XI. 



SPECIAL OBJECTIONS TO THE THEOEY OF 

 EVOLUTION. 



I will now consider some of- the special diffi- 

 culties that are opposed to the theory of evolution. 



If the doctrine of evolution is correct, then every 

 part of every organism has been produced by the 

 process. If any part of an organic being exists, the 

 evolution of which is opposed to known facts, or 

 which is not supported by sufficient facts, then the 

 theory fails. 



With regard to the difficulties that beset the theory, 

 Darwin says: " Some of them are so serious that to 

 this day I can hardly reflect on them without being 

 staggered; but to the best of my judgment, the 

 greater number are only apparent, and those that are 

 real are not, I think, fatal to my theory." * 



Again he says: " If it could be demonstrated that 

 any complex organ existed which could not possibly 

 have been formed by numerous, successive, slight 

 modifications, my theory would absolutely break 

 down. But I can find no such case." f 



Also: " In many cases it is most difficult to conjec- 

 ture by what transitions many organs have arrived at 

 their present state." % 



It is easy to imagine that by the necessary additions 

 and subtractions any organism can be evolved from 

 any other organism. By the purely imaginative 

 method an elephant may be evolved from a cell of 

 yeast. If it is simply a matter of imagination as to 



* Origin of Species, p. 167. t Ibid, p. 181. X Ibid, p. 190. 

 153 



