Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-11-12

~ KrRaCgA RA pOBthumOu8 paper puOnsneQ IN
Tf Harpers Magazine for November
DR.. Fiske presents the subject in a
NJ way which can be laid hold of by
kN the unscienti6c as we'll as by those
&NN m phiOsOphically inclined. To many
~~~AE~ the word evolution conveys little
more than the idea that descended from the
monkey. In the opinion Of DR.. Fiske, the descent
of man is trhng part Of the broad scope OF what he
calls the "science OF evolution" The view he pre-
sents is that evolution is the one vast law which
operates in everything from the simplest things in
life to the movement of the spheres There is not
he says One science Of mechanics for the earth, or
one kind of optics for Sirius one law of gravta
tOn for Jupiter, but from end to end OF the visible
universe the same laws hold sway, and the funda
mental principles Of action are the same. Not only
is it true that the same physical laws hold good
throughout all space, but throughout all tme as far
the farthest stretches of space and time that sci
ence can reveal to u.s." And this is the ground on
which he bases his claim that our earth has been
brought to its present stage by the gentle processes
Of evolution such as we Sc" operating around us
every day.
The old idea was that at some period in it's his
tory the agencies at work in modifying the earth's
surface must have been far more violent than at
present. 1t was believed that mighty and sudden
changes had taken place. The geOOgists pointed to
their fossils of extinct animals as proof that catas
trophies had to the earth and that after each
one there had been a new creation. But modern
science traces an intimate connection between most
sO-called extinct animals and those which we have
with us today. In early geologic ages earthquakes
and foods may have been more frequent and violent
than any recorded in history, but st at the most,
their work was only local in character and did not
affect the gigantic plan on which the earth for
ward. "The chief agencies of change" says DR..
Fske, "were the quiet ones. If you had visited the
earth then, you would have found peaceful scene,
where gentle showers and quickening sunshine
cOaxed forth the sprOutng herbage, with worms
crawling in the ground and quadrupeds of sort
browsing on the vegetation; and never would there
Just come time when you could say that the old
age had gone and new one succeeded it. How
does one generation Of men succeed anOtherf The
fathers are not swept away in a body to make way
for the children, but one by one they drop off and
the young come on until day is reached when none
OF those remain that once were here. How does
some form OF fhuman speech become extinCtf About
one hundred years ago an old lady named Dolly
Dentreath died in Cornwall She could speak the
Cornish language after her death there was nobody
that could. Thus quietly did the living Cornish
language become a dead language, and in a like
Obtrusve manner have been wrought most of the
new becomings which have changed and are chang
ing the earth"
The difficulty with the catastrOphizers was that,
while talking glibly about millions OF years, they
had not stopped to consider what is meant by mil
lion years when it takes the shape Of work accom-
plished. DR.. Fiske tries to tell One may stand
on the brink Of the Grand Canyon OF the Colorado
and look straight down to where the river winds
itself nearly mile below. II asked to tell how long
It took that river to cut that chasm you probably
would reply quadTll1Ons Of years. Yet at the rate
the river is now cutting down the rock the whole
work could be accomplished in less than million
years. 'tAll over the glObe, says Dr. Fiske, ''the
myriad raindrOps rushing in rivers to the sea are
with tireless industry working to Obterate existing
continents and the mean rate at which they are
accomplishing this work Of denundatiOn seems to
be about one foot in three thousand years. At this
rate and from the action Of rivers alone, it would
take just two million years to wear the whole ex-
listing continent Of Europe with all its huge noun
tain Masses down to the sea level"
d. Fiske tells rs that we have visible evidence
Of the work Of evolution before our eyes. Austria
lie has evOluted only to point attained by Europe
several geological ages ago. Australian man is the
lowest Of tie human species, having not yet arisen
to the bow and arrow stage. The marsupials now
found in Australia existed in Europe during the
chalk period. In Europe these marsupials gave
way to the placental mammals Of greater vitality,
and in Australia they being extingushed in pre-
cisely the same way.
In conclusion, we wish to quote the social or
political application Of the law Of evolution made
by Dr. Fiske. He speaks TO those who fret because
they cannot turn back accelerate the currents Of
human thought and action, and says:
t'Ii you consider the projects which men have
entertained in various ages for reforming society,"
you will find that along with experience goes a
naive faith that some sovereign Decree or some act
Of parliament, or some cunningy devised const1tu-
ton, or some happily applied referendum win at
once accomplish the desired result. But cold, hard
experience soon shows that sovereign edicts may