Analogy of science, physical and metaphysical, to natural and revealed religion

ANALOGY

OF

Science, Physical and Metaphysical,

•IV

NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION.

LOUIS MACKALL, M. D

M GILL & WITHEKOW, PRINTERS, WASHINGTON, D. C.

1876.

'Ms

Entered according to act of Coni;resH, in the year 1S7!>,
By LOUIS IMACKALL, M. D.,

in the OOice of the Librai-iaii of Congress at Wasliin.L';toM.

PREFACE.

The new formula of the Reasoning Pro-
cess suggested in American Science, and
adopted in this Treatise, is calculated to
change radically and most essentially the
whole of human knowledge, religious and
secular. The religious knowledge we have,
it must be admitted, is derived in great
measure from the indulgence or free exer-
cise of an unrestrained and unbridled im-
agination. By keeping the imagination in
subjection to an enlightened or cultivated
conscience, this difficulty in religious knowl-
edge is obviated ; and the necessity for in-
troducing the subject of direct inspiration,
which has always presented a difficulty to
well-ordered minds, is done away Avith.
The subject of miracles, or the temporary
suspension of the operation of the Physical
laws, which has been used to give authoritj^
to those resorting to miracles, is also done
away with, since this authority is found in
the endowment of the faculty of '' knowing
(3)

PREFACE.

good and evil," that is, of the faculty of con-
science, the exercise of which is the crown-
ing act in reasoning.

The Greek Philosophers, in initiating
science, and in substituting this for their
false religion, committed the same blunder, in
accepting the suggestions of an unrestrained
imagination as the true principles of science.
In this way their science, which has descend-
ed to our time, became deeply imbued with
the fiiUacy of materialism, that has rendered
this whole system of science irreconcilable
to the dictates of an enlightened conscience,
or, as it is usuall}' called in American Science,
of a good, sound common-sense.

Locke, in his celebrated essay on the
"Human Understanding,^' as he was pleased
to cull the human mind or soul, which essay
has become a standard authority in British
literature, committed numerous errors in his
reasoning on this subject. His conceptions
of human knowledge, and how it was ac-
quired, of simple ideas and how formed, and
of the nature of our com])lcx ideas, were all
erroneous. The human mind, in gaining its
ideas of surrounding objects, is never passive,
as a mirror; but, in our waking hours, is
busily emploj^od in determining its nerve-
(luid or specitie life, through the nerves of
the senses, to tho objects in its i^nvironmcnt,

PREFACE- 5

that it may form ideas of these objects and
ma}' become aware of their nature. It ac-
quires its simple ideas of such objects by the
vital combination of the specific life deter-
mined to, with the subtle fluid that is ever
passing from, such objects. The mind is
thus brought into relation with the material
world by means of its specific life, that is in
relation with both matter and mind; and the
ideas thus formed, and nothing else, can be
impressed on the memory so as to be after-
wards recalled. Complex ideas are the re-
sults of reasoning, that is brought into exer-
cise, or is suggested by our simple ideas. It
is from the exercise of the faculty of reason
that all useful human knowledge is derived.

'"What is Truth?' said Pontius Pilate, and
turned away without awaiting an answer."
To this simple question, no plain, definite
YGp]y has ever been suggested. Although the
inquiry admits of a satisfactory answer. Lord
Bacon, who proposed it, came very wide of
the mark; and Locke, the next highest au-
thority, in answering it, was equally wide of
the truth. His notion, that truth consists
in an agreement of ideas, was a partial, and,
as it stands, unintelligible answer.

What is Truth ? Truth is the dictate of an
enlightened conscience, or cultivated com-
mon-sense. Conscience or common-sense is a

b PREFACE.

mental faculty implanted in every sane mind ;
but is supposed to be more perlcct, or more
fully developed in the human than in the brule
mind. This facult}^ has received a variety
of names in the English language, as, the
knowledge of good and evil^ the moral sense^
the ride of right, the candle of the Lord
within us, (be., and, when enh'ghtened and
cultivated, enables us to behold the trutli as
it is in the Divine Mind. This is, in short,
the spark of Divinity that is imparted to His
creatures. Had Locke been aware of this,
and had he required his complex ideas, that
is, the results of his reasonini»:. to aii:ree with
the dictates of this faculty, as the standard
of truth, he would have struck the nail upon
the head; but the agreement of ideas among
themselves, without any standard of truth,
was but a foolish and useless maxim.

ANALOGY OF SCIENCE TO RELIGION.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL PROPOSITIONS, OR, GENERAL PRIN-
CIPLES OF SCIENCE.

The great aim or grand result proj^osed
in all human knowledge, religious and sec-
ular, should be, a correct view, a true theory,
of the economy of Nature, that has been
aptly called ^^The Constitution and Course
of Nature/'

With this acquired, the Human Mind is
prepared to accomplish fully the purposes
for which it was created. Without this
knowledge, the mind of man is ever grop-
ing in the dark, and is constantly involved
and ingulfed in the quagmires of supersti-
tion and ignorance.

(7)

8 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

A number of views of this all-important
subject have been submitted to human in-
telligence, embraced for the most part in
the religious books or systems of religion,
adopted by the several nations of the earth ;
but, more recently, a theory has been offered
called '^ Science,'' professing to enter more
fully aud more minutely into the explana-
tion of the operations in Nature or in nat-
ural phenomena.

Of the religious books and systems of re-
ligion, that which is adopted by what we
commonly regard as the most intelligent
and most civilized portion of humanity, is
the Bible and the Christian Dispensation.
These contain the most valuable truths of-
fered to our consideration — truths that fur-
nish a solid and permanent basis or foun-
dation for all useful knowledge. Moses,
the Theologian of the Old Testament, re-
lates in the Book of Genesis, ' ' God said, Let
there be light,'' and adds, ''and there was
light." This reference, of the power and
intellio-ence exhibited in conducting the

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 9

Course of Nature, to Grocl its Founder, Law-
giver, and Grovernor, is one of the most val-
uable truths to which we have just alluded ;
and St. John the Evangelist, the Theolo-
gian of the New Testament, says, ''In the
Beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God."
Now, if we attach to the' term, Word, Lo-
gos, the meaning Laws of Nature^ or the
expression of the will of the Creator in
words, what was an unintelligible jargon
of terms becomes a most important truth
that underlies, as it were, all really useful
knowledge. The Laws of Nature, as en-
acted by the Divine Law-giver, are the sec-
ondary or proximate causes in all natural
phenomena. In the received system of
Science, which we shall in future call Eu-
ropean Science^ these secondary or proxi-
mate causes are referred to the imaginary,
active, occult properties of matter^ and these
forms of matter are looked to as the proxi-
mate causes of phenomena^ as tJie potentials
in nature ! This whole system of European

10 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

Science is based or foimclecl on the doctrine
of Materialism, that refers all the power
and intelligence exhibited in nature to
forms of matter — a position which, we shall
show, is utterly false and untenable. We
now propose to offer for consideration an
entirely new system of science, to be called
Ameyncan Science^ which we claim to be
more rational than European Science, and
more in accordance with the dictates of the
conscience or common-sense of mankind.

In the Christian dispensation, it is in-
sisted on, that to observe, obey, and con-
form to the will of God, as expressed in
His laws or precepts, is the condition upon
which the human Being or Soul is to enjoy
endless happiness in a future state of exist-
ence. In American Science it is shown
that the same observance, obedience, and
conformity to the will of God, as imparled
in the laws of Nature, is the condition
upon which all His creatures are to enjoy
the happiness provided for them in this
life; and thus the analogy, the sameness

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 11

of law or rule, the sameness of principle
in Science and Religion, is established, and
shown to be lull and complete.

AMERICAN SCIENCE.

In the new system of American Science,
the economy of nature is regarded as a form
of government (the archetype or prototype
of all human governments) having God
for its Founder, Law-giver, and Grovernor.
Under this government are two classes of
Subjects, viz: inert, insensate, and inani-
mate forms of matter, and constitutions of
Mind or Soul. For the government of each
class, a separate and distinct class or code
of laws has been enacted. For the regu-
lation of the motions and changes of form
of inanimate bodies, of which aloneare these
susceptible, the code denominated the Phys-
ical laics ^ are appointed ; and to govern the
conduct of living Beings in this life, the
code called the Instincts have been enacted.

It is a noticeable provision in the econ-
omy of Nature, that all the power or phys-

12 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

ical force exhibited in Nature is connected
with, and is derived from, the operation of
the Physical laios that actuate, or are the
secondary causes of, the motions and changes
of form of inanimate bodies of matter ; and
that all the happiness enjoyed by living
Beings is connected with and is derived
from the operation oithe Instincts; so that
if we would exert a force or power, we must
first invoke it by providing tlie physical
conditions necessary to bring into opera-
tion some one or more of the physical laios ;
and if we would promote the happiness of
a living being, we must bring into opera-
tion some one or more of its Instincts.

CHAPTER II.

ON PHYSICAL SCIENCE.

The Physical laws, with the operation of
which we have said all phj^sical force is
connected, are, as far as they have been
investigated, fourteen in number, as follow :

At the same time that God said ^-Let
there be light,'' or, at tlie Beginning of
the World, God enacted the Physical laws,
and said:

1st. Let there he an interchange of the

subtle fluid, life, among all the bodies of

. matte?' that are in relation loith each other

throughout the Universe, In obedience to

this law^ there has been tliis interchange

throughout nature. In the observance of

this First Physical Law the Bodies of Space

have continued their ceaseless motion in

their orbits and on their axes^ and all other

bodies of matter haveobserved the samelaw,

as will be afterwards more iully sliown.
(13)

14 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

This is the physical law of Interchange of
Life that has hitherto been overlooked by
scientists.*

2(1. Let oil ponderable bodies about the
Earth's surface tend to move towards the
center of the Earth. This is the true law
of nature, which was so entirely misappre-
hended and misrepresented by Sir Isaac
Newton. Why do ponderable bodies tend
to move in the above-mentioned direction
rather than in any other? The answer is
plain from what we have said, namely, be-

^' A law, very similar to this, is embraced in the other
code of the laws of nature, that is, in the Instincts. The
Instincts of Humanity are happily, though partially
expressed in the Decalogue, and the particular instinct
of which we are treating was well expressed by our
Saviour when He said "Thou shalt love tlie Lord thy
God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as
thyself." To love, is to interchange life with the object
loved, whether animate or inanimate, through the
Emotional Faculties, or through the Affections; and
the strength is always proportional to the quantity of
the subtle fluid, the specific life, that is at the disposal
of the Alind or Soul. The term, heart, is often used in
Scripture figuratively, or as synonymous with that of
mind or soul, or, rather, as the secret part or innermost
recess of the soul, as the material heart is conceived to
be the central or innermost part of the body. Liter-
ally, the soul or mind has neither head nor heart —
these being members alone of the material body.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 15

cause oF the Law of Gravitation, (L. 2,)
that was enacted at the Beginning of the
World by a Being of infinite wisdom and
power. The occult property of Gravity,
conceived by Newton, was a mere myth, a
fantastic phantasy of Sir Isaac's imagina-
tion. There is no such property in any
form of matter.

It will facilitate our comprehension of
other natural phenomena if we here show
the operation of this law in the movements
of the pendulum of a clock. The pendulum
is pushed from its line of Gravity where it
rested, by the hand, or rather, by applying
to it the force from the physical law of Mus-
cular Action (L. 12), and is moved in its
arc to a distance directly proportionate to
the force applied, Wiien this force is ex-
hausted or nullified, the pendulum is car-
ried back towards its line of Gravity by the
force from the law of Gravitation, (L. 2;)
but, having acquired this new impetus, it
does not stop at this line, and is carried
beyond it in its arc, until the new force is

16 AMERICAN SCIENCE,

exhausted, when it again returns, by means
of the same force, towards its line of Grav-
ity. This motion of the pendulum is re-
peated as long as the force from the law of
Gravitation is continued.

3d. Let all iinponderable bodies tend to
move toioards the outer circiimfereyice of the
atmosioliere. As the most direct course to
this part of the atmosphere is towards the
zenitli, the impression became general that
light or imponderable bodies naturally
moved upward, and, no doubt, gave rise to
the aphorism that '^the mind of man is
prone to evil, as the sparks fly upwards.''

This is the physical law of Diffusion, that
has more to do with the motion of the im-
ponderables, as life, light, heat, electricity,
sound, odors, &c., than scientists have sus-
pected.

4th. Let all adjacent bodies of matter
tend to move to fill a vacuum. This is the
physical law of Suction, that furnishes the
principle on which all physiological phe-
nomena take place. The motion of the

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 17

air into the lungs, of the contents of the
primas vi^, of those of the heart and blood-
vesseLs &c., &c.^ all occur on the principle
of suction, and not on that of propulsion,
as heretofore supposed. The force acting
on the Hemispheres, or Otto Gruericke's
cups, is derived from the operation of this
physical law, and not at all from atmos-
pheric pressure^ as is erroneously thought.
The force from this law, acting on the body
or substance of the cups, and urging them
towaiTls the vacuum ivitJmi, is the real
motive power in this instance, and fur-
nishes the resistance to their separation.

5th» JVhen a current of any kind is pass-
ing^ let the life of adjacent bodies of matter ^
animate or inanimate^ flow from them to
sioell this curi'-ent. This—- the Law of the
Life-current — is a new physical law, that
had escaped the notice of scientists, but
will be found useful in explaining many
natural phenomena that, without a refer-
ence to this law, are inexplicable. It may

be used to throw much light on obscure
2

18 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

and unintelligible parts of the economy of
Nature. This physical law is the great
means employed in nature for tlie decom-
position, and change of form, of material
bodies. The life of bodies — spoken of as
^Hhat mysterious principle of life' ' — seems
to have the effect of keeping in place tlieir
several constituents, and of thus preserv-
ing their identity ; but when the life is
withdrawn by virtue of this physical law,
these constituents fall into confusion, and
are then ready to enter into other combina-
tions and give rise to other forms of matter.
6 th. Let ponderahle fluids J or liquids^ tend
to move toioards the spherical outline of the
earthy or to the surface of oceans and lakes ^
ivhich, when calm, constitute in part thi^
spherical outline, and is in fact the true
Water-level. This physical law, which
we call the Law of the Water-level, has not
been properly understood by scientists, who
have erroneously referred its phenomena,
or the results of its operation, to the Law
of Gi'avitation.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 19

7tb. Let the atoms or molecules of elastic
bodies tend to preserve their natural relative
position. The raotiou of the particles of
matter in elastic bodies is caused by this
physical law.

8th. Let the molecules of crustalline hod.
ies, ichen uniting, he arranged in regular
specific forms or crystals. Every crystal-
line body or kind has from nature a model
on which its crystals are formed. Hauy
observed this fact, but failed to account
for it, or to furnish its true explanation.

9th. Let the constituents of inanimate
forms of matter he condjined in certain defi-
nite proportions, by virtue of this Law of
Chemical Comhination.

10th. Let material bodies , or their mole-
cules, unite to form distinct masses, or larger
bodies of matter. Tliis Law of Cohesion is
the principal means employed in nature^,
to counteract or annul the force or forces
of other physical laws, as occasions require,
as we shall presently more fully explain.

11th. Let the specific life of animants

20 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

unite loith the materials of their ingesta, to
form the fluids and tissues of living or ani-
mate bodies. This Law of Vital Combina-
tion is tlie secondary cause of the formation
of organized tissues, which chemists have
in vain attempted to imitate. They have
lailed to command the use of this specif c
life^ that is the main constituent in these
combinations.

12th. Let tJw living muscular f be r, lohen
innervated, be actively elongated and erected;
and, ivhen enervated, let it be contracted.
This Law of Muscular Action, as we call it,
has lieretofore been entirely misunderstood
and misrepresented by Physiologists. The
reverse of the proposition they have laid
down on this subject is true. The action or
active state of a muscle is a state of the
active elongation of its fibers, and 7iot of
contraction of these fibers, as is erroneously
conceived.

loth. Let certain forms of matter adhere
to each other, as paint to wood, putty to
glass and wood, &c. This is the physical
Law of Adhesion.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 21

14tli. In the highest orders of both the
animal and vegetable kingdoms let a proper
union of the tioo sexes he attended loith the
formation of a neiv being ; and in some of
the loioer orders of these kingdoms^ let a
production of a ganglion or nerve-center be
folloiced by a like result. This we call The
Law oi Animate Generation.

SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES CONNECTED WITH THE
OPERATION OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS.

It will perhaps be profitable, as condu-
cive to clearness of thought, to stop here
to point out the distinction, the line of
demarkation, between two terms that are
commonly confounded with each other in
scientific creatises. I allude to the terms
Scientific Frinciples and Laws of Nature.
The most essential distinction between
these terms is this : scientific principles are
the productions, the generalizations of the
human mind, arrived at by the exercise of
human reason ; while the laws of nature
are the productions, the enactments of the

22 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

Divine Mind, designed to conduct the course
of nature.

The scientific principles, connected with
the operation of the physical laws, to which
I here wish to call attention, are these :

1st. The physical laws in their opera-
tion are, at times adjuvant, or assisting
each other in accomplishing a result ; and,
at other times, are antagonistic, or have
their forces opposed to each other.

In the perpendicular fall of flowing water
into the buckets of the large water-wheel,
the force of the Law of Gravitation (L. 2.)
(water being a ponderable body) assists,
or is added to, the force of the Law of the
Water-level, (L. 6,) and both forces serve
to accomplish the result— the motion of the
wheel. Again, when a heavy, ponderable
body falls to the ground, or to tlie surface
of the earth, its motion is arrested by the
antagonism of the physical Law of Cohesion
(L. 10) acting on the molecules of the
earth, which force that of the Law of
Gravitation cannot overcome. The force

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 23

of the Law of Cohesion, (L. 10,) acting on
the earth, is liere greater than that of any
other pliysical law, because,

2d. The force of a physical law is always
in a direct ratio with the quantity of mat-
ter influenced by the law at the time ; and
hence, the earth being the largest body of
matter with which we are immediately con-
cerned, it follows, from the tw^o scientific
23rinciples just cited, that, 1st. The velocity
of motion derived from a physical law is in-
versely as the resistance encountered from
the force of some other law or laws ; and,
2d . That the velocity of a falling body is in-
creased with the continuance of motion, by
having added to the force of the law caus-
ing the motion, that of the Law of Suction,
(L. 4,) brought into operation by means
of the vacuum formed by the displacement
of the body that is moving. From these
considerations we learn that Gallileo's ex-
periment at the tower of Pisa W' as not con-
clusive, and served to decide the question
raised wrongfully. The greater resistance

24 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

in the air to the motion of the larger body,
and the increase of force in falling, from
the Law of Suction, were not considered.
The force with which the heavier body
moved was undoubtedly greater than that
of the lighter body, and this was what the
followers of Aristotle based their opinion
on ; but the velocity of the two falling bod •
ies was influenced by the circumstances
stated above that were not taken into con-
sideration.

Tlie mechanic, with a knowledge of the
plain and simple truths imparted above,
can proceed intelligibly to the exertion of
the power in nature-the only powei- or
force he can by any means command.
There is no power in light, lieat, electricity,
steam, nor in any other form of matter ;
but this attribute of God is " reserved with-
in His own curtain," and is delegated by
Him only to a code of His laws-the phys-
ical laws— for their execution. The Me-
chanic should fully realize the truth of the
Christian religion that "of himself he

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 25

can do notliing/' but is depeDuent on the
iavor of God for his must trifling acts. He
cannot raise his hand to his head, or per-
form any movement of his body, without
first having recourse to a physical law —
the Law of Muscular Action, (L. 12,) by
means of wliich law alone, can this move-
Uient be effected, and which is the sole
secondary cause of this motion. In enter-
ing upon the exertion of force, or the con-
struction of a machine for this purpose, the
intelligent mechanic should first determine
what force, or the force from which of the
fourteen physical laws he proposes to em-
ploy, and then, by providing the physical
conditions necessary to bring into operation
this law, he has at his command the force
he is about to make use of, and can modify
this force in accordance with the scientific
principles mentioned above. He determ-
ines, for instance, to employ the force from
the Law of Gravitation (L. 2 ) in the use
of tlie trip-hammer^ and lie raises this pon-
derable body, the hammer, to a position

26 AMERICAN SCIEXCE.

whence it can have a free motion towards
the center of the earth ; and, when it foils,
he has at his command the force connected
with the operation of this Law. He can
modify this force by regulating the vv eight
of the hammer, and the distance it is suf-
fered to fall, according to the object or pur-
pose he has in view. Should he determine
to employ the force from tlie Law of Dif-
fusion, (L. 3,) he prepares steam, or some
imponderable, diffusible body; if from the
Law of Suction, (L. 4, ) he has only to pre-
pare a vacuum; and if from the Law of
Elasticity, (L. 7,) an elastic body, as a bow
or steel spring, and so on ; and he can
modify or regulate any of the forces, sim-
ply by regulating the quantity of matter
to be influenced by the law, and the dis-
tance it is to be allowed to move.

OTHER FORCES ENTIRELY IMAGINARY.

The Mathematics, or the Science of
Equations, has been of great service to
mankind; but the mathematicians have,

PHYSICAL SCIENCK, 27

by the weight of authority, led scientists
into many errors and absurdities. AVe
have said there are in nature but fourteen
forces or powers ; but niatliematicians have
added to these, other imaginary powers,
as, vis inei'tiae, the power of friction, &c.
When a heavy, ponderable body, as a load-
ed wagon, rests on the ground, it requires
some extra force to start it into motion.
This extra force, causing resistance to its
motion, is referred to the ponderable body
itself, and is called its vis inertice. The
phenomenon is much more rationally ex-
plained on the principle stated above,
namely, in nature the forces from the
physical laws are, at times, adjuvant, and
at other times antagonistic to each other.
In the instance before us, the force from
the first Law of Nature (L. 1) is added
to the force from the Law of Gravitation,
(L. 2,) and this extra force of (L. 1) must
be overcome before the motion of the loaded
wagon can be induced, and so on. The
scientific principle is true, and serves to

28 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

explain all the phenomena. The same
may be said oHlie force of friction^ where-
in the force from (L. 1) is in operation,
and causes the remora, or suspension of
motion in machinery. On rough surfaces,
where the interchange of life is greatest,
(for life is interchanged through points or
projections,) the remora is greater than on
smooth surfaces.

CHAPTER III.

APPLICATION OF THE FORCES DERIVED FROM
THE OPERATION OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS TO
SOME OF THE PURPOSES OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.

Ist. Let there he an intercJiange of the
subtle fluid, life^ among all the bodies of mat-
ter that are in relation luith each other
throughout the universe. By virtue or by
means of this pliysical law, ideas of ex-
ternal material objects are formed and
conveyed to the mind. There are two
kinds of life in nature — the one of inani-
mate bodies, that may be called the life of
composition^ and the other of animate bod-
ies, called specific life. By the vital com-
bination of the specific life with the life of
composition, that by means of a physical
law (L. 3) is ever passing among material
bodies, ideas of such bodies are formed and
conveyed to the mind that observes them.

This is the Theory of Perception adopted
"(29)

30 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

in American Science; and the vast utility
of tliis physical law in accomplishing this
principal purpose of human existence is
thus shown. Other important purposes are
attained through this law, as chemical
combinations, &g., which we will not stop
here to enumerate.

2d. Let all ponderable bodies about the
earth's surface tend to move toivards the
center of the earth. A valuable purpose
is accomplished in the use of the trip-ham-
mer, which use will serve to illustrate the
mode in which the force from the operation
of this physical law is utilized. The trip-
hammer is usually composed of some heavy
metal, as iron or lead, that is raised to a
proper height by machinery and then let
fall, in order to obtain the force of gravi-
tation, or to command the force connected
with the operation of this physical law.
This force may be modified or regulated on
the principle presented above, (p. 15,) by
reducing or increasing the weight of the
hammer, or the distance it has to fall.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 31

3(1. Let all imponderable bodies of matter
tend to move toioards 'the outer circumference
of the atmosphere. This physical law is
utilized by mankind in the use of the steam-
engine, &c. Steam being among the most
diftusible bodies known to scientists, has
been utilized in this way : A strong cylinder
is prepared in which a piston is made to work
air-tight. By applying steam, with its
great tendency to diffusion, at one end of
the cylinder, the piston is forcibly driven
towards its other end, and the force of this
physical law is exhibited. This force being
then connected with and applied by ma-
chinery, constitutes the steam engine, Im-
jjonderable bodies of matter also tend to
be merged into and to become latent con-
stituents of other forms of matter, and
consequently their identity is often lost
before reaching their natural destination —
the outer circumference of the atmosphere
—as is seen when the smoke from a steam
boiler is dissolved in air. This force is in-
creased in the low- pressure engine by adding

32 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

to it that from tlie physical Law of Suction
(L. 4) simply by establishing a vacuum in
the cylinder in advance of the piston. The
shortest and most direct route to the outer
circumference of the atmosphere is in the
line towards the zenith ; and this has
given rise to the comoaon belief that light
or imponderable bodies naturally fly up-
wards.

4th. Let all adjacent forms or bodies of
matter tend to move to fill a vacmtm. AVhcm
the operation of this physical law is fully
nnderstood, it is found that there is not
tlie slightest occasion for the absurd notion
of atmospheric pressure to explain the [)he-
nomena commonly referred to this false
principle. In the barometer, for instance,
the force by which the column of mercury
is sustained in the tube is derived from this
law, brought into operation by means of
the Torricellian vacuum at the top of the
tube, and is not at all influenced by the
pressure of the atmosphere on tlie basin of
mercury at its bottom. This is shown in

PHYSrCAL SCIENCE. 33

the action of water pumps, wherein the
water is raised, although the pressure of
the atmosphere is cut off by the covering of
the well.

5 th. When a curreMt of any kind of mat-
ter is passing^ let the life of adjacent bodies
of matter^ animate or inanimate^ flow from
them to swell this current. This new law
of nature, or physical law, we have said,
had escaped the notice of scientists ; but
it will be found of vast importance in ex-
plaining many natural phenomena that,
without it, are either inexplicable, or that
have been entirely misconstrued. When
the Abbee Nollet passed a current of elec-
tricity through a regiment of 1,500 men, it
was supposed the impression made on each
man was a state of action, or proceeded from
an active condition, of his muscles. This,
however, was an erroneous inference. The
specific life— the nerve-fluid — was with-
drawn to flow along with the passing cur-
rent of electricity, and the muscles of the
men were tlirown into their state of contrac-

34 AMERICAN SCIJENCE.

tioUj which, we shall afterwards see, was a
state or condition the opposite to that of their
action. This misconstruing ofa natural phe-
nomenon has led to numerous errors in
physiology and in other branches of science.
TheLawoftheLife'Current(L. 5) is utilized
in the use of lucifer matches. The rough
surface on which the match is rapidly
moved is the life-current into which the
life of the paste flows, and its latent con-
stituents, light and heat, are left free to
combine and form flame.

6th. Let ponderaUe fluids or liquids^ as
ivater, ^c, tend to move towards the spher-
ical outline of the earthy or to the surface of
oceans or lahes, tohich, lohen calm, consti-
tute in part this outline, and is, in fact,
the true ivafer-level This tendency of the
movements of such fluids, we have before
said, has been misapprehended by scien-
tists, who have erroneously referred it to
the influence of the Law of Gravitation
(L. 2.) The pressure of liquids in every
direction, when restrained in their natural

PHYSICAL SCIENCE, 35

tendency, or when closely confined, is thus
explained.

This physical law is utilized in the em-
ployment of what is erroneously called
water-poiver^ the power being connected
with the operation of the laiv here stated,
and not at all with the ivater. In the use
of this power or force, in mills and factories,
it is only necessary to provide a sufficient
quantity of water in a dam, with an out-
let through which the water can move
towards the water level. We can then
command the force of this law, and can
modify this force at will.

Tth. Let the molecules of elastic bodies
tend to preserve their natural relative posi-
tion. Is it not strange that mankind, in
their early savage, uncivilized condition^
as w^ell as in their present more refined
and more civilized state, should have select-
ed the force from this physical law for the
accomplishment of their purposes of secur-
ing game and of measuring time, as in

36 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

the use of the bow, and of the elastic steel
spring in watches and clocks?

8th. Let the molecules of crystalline bod-
ies, ivhen uniting^ he arranged in regular
specific forms or crystals. Perhaps tlie
most remarkable instance of crystallization^
is to be found in the formation of ice. Here
this process may be observed at leisure, and
the molecules of water assuming a solid
form are arranged in obedience to this law
in a strictly regular order in the formation
of crystals, each crystal having its own
proper angle preserved among its elements
or constituents. An immense force is con-
nected with the operation of this law.

9th. Let the constituents o/ inanimate
forms of matter he combined in certain
definite proportions. In all chemical com-
binations this definite proportion among
the constituents is, by virtue of this phys-
ical law, observed. When an acid and an
alkali are combined, there is a fixed quan-
tity of both acid and alkali in each salt

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 37

produced. The law is utilized by varying
the proportions, and by thus having at
command the chemicals we desire either
ibr medicinal or mechanical use.

10th. Let material bodies or their mole-
cities unite to form distinct masses or larger
bodies of matter. This law, we have &aid,
is the great means employed in nature to
counteract or annul the force or forces of
other physical laws. Wlien a ponderable
body, of whatever size or weight, falls to
the ground or to the earth's surface, its
motion is arrested, and the force, no mat-
ter from whence derived, is annulled, be-
cause the force from the Law of Cohesion,
(L. 10,) acting on the earth or its mole-
cules, is superior to any force we can com-
mand. A cannon ball, moved by the force
frem the Law of Diffusion, (L. 3,) brought
into operation by the explosion of gun-
powder, is gradually annulled by that from
the Law of Cohesion acting on the air, on
the water, or on the timbers of a ship, but
is at once arrested in its motion if fired at

38 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

a bank of earth. This law is utilized by
mankind in the same way as in nature, in
modifying or in annulling the force from
other physical laws.

11th. Let the specific life of animants
unite ivith the materials of their ingesta to
form the fluids and tissues of living or ani-
mate bodies. This process of vital com-
bination is usually termed assimilation.
The final result of digestion or assimilation
is, the formation or production of the spe-
cific life^ that is applied to so many useful
purposes in the living economy — to the
purposes of sensation, of motion and of nu-
trition.

12th. Let the living muscular fiber ^ ivhen
innervated, be actively elongated and erected,
and, ivhen enervated, let it be contracted.
This theory of muscular action serves to
explain satisfactorily all the phenomena
in nature in which this action is involved,
while the received theory fails to furnish a
rational explanation in a very large pro-
portion of such phenomena.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 39

The uses to which this law of nature is
applied are too familiar and too numerous
to require here an extended notice.

13th. Let certain forms of matter adhere
to each other, I need not dwell on the
uses to which this physical Law of Adhe-
sion (L. 13) is applied in mechanics.

14th. In the higher orders of both the ani-
mal and vegetable kingdoms^ let a ijroper
union of the tioo sexes be attended loith the
formation of a new being ; and in the lower
orders of these kingdoms^ let the production
of a ganglion or nerve-center befoUoiued by
a like result.

The phenomena that should be referred
to this physical law of animate Greneration
have been an immense stumbling block to
physiologists and theologians, and have
given rise to many heated disputes ; but
this physical law, enacted by an all-wise
and omnipotent Law-giver^ should serve
to settle all such disputes.

With the use of this law of nature Farm-
ers, more than any other class of the com-

40 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

munity, promote the enjoyment or happi-
ness of their fellow-creatures.

OF THE SO-CALLED MECHANICAL POWERS.

The Mechanical Powers can only exhibit
physical force or power when connected
with the operation of one or more of the
physical laws. Most commonly this power
is derived from the physical law of muscu-
lar action (L. 12) and the lawof G-ravitation,
(L. 2.) These are, in fact, devoid of power,
hut are employed as the means, or appli-
ances, by which power is guided or directed
to the parts of a machine where its exertion
is wanted. Thus, in a Water-mill or fac-
tory, power or force is conveyed to the mill-
stones or spindles by means of wheels and
cogs, or" by pulleys, &c. — the power in this
instance being derived from the physical
law of the Water-level, (L. 6.) In the
steam engine the power is transmitted from
the physical law of Diifusion, (L. 3,) by the
same means, to the wheels of the Locomo-

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 41

live or to the shaft of the Steaml3oat, &c.,
in order to produce the required motion.
These appliances, we repeat^ serve to di-
rect and increase force ; but in themselves
possess no force or power whatever.

OF MOTION.

Motion is the result of an impulse or of
an impression of force from some physical
law or laws, and may be regarded in the
light of a scientific principle arrived at by
reasoning ; but has nothing of the charac-
ter of, and therefore cannot be regarded as,
a law of 7iature, as some have erroneously
thought.

MOTION OF THE TIDES AND OF CONSTANT
STREAMS OP FRESH WATER.

The motion of water in tides is derived
from the physical law of the Water-level,
(L. 6,) which motion ceases not as the law
is constantly in operation. Like the mo-
tion of the pendulum, when the force that

42 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

carries the water in one direction, as to-
wards the surface of oceans, is exhausted,
the force that cariies the water in another
direction, towards bays and rivers, comes
into play, and the motion of the water is
thus continued. The motion of tlie Hde,
(which is nothing more than a [)oi-tion of
water under the influence of the law of tlie
water-level, (L. G,) having reached the sur-
face of oceans^ tlie water liere is raised
above the Water-level, and is tlien returned
towards this level by means of the same
law which has its force increased by the
influenceof the law of Gravitation, (L. 2.)
In this way the force being constantly kept
up, the tides continue, and will continue,
so long as these laws of nature are in opera-
tion. Thus we have a perpetual motion
that has been in operation from the begin-
ning of the world, and will continue to the
end of time. The same is true of all con-
stant streams of fresh water as of the river
St. Lawrence, the flow of which is sustain-
ed by the force from the law of the Water-

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 43

level ^ (L. 6,) assisted by the force from the
law of gravitation, (L. 2.)

OF WAVE-MOTION.

This subject is deserving of the more at-
tention^ since it has served to give rise to
a prominent theory in European Science
that professes to account for or to explain
a vast number of phenomena connected
with the imponderables. I allude to the
famous Undulaiory Theory^ that has become
very popular and is now generally received
as true among European Scientists. We
gain a knowledge of Wave-motion best by
adverting to what we have said of the
movements of the pendulum, and by sub-
stituting the horizontal line of the Water-
level for the perpendicular line of gravity.
What is a wave, of water, for instance ? A
wave is a portion of water that has received
an impetus or impulse from the application
of force from some physical law, as from the
law of Gravitation, (L. 2,) by the falling of
a pebble on a calm surface of water. This

44 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

impetus forces a portion of water above the
line of the Water-level, and the force being
thus exhausted, that of this law is again
employed to carry the water back to this
level ; and we thus have an oscillation of
this portion of water, like the oscillation
of the pendulum^ first in one direction and
then in another, the former perpendicular,
and the latter horizontal. The top of a
wave is called its crest, and its bottom its
trough. The distance between the crest
and trough of a wave or its size is in a
direct ratio with the degree of force applied
to this portion of water. When a rock or
large stone is dropped into calm water the
waves are larger than when a small peb-
ble is dropped. The impulse on the wave
when conveyed to the sensitive extremities
of the auditory nerves is followed by the
determination of specific life through these
nerves and the subsequent formation of the
ideas of sound that are conveyed to the
mind. Now, the air and all the imponder-
ables beiijg conceived to be fluids, as well

PHYSICAL ^CIEiSrCE. 45

as water, it is reasonable to conclude that
they may all have waves ; but to infer from
this that the imponderables are not forms
of matter^ but only modes of motion^ is irra-
tional, unscientific and unphilosophical — is
simply a perversion of reason. We miglit
with equal propriety regard water and all
metals that are fused as modes of motion.
That waves are the result of an impetus,
or of an application of force, we may - be
convinced by attending to the fact that
waves are produced by the application of
force from several of the physical laws as,
from a row-boat, from the law of Muscular
Action, (L. 12;) from a sail-boat, from the
law of Suction, (L. 4 ;) from a steamboat,
from the law of Diffusion, (L. 3,) &c., as
well as from the law of Gravitation, as we
have seen.

CHAPTER IV.

RECAPITULATION OF THE PRECEDING SCIENTIFIC
VIEWS, RELATING MORE ESPECIALLY TO PHYS-
ICAL SCIENCE, THE SCIENCE OF INANIMATE
MATTER.

We started out with the genei'al princi-
ple or proposition, the truth of wliich it is
presumed will not be questioned, namely,
that the grand aim in all human knowl-
edge, religious and secular, should be, a
correct view of the economy of nature, or
a just account and satisfactory explanation
of the phenomena presented in this econo-
my. Such a view liad been attempted in
the various systems of religion adopted in
the early history of the human race. The
system of i-eligion now called Grecian My-
thology was, however, so absurd, or so
at variance with the dictates of common-
sense, that certain Grreeks, calling them-
selves Philosophers, rejected this system
(4G)'

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 47

ofreligiooand refused credence to its tenets.
Accoi'dingly, they initiated an entirely new
system, calling it Philosophy , which after-
wards became the basisof European Science.
From this period of Grecian history to the
l)i'esent time thei'e has been, as might be
supposed, an antagonism between Science
and Religion, notwithstanding the striking
analogy between the two systems that we
liave just pointed out. The cause of this
antagonism is easily explained. Religion
Avas dogmatic and overbearing in its teach-
ings, as it professed to receive its dogmas
from the direct inspiration of Grod ; while
Science was solely dependent on human
reason for its principles, and derided the
pretensions of religion. The latter, how-
ever, was backed by the masses of humani-
ty, and it became extremely hazardous to
call in question a religious tenet, as was
shown in the cases of Socrates, Bruno, and
Gallileo. Bishop Butler, in his Analogy,
very profoundly i-emarks, ''and as it is
owned tlie whole sclieine of Scripture is not

48 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

yet understood, so if it ever comes to be
understood before the restitution of all things,
and without miraculous interpositions, it
must be in the same way as natural knowl-
edge is come at — by the continuance of
learning and of liberty, and by particular
persons attending to, comparing and i)ur-
suing intimations scattered up and down
it, which are overlooked and disregarded
by the generality of the world/' To say
that the whole sclieme of Scripture is not
yet understood is the same as to say that
tliis scheme fails to furnish satisfactory
explanations of natural i)lienomena, and
consequently fails to answer the purposes
of liumanity in attaining a knowledge of
the economy of nature. A remarkable
failure in this respect will be pointed out
as we proceed.

Science is certainly the more liberal mode
of investigating natuie since Religion tram-
mels and restrains its votaries by its ])re-
tension to direct ins[)iration. I have conse-
quently adopted the title n\' Ainericm?

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 49

Science^ which, when understood, w^ill be
found to furnish a system of religion as
well as of science tliat will be of vast bene-
fit to mankind.

[Jnfortunately for the interests of truth
or of pure science, the Greek Philosophers
first gave their attention to physical^cience,
or to the science of matter, and were led to
adopt the principles of materialism. They
accordingly looked to the forms of matter
for the power and intelligence exhibited
in conducting the course of nature, or that
were presented in the economy of nature.
Had they commenced with metaphysical
science, and studied carefully the mental
endowments w^th their proper functions,
they miglit have discovered that human
reason, when not properly conducted, or
when tin's process was not fully completed,
was an unsafe and unreliable guide to
truth. Ill every instance of reasoning tJie
<^roivning act should he the exercise of an
enlightened conscience or cultivated common-
sense.
4

50 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

With this part of the process omitted,
there is no protection against the errors
that may be embraced by the luiman mind,
such as everywhere prevail in European
Science. It was from a disregard of the
mental endowment of conscience, that is
possessed by every sane mind, that many
errors have been introduced into every sys-
tem of religion. It is not surprising that
the Greek Philosophers, with their unfledg-
ed reason, should have fallen into innumer-
able errors, that have exerted a baleful
influence in science down to the present
time. It was under such an influence from
the error of the occult^ active properties of
matter y that Sir Isaac Newton was led to
adopt the false principle of universal gravi-
tation that really has no existence in the
economy of nature. The Greek Philoso-
phers taught this false principle, and Sir
Isaac, having learned it at college, could
not divest his mind of this e2:reo:ious fal-
lacy, so derived. Had he looked to God
and His laws, he might have discovered

PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 51

the primary and proximate or secondary
causes of this motion of ponderable bi)dies.
We have said on another occasion Sir
Isaac reminds us of a raw sailor going to
the mast-head and fixing his attention on
the objects on deck ; and when I see his
mind reeling and his reason failing in
climbing his dizzy height I feel like calling
out with the boatswain, '' look aloft ! you
land lubber ! '' When the student of nature
has learned and can fully realize the truth,
that the course of nature is conducted by
an all- wise and omnipotent Being, he has
accomplished the most difficult part of the
lesson he is learning. It was the opinion
of the atheist Comt^ that this conclusion
was the result of the exercise of infantile
reason alone ; but we shall show as v/e
proceed that this is the natural result of
all reasoning, adult as well as infantile.
This conclusion cannot be avoided by any
sane mind that reasons from the natural
or physical phenomena that are everywhere
presented to its observation.

52 AMERICAN SCCENCE.

If, then, science, true, pure science, has
for its grand aim in common with religion
a true theory or full understanding of the
phenomena presented in the economy of
nature, the analogy between these subjects
of thought is established in this branch of
our subject, Physical Science.

CHAPTER V.

OF METAPHYSICS, OR THE SCIENCE OF MIND.

The mind has not a palpable substratum
of matter, like the body, of which it can
take cognizance ; but we only gain a clear
conception of the mind through conscious-
ness, that is, by giving attention to the
mental endowments, or faculties'^ as they
are called, and to their several functions or
offices. In the new system of American
Science it is held that every living creature,
whether of the animal or vegetable king-
dom, is possessed of a mind, soul, or spirit-
ual existence, in which is its personal identi-
ty and to which are addressed the laws of
nature designed to govern its conduct in
this life — the instincts ; every species of be-

• *In using this term it is necessary to exclude from it
all notion of power or force. These faculties are pos-
sessed of no power whatever, but are mere capabilities
of function.

(53)

54 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

ing has a mind peculiar to this species, with
more or fewer endowments, and with these
endowments more or less developed. Per-
haps the human mind is more highly en-
dowed than that of any known creature,
and we shall take this as our type.

The faculties of the human mind may be
divided into three classes, namely, into the
Hygienic, the Intellectual, and the Emo-
tional faculties, as they are designed to gov-
ern or preside over the bodily functions and
those of the Intellectual and Emotional
faculties. These mental faculties have all
been carelessly investigated and erroneously
represented in our books on Physiology and
on Mental Philosophy. We will endeavor
to give here a more correct account of them.

In animated nature there are two princi-
pal objects that are deserving of especial
notice, viz : the mind or soul, and the subtle
fluids termed the specific life, or nerve-fluid,
which the mind makes use of in accom-
plishing its purposes. Thus the mind is
brought into relation with the material

MENTAL SCIENCE. 55

world, or with the material objects around
us, by means of this specific life, which is
determined by the mind to objects from
which impressions are received, and the
ideas of such objects are formed and con-
veyed to the mind. In this way only do
we perceive or become aware of the exist-
ence of such objects. In this connection
it should not be overlooked that the im-
pression Gomesjirst from the object perceived,
and then the mind determines its specific
life to the object, before an idea of such
object can be formed and be conveyed to
the mind. The material objects of which
we can have ideas, have a subtle life ever
passing from them in a state of nature, that
makes the impression spoken of. This is
the theory of perception adopted in Ameri-
can Science. Before entering upon the con-
sideration of the mental faculties in detail
we would call attention to an important
provision in nature that seems not to have
been fairly understood by scientists. I al-
lude to that part or the economy of nature

56 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

commonly treated of under the liead of As-
soda tion of Ideas,

All the pleasure, enjoyment, or happi-
ness of living creatures proceed from a
due observance of the Instincts — the laws of
nature designed to govern their conduct in
this life. Now there are, in the environ-
ment or surroundings of such creatures,
objects appointed to suggest to them obedi-
ence to, or the observance of, their Instincts
— the impressions from each of those objects,
suggesting the observance of a particular
instinct or hxw ; impressions from articles
of food, suggesting the taking of food ; from
the air, the taking in of air, or respiration,
&c., &c. Impressions so derived, we pro-
pose to call Suggestive Impressions^ that
may with the greatest benefit to science be
substituted for the term Association o^ Ideas,
These impressions may be attended to or
not as seemeth proper to an enlightened
conscience or sound common-sense, that is,
the governing faculty in every sane mind.
Religion, leaving out its pretensions to a

MENTAL SCIENCE. 57

direct inspiration from God, takes a very
partial view of the economy of nature, being
mainly concerned with the human soul and
Its future destiny. The Suggestive Im-
pressions of which we have been speaking
appear to an unsophisticated mind one of
the wisest provisions in nature for the pro-
motion of the happiness of living creatures ;
as they serve to suggest to, or remind crea-
tures of, and prompt them to, an observance
of the Instincts— this being the only real
source of all happiness ; but in religion,
and especially in the Christian dispensa-
tion, these impressions are regarded as the
snares and temptations of the world, and
are turned over bodily to the devil, as the
means whereby he ensnares human souls
and turns them into hell.

The human mental faculties being di-
vided into the three classes — Hygienic, In-
tellectual and Emotional — and the first
class presiding over or governing the bodily
functions, the due performance of which
constitutes Hygiene or Health, these func-

58 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

tions are attempted to be explained in our
books on Physiology. Since, however, the
discovery of the true law of Muscular Ac-
tion,* that differs essentially and in toto
from the old views on this subject, it is
found necessary to change the explanations
or theories of these bodily functions. The
erroneous principle of ^ro/)i^?6'io?i, on wliich
these functions were supposed to occur,
must be substituted by that of suction. In
the functions of digestion, respiration,
circulation of the blood, of the secretions, ex-

* The great difficulty in accepting our view of Mus-
cular action, that seems to occur most readily to* the
unreflecting, arises from a mi.sapprehension of, and a
consequent false inference from, this view. Can it be
conceived, it is asked, that the limbs could be moved by
means of a soft yielding substance, as the muscle in the
living body? Now, the motion of the limbs, in every
instance, is the result of the operation, or of the exer-
cise, of tw6 sets of muscles, the Flexors and Extensors,
and is never produced by any one set acting alone.
Take, for instance, the extension or straightening of the
fingers. In this act, both the flexor and the extensor mus-
cles of the hand and fore-arm are employed, and not one
set alone, at a time; so that this extension is the result
of the employment of both Flexors and Extensors. But
here is the point in dispute. According to my view, in
extending or straightening out the fingers the set of mus-
cles that are in action, or that are actively elongated and
erected, are the so-called Flexors; while the opposing

MENTAL SCIENCE. 59

cretioDS^ (fee, &c., the contents of the tubes
concerned, are moved on the principle of
suction, and not on that of propulsion — the
action of the involuntary muscles about
these tubes tending to expand and to in-
duce a vacuum in, rather than to compress
and to obliterate, their cavities.

The division of the Muscular System into
two classes, the Voluntary and Involuntary
Muscles, is right and proper ; but the true
basis or ground of this classification is
not at all understood. The function or
office of the mental faculty, the Will, has

set, the so-called Extensors, are in their state of contrac-
tion, wherein the nerve-fluid is withdrawn from their
fibers, by means of an action in their corresponding
nerve centers, and whicli is not the state of action of
these Extensor Muscles. In extending the fingers the
so-called Flexors are i?i action, and inflexing the fingers
upon the palm, the so-called Extensors are in action,
and contribute to this movement of the fingers by their
active elongation and erection, that is, hy their action.
Again, the really active state of a muscle, it^ active
elongation and erection, which is its true state of action,
seems nottohavebeen sufficiently attended to by Phys-
iologists. A muscle, in this state, becomes as rigid and
unyielding or as inflexible as a bar of steel, as in the
muscles of the Index, when this finger is kept firmly
extended. Many other instances of the inflexible natura
of muscles, ivhen in action, or when erected, will readily
occur to every one.

60 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

been entirely misapprehended by scientists
generally, and especially by Physiologists.
The Will, in itself, exerts no power nor in-
fluence whatever over any of the muscles.
The sole office of this faculty is to form de-
signs or plans ; and such plans, stored in
the mind, serve as sttggesfive impressions
to induce the mind to exercise the class of
voluntary muscles, in order to carry out
or to accomplish this plan. 1 will to walk
across the room ; that is, I form, by means
of my will, the plan to do this ; and the
mind, if the act is approved of by the com-
mon-sense, calls into exercise the voluntary
muscles of locomotion to accomplish this
plan. In the same way I might proceed
to my farm to-morrow on horseback, by
steam-boat, or by railroad, simply by the
mind preparing the conditions necessary
to carry out the purposes I may have in
view.

Again, I might form the plan or con-
ceive the design of jumping over the moon,
but the mind, possessing no means of ac-

MENTAL SCIENCE. 61

complisliing this feat, gives no attention
towards its accomplisliment. Here, then,
the much-mooted question of free-will, is
included, as lawyers say, in a nut-shell.
The will is left free to form any plan how-
ever preposterous or absurd; while every
sane mind is possessed of the governing
faculty of conscience or common-sense that
enables it to determine whether or not it
shall give its attention to the accomplish-
ment of the design so presented to it by
means of the will.

This is the way Shakspeare puts it:

' Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er
With the pale cast of thought; and enterprises
Of great pith and moment with this regard,
Their currents turn away and lose
The very name of Action."

OF THE INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES.

The intellectual faculties are either sim-
ple or compounded. Among the former
are embraced tlie Observation oi* Percep-
tion, Imagination, Judgment, Conscience

62 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

or Common-Sense^ Memory^ Will, and the
Faculty of Language ; and the latter class
embraces the Reason, and the Invention
or Inventive Faculty. Of the Observa-
tion we have treated cursorily when pre-
senting our theory of Perception. It may
be added here, however, that light makes
the suggestive impression that induces the
mind to call into exercise its faculty of see-
ing, sound of hearing, odors of smelling,
savors of tasting, and so on, each sense
finding in its environment the form of mat-
ter suited or appointed to bring it into ex-
ercise. Where there is no light the sense
of vision is in abeyance ; where there is
no sound the sense of hearing is not exer-
cised, and so on. The proper suggestive
impression must be present or the sense
cannot be brought into action.

The imagination is usually exercised in
finding new, strange, and pleasing combin-
ations of thought, and much happiness is
derived from its proper exercise ; but its
greatest utility is exhibited in the process

MENTAL SCIENCE. 63

of reasoning, of which we shall presently
speak.

The judgment is also usefully employed
in the reasoning process, but is commonly
used in comparing objects of thought, or
such as are found in the world around us.
The matliematicians employ this mental
faculty in comparing objects, and in estab-
lishing their equations — this branch of
Science being simply, the Science of Equa-
tions,

The conscience or common-sense is the
ruling mental faculty that is largely de-
veloped in the human mind. This is the
spark of divinity that leads us to a knowl-
edge of good and evil. This faculty, when
properly cultivated, enables us to determine
at once as to the truth or error of knowl-
edge of every kind, as to what is virtuous
or vicious in morals, what is right or wrong
in conduct, and to what is just or unjust in
our relations with others. This is, in short,
the balance-wheel which, in mental machin-

64 AMERICAN SCIENOE.

ery keeps every other part ot the machinery
at its proper work. But for the counteract-
ing beneficent influence of this faculty the
imagination would carry off the mind into
all sorts of follies and excesses, and society,
or the intercourse among beings, would be-
come unbearable. Is it not passing strange
that a mental faculty of so high a value,
and of so much importance in the living
economy, should have been overlooked and
entirely neglected in European Science?
This simple fact accounts for the innumer-
able errors and follies contained in this
system.

The memory is that faculty by means of
wliich impressions are recorded in the mind^
so that they may be recalled from thence as
occasions serve. It is not, however, attended
to, that no other impressions can be so stored
up and recalled, but the ideas formed as we
have seen, and that are thus brought into
relation with the mind. The more plainly
stamped on tlie mind the idea, the more

MENTAL SCIENCE. 65

readily is it recalled. The recollection of
recently-impressed ideas fails in advanced
age, because siicli ideas are, at that time of
life, but faintly impressed on the mind ; and
all our ideas that are not strongly im-
pressed, ^'Like Adam's recollection of his
fall," or that are not frequently repeated,
are soon forgotten, and pass out of the
mind.

The will is the faculty that, in the con-
fused notions entertained on this subject in
European Science, is supposed to exert a
direct power or influence over the voluntary
muscles, that causes their action. This is
all wrong. The will, being an endowment
of mind by the Creator, can exert no power
whatever, but its peculiar office or func-
tion is, to form pLms or designs that
serve to suggest the calling into exercise
the voluntary muscles. The views on this
subject embraced in American Science were
so fully set forth, when speaking of the ac-
tion of the voluntary and involuntary
muscles, ([). 60,) that it is deemed un-

66 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

necessary here to repeat or to add to
them.

OF HUMAN REASON.

We have said, every living being, whether
of the vegetable or animal kingdom, is pos-
sessed of a mind, in which is its personal
dentity, and to which are addressed its
instincts; that each species of being has a
mind peculiar to this species, with endow-
ments or faculties more or fewer in number,
and with these faculties more or less devel-
oped. Now, the Reason is so plainly pos-
sessed by the human mind that it is thought
to be the characteristic of the human race,
who are called rational creatures, while
brutes are supposed to possess instinct,
blind instinct^ as it is called, as a substitute
for reason. This is an error in European
Science; for there certainly are both rea-
son and instinct operating on every mind,
brute or human; the difference between
the two arising from the firreater or less

MENTAL SCIENCE. 67

developement of these faculties in the two
classes of beings. The human mind is so
constituted by the Creator that it has to
rely much on its reason, while the brute
mind, in which the reason is less devel-
oped, is more dependent on its instincts in
its ordinary conduct. To regard the in-
stincts, which are fche laws of God designed
to regulate the conduct of creatures in this
stage of existence, as being hlind^ is an ut-
ter perversion of language^ and an extreme
folly on the part of scientists^ since it is
the guidance of the conduct of His crea-
tures by an all-wise Creator.

Eeason is a compound mental faculty or
endowment, its function being composed
of that of each of the four following sim-
ple faculties performed in the order here
enumerated, namely: the Observation,
Imagination,* Judgment, and Conscience or

* Is it not astonishing, that mankind should allow a
subordinate faculty, the imagination, to gain the as-
cendancy over all the other mental faculties ? Not only
is thio so ; but the imagination is suffered to repress and
dwarf, as it were, the conscience or common-sense, that

68 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

Common-fSense. We have spoken of the
Suggestive Impressions from the objects
)ntainecl in the environment of living; be-

co

t5

ings. Any such object that arrests or serves
to arouse attention may suggest to the
mind the performance of the function of

is appointed by Divine Wisdom llin ruling faculty of the
human mind. This faculty, quaintly called in Scripture
"the knowledge of good and evil," has been graciously
bestowed on humanity by the Creator, in order that the
truth may be discerned, pursued and embraced, and that
error may be detected and shunnerj. Instead, however,
of carrying out this wise design of the Divine Mind,
Mankind have given heed to extravagant flights of the
imagination, a faculty of which Bishop Duller, in his
analogy, has remarked : " We are accustomed, from our
youth up, to indulge that forward, delusive faculty, ever
obtruding beyond its sphere ; of some assistance, indeed,
to apprehension ; but the author of all error." The
exercise of the imagination, which Lord Dacon took
every occasion to decry, is a most essential part of the
reasoning process ; but then, its suggestions must
always be subject to the ruling faculty of conscience or
common-sense, the exercise of which is the crowning
act of all correct reasoning. A neglect of this latter
important principle of science has 'been the fruitful
source of all error in human knowledge, religious and
secular. In religious knowledge especially, the ima-
gination is constantly exercised, and its suggestions, if
they come from one having authority, are held as reli-
gious tenets, to which the mind is ever after subject, and
the truth of which it is not permitted to call in question.
In this way humanity is enslaved and chained down, as
it were, by its religious tenets, or rather by the imagin-
ation ; from such dictates of which, it can never be freed
while the present condition of things remains, or until
we can aspire to a greater freedom of thought, or to a
more perfect liberty than is now enjoyed.

MENTAL SCIENCE. 69

Keason. The fall of an apple, the arrange-
ments of the valves of the veins, the dif-
ferent states of the arteries near the seat of
local inflamntation, and of those remote from
tliis seat in the same subject, have suggested
to several minds notable instances of rea-
soning ; and, indeed, the mind is constantly
prompted to exercise this faculty by objects
with which it is surrounded. Any object
that arouses the attention or that is at-
tended with a determination to it of the
specific life, is suflficient for this purpose-
The two principal aims in all scientific rea-
soning are, to acquire correct scientific
principles, and to discover the true laws oi
nature. With this knowledge acquired, the
mind is greatly facilitated in accomplish-
ing the purpose for which it was created —
a proper appreciation«of 'Hhe Work which
Grod worketh'' in the creation.

Instances of the exercise of reason. The
falling of an apple from the limb on which
it grew, it is said, first suggested to Sir
Isaac Newton his reasoning on the sub-

70 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

ject of Gravitation. The first step or
stage in this exercise of reason was the em-
ployment of his observation when his atten-
tion was directed to the falling apple ; the
second step was occupied in calling upon
his imagination to find a general proposi-
tion, or a scientific principle, that would
account for the falling of the apple towards
the ground, or surface of the earth, rather
than in any other direction. In casting
about for such proposition, having learned
at college the notion of the occult properties
of matter, attraction and repulsion, first
taught by one of the Greek philosophers,
he very naturally adopted this view, and
came to the conclusion that the apple
moved in this direction because of this at-
traction that was inherent in both — the
apple and the earth to which it fell The
third step in this process of reasoning con-
sisted in the calling into exercise the judg-
ment in comparing all the instances of
bodies moving towards the earth, and in
judging of their fitness to the proposition

MENTAL SCIENCE. 7 I

found by the imagination. Consequently
he threw ponderable bodies into the air^
and explained their motion towards the
earth on the same principle. He here,
however, had occasion to amend the proposi-
tion so as to make ponderable bf)dies move
towards the center of the earth. General-
izing the facts/ he made all the ponderable
bodies about the surface of the earth, in-
cluding the moon, to be attracted towards
its center. Then, changing the center of
attraction, from the earth to the sun, he
made all the planets of our solar system
to be attracted towards this luminary ; and
again changing the center of attraction to
the center of the universe, he made all
bodies to move towards this grand center,
and thus established his theory of Universal
G-ravitation. This was indeed a vast gen-
eralization, calculated to attract the atten-
tion and to gain the admiration of Scien-
tists generally. Unfortunately for New-
ton's I'cputation it lacked a most essential
part of a true principle of Science — truth.

72 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

There was not a word of truth in this gen-
eralization. The occult properties of mat-
ter have no existence in the economy of
nature^ and nowhere else, than in the pru-
rient imagination of the philosopher who
first suggested them and of such as are weak
enough blindly to adopt this suggestion.
A moment's thought or reflection, or an
appeal to common-sense, must serve to con-
vince any one of the folly of such a tlieory.
Neither the earth nor the apple had any-
thing to do with the motion of the latter,
but the proximate or secondary cause of
tliis motion was, the law of nature, the
physical law of gravitation, (L. 2,) that
was enacted by the Creator at the begin-
ning of the world.

Sir Isaac Newton, like the Greek philoso-
phers, stopped short in his reasoning before
the process was completed, and consequent-
ly fell short of the truth in his conclusion.
Had he appealed to the faculty of conscience
or common-sense implanted in his mind for
tlie very purpose of leading him to the

MENTAL SCIENCE. 73

truth 5 he would have reasoned legitimately,
and might have detected the extreme folly
of the conclusion at which he had arrived.
Harvey, observing the arrangement of the
valves of the veins, as represented by Fabri-
ciiis Abaqaapendente, discovered the
course of the blood in its circulation ; but in
giving a detailed account of this circulation
he w^as entirely at fault. The blood is not
propelled by the heart. The heart is a suc-
tion organ, and is not an organ oi propulsion ^
as Harvey supposed. The contents of the
heart and blood vessels, and, indeed of all
the hollow organs in the living economy,
are moved on the principle of suction^ and
not on that of propulsion.

The very striking difference observed in
the condition of the throbbing arteries in
a finger affected with whitlow, and of the
radial artery on the opposite side of the
same patient, led to the discovery of the
true law of muscular action (L. 12) as of-
fered in American Science,'^ so widely dif-

*See monogram of Tlio Law of Muscular Action.

74 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

ferent from that previously entertained by
physiologists. The action of a muscle is
attended with the active elongation of its
fibers, and not by their co7itraction, as
heretofore falsely imagined. The active
elongation of the fibers arranged about the
walls of the tubes or hollow organs, must
tend to create a vacuum within these or-
gans, and thus to bring into operation the
physical law of suction, (L. 4,) to tlie opera-
tion of which in moving the contents of
the hollow organs of the living body we
alluded above.

The Invention, or the Inventive Faculty
is another compound mental faculty, as its
exercise implies a previous exercise of rea-
son in arriving at principles and the laws
of nature, without which, means could not
be adapted to the attainment of ends — the
proper function or office of this mental
faculty. The retriever mentioned by Dar-
win, who, finding he could not manage two
crippled ducks at the same time, crushed
the neck of one and left it, while he carried

^ MENTAL SCIENCE. 75

the other duck to the huntsman, and then
returned for the one he had left behind,
must have had some crude indistinct notions
of the principles of physiology gathered
from experience. He knew, from his im-
perfect reasoning, that if the crippled duck
were left alone with the posession and con-
trol of its nerve fluid, or specific life, that
it would employ its muscles in making its
escape^ and he broke the connection be-
tween mind and muscles; he killed the
duck by crushing the neck, that he might
be more certain of finding the body there
on his return. We beg leave to add here
the Faculty of Language.

THE EMOTIONAL FACULTIES.

This class of mental faculties is more dif-
ficult to treat than either of the others,
because these have never been clearly de-
fined, but have been mixed up and con-
founded with other afi'ections of the mind
with which they have nothing to do. The
wants, desires, appetites, and propensities

76 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

that arise simply from impressions made
by means of the objects with which the mind
is surrounded, are confounded with the
emotional faculties, and so are the passions
that are the emotions intensified by means
of an excited imagination.

None of these are part and parcel of the
mind, as are the emotional faculties, but
mere conditions superinduced by adventi-
tious or accidental circumstances. Religion
is said to impress itself on the emotional
side of the mind, and if we trace the Chris-
tian dispensation in its early history, and
observe how prominent a position parental
and filial affection, that are emotions, are
made to occupy, Ave may be disposed to
adopt this view; yet natural religion,
which is the true basis of all religion, is
clearly the result of the exercise of reason,
or of the Intellectual Faculties.

There was in the early history of Chris-
tianity much immorality, ignorance, and
superstition that found a genial soil in the
minds of the enslaved, ignorant, and super-

MENTAL SCIENCE. 77

stitious Jews, that we. in our country,
where slavery has been recently abolished,
can fully realize ; but I fear we are not suffi-
ciently advanced in learning and in liberty
to allow of a free expression of the results of
reasoning. In all civilized communities
where the Christian religion is adopted it
is, as yet, hazardous to exercise the reason,
particularly so, on points of doctrine al-
ready decided in religion. Who dares now
to suggest, or even to intimate, that this
system of religion may have been the result
of the exercise of reason ; that it contains er-
rors that clearly indicate its human origin ;
or that a more perfect system of morality,
and a more effectual means of promoting
the happiness of living creatures might
have been attained simply by attending to
the dictates of an enlightened conscience?
The Emotions, the Emotional Faculties, or
the instincts prompting to their exercise,
may be obeyed or indulged in, without sin
or blame, if the mind is careful to listen
to the dictates of conscience, and thus to

78 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

exclude the influence of passion. This
truth is asserted in Scripture where it is
said ^^Be angry, and sin not.'' The sin
consists in disregarding conscience, and in
yeihling up the mind to unbridled passion.
The Emotional Faculties were .implanted
in minds, and the instincts requiring their
exercise were ordained no douht for the
wisest purposes, and consequently there
can be no harm in properly obeying these
instincts or laws, and in thus promoting
the happiness or enjoyment of living
creatures.

Love, or the disposition to interchange
life ; hate, or an indisposition to do this ;
anger, fear, pity &c. , &c. , and the affections,
parental, filial and others, constitute the
emotions ; while the sense of the beautiful
and of the sublime are conditions of the
mind closely allied to passion, wherein a
proper control of the mind is yielded up^
and the reins are thrown ud to the imairin-
ation. The pleasure thence arising pro-
ceeds only from the indulgence in the

MENTAL SCIENCE. *79

exercise of the latter faculty.* The same
sensation is excited in the works of the
painter, the sculptor, and the poet — all
that is necessary is, first to fire or arouse
the imagination, and the work is done ; the
effect aimed at is accomplished.

In closing this hasty and very inadequate
account of the mind, let me here repeat
the following scientific principles of Ameri-
can Science :

1st. Every living being, whether of the
animal or vegetable kingdom, is possessed
of a mind, soul, or spiritual existence, in
which is its personal identity, and to which
are addressed its instincts, or the laws of
nature designed to guide its conduct in
this life.

2d. Every species of being has endow-
ments or mental faculties peculiar to such
species.

3d. Under the guidance of its instincts,
each species builds up out of the materials
in its environment its own material body.

4th. The portions of a living being most

80 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

worthy of cdnsideration are its mind, and
its specific life with which the mind oper-
ates in accomplishing its purposes.

5th. The principal portions to be con-
sidered in the living material body are the
nervous system, the muscular system^ and
the nutritory system. The first for the
transmission of the specific life or nerve-
fluid through the living economy ; the sec-
ond for the production of motion ; and the
third for the maintenance and repair of the
economy.

6th. The nervous system is also subdi-
vided into the sensory, motory and nutri-
tory nerves, as these minister to sensation,
motion, or nutrition.

7th. The muscular system is also subdi-
vided into the voluntary and involuntary
muscles, as these are influenced or unin-
fluenced by means of the will, the plans
formed by the will being the suggestive im-
pressions for the action of tlie voluntary
muscles, and impressions from tlie contents
of the liollow organs, about the walls of

MENTAL SCIENCE. 81

which this class of muscles are placed, being
suggestive impressions for the action of the
involuntary muscles,

8th. The laws of nature, by means of
which the course of nature is conducted as
we may observe, are divided into two classes
or codes, the physical laivs and the instincts^
accordingly as they are designed to govern
or to influence inanimate bodies or minds.

9th. All the power or physical force in
nature is connected with the operations of
the physical laws, to secure their execution
or enforcement ; while all the pleasure,
enjoyment, or happiness experienced by liv-
ing creatures is connected with the opera-
tions of the instincts, and is derived from
obedience to these laws as an inducement
to, or as a reward for, their execution or
observance,

10th. The human mind, with its com-
pound faculties of reason and invention
largely developed, may, if properly trained,
be made to reach astonishing results, as we
daily observe in the ordinary walks of life.

82 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

God has made nian superior to every
other species of living creatures. With
liis compound faculties of reason and inven-
tion more largely developed, lie gains the
ascendency over them, and makes all crea-
tures, animal or vetetahle, subservient to
his purposes. He procures pelts and fnrs
for his comfort from the wiklest animals,
and ordinary clothing from such as arc
more accessible. He acquires the power,
force, or strength that he needs i'rom the
scientific principles established by reason-
ing, and more directly from animals that
can exert more force than he is capable of
in his own person, as from a horse, ox,
&c., and then by the exercise of the faculties
with which he is endowed he is enabled
to attain all other objects that may minis-
ter to his comfort.

Such of the above objects as are not
reached by a cultivated reason, are yet ar-
rived at by experience — which is abnormal
or uncultivated reason, such as is employed
by the rudest portion of humanity.

CHAPTER VI.

RESULTS OF RECENT EXERCISES OF REASON IN
BOTH PHYSICAL AND METAPHYSICAL, OR MEN-
TAL SCIENCE.

I beg the credit may be awarded me of
having suggested general propositions and
j)rinciples that are more rational than those
embraced in the received system of Euro-
pean Science. I do not dogmatize. I mere-
ly suggest for the convenience of such as
are disposed to examine them critically.
My propositions are numbered as follows :

1. Every effort at reasoning by the hu-
man mind, whether religious or secular,
has been directed towards acquiring a cor-
rect view, a true theory, of the Economy of
Nature, of the Constitution and Course of
Nature. Every system of religion that has
been adopted by the human intellect has
for its grand aim such a theory, and all

seem to have failed in attaining this aim.

(83)

84 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

The system of European Science furnishes
also a melancholy instance of such failure.
Those who have attempted to explain nat-
ural phenomena by means of this system
soon become aware of this. The principles
of this system of science are utterly false
and untenable.

2. The Economy of Nature, or the Con-
stitution and Course of Nature, is best re-
garded as a form or scheme of government
having God for its Founder or Author, its
Law-giver, and Supreme Governor. Under
this government of God are two separate
and distinct classes of subjects, viz: inani-
mate, insensate, and inert forms or bodies
of matter, and animate bodies, or such as
are possessed of or influenced by a mind.

3. To govern these classes of subjects
two separate classes or codes of laws were
ordained at the beginning of the world,
namely, the physical laws and the instincts.
For the enforcement of these different laws,
very different provisions are made in na-
ture. For the execution of the physical

RESULTS. 85

laws power, force, or physical force is
appointed, and is connected or associated
with the operation of this code of laws;
so that this power or force is to he found
nowhere else in nature but in this con-
nection ; and for the enforcement or ex-
ecution of the other code, the instincts —
pleasure, enjoyment, or happiness is ap-
j)ointed, and is connected or associated
with the operation of this code of laws, so
that pleasure, enjoyment, or happiness is
only experienced in connection with the
due observance of these laws.

4. The laws ordained by the Creator at
the beginning of the Avorld to conduct the
course of Nature, embracing the physical
laws and the instincts, are the only true
Laws of Nature, What are regarded as such
in European Science are merely scientific
principles established by human reason.
The latter are creations of the human in-
tellect; while the former are the appoint-
ments of the Divine mind.

5. In the new system of American Science

86 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

God is regarded as the great first cause,
and His laws, referred to above, are consid-
ered the secondary or proximate causes in
all natural phenomena. In this way the
absurd doctrine of Materialism, wherein
the inherent, occult properties of inert mat-
ter are regarded as secondary causes, is re-
jected and is entirely gotten rid of. The
mind is thus at liberty to refer to God, to
whom is justly due, the power and intelli-
gence exhibited in conducting the course
of Nature. This is a fundamental princi-
ple of American Science, which it becomes
the student of Nature fully to realize or
understand. For the power and intelli-
gence constantly observable in Nature we
must look to the laws of God and not to
the inert forms of matter that can possess
no power and no intelligence.

6. In an animate or living body, or such
as is in connection with or under the in-
fluence of a mind, there are two principal
objects that are deserving of special atten
tion, namely, 1st, the mind with its sev-

RESULTS. 87

eral faculties^ in which is its personal
identity and to which are addressed its in-
stincts; and 2d, the subtle fluid, life, which
the mind makes use of in accomplishing
its various purposes througli its material
body. The mind, having no material sub-
stratum like the body, is onl}' recognized by
attending to the exercise of its several fac-
ulties, that is, through consciousness^ which
is the proper term for this mode of atten-
tion. The life is a subtle fluid, that is in
relation with both matter and mind, and that
serves to bring the mind in relation with
the material world. This life in living
beings is called specific life^ that is, the life
of the species, because it differs somewhat
in its nature in every species of being. It
is not identically the same fluid in any two
species nor indeed in any two individuals
of the same species. If we possessed senses
sufficiently discriminating, as in some of
the lower orders of animals, wx might de-
termine the species and individuals by the
scent or specific life emanating from them.

88 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

Y. We have, in this treatise, made a list
of the mental faculties, and have given
some slight cursory account of their exer-
cises, or of the mode in which the proper
function of each is performed. It may not,
however, be amiss to dwell further on the
most important of these mental functions —
that of Eeason. The results of reasoning
seem to have been but little considered
by scientists, for they have confounded
with each other such as are totally differ-
ent in their nature and character. The
laws of Nature, as said above, are constant-
ly confounded with scientific principles,
when the two are totally different in their
nature the one from the other. From the
earliest period of the history of Science a
very defective and imperfect mode of reason-
ing has been adopted by scientists, and
consequently many gross errors or palpa-
ble fallacies have found a place in the re-
ceived system of European Science. Some
of these errors we have taken occasion to
point out. In every legitimate instance of

RESULTS. 89

reasoning the crowning act or the final
appeal should have reference to the dictates
of an enlightened conscience, or good sound
common-sense. When this latter part of
the process is omitted or neglected, the
reasoning is abortive and the conclusions
arrived at are unreliable and of little value.
The mind is then at the mercy of an un-
restrained imagination, like a ship at sea
at the mercy of the winds without a pilot
and without a hand at the helm. Is it not
strange that this mental faculty of con-
science or common-sense, which it must be
conl'essed is the most important and valu-
able of these faculties, should have been
overlooked and entirely ignored by scien-
tists? It is also remarkable that this natu-
ral Criterion of truth, implanted in every
sane mind, should have been substituted
by the deceptive and unreliable Criterion
of experiment. Experiments may be made
to support any theory, however absurd, as
we shall presently see ; but the dictates of
an enlightened conscience are the same in

)0 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

3very well-ordered mind, and are not liable
to change. With this Criterion, instead
of the hap-hazard, indefinite, and crude no-
tion of direct inspiration commonly enter-
tained, both religion and Science become a
perpetual inspiration, being in accordance
with the dictates of a faculty implanted in
the mind by the Creator.

8. No onCjit seems to us, who has given
his attention to the plain truths of Ameri-
can Science, can be satisfied with having
the occult inherent properties of matter in-
troduced in explaining physical phenom-
ena. These properties are uncalled for and
unnecessary, as all such phenomena are
fully and satisfactorily explained without
their use. The secondary causes at work
in these phenomena are much more ration-
ally referred to the laws of God than to
^uch properties of inert matter. The reason-

ng of Sir Isaac Newton on the subject of
G-ravitation was faulty in this respect. The
axperiments he made in support of his

theory were inconclusive ; as they equally

RESULTS. 91

served to support the very different theory
suggested in American Science. Ponder-
able bodies about the earth's surface tend
to move towards the center of the earth
because of the Law of Nature, the Law of
Gravitation (L. 2) ordained by the Creator
at the beginning of the World. This law
is the secondary or proximate cause of this
tendency in ponderable bodies.

9. Imponderable bodies when mixed with
ponderable bodies do not occupy the higher
position because of the pressure of the lat-
ter; but because of a law of their own —
the law of diffusion, that serves to impel
them towards the zenith and merge them
into the bodies through which they pass.
Thus the smoke from a chimney tends to
move towards the zenith or outer circumfer-
ence of the atmosphere, but is soon merged
in the air through which it passes. The
pressure downwards of more weighty mat-
ter is an incidental circumstance, and is
not an active cause in the phenomenon.
As ponderable bodies are constantly giving

i

92 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

off and receiving imponderables, so the
imponderables are constantly being merged
into ponderable bodies, and become con-
stituents of the latter.

10. The whole notion of atmospheric
pressure^ that is so much dwelt upon and
employed in European Science in explain-
ing certain physical phenomena, is rejected
and expunged from American Science. The
Law of Suction, the operation of which is
dependent on a vacuum formed, is made
to take the place of this absurd notion,
since in every instance of so-called atmos-
pheric pressure there is found a vacuum
that accounts for the operation of the Law
of Suction, (L. 4,) the law requiring
that all adjacent bodies of matter should
move to fill a vacuum. The force of this
law, acting at tlie outer circumference of
the atmosphere, would counteract or annul
the force of the Law of Gravitation acting
on the air. The weigiit of the atmosphere
(supposed to be 15 lbs. to the square inch
of surface) is removed from bodies im-

RESULTS. 93

mersed, by the counteracting force of tlK3
Law of Suction operating at its outer cir-
cumference. So that there is, in fact, no
atmospheric pressure in nature, as common-
sense dictates.

11. From every form or body of matter
in the universe there is ever passing a sub-
tle fluid, in accordance with the First Law
of Nature, (L. 1,) and this is necessary in
order that such forms or bodies should be
recognized by living beings ; for without
this subtle fluid the ideas of such bodies
could not be formed and presented to the
minds of living beings. This view of the
economy of nature is new to science ; but
careful reflection shows that it is abso-
lutely necessary in explaining natural
phenomena. On what other ground could
it be imagined that we become aw^are of
the objects around us, or that inferior or-
ders of animals are enabled to follow their
prey by the scent ? This subtle fluid should
be understood by the term life^ as this
would serve to divest the w^ord of much of

94 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

its mystery, and to give to the term a defi-
nite meaning.

12. When a current of Electricity is passed
through the living human frame or body,
tlie specific life or nerve fluid may be ob-
served to leave the body and to pass off
along with this current of electricity ; and
the muscles and other parts of the body,
that were distended and erected by means
of this nerve fluid, become suddenly con-
tracted and impart the sensation called
a shock. In certain delicate chemicals
that have their constituents but weakly
combined, as nitrate of silver, &c., a cur-
rent of life passing serves to decompose the
chemicals and leave the impression of some
of its components, as tlie black oxide of
silver. This is what occurs in daguerreo-
types or photographs. Ifa current otalmost
any kind of matter is made to pass near a
Lucifer match, as in its friction against
any rough surface, the paste is decomposed
and the light and heat of its constituents
are combined into flame. From these and

RESULTS. 95

other like facts we have traced oat a new-
law of nature, a physical law, that we have
called the law of the life current. This
physical law, that is new to science, serves
to explain satisfactorily a large number of
naturalphenomena that, without its use,
are either inexplicable or are misconstrued.
13. It is very remarkable that the flow
of liquids, as of water, should have been so
carelessly and insufficiently investigated
by scientists. The motion of water is not
governed by the Law of Grravitation, as
they have supposed, but by a law of its own,
the Law of the Water-level^ (L. 6 J that
lirects this motion, not to the center of the
3arth, but to its spherical outline, or sur-
kce, that is largely occupied by the surface
)f oceans, and that is the true water-level.
The natural flow of water is best under-
stood by adverting to the motion of the pend-
ulum of a clock. When, by the influence
of the Law of the Water-level, the water
it the surface of oceans is forced above the
ine of the water-level, it is made to return

96 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

to this line by the same influence ; and
thus we have the flux and reflux of the
tides — towards the oceans the ebb, and
from the oceans the flood tide. The same
is true of the water of streams above tide
water. This all assists in forming tides,
by })ressing the water at the surface of
oceans above the line of the water-level,
and by thus sustaining or supporting the
force of the law of the water-level. For the
force, then, with which the water is moved
in mills, iactories, &c., we must look to
this physical law of the water-level, (L.
6,) and not to the Law of Gravitation.
(L. 2.)

14. Is it not more rational to refer tlie
phenomena of Elasticity to a physical law
than to an imaginary inherent property of
elastic bodies ?

15. The above question, mutatis mutan-
dis^ applies equally to crystalline bodies.

16. The Law of Chemical Combination
(L. 9) requires that in these unions the con-
stituents should be in certain definite pro-

RESULTS. 97

portions to each other in every such com-
bination.

17. The Physical Law of Cohesion (L.
10) is remarkable for the force that may
be associated with its operation, a force
that is superior to and that may overcome
and annul the force of all other physical
laws. The force of a physical law being
directly proportional to the quantity of
matter influenced by the law at the time,
(L. 14,) the force of this law, when acting
on the body of the earth, is enormous, and
cannot be overcome by any means at the
disposal of a finite mind.

18. The Law of Vital Combination
(L. 10) is unknown to European Science.
The specific life or nerve-fluid is scarcely
recognized in this system, and conse-
quently it was found impossible to imitate
the vital products that constituted the liv-
ing body. Neither chemist nor physicist
could form a muscle, bone, or ligament^
because they could not realize the nerve-
fluid or its analogue that was an essential

98 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

constituent of these forms. They possessed
no means of securing and of controlling
this fluid in its combinations, and it was
therefore ignored and neglected.

19. The Physical Law of Muscular ac-
tion (L. 12) that we have so clearly illus-
trated furnishes another instance of the
falsity and unreliableness of the criterion
of experiment in establishing a truth in
science. Consistently with other parts in
the European system, the occult property
of contractility was attributed to muscles,
and this property was thought to be
evinced when the muscle is irritated,
which was done by lacerating the fibers.
^^The flesh will creep when the pincers
tear,'' but it was not considered that this
creeping of the flesh indicated both the
action and contraction of the fibers. When
this irritation acted most on the nerve-
center the nerve-fluid was withdrawn from
the fibers and they were contracted, and
when the irritation acted most on the point
irritated, the fluid was determined to the

RESULTS. 99

fibers of the part, and they became actively
elongated, and were in a state of action, or
in their active state. Both the elongation
and contraction of fibers were before the
eyes of experimentalists ; but they chose to
notice only the latter state of the fibers,
and to ignore the former state or condition,
and thus it was erroneously supposed
that the state of contraction of its fibers
was the active state of a muscle.

20. The physical Law of Adhesion (L.
13) ordained by the Creator furnishes a
sufficient explanation of the phenomena
connected wdth this subject.

21. The inception of a living being has
always been a stumbling-block to Scien-
tists ; but assuredly a law or an expression
of the Will of the Supreme Being of un-
limited wisdom and power furnishes a
sufficient cause and explanation of the phe-
nomenon. The Physical Law of Animate
Greneration, (L. 14,) as represented in Ame-
rican Science, answers this purpose.

22. The term Instinct, is employed by

100 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

Scientists and others with a very indefinite
and indeterminate sense or meaning. It
is commonly regarded as that part of brutes
that corresponds with human reason ; but
neither the one nor the other of these
terms, when so regarded, have attached to
it any clear or distinct notion or idea.
Eeason is not regarded as a mental faculty
or as part and parcel of the human mind,
for brutes are not allowed to possess a mind,
and these terms thus employed are with-
out any meaning whatever. The fact is,
that no two words in the English vocabu-
lary have meanings more different from
each other. Reason is a compound mental
faculty, an endowment of mind; and, in a
more or less perfect form or development,
is common to all minds ; while an instinct
is a law of nature ordained by the Author
of Nature, that is designed to regulate the
conduct of living beings and to prompt
their specific acts. Every species of living
beings is possessed of a mind with more or
fewer endowments, and with these more or

RESULTS. 101

less perfect, and to this mind are addressed
its instincts. Every living being is under
the guidance of instincts peculiar to its
species, and under this guidance forms its
own material body and performs all other
acts peculiar to the species. A neglect of
this instruction from their instincts, is at-
tended with the formation of monstrosities,
or lusus naturce^ and many other abnormal
conditions. Reason being more largely de-
veloped in the human mind than in that of
brutes, the acts of the latter are dictated
mostly by Instincts, while many acts of
mankind are prompted by an imperfect
mode of reasoning. God has appointed a
perfect mode, and has endowed all minds
with this, but it is perverted by humanity,
and mankind have preferred this perverted
mode of reasoning to that appointed by
Divine Wisdom. Seasoning, without ref-
erence to the dictates of conscience or com-
mon-sense, is an abortive effort, that must
end in error and disappointment.

23. But besides the laws of nature— the

102 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

instincts^ under the operation of which all
living beings are placed in this state of
existence — there are in the environment
of such beings certain forms or bodies, ap-
pointed by Providence to suggest observ-
ance of these instincts or obedience to these
laws of nature. Impressions from these
bodies are called in American Science Sug-
gestive Impressions. This view of the econ-
omy of nature is made in this system of
Science to take the place of that commonly
understood by the term Association of Ideas.
The Suggestive Impressions are separated
into Internal and External, as they arise
from the living material body or from
External nature.

24. There is no force whatever connected
with the instincts; but as '' His -service''
among living beings '' is perfect freedom''
for the enforcement or execution of this
code of lawSj the system of rewards and
punishments is introduced into the economy
of nature. So that for every proper observ-
ance of these laws, the sensation of pleasure,

RESULTS. 103

enjoyment, or of temporal happiness is ap-
pointed as the reward ; and for every neglect
or non-observance of such laws the sensa-
tion of unhappiness, of suffering, or of pain
is inflicted as a punishment. Is it not pass-
ing strange that an arrangement or pro-
vision in nature so palpable as this, and
so constantly pressing itself upon the at-
tention, should have been unnoticed and
ignored by Scientists?

25. The human mind, as the type of
mind, is divisible into three classes of fac-
ulties, namely, into the Hygienic faculties,
presiding over the bodily functions and the
due exercise of which constitutes health;
the Intellectual faculties, of which we have
above given a list, and the Emotional fac-
ulties, that embrace the Affections. The
Instincts enjoin the exercise of each of these
faculties, and this is the nearest we can
come at a list of the instincts or the closest
estimate we can make of their number and
character.

Tlie analogy, or sameness of rule or prin-

104 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

ciple, in true Science and true Religion is
strikingly remarkable in the following re-
spects :

1st. In both Science and Religion God is
recognized as the great First Cause in all
the phenomena presented in the economy
of nature. He hath made all things sim-
ply by the utterance of His will. ^^For
His pleasure all things are and were cre-
ated/'

2d. In Science and in Religion, the laws
of nature, that are confessedly the laws of
God, are regarded as the only secondary or
proximate causes in the same phenomena.
Materialism, or, as it is sometimes called.
Material Science, is thus rejected and spurn-
ed, as being utterly false and unfounded.

3d. Inspiration, which, in Religion, is
assumed to be the will of God directly com-
municated to mankind through certain fa-
vored individuals, as inspired writers — this
communication being imparted in totidem
verbis, et in totidem Uteris — is, in science,
regarded as tlie same will, communicated

RESULTS. 105

to all creatures indirectly ; that is by means
of a mental faculty called conscience or com-
mon-sense, with which the mind of every
living being is endowed. This monitor,
in science, is assumed to teach the truth as
it is in the Divine mind ; to inform its pos-
sessor as to what is good. or evil, riglit or
wrong, virtuous or vicious, just or unjust,
and further teaches what is proper or im-
proper in conduct. When the dictates of
this mental faculty are properly attended
to, the mind acts in conformity to the will
of God, and consequently answers the pur-
pose for which it was created. Instead of
the inspiration in religion, that was im-
parted to few of the most gifted in the early
history of mankind, there is a perpetual
inspiration in science, continued down to
the present time, through any that are at
the pains to properly exercise their reason
in the mode appointed by Divine wi.sdom.
4th. Religion, that is principally con-
cerned with the human soul, teaches that
the soul perishes not at death, but is im-

106 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

mortal ; and after deatli that it passes into
a ihture state of existence, eitlier of cease-
less happiness or of endless suffering, ac-
cording to its conduct in this state of nature,
the creed, or the belief in the Christian
dispensation, going far towards determin-
ing into which of these two states the soul
is to enter. Science teaches that the soul
or mind is common to every living creature,
aiid also that the soul is indestructible or
immortal ; but the scientist, knowing that
he has no ground to proceed upon after
death, other than his imagination suggests,
rests in the conviction that the future dis-
posal of the soul is beyond his ken. Al-
though from analogy he may conclude tliat
this future state is one of misery or of hap-
piness, he knows that tliis is not a certain
mode of reasoning, and knowing that his
^;oul is at the disposal of an allwise, omnip-
otent, and most benevolent, Being, he is
constrained to exclaim, in view of deatli,
^•Not my wdll, but thine be done, 0 Lord !''
5th. True religion, after all, is but a

RESULTS. 107

theory of the economy of nature, or of the
government of Grod over the world that He
hath created, suggested by the imagination
and approved by the conscience, and science
is the same theory, suggested and approved
by the same faculties, the hitter of which is
here called common- sense. There is, how-
ever, this essential difference between reli-
gion and science, namely, that the former,
however abounding in ignorance and super-
stition, has ever been sanctioned by the
authority that could be commanded by the
peoples or nations by whom it was adopted ;
wliile the latter has been made to stand or
lall as the results of the exercise of human
reason in individuals might justify. The
science we have, being false, has taken no
permanent hold on the human intellect, and
is therefore subject to change, as learning
xnd liberty advance, and must eventually
take its position in the lead of religion. The
human mind has been, through all ages,
chained down to religious tenets, and an
order in society appointed to rivet these

108 AMERICAN SCIENCE.

chains J and to see that these rivets are kept
in order. There are many faUacies in every
system of religion heretofore proposed, and
the scientist must either implicitly adopt
these, however palpable, or be content to
be regarded b}^ his fellow-men as being
irreligious.

This latter is about as wise a conclusion
as that human reason, as lieretofore exer-
cised, is, like the Pope, infallible; or that
the principles of European Science, as that
of gravitation , are unquestionably true.