58 THE GERM-PLASM THEORY 



most fully recognize that it was the learning of 

 its greatest exponent, coupled with the fact that 

 he made suggestions as to the methods of evolu- 

 tion, which will always associate the name of 

 Darwin with the transformist theory. It is around 

 the factors of evolution that controversy has raged 

 and still rages most fiercely. For whilst most men 

 of science freely accept the main hypothesis of 

 evolution, biologists are divided into a variety of 

 even bitterly hostile camps professing diametrically 

 opposite views on almost every theory which 

 attempts to explain how that process of evolution 

 has taken place. Of course, it should again be borne 

 in mind that it is not wonderful that there should 

 be divergence of opinion on points in question. 

 There is nothing intrinsically harmful in such 

 divergence, perhaps even the contrary, for the 

 clash of opinion has at least been successful in 

 stimulating workers to search for and bring for- 

 ward hosts of observations and facts which, with- 

 out this stimulus, might have slumbered undis- 

 covered for years, perhaps for ever. The regretable 

 part of the business is that every new theory is put 

 forward as if it were a divine revelation and not 

 as if it were a mere hypothesis, and that its ad- 

 herents at times may be found to treat their 

 opponents with a scorn and contumely which 

 would be painful if it were not amusing. Of course, 

 it is perfectly true that the loudest-tongued in 

 these frays are rather the camp-followers of science 

 than the captains and generals in that army ; yet 

 even amongst these last there are not wanting 

 those whose tongues would have done credit to 



