42 



CHAPTER IX. 



THEORY OF EVOLUTION. 



WE now proceed to formulate our Theory 

 of Evolution, recognising fully that it shall 

 be subject to Huxley's test, that " Every 

 hypothesis is bound to explain, or at any- 

 rate not be inconsistent with, the whole 

 of the facts which it professes to account 

 for, and if there is a single one of these 

 facts which can be shown to be inconsist- 

 ent with (I do not merely mean inexplic- 

 able by, but contrary to) the hypothesis, 

 the hypothesis falls to the ground it is 

 worth nothing." 1 



The evolution of life was by successive 

 steps each step a distinct new type. 



The first forms of life (which all theories 

 assume) consisted of a simple cell, that by 

 inherent force (which we call " life-force ") 

 multiplied by producing other similar cells. 



1 Darwiniana, p. 463. 



