So Professor Tyndall, in his celebrated
article (_Nineteenth Century_, November 1878), wrote:--
"The theory of evolution in its complete form involves the assumption
that at some period or other of the earth's history there occurred what
would be now called 'spontaneous generation.'" {217} And so Professor
Huxley--
"It is argued that a belief in abiogenesis is a necessary corollary
from the doctrine of Evolution. This may be" [which I submit is
equivalent here to "is"] "true of the occurrence of abiogenesis at
some time." {218}
Professor Huxley goes on to say that however this may be, abiogenesis (or
spontaneous generation) is not respectable and will not do at all now.
There may have been one case once; this may be winked at, but it must not
occur again. "It is enough," he writes, "that a single particle of
living protoplasm should once have appeared on the globe as the result of
no matter what agency. In the eyes of a consistent [!] evolutionist any
further [!] independent formation of protoplasm would be sheer waste"--and
the sooner the Almighty gets to understand that He must not make that
single act of special creation into a precedent the better for Him.
Professor Huxley, in fact, excuses the single case of spontaneous
generation which he appears to admit, because however illegitimate, it
was still "only a very little one," and came off a long time ago in a
foreign country.
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