316 * ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



are apparent even in the first chapter, 'On the pleasurable Emo- 

 tions excited by the Contemplation of Nature and the Study of 

 her Laws, with Remarks upon the Limits prescribed to a Scien- 

 tific Delineation of the Physical Phenomena of the Universe.' 

 Nature is viewed first as a source of pleasure in her effects upon 

 the aesthetic feelings ; and, secondly, as a source of knowledge 

 in her effect upon the mind : the design is to show that the 

 one need not interfere with the other, and that it is possible 

 to create a physical science which shall satisfy the cravings of 

 the intellect and at the same time gratify the soul's longing 

 for the beautiful. The c Survey of Nature ' the description of 

 Physical Phenomena is the result of an endeavour to call into 

 existence such a science. In these pages both elements are 

 united, the details of scientific investigation being arranged and 

 subordinated to the requirements of the ideal ; superfluous detail 

 not easily arranged according to this plan finds place in the 

 notes, which, besides ' some facts scarcely within the compass of 

 general knowledge,' l contain information of a specific charac- 

 ter, so as occasionally to intrench upon the contents of the 

 concluding volumes. The idea is indeed suggested that these 

 later volumes, had not the material been so voluminous, might 

 have been compressed into the notes to the c Survey of Nature : ' 

 the work would undoubtedly have gained in unity of design. 



The objective representation of physical phenomena in the 

 first volume is confronted in the second volume by the subjective 

 apprehension of Nature as reflected in the human mind ; this 

 reflection also shows a twofold aspect, whether seen projected 

 on to the imaginative faculties or on to the reasoning powers. 

 As a prelude to the ' History of the Eise and Progress of 

 Science,' the second volume opens with a description of the 

 enjoyment to be derived from Nature in a chapter bearing the 

 non-distinctive title of ' Incitements to the Study of Nature,' as 

 evinced in poetic descriptions of scenery, landscape painting, 

 and the pleasurable occupation of gardening. The whole of 

 the second volume is devoted to the history of the rise and pro- 

 gress of science, both in its ideal and didactic form a defini- 

 tion of which had been given in the introduction to the first 

 volume and a fuller development in the ' Survey of Nature.' 



1 ' Briefe an Varnhagen,' p. 91. 



