624 FRAOMKNTS OF SCIENCE. 
Knowest tbou what wove yon woodbird's nest 
Of leaves and feathers from her breast, 
Or bow tbe fish outbuilt its shell, 
Painting with morn each annual cell? 
Such and so grew these holy piles 
While love and terror laid the tiles; 
Earth proudly wears the Parthenon 
As the best gem upon her zone; 
And Morning opes with haste her lids 
To gaze upon the Pyramids; 
O'er England's abbeys bends the sky 
As on its friends with kindred eye; 
For out of Thought's interior sphere 
These wonders rose to upper air, 
And Nature gladly gave them place, 
Adopted them into her race, 
And granted them an equal date 
With Andes and with Ararat. 
Surely, many utterances which have been accepted as 
descriptions ought to be interpreted as aspirations, or as 
having their roots in aspiration instead of in objective 
knowledge. Does the song of the herald angels, " Glory 
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward 
men," express the exaltation and the yearning of a human 
soul? or does it describe an optical and acoustical fact a 
visible host and an audible song? If the former, the 
exaltation and the yearning are man's imperishable 
possession a ferment long confined to individuals, but 
which may by and by become the leaven of the race. If 
the latter, then belief in the entire transaction is wrecked 
by non-fulfillment. Look to the East at the present 
moment as a comment on the promise of peace on earth 
and goodwill toward men. That promise is a dream ruined 
by the experience of eighteen centuries, and in that ruin is 
involved the claim of the " heavenly host" to prophetic 
vision. But though the mechanical theory proves un- 
tenable, the immortal song and the feelings it expresses 
are still ours, to be incorporated, let us hope, in purer and 
less shadowy forms in the poetry, philosophy, and practice 
of the future. 
Thus, following the lead of physical science, we are 
brought without solution of continuity into the presence of 
problems which, as usually classified, lie entirely outside 
the domain of physics. To these problems thoughtful and 
penetrative minds are now applying those methods of 
research which in physical science have proved their truth 
