130 FKAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



cient landmarks, and transported the conception of 

 life's origin to an indefinitely distant past. 



This leads us to the gist of our present enquiry, 

 which is this: Does life "belong to what we call matter, 

 or is it an independent principle inserted into matter 

 at some suitable epoch say when the physical condi- 

 tions became such as to permit of the development of 

 life? Let us put the question with the reverence due 

 to a faith and culture in which we all were cradled, and 

 which are the undeniable historic antecedents of our 

 present enlightenment. I say, let us put the question 

 reverently, but let us also put it clearly and definitely. 

 There are the strongest grounds for believing that 

 during a certain period of its history the earth was not, 

 nor was it fit to be, the theatre of life. Whether this 

 was ever a nebulous period, or merely a molten period, 

 does not signify much; and if we revert to the nebu- 

 lous condition, it is because the probabilities are really 

 on its side. Our question is this: Did creative energy 

 pause until the nebulous matter had condensed, until the 

 earth had been detached, until the solar fire had so far 

 withdrawn from the earth's vicinity as to permit a crust 

 to gather round the planet? Did it wait until the air was 

 isolated; until the seas were formed; until evaporation, 

 condensation, and the descent of rain had begun; until 

 the eroding forces of the atmosphere had weathered and 

 decomposed the molten rocks so as to form soils; until the 

 sun's rays had become so tempered by distance, and by 

 waste, as to be chemically fit for the decomposition neces- 

 sary to vegetable life? Having waited through these 

 a3ons until the proper conditions had set in, did it send 

 the fiat forth/ Let there be Life!'? These questions de- 

 fine a hypothesis not without its difficulties, but the dig- 

 nity of which in relation to the world's knowledge was de- 

 monstrated by the nobleness of the men whom it sustained. 



