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have been an accompaniment of some other character which

was useful.'"' Thus such a disciple may claim a victory on

the mere ground of his being able to imagine some possible

cause for the past or present existence of which he is unable

to bring forward a shadow of proof.

The Darwinian is free to invoke climatic changes, geo-

graphical modifications, and the presence or the absence of

rivals or of enemies at his will and discretion. Easy, indeed,

is it for such a one, with some flexibility of imagination,

to construct suggestions of utility when provided with such

an unlimited field of free speculation. Let an animal be

black, and reasons can be very readily found to show black-

ness may have saved it from destruction. Let it be shown to

be white and another set of reasons are easily imagined to

show that the snowier its tints, the more assured are its

chances of survival. Thus, upon a rabbit's white tail being

adduced as a character dangerously conspicuous, it has been

replied, " Oh, but it serves as a signal in danger to guide the

young on their way to the burrow ! '

Perhaps the most notable character of the Darwinian

theory is the extraordinary easiness of its advocacy and

difficulty of its refutation, quite apart from any question

of its truth. The chances of its author in such a game

of biological speculation can only be expressed by the well-

known vulgarism, " Heads I win, tails you lose."

Nevertheless, there are characters which as it has always

seemed and still seems to us defy explanation even amidst

such extraordinary facilities. Some such could easily be

now brought forward, but it would be out of place to adduce

them here, as though " Natural Selection " has some indirect

bearing on Epistemology, the question as to the origin of

animals and plants has none save in one respect only.

The tendency of Darwinism has plainly and manifestly

been to propagate a conviction that the origin of species

have been an accompaniment of some other character which

was useful.'"' Thus such a disciple may claim a victory on

the mere ground of his being able to imagine some possible

cause for the past or present existence of which he is unable

to bring forward a shadow of proof.

The Darwinian is free to invoke climatic changes, geo-

graphical modifications, and the presence or the absence of

rivals or of enemies at his will and discretion. Easy, indeed,

is it for such a one, with some flexibility of imagination,

to construct suggestions of utility when provided with such

an unlimited field of free speculation. Let an animal be

black, and reasons can be very readily found to show black-

ness may have saved it from destruction. Let it be shown to

be white and another set of reasons are easily imagined to

show that the snowier its tints, the more assured are its

chances of survival. Thus, upon a rabbit's white tail being

adduced as a character dangerously conspicuous, it has been

replied, " Oh, but it serves as a signal in danger to guide the

young on their way to the burrow ! '

Perhaps the most notable character of the Darwinian

theory is the extraordinary easiness of its advocacy and

difficulty of its refutation, quite apart from any question

of its truth. The chances of its author in such a game

of biological speculation can only be expressed by the well-

known vulgarism, " Heads I win, tails you lose."

Nevertheless, there are characters which as it has always

seemed and still seems to us defy explanation even amidst

such extraordinary facilities. Some such could easily be

now brought forward, but it would be out of place to adduce

them here, as though " Natural Selection " has some indirect

bearing on Epistemology, the question as to the origin of

animals and plants has none save in one respect only.

The tendency of Darwinism has plainly and manifestly

been to propagate a conviction that the origin of species