14 WEISMANN'S WORDS 



not explain as a result of their own observa- 

 tion and deduction and for which they could 

 not find an immediate and demonstrable cause. 

 Men have wrestled long and patiently with 

 Nature that they might wring from her her 

 secrets; they have built up schemes and 

 systems, and in the end have come to think 

 that anything that cannot be fitted into one 

 of these systems must be useless and may be 

 thrown aside. They have said we have for 

 long enough accepted authority as our guide, 

 and it would seem that the agnosticism of 

 to-day, or of yesterday rather, may be accepted 

 as a reaction against doctrines and dogmas 

 based solely upon, and supported by, what was 

 termed authority. 



Let those who are afraid of the teachings 

 of natural science take to heart Weismann's 

 words : ' Although I regard the doctrine of 

 descent as proved, and hold it to be one of 

 the greatest acquisitions of human knowledge, 

 I must repeat that I do not mean to say that 

 everything is clear in regard to the evolution 

 of the living world. On the contrary, I believe 



