bulk of the waters of the ocean4 ,the mean depth of the sea1 according to the calculations of ,laplace1 is four or five miles4 ,on this supposition1 the addition to the sea of one-fourth of the existing waters would drown the whole of the globe1 except a few chains of mountains4 ,whether this be exact or no1 we can easily conceive the quantity of water which lies in the cavities of our globe to be greater or less than it at present is4 ,with every such addition or subtraction the form and magnitude of the dry land would vary1 and if this change were considerable1 many of the present relations of things would be altered4 ,it may be sufficient to mention one effect of such a change4 ,the sources which water the earth1 both clouds1 rains1 and rivers1 are mainly fed by the aqueous vapour raised from the sea2 and therefore if the sea were much diminished1 and the land increased1 the mean quantity of moisture distributed upon the land must be diminished1 and the character of climates1 as to wet and dry1 must be materially affected4 ,similar1 but opposite changes would result from the increase of the surface of the ocean4 ,it appears then that the magnitude of the ocean is one of the conditions to which the structure of all organized beings which are dependent upon climate must be adapted4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,atmosphere4 ,the total quantity of air of which our atmosphere is composed is another of the arbitrary magnitudes of our terrestrial system2 and we may apply to this subject considerations similar to those of the last section4 ,we can see no reason why the atmosphere might not have been larger in comparison to the globe which it surrounds2 those of ,mars and ,jupiter appear to be so4 ,but if the quantity of air were increased1 the structure of organized beings would in many ways cease to be adapted to their place4 ,the atmospheric pressure1 for instance1 would be increased1 which1 as we have already noticed1 would require an alteration in the structure of vegetables4 ,another way in which an increase of the mass of the atmosphere would produce inconvenience would be in the force of winds4 ,if the current of air in a strong gale were doubled or tripled1 as might be the case if the atmosphere were augmented1 the destructive effects would be more than doubled or tripled4 ,with such a change1 nothing could stand against a storm4 ,in general1 houses and trees resist the violence of the wind2 and except in extreme cases1 as for instance in occasional hurricanes in the ,west ,indies1 a few large trees in a forest are unusual trophies of the power of the tempest4 ,the breezes which we commonly have are harmless messengers to bring about the salutary changes of the atmosphere1 even the motion which they communicate to vegetables tends to promote their growth1 and is so advantageous1 that it has been proposed to imitate it by artificial breezes in the hothouse4 ,but with a stream of wind blowing against them1 like three1 or five1 or ten1 gales compressed into the space of one1 none of the existing trees could stand2 and except they could either bend like rushes in a stream1 or extend their roots far wider than their branches1 they must be torn up in whole groves4 ,we have thus a manifest adaptation of the present usual strength of the materials and of the workmanship of the world to the stress of wind and weather which they have to sustain4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,constancy and ,variety of ,climates4 ,it is possible to conceive arrangements of our system1 according to which all parts of the earth might have the same1 or nearly the same1 climate4 ,if1 for example1 we suppose the earth to be a flat disk1 or flat ring1 like the ring of ,saturn1 revolving in its own plane as that does1 each part of both the flat surfaces would have the same exposure to the sun1 and the same temperature1 so far as the sun's effect is concerned4 ,there is no obvious reason why a planet of such a form might not be occupied by animals and vegetables1 as well as our present earth2 and on this supposition the climate would be every where the same1 and the whole surface might be covered with life1 without the necessity of there being any difference in the kind of inhabitants belonging to different parts4 ,again1 it is possible to conceive arrangements according to which no part of our planet should have any steady climate4 ,this may probably be the case with a comet4 ,if we suppose such a body1 revolving round the sun in a very oblong ellipse1 to be of small size and of a very high temperature1 and therefore to cool rapidly2 and if we suppose it also to be surrounded by a large atmosphere1 composed of various gases2 there would1 on the surface of such a body1 be no average climate or seasons for each place4 ,the years1 if we give this name to the intervals of time occupied by its successive revolutions1 would be entirely unlike one another4 ,the greatest heat of one year might be cool compared with the greatest cold of a preceding one4 ,the greatest heats and colds might succeed each other at intervals perpetually unequal4 ,the atmosphere might be perpetually changing its composition by the condensation of some of its constituent gases4 ,in the operations of the elements1 all would be incessant and rapid change1 without recurrence or compensation4 ,we cannot say that organized beings could not be fitted for such a habitation2 but if they were1 the adaptation must be made by means of a constitution quite different from that of almost all organized beings known to us4 ,the state of things upon the earth1 in its present condition1 is very different from both these suppositions4 ,the climate of the same place1 notwithstanding perpetual and apparently irregular change1 possesses a remarkable steadiness4 ,and1 though in different places the annual succession of appearances in the earth and heavens1 is1 in some of its main characters1 the same1 the result of these influences in the average climate is very different4 ,now1 to this remarkable constitution of the earth as to climate1 the constitution of the animal and vegetable world is precisely adapted4 ,the differences of different climates are provided for by the existence of entirely different classes of plants and animals in different countries4 ,the constancy of climate at the same place is a necessary condition of the prosperity of each species there fixed4 ,we shall illustrate1 by a few details1 these characteristics in the constitution of inorganic and of organic nature1 with the view of fixing the reader's attention upon the correspondence of the two4 #a4 ,the succession and alternation1 at any given place1 of heat and cold1 rain and sunshine1 wind and calm1 and other atmospheric changes1 appears at first sight to be extremely irregular1 and not subject to any law4 ,it is1 however1 easy to see1 with a little attention1 that there is a certain degree of constancy in the average weather and seasons of each place1 though the particular facts of which these generalities are made up seem to be out of the reach of fixed laws4 ,and when we apply any numerical measure to these particular occurrences1 and take the average of the numbers thus observed1 we generally find a remarkably close correspondence in the numbers belonging to the whole1 or to analogous portions of successive years4 ,this will be found to apply to the measures given by the thermometer1 the barometer1 the hygrometer1 the rain gauge1 and similar instruments4 ,thus it is found that very hot summers1 or very cold winters1 raise or depress the mean annual temperature very little above or below the general standard4 ,the heat may be expressed by degrees of the thermometer2 the temperature of the day is estimated by this measure taken at a certain period of the day1 which is found by experience to correspond with the daily average2 and the mean annual temperature will then be the average of all the heights of the thermometer for every day in the year4 ,the mean annual temperature of ,london1 thus measured1 is about #ej degrees #d-ajths4 ,the frost of the year #aghh was so severe that the ,thames was passable on the ice2 the mean temperature of that year was #ej degrees #f-ajths1 being within a small fraction a degree of the standard4 ,in #agif1 when the greatest cold ever observed in ,london occurred1 the mean temperature of the year was #ej degrees #a-ajth1 which is likewise within a fraction of a degree of the standard4 ,in the severe winter of #ahac-ad1 when the ,thames1 ,tyne1 and other large rivers in ,england were completely frozen over1 the mean temperature of the two years was #di degrees1 being little more than a degree below the standard4 ,and in the year #ahjh1 when the summer was so hot that the temperature in ,london was as high as #ic degrees1 the mean heat of the year was #ej1 which is about that of the standard4 ,the same numerical indications of the constancy of climate at the same place might be collected from the records of other instruments of the kind above-mentioned4 ,we shall1 hereafter1 consider some of the very complex agencies by which this steadiness is produced2 and shall endeavour to point out intentional adaptations to this object4 ,but we may1 in the meantime1 observe how this property of the atmospheric changes is made subservient to a further object4 ,to this constancy of the climates of each place1 the structure of plants is adapted2 almost all vegetables require a particular mean temperature of the year1 or of some season of the year2 a particular degree of moisture1 and similar conditions4 ,this will be seen by observing that the range of most plants as to climate is very limited4 ,a vegetable which flourishes where the mean temperature is #ee degrees1 would pine and wither when removed to a region where the average is #ej degrees4 ,if1 therefore1 the average at each place were to vary as much as this1 our plants with their present constitutions would suffer1 languish1 and soon die4 #b4 ,it will be readily understood that the same mode of measurement by which we learn the constancy of climate at the same place1 serves to show us the variety which belongs to different places4 ,while the variations of the same region vanish when we take the averages even of moderate periods1 those of distant countries are fixed and perpetual2 and stand out more clear and distinct1 the longer is the interval for which we measure their operation4 ,in the way of measuring already described1 the mean temperature of ,petersburg is #ci degrees1 of ,rome #fj1 of ,cairo #gb4 ,such observations as these1 and others of the same kind1 have been made at various places1 collected and recorded2 and in this way the surface of the earth can be divided by boundary lines into various strips1 according to these physical differences4 ,thus1 the zones which take in all the places having the same or nearly the same mean annual temperature1 have been called isothermal zones4 ,these zones run nearly parallel to the equator1 but not exactly1 for1 in ,europe1 they bend to the north in going eastward4 ,in the same manner1 the lines passing through all places which have an equal temperature for the summer or the winter half of the year1 have been called respectively isotheral and isochimal lines4 ,these do not coincide with the isothermal lines1 for a place may have the same temperature as another1 though its summer be hotter and its winter colder1 as is the case of ,pekin compared with ,london4 ,in the same way we might conceive lines drawn according to the conditions of clouds1 rain1 wind1 and the like circumstances1 if we had observations enough to enable us to lay down such lines4 ,the course of vegetation depends upon the combined influence of all such conditions2 and the lines which bound the spread of particular vegetable productions do not1 in most cases1 coincide with any of the separate meteorological boundaries above spoken of4 ,thus1 the northern limit of vineyards runs through ,france1 in a direction very nearly north-east and south-west1 while the line of equal temperature is nearly east and west4 ,and the spontaneous growth or advantageous cultivation of other plants1 is in like manner bounded by lines of which the course depends upon very complex causes1 but of which the position is generally precise and fixed4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,variety of ,organization corresponding to the ,variety of ,climate4 ,the organization of plants and animals is in different tribes formed upon schemes more or less different1 but in all cases adjusted in a general way to the course and action of the elements4 ,the differences are connected with the different habits and manners of living which belong to different species2 and at any one place the various species1 both of animals and plants1 have a number of relations and mutual dependences arising out of these differences4 ,but besides the differences of this kind1 we find in the forms of organic life another set of differences1 by which the animal and vegetable kingdom are fitted for that variety in the climates of the earth1 which we have been endeavouring to explain4 ,the existence of such differences is too obvious to require to be dwelt upon4 ,the plants and animals which flourish and thrive in countries remote from each other1 offer to the eye of the traveller a series of pictures1 which1 even to an ignorant and unreflective spectator1 is full of a peculiar and fascinating interest in consequence of the novelty and strangeness of the successive scenes4 ,those who describe the countries between the tropics1 speak with admiration of the luxuriant profusion and rich variety of the vegetable productions of those regions4 ,vegetable life seems there far more vigorous and active1 the circumstances under which it goes on1 far more favourable than in our latitudes4 ,now if we conceive an inhabitant of those regions1 knowing1 from the circumstances of the earth's form and motion1 the difference of climates which must prevail upon it1 to guess1 from what he saw about him1 the condition of other parts of the globe as to vegetable wealth1 is not likely that he would suppose that the extra-tropical climates must be almost devoid of plants8 ,we know that the ancients1 living in the temperate zone1 came to the conclusion that both the torrid and the frigid zones must be uninhabitable4 ,in like manner the equatorial reasoner would probably conceive that vegetation must cease1 or gradually die away1 as he should proceed to places further and further removed from the genial influence of the sun4 ,the mean temperature of his year being about #hj degrees1 he would hardly suppose that any plants could subsist through a year1 where the mean temperature was only #ej1 where the temperature of the summer quarter was only #fd1 and where the mean temperature of a whole quarter of the year was a very few degrees removed from that at which water becomes solid4 ,he would suppose that scarcely any tree1 shrub1 or flower could exist in such a state of things1 and so far as the plants of his own country are concerned1 he would judge rightly4 ,but the countries further removed from the equator are not left thus unprovided4 ,instead of being scantily occupied by such of the tropical plants as could support a stunted and precarious life in ungenial climes1 they are abundantly stocked with a multitude of vegetables which appear to be constructed expressly for them1 inasmuch as these species can no more flourish at the equator than the equatorial species can in these temperate regions4 ,and such new supplies thus adapted to new conditions1 recur perpetually as we advance towards the apparently frozen and untenantable regions in the neighbourhood of the pole4 ,every zone has its peculiar vegetables2 and as we miss some1 we find others make their appearance1 as if to replace those which are absent4 ,if we look at the indigenous plants of ,asia and ,europe1 we find such a succession as we have here spoken of4 ,at the equator we find the natives of the ,spice ,islands1 the clove and nutmeg trees1 pepper and mace4 ,cinnamon bushes clothe the surface of ,ceylon2 the odoriferous sandal wood1 the ebony tree1 the teak tree1 the banyan1 grow in the ,east ,indies4 ,in the same latitudes in ,arabia the ,happy we find balm1 frankincense and myrrh1 the coffee tree1 and the tamarind4 ,but in these countries1 at least in the plains1 the trees and shrubs which decorate our more northerly climes are wanting4 ,and as we go northwards1 at every step we change the vegetable group1 both by addition and by subtraction4 ,in the thickets to the west of the ,caspian ,sea we have the apricot1 citron1 peach1 walnut4 ,in the same latitude in ,spain1 ,sicily1 and ,italy1 we find the dwarf palm1 the cypress1 the chestnut1 the cork tree3 the orange and lemon tree perfume the air with their blossoms2 the myrtle and pomegranate grow wild among the rocks4 ,we cross the ,alps1 and we find the vegetation which belongs to northern ,europe1 of which ,england is an instance4 ,the oak1 the beech1 and the elm are natives of ,great ,britain3 the elm tree seen in ,scotland1 and in the north of ,england1 is the wych elm4 ,as we travel still further to the north the forests again change their character4 ,in the northern provinces of the ,russian empire are found forests of the various species of firs3 the ,scotch and spruce fir1 and the larch4 ,in the ,orkney ,islands no tree is found but the hazel1 which occurs again on the northern shores of the ,baltic4 ,as we proceed into colder regions we still find species which appear to have been made for these situations4 ,the hoary or cold elder makes its appearance north of ,stockholm3 the sycamore and mountain ash accompany us to the head of the gulf of ,bothnia3 and as we leave this and traverse the ,dophrian range1 we pass in succession the boundary lines of the spruce fir1 the ,scotch fir1 and those minute shrubs which botanists distinguish as the dwarf birch and dwarf willow4 ,here1 near to or within the arctic circle1 we yet find wild flowers of great beauty2 the mezereum1 the yellow and white water lily1 and the ,european globe flower4 ,and when these fail us1 the reindeer moss still makes the country habitable for animals and man4 ,we have thus a variety in the laws of vegetable organization remarkably adapted to the variety of climates2 and by this adaptation the globe is clothed with vegetation and peopled with animals from pole to pole1 while without such an adaptation vegetable and animal life must have been confined almost1 or entirely1 to some narrow zone on the earth's surface4 ,we conceive that we see here the evidence of a wise and benevolent intention1 overcoming the varying difficulties1 or employing the varying resources of the elements1 with an inexhaustible fertility of contrivance1 a constant tendency to diffuse life and well being4 #b4 ,one of the great uses to which the vegetable wealth of the earth is applied1 is the support of man1 whom it provides with food and clothing2 and the adaptation of tribes of indigenous vegetables to every climate has1 we cannot but believe1 a reference to the intention that the human race should be diffused over the whole globe4 ,but this end is not answered by indigenous vegetables alone2 and in the variety of vegetables capable of being cultivated with advantage in various countries1 we conceive that we find evidence of an additional adaptation of the scheme of organic life to the system of the elements4 ,the cultivated vegetables1 which form the necessaries or luxuries of human life1 are each confined within limits1 narrow1 when compared with the whole surface of the earth2 yet almost every part of the earth's surface is capable of being abundantly covered with one kind or other of these4 ,when one class fails1 another appears in its place4 ,thus corn1 wine1 and oil1 have each its boundaries4 ,wheat extends through the old ,continent1 from ,england to ,thibet3 but it stops soon in going northwards1 and is not found to succeed in the west of ,scotland4 ,nor does it thrive better in the torrid zone than in the polar regions3 within the tropics1 wheat1 barley and oats are not cultivated1 excepting in situations considerably above the level of the sea3 the inhabitants of those countries have other species of grain1 or other food4 ,the cultivation of the vine succeeds only in countries where the annual temperature is between #ej and #fc degrees4 ,in both hemispheres1 the profitable culture of this plant ceases within #cj degrees of the equator1 unless in elevated situations1 or in islands1 as ,teneriffe4 ,the limits of the cultivation of maize and of olives in ,france are parallel to those which bound the vine and corn in succession to the north4 ,in the north of ,italy1 west of ,milan1 we first meet with the cultivation of rice2 which extends over all the southern part of ,asia1 wherever the land can be at pleasure covered with water4 ,in great part of ,africa millet is one of the principal kinds of grain4 ,cotton is cultivated to latitude #dj in the new world1 but extends to ,astrachan in latitude #df in the old4 ,the sugar cane1 the plantain1 the mulberry1 the betel nut1 the indigo tree1 the tea tree1 repay the labours of the cultivator in ,india and ,china2 and several of these plants have been transferred1 with success1 to ,america and the ,west ,indies4 ,in equinoctial ,america a great number of inhabitants find abundant nourishment on a narrow space cultivated with plantain1 cassava yams1 and maize4 ,the bread fruit tree begins to be cultivated in the ,manillas1 and extends through the ,pacific2 the sago palm in the ,moluccas1 the cabbage tree in the ,pelew islands4 ,in this manner the various tribes of men are provided with vegetable food4 ,some however live on their cattle1 and thus make the produce of the earth only mediately subservient to their wants4 ,thus the ,tartar tribes depend on their flocks and herds for food3 the taste for the flesh of the horse seems to belong to the ,mongols1 ,fins1 and other descendants of the ancient ,scythians3 the locust eaters are found now1 as formerly1 in ,africa4 ,many of these differences depend upon custom1 soil1 and other causes with which we do not here meddle2 but many are connected with climate3 and the variety of the resources which man thus possesses1 arises from the variety of constitution belonging to cultivable vegetables1 through which one is fitted to one range of climate1 and another to another4 ,we conceive that this variety and succession of fitness for cultivation1 shows undoubted marks of a most foreseeing and benevolent design in the ,creator of man and of the world4 #c4 ,by differences in vegetables of the kind we have above described1 the sustentation and gratification of man's physical nature is copiously provided for4 ,but there is another circumstance1 a result of the difference of the native products of different regions1 and therefore a consequence of that difference of climate on which the difference of native products depends1#e which appears to be worthy our notice4 ,the difference of the productions of different countries has a bearing not only upon the physical1 but upon the social and moral condition of man4 ,the intercourse of nations in the way of discovery1 colonization1 commerce2 the study of the natural history1 manners1 institutions of foreign countries2 lead to most numerous and important results4 ,without dwelling upon this subject1 it will probably be allowed that such intercourse has a great influence upon the comforts1 the prosperity1 the arts1 the literature1 the power1 of the nations which thus communicate4 ,now the variety of the productions of different lands supplies both the stimulus to this intercourse1 and the instruments by which it produces its effects4 ,the desire to possess the objects or the knowledge which foreign countries alone can supply1 urges the trader1 the traveller1 the discoverer to compass land and sea2 and the progress of the arts and advantages of civilization consists almost entirely in the cultivation1 the use1 the improvement of that which has been received from other countries4 ,this is the case to a much greater extent than might at first sight be supposed4 ,where man is active as a cultivator1 he scarcely ever bestows much of his care on those vegetables which the land would produce in a state of nature4 ,he does not select some of the plants of the soil and improve them by careful culture1 but1 for the most part1 he expels the native possessors of the land1 and introduces colonies of strangers4 ,thus1 to take the condition of our own part of the globe as an example2 scarcely one of the plants which occupy our fields and gardens is indigenous to the country4 ,the walnut and the peach come to us from ,persia2 the apricot from ,armenia3 from ,asia ,minor1 and ,syria1 we have the cherry tree1 the fig1 the pear1 the pomegranate1 the olive1 the plum1 and the mulberry4 ,the vine which is now cultivated is not a native of ,europe2 it is found wild on the shores of the ,caspian1 in ,armenia and ,caramania4 ,the most useful species of plants1 the cereal vegetables1 are certainly strangers1 though their birth place seems to be an impenetrable secret4 ,some have fancied that barley is found wild on the banks of the ,semara1 in ,tartary1 rye in ,crete1 wheat at ,baschkiros1 in ,asia2 but this is held by the best botanists to be very doubtful4 ,the potatoe1 which has been so widely diffused over the world in modern times1 and has added so much to the resources of life in many countries1 has been found equally difficult to trace back to its wild condition4 ,thus widely are spread the traces of the connexion of the progress of civilization with national intercourse4 ,in our own country a higher state of the arts of life is marked by a more ready and extensive adoption of foreign productions4 ,our fields are covered with herbs from ,holland1 and roots from ,germany2 with ,flemish farming and ,swedish turnips2 our hills with forests of the firs of ,norway4 ,the chestnut and poplar of the south of ,europe adorn our lawns1 and below them flourish shrubs and flowers from every clime in profusion4 ,in the mean time ,arabia improves our horses1 ,china our pigs1 ,north ,america our poultry1 ,spain our sheep1 and almost every country sends its dog4 ,the products which are ingredients in our luxuries1 and which we cannot naturalize at home1 we raise in our colonies2 the cotton1 coffee1 sugar of the east are thus transplanted to the farthest west2 and man lives in the middle of a rich and varied abundance which depends on the facility with which plants and animals and modes of culture can be transferred into lands far removed from those in which nature had placed them4 ,and this plenty and variety of material comforts is the companion and the mark of advantages and improvements in social life1 of progress in art and science1 of activity of thought1 of energy of purpose1 and of ascendancy of character4 ,the differences in the productions of different countries which lead to the habitual intercourse of nations1 and through this to the benefits which we have thus briefly noticed1 do not all depend upon the differences of temperature and climate alone4 ,but these differences are among the causes1 and are some of the most important causes1 or conditions1 of the variety of products2 and thus that arrangement of the earth's form and motion from which the different climates of different places arises1 is connected with the social and moral welfare and advancement of man4 ,we conceive that this connexion1 though there must be to our apprehension much that is indefinite and uncertain in tracing its details1 is yet a point where we may perceive the profound and comprehensive relations established by the counsel and foresight of a wise and good ,creator of the world and of man1 by whom the progress and elevation of the human species was neither uncontemplated nor uncared for4 #d4 ,we have traced1 in the variety of organized beings1 an adaptation to the variety of climates1 a provision for the sustentation of man all over the globe1 and an instrument for the promotion of civilization and many attendant benefits4 ,we have not considered this variety as itself a purpose which we can perceive or understand without reference to some ulterior end4 ,many persons1 however1 and especially those who are already in the habit of referring the world to its ,creator1 will probably see something admirable in itself in this vast variety of created things4 ,there is indeed something well fitted to produce and confirm a reverential wonder1 in these apparently inexhaustible stores of new forms of being and modes of existence2 the fixity of the laws of each class1 its distinctness from all others1 its relations to many4 ,structures and habits and characters are exhibited1 which are connected and distinguished according to every conceivable degree of subordination and analogy1 in their resemblances and in their differences4 ,every new country we explore presents us with new combinations1 where the possible cases seem to be exhausted2 and with new resemblances and differences1 constructed as if to elude what conjecture might have hit upon1 by proceeding from the old ones4 ,most of those who have any large portion of nature brought under their notice in this point of view1 are led to feel that there is1 in such a creation1 a harmony1 a beauty1 and a dignity1 of which the impression is irresistible2 which would have been wanting in any more uniform and limited system such as we might try to imagine2 and which of itself gives to the arrangements by which such a variety on the earth's surface is produced1 the character of well devised means to a worthy end4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,constituents of ,climate4 ,we have spoken of the steady average of the climate at each place1 of the difference of this average at different places1 and of the adaptation of organized beings to this character in the laws of the elements by which they are affected4 ,but this steadiness in the general effect of the elements1 is the result of an extremely complex and extensive machinery4 ,climate1 in its wider sense1 is not one single agent1 but is the aggregate result of a great number of different agents1 governed by different laws1 producing effects of various kinds4 ,the steadiness of this compound agency is not the steadiness of a permanent condition1 like that of a body at rest2 but it is the steadiness of a state of constant change and movement1 succession and alternation1 seeming accident and irregularity4 ,it is a perpetual repose1 combined with a perpetual motion2 an invariable average of most variable quantities4 ,now1 the manner in which such a state of things is produced1 deserves1 we conceive1 a closer consideration4 ,it may be useful to show how the particular laws of the action of each of the elements of climate are so adjusted that they do not disturb this general constancy4 ,the principal constituents of climate are the following3--the temperature of the earth1 of the water1 of the air3--the distribution of the aqueous vapour contained in the atmosphere3--the winds and rains by which the equilibrium of the atmosphere is restored when it is in any degree disturbed4 ,the effects of light1 of electricity1 probably of other causes also1 are no doubt important in the economy of the vegetable world1 but these agencies have not been reduced by scientific inquirers to such laws as to admit of their being treated with the same exactness and certainty which we can obtain in the case of those first mentioned4 ,we shall proceed to trace some of the peculiarities in the laws of the different physical agents which are in action at the earth's surface1 and the manner in which these peculiarities bear upon the general result4 ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to the ,earth4 ,one of the main causes which determine the temperature of each climate is the effect of the sun's rays on the solid mass of the earth4 ,the laws of this operation have been recently made out with considerable exactness1 experimentally by ,leslie1 theoretically by ,fourier1 and by other inquirers4 ,the theoretical inquiries have required the application of very complex and abstruse mathematical investigations2 but the general character of the operation may1 perhaps1 be made easily intelligible4 ,the earth1 like all solid bodies1 transmits into its interior the impressions of heat which it receives at the surface2 and throws off the superfluous heat from its surface into the surrounding space4 ,these processes are called conduction and radiation1 and have each their ascertained mathematical laws4 ,by the laws of conduction1 the daily impressions of heat which the earth receives1 follow each other into the interior of the mass1 like the waves which start from the edge of a canal2#f and like them1 become more and more faint as they proceed1 till they melt into the general level of the internal temperature4 ,the heat thus transmitted is accumulated in the interior of the earth1 as in a reservoir1 and flows from one part to another of this reservoir4 ,the parts of the earth near the equator are more heated by the sun than other parts1 and on this account there is a perpetual internal conduction of heat from the equatorial to other parts of the sphere4 ,and as all parts of the surface throw off heat by radiation1 in the polar regions1 where the surface receives little in return from the sun1 a constant waste is produced4 ,there is thus from the polar parts a perpetual dispersion of heat in the surrounding space1 which is supplied by a perpetual internal flow from the equator towards each pole4 ,here1 then1 is a kind of circulation of heat2 and the quantity and rapidity of this circulation1 determine the quantity of heat in the solid part of the earth1 and in each portion of it2 and through this1 the mean temperature belonging to each point on its surface4 ,if the earth conducted heat more rapidly than it does1 the inequalities of temperature would be more quickly balanced1 and the temperature of the ground 7below the reach of annual and diurnal variations7 would differ less than it does4 ,if the surface radiated more rapidly than it does1 the flow of heat from the polar regions would increase1 and the temperature of the interior of the globe would find a lower level2 the differences of temperature in different latitudes would increase1 but the mean temperature of the globe would diminish4 ,there is nothing which1 so far as we can perceive1 determines necessarily1 either the conducting or the radiating power of the earth to its present value4 ,the measures of such powers1 in different substances1 differ very widely4 ,if the earth were a globe of pure iron1 it would conduct heat1 probably1 twenty times as well as it does2 if its surface were polished iron1 it would only radiate one-sixth as much as it does4 ,changes in the amount of the conduction and radiation far less than these1 would1 probably1 subvert the whole thermal constitution of the earth1 and make it uninhabitable by any of its present vegetable1 or animal tenants4 ,one of the results of the laws of heat1 as they exist in the globe1 is1 that1 by their action1 the thermal state tends to a limiting condition1 which1 once reached1 remains constant and steady1 as it now is4 ,the oscillations or excursions from the mean condition1 produced by any temporary cause1 are rapidly suppressed2 the deviations of seasons from their usual standard produce only a small and transient effect4 ,the impression of an extremely hot day upon the ground melts almost immediately into the average internal heat4 ,the effect of a hot summer1 in like manner1 is soon lost in its progress through the globe4 ,if this were otherwise1 if the inequalities and oscillations of heat went on1 through the interior of the earth1 retaining the same value1 or becoming larger and larger1 we might have the extreme heats or colds of one place making their appearance at another place after a long interval2 like a conflagration which creeps along a street and bursts out at a point remote from its origin4 ,it appears1 therefore1 that both the present differences of climate1 and the steadiness of the average at each place1 depend upon the form of the present laws of heat1 and on the arbitrary magnitudes which determine the rate of conduction and radiation4 ,the laws are such as to secure us from increasing and destructive inequalities of heat2 the arbitrary magnitudes are elements to which the organic world is adjusted4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to ,water4 ,the manner in which heat is transmitted through fluids is altogether different from the mode in which it passes through solids2 and hence the waters of the earth's surface produce peculiar effects upon its condition as to temperature4 ,moreover1 water is susceptible of evaporation in a degree depending upon the increase of heat2 and in consequence of this property it has most extensive and important functions to discharge in the economy of nature4 ,we will consider some of the offices of this fluid4 #a4 ,heat is communicated through water1 not by being conducted from one part of the fluid to another1 as in solid bodies1 but 7at least principally7 by being carried with the parts of the fluid by means of an intestine motion4 ,water expands and becomes lighter by heat1 and1 therefore1 if the upper parts be cooled below the subjacent temperature1 this upper portion will become heavier than that below1 bulk for bulk1 and will descend through it1 while the lower portion rises to take the upper place4 ,in this manner the colder parts descend1 and the warmer parts ascend by contrary currents1 and by their interchange and mixture1 reduce the whole to a temperature at least as low as that of the surface4 ,and this equalization of temperature by means of such currents1 is an operation of a much more rapid nature than the slow motion of conduction by which heat creeps through a solid body4 ,hence1 alternations of heat and cold1 as day and night1 summer and winter1 produce in water1 inequalities of temperature much smaller than those which occur in a solid body4 ,the heat communicated is less1 for transparent fluids imbibe heat very slowly2 and the cold impressed on the surface is soon diffused through the mass by internal circulation4 ,hence it follows that the ocean1 which covers so large a portion of the earth1 and affects the temperature of the whole surface by its influence1 produces the effect of making the alternations of heat and cold much less violent than they would be if it were absent4 ,the different temperatures of its upper and lower parts produce a current which draws the seas1 and by means of the seas1 the air1 towards the mean temperature4 ,and this kind of circulation is produced1 not only between the upper and lower parts1 but also between distant tracts of the ocean4 ,the great ,gulf ,stream which rushes out of the ,gulf of ,mexico1 and runs across the ,atlantic to the western shores of ,europe1 carries with it a portion of the tropical heat into northern regions3 and the returning current which descends along the coast of ,africa1 tends to cool the parts nearer the equator4 ,great as the difference of temperature is in different climates1 it would be still greater if there were not this equalizing and moderating power exerted constantly over the whole surface4 ,without this influence1 it is probable that the two polar portions of the earth1 which are locked in perpetual ice and snow1 and almost destitute of life1 would be much increased4 ,we find an illustration of this effect of the ocean on temperature1 in the peculiarities of the climates of maritime tracts and islands4 ,the climate of such portions of the earth1 corrected in some measure by the temperature of the neighbouring sea1 is more equable than that of places in the same latitudes differently situated4 ,london is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than ,paris4 #b4 ,water expands by heat and contracts by cold1 as has been already said2 and in consequence of this property1 the coldest portions of the fluid generally occupy the lower parts4 ,the continued progress of cold produces congelation4 ,if1 therefore1 the law just mentioned had been strictly true1 the lower parts of water would have been first frozen2 and being once frozen1 hardly any heat applied at the surface could have melted them1 for the warm fluid could not have descended through the colder parts4 ,this is so far the case1 that in a vessel containing ice at the bottom and water at the top1 ,rumford made the upper fluid boil without thawing the congealed cake below4 ,now1 a law of water with respect to heat operating in this manner1 would have been very inconvenient if it had obtained in our lakes and seas4 ,they would all have had a bed of ice1 increasing with every occasion1 till the whole was frozen4 ,we could have had no bodies of water1 except such pools on the surfaces of these icy reservoirs as the summer sun could thaw1 to be again frozen to the bottom with the first frosty night4 ,the law of the regular contraction of water by cold till it became ice1 would1 therefore1 be destructive of all the utility of our seas and lakes4 ,how is this inconvenience obviated8 ,it is obviated by a modification of the law which takes place when the temperature approaches this limit4 ,water contracts by the increase of cold1 till we come near the freezing temperature2 but then1 by a further increase of cold1 it contracts no more1 but expands till the point at which it becomes ice4 ,it contracts in cooling down to #dj degrees of ,fahrenheit's thermometer2 in cooling further it expands1 and when cooled to #cb degrees1 it freezes4 ,hence1 the greatest density of the fluid is at #dj degrees1 and water of this temperature1 or near it1 will lie at the bottom with cooler water or with ice floating above it4 ,however much the surface be cooled1 water colder than #dj cannot descend to displace water warmer than itself4 ,hence we can never have ice formed at the bottom of deep water4 ,in approaching the freezing point1 the coldest water will rise to the surface1 and the congelation will take place there2 and the ice so formed will remain at the surface1 exposed to the warmth of the sunbeams and the air1 and will not survive any long continuance of such action4 ,another peculiarity in the laws which regulate the action of cold on water is1 that in the very act of freezing a further sudden and considerable expansion takes place4 ,many persons will have known instances of vessels burst by the freezing of water in them4 ,the consequence of this expansion is1 that the specific gravity of ice is less than that of water of any temperature2 and it therefore always floats in the unfrozen fluid4 ,if this expansion of crystallization did not exist1 ice would float in water which was below forty degrees1 but would sink when the fluid was above that temperature3 as the case is1 it floats under all circumstances4 ,the icy remnants of the effects of winter1 which the river carries down its stream1 are visible on its surface till they melt away2 and the icebergs which are detached from the shores of the polar seas1 drift along1 exposed to the sun and air1 as well as to the water in which they are immersed4 ,these laws of the effect of temperature on water are truly remarkable in their adaptation to the beneficial course of things at the earth's surface4 ,water contracts by cold2 it thus equalizes the temperature of various times and places2 but if its contraction were continued all the way to the freezing point1 it would bind a great part of the earth in fetters of ice4 ,the contraction then is here replaced by expansion1 in a manner which but slightly modifies the former effects1 while it completely obviates the bad consequences4 ,the further expansion which takes place at the point of freezing1 still further facilitates the rapid removal of the icy chains1 in which parts of the earth's surface are at certain seasons bound4 ,we do not know how far these laws of expansion are connected with and depend on more remote and general properties of this fluid1 or of all fluids4 ,but we have no reason to believe that1 by whatever means they operate1 they are not laws selected from among other laws which might exist1 as in fact for other fluids other laws do exist4 ,and we have all the evidence1 which the most remarkable furtherance of important purposes can give us1 that they are selected1 and selected with a beneficial design4 #c4 ,as water becomes ice by cold1 it becomes steam by heat4 ,in common language1 steam is the name given to the vapour of hot water2 but in fact a vapour or steam rises from water at all temperatures1 however low1 and even from ice4 ,the expansive force of this vapour increases rapidly as the heat increases2 so that when we reach the heat of boiling water1 it operates in a far more striking manner than when it is colder2 but in all cases the surface of water is covered with an atmosphere of aqueous vapour1 the pressure or tension of which is limited by the temperature of the water4 ,to each degree of pressure in steam there is a constituent temperature corresponding4 ,if the surface of water is not pressed by vapour with the force thus corresponding to its temperature1 an immediate evaporation will supply the deficiency4 ,we can compare the tension of such vapour with that of our common atmosphere2 the pressure of the latter is measured by the barometrical column1 about thirty inches of mercury2 that of watery vapour is equal to one inch of mercury at the constituent temperature of #hj degrees1 and to one-fifth of an inch1 at the temperature of #cb degrees4 ,hence1 if that part of the atmosphere which consists of common air were annihilated1 there would still remain an atmosphere of aqueous vapour1 arising from the waters and moist parts of the earth2 and in the existing state of things this vapour rises in the atmosphere of dry air4 ,its distribution and effects are materially influenced by the vehicle in which it is thus carried1 as we shall hereafter notice2 but at present we have to observe the exceeding utility of water in this shape4 ,we remark how suitable and indispensable to the well-being of the creation it is1 that the fluid should possess the property of assuming such a form under such circumstances4 ,the moisture which floats in the atmosphere is of most essential use to vegetable life4#g 8,the leaves of living plants appear to act upon this vapour in its elastic form1 and to absorb it4 ,some vegetables increase in weight from this cause when suspended in the atmosphere and unconnected with the soil1 as the house-leek and the aloe4 ,in very intense heats1 and when the soil is dry1 the life of plants seems to be preserved by the absorbent power of their leaves40 ,it follows from what has already been said1 that1 with an increasing heat of the atmosphere1 an increasing quantity of vapour will rise into it1 if supplied from any quarter4 ,hence it appears that aqueous vapour is most abundant in the atmosphere when it is most needed for the purposes of life2 and that when other sources of moisture are cut off1 this is most copious4 #d4 ,clouds are produced by aqueous vapour when it returns to the state of water4 ,this process is condensation1 the reverse of evaporation4 ,when vapour exists in the atmosphere1 if in any manner the temperature becomes lower than the constituent temperature1 requisite for the maintenance of the vapoury state1 some of the steam will be condensed and will become water4 ,it is in this manner that the curl of steam from the spout of a boiling tea-kettle becomes visible1 being cooled down as it rushes to the air4 ,the steam condenses into a fine watery powder1 which is carried about by the little aerial currents4 ,clouds are of the same nature with such curls1 the condensation being generally produced when air1 charged with aqueous vapour1 is mixed with a colder current1 or has its temperature diminished in any other manner4 ,clouds1 while they retain that shape1 are of the most essential use to vegetable and animal life4 ,they moderate the fervour of the sun1 in a manner agreeable1 to a greater or less degree1 in all climates1 and grateful no less to vegetables than to animals4 ,duhamel says that plants grow more during a week of cloudy weather than a month of dry and hot4 ,it has been observed that vegetables are far more refreshed by being watered in cloudy than in clear weather4 ,in the latter case1 probably the supply of fluid is too rapidly carried off by evaporation4 ,clouds also moderate the alternations of temperature1 by checking the radiation from the earth4 ,the coldest nights are those which occur under a cloudless winter sky4 ,the uses of clouds1 therefore1 in this stage of their history1 are by no means inconsiderable1 and seem to indicate to us that the laws of their formation were constructed with a view to the purposes of organized life4 #e4 ,clouds produce rain4 ,in the formation of a cloud the precipitation of moisture probably forms a fine watery powder1 which remains suspended in the air in consequence of the minuteness of its particles3 but if from any cause the precipitation is collected in larger portions1 and becomes drops1 these descend by their weight and produce a shower4 ,however rain is formed1 it is one of the consequences of the capacity of evaporation and condensation which belongs to water1 and its uses are the result of the laws of those processes4 ,its uses to plants are too obvious and too numerous to be described4 ,it is evident that on its quantity and distribution depend in a great measure the prosperity of the vegetable kingdom3 and different climates are fitted for different productions1 no less by the relations of dry weather and showers1 than by those of hot and cold4 #f4 ,returning back still further in the changes which cold can produce on water1 we come to snow and ice3 snow being apparently frozen vapour1 aggregated by a confused action of crystalline laws2 and ice being water in its fluid state1 solidified by the same crystalline forces4 ,the impression of these agents on the animal feelings is generally unpleasant1 and we are in the habit of considering them as symptoms of the power of winter to interrupt that state of the elements in which they are subservient to life4 ,yet1 even in this form1 they are not without their uses4#h 8,snow and ice are bad conductors of cold2 and when the ground is covered with snow1 or the surface of the soil or of water is frozen1 the roots or bulbs of plants beneath are protected by the congealed water from the influence of the atmosphere1 the temperature of which1 in northern winters1 is usually very much below the freezing point2 and this water becomes the first nourishment of the plant in early spring4 ,the expansion of water during its congelation1 at which time its volume increases one-twelfth1 and its contraction in bulk during a thaw1 tend to pulverize the soil1 to separate its parts from each other1 and to make it more permeable to the influence of the air40 ,in consequence of the same slowness in the conduction of heat which snow thus possesses1 the arctic traveller finds his bed of snow of no intolerable coldness2 the ,esquimaux is sheltered from the inclemency of the season in his snow hut1 and travels rapidly and agreeably over the frozen surface of the sea4 ,the uses of those arrangements1 which at first appear productive only of pain and inconvenience1 are well suited to give confidence and hope to our researches for such usefulness in every part of the creation4 ,they have thus a peculiar value in adding connexion and universality to our perception of beneficial design4 #g4 ,there is a peculiar circumstance still to be noticed in the changes from ice to water and from water to steam4 ,these changes take place at a particular and invariable degree of heat2 yet they do not take place suddenly when we increase the heat to this degree4 ,this is a very curious arrangement4 ,the temperature makes a stand1 as it were1 at the point where thaw1 and where boiling take place4 ,it is necessary to apply a considerable quantity of heat to produce these effects2 all which heat disappears1 or becomes latent1 as it is called4 ,we cannot raise the temperature of a thawing mass of ice till we have thawed the whole4 ,we cannot raise the temperature of boiling water1 or of steam rising from it1 till we have converted all the water into steam4 ,any heat that we apply while these changes are going on is absorbed in producing the changes4 ,the consequences of this property of latent heat are very important4 ,it is on this account that the changes now spoken of necessarily occupy a considerable time4 ,each part in succession must have a proper degree of heat applied to it4 ,if it were otherwise1 thaw and evaporation must be instantaneous3 at the first touch of warmth1 all the snow which lies on the roofs of our houses would descend like a waterspout into the streets3 all that which rests on the ground would rush like an inundation into the water courses4 ,the hut of the ,esquimaux would vanish like a house in a pantomime3 the icy floor of the river would be gone without giving any warning to the skaiter or the traveller3 and when1 in heating our water1 we reached the boiling point1 the whole fluid would 8flash into steam10 7to use the expression of engineers17 and dissipate itself in the atmosphere1 or settle in dew on the neighbouring objects4 ,it is obviously necessary for the purposes of human life1 that these changes should be of a more gradual and manageable kind than such as we have now described4 ,yet this gradual progress of freezing and thawing1 of evaporation and condensation1 is produced1 so far as we can discover1 by a particular contrivance4 ,like the freezing of water from the top1 or the floating of ice1 the moderation of the rate of these changes seems to be the result of a violation of a law3 that is1 the simple rule regarding the effects of change of temperature1 which at first sight appears to be the law1 and which1 from its simplicity1 would seem to us the most obvious laws for these as well as other cases1 is modified at certain critical points1 so as to produce these advantageous effects3--why may we not say in order to produce such effects8 #h4 ,another office of water which it discharges by means of its relations to heat1 is that of supplying our springs4 ,there can be no doubt that the old hypotheses which represent springs as drawing their supplies from large subterranean reservoirs of water1 or from the sea by a process of subterraneous filtration1 are erroneous and untenable4 ,the quantity of evaporation from water and from wet ground is found to be amply sufficient to supply the requisite drain4 ,mr4 ,dalton calculated#i that the quantity of rain which falls in ,england is thirty-six inches a year4 ,of this he reckoned that thirteen inches flow off to the sea by the rivers1 and that the remaining twenty-three inches are raised again from the ground by evaporation4 ,the thirteen inches of water are of course supplied by evaporation from the sea1 and are carried back to the land through the atmosphere4 ,vapour is perpetually rising from the ocean1 and is condensed in the hills and high lands1 and through their pores and crevices descends1 till it is deflected1 collected1 and conducted out to the bay1 by some stratum or channel which is watertight4 ,the condensation which takes place in the higher parts of the country1 may easily be recognised in the mists and rains which are the frequent occupants of such regions4 ,the coldness of the atmosphere and other causes precipitate the moisture in clouds and showers1 and in the former as well as in the latter shape1 it is condensed and absorbed by the cool ground4 ,thus a perpetual and compound circulation of the waters is kept up2 a narrower circle between the evaporation and precipitation of the land itself1 the rivers and streams only occasionally and partially forming a portion of the circuit2 and a wider interchange between the sea and the lands which feed the springs1 the water ascending perpetually by a thousand currents through the air1 and descending by the gradually converging branches of the rivers1 till it is again returned into the great reservoir of the ocean4 ,in every country1 these two portions of the aqueous circulation have their regular1 and nearly constant1 proportion4 ,in this kingdom the relative quantities are1 as we have said1 twenty-three and thirteen4 ,a due distribution of these circulating fluids in each country appears to be necessary to its organic health2 to the habits of vegetables1 and of man4 ,we have every reason to believe that it is kept up from year to year as steadily as the circulation of the blood in the veins and arteries of man4 ,it is maintained by a machinery very different1 indeed1 from that of the human system1 but apparently as well1 and1 therefore1 we may say as clearly1 as that1 adapted to its purposes4 ,by this machinery1 we have a connexion established between the atmospheric changes of remote countries4 ,rains in ,england are often introduced by a south-east wind4 8,vapour brought to us by such a wind1 must have been generated in countries to the south and east of our island4 ,it is1 therefore1 probably1 in the extensive valleys watered by the ,meuse1 the ,moselle1 and the ,rhine1 if not from the more distant ,elbe1 with the ,oder and the ,weser1 that the water rises1 in the midst of sunshine1 which is soon afterwards to form our clouds1 and pour down our thunder-showers40 8,drought and sunshine in one part of ,europe may be as necessary to the production of a wet season in another1 as it is on the great scale of the continents of ,africa and ,south ,america2 where the plains1 during one-half the year1 are burnt up1 to feed the springs of the mountain2 which in their turn contribute to inundate the fertile valleys and prepare them for a luxuriant vegetation40#aj ,the properties of water which regard heat make one vast watering-engine of the atmosphere4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,the ,laws of ,heat with respect to ,air4 ,we have seen in the preceding chapter how many and how important are the offices discharged by the aqueous part of the atmosphere4 ,the aqueous part is1 however1 a very small part only2 it may vary1 perhaps1 from less than #a-ajjth to nearly as much as #a-bjth in weight1 of the whole aerial ocean4 ,we have to offer some considerations with regard to the remainder of the mass4 #a4 ,in the first place we may observe that the aerial atmosphere is necessary as a vehicle for the aqueous vapour4 ,salutary as is the operation of this last element to the whole organized creation1 it is a substance which would not have answered its purposes if it had been administered pure4 ,it requires to be diluted and associated with dry air1 to make it serviceable4 ,a little consideration will show this4 ,we can suppose the earth with no atmosphere except the vapour which arises from its watery parts3 and if we suppose also the equatorial parts of the globe to be hot1 and the polar parts cold1 we may easily see what would be the consequence4 ,the waters at the equator1 and near the equator1 would produce steam of greater elasticity1 rarity1 and temperature1 than that which occupies the regions further polewards2 and such steam1 as it came in contact with the colder vapour of a higher latitude1 would be precipitated into the form of water4 ,hence there would be a perpetual current of steam from the equatorial parts towards each pole1 which would be condensed1 would fall to the surface1 and flow back to the equator in the form of fluid4 ,we should have a circulation which might be regarded as a species of regulated distillation4#aa ,on a globe so constituted1 the sky of the equatorial zone would be perpetually cloudless2 but in all other latitudes we should have an uninterrupted shroud of clouds1 fogs1 rains1 and1 near the poles1 a continual fall of snow4 ,this would be balanced by a constant flow of the currents of the ocean from each pole towards the equator4 ,we should have an excessive circulation of moisture1 but no sunshine1 and probably only minute changes in the intensity and appearances of one eternal drizzle or shower4 ,it is plain that this state of things would but ill answer the ends of vegetable and animal life3 so that even if the lungs of animals and the leaves of plants were so constructed as to breathe steam instead of air1 an atmosphere of unmixed steam would deprive those creatures of most of the other external conditions of their well being4 ,the real state of things which we enjoy1 the steam being mixed in our breath and in our sky in a moderate quantity1 gives rise to results very different from those which have been described4 ,the machinery by which these results are produced is not a little curious4 ,it is in fact the machinery of the weather1 and therefore the reader will not be surprised to find it both complex and apparently uncertain in its working4 ,at the same time some of the general principles which govern it seem now to be pretty well made out1 and they offer no small evidence of beneficent arrangement4 ,besides our atmosphere of aqueous vapour1 we have another and far larger atmosphere of common air2 a permanently elastic fluid1 that is1 one which is not condensed into a liquid form by pressure or cold1 such as it is exposed to in the order of natural events4 ,the pressure of the dry air is about twenty-nine and a half inches of mercury2 that of the watery vapour1 perhaps1 half an inch4 ,now if we had the earth quite dry1 and covered with an atmosphere of dry air1 we can trace in a great measure what would be the results1 supposing still the equatorial zone to be hot1 and the temperature of the surface to decrease perpetually as we advance into higher latitudes4 ,the air at the equator would be rarefied by the heat1 and would be perpetually displaced below by the denser portions which belonged to cooler latitudes4 ,we should have a current of air from the equator to the poles in the higher regions of the atmosphere1 and at the surface a returning current setting towards the equator to fill up the void so created4 ,such aerial currents1 combined with the rotatory motion of the earth1 would produce oblique winds2 and we have in fact instances of winds so produced1 in the trade winds1 which between the tropics blow constantly from the quarters between east and north1 and are1 we know1 balanced by opposite currents in higher regions4 ,the effect of a heated surface of land would be the same as that of the heated zone of the equator1 and would attract to it a sea breeze during the day time1 a phenomenon1 as we also know1 of perpetual occurrence4 ,now a mass of dry air of such a character as this1 is by far the dominant part of our atmosphere2 and hence carries with it in its motions the thinner and smaller eddies of aqueous vapour4 ,the latter fluid may be considered as permeating and moving in the interstices of the former1 as a spring of water flows through a sand rock4#ab ,the lower current of air is1 as has been said1 directed towards the equator1 and hence it resists the motion of the steam1 the tendency of which is in the opposite direction2 and prevents or much retards that continual flow of hot vapour into colder regions1 by which a constant precipitation would take place in the latter situations4 ,if1 in this state of things1 the flow of the current of air1 which blows from any colder place into a warmer region1 be retarded or stopped1 the aqueous vapours will now be able to make their way to the colder point1 where they will be precipitated in clouds or showers4 ,thus1 in the lower part of the atmosphere1 there are tendencies to a current of air in one direction1 and a current of vapour in the opposite2 and these tendencies exist in the average weather of places situated at a moderate distance from the equator4 ,the air tends from the colder to the warmer parts1 the vapour from the warmer to the colder4 ,the various distribution of land and sea1 and many other causes make these currents far from simple4 ,but in general the air current predominates1 and keeps the skies clear and the moisture dissolved4 ,occasional and irregular occurrences disturb this predominance2 the moisture is then precipitated1 the skies are clouded1 and the clouds may descend in copious rains4 ,these alternations of fair weather and showers1 appear to be much more favourable to vegetable and animal life than any uniform course of weather could have been4 ,to produce this variety1 we have two antagonist forces1 by the struggle of which such changes occur4 ,steam and air1 two transparent and elastic fluids1 expansible by heat1 are in many respects and properties very like each other4 ,yet1 the same heat similarly applied to the globe1 produces at the surface currents of these fluids1 tending in opposite directions4 ,and these currents mix and balance1 conspire and interfere1 so that our trees and fields have alternately water and sunshine2 our fruits and grain are successively developed and matured4 ,why should such laws of heat and elastic fluids so obtain1 and be so combined8 ,is it not in order that they may be fit for such offices8 ,there is here an arrangement1 which no chance could have produced4 ,the details of this apparatus may be beyond our power of tracing2 its springs may be out of our sight4 ,such circumstances do not make it the less a curious and beautiful contrivance3 they need not prevent our recognizing the skill and benevolence which we can discover4 #b4 ,but we have not yet done with the machinery of the weather4 ,in ascending from the earth's surface through the atmosphere1 we find a remarkable difference in the heat and in the pressure of the air4 ,it becomes much colder1 and much lighter2 men's feelings tell them this2 and the thermometer and barometer confirm these indications4 ,and here again we find something to remark4 ,in both the simple atmospheres of which we have spoken1 the one of air and the one of steam1 the property which we have mentioned must exist4 ,in each of them1 both the temperature and the tension would diminish in ascending4 ,but they would diminish at very different rates4 ,the temperature1 for instance1 would decrease much more rapidly for the same height in dry air than in steam4 ,if we begin with a temperature of #hj degrees at the surface1 on ascending five thousand feet the steam is still #gf degrees1 the air is only #fd degrees2 at ten thousand feet1 the steam is #gc degrees1 the air #dh degrees2 at fifteen thousand feet1 steam is at #gj degrees1 air has fallen below the freezing point to #ca degrees4 ,hence these two atmospheres cannot exist together without modifying one another3 one must heat or cool the other1 so that the coincident parts may be of the same temperature4 ,this accordingly does take place1 and this effect influences very greatly the constitution of the atmosphere4 ,for the most part1 the steam is compelled to accommodate itself to the temperature of the air1 the latter being of much the greater bulk4 ,but if the upper parts of the aqueous vapour be cooled down to the temperature of the air1 they will not by any means exert on the lower parts of the same vapour so great a pressure as the gaseous form of these could bear4 ,hence1 there will be a deficiency of moisture in the lower part of the atmosphere1 and if water exist there1 it will rise by evaporation1 the surface feeling an insufficient tension2 and there will thus be a fresh supply of vapour upwards4 ,as1 however1 the upper regions already contain as much as their temperature will support in the state of gas1 a precipitation will now take place1 and the fluid thus formed will descend till it arrives in a lower region1 where the tension and temperature are again adapted to its evaporation4 ,thus1 we can have no equilibrium in such an atmosphere1 but a perpetual circulation of vapour between its upper and lower parts4 ,the currents of air which move about in different directions1 at different altitudes1 will be differently charged with moisture1 and as they touch and mingle1 lines of cloud are formed1 which grow and join1 and are spread out in floors1 or rolled together in piles4 ,these1 again1 by an additional accession of humidity1 are formed into drops1 and descend in showers into the lower regions1 and if not evaporated in their fall1 reach the surface of the earth4 ,the varying occurrences thus produced1 tend to multiply and extend their own variety4 ,the ascending streams of vapour carry with them that latent heat belonging to their gaseous state1 which1 when they are condensed1 they give out as sensible heat4 ,they thus raise the temperature of the upper regions of air1 and occasion changes in the pressure and motion of its currents4 ,the clouds1 again1 by shading the surface of the earth from the sun1 diminish the evaporation by which their own substance is supplied1 and the heating effects by which currents are caused4 ,even the mere mechanical effects of the currents of fluid on the distribution of its own pressure1 and the dynamical conditions of its motion1 are in a high degree abstruse in their principles and complex in their results4 ,it need not be wondered1 therefore1 if the study of this subject is very difficult and entangled1 and our knowledge1 after all1 very imperfect4 ,in the middle of all this apparent confusion1 however1 we can see much that we can understand4 ,and1 among other things1 we may notice some of the consequences of the difference of the laws of temperature followed by steam and by air in going upwards4 ,one important result is that the atmosphere is much drier1 near the surface1 than it would have been if the laws of density and temperature had been the same for both gases4 ,if this had been so1 the air would always have been saturated with vapour4 ,it would have contained as much as the existing temperature could support1 and the slightest cooling of any object would have covered it with a watery film like dew4 ,as it is1 the air contains much less than its full quantity of vapour3 we may often cool an object ten1 twenty1 or thirty degrees without obtaining a deposition of water upon it1 or reaching the dew-point1 as it is called4 ,to have had such a dripping state of the atmosphere as the former arrangement would have produced1 would have been inconvenient1 and so far as we can judge1 unsuited to vegetables as well as animals4 ,no evaporation from the surface of either could have taken place under such conditions4 ,the sizes and forms of clouds appear to depend on the same circumstance1 of the air not being saturated with moisture4 ,and it is seemingly much better that clouds should be comparatively small and well defined1 as they are1 than that they should fill vast depths of the atmosphere with a thin mist1 which would have been the consequence of the imaginary condition of things just mentioned4 ,here then we have another remarkable exhibition of two laws1 in two nearly similar gaseous fluids1 producing effects alike in kind1 but different in degree1 and by the play of their difference giving rise to a new set of results1 peculiar in their nature and beneficial in their tendency4 ,the form of the laws of air and of steam with regard to heat might1 so far as we can see1 have been more similar1 or more dissimilar1 than it now is3 the rate of each law might have had a different amount from its present one1 so as quite to alter the relation of the two4 ,by the laws having such forms and such rates as they have1 effects are produced1 some of which we can distinctly perceive to be beneficial4 ,perhaps most persons will feel a strong persuasion1 that if we understood the operation of these laws more distinctly1 we should see still more clearly the beneficial tendency of these effects1 and should probably discover others1 at present concealed in the apparent perplexity of the subject4 #c4 ,from what has been said1 we may see1 in a general way1 both the causes and the effects of winds4 ,they arise from any disturbance by temperature1 motion1 pressure1 c4 of the equilibrium of the atmosphere1 and are the efforts of nature to restore the balance4 ,their office in the economy of nature is to carry heat and moisture from one tract to another1 and they are the great agents in the distribution of temperature and the changes of weather4 ,other purposes might easily be ascribed to them in the business of the vegetable and animal kingdoms1 and in the arts of human life1 of which we shall not here treat4 ,that character in which we now consider them1 that of the machinery of atmospheric changes1 and thus1 immediately or remotely1 the instruments of atmospheric influences1 cannot well be refused them by any person4 #d4 ,there is still one reflexion which ought not to be omitted4 ,all the changes of the weather1 even the most violent tempests and torrents of rain1 may be considered as oscillations about the mean or average condition belonging to each place4 ,all these oscillations are limited and transient2 the storm spends its fury1 the inundation passes off1 the sky clears1 the calmer course of nature succeeds4 ,in the forces which produce this derangement1 there is a provision for making it short and moderate4 ,the oscillation stops of itself1 like the rolling of a ship1 when no longer impelled by the wind4 ,now1 why should this be so8 ,why should the oscillations1 produced by the conflict of so many laws1 seemingly quite unconnected with each other1 be of this converging and subsiding character8 ,would it be so under all arrangements8 ,is it a matter of mechanical necessity that disturbance must end in the restoration of the medium condition8 ,by no means4 ,there may be an utter subversion of the equilibrium4 ,the ship may roll too far1 and may capsize4 ,the oscillations may go on1 becoming larger and larger1 till all trace of the original condition is lost2 till new forces of inequality and disturbance are brought into play2 and disorder and irregularity may succeed1 without apparent limit or check in its own nature1 like the spread of a conflagration in a city4 ,this is a possibility in any combination of mechanical forces2 why does it not happen in the one now before us8 ,by what good fortune are the powers of heat1 of water1 of steam1 of air1 the effects of the earth's annual and diurnal motions1 and probably other causes1 so adjusted1 that through all their struggles the elemental world goes on1 upon the whole1 so quietly and steadily8 ,why is the whole fabric of the weather never utterly deranged1 its balance lost irrecoverably8 ,why is there not an eternal conflict1 such as the poets imagine to take place in their chaos8 8,for ,hot1 ,cold1 ,moist1 and ,dry1 four champions fierce1 ,strive here for mastery1 and to battle bring ,their embryon atoms3-- to whom these most adhere1 ,he rules a moment3 ,chaos umpire sits1 ,and by decision more embroils the fray40--,par4 ,lost4 b4 ii4 ,a state of things something like that which ,milton here seems to have imagined1 is1 so far as we know1 not mechanically impossible4 ,it might have continued to obtain1 if ,hot and ,cold1 and ,moist and ,dry had not been compelled to 8run into their places40 ,it will be hereafter seen1 that in the comparatively simple problem of the solar system1 a number of very peculiar adjustments were requisite1 in order that the system might retain a permanent form1 in order that its motions might have their cycles1 its perturbations their limits and period4 ,the problem of the continuation of such laws and materials as enter into the constitution of the atmosphere1 is one manifestly of much greater complexity1 and indeed to us probably of insurmountable difficulty as a mechanical problem4 ,but all that investigation and analogy teach us1 tends to show that it will resemble the other problem in the nature of its result2 and that certain relations of its data1 and of the laws of its elements1 are necessary requisites1 for securing the stability of its mean condition1 and for giving a small and periodical character to its deviations from such a condition4 ,it would then be probable1 from this reflection alone1 that in determining the quantity and the law and intensity of the forces1 of earth1 water1 air1 and heat1 the same regard has been shown to the permanency and stability of the terrestrial system1 which may be traced in the adjustment of the masses1 distances1 positions1 and motions of the bodies of the celestial machine4 ,this permanency appears to be1 of itself1 a suitable object of contrivance4 ,the purpose for which the world was made could be answered only by its being preserved4 ,but it has appeared1 from the preceding part of this and the former chapter1 that this permanence is a permanence of a state of things adapted by the most remarkable and multiplied combinations to the well-being of man1 of animals1 of vegetables4 ,the adjustments and conditions therefore1 beyond the reach of our investigation as they are1 by which its permanence is secured1 must be conceived as fitted to add1 in each of the instances above adduced1 to the admiration which the several manifestations of ,intelligent ,beneficence are calculated to excite4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the ,laws of ,electricity4 ,electricity undoubtedly exists in the atmosphere in most states of the air2 but we know very imperfectly the laws of this agent1 and are still more ignorant of its atmospheric operation4 ,the present state of science does not therefore enable us to perceive those adaptations of its laws to its uses1 which we can discover in those cases where the laws and the uses are both of them more apparent4 ,we can1 however1 easily make out that electrical agency plays a very considerable part among the clouds1 in their usual conditions and changes4 ,this may be easily shown by ,franklin's experiment of the electrical kite4 ,the clouds are sometimes positively1 sometimes negatively1 charged1 and the rain which descends from them offers also indications of one or other kind of electricity4 ,the changes of wind and alterations of the form of the clouds are generally accompanied with changes in these electrical indications4 ,every one knows that a thunder-cloud is strongly charged with the electric fluid1 7if it be a fluid17 and that the stroke of the lightning is an electrical discharge4 ,we may add that it appears1 by recent experiments1 that a transfer of electricity between plants and the atmosphere is perpetually going on during the process of vegetation4 ,we cannot trace very exactly the precise circumstances1 in the occurrences of the atmospheric regions1 which depend on the influence of the laws of electricity3 but we are tolerably certain1 from what has been already noticed1 that if these laws did not exist1 or were very different from what they now are1 the action of the clouds and winds1 and the course of vegetation1 would also be other than it now is4 ,it is therefore at any rate very probable that electricity has its appointed and important purposes in the economy of the atmosphere4 ,and this being so1 we may see a use in the thunder-storm and the stroke of the lightning4 ,these violent events are1 with regard to the electricity of the atmosphere1 what winds are with regard to heat and moisture4 ,they restore the equilibrium where it has been dissolved1 and carry the fluid from places where it is superfluous1 to others where it is deficient4 ,we are so constituted1 however1 that these crises impress almost every one with a feeling of awe4 ,the deep lowering gloom of the thunder-cloud1 the overwhelming burst of the explosion1 the flash from which the steadiest eye shrinks1 and the irresistible arrow of the lightning which no earthly substance can withstand1 speak of something fearful1 even independently of the personal danger which they may whisper4 ,they convey1 far more than any other appearance does1 the idea of a superior and mighty power1 manifesting displeasure and threatening punishment4 ,yet we find that this is not the language which they speak to the physical inquirer3 he sees these formidable symptoms only as the means or the consequences of good4 ,what office the thunderbolt and the whirlwind may have in the moral world1 we cannot here discuss3 but certainly he must speculate as far beyond the limits of philosophy as of piety1 who pretends to have learnt that there their work has more of evil than of good4 ,in the natural world1 these apparently destructive agents are1 like all the other movements and appearances of the atmosphere1 parts of a great scheme1 of which every discoverable purpose is marked with beneficence as well as wisdom4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,the ,laws of ,magnetism4 ,magnetism has no very obvious or apparently extensive office in the mechanism of the atmosphere and the earth3 but the mention of it may be introduced1 because its ascertained relations to the other powers which exist in the system are well suited to show us the connexion subsisting throughout the universe1 and to check the suspicion1 if any such should arise1 that any law of nature is without its use4 ,the parts of creation when these uses are most obscure1 are precisely those parts when the laws themselves are least known4 ,when indeed we consider the vast service of which magnetism is to man1 by supplying him with that invaluable instrument the mariners' compass1 many persons will require no further evidence of this property being introduced into the frame of things with a worthy purpose4 ,as however1 we have hitherto excluded use in the arts from our line of argument1 we shall not here make an exception in favour of navigation1 and what we shall observe belongs to another view of the subject4 ,magnetism has been discovered in modern times to have so close a connexion with galvanism1 that they may be said to be almost different aspects of the same agent4 ,all the phenomena which we can produce with magnets1 we can imitate with coils of galvanic wire4 ,that galvanism exists in the earth1 we need no proof4 ,electricity1 which appears to be only galvanism in equilibrium1 is there in abundance2 and recently1 ,mr4 ,fox#ac has shown by experiment that metalliferous veins1 as they lie in the earth1 exercise a galvanic influence on each other4 ,something of this kind might have been anticipated2 for masses of metal in contact1 if they differ in temperature or other circumstances1 are known to produce a galvanic current4 ,hence we have undoubtedly streams of galvanic influence moving along in the earth4 ,whether or not such causes as these produce the directive power of the magnetic needle1 we cannot here pretend to decide2 they can hardly fail to affect it4 ,the ,aurora ,borealis too1 probably an electrical phenomenon1 is said1 under particular circumstances1 to agitate the magnetic needle4 ,it is not surprising1 therefore1 that1 if electricity have an important office in the atmosphere1 magnetism should exist in the earth4 ,it seems likely1 that the magnetic properties of the earth may be collateral results of the existence of the same cause by which electrical agency operates2 an agency which1 as we have already seen1 has important offices in the processes of vegetable life4 ,and thus magnetism belongs to the same system of beneficial contrivance to which electricity has been already traced4 ,we see1 however1 on this subject very dimly and a very small way4 ,it can hardly be doubted that magnetism has other functions than those we have noticed4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,the ,properties of ,light with regard to ,vegetation4 ,the illuminating power of light will come under our consideration hereafter4 ,its agency1 with regard to organic life1 is too important not to be noticed1 though this must be done briefly4 ,light appears to be as necessary to the health of plants as air of moisture4 ,a plant may1 indeed1 grow without it1 but it does not appear that a species could be so continued4 ,under such a privation1 the parts which are usually green1 assume a white colour1 as is the case with vegetables grown in a cellar1 or protected by a covering for the sake of producing this very effect2 thus1 celery1 is in this manner blanched1 or etiolated4 ,the part of the process of vegetable life for which light is especially essential1 appears to be the functions of the leaves2 these are affected by this agent in a very remarkable manner4 ,the moisture which plants imbibe is1 by their vital energies1 carried to their leaves2 and is then brought in contact with the atmosphere1 which1 besides other ingredients1 contains1 in general1 a portion of carbonic acid4 ,so long as light is present1 the leaf decomposes the carbonic acid1 appropriates the carbon to the formation of its own proper juices1 and returns the disengaged oxygen into the atmosphere2 thus restoring the atmospheric air to a condition in which it is more fitted than it was before for the support of animal life4 ,the plant thus prepares the support of life for other creatures at the same time that it absorbs its own4 ,the greenness of those members which affect that colour1 and the disengagement of oxygen1 are the indications that its vital powers are in healthful action3 as soon as we remove light from the plant1 these indications cease3 it has no longer power to imbibe carbon and disengage oxygen1 but on the contrary1 it gives back some of the carbon already obtained1 and robs the atmosphere of oxygen for the purpose of reconverting this into carbonic acid4 ,it cannot well be conceived that such effects of light on vegetables1 as we have described1 should occur1 if that agent1 of whatever nature it is1 and those organs1 had not been adapted to each other4 ,but the subject is here introduced that the reader may the more readily receive the conviction of combining purpose which must arise1 on finding that an agent possessing these very peculiar chemical properties1 is employed to produce also those effects of illumination1 vision1 c41 which form the most obvious portion of the properties of light4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,sound4 ,besides the function which air discharges as the great agent in the changes of meteorology and vegetation1 it has another office1 also of great and extensive importance1 as the vehicle of sound4 #a4 ,the communication of sound through the air takes place by means of a process altogether different from anything of which we have yet spoken3 namely1 by the propagation of minute vibrations of the particles from one part of the fluid mass to another1 without any local motion of the fluid itself4 ,perhaps we may most distinctly conceive the kind of effect here spoken of1 by comparing it to the motion produced by the wind in a field of standing corn2 grassy waves travel visibly over the field1 in the direction in which the wind blows1 but this appearance of an object moving is delusive4 ,the only real motion is that of the ears of grain1 of which each goes and returns1 as the stalk stoops and recovers itself4 ,this motion affects successively a line of ears in the direction of the wind1 and affects simultaneously all those ears of which the elevation or depression forms one visible wave4 ,the elevations and depressions are propagated in a constant direction1 while the parts with which the space is filled only vibrate to and fro4 ,of exactly such a nature is the propagation of sound through the air4 ,the particles of air go and return through very minute spaces1 and this vibratory motion runs through the atmosphere from the sounding body to the ear4 ,waves1 not of elevation and depression1 but of condensation and rarefaction1 are transmitted2 and the sound thus becomes an object of sense to the organ4 ,another familiar instance of the propagation of vibrations we have in the circles on the surface of smooth water1 which diverge from the point where it is touched by a small object1 as a drop of rain4 ,in the beginning of a shower1 for instance1 when the drops come distinct1 though frequent1 we may see each drop giving rise to a ring1 formed of two or three close concentric circles1 which grow and spread1 leaving the interior of the circles smooth1 and gradually reaching parts of the surface more and more distant from their origin4 ,in this instance1 it is clearly not a portion of the water which flows onwards2 but the disturbance1 the rise and fall of the surface which makes the ring-formed waves1 passes into wider and wider circles1 and thus the undulation is transmitted from its starting-place1 to points in all directions on the surface of the fluid4 ,the diffusion of these ring-formed undulations from their centre resembles the diffusion of a sound from the place where it is produced to the points where it is heard4 ,the disturbance1 or vibration1 by which it is conveyed1 travels at the same rate in all directions1 and the waves which are propagated are hence of a circular form4 ,they differ1 however1 from those on the surface of water2 for sound is communicated upwards and downwards1 and in all intermediate directions1 as well as horizontally2 hence the waves of sound are spherical1 the point where the sound is produced being the centre of the sphere4 ,this diffusion of vibrations in spherical shells of successive condensation and rarefaction1 will easily be seen to be different from any local motion of the air1 as wind1 and to be independent of that4 ,the circles on the surface of water will spread on a river which is flowing1 provided it be smooth1 as well as on a standing canal4 ,not only are such undulations propagated almost undisturbed by any local motion of the fluid in which they take place1 but also1 many may be propagated in the same fluid at the same time1 without disturbing each other4 ,we may see this effect on water4 ,when several drops fall near each other1 the circles which they produce cross each other1 without either of them being lost1 and the separate courses of the rings may still be traced4 ,all these consequences1 both in water1 in air1 and in any other fluid1 can be very exactly investigated upon mechanical principles1 and the greater part of the phenomena can thus be shown to result from the properties of the fluids4 ,there are several remarkable circumstances in the way in which air answers its purpose as the vehicle of sound1 of which we will now point out a few4 #b4 ,the loudness of sound is such as is convenient for common purposes4 ,the organs of speech can1 in the present constitution of the air1 produce1 without fatigue1 such a tone of voice as can be heard with distinctness and with comfort4 ,that any great alteration in this element might be incommodious1 we may judge from the difficulties to which persons are subject who are dull of hearing1 and from the disagreeable effects of a voice much louder than usual1 or so low as to be indistinct4 ,sounds produced by the human organs1 with other kinds of air1 are very different from those in our common air4 ,if a man inhale a quantity of hydrogen gas1 and then speak1 his voice is scarcely audible4 ,the loudness of sounds become smaller in proportion as they come from a greater distance4 ,this enables us to judge of the distance of objects1 in some degree at least1 by the sounds which proceed from them4 ,moreover1 it is found that we can judge of the position of objects by the ear3 and this judgment seems to be formed by comparing the loudness of the impression of the same sound on the two ears and two sides of the head4#ad ,the loudness of sounds appears to depend on the extent of vibration of the particles of air1 and this is determined by the vibrations of the sounding body4 #c4 ,the pitch1 or the differences of acute and grave1 in sounds1 form another important property1 and one which fits them for a great part of their purposes4 ,by the succession of different notes1 we have all the results of melody and harmony in musical sound2 and of intonation and modulation of the voice1 of accent1 cadence1 emphasis1 expression1 passion1 in speech4 ,the song of birds1 which is one of their principal modes of communication1 depends chiefly for its distinctions and its significance upon the combinations of acute and grave4 ,these differences are produced by the different rapidity of vibration of the particles of air4 ,the gravest sound has about eighty vibrations in a second1 the most acute about one thousand4 ,between these limits each sound has a musical character1 and from the different relations of the number of vibrations in a second arise all the differences of musical intervals1 concords and discords4 #d4 ,the quality of sounds is another of their differences4 ,this is the name given to the difference of notes of the same pitch1 that is the same note as to acute and grave1 when produced by different instruments4 ,if a flute and a violin be in unison1 the notes are still quite different sounds4 ,it is this kind of difference which distinguishes the voice of one man from that of another3 and it is manifestly therefore one of great consequence2 since it connects the voice with the particular person1 and is almost necessary in order that language may be a medium of intercourse between men4 #e4 ,the articulate character of sounds is for us one of the most important arrangements which exist in the world2 for it is by this that they become the interpreters of thought1 will and feeling1 the means by which a person can convey his wants1 his instructions1 his promises1 his kindness1 to others2 by which one man can regulate the actions and influence the convictions and judgments of another4 ,it is in virtue of the possibility of shaping air into words1 that the imperceptible vibrations which a man produces in the atmosphere1 become some of his most important actions2 the foundations of the highest moral and social relations2 and the condition and instrument of all the advancement and improvement of which he is susceptible4 ,it appears that the differences of articulate sound arise from the different form of the cavity through which the sound is made to proceed immediately after being produced4 ,in the human voice the sound is produced in the larynx1 and modified by the cavity of the mouth1 and the various organs which surround this cavity4 ,the laws by which articulate sounds are thus produced have not yet been fully developed1 but appear to be in the progress of being so4 ,the properties of sounds which have been mentioned1 differences of loudness1 of pitch1 of quality1 and articulation1 appear to be all requisite in order that sound shall answer its purposes in the economy of animal and of human life4 ,and how was the air made capable of conveying these four differences1 at the same time that the organs were made capable of producing them8 ,surely by a most refined and skilful adaptation1 applied with a most comprehensive design4 #f4 ,again2 is it by chance that the air and the ear exist together8 ,did the air produce the organization of the ear8 or the ear1 independently organized1 anticipate the constitution of the atmosphere8 ,or is not the only intelligible account of the matter1 this1 that one was made for the other3 that there is a mutual adaptation produced by an ,intelligence which was acquainted with the properties of both2 which adjusted them to each other as we find them adjusted1 in order that birds might communicate by song1 that men might speak and hear1 and that language might play its extraordinary part in its operation upon men's thoughts1 actions1 institutions1 and fortunes8 ,the vibrations of an elastic fluid like the air1 and their properties1 follow from the laws of motion2 and whether or not these laws of the motion of fluids might in reality have been other than they are1 they appear to us inseparably connected with the existence of matter1 and as much a thing of necessity as we can conceive any thing in the universe to be4 ,the propagation of such vibrations1 therefore1 and their properties1 we may at present allow to be a necessary part of the constitution of the atmosphere4 ,but what is it that makes these vibrations become sound8 ,how is it that they produce such an effect on our senses1 and1 through those1 on our minds8 ,the vibrations of the air seem to be of themselves no more fitted to produce sound1 than to produce smell4 ,we know that such vibrations do not universally produce sound1 but only between certain limits4 ,when the vibrations are fewer than eighty in a second1 they are perceived as separate throbs1 and not as a continued sound2 and there is a certain limit of rapidity1 beyond which the vibrations become inaudible4 ,this limit is different to different ears1 and we are thus assured by one person's ear that there are vibrations1 though to that of another they do not produce sound4 ,how was the human ear adapted so that its perception of vibrations as sounds should fall within these limits8--the very limits within which the vibrations fall1 which it most concerns us to perceive3 those of the human voice for instance8 ,how nicely are the organs adjusted with regard to the most minute mechanical motions of the elements8 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,the ,atmosphere4 ,we have considered in succession a number of the properties and operations of the atmosphere1 and have found them separately very curious4 ,but an additional interest belongs to the subject when we consider them as combined4 ,the atmosphere under this point of view must appear a contrivance of the most extraordinary kind4 ,to answer any of its purposes1 to carry on any of its processes1 separately1 requires peculiar arrangements and adjustments2 to answer1 all at once1 purposes so varied1 to combine without confusion so many different trains1 implies powers and attributes which can hardly fail to excite in a high degree our admiration and reverence4 ,if the atmosphere be considered as a vast machine1 it is difficult to form any just conception of the profound skill and comprehensiveness of design which it displays4 ,it diffuses and tempers the heat of different climates2 for this purpose it performs a circulation occupying the whole range from the pole to the equator2 and while it is doing this1 it executes many smaller circuits between the sea and the land4 ,at the same time1 it is the means of forming clouds and rain1 and for this purpose1 a perpetual circulation of the watery part of the atmosphere goes on between its lower and upper regions4 ,besides this complication of circuits1 it exercises a more irregular agency1 in the occasional winds which blow from all quarters1 tending perpetually to restore the equilibrium of heat and moisture4 ,but this incessant and multiplied activity discharges only a part of the functions of the air4 ,it is1 moreover1 the most important and universal material of the growth and sustenance of plants and animals2 and is for this purpose every where present and almost uniform in its quantity4 ,with all its local motion1 it has also the office of a medium of communication between intelligent creatures1 which office it performs by another set of motions1 entirely different both from the circulation and the occasional movements already mentioned2 these different kinds of motions not interfering materially with each other3 and this last purpose1 so remote from the others in its nature1 it answers in a manner so perfect and so easy1 that we cannot imagine that the object could have been more completely attained1 if this had been the sole purpose for which the atmosphere had been created4 ,with all these qualities1 this extraordinary part of our terrestrial system is scarcely ever in the way3 and when we have occasion to do so1 we put forth our hand and push it aside1 without being aware of its being near us4 ,we may add1 that it is1 in addition to all that we have hitherto noticed1 a constant source of utility and beauty in its effects on light4 ,without air we should see nothing1 except objects on which the sun's rays fell1 directly or by reflection4 ,it is the atmosphere which converts sunbeams into daylight1 and fills the space in which we are with illumination4 ,the contemplation of the atmosphere1 as a machine which answers all these purposes1 is well suited to impress upon us the strongest conviction of the most refined1 far-seeing1 and far-ruling contrivance4 ,it seems impossible to suppose that these various properties were so bestowed and so combined1 any otherwise than by a beneficent and intelligent ,being1 able and willing to diffuse organization1 life1 health1 and enjoyment through all parts of the visible world2 possessing a fertility of means which no multiplicity of objects could exhaust1 and a discrimination of consequences which no complication of conditions could embarrass4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,light4 ,besides the hearing and sound there is another mode by which we become sensible of the impressions of external objects1 namely1 sight and light4 ,this subject also offers some observations bearing on our present purpose4 ,it has been declared by writers on ,natural ,theology1 that the human eye exhibits such evidence of design and skill in its construction1 that no one1 who considers it attentively1 can resist this impression3 nor does this appear to be saying too much4 ,it must1 at the same time1 be obvious that this construction of the eye could not answer its purposes1 except the constitution of light corresponded to it4 ,light is an element of the most peculiar kind and properties1 and such an element can hardly be conceived to have been placed in the universe without a regard to its operation and functions4 ,as the eye is made for light1 so light must have been made1 at least among other ends1 for the eye4 #a4 ,we must expect to comprehend imperfectly only the mechanism of the elements4 ,still1 we have endeavoured to show that in some instances the arrangements by which their purposes are effected are1 to a certain extent1 intelligible4 ,in order to explain1 however1 in what manner light answers those ends which appear to us its principal ones1 we must know something of the nature of light4 ,there have1 hitherto1 been1 among men of science1 two prevailing opinions upon this subject3 some considering light as consisting in the emission of luminous particles2 others accounting for its phenomena by the propagation of vibrations through a highly subtle and elastic ether4 ,the former opinion has1 till lately1 been most generally entertained in this country1 having been the hypothesis on which ,newton made his calculations2 the latter is the one to which most of those persons have been led1 who1 in recent times1 have endeavoured to deduce general conclusions from the newly discovered phenomena of light4 ,among these persons1 the theory of undulations is conceived to be established in nearly the same manner1 and almost as certainly1 as the doctrine of universal gravitation2 namely1 by a series of laws inferred from numerous facts1 which1 proceeding from different sets of phenomena1 are found to converge to one common view2 and by calculations founded upon the theory1 which1 indicating new and untried facts1 are found to agree exactly with experiment4 ,we cannot here introduce a sketch of the progress by which the phenomena have thus led to the acceptance of the theory of undulations4 ,but this theory appears to have such claims to our assent1 that the views which we have to offer with regard to the design exercised in the adaptation1 of light to its purposes1 will depend on the undulatory theory1 so far as they depend on theory at all4#ae #b4 ,the impressions of sight1 like those of hearing1 differ in intensity and in kind4 ,brightness and ,colour are the principal differences among visible things1 as loudness and pitch are among sounds4 ,but there is a singular distinction between these senses in one respect3 every object and part of an object seen1 is necessarily and inevitably referred to some position in the space before us2 and hence visible things have place1 magnitude1 form1 as well as light1 shade1 and colour4 ,there is nothing analogous to this in the sense of hearing2 for though we can1 in some approximate degree1 guess the situation of the point from which a sound proceeds1 this is a secondary process1 distinguishable from the perception of the sound itself2 whereas we cannot conceive visible things without form and place4 ,the law according to which the sense of vision is thus affected1 appears to be this4 ,by the properties of light1 the external scene produces1 through the transparent parts of the eye1 an image or picture exactly resembling the reality1 upon the back part of the retina3 and each point which we see1 is seen in the direction of a line passing from its image on the retina1 through the centre of the pupil of the eye4#af ,in this manner we perceive by the eye the situation of every point1 at the same time that we perceive its existence2 and by combining the situations of many points1 we have forms and outlines of every sort4 ,that we should receive from the eye this notice of the position of the object as well as of its other visible qualities1 appears to be absolutely necessary for our intercourse with the external world2 and the faculty of doing so is so intimate a part of our constitution that we cannot conceive ourselves divested of it4 ,yet in order to imagine ourselves destitute of this faculty1 we have only to suppose that the eye should receive its impressions as the ear does1 and should apprehend red and green1 bright and dark1 without placing them side by side2 as the ear takes in the different sounds which compose a concert1 without attributing them to different parts of space4 ,the peculiar property thus belonging to vision1 of perceiving position1 is so essential to us1 that we may readily believe that some particular provision has been made for its existence4 ,the remarkable mechanism of the eye 7precisely resembling that of a camera obscura17 by which it produces an image on the nervous web forming its hinder part1 seems to have this effect for its main object4 ,and this mechanism necessarily supposes certain corresponding properties in light itself1 by means of which such an effect becomes possible4 ,the main properties of light which are concerned in this arrangement1 are reflexion and refraction3 reflexion by which light is reflected and scattered by all objects1 and thus comes to the eye from all3 and refraction1 by which its course is bent1 when it passes obliquely out of one transparent medium into another2 and by which1 consequently1 convex transparent substances1 such as the cornea and humours of the eye1 possess the power of making the light converge to a focus or point2 an assemblage of such points forming the images on the retina1 which we have mentioned4 ,reflexion and refraction are therefore the essential and indispensable properties of light2 and so far as we can understand1 it appears that it was necessary that light should possess such properties1 in order that it might form a medium of communication between man and the external world4 ,we may consider its power of passing through transparent media 7as air7 to be given in order that it may enlighten the earth2 its affection of reflexion1 for the purpose of making colours visible2 and its refraction to be bestowed1 that it may enable us to discriminate figure and position1 by means of the lenses of the eye4 ,in this manner light may be considered as constituted with a peculiar reference to the eyes of animals1 and its leading properties may be looked upon as contrivances or adaptations to fit it for its visual office4 ,and in such a point of view the perfection of the contrivance or adaptation must be allowed to be very remarkable4 #c4 ,but besides the properties of reflexion and refraction1 the most obvious laws of light1 an extraordinary variety of phenomena have lately been discovered1 regulated by other laws of the most curious kind1 uniting great complexity with great symmetry4 ,we refer to the phenomena of diffraction1 polarisation1 and periodical colours1 produced by crystals and by thin plates4 ,we have1 in these facts1 a vast mass of properties and laws1 offering a subject of study which has been pursued with eminent skill and intelligence4 ,but these properties and laws1 so far as has yet been discovered1 exert no agency whatever1 and have no purpose1 in the general economy of nature4 ,beams of light polarised in contrary directions exhibit the most remarkable differences when they pass through certain crystals1 but manifest no discoverable difference in their immediate impression on the eye4 ,we have1 therefore1 here1 a number of laws of light1 which we cannot perceive to be established with any design which has a reference to the other parts of the universe4 ,undoubtedly it is exceedingly possible that these differences of light may operate in some quarter1 and in some way1 which we cannot detect2 and that these laws may have purposes and may answer ends of which we have no suspicion4 ,all the analogy of nature teaches us a lesson of humility1 with regard to the reliance we are to place on our discernment and judgment as to such matters4 ,but with our present knowledge1 we may observe1 that this curious system of phenomena appears to be a collateral result of the mechanism by which the effects of light are produced2 and therefore a necessary consequence of the existence of that element of which the offices are so numerous and so beneficent4 ,the new properties of light1 and the speculations founded upon them1 have led many persons to the belief of the undulatory theory2 which1 as we have said1 is considered by some philosophers as demonstrated4 ,if we adopt this theory1 we consider the luminiferous ether to have no local motion2 and to produce refraction and reflexion by the operation of its elasticity alone4 ,we must necessarily suppose the tenuity of the ether to be extreme2 and if we moreover suppose its tension to be very great1 which the vast velocity of light requires us to suppose1 the vibrations by which light is propagated will be transverse vibrations1 that is the motion to and fro will be athwart the line along which the undulation travels2 and from this circumstance all the laws of polarisation necessarily follow4 ,and the properties of transverse vibrations1 combined with the properties of vibrations in general1 give rise to all the curious and numerous phenomena of colours of which we have spoken4 ,if the vibrations be transverse1 they may be resolved into two different planes2 this is polarisation3 if they fall on a medium which has different elasticity in different directions1 they will be divided into two sets of vibrations2 this is double refraction2 and so on4 ,some of the new properties1 however1 as the fringes of shadows and the colours of thin plates1 follow from the undulatory theory1 whether the vibrations be transverse or not4 ,it would appear1 therefore1 that the propagation of light by means of a subtle medium1 leads necessarily to the extraordinary collection of properties which have recently been discovered2 and1 at any rate1 its propagation by the transverse vibrations of such a medium does lead inevitably to these results4 ,leaving it therefore to future times to point out the other reasons 7or uses if they exist7 of these newly discovered properties of light1 in their bearing on other parts of the world1 we may venture to say1 that if light was to be propagated through transparent media by the undulations of a subtle fluid1 these properties must result1 as necessarily as the rainbow results from the unequal refrangibility of different colours4 ,this phenomenon and those1 appear alike to be the collateral consequences of the law's impressed on light with a view to its principal offices4 ,thus the exquisitely beautiful and symmetrical phenomena and laws of polarisation1 and of crystalline and other effects1 may be looked upon as indications of the delicacy and subtlety of the mechanism by which man1 through his visual organs1 is put in communication with the external world2 is made acquainted with the forms and qualities of objects in the most remote regions of space2 and is enabled1 in some measure1 to determine his position and relation in a universe in which he is but an atom4 #d4 ,if we suppose it clearly established that light is produced by the vibrations of an ether1 we find considerations offer themselves1 similar to those which occurred in the case of sound4 ,the vibrations of this ether affect our organs with the sense of light and colour4 ,why1 or how do they do this8 ,it is only within certain limits that the effect is produced1 and these limits are comparatively narrower here than in the case of sound4 ,the whole scale of colour1 from violet to crimson1 lies between vibrations which are four hundred and fifty-eight million millions1 and seven hundred and twenty-seven million millions in a second2 a proportion much smaller than the corresponding ratio for perceptible sounds4 ,why should such vibrations produce perception in the eye1 and no others8 ,there must be here some peculiar adaptation of the sensitive powers to these wonderfully minute and condensed mechanical motions4 ,what happens when the vibrations are slower than the red1 or quicker than the blue8 ,they do not produce vision3 do they produce any effect8 ,have they any thing to do with heat or with electricity8 ,we cannot tell4 ,the ether must be as susceptible of these vibrations1 as of those which produce vision4 ,but the mechanism of the eye is adjusted to this latter kind only2 and this precise kind1 7whether alone or mixed with others17 proceeds from the sun and from other luminaries1 and thus communicates to us the state of the visible universe4 ,the mere material elements then are full of properties which we can understand no otherwise1 than as the results of a refined contrivance4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,the ,ether4 ,in what has just been said1 we have spoken of light1 only with respect to its power of illuminating objects1 and conveying the impression of them to the eye4 ,it possesses1 however1 beyond all doubt1 many other qualities4 ,light is intimately connected with heat1 as we see in the case of the sun and of flame2 yet it is clear that light and heat are not identical4 ,light is evidently connected too with electricity and galvanism2 and perhaps1 through these1 with magnetism3 it is1 as has already been mentioned1 indispensably necessary to the healthy discharge of the functions of vegetable life2 without it plants cannot duly exercise their vital powers3 it manifests also chemical action in various ways4 ,the luminiferous ether then1 if we so call the medium in which light is propagated1 must possess many other properties besides those mechanical ones on which the illuminating power depends4 ,it must not be merely like a fluid poured into the vacant spaces and interstices of the material world1 and exercising no action on objects2 it must affect the physical1 chemical and vital powers of what it touches4 ,it must be a great and active agent in the work of the universe1 as well as an active reporter of what is done by other agents4 ,it must possess a number of complex and refined contrivances and adjustments which we cannot analyze1 bearing upon plants and chemical compounds1 and the imponderable agents2 as well as those laws which we conceive that we have analyzed1 by which it is the vehicle of illumination and vision4 ,we have had occasion to point out how complex is the machinery of the atmosphere1 and how varied its objects2 since1 besides being the means of communication as the medium of sound1 it has known laws which connect it with heat and moisture2 and other laws1 in virtue of which it is decomposed by vegetables4 ,it appears1 in like manner1 that the ether is not only the vehicle of light1 but has also laws1 at present unknown1 which connect it with heat1 electricity1 and other agencies2 and other laws through which it is necessary to vegetables1 enabling them to decompose air4 ,all analogy leads us to suppose that if we knew as much of the constitution of the luminiferous ether as we know of the constitution of the atmosphere1 we should find it a machine as complex and artificial1 as skilfully and admirably constructed4 ,we know at present very little indeed of the construction of this machine4 ,its existence is1 perhaps1 satisfactorily made out2 in order that we may not interrupt the progress of our argument1 we shall refer to other works for the reasonings which appear to lead to this conclusion4 ,but whether heat1 electricity1 galvanism1 magnetism1 be fluids2 or effects or modifications of fluids2 and whether such fluids or ethers be the same with the luminiferous ether1 or with each other2 are questions of which all or most appear to be at present undecided1 and it would be presumptuous and premature here to take one side or the other4 ,the mere fact1 however1 that there is such an ether1 and that it has properties related to other agents1 in the way we have suggested1 is well calculated to extend our views of the structure of the universe1 and of the resources1 if we may so speak1 of the ,power by which it is arranged4 ,the solid and fluid matter of the earth is the most obvious to our senses2 over this1 and in its cavities1 is poured an invisible fluid1 the air1 by which warmth and life are diffused and fostered1 and by which men communicate with men3 over and through this again1 and reaching1 so far as we know1 to the utmost bounds of the universe1 is spread another most subtle and attenuated fluid1 which1 by the play of another set of agents1 aids the energies of nature1 and which1 filling all parts of space1 is a means of communication with other planets and other systems4 ,there is nothing in all this like any material necessity1 compelling the world to be as it is and no otherwise4 ,how should the properties of these three great classes of agents1 visible objects1 air1 and light1 so harmonize and assist each other1 that order and life should be the result4 ,without all the three1 and all the three constituted in their present manner1 and subject to their present laws1 living things could not exist4 ,if the earth had no atmosphere1 or if the world had no ether1 all must be inert and dead4 ,who constructed these three extraordinary complex pieces of machinery1 the earth with its productions1 the atmosphere1 and the ether8 ,who fitted them into each other in many parts1 and thus made it possible for them to work together8 ,we conceive there can be but one answer2 a most wise and good ,god4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,recapitulation4 #a4 ,it has been shown in the preceding chapters that a great number of quantities and laws appear to have been selected in the construction of the universe2 and that by the adjustment to each other of the magnitudes and laws thus selected1 the constitution of the world is what we find it1 and is fitted for the support of vegetables and animals1 in a manner in which it could not have been1 if the properties and quantities of the elements had been different from what they are4 ,we shall here recapitulate the principal of the laws and magnitudes to which this conclusion has been shown to apply4 #a4 ,the ,length of the ,year1 which depends on the force of the attraction of the sun1 and its distance from the earth4 #b4 ,the ,length of the ,day4 #c4 ,the ,mass of the ,earth1 which depends on its magnitude and density4 #d4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,ocean4 #e4 ,the ,magnitude of the ,atmosphere4 #f4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,conducting ,power of the ,earth4 #g4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,radiating ,power of the ,earth4 #h4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,expansion of ,water by ,heat4 #i4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,expansion of ,water by ,cold1 below #dj degrees4 #aj4 ,the ,law and ,quantity of the ,expansion of ,water in ,freezing4 #aa4 ,the ,quantity of ,latent ,heat absorbed in ,thawing4 #ab4 ,the ,quantity of ,latent ,heat absorbed in ,evaporation4 #ac4 ,the ,law and ,rate of ,evaporation with regard to ,heat4 #ad4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,expansion of ,air by ,heat4 #ae4 ,the ,quantity of ,heat absorbed in the ,expansion of ,air4 #af4 ,the ,law and ,rate of the ,passage of ,aqueous ,vapour through ,air4 #ag4 ,the ,laws of ,electricity2 its relations to ,air and ,moisture4 #ah4 ,the ,fluidity1 ,density1 and ,elasticity of the ,air1 by means of which its vibrations produce ,sound4 #ai4 ,the ,fluidity1 ,density1 and ,elasticity of the ,ether1 by means of which its vibrations produce ,light4 #b4 ,these are the data1 the elements1 as astronomers call the quantities which determine a planet's orbit1 on which the mere inorganic part of the universe is constructed4 ,to these1 the constitution of the organic world is adapted in innumerable points1 by laws of which we can trace the results1 though we cannot analyze their machinery4 ,thus1 the vital functions of vegetables have periods which correspond to the length of the year1 and of the day2 their vital powers have forces which correspond to the force of gravity2 the sentient faculties of man are such that the vibrations of air 7within certain limits17 are perceived as sound1 those of ether1 as light4 ,and while we are enumerating these correspondencies1 we perceive that there are thousands of others1 and that we can only select a very small number of those where the relation happens to be most clearly made out or most easily explained4 ,now1 in the list of the mathematical elements of the universe which has just been given1 why have we such laws and such quantities as there occur1 and no other8 ,for the most part1 the data there enumerated are independent of each other1 and might be altered separately1 so far as the mechanical conditions of the case are concerned4 ,some of these data probably depend on each other4 ,thus the latent heat of aqueous vapour is perhaps connected with the difference of the rate of expansion of water and of steam4 ,but all natural philosophers will1 probably1 agree1 that there must be1 in this list1 a great number of things entirely without any mutual dependence1 as the year and the day1 the expansion of air and the expansion of steam4 ,there are1 therefore1 it appears1 a number of things which1 in the structure of the world1 might have been otherwise1 and which are what they are in consequence of choice or of chance4 ,we have already seen1 in many of the cases separately1 how unlike chance every thing looks3--that substances1 which might have existed any how1 so far as they themselves are concerned1 exist exactly in such a manner and measure as they should1 to secure the welfare of other things3--that the laws are tempered and fitted together in the only way in which the world could have gone on1 according to all that we can conceive of it4 ,this must1 therefore1 be the work of choice2 and if so1 it cannot be doubted1 of a most wise and benevolent ,chooser4 #c4 ,the appearance of choice is still further illustrated by the variety as well as the number of the laws selected4 ,the laws are unlike one another4 ,steam certainly expands at a very different rate from air by the application of heat1 probably according to a different law3 water expands in freezing1 but mercury contracts3 heat travels in a manner quite different through solids and fluids4 ,every separate substance has its own density1 gravity1 cohesion1 elasticity1 its relations to heat1 to electricity1 to magnetism2 besides all its chemical affinities1 which form an endless throng of laws1 connecting every one substance in creation with every other1 and different for each pair anyhow taken4 ,nothing can look less like a world formed of atoms operating upon each other according to some universal and inevitable laws1 than this does3 if such a system of things be conceivable1 it cannot be our system4 ,we have1 it may be1 fifty simple substances in the world2 each of which is invested with properties1 both of chemical and mechanical action1 altogether different from those of any other substance4 ,every portion1 however minute1 of any of these1 possesses all the properties of the substance4 ,of each of these substances there is a certain unalterable quantity in the universe2 when combined1 their compounds exhibit new chemical affinities1 new mechanical laws4 ,who gave these different laws to the different substances8 who proportioned the quantity of each8 ,but suppose this done4 ,suppose these substances in existence2 in contact1 in due proportion to each other4 ,is this a world1 or at least our world8 ,no more than the mine and the forest are the ship of war and the factory4 ,these elements1 with their constitution perfect1 and their proportion suitable1 are still a mere chaos4 ,they must be put in their places4 ,they must not be where their own properties would place them4 ,they must be made to assume a particular arrangement1 or we can have no regular and permanent course of nature4 ,this arrangement must again have additional peculiarities1 or we can have no organic portion of the world4 ,the millions of millions of particles which the world contains1 must be finished up in as complete a manner1 and fitted into their places with as much nicety1 as the most delicate wheel or spring in a piece of human machinery4 ,what are the habits of thought to which it can appear possible that this could take place without design1 intention1 intelligence1 purpose1 knowledge8 ,in what has just been said1 we have spoken only of the constitution of the inorganic part of the universe4 ,the mechanism1 if we may so call it1 of vegetable and animal life1 is so far beyond our comprehension1 that though some of the same observations might be applied to it1 we do not dwell upon the subject4 ,we know that in these processes also1 the mechanical and chemical properties of matter are necessary1 but we know too that these alone will not account for the phenomena of life4 ,there is something more than these4 ,the lowest stage of vitality and irritability appears to carry us beyond mechanism1 beyond affinity4 ,all that has been said with regard to the exactness of the adjustments1 the combination of various means1 the tendency to continuance1 to preservation1 is applicable with additional force to the organic creation1 so far as we can perceive the means employed4 ,these1 however1 belong to a different province of the subject1 and must be left to other hands4 ,,book ,,ii4 ,,cosmical ,,arrangements4 ,when we turn our attention to the larger portions of the universe1 the sun1 the planets1 and the earth as one of them1 the moon and other satellites1 the fixed stars and other heavenly bodies2--the views which we obtain concerning their mutual relations1 arrangement and movements1 are called1 as we have already stated1 cosmical views4 ,these views will1 we conceive1 afford us indications of the wisdom and care of the ,power by which the objects which we thus consider1 were created and are preserved3 and we shall now proceed to point out some circumstances in which these attributes may be traced4 ,it has been observed by writers on ,natural ,theology1 that the arguments for the being and perfections of the ,creator1 drawn from cosmical considerations1 labour under some disadvantages when compared with the arguments founded on those provisions and adaptations which more immediately affect the well-being of organized creatures4 ,the structure of the solar system has far less analogy with such machinery as we can construct and comprehend1 than we find in the structure of the bodies of animals1 or even in the causes of the weather4 ,moreover1 we do not see the immediate bearing of cosmical arrangements on that end which we most readily acknowledge to be useful and desirable1 the support and comfort of sentient natures4 ,so that1 from both causes1 the impression of benevolent design in this case is less striking and pointed than that which results from the examination of some other parts of nature4 ,but in considering the universe1 according to the view we have taken1 as a collection of laws1 astronomy1 the science which teaches us the laws of the motions of the heavenly bodies1 possesses some advantages1 among the subjects from which we may seek to learn the character of the government of the world4 ,for our knowledge of the laws of the motions of the planets and satellites is far more complete and exact1 far more thorough and satisfactory1 than the knowledge which we possess in any other department of ,natural ,philosophy4 ,our acquaintance with the laws of the solar system is such1 that we can calculate the precise place and motion of most of its parts at any period1 past or future1 however remote2 and we can refer the changes which take place in these circumstances to their proximate cause1 the attraction of one mass of matter to another1 acting between all the parts of the universe4 ,if1 therefore1 we trace indications of the ,divine care1 either in the form of the laws which prevail among the heavenly bodies1 or in the arbitrary quantities which such laws involve2 7according to the distinction explained in the former part of this work27 we may expect that our examples of such care1 though they may be less numerous and obvious1 will be more precise than they can be in other subjects1 where the laws of facts are imperfectly known1 and their causes entirely hid4 ,we trust that this will be found to be the case with regard to some of the examples which we shall adduce4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,structure of the ,solar ,system4 ,in the cosmical considerations which we have to offer1 we shall suppose the general truths concerning the structure of the solar system and of the universe1 which have been established by astronomers and mathematicians1 to be known to the reader4 ,it is not necessary to go into much detail on this subject4 ,the five planets known to the ancients1 ,mercury1 ,venus1 ,mars1 ,jupiter1 ,saturn1 revolve round the sun1 at different distances1 in orbits nearly circular1 and nearly in one plane4 ,between ,venus and ,mars1 our ,earth1 herself one of the planets1 revolves in like manner4 ,beyond ,saturn1 ,uranus has been discovered describing an orbit of the same kind2 and between ,mars and ,jupiter1 four smaller bodies perform their revolutions in orbits somewhat less regular than the rest4 ,these planets are all nearly globular1 and all revolve upon their axis4 ,some of them are accompanied by satellites1 or attendant bodies which revolve about them2 and these bodies also have their orbits nearly circular1 and nearly in the same plane as the others4 ,saturn's ring is a solitary example1 so far as we know1 of such an appendage to a planet4 ,these circular motions of the planets round the sun1 and of the satellites round their primary planets1 are all kept going by the attraction of the respective central bodies1 which restrains the corresponding revolving bodies from flying off4 ,it is perhaps not very easy to make this operation clear to common apprehension4 ,we cannot illustrate it by a comparison with any machine of human contrivance and fabrication3 in such machines every thing goes on by contact and impulse3 pressure1 and force of all kinds1 is exercised and transferred from one part to another1 by means of a material connexion2 by rods1 ropes1 fluids1 gases4 ,in the machinery of the universe there is1 so far as we know1 no material connexion between the parts which act on each other4 ,in the solar system no part touches or drives another3 all the bodies affect each other at a distance1 as the magnet affects the needle4 ,the production and regulation of such effects1 if attempted by our mechanicians1 would require great skill and nicety of adjustment2 but our artists have not executed any examples of this sort of machinery1 by reference to which we can illustrate the arrangements of the solar system4 ,perhaps the following comparison may serve to explain the kind of adjustments of which we shall have to speak4 ,if there be a wide shallow round basin of smooth marble1 and if we take a smooth ball1 as a billiard ball or a marble pellet1 and throw it along the surface of the inside of the basin1 the ball will generally make many revolutions round the inside of the bowl1 gradually tending to the bottom in its motion4 ,the gradual diminution of the motion1 and consequent tendency of the ball to the bottom of the bowl1 arises from the friction2 and in order to make the motion correspond to that which takes place through the action of a central force1 we must suppose this friction to be got rid of4 ,in this case1 the ball1 once set a going1 would run round the basin for ever1 describing either a circle1 or various kinds of ovals1 according to the way in which it was originally thrown2 whether quick or slow1 and whether more or less obliquely along the surface4 ,such a motion would be capable of the same kind of variety1 and the same sort of adjustments1 as the motion of a body revolving about a larger one by means of a central force4 ,perhaps the reader may understand what kind of adjustments these are1 by supposing such a bowl and ball to be used for a game of skill4 ,if the object of the players be to throw the pellet along the surface of the basin1 so that after describing its curved path it shall pass through a small hole in a barrier at some distance from the starting point1 it will easily be understood that some nicety in the regulation of the force and direction with which the ball is thrown will be necessary for success4 ,in order to obtain a better image of the solar system1 we must suppose the basin to be very large and the pellet very small4 ,and it will easily be understood that as many pellets as there are planets might run round the bowl at the same time with different velocities4 ,such a contrivance might form a planetarium in which the mimic planets would be regulated by the laws of motion as the real planets are2 instead of being carried by wires and wheels1 as is done in such machines of the common construction3 and in this planetarium the tendency of the planets to the sun is replaced by the tendency of the representative pellets to run down the slope of the bowl4 ,we shall refer again to this basin1 thus representing the solar system with its loose planetary balls4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,the ,circular ,orbits of the ,planets round the ,sun4 ,the orbit which the earth describes round the sun is very nearly a circle3 the sun is about one thirtieth nearer to us in winter than in summer4 ,this nearly circular form of the orbit1 on a little consideration1 will appear to be a remarkable circumstance4 ,supposing the attraction of a planet towards the sun to exist1 if the planet were put in motion in any part of the solar system1 it would describe about the sun an orbit of some kind2 it might be a long oval1 or a shorter oval1 or an exact circle4 ,but if we suppose the result left to chance1 the chances are infinitely against the last mentioned case4 ,there is but one circle2 there are an infinite number of ovals4 ,any original impulse would give some oval1 but only one particular impulse1 determinate in velocity and direction1 will give a circle4 ,if we suppose the planet to be originally projected1 it must be projected perpendicularly to its distance from the sun1 and with a certain precise velocity1 in order that the motion may be circular4 ,in the basin to which we have compared the solar system1 the adjustment requisite to produce circular motion would require us to project our pellet so that after running half round the surface it should touch a point exactly at an equal distance from the centre1 on the other side1 passing neither too high nor too low4 ,and the pellet1 it may be observed1 should be in size only one ten thousandth part of the distance from the centre1 to make the dimensions correspond with the cast of the earth's orbit4 ,if the mark were set up and hit1 we should hardly attribute the result to chance4 ,the earth's orbit1 however1 is not exactly a circle4 ,the mark is not precisely a single point1 but is a space of the breadth of one thirtieth of the distance from the centre4 ,still this is much too near an agreement with the circle to be considered as the work of chance4 ,the chances were great against the ball passing so nearly at the same distance1 for there were twenty-nine equal spaces through which it might have gone1 between the mark and the centre1 and an indefinite number outside the mark4 ,but it is not the earth's orbit alone which is nearly a circle3 the rest of the planets also approach very nearly to that form3 ,venus more nearly still than the earth3 ,jupiter1 ,saturn1 and ,uranus have a difference of about one tenth1 between their greatest and least distances from the sun3 ,mars has his extreme distances in the proportion of five to six nearly2 and ,mercury in the proportion of two to three4 ,the last mentioned case is a considerable deviation1 and two of the small planets which lie between ,mars and ,jupiter1 namely ,juno and ,pallas1 exhibit an inequality somewhat greater still2 but the smallness of these bodies1 and other circumstances1 make it probable that there may be particular causes for the exception in their case4 ,the orbits of the satellites of the ,earth1 of ,jupiter and of ,saturn1 are also nearly circular4 ,taking the solar system altogether1 the regularity of its structure is very remarkable4 ,the diagram which represents the orbits of the planets might have consisted of a number of ovals1 narrow and wide in all degrees1 intersecting and interfering with each other in all directions4 ,the diagram does consist1 as all who have opened a book of astronomy know1 of a set of figures which appear at first sight concentric circles1 and which are very nearly so2 no where approaching to any crossing or interfering1 except in the case of the small planets1 already noticed as irregular4 ,no one1 looking at this common diagram1 can believe that the orbits were made to be so nearly circles by chance2 any more than he can believe that a target1 such as archers are accustomed to shoot at1 was painted in concentric circles by the accidental dashes of a brush in the hands of a blind man4 ,the regularity1 then1 of the solar system excludes the notion of accident in the arrangement of the orbits of the planets4 ,there must have been an express adjustment to produce this circular character of the orbits4 ,the velocity and direction of the motion of each planet must have been subject to some original regulation2 or1 as it is often expressed1 the projectile force must have been accommodated to the centripetal force4 ,this once done1 the motion of each planet1 taken by itself1 would go on for ever1 still retaining its circular character1 by the laws of motion4 ,if some original cause adjusted the orbits of the planets to their circular form and regular arrangement1 we can hardly avoid including in our conception of this cause1 the intention and will of a ,creating ,power4 ,we shall consider this argument more fully in a succeeding chapter2 only observing here1 that the presiding ,intelligence1 which has selected and combined the properties of the organic creation1 so that they correspond so remarkably with the arbitrary quantities of the system of the universe1 may readily be conceived also to have selected the arbitrary velocity and direction of each planet's motion1 so that the adjustment should produce a close approximation to a circular motion4 ,we have argued here only from the regularity of the solar system2 from the selection of the single symmetrical case and the rejection of all the unsymmetrical cases4 ,but this subject may be considered in another point of view4 ,the system thus selected is not only regular and symmetrical1 but also it is1 so far as we can judge1 the only one which would answer the purpose of the earth1 perhaps of the other planets1 as the seat of animal and vegetable life4 ,if the earth's orbit were more eccentric1 as it is called1 if for instance the greatest and least distances were as three to one1 the inequality of heat at two seasons of the year would be destructive to the existing species of living creatures4 ,a circular1 or nearly circular1 orbit1 is the only case in which we can have a course of seasons such as we have at present1 the only case in which the climates of the northern and southern hemispheres are nearly the same2 and what is more clearly important1 the only case in which the character of the seasons would not vary from century to century4 ,for if the eccentricity of the earth's orbit were considerable1 the difference of heat at different seasons1 arising from the different distances of the sun1 would be combined with the difference1 now the only considerable one1 which depends on the position of the earth's axis4 ,and as by the motion of the perihelion1 or place of the nearest distance of the earth to the sun1 this nearest distance would fall in different ages at different parts of the year1 the whole distribution of heat through the year would thus be gradually subverted4 ,the summer and winter of the tropical year1 as we have it now1 being combined with the heat and cold of the anomalistic year1 a period of different length1 the difference of the two seasons might sometimes be neutralized altogether1 and at other times exaggerated by the accumulation of the inequalities1 so as to be intolerable4 ,the circular form of the orbit therefore1 which1 from its unique character1 appears to be chosen with some design1 from its effects on the seasons appears to be chosen with this design1 so apparent in other parts of creation1 of securing the welfare of organic life1 by a steadfast and regular order of the solar influence upon the planet4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,the ,stability of the ,solar ,system4 ,there is a consequence resulting from the actual structure of the solar system1 which has been brought to light by the investigations of mathematicians concerning the cause and laws of its motions1 and which has an important bearing on our argument4 ,it appears that the arrangement which at present obtains is precisely that which is necessary to secure the stability of the system4 ,this point we must endeavour to explain4 ,if each planet were to revolve round the sun without being affected by the other planets1 there would be a certain degree of regularity in its motion2 and this regularity would continue for ever4 ,but it appears1 by the discovery of the law of universal gravitation1 that the planets do not execute their movements in this insulated and independent manner4 ,each of them is acted on by the attraction of all the rest4 ,the ,earth is constantly drawn by ,venus1 by ,mars1 by ,jupiter1 bodies of various magnitudes1 perpetually changing their distances and positions with regard to the earth2 the ,earth in return is perpetually drawing these bodies4 ,what1 in the course of time1 will be the result of this mutual attraction8 ,all the planets are very small compared with the sun1 and therefore the derangement which they produce in the motion of one of their number will be very small in the course of one revolution4 ,but this gives us no security that the derangement may not become very large in the course of many revolutions4 ,the cause acts perpetually1 and it has the whole extent of time to work in4 ,is it not easily conceivable then that in the lapse of ages the derangements of the motions of the planets may accumulate1 the orbits may change their form1 their mutual distances may be much increased or much diminished8 ,is it not possible that these changes may go on without limit1 and end in the complete subversion and ruin of the system8 ,if1 for instance1 the result of this mutual gravitation should be to increase considerably the eccentricity of the earth's orbit1 that is to make it a longer and longer oval2 or to make the moon approach perpetually nearer and nearer the earth every revolution2 it is easy to see that in the one case our year would change its character1 as we have noticed in the last section2 in the other1 our satellite might finally fall to the earth1 which must of course bring about a dreadful catastrophe4 ,if the positions of the planetary orbits1 with respect to that of the earth1 were to change much1 the planets might sometimes come very near us1 and thus exaggerate the effects of their attraction beyond calculable limits4 ,under such circumstances1 we might have 8years of unequal length1 and seasons of capricious temperature1 planets and moons of portentous size and aspect1 glaring and disappearing at uncertain intervals20 tides like deluges1 sweeping over whole continents2 and1 perhaps1 the collision of two of the planets1 and the consequent destruction of all organization on both of them4 ,nor is it1 on a common examination of the history of the solar system1 at all clear that there is no tendency to indefinite derangement4 ,the fact really is1 that changes are taking place in the motions of the heavenly bodies1 which have gone on progressively from the first dawn of science4 ,the eccentricity of the earth's orbit has been diminishing from the earliest observations to our times4 ,the moon has been moving quicker and quicker from the time of the first recorded eclipses1 and is now in advance1 by about four times her own breadth1 of what her place would have been if it had not been affected by this acceleration4 ,the obliquity of the ecliptic also is in a state of diminution1 and is now about two-fifths of a degree less than it was in the time of ,aristotle4 ,will these changes go on without limit or reaction8 ,if so1 we tend by natural causes to a termination of the present system of things3 ,if not1 by what adjustment or combination are we secured from such a tendency8 ,is the system stable1 and if so1 what is the condition on which its stability depends8 ,to answer these questions is far from easy4 ,the mechanical problem which they involve is no less than this2--,having given the directions and velocities with which about thirty bodies are moving at one time1 to find their places and motions after any number of ages2 each of the bodies1 all the while1 attracting all the others1 and being attracted by them all4 ,it may readily be imagined that this is a problem of extreme complexity1 when it is considered that every new configuration or arrangement of the bodies will give rise to a new amount of action on each2 and every new action to a new configuration4 ,accordingly1 the mathematical investigation of such questions as the above was too difficult to be attempted in the earlier periods of the progress of ,physical ,astronomy4 ,newton did not undertake to demonstrate either the stability or the instability of the system4 ,the decision of this point required a great number of preparatory steps and simplifications1 and such progress in the invention and improvement of mathematical methods1 as occupied the best mathematicians of ,europe for the greater part of last century4 ,but1 towards the end of that time1 it was shown by ,lagrange and ,laplace that the arrangements of the solar system are stable3 that in the long run1 the orbits and motions remain unchanged2 and that the changes in the orbits1 which take place in shorter periods1 never transgress certain very moderate limits4 ,each orbit undergoes deviations on this side and on that of its average state2 but these deviations are never very great1 and it finally recovers from them1 so that the average is preserved4 ,the planets produce perpetual perturbations in each other's motions1 but these perturbations are not indefinitely progressive1 they are periodical3 they reach a maximum value and then diminish4 ,the periods which this restoration requires are1 for the most part1 enormous2 not less than thousands1 and1 in some instances1 millions of years2 and hence it is1 that some of these apparent derangements have been going on in the same direction since the beginning of the history of the world4 ,but the restoration is in the sequel as complete as the derangement2 and in the meantime the disturbance never attains a sufficient amount seriously to alter the adaptations of the system4#ag ,the same examination of the subject by which this is proved1 points out also the conditions on which this stability depends4 8,i have succeeded in demonstrating10 says ,laplace1 8that whatever be the masses of the planets1 in consequence of the fact that they all move in the same direction1 in orbits of small eccentricity1 and slightly inclined to each other--their secular inequalities are periodical and included within narrow limits2 so that the planetary system will only oscillate about a mean state1 and will never deviate from it except by a very small quantity4 ,the ellipses of the planets have been1 and always will be1 nearly circular4 ,the ecliptic will never coincide with the equator1 and the entire extent of the variation in its inclination cannot exceed three degrees40 ,there exists1 therefore1 it appears1 in the solar system1 a provision for the permanent regularity of its motions2 and this provision is found in the fact that the orbits of the planets are nearly circular1 and nearly in the same plane1 and the motions all in the same direction1 namely1 from west to east4#ah ,now is it probable that the occurrence of these conditions of stability in the disposition of the solar system is the work of chance8 ,such a supposition appears to be quite inadmissible4 ,any one of the orbits might have had any eccentricity4#ai ,in that of ,mercury1 where it is much the greatest1 it is only one-fifth4 ,how came it to pass that the orbits were not more elongated8 ,a little more or a little less velocity in their original motions would have made them so4 ,they might have had any inclination to the ecliptic from no degrees to #ij degrees4 ,mercury1 which again deviates most widely1 is inclined #g degrees1 ,venus #c1 ,saturn #b1 ,jupiter #a1 ,mars #b4 ,how came it that their motions are thus contained within such a narrow strip of the sky8 ,one1 or any number of them1 might have moved from east to west3 none of them does so4 ,and these circumstances1 which appear to be1 each in particular1 requisite for the stability of the system and the smallness of its disturbances1 are all found in combination4 ,does not this imply both clear purpose and profound skill8 ,it is difficult to convey an adequate notion of the extreme complexity of the task thus executed4 ,a number of bodies1 all attracting each other1 are to be projected in such a manner that their revolutions shall be permanent and stable1 their mutual perturbations always small4 ,if we return to the basin with its rolling balls1 by which we before represented the solar system1 we must complicate with new conditions the trial of skill which we supposed4 ,the problem must now be to project at once seven such balls1 all connected by strings which influence their movements1 so that each may hit its respective mark4 ,and we must further suppose1 that the marks are to be hit after many thousand revolutions of the balls4 ,no one will imagine that this could be done by accident4 ,in fact it is allowed by all those who have considered this subject1 that such a coincidence of the existing state with the mechanical requisites of permanency cannot be accidental4 ,laplace has attempted to calculate the probability that it is not the result of accident4 ,he takes into account1 in addition to the motions which we have mentioned1 the revolutions of the satellites about their primaries1 and of the sun and planets about their axes3 and he finds that there is a probability1 far higher than that which we have for the greater part of undoubted historical events1 that these appearances are not the effect of chance4 8,we ought1 therefore10 he says1 8to believe1 with at least the same confidence1 that a primitive cause has directed the planetary motions40 ,the solar system is thus1 by the confession of all sides1 completely different from any thing which we might anticipate from the casual operation of its known laws4 ,the laws of motion are no less obeyed to the letter in the most irregular than in the most regular motions2 no less in the varied circuit of the ball which flies round a tennis court1 than in the going of a clock2 no less in the fantastical jets and leaps which breakers make when they burst in a corner of a rocky shore1 than in the steady swell of the open sea4 ,the laws of motion alone will not produce the regularity which we admire in the motions of the heavenly bodies4 ,there must be an original adjustment of the system on which these laws are to act2 a selection of the arbitrary quantities which they are to involve2 a primitive cause which shall dispose the elements in due relation to each other1 in order that regular recurrence may accompany constant change2 that perpetual motion may be combined with perpetual stability2 that derangements which go on increasing for thousands or for millions of years may finally cure themselves2 and that the same laws which lead the planets slightly aside from their paths1 may narrowly limit their deviations1 and bring them back from their almost imperceptible wanderings4 ,if a man does not deny that any possible peculiarity in the disposition of the planets with regard to the sun could afford evidence of a controlling and ordering purpose1 it seems difficult to imagine how he could look for evidence stronger than that which there actually is4 ,of all the innumerable possible cases of systems1 governed by the existing laws of force and motion1 that one is selected which alone produces such a steadfast periodicity1 such a constant average of circumstances1 as are1 so far as we can conceive1 necessary conditions for the existence of organic and sentient life4 ,and this selection is so far from being an obvious or easily discovered means to this end1 that the most profound and attentive consideration of the properties of space and number1 with all the appliances and aids we can obtain1 are barely sufficient to enable us to see that the end is thus secured1 and that it can be secured in no other way4 ,surely the obvious impression which arises from this view of the subject is1 that the solar system1 with its adjustments1 is the work of an intelligence1 who perceives1 as self-evident1 those truths1 to which we attain painfully and slowly1 and after all imperfectly2 who has employed in every part of creation refined contrivances1 which we can only with effort understand2 and who1 in innumerable instances1 exhibits to us what we should look upon as remarkable difficulties remarkably overcome1 if it were not that1 through the perfection of the provision1 the trace of the difficulty is almost obliterated4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,sun in the ,centre4 ,the next circumstance which we shall notice as indicative of design in the arrangement of the material portions of the solar system1 is the position of the sun1 the source of light and heat1 in the centre of the system4 ,this could hardly have occurred by any thing which we can call chance4 ,let it be granted1 that the law of gravitation is established1 and that we have a large mass1 with others much smaller in its comparative vicinity4 ,the small bodies may then move round the larger1 but this will do nothing towards making it a sun to them4 ,their motions might take place1 the whole system remaining still utterly dark and cold1 without day or summer4 ,in order that we may have something more than this blank and dead assemblage of moving clods1 the machine must be lighted up and warmed4 ,some of the advantages of placing the lighting and warming apparatus in the centre are obvious to us4 ,it is in this way only that we could have those regular periodical returns of solar influence1 which1 as we have seen1 are adapted to the constitution of the living creation4 ,and we can easily conceive1 that there may be other incongruities in a system with a travelling sun1 of which we can only conjecture the nature4 ,no one probably will doubt that the existing system1 with the sun in the centre1 is better than any one of a different kind would be4 ,now this lighting and warming by a central sun are something superadded to the mere mechanical arrangements of the universe4 ,there is no apparent reason why the largest mass of gravitating matter should diffuse inexhaustible supplies of light and heat in all directions1 while the other masses are merely passive1 with respect to such influences4 ,there is no obvious connexion between mass and luminousness1 or temperature4 ,no one1 probably1 will contend that the materials of our system are necessarily luminous or hot4 ,according to the conjectures of astronomers1 the heat and light of the sun do not reside in its mass1 but in a coating which lies on its surface4 ,if such a coating were fixed there by the force of universal gravitation1 how could we avoid having a similar coating on the surface of the earth1 and of all the other globes of the system4 ,if light consist in the vibrations of an ether1 which we have mentioned as a probable opinion1 why has the sun alone the power of exciting such vibrations8 ,if light be the emission of material particles1 why does the sun alone emit such particles8 ,similar questions may be asked1 with regard to heat1 whatever be the theory we adopt on that subject4 ,here then we appear to find marks of contrivance4 ,the sun might become1 we will suppose1 the centre of the motions of the planets by mere mechanical causes3 but what caused the centre of their motions to be also the source of those vivifying influences8 ,allowing that no interposition was requisite to regulate the revolutions of the system1 yet observe what a peculiar arrangement in other respects was necessary1 in order that these revolutions might produce days and seasons6 ,the machine will move of itself1 we may grant3 but who constructed the machine1 so that its movements might answer the purposes of life8 ,how was the candle placed upon the candlestick8 ,how was the fire deposited on the hearth1 so that the comfort and well-being of the family might be secured8 ,did these too fall into their places by the casual operation of gravity8 ,and1 if not1 is there not here a clear evidence of intelligent design1 of arrangement with a benevolent end8 ,this argument is urged with great force by ,newton himself4 ,in his first letter to ,bentley1 he allows that matter might form itself into masses by the force of attraction4 8,and thus10 says he1 8might the sun and fixed stars be formed1 supposing the matter were of a lucid nature4 ,but how the matter should divide itself into two sorts2 and that part of it which is fit to compose a shining body should fall down into one mass1 and make a sun2 and the rest1 which is fit to compose an opaque body1 should coalesce1 not into one great body1 like the shining matter1 but into many little ones2 or if the sun at first were an opake body like the planets1 or the planets lucid bodies like the sun1 how he alone should be changed into a shining body1 whilst all they continue opake2 or all they be changed into opake ones1 while he continued unchanged3 ,i do not think explicable by mere natural causes1 but am forced to ascribe it to the counsel and contrivance of a voluntary ,agent40 ,,chapter ,v4 ,the ,satellites4 #a4 ,a person of ordinary feelings1 who1 on a fine moonlight night1 sees our satellite pouring her mild radiance on field and town1 path and moor1 will probably not only be disposed to 8bless the useful light10 but also to believe that it was 8ordained0 for that purpose2--that the lesser light was made to rule the night as certainly as the greater light was made to rule the day4 ,laplace1 however1 does not assent to this belief4 ,he observes1 that 8some partisans of final causes have imagined that the moon was given to the earth to afford light during the night30 but he remarks that this cannot be so1 for that we are often deprived at the same time of the light of the sun and the moon2 and he points out how the moon might have been placed so as to be always 8full40 ,that the light of the moon affords1 to a certain extent1 a supplement to the light of the sun1 will hardly be denied4 ,if we take man in a condition in which he uses artificial light scantily only1 or not at all1 there can be no doubt that the moonlight nights are for him a very important addition to the time of daylight4 ,and as a small proportion only of the whole number of nights are without some portion of moonlight1 the fact that sometimes both luminaries are invisible very little diminishes the value of this advantage4 ,why we have not more moonlight1 either in duration or in quantity1 is an inquiry which a philosopher could hardly be tempted to enter upon1 by any success which has attended previous speculations of a similar nature4 ,why should not the moon be ten times as large as she is8 ,why should not the pupil of man's eye be ten times as large as it is1 so as to receive more of the light which does arrive8 ,we do not conceive that our inability to answer the latter question prevents our knowing that the eye was made for seeing3 nor does our inability to answer the former1 disturb our persuasion that the moon was made to give light upon the earth4 ,laplace suggests that if the moon had been placed at a certain distance beyond the earth1 it would have revolved about the sun in the same time as the earth does1 and would have always presented to us a full moon4 ,for this purpose it must have been about four times as far from us as it really is2 and would therefore1 other things remaining unchanged1 have only been one sixteenth as large to the eye as our present full moon4 ,we shall not dwell on the discussion of this suggestion1 for the reason just intimated4 ,but we may observe that in such a system as ,laplace proposes1 it is not yet proved1 we believe1 that the arrangement would be stable under the influence of the disturbing forces4 ,and we may add that such an arrangement1 in which the motion of one body has a co-ordinate reference to two others1 as the motion of the moon on this hypothesis would have to the sun and the earth1 neither motion being subordinate to the other1 is contrary to the whole known analogy of cosmical phenomena1 and therefore has no claim to our notice as a subject of discussion4 #b4 ,in turning our consideration to the satellites of the other planets of our system1 there is one fact which immediately arrests our attention2--the number of such attendant bodies appears to increase as we proceed to planets farther and farther from the sun4 ,such at least is the general rule4 ,mercury and ,venus1 the planets nearest the sun1 have no such attendants3 the ,earth has one4 ,mars1 indeed1 who is still farther removed1 has none2 nor have the minor planets1 ,juno1 ,vesta1 ,ceres1 ,pallas2 so that the rule is only approximately verified4 ,but ,jupiter1 who is at five times the earth's distance1 has four satellites2 and ,saturn1 who is again at a distance nearly twice as great1 has seven1 besides that most extraordinary phenomenon his ring1 which1 for purposes of illumination1 is equivalent to many thousand satellites4 ,of ,uranus it is difficult to speak1 for his great distance renders it almost impossible to observe the smaller circumstances of his condition4 ,it does not appear at all probable that he has a ring1 like ,saturn2 but he has at least five satellites which are visible to us1 at the enormous distance of nine hundred millions of miles2 and we believe that the astronomer will hardly deny that he may possibly have thousands of smaller ones circulating about him4 ,but leaving conjecture1 and taking only the ascertained cases of ,venus1 the ,earth1 ,jupiter1 and ,saturn1 we conceive that a person of common understanding will be strongly impressed with the persuasion that the satellites are placed in the system with a view to compensate for the diminished light of the sun at greater distances4 ,the smaller planets1 ,juno1 ,vesta1 ,ceres1 and ,pallas1 differ from the rest in so many ways1 and suggest so many conjectures of reasons for such differences1 that we should almost expect to find them exceptions to such a rule4 ,mars is a more obvious exception4 ,some persons might conjecture from his case1 that the arrangement itself1 like other useful arrangements1 has been brought about by some wider law which we have not yet detected4 ,but whether or not we entertain such a guess1 7it can be nothing more17 we see in other parts of creation1 so many examples of apparent exceptions to rules1 which are afterwards found to be explained1 or provided for by particular contrivances1 that no one1 familiar with such contemplations1 will1 by one anomaly1 be driven from the persuasion that the end which the arrangements of the satellites seem suited to answer is really one of the ends of their creation4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,the ,stability of the ,ocean4 ,what is meant by the stability of the ocean may perhaps be explained by means of the following illustration4 ,if we suppose the whole globe of the ,earth to be composed of water1 a sphere of cork1 immersed in any part of it1 would come to the surface of the water1 except it were placed exactly at the centre of the earth2 and even if it were the slightest displacement of the cork sphere would end in its rising and floating4 ,this would be the case whatever were the size of the cork sphere1 and even if it were so large as to leave comparatively little room for the water2 and the result would be nearly the same1 if the cork sphere1 when in its central position1 had on its surface prominences which projected above the surface of the water4 ,now this brings us to the case in which we have a globe resembling our present earth1 composed like it of water and of a solid centre1 with islands and continents1 but having these solid parts all made of cork4 ,and it appears by the preceding reasoning1 that in this case1 if there were any disturbance either of the solid or fluid parts1 the solid parts would rise from the centre of the watery sphere as far as they could3 that is1 all the water would run to one side and leave the land on the other4 ,such an ocean would be in unstable equilibrium4 ,now a question naturally occurs1 is the equilibrium of our present ocean of this unstable kind1 or is it stable8 ,the sea1 after its most violent agitations1 appears to return to its former state of repose2 but may not some extraordinary cause produce in it some derangement which may go on increasing till the waters all rush one way1 and thus drown the highest mountains8 ,and if we are safe from this danger1 what are the conditions by which we are so secured8 ,the illustration which we have employed obviously suggests the answer to this question2 namely1 that the equilibrium is unstable1 so long as the solid parts are of such a kind as to float in the fluid parts2 and of course we should expect that the equilibrium will be stable whenever the contrary is the case1 that is1 when the solid parts of the earth are of greater specific gravity than the sea4 ,a more systematic mathematical calculation has conducted ,laplace to a demonstration of this result4 ,the mean specific gravity of the earth appears to be about five times that of water1 so that the condition of the stability of the ocean is abundantly fulfilled4 ,and the provision by which this stability is secured was put in force through the action of those causes1 whatever they were1 which made the density of the solid materials and central parts of the earth greater than the density of the incumbent fluid4 ,when we consider1 however1 the manner in which the wisdom of the ,creator1 even in those cases in which his care is most apparent1 as in the structure of animals1 works by means of intermediate causes and general laws1 we shall not be ready to reject all belief of an end in such a case as this1 merely because the means are mechanical agencies4 ,laplace says1 8in virtue of gravity1 the most dense of the strata of the earth are those nearest to the centre2 and thus the mean density exceeds that of the waters which cover it2 which suffices to secure the stability of the equilibrium of the seas1 and to put a bridle upon the fury of the waves40 ,this statement1 if exact1 would not prove that ,he who subjected the materials of the earth to the action of gravity did not intend to restrain the rage of the waters3 but the statement is not true in fact4 ,the lower strata1 so far as man has yet examined1 are very far from being constantly1 or even generally1 heavier than the superincumbent ones4 ,and certainly solidification by no means implies a greater density than fluidity3 the density of ,jupiter is one fourth1 that of ,saturn less than one seventh1 of that of the earth4 ,if an ocean of water were poured into the cavities upon the surface of ,saturn1 its equilibrium would not be stable4 ,it would leave its bed on one side of the globe2 and the planet would finally be composed of one hemisphere of water and one of land4 ,if the ,earth had an ocean of a fluid six times as heavy as water1 7quicksilver is thirteen times as heavy17 we should have1 in like manner1 a dry and a fluid hemisphere4 ,our inland rivers would probably never be able to reach the shores1 but would be dried up on their way1 like those which run in torrid desarts2 perhaps the evaporation from the ocean would never reach the inland mountains1 and we should have no rivers at all4 ,without attempting to imagine the details of such a condition1 it is easy to see1 that to secure the existence of a different one is an end which is in harmony with all that we see of the preserving care displayed in the rest of creation4#bj ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,nebular ,hypothesis4 ,we have referred to ,laplace1 as a profound mathematician1 who has strongly expressed the opinion1 that the arrangement by which the stability of the solar system is secured is not the result of chance2 that 8a primitive cause has directed the planetary motions40 ,this author1 however1 having arrived1 as we have done1 at this conviction1 does not draw from it the conclusion which has appeared to us so irresistible1 that 8the admirable arrangement of the solar system cannot but be the work of an intelligent and most powerful being40 ,he quotes these expressions1 which are those of ,newton1 and points at them as instances where that great philosopher had deviated from the method of true philosophy4 ,he himself proposes an hypothesis concerning the nature of the primitive cause of which he conceives the existence to be thus probable3 and this hypothesis1 on account of the facts which it attempts to combine1 the view of the universe which it presents1 and the eminence of the person by whom it is propounded1 deserves our notice4 #a4 ,laplace conjectures that in the original condition of the solar system1 the sun revolved upon his axis1 surrounded by an atmosphere which1 in virtue of an excessive heat1 extended far beyond the orbits of all the planets1 the planets as yet having no existence4 ,the heat gradually diminished1 and as the solar atmosphere contracted by cooling1 the rapidity of its rotation increased by the laws of rotatory motion1 and an exterior zone of vapour was detached from the rest1 the central attraction being no longer able to overcome the increased centrifugal force4 ,this zone of vapour might in some cases retain its form1 as we see it in ,saturn's ring2 but more usually the ring of vapour would break into several masses1 and these would generally coalesce into one mass1 which would revolve about the sun4 ,such portions of the solar atmosphere1 abandoned successively at different distances1 would form 8planets in the state of vapour40 ,these planets1 it appears from mechanical considerations1 would have each its rotatory motion1 and as the cooling of the vapour still went on1 would each produce a planet1 which might have satellites and rings1 formed from the planet in the same manner as the planets were formed from the atmosphere of the sun4 ,it may easily be conceived that all the primary motions of a system so produced would be nearly circular1 nearly in the plane of the original equator of the solar rotation1 and in the direction of that rotation4 ,reasons are offered also to show that the motions of the satellites thus produced and the motions of rotation of the planets must be in the same direction4 ,and thus it is held that the hypothesis accounts for the most remarkable circumstances in the structure of the solar system3 namely1 the motions of the planets in the same direction1 and almost in the same plane2 the motions of the satellites in the same direction as those of the planets2 the motions of rotation of these different bodies still in the same direction as the other motions1 and in planes not much different2 the small eccentricity of the orbits of the planets1 upon which condition1 along with some of the preceding ones1 the stability of the system depends2 and the position of the source of light and heat in the centre of the system4 ,it is not necessary for the purpose1 nor suitable to the plan of the present treatise1 to examine1 on physical grounds1 the probability of the above hypothesis4 ,it is proposed by its author1 with great diffidence1 as a conjecture only4 ,we might1 therefore1 very reasonably put off all discussion of the bearings of this opinion upon our views of the government of the world1 till the opinion itself should have assumed a less indistinct and precarious form4 ,it can be no charge against our doctrines1 that there is a difficulty in reconciling with them arbitrary guesses and half-formed theories4 ,we shall1 however1 make a few observations upon this nebular hypothesis1 as it may be termed4 #b4 ,if we grant1 for a moment1 the hypothesis1 it by no means proves that the solar system was formed without the intervention of intelligence and design4 ,it only transfers our view of the skill exercised1 and the means employed1 to another part of the work4 ,for1 how came the sun and its atmosphere to have such materials1 such motions1 such a constitution1 that these consequences followed from their primordial condition8 ,how came the parent vapour thus to be capable of coherence1 separation1 contraction1 solidification8 ,how came the laws of its motion1 attraction1 repulsion1 condensation1 to be so fixed1 as to lead to a beautiful and harmonious system in the end8 ,how came it to be neither too fluid nor too tenacious1 to contract neither too quickly nor too slowly1 for the successive formation of the several planetary bodies8 ,how came that substance1 which at one time was a luminous vapour1 to be at a subsequent period1 solids and fluids of many various kinds8 ,what but design and intelligence prepared and tempered this previously existing element1 so that it should by its natural changes produce such an orderly system8 ,and if in this way we suppose a planet to be produced1 what sort of a body would it be8--something1 it may be presumed1 resembling a large meteoric stone4 ,how comes this mass to be covered with motion and organization1 with life and happiness8 ,what primitive cause stocked it with plants and animals1 and produced all the wonderful and subtle contrivances which we find in their structure1 all the wide and profound mutual dependencies which we trace in their economy8 ,was man1 with his thought and feeling1 his powers and hopes1 his will and conscience1 also produced as an ultimate result of the condensation of the solar atmosphere8 ,except we allow a prior purpose and intelligence presiding over this material 8primitive cause10 how irreconcilable is it with the evidence which crowds in upon us from every side6 #c4 ,in the next place1 we may observe concerning this hypothesis1 that it carries us back to the beginning of the present system of things2 but that it is impossible for our reason to stop at the point thus presented to it4 ,the sun1 the earth1 the planets1 the moons were brought into their present order out of a previous state1 and1 as is supposed in the theory1 by the natural operation of laws4 ,but how came that previous state to exist8 ,we are compelled to suppose that it1 in like manner1 was educed from a still prior state of things2 and this1 again1 must have been the result of a condition prior still4 ,nor is it possible for us to find1 in the tenets of the nebular hypothesis1 any resting place or satisfaction for the mind4 ,the same reasoning faculty1 which seeks for the origin of the present system of things1 and is capable of assenting to1 or dissenting from the hypothesis propounded by ,laplace as an answer to this inquiry1 is necessarily led to seek1 in the same manner1 for the origin of any previous system of things1 out of which the present may appear to have grown3 and must pursue this train of inquiries unremittingly1 so long as the answer which it receives describes a mere assemblage of matter and motion2 since it would be to contradict the laws of matter and the nature of motion1 to suppose such an assemblage to be the first condition4 ,the reflection just stated1 may be illustrated by the further consideration of the ,nebular ,hypothesis4 ,this opinion refers us1 for the origin of the solar system1 to a sun surrounded with an atmosphere of enormously elevated temperature1 revolving and cooling4 ,but as we ascend to a still earlier period1 what state of things are we to suppose8--a still higher temperature1 a still more diffused atmosphere4 ,laplace conceives that1 in its primitive state1 the sun consisted in a diffused luminosity so as to resemble those nebul among the fixed stars1 which are seen by the aid of the telescope1 and which exhibit a nucleus1 more or less brilliant1 surrounded by a cloudy brightness4 8,this anterior state was itself preceded by other states1 in which the nebulous matter was more and more diffuse1 the nucleus being less and less luminous4 ,we arrive10 ,laplace says1 8in this manner1 at a nebulosity so diffuse1 that its existence could scarcely be suspected40 8,such is10 he adds1 8in fact1 the first state of the nebul which ,herschel carefully observed by means of his powerful telescopes4 ,he traced the progress of condensation1 not indeed on one nebula1 for this progress can only become perceptible to us in the course of centuries2 but in the assemblage of nebul2 much in the same manner as in a large forest we may trace the growth of trees among the examples of different ages which stand side by side4 ,he saw in the first place the nebulous matter dispersed in patches1 in the different parts of the sky4 ,he saw in some of these patches this matter feebly condensed round one or more faint nuclei4 ,in other nebul1 these nuclei were brighter in proportion to the surrounding nebulosity2 when by a further condensation the atmosphere of each nucleus becomes separate from the others1 the result is multiple nebulous stars1 formed by brilliant nuclei very near each other1 and each surrounded by an atmosphere3 sometimes the nebulous matter condensing in a uniform manner has produced nebulous systems which are called planetary4 ,finally1 a still greater degree of condensation transforms all these nebulous systems into stars4 ,the nebul1 classed according to this philosophical view1 indicate with extreme probability their future transformation into stars1 and the anterior nebulous condition of the stars which now exist40 ,it appears then that the highest point to which this series of conjectures can conduct us1 is1 8an extremely diffused nebulosity10 attended1 we may suppose1 by a far higher degree of heat1 than that which1 at a later period of the hypothetical process1 keeps all the materials of our earth and planets in a state of vapour4 ,now is it not impossible to avoid asking1 whence was this light1 this heat1 this diffusion8 ,how came the laws which such a state implies1 to be already in existence8 ,whether light and heat produce their effects by means of fluid vehicles or otherwise1 they have complex and varied laws which indicate the existence of some subtle machinery for their action4 ,when and how was this machinery constructed8 ,whence too that enormous expansive power which the nebulous matter is supposed to possess8 ,and if1 as would seem to be supposed in this doctrine1 all the material ingredients of the earth existed in this diffuse nebulosity1 either in the state of vapour1 or in some state of still greater expansion1 whence were they and their properties8 how came there to be of each simple substance which now enters into the composition of the universe1 just so much and no more8 ,do we not1 far more than ever1 require an origin of this origin8 an explanation of this explanation8 ,whatever may be the merits of the opinion as a physical hypothesis1 with which we do not here meddle1 can it for a moment prevent our looking beyond the hypothesis1 to a ,first ,cause1 an ,intelligent ,author1 an origin proceeding from free volition1 not from material necessity8 ,but again3 let us ascend to the highest point of the hypothetical progression3 let us suppose the nebulosity diffused throughout all space1 so that its course of running into patches is not yet begun4 ,how are we to suppose it distributed8 ,is it equably diffused in every part8 clearly not2 for if it were1 what should cause it to gather into masses1 so various in size1 form and arrangement8 ,the separation of the nebulous matter into distinct nebul implies necessarily some original inequality of distribution2 some determining circumstances in its primitive condition4 ,whence were these circumstances8 this inequality8 we are still compelled to seek some ulterior agency and power4 ,why must the primeval condition be one of change at all8 ,why should not the nebulous matter be equably diffused throughout space1 and continue for ever in its state of equable diffusion1 as it must do1 from the absence of all cause to determine the time and manner of its separation8 why should this nebulous matter grow cooler and cooler8 why should it not retain for ever the same degree of heat1 whatever heat be8 ,if heat be a fluid1 if to cool be to part with this fluid1 as many philosophers suppose1 what becomes of the fluid heat of the nebulous matter1 as the matter cools down8 ,into what unoccupied region does it find its way8 ,innumerable questions of the same kind might be asked1 and the conclusion to be drawn is1 that every new physical theory which we include in our view of the universe1 involves us in new difficulties and perplexities1 if we try to erect it into an ultimate and final account of the existence and arrangement of the world in which we live4 ,with the evidence of such theories1 considered as scientific generalizations of ascertained facts1 with their claims to a place in our natural philosophy1 we have here nothing to do4 ,but if they are put forwards as a disclosure of the ultimate cause of that which occurs1 and as superseding the necessity of looking further or higher2 if they claim a place in our ,natural ,theology1 as well as our ,natural ,philosophy2 we conceive that their pretensions will not bear a moment's examination4 ,leaving then to other persons and to future ages to decide upon the scientific merits of the nebular hypothesis1 we conceive that the final fate of this opinion cannot1 in sound reason1 affect at all the view which we have been endeavouring to illustrate2--the view of the universe as the work of a wise and good ,creator4 ,let it be supposed that the point to which this hypothesis leads us1 is the ultimate point of physical science3 that the farthest glimpse we can obtain of the material universe by our natural faculties1 shows it to us occupied by a boundless abyss of luminous matter3 still we ask1 how space came to be thus occupied1 how matter came to be thus luminous8 ,if we establish by physical proofs1 that the first fact which can be traced in the history of the world1 is that 8there was light20 we shall still be led1 even by our natural reason1 to suppose that before this could occur1 8,god said1 let there be light40 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,existence of a ,resisting ,medium in the ,solar ,system4 ,the question of a plenum and a vacuum was formerly much debated among those who speculated concerning the constitution of the universe2 that is1 they disputed whether the celestial and terrestrial spaces are absolutely full1 each portion being occupied by some matter or other2 or whether there are1 between and among the material parts of the world1 empty spaces free from all matter1 however rare4 ,this question was often treated by means of abstract conceptions and priori reasonings2 and was sometimes considered as one in which the result of the struggle between rival systems of philosophy1 the ,cartesian and ,newtonian for instance1 was involved4 ,it was conceived by some that the ,newtonian doctrine of the motions of the heavenly bodies1 according to mechanical laws1 required that the space in which they moved should be1 absolutely and metaphysically speaking1 a vacuum4 ,this1 however1 is not necessary to the truth of the ,newtonian doctrines1 and does not appear to have been intended to be asserted by ,newton himself4 ,undoubtedly1 according to his theory1 the motions of the heavenly bodies were calculated on the supposition that they do move in a space void of any resisting fluid2 and the comparison of the places so calculated with the places actually observed1 7continued for a long course of years1 and tried in innumerable cases17 did not show any difference which implied the existence of a resisting fluid4 ,the ,newtonian1 therefore1 was justified in asserting that either there was no such fluid1 or that it was so thin and rarefied1 that no phenomenon yet examined by astronomers was capable of betraying its effects4 ,this was all that the ,newtonian needed or ought to maintain2 for his philosophy1 founded altogether upon observation1 had nothing to do with abstract possibilities and metaphysical necessities4 ,and in the same manner in which observation and calculation thus showed that there could be none but a very rare medium pervading the solar system1 it was left open to observation and calculation to prove that there was such a medium1 if any facts could be discovered which offered suitable evidence4 ,within the last few years1 facts have been observed which show1 in the opinion of some of the best mathematicians of ,europe1 that such a very rare medium does really occupy the spaces in which the planets move2 and it may be proper and interesting to consider the bearing of this opinion upon the views and arguments which we have had here to present4 #a4 ,reasons might be offered1 founded on the universal diffusion of light and on other grounds1 for believing that the planetary spaces cannot be entirely free from matter of some kind2 and wherever matter is1 we should expect resistance4 ,but the facts which have thus led astronomers to the conviction that such a resisting medium really exists1 are certain circumstances occurring in the motion of a body revolving round the sun1 which is now usually called ,encke's comet4 ,this body revolves in a very eccentric or oblong orbit1 its greatest or aphelion distance from the sun1 and its nearest1 or perihelion distance1 being in the proportion of more than ten to one4 ,in this respect it agrees with other comets2 but its time of revolution about the sun is much less than that of the comets which have excited most notice2 for while they appear only at long intervals of years1 the body of which we are now speaking returns to its perihelion every twelve hundred and eight days1 or in about three years and one-third4 ,another observable circumstance in this singular body1 is its extreme apparent tenuity3 it appears as a loose indefinitely formed speck of vapour1 through which the stars are visible with no perceptible diminution of their brightness4 ,this body was first seen by ,mechain and ,messier1 in #aghf1ba but they obtained only two observations1 whereas three1 at least1 are requisite to determine the path of a heavenly body4 ,miss ,herschel discovered it again in #agie1 and it was observed by several ,european astronomers4 ,in #ahje it was again seen1 and again in #ahai4 ,hitherto it was supposed that the four comets thus observed were all different2 ,encke1 however1 showed that the observations could only be explained by considering them as returns of the same revolving body2 and by doing this1 well merited that his name should be associated with the subject of his discovery4 ,the return of this body in #ahbb1 was calculated beforehand1 and observed in ,new ,south ,wales1 the comet being then in the southern part of the heavens2 but on comparing the calculated and the observed places1 ,encke concluded that the observations could not be exactly explained1 without supposing a resisting medium4 ,this comet was again generally observed in ,europe in #ahbe and #ahbh1 and the circumstances of the last appearance were particularly favourable for determining the absolute amount of the retardation arising from the medium1 which the other observations had left undetermined4 ,the effect of this retarding influence is1 as might be supposed from what has already been said1 extremely slight2 and would probably not have been perceptible at all1 but for the loose texture and small quantity of matter of the revolving body4 ,it will easily be conceived that a body which has perhaps no more solidity or coherence than a cloud of dust1 or a wreath of smoke1 will have less force to make its way through a fluid medium1 however thin1 than a more dense and compact body would have4 ,in atmospheric air much rarefied1 a bullet might proceed for miles without losing any of its velocity1 while such a loose mass as the comet is supposed to be would lose its projectile motion in the space of a few yards4 ,this consideration will account for the circumstance1 that the existence of such a medium has been detected by observing the motions of ,encke's comet1 though the motions of the heavenly bodies previously observed showed no trace of such an impediment4 ,it will appear perhaps remarkable that a body so light and loose as we have described this comet to be1 should revolve about the sun by laws as fixed and certain as those which regulate the motions of those great and solid masses1 the ,earth and ,jupiter4 ,it is however certain from observation1 that this comet is acted upon by exactly the same force of solar attraction1 as the other bodies of the system2 and not only so1 but that it also experiences the same kind of disturbing force from the action of the other planets1 which they exercise upon each other4 ,the effect of all these causes has been calculated with great care and labour2 and the result has been an agreement with observation sufficiently close to show that these causes really act1 but at the same time a residual phenomenon 7as ,sir ,j4 ,herschel expresses it7 has come to light3 and from this has been collected the inference of a resisting medium4 ,this medium produces a very small effect upon the motion of the comet1 as will easily be supposed from what has been said4 ,by ,encke's calculation1 it appears that the effect of the resistance1 supposing the comet to move in the earth's orbit1 would be about an eight hundred and fiftieth of the sun's force on the body4 ,the effect of such resistance may appear1 at first sight1 paradoxical2 it would be to make the comet move more slowly1 but perform its revolutions more quickly4 ,this1 however1 will perhaps be understood if it be considered that by moving more slowly the comet will be more rapidly drawn towards the centre1 and that in this way a revolution will be described by a shorter path than it was before4 ,it appears that in getting round the sun1 the comet gains more in this way than it loses by the diminution of its velocity4 ,the case is much like that of a stone thrown in the air2 the stone moves more slowly than it would do if there were no air2 but yet it comes to the earth sooner than it would do on that supposition4 ,it appears that the effect of the resistance of the ethereal medium1 from the first discovery of the comet up to the present time1 has been to diminish the time of revolution by about two days3 and the comet is ten days in advance of the place which it would have reached1 if there had been no resistance4 #b4 ,the same medium which is thus shown to produce an effect upon ,encke's comet1 must also act upon the planets which move through the same spaces4 ,the effect upon the planets1 however1 must be very much smaller than the effect upon the comet1 in consequence of their greater quantity of matter4 ,it is not easy to assign any probable value1 or even any certain limit1 to the effect of the resisting medium upon the planets4 ,we are entirely ignorant of the comparative mass of the comet1 and of any of the planets2 and hence1 cannot make any calculation founded on such a comparison4 ,newton has endeavoured to show how small the resistance of the medium must be1 if it exist4#bb ,the result of his calculation is1 that if we take the density of the medium to be that which our air will have at two hundred miles from the earth's surface1 supposing the law of diminution of density to go on unaltered1 and if we suppose ,jupiter to move in such a medium1 he would in a million years lose less than a millionth part of his velocity4 ,if a planet1 revolving about the sun1 were to lose any portion of its velocity by the effect of resistance1 it would be drawn proportionally nearer the sun1 the tendency towards the centre being no longer sufficiently counteracted by that centrifugal force which arises from the body's velocity4 ,and if the resistance were to continue to act1 the body would be drawn perpetually nearer and nearer to the centre1 and would describe its revolutions quicker and quicker1 till at last it would reach the central body1 and the system would cease to be a system4 ,this result is true1 however small be the velocity lost by resistance2 the only difference being1 that when the resistance is small1 the time requisite to extinguish the whole motion will be proportionally longer4 ,in all cases the times which come under our consideration in problems of this kind1 are enormous to common apprehension4 ,thus ,encke's comet1 according to the results of the observations already made1 will lose1 in ten revolutions1 or thirty-three years1 less than one thousandth of its velocity3 and if this law were to continue1 the velocity would not be reduced to one-half its present value in less than seven thousand revolutions or twenty-three thousand years4 ,if ,jupiter were to lose one-millionth of his velocity in a million years1 7which1 as has been seen1 is far more than can be considered in any way probable17 he would require seventy millions of years to lose one-thousandth of the velocity2 and a period seven hundred times as long to reduce the velocity to one-half4 ,these are periods of time which quite overwhelm the imagination2 and it is not pretended that the calculations are made with any pretensions to accuracy4 ,but at the same time it is beyond doubt that though the intervals of time thus assigned to these changes are highly vague and uncertain1 the changes themselves must1 sooner or later1 take place1 in consequence of the existence of the resisting medium4 ,since there is such a retarding force perpetually acting1 however slight it be1 it must in the end destroy all the celestial motions4 ,it may be millions of millions of years before the earth's retardation may perceptibly affect the apparent motion of the sun2 but still the day will come 7if the same ,providence which formed the system1 should permit it to continue so long7 when this cause will entirely change the length of our year and the course of our seasons1 and finally stop the earth's motion round the sun altogether4 ,the smallness of the resistance1 however small we choose to suppose it1 does not allow us to escape this certainty4 ,there is a resisting medium2 and1 therefore1 the movements of the solar system cannot go on for ever4 ,the moment such a fluid is ascertained to exist1 the eternity of the movements of the planets becomes as impossible as a perpetual motion on the earth4 #c4 ,the vast periods which are brought under our consideration in tracing the effects of the resisting medium1 harmonize with all that we learn of the constitution of the universe from other sources4 ,millions1 and millions of millions of years are expressions that at first sight appear fitted only to overwhelm and confound all our powers of thought2 and such numbers are no doubt beyond the limits of any thing which we distinctly conceive4 ,but our powers of conception are suited rather to the wants and uses of common life1 than to a complete survey of the universe4 ,it is in no way unlikely that the whole duration of the solar system should be a period immeasurably great in our eyes1 though demonstrably finite4 ,such enormous numbers have been brought under our notice by all the advances we have made in our knowledge of nature4 ,the smallness of the objects detected by the microscope and of their parts2--the multitude of the stars which the best telescopes of modern times have discovered in the sky2--the duration assigned to the globe of the earth by geological investigation2--all these results require for their probable expression1 numbers1 which so far as we see1 are on the same gigantic scale as the number of years in which the solar system will become entirely deranged4 ,such calculations depend in some degree on our relation to the vast aggregate of the works of our ,creator2 and no person who is accustomed to meditate on these subjects will be surprised that the numbers which such an occasion requires should oppress our comprehension4 ,no one who has dwelt on the thought of a universal ,creator and ,preserver1 will be surprised to find the conviction forced upon the mind by every new train of speculation1 that viewed in reference to ,him1 our space is a point1 our time a moment1 our millions a handful1 our permanence a quick decay4 ,our knowledge of the vast periods1 both geological and astronomical1 of which we have spoken1 is most slight4 ,it is in fact little more than that such periods exist2 that the surface of the earth has1 at wide intervals of time1 undergone great changes in the disposition of land and water1 and in the forms of animal life2 and that the motions of the heavenly bodies round the sun are affected1 though with inconceivable slowness1 by a force which must end by deranging them altogether4 ,it would therefore be rash to endeavour to establish any analogy between the periods thus disclosed2 but we may observe that they agree in this1 that they reduce all things to the general rule of finite duration4 ,as all the geological states of which we find evidence in the present state of the earth1 have had their termination1 so also the astronomical conditions under which the revolutions of the earth itself proceed1 involve the necessity of a future cessation of these revolutions4 ,the contemplative person may well be struck by this universal law of the creation4 ,we are in the habit sometimes of contrasting the transient destiny of man with the permanence of the forests1 the mountains1 the ocean1--with the unwearied circuit of the sun4 ,but this contrast is a delusion of our own imagination2 the difference is after all but one of degree4 ,the forest tree endures for its centuries and then decays2 the mountains crumble and change1 and perhaps subside in some convulsion of nature2 the sea retires1 and the shore ceases to resound with the 8everlasting0 voice of the ocean3 such reflections have already crowded upon the mind of the geologist2 and it now appears that the courses of the heavens themselves are not exempt from the universal law of decay2 that not only the rocks and the mountains1 but the sun and the moon have the sentence 8to end0 stamped upon their foreheads4 ,they enjoy no privilege beyond man except a longer respite4 ,the ephemeron perishes in an hour2 man endures for his three score years and ten2 an empire1 a nation1 numbers its centuries1 it may be its thousands of years2 the continents and islands which its dominion includes have perhaps their date1 as those which preceded them have had2 and the very revolutions of the sky by which centuries are numbered will at last languish and stand still4 ,to dwell on the moral and religious reflections suggested by this train of thought is not to our present purpose2 but we may observe that it introduces a homogeneity1 so to speak1 into the government of the universe4 ,perpetual change1 perpetual progression1 increase and diminution1 appear to be the rules of the material world1 and to prevail without exception4 ,the smaller portions of matter which we have near us1 and the larger1 which appear as luminaries at a vast distance1 different as they are in our mode of conceiving them1 obey the same laws of motion2 and these laws produce the same results2 in both cases motion is perpetually destroyed1 except it be repaired by some living power2 in both cases the relative rest of the parts of a material system is the conclusion to which its motion tends4 #d4 ,it may perhaps appear to some1 that this acknowledgment of the tendency of the system to derangement through the action of a resisting medium is inconsistent with the argument which we have drawn in a previous chapter1 from the provisions for its stability4 ,in reality1 however1 the two views are in perfect agreement1 so far as our purpose is concerned4 ,the main point which we had to urge1 in the consideration of the stability of the system1 was1 not that it is constructed to last for ever1 but that while it lasts1 the deviations from its mean condition are very small4 ,it is this property which fits the world for its uses4 ,to maintain either the past or the future eternity of the world1 does not appear consistent with physical principles1 as it certainly does not fall in with the convictions of the religious man1 in whatever way obtained4 ,we conceive that this state of things has had a beginning2 we conceive that it will have an end4 ,but in the mean time we find it fitted1 by a number of remarkable arrangements1 to be the habitation of living creatures4 ,the conditions which secure the stability1 and the smallness of the perturbations of the system1 are among these provisions4 ,if the eccentricity of the orbit of ,venus1 or of ,jupiter1 were much greater than it is1 not only might some of the planets1 at the close of ages1 fall into the sun or fly off into infinite space1 but also1 in the intermediate time1 the earth's orbit might become much more eccentric2 the course of the seasons and the average of temperature might vary from what they now are1 so as to injure or destroy the whole organic creation4 ,by certain original arrangements these destructive oscillations are prevented4 ,so long as the bodies continue to revolve1 their orbits will not be much different from what they now are4 ,and this result is not affected by the action of the resisting medium4 ,such a medium cannot increase the small eccentricities of the orbits4 ,the range of the periodical oscillations of heat and cold will not be extended by the mechanical effect of the medium1 nor would be1 even if its density were incomparably greater than it is4 ,the resisting medium therefore does not at all counteract that which is most important in the provision for the permanency of the solar system4 ,if the stability of the system had not been secured by the adjustments which we described in a former chapter1 the course of the seasons might have been disturbed to an injurious or even destructive extent in the course of a few centuries1 or even within the limits of one generation2 by the effect of the resisting medium1 the order of nature remains unchanged for a period1 compared with which the known duration of the human race is insignificant4 ,but1 it may be objected1 the effect of the medium must be ultimately to affect1 the duration of the earth's revolution round the sun1 and thus to derange those adaptations which depend on the length of the year4 ,and1 without question1 if we permit ourselves to look forward to that inconceivably distant period at which the effect of the medium will become sensible1 this must be allowed to be true1 as has been already stated4 ,millions1 and probably millions of millions1 of years express inadequately the distance of time at which this cause would produce a serious effect4 ,that the machine of the universe is so constructed that it may answer its purposes for such a period1 is surely sufficient proof of the skill of its workmanship1 and of the reality of its purpose3 and those persons1 probably1 who are best convinced that it is the work of a wise and good ,creator1 will be least disposed to consider the system as imperfect1 because in its present condition it is not fitted for eternity4 #e4 ,the doctrine of a ,resisting ,medium leads us towards a point which the ,nebular ,hypothesis assumes2--a beginning of the present order of things4 ,there must have been a commencement of the motions now going on in the solar system4 ,since these motions1 when once begun1 would be deranged and destroyed in a period which1 however large1 is yet finite1 it is obvious we cannot carry their origin indefinitely backwards in a range of past duration4 ,there is a period in which these revolutions1 whenever they had begun1 would have brought the revolving bodies into contact with the central mass2 and this period has in our system not yet elapsed4 ,the watch is still going1 and therefore it must have been wound up within a limited time4 ,the solar system1 at this its beginning1 must have been arranged and put in motion by some cause4 ,if we suppose this cause to operate by means of the configurations and the properties of previously existing matter1 these configurations must have resulted from some still previous cause1 these properties must have produced some previous effects4 ,we are thus led to a condition still earlier than the assumed beginning2--to an origin of the original state of the universe2 and in this manner we are carried perpetually further and further back1 through a labyrinth of mechanical causation1 without any possibility of finding any thing in which the mind can acquiesce or rest1 till we admit 8a ,first ,cause which is not mechanical40 ,thus the argument which was before urged against those in particular1 who put forwards the ,nebular ,hypothesis in opposition to the admission of an ,intelligent ,creator1 offers itself again1 as cogent in itself1 when we adopt the opinion of a resisting medium1 for which the physical proofs have been found to be so strong4 ,the argument is indeed forced upon our minds1 whatever view we take of the past history of the universe4 ,some have endeavoured to evade its force by maintaining that the world as it now exists has existed from eternity4 ,they assert that the present order of things1 or an order of things in some way resembling the present1 produced by the same causes1 governed by the same laws1 has prevailed through an infinite succession of past ages4 ,we shall not dwell upon any objections to this tenet which might be drawn from our own conceptions1 or from what may be called metaphysical sources4 ,nor shall we refer to the various considerations which history1 geology1 and astronomical records supply1 and which tend to show1 not only that the past duration of the present course of things is finite1 but that it is short1 compared with such periods as we have had to speak of4 ,but we may observe1 that the doctrine of a resisting medium once established1 makes this imagination untenable2 compels us to go back to the origin1 not only of the present course of the world1 not only of the earth1 but of the solar system itself2 and thus sets us forth upon that path of research into the series of past causation1 where we obtain no answer of which the meaning corresponds to our questions1 till we rest in the conclusion of a most provident and most powerful ,creating ,intelligence4 ,it is related of ,epicurus that when a boy1 reading with his preceptor these verses of ,hesiod1 '1 ' 1 ,eldest of beings1 ,chaos first arose1 ,thence ,earth wide stretched1 the steadfast seat of all ,the ,immortals1 the young scholar first betrayed his inquisitive genius by asking 8,and chaos whence80 ,when in his riper years he had persuaded himself that this question was sufficiently answered by saying that chaos arose from the concourse of atoms1 it is strange that the same inquisitive spirit did not again suggest the question 8and atoms whence80 ,and it is clear that however often the question 8whence80 had been answered1 it would still start up as at first4 ,nor could it suffice as an answer to say1 that earth1 chaos1 atoms1 were portions of a series of changes which went back to eternity4 ,the preceptor of ,epicurus informed him1 that to be satisfied on the subject of his inquiry1 he must have recourse to the philosophers4 ,if the young speculator had been told that chaos 7if chaos indeed preceded the present order7 was produced by an ,eternal ,being1 in whom resided purpose and will1 he would have received a suggestion which1 duly matured by subsequent contemplation1 might have led him to a philosophy far more satisfactory than the material scheme can ever be1 to one who looks1 either abroad into the universe1 or within into his own bosom4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,mechanical ,laws4 ,in the preceding observations we have supposed the laws1 by which different kinds of matter act and are acted upon1 to be already in existence2 and have endeavoured to point out evidences of design and adaptation1 displayed in the selection and arrangement of these materials of the universe4 ,these materials are1 it has appeared1 supplied in such measures and disposed in such forms1 that by means of their properties and laws the business of the world goes on harmoniously and beneficially4 ,but a further question occurs3 how came matter to have such properties and laws8 ,are these also to be considered as things of selection and institution8 ,and if so1 can we trace the reasons why the laws were established in their present form2 why the properties which matter actually possesses were established and bestowed and bestowed upon it8 ,we have already attempted1 in a previous part of this work1 to point out some of the advantages which are secured by the existing laws of heat1 light and moisture4 ,can we1 in the same manner1 point out the benefits which arise from the present constitution of those laws of matter which are mainly concerned in the production of cosmical phenomena8 ,it will readily be perceived that the discussion of this point must necessarily require some effort of abstract thought4 ,the laws and properties of which we have here to speak1 the laws of motion and the universal properties of matter1 are so closely interwoven with our conceptions of the external world1 that we have great difficulty in conceiving them not to exist1 or to exist other than they are4 ,when we press or lift a stone1 we can hardly imagine that it could1 by possibility1 do otherwise than resist our effort by its hardness and by its heaviness1 qualities so familiar to us3 when we throw it1 it seems inevitable that its motion should depend on the impulse we give1 just as we find that it invariably does4 ,nor is it easy to say how far it is really possible to suppose the fundamental attributes of matter to be different from what they are4 ,if we1 in our thoughts1 attempt to divest matter of its powers of resisting and moving1 it ceases to be matter1 according to our conceptions1 and we can no longer reason upon it with any distinctness4 ,and yet it is certain that we can conceive the laws of hardness and weight and motion to be quite different from what they are1 and can point out some of the consequences which would result from such difference4 ,the properties of matter1 even the most fundamental and universal ones1 do not obtain by any absolute necessity1 resembling that which belongs to the properties of geometry4 ,a line touching a circle is necessarily perpendicular to a line drawn to the centre through the point touched2 for it may be shown that the contrary involves a contradiction4 ,but there is no contradiction in supposing that a body's motion should naturally diminish1 or that its weight should increase in removing further from the earth's centre4 ,thus the properties of matter and the laws of motion are what we find them1 not by virtue of any internal necessity which we can understand4 ,the study of such laws and properties may therefore disclose to us the character of that external agency by which we conceive them to have been determined to be what they are2 and this must be the same agency by which all other parts of the constitution of the universe were appointed and ordered4 ,but we can hardly expect1 with regard to such subjects1 that we shall be able to obtain any complete or adequate view of the reasons why these general laws are so selected1 and so established4 ,these laws are the universal basis of all operations which go on1 at any moment1 in every part of space1 with regard to every particle of matter1 organic and inorganic4 ,all other laws and properties must have a reference to these1 and must be influenced by them2 both such as men have already discovered1 and the far greater number which remain still unknown4 ,the general economy and mutual relations of all parts of the universe1 must be subordinate to the laws of motion and matter of which we here speak4 ,we can easily suppose that the various processes of nature1 and the dependencies of various creatures1 are affected in the most comprehensive manner by these laws2--are simplified by their simplicity1 made consistent by their universality2 rendered regular by their symmetry4 ,we can easily suppose that in this way there may be the most profound and admirable reasons for the existence of the present universal properties of matter1 which we cannot apprehend in consequence of the limited nature of our knowledge1 and of our faculties4 ,for1 compared with the whole extent of the universe1 the whole aggregate of things and relations and connexions which exist in it1 our knowledge is most narrow and partial1 most shallow and superficial4 ,we cannot suppose1 therefore1 that the reasons which we discover for the present form of the laws of nature go nearly to the full extent1 or to the bottom of the reasons1 which a more complete and profound insight would enable us to perceive4 ,to do justice to such reasons1 would require nothing less than a perfect acquaintance with the whole constitution of every part of creation2 a knowledge which man has not1 and1 so far as we can conceive1 never can have4 ,we are certain1 therefore1 that our views1 with regard to this part of our subject1 must be imperfect and limited4 ,yet still man has some knowledge with regard to various portions of nature2 and with regard to those most general and comparatively simple facts to which we now refer1 his knowledge is more comprehensive1 and goes deeper than it does in any other province4 ,we conceive1 therefore1 that we shall not be engaged in any rash or presumptuous attempt1 if we endeavour to point out some of the advantages which are secured by the present constitution of some of the general mechanical laws of nature2 and to suggest the persuasion of that purpose and wise design1 which the selection of such laws will thus appear to imply4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,the ,law of ,gravitation4 ,we shall proceed to make a few observations on the ,law of ,gravity1 in virtue of which the motions of planets about the sun1 and of satellites about their planets take place2 and by which also are produced the fall downwards of all bodies within our reach1 and the pressure which they exert upon their supports when at rest4 ,the identification of the latter forces with the former1 and the discovery of the single law by which these forces are every where regulated1 was the great discovery of ,newton3 and we wish to make it appear that this law is established by an intelligent and comprehensive selection4 ,the law of the sun's attraction upon the planets is1 that this attraction varies inversely as the square of the distance2 that is1 it decreases as that square increases4 ,if we take three points or planets of the solar system1 the distances of which from the sun are in proper proportion one1 two1 three2 the attractive force which the sun at these distances exercises1 is as one1 one-fourth1 and one-ninth respectively4 ,in the smaller variations of distance which occur in the elliptical motion of one planet1 the variations of the force follow the same law4 ,moreover1 not only does the sun attract the planets1 but they attract each other according to the same law2 the tendency to the earth which makes bodies heavy1 is one of the effects of this law3 and all these effects of the attractions of large masses may be traced to the attractions of the particles of which they are composed2 so that the final generalization1 including all the derivative laws1 is1 that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other1 according to the law of the inverse square of the distance4 ,such is the law of universal gravitation4 ,now1 the question is1 why do either the attractions of masses1 or those of their component particles1 follow this law of the inverse square of the distance rather than any other8 ,when the distance becomes one1 two1 and three1 why should not the force also become one1 two1 and three8--or if it must be weaker at points more remote from the attracting body1 why should it not be one1 a half1 a third8 or one1 an eighth1 a twenty-seventh8 ,such law's could easily be expressed mathematically1 and their consequences calculated4 ,can any reason be assigned why the law which we find in operation must obtain8 ,can any be assigned why it should obtain8 ,the answer to this is1 that no reason1 at all satisfactory1 can be given why such a law must1 of necessity1 be what it is2 but that very strong reasons can be pointed out why1 for the beauty and advantage of the system1 the present one is better than others4 ,we will point out some of these reasons4 #a4 ,in the first place1 the system could not have subsisted1 if the force had followed a direct instead of an inverse law1 with respect to the distance2 that is1 if it had increased when the distance increased4 ,it has been sometimes said1 that 8all direct laws of force are excluded on account of the danger from perturbing forces20#bc that if the planets had pulled at this earth1 the harder the further off they were1 they would have dragged it entirely out of its course4 ,this is not an exact statement of what would happen3 if the force were to be simply in the direct ratio of the distance1 any number of planets might revolve in the most regular and orderly manner4 ,their mutual effects1 which we may call perturbations if we please1 would be considerable2 but these perturbations would be so combined with the unperturbed motion1 as to produce a new motion not less regular than the other4 ,this curious result would follow1 that every body in the system would describe1 or seem to describe1 about every other1 an exact elliptical orbit2 and that the times of the revolution of every body in its orbit would be all equal4 ,this is proved by ,newton1 in the sixty-fourth proposition of the ,principia4 ,there would be nothing to prevent all the planets1 on this supposition1 from moving round the sun in orbits exactly circular1 or nearly circular1 according to the mode in which they were set in motion4 ,but though the perturbations of the system would not make this law inadmissible1 there are other circumstances which would do so4 ,under this law1 the gravity of bodies at the earth's surface would cease to exist4 ,nothing would fall or weigh downwards4 ,the greater action of the distant sun and planets would exactly neutralize the gravity of the earth3 a ball thrown from the hand1 however gently1 would immediately become a satellite of the earth1 and would for the future accompany it in its course1 revolving about it in the space of one year4 ,all terrestrial things would float about with no principle of coherence or stability3 they would obey the general law of the system1 but would acknowledge no particular relation to the earth4 ,we can hardly pretend to judge of the abstract possibility of such a system of things2 but it is clear that it could not exist without an utter subversion of all that we can conceive of the economy and structure of the world which we inhabit4 ,with any other direct law of force1 we should in like manner lose gravity1 without gaining the theoretical regularity of the planetary motions which we have described in the case just considered4 #b4 ,among inverse laws of the distance1 7that is1 those according to which the force diminishes as the distance from the origin of force increases17 all which diminish the central force faster than the cube of the distance increases are inadmissible1 because they are incompatible with the permanent revolution of a planet4 ,under such laws it would follow1 that a planet would describe a spiral line about the sun1 and would either approach nearer and nearer to him perpetually1 or perpetually go further and further off3 nearly as a stone at the end of a string1 when the string is whirled round1 and is allowed to wrap round the hand1 or to unwrap from it1 approaches to or recedes from the hand4 ,if we endeavour to compare the law of the inverse square of the distance1 which really regulates the central force1 with other laws1 not obviously inadmissible1 as for instance1 the inverse simple ratio of the distance1 a considerable quantity of calculation is found to be necessary in order to trace the results1 and especially the perturbations in the two cases4 ,the perturbations in the supposed case have not been calculated2 such a calculation being a process so long and laborious that it is never gone through1 except for the purpose of comparing the results of theory with those of observation1 as we can do with regard to the law of inverse square4 ,we can only say1 therefore1 that the stability of the system1 and the moderate limits of the perturbations1 which we know to be secured by the existing law1 would not1 so far as we know1 be obtained by any different law4 ,without going into further examination of the subject1 we may observe that there are some circumstances in which the present system has a manifest superiority in its simplicity over the condition which would have belonged to it if the force had followed any other law4 ,thus1 with the present law of gravitation the planets revolve1 returning perpetually on the same track1 very nearly4 ,the earth describes an oval1 in consequence of which motion she is nearer to the sun in our winter than in our summer by about one-thirtieth part of the whole distance4 ,and1 as the matter now is1 the nearest approach to the sun1 and the farthest recess from him1 occur always at the same points of the orbit4 ,there is indeed a slight alteration in these points arising from disturbing forces1 but this is hardly sensible in the course of several ages4 ,now if the force had followed any other law1 we should have had the earth running perpetually on a new track4 ,the greatest and least distances would have occurred at different parts in every successive revolution4 ,the orbit would have perpetually intersected and been interlaced with the path described in former revolutions2 and the simplicity and regularity which characterizes the present motion would have been quite wanting4 #c4 ,another peculiar point of simplicity in the present law of mutual attraction is this3 that it makes the law of attraction for spherical masses the same as for single particles4 ,if particles attract with forces which are inversely as the square of the distance1 spheres composed of such particles1 will exert a force which follows the same law4 ,in this character the present law is singular1 among all possible laws1 excepting that of the direct distance which we have already discussed4 ,if the law of the gravitation of particles had been that of the inverse simple distance1 the attraction of a sphere would have been expressed by a complex series of mathematical expressions1 each representing a simple law4 ,it is truly remarkable that the law of the inverse square of the distance1 which appears to be selected as that of the masses of the system1 and of which the mechanism is1 that it arises from the action of the particles of the system1 should lead us to the same law for the action of these particles3 there is a striking prerogative of simplicity in the law thus adopted4 ,the law of gravitation actually prevailing in the solar system has thus great and clear advantages over any law widely different from it2 and has moreover1 in many of its consequences1 a simplicity which belongs to this precise law alone4 ,it is in many such respects a unique law2 and when we consider that it possesses several properties which are peculiar to it1 and several advantages which may be peculiar to it1 and which are certainly nearly so2 we have some ground1 it would appear1 to look upon its peculiarities and its advantages as connected4 ,for the reasons mentioned in the last chapter1 we can hardly expect to see fully the way in which the system is benefited by the simplicity of this law1 and by the mathematical elegance of its consequences3 but when we see that it has some such beauties1 and some manifest benefits1 we may easily suppose that our ignorance and limited capacity alone prevent our seeing that there are1 for the selection of this law of force1 reasons of a far more refined and comprehensive kind than we can distinctly apprehend4 #d4 ,but before quitting this subject we may offer a few further observations on the question1 whether gravitation and the law of gravitation be necessary attributes of matter4 ,we have spoken of the selection of this law1 but is it selected8 ,could it have been otherwise8 ,is not the force of attraction a necessary consequence of the fundamental properties of matter8 ,this is a question which has been much agitated among the followers of ,newton4 ,some have maintained1 as ,cotes1 that gravity is an inherent property of all matter2 others1 with ,newton himself1 have considered it as an appendage to the essential qualities of matter1 and have proposed hypotheses to account for the mode in which its effects are produced4 ,the result of all that can be said on the subject appears to be this3 that no one can demonstrate the possibility of deducing gravity from the acknowledged fundamental properties of matter3 and that no philosopher asserts1 that matter has been found to exist1 which was destitute of gravity4 ,it is a property which we have no right to call necessary to matter1 but every reason to suppose universal4 ,if we could show gravity to be a necessary consequence of those properties which we adopt as essential to our notion of matter1 7extension1 solidity1 mobility1 inertia7 we might then call it also one of the essential properties4 ,but no one probably will assert that this is the case4 ,its universality is a fact of observation merely4 ,how then can a property1--in its existence so needful for the support of the universe1 in its laws so well adapted to the purposes of creation1--how came it to be thus universal8 ,its being found every where is necessary for its uses2 but this is so far from being a sufficient explanation of its existence1 that it is an additional fact to be explained4 ,we have here1 then1 an agency most simple in its rule1 most comprehensive in its influence1 most effectual and admirable in its operation4 ,what evidence could be afforded of design1 by laws of mechanical action1 which this law thus existing and thus operating does not afford us8 #e4 ,it is not necessary for our purpose to consider the theories which have been proposed to account for the action of gravity4 ,they have proceeded on the plan of reducing this action to the result of pressure or impulse4 ,even if such theories could be established1 they could not much1 or at all1 affect our argument2 for the arrangements by which pressure or impact could produce the effects which gravity produces1 must be at least as clearly results of contrivance1 as gravity itself can be4 ,in fact1 however1 none of these attempts can be considered as at all successful4 ,that of ,newton is very remarkable3 it is found among the ,queries in the second edition of his ,optics4 8,to show10 he says1 8that ,i do not take gravity for an essential property of bodies1 ,i have added one question concerning its cause1 choosing to propose it by way of question1 because ,i am not yet satisfied about it for want of experiments40 ,the hypothesis which he thus suggests is1 that there is an elastic medium pervading all space1 and increasing in elasticity as we proceed from dense bodies outwards3 that this 8causes the gravity of such dense bodies to each other3 every body endeavouring to go from the denser parts of the medium towards the rarer40 ,of this hypothesis we may venture to say1 that it is in the first place quite gratuitous2 we cannot trace in any other phenomena a medium possessing these properties3 and in the next place1 that the hypothesis contains several suppositions which are more complex than the fact to be explained1 and none which are less so4 ,can we1 on ,newton's principles1 conceive an elastic medium otherwise than as a collection of particles1 repelling each other8 and is the repulsion of such particles a simpler fact than the attraction of those which gravitate8 ,and when we suppose that the medium becomes more elastic as we proceed from each attracting body1 what cause can we conceive capable of keeping it in such a condition1 except a repulsive force emanating from the body itself3 a supposition at least as much requiring to be accounted for1 as the attraction of the body4 ,it does not appear1 then1 that this hypothesis will bear examination2 although1 for our purpose1 the argument would be rather strengthened than weakened1 if it could be established4 #f4 ,another theory of the cause of gravity1 which at one time excited considerable notice1 was that originally proposed by ,m4 ,le ,sage1 in a memoir entitled 8,lucrece ,newtonien10 and further illustrated by ,m4 ,prevost2 according to which all space is occupied by currents of matter1 moving perpetually in straight lines1 in all directions1 with a vast velocity1 and penetrating all bodies4 ,when two bodies are near each other1 they intercept the current which would flow in the intermediate space if they were not there1 and thus receive a tendency towards each other from the pressure of the currents on their farther sides4 ,without examining further this curious and ingenious hypothesis1 we may make upon it the same kind of observations as before2--that it is perfectly gratuitous1 except as a means of explaining the phenomena2 and that1 if it were proved1 it would still remain to be shown what necessity has caused the existence of these two kinds of matter2 the first kind being that which is commonly called matter1 and which alone affects our senses1 while it is inert as to any tendency to motion2 the second kind being something imperceptible to our senses1 except by the effects it produces on matter of the former kind2 yet exerting an impulse on every material body1 permeating every portion of common matter1 flowing with inconceivable velocity1 in inexhaustible abundance1 from every part of the abyss of infinity on one side1 to the opposite part of the same abyss2 and so constituted that through all eternity it can never bend its path1 or return1 or tarry in its course4 ,if we were to accept this theory1 it would little or nothing diminish our wonder at the structure of the universe4 ,we might well continue to admire the evidence of contrivance1 if such a machinery should be found to produce all the effects which flow from the law of gravitation4 #g4 ,the arguments for and against the necessity of the law of the inverse square of the distance in the force of gravity1 were discussed with great animation about the middle of the last century4 ,clairault1 an eminent mathematician1 who did more than almost any other person for the establishment and development of the ,newtonian doctrines1 maintained1 at one period of his researches1 not only that the inverse square was not the necessary law1 but also that it was not the true law4 ,the occasion of this controversy was somewhat curious4 ,newton and other astronomers had found that the line of the moon's apsides 7that is of her greatest and least distances from the earth7 moves round to different parts of the heavens with a velocity twice as great as that which the calculation from the law of gravitation seems at first to give4 ,according to the theory1 it appeared that this line ought to move round once in eighteen years2 according to observation1 it moves round once in nine years4 ,this difference1 the only obvious failure of the theory of gravitation1 embarrassed mathematicians exceedingly4 ,it is true1 it was afterwards discovered that the apparent discrepancy arose from a mistake2 the calculation1 which is long and laborious1 was supposed to have been carried far enough to get close to the truth2 but it appeared afterwards that the residue which had been left out as insignificant1 produced1 by an unexpected turn in the reckoning1 an effect as large as that which had been taken for the whole4 ,but this discovery was not made till afterwards2 and in the mean time the law of the inverse square appeared to be at fault4 ,clairault tried to remedy the defect by supposing that the force of the earth's gravity consisted of a large force varying as the square of the distance1 and a very small force varying as the fourth power 7the square of the square47 ,by such a supposition1 observation and theory could be reconciled2 but on the suggestion of it1 ,buffon came forward with the assertion that the force could not vary according to any other law than the inverse square4 ,his arguments are rather metaphysical than physical or mathematical4 ,gravity1 he urges1 is a quality1 an emanation2 and all emanations are inversely as the square of the distance1 as light1 odours4 ,to this ,clairault replies by asking1 how we know that light and odours have their intensity inversely as the square of the distance from their origin3 not1 he observes1 by measuring the intensity1 but by supposing these effects to be material emanations4 ,but who1 he asks1 supposes gravity to be a material emanation from the attracting body4 ,buffon again pleads that so many facts prove the law of the inverse square1 that a single one1 which occurs to interfere with this agreement1 must be in some manner capable of being explained away4 ,clairault replies1 that the facts do not prove this law to obtain exactly2 that small effects1 of the same order as the one under discussion1 have been neglected2 and that therefore the law is only known to be true1 as far as such an approximation goes1 and no farther4 ,buffon then argues1 that there can be no such additional fraction of the force1 following a different law1 as ,clairault supposes3 for what1 he asks1 is there to determine the magnitude of the fraction to one amount rather than another8 why should nature select for it any particular magnitude8 ,to this it is replied1 that1 whether we can explain the fact or not1 nature does select certain magnitudes in preference to others3 that where we ascertain she does this1 we are not to deny the fact because we cannot assign the grounds of her preference4 ,what is there1 it is asked1 to determine the magnitude of the whole force at any fixed distance8 ,we cannot tell2 yet the force is of a certain definite intensity and no other4 ,finally1 ,clairault observes1 that we have1 in cohesion1 capillary attraction1 and various other cases1 examples of forces varying according to other laws than the inverse square2 and that therefore this cannot be the only possible law4 ,the discrepancy between observation and theory which gave rise to this controversy was removed1 as has been already stated1 by a more exact calculation3 and thus1 as ,laplace observes1 in this case the metaphysician turned out to be right and the mathematician to be wrong4 ,but most persons1 probably1 who are familiar with such trains of speculation1 will allow1 that ,clairault had the best of the argument1 and that the attempts to show the law of gravitation to be necessarily what it is1 are fallacious and unsound4 #h4 ,we may observe1 however1 that the law of gravitation according to the inverse square of the distance1 which thus regulates the motions of the solar system1 is not confined to that province of the universe1 as has been shown by recent researches4 ,it appears by the observations and calculations of ,sir ,john ,herschel1 that several of the stars1 called double stars1 consist of a pair of luminous bodies which revolve above each other in ellipses1 in such a manner as to show that the force1 by which they are attracted to each other1 varies according to the law of the inverse square4 ,we thus learn a remarkable fact concerning bodies which seemed so far removed that no effort of our science could reach them2 and we find that the same law of mutual attraction which we have before traced to the farthest bounds of the solar system1 prevails also in spaces at a distance compared with which the orbit of ,saturn shrinks into a point4 ,the establishment of such a truth certainly suggests1 as highly probable1 the prevalence of this law among all the bodies of the universe4 ,and we may therefore suppose1 that the same ordinance which gave to the parts of our system that rule by which they fulfil the purposes of their creation1 impressed the same rule on the other portions of matter which are scattered in the most remote parts of the universe2 and thus gave to their movements the same grounds of simplicity and harmony which we find reason to admire1 as far as we can acquire any knowledge of our own more immediate neighbourhood4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,the ,laws of ,motion4 ,we shall now make a few remarks on the general ,laws of ,motion by which all mechanical effects take place4 ,are we to consider these as instituted laws8 and if so1 can we point out any of the reasons which we may suppose to have led to the selection of those laws which really exist8 ,the observations formerly made concerning the inevitable narrowness and imperfection of our conclusions on such subjects1 apply here1 even more strongly than in the case of the law of gravitation4 ,we can hardly conceive matter divested of these laws2 and we cannot perceive or trace a millionth part of the effects which they produce4 ,we cannot1 therefore1 expect to go far in pointing out the advantages of these laws such as they now obtain4 ,it would be easy to show that the fundamental laws of motion1 in whatever form we state them1 possess a very preeminent simplicity1 compared with almost all others1 which we might imagine as existing4 ,this simplicity has indeed produced an effect on men's minds which1 though delusive1 appears to be very natural2 several writers have treated these laws as self-evident1 and necessarily flowing from the nature of our conceptions4 ,we conceive that this is an erroneous view1 and that these laws are known to us to be what they are1 by experience only2 that they might1 so far as we can discern1 have been any others4 ,they appear therefore to be selected for their fitness to answer their purposes2 and we may1 perhaps1 be able to point out some instances in which this fitness is apparent to us4 ,newton1 and many ,english philosophers1 teach the existence of three separate fundamental laws of motion1 while most of the eminent mathematicians of ,france reduce these to two1 the law of inertia and the law that force is proportioned to velocity4 ,as an example of the views which we wish to illustrate1 we may take the law of inertia1 which is identical with ,newton's first ,law of ,motion4 ,this law asserts1 that a body at rest continues at rest1 and that a body in motion goes on moving with its velocity and direction unchanged1 except so far as it is acted on by extraneous forces4#bd ,we conceive that this law1 simple and universal as it is1 cannot be shown to be necessarily true4 ,it might be difficult to discuss this point in general terms with any clearness2 but let us take the only example which we know of a motion absolutely uniform1 in consequence of the absence of any force to accelerate or retard it2--this motion is the rotation of the earth on its axis4 #a4 ,it is scarcely possible that discussions on such subjects should not have a repulsive and scholastic aspect1 and appear like disputes about words rather than things4 ,for mechanical writers have exercised all their ingenuity so to circumscribe their notions and so to define their terms that these fundamental truths should be expressed in the simplest manner3 the consequence of which has been1 that they have been made to assume the appearance rather of identical assertions than of general facts of experience4 ,but in order to avoid this inconvenience1 as far as may be1 let us take the first law of motion as exemplified in a particular case1 the rotation of the earth4 ,of all the motions with which we are acquainted this is alone invariable4 ,each day1 measured by the passages of the stars1 is so precisely of the same length that1 according to ,laplace's calculations1 it is impossible that a difference of hundredth of a second of time should have obtained between the length of the day in the earliest ages and at the present time4 ,now why is this8 ,how is this very remarkable uniformity preserved in this particular phenomenon1 while all the other motions of the system are subject to inequalities8 ,how is it that in the celestial machine no retardation takes place by the lapse of time1 as would be the case in any machine which it would be possible for human powers to construct8 ,the answer is1 that in the earth's revolution on her axis no cause operates to retard the speed1 like the imperfection of materials1 the friction of supports1 the resistance of the ambient medium2 impediments which cannot1 in any human mechanism1 however perfect1 be completely annihilated4 ,but here we are led to ask again1 why should the speed continue the same when not affected by an extraneous cause8 ,why should it not languish and decay of itself by the mere lapse of time8 ,that it might do so1 involves no contradiction1 for it was the common1 though erroneous1 belief of all mechanical speculators1 to the time of ,galileo4 ,we can conceive velocity to diminish in proceeding from a certain point of time1 as easily as we can conceive force to diminish in proceeding from a certain point of space1 which in attractive forces really occurs4 ,but1 it is sometimes said1 the motion 7that is the velocity7 must continue the same from one instant to another1 for there is nothing to change it4 ,this appears to be taking refuge in words4 ,we may call the velocity1 that is the speed of a body1 its motion2 but we cannot1 by giving it this name1 make it a thing which has any priori claim to permanence1 much less any self-evident constancy4 ,why must the speed of a body1 left to itself1 continue the same1 any more than its temperature8 ,hot bodies grow cooler of themselves1 why should not quick bodies go slower of themselves8 ,why must a body describe one thousand feet in the next second because it has described one thousand feet in the last8 ,nothing but experience1 under proper circumstances1 can inform us whether bodies1 abstracting from external agency1 do move according to such a rule4 ,we find that they do so1 we learn that all diminution of their speed which ever takes place1 can be traced to external causes4 ,contrary to all that men had guessed1 motion appears to be of itself endless and unwearied4 ,in order to account for the unalterable permanence of the length of our day1 all that is requisite is to show that there is no let or hindrance in the way of the earth's rotation2--no resisting medium or alteration of size1--she 8spinning sleeps0 on her axle1 as the poet expresses it1 and may go on sleeping with the same regularity for ever1 so far as the experimental properties of motion are concerned4 ,such is the necessary consequence of the first law of motion2 but the law itself has no necessary existence1 so far as we can see4 ,it was discovered only after various perplexities and false conjectures of speculators on mechanics4 ,we have learnt that it is so1 but we have not learnt1 nor can any one undertake to teach us1 that it must have been so4 ,for aught we can tell1 it is one among a thousand equally possible laws1 which might have regulated the motions of bodies4 #b4 ,but though we have thus no reason to consider this as the only possible law1 we have good reason to consider it as the best1 or at least as possessing all that we can conceive of advantage4 ,it is the simplest conceivable of such laws4 ,if the velocity had been compelled to change with the time1 there must have been a law of the change1 and the kind and amount of this change must have been determined by its dependence on the time and other conditions4 ,this1 though quite supposable1 would undoubtedly have been more complex than the present state of things4 ,and though complexity does not appear to embarrass the operations of the laws of nature1 and is admitted1 without scruple1 when there is reason for it1 simplicity is the usual character of such laws1 and appears to have been a ground of selection in the formation of the universe1 as it is a mark of beauty to us in our contemplation of it4 ,but there is a still stronger apparent reason for the selection of this law of the preservation of motion4 ,if the case had been otherwise1 the universe must necessarily in the course of ages have been reduced to a state of rest1 or at least to a state not sensibly differing from it4 ,if the earth's motion1 round its axis1 had slackened by a very small quantity1 for instance1 by a hundredth of a second in a revolution1 and in this proportion continued1 the day would have been already lengthened by six hours in the six thousand years which have elapsed since the history of the world began2 and if we suppose a longer period to precede or to follow1 the day might be increased to a month or to any length4 ,all the adaptations which depend on the length of the day would consequently be deranged4 ,but this would not be all2 for the same law of motion is equally requisite for the preservation of the annual motion of the earth4 ,if her motion were retarded by the establishment of any other law instead of the existing one1 she would wheel nearer and nearer to the sun at every revolution1 and at last reach the centre1 like a falling hoop4 ,the same would happen to the other planets2 and the whole solar system would1 in the course of a certain period1 be gathered into a heap of matter without life or motion4 ,in the present state of things on the other hand1 the system1 as we have already explained1 is1 by a combination of remarkable provisions1 calculated for an almost indefinite existence1 of undiminished fitness for its purposes4 ,there are1 therefore1 manifest reasons1 why1 of all laws which could occupy the place of the first law of motion1 the one which now obtains is the only one consistent with the durability and uniformity of the system2--the one1 therefore1 which we may naturally conceive to be selected by a wise contriver4 ,and as1 along with this1 it has appeared that we have no sort of right to attribute the establishment of this law to any thing but selection1 we have here a striking evidence1 to lead us to a perception of that ,divine mind1 by which means so simple are made to answer purposes so extensive and so beneficial4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,friction4#be ,we shall not pursue this argument of the last chapter1 by considering the other laws of motion in the same manner as we have there considered the first1 which might be done4 ,but the facts which form exceptions and apparent contradictions to the first law of which we have been treating1 and which are very numerous1 offer1 we conceive1 an additional exemplification of the same argument2 and this we shall endeavour to illustrate4 ,the rule that a body naturally moves for ever with an undiminished speed1 is so far from being obviously true1 that it appears on a first examination to be manifestly false4 ,the hoop of the school boy1 left to itself1 runs on a short distance1 and then stops2 his top spins a little while1 but finally flags and falls2 all motion on the earth appears to decay by its own nature2 all matter which we move appears to have a perpetual tendency to divest itself of the velocity which we communicate to it4 ,how is this reconcileable with the first law of motion on which we have been insisting8 ,it is reconciled principally by considering the effect of ,friction4 ,among terrestrial objects friction exerts an agency almost as universal and constant as the laws of motion themselves2 an agency which completely changes and disguises the results of those laws4 ,we shall consider some of these effects4 ,it is probably not necessary to explain at any length the nature and operation of friction4 ,when a body cannot move without causing two surfaces to rub together1 this rubbing has a tendency to diminish the body's motion or to prevent it entirely4 ,if the body of a carriage be placed on the earth without the wheels1 a considerable force will be requisite in order to move it at all3 it is here the friction against the ground which obstructs the motion4 ,if the carriage be placed on its wheels1 a much less force will move it1 but if moved it will soon stop3 it is the friction at the ground and at the axles which stops it3 placed on a level rail road1 with well made and well oiled wheels1 and once put in motion1 it might run a considerable distance alone1 for the friction is here much less2 but there is friction1 and therefore the motion would after a time cease4 #a4 ,the friction which we shall principally consider is the friction which prevents motion4 ,so employed1 friction is one of the most universal and important agents in the mechanism of our daily comforts and occupations4 ,it is a force which is called into play to an extent incomparably greater than all the other forces with which we are concerned in the course of our daily life4 ,we are dependent upon it at every instant and in every action2 and it is not possible to enumerate the ways in which it serves us2 scarcely even to suggest a sufficient number of them to give us a true notion of its functions4 ,what can appear a more simple operation than standing and walking8 yet it is easy to see that without the aid of friction these simple actions would scarcely be possible4 ,every one knows how difficult and dangerous they are when performed on smooth ice4 ,in such a situation we cannot always succeed in standing3 if the ice be very smooth1 it is by no means easy to walk1 even when the surface is perfectly level2 and if it were ever so little inclined1 no one would make the attempt4 ,yet walking on the ice and on the ground differ only in our experiencing more friction in the latter case4 ,we say more1 for there is a considerable friction even in the case of ice1 as we see by the small distance which a stone slides when thrown along the surface4 ,it is this friction of the earth which1 at every step we take1 prevents the foot from sliding back2 and thus allows us to push the body and the other foot forwards4 ,and when we come to violent bodily motions1 to running1 leaping1 pulling or pushing objects1 it is easily seen how entirely we depend upon the friction of the ground for our strength and force4 ,every one knows how completely powerless we become in any of these actions by the foot slipping4 ,in the same manner it is the friction of objects to which the hand is applied1 which enables us to hold them with any degree of firmness4 ,in some contests it was formerly the custom for the combatants to rub their bodies with oil1 that the adversary might not be able to keep his grasp4 ,if the pole of the boatman1 the rope of the sailor1 were thus smooth and lubricated1 how weak would be the thrust and the pull6 ,yet this would only be the removal of friction4 ,our buildings are no less dependent on this force for their stability4 ,some edifices are erected without the aid of cement2 and if the stones be large and well squared1 such structures may be highly substantial and durable2 even when rude and slight1 houses so built answer the purposes of life4 ,these are entirely upheld by friction1 and without that agent they would be thrown down by the ,zephyr1 far more easily than if all the stones were lumps of ice with a thawing surface4 ,but even in cases where cement binds the masonry1 it does not take the duty of holding it together4 ,in consequence of the existence of friction1 there is no constant tendency of the stones to separate2 they are in a state of repose4 ,if this were not so1 if every shock and every breeze required to be counteracted by the cement1 no composition exists which would long sustain such a wear and tear4 ,the cement excludes the corroding elements1 and helps to resist extraordinary violence2 but it is friction which gives the habitual state of rest4 ,we are not to consider friction as a small force1 slightly modifying the effects of other agencies4 ,on the contrary its amount is in most cases very great4 ,when a body lies loose on the ground1 the friction is equal to one-third or one-half1 or in some cases the whole of its weight4 ,but in cases of bodies supported by oblique pressure1 the amount is far more enormous4 ,in the arch of a bridge1 the friction which is called into play between two of the vaulting stones1 may be equal to the whole weight of the bridge4 ,in such cases this conservative force is so great1 that the common theory1 which neglects it1 does not help us even to guess what will take place4 ,according to the theory1 certain forms of arches only will stand1 but in practice almost any form will stand1 and it is not easy to construct a model of a bridge which will fall4 ,we may see the great force of friction in the brake1 by which a large weight running down a long inclined plane has its motion moderated and stopt2 in the windlass1 where a few coils of the rope round a cylinder sustain the stress and weight of a large iron anchor2 in the nail or screw which holds together large beams2 in the mode of raising large blocks of granite by an iron rod driven into a hole in the stone4 ,probably no greater forces are exercised in any processes in the arts than the force of friction2 and it is always employed to produce rest1 stability1 moderate motion4 ,being always ready and never wearied1 always at hand and augmenting with the exigency1 it regulates1 controls1 subdues all motions2--counteracts all other agents2--and finally gains the mastery over all other terrestrial agencies1 however violent1 frequent1 or long continued4 ,the perpetual action of all other terrestrial forces appears1 on a large scale1 only as so many interruptions of the constant and stationary rule of friction4 ,the objects which every where surround us1 the books or dishes which stand on our tables1 our tables and chairs themselves1 the loose clods and stones in the field1 the heaviest masses produced by nature or art1 would be in a perpetual motion1 quick or slow according to the forces which acted on them1 and to their size1 if it were not for the tranquillizing and steadying effects of the agent we are considering4 ,without this1 our apartments1 if they kept their shape1 would exhibit to us articles of furniture1 and of all other kinds1 sliding and creeping from side to side with every push and every wind1 like loose objects in a ship's cabin1 when she is changing her course in a gale4 ,here1 then1 we have a force1 most extensive and incessant in its operation1 which is absolutely essential to the business of this terrestrial world1 according to any notion which we can form4 ,the more any one considers its effects1 and the more he will find how universally dependent he is upon it1 in every action of his life2 resting or moving1 dealing with objects of art or of nature1 with instruments of enjoyment or of action4 #b4 ,now we have to observe concerning this agent1 ,friction1 that we have no ground for asserting it to be a necessary result of other properties of matter1 for instance1 of their solidity and coherency4 ,philosophers have not been able to deduce the laws of friction from the other known properties of matter1 nor even to explain what we know experimentally of such laws1 7which is not much17 without introducing new hypotheses concerning the surfaces of bodies1 c4--hypotheses which are not supplied us by any other set of phenomena4 ,so far as our knowledge goes1 friction is a separate property1 and may be conceived to have been bestowed upon matter for particular purposes4 ,how well it answers the purpose of fitting matter for the uses of the daily life of man1 we have already seen4 ,we may make suppositions as to the mode in which friction is connected with the texture of bodies2 but little can be gained for philosophy1 or for speculation of any kind1 by such conjectures respecting unknown connexions4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we consider this property of friction1 and find that it prevails there1 and there only1 where the general functions1 analogies1 and relations of the universe require it1 we shall probably receive a strong impression that it was introduced into the system of the world for a purpose4 #c4 ,it is very remarkable that this force1 which is thus so efficacious and discharges such important offices in all earthly mechanism1 disappears altogether when we turn to the mechanism of the heavens4 ,all motions on the earth soon stop2--a machine which imitates the movements of the stars cannot go long without winding up3 but the stars themselves have gone on in their courses for ages1 with no diminution of their motions1 and offer no obvious prospect of any change4 ,this is so palpable a fact1 that the first attempts of men to systematize their mechanical notions were founded upon it4 ,the ancients held that motions were to be distinguished into natural motions and violent1--the former go on without diminution--the latter are soon extinguished2--the motions of the stars are of the former kind2--those of a stone thrown1 and in short all terrestrial motions1 of the latter4 ,modern philosophers maintain that the laws of motion are the same for celestial and terrestrial bodies2--that all motions are natural according to the above description2--but that in terrestrial motions1 friction comes in and alters their character1--destroys them so speedily that they appear to have existed only during an effort4 ,and that this is the case will not now be contested4 ,is it not then somewhat remarkable that the same laws which produce a state of permanent motion in the heavens1 should1 on the earth1 give rise to a condition in which rest is the rule and motion the exception8 ,the air1 the waters1 and the lighter portions of matter are1 no doubt1 in a state of perpetual motion2 over these friction has no empire3 yet even their motions are interrupted1 alternate1 variable1 and on the whole slight deviations from the condition of equilibrium4 ,but in the solid parts of the globe1 rest predominates incomparably over motion3 and this1 not only with regard to the portions which cohere as parts of the same solid2 for the whole surface of the earth is covered with loose masses1 which1 if the power of friction were abolished1 would rush from their places and begin one universal and interminable dance1 which would make the earth absolutely uninhabitable4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the dominion of friction were extended in any considerable degree into the planetary spaces1 there would soon be an end of the system4 ,if the planet had moved in a fluid1 as the ,cartesians supposed1 and if this fluid had been subject to the rules of friction which prevail in terrestrial fluids1 their motions could not have been of long duration4 ,the solar system must soon have ceased to be a system of revolving bodies4 ,but friction is neither abolished on the earth1 nor active in the heavens4 ,it operates where it is wanted1 it is absent where it would be prejudicial4 ,and both these circumstances occasion1 in a remarkable manner1 the steadiness of the course of nature4 ,the stable condition of the objects in man's immediate neighbourhood1 and the unvarying motions of the luminaries of heaven1 are alike conducive to his well-being4 ,this requires that he should be able to depend upon a fixed order of place1 a fixed course of time4 ,it requires1 therefore1 that terrestrial objects should be affected by friction1 and that celestial should not2 as is the case1 in fact4 ,what further evidence of benevolent design could this part of the constitution of the universe supply8 #d4 ,there is another view which may be taken of the forces which operate on the earth to produce permanency or change4 ,some parts of the terrestrial system are under the dominion of powers which act energetically to prevent all motion1 as the crystalline forces by which the parts of rocks are bound together2 other parts are influenced by powers which produce a perpetual movement and change in the matter of which they consist2 thus plants and animals are in a constant state of internal movement1 by the agency of the vital forces4 ,in the former case rigid immutability1 in the latter perpetual developement1 are the tendencies of the agencies employed4 ,now in the case of objects affected by friction1 we have a kind of intermediate condition1 between the constantly fixed and the constantly moveable4 ,such objects can and do move2 but they move but for a short time if left to the laws of nature4 ,when at rest1 they can easily be put in motion1 but still not with unlimited ease2 a certain finite effort1 different in different cases1 is requisite for their purpose4 ,now this immediate condition1 this capacity of receiving readily and alternately the states of rest and motion1 is absolutely requisite for the nature of man1 for the exertion of will1 of contrivance1 of foresight1 as well as for the comfort of life and the conditions of our material existence4 ,if all objects were fixed and immoveable1 as if frozen into one mass2 or if they were susceptible of such motions only as are found in the parts of vegetables1 we attempt in vain to conceive what would come of the business of the world4 ,but besides the state of a particle which cannot be moved1 and of a particle which cannot be stopped1 we have the state of a particle moveable but not moved2 or moved1 but moved only while we choose3 and this state is that about which the powers1 the thoughts1 and the wants of man are mainly conversant4 ,thus the forces by which solidity and by which organic action are produced1 the laws of permanence and of developement1 do not bring about all that happens4 ,besides these1 there is a mechanical condition1 that of a body exposed to friction1 which is neither one of absolute permanency nor one naturally progressive2 but is yet one absolutely necessary to make material objects capable of being instruments and aids to man2 and this is the condition of by far the greater part of terrestrial things4 ,the habitual course of events with regard to motion and rest is not the same for familiar moveable articles1 as it is for the parts of the mineral1 or of the vegetable world1 when left to themselves2 such articles are in a condition far better adapted than any of those other conditions would be1 to their place and purpose4 ,surely this shows us an adaptation1 an adjustment1 of the constitution of the material world to the nature of man4 ,and as the organization of plants cannot be conceived otherwise than as having their life and growth for its object1 so we cannot conceive that friction should be one of the leading agencies in the world in which man is placed1 without supposing that it was intended to be of use when man should walk and run1 and build houses and ships1 and bridges1 and execute innumerable other processes1 all of which would be impossible1 admirably constituted as man is in other respects1 if friction did not exist4 ,and believing1 as we conceive we cannot but believe1 that the laws of motion and rest were thus given with reference to their ends1 we perceive in this instance1 as in others1 how wide and profound this reference is1 how simple in its means1 how fertile in its consequences1 how effective in its details4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,,religious ,,views4 ,the contemplation of the material universe exhibits ,god to us as the author of the laws of material nature2 bringing before us a wonderful spectacle1 in the simplicity1 the comprehensiveness1 the mutual adaptation of these laws1 and in the vast variety of harmonious and beneficial effects produced by their mutual bearing and combined operation4 ,but it is the consideration of the moral world1 of the results of our powers of thought and action1 which leads us to regard the ,deity in that light in which our relation to him becomes a matter of the highest interest and importance4 ,we perceive that man is capable of referring his actions to principles of right and wrong2 that both his faculties and his virtues may be unfolded and advanced by the discipline which arises from the circumstances of human society2 that good men can be discriminated from the bad1 only by a course of trial1 by struggles with difficulty and temptation2 that the best men feel deeply the need of relying1 in such conflicts1 on the thought of a superintending ,spiritual power2 that our views of justice1 our capacity for intellectual and moral advancement1 and a crowd of hopes and anticipations which rise in our bosoms unsought1 and cling there with inexhaustible tenacity1 will not allow us to acquiesce in the belief that this life is the end of our existence4 ,we are thus led to see that our relation the ,superintender of our moral being1 to the ,depositary of the supreme law of just and right1 is a relation of incalculable consequence4 ,we find that we cannot be permitted to be merely contemplators and speculators with regard to the ,governor of the moral world2 we must obey ,his will2 we must turn our affections to ,him2 we must advance in ,his favour2 or we offend against the nature of our position in the scheme of which ,he is the author and sustainer4 ,it is far from our purpose to represent natural religion1 as of itself sufficient for our support and guidance2 or to underrate the manner in which our views of the ,lord of the universe have been1 much more1 perhaps1 than we are sometimes aware1 illustrated and confirmed by lights derived from revelation4 ,we do not here speak of the manner in which men have come to believe in ,god1 as the ,governor of the moral world2 but of the fact1 that by the aid of one or both of these two guides1 ,reason or ,revelation1 reflecting persons in every age have been led to such a belief4 ,and we conceive it may be useful to point out some connexion between such a belief of a just and holy ,governor1 and the conviction1 which we have already endeavoured to impress upon the reader1 of a wise and benevolent ,creator of the physical world4 ,this we shall endeavour to do in the present book4 ,at the same time that men have thus learnt to look upon ,god as their ,governor and ,judge1 the source of their support and reward1 they have also been led1 not only to ascribe to him power and skill1 knowledge and goodness1 but also attribute to him these qualities in a mode and degree excluding all limit3--to consider him as almighty1 all-wise1 of infinite knowledge and inexhaustible goodness2 every where present and active1 but incomprehensible by our minds1 both in the manner of his agency1 and the degree of his perfections4 ,and this impression concerning the ,deity appears to be that which the mind receives from all objects of contemplation and all modes of advance towards truth4 ,to this conception it leaps with alacrity and joy1 and in this it acquiesces with tranquil satisfaction and growing confidence2 while any other view of the nature of the ,divine ,power which formed and sustained the world1 is incoherent and untenable1 exposed to insurmountable objections and intolerable incongruities4 ,we shall endeavour to show that the modes of employment of the thoughts to which the well conducted study of nature gives rise1 do tend1 in all their forms1 to produce or strengthen this impression on the mind2 and that such an impression1 and no other1 is consistent with the widest views and most comprehensive aspects of nature and of philosophy1 which our ,natural ,philosophy opens to us4 ,this will be the purpose of the latter part of the present book4 ,in the first place we shall proceed with the object first mentioned1 the connexion which may be perceived between the evidences of creative power1 and of moral government1 in the world4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,the ,creator of the ,physical ,world is the ,governor of the ,moral ,world4 ,with our views of the moral government of the world and the religious interests of man1 the study of material nature is not and cannot be directly and closely connected4 ,but it may be of some service to trace in these two lines of reasoning1 seemingly so remote1 a manifest convergence to the same point1 a demonstrable unity of result4 ,it may be useful to show that we are thus led1 not to two rulers of the universe1 but to one ,god2--to make it appear that the ,creator and ,preserver of the world is also the ,governor and ,judge of men2--that the ,author of the ,laws of ,nature is also the ,author of the ,law of ,duty2--that ,he who regulates corporeal things by properties of attraction and affinity and assimilating power1 is the same ,being who regulates the actions and conditions of men1 by the influence of the feeling of responsibility1 the perception of right and wrong1 the hope of happiness1 the love of good4 ,the conviction that the ,divine attributes which we are taught by the study of the material world1 and those which we learn from the contemplation of man as a responsible agent1 belong to the same ,divine ,being1 will be forced upon us1 if we consider the manner in which all the parts of the universe1 the corporeal and intellectual1 the animal and moral1 are connected with each other4 ,in each of these provinces of creation we trace refined adaptations and arrangements which lead us to the ,creator and ,director of so skilful a system2 but these provinces are so intermixed1 these different trains of contrivance so interwoven1 that we cannot1 in our thoughts1 separate the author of one part from the author of another4 ,the ,creator of the ,heavens and of the ,earth1 of the inorganic and of the organic world1 of animals and of man1 of the affections and the conscience1 appears inevitably to be one and the same ,god4 ,we will pursue this reflection a little more into detail4 #a4 ,the ,atmosphere is a mere mass of fluid floating on the surface of the ball of the earth2 it is one of the inert and inorganic portions of the universe1 and must be conceived to have been formed by the same ,power which formed the solid mass of the earth and all other parts of the solar system4 ,but how far is the atmosphere from being inert in its effects on organic beings1 and unconnected with the world of life6 ,by what wonderful adaptations of its mechanical and chemical properties1 and of the vital powers of plants1 to each other1 are the developement and well-being of plants and animals secured6 ,the creator of the atmosphere must have been also the creator of plants and animals3 we cannot for an instant believe the contrary4 ,but the atmosphere is not only subservient to the life of animals1 and of man among the rest2 it is also the vehicle of voice2 it answers the purpose of intercourse2 and1 in the case of man1 of rational intercourse4 ,we have seen how remarkably the air is fitted for this office2 the construction of the organs of articulation1 by which they are enabled to perform their part of the work1 is1 as is well known1 a most exquisite system of contrivances4 ,but though living in an atmosphere capable of transmitting articulate sound1 and though provided with organs fitted to articulate1 man would never attain to the use of language1 if he were not also endowed with another set of faculties4 ,the powers of abstraction and generalization1 memory and reason1 the tendencies which occasion the inflexions and combinations of words1 are all necessary to the formation and use of language4 ,are not these parts of the same scheme of which the bodily faculties by which we are able to speak are another part8 ,has man his mental powers independently of the creator of his bodily frame8 ,to what purpose then1 or by what cause was the curious and complex machinery of the tongue1 the glottis1 the larynx produced8 ,these are useful for speech1 and full of contrivances which suggest such a use as the end for which those organs were constructed4 ,but speech appears to have been no less contemplated in the intellectual structure of man4 ,the processes of which we have spoken1 generalization1 abstraction1 reasoning1 have a close dependence on the use of speech4 ,these faculties are presupposed in the formation of language1 but they are developed and perfected by the use of language4 ,the mind of man then1 with all its intellectual endowments1 is the work of the same artist by whose hands his bodily frame was fashioned2 as his bodily faculties again are evidently constructed by the maker of those elements on which their action depends4 ,the creator of the atmosphere and of the material universe is the creator of the human mind1 and the author of those wonderful powers of thinking1 judging1 inferring1 discovering1 by we are able to reason concerning the world in which we are placed2 and which aid us in lifting our thoughts to the source of our being himself4 #b4 ,light1 or the means by which light is propagated1 is another of the inorganic elements which forms a portion of the mere material world4 ,the luminiferous ether1 if we adopt that theory1 or the fluid light of the theory of emission1 must indubitably pervade the remotest regions of the universe1 and must be supposed to exist1 as soon as we suppose the material parts of the universe to be in existence4 ,the origin of light then must be at least as far removed from us as the origin of the solar system4 ,yet how closely connected are the properties of light with the structure of our own bodies6 ,the mechanism of the organs of vision and the mechanism of light are1 as we have seen1 most curiously adapted to each other4 ,we must suppose1 then1 that the same power and skill produced one and the other of these two sets of contrivances1 which so remarkably fit into each other4 ,the creator of light is the author of our visual powers4 ,but how small a portion does mere visual perception constitute of the advantages which we derive from vision6 ,we possess ulterior faculties and capacities by which sight becomes a source of happiness and good to man4 ,the sense of beauty1 the love of art1 the pleasure arising from the contemplation of nature1 are all dependent on the eye2 and we can hardly doubt that these faculties were bestowed on man to further the best interests of his being4 ,the sense of beauty both animates and refines his domestic tendencies2 the love of art is a powerful instrument for raising him above the mere cravings and satisfactions of his animal nature2 the expansion of mind which rises in us at the sight of the starry sky1 the cloud-capt mountain1 the boundless ocean1 seems intended to direct our thoughts by an impressive though indefinite feeling1 to the ,infinite ,author of ,all4 ,but if these faculties be thus part of the scheme of man's inner being1 given him by a good and wise creator1 can we suppose that this creator was any other than the creator also of those visual organs1 without which the faculties could have no operation and no existence8 ,as clearly as light and the eye are the work of the same author1 so clearly also do our capacities for the most exalted visual pleasures1 and the feelings flowing from them1 proceed from the same ,divine ,hand4 #c4 ,the creator of the earth must be conceived to be the author also of all those qualities in the soil1 chemical and whatever else1 by which it supports vegetable life1 under all the modifications of natural and artificial condition4 ,among the attributes which the earth thus possesses1 there are some which seem to have an especial reference to man in a state of society4 ,such are--the power of the earth to increase its produce under the influence of cultivation1 and the necessary existence of property in land1 in order that this cultivation may be advantageously applied2 the rise1 under such circumstances1 of a surplus produce1 of a quantity of subsistence exceeding the wants of the cultivators alone2 and the consequent possibility of inequalities of rank1 and of all the arrangements of civil society4 ,these are all parts of the constitution of the earth4 ,but these would all remain mere idle possibilities1 if the nature of man had not a corresponding direction4 ,if man had not a social and economical tendency1 a disposition to congregate and co-operate1 to distribute possessions and offices among the members of the community1 to make and obey and enforce laws1 the earth would in vain be ready to respond to the care of the husbandman4 ,must we not then suppose that this attribute of the earth was bestowed upon it by ,him who gave to man those corresponding attributes1 through which the apparent niggardliness of the soil is the source of general comfort and security1 of polity and law8 ,must we not suppose that ,he who created the soil also inspired man with those social desires and feelings which produce cities and states1 laws and institutions1 arts and civilization2 and that thus the apparently inert mass of earth is a part of the same scheme as those faculties and powers with which man's moral and intellectual progress is most connected8 #d4 ,again3--,it will hardly be questioned that the author of the material elements is also the author of the structure of animals1 which is adapted to and provided for by the constitution of the elements in such innumerable ways4 ,but the author of the bodily structure of animals must also be the author of their instincts1 for without these the structure would not answer its purpose4 ,and these instincts frequently assume the character of affections in a most remarkable manner4 ,the love of offspring1 of home1 of companions1 are often displayed by animals1 in a way that strikes the most indifferent observer2 and yet these affections will hardly be denied to be a part of the same scheme as the instincts by which the same animals seek food and the gratifications of sense4 ,who can doubt that the anxious and devoted affection of the mother-bird for her young after they are hatched1 is a part of the same system of ,providence as the instinct by which she is impelled to sit upon her eggs8 and this1 of the same by which her eggs are so organized that incubation leads to the birth of the young animal8 ,nor1 again1 can we imagine that while the structure and affections of animals belong to one system of things1 the affections of man1 in many respects so similar to those of animals1 and connected with the bodily frame in a manner so closely analogous1 can belong to a different scheme4 ,who1 that reads the touching instances of maternal affection1 related so often of the women of all nations1 and of the females of all animals1 can doubt that the principle of action is the same in the two cases1 though enlightened in one of them by the rational faculty3 ,and who can place in separate provinces the supporting and protecting love of the father and the mother8 or consider as entirely distinct from these1 and belonging to another part of our nature1 the other kinds of family affection8 or disjoin man's love of his home1 his clan1 his tribe1 his country1 from the affection which he bears to his family8 ,the love of offspring1 home1 friends1 in man1 is then part of the same system of contrivances of which bodily organization is another part4 ,and thus the author of our corporeal frame is also the author of our capacity of kindness and resentment1 of our love and of our wish to be loved1 of all the emotions which bind us to individuals1 to our families1 and to our kind4 ,it is not necessary here to follow out and classify these emotions and affections2 or to examine how they are combined and connected with our other motives of action1 mutually giving and receiving strength and direction4 ,the desire of esteem1 of power1 of knowledge1 of society1 the love of kindred1 of friends1 of our country1 are manifestly among the main forces by which man is urged to act and to abstain4 ,and as these parts of the constitution of man are clearly intended1 as we conceive1 to impel him in his appointed path2 so we conceive that they are no less clearly the work of the same great ,artificer who created the heart1 the eye1 the hand1 the tongue1 and that elemental world in which1 by means of these instruments1 man pursues the objects of his appetites1 desires1 and affections4 #e4 ,but if the ,creator of the world be also the author of our intellectual powers1 of our feeling for the beautiful and the sublime1 of our social tendencies1 and of our natural desires and affections1 we shall find it impossible not to ascribe also to ,him the higher directive attributes of our nature1 the conscience and the religious feeling1 the reference of our actions to the rule of duty and to the will of ,god4 ,it would not suit the plan of the present treatise to enter into any detailed analysis of the connexion of these various portions of our moral constitution4 ,but we may observe that the existence and universality of the conception of duty and right cannot be doubted1 however men may differ as to its original or derivative nature4 ,all men are perpetually led to form judgments concerning actions1 and emotions which lead to action1 as right or wrong2 as what they ought or ought not to do or feel4 ,there is a faculty which approves and disapproves1 acquits or condemns the workings of our other faculties4 ,now1 what shall we say of such a judiciary principle1 thus introduced among our motives to action8 ,shall we conceive that while the other springs of action are balanced against each other by our ,creator1 this1 the most pervading and universal regulator1 was no part of the original scheme8 ,that--while the love of animal pleasures1 of power1 of fame1 the regard for friends1 the pleasure of bestowing pleasure1 were infused into man as influences by which his course of life was to be carried on1 and his capacities and powers developed and exercised2--this reverence for a moral law1 this acknowledgment of the obligation of duty1--a feeling which is every where found1 and which may become a powerful1 a predominating motive of action1--was given for no purpose1 and belongs not to the design8 ,such an opinion would be much as if we should acknowledge the skill and contrivance manifested in the other parts of a ship1 but should refuse to recognize the rudder as exhibiting any evidence of a purpose4 ,without the reverence which the opinion of right inspires1 and the scourge of general disapprobation inflicted on that which is accounted wicked1 society could scarcely go on2 and certainly the feelings and thoughts and characters of men could not be what they are4 ,those impulses of nature which involve no acknowledgment of responsibility1 and the play and struggle of interfering wishes1 might preserve the species in some shape of existence1 as we see in the case of brutes4 ,but a person must be strangely constituted1 who1 living amid the respect for law1 the admiration for what is good1 the order and virtues and graces of civilized nations1 7all which have their origin in some degree in the feeling of responsibility7 can maintain that all these are casual and extraneous circumstances1 no way contemplated in the formation of man2 and that a condition in which there should be obligation in law1 no merit in self-restraint1 no beauty in virtue1 is equally suited to the powers and the nature of man1 and was equally contemplated when those powers were given him4 ,if this supposition be too extravagant to be admitted1 as it appears to be1 it remains then that man1 intended1 as we have already seen from his structure and properties1 to be a discoursing1 social being1 acting under the influence of affections1 desires1 and purposes1 was also intended to act under the influence of a sense of duty2 and that the acknowledgment of the obligation of a moral law is as much part of his nature1 as hunger or thirst1 maternal love or the desire of power2 that1 therefore1 in conceiving man as the work of a ,creator1 we must imagine his powers and character given him with an intention on the ,creator's part that this sense of duty should occupy its place in his constitution as an active and thinking being3 and that this directive and judiciary principle is a part of the work of the same ,author who made the elements to minister to the material functions1 and the arrangements of the world to occupy the individual and social affections of his living creatures4 ,this principle of conscience1 it may further be observed1 does not stand upon the same level as the other impulses of our constitution by which we are prompted or restrained4 ,by its very nature and essence1 it possesses a supremacy over all others4 8,your obligation to obey this law is its being the law of your nature4 ,that your conscience approves of and attests such a course of action is itself alone an obligation4 ,conscience does not only offer itself to show us the way we should walk in1 but it likewise carries its own authority with it1 that it is our natural guide3 the guide assigned us by the author of our nature40#bf ,that we ought to do an action1 is of itself a sufficient and ultimate answer to the questions1 why we should do it8--how we are obliged to do it8 ,the conviction of duty implies the soundest reason1 the strongest obligation1 of which our nature is susceptible4 ,we appear then to be using only language which is well capable of being justified1 when we speak of this irresistible esteem for what is right1 this conviction of a rule of action extending beyond the gratification of our irreflective impulses1 as an impress stamped upon the human mind by the ,deity himself2 a trace of ,his nature2 an indication of ,his will2 an announcement of ,his purpose2 a promise of ,his favour3 and though this faculty may need to be confirmed and unfolded1 instructed and assisted by other aids1 it still seems to contain in itself a sufficient intimation that the highest objects of man's existence are to be attained1 by means of a direct and intimate reference of his thoughts and actions to the ,divine ,author of his being4 ,such then is the ,deity to which the researches of ,natural ,theology point2 and so far is the train of reflections in which we have engaged1 from being merely speculative and barren4 ,with the material world we cannot stop4 ,if a superior ,intelligence have ordered and adjusted the succession of seasons and the structure of the plants of the field1 we must allow far more than this at first sight would seem to imply4 ,we must admit still greater powers1 still higher wisdom for the creation of the beasts of the forest with their faculties2 and higher wisdom still and more transcendent attributes1 for the creation of man4 ,and when we reach this point1 we find that it is not knowledge only1 not power only1 not foresight and beneficence alone1 which we must attribute to the ,maker of the ,world2 but that we must consider him as the ,author1 in us1 of a reverence for moral purity and rectitude2 and1 if the author of such emotions in us1 how can we conceive of ,him otherwise1 than that these qualities are parts of his nature2 and that he is not only wise and great1 and good1 incomparably beyond our highest conceptions1 but also conformed in his purposes to the rule which he thus impresses upon us1 that is1 ,holy in the highest degree which we can imagine to ourselves as possible4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,on the ,vastness of the ,universe4 #a4 ,the aspect of the world1 even without any of the peculiar lights which science throws upon it1 is fitted to give us an idea of the greatness of the power by which it is directed and governed1 far exceeding any notions of power and greatness which are suggested by any other contemplation4 ,the number of human beings who surround us--the various conditions requisite for their life1 nutrition1 well-being1 all fulfilled2--the way in which these conditions are modified1 as we pass in thought to other countries1 by climate1 temperament1 habit2--the vast amount of the human population of the globe thus made up2--yet man himself but one among almost endless tribes of animals2--the forest1 the field1 the desert1 the air1 the ocean1 all teeming with creatures whose bodily wants are as carefully provided for as his2--the sun1 the clouds1 the winds1 all attending1 as it were1 on these organized beings2--a host of beneficent energies1 unwearied by time and succession1 pervading every corner of the earth2--this spectacle cannot but give the contemplator a lofty and magnificent conception of the ,author of so vast a work1 of the ,ruler of so wide and rich an empire1 of the ,provider for so many and varied wants1 the ,director and ,adjuster of such complex and jarring interests4 ,but when we take a more exact view of this spectacle1 and aid our vision by the discoveries which have been made of the structure and extent of the universe1 the impression is incalculably increased4 ,the number and variety of animals1 the exquisite skill displayed in their structure1 the comprehensive and profound relations by which they are connected1 far exceed any thing which we could in any degree have imagined4 ,but the view of the universe expands also on another side4 ,the earth1 the globular body thus covered with life1 is not the only globe in the universe4 ,there are1 circling about our own sun1 six others1 so far as we can judge1 perfectly analogous in their nature3 besides our moon and other bodies analogous to it4 ,no one can resist the temptation to conjecture1 that these globes1 some of them much larger than our own1 are not dead and barren2--that they are1 like ours1 occupied with organization1 life1 intelligence4 ,to conjecture is all that we can do1 yet even by the perception of such a possibility1 our view of the kingdom of nature is enlarged and elevated4 ,the outermost of the planetary globes of which we have spoken is so far from the sun1 that the central luminary must appear to the inhabitants of that planet1 if any there are1 no larger than ,venus does to us2 and the length of their year will be eighty-two of ours4 ,but astronomy carries us still onwards4 ,it teaches us that1 with the exception of the planets already mentioned1 the stars which we see have no immediate relation to our system4 ,the obvious supposition is that they are of the nature and order of our sun3 the minuteness of their apparent magnitude agrees1 on this supposition1 with the enormous and almost inconceivable distance which1 from all the measurements of astronomers1 we are led to attribute to them4 ,if then these are suns1 they may1 like our sun1 have planets revolving round them2 and these may1 like our planet1 be the seats of vegetable and animal and rational life3--we may thus have in the universe worlds1 no one knows how many1 no one can guess how varied3--but however many1 however varied1 they are still but so many provinces in the same empire1 subject to common rules1 governed by a common power4 ,but the stars which we see with the naked eye are but a very small portion of those which the telescope unveils to us4 ,the most imperfect telescope will discover some that are invisible without it2 the very best instrument perhaps does not show us the most remote4 ,the number which crowds some parts of the heavens is truly marvellous4 ,dr4 ,herschel calculated that a portion of the milky way1 about ten degrees long and two and a half broad1 contained two hundred and fifty-eight thousand4 ,in a sky so occupied1 the moon would eclipse two thousand of such stars at once4 ,we learn too from the telescope that even in this province the variety of nature is not exhausted4 ,not only do the stars differ in colour and appearance1 but some of them grow periodically fainter and brighter1 as if they were dark on one side1 and revolved on their axes4 ,in other cases two stars appear close to each other1 and in some of these cases it has been clearly established1 that the two have a motion of revolution about each other2 thus exhibiting an arrangement before unguessed1 and giving rise1 possibly1 to new conditions of worlds4 ,in other instances again1 the telescope shows1 not luminous points1 but extended masses of dilute light1 like bright clouds1 hence called nebul4 ,some have supposed 7as we have noticed in the last book7 that such nebul by further condensation might become suns2 but for such opinions we have nothing but conjecture4 ,some stars again have undergone permanent changes1 or have absolutely disappeared1 as the celebrated star of #aegb1 in the constellation ,cassiopea4 ,if we take the whole range of created objects in our own system1 from the sun down to the smallest animalcule1 and suppose such a system1 or something in some way analogous to it1 to be repeated for each of the millions of stars thus revealed to us1 we have a representation of the material part of the universe1 according to a view which many minds receive as a probable one2 and referring this aggregate of systems to the ,author of the universe1 as in our own system we have found ourselves led to do1 we have thus an estimate of the extent to which his creative energy would thus appear to have been exercised in the material world4 ,if we consider further the endless and admirable contrivances and adaptations which philosophers and observers have discovered in every portion of our own system1 every new step of our knowledge showing us something new in this respect2 and if we combine this consideration with the thought how small a portion of the universe our knowledge includes1 we shall1 without being able at all to discern the extent of the skill and wisdom thus displayed1 see something of the character of the design1 and of the copiousness and ampleness of the means which the scheme of the world exhibits4 ,and when we see that the tendency of all the arrangements which we can comprehend is to support the existence1 to develope the faculties1 to promote the well-being of these countless species of creatures2 we shall have some impression of the beneficence and love of the ,creator1 as manifested in the physical government of his creation4 #b4 ,it is extremely difficult to devise any means of bringing before a common apprehension the scale on which the universe is constructed1 the enormous proportion which the larger dimensions bear to the smaller1 and the amazing number of steps from large to smaller1 or from small to larger1 which the consideration of it offers4 ,the following comparative representations may serve to give the reader to whom the subject is new some idea of these steps4 ,if we suppose the earth to be represented by a globe a foot in diameter1 the distance of the sun from the earth will be about two miles2 the diameter of the sun1 on the same supposition1 will be something above one hundred feet1 and consequently his bulk such as might be made up of two hemispheres1 each about the size of the dome of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,the moon will be thirty feet from us1 and her diameter three inches1 about that of a cricket ball4 ,thus the sun would much more than occupy all the space within the moon's orbit4 ,on the same scale1 ,jupiter would be above ten miles from the sun1 and ,uranus forty4 ,we see then how thinly scattered through space are the heavenly bodies4 ,the fixed stars would be at an unknown distance1 but1 probably1 if all distances were thus diminished1 no star would be nearer to such a one-foot earth1 than the moon now is to us4 ,on such a terrestrial globe the highest mountains would be about an eightieth of an inch high1 and consequently only just distinguishable4 ,we may imagine therefore how imperceptible would be the largest animals4 ,the whole organized covering of such a globe would be quite undiscoverable by the eye1 except perhaps by colour1 like the bloom on a plum4 ,in order to restore this earth and its inhabitants to their true dimensions1 we must magnify them forty millions of times2 and to preserve the proportions1 we must increase equally the distances of the sun and of the stars from us4 ,they seem thus to pass off into infinity2 yet each of them thus removed1 has its system of mechanical and perhaps of organic processes going on upon its surface4 ,but the arrangements of organic life which we can see with the naked eye are few1 compared with those which the microscope detects4 ,we know that we may magnify objects thousands of times1 and still discover fresh complexities of structure2 if we suppose1 therefore1 that we increase every particle of matter in our universe in such a proportion1 in length1 breadth1 and thickness1 we may conceive that we tend thus to bring before our apprehension a true estimate of the quantity of organized adaptations which are ready to testify the extent of the ,creator's power4 #c4 ,the other numerical quantities which we have to consider in the phenomena of the universe are on as gigantic a scale as the distances and sizes4 ,by the rotation of the earth on its axis1 the parts of the equator move at the rate of a thousand miles an hour1 and the portions of the earth's surface which are in our latitude1 at about six hundred4 ,the former velocity is nearly that with which a cannon ball is discharged from the mouth of a gun2 but1 large as it is1 it is inconsiderable compared with the velocity of the earth in its orbit about the sun4 ,this latter velocity is sixty-five times the former4 ,by the rotatory motion of the earth1 a point of its surface is carried sometimes forwards and sometimes backwards with regard to the annual progression2 but in consequence of the great predominance of the latter velocity in amount1 the former scarcely affects it either way4 ,and even the latter velocity is inconsiderable compared with that of light2 which comparison1 however1 we shall not make2 since1 according to the theory we have considered as most probable1 the motion of light is not a transfer of matter but of motion from one part of space to another4 ,the extent of the scale of density of different substances has already been mentioned2 gold is twenty times as heavy as water2 air is eight hundred and thirty times lighter1 steam eight thousand times lighter than water2 the luminiferous ether is incomparably rarer than steam3 and this is true of the matter of light1 whether we adopt the undulatory theory or any other4 #d4 ,the above statements are vast in amount1 and almost oppressive to our faculties4 ,they belong to the measurement of the powers which are exerted in the universe1 and of the spaces through which their efficacy reaches 7for the most distant bodies are probably connected both by gravity and light47 ,but these estimates cannot be said so much to give us any notion of the powers of the ,deity1 as to correct the errors we should fall into by supposing his powers at all to resemble ours3--by supposing that numbers1 and spaces1 and forces1 and combinations1 which would overwhelm us1 are any obstacle to the arrangements which his plan requires4 ,we can easily understand that to an intelligence surpassing ours in degree only1 that may be easy which is impossible to us4 ,the child who cannot count beyond four1 the savage who has no name for any number above five1 cannot comprehend the possibility of dealing with thousands and millions3 yet a little additional developement of the intellect makes such numbers manageable and conceivable4 ,the difficulty which appears to reside in numbers and magnitudes and stages of subordination1 is one produced by judging from ourselves--by measuring with our own sounding line2 when that reaches no bottom1 the ocean appears unfathomable4 ,yet in fact1 how is a hundred millions of miles a great distance8 how is a hundred millions of times a great ratio8 ,not in itself3 this greatness is no quality of the numbers which can be proved like their mathematical properties2 on the contrary1 all that absolutely belongs to number1 space1 and ratio1 must1 we know demonstrably1 be equally true of the largest and the smallest4 ,it is clear that the greatness of these expressions of measure has reference to our faculties only4 ,our astonishment and embarrassment take for granted the limits of our own nature4 ,we have a tendency to treat a difference of degree and of addition1 as if it were a difference of kind and of transformation4 ,the existence of the attributes1 design1 power1 goodness1 is a matter depending on obvious grounds3 about these qualities there can be no mistake3 if we can know any thing1 we can know these attributes when we see them4 ,but the extent1 the limits of such attributes must be determined by their effects2 our knowledge of their limits by what we see of the effects4 ,nor is any extent1 any amount of power and goodness improbable beforehand3 we know that these must be great1 we cannot tell how great4 ,we should not expect beforehand to find them bounded2 and therefore when the boundless prospect opens before us1 we may be bewildered1 but we have no reason to be shaken in our conviction of the reality of the cause from which their effects proceed3 we may feel ourselves incapable of following the train of thought1 and may stop1 but we have no rational motive for quitting the point which we have thus attained in tracing the ,divine ,perfections4 ,on the contrary1 those magnitudes and proportions which leave our powers of conception far behind2--that ever-expanding view which is brought before us1 of the scale and mechanism1 the riches and magnificence1 the population and activity of the universe2--may reasonably serve1 not to disturb1 but to enlarge and elevate our conceptions of the ,maker and ,master of all2 to feed an ever-growing admiration of ,his wonderful nature2 and to excite a desire to be able to contemplate more steadily and conceive less inadequately the scheme of his government and the operation of his power4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,on ,man's ,place in the ,universe4 ,the mere aspect of the starry heavens1 without taking into account the view of them to which science introduces us1 tends strongly to force upon man the impression of his own insignificance4 ,the vault of the sky arched at a vast and unknown distance over our heads2 the stars1 apparently infinite in number1 each keeping its appointed place and course1 and seeming to belong to a wide system of things which has no relation to the earth2 while man is but one among many millions of the earth's inhabitants2--all this makes the contemplative spectator feel how exceedingly small a portion of the universe he is2 how little he must be1 in the eyes of an intelligence which can embrace the whole4 ,every person1 in every age and country1 will recognize as irresistibly natural the train of thought expressed by the ,hebrew psalmist3 8when ,i consider the heavens the work of thy hands--the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained--,lord what is man that thou art mindful of him1 or the son of man that thou regardest him80 ,if this be the feeling of the untaught person1 when he contemplates the aspect of the skies1 such as they offer themselves to a casual and unassisted glance1 the impression must needs be incalculably augmented1 when we look at the universe with the aid of astronomical discovery and theory4 ,we then find1 that a few of the shining points which we see scattered on the face of the sky in such profusion1 appear to be of the same nature as the earth1 and may perhaps1 as analogy would suggest1 be like the earth1 the habitations of organized beings2--that the rest of 8the host of heaven0 may1 by a like analogy1 be conjectured to be the centres of similar systems of revolving worlds2--that the vision of man has gone travelling onwards1 to an extent never anticipated1 through this multitude of systems1 and that while myriads of new centres start up at every advance1 he appears as yet not to have received any intimation of a limit4 ,every person probably feels1 at first1 lost1 confounded1 overwhelmed1 with the vastness of this spectacle2 and seems to himself1 as it were1 annihilated by the magnitude and multitude of the objects which thus compose the universe4 ,the distance between him and the ,creator of the world appears to be increased beyond measure by this disclosure4 ,it seems as if a single individual could have no chance and no claim for the regard of the ,ruler of the whole4 ,the mode in which the belief of ,god's government of the physical world is important and interesting to man1 is1 as has already been said1 through the connexion which this belief has with the conviction of ,god's government of the moral world2 this latter government being1 from its nature1 one which has a personal relation to each individual1 his actions and thoughts4 ,it will1 therefore1 illustrate our subject to show that this impression of the difficulty of a personal superintendence and government1 exercised by the ,maker of the world over each of his rational and free creatures1 is founded upon illusory views2 and that on an attentive and philosophical examination of the subject1 such a government is in accordance with all that we can discover of the scheme and the scale of the universe4 #a4 ,we may1 in the first place1 repeat the observation made in the last chapter1 on the confusion which sometimes arises in our minds1 and makes us consider the number of the objects of the ,divine care as a difficulty in the way of its exercise4 ,if we can conceive this care employed on a million of persons1 on the population of a kingdom1 of a city1 of a street1 there is no real difficulty in supposing it extended to every planet in the solar system1 admitting each to be peopled as ours is2 nor to every part of the universe1 supposing each star the centre of such a system4 ,numbers are nothing in themselves2 and when we reject the known1 but unessential limits of our own faculties1 it is quite as allowable to suppose a million millions of earths1 as one1 to be under the moral government of ,god4 #b4 ,in the next place we may remark1 not only that no reason can be assigned why the ,divine care should not extend to a much greater number of individuals than we at first imagine1 but that in fact we know that it does so extend4 ,it has been well observed1 that about the same time when the invention of the telescope showed us that there might be myriads of other worlds claiming the ,creator's care2 the invention of the microscope proved to us that there were in our own world myriads of creatures1 before unknown1 which this care was preserving4 ,while one discovery seemed to remove the ,divine ,providence further from us1 the other gave us most striking examples that it was far more active in our neighbourhood than we had supposed3 while the first extended the boundaries of ,god's known kingdom1 the second made its known administration more minute and careful4 ,it appeared that in the leaf and in the bud1 in solids and in fluids1 animals existed hitherto unsuspected2 the apparently dead masses and blank spaces of the world were found to swarm with life4 ,and yet1 of the animals thus revealed1 all1 though unknown to us before1 had never been forgotten by ,providence4 ,their structure1 their vessels and limbs1 their adaptation to their situation1 their food and habitations1 were regulated in as beautiful and complete a manner as those of the largest and apparently most favoured animals4 ,the smallest insects are as exactly finished1 often as gaily ornamented1 as the most graceful beasts or the birds of brightest plumage4 ,and when we seem to go out of the domain of the complex animal structure with which we are familiar1 and come to animals of apparently more scanty faculties1 and less developed powers of enjoyment and action1 we still find that their faculties and their senses are in exact harmony with their situation and circumstances2 that the wants which they have are provided for1 and the powers which they possess called into activity4 ,so that ,mller1 the patient and accurate observer of the smallest and most obscure microscopical animalcula1 declares that all classes alike1 those which have manifest organs1 and those which have not1 offer a vast quantity of new and striking views of the animal economy2 every step of our discoveries leading us to admire the design and care of the ,creator4#bg ,we find1 therefore1 that the ,divine ,providence is1 in fact1 capable of extending itself adequately to an immense succession of tribes of beings1 surpassing what we can imagine or could previously have anticipated2 and thus we may feel secure1 so far as analogy can secure us1 that the mere multitude of created objects cannot remove us from the government and superintendence of the ,creator4 #c4 ,we may observe further1 that1 vast as are the parts and proportions of the universe1 we still appear to be able to perceive that it is finite2 the subordination of magnitudes and numbers and classes appears to have its limits4 ,thus1 for any thing which we can discover1 the sun is the largest body in the universe2 and at any rate1 bodies of the order of the sun are the largest of which we have any evidence3 we know of no substance denser than gold1 and it is improbable that one denser1 or at least much denser1 should ever be detected3 the largest animals which exist in the sea and on the earth are almost certainly known to us4 ,we may venture also to say1 that the smallest animals which possess in their structure a clear analogy with larger ones1 have been already seen4 ,many of the animals which the microscope detects1 are as complete and complex in their organization as those of larger size3 but beyond a certain point1 they appear1 as they become more minute1 to be reduced to a homogeneity and simplicity of composition which almost excludes them from the domain of animal life4 ,the smallest microscopical objects which can be supposed to be organic1 are points1#bh or gelatinous globules1#bi or threads1#cj in which no distinct organs1 interior or exterior1 can be discovered4 ,these1 it is clear1 cannot be considered as indicating an indefinite progression of animal life in a descending scale of minuteness4 ,we can1 mathematically speaking1 conceive one of these animals as perfect and complicated in its structure as an elephant or an eagle1 but we do not find it so in nature4 ,it appears1 on the contrary1 in these objects1 as if we were1 at a certain point of magnitude1 reaching the boundaries of the animal world4 ,we need not here consider the hypotheses and opinions to which these ambiguous objects have given rise2 but1 without any theory1 they tend to show that the subordination of organic life is finite on the side of the little as well as of the great4 ,some persons might1 perhaps1 imagine that a ground for believing the smallness of organized beings to be limited1 might be found in what we know of the constitution of matter4 ,if solids and fluids consist of particles of a definite1 though exceeding smallness1 which cannot further be divided or diminished1 it is manifest that we have1 in the smallness of these particles1 a limit to the possible size of the vessels and organs of animals4 ,the fluids which are secreted1 and which circulate in the body of a mite1 must needs consist of a vast number of particles1 or they would not be fluids3 and an animal might be so much smaller than a mite1 that its tubes could not contain a sufficient collection of the atoms of matter1 to carry on its functions4 ,we should1 therefore1 of necessity reach a limit of minuteness in organic life1 if we could demonstrate that matter is composed of such indivisible atoms4 ,we shall not1 however1 build any thing on this argument2 because1 though the atomic theory is sometimes said to be proved1 what is proved is1 that chemical and other effects take place as if they were the aggregate of the effects of certain particles of elements1 the proportions of which particles are fixed and definite2 but that any limit can be assigned to the smallness of these particles1 has never yet been made out4 ,we prefer1 therefore1 to rest the proof of the finite extent of animal life1 as to size1 on the microscopical observations previously referred to4 ,probably we cannot yet be said to have reached the limit of the universe with the power of our telescopes2 that is1 it does not appear that telescopes have yet been used1 so powerful in exhibiting small stars1 that we can assume that more powerful instruments would not discover new stars4 ,whether or no1 however1 this degree of perfection has been reached1 we have no proof that it does not exist2 if it were once obtained we should have1 with some approximation1 the limit of the universe as to the number of worlds1 as we have already endeavoured to show we have obtained the limits with regard to the largeness and smallness of the inhabitants of our own world4 ,in like manner1 although the discovery of new species in some of the kingdoms of nature has gone on recently with enormous rapidity1 and to an immense extent2--for instance in botany1 where the species known in the time of ,linnus were about ten thousand1 and are now probably fifty thousand2--there can be no doubt that the number of species and genera is really limited2 and though a great extension of our knowledge is required to reach these limits1 it is our ignorance merely1 and not their nonexistence1 which removes them from us4 ,in the same way it would appear that the universe1 so far as it is an object of our knowledge1 is finite in other respects also4 ,now when we have once attained this conviction1 all the oppressive apprehension of being overlooked in the government of the universe has no longer any rational source4 ,for in the superintendence of a finite system of things1 what is there which can appear difficult or overwhelming to a ,being such as we must1 from what we know1 conceive the ,creator to be8 ,difficulties arising from space1 number1 gradation1 are such as we can conceive ourselves capable of overcoming1 merely by an extension of our present faculties4 ,is it not then easy to imagine that such difficulties must vanish before ,him who made us and our faculties8 ,let it be considered how enormous a proportion the largest work of man bears to the smallest2--the great pyramid to the point of a needle4 ,this comparison does not overwhelm us1 because we know that man has made both4 ,yet the difference between this proportion and that of the sun to the claw of a mite1 does not at all correspond to the difference which we must suppose to obtain between the ,creator and the creature4 ,it appears then that1 if the first flash of that view of the universe which science reveals to us1 does sometimes dazzle and bewilder men1 a more attentive examination of the prospect1 by the light we thus obtain1 shows us how unfounded is the despair of our being the objects of ,divine ,providence1 how absurd the persuasion that we have discovered the universe to be too large for its ruler4 #d4 ,another ground of satisfactory reflection1 having the same tendency1 is to be found in the admirable order and consistency1 the subordination and proportion of parts1 which we find to prevail in the universe1 as far as our discoveries reach4 ,we have1 it may be1 a multitude almost innumerable of worlds1 but no symptom of crowding1 of confusion1 of interference4 ,all such defects are avoided by the manner in which these worlds are distributed into systems2--these systems1 each occupying a vast space1 but yet disposed at distances before which their own dimensions shrink into insignificance2--all governed by one law1 yet this law so concentrating its operation on each system1 that each proceeds as if there were no other1 and so regulating its own effects that perpetual change produces permanent uniformity4 ,this is the kind of harmonious relation which we perceive in that part of the universe1 the mechanical part namely1 the laws of which are best known to us4 ,in other provinces1 where our knowledge is more imperfect1 we can see glimpses of a similar vastness of combination1 producing1 by its very nature1 completeness of detail4 ,any analogy by which we can extend such views to the moral world1 must be of a very wide and indefinite kind2 yet the contemplation of this admirable relation of the arrangements of the physical creation1 and the perfect working of their laws1 is well calculated to give us confidence in a similar beauty and perfection in the arrangements by which our moral relations are directed1 our higher powers and hopes unfolded4 ,we may readily believe that there is1 in this part of the creation also1 an order1 a subordination of some relations to others1 which may remove all difficulty arising from the vast multitude of moral agents and actions1 and make it possible that the superintendence of the moral world shall be directed with as exact a tendency to moral good1 as that by which the government of the physical world is directed to physical good4 ,we may perhaps see glimpses of such an order1 in the arrangements by which our highest and most important duties depend upon our relation to a small circle of persons immediately around us3 and again1 in the manner in which our acting well or ill results from the operation of a few principles within us2 as our conscience1 our desire of moral excellence1 and of the favour of ,god4 ,we can hardly consider such principles otherwise than as intended to occupy their proper place in the system by which man's destination is to be determined2 and thus1 as among the means of the government and superintendence of ,god in the moral world4 ,that there must be an order and a system to which such regulative principles belong1 the whole analogy of creation compels us to believe4 ,it would be strange indeed1 if1 while the mechanical world1 the system of inert matter1 is so arranged that we cannot contemplate its order without an elevated intellectual pleasure2--while organized life has no faculties without their proper scope1 no tendencies without their appointed object2--the rational faculties and moral tendencies of man should belong to no systematic order1 should operate with no corresponding purpose3 that1 while the perception of sweet and bitter has its acknowledged and unmistakeable uses1 the universal perception of right and wrong1 the unconquerable belief of the merit of certain feelings and actions1 the craving alike after moral advancement and after the means of attaining it1 should exist only to delude1 perplex1 and disappoint man4 ,no one1 with his contemplations calmed and filled and harmonized by the view of the known constitution of the universe1 its machinery 8wheeling unshaken0 in the farthest skies and in the darkest cavern1 its vital spirit breathing alike effectively in the veins of the philosopher and the worm2--no one1 under the influence of such a train of contemplations1 can possibly admit into his mind a persuasion which makes the moral part of our nature a collection of inconsistent and futile impressions1 of idle dreams and warring opinions1 each having the same claims to our acceptance4 ,wide as is the distance between the material and the moral world2 shadowy as all reasonings necessarily are which attempt to carry the inferences of one into the other2 elevated above the region of matter as all the principles and grounds of truth must be1 which belong to our responsibilities and hopes2 still the astronomical and natural philosopher can hardly fail to draw from their studies an imperturbable conviction that our moral nature cannot correspond to those representations according to which it has no law1 coherency1 or object4 ,the mere natural reasoner may1 or must stop far short of all that it is his highest interest to know1 his first duty to pursue2 but even he1 if he take any elevated and comprehensive views of his own subject1 must escape from the opinions1 as unphilosophical as they are comfortless1 which would expel from our view of the world all reference to duty and moral good1 all reliance on the most universal grounds of trust and hope4 ,men's belief of their duty1 and of the reasons for practising it1 connected as it is with the conviction of a personal relation to their ,maker1 and of ,his power of superintendence and reward1 is as manifest a fact in the moral1 as any that can be pointed out is in the natural world4 ,by mere analogy which has been intimated1 therefore1 we cannot but conceive that this fact belongs in some manner or other to the order of the moral world1 and of its government4 ,when any one acknowledges a moral governor of the world2 perceives that domestic and social relations are perpetually operating and seem intended to operate1 to retain and direct men in the path of duty2 and feels that the voice of conscience1 the peace of heart which results from a course of virtue1 and the consolations of devotion1 are ever ready to assume their office as our guides and aids in the conduct of all our actions2--he will probably be willing to acknowledge also that the means of moral government are not wanting1 and will no longer be oppressed or disturbed by the apprehension that the superintendence of the world may be too difficult for its ,ruler1 and that any of ,his subjects and servants may be overlooked4 ,he will no more fear that the moral than that the physical laws of ,god's creation should be forgotten in any particular case3 and as he knows that every sparrow which falls to the ground contains in its structure innumerable marks of the ,divine care and kindness1 he will be persuaded that every individual1 however apparently humble and insignificant1 will have his moral being dealt with according to the laws of ,god's wisdom and love2 will be enlightened1 supported1 and raised1 if he use the appointed means which ,god's administration of the world of moral light and good offers to his use4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,on the ,impression produced by the ,contemplation of ,laws of ,nature2 or1 on the ,conviction that ,law implies ,mind4 ,the various trains of thought and reasoning which lead men from a consideration of the natural world to the conviction of the existence1 the power1 the providence of ,god1 do not require1 for the most part1 any long or laboured deduction1 to give them their effect on the mind4 ,on the contrary1 they have1 in every age and country1 produced their impression on multitudes who have not instituted any formal reasonings upon the subject1 and probably upon many who have not put their conclusions in the shape of any express propositions4 ,the persuasion of a superior intelligence and will1 which manifests itself in every part of the material world1 is1 as is well known1 so widely diffused and deeply infixed1 as to have made it a question among speculative men whether the notion of such a power is not universal and innate4 ,it is our business to show only how plainly and how universally such a belief results from the study of the appearances about us4 ,that in many nations1 in many periods1 this persuasion has been mixed up with much that was erroneous and perverse in the opinions of the intellect or the fictions of fancy1 does not weaken the force of such consent4 ,the belief of a supernatural and presiding power runs through all these errors3 and while the perversions are manifestly the work of caprice and illusion1 and vanish at the first ray of sober inquiry1 the belief itself is substantial and consistent1 and grows in strength upon every new examination4 ,it was the firmness and solidity of the conviction of something ,divine which gave a hold and permanence to the figments of so many false divinities4 ,and those who have traced the progress of human thought on other subjects1 will not think it strange1 that while the fundamental persuasion of a ,deity was thus irremovably seated in the human mind1 the developement of this conception into a consistent1 pure1 and steadfast belief in one ,almighty and ,holy ,father and ,god1 should be long missed1 or never attained1 by the struggle of the human faculties2 should require long reflection to mature it1 and the aid of revelation to establish it in the world4 ,the view of the universe which we have principally had occasion to present to the reader1 is that in which we consider its appearances as reducible to certain fixed and general laws4 ,availing ourselves of some of the lights which modern science supplies1 we have endeavoured to show that the adaptation of such laws to each other1 and their fitness to promote the harmonious and beneficial course of the world1 may be traced1 wherever we can discover the laws themselves2 and that the conceptions of the ,divine ,power1 ,goodness and ,superintendence which we thus form1 agree in a remarkable manner with the views of the ,supreme ,being1 to which reason1 enlightened by the divine revelation1 has led4 ,but we conceive that the general impressions of mankind would go further than a mere assent to the argument as we have thus stated it4 ,to most persons it appears that the mere existence of a law connecting and governing any class of phenomena1 implies a presiding intelligence which has preconceived and established the law4 ,when events are regulated by precise rules of time and space1 of number and measure1 men conceive these rules to be the evidence of thought and mind1 even without discovering in the rules any peculiar adaptations1 or without supposing their purpose to be known4 ,the origin and the validity of such an impression on the human mind may appear to some matters of abstruse and doubtful speculation3 yet the tendency to such a belief prevails strongly and widely1 both among the common class of minds whose thoughts are casually and unsystematically turned to such subjects1 and among philosophers to whom laws of nature are habitual subjects of contemplation4 ,we conceive therefore that such a tendency may deserve to be briefly illustrated2 and we trust also that some attention to this point may be of service in throwing light upon the true relation of the study of nature to the belief in ,god4 #a4 ,a very slight attention shows us how readily order and regularity suggest to a common apprehension the operation of a calm and untroubled intelligence presiding over the course of events4 ,thus the materialist poet1 in accounting for the belief in the ,gods1 though he does not share it1 cannot deny the habitual effect of this manifestation4 ,prterea cli rationes ordine certo ,et varia annorum cernebant tempora vorti2 ,nec poterant quibus id fieret cognoscere caussis4 ,ergo perfugium sibi habebant ,omnia ,divis ,tradere et illorum nutu facere omnia flecti4 ,,lucret4 v4 #aahb4 ,they saw the skies in constant order run1 ,the varied seasons and the circling sun1 ,apparent rule1 with unapparent cause1 ,and thus they sought in ,gods the source of laws4 ,the same feeling may be traced in the early mythology of a large portion of the globe4 ,we might easily1 taking advantage of the labours of learned men1 exemplify this in the case of the oriental nations1 of ,greece1 and of many other countries4 ,nor does there appear much difficulty in pointing out the error of those who have maintained that all religion had its origin in the worship of the stars and the elements2 and who have insinuated that all such impressions are unfounded1 inasmuch as these are certainly not right objects of human worship4 ,the religious feeling1 the conviction of a supernatural power1 of an intelligence connecting and directing the phenomena of the world1 had not its origin in the worship of sun1 or stars1 or elements2 but was itself the necessary though unexpressed foundation of all worship1 and all forms of false1 as well as true1 religion4 ,the contemplation of the earth and heavens called into action this religious tendency in man2 and to say that the worship of the material world formed or suggested this religious feeling1 is to invert the order of possible things in the most unphilosophical manner4 ,idolatry is not the source of the belief in ,god1 but is a compound of the persuasion of a supernatural government1 with certain extravagant and baseless conceptions as to the manner in which this government is exercised4 ,we will quote a passage from an author who has illustrated at considerable length the hypothesis that all religious belief is derived from the worship of the elements4 8,light1 and darkness its perpetual contrast2 the succession of days and nights1 the periodical order of the seasons2 the career of the brilliant luminary which regulates their course2 that of the moon his sister and rival2 night1 and the innumerable fires which she lights in the blue vault of heaven2 the revolutions of the stars1 which exhibit them for a longer or a shorter period above our horizon2 the constancy of this period in the fixed stars1 its variety in the wandering stars1 the planets2 their direct and retrograde course1 their momentary rest2 the phases of the moon waxing1 full1 waning1 divested of all light2 the progressive motion of the sun upwards1 downwards2 the successive order of the rising and setting of the fixed stars1 which mark the different points of the course of the sun1 while the various aspects which the earth itself assumes mark1 here below also1 the same periods of the sun's annual motion2 99 99 99 all these different pictures1 displayed before the eyes of man1 formed the great and magnificent spectacle by which ,i suppose him surrounded at the moment when he is about to create his gods40#ca ,what is this 7divested of its wanton levity of expression7 but to say1 that when man has so far traced the course of nature as to be irresistibly impressed with the existence of order1 law1 variety in constancy1 and fixity in change2 of relations of form and space1 duration and succession1 cause and consequence1 among the objects which surround him2 there springs up in his breast1 unbidden and irresistibly1 the thought of superintending intelligence1 of a mind which comprehended from the first and completely that which he late and partially comes to know8 ,the worship of earth and sky1 of the host of heaven and the influences of nature1 is not the ultimate and fundamental fact in the early history of the religious impressions of mankind4 ,these are but derivative streams1 impure and scanty1 from the fountain of religious feeling which appears to be disclosed to us by the contemplation of the universe1 as the seat of law and the manifestation of intellect4 ,time suggests to man the thought of eternity2 space of infinity2 law of intelligence2 order of purpose2 and however difficult and long a task it may be to develope these suggestions into clear convictions1 these thoughts are the real parents of our natural religious belief4 ,the only relation between true religion and the worship of the elemental world is1 that the latter is the partial and gross perversion1 the former the consistent and pure developement of the same original idea4 #b4 ,the connexion of the laws of the material world with an intelligence which preconceived and instituted the law1 which is thus1 as we perceive1 so generally impressed on the common apprehension of mankind1 has also struck no less those who have studied nature with a more systematic attention1 and with the peculiar views which belong to science4 ,the laws which such persons learn and study1 seem1 indeed1 most naturally to lead to the conviction of an intelligence which originally gave to the law its form4 ,what we call a general law is1 in truth1 a form of expression including a number of facts of like kind4 ,the facts are separate2 the unity of view by which we associate them1 the character of generality and of law1 resides in those relations which are the object of the intellect4 ,the law once apprehended by us1 takes in our minds the place of the facts themselves1 and is said to govern or determine them1 because it determines our anticipations of what they will be4 ,but we cannot1 it would seem1 conceive a law1 founded on such intelligible relations1 to govern and determine the facts themselves1 any otherwise than by supposing also an intelligence by which these relations are contemplated1 and these consequences realized4 ,we cannot then represent to ourselves the universe governed by general laws otherwise than by conceiving an intelligent and conscious ,deity1 by whom these laws were originally contemplated1 established1 and applied4 ,this perhaps will appear more clear1 when it is considered that the laws of which we speak are often of an abstruse and complex kind1 depending upon relations of space1 time1 number1 and other properties1 which we perceive by great attention and thought4 ,these relations are often combined so variously and curiously1 that the most subtle reasonings and calculations which we can form are requisite in order to trace their results4 ,can such laws be conceived to be instituted without any exercise of knowledge and intelligence8 ,can material objects apply geometry and calculation to themselves8 ,can the lenses of the eye1 for instance1 be formed and adjusted with an exact suitableness to their refractive powers1 while there is in the agency which has framed them1 no consciousness of the laws of light1 of the course of rays1 of the visible properties of things8 ,this appears to be altogether inconceivable4 ,every particle of matter possesses an almost endless train of properties1 each acting according to its peculiar and fixed laws4 ,for every atom of the same kind of matter these laws are invariably and perpetually the same1 while for the different kinds of matter the difference of these properties is equally constant4 ,this constant and precise resemblance1 this variation equally constant and equally regular1 suggest irresistibly the conception of some cause1 independent of the atoms themselves1 by which their similarity and dissimilarity1 the agreement and difference of their deportment under the same circumstances1 have been determined4 ,such a view of the constitution of matter1 as is observed by an eminent writer of our own time1 effectually destroys the idea of its eternal and self-existent nature1 8by giving to each of its atoms the essential characters1 at once1 of a manufactured article and a subordinate agent40#cb ,that such an impression1 and the consequent belief in a divine ,author of the universe1 by whom its laws were ordained and established1 does result from the philosophical contemplation of nature1 will1 we trust1 become still more evident by tracing the effect produced upon men's minds by the discovery of such laws and properties as those of which we have been speaking2 and we shall therefore make a few observations on this subject4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,on ,inductive ,habits2 or1 on the ,impression produced on ,men's ,minds by discovering ,laws of ,nature4 ,the object of physical science is to discover such laws and properties as those of which we have spoken in the last chapter4 ,in this task1 undoubtedly a progress has been made on which we may well look with pleasure and admiration2 yet we cannot hesitate to confess that the extent of our knowledge on such subjects bears no proportion to that of our ignorance4 ,of the great and comprehensive laws which rule over the widest provinces of natural phenomena1 few have yet been disclosed to us4 ,and the names of the philosophers1 whose high office it has been to detect such laws1 are even yet far from numerous4 ,in looking back at the path by which science has advanced to its present position1 we see the names of the great discoverers shine out like luminaries1 few and scattered along the line3 by far the largest portion of the space is occupied by those whose comparatively humble office it was to verify1 to develope1 to apply the general truths which the discoverers brought to light4 ,it will readily be conceived that it is no easy matter1 if it be possible1 to analyse the process of thought by which laws of nature have thus been discovered2 a process which1 as we have said1 has been in so few instances successfully performed4 ,we shall not here make any attempt at such an analysis4 ,but without this1 we conceive it may be shown that the constitution and employment of the mind on which such discoveries depend1 are friendly to that belief in a wise and good ,creator and ,governor of the world1 which it has been our object to illustrate and confirm4 ,and if it should appear that those who see further than their fellows into the bearings and dependencies of the material things and elements by which they are surrounded1 have also been1 in almost every case1 earnest and forward in acknowledging the relation of all things to a supreme intelligence and will2 we shall be fortified in our persuasion that the true scientific perception of the general constitution of the universe1 and of the mode in which events are produced and connected1 is fitted to lead us to the conception and belief of ,god4 ,let us consider for a moment what takes place in the mind of a student of nature when he attains to the perception of a law previously unknown1 connecting the appearances which he has studied4 ,a mass of facts which before seemed incoherent and unmeaning1 assume1 on a sudden1 the aspect of connexion and intelligible order4 ,thus1 when ,kepler discovered the law which connects the periodic times with the diameters of the planetary orbits2 or1 when ,newton showed how this and all other known mathematical properties of the solar system were included in the law of universal gravitation according to the inverse square of the distance2 particular circumstances which1 before1 were merely matter of independent record1 became1 from that time1 indissolubly conjoined by the laws so discovered4 ,the separate occurrences and facts1 which might hitherto have seemed casual and without reason1 were now seen to be all exemplifications of the same truth4 ,the change is like that which takes place when we attempt to read a sentence written in difficult or imperfect characters4 ,for a time the separate parts appear to be disjointed and arbitrary marks2 the suggestions of possible meanings1 which succeed each other in the mind1 fail1 as fast as they are tried1 in combining or accounting for these symbols3 but at last the true supposition occurs2 some words are found to coincide with the meaning thus assumed2 the whole line of letters appear to take definite shapes and to leap into their proper places2 and the truth of the happy conjecture seems to flash upon us from every part of the inscription4 ,the discovery of laws of nature1 truly and satisfactorily connecting and explaining phenomena1 of which1 before1 the connexion and causes had been unknown1 displays much of a similar process1 of obscurity succeeded by evidence1 of effort and perplexity followed by conviction and repose4 ,the innumerable conjectures and failures1 the glimpses of light perpetually opening and as often clouded over1 the unwearied perseverance and inexhaustible ingenuity exercised by ,kepler in seeking for the laws which he finally discovered1 are1 thanks to his communicative disposition1 curiously exhibited in his works1 and have been narrated by his biographers2 and such efforts and alternations1 modified by character and circumstances1 must generally precede the detection of any of the wider laws and dependencies by which the events of the universe are regulated4 ,we may readily conceive the satisfaction and delight with which1 after this perplexity and struggle1 the discoverer finds himself in light and tranquillity2 able to look at the province of nature which has been the subject of his study1 and to read there an intelligible connexion1 a sufficing reason1 which no one before him had understood or apprehended4 ,this step so much resembles the mode in which one intelligent being understands and apprehends the conceptions of another1 that we cannot be surprised if those persons in whose minds such a process has taken place1 have been most ready to acknowledge the existence and operation of a superintending intelligence1 whose ordinances it was their employment to study4 ,when they had just read a sentence of the table of the laws of the universe1 they could not doubt whether it had had a legislator4 ,when they had deciphered there a comprehensive and substantial truth1 they could not believe that the letters had been thrown together by chance4 ,they could not but readily acknowledge that what their faculties had enabled them to read1 must have been written by some higher and profounder mind4 ,and accordingly1 we conceive it will be found1 on examining the works of those to whom we owe our knowledge of the laws of nature1 and especially of the wider and more comprehensive laws1 that such persons have been strongly and habitually impressed with the persuasion of a ,divine ,purpose and ,power which had regulated the events which they had attended to1 and ordained the laws which they had detected4 ,to those who have pursued science without reaching the rank of discoverers2--who have possessed a derivative knowledge of the laws of nature which others had disclosed1 and have employed themselves in tracing the consequences of such laws1 and systematizing the body of truth thus produced1 the above description does not apply2 and we have not therefore in these cases the same ground for anticipating the same frame of mind4 ,if among men of science of this class1 the persuasion of a supreme ,intelligence has at some periods been less vivid and less universal1 than in that higher class of which we have before spoken1 the fact1 so far as it has existed1 may perhaps be in some degree accounted for4 ,but whether the view which we have to give of the mental peculiarities of men whose science is of this derivative kind be well founded1 and whether the account we have above offered of that which takes place in the minds of original discoverers of laws in scientific researches be true1 or not1 it will probably be considered a matter of some interest to point out historically that in fact1 such discoverers have been peculiarly in the habit of considering the world as the work of ,god4 ,this we shall now proceed to do4 ,as we have already said1 the names of great discoverers are not very numerous4 ,the sciences which we may look upon as having reached or at least approached their complete and finished form1 are ,mechanics1 ,hydrostatics1 and ,physical ,astronomy4 ,galileo is the father of modern ,mechanics2 ,copernicus1 ,kepler1 and ,newton are the great names which mark the progress of ,astronomy4 ,hydrostatics shared in a great measure the fortunes of the related science of ,mechanics2 ,boyle and ,pascal were the persons mainly active in developing its more peculiar principles4 ,the other branches of knowledge which belong to natural philosophy1 as ,chemistry and ,meteorology1 are as yet imperfect1 and perhaps infant sciences2 and it would be rash to presume to select1 in them1 names of equal preeminence with those above mentioned3 but it may not be difficult to show1 with sufficient evidence1 that the effect of science upon the authors of science is1 in these subjects as in the former ones1 far other than to alienate their minds from religious trains of thought1 and a habit of considering the world as the work of ,god4 ,we shall not dwell much on the first of the above mentioned great names1 ,galileo2 for his scientific merit consisted rather in adopting the sound philosophy of others1 as in the case of the ,copernican system1 and in combating prevalent errors1 as in the case of the ,aristotelian doctrines concerning motion1 than in any marked and prominent discovery of new principles4 ,moreover the mechanical laws which he had a share in bringing to light1 depending as they did1 rather on detached experiments and transient facts1 than on observation of the general course of the universe1 could not so clearly suggest any reflection on the government of the world at that period1 as they did afterwards when ,newton showed their bearing on the cosmical system4 ,yet ,galileo1 as a man of philosophical and inventive mind1 who produced a great effect on the progress of physical knowledge1 is a person whose opinions must naturally interest us1 engaged in our present course of reasoning4 ,there is in his writings little which bears upon religious views1 as there is in the nature of his works little to lead him to such subjects4 ,yet strong expressions of piety are not wanting1 both in his letters1 and in his published treatises4 ,the persecution which he underwent1 on account of his writings in favour of the ,copernican system1 was grounded1 not on his opposition to the general truths of natural religion1 which is our main concern at present1 nor even on any supposed rejection of any articles of ,christian faith1 but on the alleged discrepancy between his adopted astronomical views and the declarations of scripture4 ,some of his remarks may interest the reader4 ,in his third dialogue on the ,copernican system he has occasion to speak of the opinion which holds all parts of the world to be framed for man's use alone3 and to this he says1 8,i would that we should not so shorten the arm of ,god in the government of human affairs2 but that we should rest in this1 that we are certain that ,god and nature are so occupied in the government of human affairs1 that they could not more attend to us if they were charged with the care of the human race alone40 ,in the same spirit1 when some objected to the asserted smallness of the ,medicean stars1 or satellites of ,jupiter1 and urged this as a reason why they were unworthy the regard of philosophers1 he replied that they are the works of ,god's power1 the objects of ,his care1 and therefore may well be considered as sublime subjects for man's study4 ,in the ,dialogues on ,mechanics1 there occur those observations concerning the use of the air-bladder in fishes1 and concerning the adaptation of the size of animals to the strength of the materials of which they are framed1 which have often since been adopted by writers on the wisdom of ,providence4 ,the last of the dialogues on the system of the world is closed by a religious reflection1 put in the mouth of the interlocutor who usually expresses ,galileo's own opinions4 8,while it is permitted us to speculate concerning the constitution of the world1 we are also taught 7perhaps in order that the activity of the human mind may not pause or languish7 that our powers do not enable us to comprehend the works of ,his hands4 ,may success therefore attend this intellectual exercise1 thus permitted and appointed for us2 by which we recognize and admire the greatness of ,god the more1 in proportion as we find ourselves the less able to penetrate the profound abysses of his wisdom40 ,and that this train of thought was habitual to the philosopher we have abundant evidence in many other parts of his writings4 ,he had already said in the same dialogue1 8,nature 7or ,god1 as he elsewhere speaks7 employs means in an admirable and inconceivable manner2 admirable1 that is1 and inconceivable to us1 but not to her1 who brings about with consummate facility and simplicity things which affect our intellect with infinite astonishment4 ,that which is to us most difficult to understand is to her most easy to execute40 ,the establishment of the ,copernican and ,newtonian views of the motions of the solar system and their causes1 were probably the occasions on which religious but unphilosophical men entertained the strongest apprehensions that the belief in the government of ,god may be weakened when we thus 8thrust some mechanic cause into his place40 ,it is therefore fortunate that we can show1 not only that this ought not to occur1 from the reason of the thing1 but also that in fact the persons who are the leading characters in the progress of these opinions were men of clear and fervent piety4 ,in the case of ,copernicus himself it does not appear that1 originally1 any apprehensions were entertained of any dangerous discrepancy between his doctrines and the truths of religion1 either natural or revealed4 ,the work which contains these memorable discoveries was addressed to ,pope ,paul ,,iii41 the head1 at that time1 7#aedc7 of the religious world2 and was published1 as the author states in the preface1 at the urgent entreaty of friends1 one of whom was a cardinal1 and another a bishop4#cc 8,i know10 he says1 8that the thoughts of a philosopher are far removed from the judgment of the vulgar2 since it is his study to search out truth in all things1 as far as that is permitted by ,god to human reason40 ,and though the doctrines are for the most part stated as portions of a mathematical calculation1 the explanation of the arrangement by which the sun is placed in the centre of the system is accompanied by a natural reflection of a religious cast2 8,who in this fair temple would place this lamp in any other or better place than there whence it may illuminate the whole8 ,we find then under this ordination an admirable symmetry of the world1 and a certain harmonious connexion of the motion and magnitude of the orbs1 such as in any other way cannot be found4 ,thus the progressions and regressions of the planets all arise from the same cause1 the motion of the earth4 ,and that no such movements are seen in the fixed stars1 argues their immense distance from us1 which causes the apparent magnitude of the earth's annual course to become evanescent4 ,so great1 in short1 is this divine fabric of the great and good ,god20#cd 8this best and most regular artificer of the universe10 as he elsewhere speaks4 ,kepler was the person1 who by further studying 8the connexion of the motions and magnitude of the orbs10 to which ,copernicus had thus drawn the attention of the astronomers1 detected the laws of this connexion1 and prepared the way for the discovery1 by ,newton1 of the mechanical laws and causes of such motions4 ,kepler was a man of strong and lively piety2 and the exhortation which he addresses to his reader before entering on the exposition of some of his discoveries1 may be quoted not only for its earnestness but its reasonableness also4 8,i beseech my reader1 that not unmindful of the divine goodness bestowed on man1 he do with me praise and celebrate the wisdom and greatness of the ,creator1 which ,i open to him from a more inward explication of the form of the world1 from a searching of causes1 from a detection of the errors of vision3 and that thus1 not only in the firmness and stability of the earth he perceive with gratitude the preservation of all living things in nature as the gift of ,god1 but also that in its motion1 so recondite1 so admirable1 he acknowledge the wisdom of the ,creator4 ,but him who is too dull to receive this science1 or too weak to believe the ,copernican system without harm to his piety1 him1 ,i say1 ,i advise that1 leaving the school of astronomy1 and condemning1 if he please1 any doctrines of the philosophers1 he follow his own path1 and desist from this wandering through the universe1 and lifting up his natural eyes1 with which alone he can see1 pour himself out from his own heart in praise of ,god the ,creator2 being certain that he gives no less worship to ,god than the astronomer1 to whom ,god has given to see more clearly with his inward eye1 and who1 for what he has himself discovered1 both can and will glorify ,god40 ,the next great step in our knowledge of the universe1 the discovery of the mechanical causes by which its motions are produced1 and of their laws1 has in modern times sometimes been supposed1 both by the friends of religion and by others1 to be unfavourable to the impression of an intelligent first cause4 ,that such a supposition is founded in error we have offered what appear to us insurmountable reasons for believing4 ,that in the mind of the great discoverer of this mechanical cause1 ,newton1 the impression of a creating and presiding ,deity was confirmed1 not shaken1 by all his discoveries1 is so well known that it is almost superfluous to insist upon the fact4 ,his views of the tendency of science invested it with no dangers of this kind4 8,the business of natural philosophy is10 he says1 7,optics1 ,qu4 #bh17 8to argue from phenomena without feigning hypotheses1 and to deduce cause from effects1 till we come to the very first cause1 which is certainly not mechanical40 8,though every true step made in this philosophy brings us not immediately to the knowledge of the first cause1 yet it brings us nearer to it1 and is on that account highly to be valued40 ,the ,scholium1 or note1 which concludes his great work1 the ,principia1 is a well known and most striking evidence on this point1 8,this beautiful system of sun1 planets1 and comets1 could have its origin in no other way than by the purpose and command of an intelligent and powerful ,being4 ,he governs all things1 not as the soul of the world1 but as the lord of the universe4 ,he is not only ,god1 but ,lord or ,governor4 ,we know him only by his properties and attributes1 by the wise and admirable structure of things around us1 and by their final causes2 we admire him on account of his perfections1 we venerate and worship him on account of his government40 ,without making any further quotations1 it must be evident to the reader that the succession of great philosophers through whom mankind have been led to the knowledge of the greatest of scientific truths1 the law of universal gravitation1 did1 for their parts1 see the truths which they disclosed to men in such a light that their religious feelings1 their reference of the world to an intelligent ,creator and ,preserver1 their admiration of his attributes1 were exalted rather than impaired by the insight which they obtained into the structure of the universe4 ,having shown this with regard to the most perfect portion of human knowledge1 our knowledge of the motions of the solar system1 we shall adduce a few other passages1 illustrating the prevalence of the same fact in other departments of experimental science2 although1 for reasons which have already been intimated1 we conceive that sciences of experiment do not conduct so obviously as sciences of observation to the impression of a ,divine ,legislator of the material world4 ,the science of ,hydrostatics was constructed in a great measure by the founders of the sister science of ,mechanics4 ,of those who were employed in experimentally establishing the principles peculiarly belonging to the doctrine of fluids1 ,pascal and ,boyle are two of the most eminent names4 ,that these two great philosophers were not only religious1 but both of them remarkable for their fervent and pervading devotion1 is too well known to be dwelt on4 ,with regard to ,pascal1 however1 we ought not perhaps to pass over an opinion of his1 that the existence of ,god cannot be proved from the external world4 8,i do not undertake to prove this10 says he1 8not only because ,i do not feel myself sufficiently strong to find in nature that which shall convince obstinate atheists1 but because such knowledge without ,jesus ,christ is useless and steril40 ,it is obvious that such a state of mind would prevent this writer from encouraging or dwelling upon the grounds of natural religion2 while yet he himself is an example of that which we wish to illustrate1 that those who have obtained the furthest insight into nature1 have been in all ages firm believers in ,god4 8,nature10 he says1 in another place1 8has perfections in order to show that she is the image of ,god1 and defects in order to show that she is only his image40#ce ,boyle was not only a most pious man as well as a great philosopher1 but he exerted himself very often and earnestly in his writings to show the bearing of his natural philosophy upon his views of the ,divine attributes1 and of the government of the world4 ,many of these dissertations convey trains of thought and reasoning which have never been surpassed for their combination of judicious sobriety in not pressing his arguments too far1 with fervent devotion in his conceptions of the ,divine nature4 ,as examples of these merits1 we might adduce almost any portion of his tracts on these subjects2 for instance1 his 8,inquiry into the ,final ,causes of ,natural ,things20 his 8,free ,inquiry into the ,vulgar ,notion of ,nature20 his 8,christian ,virtuoso20 and his essay entitled 8,the ,high ,veneration ,man's ,intellect owes to ,god40 ,it would be superfluous to quote at any length from these works4 ,we may observe1 however1 that he notices that general fact which we are at present employed in exemplifying1 that 8in almost all ages and countries the generality of philosophers and contemplative men were persuaded of the existence of a ,deity from the consideration of the phenomena of the universe2 whose fabric and conduct they rationally concluded could not justly be ascribed either to chance or to any other cause than a ,divine ,being40 ,and in speaking of the religious uses of science1 he says3 8,though ,i am willing to grant that some impressions of ,god's wisdom are so conspicuous that even a superficial philosopher may thence infer that the author of such works must be a wise agent2 yet how wise an agent he has in these works expressed himself to be1 none but an experimental philosopher can well discern4 ,and 'tis not by a slight survey1 but by a diligent and skilful scrutiny1 of the works of ,god1 that a man must be1 by a rational and affective conviction1 engaged to acknowledge that the author of nature #8is wonderful in counsel1 and excellent in working4'0 ,after the mechanical properties of fluids1 the laws of the operation of the chemical and physical properties of the elements about us1 offer themselves to our notice4 ,the relations of heat and of moisture in particular1 which play so important a part1 as we have seen1 in the economy of our world1 have been the subject of various researches2 and they have led to views of the operation of such agents1 some of which we have endeavoured to present to the reader1 and to point out the remarkable arrangements by which their beneficial operation is carried on4 ,that the discoverers of the laws by which such operations are regulated1 were not insensible to the persuasion of a ,divine care and contrivance which those arrangements suggest1 is what we should expect1 in agreement with what we have already said1 and it is what we find4 ,among the names of the philosophers to whom we owe our knowledge on these subjects1 there are none greater than those of ,black1 the discoverer of the laws of latent heat1 and ,dalton1 who first gave us a true view of the mode in which watery vapour exists and operates in the atmosphere4 ,with regard to the former of these philosophers1 we shall quote ,dr4 ,thomson's account of the views which the laws of latent heat suggested to the discoverer4#cf 8,dr4 ,black quickly perceived the vast importance of this discovery1 and took a pleasure in laying before his students a view of the beneficial effects of this habitude of heat in the economy of nature4 ,during the summer season a vast magazine of heat is accumulated in the water1 which by gradually emerging during congelation serves to temper the cold of winter4 ,were it not for this accumulation of heat in water and other bodies1 the sun would no sooner go a few degrees to the south of the equator than we should feel all the horrors of winter40 ,in the same spirit are ,mr4 ,dalton's reflections1 after pointing out the laws which regulate the balance of evaporation and rain1#cg which he himself first clearly explained4 8,it is scarcely possible10 says he1 8to contemplate without admiration the beautiful system of nature by which the surface of the earth is continually supplied with water1 and that unceasing circulation of a fluid so essentially necessary to the very being of the animal and vegetable kingdom takes place40 ,such impressions appear thus to rise irresistibly in the breasts of men1 when they obtain a sight1 for the first time1 of the varied play and comprehensive connexions of the laws by which the business of the material world is carried on and its occurrences brought to pass4 ,to dwell upon or develope such reflections is not here our business4 ,their general prevalence in the minds of those to whom these first views of new truths are granted1 has been1 we trust1 sufficiently illustrated4 ,nor are the names adduced above1 distinguished as they are1 brought forwards as authorities merely4 ,we do not claim for the greatest discoverers in the realms of science any immunity from error4 ,in their general opinions they may1 as others may1 judge or reason ill4 ,the articles of their religious belief may be as easily and as widely as of other men's1 imperfect1 perverted1 unprofitable4 ,but on this one point1 the tendency of our advances in scientific knowledge of the universe to lead us up to a belief in a most wise maker and master of the universe1 we conceive that they who make these advances1 and who feel1 as an original impression1 that which others feel only by receiving their teaching1 must be looked to with a peculiar attention and respect4 ,and what their impressions have commonly been1 we have thus endeavoured to show4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,on ,deductive ,habits2 or1 on the ,impression produced on ,men's ,minds by tracing the consequences of ascertained ,laws4 ,the opinion illustrated in the last chapter1 that the advances which men make in science tend to impress upon them the reality of the ,divine government of the world1 has often been controverted4 ,complaints have been made1 and especially of late years1 that the growth of piety has not always been commensurate with the growth of knowledge1 in the minds of those who make nature their study4 ,views of an irreligious character have been entertained1 it is sometimes said1 by persons eminently well instructed in all the discoveries of modern times1 no less than by the superficial and ignorant4 ,those who have been supposed to deny or to doubt the existence1 the providence1 the attributes of ,god1 have in many cases been men of considerable eminence and celebrity for their attainments in science4 ,the opinion that this is the case1 appears to be extensively diffused1 and this persuasion has probably often produced inquietude and grief in the breasts of pious and benevolent men4 ,this opinion1 concerning the want of religious convictions among those who have made natural philosophy their leading pursuit1 has probably gone far beyond the limits of the real fact4 ,but if we allow that there are any strong cases to countenance such an opinion1 it may be worth our while to consider how far they admit of any satisfactory explanation4 ,the fact appears at first sight to be at variance with the view we have given of the impression produced by scientific discovery2 and it is moreover always a matter of uneasiness and regret1 to have men of eminent talents and knowledge opposed to doctrines which we consider as important truths4 ,we conceive that an explanation of such cases1 if they should occur1 may be found in a very curious and important circumstance belonging to the process by which our physical sciences are formed4 ,the first discovery of new general truths1 and the developement of these truths when once obtained1 are two operations extremely different2 imply different mental habits1 and may easily be associated with different views and convictions on points out of the reach of scientific demonstration4 ,there would therefore be nothing surprising1 or inconsistent with what we have maintained above1 if it should appear that while original discoverers of laws of nature are peculiarly led1 as we have seen1 to believe the existence of a supreme intelligence and purpose2 the far greater number of cultivators of science1 whose employment it is to learn from others these general laws1 and to trace1 combine1 and apply their consequences1 should have no clearness of conviction or security from error on this subject1 beyond what belongs to persons of any other class4 ,this will1 perhaps1 become somewhat more evident by considering a little more closely the distinction of the two operations of discovery and developement1 of which we have spoken above1 and the tendency which the habitual prosecution of them may be expected to produce in the thoughts and views of the student4 ,we have already endeavoured in some measure to describe that which takes place when a new law of nature is discovered4 ,a number of facts in which1 before1 order and connexion did not appear at all1 or appeared by partial and contradictory glimpses1 are brought into a point of view in which order and connexion become their essential character4 ,it is seen that each fact is but a different manifestation of the same principle2 that each particular is that which it is1 in virtue of the same general truth4 ,the inscription is deciphered2 the enigma is guessed2 the principle is understood2 the truth is enunciated4 ,when this step is once made1 it becomes possible to deduce from the truth thus established1 a train of consequences often in no small degree long and complex4 ,the process of making these inferences may properly be described by the word ,deduction1 while the very different process by which a new principle is collected from an assemblage of facts1 has been termed ,induction2 the truths so obtained and their consequences constitute the results of the ,inductive ,philosophy2 which is frequently and rightly described as a science which ascends from particular facts to general principles1 and then descends again from these general principles to particular applications and exemplifications4 ,while the great and important labours by which science is really advanced consist in the successive steps of the inductive ascent in the discovery of new laws perpetually more and more general2 by far the greater part of our books of physical science unavoidably consists in deductive reasoning1 exhibiting the consequences and applications of the laws which have been discovered2 and the greater part of writers upon science have their minds employed in this process of deduction and application4 ,this is true of many of those who are considered1 and justly1 as distinguished and profound philosophers4 ,in the mechanical philosophy1 that science which applies the properties of matter and the laws of motion to the explanation of the phenomena of the world1 this is peculiarly the case4 ,the laws1 when once discovered1 occupy little room in their statement1 and when no longer contested1 are not felt to need a lengthened proof4 ,but their consequences require far more room and far more intellectual labour4 ,if we take1 for example1 the laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation1 we can express in a few lines1 that which1 when developed1 represents and explains an innumerable mass of natural phenomena4 ,but here the course of developement is necessarily so long1 the reasoning contains so many steps1 the considerations on which it rests are so minute and refined1 the complication of cases and of consequences is so vast1 and even the involution arising from the properties of space and number so serious1 that the most consummate subtlety1 the most active invention1 the most tenacious power of inference1 the widest spirit of combination1 must be tasked and tasked severely1 in order to solve the problems which belong to this portion of science4 ,and the persons who have been employed on these problems1 and who have brought to them the high and admirable qualities which such an office requires1 have justly excited in a very eminent degree the admiration which mankind feel for great intellectual powers4 ,their names occupy a distinguished place in literary history2 and probably there are no scientific reputations of the last century higher1 and none more merited1 than those earned by the great mathematicians who have laboured with such wonderful success in unfolding the mechanism of the heavens2 such for instance as ,d',alembert1 ,clairault1 ,euler1 ,lagrange1 ,laplace4 ,but it is still important to recollect1 that the mental employments of men1 while they are occupied in this portion of the task of the formation of science1 are altogether different from that which takes place in the mind of a discoverer1 who1 for the first time1 seizes the principle which connects phenomena before unexplained1 and thus adds another original truth to our knowledge of the universe4 ,in explaining1 as the great mathematicians just mentioned have done1 the phenomena of the solar system by means of the law of universal gravitation1 the conclusions at which they arrived were really included in the truth of the law itself1 whatever skill and sagacity it might require to develope and extricate them from the general principle4 ,but when ,newton conceived and established the law itself1 he added to our knowledge something which was not contained in any truth previously known1 nor deducible from it by any course of mere reasoning4 ,and the same distinction1 in all other cases1 obtains1 between these processes which establish the principles1 generally few and simple1 on which our sciences rest1 and those reasonings and calculations1 founded on the principles thus obtained1 which constitute by far the larger portion of the common treatises on the most complete of the sciences now cultivated4 ,since the difference is so great between the process of inductive generalization of physical facts1 and that of mathematical deduction of consequences1 it is not surprising that the two processes should imply different mental powers and habits4 ,however rare the mathematical talent1 in its highest excellence1 may be1 it is far more common1 if we are to judge from the history of science1 than the genius which divines the general laws of nature4 ,we have several good mathematicians in every age2 we have few great discoverers in the whole history of our species4 ,the distinction being thus clearly established between original discovery and derivative speculation1 between the ascent to principles and the descent from them1 we have further to observe1 that the habitual and exclusive prosecution of the latter process may sometimes exercise an unfavourable effect on the mind of the student1 and may make him less fitted and ready to apprehend and accept truths different from those with which his reasonings are concerned4 ,we conceive1 for example1 that a person labours under gross error1 who believes the phenomena of the world to be altogether produced by mechanical causes1 and who excludes from his view all reference to an intelligent ,first ,cause and ,governor4 ,but we conceive that reasons may be shown which make it more probable that error of such a kind should find a place in the mind of a person of deductive1 than of inductive habits2--of a mere mathematician or logician1 than of one who studies the facts of the natural world and detects their laws4 ,the person whose mind is employed in reducing to law and order and intelligible cause the complex facts of the material world1 is compelled to look beyond the present state of his knowledge1 and to turn his thoughts to the existence of principles higher than those which he yet possesses4 ,he has seen occasions when facts that at first seemed incoherent and anomalous1 were reduced to rule and connexion2 and when limited rules were discovered to be included in some rule of superior generality4 ,he knows that all facts and appearances1 all partial laws1 however confused and casual they at present seem1 must still1 in reality1 have this same kind of bearing and dependence2--must be bound together by some undiscovered principle of order2--must proceed from some cause working by most steady rules2--must be included in some wide and fruitful general truth4 ,he cannot therefore consider any principles which he has already obtained1 as the ultimate and sufficient reason of that which he sees4 ,there must be some higher principle1 some ulterior reason4 ,the effort and struggle by which he endeavours to extend his view1 makes him feel that there is a region of truth not included in his present physical knowledge2 the very imperfection of the light in which he works his way1 suggests to him that there must be a source of clearer illumination at a distance from him4 ,we must allow that it is scarcely possible to describe in a manner free from some vagueness and obscurity1 the effect thus produced upon the mind by the efforts which it makes to reduce natural phenomena to general laws4 ,but we trust it will still be allowed that there is no difficulty in seeing clearly that a different influence may result from this process1 and from the process of deductive reasoning which forms the main employment of the mathematical cultivators and systematic expositors of physical science in modern times4 ,such persons are not led by their pursuits to any thing beyond the general principles1 which form the basis of their explanations and applications4 ,they acquiesce in these2 they make these their ultimate grounds of truth2 and they are entirely employed in unfolding the particular truths which are involved in the general truth4 ,their thoughts dwell little upon the possibility of the laws of nature being other than we find them to be1 or on the reasons why they are not so2 and still less on those facts and phenomena which philosophers have not yet reduced to any rule2 which are lawless to us1 though we know that1 in reality1 they are governed by some principle of order and harmony4 ,on the contrary1 by assuming perpetually the existing laws as the basis of their reasoning1 without question or doubt1 and by employing such language that these laws can be expressed in the simplest and briefest form1 they are led to think and believe as if these laws were necessarily and inevitably what they are4 ,some mathematicians indeed have maintained that the highest laws of nature with which we are acquainted1 the laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation1 are not only necessarily true1 but are even self-evident and certain priori1 like the truths of geometry4 ,and though the mathematical cultivator of the science of mechanics may not adopt this as his speculative opinion1 he may still be so far influenced by the tendency from which it springs1 as to rest in the mechanical laws of the universe as ultimate and all-sufficient principles1 without seeing in them any evidence of their having been selected and ordained1 and thus without ascending from the world to the thought of an ,intelligent ,ruler4 ,he may thus substitute for the ,deity certain axioms and first principles1 as the cause of all4 ,and the follower of ,newton may run into the error with which he is sometimes charged1 of thrusting some mechanic cause into the place of ,god1 if he do not raise his views1 as his master did1 to some higher cause1 to some source of all forces1 laws1 and principles4 ,when1 therefore1 we consider the mathematicians who are employed in successfully applying the mechanical philosophy1 as men well deserving of honour from those who take an interest in the progress of science1 we do rightly2 but it is still to be recollected1 that in doing this they are not carrying us to any higher point of view in the knowledge of nature than we had attained before3 they are only unfolding the consequences1 which were already virtually in our possession1 because they were implied in principles already discovered3--they are adding to our knowledge of effects1 but not to our knowledge of causes3--they are not making any advance in that progress of which ,newton spoke1 and in which he made so vast a stride1 in which 8every step made brings us nearer to the knowledge of the first cause1 and is on that account highly to be valued40 ,and as in this advance they have no peculiar privileges or advantages1 their errors of opinion concerning it1 if they err1 are no more to be wondered at1 than those of common men2 and need as little disturb or distress us1 as if those who committed them had confined themselves to the study of arithmetic or of geometry4 ,if we can console and tranquillize ourselves concerning the defective or perverted views of religious truth entertained by any of our fellow men1 we need find no additional difficulty in doing so when those who are mistaken are great mathematicians1 who have added to the riches and elegance of the mechanical philosophy4 ,and if we are seeking for extraneous grounds of trust and comfort on this subject1 we may find them in the reflection2--that1 whatever may be the opinions of those who assume the causes and laws of that philosophy and reason from them1 the views of those admirable and ever-honoured men who first caught sight of these laws and causes1 impressed them with the belief that this is 8the fabric of a great and good ,god20 that 8it is man's duty to pour out his soul in praise of the ,creator20 and that all this beautiful system must be referred to 8a first cause1 which is certainly not mechanical40 #b4 ,we may thus1 with the greatest propriety1 deny to the mechanical philosophers and mathematicians of recent times any authority with regard to their views of the administration of the universe2 we have no reason whatever to expect from their speculations any help1 when we attempt to ascend to the first cause and supreme ruler of the universe4 ,but we might perhaps go further1 and assert that they are in some respects less likely than men employed in other pursuits1 to make any clear advance towards such a subject of speculation4 ,persons whose thoughts are thus entirely occupied in deduction are apt to forget that this is1 after all1 only one employment of the reason among more2 only one mode of arriving at truth1 needing to have its deficiencies completed by another4 ,deductive reasoners1 those who cultivate science1 of whatever kind1 by means of mathematical and logical processes alone1 may acquire an exaggerated feeling of the amount and value of their labours4 ,such employments1 from the clearness of the notions involved in them1 the irresistible concatenation of truths which they unfold1 the subtlety which they require1 and their entire success in that which they attempt1 possess a peculiar fascination for the intellect4 ,those who pursue such studies have generally a contempt and impatience of the pretensions of all those other portions of our knowledge1 where from the nature of the case1 or the small progress hitherto made in their cultivation1 a more vague and loose kind of reasoning seems to be adopted4 ,now if this feeling be carried so far as to make the reasoner suppose that these mathematical and logical processes can lead him to all the knowledge and all the certainty which we need1 it is clearly a delusive feeling4 ,for it is confessed on all hands1 that all which mathematics or which logic can do1 is to develope and extract those truths1 as conclusions1 which were in reality involved in the principles on which our reasonings proceeded4#ch ,and this being allowed1 we cannot but ask how we obtain these principles8 from what other source of knowledge we derive the original truths which we thus pursue into detail8 since it is manifest that such principles cannot be derived from the proper stores of mathematics or logic4 ,these methods can generate no new truth2 and all the grounds and elements of the knowledge which1 through them1 we can acquire1 must necessarily come from some extraneous source4 ,it is certain1 therefore1 that the mathematician and the logician must derive from some process different from their own1 the substance and material of all our knowledge1 whether physical or metaphysical1 physiological or moral4 ,this process1 by which we acquire our first principles1 7without pretending here to analyse it17 is obviously the general course of human experience1 and the natural exercise of the understanding2 our intercourse with matter and with men1 and the consequent growth in our minds of convictions and conceptions such as our reason can deal with1 either by her systematic or unsystematic methods of procedure4 ,supplies from this vast and inexhaustible source of original truths are requisite1 to give any value whatever to the results of our deductive processes1 whether mathematical or logical2 while on the other hand1 there are many branches of our knowledge1 in which we possess a large share of original and derivative convictions and truths1 but where it is nevertheless at present quite impossible to erect our knowledge into a complete system2--to state our primary and independent truths1 and to show how on these all the rest depend by the rules of art4 ,if the mathematician is repelled from speculations on morals or politics1 on the beautiful or the right1 because the reasonings which they involve have not mathematical precision and conclusiveness1 he will remain destitute of much of the most valuable knowledge which man can acquire4 ,and if he attempts to mend the matter by giving to treatises on morals1 or politics1 or criticism1 a form and a phraseology borrowed from the very few tolerably complete physical sciences which exist1 it will be found that he is compelled to distort and damage the most important truths1 so as to deprive them of their true shape and import1 in order to force them into their places in his artificial system4 ,if therefore1 as we have said1 the mathematical philosopher dwells in his own bright and pleasant land of deductive reasoning1 till he turns with disgust from all the speculations1 necessarily less clear and conclusive1 in which his imagination1 his practical faculties1 his moral sense1 his capacity of religious hope and belief1 are to be called into action1 he becomes1 more than common men1 liable to miss the road to truths of extreme consequence4 ,this is so obvious1 that charges are frequently brought against the study of mathematics1 as unfitting men for those occupations which depend upon our common instinctive convictions and feelings1 upon the unsystematic exercise of the understanding with regard to common relations and common occurrences4 ,bonaparte observed of ,laplace1 when he was placed in a public office of considerable importance1 that he did not discharge it in so judicious and clear sighted a manner as his high intellectual fame might lead most persons to expect4#ci 8,he sought10 that great judge of character said1 8subtleties in every subject1 and carried into his official employments the spirit of the method of infinitely small quantities10 by which the mathematician solves his more abstruse problems4 ,and the complaint that mathematical studies make men insensible to moral evidence and to poetical beauties1 is so often repeated as to show that some opposition of tendency is commonly perceived between that exercise of the intellect which mathematics requires and those processes which go on in our minds when moral character or imaginative beauty is the subject of our contemplation4 ,thus1 while we acknowledge all the beauty and all the value of the mathematical reasonings by which the consequences of our general laws are deduced1 we may yet consider it possible that a philosopher1 whose mind has been mainly employed1 and his intellectual habits determined1 by this process of deduction1 may possess1 in a feeble and imperfect degree only1 some of those faculties by which truth is attained1 and especially those truths which regard our relation to that mind1 the origin of all law1 the source of first principles1 which must be immeasurably elevated above all derivative truths4 ,it would1 therefore1 be far from surprising1 if there should be found1 among the great authors of the developements of the mechanical philosophy1 some who had refused to refer the phenomena of the universe to a supreme mind1 purpose1 and will4 ,and though this world be1 to a believer in the ,being and government of ,god1 a matter of sorrow and pain1 it need not excite more surprise than if the same were true of a person of the most ordinary endowments1 when it is recollected in what a disproportionate manner the various faculties of such a philosopher may have been cultivated4 ,and our apprehensions of injury to mankind from the influence of such examples will diminish1 when we consider1 that those mathematicians whose minds have been less partially exercised1 the great discoverers of the truths which others apply1 the philosophers who have looked upwards as well as downwards1 to the unknown as well as to the known1 to ulterior as well as proximate principles1 have never rested in this narrow and barren doctrine2 but have perpetually looked forwards1 beyond mere material laws and causes1 to a ,first ,cause of the moral and material world1 to which each advance in philosophy might bring them nearer1 though it must ever remain indefinitely beyond their reach4 ,it scarcely needs1 perhaps1 to be noticed1 that what we here represent as the possible source of error is1 not the perfection of the mathematical habits of the mind1 but the deficiency of the habit of apprehending truth of other kinds2--not a clear insight into the mathematical consequences of principles1 but a want of a clear view of the nature and foundation of principles2--not the talent for generalizing geometrical or mechanical relations1 but the tendency to erect such relations into ultimate truths and efficient causes4 ,the most consummate mathematical skill may accompany and be auxiliary to the most earnest piety1 as it often has been4 ,and an entire command of the conceptions and processes of mathematics is not only consistent with1 but is the necessary condition and principal instrument of every important step in the discovery of physical principles4 ,newton was eminent above the philosophers of his time1 in no one talent so much as in the power of mathematical deduction4 ,when he had caught sight of the law of universal gravitation1 he traced it to its consequences with a rapidity1 a dexterity1 a beauty of mathematical reasoning which no other person could approach2 so that on this account1 if there had been no other1 the establishment of the general law was possible to him alone4 ,he still stands at the head of mathematicians as well as of philosophical discoverers4 ,but it never appeared to him1 as it may have appeared to some mathematicians who have employed themselves on his discoveries1 that the general law was an ultimate and sufficient principle3 that the point to which he had hung his chain of deduction was the highest point in the universe4 ,lagrange1 a modern mathematician of transcendent genius1 was in the habit of saying1 in his aspirations after future fame1 that ,newton was fortunate in having had the system of the world for his problem1 since its theory could be discovered once only4 ,but ,newton himself appears to have had no such persuasion that the problem he had solved was unique and final3 he laboured to reduce gravity to some higher law1 and the forces of other physical operations to an analogy with those of gravity1 and declared that all these were but steps in our advance towards a first cause4 ,between us and this first cause1 the source of the universe and of its laws1 we cannot doubt that there intervene many successive steps of possible discovery and generalization1 not less wide and striking than the discovery of universal gravitation3 but it is still more certain that no extent or success of physical investigation can carry us to any point which is not at an immeasurable distance from an adequate knowledge of ,him4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,on ,final ,causes4 ,we have pointed out a great number of instances where the mode in which the arrangements of nature produce their effect1 suggests1 as we conceive1 the belief that this effect is to be considered as the end and purpose of these arrangements4 ,the impression which thus arises1 of design and intention exercised in the formation of the world1 or of the reality of ,final ,causes1 operates on men's minds so generally1 and increases so constantly on every additional examination of the phenomena of the universe1 that we cannot but suppose such a belief to have a deep and stable foundation4 ,and we conceive that in several of the comparatively few cases in which such a belief has been rejected1 the averseness to it has arisen from the influence of some of the causes mentioned in the last chapter2 the exclusive pursuit1 namely1 of particular trains and modes of reasoning1 till the mind becomes less capable of forming the conceptions and making the exertions which are requisite for the apprehension of truths not included among its usual subjects of thought4 #a4 ,this seems to be the case with those who maintain that purpose and design cannot be inferred or deduced from the arrangements which we see around us by any process of reasoning4 ,we can reason from effects to causes1 say such writers1 only in cases where we know something of the nature of the cause4 ,we can infer from the works of men1 the existence of design and purpose1 because we know1 from past observation1 what kind of works human design and purpose can produce4 ,but the universe1 considered as the work of ,god1 cannot be compared with any corresponding work1 or judged of by any analogy with known examples4 ,how then can we1 in this case1 they ask1 infer design and purpose in the artist of the universe8 ,on what principles1 on what axioms1 can we proceed1 which shall include this necessarily singular instance1 and thus give legitimacy and validity to our reasonings8 ,what has already been said on the subject of the two different processes by which we obtain principles1 and by which we reason from them1 will suggest the reply to these questions4 ,when we collect design and purpose from the arrangements of the universe1 we do not arrive at our conclusion by a train of deductive reasoning1 but by the conviction which such combinations as we perceive immediately and directly impress upon the mind4 8,design must have had a designer40 ,but such a principle can be of no avail to one whom the contemplation or the description of the world does not impress with the perception of design4 ,it is not1 therefore1 at the end1 but at the beginning of our syllogisms1 not among remote conclusions1 but among original principles1 that we must place the truth1 that such arrangements1 manifestations1 and proceedings as we behold about us imply a ,being endowed with consciousness1 design1 and will1 from whom they proceed4 ,this is inevitably the mode in which such a conviction is acquired2 and that it is so1 we may the more readily believe1 when we consider that it is the case with the design and will which we ascribe to man1 no less than in that which we believe to exist in ,god4 ,at first sight we might perhaps be tempted to say1 that we infer design and purpose from the works of man in one case1 because we have known these attributes in other cases produce effects in some measure similar4 ,but to this we must reply1 by asking how we come to know the existence of human design and purpose at first1 and at all8 ,what we see around us are certain appearances1 things1 successions of events2 how come we ever to ascribe to other men the thought and will of which we are conscious ourselves8 ,how do we come to believe that there are other men8 ,how are we led to elevate1 in our conceptions1 some of the objects which we perceive into persons8 ,no doubt their actions1 their words induce us to do this4 ,we see that the manifestations which we observe must be so understood1 and not otherwise4 ,we feel that such actions1 such events must be connected by consciousness and personality2 that the actions are not the actions of things1 but of persons2 not necessary and without significance1 like the falling of a stone1 but voluntary and with purpose like what we do ourselves4 ,but this is not a result of reasoning3 we do not infer this from any similar case which we have known2 since we are now speaking of the first conception of a will and purpose different from our own4 ,in arriving at such knowledge1 we are aided only by our own consciousness of what thought1 purpose1 will1 are3 and possessing this regulative principle1 we so decipher and interpret the complex appearances which surround us1 that we receive irresistibly the persuasion of the existence of other men1 with thought and will and purpose like our own4 ,and just in the same manner1 when we examine attentively the adjustment of the parts of the human frame to each other and to the elements1 the relation of the properties of the earth to those of its inhabitants1 or of the physical to the moral nature of man1 the thought must arise and cling to our perceptions1 however little it be encouraged1 that this system1 every where so full of wonderful combinations1 suited to the preservation1 and well-being of living creatures1 is also the expression of the intention1 wisdom1 and goodness of a personal creator and governor4 ,we conceive then that it is so far from being an unsatisfactory or unphilosophical process by which we collect the existence of a ,deity from the works of creation1 that the process corresponds most closely with that on which rests the most steadfast of our convictions1 next to that of our own existence1 the belief of the existence of other human beings4 ,if any one ever went so far in scepticism as to doubt the existence of any other person than himself1 he might1 so far as the argument from final causes is concerned1 reject the being of ,god as well as that of man2 but1 without dwelling on the possibility of such fantasies1 when we consider how impossible it is for men in general not to attribute personality1 purpose1 thought1 will to each other1 in virtue of certain combinations of appearances and actions1 we must deem them most consistent and reasonable in attributing also personality and purpose to ,god1 in virtue of the whole assemblage of appearances and actions which constitute the universe1 full as it is of combinations from which such a suggestion springs4 ,the vividness1 the constancy of the belief of a wise and good ,being1 thus governing the world1 may be different in different men1 according to their habit of directing their thoughts to the subject2 but such a belief is undoubtedly capable of becoming lively and steadfast in the highest degree4 ,it has been entertained and cherished by enlightened and well-regulated minds in all ages2 and has been1 at least since the rise of ,christianity1 not only the belief1 but a pervading and ruling principle of action of many men1 and of whole communities4 ,the idea may be rendered more faint by turning the mind away from it1 and perhaps by indulging too exclusively in abstract and general speculations4 ,it grows stronger by an actual study of the details of the creation2 and1 as regards the practical consequences of such a belief1 by a habit of referring our actions and hopes to such a ,governor4 ,in this way it is capable of becoming as real and fixed an impression as that of a human friend and master2 and all that we can learn1 by observing the course of men's feelings and actions1 tends to convince us1 that this belief of the being and presence and government of ,god1 leads to the most elevated and beneficial frame of mind of which man is capable4 #b4 ,how natural and almost inevitable is this persuasion of the reality of ,final ,causes and consequent belief in the personality of the ,deity1 we may gather by observing how constantly it recurs to the thoughts1 even of those who1 in consequence of such peculiarities of mental discipline as have been described1 have repelled and resisted the impression4 ,thus1 ,laplace1 of whom we have already spoken1 as one of the greatest mathematicians of modern times1 expresses his conviction that the supposed evidence of final causes will disappear as our knowledge advances1 and that they only seem to exist in those cases where our ignorance leaves room for such a mistake4 8,let us run over10 he says1 8the history of the progress of the human mind and its errors3 we shall perpetually see final causes pushed away to the bounds of its knowledge4 ,these causes1 which ,newton removed to the limits of the solar system1 were not long ago conceived to obtain in the atmosphere1 and employed in explaining meteors3 they are1 therefore1 in the eyes of the philosopher nothing more than the expression of the ignorance in which we are of the real causes40 ,we may observe that we have endeavoured to give a very different1 and1 as we believe1 a far truer view of the effect which philosophy has produced on our knowledge of final causes4 ,we have shown1 we trust1 that the notion of design and end is transferred by the researches of science1 not from the domain of our knowledge to that of our ignorance1 but merely from the region of facts to that of laws4 ,we hold that1 in this form1 final causes in the atmosphere are still to be conceived to obtain1 no less than in an earlier state of meteorological knowledge2 and that ,newton was right1 when he believed that he had established their reality in the solar system1 not expelled them from it4 ,but our more peculiar business at present is to observe that ,laplace himself1 in describing the arrangements by which the stability of the solar system is secured1 uses language which shows how irresistibly these arrangements suggest an adaptation to its preservation as an end4 ,if in his expressions we were to substitute the ,deity for the abstraction 8nature0 which he employs1 his reflection would coincide with that which the most religious philosopher would entertain4 8,it seems that #8,god' has ordered every thing in the heavens to ensure the duration of the planetary system1 by views similar to those which ,he appears to us so admirably to follow upon the earth1 for the preservation of animals and the perpetuity of species4#dj ,this consideration alone would explain the disposition of the system1 if it were not the business of the geometer to go further40 ,it may be possible for the geometer to go further2 but he must be strangely blinded by his peculiar pursuits1 if1 when he has discovered the mode in which these views are answered1 he supposes himself to have obtained a proof that there are no views at all4 ,it would be as if the savage1 who had marvelled at the steady working of the steam engine1 should cease to consider it a work of art1 as soon as the self-regulating part of the mechanism had been explained to him4 ,the unsuccessful struggle in which those persons engage1 who attempt to throw off the impression of design in the creation1 appears in an amusing manner through the simplicity of the ancient ,roman poet of this school4 ,lucretius maintains that the eye was not made for seeing1 nor the ear for hearing4 ,but the terms in which he recommends this doctrine show how hard he knew it to be for men to entertain such an opinion4 ,his advice is1-- ,illud in his rebus vitium vehementer et istum ,effugere errorem1 vitareque prmeditator1 ,lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata1 ,prospicere ut possimus4 iv4 #hbc4 ',gainst their preposterous error guard thy mind ,who say each organ was for use design'd2 ,think not the visual orbs1 so clear1 so bright1 ,were furnish'd for the purposes of sight4 ,undoubtedly the poet is so far right1 that a most 8vehement0 caution and vigilant 8premeditation0 are necessary to avoid the 8vice and error0 of such a persuasion4 ,the study of the adaptations of the human frame is so convincing1 that it carries the mind with it1 in spite of the resistance suggested by speculative systems4 ,cabanis1 a modern ,french physiological writer of great eminence1 may be selected as a proof of this4 ,both by the general character of his own speculations1 and by the tone of thinking prevalent around him1 the consideration of design in the works of nature was abhorrent from his plan4 ,accordingly1 he joins in repeating ,bacon's unfavourable mention of final causes4 ,yet when he comes to speak of the laws of reproduction of the human race1 he appears to feel himself compelled to admit the irresistible manner in which such views force themselves on the mind4 8,i regard10 he says1 8with the great ,bacon1 the philosophy of final causes as barren2 but ,i have elsewhere acknowledged that it was very difficult for the most cautious man 7l'homme le plus reserv7 never to have recourse to them in his explanations40#da #c4 ,it may be worth our while to consider for a moment the opinion here referred to by ,cabanis1 of the propriety of excluding the consideration of final causes from our natural philosophy4 ,the great authority of ,bacon is usually adduced on this subject4 8,the handling of final causes10 says he1 8mixed with the rest in physical inquiries1 hath intercepted the severe and diligent inquiry of all real and physical causes1 and given men the occasion to stay upon these satisfactory and specious causes1 to the great arrest and prejudice of farther discovery40#db ,a moment's attention will show how well this representation agrees with that which we have urged1 and how far it is from dissuading the reference to final causes in reasonings like those on which we are employed4 ,final causes are to be excluded from physical inquiry2 that is1 we are not to assume that we know the objects of the ,creator's design1 and put this assumed purpose in the place of a physical cause4 ,we are not to think it a sufficient account of the clouds that they are for watering the earth1 7to take ,bacon's examples17 or 8that the solidness of the earth is for the station and mansion of living creatures40 ,the physical philosopher has it for his business to trace clouds to the laws of evaporation and condensation2 to determine the magnitude and mode of action of the forces of cohesion and crystallization by which the materials of the earth are made solid and firm4 ,this he does1 making no use of the notion of final causes3 and it is precisely because he has thus established his theories independently of any assumption of an end1 that the end1 when after all1 it returns upon him and cannot be evaded1 becomes an irresistible evidence of an intelligent legislator4 ,he finds that the effects1 of which the use is obvious1 are produced by most simple and comprehensive laws2 and when he has obtained this view1 he is struck by the beauty of the means1 by the refined and skilful manner in which the useful effects are brought about2--points different from those to which his researches were directed4 ,we have already seen1 in the very case of which we have been speaking1 namely1 the laws by which the clouds are formed and distribute their showers over the earth1 how strongly those who have most closely and extensively examined the arrangements there employed 7as ,howard1 ,dalton1 and ,black7 have been impressed with the harmony and beauty which these contrivances manifest4 ,we may find a further assertion of this view of the proper use of final causes in philosophy1 by referring to the works of one of the greatest of our philosophers1 and one of the most pious of our writers1 ,boyle1 who has an ,essay on this subject4 8,i am by all means10 says he1 8for encouraging the contemplation of the celestial part of the world1 and the shining globes that adorn it1 and especially the sun and moon1 in order to raise our admiration of the stupendous power and wisdom of him who was able to frame such immense bodies2 and notwithstanding their vast bulk and scarce conceivable rapidity1 keep them for so many ages constant both to the lines and degrees of their motion1 without interfering with one another4 ,and doubtless we ought to return thanks and praises to the divine goodness for having so placed the sun and moon1 and determined the former1 or else the earth1 to move in particular lines for the good of men and other animals2 and how disadvantageous it would have been to the inhabitants of the earth if the luminaries had moved after a different manner4 ,i dare not1 however1 affirm that the sun1 moon1 and other celestial bodies were made solely for the use of man3 much less presume to prove one system of the world to be true and another false2 because the former is better fitted to the convenience of mankind1 or the other less suited1 or perhaps altogether useless to that end40 ,this passage exhibits1 we conceive1 that combination of feelings which ought to mark the character of the religious natural philosopher2 an earnest piety ready to draw nutriment from the contemplation of established physical truths2 joined with a philosophical caution1 which is not seduced by the anticipation of such contemplations1 to pervert the strict course of physical inquiry4 ,it is precisely through this philosophical care and scrupulousness that our views of final causes acquire their force and value as aids to religion4 ,the object of such views is not to lead us to physical truth1 but to connect such truth1 obtained by its proper processes and methods1 with our views of ,god1 the master of the universe1 through those laws and relations which are thus placed beyond dispute4 ,bacon's comparison of final causes to the vestal virgins is one of those poignant sayings1 so frequent in his writings1 which it is not easy to forget4 8,like them10 he says1 8they are dedicated to ,god1 and are barren40 ,but to any one who reads his work it will appear in what spirit this was meant4 8,not because those final causes are not true and worthy to be inquired1 being kept within their own province40 7,of the ,advancement of ,learning1 b4 ii4 p4 #adb47 ,if he had had occasion to develope his simile1 full of latent meaning as his similes so often are1 he would probably have said1 that to these final causes barrenness was no reproach1 seeing they ought to be1 not the mothers but the daughters of our natural sciences2 and that they were barren1 not by imperfection of their nature but in order that they might be kept pure and undefiled1 and so fit ministers in the temple of ,god4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,on the ,physical ,agency of the ,deity4 #a4 ,we are not to expect that physical investigation can enable us to conceive the manner in which ,god acts upon the members of the universe4 ,the question1 8,canst thou by searching find out ,god80 must silence the boastings of science as well as the repinings of adversity4 ,indeed1 science shows us1 far more clearly than the conceptions of every day reason1 at what an immeasurable distance we are from any faculty of conceiving how the universe1 material and moral1 is the work of the ,deity4 ,but with regard to the material world1 we can at least go so far as this2--we can perceive that events are brought about1 not by insulated interpositions of divine power exerted in each particular case1 but by the establishment of general laws4 ,this1 which is the view of the universe proper to science1 whose office it is to search out these laws1 is also the view which1 throughout this work1 we have endeavoured to keep present to the mind of the reader4 ,we have attempted to show that it combines itself most readily and harmoniously with the doctrines of ,natural ,theology2 that the arguments for those doctrines are strengthened1 the difficulties which affect them removed1 by keeping it steadily before us4 ,we conceive1 therefore1 that the religious philosopher will do well to bear this conception in his mind4 ,god is the author and governor of the universe through the laws which he has given to its parts1 the properties which he has impressed upon its constituent elements2 these laws and properties are1 as we have already said1 the instruments with which he works2 the institution of such laws1 the selection of the quantities which they involve1 their combination and application1 are the modes in which he exerts and manifests his power1 his wisdom1 his goodness3 through these attributes1 thus exercised1 the ,creator of all1 shapes1 moves1 sustains1 and guides the visible creation4 ,this has been the view of the relation of the ,deity to the universe entertained by the most sagacious and comprehensive minds ever since the true object of natural philosophy has been clearly and steadily apprehended4 ,the great writer who was the first to give philosophers a distinct and commanding view of this object1 thus expresses himself in his 8,confession of ,faith30 8,i believe--that notwithstanding ,god hath rested and ceased from creating since the first ,sabbath1 yet1 nevertheless1 he doth accomplish and fulfil his divine will in all things1 great and small1 singular and general1 as fully and exactly by providence1 as he could by miracle and new creation1 though his working be not immediate and direct1 but by compass2 not violating nature1 which is his own law upon the creature40 ,and one of our own time1 whom we can no longer hesitate to place among the worthiest disciples of the school of ,bacon1 conveys the same thought in the following passage3 8,the ,divine ,author of the universe cannot be supposed to have laid down particular laws1 enumerating all individual contingencies1 which his materials have understood and obey--this would be to attribute to him the imperfections of human legislation2--but rather1 by creating them endued with certain fixed qualities and powers1 he has impressed them in their origin with the spirit1 not the letter of his law1 and made all their subsequent combinations and relations inevitable consequences of this first impression40#dc #b4 ,this1 which thus appears to be the mode of the ,deity's operation in the material world1 requires some attention on our part in order to understand it with proper clearness4 ,one reason of this is1 that it is a mode of operation altogether different from that in which we are able to make matter fulfil our designs4 ,man can construct exquisite machines1 can call in vast powers1 can form extensive combinations1 in order to bring about results which he has in view4 ,but in all this he is only taking advantage of laws of nature which already exist2 he is applying to his use qualities which matter already possesses4 ,nor can he by any effort do more4 ,he can establish no new law of nature which is not a result of the existing ones4 ,he can invest matter with no new properties which are not modifications of its present attributes4 ,his greatest advances in skill and power are made when he calls to his aid forces which before existed unemployed1 or when he discovers so much of the habits of some of the elements as to be able to bend them to his purpose4 ,he navigates the ocean by the assistance of the winds which he cannot raise or still3 and even if we suppose him able to control the course of these1 his yet unsubjugated ministers1 this could only be done by studying their characters1 by learning more thoroughly the laws of air and heat and moisture4 ,he cannot give the minutest portion of the atmosphere new relations1 a new course of expansion1 new laws of motion4 ,but the ,divine operations1 on the other hand1 include something much higher4 ,they take in the establishment of the laws of the elements1 as well as the combination of these laws and the determination of the distribution and quantity of the materials on which they shall produce their effect4 ,we must conceive that the ,supreme ,power has ordained that air shall be rarefied1 and water turned into vapour1 by heat2 no less than that he has combined air and water so as to sprinkle the earth with showers1 and determined the quantity of heat and air and water1 so that the showers shall be as beneficial as they are4 ,we may and must1 therefore1 in our conceptions of the ,divine purpose and agency1 go beyond the analogy of human contrivances4 ,we must conceive the ,deity1 not only as constructing the most refined and vast machinery1 with which1 as we have already seen1 the universe is filled2 but we must also imagine him as establishing those properties by which such machinery is possible3 as giving to the materials of his structure the qualities by which the material is fitted to its use4 ,there is much to be found1 in natural objects1 of the same kind of contrivance which is common to these and to human inventions2 there are mechanical devices1 operations of the atmospheric elements1 chemical processes2--many such have been pointed out1 many more exist4 ,but besides these cases of the combination of means1 which1 we seem able to understand without much difficulty1 we are led to consider the ,divine ,being as the author of the laws of chemical1 of physical1 and of mechanical action1 and of such other laws as make matter what it is2--and this is a view which no analogy of human inventions1 no knowledge of human powers1 at all assists us to embody or understand4 ,science1 therefore1 as we have said1 while it discloses to us the mode of instrumentality employed by the ,deity1 convinces us1 more effectually than ever1 of the impossibility of conceiving ,god's actions by assimilating them to our own4 #c4 ,the laws of material nature1 such as we have described them1 operate at all times1 and in all places2 affect every province of the universe1 and involve every relation of its parts4 ,wherever these laws appear1 we have a manifestation of the intelligence by which they were established4 ,but a law supposes an agent1 and a power2 for it is the mode according to which the agent proceeds1 the order according to which the power acts4 ,without the presence of such an agent1 of such a power1 conscious of the relations on which the law depends1 producing the effects which the law prescribes1 the law can have no efficacy1 no existence4 ,hence we infer that the intelligence by which the law is ordained1 the power by which it is put in action1 must be present at all times and in all places where the effects of the law occur2 that thus the knowledge and the agency of the ,divine ,being pervade every portion of the universe1 producing all action and passion1 all permanence and change4 ,the laws of nature are the laws which he1 in his wisdom1 prescribes to his own acts2 his universal presence is the necessary condition of any course of events1 his universal agency the only origin of any efficient force4 ,this view of the relation of the universe to ,god has been entertained by many of the most eminent of those who have combined the consideration of the material world with the contemplation of ,god himself4 ,it may therefore be of use to illustrate it by a few quotations1 and the more so1 as we find this idea remarkably dwelt upon in the works of that writer whose religious views must always have a peculiar interest for the cultivators of physical science1 the great ,newton4 ,thus1 in the observations on the nature of the ,deity with which he closes the 8,opticks10 he declares the various portions of the world1 organic and inorganic1 8can be the effect of nothing else than the wisdom and skill of a powerful ever living ,agent1 who being in all places1 is more able by his will to move the bodies within his boundless uniform sensorium1 and thereby to form and reform the parts of the universe1 than we are by our will to move the parts of our own bodies40 ,and in the ,scholium at the end of the 8,principia10 he says1 8,god is one and the same ,god always and every where4 ,he is omnipresent1 not by means of his virtue alone1 but also by his substance1 for virtue cannot subsist without substance4 ,in him all things are contained1 and move1 but without mutual passion3 ,god is not acted upon by the motions of bodies2 and they suffer no resistance from the omnipresence of ,god40 ,and he refers to several passages confirmatory of this view1 not only in the ,scriptures1 but also in writers who hand down to us the opinions of some of the most philosophical thinkers of the pagan world4 ,he does not disdain to quote the poets1 and among the rest1 the verses of ,virgil2 ,principio clum ac terras camposque liquentes ,lucentemque globum lun1 ,titaniaque astra1 ,spiritus intus alit1 totamque infusa per artus ,mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet3 warning his reader1 however1 against the doctrine which such expressions as these are sometimes understood to express4 8,all these things he rules1 not as the soul of the world1 but as the ,lord of all40 ,clarke1 the friend and disciple of ,newton1 is one of those who has most strenuously put forwards the opinion of which we are speaking1 8,all things which we commonly say are the effects of the natural powers of matter and laws of motion1 are indeed 7if we will speak strictly and properly17 the effects of ,god's acting upon matter continually and at every moment1 either immediately by himself1 or mediately by some created intelligent being4 ,consequently there is no such thing as the course of nature1 or the power of nature10 independent of the effects produced by the will of ,god4 ,dugald ,stewart has adopted and illustrated the same opinion1 and quotes with admiration the well-known passage of ,pope1 concerning the ,divine ,agency1 which 8,lives through all life1 extends through all extent1 ,spreads undivided1 operates unspent40 ,mr4 ,stewart1 with no less reasonableness than charity1 asserts the propriety of interpreting such passages according to the scope and spirit of the reasonings with which they are connected2#dd since1 though by a captious reader they might be associated with erroneous views of the ,deity1 a more favourable construction will often see in them only the results of the necessary imperfection of our language1 when we dwell upon the omnipresence and universal activity of ,god4 ,finally1 we may add that the same opinions still obtain the assent of the best philosophers and divines of our time4 ,sir ,john ,herschel says1 7,discourse on the ,study of ,natural ,philosophy1 p4 #cg47 8,we would no way be understood to deny the constant exercise of ,his direct power in maintaining the system of nature2 or the ultimate emanation1 of every energy which material agents exert1 from his immediate will1 acting in conformity with his own laws40 ,and the ,bishop of ,london1 in a note to his 8,sermon on the duty of combining religious instruction with intellectual culture10 observes1 8the student in natural philosophy will find rest from all those perplexities which are occasioned by the obscurity of causation1 in the supposition1 which although it was discredited by the patronage of ,malebranche and the ,cartesians1 has been adopted by ,clarke and ,dugald ,stewart1 and which is by far the most simple and sublime account of the matter2 that all the events1 which are continually taking place in the different parts of the material universe1 are the immediate effects of the divine agency40 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,on the ,impression produced by considering the ,nature and ,prospects of ,science2 or1 on the ,impossibility of the ,progress of our ,knowledge ever enabling us to comprehend the ,nature of the ,deity4 ,if we were to stop at the view presented in the last chapter1 it might be supposed that--by considering ,god as eternal and omnipresent1 conscious of all the relations1 and of all the objects of the universe1 instituting laws founded on the contemplation of these relations1 and carrying these laws into effect by his immediate energy1--we had attained to a conception1 in some degree definite1 of the ,deity1 such as natural philosophy leads us to conceive him4 ,but by resting in this mode of conception1 we should overlook1 or at least should disconnect from our philosophical doctrines1 all that most interests and affects us in the character of the ,creator and ,preserver of the world2--namely1 that he is the lawgiver and judge of our actions2 the proper object of our prayer and adoration2 the source from which we may hope for moral strength here1 and for the reward of our obedience and the elevation of our nature in another state of existence4 ,we are very far from believing that our philosophy alone can give us such assurance of these important truths as is requisite for our guidance and support2 but we think that even our physical philosophy will point out to us the necessity of proceeding far beyond that conception of ,god1 which represents him merely as the mind in which reside all the contrivance1 law1 and energy of the material world4 ,we believe that the view of the universe which modern science has already opened to us1 compared with the prospect of what she has still to do in pursuing the path on which she has just entered1 will show us how immeasurably inadequate such a mode of conception would be3 and that if we take into our account1 as we must in reason do1 all that of which we have knowledge and consciousness1 and of which we have as yet no systematic science1 we shall be led to a conviction that the ,creator and ,preserver of the material world must also contain in him such properties and attributes as imply his moral character1 and as fall in most consistently with all that we learn in any other way of his providence and holiness1 his justice and mercy4 #a4 ,the sciences which have at present acquired any considerable degree of completeness1 are those in which an extensive and varied collection of phenomena1 and their proximate causes1 have been reduced to a few simple general laws4 ,such are ,astronomy and ,mechanics1 and perhaps1 so far as its physical conditions are concerned1 ,optics4 ,other portions of human knowledge can be considered as perfect sciences1 in any strict sense of the term1 only when they have assumed this form2 when the various appearances which they involve are reduced to a few principles1 such as the laws of motion and the mechanical properties of the luminiferous ether4 ,if we could trace the endless varieties of the forms of crystals1 and the complicated results of chemical composition1 to some one comprehensive law necessarily pointing out the crystalline form of any given chemical compound1 ,mineralogy would become an exact science4 ,as yet1 however1 we can scarcely boast of the existence of any other such sciences than those which we at first mentioned3 and so far therefore as we attempt to give definiteness to our conception of the ,deity1 by considering him as the intelligent depositary and executor of laws of nature1 we can subordinate to such a mode of conception no portion of the creation1 save the mechanical movements of the universe1 and the propagation and properties of light4 #b4 ,and if we attempt to argue concerning the nature of the laws and relations which govern those provinces of creation whither our science has not yet reached1 by applying some analogy borrowed from cases where it has been successful1 we have no chance of attaining any except the most erroneous and worthless guesses4 ,the history of human speculations1 as well as the nature of the objects of them1 shows how certainly this must happen4 ,the great generalizations which have been established in one department of our knowledge1 have been applied in vain to the purpose of throwing light on the other portions which still continue in obscurity4 ,when the ,newtonian philosophy had explained so many mechanical facts1 by the two great steps1--of resolving the action of a whole mass into the actions of its minutest particles1 and considering these particles as centres of force1--attempts were naturally soon made to apply the same mode of explanation to facts of other different kinds4 ,it was conceived that the whole of natural philosophy must consist in investigating the laws of force by which particles of different substances attracted and repelled1 and thus produced motions1 or vibrations to and from the particles4 ,yet what were the next great discoveries in physics8 ,the action of a galvanic wire upon a magnet2 which is not to attract or repel it1 but to turn it to the right and left2 to produce motion1 not to or from1 but transverse to the line drawn to the acting particles2 and again1 the undulatory theory of light1 in which it appeared that the undulations must not be longitudinal1 as all philosophers1 following the analogy of all cases previously conceived1 had1 at first1 supposed them to be1 but transverse to the path of the ray4 ,here1 though the step from the known to the unknown was comparatively small1 when made conjecturally it was made in a direction very wide of the truth4 ,how impossible then must it be to attain in this manner to any conception of a law which shall help us to understand the whole government of the universe6 #c4 ,still1 however1 in the laws of the luminiferous ether1 and of the other fluid1 7if it be another fluid7 by which galvanism and magnetism are connected1 we have something approaching nearly to mechanical action1 and1 possibly1 hereafter to be identified with it4 ,but we cannot turn to any other part of our physical knowledge1 without perceiving that the gulf which separates it from the exact sciences is yet wider and more obscure4 ,who shall enunciate for us1 and in terms of what notions1 the general law of chemical composition and decomposition8 sometimes indeed we give the name of attraction to the affinity by which we suppose the particles of the various ingredients of bodies to be aggregated2 but no one can point out any common feature between this and the attractions of which alone we know the exact effects4 ,he who shall discover the true general law of the forces by which elements form compounds1 will probably advance as far beyond the discoveries of ,newton1 as ,newton went beyond ,aristotle4 ,but who shall say in what direction this vast flight shall be1 and what new views it shall open to us of the manner in which matter obeys the laws of the ,creator8 #d4 ,but suppose this flight performed2--we are yet but at the outset of the progress which must carry us towards ,him4 ,we have yet to begin to learn all that we are to know concerning the ultimate laws of organized bodies4 ,what is the principle of life8 ,what is the rule of that action of which assimilation1 secretion1 developement1 are manifestations8 and which appears to be farther removed from mere chemistry than chemistry is from mechanics4 ,and what again is the new principle1 as it seems to be1 which is exhibited in the irritability of an animal nerve8 the existence of a sense8 ,how different is this from all the preceding notions6 ,no efforts can avoid or conceal the vast but inscrutable chasm4 ,those theorists1 who have maintained most strenuously the possibility of tracing the phenomena of animal life to the influence of physical agents1 have constantly been obliged to suppose a mode of agency altogether different from any yet known in physics4 ,thus ,lamarck1 one of the most noted of such speculators1 in describing the course of his researches1 says1 8,i was soon persuaded that the internal sentiment constituted a power which it was necessary to take into account40 ,and ,bichat1 another writer on the same subject1 while he declares his dissent from ,stahl1 and the earlier speculators1 who had referred every thing in the economy of life to a single principle1 which they called the anima1 the vital principle1 and so forth1 himself introduces several principles1 or laws1 all utterly foreign to the region of physics2 namely1 organic sensibility1 organic contractility1 animal sensibility1 animal contractility1 and the like4 ,supposing such principles really to exist1 how far enlarged and changed must our views be before we can conceive these properties1 including the faculty of perception1 which they imply1 to be produced by the will and power of one supreme ,being1 acting by fixed laws4 ,yet without conceiving this1 we cannot conceive the agency of that ,deity1 who is incessantly thus acting1 in countless millions of forms and modes4 ,how strongly then does science represent ,god to us as incomprehensible6 his attributes as unfathomable6 ,his power1 his wisdom1 his goodness1 appear in each of the provinces of nature which are thus brought before us2 and in each1 the more we study them1 the more impressive1 the more admirable do they appear4 ,when then we find these qualities manifested in each of so many successive ways1 and each manifestation rising above the preceding by unknown degrees1 and through a progression of unknown extent1 what other language can we use concerning such attributes than that they are infinite8 ,what mode of expression can the most cautious philosophy suggest1 other than that ,he1 to whom we thus endeavour to approach1 is infinitely wise1 powerful1 and good8 #e4 ,but with sense and consciousness the history of living things only begins4 ,they have instincts1 affections1 passions1 will4 ,how entirely lost and bewildered do we find ourselves when we endeavour to conceive these faculties communicated by means of general laws6 ,yet they are so communicated from ,god1 and of such laws he is the lawgiver4 ,at what an immeasurable interval is he thus placed above every thing which the creation of the inanimate world alone would imply2 and how far must he transcend all ideas founded on such laws as we find there6 #f4 ,but we have still to go further and far higher4 ,the world of reason and of morality is a part of the same creation1 as the world of matter and of sense4 ,the will of man is swayed by rational motives2 its workings are inevitably compared with a rule of action2 he has a conscience which speaks of right and wrong4 ,these are laws of man's nature no less than the laws of his material existence1 or his animal impulses4 ,yet what entirely new conceptions do they involve8 ,how incapable of being resolved into1 or assimilated to1 the results of mere matter1 or mere sense6 ,moral good and evil1 merit and demerit1 virtue and depravity1 if ever they are the subjects of strict science1 must belong to a science which views these things1 not with reference to time or space1 or mechanical causation1 not with reference to fluid or ether1 nervous irritability or corporeal feeling1 but to their own proper modes of conception2 with reference to the relations with which it is possible that these notions may be connected1 and not to relations suggested by other subjects of a completely extraneous and heterogeneous nature4 ,and according to such relations must the laws of the moral world be apprehended1 by any intelligence which contemplates them at all4 ,there can be no wider interval in philosophy than the separation which must exist between the laws of mechanical force and motion1 and the laws of free moral action4 ,yet the tendency of men to assume1 in the portions of human knowledge which are out of their reach1 a similarity of type to those with which they are familiar1 can leap over even this interval4 ,laplace has asserted that 8an intelligence which1 at a given instant1 should know all the forces by which nature is urged1 and the respective situation of the beings of which nature is composed1 if1 moreover1 it were sufficiently comprehensive to subject these data to calculation1 would include in the same formula1 the movements of the largest bodies of the universe and those of the slightest atom4 ,nothing would be uncertain to such an intelligence1 and the future1 no less than the past1 would be present to its eyes40 ,if we speak merely of mechanical actions1 this may1 perhaps1 be assumed to be an admissible representation of the nature of their connexion in the sight of the supreme intelligence4 ,but to the rest of what passes in the world1 such language is altogether inapplicable4 ,a formula is a brief mode of denoting a rule of calculating in which numbers are to be used3 and numerical measures are applicable only to things of which the relation depend on time and space4 ,by such elements1 in such a mode1 how are we to estimate happiness and virtue1 thought and will8 ,to speak of a formula with regard to such things1 would be to assume that their laws must needs take the shape of those laws of the material world which our intellect most fully comprehends4 ,a more absurd and unphilosophical assumption we can hardly imagine4 ,we conceive1 therefore1 that the laws by which ,god governs his moral creatures1 reside in his mind1 invested with that kind of generality1 whatever it be1 of which such laws are capable2 but of the character of such general laws1 we know nothing more certainly than this1 that it must be altogether different from the character of those laws which regulate the material world4 ,the inevitable necessity of such a total difference is suggested by the analogy of all the knowledge which we possess and all the conceptions which we can form4 ,and1 accordingly1 no persons1 except those whose minds have been biassed by some peculiar habit or course of thought1 are likely to run into the confusion and perplexity which are produced by assimilating too closely the government and direction of voluntary agents to the production of trains of mechanical and physical phenomena4 ,in whatever manner voluntary and moral agency depend upon the ,supreme ,being1 it must be in some such way that they still continue to bear the character of will1 action1 and morality4 ,and1 though too exclusive an attention to material phenomena may sometimes have made physical philosophers blind to this manifest difference1 it has been clearly seen and plainly asserted by those who have taken the most comprehensive views of the nature and tendency of science4 8,i believe10 says ,bacon1 in his ,confession of ,faith1 8that1 at the first the soul of man was not produced by heaven or earth1 but was breathed immediately from ,god2 so that the ways and proceedings of ,god with spirits are not included in nature2 that is in the laws of heaven and earth2 but are reserved to the law of his secret will and grace2 wherein ,god worketh still1 and resteth not from the work of redemption1 as he resteth from the work of creation2 but continueth working to the end of the world40 ,we may be permitted to observe here1 that1 when ,bacon has thus to speak of ,god's dealings with his moral creatures1 he does not take his phraseology from those sciences which can offer none but false and delusive analogies2 but helps out the inevitable scantiness of our human knowledge1 by words borrowed from a source more fitted to supply our imperfections4 ,our natural speculations cannot carry us to the ideas of 8grace0 and 8redemption20 but in the wide blank which they leave1 of all that concerns our hopes of the ,divine support and favour1 the inestimable knowledge which revelation1 as we conceive1 gives us1 finds ample room and appropriate place4 #g4 ,yet even in the view of our moral constitution which natural reason gives1 we may trace laws that imply a personal relation to our ,creator4 ,how can we avoid considering that as a true view of man's being and place1 without which1 his best faculties are never fully developed1 his noblest energies never called out1 his highest point of perfection never reached8 ,without the thought of a ,god over all1 superintending our actions1 approving our virtues1 transcending our highest conceptions of good1 man would never rise to those higher regions of moral excellence which we know him to be capable of attaining4 8,to deny a ,god10 again says the great philosopher1 8destroys magnanimity and the raising of human nature2 for take an example of a dog1 and mark what a generosity and courage he will put on1 when he finds himself maintained by a man2 who1 to him1 is instead of a ,god1 or melior natura3 which courage is manifestly such1 as that creature1 without that confidence of a better nature than his own1 could never attain4 ,so man1 when he resteth and assureth himself upon divine protection and favour1 gathereth a force and faith1 which human nature could not obtain4 ,therefore1 as atheism is in all respects hateful1 so in this1 that it depriveth human nature of the means to exalt itself above human frailty40#de ,such a law1 then1 of reference to a ,supremely ,good ,being1 is impressed upon our nature1 as the condition and means of its highest moral advancement4 ,and strange indeed it would be if we should suppose1 that in a system where all besides indicates purpose and design1 this law should proceed from no such origin2 and no less inconceivable1 that such a law1 purposely impressed upon man to purify and elevate his nature1 should delude and deceive him4 #h4 ,nothing remains1 therefore1 but that the ,creator1 who1 for purposes that even we can see to be wise and good1 has impressed upon man this tendency to look to him for support1 for advancement1 for such happiness as is reconcileable with holiness2--to believe him to be the union of all perfection1 the highest point of all intellectual and moral excellence2--,,is1 in reality1 such a guardian and judge1 such a good1 and wise1 and perfect ,being1 as we thus irresistibly conceive him4 ,it would indeed be extravagant to assert that the imagination of the creature1 itself the work of ,god1 can invent a higher point of goodness1 of justice1 of holiness1 than the ,creator himself possesses3 that the ,eternal ,mind1 from whom our notions of good and right are derived1 is not himself directed by the rules which these notions imply4 ,it is difficult to dwell steadily on such thoughts4 ,but they will at least serve to confirm the view which it was our object to illustrate2 namely1 how incomparably the nature of ,god must be elevated above any conceptions which our natural reason enables us to form2 and we have been led to these reflections1 it will be recollected1 by following the clue of which science gave us the beginning4 ,the ,divine ,mind must be conceived by us as the seat of those laws of nature which we have discovered4 ,it must be no less the seat of those laws which we have not yet discovered1 though these may and must be of a character far different from any thing we can guess4 ,the ,supreme ,intelligence must therefore contain the laws1 each according to their true dependence1 of organic life1 of sense1 of animal impulse1 and must contain also the purpose and intent for which these powers were put in play4 ,but the ,governing ,mind must comprehend also the laws of the responsible creatures which the world contains1 and must entertain the purposes for which their responsible agency was given them4 ,it must include these laws and purposes1 connected by means of the notions1 which responsibility implies1 of desert and reward1 of moral excellence in various degrees1 and of well-being as associated with right doing4 ,all the laws which govern the moral world are expressions of the thought and intentions of our ,supreme ,ruler4 ,all the contrivances for moral no less than for physical good1 for the peace of mind1 and other rewards of virtue1 for the elevation and purification of individual character1 for the civilization and refinement of states1 their advancement in intellect and virtue1 for the diffusion of good1 and the repression of evil2 all the blessings that wait on perseverance and energy in a good cause2 on unquenchable love of mankind1 and unconquerable devotedness to truth2 on purity and self-denial2 on faith1 hope1 and charity2--all these things are indications of the character1 will1 and future intentions of that ,god1 of whom we have endeavoured to track the footsteps upon earth1 and to show his handiwork in the heavens4 8,this ,god is our ,god1 for ever and ever40 ,and if1 in endeavouring to trace the tendencies of the vast labyrinth of laws by which the universe is governed1 we are sometimes lost and bewildered1 and can scarce1 or not at all1 discern the line by which pain1 and sorrow1 and vice fall in with a scheme directed to the strictest right and greatest good1 we yet find no room to faint or falter2 knowing that these are the darkest and most tangled recesses of our knowledge2 that into them science has as yet cast no ray of light2 that in them reason has as yet caught sight of no general law by which we may securely hold3 while1 in those regions where we can see clearly1 where science has thrown her strongest illumination upon the scheme of creation2 where we have had displayed to us the general laws which give rise to all multifarious variety of particular facts2--we find all full wisdom1 and harmony1 and beauty3 and all this wise selection of means1 this harmonious combination of laws1 this beautiful symmetry of relations1 directed1 with no exception which human investigation has yet discovered1 to the preservation1 the diffusion1 the well-being of those living things1 which1 though of their nature we know so little1 we cannot doubt to be the worthiest objects of the ,creator's care4 ,,finis4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,loudon1 ,encyclopdia of ,gardening1 #hdh4 #b ,dec4 ,phys4 vol4 ii4 #dgh4 #c ,fleming1 ,zool4 i4 #djj4 #d ,rapports du ,physique et du ,moral de l',homme1 ,,ii4 #cga4 #e ,it will be observed that it is not here asserted that the difference of native products depends on the difference of climate alone4 #f ,the resemblance consists in this2 that we have a strip of greater temperature accompanied by a strip of smaller temperature1 these strips arising from the diurnal and nocturnal impressions respectively1 and being in motion2 as in the waves on a canal1 we have a moving strip of greater elevation accompanied by a strip of smaller elevation4 ,we do not here refer to any hypothetical undulations in the fluid matter of heat4 #g ,loudon1 #abai4 #h ,loudon1 #abad4 #i ,manchester ,memoirs1 v4 #ceg4 #aj ,howard on the climate of ,london1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #baf1 #bag4 #aa ,daniell1 ,meteor4 ,ess4 p4 #ef4 #ab ,daniell4 p4 #abi4 #ac ,phil4 ,trans4 #ahba4 #ad ,mr4 ,gough in ,manch4 ,mem4 vol4 v4 #ae ,the reader who is acquainted with the two theories of light1 will perceive that though we have adopted the doctrine of the ether1 the greater part of the arguments adduced would be equally forcible1 if expressed in the language of the theory of emission4 #af ,or rather through the focal centre of the eye1 which is always near the centre of the pupil4 #ag ,laplace1 ,expos4 du ,syst4 du ,monde1 p4 #dda4 #ah ,in this statement of ,laplace1 however1 one remarkable provision for the stability of the system is not noticed4 ,the planets ,mercury and ,mars1 which have much the largest eccentricities among the old planets1 are those of which the masses are much the smallest4 ,the mass of ,jupiter is more than two thousand times that of either of these planets4 ,if the orbit of ,jupiter were as eccentric as that of ,mercury is1 all the security for the stability of the system1 which analysis has yet pointed out1 would disappear4 ,the earth and the smaller planets might in that case change their approximately circular orbits into very long ellipses1 and thus might fall into the sun1 and fly off into remote space4 ,it is further remarkable that in the newly discovered planets1 of which the orbits are still more eccentric than that of ,mercury1 the masses are still smaller1 so that the same provision is established in this case also4 ,it does not appear that any mathematician has even attempted to point out a necessary connexion between the mass of a planet and the eccentricity of its orbit on any hypothesis4 ,may we not then consider this combination of small masses with large eccentricities1 so important to the purposes of the world1 as a mark of provident care in the ,creator8 #ai ,the eccentricity of a planet's orbit is measured by taking the proportion of the difference of the greatest and least distances from the sun1 to the sum of the same distances4 ,mercury's greatest and least distances are as two and three2 his eccentricity1 therefore1 is one-fifth4 #bj ,the stability of the axis of rotation about which the earth revolves1 has sometimes been adduced as an instance of preservative care4 ,the stability1 however1 would follow necessarily1 if the earth1 or its superficial parts1 were originally fluid2 and that they were so is an opinion widely received1 both among astronomers and geologists4 ,the original fluidity of the earth is probably a circumstance depending upon the general scheme of creation2 and cannot with propriety be considered with reference to one particular result4 ,we shall therefore omit any further consideration of this argument4 #ba ,airy on ,encke's ,comet1 p4 #a1 note4 #bb ,principia1 b4 iii4 prop4 x4 #bc ,paley4 #bd ,if the ,laws of ,motion are stated as three1 which we conceive to be the true view of the subject1 the other two1 as applied in mechanical reasonings1 are the following3 ,second ,law4 ,when a force acts on a body in motion1 it produces the same effect as if the same force acted on a body at rest4 ,third ,law4 ,when a force of the nature of pressure produces motion1 the velocity produced is proportional to the force1 other things beings equal4 #be ,though ,friction is not concerned in any cosmical phenomena1 we have thought this the proper place to introduce the consideration of it2 since the contrast between the cases in which it does act1 and those in which it does not1 is best illustrated by a comparison of cosmical with terrestrial motions4 #bf ,butler1 ,serm4 #c4 #bg ,mller1 ,infusoria1 ,preface4 #bh ,monas4 ,mller4 ,cuvier4 #bi ,volvox4 #cj ,vibrio4 ,mller4 ,cuvier4 #ca ,dupuis4 ,origine des ,cultes4 #cb ,herschel on the ,study of ,nat4 ,phil4 ,art4 #bh4 #cc ,amici me cunctantem atque etiam reluctantem1 retraxerunt1 inter quos primus fuit ,nicolaus ,schonbergius1 ,cardinalis ,capuanus1 in omni genere literatum celebris2 proximus ille vir mei amantissimus ,tidemannus ,gisius1 episcopus ,culmensis1 sacrarum ut est et omnium bonarum literarum studiosissimus4--,de ,revolutionibus4 ,prf4 ad ,paulum ,,iii4 #cd ,lib4 i4 cx4 #ce ,penses1 ,art4 viii4 #a4 #cf ,thomson's ,hist4 of ,chemistry1 vol4 i4 #cba4 #cg ,manch4 ,mem4 vol4 v4 p4 #cdf4 #ch 8,since all reasoning may be resolved into syllogisms1 and since in a syllogism the premises do virtually assert the conclusion1 it follows at once1 that no truth can be elicited by any process of reasoning40--,whately's ,logic1 p4 #bbc4 ,mathematics is the logic of quantity1 and to this science the observation here quoted is strictly applicable4 #ci ,a l'intrieur le ministre ,quinette fut remplac par ,laplace1 gomtre du premier rang1 mais qui ne tarda pas se montrer administrateur plus que mdiocre3 des son premier travail les consuls s'aperurent qu'ils s'taient tromps3 ,laplace ne saisissait aucune question sous son vrai point de vue3 il cherchait des subtilits partout1 n'avait que des ides problmatiques1 et portait enfin l'esprit des infiniment petits dans l'administration4--,mmoires crits ,ste ,hlne1 i4 #c4 #dj ,il semble que la nature ait tout dispos dans le ciel1 pour assurer la dure du systme plantaire1 par des vues semblables celles qu'elle nous parait suivre si admirablement sur la terre1 pour la conservation des individus et la perptuit des espces4--,syst4 du ,monde1 p4 #ddb4 #da ,rapports du ,physique et du ,moral de l',homme1 i4 #bii4 #db ,de ,augment4 ,sc4 ii4 #aje4 #dc ,herschel on the ,study of ,nat4 ,phil4 ,art4 #bh4 #dd ,elem4 of ,phil4 ii4 p4 #bgc4 #de ,bacon4 ,essay on ,atheism4 ,,transcriber',s ,,note ,obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources4 ,except for those changes noted below1 all misspellings in the text1 and inconsistent or archaic usage1 have been retained4 ,pg #dg3 #8a slendar stalk' replaced by #8a slender stalk'4 ,pg #dh3 #8animal motious' replaced by #8animal motions'4 ,pg #ed3 #8the raingage' replaced by #8the rain gauge'4 ,pg #fg3 #8by ,fourrier1 and' replaced by #8by ,fourier1 and'4 ,pg #fi3 #8would dimininish' replaced by #8would diminish'4 ,pg #gb3 #8is obvitated by' replaced by #8is obviated by'4 ,pg #ha3 #8than #a-ajj;dth to' replaced by #8than #a-ajjth to'4 ,pg #aca3 #8are nealy circular' replaced by #8are nearly circular'4 ,pg #aci3 #8by one anomally' replaced by #8by one anomaly'4 ,pg #aec3 #8would loose its' replaced by #8would lose its'4 ,pg #agd3 #8a memoir entited' replaced by #8a memoir entitled'4 ,pg #agd3 #8volocity1 in' replaced by #8velocity1 in'4 ,pg #agh3 #8effects take take place' replaced by #8effects take place'4 ,pg #aif3 #8and and ,director of' replaced by #8and ,director of'4 ,pg #bjj3 #8for for her young' replaced by #8for her young'4 ,pg #bje3 #8in his puposes' replaced by #8in his purposes'4 ,pg #bbd3 #8thus irremoveably' replaced by #8thus irremovably'4 ,pg #bbh3 #8of knowlege and' replaced by #8of knowledge and'4 ,pg #bei3 #8and no othewise' replaced by #8and not otherwise'4