April, 1928 



EVOLUTION 



Page Thirteen 



ANTI-EVOLUTION BOOKS 



"jITANY of our readers are not aware of 

 the existence of a rapidly growing anti- 

 evolution literature in this country. We 

 therefore propose to review at least one 

 book opposing evolution in every issue. 



This month we intended to review "Evo- 

 lution Disproved," but a review of this 

 book made in the Buffalo Evening News 

 of March 17 by Albert R. Shadle is so 

 well done that we reprint it here. 



EVOLUTION DISPROVED. Published 

 by the author, (T. A. Williams, DD., 

 Camden, N. J. Revised edition, 1928. 

 11.00. 



By Albert R. Shadle 



Head Biology Department, University of 

 Buffalo. 



In the introduction the author says: 

 "Let it be understood at the outset that 

 every proved theory of science is to be 

 accepted." He then decries "prejudice'" 

 and narrow-mindedness and assures the 

 reader that evolution will be examined 

 "upon its merits and from a scientific 

 standpoint." 



His thesis is, "Mathematics the acid 

 test," "figures will not lie"; however, it 

 is quite evident a little later that they are 

 manipulated in such a manner as to ap- 

 pear to prove whatever the author wishes 

 to bring out. The place of the origin of 

 man is an unsettled point scientifically, 

 and probably will be for some time, yet 

 the author takes for granted that the 

 Biblical account is the only one to be 

 considered. He then figures out the size 

 of the Garden of Eden to have been 12,500 

 square miles, i. e., 100 miles wide and 125 

 miles long. Having these figures for the 

 size of Eden, he figures out that Moses 

 had one chance in 4,000 and five in 

 making a correct guess on the place of 

 origin of man, and the author says that 

 Moses did guess correctly. There is no 

 basis for these figures except that he 

 wishes to be liberal in laying out the 

 Garden of Eden. This is a fair sample 

 of the manner in which figures are ma- 

 nipulated. 



The same old trick of taking a quo- 

 tation from some author and treating it 

 in such a way as to change the whole 

 meaning is often used. Bateson is again 

 quoted in such a way that the reader is 

 left with the opinion that he did not 

 believe in evolution. Bateson did not 

 question the fact of evolution, but was 

 trying to reach an evaluation of the 

 methods by which the lesults were ac- 

 complished. 



Great emphasis is laid upon the ques- 

 tion of the origin of new species and 

 upon the fact that biologists do not all 

 agree as to exactly what constitutes a 

 species. The author then in speaking of 

 "Geology and History" says: "Even if the 

 missing links in the development of the 

 horse could be found, it would still be 

 the same all the while." This brings out 

 the fact that he is not familiar with even 



the current notions of what a species is 

 and besides that his biological informa- 

 tion is full of errors and misstatements. 

 There are several species of horses living 

 today, viz, the common horse, the Asiatic 

 wild horse, the zebras, of which there are 

 a number of species; also different species 

 of asses. Within the past fifty years the 

 quaggo and one or two other species of 

 horse have become extinct through the 

 slaughter perpetrated by white men, either 

 directly or indirectly. Besides these sev- 

 eral living species, there are many others 

 that are known only from their fossil 

 remains, of which there is a remarkably 

 fine series connecting four-toed ancestors, 

 which were about the size of a dog or a fox. 



In another place he says: "No tran. 

 sitional forms have been found between 

 reptiles and mammals, and we have seen 

 that there are no reliable forms between 

 man and mammals." Thus he ignores the 

 fact that the lowest group of mammals, 

 the monotremes, show marked reptilian 

 characteristics, and dismiss all palaeon- 

 tological evidence of prehistoric man and 

 of the relationship between extinct rep- 

 tiles and mammals. This hardly seems in 

 accord with the original statement of 

 "open-mindedness and scientific treat- 

 ment" of the subject, and, moreover, the 

 statements made are not based upon facts. 

 This sort of thing is often encountered 

 and is due to lack of familiarity with the 

 biological subjects which he discusses. 



The author uses quotations from many 

 sources, some of which are well taken, 

 but many are absurd and even ridiculous. 

 One quotation (page 46) from "In His 

 Image" purports to be the evolutionists 

 idea of the origin and development of 

 the legs of animals. The whole quota- 

 tion is so fallacious that the reader mar- 

 vels that educated men would resort to 

 propaganda composed of such ignorance 

 and willful delusions. 



In regard to the fossil remains of man 

 the author says: "As fossils must be im- 

 bedded in rock, there is not a single fossil 

 of an ape-man in the world." This is 

 the manner in wliich he tries to dispose 

 of prehistoric human fossil remains. 

 Judged by his own statement, he is not 

 familiar with the general nature of fossils 

 nor even the meaning of the term as given 

 in the dictionan. 



In spite of this very serious lack of 

 information, he offers what are supposed 

 to be the authoritative opinions on these 

 matters. 



In summing up the book one could say 

 that to the biased anti-evolutionist it will 

 be a great boon, for he will find what he 

 wishes to read. To the evolutionist who 

 knows the facts about evolution the book 

 will be of interest in showing how these 

 facts can be distorted and misstated. At 

 times he will find it so ridiculous that it 

 may be amusing. The reader who is look- 

 ing for reliahli- information and an im- 

 partial presentation of the facts of the 

 case will he very much disappointed. In 

 places the discussion deteriorates into the 

 rabid, ranting type of which we heard so 

 much at tin- time of the Scopes trial. 



SOME GOOD BOOKS 



p^VERY reader of Evolotion is o/ 

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The commission we receive on book 

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 scription for Evolution at one dollar, you 

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