Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-11-27

| induction tlaL nave revealed the order
and history of the stratified systems
The course of life upon the earth has
conformed TO a method, and that
method is universally described as q
progress and a deYelopement. II
= shows an advance from the simpler tC
the more complex, from the general
to the special, from the lower to the
higher; in short, it is an evolution in
the strictest sense. There was, first,
a period of no life-the azoic age; then
appeared the lower forms of life, veg
etable and animal; then higher and
higher kinds, until man, the highest
of ali, appeared last. The progress
evinces continuity, harmony and gra-
dation. AS remarked by Mr. Dana,
"the beginning of an age will be in
the midst OF preceding age; and the
marks of the future coming out to
view are to be regarded as prophetic
of that future. The age OF mammals
was foreshadowed by the appearance
of mammals long before the course of
the re lillian Gge, and the age of rep
tiles was prOphesied in types that
lived in the earlier CaTbOniferous
agge." The lower forms that perish
do not reappear, and, a Mr.. Wallace
observes, mo group or species has
come into existence twice." but "ev
cry species has come into existence
cOincident. both in space and time,
with a pre-existing, closely allied spe-
cies." That the great advancing
movement of life has been a diver
gence, an opening out, or an evolu-
ton, is incontestable, and is admitted
by the biological authorities. 1t IS
proved by the fact that, if we 20 back
IA million of years or so, there is an
obvious conveyance of types, or the
different kind of animals will have to
be represented rs nearer together in
cnaTactt rs. and as We rece de still far
Iher into the past, the approximation
becomes still closer. for P. Owen says
he has "uever omitted a proper op-
pOrtunity for impressing the results
of observations showing the more
generaliZed structures OF extinct, as
compared with the more slecialized
form of recent animals Prof. Agas-
siz takes a similar position, il sting
strongly that 1.-The more ancient ami
mails resemble the embryonic forms
of existing species. Mr.. Wallace says
"As We go back into past time and
meet with the fossil remains of mt re
and more ancient races of extinct
animals we find that many of them
actually are intermediate between dis
/ tInct groups of existing animals y
| Prof. Cope remarks: That the ex-
isting state of the geological record of
organic types should be regai ded as
anything bat q fragment Is, from our
stand punt quite preposterous. And
! more, II may be assumed with safety,
that when completed, it will furnish
us with series of regular SUGGESTIONS,
with but Slight and regular interup-
| tiOns, if any, from the species which
represented the simplest beginnings
of life aIlthe dawn of creation, to those
which have displayed complication
and power in later or in the present
period. For the labors of the paleon-
tOlOgist are daily bringing to light
structures intermediate between those
never before so connected, thus Gre
ating lines of succession where besOIe
Were only Interruptions" Is the
great conclusion of an unfolded
method in the order of life which is
based upon a vast bOuy of biological
facts, and supported by the powerful |
analOgies of AN unfolding order in |
other parts of nature, to he character |
Ized as high flown q pTiOTi specnla-
ton? or is it a result of strict induct- |
i've inquiry, which replaces an q pri- |
Ori hypothesis of life that prevailed
for ages before science had entered /
upon its study?
Again, humanity is not now what |
it was in ages long past. That mans
existence upon earth dates back to a
far profounder antiquity than has for
merly been believed, is a clear Undue
tiOn from an extensive array of facts.
Be the time longer or shorter, an inn
mense SERIES o! changes has taken
place in the history Of the race. A
few thousand years ago Europe was
barbarOus, and its inhabitants warred
and worked with implements ofstOne.
Society wa rude, low, homogeneous,
and undevelOped. It's movement has
been slow unfolding into diversity
aud speciality. There has been an in
crease of human capabilities, rise in
an advance of morals,
growing capacity of social co opera
tiOn, a multiplication of arts and in.
dustries, augmented power over Ma
ture, an emergence of institutions,
and in short All evolution of civIliZa-
liOn. This is broad induction, from
the facts of history, from the facts of
q prehistoric archaeology, and from
the facts of anthropolOgy, and it is
fast taking the place of the old q pri-
Ori speculation that the course of hu- !
manity has heeu a degeneracy, and
which was firmly believed until sci !
ence reversed the method of studying ,
the subject.
Sir Charles Lyell, it will hardly be I
denied, is one of the most learned and {
able of living geOlOgists. His pains
taking cOuscientiOusneSs as an OBJ
server and his judicial caution and
:almuess as all iuductive reasoner are
beyond question. For fifty years he
las studied the subject of life in con-
lecIion with the past changes of the i
globe, and has embodied his conclu- :
lions in his various geological works :
In the earlier of these works, which :
passed through mai y editions, he ac- :
,epted the old traditional view of the .
,Tigin of life. But, as his studies en-
arged, that view broke down So COM :
Iletely that he has formally aban- .
iOned it. In the tenth edition of his =
principles Of Geology" published in .
S67, and in the eleventh edition of :
he same work now just issued, he =
las adopted the theory of evolu- =
ion in its application to the phenOm- :
ma OF terrestrial Iiie. The president q
# the British Association for the Ad- .
of Science, Grove, Hook !
II, Huxley, and Carpenter, in their +
Laugural addresses, and Prof. Gray >,
u his late address to the American Sci r
ntlfic Association, have proclaimed q
heir adherence to the doctrine of evO- >
ution. Prof. Cope, one of the most :
.ble and accomplished of American .
aliirms that the truth of :.
he development hypothesis is held i
to be infinitely probable by major q
~ of the eXponents of the naturali \
and j. held as absolutely =
by another pOrtiOp.h =
t has been widely accepted by the (
Ouuger naturalists of this country, q
more generally by those of England, n
nd still more extensively by those of a
Germany. a. a guiding principle in :,
he work of investigation. An intel h
igent German naturalist said to Prof. .
iiekie, of the Edinburgh University: u
You are still discussing in England p
whether or not the theory of Darwin r
an be true. We have got long way u
eyond that here. His theory is now n
ur common starting point" "
We have shown the separate estab- d
of principle of evolution oI
v independent workers in different le