126 THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



process. The final mental act may come like 

 a flash, as it did in Darwin's case, and be fol- 

 lowed by a very rapid and fruitful explanation of 

 details ; but such triumphs do not come to the 

 mind that will not serve the apprenticeship. 1 



It has been often declared that the work of 

 biologists since 1860 has consisted in explain- 

 ing known facts as deductions from Darwin's 

 theories, and further investigating the conse- 

 quences of those theories. The more exten- 

 sively a theory has been successfully applied, 

 the more easy it is to do what still remains to 

 be done. There is profound philosophy in the 

 saying, "To him that hath shall be given." It 

 was a comparatively easy matter to apply Dar- 

 win's theories to all sorts of facts and lines of 

 investigation after he had so thoroughly tested 

 and illustrated them ; but even then the scien- 

 tific world was very long in working out some 

 of their striking consequences. It is not to be 

 wondered at that Darwin was slow to under- 

 stand many things, or that he overlooked others 

 entirely. It is rather to be wondered at that 

 he accomplished so much single-handed. One 



1 My friend, Prof. G. C. Price, has called my attention to 

 the fact that Lincoln was marvellously like Darwin in many 

 respects. The former was noted for his efforts to reach funda- 

 mental principles in thinking, and was also noted for the 

 " slowness " of his mental action. 



