40 



INTRODUCTION. 



appeared ; the second half of our century does not ex- 

 pect to find the essence of knowledge condensed in any 

 philosophical formula, any more than it expects to find 

 the real unity and integrity of thought preserved in the 

 fragmentary articles of an alphabetical dictionary. The 

 purpose of the latter is purely practical; it is a popular 

 and handy instrument for the diffusion of knowledge, 

 whilst philosophical divisions are merely formal, and at 

 best are applicable only to a narrow and limited sphere 

 of research. 1 



The age of encyclopaedic representation of learning and 

 the short period of philosophical formalism seem both to 

 belong to the past; but the desire of bringing together 

 what is scattered, of focussing knowledge and learning, 

 and of realising the organic continuity and unity of 

 thought and progress, is as great as, perhaps greater than 

 ever. Neither the shapelessness of a huge dictionary nor 

 the barrenness of a concise formula will satisfy the deeper 



1 It is interesting to observe the 

 development and spread of encyclo- 

 paedic learning in the three coun- 

 tries. Encyclopaedias in the modern 

 sense have their origin, like so many 

 other modern institutions and ideas, 

 in England. They were there com- 

 piled mainly for practical purposes. 

 France took up the scheme in a 

 philosophical spirit, and carried it 

 as far as it is capable of being 

 carried under this aspect. At- 

 tempts to improve and amplify 

 the plan proved impracticable ; and 

 when subjected to the vast eru- 

 dition of Germany, it became evi- 

 dent that unity, depth, and breadth 

 of view could not be maintained. 

 In course of this century the coun- 

 try which produced the classical era 



of eneyclopaedism has done least for 

 encyclopaedic learning. This has 

 now its home in Germany, where 

 encyclopaedic labours have been 

 specialised, and where every science 

 is represented by some compilation 

 or annual register aiming at collect- 

 ing and systematically arranging the 

 scattered contributions of the whole 

 world. But it would be ungrateful 

 not to mention the Royal Society's 

 catalogue of scientific papers, and 

 the services which America has ren- 

 dered in summarising the literary 

 productions of the English-speaking 

 nations in such works as Poole's 

 ' Index to Periodical Literature. ' 

 Without the aid of such laborious 

 compilations the present work could 

 not have been undertaken. 



