Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-06-29
THEORIES.

sPEou1ArIvE THEORIES.
Ifonly words would do it, this would
become a perfect world; sure in scien-
tihc knowledge, accurate in specula-
ton and theory, perfect in practice,
and unerring in governmental policy.
Nobody but the man under whose pro-
fessional eye pass all the current pub
LEGATIONS, can have an idea of their i'm
mense variety. Nobody but he, who,
like a journalist, reads all this various
matter, can conceive what the world
loses by not following the exact direc-
tons Of all the philosophers and the
"eulogists." Fortunes might be made,
disease kept at a distance, death de-
layed, housekeeping ruled to move
like clocL-werk, and all social disturb
ances be anticipated or healed, If, as
we said just now, words only would
do 1t. But the difficulty is, humanity
has vagaries which cannot be talked
out, and matter has properties which
cannot be altered by any flight Of i'm
agination or any rules Of logic, how
ever severe. Yet the vast amount of
discussion, oral and printed, from the
halls of Congress or Of councils to the
Juvenile debating society, and from the
Quarterly Rerie,c, or Volume Of Iraas-
actions, to the daily newspaper, has
its uses. 1t Is, If not the expression OF
original thought, at least the ~reproduc-
ton of thoughts and discoveries. SO
great a flood must fructify something,
even though, like the rain, much OF 1t
seems to run uselessly away. 1t Is, TO
be sure rather q yeXation to read a
learned essay so disguised in technical
terms that you get but the shadow OF
an idea from it. But it is pleasant to
remember that there r men to whom
it is all simple as A, B, c. Those,
however, who really master one SCI
ence, can become but partially init
mate with others. The old Grecian
who furnished the tobacconists of the
present century with the very taking
label Eureka :" would have been
more practically useful just when and
where he was, if he had posted a lance
or launched a boulder on the heads OF
the enemy. Nevertheless, his diseov-
ery has lived after him, and the coiners
of false money are to-day detected by
his ingenuity. Some Of his positions
will, however, hardly bear the test OF
modern mathematics. He said that If
he had q fulcrum on which to rest his
lever, he could move the world. 1t
has been calculated that the nearest
point from which the lever could be
operated Is the moon, and that demon
stration depriyes the lever arrange
ment Of any practical utility. Among
the most curious of modern investiga-
lions Is that which leads scientific men
away from the world, to find what the
world is made Of; just as your surgeon
dissects another body to find what are
the internal arrangements of his own
The favorite subject Oh the astronomi
cal table just now is the planet Mars,
which Is demonstrated to be this worlds
epitome. The components of the body
of the planet are discovered by an i'll
yestigation and analysis of It's light
This is done by u process which WI
could not make Ineligible to the I'M
initiated in any reasonable space, ant
those who are read up on the subjec
will prefer more scientific treatment
The SUMS light is analysed also; bu
there are other circumstances which
Give astronomers q better chance n
tho planet. All this theorizing ant
speculation will come into practica
use some day; and that day not very
far of. The present pursuit of all sci
ence-and all sciences are branches o
one great whole-is mere search fol
the key of the cipher, which, once
found, will put the learned men OF thi:
and all past ages In the position Of mel
who have CROPPED in the dark; CROPPED
they have, too, very diligently. AND
we doubt whether this day there are
not many things lost, forgotten, OIL
discarded, which, could they be re
stored, would add much to human
knowledge. and detract much from oul
claims to original discovery. ANT
here Is where We perceive the utility
and the promise of the endless talk o
this talking and printing age. Now
that all things which are worth pre-
serving, and many which are not, arr
perpetuated by "the art preservativ'
of all arts" not a thesis or a word cal
be launched on the sea Of human
thought which may nor drift some
where, to serve as the nucleus Of fu
ture discovery. 1t cannot be denied
that most theories, moral, political ant
scientific, lack the something which
will commend their results rs plair
truths to the uneducated mind. HI
has great faith who can clearly see al
the laws of the universe in Newton
apple; and more modern research /
adding gradually many things to tina
single apple, till by and by the worlt
will have a much larger and more di
eestIble collection Of fruit-the result
of scientific comparison and investiga
ton. While this goes on, it Is a salts
faction to the great mass Of humanit!
that one can live and enjoy three
meals a day and his nights sleep, with
out precisely understanding all the
why's and wherefores.
A RAILWAY to the Pacific through
the British Possessions, 1t seems to DC
considered by the Canadian newspa'
Darc Ia tho only means nv which Grpat