IO4 Evolution of Life and Form. 



multiplication of these tlie whole universe of con- 

 crete objects is formed; each one of them is capable 

 of generating innumerable forms that reproduce 

 its own characteristic amid endless diversities of 

 subsidiary properties. 



It is not without interest that some of our scien- 

 tific men have tried to find unity amidst diversity, 

 and to discover the types of the animal kingdom 

 amid the innumerable diversities of the separated 

 animal forms. One of the most famous of those 

 men, Sir Richard Owen, tried to formulate an 

 archetype which should represent every fundamen- 

 tal characteristic of the vertebrate, like no particular 

 vertebrate but showing forth the qualities present 

 in every vertebrate ; he worked this out from a study 

 of vertebrates, setting aside the characteristics in 

 which they differ and synthesising into a single 

 form the qualities possessed by all. The reverse 

 process is what really occurred; the archetype 

 which came forth from the Divine Mind generated 

 in the world of matter myriad different types in 

 each of which it is itself expressed. That gleam of 

 genius which illuminated the mind of the modern 

 scientist is interesting as a ray from the conception 

 of creative action given in our sacred literature ; 

 and you will find, if you study carefully, that the 

 earliest forms are not concrete objects but genera- 



