﻿THE 
  UNFATHOMED 
  UNIVERSE 
  29 
  

  

  centration. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  said, 
  though 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  dangerous 
  half- 
  

   truth, 
  that 
  the 
  worst 
  kind 
  of 
  comparative 
  psychologist 
  is 
  

   the 
  observer 
  who 
  is 
  devoted 
  to 
  his 
  animals. 
  

  

  Especially 
  since 
  Darwin's 
  day, 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  learning 
  

   in 
  biology 
  to 
  see 
  creatures 
  in 
  their 
  spatial 
  and 
  temporal 
  

   linkages, 
  but 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  denied 
  that 
  the 
  predominant 
  

   method 
  of 
  science 
  is 
  analytic 
  and 
  deliberately 
  abstract, 
  

   whereas 
  the 
  tendency 
  of 
  feeling 
  is 
  always 
  to 
  see 
  things 
  whole 
  

   -synoptically. 
  As 
  Goethe 
  said, 
  " 
  these 
  dissecting 
  opera- 
  

   tions, 
  ever 
  and 
  ever 
  continued, 
  produce 
  likewise 
  many 
  a 
  

   disadvantage; 
  the 
  living 
  is 
  indeed 
  analysed 
  into 
  elements, 
  

   but 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  brought 
  together 
  again 
  out 
  of 
  them 
  and 
  

   animated 
  ". 
  Compared 
  with 
  the 
  biologist's 
  insight 
  the 
  shep- 
  

   herd's 
  outlook 
  is 
  superficial, 
  but 
  unless 
  the 
  biologist 
  can 
  

   reconstruct 
  and 
  reanimate 
  he 
  has 
  lost 
  that 
  view 
  of 
  things, 
  

   in 
  their 
  totality 
  which 
  the 
  shepherd 
  has. 
  We 
  may 
  have 
  a 
  

   profound 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  life-history 
  of 
  a 
  creature 
  and 
  

   yet 
  fail 
  to 
  get 
  that 
  imaginative 
  vision 
  which 
  the 
  authors 
  of 
  

   Animal 
  Biographies 
  have 
  with 
  less 
  material 
  made 
  their 
  own. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  attempt 
  to 
  conserve 
  what 
  is 
  reached 
  through 
  feeling, 
  

   to 
  which 
  Man 
  instinctively 
  tries 
  to 
  hold 
  firm, 
  satisfaction 
  

   has 
  been 
  sought 
  in 
  Nature-poetry, 
  in 
  symbolism, 
  in 
  Natural 
  

   Theology, 
  or 
  in 
  an 
  idealisation 
  of 
  Nature 
  in 
  a 
  religious 
  halo. 
  

   These 
  avenues 
  of 
  satisfaction, 
  these 
  pathways 
  to 
  reality, 
  

   for 
  the 
  two 
  phrases 
  mean 
  much 
  the 
  same, 
  remain 
  happily 
  

   open 
  to 
  many. 
  To 
  others, 
  however, 
  they 
  are 
  closed, 
  partly 
  

   because 
  of 
  the 
  austerity 
  of 
  the 
  scientific 
  mood 
  and 
  partly 
  

   because 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  correlation. 
  Thus 
  much 
  Nature- 
  

   poetry 
  is 
  too 
  like 
  antiquarian 
  or 
  reminiscent 
  architecture, 
  

   evading 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  idealising 
  the 
  present 
  in 
  offering 
  us 
  

   constructions 
  whose 
  beauty 
  makes 
  us 
  forget 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  

   that 
  they 
  are 
  anachronisms. 
  Similarly, 
  the 
  spiritualisations 
  

  

  