Man's Place in Nature 235 



quarters that this fair earth of ours and all that 

 it contains will some day die, as the moon for in- 

 stance has died. "For millions of years," Hux- 

 ley said, ''our globe has taken the upward road, 

 yet, sometime, the summit will be reached and the 

 downward route will be commenced." The inde- 

 structible matter and energy will doubtless pass 

 into a different expression, but a particular thought 

 will have completed itself. 



The Riddle of Suffering. — Another riddle which 

 can never be far from the thoughts of those who 

 are not extraordinarily light-hearted is the riddle 

 of suffering and sorrow and evil. 



Let us consider for a little what is called "the 

 cruelty of nature." We probably make the riddle 

 more difficult by our anthropomorphic way of 

 looking at things, exaggerating the pain that ani- 

 mals feel, but there is a large residuum. Some 

 insects may be cut in two without showing any 

 reaction at all, but it requires an optimist to believe 

 that it can be pleasant to be eaten alive. Let us 

 hope that the oysters which often glide — very 

 much alive — down our gullets, like so many 

 "gustatory flashes of summer lightning," are 

 speedily paralyzed. But this aspect of the prob- 

 lem of "cruelty" does not seem to press heavily 

 on the souls of carnivorous mankind. 



Concerning "the cruelty of Nature" Alfred 

 Russel Wallace writes: "There is good reason 



