THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 



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priate beginning of life ; (2) that it originated from 

 some unexplained change in the protoplasmic or 

 albuminous matter of some humble plant, or directly 

 from inorganic matter, or at least was descended 

 from some creature only a little more simple which 

 had being in this way ; (3) that it had in itself un- 

 limited capacities for variation and also for extension 

 in time ; (4) that it tended to multiply rapidly, and 

 at last so to occupy the ocean that a struggle for 

 existence arose ; (5) that though at first, from the 

 very nature of its origin, adapted to the conditions 

 of the world, yet as these conditions became altered 

 by physical changes, it was induced to accommodate 

 itself to them, and so to pass into new species and 

 genera, until at last it appeared in entirely new types 

 in the Cambrian fauna. 



These assumptions are, with the exception of the 

 first two, merely the application to Eozoon of what 

 have been called the Darwinian laws of multipli- 

 cation, of limited population, of variation, of change 

 of physical conditions, and of equilibrium of nature. 

 If otherwise proved, and shown to be applicable to 

 creatures like Eozoon, of course we must apply them 

 to it ; but in so far as that creature itself is con- 

 cerned they are incapable of proof, and some of 



