Geology 



At the present time there is much diversity of opinion 

 as to the way in which life first appeared upon the Earth. 

 Some men of science still hold the view that there is a 

 fundamental and essential difference between living and 

 non-living matter, while others maintain that ere long 

 the production of the animate from the inanimate will 

 merely be a question of chemical and physical manipula- 

 tion, and that the so-called spontaneous generation of 

 life may be going on all around us without our having 

 discovered it as yet. 



It has been, recently demonstrated that the eggs of 

 the sea-urchin can be caused to develop into complete 

 animals in the absence of the male element, and it has 

 also been stated with good reason, that should we succeed 

 in producing living from non-living matter, so simple 

 might be the type, and so obscure its activities, that we 

 might not at first recognize it as possessing the properties 

 and activities which we associate with the idea of life. 



Be that as it may, and time will undoubtedly bring 

 forth the truth of the matter, at some remote period in 

 the Earth's history living matter appeared upon its 

 surface, and it is the general belief of those who have 

 applied scientific methods to the investigation of such 

 matters, that all the varied forms of life, both plant and 

 animal, not excluding the higher animals, of which man 

 is one, have by a slow and gradual process of evolution 

 developed from this primeval living matter, newer and 

 more highly specialized types coming into existence in 

 response to various stimuli imparted by changing con- 

 ditions of general surroundings, such as climate, the 

 competition for food and habitation, and the general 

 struggle for existence. 



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