characteristic features. Consequently, on the Darwinian 

 hypothesis, all of these transition-forms must have perished 

 for the singular reason that other better organized forms 

 overcame them in the struggle for existence. If therefore 

 the millions of transition-forms were still missing, and the 

 known petrified forms of older strata of the earth did not 

 reveal them, the Darwinians were able to console them- 

 selves until from 20 to 40 years ago, with the assertion that 

 our knowledge was still too deficient, that a more thorough 

 investigation of the earth's surface and especially of out-of- 

 the-way parts would eventually bring to light the supposed 

 transition forms. Such assertion afifords very poor con- 

 solation, and is anything but scientific. The method of 

 natural science consists in establishing general principles 

 on the basis of the materials actually furnished by experi- 

 ments and observation and not in excogitating general 

 laws and then consoling oneself with the thought that while 

 our knowledge of nature is as yet extremely imperfect, 

 time will furnish the actual material necessary to substan- 

 tiate our guesses. But since then many a year has come 

 and gone and Darwinism has caused, and for that alone it 

 deserves credit, a diligent research in every field of natural 

 science, and has promoted among palaeontologists a search 

 for the missing transition-forms. The materials of investi- 

 gation from the field of palaeontology have also wonderfully 

 increased during these decades. Hence it is worth while 

 now at the dawn of the new century to examine this mate- 

 rial with a view to its availableness for the theory of De- 

 scent and especially for Darwinism. 



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