684 THE HUMAN PERIOD 



zoic era, as long as the Cenozoic or the Paleozoic, or an eon as long 

 as the cosmic and the biotic ones, may quite as well be predicted as 

 anything less. The forecast is at best speculative, but an optimistic 

 outlook seerns more likely to prove true than a pessimistic one. An 

 immeasurably higher evolution than that now reached, with attain- 

 ments beyond present comprehension, is a reasonable hope. 



The forecast of an eon of intellectual and spiritual development 

 comparable in magnitude to the prolonged physical and biotic 

 evolutions lends to the total view of earth-history great moral 

 satisfaction, and the thought that individual contributions to the 

 higher welfare of the race may realize their fullest fruits by con- 

 tinued influence through scarcely limited ages, gives value to life 

 and inspiration to personal endeavor. 



