64 NO STRUGGLE NO SELECTION 



to which they are subject in the realm of Nature, BO 

 far as that is within the compass of observation and 

 experience, are impossible material for Nature's evolu- 

 tionary purposes. An elaborate theory, composed of 

 what I have termed illegitimate hypotheses, and of 

 such alone, ought to have been anathema to the men 

 of Darwin's day. But unfortunately, amid the heated 

 controversies and commotions stirred by the publication 

 of the Origin of Species, the assailants of his theory 

 of evolution did not perceive that they were accepting 

 his fundamental principles without making the slightest 

 attempt to verify or disprove them. These are two, 

 namely, the doctrine of the struggle for existence, and 

 the evolutionary power of the individual variation, 

 neither of which was, in any way, called in question 

 or subjected to any kind of examination. 



Unexamined, unverified, as to either of these essential 

 points, the evolutionary theory of Darwin was hailed 

 as a glorious revelation by most scientists, and was, 

 after some hesitation on the part of a few, at last 

 embraced by all of them as the impregnable creed of 

 science. Their acceptance of it shows how the 

 scientific mind has advanced since Newton formulated 

 his antiquated boast Hypotheses non Jingo. Evolution 

 from lower to higher forms, as the formative principle 

 in the origin of species, had long before Darwin's day 

 been anticipated by other men of science, among 

 whom Lamarck holds a distinguished place. 



But until the publication of the Origin of Species 

 it had never taken hold of the public mind, nor 



