Nature of the Universe 3 



the period in which one's life falls, working in ac- 

 cordance with the modes and presuppositions and 

 limitations of that period, at last one wishes to look 

 over the whole, quite irrespective of these modes and 

 presuppositions and Hmitations ; one wishes to come to 

 some preliminary conclusions. Whether these are novel 

 or entertaining or satisfactory to others, whether they 

 agree with the tone of the period in science or else- 

 where — all this is quite irrelevant ; one merely wishes 

 to discover what seems vahd. It is such preliminary 

 conclusions that I shall bring before you. I shall state 

 these conclusions as definitely and clearly as I can, 

 not asserting them dogmatically to be correct, but in 

 order, if possible, to avoid misunderstanding as to 

 their meaning. 



Possibly it will turn out that, in the opinion of some 

 of you, what this particular specimen shows is merely 

 how unsatisfactory and objectionable is the outlook to 

 which one comes — at least to which one person has 

 come — ^through the study of biology. But I must re- 

 mind you that, even so, the specimen will have served 

 its purpose ; and this is a great comfort to the lecturer. 

 He will at least have shown to what sort of errors the 

 study of biology may lead. I must beg of you to keep 

 in mind at all times my function as a specimen ; it cov- 

 ers a multitude of sins. 



The purpose of these lectures then will be to try to 

 show what positive outlook on life and the world is 

 given by the study of biological science ; and how this 

 differs, if at all, from the outlook based on physics, or 

 from the outlook presented in some of the religions of 



