﻿THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  13 
  

  

  scriptive 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  admit 
  of 
  formulation 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  ab- 
  

   stract 
  concepts, 
  as 
  astronomy, 
  for 
  instance, 
  does. 
  Yet 
  there 
  

   is 
  in 
  natural 
  history 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  description 
  which 
  is 
  just 
  

   as 
  essential 
  in 
  its 
  own 
  place 
  as 
  is 
  mechanical 
  or 
  dynamical 
  

   description 
  namely, 
  historical 
  description. 
  We 
  would 
  not 
  

   buy 
  a 
  horse 
  on 
  the 
  strength 
  of 
  a 
  description 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  the 
  

   dynamics 
  of 
  particles, 
  partly 
  because 
  we 
  could 
  not 
  go 
  far 
  

   in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  checking 
  its 
  accuracy, 
  but 
  mainly 
  because 
  of 
  

   our 
  shrewd 
  conviction 
  that 
  the 
  essential 
  thing 
  is 
  to 
  know 
  

   what 
  we 
  can 
  about 
  the 
  horse's 
  history. 
  Similarly, 
  our 
  

   science 
  of 
  the 
  horse 
  must 
  include 
  not 
  only 
  its 
  whole 
  architec- 
  

   ture 
  from 
  skull 
  to 
  blood 
  crystals, 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  consensus 
  of 
  

   its 
  active 
  parts 
  from 
  brain 
  to 
  phagocytes, 
  but 
  also 
  its 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  and 
  its 
  individual 
  and 
  racial 
  becoming. 
  Even 
  within 
  

   the 
  sciences 
  of 
  the 
  inorganic, 
  when 
  dealing, 
  for 
  instance, 
  

   with 
  the 
  geological 
  interpretation 
  of 
  scenery 
  or 
  the 
  establish- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  the 
  solar 
  system, 
  the 
  description 
  must 
  be 
  genetic 
  

   or 
  historical. 
  It 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  point 
  that, 
  just 
  about 
  the 
  

   time 
  when 
  Physics 
  began 
  to 
  proclaim 
  emphatically 
  that 
  its 
  

   office 
  was 
  to 
  describe 
  not 
  to 
  explain, 
  Natural 
  History 
  in 
  

   Darwin's 
  hands 
  passed 
  emphatically 
  from 
  description 
  to 
  

   historical 
  explanation. 
  

  

  4. 
  Limitations 
  of 
  Natural 
  Knowledge. 
  

  

  Science 
  makes 
  so 
  many 
  permanent 
  discoveries, 
  which 
  are 
  

   never 
  contradicted 
  though 
  often 
  transcended, 
  that 
  she 
  ac- 
  

   quires 
  an 
  assured 
  confidence 
  which 
  has 
  only 
  been 
  equalled 
  

   by 
  that 
  of 
  Theology. 
  For 
  this 
  very 
  reason 
  it 
  is 
  useful 
  that 
  

   she 
  should 
  be 
  ever 
  examining 
  herself. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  famous 
  

   balance-sheets 
  was 
  that 
  made 
  by 
  Du 
  Bois-Keymond 
  in 
  his 
  

   lectures 
  on 
  the 
  Seven 
  Riddles 
  of 
  the 
  Universe 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   Limits 
  of 
  Natural 
  Knowledge. 
  He 
  confessed 
  that 
  the 
  

  

  