496 THE CHANGING WORLD 



information, but also the ability and willingness to appreciate what 

 others have accomplished, and to judge with discrimination what 

 persons are properly qualified to serve as authorities on any par- 

 ticular subject. 



The attitude of the uninformed and unintelligent, when confronted 

 with evidence that lies somewhat beyond their horizon, is frequently 

 bewilderment, retreat to the strongholds of prejudice and hearsay, or 

 indulgence in the smoke-cloud of contempt or derision for that which 

 they do not comprehend. It is among those that lack discrimina- 

 tion in the acceptance of evidence, and who fail to pick properly 

 qualified authorities on whom to depend for whatever lies beyond 

 their ken, that all sorts of undesirable propaganda and muddy think- 

 ing find soil in which to flourish. Moreover, it is usually a waste 

 of time to present evidence to a prejudiced and closed mind, to one 

 that confuses argument with evidence, or who is guided by emotional 

 likes and dislikes rather than by a deep-seated confidence in truth, 

 wherever it may lead. Many lines of evidence in any case have to 

 be taken on faith, since they cannot fall under the direct inspection 

 of the senses. 



"Never in its life has the sun seen the shade, 

 Never in its life seen a shadow where it falls ; 



There, always there, in the sun-swept glade, 



It lurks below the leaf ; behind bodies, under walls, 



Creeps, clings, hides. Be it millions, be it one — 

 The sun sees no shadow, and no shadow sees the sun." ^ 



What the poet says of sun and shadow clearly expresses the idea 

 that evidence may be both true and acceptable, although as elusive 

 to the senses as shadows are to certain sunlike minds. In a consid- 

 eration of the evidences of evolution, it is appropriate to call in the 

 testimony of various biological sciences, which presuppose more or 

 less familiarity with them, and training therein, to fully appreciate 

 the force of the facts presented. 



Evidence from Comparative Anatomy 



Comparative anatomy is a biological science rich in significant 

 problems and their solution. It arose from the dead descriptive 

 level of the older science of human anatomy, which in turn, unless 

 interpreted in the light of comparison with that of other animals, 



'Laurence Houseman, from Shipley, in Life, page 31. By permission of The Macmillan 

 Company, publishers. 



