We  have  now  gone  over  all  those  grounds — both  of  doctrine  and
of  method.  Of  the  three  parts  of  mathematics.  Mechanics  is  con-
nected with  biology  in  the  scientific  point  of  view ;  and  geometry
in  the  logical :  while  both  rest  upon  the  analytical  theories  which
are  indispensable  to  their  systematic  development.
This  specification  of  the  relations  of  biology  determines  its  rank
in  the  hierarchy  of  sciences.  From  this  again  we  learn  the  kind
and  degree  of  perfection  of  which  biology  is  susceptible  ;  and,  more
directly,  the  rational  plan  of  preliminary  education  which  it  indi-
cates.
If  the  perfection  of  a  science  were  to  be  estimated
i)ro''6pe™of  th.!  by  the  means  of  its  pursuit,  biology  would  evidently
science.  exccl  all  others ;  for  we  can  concentrate  upon  it  the

whole  of  the  resources  of  observation  and  of  reasoning  offered  by
all  the  others,  together  with  some  of  high  importance  appropriate
to  itself.  Yet,  all  this  wealth  of  resources  is  an  insufficient  com-
pensation for  the  accumulated  obstacles  which  beset  the  science.
