52 PIONEERS OF EVOLUTION. 



scured in the general eclipse which that poem suf- 

 fered for centuries through its anti-theological spirit. 

 Grinding at the same philosophical mill, Aristotle, 

 because of the theism assumed to be involved in his 

 " perfecting principle," was cited as " a pillar of the 

 faith " by the Fathers and Schoolmen ; while Lucre- 

 tius, because of his denial of design, was " anathema 

 maranatha." Only in these days, when the far-reach- 

 ing effects of the theory of evolution, supported by 

 observation in every branch of inquiry, are apparent, 

 are the merits of Lucretius as an original seer, more 

 than as an expounder of the teachings of Empedocles 

 and Epicurus, made clear. 



Standing well-nigh on the threshold of the Chris- 

 tian era, we may pause to ask what is the sum of 

 the speculation into the causes and nature of things 

 which, begun in Ionia (with impulse more or less 

 slight from the East, in the sixth century before 

 Christ), by Thales, ceased, for many centuries, in the 

 poem of Lucretius, thus covering an active period 

 of about five hundred years. The caution not to see 

 in these speculations more than an approximate ap- 

 proach to modern theories must be kept in mind. 



1. There is a primary substance which abides 

 amidst the general flux of things. 



All modern research tends to show that the various 

 combinations of matter are formed of some prima ma- 

 teria. But its ultimate nature remains unknown. 



2. Out of nothing comes nothing. 



