THE TREND OF EVOLUTION 153 



the development of an intellect capable of studying or appre- 

 ciating, even to the extent of wondering at, this marvelous 

 drama? Who could have foreseen in the earliest stages of 

 the association and dependence of individuals the future socie- 

 ties of ants or bees or men? Indeed, who at any stage in this 

 greatest drama of all time could have predicted the next scene, 

 much less the final ending? 



If to human intellect every former stage in this process 

 would have been unpredictable, what likelihood is there that 

 future stages may be predicted? Surely these considerations 

 should weigh heavily with anyone who attempts to forecast 

 even the next step in evolution and they should make it plain 

 that the final outcome is almost as completely hidden from us 

 as it was from the original amoeba. 



But in evolution, as in the succession of generations of indi- 

 viduals, there have been cycles which have repeated again and 

 again particular principles, problems, and solutions, just as 

 one theme may form the groundwork of a great symphony. 

 All that has been said of the impossibility of predicting the 

 course and outcome of evolution could have been said with 

 equal accuracy of the development of an individual. Who 

 that had not before witnessed the process of development 

 could possibly see in an egg the promise and potency of all 

 that will develop out of it, the complicated body, the remark- 

 able instincts, the emotions, intelligence, and consciousness, in 

 short, the personality of a human being? But, owing to the 

 fact that this process of development repeats itself again and 

 again with slight variations, it is possible to predict its general 

 course and outcome though not always its particular details. 

 And so in the case of evolution we find that certain principles 

 and cycles repeat themselves again and again and they make 

 it possible to foresee at least dimly and in ghostly outline the 

 mighty shadows and shapes of the future. 



It is in this spirit only and not with the vain imagining that 



