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Father Wasmann divides the proofs for it into 

 the "direct" and " indirect." "The direct 

 proofs," he tells us, " are those faint traces of 

 transformation of species, as they still may be 

 discovered ; such, for instance, as the botanist, 

 Hugo de Vries, has described in support of his 

 theory of mutation. He shows that in the bo 

 tanical genus Oenothera, mullein, new forms 

 are still being developed, which "behave like 

 real species." Of course this is a case of par- 

 turiunt montes in which all that the great gen 

 eralization evolution can bring forward in 

 its favor is the behavior of some specimens of 

 the mullein plant, and is ridiculous in the ex 

 treme. The great principle of evolution is sup 

 posed to have been at work throughout all 

 time and throughout all space. On our own 

 globe, on land and sea, throughout the entire 

 vegetable kingdom, throughout the entire ani 

 mal kingdom, throughout all inorganic matter ; 

 yea, throughout the entire cosmos, the universe, 

 the heliocentric system, it is supposed to be 

 operative and to have been operative through 

 out all past time and down to the present ; and 

 yet the only direct proof that can be adduced 



