Natural development

“ Men have been learning for the past five thousand years or more that physical or mental work and obedience to natural law increase the force and effectiveness of the individual and of his descendants. The geological discoveries of Huxley and Marsh, and the development of the simplest forms of vegetable life, denote an irresistible evolutionary sequence or working power in nature. ”

“ The relation between physical conditions and history in its wider acceptation being thus fundamental, it may be well to consider in somewhat greater detail the special reactions of a single tolerably definite portion of the natural environment upon human development. ”

“ Our bodily structure in the large or whole, as necessary to an understanding of the general conditions in man's physical life and as fundamental to instruction in health. The more important native and foreign animals and plants; their growth and life, together with their importance in nature's economy. The natural forces which have greatest significance for organic life and for man's efficiency. ”

“ His studies lead him to investigation of the whole field of nature, the rocks, the formation of deposits, the action of the elements, the conditions of life, the forms of organism, their functions and habits, the laws of growth, their adaptation to environment, the changes of events in time, the efforts of association and struggle for life, the principles of evolution and development—the migration and origin and extinction of organisms on the globe. Nothing in nature is without interest to him. ”

“ The Conservation of our Natural Resources.—Still another reason why we should study biology is that we may work understandingly for the conservation of our natural resources, especially of our forests. The forest, aside from its beauty and its health-giving properties, holds water in the earth. ”

“ If natural preserves are not made, how will the next generation be best grounded in the general principles of the science? Are these complex modified conditions the natural place to start the student, or should such problems be reserved for the maturely trained one? ”

“ It is the interaction and resultant of all the forces of Nature, both favourable and unfavourable to life, that determine the development and growth of every individual organism. And so the form and characteristics of every living being depend on the nature and strength of these contending forces. ”

“ The nature and extent of a material civilization is in large measure determined by the natural resources available. Climate, weather, and numerous physical conditions are factors in the evolution of culture. ”

“ Questions about the nature of the universe in which we live have been asked from the very beginning. The moment the human mind began to reflect the notion that the vegetation which covers the earth, the animals which inhabit it, the rocks and hills, the mountains and valleys which constitute its physical features, may have undergone changes in past time, and that all the phenomena which constitute the animal, vegetable and mineral worlds as they now exist, are but modifications of other forms which have had their day and their philosophy, the idea of development became prominent. ”

“ Development is never accidental in that sense, Tom. It is Nature’s uniform law that every species of living thing, animal or vegetable, shall tend to develop whatever is useful to it, and nothing else. ”

“ We saw, too, that great uniformity of surface, of mineral products, of flora, of fauna, are impediments; and that on the special characters of the flora and fauna, as containing species favorable or unfavorable to human welfare, in part depends the individual prosperity required for social growth. ”

“ With respect, then, to the first of these propositions, we may ask whether the theory of the progressive development of animal and vegetable life, and their successive advancement from a simple to a more perfect state, has any secure foundation in fact? ”

“ The operation of the manifold forces of nature, the attempts of each organism to utihse the environment according to its own needs, and the modification of its organs through the assimilation of the surrounding substances—all contribute their quota to its special growth and development. The life and individuality of each single organism are controlled and influenced by the sum-total of all those processes and products of Nature that arise out of the needs of every other organism for growth and development. ”

“ There are to each function and department of nature supplementary men: to geology, sinewy, out-of-doors men, with a taste for mountains and rocks, a quick eye for differences and for chemical changes. Give such, first, a course in chemistry, and then a geological survey. Others find a charm and a profession in the natural history of man and the mammalia, or related animals; others in ornithology, or fishes, or insects; others in plants; others in the elements of which the whole world is made. ”

“ It is this perpetuation of advantageous changes, originally induced by the circumstances of environment, that is indicated by the term "natural selection." Nature chooses out the form best suited to the circumstances which surround it, and this form lives while the others die out. ”

“ We see each individual plant and animal striving to the best of his ability to adjust himself to the conditions in which he finds himself, trying to adapt himself to his surroundings—to his physical surroundings, such as the climate and soil, and to his social surroundings, consisting of his plant and animal neighbours and rivals. ”

“ The internal factor, namely life, is the primary cause of progress and the perfectionment of living creatures—while environment [Pg 47] assumes a secondary importance, such as that of directing evolution, acting at one time as a stimulus toward certain determined directions of development; at another, permanently establishing certain useful characteristics ”

“ On all that God has made he has stamped the great principle of progress, refinement, development--rock to soil, soil to vegetable life, to insect, bird, and man. Each dies as to what it is, that it may have resurrection or may feed something higher. So, in the light of revelation, earth is not lost. Science comes, after ages of creeping, up to the same position. ”

“ If, as we maintain, natural selection is the great active cause which has produced the whole wonderful variety of organic life on the earth, all the interesting phenomena of human life must also be explicable from the same cause. ”

“ Or we may say that the living energy takes first an upward and then a downward road. Or it may seem preferable to compare the expansion of the germ into the full-grown plant, to the unfolding of a fan, or to the rolling forth and widening of a stream; and thus to arrive at the conception of "development," or "evolution." ”

“ And although mankind is subjected to the powerful influences of climate, nourishment, soil, and natural phenomena in general, yet it is not less certain that by freely developing the physical and intellectual powers, those influences may be materially limited in extent of operation, and modified in practice ”

“ Nature is not a chance collection of particles, nor is she a mere machine, nor some kind of structure like a Cathedral in course of construction. But she is a Power of some kind, and what we have to determine is the kind of Power she is. Now we have seen that running through the life of the forest, controlling and directing the whole, is an Organising Activity. ”

“ It is sufficient, if any steps, so far as we go, are supported by experience and observation." Now, that vegetation and generation, as well as reason, are experienced to be principles of order in nature, is undeniable. ”

“ Under nature, the slightest differences of structure or constitution may well turn the nicely-balanced scale in the struggle for life, and so be preserved. How fleeting are the wishes and efforts of man! How short his time, and consequently how poor will be his results, compared with those accumulated by Nature during whole geological periods! Can we wonder, then, that Nature’s productions should be far “truer” in character than man’s productions; that they should be infinitely better adapted to the most complex conditions of life, and should plainly bear the stamp of far higher workmanship? ”

“ First among these is the physical factor which conditions human activity but is not a compelling force, for man has often subdued his environment when it has put obstacles in his way. This physical element includes the geographical conditions of mountain, valley, or seashore, the climate and the weather, the food and water supply, the physical inheritance of the individual and the laws that control physical development, and the physical constitution of the group. ”

“ Before the advent of man this selection of types was made by the environment or by Nature, as the environment used to be called. Hence the expression, natural selection, is used to describe the process by which Nature or environment selects certain types for survival at the expense of the rest; the process by which animals that live in the desert gradually adapt themselves to endure great heat; and those that live near the Poles gradually adapt themselves to endure great cold. ”

“ We have seen in the preceding chapter how every form of organic life during all the vast extent of geological time has been subject to the law of natural selection, which has incessantly moulded their bodily form and structure, external and internal, in strict adaptation to the successive changes of the world around them ”

“ Complying with known conditions of natural reciprocity, however, the animal and vegetable kingdoms submit to whatever modifications become necessary in order to supply the needs of the human family.
Nature's Forces Operate Blindly. Moved, therefore, partly by necessity and partly by curiosity, the material world has been and is being continually modified by the ingenuity of man. ”

“ A similar process can be identified in our present relation to the physical environment. Many things mediate between us and the natural environment: our homes, clothes, the food processing industry. Even natural artifacts, such as gardens, lakes, or water channels, are a buffer against nature, an insertion between us and nature. Constituted in our language are experiences of survival and adaptation: the vocabulary of hunting, fishing, agriculture, animal husbandry, coping with changes in weather and climate, and coping with natural catastrophes such as floods and earthquakes. ”

“ In some cases the environment may make a permanent and indelible impression on the living creature. A change in the environment, be it sudden or gradual, may occasion modifications in the organism which will remain with it as permanent acquisitions. A storm may blow a tree permanently out of shape, and a few years in the tropics may tan a man for life. In such cases the environment has led to the development by the individual of "acquired characters." ”

“ The species which, by natural selection and adaptation have fitted themselves to the environment are, as a rule, the trees which will do best in that locality. That is a principle I think which ought to be thoroughly well fixed in mind. ”

“ L’établissement et le progrès des sociétés humaines, l’action des forces naturelles, peuvent changer notablement, et dans de vastes contrées, l’état de la surface du sol, la distribution des eaux, et les grands mouvemens de l’air. ”

“ Greatest of all, since the epoch, still hidden from our ken, when organic life began upon the surface of the globe, was the birth of that new era when, through a wondrous change in the direction of the working of natural selection, Humanity appeared upon the scene. ”

“ Shall we not now seek to learn which of the natural resources of our land will never be replaced if we squander them? Let us also learn which may be made good again by Nature, if we are willing to wait long enough, as well as to assist her in her slow work. ”

“ Theory of the progressive development of organic life—Evidence in its support inconclusive—Vertebrated animals, and plants of the most perfect organization, in strata of very high antiquity—Differences between the organic remains of successive formations—Comparative modern origin of the human race—The popular doctrine of successive development not established by the admission that man is of modern origin—Introduction of man, to what extent a change in the system. ”

“ But Environment is now acknowledged to be one of the most potent factors in the Evolution of Life. The influence of Environment too seems to increase rather than diminish as we approach the higher forms of being. The highest forms are the most mobile; their capacity of change is the greatest; they are, in short, most easily acted on by Environment. ”

“ In the supremacy and increased intelligence acquired by the ruling race, we see an illustration of the natural tendency of the organic world to grow more perfect; and, in their influence in repressing the advance of others, an example of one of those disturbing causes before enumerated, that force of external circumstances which causes such wide chasms in the regular series of animated being. ”

“ Yes, something can be done. Therefore, this book is written to persons of imagination who love trees and love their country, and to those who are interested in the problem of saving natural resources—the basis for civilization. ”

“ The one deals with the reciprocal influence of man and his surroundings, showing on the one hand the influence of external nature on race, commercial development and sociology, and on the other the influence of man on nature, in the clearing of forests, cultivation and drainage of the soil, introduction of new plants and domestic animals, and the like. The other problem deals with the inferences that may be drawn from the present distribution of plants and animals in respect to the configuration of the surface of the earth in ancient times. ”