Science hath measured man in part; in the laboratory, science
points to an analysis of a man weighing a hundred and fifty
pounds. In one jar are ten or twelve quarts of water, in another
jar the lime, the ash, the carbon, the phosphates, and then a
tiny vial holding a little iodin, and a little phosphorus. But
that row of jars containing all the elements of the body must
not be labeled man. Beyond those jars is a certain immeasurable
element, an impalpable something, an invisible essence, a secret
spirit, a hidden power, that is fenced about with bones and
sinews, but that will suddenly compel you to laugh, to love,
to burn with moral indignation, and will spread out before
you a canvas and dim your eyes with tears; that will wave a
wonder-working wand woven of words, and show you an imperial
palace built yonder upon foundations of clouds, and then with
a stroke dissolve all, and leave not a wrack behind. These
twelve jars, analyzed by science, can not write poems or paint
pictures, or carve altars, or enact laws, or sing lullabies, or
create a Christmas tree.--N. D. HILLIS.
(2359)