THE BREATH OF LIFE 



elusions of positive science. He sees that we, as hu- 

 man beings, cannot live in this universe without 

 supplementing our science with some sort of philoso- 

 phy that will help us to escape from the fatalism of 

 matter and force into the freedom of the spiritual 

 life. If we are merely mechanical and chemical ac- 

 cidents, all the glory of life, all the meaning of our 

 moral and spiritual natures, go by the board. 



Professor Henderson shows us how well this 

 planet, with its oceans and continents, and its me- 

 chanical and chemical forces and elements, is suited 

 to sustain life, but he brings us no nearer the solu- 

 tion of the mystery than we were before. His title, 

 to begin with, is rather bewildering. Has the " fitness 

 of the environment ' ' ever been questioned ? The en- 

 vironment is fit, of course, else living bodies would 

 not be here. We are used to taking hold of the 

 other end of the problem. In living nature the foot 

 is made to fit the shoe, and not the shoe the foot. 

 The environment is the mould in which the living 

 organism is cast. Hence, it seems to me, that seek- 

 ing to prove the fitness of the environment is very 

 much like seeking to prove the fitness of water for 

 fish to swim in, or the fitness of the air for birds to 

 fly in. The implication seems to be made that the 

 environment anticipates the organism, or meets it 

 half way. But the environment is rather uncom- 

 promising. Man alone modifies his environment by 

 the weapon of science; but not radically; in the end 



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