

Man in the Light of Evolution 



of the Immediate creation of distinct species. I 

 can find no clear statement of the theory before 

 this time. Hence Mr. Huxley has rightly called 

 It the MUtonlc hypothesis. In the eighteenth 

 century It was adopted by Linnaeus and gener- 

 ally accepted by the scientific world. Early In 

 the nineteenth century Lamarck, a French natu- 

 rahst, attempted to prove that new species could 

 arise from old ones by gradual changes resulting 

 from the use and disuse of organs. But his 

 theory was crude and capable of but limited 

 application. It gained few adherents and little 

 attention at the time. Conditions were not yet 

 ripe for the return of the theory of evolution. 



Thus Mr. Darwin was far from being the first 

 to discover the theory of evolution. His great 

 and difficult w^ork was to put the old metaphysi- 

 cal theory on a sound scientific basis, and to 

 prove that evolution was not only attractive and 

 creditable but reasonable and practicable. He 

 had to show how and why one form could slowly 

 and gradually change Into another of higher and 

 more complex structure, or sink to a lower grade 

 of life. Our first need Is a simple and clear out- 

 line of his theory. 



There Is hardly a more Interesting chapter In 



4 



