KXOLUTION OF MINI). 
 
 Sl'EICCll OF 
 
 
 AT A MK1-.I'1\(; ()|.' ■||||.; 
 
 MAINLAND TKA( in:i{s^ inshtiti:. 
 
 II Kill AT 
 
 VANCOUVKM, .lANlJAHY GUI. 1896, 
 

. i^ n^////^ "^f/^i 
 
 / 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OP MIND 
 
 Cnjujof a resoliilioH posscd at fhv itieeiing oj' tin' Mdinhunl 
 Tfiichcrs lii,'<tHnt'' lichi .laiiiuirn (illi, 1S96, after the . hlitrrss oj 
 Li eat. -Vol OH el the Ifoiioiindile ./antes llaker :— 
 
 "Movi'il !)}• Profe.ssor Odium ami seconded hy Dr. rSof^fifs, Tluit a vott; of tliaiikslu' 
 most hfurtily tfiidcivd to tin- Honounililc (.'uluml Pakvr, Miuisti'i- of Ediieatioii, foi 
 tho masti'ily ctlort in tlic presentation of an exhaustive and liiyhly instructive lecture 
 on "The Evolution of Mind," and idl picsent earnestly express tlie desire that the 
 Honourable Gentleman, at an early date, print in extenso, the lecture, and place a copy 
 in the hands of eacli menil.er of the profession." Carried \nianimously. 
 
 rV>/>,// of a resDlatian /xissi'/l tit the last sessifnt a/' the Afa iitlait't 
 Teneheis' I iistitute held .Itiititai-ii 7th, lS!)(i. 
 
 "Movi'd hy F M Cowperthwftite, B.A., and seconded hy J W. Jamieson, That the 
 most sincere thanks of the Institute are .hie, and are herehy tendere.l, to the Honourahle 
 Colonel Baker, Minister of Kdueation, for his presence at the sessions of th«' Institute 
 and most especially for his al.Ie ami in.structive lecture on "The Kvolution nf Mind, 
 an<l that we earnestly hope that the HononraM.' (lenthman will print the leetnre and 
 place a copy of tlu- same in thr hands ..f each mendier of the institute < 'arrieil 
 unanimoMsh 
 
.:f:^;/^7/^^^/^>^ 
 
 / 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF MIND 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 Colonol Bakeu spoke as follows: — 
 
 It is now two years since J luul the pleasuro of attendinjr the animal meeting of 
 the Mfiinlanil Tencln iv' Institute, and I can assure you tliat I Feel niucli gratilieil at 
 fimliiiff myself again aiMressing you on this occasion, as in duty hound in my capacity 
 as Minister of E'lncation. 
 
 Mv position at these meetines is somewhat analogous to that of a farmer who is 
 ahont to cultivate a Wi,-d jirepared licild, which from its fertility and adaptnl)ility will 
 respond — T hope kindly — to any lahonr vliich nuiy he bestowed upon it. 
 
 I feel that 1 aui addressing tliose wiio trade in knowledge, and that wo 
 are therefon; all of us sutliciently aware of how little we really know and how 
 much Me have to Icain. And when we analyze this trade in knowledge, in what 
 does it consist? In the cultivation of mind' Yes, h\!t what "is" mind? We have 
 hoard that ([uesMon answei'ed to the elloct: "Wlia' is udnd no mattei', what is nuitter 
 never mind," but we will eiuhavour to nfrcsli our memory on this occasion, and inas- 
 much as it is your principal duty to fashion immafr.iT minds into high<>r forms, it may 
 be profitable to dwell for a time ui)on what the human imagination conceives the mind 
 to be, and in order to do this in an intolligent manner it will be necessary to go back 
 to the genesis of knowledge. It is a lor.g, long stride, and when we have spaiuicd it 
 we find ourselves lamleil somewhere about the genesis of life. At tiiis resting place 
 wo become aware of the finite [)owors of our rea.son, and we ilis( ovcu' th it, although 
 the revelations of the pi-csent emible us to recogni/e numy tif the? wondeis of the past, 
 still wo can oidy do so up to a. certain point, and there we are I'oiced to pause and to 
 bow hi reverence to the superior wisdom of the Allwise Creator. 
 
 We havt!, however, li'ariied this much by the way, namely, that the linntatiou of 
 our reasoning power is being expanded upon a scientific formula, and that in periods 
 of time the boundaries of our knowledgv ai'e lieing enlarged. Both in the iiitinitoly 
 great and the infiidtesimally small we are now able to see partially where before we 
 were lilind. The microscope has ciiablrd us to a.ssert that there are living organisms 
 so minute that it would take six thousand millions of them to cover a s.iuare inch, ai'.l 
 even then the limit of the micrwosm would not be reached, while in the iidinitoly 
 great the spectroscope has revealed to irs the composition of the atmo.sphere of the auii 
 and its planets, and we are now able to measure distances so great to stars that, at 
 la.st, our iuiaidnation beeonus lost in space, bicaiis.' our imjierfect reason does not p(;rmit 
 UH to realize a distance so great that it can have no end, neither on the othei- hand can 
 wo realize distance being bounded becau.se there must always be something beyond the 
 boundary. 
 
 Ilanllv a decade passes without .some new revelation from science founded upon the 
 experience of the past, and which tells us that although many of our former deductions 
 were correct, some of our prenuses wore wrong. Kor example, tlio atomic theory of 
 Deinocritus has, after a lapse of '2,()()(> years, lieen corrected, and T might almost 
 
4 
 
 say pcrlVictt'd. l>y Clcik Muwvcll ami ntlirrs. in |i liiit of fa t svc arc i^radually 
 lioiiiff liftc 1 ii|i to a liifflicr irvcl of rtMsoiiinn- p.jwcr, an 1 wi' ai'c at last |n'iiiiitti-(i 
 to i^iasp tlu: wdikIci fill liy|)()tli('-is of I'volatioii. 
 
 Aii'l wlicii we coiUrt'iupIato that liypotlu'sis, wliat a niarvcllods revelation 
 is laid out ln-forc us: Wo are first eonfrontiiil witli tlie aihcnt •>£ life upon 
 this earth. How it eauie we are not as yet juTuiitted to know, l>ut a most 
 ingenious and fascinating hypotliesis has lieen suggested liy tlie distinguished 
 scientist Helinholtz, and it uiay interest you if I describe it. Jt is known tliat 
 through the iv/.nr<' and clear sky — wlii'h the people oj' Vancouvcc are suuietiiius 
 perudtti^d to see — thcri.' ai'e passing great streams of what in a>tixm()mical language 
 is called "dust," whicii is composeil of I'ocky matter of various sizes, some of 
 them as large and ])rolialjly a great deal larger tlian this liuiMing. And if it 
 is doulited that sucii masses could he floating through tlie sky without being visible to 
 the naked eye, let it be renu-mbereil that a large object like a balloon becomes but a 
 mere speck when even a few miles distant. Tliese great streams of gigantic dust 
 which are circling through space are probably <leliris from other worlds, ami their 
 courses have been so accurately detined by astronomers that they can foretell almost 
 to an hour wlien these streams of dust will conn^ into contact with the atmosphere of 
 the earth at about 18 miles distant, but before that tinu; the attraction of gravity has 
 drawn the nearest rock matter towards the centri' of the earth, ami the accelerating 
 velocity of falling creatts so much friction from the air that the exterior of the meteorite 
 becomes heated to incandescence, and W(; see what is called a falling star. Helmholtz 
 suggests tliat there are germs of life from other w(jrlds roaming thnjugh space in this 
 etherial dust, and tluit they may have come to us encased in meteorites. The idea 
 certainly harmom'/.es with the beautiful legend that when a .star falls unto us a child is 
 born — " We have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 
 
 he that as it may, we are able to fix Mic commenceiuentof life upon earth in the early 
 geological ]» lioo Id which the name of palaeozic has be, mi given, when the atmosphere 
 wtis far warmer than it is at present and more highly chai'ged with carlionic acid gas — 
 indeed at this period the teniperaiure at the poles was not much less than that at the 
 equator — and .scientitic research leads us to believe that the medium which smionnds 
 existence has a great influence upon the growth and fornuition of organisms. We 
 know that a great change has taken place, not ordy in the atmosphere but also in the 
 composition of the waters of the oi can .since the creatit)n of the earth, and that a 
 change is still going on. but so .slowly as not to bo perceptible to our senses. Kvolution 
 may, therefore, be an adaptation of life to the changing medium which .surrounds 
 oxistt'nce. 
 
 I'lUt lud'tn-e touching uj)on the .spiritual or physical condition of life, it may be well 
 to indicate very briefly a few of the stages of evolution. 
 
 It has lieen divided into three great epochs, namely, the palaeozoic, or period of 
 ancient life, the mesozoic.or the period of middle life, and the cenozoic, or the period of 
 recent life. As far as our powers of obsei'vation permit us to go, we find that life com- 
 mences in the pahieozie period with the |)rotoplasm or first germ, and that these priini- 
 tiv« cells arrange themselves into groups to form what are called Protozoa spotige-like 
 and .shell like organisms, which, after great periods of tiiiu-, are a-compaided by 
 Kadiatcs, whicli we recognize in the present ilay in our jelly-ti.sh, sea ani'inonies and 
 star-fish , and these again were followed l>y Mollusks which were the progc^nitors of 
 
our oystors find clams, and after further periods of titne there ayipeared the Articniates 
 fioiii whicli have been evolved our shrinipH, lobsters and crabs, and finally there appeared 
 upon the scene the A'ertrbiates, which are represented by tishe^^, rejitiles, birds, animals, 
 anytlnn,i,f in fact which has a backlione, and we lemark that in each period of time 
 there was a hi^liei- order of being. 
 
 But it must be understood that in this process of evolution tht> changes from a 
 lovi'cr to a higlier ordei' of being did not o;-cur hi a regular seipienie by the lower 
 disa))pearing upon the advent of the higher ordt'i- — on the contrary, there ajtpears to 
 liavo been a radiation of evolution starting from the proto|)lasm as a common centre, 
 and some of the organisms after considerable di>v.'!opment fail and die out, some remain 
 stationary, while others are dev('l(i])cd into higluMand still higher orders of being. This 
 may possibly be accounted for by the change wdiich has taken place in the atmosphere 
 and in the waters of the ocean which luivo become inimical to some oriranisms and 
 favoural)le to others. 
 
 Turning then to the palaeozoic period we find life commencing in tin; Lower 
 Silurian f(jrmation — it may have existeil in the laurentian in the form of algae or 
 seaweed, and indeed some scientists, Sir William Dawson among the lunnber, think 
 they have discovered what aie called I'hizopods, a fcirm of protozoa, in the Laurentian 
 limestone, but as far as our purpose goes we may say that life commences in the Lower 
 Sihn-ian formation with the protozoa, radiates, mollusks and articulates, all of which 
 were of marine origin: there was no life ii]ion the land at that period. 
 
 When we ascend into the ITjiper Silurian forn:ation wi' still find the same forms of 
 life continuing, liut a very important evei>t now occurs in the history of evolution by the 
 appearance ujion the scene of the lirst vertebrate in the form of a low order of fish, 
 souiething like a dog ti>h of the pi-esent da^', and 1 want you to realize the enormous 
 lengtli of time which it took from the commencement of life to arrive at even this 
 primitive vertebrate. Acording to Lord Kelvin, whom you nmy pi'ihaps recognize 
 l>etter under his former name of Sir William Thompson — and we could not have a 
 better authority it must have taken about 5(),()()0,()0() of years from the commeiice- 
 niei\t of life to the develo])ment of even this primitive veitelirate. Think of that ? 
 This is on the supposition that it has taken about !l(),0(H),0(){) of years from the creation 
 of life up to thi^ picsent time, which has lieen divided into 7 !*,<)( )(>,()()() of years for the 
 palaeozoi<', J.S,()0(),0()() of years foi- the mesozoic, and (»,()()(),()()() of years foi- the cenozoic 
 periods. It is a long, long time, and it has lieen i oni])uted by measuring tlie thicknesses 
 of the ditlerent strata and (In n calculatiu';' thr hnyth of time nece-ssary for their 
 deposition. Of course the couipntation (an onl\' be appro.xin.ate even to some ndllions 
 of years, lait it affords a basis to reason upon. 
 
 As we asceml into the formation above the I'pper Silurian, naimdy, the Devonian, 
 we fln<l it characterizeil l)y the great alanidame of fishes- it was altogether a very 
 fishy pei'iod, but liven these fishes ussumed a higher onlei- of bi ing by some of tlu^m 
 becoming ganoiil or covered by great shining '-<'ali's, and we ha\-e oidy to place a salmon 
 alongside a dog-fish to bi'come aware of how large a ticM there is foi' the development 
 of oven fishes. There was still no life upon the land at this period, except perhaps a 
 few mosses, and here afi<l there a very scanty vegetation. 
 
 Hut when we nsceiul into tlie ('arboidferoiis fonoation tlieii a most important 
 «diaiigi! occurs. We find a large porticai of the land covered liy a dense vegeta- 
 tion, in the form of great forests of pines, trues, ferns an<l a thick uiulurgrowtii, 
 
6 
 
 anil consiilor for ». m imrnt what, the rosult of this was. Wo know that, the atiiiospliore 
 was lu'iuily clLiriri'il willi (•.irlKiiiii- nciil <^as at this period, ami \\i' also tcnow tliat 
 animals rannot ii\i' in farhonic acid i^iis, tmt trei's ami plants feed upon that ;i;as — 
 conseijucnily thi'se groat forests uf the carhonifoions formation eat up the earbonie 
 aci<l gas in the atmosphere and convert'd the cart)un afterwards into a lar^fe por- 
 tion of the eoal measuies whieli we tinij iqinn unr earth in the ]>resent day and 
 this had tlie eU'eet of imrifyiny lh«; atmosphere and leiidoring it lit for animal 
 life, and ijelmld, there at once a]>}ieais upon the scene the first ainjihihian or \\ater 
 lizard, which loidd hoth .^svim in the water and crawl among the rich vegetation 
 on tlio land. Thesi' am])!niiians had gills like' a fish anrl could hreallic under water, 
 and theiein they iiitfered from the otlu r rejitiles and saurians winch had to come 
 up to the surfa<(> to Kreathe, just as <nir alligators ha\e to ^lo in tln' jucseiit day. 
 W(^ also tind that insects now appear upon the land, mostly )n the form of s])idei's 
 and scorpions. This clo>es the Palaeozoic perind, whieh yuu will icmeniher has 
 lasted for 72,()()0,0()0 of years. 
 
 Wo now enter tipon the Misn/oic jicrlod. whicli ha^^ heen divided into the triassie, 
 the Jurassic aiwl the reitaceous foiinali-'Us. 
 
 This wiUj an age of great reptiles, and 1 .im xcry glad thai it is not (jur fate to he 
 living amqng theui, I'mi- it must ha\e hoeii a imist uight-niai i--li soit of country. Theic 
 were largesaurians inliahiting the hind in great nundiers. I*'or e.Nample, theri' was the 
 i\ioiister plesiosauriis which was hal f .sorpi'iit, half crocodile, the iguaiiodon, a large lizzard 
 whi'h stood thirty feet iiigli, ichthyosauri, like great crocodil<!s, some of them .seventy 
 feet long; the ptero.-anrus, which I'ould lly in the .lir, swiiii in the water and craw! on 
 the laml, and ^Vom v»'hich liirds have heen evolutcd. It h;iil a head like a crocodile, and 
 proliahly lair itieas of a. flying draguu are deri<ed froui this heast. Then there was the 
 monster lahyriithiid<'ii, asorf of huge toad as Mg as an o.x, A\hich went crav ling around 
 the land und nnushy ]i!aces. Altogether it musi have heen u period to give any one 
 the "jumps," .uid I am very glad that we arc; out of it. lint another important event 
 in the history of exolution occurred towards tin.' (doe of the cretaceous formation by 
 the ap]iearanc(> of the tiist mammal in the form of a marsupial, sine thing after the 
 fosliion of our kangaroos uf the present day— so that you see we ar<' gradually getting 
 up in the scale of life. This (dos<'s the Mesozoic pi'iiod. which you will remendier took 
 iS.OOO.OOOyeais to develop. 
 
 We now ei'.ter the (.'I'lio/nic pcrioil, which h.is iieen divided into the tertiary 
 and timirtertiary formations. This is the age of mammals. Iarg(." and small, and 
 the tertiary has been suti-di\idiM| itito the en.'eiie, the uiioceue and jilioccne 
 formations. We now find, curiou'^ly enough, that most of the life which existed during 
 the cretaceotis formatiiMi disap})ears when we enter the eocein! and that new ordeisare 
 lH)rn. Again, when we enter the miocene more than half of the forms of life which 
 cxisteil in tlie eocene disappears, and still higher ordt'rs are bmri, and at last when we 
 enter thecpinrternaiy foiiiiation we arrive at the highest maiinnal of all in the form of 
 man, after the lapse of lt(;,0(l(),(»0(> years from the dawn of life lin* ; \ ,11 now we tind 
 Home of the <»;-ganisms of the siluiiaii |ieriod living amongst us, .such lus the welbknown 
 nautilus whicii has retained the form it possessi'd 7U,0()(),()0() years ago 
 
 There areotieortwo inti'resting|M)ints in these stages of evolution to which I should 
 HlMcially like to (all your iittention. in the earliest ilevelopmeiits which pas.setl from the 
 
prutozoio to tliriiu'tnzoic there iii ose a iiiostimportaiit event. The iiunierous piotophisnuc 
 cells frn)upe(l tlieiiiselves into the form of a skin, spherial in sliape and lioilow, whic h 
 may eonvmiently he icpresentcij l.y a ImIIow in.lia r\\U>er l)all wilh an air-hole in it. 
 This .spherical ])rotoi)lMsinic skin has heen given the name of "hla-stoderm," or germ skin. 
 Then by tlw. process of wliat is called invaginatio.i, one si-le of the lihtstoderm was 
 pre,sHe<l in so as to form a cup, a, id one half of the skin was thus l.roiight into contact 
 with the other half. A further develoi)ment or pre,s.sure of invagination, and the open- 
 ing of the cup was reduced until it assumed the form of a sack. The outer skni of 
 this sack is calleil the epil.last: the inner .skin of the sack is calle.l the hypoblast; and 
 the iuterveniug space between the two is the nie.soblast. This simple formation, which 
 came into being so many, many millions of years ago, was the archetype ot our own 
 bodies in the present day— in \n<\ut of fact, each of us represents a bla.stoderni with 
 titting.s. Our skin, you must remeudier, is not oidy an outer skin, but it is continued into 
 the mouth and down the throat and throughout the whole of the insi.le, Our outer skin, 
 with all its complicated nervous .sy.stem is the epiblast, our inner skin inside the body 
 is the hypoblast, and between the two the protoplasmic cells have been busy organizing 
 themselves under difieix-nt architects, foremen and artizans, to builil up tin; corpuscles 
 of our blood, ourvi;ins our nerves, our bones and muscles, to form the me.soblast, while 
 in the interior of the sack, that is, in.side the body, .similar [)rotoplasmic cells have 
 been builduig up the .stomach and organs of sustenance— in fact, every part of the 
 bodv is maile up of groups of protoplasmic cells. So then you see that this primi- 
 tive blastoderm which came into being about 7(),0(K),()()0 years ago v.-as our ancest*-, 
 and we can, therefore, boast of a very long i)edigree. All animals have sprung from 
 this simple organism, and scientists can distinctly trace many stages of this wonderful 
 process. 
 
 Great stri.les luive been mad.; in oin- knowledge of evolution during the past fifty 
 yeai-s in conseciuence of extended discoveries oi fossil remains in various parts of the world, 
 which have brought to light many mi.ssing links, and have revealed to us the skeletons of 
 numerous animals which weie living during the ceiiezoic and other periods. 
 
 By coini)arative anatomy .scientistsare enabled to trace the evolution of variousaniinals 
 froiu a lower to a higher order of being and also to group them into genera and species. 
 I'he stores of science were greatly enriched in this direction a few years ago by the discov- 
 ery of the fossil remains belonging to the ui)per mioceiie formation at Pikernii, in ( Jreece. 
 In the space of only 800 by »iO ynnls of gravel in the bed of a mountain stream there 
 were foiin.l an extraordinary nuiuber of fossil bones of huge animals. There were two 
 kinds of rhinoceros, larger than any which exist at th." pri;.sent day. Tho megathe- 
 rium, which is larger than the eleithant. the gr-at helidid.Jeriuin, which is far larger 
 than our giraffe, the dinotherium, or large tapir, (he chalicotherium, or huge pig, the 
 machairodus, a givat .sabre-toothed tiger more than twice the size of the present tiger, 
 the hipparion, or early form of iior.se; all these were found in great profusion, besides 
 numh.us of smaller animals, many of which are now extinct. It was evi-lent that all 
 these animals must have b<!en <lriven togeth(>r through terror caused by some convul- 
 sion of nature, and th.>y were then swept aw.iy by a mountain Uu-rent and hurried 
 among the gravel and de'bris carried down by the storm, to Ik, afterwards re.surrfcted 
 by the hands of ninn in order that the^' might liear witness to the history of the world 
 ^000,000 years ago. 
 
It is liy rnciuis of such discovorics, not only nt Pikorini, l)ut in otlior pnrts of the 
 world, espocinlly in Coloriulo and tlin .si)uth of Firince, tliat wc have heen ciwiblcd to 
 trace the iiitcre^tinff history of thi' evoUition of our conuiion friend, the, horse, and all 
 the sttigf's of dt'V(lo])iii(Mit aieso clear and so reniarkahle that I cannot give you better 
 evid(!nce of the truth of the evolutionary hypothesis than liy a (Uscri])tion of the 
 process. 
 
 The princijial credit of this liistt)ry is due to Prof. Marsh, of Yale University, 
 who has discovered no less than thirty stages of (Mjuine development, and I will now 
 describe seven of them. 
 
 The first of the series is as small as a fox, and the fossils weiv found in 
 Colorado in the lower eocene formation, tlatiiig back jjrolialily (i,0()0,()()0 years, 
 ami, in conse(|uence, the name of eohipyuis has iieen ufiven it. This early ancester of 
 the horse had four toes or fingers, and the rudiments (>f a thumb on eacli of its fore 
 feet and three toes on each of its hind feet. As we' ascend into the upper eocene 
 formation we come to the orohppus, or mountain hoi-se, which is somewhat larger than 
 th(> eohijijius, and now W(! find that the thuiidi has (iisapi)eared and the e(|uivtdent to 
 our middle finger is becoming elongated. As we move higlx^r into tln" stala into the 
 low<!rniioeeno formation we rind a third genus called the iuesoliij)pus, which is nearly a.s 
 large as a sheep. In this animal the finu'th toe has disappeared and the noddle toe is 
 still elongating and the other toes are sjirinking, thus showing that th'^ transition stage 
 is in progress. In the upper mioceno formation the mesohippus disappears, b\it a fom'th 
 form, the niiohip])Us, is l'o\n\d, which is very sinnlar to the form of horse called the 
 anchiterium in Kurope ']"he .size is increasing und the middle toe continues to elongate 
 and the other toes t(i shrink. As we ascend to the lower ])liociMt! formation we find 
 another stage in the evolution of the horse, the protohipi^us, which now boeonies as 
 large as an aRs. There are still three toes on llu- feet, but only the nuddh; one now 
 touches the ground. This genus is fomul imt only in America but in Kui ope under the 
 name of hippaiion. Still ascending in the formal ions ti) tlie middle pliocene we rind 
 the pliohipiais, on which the two side, toes have shrunk up out of sight, and when we 
 pjwts into the upper pliocene formation we come to the iim- «(|Uiis of th(> present age, 
 wdiich still shows the renuiants of two .if its former toes, Imt tliey have shrunk up to 
 those insignificant appendages wdiich we call splints in the horse's legs of tin- present 
 tiay. So you olisi i-ve that the hurse's fore fo'it from the knee downwards was oiiginally 
 the niifUllo toe of which the nail is now the hoof. 
 
 I have only alluded in these vari<»us stages to the change wliich has taken ])Inco 
 in the feet, but there have been changes in otluT bonis and in the teeth of the eipiine 
 tiilie which are ei|nally iinp<)rtant as witnesses to the undoulited eonnection nf a lower 
 with a higher development of the same genera. In fact, the pedigree of the horse can 
 be traced back for about tl,()()(),()0() years, and wo rind it always rising in ahigheroider 
 of lieing. 
 
 Briefly then we Icain Mint the j)hysieal condition of living things Inus been 
 Hteai'ily advancing upon an upward scale over nn estimated periixl of appxiximat^tly 
 I ()(),()<)(),(KM> years from the primitive protoplasmic cell up to the highest of created 
 lieings in the present day in the form of man 
 
 And there is a most eurinns and interesting point in this womleiful jiriH-ess. and 
 that M if wu Httloct any particular organism at any time during all tli«-su mill ions uf 
 
9 
 
 ypaiN \vi' fiinl the \A-1iole lii.stoi-y of tlie evdlntion of tlmt orjjanlsTii up to tliat time 
 roptfatcd from lH'giiiiiiii;if to ond in tlio alioi't period of a few wcoivs— -or at ino.st a few 
 iiioutlis- winch ate necessary for its eiiiliryoiiic <^ jvelopineiit. In fact, fii.lirvoiojjy 
 j,nves u,s a sliort history of evohition. This is called ontogeny, or tlie developnient of 
 till' individual in distinction to phyloo-cny, or the developnient of the tribe of which the 
 indivi(hial forms a part, and it is one of thi." ^reat mysteries uf lift.'. 
 
 It is now time to turn from the ph3-sical to the psychical conditions of liff, or tlie 
 evolntinn of the mind, hut one is so in'imately coni.octed with the other that it is ditli- 
 cult to divorce them. 
 
 It is customary to suppose that reason is the peculiar attribute of man and that 
 animals are only {.fu de(| by instinct, but, whei\ wi' attempt to define tlie bi.iuul.iry 
 between reason and instinct, it becomes as blurred as to be in<listinj,;uishable, aiid if we 
 try to fix the zero of rea,son, we havt; to keep laisliiiif^ it liack and Itack until it tuuehe,-. 
 tlie "fcne^is of life, liut takiii^f that as mir zero we then can graduate tlu' scale of 
 psychical evolution u]) to the hieliest intellect of the jiresent day. 
 
 In the earliest stagi-s of evolution tlie primitive organisms had developed in them 
 a creali\e ))o\ver fur tlie puv])ose of forming a home foi- rest an<l security. Kveji the 
 earliest iimllusks built their shells. Insects and birds built their ne.sts, and it is ditlii ult 
 to .say which is the most womlerful, a, bee's nest or Westminster Abbey. In either case 
 the building operations inu.st luive required a considerable amount of thought and 
 organization of labwiir, 
 
 Ihit in the life of injects v.e have a most interesting illustration of the powet-s of 
 observation and the adaptation of habit tosurnaniding circuuistaiices in the c,i,se of the 
 anthophora or mason bee anil the little sytaris or blister beetle. 'J'lie anthnpliura liee 
 seeks about for a soft kind of cck aii<l bores a circular ttinind into it fur a ci ftain 
 distance. It tliensink,« a per|)endicular shaft or well at right anglcH to the tunnel, and 
 when it is do\v:i a siiflicieiit dist;itice tin male and female be( s go ntitside and mix up a 
 kind<pf cement or plaster with which they line the interior of the tunnel and shaft in a 
 verv beautiful niaiuier. When tliis work is completed tlKfVxtnrtofr in tarch of honey, 
 which theV deposit in tiie shaft or well, and when it is sufticientlv full the • maiiii a," 
 Im'c lavs her e.ge; on the top of the honev so that it floats upon it. and she then 
 jjfoeH out>idc (iml mixes Up some more plaster or cement, with which .she retuins and 
 cuveis »ip the mouth of the well or shaft. The male I hh-h lire the tiist to hatch out, 
 about the einl of ,\ngust, and the eiiibyid bee scratches his way <ait, through the 
 plaster coveiing the well, crawls, in a sleepy soit of way, along the tunnel until he 
 arrivcH at the mouth of it. and thei't he lii's a" through the winter ii^a l.\ bernating 
 sort of state. t<i conn' into full activity tlie following spring. 
 
 Now once upon a tiiimthere wan a lady Hyt,»iris lu'etleof a domestic turn of miml, w ho 
 was roaming about the coinitry in Hcarch of a nic(! home for her future fan ily. when she 
 happened upon one of the ttninels of the anthophorti bees, and, being of the fi minine 
 gender, she was naturally of an iui|uiHiti\e turn of mind, mid she stood by low, tdi ; and 
 when she HMw the male ami female antliopln>ia bees come out uf tlu* tunnel lier curioNity 
 wiVH still further excited, so she went insiile and explored the whttje pieniises, and then 
 returned to the t'litianee of the nioiitli of the tunnel to continue her inve'*tigatiotis, niid 
 there she remained until she had made herself aci|uainted with all the habits of the 
 aiitli(i)i<mi lae. Then she begun t^i think, and this is how slie reasoned : " If I lay my 
 egg at the HMaitli of that tunnel in} baby HyterJH grub will hatch out ubout tlie end of 
 
10 
 
 Aii<>iist, ami wlicii it finds that sliicpy-licinlcd ouiIato lice l\'iii^' alotij^sidi' of it, as my 
 cliild comi'S of a lustlinj^ family, it v ill lis its six sliai'i* claws ii)t>> that hvv aid utili/.e 
 it for foo i. And hy and by when it set's the " mamnia" lioc lay her I'nrjr on the t>ip of 
 that nice, swL't't hoiii'V, well, if it docs not know liow to tako advaiita^^o of the situation 
 it will not he like a child of mine." Accoi'dinj^dy she connnenced to [nit her plan into 
 operation, laid her v^g at the month .)f the tunnel, and everythinpf turned out exactly 
 as she had anticipated. Thi! haliy syteris grul) utilized the endiyro bee for food, and 
 when it saw the female bee lay her ej;y.on top of the honey and come out to ndx up 
 the plaster, the erui» crawled a!on^' the tininid, looked down into the well, and then 
 climlied on top of the eirj,' floating on the honey. Mack comes the " mamma " liee, and 
 she is .so nuicli oc. upied with her masonry ojxjralions that she never notices the little 
 fi;r(ili on the top of the ogg, and she plasters \ip the mouth of the well with the thief 
 inside. And now the svteris ifruli has a " real (food time." It first ilevours the 
 contents of tlie e<i;i^, which lasts for eij^ht da\s, and then it lies in the empty shell as a 
 sort of raft, and with its head in IIk^ sweet honey it gorges itself to repletion, and it 
 grows and grow^, and molts and molts and clianges its form until at last it de\elops 
 into a full-tiedged syteris iiecil • It then eats its way through the |ilaster co\eiing, 
 crawls along the tuinie], and issues foi'th into the world in all the glory of its beetle- 
 dom, and if it is a femaK^ beetle it i-etunis either t<» the same tunnel or some other 
 tunnel of the anthophora liee, lays its egg there, and the whole process is gone through 
 over again. 
 
 Now it is <[uite clear that the lady syteris beetle niiist ha\'e thought out the 
 whole jirocess, and not only so, Imt her tluaiglits must base been inlierit( d liy her 
 progeny, and de\-elo|ied into haliits which afterwards in'canie a force of custom. It is 
 a very in.structive lesson, and indeed we find that just as ]ibysical evolution commences 
 with very snudi begiinnngs and gradually ascen.ls into higher organism, so it is with 
 the evolution of mind. In the earliest aggregations of jiroto](lasnn"e cells, as repri^- 
 sented by pi-otozoaiis. radiates, and mollusks, we find them all actnateil liy what-for 
 want of a better word - I may call " motives ' or desires for aliuientafion, for conjuga- 
 tion, and fcM' ndlitation. Ther(i was the efHu't of sus'iMiance and its consei|neul growth, 
 the elliu't to iticrease and multi|ily, and the etlln-l foi- defence and ofleiice or bir war ; 
 and out of tlieso three motivcH there was inaugurated the survival of the fittest. 
 Moreover, these thrt>c motives have actuated all living thin'4.> from the bi it h of the 
 prutoplasndc cell fo the highest speeiuien of intellc'tual man in the present day. 
 
 Ill support of the parallelism wc^ idso tin<l that in p.sychical, as in physical 
 evolution, the 4»ro'ess, although exti-eniely slow, is progre-sive, and assunes higher 
 powers as we pass from the palaeozoic to the uiesozoic and from the niesozoie 
 to the ceiiozoic period-^. In ntlier woids, cephalization has been progrcsdve. 
 l)ednctiv(* rea,sotdng inust, therefore, convince us that en uinous as the dilUr 
 tiiice is between the psychical powers of the jirotozoau of lOt) ()()(),()()() years a^o a.H 
 compareil with those of a man of the highest intelligence in the pie.sent age, theii' ma\ be 
 in the long futuic ipiite as great, or even a greater, diirereiice between the most intellec 
 tual man <if to day ami tia' wonderful being who is yet to be evolved on this earth, or 
 wlio may even now be evoluted in some other world. 
 
 \V<> are permitU^d to reawin liy ind;iction and deduction ftom objects and cireuin 
 MtaiiceH whit'li surrounds us, and by that process we aie enabled to awsert Unit all 
 
11 
 
 ()i';,'anisins liavo lifon, arc, and piolialily will coiitiiiiic tn bo, pficatly iiiHuciieed by 
 ('iivironiiniit, ami I [)articularly wish to conci'iitralr _\<)ur attciitiou on tlii-^ impoi tant 
 li(*iiit, bi'caii.st' it is om; wbicli can [>» clearly pioNcd tlin)iii,'ti all the -ta.ejcs of pysciiical 
 molntioa and it is o;io that has a peuular bearing iijjon your n's|)un,sibiiitics as teachers 
 of tlie j'oinig. 
 
 In till' earliest stages of cvolntion when tln' groups of protoplasmic cells were float- 
 ing about in the uiedinm — water — by which they were .surroiuided, tliey were depen- 
 ileiit upon their environment fui- their sustenance, and, conseipiently, for their growth. 
 It was the exteriors of tliese organisms which were brought into contact with the sur- 
 lounding medinni and there was gradually built up either a sympathy ov an antipathy 
 Itotween the medium and tlic exterior and inteii(n- o^ the organism. We ourselves 
 recognize this synipathy or autijiathy in the emotions ilevelop(,*d ui our ncr\ous systems 
 by beautiful strains of music, or by tla^ poetic fancies created in us when ga/iiig upon 
 some lo\-ely scenery. Or on the other hand by the gasping of our breath as we plunge 
 into cold water, or the opjtression oecaNioned by an ovii-healed room. ]!ut to ri turn 
 to the organism, which in its mmements tinough the medium water came into contact 
 with forci s, eiiher chemical, (decU'ical or mechanical, as the case might be, it was 
 inllui'Uced by tho e forces both as to the direction of its actions and the form of its 
 growth. I)iit tlnre was ill the interior of even the primitive organism a n.ysteiious 
 power or force which exerted its iiiHuence in a greater or les.ser ilegrec un sni rounding 
 forces, and this extramissive force or niind of the primative organism was the physchical 
 germ of l()0,()flO,()0() years ago, which has evolutod into the intelleetual pow<'r of man 
 in the pirsent day. W'e know n^t wiiat it is, w( only know that it is theie. ami we 
 riglitly iittriiiute it to the Almighty W'.' uniy, therefore, i-esolve all the forces acting 
 iijion any organism into two, nanu ly, the esoti'ric extrannssive foice of tht' organism 
 itself aiid the esoteric introndttant foi'ce of environment, and thi' lesultaiit of these 
 two forces re]U("~ents the measure of the power possessr-d by iln- organism of ascnsioii 
 or for desceiision in tlie scale of evolution. 
 
 If then, we acknowledge that there has lieen evolution in the pysdncal condition 
 of life or the evolution of mind, we nnrst also iicknowK.'ge that there has been a 
 coutiiniity and angmentation of thought, and heredity of actions, which arc the pm- 
 du( ts of th<)Uglit, and wc lia\e practical expi'rience of this in the inheritt'd haliiis of 
 aniiu'vls - nnin included. 
 
 Ihit wi( can easily uudeistand that uidess there had been some motive power of 
 mental exaltation, there waild have been n sjiiiM'ness in th(( continuity of thou:;ht om'i- 
 ages upon a^i s of tnne, and there eiuild unt havt> been aiiv p-vchical advancement. 
 Hut we have oidy to compan- tlm psychical condition of tiio primitive |)roto/,an with 
 that of an intelligent iunnaii being to become a wa'T tliattlnnc has l»'cn a marvellous 
 jtsvchical a l\ancement and an enormous graduation of the si-ale of psychi' al e\olulion 
 fiom zero, oi the ^i-nosis of life, upwaids. Therefore, then' inu-~t lia\e be'H a motive 
 j)uwt'r of nu'utal exaltalion acting through all time in a greater or lenscr d«!^nee in all 
 orgimisms and forming a comptuient part of lheextiands>ii\e foicc of tlie said or:,'anismN, 
 and it must, in certain casivs, haxt; been sutliciently powerful to regulate the force of 
 enviroiiineiit. otherwise it wotild l-.avo boon overborno liy that force. 
 
 Therefore it is easy to realise that a multiplication and aggrejjation of organisniH 
 niay beouiiie important factoid in the etiviioumeni of a single orgiuiiHni, and they will 
 
12 
 
 reciprocally react upon each othei-, aiul tliis is wliafc \vc recognize wlien we alliule to 
 the force of example or the force of ciistoin. How familiar is the term, "he moans 
 well, hut he is easily led, ' or, in other words, the furee of environment is sti'onger than 
 his extran)issive force. 
 
 And we see in all this woiiderfnl ])iocess a great purpose, a divine mystery, a 
 spirit of exaltation, small and feehle at the {^enesis of life, and revealing itself only in 
 the survival of the fittest, hut ever ascending to higher levels through millions upon 
 millions rjf years until it has reached in its upward ])ath that intellectual lieing who 
 is called man, possessing a reasoning power, a conscience and freedom of will so inconi- 
 parahly superior to anything which has preceded him as to sugges-t that he imlted may 
 1);' a faint image of a future God. . / 
 
 I know that there is a certain school^- scientists who scornfully deny the divin(' 
 origin of life, and who refer liack to the primitive monera and trj- to hlend organrnm 
 and anorganism into one haneonious whole. But even should they succeed, the\' will 
 h' no ni^arer to their goal. They will still have to seek for the first yjause in their 
 exceedingly imlefinite phrase "spontaneous generation," insteail of the far more definite 
 and more heaiitiful one of "liivine origin." And when we com • to read them closely 
 anil with an unhiased n)ind, and evt-n with a due ri^\erence for their giant intellects, 
 what do we find !' That they l)ecome lost in tht( maze of their own ded\ictions hecanse , 
 they acknowledge that thej' cannot account for the origin of motion, which isahsolutely 
 essential to their hyytothesis. They would '■eem nlso to eir in another dire-tion — 1 
 8j)eak with all humility -hut the}' do not appear to attach sufKeient significanci! to the 
 t)pposite extremity of evolution, namely, the n\arveUous power of the human intellect; 
 they do not appear t<t realize that if, after KM). ()()().()( Oof years, thei'e has Keen evoluted 
 a human heiiig poss<>ssinga creative ]iower which is alile to produce a moving thing of 
 tlie complicated mechatdsm, for I'xample, of a modern line of hattleship, the lungs and 
 HtonuK'h of whi(di ai'e fed with air, with water, anil with fiiil- .somewhat aftei- the 
 fashion of a human heing — which digests its foo(l, turns it into motion ami \()ids the 
 undigested jHirtions, wliich hreatlies in air and exhales steam and carhonic acid gas, 
 which can emit a language of sound signals, which can ( reate light, which can destroy 
 life, which can move with speid over the I'ace of the waters and peirorm other actions, 
 Houu> of them .somewhat similar- to those of Mu' human machine, and if all this wonder- 
 ful piece of meehanism is p( rfected and set in motion hy the limited mind of man, 
 sin-ely it is well within the hounds of deductive reasoning to helieve that there is an 
 Almighty Creator as far superior to uuiii as man is to the prindtive mouer. 
 
 Anil when we come to consider this creative power of man, large as it is, hut 
 linuted a« it is, and then to gaze upwards nt tlie vast firmament and to note all its 
 wondeifid content, dues it not .seem a llasphemy upon nature to suggest that man is the 
 oidy creator > 
 
 I have thought proper to address you upon these sulijeets liecausc fi >ni the spirit of 
 the age this wonderful evolutiomiry hy|iothesis must of asurety come hef )reyou for your 
 consideration and for your judgment, and 1 would earnestlv <nge upon you to receive itas 
 a Uautiful revelation of the majesty of the hivim Will. And if yiai accept it in that 
 spirit you will find the study of evolution a great aid and assistance to you in the nohle 
 work of mouMing the inunature uiindH whicli are committed to your charge. It will 
 lielp you to cultivate, not oidy the three lis, Imt the more im|nirtant ipmlities, tho two 
 
u 
 
 P's, Pit}' and Patience — pity for inlierited faults—patience to mould them into virtues, 
 and when you meet with nffirravatini,^ (;o 'I'Mtrieities of eiiaractcr, it will h.lpyou to look 
 upon them, not with juiM-er and iiii|iatienee, hutwltli a curious intiTest as manifestations 
 of inherited tendencies, which it is your duty and your ))rivili'ffe to correct and to 
 reform for the advan"ement of the human race It will helj) you also to realize to 
 the full the force r.f environment and the important [»art wliich you yourselves play in 
 that environment, and you will learn that a spirit nf ahruism must pervade the school- 
 room if yiiur pu])ils arc to a(i\ance aion^' the path i>f evoluiion. And when you con- 
 template that path with all its wonders in the pas* and its aspirations for the future, 
 it will help you to marshal the youno- minds into one unite 1 l>and, ami to confidently 
 lead them on, step liy step, upwards, towards the distatit goal, singin;,' the p;ean as yon 
 SO : " Nearer my Go<l to Thee, Nearer to Thee."