Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-04-04
Daily gen.sehse goarnal.
EVOLUTION.
As Described by a Member Of Rev. Mr.. New.
bcrt's Class.

among inc Aryan people all coDed with
the problem. To them it was a vital n
religious question. The bibles of all the
great religions of the world begin with an
account OF creation, quite in accord we
must suppose, with the limited knowledge
of natural law which their writers nos
sessed. Is it not then religious duty for
us to apply our broader knowledge to the
question, and If il involves the npsettine
Of our little crecds, laay wc not ieel sure
that they will be replaced by pobler
religion whose foundation shall be the
truth?
This is what the class in evolution at
the Unitarian church has been trying
to do; and all who have attended, feel that
the zeal and enthusiasm Of Mr. Newbert
have opened a new world to them. Briefly,
yet with certain thoroughness, they have
surveyed the whole field Of creation in the
light Of this theory which in the half
century since its birth, has been so wide
ly accepted. The popular idea Of the word
evolution is that it teaches only that man
is descended from q monkey.
Let US see if this is what it means. An
exact definition of the word would bean
unfolding, a development
In the minds of all intelligent peoDla
that the earth has always had its present
form, has been replaced by the fact that
long ages ago it existed III an intensely
heated, gaseous condition, similar to that
of the sun at present, and that in the cool
ing process, it passed through various
phases until at length it became habit
able. This is the first step in evolution
"a development, gradual change in the
earth. Now, did life appear upon it sud
denly, and did all the types today exist
ing have beginning then? We know
that today our rivers, bearing down sedi-
ment worn away from their banks, de-
posit it at the bottom of the ocean, and it
must be that the skeletons Of ocean ami
mails as well as of many ship wrecked
sailors, are imprisoned beneath this ooze
to be preserved as pressure hardens the
mass to stone. Now this process took
place as well in those distant ages Lay
er after layer with its distinctive forms Of
life has been put down at the bottom of
the ocean, vast upheavals have tilted
these strata, so that all are now exposed
to new, and the geologist can tell us the
relative age Of any of them. In these
rocks fossil remains are numerous and
the significant fact is this in the layers
known by their position to be the Oldest
an found only the very lowest forms Of life
AS we ascend the organisms become more
and more complex, but it Is not until we
have studied many strata that we find an
animal with backbone the anticipation
of our fish. All these creatures lived
only in the water, but a little farther on
we find amphibians, then large land ami
mails, while it is at a comparatively re-
cent data in the history of the rocks that
man is found.
What is the significance of the scientific
fact that the first forms of life to appear
on the globe were also the lowest in the
scale of life? Does it not prove at least
that in this natural history extending
over millions of years, there has been a
gradual improvement in living creatures?
Did each of these forms come upon the
stage ready made during the era in which
we find its remains? For instance in the
\ age when fishes were the sole inhabitants
.ssof the globe, did single land animal or
4 number of land animals, spring, sud
z denly into existence, called into being out
OF nothing by some mysterious power?
Is this in accordance with our knowledge
Y Of the laws Of reproduction?
IS On the other hand is 1t possible that the
higher forms could have been developed
from the lower? Let US look for mo-
mont at the dog. How great is the differ
enco between tho terrier and tho mastif
Or between either and the Dhole from
which the naturalist, Wood, tells US all
dogs have probably comet Yet man by
patient and careful breeding has pro
duced all these different kinds of dogs
from the wild variety. May not the same
process have taken place gradually in the
~ fx,f,,- Il, al, a..
mate OF our globe has undergone so many
changes?
We see that tho skeleton of man cores.
pond in nearly every PARTICULAR to shat of
the other vertebratcs, and in his body
there are several rudmentary organs
which have no use, while the correspond
ing organs form an essential part of other
animals. Strongest evidence of all in the
fact not widely known, that the human
embryo in its Development, passes sue
cssively through many of the lower forms
ol life. First microscopic. single-celled
organism it undergoes rapid changes, a.
one p1riod taking more or less fish like
form and breathing with gills, later
covered thickly with hair and possessing
long tail, thus presenting an epitome Il
the whole series through which the
human race has had to pass before attain
ing its present form.
The main facts in the case, then, seem
to indicate that there has been a gradual
development of one form of life from an
other. This idea cannot but be pleasing
to the thoughtful mind, representing as
1t does the steady onward march of crea-
tion in accordance with natural laws
which we see operating about us today
How much more rational than creation
by violation of these laws
Some people, even though logically con-
vinced of the truth of evolution refuse to-
accept it because it is atheistic, it leaves no
room for God anywhere in the universe
say they. IT these people would but study
tho subject, they would see how unjust is
this accusation.
The eyolutionist tries only to explain
consistently the making of the great natur-
al laws, Just rs the physician in order to
heal us, would understand the laws oil
health and disease. No one accuses the
latter of atheism The evolutioBist does
not attemps to account for the laws OF life
IL toio