MERELY A THEORY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 172, 23 July 1929, Page 10

MERELY A THEORY.

EVOLUTION ARRAIGNED.

THE FATAL FLAW.

ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF,

Members of the. Rotary Club having had the pro side of evolution put before them the other day, Dr. W. H. Pettit at yesterday's lunch put the con. side. He maintained that so far the supporters of the evolution of all forms of life from the one-celled organism had merely put forward a theory, and had not advanced the proof. Certain deductions were considered as -facts, and the evolutionists had really nothing more than a dogma. Dr. Pettit quoted from several eminent men of science, who frankly admitted that the theory was merely a theory, and could not be called anything else, succeeding mainly because no other theory had been put forward. A famous biologist had stated that the major animals of to-day were absolutely distinct, and there was not a tittle o"f evidence to show that they came from a common origin. There was change and modification in the species, but the species were absolutely distinct.. Evolution did not solye the real problems of nature. How did species arise? There was not a single instance known to geologists that would connect them in the slightest degree. Ever since Darwin had propounded his theory there had been endless research among the rocks to find these intermediate types, but without success. And if all forms of life originated from, and were developed from, .the simple one-celled organism, how was it that to-day one could go to a pond and still find the same simple one-celled organism ? The presence of the onecelled organism in the world to-day was' a good alibi, and refuted the theory of the evolutionists on the face of it.

Turning to bacteriology, Dr. Pettit said it was based on' the fixity of the microbes, and if they were not fixed the whole science of bacteriology would break down. In conclusion, the doctor gave some amusing instances of what he considered the absurdity of the evolution theory, using the eyes,;the ears, and other organs as examples : to show how incredible it was that ,fluch organs evolved gradually.

The ear, for instance, was said to have evolved by the gradual impact of sounds on that part of the head. They might just as well believe that in the years to come wireless people would evolve a receiving set in the head through receiving so many wireless impulses in that part of the body. Was there anything in evolution that would account for the various species in nature? asked_ the doctor, and, answering himself, said he preferred the explanation given in the first three chapters of Genesis.