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570 SWEDENBORG AS A MAN OF SCIENCE ( Doc. 200.
several sciences, and as soon as one is wanting there is a
break in the chain . For such a work, however, there is re
quired a special taste, inclination, attention, concentration, and
leisure ; for such thoughts do not flow in of their own accord,
nor do they present themselves without abstracting that which
rivets the attention of, and delights, the outward senses.
Those who do not possess these qualifications, nor this parti
cular cast of mind perform perhaps just as good a service to
the public by increasing our stock of experience, which can
never be filled up even to the end of the world : for nature is
an ocean without a bottom. Without their help in laying the
foundation and providing the materials, the understanding can
never ascend to its own proper sphere.
The other objection is, that doubts prevail as to the ad
vantage and use which experience may derive from theory ;
one single example, however, will suffice to place this in clear
light: for if the true cause of the attractive force of the mag
net, and of its declination and inclination, was brought to
light
, so that true ephemerides and maps could be constructed
of its deviations, the longitude of places, which is so much
sought after and desired, would be determined thereby, to the
great advantage of navigation , geodesy, and geography. In
that case also the unnecessary talk and controversies about
the inconstant nature of the course and progress of magnetic
declination, and many other things which unnecessarily worry
and disturb the experiments of the learned, and obstruct
an advance, would ceas The same applies to everything
else. To trace out and investigate, and to acquire a know
ledge of and to know , what nature in its inmost recesses
contains, may be compared to someone who fumbles about
in a valley among bushes, trees, and rocks, and who is looking
there for the path and the direction which will lead him to
his home, while another has ascended a high tower, from which
he is able to take in at a glance the whole wide field, with
all its corners and angles, and its many tortuous paths.
Now, as I find in the Transactions of our Academy of
Sciences for the months of July, August, and September of
the year 1740, page 384, that Professor Anders Celsius has
been pleased to undertake the labour of comparing my com
.
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