ok.

It is true there is one method which would have made the introduction of
the personal element unnecessary--this would have been to specify in detail
all those particulars which would show that the statements here made are
in agreement with the progress of modern science. This course would,
however, have necessitated the writing of many volumes, and as such a task
is at present out of the question, the writer feels it necessary to state
the personal reasons which he believes justify him in thinking such an
agreement thoroughly possible and satisfactory. Were he not in a position
to make the following explanations, he would most certainly never have
gone so far as to publish such statements as those referring to heat
processes.

Some thirty years ago the author had the opportunity of studying physics
in its various branches. At that time the central point of interest in the
sphere of heat phenomena was the promulgation of the so-called "Mechanical
Theory of Heat," and it happened that this theory so particularly
engrossed his attention that the historical development of the various
interpretations associated with the names of Julius Robert Mayer,
Helmholtz, Joule, Clausius, and others, formed the subject of his
continuous study. During that period of concentrated work he laid those
foundations which have enabled him to follow all the actual advances since
made with regard to the theory of physical heat, without experiencing any
difficulty in penetrating into what science is achieving in this
department. Had he been obliged to confess himself unable to do this, the
writer would have had good reason for leaving unsaid and unwritten much
that has been brought forward in this book.

He has made it a matter of conscience, when writing or speaking on occult
science, to deal only with matters on which he could also report, in what
seemed an adequate manner, the views held by modern science. With this,
however, he does not wish in the least to give the impression that this is
always a necessary prerequisite. Any one may feel a call to communicate or
to publish whatever his judgment, his sense of truth, and his feelings may
prompt him to, even if he is ignorant of the attitude taken by
contemporary science in the matter. The writer wishes to indicate merely
that he holds to the pronouncements he has made. For instance, he would
never have written those few sentences on the human glandular system, nor
those regarding man's n