280 
HAROLD’S DISCUSSIONS. 
eibilities. The egg begins with the life germ, and adds 
to itself nourishment and a protective shell. The 
proper degree of warmth continues the evolution 
through the hatching process; and afterward, with 
the support of food and environment along the line of 
its own predetermined sphere, it reaches the form of 
a Plymoutli Rock. 
These are illustrations of individual evolution, or 
better, development. Evolution makes use of the 
facts that geology furnishes; those collected by the 
science of biology; those brought together by natural 
history; those supplied by embryology, physiology, 
anatomy—of all these it takes cognizance, brings them 
into relation, considers their meaning. It makes use 
of the facts that every one may observe, but it must 
add to them those observed by others in all ages, so 
far as they can be collected. 
By means of these facts evolution has formulated 
laws. These laws apply to animals and plants alike; 
they apply to man in his physical, moral, and intel¬ 
lectual development; they apply to society and insti¬ 
tutions. They are the most far-reaching laws known, 
and hence of very great interest to man. They teach 
him the unity of life ; they broaden his views ; make 
him humble; they ennoble his thought of the Creator, 
who holds the reins of life in his omnipotent but 
beneficent grasp. 
