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