144 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



organisms." As an example of this he gives the case 

 of "conjugation," in which two or more Protozoa 

 unite together, become encysted with each other, 

 forming one body, which finally breaks up, and thus 

 releases spores that produce organisms like those that 

 united. But he does not claim that this is at all sim- 

 ilar to the very complex method of reproduction 

 among the Metazoa. He says, "Nevertheless that 

 there are great distinctions between true sexual pro- 

 pagation and this foreshadowing of it I do not deny." 



I am not able to understand in what the foreshad- 

 owing consists. The cells of Protozoa which unite 

 are essentially different from the ovum and the sper- 

 matazoa that unite; the method of union is different 

 in the two cases, and the processes and results of de- 

 velopment after union are totally different. It is 

 true that in both cases there is some sort of mechan- 

 ical union, but further than this I see no similarity. 

 The evidence necessary to show that Metazoa may be 

 evolved from Protozoa is, I think it will be admitted, 

 entirely insufficient. 



As heretofore urged, the evolutionist must furnish 

 sufficient evidence to show that spontaneous genera- 

 tion has taken place from inorganic matter. Here the 

 evidence totally fails. "As to the origin of life," says 

 Eomanes, " science is not in a position to furnish so 

 much as any suggestion on the subject." 



Having shown that spontaneous generation can 

 take place from inorganic matter, i-esulting, as we 

 may presume, in non-nucleated, undifferentiated pro- 

 toplasm, he must show that such protoplasm can 

 become nucleated cells or organisms capable of pro- 

 pagating their kind. Of this there is no evidence. 



Having shown how Protozoa may be evolved, he 

 must then prove that Metazoa may be evolved from 

 them. From the lowest Metazoa he must show how 



