54 ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS 



way as that which I have detailed to you. A person 



observing the occurrence of certain facts and phenomena 



asks, naturally enough, what process, what kind of operation 



known to occur in nature applied to the particular case, 



will unravel and explain the mystery ? Hence you have 



icntilic hypothesis ; and its value will be proportionate 



to the care and completeness with which its basis had been 



i and verified. It is in these matters as in the 



commonest affairs of practical life : the guess of the fool 



will be folly, while the guess of the wise man will contain 



in. In all cases, you see that the value of the result 



depends on the patience and faithfulness with which the 



: igator applies to his hypothesis every possible kind of 



ication. 



I dare say I may have to return to this point by-and-by ; 

 but having dealt thus far with our logical methods, I must 

 now turn to something which, perhaps, you may consider 

 more interesting, or, at any rate, more tangible. But 

 in reality there are but few things that can be more impor- 

 tant for you to understand than the mental processes and 

 the means by which we obtain scientific conclusions and 

 theories.* Having granted that the inquiry is a proper 

 one. and having determined on the nature of the methods 

 we are to pursue and which only can lead to success, I 

 must now turn to the consideration of our knowledge 

 of the nature of the processes which have resulted in the 

 present condition of organic nature. 



Here, let me say at once, lest some of you misunderstand 

 mo, that I have extremely little to report. The question 

 of how the present condition of organic nature came about, 

 resolves itself into two questions. The first is : How has 

 organic or living matter commenced its existence ? And 

 the second is : How has it been perpetuated ? On the 

 second question I shall have more to say hereafter. But 

 on the first one, what I now have to say will be for the most 

 part of a negative character. 



If you consider what kind of evidence we can have 



upon this mutter, it will resolve itself into two kinds. We 



may have historical evidence and we may have experimental 



It is, for example, conceivable, that inasmuch 



as the hardened mud which forms a considerable portion 



Those who wish to study fully the doctrines of which I have 

 endeavoured to give some rough and ready illustrations, must read 

 Mr. John Stuart Mill's System of Logic. 



