THE CORRELATION 



OF 



VITAL AND PHYSICAL FORCES. 



In the Syracusan Poecile, says Alexander von Hum- 

 boldt in his beautiful little allegory of the Rhodian 

 Genius, hung a painting, which, for full a century, had 

 continued to attract the attention of every visitor. In 

 the foreground of this picture a numerous company of 

 youths and maidens of earthly and sensuous appearance 

 gazed fixedly upon a haloed Genius who hovered in 

 their midst. A butterfly rested upon his shoulder, and 

 he held in his hand a flaming torch. His every lineament 

 bespoke a celestial origin. The attempts to solve the 

 enigma of this painting whose origin even was unknown 

 though numerous, were all in vain, when one day a 

 ship arriving from Rhodes, laden with works of art, 

 brought another picture, at once recognized as its com- 

 panion. As before, the Genius stood in the center, but 

 the butterfly had disappeared, and the torch was reversed 

 and extinguished. The youths and maidens were no 

 longer sad and submissive, their mutual embraces an- 

 nouncing their entire emancipation from restraint. Still 



