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2   ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE.   [Clisr.

investigation to men of our own period and nation. Our knowledge of them is more complete, and where deficient, it may be supplemented by further inquiry. They are subject to a moderate range of those influences which have the largest disturbing power, and are therefore well fitted for statistical investigation ; lastly, the results we may obtain are of direct practical interest. The inquiry is a complicated one at the best ; it is advantageous not to complicate it further by dealing with notabilities whose histories are seldom autobiographical, never complete and not always very accurate ; and who lived under the varied and imperfectly appreciated conditions of European life, in several countries, at numerous periods during many different centuries.

Definition of "Man of Science. "-I -do not attempt to define a " scientific man," because no frontier line or definition exists, which separates any group of individuals from the rest of their species. Natural groups have nuclei but no outlines ; they blend on every side with other systems whose nuclei have alien characters.