EVOLUTION IN GENERAL. 



proof of the divinity of all lower things. And what is 

 of hifinitely greater moment, each footprint discovered 

 in the Ascent of Man is a guide to the step to be 

 taken next. To discover the rationale of social prog- 

 ress is the ambition of this age. There is an extraor- 

 dinary human interest abroad about this present 

 world itself, a yearning desire, not from curious but 

 for practical reasons, to find some light upon the 

 course; and as the goal comes nearer the eagerness 

 passes into suspense to know the shortest and the 

 quickest road to reach it. Hence the Ascent of Man 

 is not only the noblest problem which science can ever 

 study, but the practical bearings of this theme are 

 great beyond any other on the roll of knowledge. 



Now that the first rash rush of the evolutionary 

 invasion is past, and the sins of its youth atoned for 

 by sober concession, Evolution is seen to be neither 

 more nor less than the story of creation as told by 

 those who know it best. "Evolution," says Mr. 

 Huxley, " or development is at present employed in 

 biology as a general name for the history of the steps 

 by wiiich any living being has acquired the morpho- 

 logical and the physiological characters which dis- 

 tinguish it." ^ Though applied specifically to plants 

 and animals this definition expresses the chief sense 

 in which Evolution is to be used scientifically at 

 present. We shall use the word, no doubt, in others 

 of its many senses ; but after all the blood spilt, Evo- 

 lution is simply " history," a " history of steps," a 

 " general name," for the history of the steps by which 

 the world has come to be what it is. According to 

 this general definition, the story of Evolution is nar- 

 * EncycloxxBclia Britannica, 9th Ed. 



