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the juncture at which man came upon the scene is well founded, then we face the interesting conclusion that - the Biblical chronology and the figures ar rived at through the most recent sci entific investigation almost exactly cor respond. The Question of Evolution To refer to but one other field of scientific speculation where the ground is rapidly shifting, let us look for a mo ment at the present status of the theory of evolution. Darwin’s “ Origin of Species” will doubtless be regarded as marking an epoch in the literature of the nineteenth century, and probably few books of modern times have influ enced popular thought to an equal de gree. Nevertheless, it may be said with utmost conviction, that this particular theory of evolution has ceased to be a live issue, unless it be in certain of our theological seminaries. It is to be re membered that these theories were orig inally advanced by their author with considerable reserve and a full recogni tion of tbeir speculative character, but in the hands of the German scientists they became part and parcel of a ma- .terialistic philosophy, carried to ex tremes unthought of by Darwin or his associate, A. R. Wallace. Haeckel em ployed this new philosophy in his “ Rid dle of the Universe” to discount all forms of religious belief, and, in fact, to deny the existence of a Creator, al though it is interesting to note that in the later editions of this rationalistic work he bewails the desertion of man; of the leading men of science whom he had formerly quoted in support of cer tain of his positions. And quite as sig nificant in connection with the moral bearings of such a philosophy is the fact that in a work which Haeckel published shortly before his death, certain illus trations were used to prove his theories which some of his fellow scientists, purely in the interest of scientific truth, demonstrated to be deliberate forgeries.
extreme figures suggested by some of the prominent scientists o f the last cen tury. A generation or two ago it was common to refer to the geological epochs in terms of untold millions of years and some of the practical difficulties attend ing the application of the Darwinian theory were met by attributing these ▼ast periods of time to each stage of development. Darwin himself was particularly given to these extravagant estimates, and his thorough-going dis ciple, Prof. Haeckel, of Germany, has carried the practice to an almost fan tastic degree in alloting an inconceiv able period to a single stage in the so- called revolutionary process. The mors conservative opinion as to man’s an tiquity which began to develop in the latter half of the last century is repre sented in the estimate of the Duke of Argyll that man had been on the earth about two hundred thousand years. This was later followed by the investi gations of Sir Charles Lyell who sought exact data, proceeding along lines of the theory that the advent of man must have 'followed 'the close of the glacial epoch. It was considered that the best geological evidence bearing on this point was to be found in the channel of the Niagara river, the erosion of which must have occurred since the close of the glacial -period. After careful in vestigation of this channel, Sir Charles estimated its erosion must have occu pied a period of forty thousand years, and in order to afford an exact basis for future investigation, placed a monu ment at the brink of the Falls which would permit of exact measurements as to the rate of erosion in the future. This data has now been kept with scru pulous care for a period of nearly half a century and recent reports of the New York Geological Survey have reduced the figure to ten thousand years, while the United States Geological Survey makes a still lower estimate. If it be assumed that this scientific theory as to
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