54 NATIONAL TRENDS IN BIOLOGY 



incomprehensible thing of this world; and in man the 

 mind is the most incomprehensible thing of all." There is 

 no transition between him and other animals ; even his 

 so-called nearest relatives show not the slightest trace of 

 intelligence. 



The intellectual man really seeks philosophical progress. 

 As one correspondent puts it : 



"Philosophical progress is the nearest thing to what our 

 nature seems to demand — perhaps one might say an up- 

 to-date religion. I would say that all demonstrations, espe- 

 cially geological, paleontological, or in general, truly 

 historical, that will yield facts rather than sympathetic 

 theories, will be important but accessory. Some are tired 

 of evolutionary work, others think the picture is not yet 

 plain enough to satisfy. 



"I would, therefore, place in order of importance, first 

 the demonstration of chemical homologies and sequences 

 in living protoplasm. I believe they will provide a coun- 

 terpart and largely an explanation of the ramifications 

 of morphological modifications. Second, the primary na- 

 ture of living protoplasm. These two are related, but I 

 think there is no doubt that the sticking point in biolog- 

 ical philosophy is the origin of life." 



We find the biologist's spirit depressed by the fact 

 that the intellectual phases of scientific progress enter so 

 slowly into the actual life of humanity. Whatever influ- 

 ence biologists may wield on the political, social, and 

 even religious thought of the day seems to come through 



