8 THE PROBLEMS OF EVOLUTION 



ditions produce changed results. In physiology, 

 particularly in the field of endocrinology, there are 

 striking evidences of the exactness of cause and 

 effect in the organism and in its environmental 

 relations. In experimental embryology there are 

 many disclosures of hereditary response to modifi- 

 cations of environment, both external and internal. 

 In grafting experiments there are still further sig- 

 nificant results to be considered, both in embryos 

 and in adult organisms. All of these things bear 

 definitely upon the problem of evolutionary method 

 and aid in the establishment of a sound foundation 

 upon which to approach the less satisfactory ac- 

 cumulation of evidence with regard to evolutionary 

 processes themselves. 



It is rare to find a distinctly original attempt to 

 explain the problems of life, possibly because hun- 

 dreds of men working over a long period of years 

 are not likely to cling to concepts of no value be- 

 yond the acquisition of the facts necessary to 

 prove their uselessness. One such attempt is now 

 prominent in the literature, viz., Augusta Gaskell's 

 What is Life? ^ This is a brilliant and thought- 

 provoking work. It paves the way to a more defi- 

 nite inquiry into fundamentals than has yet been 

 made. But unfortunately it is entirely without 

 assurance that the inquiry will be more successful 

 than those of the past. When Mrs. Gaskell makes 



« What is Life? 1928. 



