206 EVOLUTION 



but to an effort of far greater depth than the 

 individual effort, far more independent of 

 circumstances, an effort common to most 

 representatives of the same species, inherent 

 in the germs they bear rather than in their 

 substance alone, an effort thereby assured 

 of being passed on to their descendants. 

 There is an original creative impetus in life, 

 which passes from generation to generation 

 of germs, is sustained right along the lines of 

 evolution among which it gets divided, and 

 is the fundamental cause of variations, or at 

 least of those variations that count." 



We see, then, how Bergson psychologizes 

 life without needing to invoke the " spiritual 

 influx " too much a " deus ex machina " 

 which is demanded by Wallace, to explain 

 the genesis of man's higher faculties, and 

 indeed to explain the other great steps in 

 evolution. Metaphysical and abstract though 

 his interpretation remains, too shadowy as it 

 is for the needs of the working naturalist, 

 we must recognize that here is a fresh and 

 forceful re-statement of the essential thought 

 of Lamarck, of Goethe, of Robert Chambers, 

 of Butler, and of later vitalists; in fact, of all 

 who have most deeply felt the supreme im- 

 portance of the organismal factor in evolution. 

 More even than this, here is a new conversion 



