Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1852-07-29
MISCELLANY N Y /.
Every Day Mysteries.

is the favorite saying Of Mr.. Peuipo Dapper-
ling, gentleman who very much prides him
self upon his intellectual perspicaci,y. Yet
ask Mr.. Pettipo if he understands how it is
that he wags his little finger, and he can give
no reasonable account of it, He will tell YOU
for he has read books and Studied ANATOMY
that his little finger consists Of so many
jointed bones; that there are tendons attached
to them before and behind, which belong TO
certain muscles, and when these muscles are
made TO contract, the finger wags. And this
is nearly all that Mr., Pet!ipo knows about it.
How 1t is that the voition acts on the mus
cles, what volltlon is, what the will is, Mr..
Pettipo knows not. He knows quite as little
about the sensation which resides in the skin
of that little finger; how it it is that he feels
and appreciates forms and surfaces why it
detects heat and cold, in what way lis papille
erect themselves, and its pores open and close
about all this he is entirely in the dark And
yet MIR. Peilipo is under the necessity of be-
lievlng that his little finger wags, and that it
is endowed with the gift of sensation, though
he in fact knows nothing whatever of the why
OF the wherefore.
We must believe a thousand things that we
cannot understand. Matter and its combina-
tions are grand mystery-how much more
is life and its manifestations! Look al those
far-off worlds, majesticaly wheeling in their
appointed orbits, millions of miles away; or
look on this earth on which we live, performing
its diurnal motion upon its axis, and its annual
circle round the sun What do we UNDER
stand of the cause Of such motions! What
can we ever know about them beyond the fact
that such things are so, To discover and ap-
prehend facts is much, and it is nearly our
limit. To Ultimate causes we can never as
cend. But TO have eye open to receive
facts and apprehend their relative value, that
is great deal that is our duty and not to re-
ject, suspect, or refuse TO accept them, because
they happen to clash with our preconceived
notion, or, like Mr.. Pettipo Dapperliug, be-
. cause we cannot understand them'
oh, my dear Kepler,' writes Calico 10 his
friend, how | wish that we could have one
hearty laugh together Here at Padau is the
principal Professor of Philosophy, whom
have repeatedly and urgently requested to look
at the moon and planets through my glass,
which he pertinacionsly refuses TO do. Why
are you not here! What shouts of laughter
we should have at this glorious folly! And to
hear theProfessor of Philosophy at Pisa lee
turing before the Grand Duke with logical ar
guments, as if with magical incantations to
charm the new planets out of the sky!
Rub stick of wax against your coat and it
emits sparks; hold it near to light, heecy par
ticles of wool or cotton, and it first attracts,
then ii repels them. What do you under
stand about that, Mr.. Petipo, except shat il
is Stroke the cats back before the fire, and
Your own body will in like manner emit sparks
in certain states, but you know nothing about
why it is SO.
Pour solution of muriate of lime into one
of sulphate of potash-bo,h clear fluids; but
no sooner are they mixed together than they
become nearly solid. How is that! You tell
me that an ingredient Of the one solution COM
bines with an ingredient of the other, and in
soluble sulphate of lime is produced. Well,
you tell me fact; but you do not account for
it by saying that the lime has a greater at
traction for the sui phuric acid than the potash
has you do not understand how it is, you
merely see that it is so. You must believe it,
But when you come to life, and its wonder
ful manifestations, you are more in the dark
than ever You understand less about this
than you do even of dead matter. Take an or
binary, every day fact; you drop two seeds,
whose component parts are the same, into the
same soil. They grow up so close together
that their stalks intertwine. The one plant
produces long, slender leaf, the other a
short, fiat leaf; the one brings up "a beautiful
flower, the other an ugly scruff; the one sheds
abroad delicious fragrance, the other entirely
inodorous. The hemlock, the wheat-stalk,
and the rose-tree, out of the same chemical in
gradients contained in the soil, educe, the one,
deadly poison; the other wholesome food !;
the third, bright, consummaie flower. Can
you tell me. Mr.. Pettipo, how is this9 Do
you understand the secret by which the roots
of these plants accomplish so much more than
all your science can do, and SO infinitely excel
the most skilfnl combinations of the philoso-
pher! you can only recognize the fact, but
you cannot nnravel the mystery. Your saying
that it is the mature of the plant, does not
in The slightest degree clear up the difficulty.
You cannot get at the ultimate fact, only the
proximate one is seen by you.
| But 10 here is a wonderful little plant; you
touch it, and the leaves shrink on the instant,
one leaf seeming to be in intimate sympathy
with the lest, and all the leaves in the neigh
borhood shrinking up at the touch of foreign
object. Or take the simple pimpernel, which
closes it's eye as the sun goes down, and opens
as he rises again, shrinks at the approach Of
rain, and expands in fair weather. The hop