NA TURE AND SCOPE OF E VOL UTION. 17 



mits us into the innermost arcana of nature. We are 

 told of the Evolution of the earth, of the Evolution 

 of the solar system, of the Evolution of the sidereal 

 universe. Men discourse on the Evolution of life, 

 the Evolution of the organic and inorganic worlds, 

 the Evolution of the human race. We have simi- 

 larly the Evolution of society, government, religion, 

 language, art, science, architecture, music, literature, 

 chemistry, physics, mathematics, and the various 

 other branches of knowledge as well. We now talk 

 of the Evolution of the steamboat, the locomotive, 

 the dynamo, the machine-gun, the telescope, the 

 yacht and the bicycle. All that ministers to com- 

 fort, luxury and fashion are objects of Evolution. 

 Hence it is that we hear people speak of the Evolu- 

 tion of the modern house-furnace and the cooking- 

 stove ; the Evolution of the coach and the dog-cart ; 

 the Evolution of seal-skin sacques, high-heeled shoes 

 and of that periodically recurrent bete noire of fond 

 husbands and indulgent papas the latest pat- 

 tern of a lady's hat. Anything which has developed 

 or improved and what has not ? is spoken of as 

 having come under the great law of Evolution, and, 

 presto ! all is explained, and any little enigmas 

 which before may have existed instantly vanish. 



As is evident from the foregoing, Evolution may 

 mean a great deal, or it may mean little or nothing. 

 It is manifestly a term of very general application 

 and may often be very misleading. Properly under- 

 stood it may be of signal service to the searcher after 

 truth, while, on the contrary, if it is constituted an 

 ever-ready deus ex niachina, capable of solving all 



