Note 762 — Chapter V · (continued 2)

And he distinctly states that, even in other matters, when he did make experiments, their object was to confirm theory, and not to suggest it. Thus, to give one of many instances, in his Lectures, vol. i. p. 354, he says, respecting salts, ‘When we examine the solidity of this reasoning by an experiment, we have the pleasure to find facts agree exactly with the theory.’