348 BIOLOGY AND ITS MAKERS 



Lamarck in the last years of the eighteenth century, and was 

 further molded by others before Darwin touched it. 



Vagueness Regarding Evolution. — Although ''evolution" 

 is to-day a word in constant use, there is still great vagueness 

 in the minds of most people as to what it stands for; and, 

 what is more, there is very little general information dissem- 

 inated regarding the evidence by which it is supported, and re- 

 garding the present status of the doctrine in the scientific world. 



In its broad sense, evolution has come to mean the devel- 

 opment of all nature from the past. We may, if we wish, 

 think of the long train of events in the formation of the world, 

 and in supplying it with life as a story inscribed upon a scroll 

 that is being gradually unrolled. Everything which has 

 come to pass is on that part so far exposed, and everything 

 in the future is still covered, but will appear in due course 

 of time; thus the designation of evolution as "the unrolling 

 of the scroll of the universe" becomes picturesquely sug- 

 gestive. In its w^ide meaning, it includes the formation of 

 the stars, solar systems, the elements of the inorganic world, 

 as well as all living nature — this is general evolution; but 

 the word as commonly employed is limited to organic evolu- 

 tion, or the formation of life upon our planet. It will be 

 used hereafter in this restricted sense. 



The vagueness regarding the theory of organic evolution 

 arises chiefly from not understanding the points at issue. 

 One of the commonest mistakes is to confuse Darwinism 

 with organic evolution. It is known, for illustration, that con- 

 troversies are current among scientific workers regarding 

 Darwinism and certain phases of evolution, and from this 

 circumstance it is assumed that the doctrine of organic 

 evolution as a whole is losing ground. The discussions of De 

 Vries and others — all believers in organic evolution — at the 

 Scientific Congress in St. Louis in 1904, led to the statement 

 in the public press that the scientific world was haggling 



