28 BABWINISM TESTED BY 



existence. Yet this short time, a span of 

 some thousands of years only, teaches ns 

 with a most positive certainty that the life 

 of the organisms of speech runs on according 

 to definite laws in variations perfectly gra- 

 dual, and that we have not the slightest 

 right to suppose that it has ever been other- 

 wise. 



Now Darwin, and those that preceded him, 

 went a step further than the other zoologists 

 and botanists ; not only have individuals, 

 said they, a life, but likewise the species and 

 the races; they, as well, have arisen gra- 

 dually; they, also, are subject to continual 

 changes according to definite laws. Like all 

 our modern scholars Darwin appeals to ob- 

 servation, although naturally spreading over 

 a short period, just as in the life of our 

 planet and in that of languages. Since the 

 fact is noticeable that the species are not 

 altogether constant or stationary, their capa- 



