90 The Presidential Address.
great class or kingdom. I believe that animals are descended
from at most only four or five progenitors, and plants from
an equal or lesser number." 32 Carrying on the argument
by analogy, which, as he cautions us, "may be a deceitful
guide," he then shows that there is no well-defined distinction
between the lowest animals and the lowest plants. "There-
fore, on the principle of natural selection with divergence of
character, it does not seem incredible that, from such low and
intermediate forms, both animals and plants may have been
developed; and, if we admit this, we must likewise admit
that all the organic beings which have ever lived on this
earth may be descended from some one primordial form.
But this inference is chiefly grounded on analogy, and it is
immaterial whether or not it be accepted." 33
If I may venture to push Darwin's analogy still further,
it appears to my mind that we can hardly stop even at the
"primordial form." If continuity is a great law of Nature
we cannot logically admit of any break between the organic
and the inorganic worlds, and although, as I wish most
strongly to emphasise, there is no necessary connection
between Darwin's teachings and a belief in so-called
"spontaneous generation," it seems to me that if we accept
evolution in its broadest meaning we are compelled to admit,
with Lamarck and Haeckel, that at former periods, or possibly
even at the present time, the very lowest beginnings of life
have been or are being evolved by the operation of natural
causes. For fear of misrepresentation let me here add that
there is at present not a vestige of scientific proof countenacing
such a belief. The reasoning of the consistent evolutionist
in this matter is of precisely the same kind, only different in
degree, as that which he employs when stating his belief that
the gap between two widely divergent animals or plants,
which at present appear isolated and distinct, is simply
caused by the present imperfect state of Palaeontological or
embryological knowledge concerning them.
Much as I could have wished to have given you some idea
32 'Origin,' 6th ed., p. 424. 33 Ibid., p. 425.