SCIENTIFIC METHOD 57 



seems to many an entry into the misty maze of meta- 

 physics. Until, by the help of the new conception, 

 hitherto unperceived causative sequences are brought to 

 light, this criticism is probably justified. 



It is quite otherwise with the generality of mankind, 

 for, provided such creations of the imagination are suffi- 

 ciently impressive and sufficiently understood, they secure 

 the acceptance of scientific generalizations even by those 

 who do not pretend to a knowledge of scientific 

 methods. The greater the immensity of the conception 

 the more potent its sway over the thought of mankind. 

 The sun moves visibly around us, and night follows day, 

 yet all educated people, however hostile to science, 

 accept the belief that this is because the earth revolves on 

 its axis once in twenty-four hours. Natural selection and 

 evolution, not recognized at first as involving imaginative 

 conceptions of a most impressive kind, passed through 

 the entire gamut of hostile criticism ; they were against 

 nature, subversive of traditional authority, ridiculous, 

 opposed to common sense, and based on erroneous data. 

 Finally, when their imaginative aspects were realized, 

 although still criticized by some scientific men as involv- 

 ing too heavy a call on time and matter, they have been 

 adopted so extensively by the public at large that they 

 have become familiar aspects of all modern thought 

 and expression. The conceptions, which science owes 

 to the genius of Darwin, are used to indicate the 

 predominant feature in the history of races, nations, 

 society, religions, professions, trades, commerce, and 

 manufactures. I have even seen the phrase, ' evolu- 

 tion through the survival of the fittest,' applied to 

 the free-wheel bicycle and the rubber-cored golf ball. 

 This use, I might almost say this misuse, of the terms 

 which express definite scientific conceptions, affords a 



