398 DARWINISM AND THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE 



from individual things. There is absolutely no historical 

 element in the idea of ether, because even if it 

 represented something real it would be useless to 

 raise any historical question about it. Every ether- 

 particle must contain just the same as the others, and 

 so it is absurd to seek the particular features of one 

 of them. 



However, even in scientific concepts which are 

 very comprehensive, but not all-embracing, there are 

 historical elements. The sciences that deal with these 

 concepts start, in a sense, from a historical fact. Optics, 

 for instance, treats of light. But if we have had some 

 experience of light, we always think of the light we 

 know in that way. If there were anyone who had 

 never seen light, he could form absolutely no idea 

 of its real nature, no matter how accurately he knew 

 the figures and formulae that represent the vibration 

 of ether when it causes light. The further question 

 arises, moreover, when and where light came into 

 existence. Such questions cannot be settled by the 

 methods of physical science. 



We could show in greater detail how the historical 

 elements in natural science increase in proportion as 

 the various parts of the total science decrease in com- 

 prehensiveness. But we have not space to do this, 

 and will be content to consider the sciences that deal 



with life. 



The problem with which we are concerned, the 

 origin of species, is of an historical character. It is 

 a question of a process that once took place. Hence 



