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

On reading this statement, which seems extracted from the Berlin "Kreuz-Zeitung," or the Vienna "Vaterland," I ask myself in surprise, "What in the world has the doctrine of descent to do with socialism?"

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

But it was made sufficiently plain, and the public laid hold of the point eagerly, that the doctrine of descent was not meant to exclude man from the field of its operation.

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

For this reason all these vast and manifold aggregates of facts are so many evidences of the doctrine of descent.

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

But Schmidt has no sooner placed himself behind this line of defence, than he attacks Darwin for acknowledging origin of life by creation, maintaining that "it is directly incompatible with the doctrine of descent."

From The Relations of Science and Religion The Morse Lecture, 1880 by Calderwood, Henry