90 



but a hypothesis built on several other hypoth 

 eses. "It is essentially a theory," he tells us, 

 "based on a group of hypotheses." Such a 

 theory can hardly be called a science ; but since 

 these hypotheses are "in harmony with one an 

 other," Father Wasmann thinks that they 

 "afford the most probable explanation of the 

 origin of organic species " a proposition 

 which he has failed to satisfactorily demon 

 strate. 



Evolution Breaks Down. 



Father Wasmann's evolution breaks down 

 in the same way when we come to regard it 

 as he wishes it to be regarded in the light of 

 a great universal principle, whose sway extends 

 throughout all organic life on our globe, 

 throughout inorganic nature, and throughout 

 the entire universe. Now, a great universal 

 principle that breaks down at every important 

 point, and that is discoverable in only out-of- 

 the-way corners, and even there not very dis- 

 cernibly but merely supposedly, is no principle 

 at all. Father Wasmann's evolution starts 

 with the primal creation of matter and is sup- 



