METEORIC ORIGIN OF LIFE 127 



shoulders apropos of the speculations of the ' Origin ' of 

 life from or amongst existing matter — seeing that Meteorites 

 are after all composed of the same matter as the Globe is. 

 Does he suppose that God's breathing upon Meteors or their 

 progenitors is more philosophical than breathing on the 

 face of the earth ? I thought too that Meteors arrived on the 

 earth in a state of incandescence, — the condition under 

 which T. assumes that the world itself could not have 

 sustained life. For my part I would as soon believe in the 

 Phoenix as in the Meteoric import of life. After all the 

 worst objections are to be found in the distribution of life, 

 and the total want of evidence of renewal by importation 

 such as meteoric visitations would suggest the constant 

 recurrence of. The quotation of Herschel's very early 

 objection to Nat. Selection is surely not fair, if indeed 

 correct, and again highly, unphilosophical — what real ob- 

 jection is it to Nat. Selection that it should be too Laputan ? 

 Surely Columbus and the egg might have occurred to him, 

 and to call this (Herschel's objection) ' a most valuable and 

 instructive criticism ' ! I wish he, or any one else, could tell 

 me the logical significance of the phrase ' the argument from 

 design.' I understand design well enough, but ' the argument ' 

 from it is just what the arguer pleases to argue. He means 

 I suppose ' a certain conclusion from design,' assuming always 

 that his idea of design is God's idea too. Again, how the 

 Deuce can ' proofs of intelligent design ' (in Nature) show us 

 * through nature the influence of a free will ' ? 



What will Huxley say to the phrase ' metaphysical or 

 scientific ' ? If Metaphysics are anything, they are in his 

 opinion as good science as aught else scientific. Are the 

 Commentators on Paley a bit worse than Paley himself ? 



I am pleased with his praise of old Sabine, because I 

 think there has been too much disposition to overlook his 

 really great scientific merits, and his indomitable perse- 

 verance — just as I think Humboldt is underrated now-a- 

 days. Well, these were our Gods my friend, and I still 

 worship at their shrines a little. 



I am hammering away at a narrative of my Marocco 

 trip (see p. 95), and find it harder work than ever ; I suspect 

 that systematic and descriptive writing hurts head and hand 

 for other writing, though you preserve freshness of style 

 with any amount of purely scientific writing. 





