The sun., 1897-08-15

tinctivo also OF Aristotle was his rejection OF
Ss samso but simply as the term BY when %s
express the fact that certain phcnT9mena Ta always
that j Jupiter rains not that crop Of grain ES may
be increased, but from necessity Similarly, il
some ones n grain @ rs S as ey an "n
circumstance. 1t docs not appear TO be from
fortune or chance that T. Frequently Hu rains in
OF the origin OF iife.forms, Aristotle was nearest
of all to its modern solution setting forth the
produced and not Immediately, animals; ana
that the soft mass which first subsisted was the
L IS less !" dsne n%a ths p
were produced in the same manner as animals,
witt With r grape vines Il may bo argued thai there
must have bccn ut least an accidental genera
S
those primal things which, being continually
mGyed by certain prnGre ed Sonteipsd ps I'm In them
called that, in the cagerness Of thcologians TO
discover proof OF h belief In one God an among the
cient cause" prime mover" and 50 forth,
the lone God of Ncnophanes," seemed also
ns psass SoiSh Sena s Ss s
article Of the English Church, though not with
pRts or psss Tkers @
ment ceases Excluding such a thing as Di.
S1nG the n possbty
inspiration miracles, and grace. To the mind
Of s as to that o GPd
affairs. Differ, nevertheless. as the comments-
tors might as to, ,Aristotle's meaning, his sup
ally to the acceptance Of his philosophy By
Aasustin0; Bishop Of Hippo r the fourth
Church ShurchS, so S that The %ed~yai theories of tho tho
Bible, blended with Aristotle, represented tho
tury, upset the Ptoiemaic theory: with ITS nIed
the sseaveny moved
thereby The upset very much besides hssL Aristotle.
certain animals, as of GELS from tho mud Of
and Of from PT..d at In
Aquinas, and many men OF science down to tho
latter part Of the seventeenth century, followed
making ieas; and another scholar showed him:
to-day, who believe that GELS arc produced
from horsehairs thrown into q pond. OF
to tic evolutionary hypothesis, was bis antiei.
patton Of what 10 known as Epigenesis, or the
'hs s 'ls mt
viduals, through the union Of the fertiliEing
epy o Be- 5g tho
ston Of the blood and + sS Fl boS
sent men 81 science down 70 the last century:
Some Of the latter .contended that the perfect
for for Example, the hen 5 egg before fecund%stion %
was presumed to contain an excessively minute,
Sc and ii in the % Of pdht this % boS
pnted the number of human germs ,V concen. H
tbess IN @ The q mohsT EH
Although thestic element could be eI-
tracted by the theologans Of the early Christian
Church from the systems OF Empedocles and
Democritus, they were formative powers L.
Greek philosophy. and have come by their
own" in these latter days. Their chief repro
sentative in the post-Aristotelian period was
Epicurus, who born at Samos 342 B. c.
His teaching has been perverted that his
name has become loosely identified with indul.
gence and gross sensual living. 1t is true that
he saw in pleasure the highest happiness. and
therefore advocated the pursuit of pleasure 10
attain happiness; but he did not mean thereby
the pursuit of unworthy objects; rather did he
counsel the following after pure, high. and
noble aims. whereby alone. he said. could man
have peace Of mind. With regard to his
cosmic views. Epicurus adopted the theory
of Leucippus and applied it consistently.
The do-nothing gods who dwell serenely
Indifferent to human affairs, and of whom,
therefore, men should have no dread; all
things. indeed, whether dead or living. even tho
ideas that enter the mind. are he said. alike
composed Of atoms. He also accepted the theory
broached by Empedocles as to the survival Of
fit and capable FORMS after life had arrived al
these through the processes Of spontaneous gen
Grafton and the production Of sterile monstros-
tiles Adopting the speculations Of these fore
runners, he made them the vehicle of didactio
Of MhSh
cretius, period of some two centuries, there
i; nothng that deserves the attention of The ne
york done oy the pioneers OF evolution IN
the author of DE Rerum Ndturd." The JUS
tihcation ior including Lucretus among the
pioneers Of evolution lies in his two
mentous contributions to the science OF man,
namely his assumption of the primitiye sav.
agery Of the human race and his belief In
assumption, it is pointed out by Mr.. Clodd that
anthropological research. notwithstanding its
sixty years, has done little more than hii in the
outline which the insight of Lucretius enabled
anticipated almost in detail the " ghost theory"
pf the origin OF belief IN In spirits generally which
and sustained by am an enormous us mass mass OF evidence,
The credit due TO Lucreius for the original
III n long n the
ries through its nti.theological spiri
staining and , on the threshold H mol Of the Christia9
the speculations into the causes and nature Of
things which, begun by Thales In the sixth con.
tury, b. c.. came to ali end in the poem OF Lu.
cretusl First, the Greek philosophers had ar
rived at a conviction that there is a. primary
substance which abides amid the general t1ux Of
things; all modern research tends to show
that the various combinations Of matter af
formed from some prind ndtcrid, the ultimate
nature OF which remains unknown. In tho 500
ond place, the Greeks avorred that out Of moth
Ing M co c9mes % nothing; modern science knows moth.
unthinkable. In the third place, the Greeks
ayerred that the primary substance Is indo-
etruCtlDle. the modern doctrine of the
servation OF energies teaches that both mat
ter and motion can neither be created nor
destroyed. Certain Greeks held, in the
fourth place, that the universe is made
up OF indivisIble particles called atoms. whose
manifold combinations, ruled by unalterable af-
ftnties result in the variety of things; with mod
ihcations based on chemical as well mechani-
cal changes in the atoms. this theory 10 oon-
flrmed by moicrn research. 1t was. ffthly. Q
Greek averment that change is the law Of
things and is brought about by the play of OPP
posing forces: modern science explains the
changes in phenomena as due to the ntagonism