INTRODUCTION 



proposed."^ In plain language, Huxley tells men of 

 science that the positive evidence of palaeontology 

 points to the persistence of species, and he instructs 

 working men that the same science not only verifies 

 evolution, but it can discriminate between different 

 methods of variation. 



With what is now known to have been a pitifully 

 meagre supply of facts, observations, and experi- 

 ments, the Darwinians preached the gospel of evolu- 

 tion as an established scientific law and crushed all 

 opposition to natural selection by hurling the anathe- 

 ma that, if you did not believe, you were not fit to 

 survive. Every trick of habit and every reminiscent 

 thought was traced back to some mammalian or rep- 

 tilian monster; even such insignificant facts as that 

 the hair on a man's wrist lay in a certain direction 

 were sufficient to link him with simian ancestry; and 

 daily search was made for the "missing link." 



All this restlessness and discussion resulted in one 

 real service. Interest was directed to the biological 

 sciences and they were cultivated as never before. 

 Laboratories multiplied, and the phenomena of life 

 were studied systematically. The results of this in- 

 vestigation have been that, today, the evidence avail- 

 able supports our faith in a general law of evolution. 

 We accept it as we accept the law of conservation of 

 matter, not because it can be proved to be true from 

 experience, but because without it natural law is not 



8 Vol. II, Essay XI, p. 462. 



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