THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION. 599 



our brief terrestrial experience, can demonstrate, there lies on 

 every side a region with regard to which Science can only suggest 

 questions. As Goethe so profoundly says : 

 " Willst du ins Unendliche streiten, 

 Geh' nur im Endlichen nach alien Seiten." * 



It is of surpassing interest that the particular generalization 

 which has been extended into a universal formula of evolution 

 should have been the generalization of the development of an 

 ovum. In enlarging the sphere of life in such wise as to make 

 the whole universe seem actuated by a single principle of life, we 

 are introduced to regions of sublime speculation. The doctrine of 

 evolution, which affects our thought about all things, brings be- 

 fore us with vividness the conception of an ever-present God 

 not an absentee God who once manufactured a cosmic machine 

 capable of running itself except for a little jog or poke here and 

 there in the shape of a special providence. The doctrine of evo- 

 lution destroys the conception of the world as a machine. It 

 makes God our constant refuge and support, and Nature his true 

 revelation ; and when all its religious implications shall have been 

 set forth, it will be seen to be the most potent ally that Christian- 

 ity has ever had in elevating mankind. 



Mr. G. L. Gomme makes a distinction between the anthropological and the lit- 

 erary schools of folk-lorists. The work of the former has only just begun ; the 

 latter has been at work for a long time, although the results it has obtained do not 

 seem to be advancing beyond the dictum that what is recorded chronologically 

 earlier must be the parent of tbat which is recorded later, the second being the 

 central point of importance, not the thing recorded. The results of the anthro- 

 pological school show great and continuing advance. From analysis of folk tales 

 it becomes clear that in the majority of stories the central part of the plot is some 

 savage or rudely barbarous idea or custom. By analyzing custom and belief, and 

 tracing out their geographical distribution in each country, much would be gained 

 toward placing folk lore as one of the factors for elucidating the prehistoric life 

 of man. As examples of such analysis, baptism beliefs, witchcraft customs, the 

 burning of the clavie, and some sacrificial rites in Devonshire, were given in the 

 author's paper, and the evidence was pointed out which suggests that they contain 

 some unpublished details of the practices of the stone age. Further, Mr. Gomme 

 urged the importance of studying folk lore by exact methods. 



According to Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, of Kew Gardens, Alpine plants are 

 the reverse of hardy. He believes that they are for the most part intolerant of 

 very low temperature, and are certainly extremely impatient of humidity during 

 the comparatively long period when they are not in active growth. For these 

 reasons the collections at Kew are wintered under glass. These peculiarities are 

 accounted for by the fact that in nature, except for a short time, Alpine plants 

 are covered with snow, which keeps them dry and protects them from a very low 

 temperature. 



* [" If thou wouldst press into the infinite, go but to all parts of the finite."] 



