OF BARON HUMBOLDT. 201 



" the most important object for the solution of 

 the naturalists." Studies which embrace the 

 minute investigation of separate branches of 

 science afford valuable material in unfolding 

 general laws, pervading the united life and 

 activity of our planet ; and perhaps may in their 

 progress aid to solve the apparent contradiction, 

 which is at first sight manifested, in the com- 

 bined effects produced by the ever-contending 

 forces of nature. They furnish us with general 

 ideas concerning the things created, be it the 

 matter which may form remote planets, or the 

 nearer tellurian phenomena ; they will elevate 

 our conceptions regarding the inexhaustible 

 resources of nature, and the immense scale of 

 her operations ; they will purify and pacify our 

 soul. The discovery of laws which not only 

 regulate the most delicate and intricate tissue 

 of matter, but govern also the archipelago of 

 dense nebulous spots, and the terrible vacuity 

 of the desert, seem endeavouring to adjust the 

 discord of the elements. A general perception 

 which enables us to recognise each separate 

 organism in its relation to the whole, and to 

 see in the plant or the animal less the individual 

 or the species ; but rather a form of nature 

 intertwined with the general process of evolu- 

 tion, will expand our intellectual capacities, 



