THE INFOLUTIONARY ASCENT 97 



man being." On the other hand, Max Nordau ex- 

 presses the view of many thinkers concerning this 

 anthropomorphic interpretation of history in the 

 remark : " Paracelsus came much nearer the truth 

 when he called each man a microcosm, a world in 

 himself." And the marvel of it all is that biology 

 has found a synthesis inclusive of both interpreta- 

 tions. 



. . . AND THIS TO FILL US WITH REGARD FOR MAN, 

 WITH APPREHENSION OF HIS PASSING WORTH, DESIRE 

 TO WORK HIS PROPER NATURE OUT, AND ASCERTAIN 



If the factors of evolution were as definitely de- 

 fined as we once supposed, there would be little diffi- 

 culty in setting up those of involution. Natural se- 

 lection would find its counter-part in altruism; sur- 

 vival of the fittest, in self-sacrifice; the struggle for 

 existence, in co-operation. But with the recent 

 change in the point of view of Evolutionists, the first 

 have become greatly transformed so that one may 

 not readily distinguish between the operators mak- 

 ing for variation and those which are integrative in 

 character. For instance, where we once read, " If 

 there had been no struggle for existence, there would 

 have been no adaptation and no improvement," we 

 now read, " If there had been no struggle for exist- 



