EVOLUTION THE MASTER-KEY 



single unit of living matter. Such is the assertion 

 to which very few dissentients are known among men 

 of science at the present day. Of course I must 

 assign the reasons which have led to the formula- 

 tion and acceptance of this dogma; but before 

 doing so I must just enumerate, as if no dogma 

 had yet been framed, the possibilities as to the 

 origin of life on this planet. The possible theories 

 are three, with a semi- jocular one thrown in. In 

 the first place, it is possible that the minutest and 

 simplest forms of living matter are being constant- 

 ly produced, wherever the conditions are suitable, 

 to-day as yesterday, and ever since the temperature 

 of the earth's surface was cool enough to permit 

 of the presence of water in its liquid form. This 

 doctrine is in harmony with the laws of continuity 

 and of evolution, which are the most universal and 

 invaluable of all modern conceptions. It is sup- 

 ported by the fact that the earth is everywhere 

 flooded with the lowest forms of life. But, as we 

 have seen, the prevailing scientific belief is a denial 

 of this possibility. 



On the contrary, this belief asserts that, at the 

 present day, every living thing must have living 

 progenitors omne vivum ex vivo. This assertion 

 is, of course, immediately faced with the necessity 

 of stating how the first living thing the veritable 

 mother of all living came to inhabit this planet. 

 The overwhelming majority of biologists believe 

 that omne vivum ex vivo was not always true. 

 They find themselves compelled to aver that, 

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