250 Address of John L. LeConte. 
. . o . . . . 
accord within reasonable limits, the picture is correct to that 
extent; at least, however bad the artist, the human face could 
nature to that of human contrivances evolved for definite 
purposes. 
If this kind of reasoning commends itself to you, and you 
thus perceive resemblances in the actions of the Ruler of the 
Universe to those of our own race, when prompted by the best 
and highest intellectual motives, you will be willing to accept 
the declaration of the ancient text, “He doeth not evil, and 
abideth not with the evil inclined. Whatever he hath done 1s 
good” ;* or that from our own canon of Scripture, “ With him 
is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.t 
The esthetic character of natural history, therefore, prevents 
the results of its cultivation from being worked out with the 
precision of a logical machine, such as with correct data of 
observation and calculation would be quite sufficient to form- 
ulate the conclusions of physical investigation. According as 
the perception of the relations of organic beings among them- 
selves becomes more and more enlarged, the interpretation of 
these relations will vary within limits: but we will be contin- 
ually approximating higher mental or spiritual truth. 
* Desatir, p. 2. Job, xii, 
