EVOLUTION THE MASTER-KEY 



but a denial of the truth that they are strictly 

 peers, that neither is knowable, and that they are 

 the complementary expressions of the unknowable 

 Reality which underlies both. 1 



In the present volume space does not avail for 

 more than the briefest mention of the new studies 

 to which the principle of evolution has given mean- 

 ing and worth. Now that we know the relation 

 of the savage to the civilized 2 mind, anthropology 

 has become a science instead of a fad. This, too, 

 only just in time. The Tasmanian was obliterated 

 ere we learned from him the lessons which he had 

 to teach us ; but the psychology of the Australian 

 aboriginal has remained just long enough for us to 

 study and record. And though the lowest savage 

 mind we know is far higher than, from the point 

 of view of scientific inquiry, might be desirable, 

 yet it is invaluable as representing or correspond- 

 ing to one of the base degrees by which we did 

 ascend. Similarly the evolutionary idea has given 

 meaning and value to comparative psychology, 

 which studies the mental characters of animals. 

 Not only has this thrown light on the study of the 

 human mind, but it has taught us that there are 

 mental characters, of which we should be proud 



^ee an essay by the author, " The Problems of Conscious- 

 ness," in Harper's Magazine, June, 1905. 



2 We have lately learned that civilized, in its usual accepta- 

 tion, is simply an impudent word. But literally, of course, 

 it merely means city-fied; and considering what the modern 

 city means and is, civilization may fairly be regarded as a 

 term of humiliation and decent self-depreciation. 

 176 



