74 6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



sides.' " The editor very properly re- 

 plied that a work giving the facts and 

 arguments on hoth sides, fairly and fully, 

 is not to be had ; and it may be further 

 observed that the reader who is igno- 

 rant of the subject, and specifies exactly 

 the work he wants, will be pretty sure 

 not to find it. The choice must be 

 among such books as are obtainable ; 

 and the best way to guide the judg- 

 ment of the inquirer is, to state impar- 

 tially what resources there are for get- 

 ting instruction upon the subject, leav- 

 ing him to decide as to what will best 

 suit his mental requirements. 



The first error into which an unin- 

 formed reader, who desires to take up 

 the subject of evolution, is liable to fall, 

 is, that he will probably very much un- 

 der-estimate the task he proposes to 

 undertake. Assuming that he does not 

 want a mere smattering, but an intelli- 

 gent view of the doctrine, and the na- 

 ture and extent of its proofs, he must 

 prepare himself for a very considerable 

 amount of intellectual work. For the 

 " evolution theory," whether we con- 

 sider it established or not, is the most 

 comprehensive doctrine regarding the 

 order of Nature that has ever yet been 

 presented ; and, if it be true at all, it is 

 true as a system of principles underly- 

 ing various and diverse tracts of phe- 

 nomena. It is a philosophy of the ori- 

 gination of things. To the astronomer 

 it is a theory accounting for the origin 

 of stellar and planetary systems ; to the 

 geologist it is a doctrine that explains 

 the history of our globe ; to the bot- 

 anist it has interest as throwing light 

 upon the derivation of vegetable forms ; 

 and to the zoologist it offers an expla- 

 nation of the diversities of animal life. 

 The psychologist finds in it a key to the 

 development of mind in all its grades, 

 and the sociologist seeks its aid in trac- 

 ing the progressive unfolding of the so- 

 cial state. By its most radical implica- 

 tion the " theory of evolution " excludes 

 the view long and universally believed, 

 that in all these spheres the phenomena 



were "specially created" as we now 

 see them ; and it asserts that in all 

 these spheres the present effects have 

 been brought about by gradual changes. 

 The theory of " special creation " being 

 abandoned, a theory of evolution is the 

 inevitable alternative. And if the unity 

 and harmonious interconnections of 

 Nature, of which all science affords the 

 proof, be not an illusion, then the 

 " theory of evolution " must have a 

 basis in the operation of universal prin- 

 ciples, and must give rise to a general 

 philosophical method of accounting for 

 the present order of things. "When, 

 therefore, a man asks for information 

 concerning the "theory of evolution," 

 he can only be intelligently answered 

 by referring him to the works where 

 such a theory is presented. This, how- 

 ever, is not what the Nation does. It 

 directs its correspondent first of all to 

 Darwin's "Origin of Species "for the 

 information he seeks. This is, of 

 course, a great, original, and authori- 

 tative book; but it is, nevertheless, a 

 special treatise on one branch of the 

 subject of development, and, so far from 

 making any attempt to expound the 

 general " theory of evolution," there are 

 whole phases of the subject that it does 

 not touch. Nor does it attempt any 

 such analysis of the problem, or reso- 

 lution into its ultimate principles, as is 

 necessary to the formation of a theory 

 of the subject. Indeed, the very power 

 and popularity of the work are, in a cer- 

 tain sense, due to its restriction, for it 

 is mainly confined to the elucidation of 

 a single principle. " Natural selection " 

 was recognized before Mr. Darwin's 

 time; what he has done is to show how 

 this principle has acted in giving rise to 

 new species from preexisting species. 

 It is a great thing to have done this, 

 and Mr. Darwin is well entitled to his 

 honors ; but none the less is it mislead- 

 ing to cite his book on the " Origin of 

 Species" as an exposition of the "the- 

 ory of evolution." 



Prof. Huxley has evidently had sub- 



