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rilE DISCIPLINE OF ART Letter II.—To A a...
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Oomtk's Positive Philosophy. Iiy (It. It...
tion ( i . e ., of throwing off cells similar to itself , ) is so great , that extensive tracts of snow are reddened quite suddenly hy the Prolococeus nivalis ( red snow . ) "In _sueh a celV continues Dr . Carpenter , " every organized fabric , however complete , originates . The vast tree , almost a forest in itself the zoophyte , in which we discover the lowest indications of animality _^ -and the feeling , thinking , intelligent man—each springs from a germ that differs in no obvious particular , from the permanent condition of one of those lowly beings . "
I point to this identity of the biological series , and to the necessity of what I term the processional method of studying the series , for the sake of making more apparent the indispensable method of comparison . Only by studying the varieties of the organism , as _manifested in its increasing complexity of structure and intensity of power , can we rightly appreciate it . Cuvier well says , that the examination of the comparative anatomy of an or ° _-an , in its ascending gradation from the simplest to the most complex
state ( or , as he and the majority of French writers prefer to study it , in the descending degradation , from the most complex to the most simple , ) is equivalent to an experiment which consists in removing successive portions of the organ with a view to ascertain its essential part . Take , for example , the ear . The essential part is unquestionably the vestibule ; all the other portions , the semicircular canals , the cochlea , the tympanum and its contents , are successive additions corresponding with the increasing perceptive
powers . Comparative Anatomy is therefore the basis of Philosophical Anatomy , and before we can understand the Laws of Life it is indispensable that we embrace the whole immense variety of vital phenomena : a stupendous task , and one which , with Comte , we may justly regard as one of the greatest testimonies to the power of man's intellect . It is requisite , says Comte , to distinguish the diverse aspects in which biological comparison may be viewed . First , Comparison between the various parts of each organism ; Second , Between the sexes _; Third , Between the diverse phases presented in the ensemble of development ; Fourth , Between the races or varieties of each species ; Fifth , Between all the organisms of the hierarchy .
In the researches I have for some time been conducting , with a view to the discovery of the law of reproduction , the necessity for a constant recurrence to the comparative method has vividly impressed itself on my mind ; and I would point also to the equally fundamental question of assimilation as another illustration . Seeing that the first stage in the transformation of inorganic into organic matter takes place in vegetable assimilation , and that all the subsequent transformations into higher tissues are but modifications of that one process , it is clear that * the elementary laws of assimilation may more easily be detected in the vegetable than in the animal world . *
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Rile Discipline Of Art Letter Ii.—To A A...
rilE DISCIPLINE OF ART Letter II . —To A a . We were to consider the working of the influence of Art through the passions , even those that are considered to be the most worthy of suppression —and notably the impulse of destruction . Murder and slaughter , in their various forms , have engaged the hands df the finest artists in every branch . —in poetry , painting , and music , —with a constancy too marked to permit a doubt whether such subjects are suitable for art , even in the highest . It does not require much reflection to point out the true reason . In the
midst of life we are in death ; but also , in the midst of death we are in life . Of all the vital functions that we know , death is the most transient ; so far as we understand it , it is but the portal to life of other kinds , whether in the mere material form , as in the transformation of the elements which constitute organized beings , or in that other form to which our instincts regularly point : in any ense it is one of th _^ j primitive , essential , and perfectly natural functions of life . Life , however , clings to itself , and death , which terminates one form of life , constitutes that which life avoids
with the most steadfast energy . It is not true that on all occasions selfpreservation is the strongest of instincts , but on the average it is eminently true . Death , therefore , besides being a primary and essential function of life , and therefore a proper clement in that which constitutes the reflex of lde , is also a test of the other vital forces , which either inflict or conquer it . Tiie living creature , which iu its superior strength has the power of indicting death upou another , especially when that other is powerful and able in contest , puts his own energy to a manifest and strong test ; even be who contends against death , when it does come , if it come vigorously , exhibits to the eyes in strong force the power of resisting the fate that all living creature * dread . The contest between the Centaur and Lapitha ,
which we see in one of the obscure streets of Florence , displays this energy ni both its aspects , —tbe conqueror and the conquered . The Lapitha partly bestrides the Centaur , dragging back his head by the hair , and he is about to dash a horn-like weapon into the face of the victim . The struggling energy of fhe Centaur is full of life , strained to its utmost bent , even up to the point where it is abruptly to terminate . The , Lapitha , with wellknit joints , muscles that , contract by the force of life in every part , and action that dashes into its work with an agility perfectly master over itself , _tf'ves us the aspect of a fellow creature thoroughly possessing his own life "' such degree , that be who contends against it must succumb . In this < ase wc have indeed nothing more than an exhibition of intense physical For tho Comte Subscription Fund I _hayo to acknowledge the receipt of 11 , from M .
Rile Discipline Of Art Letter Ii.—To A A...
energy ; but that is so complete , thfe _actibrt is so symmetrical , that even the vehemence of the death contest , natural ki evety action is , does iibt _destroy the beattty and symmetry of the _composition ; as indfe _^ d all _perfectly constituted frames , when they are most pressed for energetic work , show in the most vivid form the beauties of their action . Besides this display of vitality ; we cannot fail as fellow creatures to sympathize in the wonderful skill and adroitness of the artist , so to grasp vehement action
which would toss and whirl about the _stene of contest , to bring it down to one point or space of time without destroying its breathing vitality , and to fix it there foT our contemplation through successive ages . The comprehension of life that he possesses , the power of hand , the sympathy that he must have felt for all that belonged to that energetic vitality—these ate the things trbieh , long after he has sunk in the tomb , come Over us with the sense of him , of his feelings , and of his power , that reflects back upon ourselves and makes us more conscious of what our race can do , either in
the shape of a John of Bologna , the artist , or in the shape of combatants combating for life . In this groupe , the mortal action is not accomplished , and is not , so to speak , protracted for our contemplation ; but in other works it is . The poets especially have delighted to dwell on the fiercest and most ghastly scenes of death-giving . In the poem from which this subject is taken , for example , in the Metamorphoses , Ovid has revelled in an abundance and
diversity of mortal wounding ; and we can all remember how beautiful the episode of _Cyliarus and Hylotiome bursts forth from the scene of tumult , doubly contrasting with that in its simplicity and sweetness . The episode sends us back to the scene of death with the stronger sympathy for those who succumb , but with an equal sense that not even that scene of hideous confusion could extinguish the Stately beauty o f CyllarUs , or the tenderness of Hylotiome . There is a redemption for all such natures , _whithersoever they may be born .
Thus , again , in the episode of Angelica and Medoro you are made , with the hero , to taste the bitterness of death . He and his fellow servant , Cloridano , find their master dead on the field of battle , and determine to carry away the body for burial . They are pursued , and Cloridano , presuming that his fellow would accompany him , drops the body , and runs off . Medoro , however , remains , and turning against the pursuers , resolves to defend the body to the last . Cloridano , finding he is not followed , surmises what has happened , goes back to see his companion sink under the swords of the enemy , rushes forth , and is killed . Medoro , however , has sustained the combat well and bravely against accumulating wounds . He faces the numbers ; he is struck many times , but continues fighting like a she bear for its young . The captain of the pursuers approachies him , and
is about to inflict the last wound , but , struck by the beauty of the youth's countenance , he has not the heart to finish him , and he rides off . Medoro falls under the wounds he has received , and thus he is found by the Princess Angelica , who carries him off , cures him , and marries him . m the process , however , the poet describes with minuteness and force the succession of emotions that swayed Modoio , and also the ruder Cloridano—the resolution , the suffering , the grief , the bitterness of coming death , and , finally , the sense of death itself ; and yet , although you have the intensest sense , through many lines , of the blood and tears , it is impossible to deny that the admiration of the poet's force , the moral admiration of the living subject , are accompanied by a sense of happiness enhanced , rather than marred , by the ghastlier traits of the incident .
And why ? Not simply because there is a didactic "' victory over death ;" for , to a certain extent , the evil is unredeemed . The attack of the pursuers is a wanton sally , altogether against the principles of any peace party that ever lived ; and the death of Cloridano is a plain sacrifice . Nevertheless , besides the action and energy , which always excite sympathy ; besides the beauty of tbe motives that urge the two young men—the unflinching fidelity of the more beautiful Medoro , and the returning steadfastness of Cloridano when be finds the danger of his companion—besides these objects for admiration , there is drawn forth in the mind a sense of the nature of the two , and especially of Medoro's . By no other means could you be so conscious of the qualities of such a nature . The courage ,
the physical energy accompanying it , tbe tenderness , the physical beauty , the capacity of tbat physical beauty for happiness and for sympathy , —all these qualities are tested and set forth by the action of the story , with a vividness impossible to any other process , l ' oti will observe , however , that they are , qualities which concern the action of life in the highest degree _. You will observe , too , that they are shown carrying on their force against every opposing force : against death , fear , despair . Such as Medoro may live and never put their qualities to teats of the kind ; but when the occasion arises , and tbe true _lumper of tbe quality is tested , then the victim : becomes a sponsor for the rest of his kind , a spohsor indeed for himself iu his past life ; aud b y this great sacrifice , wc become newly aware of elements which contribute to life in its finest essence .
The emotions which attend the approach of death have been a frequent subject , with the , finest _mntrieinns , but perhaps there is no mote beautiful example than the long scene in which Rossini makes Desdemona iiwait the approach of her murderer , Otello . The story is well known , through Shakespeare ' s version , nnd 1 might point to Shakespeare himself us a familiar specimen of the same truth . But in the opera _Dcsdethona expects her fate with u more distinct foreboding , dwells upon it with a more undisguised terror , and yet , in the long romance which she _sittgs , as recalling
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1852, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17071852/page/21/
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