204 MAN, THE ANIMAL 



too much in the habit of attributing to one cause, 

 that which is produced by several." This impor- 

 tant generalization needs to be emphasized in our 

 time when hasty conclusions are being spread 

 abroad as a "cure all" for the conditions of this 

 age. 



Man has come to have almost complete control 

 of the inorganic universe through the application 

 of the scientific method. The great generaliza- 

 tions of science are established and he now turns 

 his attention to their application. In all of the 

 manifold applications which are being made, man 

 is able actually to create very little because the 

 vaster portion of Nature was already in existence 

 before man appeared. As he rushes hither 

 and yon every now and then he discovers that 

 the only sudden thing in Nature is a catastrophe 

 which is always destructive, and he is driven to 

 stop and ponder over his inability to produce sud- 

 den changes. After a time he may come to real- 

 ize that his difficulty is that he has not recognized 

 the limitations of his own body and the laws that 

 govern it as well as the laws that regulate the 

 non-living world. Herein lies the reason for the 

 discussion that follows, namely, the limitations 

 which Nature has placed and their relation to 

 progress. 



Has structural evolution come to an end? Yes, 

 it ended when homo sapiens became distinct from 



