In the present chapter I propose to discuss the more obvious and often
repeated objections to Darwin's theory, and to show how far they affect
its character as a true and sufficient explanation of the origin of
species. The more recondite difficulties, affecting such fundamental
questions as the causes and laws of variability, will be left for a
future chapter, after we have become better acquainted with the
applications of the theory to the more important adaptations and
correlations of animal and plant life.
One of the earliest and most often repeated objections was, that it was
difficult "to imagine a reason why variations tending in an
infinitesimal degree in any special direction should be preserved," or
to believe that the complex adaptation of living organisms could have
been produced "by infinitesimal beginnings." Now this term
"infinitesimal," used by a well-known early critic of the _Origin of
Species_, was never made use of by Darwin himself, who spoke only of
variations being "slight," and of the "small amount" of the variations
that might be selected.
Pages:
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237