238 THE COMING OF AGE OF vil 



from its primary egg, or germ, is a true process of 

 evolution a progress from almost formless to 

 more or less highly organised matter, in virtue of 

 the properties inherent in that matter. 



To those who are familiar with the process of 

 development, all a priori objections to the doctrine 

 of biological evolution appear childish. Any one 

 who has watched the gradual formation of a com- 

 plicated animal from the protoplasmic mass, which 

 constitutes the essential element of a frog's or a 

 hen's egg, has had under his eyes sufficient 

 evidence that a similar evolution of the whole 

 animal world from the like foundation is, at any 

 rate, possible. 



Yet another product of investigation has 

 largely contributed to the removal of the objec- 

 tions to the doctrine of evolution current in 1859. 

 It is the proof afforded by successive discoveries 

 that Mr. Darwin did not over-estimate the 

 imperfection of the geological record. No more 

 striking illustration of this is needed than a com- 

 parison of our knowledge of the mammalian fauna 

 of the Tertiary epoch in 1859 with its present 

 condition. M. Gaudry's researches on the fossils 

 of Pikermi were published in 1868, those of 

 Messrs. Leidy, Marsh, and Cope, on the fossils of 

 the Western Territories of America, have appeared 

 almost wholly since 1870, those of M. Filhol on 

 the phosphorites of Quercy in 1878. The general 

 effect of these investigations has been to intro- 



