60 NATUKALHISTOKY 



These arts, in their lowest forms, alone minister 

 directly to the physical wants of man. It is in 

 obedience to the commands of this higher power of 

 mind, to which their beauty is addressed, that 

 Genius has brought them to their present degree of 

 perfection. Whatever they have of beauty or 

 sublimity, has been given to them to meet the 

 demands of Taste. To them we may look to see 

 what drafts have been made from Natural History. 

 While Genius has explored the field of thought, his 

 work was not done till he added to these immaterial 

 beauties the crystal and flower and forms of sensi- 

 tive life beautiful in themselves, and symbolic of 

 those higher beauties beyond the reach of the 

 senses. By marking the road along which Taste 

 has led her votaries, we may learn where her 

 onward path must lie, and how far Natural History 

 can furnish material for building or adorning the 

 beautiful structures which she demands. 



The adorning of thought, by language not needed 

 for its mere expression that portion created at the 

 demand of Taste is one of the highest works of 

 genius, and for this alone natural objects would be 



