Ill 



U:< TURKS ON EVOLUTION 



[1876] 



I 



THi: TIMir.K HYPOTHESES RESPECTING THE 

 HISTORY OF NATURE 



\Vi: li\t in and form part of a system of things of 

 immense diversity and perplexity, which we call 

 Nature ; and it is a matter of the deepest interest 



II of us that we should form just conceptions 

 "t the constitution of that system and of its past 

 lii-tory. With relation to this universe, man is, 

 in extent, little more than a mathematical point; 

 in duration hut a fleeting shadow; he is a mere 



; shaken in the winds of force. But as Pascal 



.i-" r. -marked, although a mere reed, he is a 



thinking reed ; and in virtue of that wonderful 



capacity of thought, he has the power of framing 



for hi IMS- -It ,i symbolic conception of the univ< 



