JOHN WESLEY POWELL 1 25 



to which he was so rich a contributor, in an organon or system, 

 of three parts. The first of these was to deal with Nature, 

 /. c.^ the external universe; the second with Man, the highest 

 product of Nature ; and the third with Mind, the ultimate nat- 

 ural power of Nature and Man. The work was directed toward 

 general human understanding rather than conventional forms 

 and current lines of thought, and was cast in the form of a tri- 

 logy, with an explement in poetic form and measure ; and with 

 a view to general and hence permanent character, both struc- 

 ture and form were modeled after artistic rather than technical 

 standards. In giving shape to the triune work the Major delved 

 deeply in lore and literature of every type, sifted through the 

 meshes of his own broad knowledge the golden product of sci- 

 ence in every branch, studied the mental workings of contem- 

 poraries and even of associates as he had studied those of sav- 

 ages before, and sought to sum the whole under simple alle- 

 gorical titles. The breadth of the plan and the depth of its 

 foundations were little realized by coworkers, still less by 

 critics of the preliminary essays ; indeed, the modesty of the 

 author seldom permitted him to see in its full magnitude the 

 mighty task to which he was impelled by the same powerful 

 instinct that inspired his military and exploratory efforts — the 

 task of framing a cosmic compendium at once broader and 

 simpler than any previously conceived. Of this work the first 

 part was written in preliminary, and far from satisfactory, form, 

 and was published under the title " Truth and Error"; much 

 of the second part was tentatively incorporated in a series of 

 papers in the American Anthropologist designed for reprinting, 

 with extensions, under the title "Good and Evil"; while of 

 the third part, designed to bear the title "Pleasure and Pain," 

 only an outline, with notes, and a single preliminar}- chapter 

 were completed. The poetic argument, or explement, though 

 designed to round out the whole and perhaps to form a final 

 volume, was in realit}^ the first written and the most complete 

 portion of the work, for it ran through the author's mind as a 

 golden clew if not a more definite outline, and was put in fin- 

 ished form before the Major left the Geological Survey to 

 undergo the third operation on his arm ; two or three copies of 



