294 Theories of Evolution and Creation 



statistical study, from which he had learned to state more 

 precisely what everybody already knew — individuals re- 

 semble their parents more than they do their uncles and 

 aunts; and that they resemble their brothers and sisters 

 more than they do their parents. Remoter ancestors " in- 

 fluence " heredity in some way, and a mathematical formula 

 could be developed to measure degrees of resemblances or 

 differences. 



Useful theories regarding the mechanism of inheritance 

 had to await a more thorough knowledge of cells and cell 

 formation, especially the behavior of the cell nucleus, and 

 more definite information regarding the precise manner in 

 which particular characters reproduce themselves. With 

 Mendel's experiments, with Weismann's theory of the germ 

 plasm, and with the work of many cytologists on the cell 

 processes, a scientific theory of heredity began to take shape at 

 the beginning of the present century. This theory assumes a 

 more or less stable germinal material that continues to carry 

 the potentialities of the individual and of the race. This is 

 supposed to be uninfluenced directly by the exigencies of 

 the individual's life and development, but nevertheless sub- 

 ject to change in detail so as to give rise to individuals that 

 differ from their parents in heritable traits. The theory of 

 the gene, as developed by Thomas H. Morgan, accords with 

 the facts at present known and supplies a theoretical ex- 

 planation of the stability of species as well as of the appear- 

 ance of new forms. 



Creation and Evolution 



The supposed incompatibility between evolution and 

 religion (or rather theology) is a comparatively modern 

 affliction. We have already noted that Saint Augustine and 

 the Catholic theologians generally were consistent evolution- 

 ists in a very modern sense. The recent controversies have 

 had to do not so much with the scientific theory of evolu- 

 tion as with philosophical conflicts which involve funda- 



