JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ. 491 



of the earth laws upon which must rest any true theory of 

 evolution. Also, that to him, more than to any other man, 

 is due the credit of having perfected the method (method of com- 

 parison) by the use of which alone biological science has ad- 

 vanced so rapidly in modern times."* He saw clearly that 

 the embryonic development of the higher animals consisted of 

 a series of stages corresponding to an ascending scale of lower 

 animals, and he was the first to show that both corresponded 

 to the succession of forms in geologic time. He also an- 

 nounced the laws by which the geological succession of animal 

 forms proceeds he refused only to recognise the result that 

 must come from the operation of these principles and laws. 

 To his simply but tenaciously devout mind the derivative ori- 

 gin of species could not be true, for it seemed to eliminate the 

 Creator. 



* Evolution and its Relation to Religious Thought, p. 38. 



