THE ARREST OF INQUIRY. oj 



names of Laplace and Herschel, has, under correc- 

 tions furnished by modern physics, common accept- 

 ance among us. Then, as shown in the following 

 extract, Kant foresees the theory of the development 

 of life from formless stuff to the highest types : " It 

 is desirable to examine the great domain of organized 

 beings by means of a methodical comparative anato- 

 my, in order to discover whether we may not find 

 in them something resembling a system, and that 

 too in connection with their mode of generation, so 

 that we may not be compelled to stop short with a 

 mere consideration of forms as they are — ^which gives 

 no insight into their generation — and need not des- 

 pair of gaining a full insight into this department of 

 ■ Nature. The agreement of so many kinds of animals 

 in a certain common plan of structure, which seems 

 to be visible not only in their skeletons, but also in 

 the arrangement of the other parts — so that a won- 

 derfully simple typical form, by the shortening or 

 lengthening of some parts, and by the suppression 

 and development of others, might be able to produce 

 an immense variety of species — gives us a ray of 

 hope, though feeble, that here perhaps some results 

 may be obtained, by the application of the principle 

 of the mechanism of Nature; without which, in fact, 

 no science can exist. This analogy of forms (in so 

 far as they seem to have been produced in accordance 

 with a common prototype, notwithstanding their 

 great variety) strengthens the supposition that they 

 have an actual blood-relationship, due to derivation 



