MEDIUM 227 



d'Stre, but were due to defects of organisation. 

 The same thing happens to humanity as in the case 

 of any machine out of gear. These changes of 

 civilisation, believing them to be caused by a cyclic 

 evolution, are an error of interpretation, which is 

 countenanced by such men as J. W. Draper 

 (History of the Intellectual Development of Europe], 

 who tries to turn history into physiology, dividing 

 it into five parts : " ( 1) epoch of credulity ; (2) epoch 

 of inquiry ; (3) epoch of faith ; (4) epoch of reason ; 

 (5) epoch of decrepitude/' These are periods 

 through which individual man passes, and as 

 humanity presents changes which may be com- 

 pared to these periods, an analogy has been estab- 

 lished. But taking heed and considering organisation 

 as a whole, and as such, humanity, we shall see in 

 reproduction or heredity that the children are, with 

 regard to their parents, a form of the rhythm of 

 force. Humanity, considered as a force, has its 

 rhythm, and may be compared to the undulations 

 and vibrations of sound, colour, light, etc. Men or 

 generations represent units of this great force. 

 Then civilisations cannot decay, as is supposed, by 

 regarding as an inevitable law what is the conse- 

 quence of an evil organisation, because that is con- 

 trary to all laws. If there are periods in history in 

 which man decays, it is due to an organisation that 

 develops on a false basis, and which is a misguided 



