Questions Evolution Does Not Answer 
of developmental stages of the in¬ 
dividual organism never presents 
more than an abbreviated and con¬ 
densed summary of ancestral condi¬ 
tions; while the summary is often 
strangely modified by variation and 
adaptation to conditions, and it 
must be confessed that in most 
cases we can do little better than 
guess what is genuine recapitula¬ 
tion of ancestral forms, and what is 
the effect of comparatively late 
adaptations. The only perfectly 
safe foundation for the doctrine of 
evolution lies in the historical, or 
rather the archaeological, evidence 
that particular organisms have 
arisen by the gradual modification 
of their predecessors, which is fur¬ 
nished by fossil remains. ” (“ An¬ 
atomy of Invertebrated Animals,” 
pp. 42, 43.) 
Thus it would seem that embry¬ 
ology does not furnish evidence 
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