C ON TR O VERS T A ND PR OGRESS. 83 



one primordial created form. Evolutionists of the 

 atheistic school, however, of which Ernst Haeckel is 

 the chief representative, contend not only that all 

 species of animals and plants are descended from a 

 speck of protoplasm, a simple, structureless primitive 

 moneron, but also that this primordial speck of pro- 

 toplasm was not the work of the Deity, but was the 

 result solely of the operation of some one of the 

 physical forces on brute matter. 



But excluding the philosophical theories which 

 have been built on Evolution, and the religious dis- 

 cussions to which it has given rise, let us proceed to 

 examine the evidences for and against it as a scien- 

 tific theory. Let us inquire what are the grounds 

 for the almost universal acceptance of this theory by 

 contemporary scientists, and see whether the argu- 

 ments advanced in its support are in accord with the 

 canons of sound logic and the principles of true 

 philosophy. The question is entirely one of natural 

 science, not of metaphysics, and hence one of evi- 

 dence which is more or less tangible. What, then, 

 are the evidences of organic Evolution to which 

 modern scientists usually appeal ? This is the ques- 

 tion to which all that precedes is but little more 

 than a preamble, and a question, too, that well de- 

 serves our closest and most serious consideration. 

 I shall endeavor to give the answer succinctly, but 

 fairly, in the following chapter. 



