230 THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



must always be entirely dependent on the char- 

 acter of the individual using them. 



Darwin's views on method can be summed 

 up in the assertion that he was afraid of every 

 statement or hypothesis until it was tested, 

 and indeed regarded an unverified belief as 

 worthless. The starting points of his investi- 

 gations were frequently what seemed to other 

 men interesting, but unimportant or incon- 

 venient exceptional facts. When he sought 

 explanations he seemed to be trying to get a 

 conclusion by the shortest and easiest route, 

 with as little labor as possible. But when he 

 had once got an hypothesis he dragged it before 

 all the multitude of facts that could be made 

 to bear witness to its truth or falsity, until it 

 seemed as if he were trying to make the inves- 

 tigation last as long as possible. Time seemed 

 no longer worth considering. He always used 

 the isolated phenomena which were most diffi- 

 cult to explain as tests of the validity of his 

 hypotheses. )/ By considering all possible objec- 

 tions during the progress of the development 

 of his conceptions, he threw a merciless light 

 on the weaknesses of his theories, and thus 

 gave them, in their final form, as high a degree 

 of probability as was possible. In his treat- 

 ment of negative evidence he never lost sight 



