that branch of philosophy which deals with the principles of beauty in nature and art. Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and other ancient philosophers recognized the science of the beautiful, but modern systems of esthetics date from the middle of the eighteenth century. At that time the German philosopher Baumgarten advanced a theory that the mind possessed a special power for appreciating the beautiful, and that this power did not depend upon the intellect, though the intellectual power might be necessary to develop the esthetic power. There are now two schools of esthetics. One considers the great works of art to form the standards of beauty. Starting with these and the most perfect models of nature, this school seeks to create a new work, in which shall be combined as many as possible of the features of the original. The other school considers the most perfect elements of beauty to be found in the works of nature and believes that it is by combining these elements that the greatest works of art, such as the Apollo Belvedere, have been produced. This school considers the ability to select these elements to be due to the esthetic power of the mind, and that it is by this power that one's ideals of the beautiful are formed.