THE PATH OF EVOLUTION 



the basis of modern evolution. It is purely the nega- 

 tion of the preceding hypotheses. It is merely a law 

 or system that unites together the observed facts, not 

 an explanation of the facts themselves, f As now un- 

 derstood, Evolution is thus described by Huxley : 

 He said : " Those who believe in the doctrine of Evo- 

 lution and I am of that number find serious 

 reasons for thinking that this world with all that is 

 in it and on it, did not first appear with the conditions 

 that now show themselves, nor with anything that at 

 all approaches thereto. On the contrary, I believe 

 that the conformation and the composition of the ter- 

 restrial crust, the distribution of land and water, the 

 infinite varieties of plants and of animals that form 

 its present population, are only the last terms of an 

 immense series of changes, accomplished in the course 

 of incalculable periods by the action of causes more 

 or less like those that are at work to-day." | Thus 

 understood, Evolution embraces the geological theories 

 of Lyell, and the doctrines of the "Origin of Species" 

 of Darwin. It is generally understood by most men, 

 as it is by the writer of these pages, that the process or 

 processes called Evolution, whether in Cosmic or 

 in living Forces, are indicative of the manner, or of 

 the means, by which the existing conditions of the 

 world and of the Life around us have arisen. They 

 are not the final causes, but are the efficient causes 



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