210 MAMMALIAN DESCENT. [LECT. IX. 



earth are but as a shadow. Yet surely this fog of mixed 

 thought and sentiment ought not to sadden and to para- 

 lyse us ; let us hear the wise man once more : " Then I 

 returned and saw that wisdom recedeth from folly, as 

 far as light recedeth from darkness; for the wise man's 

 eyes keep watch in his head, but the fool roundeth about 

 in darkness." 



Now, all of us whose tendency is toward the senti- 

 mental and the mystical who wish to travel along the 

 path that no fowl knoweth, and that even the Eagle's 

 eye hath not seen are in danger of undervaluing " the 

 light of nature." 



For the third time within three hundred years the 

 teachers of the mystical are reconsidering their views as 

 to positive science. Astronomy, Geology, Biology 

 especially the last have asserted their claims, have 

 maintained their rights, and have conquered their bitter- 

 est opponents. The earth is not flat, nor fixed, nor the 

 centre of the universe. The stony foundations of the 

 earth the ancient mountains, the pleasant hills were 

 not juggled into existence in a moment of time. Nor 

 did the living creatures come up out of the earth- 

 shivering, like the ghost of Samuel, and shaking the 

 mould off their backs, all literally at the word of com- 

 mand. 



That the grand old " song of creation " should have 

 been so misconceived, is one of the greatest humili- 

 ations to the intelligent mind ; yet the mistake arose 



