Chapter II

THE RELATION OF LOUIS AGASSIZ TO THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.

General misunderstanding on this subject--Necessary to give
sketch of history of the idea--Greeks, Lucretius, Swedenborg,
and Kant--First scientific presentation by Lamarck--General
character of Lamarck’s views--Failed, and rightly so--Next,
Chambers’s “Vestiges of Creation”--Its general character--
Failed, and rightly so--Some think this unfortunate--Why
not so--An obstacle must be removed and a basis laid 32

_The obstacle removed_--Old views in regard to forces--
Correlation of forces established--But vital force considered
exception--Therefore living forms also supposed exception
to mode of origin of other forms--Then vital forces also
correlated--Therefore, _a priori_ probable that living forms
also correlated with other forms as to mode of origin--Thus
obstacle removed 35

_The basis laid_--Agassiz laid inductive _basis_ of evolution,
although he refused to build--He established the laws of
evolution and perfected the method of comparison--Importance
of method discussed--The method of _notation_--The method
of experiment--The difficulty of applying these to life
phenomena--Method of comparison shown--(1) In Taxonomic
series--(2) In Ontogenic series--(3) In Phylogenic series
--Cuvier the great worker by comparison in the Taxonomic
series--Agassiz in the Ontogenic and Phylogenic--Agassiz
also established the three laws of evolution given in previous
chapter--Thus he laid foundation--Why he did not build--
Supposed identity of evolution and materialism--The obstacle
being removed and the basis laid, when evolution again brought
forward it was universally accepted, because the world was
prepared--Place of Agassiz and Darwin compared--Formal
science _vs._ physical science--Illustrated by relation of
Kepler to Newton--Relation of Agassiz to time cosmos similar
to that of Kepler to space cosmos--So Darwin to Newton--
Some reflections on the above--Gravitation is the law of
space cosmos--Evolution of time cosmos--Of the divine
spheral music gravitation is the chordal harmony and evolution
the melody 37

PART II.

_EVIDENCES OF THE TRUTH OF EVOLUTION._

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION AS A UNIVERSAL LAW.

_Evolution is continuity, causal relation, gradual becoming_
--Increasing acceptance of this idea--First accepted
for inorganic forms, mountains, continents and seas, rocks
and soils, earth as a whole, heavenly bodies--Therefore
acknowledged for all inorganics--Influence of geology in
bringing about this change--Organic forms: acknowledged
for individuals, true for classes, orders, families, genera
--Races and varieties also formed gradually--Artificial
species formed gradually--Examples of gradual changes in wild
species--Hyatt’s researches--Other examples--Summing up
of general evidence--Sufficient ground for induction--
But evolution is not only inductively probable but certain,
axiomatic--It is the law of causation applied to forms, and
therefore a necessary truth 53