Correspondents and Critics. 281 



direction, there is no evidence of one pursuing 

 and the other being pursued. If the frightened 

 man will stop, the snake will keep straight on, 

 and the conditions reversed, the man continuing 

 his course will pursue the snake. The present 

 great art of lying would be one of the minor 

 accomplishments if there had been no snakes 

 in the world. Fish have never damaged man's 

 veracity like the poor, much maligned serpents. 

 Is there, then, no good reason for rational inter- 

 pretation of Nature ? 



The secret of successful interpretation is very 

 largely the determination of the inter-relation 

 of phenomena. Isolated facts are merely parts 

 of a great whole, the recognition of which con- 

 stitutes knowledge. The mere gathering of 

 dissociated facts has been so long considered 

 the acquiring of an education, it is not to be 

 wondered at that we have so many learned 

 ignoramuses among us. Bald statements but 

 emphasize our ignorance. The robin builds a 

 mud-lined nest, the oriole a pendent one, the 

 bank-swallow burrows in the cliff; why? What 

 is our mere statement but evidence that we have 

 taken the first step and could not or will not 



