4 THE GROUNDWORK OF SCIENCE

ence, or " that it is," the first of these questions asks, " What

is it ? " ; the second makes the inquiry, " Why is it ? " Whence

does it arise ? How does it come to be ?

Demands which thus rise to the lips even of the child

must assuredly be included amongst the problems which

systematic knowledge investigates. They constitute indeed

the most searching inquiries which science can carry on with

respect to whatsoever objects may become the subject of its

labours. To classify each object or event with its congeners

is one great end of scientific inquiry, and such an end was

attained in each case when the fundamental similarity became

understood between the fall of any object to the earth's

surface and the moon's motions ; between the electric spark

and the lightning's flash ; and between that hugest of the

ocean's inhabitants, the whale, and the little bat which flits

through the summer air at twilight. These may serve as

familiar examples of approximate answers to the question,

" What is it ? " The origin of the solar system, the explana-

tion of reflex and sensori-motor actions,* and the genesis of

new species of animals and plants, are instances of most

interesting scientific inquiries as to the "how" and "why" of

matters of scientific or of ordinary experience.

Knowledge is initiated in the individual by the actions of

surrounding objects upon his organs of sense, which objects

the child becomes gradually able to more or less distinctly

perceive. Self-knowledge is of later origin, and much

acquaintance with the external world is acquired before the

attention of any one becomes directed to his own mental

processes and his internal experiences.

So it is with the lower races of mankind and the least

cultivated members of civilized communities. Physical

* Movements which take place independent of the will on the occurrence of

some sensation, as the movements of swallowing take place when a morsel is felt

"at the back part of the mouth.

ence, or " that it is," the first of these questions asks, " What

is it ? " ; the second makes the inquiry, " Why is it ? " Whence

does it arise ? How does it come to be ?

Demands which thus rise to the lips even of the child

must assuredly be included amongst the problems which

systematic knowledge investigates. They constitute indeed

the most searching inquiries which science can carry on with

respect to whatsoever objects may become the subject of its

labours. To classify each object or event with its congeners

is one great end of scientific inquiry, and such an end was

attained in each case when the fundamental similarity became

understood between the fall of any object to the earth's

surface and the moon's motions ; between the electric spark

and the lightning's flash ; and between that hugest of the

ocean's inhabitants, the whale, and the little bat which flits

through the summer air at twilight. These may serve as

familiar examples of approximate answers to the question,

" What is it ? " The origin of the solar system, the explana-

tion of reflex and sensori-motor actions,* and the genesis of

new species of animals and plants, are instances of most

interesting scientific inquiries as to the "how" and "why" of

matters of scientific or of ordinary experience.

Knowledge is initiated in the individual by the actions of

surrounding objects upon his organs of sense, which objects

the child becomes gradually able to more or less distinctly

perceive. Self-knowledge is of later origin, and much

acquaintance with the external world is acquired before the

attention of any one becomes directed to his own mental

processes and his internal experiences.

So it is with the lower races of mankind and the least

cultivated members of civilized communities. Physical

* Movements which take place independent of the will on the occurrence of

some sensation, as the movements of swallowing take place when a morsel is felt

"at the back part of the mouth.