precision and trustworthiness of their labors. Yet, the 

 multitude of angular measurements, on the one hand, 

 and the detail of organic relations on the other, alike 

 aid in preparing the way for the attainment of higher 

 views of the laws of the universe. 



Those who look upon exact knowledge as exercising 

 a chilling influence on the aesthetic feelings, evidently 

 confound the disposition of mind in the observer at the 

 time he is pursuing his researches, with the ulterior 

 greatness of views resulting from investigation and the 

 exercise of thought. Thus, Mr. Macaulay declares, 

 (Essay on Milton,) speaking of the Poet, that " His 

 creed on such subjects will no more influence his poetry, 

 properly so-called, than the notions which a painter 

 may have conceived respecting the lachrymal glands, 

 or the circulation of the blood will affect the tears of 

 his Niobe, or the blushes of his Aurora." However 

 specious such a view may appear to the mind of the 

 unreflecting, yet it is easy to show its utter fallacy. The 

 painter who is absorbed in anatomical and physiological 

 details, may not experience a glow of imagination during 

 his laborious pupilage ; but the exact knowledge of 

 structures and functions which he has thus obtained, will 

 most certainly enable him to portray Nature with greater 

 truthfulness, and to carry his art to increased perfection. 

 The fact that the greatest painters and sculptors have 

 found it necessary to undergo a preliminary training in 

 anatomical studies, is, itself, sufficient to show the utter 

 groundlessness of Macaulay's opinion. Regarded in a 

 proper point of view, I am bold to say that no one will 

 deny that the painter who has acquired a correct know- 

 ledge of the physiology of lachrymation and blushing, is, 



