THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



what happened then was the natural result of these 

 previous actions. Going a step further (it is well at 

 times to be uncompromisingly logical) in this fatal- 

 istic chain all these previous actions were the phe- 

 nomena due to the positions and motions of material 

 particles. The whole course of the revolution was de- 

 termined by the ideas and feelings of preceding ances- 

 tors and ancestral atoms. No one can prove that it was 

 not, but, also, no one can hope to know these ideas and 

 feelings, and atoms. To us, the failure of the Corsi- 

 cans has all the characteristics of chance, and we shall 

 continue to ascribe to the clever wit of Napoleon the 

 chief influence in the later course of the revolution. 

 Scientific sociologists point to the laws of physics 

 as a proof that individual chance can be subordinated 

 to general laws. And they argue that they, too, can 

 follow the same methods when their science will 

 have arrived at maturity. The question actually is, 

 has their science ever been born? They make this 

 parallel out of their abysmal ignorance of physics. 

 Suppose we accept the law of physics that the pressure 

 of a gas is due to the impact of an indefinitely large 

 number of swiftly moving molecules against the 

 walls of the containing vessel. The necessary assump- 

 tions, according to Clerk Maxwell, that this law may 

 hold are : the number of individuals must be indefi- 

 nitely large; they must be all alike; they must be so 

 far apart that the action of any one will not affect the 

 actions of any others; if any individual were with- 



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