CHAPTER VIII 



REFLECTIONS UPON THE PAST AND FUTURE 

 OF ANIMAL LIFE 



THE progress of biology, the acceptance of the 

 doctrine of evolution and its application to man's 

 antecedents have had a powerful influence in widen- 

 ing the horizon of his prospect upon the world, and 

 we may applaud or deplore the partial detachment 

 of the human mind from the ideal of perfection in 

 another life to the hope of a progressive amelioration 

 in this. The reasoning of a Darwin might inspire or 

 give substance to the prophetic fancies of a Metzsche, 

 and the imposing spectacle of the march of evolution 

 might open up an almost endless vista of progress 

 before the hesitating feet of humanity. 



But the enthusiastic vision, inspired by the cer- 

 tainty that evolution has taken place,must be subjected 

 to the critical examination of how the evolutionary 

 changes are accomplished, and in at least three par- 

 ticulars we must note a greater precision and dis- 

 tinctness of thought than was attainable in the middle 

 of the last century, when the idea of evolution first 

 seriously engaged the world's attention. 



