THE NAUTILUS. Ill 



ary bridge into the We^t Indies; and the present shell fauna of this 

 whole region is supposed to be the descendants of those Asiatic emi- 

 grants. 



We are also to infer from these theorists and their writings, I sup- 

 pose, that during the time this '• dispersion " of Asiatic snails took 

 place there was not a native terrestrial mollusk in all this land, no 

 matter what other kind of organisms may have originated and 

 existed here at that time. 



In order to have a clear and comprehensive conception of life, the 

 origin and development of the material forms of organisms, and their 

 distribution over our planet, we must study them all from a funda- 

 mental standpoint, and I will here briefly allude to the fundamental 

 as I understand it. 



Time and space are infinite. Existing within the infinite there 

 are elements that possess the properties of attraction and repulsion 

 (energy — life), which, by their combinations, form two great factors 

 that enter into and produce all the phenomena we see around us. 

 These we know as energy and matter. Their relations to eacli other 

 may be more clearly understood by stating that without energy 

 matter could not be formed, and without matter energy could not 

 demonstrate its presence, as it would have nothing to act upon, 

 hence both are necessary to a demonstration of any kind, and must 

 be regarded as equals in every respect. Development is a principle 

 inherent in the elements — the hand-maid of life itself. Evolution, 

 diversity and variation are natural processes belonging to develop- 

 ment. These constitute the fundamental ; they are coexistent and 

 immortal, eternal, without beginning and without end. The funda- 

 mental alone is immortal ; all the phenomena arising from the 

 fundamental, the superficial and complex, are evanescent, fleeting and 

 constantly passing away, even as the grass of the meadows and the 

 forests of the plains, and are replaced by other similar phenomena, 

 though varied in form. Development is the regular order of nature, 

 and the regular order of development is from the simple to the 

 complex and vice versa (disintegration). Wherever matter, heat, 

 moisture and air exist together, there life (omnipresent energy, 

 Howison), with her hand-maid development, will be found industri- 

 ously refining and preparing inorganic matter, from which they will 

 evolve organic forms in due course of time. 



As the form and structure of terrestrial mollusks are not of a very 



