2 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
the over-abundance of our own blessings with our 
brothers on the other side of the sea, from whom in 
turn we receive of their overplus. Beyond this teem- 
ing river lies a level stretch of fertile land and then 
the mighty ocean. On one side of the scene runs a 
busy highway. Along this men pass and repass, some 
on foot, others drawn by their patient and submissive 
horses. Still others are carried by the new-found 
power of the sunshine imprisoned beneath the rocks 
in the oil that has been forming ever since the sun 
shone down upon the great forests of the far dis- 
tant past. 
In a pathway to one side, some children are play- 
ing. One of them has laid upon the ground a rec- 
tangle of stones divided into four and her little mind 
sees before her the house which is teaching her to get 
ready for the work that shall come to her in later 
life. Meanwhile her short-haired companion is pranc- 
ing around astride a stick; he too, little as he suspects 
it, is getting ready for life. 
It needs little reflection to realize that the scene has 
not always been what it is. The underlying ground 
has surely been there longest, its age vying only with 
that of the bounding ocean that beats upon the shore 
and works the sand into fantastic stretches. The 
forest has been there long and so has the stream; 
the road perhaps ranks next in age; then come the 
