174 CLUES AND SUGGESTIONS CHAP. 



by the current assumptions of biological 

 science, fits into the language of those 

 " old nomadic tribes " who wrote on 

 creation 3000 years ago, and of whose 

 qualifications for doing so Mr. Spencer 

 seems to speak with such complete con- 

 tempt. They knew nothing of what is 

 now technically called science. But, 

 somehow, they had strange intuitions 

 which have anticipated not a few of its 

 conclusions, and some of which have 

 a mysterious verisimilitude with sug- 

 gestions which come to us from many 

 quarters. Their idea was that with the 

 advent of Man there has come a day of 

 " rest " in the creative work. It does 

 look very like it. But this supposition 

 or assumption does not in the least affect 

 the possible interpretation to be put 

 upon certain rudimentary structures in 

 existing organisms. That interpretation 

 simply is, that the old Plan has been 



