Ixvili REPORT—1874. 
gods. They are briefly these :—1. From nothing comes nothing. Nothing that 
exists can be destroyed. All changes are due to the combination and sepa- 
ration of molecules. 2. Nothing happens by chance: Every occurrence has 
its cause from which it follows by necessity. 3. The only existing things 
are the atoms and empty space; all else is mere opinion. 4. The atoms are 
infinite in number, and infinitely various in form; they strike together, and 
the lateral motions and whirlings which thus arise are the beginnings of 
worlds. 5. The varieties of all things depend upon the varieties of their 
atoms, in number, size, and aggregation. 6. The soul consists of fine, smooth, 
round atoms, like those of fire. These are the most mobile of all. They 
interpenetrate the whole body, and in their motions the phenomena of life 
arise. The first five propositions are a fair general statement of the atomic 
philosophy, as now held. As regards the sixth, Democritus made his fine 
smooth atoms do duty for the nervous system, whose functions were then 
unknown. The atoms of Democritus are individually without sensation ; 
they combine in obedience to mechanical laws; and not only organic forms, 
but the phenomena of sensation and thought are the result of their com- 
bination. 
That great enigma, “the exquisite adaptation of one part of an organism 
to another part, and to the conditions of life,” more especially the construc- 
tion of the human body, Democritus made no attempt to solve. Empedocles, 
aman of more fiery and poetic nature, introduced the notion of love and 
hate among the atoms to account for their combination and separation. 
Noticing this gap in the doctrine of Democritus, he struck in with the pene- 
trating thought, linked, however, with some wild speculation, that it lay in 
the very nature of those combinations which were suited to their ends (in 
other words, in harmony with their environment) to maintain themselves, 
while unfit combinations, having no proper habitat, must rapidly disappear, 
Thus more than 2000 years ago the doctrine of the ‘‘ survival of the fittest,” 
which in our day, not on the basis of vague conjecture, but of positive know- 
ledge, has been raised to such extraordinary significance, had received at all 
events partial enunciation *, 
Epicurust, said to be the son of a poor schoolmaster at Samos, is the 
next dominant figure in the history of the atomic philosophy. He mastered 
the writings of Democritus, heard lectures in Athens, went back to Samos, and 
subsequently wandered through yarious countries. He finally returned to 
Athens, where he bought a garden, and surrounded himself by pupils, in the 
midst of whom he lived a pure and serene life, and died a peaceful death. 
Democritus looked to the soul as the ennobling part of man; eyen beauty 
withont understanding partook of animalism. picurus also rated the spirit 
above the body; the pleasure of the body was that of the moment, while 
the spirit could draw upon the future and the past. His philosophy 
was almost identical with that of Democritus; but he never quoted 
either friend or foe. One main object of Epicurus was to free the world 
from superstition and the fear of death. Death he treated with indifference, 
It merely robs us of sensation. As long as we are, death is not; and when 
death is, we are not. Life has no more evil for him who has made up his 
mind that it is no evil not to live. He adored the gods, but not in the ordi- 
nary fashion. The idea of divine power, properly purified, he thought an 
elevating one. Still he taught, “ Not he is godless who rejects the gods of 
the crowd, but rather he who accepts them.” . The gods were to him eternal 
* Lange, 2nd edit., p. 23. T Born 342 3.¢, 
