456 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



Cosmic 

 evolution. 



Its control 

 by the 



principle that 

 the lowest 

 organisms 

 possess the 

 widest 

 range. 



Haeckel on 



cosmic 



evolution. 



neatly rounded off and offering in its adaptive appearance 

 an easy road for the inquirer. 



The principle of cosmic adaptation is implied in all schemes 

 that postulate a common evolutionary development of 

 organisms in the cosmos, or what we may term cosmic evolu- 

 tion, such a scheme, in fact, as Haeckel outlines in The Riddle 

 of the Universe (English trans., chap. xx.). 



Now, with reference to such schemes of cosmic evolution, 

 meaning thereby the progressive development of higher from 

 lower forms, it should be at once remarked that although all 

 organisms would possess the cosmic impress to a greater or 

 less degree, its extent would vary according to a well-known 

 principle that is embraced by the evolution theory. Thusj 

 on our planet the rule prevails that the lower the organism 

 the wider is its distribution. It would be illogical if we did 

 not assume that in cosmic evolution the same principle would 

 prevail. The lowliest organisms, being most widely dis- 

 tributed in the cosmos, would possess the cosmic impress to a 

 far greater degree than the higher organisms more or less 

 specialised in individual planets. 



That an evolutionary scheme of the cosmos would be 

 expected to proceed on similar but much broader lines than in 

 the case of that limited to our planet is indeed suggested in 

 Haeckel's book above quoted ; and as the passage bears directly 

 on this matter, I give it here partly verbatim and partly in 

 my own words: — "We are justified in supposing that 

 thousands of the planets are in a similar stage of develop- 

 ment to that of our earth." But although " it is very probable 

 that a similar biogenetic process to that of our own earth is 

 taking place on some of the other planets of our system, as on 

 Mars and Venus, and on many planets of other solar systems," 

 by which the lower plants and animals have been evolved, 

 such as we have on earth, yet " it is very questionable whether 

 the different stems of the higher plants and animals run 

 through the same course on other planets as on our earth. 

 In particular, it is wholly uncertain whether there are verte- 



