Genesis of Species

Origin or production of species of living organisms. This may be by direct creative fiat in the remote past, or by natural proce es, such as we see going on about us to-day. Biologists, led by Darwin and others, are inclined to accept the latter view. See DARWIN ISM and NATURAL SELECTION. In this view, Nature produces individuals only, and according to the law of Heredity. In the course of time, these individuals, struggling for existence, spreading into various regions of the earth, and acted upon by various conditions, develop new characters that make them more unlike. Variation, acting from a multitude of new centers, continually multiplied with the birth of each new individual, serves to emphasize the differentiation; finally, under the continuous emphasize selection by Nature of those individuals best fitted for each environment, there results that relationship between living beings which enables us to cla ify them into groups and subgroups. See CLASSIFICATION, VARIATION, and DEVELOPMENT. The idea of species is thus only an idea in the mind of man, not strictly corresponding with anything in Nature. See SPECIES.