CHAPTER XVI. 



The Preparation for Higher Life. 



T^HE entire scheme of life is one that is constantly reach- 

 ing out for something that is higher, better and more 

 perfect. Eivery effort of Nature is directed to the accom- 

 plishment of this purpose. From the first bacteria of plant 

 life and the first protozoa of animal life, there is one har- 

 monious blending of effort and a progressive betterment and 

 adaption of plants and animals to one another. 



These changes for the higher and better life may be 

 traced from the algae to the most highly developed plants 

 and from the first protozoa to man with persuasive and con- 

 vincing certainty. Before we reach the flowering plants and 

 the vertebrate animals, it is well to observe the preparation 

 for higher life and the blending of all the energies of Nature 

 into one harmonious effort in order that this result may be 

 accomplished. In doing this, it is necessary that the labors 

 of the geologist, the zoologist, the botanist, and many other 

 searchers be consulted and their findings used to demonstrate 

 the scheme of harmony. 



As a method of identifying the different strata of the 

 earth's crust and fossil life therein contained, geologic time 

 is divided into eras and these eras are again subdivided into 

 periods each representing the kind and thickness of the 

 deposits and the kind of life that lived on the earth during 

 the time that these deposits were being laid down. The 



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