THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



these causes will proceed in future generations. No 

 science is of much value unless from knowledge of 

 the past we can predict the future course of events. 

 If we should note accurately the path of a projectile 

 for a part of its flight, what value would this know- 

 ledge have, if we were unacquainted how the force of 

 gravitation would act to direct the remainder of its 

 path? Our real interest lies in our ability to foretell 

 where the projectile will continue to go. On this foun- 

 dation, the biologist must build his theory of the 

 causes of such variation and show the mechanism by 

 which we may predict the characteristics of future 

 forms. All this is the attempt of modern and not of 

 earlier thinkers, and the discovery of those special or 

 inductive laws is what distinguishes science from 

 philosophy. 



