The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-02-20
nm nYPoTnEsIs on pARY1N1aM.

. the views which have been advanced ar,
highly speculative, and some no doub
VIII prove erroneous; but I have In ever,
} case given the reasons which have led mi
! TO one view rather than to another, I
seemed worth while % try how far III
principle OF evolution would throw ljRh
on some Of the more complex problems IN
the natural history Of man. False facts
are highly injurious to the progress O
science, Tor they often long endure; bui
false views, II supported by some evidence
90 little harm, % every one takes Gsalu-
tary pleasure In proving their falseness;
and when this is done, one path toward
error Is closed, and the road to truth Is
often at the same time opened" What
. this but concession that he Is specula-
dngS Heis like a man who Is trying to
find the way in wood. This 10 one Of
the attempts. He hopes that If 1t does
not succeed that 1t will do good by show.
ing that the proper route does not lie In
that direction. II he had only uniformly
represented the matter in that light and
avoided dogmatism as to the Ger
tainty Of his conclusion there would have
been less cause 10 find fault with him.
f coNNoT BE PROVED. r
As a hypothesis Dafwinism cannot be
proved. The reason Is that the whole
argument In favor Of It rests upon an
alogy. Man is held to be descended from
the animals, because Of similarity" be.
tween him and them,-as Darwin him.
self states it-"in embryonic develop.
ment, as well as in innumerable polnts
Of structure and constitution, both Of
high and OF the most trialng Importance
the rudiments which It retains, and the
abnormal reversions to which he Is occa-
sionAlly liable" All that the facts ad-
duced can possibly prous Is the resem-
blance. As TO the question whether this
resemblance arises irow development OF
the one out Of the other, the only weight
to be attached 10 its existence Is that oil
analogy. We believe in the law Of grayi.
tation because we can see its operation,
and demonstrate its rules. But for de-
velopement nothing more than similar.
ity OF structure can be sdduced. Ger
tainly that is very different thing from
a proof Of the reality. Christian people
have sometimes been laughed at when
they have used analogy simply to illus
trae some Of the doctrines Of the Bible:
as Tor example in the case Of the chrysalis
and the butterfly, and the resurrection OF
the dead. But men who call themselves
philosophers would have US to believe in
the descent Of man from the beasts on the
ground merely Of certain vague resem.
blsnces
Darwinism, therefore, as q science,
comes To US with mere hypothesis, and
that too Of kind which In the nature oil
the case is incapable Of positive proof. Il
cannot be shown to be more than proba.
BILE. - 49, - Nil
THE DEGREE OF ITS PROBABILITY.
There are two ways in which we may
legitimatelY form an opinion as to the
degree Of its probability. One ID by an
examination Of The conclusions reached
by those who arc best informed In the de.
partment 10 which 1t belongs. The 9th.
er IL by an examination for ourselves of
the phenomena Of nature In regard TO
It. Both oil these methods will lead to
the conviction that Darwinism cannot be
accepted as even probably true. In the
present article we can only glance at the
former OF them.
DARWIN W. DARwINIsM.
How little reliance is to be placed in
this theory Is apparent from the language
OF its principal propounder. When he
first preached II he undertook almost en-.
tirely TO account for the origin Of species
by natural selection, or the survival oil
the fttest. All that he says about sexual
selection IS contained in two pages Of his
work on the "0rigin OF species." But
when he came 10 consider the descent OF
man natural selection sinks into the back
ground, and sexual selection occupies
three, lourths Of his work on that subject
Indeed, he explicitly says Of himself that
"in the earlier editions Of my Origin Of
Species l probably attributed too much to
the action Of natural selection or the sur.
vival OF the fittest." he also at one stage
Of the discussion staked his whole theory
upon the principle that every detail Of
structure IN every living creature must
have been Of special use to some ances-
trail form, or must now be Of special use 70
the descendants OF this form. Butin bis De.
scent oil man he says, ~ had not formerly
sufficiently considered the existence Of
many structures which appear to be, as
far as we can judge, neither beneficial nor
injurious; and this believe TO be one Of
the greatest oversights as yet detected in
my work. vs. He acknowledges q number
Of such mistakes. This Is calculated to
commend his candor, but It also shows
that his own opinions are not fixed. And
1t serves TO warn US not 10 attach to his
dogmatic assertions very much weight
He is quite liableto modify them. ~
And even here and there Darwin him.
self admits that his theory Is inadequate.
For example, after having stated what
he regards as the influence OF his two
great laws Of natural selection and sexual
selection In the descent oil. man, he says,
An unexplained TeSiduum of change, per-
hGps large ono, must be left to The as.
sumed uniform action OF those unknown
agencies which occasionally induce strong.
" marked and abrupt deviations Of struc.
ture In domestic productions.n Again, he
acknowledges that there Is q great break
In the organic chain between man and his
nearest allies, which cannot be bridged
over by any extinct or living species.n In
order to account for It he can do no more
than refer to the general principle of
evolution" Of which he asks US 10 be
convinced BY general reasons." And
elsewhere ne says, "In what manner the
mental powers were first developed in the
lowest organisms Is as hopeless an INQUIRY
as how life first originated. These ara
problems for the distant future, n thew
are ever to be solved by man" Ia moi
this o confession that the theory iaIla to
account for the factsH
DARwN1sTs VERSUS DARwINIsM.
A. R. Wallace divides with Darwin
whatever honor attaches TO the original
advocacy Of the theory of the transmuta,