250 THE LESSON OF EVOLUTION 



tous concourse of meteorites. When a writer of 

 stories wrecks his hero on an uninhabited island, on 

 which, from time to time, he finds everything he 

 wants to make himself comfortable, we think, as we 

 read, that the story cannot be true, because all these 

 useful things could not possibly have come to the 

 island by chance. It is just the opposite with the 

 story of the earth. In this case we know that the 

 statements are true. We know that all these useful 

 things were found when they were wanted. First 

 the silica and alumina for the earth's crust. Then 

 the carbon, nitrogen, and other materials for the 

 protoplasm. Then copper, iron and gold for man. 

 Here also we say that this cannot be due to chance r 

 and the only alternative is design. 



It is possible that in the meteoritic hypothesis we 

 may find an explanation of the relations between the 

 size of the earth, its internal temperature, and its- 

 distance from the sun ; although this is not likely, as- 

 there is no uniform gradation among the planets in 

 these matters. But, even if the temperatures of the 

 surface and of the interior of the earth were neces- 

 sarily well adapted for the development of life, still 

 the proportions between land and water might have 

 been unfavourable. Or, if this also was suitable, 

 there might not have been a due proportion of the 

 various elementary substances to allow continuous 

 existence of life ; for these different factors are in no 

 way related. 



It may be urged that, among an almost infinity of 

 worlds, we might expect to find an almost infinite 

 number of different combinations ; and it so happen? 



