doctrine of descent

British  

noun

1. the theory that animals and plants arose by descent from previously existing organisms; theory of evolution

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Example Sentences

The immense importance of this conclusion becomes plain, and the conclusion itself seems obvious, when seen in the light of the doctrine of descent.

From Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work by Mitchell, P. Chalmers (Peter Chalmers)

On the contrary, Virchow takes them quite easily, sets them aside, and declares that "certain proofs" of the doctrine of descent do not exist, but remain to be discovered.

From Freedom in Science and Teaching. from the German of Ernst Haeckel by Huxley, Thomas Henry

To those of the present generation, who have grown up in an atmosphere impregnated by the doctrine of descent, the position of the world in 1860 seems "older than a tale written in any book."

From Thomas Henry Huxley; A Sketch Of His Life And Work by Mitchell, P. Chalmers (Peter Chalmers)

A quite new light was thrown on this, as on every other morphological question, as soon as Darwin in 1859 had once more put into our hands the torch of the doctrine of descent.

From Freedom in Science and Teaching. from the German of Ernst Haeckel by Huxley, Thomas Henry

Viewed in this way, variability within the specific limits becomes in itself one of the strongest arguments against the doctrine of descent with modification as a mode of origination of new species.

From The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science by Dawson, John William