sides.'" The editor very properly replied that a work giving the facts and arguments on both sides, fairly and fully, is not to be had; and it may be further observed that the reader who is ignorant of the subject, and specifies exactly the work he wants, will be pretty sure not to find it. The choice must be among such books as are obtainable; and the best way to guide the judgment of the inquirer is, to state impartially what resources there are for getting instruction upon the subject, leaving him to decide as to what will best suit his mental requirements.
The first error into which an uninformed reader, who desires to take up the subject of evolution, is liable to fall, is, that he will probably very much under-estimate the task he proposes to undertake. Assuming that he does not want a mere smattering, but an intelligent view of the doctrine, and the nature and extent of its proofs, he must prepare himself for a very considerable amount of intellectual work. For the "evolution theory," whether we consider it established or not, is the most comprehensive doctrine regarding the order of Nature that has ever yet been presented; and, if it be true at all, it is true as a system of principles underlying various and diverse tracts of phenomena. It is a philosophy of the origination of things. To the astronomer it is a theory accounting for the origin of stellar and planetary systems; to the geologist it is a doctrine that explains the history of our globe; to the botanist it has interest as throwing light upon the derivation of vegetable forms; and to the zoologist it offers an explanation of the diversities of animal life. The psychologist finds in it a key to the development of mind in all its grades, and the sociologist seeks its aid in tracing the progressive unfolding of the social state. By its most radical implication the "theory of evolution" excludes the view long and universally believed, that in all these spheres the phenomena were "specially created" as we now see them; and it asserts that in all these spheres the present effects have been brought about by gradual changes. The theory of "special creation" being abandoned, a theory of evolution is the inevitable alternative. And if the unity and harmonious interconnections of Nature, of which all science affords the proof, be not an illusion, then the "theory of evolution" must have a basis in the operation of universal principles, and must give rise to a general philosophical method of accounting for the present order of things. When, therefore, a man asks for information concerning the "theory of evolution," he can only be intelligently answered by referring him to the works where such a theory is presented. This, however, is not what the Nation does. It directs its correspondent first of all to Darwin's "Origin of Species" for the information he seeks. This is, of course, a great, original, and authoritative book; but it is, nevertheless, a special treatise on one branch of the subject of development, and, so far from making any attempt to expound the general "theory of evolution," there are whole phases of the subject that it does not touch. Nor does it attempt any such analysis of the problem, or resolution into its ultimate principles, as is necessary to the formation of a theory of the subject. Indeed, the very power and popularity of the work are, in a certain sense, due to its restriction, for it is mainly confined to the elucidation of a single principle. "Natural selection" was recognized before Mr. Darwin's time; what he has done is to show how this principle has acted in giving rise to new species from preëxisting species. It is a great thing to have done this, and Mr. Darwin is well entitled to his honors; but none the less is it misleading to cite his book on the "Origin of Species" as an exposition of the "theory of evolution."
Prof. Huxley has evidently had sub-
