OK EN. 123 



never advances by leaps. He applies this, how- 

 ever, to the origin of life, and says there is no break 

 between the organic and inorganic. The law of 

 Continuity applies to germs of inanimate as well 

 as of animate matter, these germs are capable 

 of developing into every possible form ; thus, all 

 matter is living and there is only one kingdom, 

 the Animal Kingdom. The germs develop from 

 the simplest to the most complex, and animals thus 

 arising form a continuous chain of beings, of which 

 the first link is a prototype of the utmost simplicity. 

 Germs, we see, being infinitely small and placed far 

 beyond the reach of experimental affirmation or 

 denial, are the favourite field of the speculations of 

 all these philosophers. 



There is no idea of filiation or of Evolution in the 

 true sense in Robinet's system of a gradual change 

 of a lower form into a higher ; all the lower, inter- 

 mediate, and higher forms are held to be the direct 

 products of the germs of Nature. In sexual repro- 

 duction, for example, the two parents do not pro- 

 duce these germs, but are simply the bearers of 

 them, and generation consists merely in placing 

 these germs under circumstances in which they can 

 develop. 



LORENZO OKEN 1 (1776-1851) approached the prob- 

 lems of life with certain preconceived notions of 

 how things ought to be ; as half philosopher, half 



1 Oken was born at Baden and was educated at Wurtzburg; was later Pro- 

 fessor in the University of Zurich. 



