Natural Development

Natural Development. BY PROF. J. C, HOGENSON, OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. It is by some an accepted theory that, in its most primi- tive condition, the earth was a globe of fire, cast off by centrifugal force from some larger or central body, and that it has been grad- ually cooling through the almost countless ages of the past. The secondary condition of the world is supposed to have been a hot, seething, boiling mass, which converted the moisture of its atmos- phere into great masses of vapor. This rose, until reaching a cold medium, "it condensed and poured back upon the earth in such torrents of rain as finally to cool the surface. Here the water found lodgment, gradually accumulating and cooling, until at length it covered the entire globe, so as to form a universal sea. The water, percolating through the rents in the rocks, produced by steam, constantly enlarged the fissures, and with the assistance of gases, began to change the appearance of the surface by causing violent eruptions that threw up vast bodies of land. Every dis- placement served to increase more rapidly the appearance of land. Thus were the seas and continents formed. Life first appeared in the water, and was of a very simple organization, as well as diminutive in size, consisting of only one cell. Fishes then came into being, to be succeeded by more and more complex creatures, as the land became able to support such creatures as were adapted to an existence both in and out of water. It is suppos3d by many that from the simple, flower-like protozoans, that first appeared in the heated waters, there came into being higher orders, as the sea grew colder, until not only the shark and whale were called into existence, but there followed huge amphibians, or land animals. The land continued to cool and

NATURAL DEVELOPMENT. 29 increase, and there appeared a wondrous g;owth of vegjetation which grew to the height of four or five huadred feet. This, by eruptions and changes, was buried and forms our present coal beds. As the centuries rolled on, the temperature was gradually modified, and new forms of life appeared, to suit the new environ- ment, and whose organizations were adapted to the new condi- tions. Insects noA' filled the trees, and butterflies ravaged the wealth of flowers which clustered everywhere. Monsters appeared among the vegetation, so that the dense woods resounded with caw, roar, bellow, croak and grunt, as victim fled from pursuer. All of these phases were but ^transitory and preparatory processes of nature, by which the earth became fitted for the abode of man. He was born, we are told in holy writ, in the Garden of Eden, among the birds, beasts and flowers. The sixth day, or period of creation, is the time when God endowed him with superior attributes, with intelligence above all other crea- tures. Whether man originated from a monad (single cell) or was made by separate creation, need concern us but little; for in either case the necessity of a First Great Cause is evident. (In religion we deal with first causes; in science we deal with second- ary causes.) We can scarcely believe or comprehend the multitudes of different forms of life that live upon our globe. By the aid of the microscope we are able to discover life in every blade of grass, and even in the very dust upon the roads. We scarcely ever breathe but that we inhale innumerable living things. Where, then, does life stop? Who knows? Perhaps these small crea- tures are in their turn recipients of beings infinitely small com- pared to themselves. Most of the diseases that afflict the human race come from these minute causes. Place a dish of stagnant water under the microscope and there appears a swarming popu- lation, so small that some of them are not more than .25000 of an inch in length. These, by bounds and jumps, transform the field of vision into an immense world full of life. Let us gaze for a moment into the supposed future. Slowly and imperceptibly the heat of the sun declines, and the temper- ature of the earth sinks by equally slow degrees. Thousands of years pass away, glacial periods come and go, and the heat still

30 IMPROVEMENT ERA. grows less. Little by little the drifting masses of ice extend far and wide, ever toward more southern shores. At last all the seas of earth become one unbroken mass of ice, life vanishes from its surface, and is to be found in the ocean depths alone. The temperature continues to fall, the ice grows thicker and thicker. Thousands of years roll on and the ice reaches the bottom. The last traces of life then disappear, and the earth is covered with per- petual snow and ice. She rolls on in her path through eternity. Like a faintly glowing disk, the sun crosses the sky. The moon is scarcely visible. The stars twinkle on in silence; some are burned out, but others twinkle in their places. New life is teeming in other planets; other suns give forth their heat and light. This, in short, is the great cycle of eternity. We cannot measure the simple needs. Of even the tiniest flower, Nor check the flow of the golden sands That run through a single hour; But the morning dews must fall, And the sun and the summer rain Must do their part and perform it all, Over and over again. Over and over ai?ain, The brook through the meadow turns. And over and over again. The plant into earth returns. In the Psalms, the poet David first looked out upon nature and felt his littleness; then he looked farther and saw his great- ness. You can imagine him lying on the hills looking up into the heavens, at the stars, as they shone so clearly in the eastern sky. Palestine was a world to him. He knew not the great steppes of Russia, the plains of China, or the wilderness of Africa. The mountains around Jerusalem are but foothills when compared with the Himalayas. The Jordan is but a brook when compared with the Mississippi or the Amazon. The Mediterranean is scarcely more than an inland sea, when compared with the Atlantic or the Pacific, over which we sail, knowing that beneath our feet are valleys as deep and mountains as high as man ever gazed upon. To the Psalmist, the stars were mere points of light. He did not

NATURAL DEVELOPMENT. 31 know, perhaps, what immense distances separate this world from other and larger worlds; yet he was inspired to write: 0 Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. * * * * When I consider chy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and stars which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. • * * * * * * When we realize this greatness of nature, we are almost inclined to say, "We are but insects on a globe of sand. The world is an ant-hill, and we but ants upon it." We may also, and should, so look upon nature that its very grandeur will awe us and make us feel more keenly and vividly the great mission which God has placed us here to perform. Logan, Utah. The Sacrament. (For the Improvement Era.) With Adam and the first great sin. Eternal Death was ushered in; And fell its stern and fatal ban O'er all the race of fallen man. There was no power in man to save The groping nations from the grave. Till a redeeming arm of love Was given from the courts above. He came, the mighty Prince of Peace, To cope with Death for our release; He died, and in the grave alone, He conquered Death upon his throne. So, when we meet to take afresh The emblems of his broken flesh. Remember, by his sacrifice. Of all that live Death only dies. Theodore E. Curtis.