Убийство на улице Морг

           WhatsongtheSyrenssang,orwhatnameAchilles 

           assumedwhenhehidhimselfamongwomen, 

           althoughpuzzlingquestionsarenotbeyondall 

           conjecture. 

           —SirThomasBrowne, Urn-Burial. 

           Thementalfeaturesdiscoursedofastheanalytical,are,inthemselves,butlittlesusceptibleofanalysis. Weappreciatethemonlyintheireffects. Weknowofthem,amongotherthings,thattheyarealwaystotheirpossessor,wheninordinatelypossessed,asourceoftheliveliestenjoyment. Asthestrongmanexultsinhisphysicalability,delightinginsuchexercisesascallhismusclesintoaction,sogloriestheanalystinthatmoralactivitywhichdisentangles. Hederivespleasurefromeventhemosttrivialoccupationsbringinghistalentsintoplay. Heisfondofenigmas,ofconundrums,ofhieroglyphics;exhibitinginhissolutionsofeachadegreeofacumenwhichappearstotheordinaryapprehensionpreternatural. Hisresults,broughtaboutbytheverysoulandessenceofmethod,have,intruth,thewholeairofintuition. Thefacultyofre-solutionispossiblymuchinvigoratedbymathematicalstudy,andespeciallybythathighestbranchofitwhich,unjustly,andmerelyonaccountofitsretrogradeoperations,hasbeencalled,asifparexcellence,analysis. Yettocalculateisnotinitselftoanalyze. Achess-player,forexample,doestheonewithouteffortattheother. Itfollowsthatthegameofchess,initseffectsuponmentalcharacter,isgreatlymisunderstood.