This is a very guarded admission ; none the less
it distin- guishes Professor Schafer from such ultra-materialists as Haeckel. As for his peremptory' rejection of the cosmic theories of the origin of life, we cannot see that the evasion involved in them is greater than that inherent in his own theory. The gradual process of the change from lifeless to organic matter on which he insists so strongly makes it none the easier to comprehend what caused the first stirring of life. For ourselves we find little " sunshine " in this, the latest word of science on the riddle of the universe. It is, however, some consolation to think that the life-producing chemist, whose advent Professor Schafer confidently antici- pates, will be no Frankenstein. The utmost he can produce is something many million years removed from the level of humanity. It is already clear that Professor Schafer's dogmatic views on the basis of life and his disregard of its psychical attributes are likely to be as vigorously canvassed by men of science as by theologians.
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