forms; and from the
earliest age of speculation, as we have seen, the human mind conceived
of a time in which there was _unorganized_ matter, substance without
form. Like the ancient Greek philosophers, evolutionists to-day try to
formulate a working hypothesis to account for the origin of the
universe. It is believed that, in a broad way, the _Nebular Hypothesis_
put forth by La Place indicated the manner in which the earth and the
system to which it belongs have been evolved. We have outlined, briefly,
in our first chapter, the main features of this theory. We shall now
indicate the difficulties which stand in the way of its acceptance even
as a working hypothesis.

1. The Nebular Hypothesis assumes that during a past endless time there
has existed an incalculable number of original atoms. Let us understand
that according to the so-called atomic theory, matter is composed of
indivisible particles, called _atoms_. Since the discovery of radium
this theory has been considerably modified, each atom now being
understood to consist of many thousands of smaller particles, called
electrons. However, whether we call them atoms or electrons, the
smallest, indivisible particles of matter are assumed to have existed
during infinite past time. Now, the origin of these simplest component
parts of matter _remains an unsolved mystery_. The mind is unable even
to formulate a guess with reference to their organization.

2. A second postulate of the Nebular Hypothesis is the _origin of force
and motion_ in the huge gas ball which existed in the beginning. La
Place says that "at some point concentration took place in the
homogeneous mass, this contraction produced radiation of heat and light,
and through the differences in temperature, _motion_ and dynamic
reaction were produced." The difficulty which inheres in this postulate
is the unquestioned fact that all motion in nature follows certain
immutable _laws_*, [*These laws, so far as known, form the basis of what
we call physics and chemistry.] and _the origin of these laws_ is not
accounted for by the theory. Laws never make themselves, and their
complexity,--immeasurably beyond our power of exploration--yet
everywhere adjusted to a definite end, is so intricate that their origin
can by no means be accounted for by chance.

3. According to the theory matter was first in _"nebular" (gas) form,_
and that the gases existing diffused through space were, through the
motion which origin