272 TheSpiritualLife.
which hasdoneso much and accomphshed so
manytriumphs, is apparentlyreaching its limit
in the exquisite delicacy and accuracy of its
physicalapparatus,andyet therecomepouring
into thelaboratories energiestoo subtlefor its
measures to gauge, substances too rare for itsbalances to weigh. Science on every side is
groping after new methods. In medicine it
findsitself blind,the doctor unabletodiagnose
disease for lack of clearness of vision, unable
to trace definitely the action of his drugs,
merely experimenting, and ever hoping that
out ofexperimentssomecertainknowledgemay
emerge. In physical science materialism is
breakingdown,withitstheoriesofthe universe
provedto beinadequate, while idealism is not
readytotake its place,tospeak clearlyandto
explainintelligibly. In thegreatestofidealistic
systems, the Vedanta of India, as it is now
taught,wefindintellectdevotedtouselesshair-
splitting instead of profound thinking, a subtle