2 THE GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES 



since the "Origin of Species" first saw the light of 

 day, and although in its infancy it met with but few 

 adherents to its general proposition that all existing 

 organic forms are but modifications of, or deriva- 

 tives from, allied or previously existing forms, it 

 numbers at the present day an equally small, or still 

 smaller, number of opponents. It may safely be 

 said that no broad scientific generalization, unless 

 possibly it be that of the Correlation of Forces, ever 

 met with such ready acceptance as did the doctrine 

 of evolution or transformism. It is not my purpose 

 to-night to discuss the status of evolution, which 

 has long since passed from the realm of pure and 

 simple theory, but to present to you such of the 

 more salient facts bearing upon its proof, drawn 

 from my own department of geology and paleontol- 

 ogy, as will permit you to understand why the 

 greater number of naturalists consider the doctrine 

 as firmly established to-day as is the Copernican 

 theory of planetary revolution, the theory of grav- 

 itation, or the undulatory theory of light. 



Before entering into an analysis of this evidence, 



i 



