The sun., 1901-03-17

In any casr Il would be greatly marred by
the prospect Of meeting the less agreeable
ncquaintHnces and the enemies who nave
troubled our existence here below Another
difficulty faces the a'hanatist when he un-
dertakes TO cope with the inquiry In what
stage Of their individual development viii
the dlsembod!cd souls spend their eternal
life' VIII tho newborn infant develop IFS
psychic powers In heaven under IN" same
hard conditions oi the struggle for life
which educate men here on earthf VIII
the youth OF native talents who has pre-
maturely fallen amid murderous warfare
unfold In WAlhaa his hitherto unused mental
povers2 VIII the childish old man who. IN
tho ripeness Of his prime. filled tho world
with the fame Of his achievements. live Tor
ever in mental decay? Or will he return 10
an earlier stage Of development IL the
immortal souls on Olympus are 10 1.-Two from
the outset TO tho end In condition OF re-
juvenesoence and perfection, then II Is otvi-
ous that for them both the stimulus TO the
formation Of personality and the interest
attaching thereto must altogether disappear
~.
In a anal chapter on the solution OF the
which has been made In the nineteenth CEN
tury. Prof Haeckel considers nc some Length
the question whether the evolution OF organic
ifc may be supposed to have gone forward.
not only on the earth, but on other planets
Of orr solar system. or, at all events, on planets
belonging TO the systems OF other suns The
present condition OF our knowledge on the
subject n thus condensed II is. in the first
place. pronounced very probable that a
similar biogenetic process TO that OF our own
earth 10 taking place on some OF the other
planets OF our solar system MARS and Nenusl
and ON manv rlanets of other solar systems;
first simple monera are formed by spon-
taneous generation. and from these nrise
uniCcliulAr protists tilrst plasmodomons
primitive plants. and then plasmophagous
primitive anmalsD 1t Is very probable that
from these unicellular protists ariso. in the
further course Of evolution, first social cell
communities tcpnobial. and subsequently
tissue forming plants and animals imetaphyta
and motnYoal
1T IL also very probable that thallophvta
talgm and fungi were the flrst To appear In
the plant kingdom, then daphyta (mosSes
and fernsl. finally anthophyta tsymnosperm
and ansosperm Towering plants II is
equally probable that tho biogenetic process
took q similar course in the animal kingdom;
that from the blasteads (catallscta) GIst gas
threads were formed and from these lower
animal forms (c,slenterinl higher organisms
(cdlomaral were afterwards evolved ="
So far evolution may run the same
course on other planets ls on the earth. On
the other hand. Prof Hseckcl deems II very
Questionable whether the different stems of
tho higher animals, and those Of the higher
plants ~ we'll run through the same course
Of development on other planets as on our
earth In particular does he regard II AS
wholly uncertain whether there are vert"-
brntes on other planets and whether In the
course OF their phyletic develupT ent, re-
| quiring millions OF years mammals are formed
as they have been formed on earth, reaching
! their highest point in the evolution OF man
! For such an event millions Of changes would
! have o. have been Identical in both cases
| our author on the contrary, holds IL 10 be
| much moro probable that other planets
| whether belonging TO our own or 20 some
| other solar system, have produced other
| types Of the higher plants and animals which
are unknown on our earth II may be that
| from some higher animal stem superior IN
| formation 20 the vertebrate have Grisef
| higher beings far trans crndlng earthly mer
! in intelligence AS for the possibility Of oui
ever entering into direct communicative
| with the inhabitants of other planets. If In
/ habitants there he, this, in our authors opin'
ion Is Irecluied by tho immense distance o
| our earth IRON the other heavenly bodies
and by the absence Of any atmosphere In tn,
| intervening space. which contains only ether
! Although the number Of world riddles ha.
been continually diminishing in the course
! OF the nineteenth century, one Comprohen
! slve nigma remains, 10 wit. The problem
! Of substance, What IL the real character
| of tho mighty wOrld-wOnder that the realisti,
! scientist calla nature or the universe. whicl
! the idealist philosopher calls substance, ol
the cosmos. and which the pIous believes
| oalls Creator or God Can We niflrm to-day
that the marvellous progress of moderr
/ cosmology has solved this problem Of sub
stance" or, AZ least brought W. nearer +,
. the solution The answer 10 this final gue-
| tiOn naturally varies considerably acCordlnl
to the viewpoint OF tho philosophic inuulrc
| and his empirical Acquaintance with tho rea
world Prof. Haeckcl grants at once thR
| the innsrmost character Of nature Is just a
little understood by US as 1t was by AnaXi
| mander and EmpedoCles 24O0 wears ago. BY
Spinoza and Newton 200 years ago, and h.
| Kant and Goethe 100 years ago. He ever
| admits that the essence OF substance be
comes more mvsterous the deeper We penc
trate into the knowledge Of its attributes
matter and energy. and the more thorouGhl'
! We study its countless phenomenal form
and their evolution We do not know tn,
thing in II self" that lies behind these know
able phenomena. But why should we troubl,
ourselves, our author asks. about this eng
matte thing in itself" when we have N,
means OF investigating H. and when We d.
not even clearly know whether 1t exists o
not7 Let us. then. leave, he says, the frutleS
brooding over this ideal phantom 20 tn
-pure metpphysician," and let MS instead, n
real physici-ts. rejoice in the immeHs
progress which has been actually made b.
the monistic philosophy Of nature
Prof lTacckel's conclusion runs ne follows
Towering above all the achievements an,
discoveries OF tho century, we have Che great
| Cohlpreheusive law OF substance, tho funda
! mental law Of the ConStnuoy Of matter an,
force The fact that substance /, every
where subject 10 eternal movement and
transformation gives II m" character ais
of the universal law OF evolution A. thi
supreme law has been armlv established
and all others are subordinate to It. We arriv
at a conviction ~ tho universal units Of natur
mad tho eternal validity Of It's laws Fror
the gloomy p~obirn Of euh-fauoc We hav
evolved the clear iir Of substance. IN
mouisln of the Cosmos which We e-tahlis