Organic Evolution , Darwinism and the Genesis of Species. 19 
degree an appreciable factor in evolution, I greatly doubt. 
In 1868, Darwin enunciated his provisional theory of 
Pangenesis in order to explain the phenomena of reproduc¬ 
tions in organisms. As this theory belongs to the subject 
heredity, a discussion of it here, with the modifying hypoth¬ 
eses of Jiiger, Galton, W. R. Brooks and others, would lead 
us too far from our subject, even did time permit; under 
another aspect the principle of this theory has been made 
the basis of a development hypothesis by Weismann. 
To carry out the principles of his theory to their logical 
conclusion, Darwin, in 1871, published his “Descent of 
Man,” a work which created quite as marked a sensation 
as his “Origin of Species” had previously done. In this 
book Darwin sought to show that, if the principle of nat¬ 
ural selection be applicable to the brute creation, there is 
no reason why it should not be applicable to man. He 
sought to show that the human race originally sprang from 
a hairy quadruped of the anthropoid group, closely related 
to the progenitors of the orang-outang, chimpanzee and 
gorilla. The absence of any remains of this hypothetical 
being was attributed to the imperfection of the geological 
record, and the very small portion of that record with which 
we have any acquaintance. It was in this work that 
Darwin expounded his theory of sexual selection. The 
appearance of this work naturally aroused much discussion. 
Many naturalists, who, like Wallace, Mivart and others, 
admitted the principle of evolution, denied its application 
to man, or, if they admitted that evolution might apply to 
man’s body, they denied that it could account for his mind 
or soul. Mivart pointed out that there is a greater gap 
between the highest anthropoid and man than there is be¬ 
tween such anthropoid and the quadrumana. The theory 
was vigorously attacked by others, both in its scientific and 
ethical aspects. So cogent are the arguments of its oppo¬ 
nents that the probability that man’s body has been devel¬ 
oped from some anthropoid or other brute ancestor is, to 
say the least, not proven, while the arguments in favor 
