96 



classes of argument, one the argument from 

 embryology, or, as Father Wasmann calls it, 

 the biogenetic principle, the other the argu 

 ment from paleontology ; that of the former 

 Father Wasmann himself is quite pronounced 

 in his repudiation and that he is far from alone 

 in his rejection of it ; that of the latter Her 

 bert Spencer admitted years ago that "the 

 facts about fossil remains are so fragmentary 

 that no positive conclusion can be drawn from 

 them"; that this sane conclusion cannot be 

 contradicted; that it was true when Spencer 

 first penned it, that it is true to-day, and that 

 it will remain true for all time. 



It should also be borne in mind that besides 

 evolution there is still another hypothesis 

 which, although partially overlooked or wholly 

 forgotten by the scientists, " explains the facts " 

 in a far more satisfactory manner; explains a 

 far larger body of the facts; and explains them 



Dahl's objection from morphological resemblances by saying: "From the 

 resemblance between man and the higher mammals only one fact can 

 be directly deduced, viz., that the individual laws governing the evolution 

 of both are based on the same design." Unity of descent is one thing, 

 uity of plan quite another. While the latter is conclusively proven by 

 the morphological characters, the former must be taken on faith mere 

 ly. The argument from comparative anatomy is moreover purely the 

 oretical. 



