The Making of Species 



doctrine of evolution, as applied to the organic 

 world, took in Darwin's hands, would prove to be 

 final or not, was, to me, a matter of indifference." 



The result of the fortuitous combination of the 

 circumstances which we have set forth was that 

 in a surprisingly short time the theory of natural 

 selection came to be regarded as a law of nature 

 on a par with the laws of gravitation. Thus, 

 paradoxical though it seems, practical certainty 

 was given to a hitherto uncertain doctrine by the 

 addition of a still more uncertain theory. 



"At once," writes Waggett, "the theory of 

 development leapt from the position of an obscure 

 guess to that of a fully-equipped theory and 

 almost a certainty." 



Darwin thus became a dictator whose authority 

 none durst question. A crowd of slavish adher- 

 ents gathered round him, a herd of men to whom 

 he seemed an absolutely unquestionable authority. 

 Darwinism became a creed to which all must 

 subscribe. It still retains this position in the 

 popular mind. 



The ease with which the theory of natural 

 selection gained supremacy was, as we have 

 already said, a misfortune to biological science. 

 It produced for a time a considerable mental 

 stagnation among zoologists. Since Darwin's 

 day the science has not made the progress that 

 might reasonably have been expected, because 

 the theory has so captivated the minds of the 



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