_Speculative_ interest goes deeper and inquires
into the relations and causal connections of phenomena. It traces out
similarities and sequences, and detects law and unity in nature. It is
not satisfied with the simple play of variety, but seeks for the cause
and genesis of things. Even a child is anxious to know how a squirrel
climbs a tree or cracks a nut; where it stores its winter food, its
nest and manner of life in winter. Why is it that a mole can burrow
and live under ground? How is it possible for a fish to breathe in
water? _Esthetic_ interest is awakened by what is beautiful, grand,
and harmonious in nature or art. The first glance at great overhanging
masses of rock, oppresses us with a feeling of awe. The wings of an
insect, with their delicate tracery and bright hues, are attractive,
and stir us with pleasure. The graceful ferns beside the brooks and
moss-stained rocks suggest fairy-land.
But stronger even than these interests which attach us to the things of
nature, are the interests of _humanity_. The concern felt for others
in joy or sorrow is based upon our interest in them individually, and
is _sympathetic_. In this lies the charm of biography and the novel.
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