VII. "SPECIAL CREATION" 



PROFESSOR SCOTT, of Princeton, has 

 recently given to the public in his 

 Westbrook Lectures 1 an exceedingly 

 impartial, convincing, and lucid statement of 

 the evidence for the theory of evolution or 

 transformism. On one point of terminology a 

 few observations may not be amiss, since there is 

 a certain amount of confusion still existing in the 

 minds of many persons which can be and ought 

 to be cleared up. Throughout his book Pro- 

 fessor Scott contrasts evolution with what he calls 

 " special creation." In so doing he is evidently 

 in no way anxious to deny the fact that there is a 

 Creator, and that evolution may fairly be regarded 

 as His method of creation. In one passage he 

 expressly states that " acceptance of the theory of 

 evolution by no means excludes belief in a creative 

 plan." 



And again, when dealing with the palseonto- 

 logical evidence in favour of evolution, he points 

 out that Cuvier and Agassiz, examining it as it 

 was known in their day, interpreted the facts as 



1 The Theory of Evolution. By William Berryman Scott, 

 New York : The Macmillan Co. 



142 



