56 Life and Matter [chap. hi. 



information from higher sources ? Savages 

 can certainly have " revelation " from civilised 

 men. Why, then, should it be inconceivable 

 that human beings should receive information 

 from beings in the universe higher than 

 themselves ? It may or may not be the case 

 that they do ; but there is no scientific 

 ground for dogmatism on the subject, nor 

 any reason for asserting the inconceivability 

 of such a thing. 



Professor Haeckel would no doubt reply 

 to some of the above criticism that he is 

 not only a man of science, but also a 

 philosopher, that he is looking ahead, beyond 

 ascertained fact, and that it is his philosophic 

 views which are in question rather than his 

 scientific statements. To some extent it is 

 both, as has been seen ; but if even the 

 above be widely known if it be generally 

 understood that the most controversial 

 portions of his work are mainly speculative 

 and hypothetical, it can be left to its 

 proper purpose of doing good rather 

 than harm. It can only do harm by 



