EVOLUTION 



to subdue and possess the world. Whence this feel- 

 ing? Is it, too, of mechanical origin? Is it the same 

 throughout organic nature? The seed does not feel 

 the need of wings, but something feels it. All seeds 

 need to be distributed, hence theirlooks, and wings, 

 and springs, and other devices. The nuts need to 

 be distributed also, and the animals do it in their 

 own behoof, and Nature gets what drops from their 

 tables. The jays and crows lend wings to many nuts. 

 The red squirrel lends feet. The push of life again, 

 the procreant urge and urge of Nature. The expans- 

 ive forces of inorganic nature are mechanical, but 

 this push of life is another matter. The necessity 

 for teeth begat teeth, but there would have been no 

 necessity had it not been for this expansive or pro- 

 gressive force of life, this push of development; and 

 whence this comes, who knows? This push is not in 

 inorganic matter. 



§ 

 When we look at the problem of life through the 

 eyes of the idealist and visualize its phenomena, we 

 seem to see life as something incalculable and myste- 

 rious in nature. It appears like a visitant from an- 

 other sphere. It seems utterly foreign to all merely 

 mechanical and chemical processes as we know 

 them in unorganized matter. These forces go their 

 unceasing round seeking a stable equilibrium, the 

 vital forces go through their cycle seeking an un- 

 stable equilibrium. Life breaks up the old routine 

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