Animals and plants living to-day reproduce themselves in a great variety of ways. With a modicum of ingenuity we can arrange the different ways in series beginning with the simplest and ending with the more complex. In a word, we can construct systems of evolution, and we like to think that these systems reveal to us something about the evolutionary process that has taken place.There can be no doubt that our minds are greatly impressed by the construction of a graded series of stages connecting the simpler with the complex. It is true that such a series shows us how the simple forms might conceivably pass by almost insensible (or at least by overlapping) stages to the most complicated forms. This evidence reassures us that a process of evolution could have taken place in the imagined order. But our satisfaction is superficial if we imagine that such a survey gives much insight either into the causal processes that have produced the successive stages, or into the interpretation of theAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the difficult to read text. Read books online for free at www.forgottenbooks.org