2 DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION 



of science, and were his life prolonged indefinitely, his 

 task would remain forever unaccomplished, for prog- 

 ress in any direction would bring him inevitably to 

 newer and still unexplored regions of thought. 



Therefore it would seem that we are attempting an 

 impossible task when we undertake in the brief time 

 before us the study of this universal principle and its 

 fundamental concepts and applications. But are the 

 difficulties insuperable? Truly our efforts would be 

 foredoomed to failure were it not that the materials 

 of knowledge are grouped in classes and departments 

 which may be illustrated by a few representative data. 

 And it is also true that every one has thought more or 

 less widely and deeply about human nature, about the 

 living world to which we belong, and about the cir- 

 cumstances that control our own lives and those of 

 our fellow creatures. Many times we withdraw from 

 the world of strenuous endeavor to think about the 

 '^meaning of things," and upon the ^^why" and ^there- 

 fore" of existence itself. Every one possesses already 

 a fund of information that can be directly utilized 

 during the coming discussions ; for if evolution is true 

 as a universal principle, then it is as natural and every- 

 day a matter as nature and existence themselves, and 

 its materials must include the facts of daily life and 

 observation. 



Although the doctrine of evolution was stated in 

 very nearly its present form more than a century ago, 

 much misunderstanding still exists as to its exact mean- 

 ing and nature and value ; and it is one of the primary 

 objects of these discussions to do away with certain 

 current errors of judgment about it. It is often sup- 



