RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. 473 



III. RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT. 



The attempt to see Nature in her totality 

 and to probe for her central principle, is an 

 old one ; but such a search has fluctuated with 

 the ages. It may be said that Philosophy be- 

 gan with the Philosophy of Nature in the old 

 Greek philosophers (hence they were called 

 pliysiologoi}. The genius of Darwin has been 

 designated as biocosmical, being confined to 

 the province of Life; Newton on the other 

 hand was cosmical in his greatest work. One 

 of the noteworthy modern attempts to present 

 Nature as a whole was that of Humboldt in 

 his so-called Cosmos. Hegel in his Philos- 

 ophy of Nature took a still bolder flight, seek- 

 ing to synthesize the natural and the spiritual 

 world, wherein he connects with ancient Aris- 

 totle. Hegel in spite of his heavy and often 

 forced formalism has many excellent thoughts 

 about Nature; his book has been lashed by 

 modern German scientists with bitter vituper- 

 ation, still we dare confess that we find in it 

 a deeper view of Nature than in Humboldt 's 

 work. Particularly the part on Organic Life, 

 though in many details it is far behind the 

 science of today, has in it thoughts and dis- 

 tinctions which are truly universal and hence 

 valid for all time. Still we shall agree that 



