LIFE IN THE PAST 163 



explain the origin of life. It pushes back that origin 

 a little farther or supposes that life is as old as matter 

 itself. Again we may leave to the scientist the dis- 

 cussion and the elaboration of this or any other theory 

 he may promulgate concerning the origin of life. 

 When he has established clearly the process and can 

 produce life we will accept* his explanation; mean- 

 while, we will always be interested in his attempts to 

 solve the problem, but still our simple formula, "in 

 the beginning God," serves our present needs and will 

 satisfy us better than any as yet unverified hypothesis. 



When we find through scientific investigation how 

 life arises we will simply know how God created it 

 in the beginning. 



The next step in the understanding of early life is 

 to study under the microscope the simplest forms 

 which we can find in existence to-day. This, while 

 far easier of execution than the problems which we 

 have thus far considered, is still not without serious- 

 difficulties. But every day brings us nearer to the 

 understanding of the structure of living things. Life 

 the scientist cannot see. All he can study is living 

 matter. Whether life can exist separate from living 

 things is a problem outside the range of his, at least 

 present, possibilities. Therefore, concerning it he has 

 no answer whatever to give. But when we come to 

 study living things we find that all life is associated 



