238 THE COMING OF AGE OF VIT 
from its primary egg, or germ, is a true process of 
evolution—a progress from almost formless to 
more or less highly organised matter, in virtue of — 
the properties inherent in that matter. 
To those who are familiar with the process of 
development, all & priori objections to the doctrine — 
of biological evolution appear childish. Any one 
who has watched the gradual formation of a com- 
plicated animal from the protoplasmic mass, which — 
constitutes the essential element of a frog’s or a 
hen’s egg, has had under his eyes sufficient 
evidence that a similar evolution of the whole - 
animal world from the like foundation is, at any 
rate, possible. | 
Yet another product of investigation has 
largely contributed to the removal of the objec- 
tions to the doctrine of evolution current in 1859. 
It is the proof afforded by successive discoveries ~ 
that Mr. Darwin did not over-estimate the 
imperfection of the geological record. No more 
striking illustration of this is needed than a com- 
parison of our knowledge of the mammalian fauna 
of the Tertiary epoch in 1859 with its present 
condition. M. Gaudry’s researches on the fossils 
of Pikermi were published in 1868, those of 
Messrs. Leidy, Marsh, and: Cope, on the fossils of — 
the Western Territories of America, have appeared — 
almost wholly since 1870, those of M. Filhol on— 
the phosphorites of Quercy in 1878. The general 
effect of these investigations has been to intro- 
