The Reason Why. Robert Kemp Philp
LIII.
PREFACE.
We are all children of one Father, whose Works it should be our delight to study. As the intelligent child, standing by his parent's knee, asks explanations alike of the most simple phenomena, and of the most profound problems; so should man, turning to his Creator, continually ask for knowledge. Not because the profession of letters has, in these days, become a fashion, and that the man of general proficiency can best work out his success in worldly pursuits; but because knowledge is a treasure which gladdens the heart, dignifies the mind, and ennobles the soul.
The occupation of the mind, by the pursuit of knowledge, is of itself a good, since it diverts from evil, and by elevating and refining the mind, and strengthening the judgment, it fortifies us for the hour of temptation, and surrounds us with barriers which the powers of sin cannot successfully assail.
It is not contended that the mere acquisition of knowledge will either ensure a good moral nature, or convey religious truth. But both religion and morals will find in the diffusion of knowledge a ground work upon which their loftier temples may discover an acceptable foundation.
The man who comprehends the order of Nature, and the immutability of Divine law, must of necessity bring himself in some degree into accordance with that order, and under submission to the law: hence the tendency of knowledge will always be found to harmonise the fragment with the mass, and to subvert the evil to the good.
The troubles of the world have arisen from the want of knowledge, not from the possession of it. And in proportion as man becomes an intelligent and reflective being, he will be a better creature in all the relations of life. If these benefits, vast and incalculable as they are, be the real tendency and result of knowledge, why is ignorance allowed to remain, and why is the world still distracted by error?
It is because the moral and intellectual qualities of man are, like all creations and gifts of God, the subjects of development, whose law is progression.
We can aid human improvement, but we cannot unduly hasten it. Whenever man has sprung too rapidly to a conclusion, he has alighted upon error, and has had to retrace his steps.
The greatest philosophers have been those who have clung to the demonstrative sciences, and have held that a simple truth well ascertained, is greater than the grandest theory founded upon questionable premises. Newton made more scientific revelations to mankind than any other philosopher; and his discoveries have borne the searching test of time, because he snatched at nothing, leaped over no chasm to establish a favourite dogma; but, by the slowest steps, and by regarding the merest trifles, as well as the highest phenomena, he learnt to read Nature correctly. He discovered that her atoms were letters, her blades of grass were words, her phenomena were sentences, and her complete volume a grand poem, teaching on every page the wisdom and the power of an Almighty Creator.
When he observed an apple fall to the ground, he asked the "Reason Why;" and in answer to that enquiry, there came one of the grandest discoveries that has ever been recorded upon the book of science. With that discovery a flood of light burst upon the human mind, illustrating in a far higher degree than had ever previously been conceived, the vastness of Almighty Power.
Why should not each of us enquire the "Reason Why" regarding everything that we observe? Why should we mentally grope about, when we may see our way? When addressed in a foreign tongue, we hear a number of articulated sounds, to which we can attach no meaning; they convey nothing to the mind, make no impression upon the in-dwelling soul. When those sounds are interpreted to us, in a language that we can understand, they impart impressions of joy, hope, surprise, or sorrow, because the words convey to us a meaning. In like manner, if we fail to understand Nature, its beauties, its teachings are lost. Everything speaks to us, but we do not understand the voices. They come murmuring from the brook, trilling from the bird, or pealing from the thunder; but though they reach the ear of the body, they do not impress the listening spirit.
Every flower, every ray of light, every drop of dew, each flake of snow, the curling smoke, the lowering cloud, the bright sun, the pale moon, the twinkling stars, speak to us in eloquent language of the great Hand that made them. But millions lose the grand lesson which Nature teaches, because they can attach no meaning to what they see or hear.
"The Reason Why" is offered as an interpreter of many of Nature's utterances. Great care has been taken that these interpretations may be consistent with the latest knowledge, obtained from the highest sources. If the author finds that his work if accepted for the good of those who seek not only to know, but to understand, he will make it his constant care to read the Book of Nature, and to add to the pages of this volume whatever interpretations the progress of enquiry and discovery may demand and supply.
INDEX, AND INDEX LESSONS.
☞ The numbers refer to the Questions. The Index Lessons do not correspond with the Chapters, but are designed to bring together in their alphabetical connection, all the Questions and Answers upon each particular subject included in the work.
LESSON I.
Acids, vegetable, whence are they obtained, 1256
Actinism, what is it, 552
Actinism, what effect has it upon vegetation, 559
Actinism, at what season of the year is it most abundant, 560
ærial spectra, what is the cause of, 527
Affinity, what is the attraction of, 777
Air, why do we breathe it, 4
Air, what is the composition of it, 12
Air,