A book for the public. New Discovery. The causes of the circulation of
the blood; and the true nature of the planetary system. London, 1848,
8vo.
Light is the sustainer of motion both in the earth and in the blood. The
natural standard, the pulse of a person in health, four beats to one
respiration, gives the natural second, which is the measure of the earth's
progress in its daily revolution. The Greek fable of the Titans is an
elaborate exposition of the atomic theory: but any attempt to convince
learned classics would only meet their derision; so much does long-fostered
prejudice stand in the way of truth. The author complains bitterly that men
of science will not attend to him and others like him: he observes, that
"in the time occupied in declining, a man of science might test the
merits." This is, alas! too true; so well do applicants of this kind know
how to stick on. But every rule has its exception: I have heard of one. The
late Lord Spencer[28]--the Lord Althorp of the House of Commons--told me
that a speculator once got access to him at the Home Office, and was
proceeding to unfold his way of serving the public. "I do not understand
these things," said Lord Althorp, "but I happen to have ---- (naming an
eminent engineer) upstairs; suppose you talk to him on the subject." The
discoverer went up, and in half-an-hour returned, and said, "I am very much
obliged to your Lordship for introducing me to Mr. ----; he has convinced
me {10} that I am quite wrong." I supposed, when I heard the story--but it
would not have been seemly to say it--that Lord A. exhaled candor and
sense, which infected those who came within reach: he would have done so,
if anybody.