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CHAPTER I 



DARWIN'S THEORY OF EVOLUTION AND 

 ITS EVIDENCES 



The human mind is characterized above all else by curiosity, 

 the source of all our wisdom as well as of our woes. This fact 

 the ancients portray in the tale of Pandora's box. We in- 

 stinctively seek an explanation of all the phenomena of 

 nature, unless our natural curiosity has been repressed by 

 convention or education (falsely so called). We demand a 

 reason for everything, and if none is forthcoming from an out- 

 side source, we straightway construct one for ourselves out of 

 our own imaginings. This is the attitude of mind of the child 

 whose perpetual " why " and " what " are so distressing to 

 perplexed parents. It is the attitude of mind in which all 

 primitive peoples and original thinkers have regarded the 

 phenomena of nature. It was this attitude of mind which led 

 to the formulation of the evolution theory, which is an attempt 

 to explain the present condition of the world in terms of simpler 

 pre-existing conditions. 



WTien evolution is mentioned, we think of Darwin as its 

 originator, but in reality he did not originate it; the idea of 

 organic evolution had often been suggested before his time, 

 but he proved its reality. The principle of evolution had 

 long been recognized in relation to inorganic things. In 

 chemistry, physics, and astronomy, the constancy and inde- 

 structibility of matter were fully established. It was recog- 

 nized for example that more complex states of matter, that is, 

 " chemical compounds," may arise out of the simpler " ele- 

 ments " by their combination in definite proportions, and 

 that out of such compounds the elements may by suitable 

 means be recovered again unchanged and in the original pro- 

 portions. 



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