CONCLUSION. 821 



liave just indicated. Penetrating below the kingdom 

 of man into that of animals, we have there dis- 

 covered where the germ was formed, and this com- 

 pletes the doctrine of evolution and bears witness 

 to its truth. The evolution of myth went through 

 the regular process, by which it was formulated and 

 simplified, until it was resolved into all the sciences 

 and rational arts, and was thus transformed into a 

 positive science, passing through an ulterior stage of 

 myth and science before it took the definitive form 

 of a purely intellectual conception. 



We have seen that the source of myth is the same 

 as that of science, since perception is the condition 

 of both, and the process pursued is identical, although 

 the subject on which the faculty of thought is exercised 

 is changed. Therefore the problem of myth, which 

 includes every achievement of the human understand- 

 ing, and fills all sociology, is transformed into the 

 problem of civilization. Thought has run its course 

 in the vast evolution from myth to science, which is 

 rendered possible by the permanence and duration of 

 a powerful and vigorous race, and hence came the 

 gradual transition from the illusions which involve 

 the ignorance and servitude of the majority of the 

 people to truth and liberty, since these are released 

 from their earlier wrappings, and the human race rises 

 to a sense of its nobility and highest good. We have 

 considered this evolution as a whole and in its details, 

 and have seen that every achievement of the human 



