96 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
they may be considered, in most cases, equally ap- 
plicable both to the vegetable and the mineral. 
(44.) Let us now consider the objects, whether 
immediate or remote, which this science compre- 
hends, and the advantages that may be expected to 
result from its study. We shall regard it, first, as 
intellectual ; secondly, as recreative; and thirdly, as 
affecting the ordinary business of life. 
(45.) It may be received as an indisputable 
truth, that no studies are so well suited to the in- 
tellectual powers of man, as those that relate to the 
forms and the phenomena of Nature. Between 
these, and such as are confined to human skill or to 
human erudition, there is this remarkable difference: 
that in the former we contemplate things which, in 
themselves, are perfect, because they emanate from 
the Fountain of Perfection; whereas in the latter 
our attention is absorbed in things which, at the 
best, are imperfect, however exquisite may be the 
art which produced them, or however learned or 
acute may be the labours of their authors. The 
painter or the sculptor may delight us by the faith- 
fulness of their delineations ; the poet may please us 
by the harmony of his verses ; the historian instruct 
us by the narrative of circumstances and persons 
before unknown to us. But all these subjects, how- 
ever interesting or pleasing, are alloyed with that 
imperfection and unsatisfactoriness which enter into 
every human performance: they chiefly, if not ex- 
clusively, refer our thoughts to their authors; or if 
we even discover no imperfection which mars the 
painting or the statue—no word which destroys 
the harmony of the poet’s verse, or no imagery which 
