Strength of Darwin's Position 



The man in the street, then, was able to com- 

 prehend the theory of natural selection. This 

 was greatly in its favour. Men are usually well 

 disposed towards doctrines which they can readily 

 understand. 



The nineteenth century was a superficial age. 

 It liked simplicity in all things. If Darwin could 

 show that natural selection was capable of pro- 

 ducing one species, men were not only ready but 

 eager to believe that it could explain the whole 

 of organic evolution. 



The simplicity of the Darwinian theory has its 

 evil side. It has undoubtedly tended to make 

 modern biologists superficial in their methods. 

 It has, indeed, stimulated the imagination of 

 men of science ; but the stimulation has not in 

 all cases been a healthy one. 



So far from adhering to the sound rule laid 

 down by Pasteur, " never advance anything 

 that cannot be proved in a simple and decisive 

 manner," many modern naturalists allow their 

 imagination to run riot, and so formulate ill- 

 considered theories, and build up hypotheses on 

 the most insecure foundations. " A tiny islet of 

 truth," writes Archdale Reid, " is discovered, on 

 which are built tremendous and totally illegitimate 

 hypotheses." 



Another source of Darwin's strength was the 

 vast store of knowledge he had accumulated. 

 For twenty years he had been steadily amassing 



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