FROM DUST TO DUST. 51 



terms " adaptation " and "the survival of the fittest." We probably 

 all know what is implied by these terms, but it will be as well to 

 bear in mind that organisms do not adapt nor fit themselves to 

 their environment, but they are compelled by the conditions of 

 their environment to harmonise with it, or to die : in short, they 

 are conditioned by their enviroment. A better term than "survival 

 of the fittest " has been suggested in " the survival of the least 

 unfit." It is not always, therefore, the fittest organisms which 

 survive, but those which are best adapted to their external relations 

 by the conditions which environ them. 



When we speak of Life we must not forget that, besides the 

 life of the individual, there is a continuous life from individual to 

 individual, stretching back to its most remote first appearance 

 upon our planet. The Evolution of Life, in its broadest sense, is 

 in a chain, the links of which are composed of cyclical existences. 

 This chain may be compared to the rolling wave, made by the 

 impetus of separate particles of water, each of which moves in a 

 cycle and returns to its former position of rest. 



* " An entire history of anything must include its appearance 

 out of the imperceptible, and its disappearance into the imper- 

 ceptible." in order to have a beginning we must therefore assume 

 that the Earth was composed of the primary rocks. Upon these 

 solid rocks the action of heat, cold, rain, and frost has been and 

 is continually causing degradation, erosion, grinding, denudation, 

 and alluviation. To their weathered products we apply the name 

 of " Soil." The various component parts of the earth-surface are 

 thus being continually mixed up, so that we have a Mechafiical 

 Integration, which very quickly passes into a Chemical Composition. 



Recent Science has shown that this " soil " is incapable of sus- 

 taining vegetable hfe, even in its lowest forms, until it has under- 

 gone some change by exposure to the air, or, rather, to what the 

 air contains. If we take soil and sterilise it — a very difficult thing 

 to effect completely, except by burning it — nothing, with the 

 exception of certain micro organisms or nitro-monads, will grow in 

 it. It is true that certain spores and seeds will germinate, but 

 only thrive for so long as they can live upon the nourishment 



* Herbert Spencer, First Principles, § 93. 



