Notice to the Reader

the persons most capable of delving deeply into a new question.

It is to respond to them in a satisfactory manner, to give a general idea of the system The author uses "system" here to refer to his specific scientific or philosophical framework that I propose, to clear it of the errors in which it has been shrouded, and to make known the setbacks that have opposed its publication, that I publish this Memoir Memoir: a formal written account or essay on a specific subject: it is but the forerunner of a theory that I shall provide, as soon as circumstances allow me to indicate the practical rules of the method I announce. It is from this point of view that I pray the Reader to consider this little Work. I do not dis—