
THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE 
PART of 
THE MODERN ASPECT OF THE QUESTION 
CHAPTER! 
THE EARTH AS ONE AMONG A MULTITUDE OF IN- 
HABITED WORLDS 
(hele eee tell us that among the billions 
of suns which people space, thousands have 
orbs circling round them which are, in all probability, 
at this present time, the abode of living creatures 
of some kind. 
For, as Professor Simon Newcomb says,! “In a 
number of bodies so vast we should expect every 
variety of conditions as regards temperature and 
surroundings,” so that if we suppose ‘‘the special 
conditions which prevail on our planet are necessary 
to the highest forms of life, we still have reason to 
believe that these same conditions prevail on 
thousands of other worlds.” 
That this is no mere individual and isolated 
opinion can easily be shown. No man was more 
cautious and exact in the expression of his opinions 
1 Harpers Magazine, August 1905. 
