XXII 



THE EPIC OF EVOLUTION 



Preview. The universality of change • Adaptations • Making the best 

 of it • Kinds of organic adaptations : Structural ; embryological ; physio- 

 logical ; psychological ; genetical ; ecological ; physical ; biological • Evo- 

 lution • Evolution and miraculous creation • The nature of scientific 

 evidence • Evidence from comparative anatomy ; the key to comparative an- 

 atomy is organic evolution • From embryology • From classification • From 

 distribution • From fossils • From serology • From human interference • 

 Environmental theory of Lamarck • Natural selection theory of Darwin: 

 Variation ; overpopulation ; struggle for existence ; survival and elimination ; 

 inheritance ; isolation • Mutation theory of DeVries • Germplasm theory of 

 Weismann • Other theories • Conclusion • Suggested readings. 



PREVIEW 



Observable inborn as well as acquired CHANGES in animals aiid 

 plants, and in their surroundings, necessitate ADAPTATIONS and ad- 

 justments on the part of organisms which, if inherited, residt in 

 EVOLUTION. 



To challenge, analyze, and expand the ideas contained in this 

 statement is a large order. It will require full and willing co-operation 

 on the part of the reader, who is expected to think as he reads of 

 cases from his own observations and experience that bear upon the 

 general propositions advanced. 



It is freely admitted that, with such an ambitious thesis as this, 

 one is tempted to take now and then to the aerial route of specula- 

 tion, and to generalize with panoramic views of the w^liole, when to 

 particularize with illustrative details might be more illuminating and 

 to the point. The contributing reader is consequently hereby warned 

 in advance to keep one eye at least on the solid ground of fact below, 

 whenever, by flights of fancy and theory, he finds himself being 

 hurried to his destination by the more rapid and less substantial air 

 route of speculation. 



The Universality of Change 



It is a matter of common experience that everything which we can 

 observe about us eventually undergoes change. 



483 



