8o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ral Philosophy " a book which he had studied more than any other 

 work of science I read on the fly-leaf, written by his own hand, these 



words : 



"In Nature's infinite book of secrecy 

 A little I can read." ShaJcesjjeare. 



And clid he not read a little " in Nature's infinite book of secrecy " ? 

 and did he not read that little carefully and well ? May we all read 

 our little in that book as modestly and as reverently as did Joseph 

 Henry I 



^ 



THE EYOLUTION OF ORGANIC FORM. 



By CHAELES MOREIS. 



WHAT does the story of life upon the earth teach us concerning 

 the unfoldment of organic form? Is the human figure a 

 chance result of an evolutionaiy force which might have pursued some 

 quite diiferent direction ; or are the laws of development such as to 

 lead inevitably toward the form of man as their highest organic 

 product? This is a question admitting of a more definite answer 

 than may at first thought appear, as we hope to show by a rapid sur- 

 vey of the various stejss of the process. 



And, first, it must be borne in mind that Nature's efforts at animal 

 and plant formation have been on no contracted scale. The varying 

 forms produced have been almost multitudinous. They exist at pres- 

 ent in the greatest variety. But the present is only the apex of a 

 long succession of life-epochs, each with its special organic group. 

 We must multiply the existing forms by thousands of such epochs to 

 obtain any adequate idea of the whole broad field of life. Plainly, 

 then. Nature has not dealt sparsely with the subject, but has produced 

 a most generous profusion of differing forms. Hence, narrow as is 

 the field of the earth, there is reason to believe that the form-evolving 

 principle has had full opportunity here to act. and that it has selected 

 out the most favorable line of development from the many directions 

 attempted. 



Life is an incessant battle a battle for food, and a battle for 

 safety. The total quantity of food is limited. The powers of or- 

 ganic increase are unlimited. Thus a fight for food becomes neces- 

 sary ; a conflict in which no quarter is asked and none given. Victory 

 inclines to the strongest and best armed. The successful combatant 

 must have powers of defense against all Nature's attacks, and of as- 

 sault against all Nature's defenses. In other words, the organism best 

 adapted to its environment will win. 



And this incessant weeding-out process is not confined to mature 



