in PREDESTINED USES 165 



entirely at variance with the whole 

 theory of the mechanical evolutionists 

 that there must be some explanation 

 of their running their heads against it. 

 The explanation is very simple. It 

 is one of the infirmities of the human 

 mind that, when it is thoroughly 

 possessed by one idea, it not only sees 

 everything in the light of that idea, but 

 can see nothing that does not lend 

 itself to support the dominant con- 

 ception. There is nothing that a mind 

 in this condition dislikes so much as an 

 incongruous fact. Its instincts, too, are 

 amazingly acute in scenting, even from 

 afar, the tainted atmosphere of phe- 

 nomena which have dangerous implica- 

 tions. This is the secret of the aversion 

 felt by the Darwinian School to the 

 immense variety of biological facts which 

 point to the steady growth of organs for 

 a predestined use, and consequently to 



