A Criticism of the Development Hypothesis
A CRITICISM OF THE DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESIS, As HELD BY CHARLES DARWIN, THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY, ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, HERBERT SPENCER, AND THE NEW SCHOOL OF NATURALISTS. (WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR "JOHNSON'S NATURAL HISTORY.") By JULIUS H. SEELYE, D. D., LL.D., PRESIDENT OF AMHERST COLLEGE, MASS. FACTS. CHAPTER 1. NO TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES HAS EVER YET BEEN OBSERVED. THE question of the origin of species and the source of life is not new. It belongs to the oldest speculations of which we have any record. But it is not antiquated. It excites as eager an interest to-day as it did three thousand years ago. Like the magnetized needle, the human mind vibrates, with perpetual oscillations, under the force of this inquiry. The problem which it presents has extreme difficulty. The vision which solves it must be both keen and broad. But the sharp and subtile distinctions which, in order to a satisfactory solution, must be clearly seen, some minds do not see at all, or, at the best, most obscurely, while the comprehensive generalizations, which are also and equally requisite, can be grasped but with difficulty by any mind. He who has thought the most upon the question will have the most knowledge of the liabilities to mistake and error, and will be the least dogmatic in propounding his own opinion, or in criticising that of others. But he is not t.hereby silent, nor without an opinion. While profound meditation upon any theme gives a man humility, it does not render him despondent He gets courage from his very diffi culties.
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