ON THE GENETIC VIEW OF NATURE. 285 



works on astronomy as an established theory, whereas 

 Laplace himself had put it forward with great reserve, 

 and only as a likely suggestion. 1 There is, however, no 

 doubt that it powerfully influenced the minds of many 

 students of nature in the direction of a genetic view of 

 phenomena. 



The attempts referred to so far can be described as 

 belonging to the Romance of Science. I now come to 

 the more solid contributions to a real genetic theory of 

 the things of nature. These are not much older than 

 our century. They belong to two entirely independent 

 lines of research which were followed up in England and 

 on the Continent respectively the former in palaeon- 

 tology, the latter in embryology. Although they were 

 carried on quite independently of each other, they had 

 this in common, that they both resorted to a study of 

 life as preserved in geological strata or as now existing 

 around us for a guide in comprehending the genesis of 

 Things on a larger scale. 



It may be well to remark here that the contemplation 

 of the phenomena, the forms and the processes exhibited 

 in the living portion of creation, has not always, and 

 even not generally, in the course of history led to those 

 theories which our age is elaborating, and which will in 

 future times possibly be looked upon as one of its char- 



1 Laplace himself says : " Je 

 pre'sente cette origine du systeme 

 plane'taire avec la defiance que doit 

 inspirer tout ce qui n'est point 

 un re"sultat de 1'observation et du 

 calcul." The elaborate exposition 

 of the architecture and system of 

 the universe contained in A. von 

 Humboldt's 'Kosmos,' which was 

 professedly inspired by Laplace (see 



' Kosmos,' vol. vi. p. 8), gives us 

 little, if anything, about the history 

 of the universe, professing to be 

 only a " Weltgemiilde " and not a 

 " Welterklarung. " The time for 

 genetic theories had not yet come, 

 and both Kant's and Laplace's cos- 

 mogonies are only casually referred 

 to. 



