﻿264 
  ANNUAL, 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  We 
  are 
  not 
  the 
  makers, 
  but 
  the 
  users, 
  of 
  time. 
  There 
  have 
  been 
  

   stages 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  our 
  science 
  when 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  treated 
  gin- 
  

   gerly 
  by 
  astronomers 
  and 
  physicists 
  in 
  the 
  allotment 
  of 
  time, 
  but 
  now 
  

   that 
  our 
  colleagues 
  in 
  celestial 
  mechanics 
  are 
  heaping 
  upon 
  us 
  their 
  

   munificence 
  in 
  the 
  prescription 
  of 
  this 
  heavenly 
  commodity, 
  we 
  are 
  

   content 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  interpreters 
  of 
  radiochemistry 
  — 
  we 
  thank 
  them 
  for 
  

   giving 
  us 
  what 
  we 
  already 
  had. 
  There 
  is 
  time 
  enough. 
  So 
  much, 
  

   indeed, 
  that 
  to 
  absorb 
  a 
  needful 
  share 
  of 
  it 
  into 
  the 
  philosophy 
  of 
  the 
  

   evolution 
  of 
  life 
  actually 
  requires 
  of 
  us 
  a 
  revision 
  of 
  our 
  conceptions. 
  

  

  I 
  should, 
  I 
  think, 
  take 
  passing 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  problem 
  

   as 
  to 
  how 
  species 
  have 
  originated 
  (one 
  from 
  another, 
  with 
  or 
  without 
  

   the 
  help 
  of 
  mutations, 
  variations, 
  or 
  variants 
  — 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  

   factors 
  which 
  have 
  controlled 
  their 
  production) 
  does 
  not 
  belong 
  to 
  

   paleontology. 
  Bateson, 
  speaking 
  recently 
  at 
  Toronto, 
  has 
  expressed 
  

   the 
  conviction 
  that 
  after 
  the 
  nearly 
  three-quarters 
  century 
  since 
  the 
  

   publication 
  of 
  Darwin's 
  Origin 
  of 
  Species 
  we 
  are 
  still 
  in 
  doubt 
  and 
  

   darkness 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  causes 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  species. 
  Incautious 
  as 
  it 
  

   seems, 
  that 
  expression 
  would 
  still 
  be 
  a 
  hopeful 
  one 
  if 
  it 
  means 
  that 
  

   in 
  this 
  relatively 
  brief 
  period 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  this 
  theme, 
  stimulated 
  by 
  

   Darwin, 
  has 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  elimination 
  of 
  an 
  extensive 
  array 
  of 
  supposed 
  

   factors, 
  so 
  that 
  if 
  the 
  buried 
  treasure, 
  if 
  it 
  is 
  really 
  the 
  treasure 
  he 
  

   has 
  thought, 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  found, 
  at 
  least 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  brush 
  has 
  

   been 
  cleared 
  away 
  from 
  about 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  it 
  lies 
  hid. 
  Both 
  

   laborers 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  living 
  nature 
  and 
  those 
  delving 
  among 
  the 
  

   past 
  creation 
  see 
  the 
  engrossing 
  fact 
  of 
  evolution, 
  but 
  see 
  it 
  out 
  

   of 
  different 
  eyes 
  ; 
  the 
  former 
  perhaps 
  as 
  one 
  would 
  see 
  a 
  vast 
  throng 
  

   gathered 
  together 
  to 
  acclaim 
  a 
  momentous 
  event, 
  a 
  great 
  victory 
  or 
  a 
  

   high 
  armistice 
  ; 
  the 
  latter 
  as 
  an 
  endless 
  army 
  marching 
  by, 
  its 
  van- 
  

   guard 
  already 
  out 
  of 
  sight 
  in 
  the 
  mists 
  of 
  the 
  horizon, 
  stragglers 
  

   along 
  the 
  way 
  falling 
  back 
  or 
  giving 
  up 
  in 
  hopelessness, 
  while 
  the 
  

   interminable 
  procession 
  ever 
  emerges 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  shadow. 
  

  

  Once 
  upon 
  a 
  time, 
  when 
  Walcott 
  was 
  first 
  bringing 
  out 
  his 
  won- 
  

   derfully 
  specialized 
  Cambrian 
  fossils 
  from 
  the 
  Burgess 
  shale, 
  I 
  said 
  

   to 
  the 
  discoverer 
  in 
  a 
  jocular 
  way, 
  " 
  Keep 
  on 
  and 
  you 
  may 
  find 
  the 
  

   remains 
  of 
  a 
  Cambrian 
  man." 
  In 
  the 
  recent 
  address 
  referred 
  to, 
  

   Bateson 
  ventures 
  more 
  solemnly 
  into 
  this 
  field. 
  " 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  asked 
  

   [I 
  am 
  quoting] 
  how 
  do 
  you 
  know, 
  for 
  instance, 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  

   mammals 
  in 
  paleozoic 
  times? 
  May 
  there 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  mammals 
  

   somewhere 
  on 
  the 
  earth, 
  though 
  no 
  vestige 
  of 
  them 
  has 
  come 
  down 
  

   to 
  us 
  ? 
  We 
  may 
  feel 
  confident 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  mammals 
  then, 
  but 
  are 
  

   we 
  sure 
  ? 
  In 
  very 
  ancient 
  rocks 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  orders 
  of 
  animals 
  

   are 
  represented. 
  The 
  absence 
  of 
  others 
  might 
  by 
  no 
  great 
  stress 
  of 
  

   imagination 
  be 
  ascribed 
  to 
  accidental 
  circumstances." 
  Considering 
  

   that 
  these 
  remarks 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  body 
  of 
  

  

  