DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 71 



though the " analogy," for what it is worth, may be 

 safely conceded. 



The postulate of Darwin, that there is a wider 

 difference between the highest ape and the lowest 

 monkey, than there is between the highest ape and 

 the lowest man (hence the inference that the human 

 family may have sprung from the Simian tribes), is 

 specious, but not logical or sound. The argument 

 would have been just as worthless if he had said that 

 there is a wider difference betw r een the highest and 

 the lowest marsupials than there is between a kan- 

 garoo and an ostrich ; or, that there is exhibited a 

 greater diversity between the largest and the smallest 

 saurians than is apparent between the highest reptile 

 and the lowest bird. 



In considering Darwinism in all its bearings, the 

 student of nature finds much to admire. The great 

 naturalist, in his Origin of Species, has made use of 

 two or three expressions which in themselves suggest 

 a large amount of truth. Who does not see at a glance 

 that in the various forms and phases of life there is an 

 everlasting " struggle for existence ?" And the log- 

 ical sequence of that eternal effort means the "sur- 

 vival of the fittest." The earth and sea would soon be 

 crowded with inhabitants were it not for the fact that 

 the strongest and most favored eat up or destroy the 

 weak and unfortunate. In this never-ending turmoil, 

 the " fittest," i. e., the best, the strongest, or the clever- 

 est, have the surest chance to survive, and, of course, 

 to transmit excellencies to offspring. Such a potent 

 factor in the work of evolution ought in time to ac- 

 complish wonders. The doctrine of Evolution, as ad- 

 vocated by the champions of Darwinism, look upon 

 utility as the object aimed at by every developing 



