e and symbols. But the man of
science, who, forgetting the limits of philosophical inquiry, slides
from these formulae and symbols into what is commonly understood
by materialism, seems to me to place himself on a level with the
mathematician, who should mistake the x's and y's with which he works
his problems, for real entities--and with this further disadvantage, as
compared with the mathematician, that the blunders of the latter are of
no practical consequence, while the errors of systematic materialism may
paralyze the energies and destroy the beauty of a life."]

ON CORAL AND CORAL REEFS (1870)

[Footnote 110: On Coral and Coral Reefs: from Critiques and Addresses.
The essay was published in 1870.]

[Footnote 111: Sic et curalium: Thus also the coral, as soon as it
touches the air turns hard. It was a soft plant under the water.]

[Footnote 112: Boccone (1633-1704): a noted Sicilian naturalist.]

[Footnote 113: Marsigli (1658-1730): an Italian soldier and naturalist.
He wrote A Physical History of the Sea.]

[Footnote 114: "Traite du Corail": "I made the coral bloom in vases full
of sea-water, and I noticed that what we believe to be the flower of
this so-called plant was in reality only an insect similar to a little
nettle or polype. I had the pleasure to see the paws or feet of this
nettle move, and having placed the vase full of water in which the coral
was, near the fire, at a moderate heat, all the little insects expanded,
the nettle stretched out its feet and formed what M. de Marsigli and
I had taken for the petals of the flower. The calyx of this so-called
flower is the very body of the animal issued from its cell."]

[Footnote 115: Reaumur (1683-1757): a French physiologist and
naturalist, best known as the inventor of the Reaumur thermometer. He
was a member of the French Academy of Science.]

[Footnote 116: Bishop Wilson: Thomas Wilson (1663-1755), bishop of the
Isle of Man. Details of his life are given in the folio edition of his
works (1782). An appreciation of his religious writings is given by
Matthew Arnold in Culture and Anarchy. Bishop Wilson's words, "To make
reason and the will of God prevail," are the theme of Arnold's essay,
Sweetness and Light.]

[Footnote 117: An eminent modern writer: Matthew Arnold (1822-1888),
eldest son of Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby; a distinguished critic
and poet, and professor of poetry at Oxford. The allusion is to Arnold's
essay, Sweetness