^ SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



unknown entelechy that starts and controls the machine, but must for 

 ever evade the methods of our science. 



The facts of recurrence, of rhythm, of rise and fall, of marvellous 

 efflorescences, of gradual decline, or of sudden disappearances, all are 

 incontestable. But if we accept the intimate relation of organism and 

 environment, we shall surmise that on a planet with such a geological 

 history as ours, with its recurrence of similar physical changes, the 

 phenomena of life must reflect the great rhythmic waves that have 

 uplifted the mountains and lowered the deeps, no less than every 

 smaller wave and ripple that has from age to age diversified and 

 enlivened the face of om' restless mother. 



To correlate the succession of living forms with all these changes 

 is the task of the palaeontologist. To attempt it he will need the aid of 

 every kind of biologist, every kind of geologist. But this attempt is not 

 in its nature impossible, and each advance to the ultimate goal will, 

 in the future as in the past, provide both geologist and biologist with 

 new light on their particular problems. When the coiTelation shall 

 have been completed, our geological systems and epochs will no longer 

 be defined by gaps in our knowledge, but will be the true expression 

 of the actual rhythm of evolution. Lyell's great postulate of the uni- 

 form action of nature is still our guide ; but we have ceased to confound 

 \iniformity with monotony. We return, though with a difference, to 

 tlie conceptions of Cuvier, to those numerous and relatively sudden 

 revolutions of the surface of the globe which have produced the corre- 

 sponding dynasties in its succession of inhabitants. 



The Ftdure. 

 The work of a systematic palaeontologist, especially of one dealing 

 with rare and obscure fossils, often seems remote from the thought and 

 practice of modern science. I have tried to show that it is not really 

 so. But still it may appear to some to have no contact with the urgent 

 problems of the world outside. That also is an error. Whether the 

 views I have criticised or those I have supported are the coiTCct ones is 

 a matter of practical importance. If we are to accept the principle of 

 predetermination, or of blind growth-force, we must accept also a 

 check on our efforts to improve breeds, including those of man, by any 

 other means than crossings and elimination of unfit strains. In spite 

 of all that we may do in this way, there remain those decadent races, 

 whether of ostriches or human beings, which ' await alike the inevit-r 

 abl3 hour.' If, on the other hand, we adopt the view that the life- 

 history of races is a response to their environment, then it follows, 

 no doubt, that the past history of living creatures will have been deter- 

 mined by conditions outside their control, it follows that the idea of 

 human progress as a biological law ceases to be tenable ; but, since man 

 has the power of altering his environment and of adapting racial 

 characters through conscious selection, it also follows that progress will 

 not of necessity be followed by decadence ; rather that, by aiming at a 

 high mark, by deepening our knowledge of ourselves and of our world, 

 and by controlling our energy and guiding our efforts in the light of 

 that knowledge, we may prolong and hasten our ascent to ages and to 

 heights as yet beyond prophetic vision. 



