39 



and the uniform development of the cosmos as 

 a whole, including all the heavenly bodies. 

 "Included" in this vast universal evolution is 

 the evolution of our own little world, and it 

 occupies "a scarcely perceptible period of time, 

 barely a minute, and of this minute a small 

 fraction, (that nevertheless, according to geol 

 ogists, lasted millions of years), was occupied 

 by the evolution of organic life before the ap 

 pearance of man." We have already seen that 

 this process of evolution had either ceased or 

 was interrupted at the entrance of life upon this 

 planet, and that Father Wasmann was obliged 

 to assume "a so-called creation" of the first 

 organisms to account for the appearance of life. 

 Two great links in the chain of evolution are 

 yet to be accounted for by the theistic evolu 

 tion, and as these are the two that most con 

 cern us, we are not a little disappointed to find 

 that when Father Wasmann approaches them 

 he becomes nebulous and obscure. These two 

 are, first, the development of organic life from 

 its appearance on the globe down to man, and 

 next the evolution of man. In the organic 

 world down to man, Father Wasmann seems 



