EVOLUTION OF TO-DAY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT is now a full quarter of a century since the pub- 

 lication of Darwin's " Origin of Species " opened to 

 the world a new line of thought. Not only in 

 science did this book offer an untrodden field for 

 investigation, but its influence has extended to all 

 other departments of learning. The general idea 

 of evolution which this book brought into prominent 

 notice has invaded the domain of philosophy, men- 

 tal science, philology, and even our conceptions of 

 religion and revelation have been modified by it. 

 Hardly a line of study can be taken up without 

 meeting at the outset this question of origin. 

 Whatever may be the conclusion as to the truth of 

 the ideas embodied in this work of Darwin, no one 

 will fail to recognize that they have had an enor- 

 mous influence upon the thought of the age. We 

 read everywhere of evolution, evolution of the uni- 

 verse, of life, of intellect, of morals, of language ; 

 and even artificial products are viewed under a like 

 law, and the evolution of the steamboat or of the 

 steam-engine is not an unfamiliar phrase. All this 



