Genius 

 Germ 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



278 



vent a man from acquiring habits of volun- 

 tary attention, and that moderate intellec- 

 tual endowments are the soil in which we 

 may best expect, here as elsewhere, the vir- 

 tues of the will, strictly so called, to thrive. 

 But, whether the attention come by grace of 

 genius or by dint of will, the longer one 

 does attend to a topic the more mastery of 

 it one has. And the faculty of voluntarily 

 bringing back a wandering attention, over 

 and over again, is the very root of judg- 

 ment, character, and will. No one is 

 compos sui if he have it not. JAMES Psy- 

 chology, vol. i, ch. 11, p. 424. (H. H. & Co., 

 1899.) 



1354. GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOLOGY, 



MEDIEVAL Travelers of Middle Ages Their 

 Works Dramatic The Public Ignorant and 

 Credulous. The earlier travelers of the 

 Middle Ages, as for instance John Mande- 

 ville (1353), Hans Schiltberger of Munich 

 (1425), and Bernhard von Breytenback 

 (1486), delight us even in the present day 

 by their charming simplicity, their freedom 

 of style, and the self-confidence with which 

 they step before a public, who, from their 

 utter ignorance, listen with the greater 

 curiosity and readiness of belief, because 

 they have not as yet learned to feel 

 ashamed of appearing ignorant, amused, 

 or astonished. The interest attached to 

 the narratives of travels was then al- 

 most wholly dramatic, and the necessary 

 and easily introduced admixture of the mar- 

 velous gave them almost an epic coloring. 

 The manners of foreign nations are not so 

 much described as they are rendered in- 

 cidentally discernible by the contact of the 

 travelers with the natives. The vegetation 

 is unnamed and unheeded, with the excep- 

 tion of an occasional allusion to some pleas- 

 antly flavored or strangely formed fruit, or 

 to the extraordinary dimensions of particu- 

 lar kinds of stems or leaves of plants. 

 Among animals, they describe, with the 

 greatest predilection, first, those which ex- 

 hibit most resemblance to the human form, 

 and next, those which are the wildest and 

 most formidable. The contemporaries of 

 these travelers believed in all the dangers 

 which few of them had shared, and the 

 slowness of navigation and the want of 

 means of communication caused the Indies, 

 as all the tropical regions were then called, 

 to appear at an immeasurable distance. Co- 

 lumbus was not yet justified in writing to 

 Queen Isabella, " the world is small, much 

 smaller than people suppose." HUMBOLDT 

 Cosmos, vol. ii, pt. i, p. 78. (H., 1897.) 



1355. GEOLOGY AND HISTORY, ANAL- 

 OGY OF The Present in the Past. By these 

 researches into the state of the earth and its 

 inhabitants at former periods, we acquire 

 a more perfect knowledge of its present con- 

 dition, and more comprehensive views con- 

 cerning the laws now governing its animate 

 and inanimate productions. When we study 

 history, we obtain a more profound insight 



into human nature, by instituting a com- 

 parison between the present and former 

 states of society. We trace the long series 

 of events which have gradually led to the 

 actual posture of affairs; and by connecting 

 effects with their causes, we are enabled to 

 classify and retain in the memory a multi- 

 tude of complicated relations the various 

 peculiarities of national character the dif- 

 ferent degrees of moral and intellectual re- 

 finement, and numerous other circumstances, 

 which, without historical associations, would 

 be uninteresting or imperfectly understood. 

 As the present condition of nations is the 

 result of many antecedent changes, some 

 extremely remote and others recent, some 

 gradual, others sudden and violent; so the 

 state of the natural world is the result of 

 a long succession of events ; and if we would 

 enlarge our experience of the present econ- 

 omy of Nature, we must investigate the ef- 

 fects of her operations in former epochs. 

 LYELL Principles of Geology, bk. i, ch. 1, p. 

 1. (A., 1854.) 



1356. Relative Utility Yet 



To Be Proved. The discovery of other sys- 

 tems in the boundless regions of space was 

 the triumph of astronomy; to trace the 

 same system through various transforma- 

 tions to behold it at successive eras adorned 

 with different hills and valleys, lakes and 

 seas, and peopled with new inhabitants, was 

 the delightful meed of geological research. 

 By the geometer were measured the regions 

 of space and the relative distances of the 

 heavenly bodies; by the geologist myriads 

 of ages were reckoned, not by arithmetical 

 computation, but by a train of physical 

 events a succession of phenomena in the 

 animate and inanimate worlds signs which 

 convey to our minds more definite ideas 

 than figures can do of the immensity of 

 time. 



Whether our investigation of the earth's 

 history and structure will eventually be pro- 

 ductive of as great practical benefits to man- 

 kind as a knowledge of the distant heavens, 

 must remain for the decision of posterity. 

 It \vas not till astronomy had been en- 

 riched by the observations of many centu- 

 ries, and had made its way against popular 

 prejudices to the establishment of a sound 

 theory, that its application to the useful 

 arts was most conspicuous. The cultivation 

 of geology began at a later period; and in 

 every step which it has hitherto made to- 

 wards sound theoretical principles it had 

 to contend against more violent preposses- 

 sions. The practical advantages already de- 

 rived from it have not been inconsiderable; 

 but our generalizations are yet imperfect, 

 and they who come after us may be expected 

 to reap the most valuable fruits of our 

 labor. Meanwhile, the charm of first discov- 

 ery is our own ; and, as we explore this mag- 

 nificent field of inquiry, the sentiment of a 

 great historian of our times may continu- 

 ally be present to our minds, that " he who 

 calls what has vanished back again into 



