Evolution | Page 9

observation and experiment. It it can
demonstrate its adaption to explain all the facts, it may, until another
and better theory is propounded, be accepted as a theory. When it does
not explain the facts, it must be modified or abandoned.
Since the evolutionary hypothesis is employed as an explanation of
certain origins, a legitimate test of the theory is its adaptation to explain
these origins. This test we now shall apply. We shall try to answer the
question: Is the evolutionary theory entitled to the name of a working
hypothesis? Is it able to account for those things which it is set forth by
its spokesmen to account for? Does it account for the origin of the
universe, of life, and of the various forms of life?
Scientists as a rule disclaim any intention to account, on the basis of
their hypothesis, for the origin of matter. When it is suggested to them
that any theory of origins should also account for the FIRST ORIGIN,

the beginning of things, they direct us to philosophy: "Evolution is not
concerned with the origin of matter; it takes matter for granted; the
origin of matter is properly a philosophical and not a scientific
problem."
Let us note the fallacies of this position. In the first place it is not
proper to introduce the word "science" into this plea. Science is, indeed,
only concerned with things that can be demonstrated by observation
and from experience; and since no one has seen the beginning of matter,
science is very properly not concerned with it. But evolution is not a
science. It is a hypothesis, a theory. It is an explanation proposed for
certain phenomena. 'And we have a right to demand that, if it wants
recognition even as a theory, it must explain those phenomena. Now
the principle of evolution is: All things have developed through certain
forces which inhere in matter. In other words, without being acted upon
from the outside, (without a creative word of God, for instance,) the
unvierse [tr. note: sic] has come to be what it is to-day. In matter there
are from the beginning certain forces inseparable from matter. These
acted in such a way that very simple plants and animals became very
complex; and this without any directing Intelligence. This is the
evolutionary theory. Now, we hold that a theory which claims to
account for the beginning of all animal life (and every species of
animal life), for the beginning of plant life (and of every species of
plant life), for the beginning of life germs, of the globe, of the sun and
stars, cannot stop short when we press our questions still farther and
ask: Whence is matter? Whence is force?
Nor, indeed, do evolutionists hesitate to express an opinion concerning
the origin of matter and force. The universe, as it exists to-day, is made
up of matter disposed in various forms,--stars, rock, plants,
animals,--and endowed with energy in various forms; and from the
earliest age of speculation, as we have seen, the human mind conceived
of a time in which there was unorganized matter, substance without
form. Like the ancient Greek philosophers, evolutionists to-day try to
formulate a working hypothesis to account for the origin of the
universe. It is believed that, in a broad way, the Nebular Hypothesis put
forth by La Place indicated the manner in which the earth and the

system to which it belongs have been evolved. We have outlined,
briefly, in our first chapter, the main features of this theory. We shall
now indicate the difficulties which stand in the way of its acceptance
even as a working hypothesis.
1. The Nebular Hypothesis assumes that during a past endless time
there has existed an incalculable number of original atoms. Let us
understand that according to the so-called atomic theory, matter is
composed of indivisible particles, called atoms. Since the discovery of
radium this theory has been considerably modified, each atom now
being understood to consist of many thousands of smaller particles,
called electrons. However, whether we call them atoms or electrons, the
smallest, indivisible particles of matter are assumed to have existed
during infinite past time. Now, the origin of these simplest component
parts of matter remains an unsolved mystery. The mind is unable even
to formulate a guess with reference to their organization.
2. A second postulate of the Nebular Hypothesis is the origin of force
and motion in the huge gas ball which existed in the beginning. La
Place says that "at some point concentration took place in the
homogeneous mass, this contraction produced radiation of heat and
light, and through the differences in temperature, motion and dynamic
reaction were produced." The difficulty which inheres in this postulate
is the unquestioned fact that all motion in nature follows certain
immutable