Evolution : The Quest of Truth 151 



parture. Some of them may remain for cen- 

 turies without important change. 



But I object to the above quotation because 

 of its method or outlook it is again the 

 method of dogma and not of search for scien- 

 tific truth. Every instance must be explained 

 on its own evidence, if it is to come within the 

 realm of genuine quest. No one knows 

 whether " the oak, birch, hazel and Scotch fir 

 have remained in all these thousands of years 

 without the slightest improvement," or whether 

 the coral polyp has remained the same dur- 

 ing t ree hundred centuries. Because we can 

 match individual fossils with organisms existing 

 to-day, it does not follow that the two are iden- 

 tical in structure, function, or longevity ; and 

 even if it did, this fact would constitute no 

 disproof of evolution. There are positive in- 

 stances enough to make us believe that evolu- 

 tion takes place. 



EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION 



We can see abundant evidences of the con- 

 tinuing process of evolution if we know what 



