i.] METHODS OF PROOF 5 



to the Direct Action of Changed Conditions of 

 Life." The object of this book is to put before 

 the reader a few of the incontestable facts 

 establishing the heredity of acquired characters 

 upon which the evolution of plants is based. 

 It is no theory like " Darwinism," but the process 

 may be seen everywhere by the observant eye. 



It is based on two lines of evidence Induc- 

 tion and Experimental Verification. The first is 

 simply that when innumerable and independent 

 coincidences are found, all conspiring to secure 

 one and the same end, it is a perfectly legitimate 

 and logical conclusion to recognise as a fact 

 identically the same " cause and effect " at work 

 in each case. Such is always accepted as a 

 genuine " Natural Law " ; by which is always 

 meant that the same results follow the same 

 causes under the same conditions. 



In my work " On the Origin of Floral 

 Structures, by Insect and other Agencies," 1 I 

 was obliged to rely almost entirely on Induc- 

 tion ; because it is impossible by experiment 

 to convert a "regular" into an "irregular" 

 flower, which has always some special structures 

 adapted to insects, etc. ; but in this book one 

 has the great advantage of putting pretty well 

 every induction to the test of experiment. The 

 result in every case regularly confirms it, so 



1 Intern. Sci. Ser., vol. Ixiv. 1888 ; and see The Making of Flowers, 

 S.P.C.K.,1891. 



