Organic Evolution , Darwinism and the Genesis of Species. 7 
whole theory of evolution — the writer proving conclusively 
(to his own satisfaction) that evolution whether by natural 
selection or by any other means, was per se impossible. The 
argument of this journalistic Solon reminded me of the old 
Greek petitio principii , which was used to puzzle novices. 
“A body must move in the place where it is or where it 
is not. Now it is absurd to suppose that a body can be 
where it is not, and if it moves it cannot be in the place 
where it is; therefore motion is an impossibility.” 
But the vagaries of these opponents of evolution need 
not longer detain us We can safely treat them as unim¬ 
portant factors in the controversy until they show a more 
satisfactory knowledge of the matter they undertake to 
decide and dogmatize upon. I proceed now in the limited 
time at my disposal to a brief and necessarily imperfect 
review of the history of the evolutionary hypothesis and of the 
contributions to that hypothesis by Darwin and some of his 
successors. 
Before doing this I wish to call attention to the loose 
and inaccurate way in which the term Darwinism is often 
used. This word is unscientific and misleading except when 
it is used to designate the sum of Darwin’s successive theories 
on the problem of specific genesis. Not only is* Darwinism 
not synonymous with evolution, but it is questionable 
whether it is even an essential part of evolution. Darwin 
did not invent the development theory as some appear to 
believe. It existed many years before his day. What Darwin 
did was an attempt to give an account of the method of 
evolution. At first postulating the principle of development 
he sought to account for the genesis of species on the ground 
of natural selection. When that proved inadequate to ac¬ 
count for all the phenomena of animal and vegetable life, 
he had recourse to other theories supplementary and acces¬ 
sory to natural selection. Generally, however, Darwinism 
is taken to mean natural selection aided by sexual selection. 
The word is too firmly established to be at this day dis¬ 
carded, but it is really as undesignative a word as Haeckelicity 
would be, should we coin such a barbarism. 
