4 ORGANIC EVOLUTION — PHYSICAL 



certainty as that with w]iic]i aHtrononiy asserts tliat tlio eartli 

 moves roiiml the sun; for a conclusion may be arrivetl at us 

 safely by other metliOLls as by mathematical calculation. 



"If I make this assertion so unhesitatingly I do not make it iu 

 the l)elief that I am bringing forward anything new, nor because 

 I think that any opposition will be encountered, but sinjply 

 because I wish to begin by pointing out the firm ground on which 

 we stand, before considering the numerous problems which still 

 remain unsolved. 



"Such proI)lems appear as soon as we pass from the facts of 

 the case to their explanation ; as soon as we pass from the state- 

 ment, The organic world lias arisen by development, to the 

 question. But how has this been ell'ected, by the action of what 

 forces, by what means, and under what circunistances V 



" In attempting to answer these questions we are very far from 

 dealing with certainties ; and opinions are still conflicting. But 

 the answer lies in the domain of future investigation, that un- 

 known countr}' which we have to explore. 



" It is true that tliis coimtry is not entirely unknown, and if I 

 um not mistaken, Charles Darwin, who in our time has been the 

 first to revive the long dormant theory of descent, has already 

 given a sketch, which may well serve as a basis for the complete 

 map of the domain ; although perhaps many details will be added, 

 and many others taken away. In the principle of natural selec- 

 tion, Darwin has indicated the route by which we nuist enter this 

 unknown land." — Wkismann. 



''The continuity of the germ plasm, like Darwin's selection, is 

 a fact not a theory." — IIayci;aft. 



" ' Struggle for existence,' as perhaps it was in Mr. Darwin's 

 world of advancing beasts and developing vegetables. But now 

 the plan is so turned about by the arrival of man on the scene, 

 and by his civilization, that you cannot watch even Darwin and 

 Huxley themselves without seeing that the struggle that they 

 and other good men wage is no struggle for existence but a 

 struggle against mere existence. The struggle for existence is 

 brutal life ; a struggle to do something more than exist is human 

 life — the mission of the human soul. What is the use of alcohol 

 in such a struggle ? The question is a wide one. It might lead 

 us to inquire what that is which men want to obtain beyond 

 mere existence. Watching some eminent teachers, you might 

 suppose it to be a very detailed knowledge of the common frog. 



