SCIENCE AND ART 173 



silence of a starry night, or in the bewilderment 

 of a storm, or in the detachment of mid-ocean, 

 or with the exalted feeling that rewards a long 

 climb, we recognize various elements which com- 

 bine in the complex feeling of Wonder. 



First, there comes to us a sense of the world- 

 power, its dynamic a sense of the powers that 

 make our whole solar system travel in space 

 toward an unknown goal, that keep our earth 

 together and whirling round the sun, that sway 

 the tides and rule the winds, that mould the dew- 

 drop and build the crystal, that clothe the lily 

 and give us energy for every movement and 

 every thought in short, that keep the whole 

 system of things agoing. Looking at radium- 

 containing rock and the like with modern spec- 

 tacles, we get a glimpse of the powers like 

 charmed genii that may be imprisoned in the 

 apparently inert dust. Even more vividly to 

 some of us there comes a sense of the power 

 of life so abundant, so insurgent, so creative. 

 "The narrowest hinge on my hand puts to scorn 

 all machinery"; a fire-fly is a much more eco- 

 nomical light-producer than an arc-lamp; a fish 

 is a far more efficient engine than those which 

 move a steamship; and an invisible pinch of 

 microbes could kill all of us in a few hours. 



Secondly, there comes to us a feeling of the 

 immensities. It was a red-letter day in our child- 



