EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION 67 



the results of Mendelian experiments have 

 somewhat modified our view of what man is 

 able to achieve in the way of establishing new 

 breeds. In many cases it seems as if he were 

 only assisting in the " unpacking " of the 

 extremely complex inheritance of the wild 

 type. It may seem that new peculiarities 

 are emerging, but in many cases what is being 

 effected is a process of analysis and of selection. 

 There seems to be no doubt, for instance, that 

 the colour-varieties of domestic rabbit are 

 but analyzed in varying measure and mixture 

 from that beautiful synthesis of hues which we 

 see in the wild rabbit. As similar analytical 

 varieties probably occur in Nature, the facts 

 of domestication may retain their position 

 among the " evidences of evolution," though 

 our interpretation of many of them is being 

 altered by the Mendelians. 



evidences," it must be rememberecl that 

 the evolution idea cannot be logically demon- 

 strated. It is not a simple induction from 

 particulars, thoroughly as particulars support 

 it. It is a way of looking at the becoming 

 of things; and it is the only scientific modal 

 interpretation that has been suggested. It 

 is a formula that fits the facts, and all the 

 facts it fits are its " evidences." 



C 2 



