Those who have tried to grasp and not merely read about the nature-consciousness developed in Goethe, know how elusive this child of the 18th century can be. For no sooner do you grasp what appears to be a limb (or branch), then at once the fragile form disappears. You hold in your hand something akin to the carbon structure of the thing or a burnt etching, but the living experience awaits the next effort of perception.