If We Can't Express What We Know

It Is Conceivable That Animal Life Might Have The Attribute Of Using The Heat Of Surrounding Matter, At Its Natural Temperature, As A Source Of Energy For Mechanical Effect . . . .the Influence Of Animal Or Vegetable Life On Matter Is Infinitely Beyond The Range Of Any Scientific Enquiry Hitherto Entered On. Its Power Of Directing The Motions Of Moving Particles, In The Demonstrated Daily Miracle Of Our Human Free-will, And In The Growth Of Generation After Generation Of Plants From A Single Seed, Are Infinitely Different From Any Possible Result Of The Fortuitous Concurrence Of Atoms.

Suppose That You Could Mark The Molecules In A Glass Of Water; Then Pour The Contents Of The Glass Into The Ocean And Stir The Latter Throughly So As To Distribute The Marked Molecules Uniformly Throughout The Seven Seas; If Then You Took A Glass Of Water Anywhere Out Of The Ocean, You Would Find In It About A Hundred Of Your Marked Molecules.

Ether Is The Only Substance We Are Confident Of In Dynamics. One Thing We Are Sure Of And That Is The Reality And Substantiality Of The Luminferous Ether.

We All Confidently Believe That There Are At Present, And Have Been From Time Immemorial, Many Worlds Of Life Besides Our Own. . . . [this] May Seem Wild, And Visionary; All I Maintain Is That It Is Not Unscientific.

Scientific Wealth Tends To Accumulate According To The Law Of Compound Interest. Every Addition To Knowledge Of The Properties Of Matter Supplies The Physical Scientist With New Instrumental Means For Discovering And Interpreting Phenomena Of Nature, Which In Their Turn Afford Foundations Of Fresh Generalisations, Bringing Gains Of Permanent Value Into The Great Storehouse Of Natural Philosophy.