Postulates of Evohition. 125, 



within itself all the causes of the phenomena evolved 

 in its history, we gain no single advantage, and we 

 increase many times the difficulties that meet us. 

 There lie against this mode of conceiving the primal 

 condition of the universe all the objections that lie 

 against the modes already considered, while other in- 

 separable difficulties are added. We begin, in this- 

 case, by attempting to draw a boundary line around 

 the infinite by determining how the absolute power 

 must manifest itself : we lay down as fixed that the 

 unconditioned energy, operating as cause, has produced 

 no effects except those emerging in its primordial 

 manifestation; but to fix such a limit pre-supposes, 

 as we have already seen, either that the entire course 

 of cosmic history is experientially known in its to- 

 tality and in detail, or that we have discovered the 

 law of the manifestation of the incomprehensible 

 and infinite ; either of which suppositions is obviously 

 absurd. 



Let us take an instance as illustrative of our argu- 

 ment. When the physical condition of the earth was 

 such as to be adapted to the existence of vegetal life, 

 vegetal forms appeared. How did this life originate ? 

 Evolution asserts that it was produced as the effect 

 of the physical forces already in operation, being their 

 necessary outcome, and that no cause may be sought 

 outside these physical antecedents : the dynamic action 

 passed into the form we call vital action by physical 

 necessity. Is this an adequate explanation ? If the 



