LAUGEL'S PROBLEMS OF NATURE AND LIFE. 361 



frame is without a mind.' To which Archbishop 

 Whately adds, in his note upon the passage : 'That 

 the possession of power, strictly so called, by physical 

 causes, is not conceivable, or their capacity to main- 

 tain, any more than to produce at first, the system of 

 the universe, whose combined existence, as well as its 

 origin, seems to depend on the continued operations of 

 the great Creator.' 



Those who are familiar with the doctrine of Mr. 

 Darwin as to the origin of species a doctrine now so 

 largely, though not unanimously, accepted in the 

 scientific world will at once see how closely it is in- 

 terwoven in every part with the topics we have been 

 discussing. The questions of origin, organisation, 

 modes of reproduction and instincts, enter integrally 

 and necessarily into any theory of which life is the 

 subject. The naturalist is amply justified in seeking 

 all possible evidence as to the progressive evolution of 

 genera and species, and their distribution over the 

 earth ; and here Mr. Darwin has rendered services to 

 science which will be fully recognised hereafter, what- 

 ever exception be taken to some of the views he has 

 espoused. But these fundamental questions still re- 

 main, and our knowledge can never be complete as 

 long as they are unresolved. 



In the foregoing article, which we must here close, 

 we have sought to make our readers acquainted with 

 the principal questions and objects of research on 

 which physical science is at this time engaged ; neces- 

 sarily, however, omitting many which might well merit 

 notice. At no period has there been more of gran- 



