72 THE PHYSICAL KINSHIP 



the same laws as those that have governed the 

 development of the earth and its entire organisa- 

 tion — a being not put upon the earth accidentally 

 by an arbitrary act, but produced in harmony 

 with the earth's nature, and belonging to it as do 

 the flowers and the fruits to the tree which bears 

 them.' Animals are not outside of, nor distinct 

 from, the universe, as one might suspect who has 

 listened much to the recital of tradition so long 

 accepted as science. They are more or less 

 detached portions of the planet earth which move 

 over its surfaces and through its fluids and 

 multiply, but which in their phenomena obey 

 the same laws of chemistry and physics as those 

 in accordance with which the rest of the uni- 

 verse acts. Animals are moulds through which 

 digressing matters from the soil, sea, and sky 

 pass on rounds of eternal itineracy. 



Now, the earth as a planet is in process of 

 evolution. Not many things are more certain 

 than this. The earth has come out of fire. It 

 has grown to be what it is. Its mountains, 

 valleys, plains, seas, shores, islands, lakes, rivers, 

 and continents — these were not always here. 

 They have been evolved. Not only the earth, 

 but the entire family of spheres of which the 

 earth is a member — the solar system — are all 

 evolving. Mr. Spencer never did anything more 

 profound than when he demonstrated in his 'Law 

 and Cause of Progress ' the universal migration of 

 things from a condition of homogeneity toward a 

 condition of greater and greater heterogeneity. 



