﻿AGE 
  OF 
  THE 
  EARTH 
  — 
  CHAMBERLIN 
  AND 
  OTHERS. 
  265 
  

  

  scientific 
  men, 
  among 
  whom 
  were 
  paleontologists, 
  I 
  fear 
  the 
  speaker 
  

   neglected 
  to 
  do 
  what 
  he 
  should 
  have 
  done 
  and 
  as 
  Artemas 
  Ward 
  was 
  

   wont 
  to 
  do 
  in 
  like 
  case, 
  for 
  in 
  no 
  evidence 
  from 
  any 
  quarter, 
  whether 
  

   it 
  be 
  of 
  biology, 
  geography, 
  geology, 
  meteorology, 
  oceanography, 
  or 
  

   psychology, 
  is 
  there 
  the 
  slightest 
  justification 
  for 
  seriously 
  embalming 
  

   such 
  a 
  fancy 
  in 
  a 
  scientific 
  address 
  and 
  sending 
  it 
  abroad 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  

   for 
  the 
  daws 
  to 
  peck 
  at. 
  

  

  We 
  must 
  fasten 
  our 
  gaze 
  upon 
  such 
  impressive 
  evidence 
  as 
  can 
  

   now 
  be 
  adduced 
  of 
  the 
  duration 
  of 
  time 
  required 
  in 
  the 
  attainment 
  

   of 
  organic 
  specializations, 
  and 
  let 
  me 
  supplement 
  those 
  I 
  have 
  given 
  

   by 
  others 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  plant 
  world. 
  Casting 
  up 
  the 
  evidences 
  that 
  

   have 
  been 
  adduced 
  by 
  paleontologists 
  and 
  paleobotanists, 
  I 
  think 
  the 
  

   footings 
  show 
  very 
  positively 
  a 
  large 
  balance 
  of 
  argument 
  in 
  favor 
  

   of 
  the 
  great 
  conception 
  that 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  has 
  emerged 
  from 
  

   the 
  sea. 
  I 
  believe 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  said, 
  on 
  behalf 
  of 
  paleontologists 
  gener- 
  

   ally 
  and 
  their 
  broader 
  deductions, 
  that 
  these 
  are 
  happy 
  in 
  the 
  

   harmony 
  of 
  their 
  conclusions 
  in 
  this 
  matter 
  after 
  having 
  experi- 
  

   mented 
  with 
  and 
  checked 
  up 
  alternate 
  conceptions. 
  

  

  The 
  broader 
  lines 
  of 
  evolutionary 
  derivation 
  and 
  the 
  best 
  weighed 
  

   deductive 
  propositions 
  seem 
  to 
  intimate 
  a 
  convergence 
  of 
  the 
  life 
  

   lines 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  sea 
  and 
  a 
  radiation 
  from 
  it. 
  The 
  inception 
  of 
  life 
  

   was 
  the 
  most 
  solemn 
  moment 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  universe. 
  We 
  

   invite 
  certain 
  astronomers 
  to 
  refrain 
  from 
  further 
  speculations 
  and 
  

   presumptions 
  as 
  to 
  life 
  in 
  other 
  worlds, 
  and 
  followers 
  of 
  Arrhenius 
  

   from 
  pursuing 
  life 
  spores 
  through 
  interplanetary 
  space. 
  These 
  no- 
  

   tions 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  exciting 
  to 
  the 
  emotional 
  public 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  

   indeed 
  no 
  shred 
  of 
  evidence 
  of 
  these 
  things, 
  no 
  matter 
  what 
  physical 
  

   conditions 
  may 
  be 
  predicated 
  of 
  other 
  worlds 
  than 
  this. 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  

   the 
  evidence 
  of 
  outstanding 
  facts 
  and 
  major 
  probabilities 
  goes, 
  life 
  

   is 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  earth. 
  Into 
  this 
  solemn 
  event, 
  the 
  birth 
  of 
  life, 
  

   the 
  interaction 
  of 
  the 
  forces 
  requisite 
  to 
  emergence, 
  we 
  shall 
  not 
  here 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  pry. 
  We 
  look 
  back, 
  then, 
  to 
  a 
  primitive 
  period 
  of 
  life 
  in 
  

   the 
  sea, 
  the 
  Plankton 
  epoch, 
  the 
  place 
  and 
  stage 
  of 
  life's 
  emergence, 
  

   the 
  surface 
  life 
  ; 
  followed 
  by 
  a 
  Benthic 
  epoch, 
  the 
  secondary 
  stage 
  of 
  

   development 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  living 
  forms 
  had 
  found 
  the 
  shallower 
  sea 
  

   bottoms 
  and 
  thereupon 
  began 
  their 
  adaptations 
  and 
  more 
  rapid 
  

   evolution. 
  

  

  I 
  shall 
  now 
  borrow 
  freely 
  the 
  brilliant 
  conceptions 
  of 
  Church, 
  

   the 
  British 
  paleobotanist, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  procedure 
  among 
  the 
  plants 
  

   thence 
  forward 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  to 
  the 
  land, 
  an 
  act 
  which 
  implies 
  time 
  in 
  

   impressive 
  measures 
  and 
  yet 
  an 
  act 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  has 
  reversed 
  

   itself 
  in 
  later 
  geological 
  times, 
  at 
  least 
  among 
  the 
  animals, 
  with 
  

   nostalgic 
  energy 
  and 
  must 
  again 
  and 
  again 
  have 
  shown 
  a 
  like 
  rever- 
  

   sion 
  in 
  both 
  the 
  animal 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  plant 
  world. 
  We 
  see 
  suggestions 
  

  

  