The Making of Species 
doctrine of evolution, as applied to the organic 
world, took in Darwin’s hands, would prove to be 
final or not, was, to me, a matter of indifference.” 
The result of the fortuitous combination of the 
circumstances which we have set forth was that 
in a surprisingly short time the theory of natural 
selection came to be regarded as a law of nature 
on a par with the laws of gravitation. Thus, 
paradoxical though it seems, practical certainty 
was given to a hitherto uncertain doctrine by the 
addition of a still more uncertain theory. 
“At once,” writes Waggett, “the theory of 
development leapt from the position of an obscure 
guess to that of a fully-equipped theory and 
almost a certainty.” 
Darwin thus became a dictator whose authority 
none durst question. A crowd of slavish adher- 
ents gathered round him, a herd of men to whom 
he seemed an absolutely unquestionable authority. 
Darwinism became a creed to which all must 
subscribe. It still retains this position in the 
popular mind. 
The ease with which the theory of natural 
selection gained supremacy was, as we have 
already said, a misfortune to biological science. 
It produced for a time a considerable mental 
Stagnation among zoologists. Since Darwin’s 
day the science has not made the progress that 
might reasonably have been expected, because 
the theory has so captivated the minds of the 
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