550 
in the production of the varied forms of life, there is no direct palaeon 
tological evidence which would certainly establish any particular 
theory as to the precise modus operandi. With regard more particu 
larly to the theory of the origin of species by means of Natural 
Selection, the evidence of palaeontology cannot be said to be con 
clusive.”—(Nicholson and Lydekker. A Manual of Palaeontology, 
jrd ed., vol. p. 104.) 
It is only right to observe that this declaration is made 
mainly on the ground of the absence of closely graduated 
transitional forms between allied morphological forms. 
This phenomenon is— 
“in part explained by the known imperfection of the geological 
record, but this does not appear to offer an adequate solution of the 
difficulty. The theory of the origin of species by means of Natural 
Selection, as elaborated by the master-mind of Darwin, constitutes 
nevertheless an invaluable, indeed an indispensable, guide in all 
branches of palaeontological research.”—(p. ioj.) 
What is really valuable in this statement is that we have 
no direct palaeontological evidence of the particular modus 
operandi by which the process of Organic Evolution has 
been brought about. I should be sorry to adopt the 
argument against Natural Selection drawn from the im 
perfection of the geological record, seeing how fatal such 
objection would be to the belief in Organic Evolution, 
no less than in Natural Selection ; and remembering how 
many missing links have already been found. And surely 
it is a remarkable assertion that Natural Selection, whose 
direct action cannot be perceived in palaeontology, should 
be regarded as an indispensable guide in palaeontological 
research. It is not a belief in Natural Selection, but in 
Organic Evolution, which affords the necessary guidance. 
If palaeontology affords, as most writers assume, a very 
strong, if not the strongest, argument in favour of Organic 
Evolution, and yet does not give any proof as to the par 
ticular law or conditions under which the evolution has 
taken place, it only remains for us to interpret the past by