Centennial of Charles Darwin 381 



discussion be clearly defined and then strictly adhered 

 to. Let us begin with the word "Nature." Latin 

 natura signifies the sum of all that has come to the birth 

 and indicates the result of the forces at work in the 

 universe ; but it is quite improper to speak of it as if it 

 were itself a force. Darwin indeed protests that he 

 so understood the term ; and if he used it otherwise it 

 was only figuratively. Yet he constantly employed it 

 as if it were a persistent agent, always and everywhere 

 at work. And whatever reserve of meaning he retained 

 in his own mind, when thus employing the word, there 

 can be no doubt as to the significance put upon it by 

 the larger portion of his readers. The term is con- 

 stantly used in the loose sense. It has been pointed out 

 how the phrases which Darwin made use of to indicate 

 the method by which he conceived species to be gener- 

 ated, "Natural Selection," "Survival of the fittest," 

 "Struggle for life," convey to the mind of the ordinary 

 reader that the creature thus in issue is a sentient being, 

 planning a course for itself and doing conscious battle 

 on its own behalf. Darwin says he did not mean that, 

 but he uses language and arguments as if he did, and 

 certainly misleads his unthinking followers. "Law" 

 is another word which is used loosely and made to do 

 large service in the discussion of life 's problems. Now, 

 it, too, properly employed, only indicates the method in 

 which force acts, it is not a force itself. It is usual to 

 speak of the law of gravitation. But it is so employed 

 to show how the force acts which we call gravitation, to 

 conceal our ignorance, but it is not the acting force. 

 The orbit in which the planets revolve around the sun, 

 or the moon about the earth, is found to be mathemati- 

 cal, and Kepler calculated the facts in the case, and his 

 calculations being found good by astronomical observers 

 are called laws. 



But they did not disclose the force by which the 

 planets are guided in their courses. Are we to believe 

 that the earth and the sun began their mutual career by 



