The Extrinsic and Intrinsic Views of Nature 
29 
Creator should use more power than was 
necessary to accomplish a given end.” 
The result may he secured with a less 
expenditure of energy than Agassiz’s 
method would entail. But who knows 
that “ our idea of the divine wisdom ” 
is truthful ? It is only a human meta- 
phor ; but, being human, it is serviceable. 
Much of our thinking of nature is but 
the working out of propositions in logic, 
and logic is sometimes a substitute for 
fact. It is impossible to put ourselves 
in nature’s place, — if I may be allowed 
the personification, — that is, difficult to 
get the point of view of the thing which 
we are studying. If it were possible to 
get that point of view, it would be an 
end to much of our speculation : we 
should deal with fact. 
We hope that we are coming nearer 
to an intrinsic view of animals and 
plants; yet we are so intent on discover- 
ing what ought to be that we forget to 
accept what is. 
IV ould you begin by first reading to the 
child about nature ? No. The reading 
should come after, not before. Order 
will gradually come out of experience. 
The child should first come in contact 
with things rather than with ideas about 
things. This is the natural order. Ani- 
mals come before zoologv, plants before 
botany, fields and rocks before geology, 
words before language, religion before the- 
ology. Experience comes before theory. 
Shall we teach the child to collect , and 
thereby to kill ? How much or how 
little the collecting habit shall be en- 
FIG. IO. WINGS FULLY EXPANDED. 
FIG. 1 I. TESTING AND DRYING THE WINGS. 
By L. W. Brownell. 
FIG. 12 . THE PERFECT MILKWEED BUTTERFLY. 
