EDITOR'S TABLE. 



"5 



empty a priori speculations which have 

 figured so largely in the past career of 

 the human mind. It is the result of 

 the steady concentration of the intellect 

 of man fur hundreds of years upon the 

 realities that surround us, and is the 

 profoundest answer yet given to man's 

 questionings of the mystery of being. 

 It is the latest interpretation of the on- 

 goings of the world, and brings with 

 it the possibility of a new and more 

 stable philosophy of things than we 

 have yet known a philosophy not 

 spun from mystical a priori fancies, but 

 constructed from the valid truths of 

 science, and anchored in the depths of 

 demonstrated knowledge. 



An able writer in the Quarterly .Re- 

 view (London) for July, in discussing 

 the modern school of thought and Her- 

 bert Spencer's relation to it, says : 

 " The two deepest scientific principles 

 now known of all those relating to ma- 

 terial things are, the law of gravitation 

 and the law of evolution." The prin- 

 ciple is here recognized as more than a 

 hypothesis and more even than a 

 theory, it is a law in the same sense 

 that gravitation is a law. The proof 

 of evolution indeed is very far from be- 

 ing so complete as that of gravitation. 

 But its claims as an established law 

 are not therefore invalidated, for the 

 accepted truths of science by no means 

 rest upon equal amounts of evidence. 

 From the newness of the systematic 

 investigation of the principle, from the 

 imperfection of knowledge in many 

 spheres of its application, and from the 

 stupendous reach of its operation, it is 

 impossible that there should not be 

 many deficiencies in its proof. It has 

 its outstanding and unresolved diffi- 

 culties which it may take long to clear 

 up. Truths grow they are examples 

 of evolution. All great generaliza- 

 tions have been arrived at gradually; 

 never at once by complete demonstra- 

 tion. There are first long foreshadow- 

 ing preludes in which a principle is dis- 

 cerned as emerging into increasing dis- 



tinctness. It is then accepted on 

 grounds of probability, and preponder- 

 ating proofs, and as an advance on pre- 

 vious beliefs. If a theory becomes in- 

 creasingly consonant with facts, and 

 steadily makes way against inexorable 

 criticism, though it has grave difficul- 

 ties, it will be accepted, and these diffi- 

 culties will be left to the future. It was 

 so with the law of gravitation. " The 

 Newtonian theory was beset by palpa- 

 ble contradictions in its results till 

 many years after Newton's death, yet 

 all sound philosophers embraced it. The 

 motion of the apsides of the moon's 

 orbit was with singular honesty con- 

 fessed by Newton to be, in fact, nearly 

 twice as great as calculation from 

 theory made it ; and this contradiction 

 remained an outstanding, palpable ob- 

 jection, yet without occasioning any 

 misgiving as to the general truth of 

 gravitation, until the error was ex- 

 plained and the calculation rectified by 

 Clairault." 



And so it is in other branches of 

 science. The undulating theory of 

 light is accepted by all physicists, but 

 still has its difficulties. The theory of 

 heat is not without its anomalies. The 

 chemical theory of respiration is gener- 

 ally adopted, but there are facts that 

 still oppose it. It is claimed by none, 

 that the evidence of the law of evolu- 

 tion is complete, but it is a growing con- 

 viction of those who know the subject 

 best, that the evidence in its favor pre- 

 ponderates overwhelmingly. Nor is it 

 dependent upon any of its special in- 

 terpretations. Darwin may be in er- 

 ror, Huxley may be wrong, Mivart may 

 be wide of the mark, Haeckel may be 

 mistaken, Cope may misjudge, and 

 Spencer be at fault ; but, in common 

 with a large and increasing body of 

 scientific men, they are all agreed as 

 to one thing, that evolution is a great 

 and established fact a wide and valid 

 induction from the observed order of 

 Nature, the complete elucidation of 

 which is the grand scientific task of the 



