II 



EVOLUTION AND ETHICS 47 



pletely changed his views of the nature of things ; 

 though the story, not having been composed by, 

 or for, philosophers, has nothing to say about 

 views. 



My present enterprise has a certain analogy to 

 that of the daring adventurer. I beg you to 

 accompany me in an attempt to reach a world 

 which, to many, is probably strange, by the help 

 of a bean. It is, as you know, a simple, inert- 

 looking thing. Yet, if planted under proper con 

 ditions, of which sufficient warmth is one of the 

 most important, it manifests active powers of a 

 very remarkable kind. A small green seedling 

 emerges, rises to the surface of the soil, rapidly 

 increases in size and, at the same time, undergoes 

 a series of metamorphoses which do not excite our 

 wonder as much as those which meet us in 

 legendary history, merely because they are to be 

 seen every day and all day long. 



By insensible steps, the plant builds itself up 

 into a large and various fabric of root, stem, leaves, 

 flowers, and fruit, every one moulded within and 

 without in accordance with an extremely complex 

 but, at the same time, minutely defined pattern. 

 In each of these complicated structures, as in their 

 smallest constituents, there is an immanent energy 

 which, in harmony with that resident in all the 

 others, incessantly works towards the maintenance 

 of the whole and the efficient performance of the 

 part which it has to play in the economy of nature. 



