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diff --git a/5273-0.txt b/5273-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3dd0862 --- /dev/null +++ b/5273-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10262 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5273 *** + + + + +DARWINIANA + +ESSAYS AND REVIEWS PERTAINING +TO DARWINISM + +BY +ASA GRAY +FISHER PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY (BOTANY) IN +HARVARD UNIVERSITY + +NEW YORK: +1876. + + + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +DARWINIANA + + +PREFACE + +ARTICLE I + +THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY +MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION + +Views and Definitions of Species--How Darwin's differs from that of Agassiz, +and from the Common View--Variation, its Causes unknown.--Darwin's +Genealogical Tree--Darwin and Agassiz agree in the Capital +Facts--Embryology--Physical Connection of Species compatible with +Intellectual Connection--How to prove Transmutation.--Known Extent of +Variation--Cause of Likeness unknown--Artificial +Selection.--Reversion--Interbreeding--Natural Selection.--Classification +tentative.--What Darwin assumes.--Argument stated.--How Natural Selection +works.--Where the Argument is weakest.--Objections--Morphology and +Teleology harmonized.--Theory not atheistical.--Conceivable Modes of +Relation of God to Nature + + +ARTICLE II + +DESIGN VERSUS NECESSITY-- +A DISCUSSION + +How Design in Nature can be shown--Design not inconsistent with Indirect +Attainment + + +ARTICLE III + +NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT +WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY + +PART I.--Premonitions of Darwinism.--A Proper Subject for +Speculation.--Summary of Facts and Ideas suggestive of Hypotheses of +Derivation + +Part II--Limitations of Theory conceded by Darwin.--What Darwinism +explains.--Geological Argument strong in the Tertiary Period.-- +Correspondence between Rank and Geological Succession--Difficulties in +Classification.--Nature of Affinity.--No Absolute Distinction between +Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms.--Individuality.--Gradation + +PART III.--Theories contrasted.--Early Arguments against +Darwinism.--Philosophical and Theological Objections--Theory may be +theistic.--Final Cause not excluded.--Cause of Variation unknown.--Three +Views of Efficient Cause compatible with Theism.--Agassiz's Objections of a +Philosophical Nature.--Minor Objections.--Conclusion + + +ARTICLE IV + +SPECIES AS TO VARIATION, +GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, +AND SUCCESSION + +Alphonse De Candolle's Study of the Oak Genus.--Variability of the +Species.--Antiquity.--A Common Origin probable.--Dr. Falconer on the Common +Origin of Elephants--Variation and Natural Selection +distinguished.--Saporta on the Gradation between the Vegetable Forms of the +Cretaceous and the Tertiary.--Hypothesis of Derivation more likely to be +favored by Botanists than by Zoologists.--Views of Agassiz respecting the +Origin, Dispersion, Variation, Characteristics, and Successive Creation of +Species contrasted with those of De Candolle and others--Definition of +Species--Whether its Essence is in the Likeness +or in the Genealogical Connection of the Individuals composing a Species + + +ARTICLE V + +SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY: +THE RELATIONS OF NORTH AMERICAN +TO NORTHEAST ASIAN AND TO +TERTIARY VEGETATION + +Age and Size of Sequoia.--Isolation.--Decadence.--Related Genera.-- Former +Distribution.--Similarity between the Flora of Japan and that of the United +States, especially on the Atlantic Side.--Former Glaciation as explaining +the Present Dispersion of Species.--This confirmed by the Arctic Fossil +Flora of the Tertiary Period.--Tertiary Flora derived from the Preceding +Cretaceous.--Order and Adaptation in Organic Nature likened to a +Flow.--Order implies an Ordainer + + +ARTICLE VI + +THE ATTITUDE OF WORKING +NATURALISTS TOWARD DARWINISM + +General Tendency to Acceptance of the Derivative Hypothesis noted.--Lyell, +Owen, Alphonse De Candolle, Bentham, Flower, Ailman.-- Dr. Dawson's "Story +of the Earth and Man" examined.--Difference between Scientific Men and +General Speculators or Amateurs in the +Use of Hypotheses + + +ARTICLE VII + +EVOLUTION AND THEOLOGY + +Writings of Henslow, Hodges, and Le Conte examined.--Evolution and Design +compatible.--The Admission of a System of Nature, with Fixed Laws, concedes +in Principle all that the Doctrine of Evolution requires.--Hypotheses, +Probabilities, and Surmises, not to be decried by Theologians, who use +them, perhaps, more freely and loosely than Naturalists.--Theologians risk +too much in the Defense of Untenable Outposts + + +ARTICLE VIII + +"WHAT IS DARWINISM?" + +Dr. Hodges Book with this Title criticised.--He declares that Darwinism is +Atheism, yet its Founder a Theist.--Darwinism founded, however, upon +Orthodox Conceptions, and opposed, not to Theism, but only to Intervention +in Nature, while the Key-note of Dr. Hedge's System is Interference.--Views +and Writings of St. Clair, Winchell, and Kingsley adverted to + + +ARTICLE IX + +CHARLES DARWIN: +SKETCH ACCOMPANYING A PORTRAIT IN "NATURE" + +Darwin's Characteristics and Work as a Naturalist compared with those of +Robert Brown.--His Illustration of the Principle that "Nature abhors Close +Fertilization. "--His Impression upon Natural History exceeded only by +Linnaeus.--His Service in restoring Teleology to Natural History + + +ARTICLE X + +INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS + +Classification marks Distinctions where Nature exhibits Gradations.-- +Recovery of Forgotten Knowledge and History of what was known of Dionzea, +Drosera, and Sarracenia. + + +ARTICLE XI + +INSECTIVOROUS AND CLIMBING PLANTS + +Review of Darwin's Two Works upon these Subjects--No Absolute Marks for +distinguishing between Vegetables and Animals.--New observations upon the +Sundews or Droseras.--Their Sensitiveness, Movements, Discernment of the +Presence and Appropriation of Animal Matter.--Dionaea, and other Plants of +the same Order.--Utricularia and Pinguicula.--Sarracenia and +Nepenthes.--Climbing Plants; the Climbing effected through Sensitiveness or +Response to External Impression and Automatic Movement.--Capacities +inherent in Plants generally, and apparently of no Service to them, +developed and utilized by those which climb.--Natural Selection not a +Complete Explanation + + +ARTICLE XII + +DURATION AND ORIGINATION OF +RACE AND SPECIES + +PART I.--Do Varieties in Plants wear out, or tend to wear out?--The Question +considered in the Light of Facts, and in that of the Darwinian +Theory.--Conclusion that Races sexually propagated need not die of Old +Age.--This Conclusion inferred from the Provisions and Arrangements in +Nature to secure Cross-Fertilization of Individuals.-- Reference to Mr. +Darwin's Development of this View + +PART II.--Do Species wear out, and, if not, why not?--Implication of the +Darwinian Theory that Species are unlimited in Existence.--Examination of +an Opposite Doctrine maintained by Naudin.--Evidence that Species may die +out from Inherent Causes only indirect and inferential from Arrangements to +secure Wide Breeding--Physiological Import of Sexes--Doubtful whether +Sexual Reproduction with Wide Breeding is a Preventive or only a Palliative +of Decrepitude in Species.-- Darwinian Hypothesis must suppose the Former + + +ARTICLE XIII + +EVOLUTIONARY TELEOLOGY + +The Opposition between Morphology and Teleology reconciled by Darwinism, and +the Latter reinstated--Character of the New Teleology.--Purpose and Design +distinguished--Man has no Monopoly of the Latter.--Inference of Design from +Adaptation and Utility legitimate; also in Hume's Opinion irresistible--The +Principle of Design, taken with Specific Creation, totally insufficient and +largely inapplicable; but, taken with the Doctrine of the Evolution of +Species in Nature, applicable, pertinent, and, moreover, +necessary.--Illustrations from Abortive Organs, supposed Waste of Being, +etc.--All Nature being of a Piece, Design must either pervade or be absent +from the Whole.--Its Absence not to be inferred because the Events take +place in Nature--Illustration of the Nature and Province of Natural +Selection.--It picks out, but does not originate Variations; these not a +Product of, but a Response to, the Environment; not physical, but +physiological--Adaptations in Nature not explained by Natural Selection +apart from Design or Final Cause--Absurdity of associating Design only with +Miracle--What is meant by Nature.--The Tradition of the DIVINE in Nature, +testified to by Aristotle, comes down to our Day with Undiminished Value + + + +PREFACE + +These papers are now collected at the request of friends and correspondents, +who think that they may be useful; and two new essays are added. Most of +the articles were written as occasion called for them within the past +sixteen years, and contributed to various periodicals, with little thought +of their forming a series, and none of ever bringing them together into a +volume, although one of them (the third) was once reprinted in a pamphlet +form. It is, therefore, inevitable that there should be considerable +iteration in the argument, if not in the language. This could not be +eliminated except by recasting the whole, which was neither practicable nor +really desirable. It is better that they should record, as they do, the +writer's freely-expressed thoughts upon the subject at the time; and to +many readers there may be some advantage in going more than once, in +different directions, over the same ground. If these essays were to be +written now, some things might be differently expressed or qualified, but +probably not so as to affect materially any important point. Accordingly, +they are here reprinted unchanged, except by a few merely verbal +alterations made in proof-reading, and the striking out of one or two +superfluous or immaterial passages. A very few additional notes or +references are appended. + +To the last article but one a second part is now added, and the more +elaborate Article XIII is wholly new. + +If it be objected that some of these pages are written in a lightness of +vein not quite congruous with the gravity of the subject and the +seriousness of its issues, the excuse must be that they were written with +perfect freedom, most of them as anonymous contributions to popular +journals, and that an argument may not be the less sound or an exposition +less effective for being playful. Some of the essays, however, dealing with +points of speculative scientific interest, may redress the balance, and be +thought sufficiently heavy if not solid. + +To the objection likely to be made, that they cover only a part of the +ground, it can only be replied that they do not pretend to be systematic or +complete. They are all essays relating in some way or other to the subject +which has been, during these years, of paramount interest to naturalists, +and not much less so to most thinking people. The first appeared between +sixteen and seventeen years ago, immediately after the publication of +Darwin's "Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," as a review of +that volume, which, it was then foreseen, was to initiate a revolution in +general scientific opinion. Long before our last article was written, it +could be affirmed that the general doctrine of the derivation of species +(to put it comprehensively) has prevailed over that of specific creation, +at least to the extent of being the received and presumably in some sense +true conception. Far from undertaking any general discussion of evolution, +several even of Mr. Darwin's writings have not been noticed, and topics +which have been much discussed elsewhere are not here adverted to. This +applies especially to what may be called deductive evolution--a subject +which lay beyond the writer's immediate scope, and to which neither the +bent of his mind nor the line of his studies has fitted him to do justice. +If these papers are useful at all, it will be as showing how these new views +of our day are regarded by a practical naturalist, versed in one department +only (viz., Botany), most interested in their bearings upon its special +problems, one accustomed to direct and close dealings with the facts in +hand, and disposed to rise from them only to the consideration of those +general questions upon which they throw or from which they receive +illustration. + +Then as to the natural theological questions which (owing to circumstances +needless now to be recalled or explained) are here throughout brought into +what most naturalists, and some other readers, may deem undue prominence, +there are many who may be interested to know how these increasingly +prevalent views and their tendencies are regarded by one who is +scientifically, and in his own fashion, a Darwinian, philosophically a +convinced theist, and religiously an acceptor of the "creed commonly called +the Nicene," as the exponent of the Christian faith. +"Truth emerges sooner from error than from confusion," says Bacon; and +clearer views than commonly prevail upon the points at issue regarding +"religion and science" are still sufficiently needed to justify these +endeavors. + +BOTANIC GARDEN, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., June, 1876. + +______________________________________ + + + +I + +THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF + +NATURAL SELECTION [I-1] + +(American Journal of Science and Arts, March, 1860) + + + +This book is already exciting much attention. Two American editions are +announced, through which it will become familiar to many of our readers, +before these pages are issued. An abstract of the argument--for "the whole +volume is one long argument," as the author states--is unnecessary in such +a case; and it would be difficult to give by detached extracts. For the +volume itself is an abstract, a prodromus of a detailed work upon which the +author has been laboring for twenty years, and which "will take two or +three more years to complete." It is exceedingly compact; and although +useful summaries are appended to the several chapters, and a general +recapitulation contains the essence of the whole, yet much of the aroma +escapes in the treble distillation, or is so concentrated that the flavor +is lost to the general or even to the scientific reader. The volume +itself--the proof-spirit--is just condensed enough for its purpose. It will +be far more widely read, and perhaps will make deeper impression, than the +elaborate work might have done, with all its full details of the facts upon +which the author's sweeping conclusions have been grounded. At least it is +a more readable book: but all the facts that can be mustered in favor of +the theory are still likely to be needed. + +Who, upon a single perusal, shall pass judgment upon a work like this, to +which twenty of the best years of the life of a most able naturalist have +been devoted? And who among those naturalists who hold a position that +entitles them to pronounce summarily upon the subject, can be expected to +divest himself for the nonce of the influence of received and favorite +systems? In fact, the controversy now opened is not likely to be settled in +an off-hand way, nor is it desirable that it should be. A spirited conflict +among opinions of every grade must ensue, which--to borrow an illustration +from the doctrine of the book before us--may be likened to the conflict in +Nature among races in the struggle for life, which Mr. Darwin describes; +through which the views most favored by facts will be developed and tested +by "Natural Selection," the weaker ones be destroyed in the process, and +the strongest in the long-run alone survive. + +The duty of reviewing this volume in the American Journal of Science would +naturally devolve upon the principal editor,' whose wide observation and +profound knowledge of various departments of natural history, as well as of +geology, particularly qualify him for the task. But he has been obliged to +lay aside his pen, and to seek in distant lands the entire repose from +scientific labor so essential to the restoration of his health--a +consummation devoutly to be wished, and confidently to be expected. +Interested as Mr. Dana would be in this volume, he could not be expected to +accept this doctrine. + +Views so idealistic as those upon which his "Thoughts upon Species" [I-2] +are grounded, will not harmonize readily with a doctrine so thoroughly +naturalistic as that of Mr. Darwin. Though it is just possible that one who +regards the kinds of elementary matter, such as oxygen and hydrogen, and +the definite compounds of these elementary matters, and their compounds +again, in the mineral kingdom, as constituting species, in the same sense, +fundamentally, as that of animal and vegetable species, might admit an +evolution of one species from another in the latter as well as the former +case. + +Between the doctrines of this volume and those of the other great +naturalist whose name adorns the title-page of this journal, the widest +divergence appears. It is interesting to contrast the two, and, indeed, is +necessary to our purpose; for this contrast brings out most prominently, +and sets in strongest light and shade, the main features of the theory of +the origination of species by means of Natural Selection. + +The ordinary and generally-received view assumes the independent, specific +creation of each kind of plant and animal in a primitive stock, which +reproduces its like from generation to generation, and so continues the +species. Taking the idea of species from this perennial succession of +essentially similar individuals, the chain is logically traceable back to a +local origin in a single stock, a single pair, or a single individual, from +which all the individuals composing the species have proceeded by natural +generation. Although the similarity of progeny to parent is fundamental in +the conception of species, yet the likeness is by no means absolute; all +species vary more or less, and some vary remarkably--partly from the +influence of altered circumstances, and partly (and more really) from +unknown constitutional causes which altered conditions favor rather than +originate. But these variations are supposed to be mere oscillations from a +normal state, and in Nature to be limited if not transitory; so that the +primordial differences between species and species at their beginning have +not been effaced, nor largely obscured, by blending through variation. +Consequently, whenever two reputed species are found to blend in Nature +through a series of intermediate forms, community of origin is inferred, +and all the forms, however diverse, are held to belong to one species. +Moreover, since bisexuality is the rule in Nature (which is practically +carried out, in the long-run, far more generally than has been suspected), +and the heritable qualities of two distinct individuals are mingled in the +offspring, it is supposed that the general sterility of hybrid progeny +interposes an effectual barrier against the blending of the original +species by crossing. + +From this generally-accepted view the well-known theory of Agassiz and the +recent one of Darwin diverge in exactly opposite directions. + +That of Agassiz differs fundamentally from the ordinary view only in this, +that it discards the idea of a common descent as the real bond of union +among the individuals of a species, and also the idea of a local +origin--supposing, instead, that each species originated simultaneously, +generally speaking, over the whole geographical area it now occupies or has +occupied, and in perhaps as many individuals as it numbered at any +subsequent period. + +Mr. Darwin, on the other hand, holds the orthodox view of the descent of +all the individuals of a species not only from a local birthplace, but from +a single ancestor or pair; and that each species has extended and +established itself, through natural agencies, wherever it could; so that +the actual geographical distribution of any species is by no means a +primordial arrangement, but a natural result. He goes farther, and this +volume is a protracted argument intended to prove that the species we +recognize have not been independently created, as such, but have descended, +like varieties, from other species. Varieties, on this view, are incipient +or possible species: species are varieties of a larger growth and a wider +and earlier divergence from the parent stock; the difference is one of +degree, not of kind. + +The ordinary view--rendering unto Caesar the things that are +Caesar's--looks to natural agencies for the actual distribution and +perpetuation of species, to a supernatural for their origin. + +The theory of Agassiz regards the origin of species and their present +general distribution over the world as equally primordial, equally +supernatural; that of Darwin, as equally derivative, equally natural. + +The theory of Agassiz, referring as it does the phenomena both of origin +and distribution directly to the Divine will--thus removing the latter with +the former out of the domain of inductive science (in which efficient cause +is not the first, but the last word)--may be said to be theistic to excess. +The contrasted theory is not open to this objection. Studying the facts and +phenomena in reference to proximate causes, and endeavoring to trace back +the series of cause and effect as far as possible, Darwin's aim and +processes are strictly scientific, and his endeavor, whether successful or +futile, must be regarded as a legitimate attempt to extend the domain of +natural or physical science. For, though it well may be that "organic forms +have no physical or secondary cause," yet this can be proved only +indirectly, by the failure of every attempt to refer the phenomena in +question to causal laws. But, however originated, and whatever be thought +of Mr. Darwin's arduous undertaking in this respect, it is certain that +plants and animals are subject from their birth to physical influences, to +which they have to accommodate themselves as they can. How literally they +are "born to trouble," and how incessant and severe the struggle for life +generally is, the present volume graphically describes. Few will deny that +such influences must have gravely affected the range and the association of +individuals and species on the earth's surface. Mr. Darwin thinks that, +acting upon an inherent predisposition to vary, they have sufficed even to +modify the species themselves and produce the present diversity. Mr. +Agassiz believes that they have not even affected the geographical range +and the actual association of species, still less their forms; but that +every adaptation of species to climate, and of species to species, is as +aboriginal, and therefore as inexplicable, as are the organic forms +themselves. + +Who shall decide between such extreme views so ably maintained on either +hand, and say how much of truth there may be in each? The present reviewer +has not the presumption to undertake such a task. Having no prepossession +in favor of naturalistic theories, but struck with the eminent ability of +Mr. Darwin's work, and charmed with its fairness, our humbler duty will be +performed if, laying aside prejudice as much as we can, we shall succeed in +giving a fair account of its method and argument, offering by the way a few +suggestions, such as might occur to any naturalist of an inquiring mind. An +editorial character for this article must in justice be disclaimed. The +plural pronoun is employed not to give editorial weight, but to avoid even +the appearance of egotism, and also the circumlocution which attends a +rigorous adherence to the impersonal style. + +We have contrasted these two extremely divergent theories, in their broad +statements. It must not be inferred that they have no points nor ultimate +results in common. + +In the first place, they practically agree in upsetting, each in its own +way, the generally-received definition of species, and in sweeping away the +ground of their objective existence in Nature. The orthodox conception of +species is that of lineal descent: all the descendants of a common parent, +and no other, constitute a species; they have a certain identity because of +their descent, by which they are supposed to be recognizable. So +naturalists had a distinct idea of what they meant by the term species, and +a practical rule, which was hardly the less useful because difficult to +apply in many cases, and because its application was indirect: that is, the +community of origin had to be inferred from the likeness; such degree of +similarity, and such only, being held to be con-specific as could be shown +or reasonably inferred to be compatible with a common origin. And the usual +concurrence of the whole body of naturalists (having the same data before +them) as to what forms are species attests the value of the rule, and also +indicates some real foundation for it in Nature. But if species were created +in numberless individuals over broad spaces of territory, these individuals +are connected only in idea, and species differ from varieties on the one +hand, and from genera, tribes, etc., on the other, only in degree; and no +obvious natural reason remains for fixing upon this or that degree as +specific, at least no natural standard, by which the opinions of different +naturalists may be correlated. Species upon this view are enduring, but +subjective and ideal. Any three or more of the human races, for example, are +species or not species, according to the bent of the naturalist's mind. +Darwin's theory brings us the other way to the same result. In his view, +not only all the individuals of a species are descendants of a common +parent, but of all the related species also. Affinity, relationship, all +the terms which naturalists use figuratively to express an underived, +unexplained resemblance among species, have a literal meaning upon Darwin's +system, which they little suspected, namely, that of inheritance. Varieties +are the latest offshoots of the genealogical tree in "an unlineal" order; +species, those of an earlier date, but of no definite distinction; genera, +more ancient species, and so on. The human races, upon this view, likewise +may or may not be species according to the notions of each naturalist as to +what differences are specific; but, if not species already, those races that +last long enough are sure to become so. It is only a question of time. + +How well the simile of a genealogical tree illustrates the main ideas of +Darwin's theory the following extract from the summary of the fourth +chapter shows: + +"It is a truly wonderful fact--the wonder of which we are apt to overlook +from familiarity--that all animals and all plants throughout all time and +space should be related to each other in group subordinate to group, in the +manner which we everywhere behold--namely, varieties of the same species +most closely related together, species of the same genus less closely and +unequally related together, forming sections and sub-genera, species of +distinct genera much less closely related, and genera related in different +degrees, forming sub-families, families, orders, sub-classes, and classes. +The several subordinate groups in any class cannot be ranked in a single +file, but seem rather to be clustered round points, and these round other +points, and so on in almost endless cycles. On the view that each species +has been independently created, I can see no explanation of this great fact +in the classification of all organic beings; but, to the best of my +judgment, it is explained through inheritance and the complex action of +natural selection, entailing extinction and divergence of character, as we +have seen illustrated in the diagram. + +"The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been +represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the truth. +The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and those +produced during each former year may represent the long succession of +extinct species. At each period of growth all the growing twigs have tried +to branch out on all sides, and overtop and kill the surrounding twigs and +branches, in the same manner as species and groups of species have tried to +overmaster other species in the great battle for life. The limbs divided +into great branches, and these into lesser and lesser branches, were +themselves once, when the tree was small, budding twigs; and this +connection of the former and present buds by ramifying branches may well +represent the classification of all extinct and living species in groups +subordinate to groups. Of the many twigs which flourished when the tree was +a mere bush, only two or three, now grown into great branches, yet survive +and bear all the other branches; so with the species which lived during +long-past geological periods, very few now have living and modified +descendants. From the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has +decayed and dropped off; and these lost branches of various sizes may +represent those whole orders, families, and genera, which have now no +living representatives, and which are known to us only from having been +found in a fossil state. As we here and there see a thin, straggling branch +springing from a fork low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been +favored and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal +like the Ornithorhynchus or Lepidosiren, which in some small degree +connects by its affinities two large branches of life, and which has +apparently been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected +station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, +branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation +I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its +dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface +with its ever-branching and beautiful ramification." + + +It may also be noted that there is a significant correspondence between the +rival theories as to the main facts employed. Apparently every capital fact +in the one view is a capital fact in the other. The difference is in the +interpretation. To run the parallel ready made to our hands: [I-4] + + +"The simultaneous existence of the most diversified types under identical +circumstances . . . the repetition of similar types under the most +diversified circumstances . . . the unity of plan in otherwise +highly-diversified types of animals . . . the correspondence, now generally +known as special homologies, in the details of structure otherwise entirely +disconnected, down to the most minute peculiarities . . . the various +degrees and different kinds of relationship among animals which (apparently) +can have no genealogical connection . . . the simultaneous existence in the +earliest geological periods, . . . of representatives of all the great +types of the animal kingdom . . . the gradation based upon complications of +structure which may be traced among animals built upon the same plan; the +distribution of some types over the most extensive range of surface of the +globe, while others are limited to particular geographical areas . . . the +identity of structures of these types, notwithstanding their wide +geographical distribution . . . the community of structure in certain +respects of animals otherwise entirely different, but living within the +same geographical area . . . the connection by series of special structures +observed in animals widely scattered over the surface of the globe . . . +the definite relations in which animals stand to the surrounding world, . . +. the relations in which individuals of the same species stand to one +another . . . the limitation of the range of changes which animals undergo +during their growth . . . the return to a definite norm of animals which +multiply in various ways . . . the order of succession of the different +types of animals and plants characteristic of the different geological +epochs, . . . the localization of some types of animals upon the same points +of the surface of the globe during several successive geological periods . . +. the parallelism between the order of succession of animals and plants in +geological times, and the gradation among their living representatives . . +. the parallelism between the order of succession of animals in geological +times and the changes their living representatives undergo during their +embryological growth, [I-5] . . . the combination in many extinct types of +characters which in later ages appear disconnected in different types, . . +. the parallelism between the gradation among animals and the changes they +undergo during their growth, . . . the relations existing between these +different series and the geographical distribution of animals, . . . the +connection of all the known features of Nature into one system--" + + +In a word, the whole relations of animals, etc., to surrounding Nature and +to each other, are regarded under the one view as ultimate facts, or in the +ultimate aspect, and interpreted theologically; under the other as complex +facts, to be analyzed and interpreted scientifically. The one naturalist, +perhaps too largely assuming the scientifically unexplained to be +inexplicable, views the phenomena only in their supposed relation to the +Divine mind. The other, naturally expecting many of these phenomena to be +resolvable under investigation, views them in their relations to one +another, and endeavors to explain them as far as he can (and perhaps +farther) through natural causes. + +But does the one really exclude the other? Does the investigation of +physical causes stand opposed to the theological view and the study of the +harmonies between mind and Nature? More than this, is it not most +presumable that an intellectual conception realized in Nature would be +realized through natural agencies? Mr. Agassiz answers these questions +affirmatively when he declares that "the task of science is to investigate +what has been done, to inquire if possible how it has been done, rather +than to ask what is possible for the Deity, since we can know that only by +what actually exists;" and also when he extends the argument for the +intervention in Nature of a creative mind to its legitimate application in +the inorganic world; which, he remarks, "considered in the same light, +would not fail also to exhibit unexpected evidence of thought, in the +character of the laws regulating the chemical combinations, the action of +physical forces, etc., etc." [I-6] Mr. Agassiz, however, pronounces that +"the connection between the facts is only intellectual"--an opinion which +the analogy of the inorganic world, just referred to, does not confirm, for +there a material connection between the facts is justly held to be +consistent with an intellectual--and which the most analogous cases we can +think of in the organic world do not favor; for there is a material +connection between the grub, the pupa, and the butterfly, between the +tadpole and the frog, or, still better, between those distinct animals +which succeed each other in alternate and very dissimilar generations. So +that mere analogy might rather suggest a natural connection than the +contrary; and the contrary cannot be demonstrated until the possibilities of +Nature under the Deity are fathomed. + +But, the intellectual connection being undoubted, Mr. Agassiz properly +refers the whole to "the agency of Intellect as its first cause." In doing +so, however, he is not supposed to be offering a scientific explanation of +the phenomena. Evidently he is considering only the ultimate why, not the +proximate why or how. + +Now the latter is just what Mr. Darwin is considering. He conceives of a +physical connection between allied species; but we suppose he does not deny +their intellectual connection, as related to a supreme intelligence. +Certainly we see no reason why he should, and many reasons why he should +not, Indeed, as we contemplate the actual direction of investigation and +speculation in the physical and natural sciences, we dimly apprehend a +probable synthesis of these divergent theories, and in it the ground for a +strong stand against mere naturalism. Even if the doctrine of the origin of +species through natural selection should prevail in our day, we shall not +despair; being confident that the genius of an Agassiz will be found equal +to the work of constructing, upon the mental and material foundations +combined, a theory of Nature as theistic and as scientific as that which he +has so eloquently expounded. + +To conceive the possibility of "the descent of species from species by +insensibly fine gradations" during a long course of time, and to +demonstrate its compatibility with a strictly theistic view of the +universe, is one thing; to substantiate the theory itself or show its +likelihood is quite another thing. This brings us to consider what Darwin's +theory actually is, and how he supports it. + +That the existing kinds of animals and plants, or many of them, may be +derived from other and earlier kinds, in the lapse of time, is by no means +a novel proposition. Not to speak of ancient speculations of the sort, it +is the well-known Lamarckian theory. The first difficulty which such +theories meet with is that in the present age, with all its own and its +inherited prejudgments, the whole burden of proof is naturally, and indeed +properly, laid upon the shoulders of the propounders; and thus far the +burden has been more than they could bear. From the very nature of the +case, substantive proof of specific creation is not attainable; but that of +derivation or transmutation of species may be. He who affirms the latter +view is bound to do one or both of two things: 1. Either to assign real and +adequate causes, the natural or necessary result of which must be to +produce the present diversity of species and their actual relations; or, 2. +To show the general conformity of the whole body of facts to such +assumption, and also to adduce instances explicable by it and inexplicable +by the received view, so perhaps winning our assent to the doctrine, +through its competency to harmonize all the facts, even though the cause of +the assumed variation remain as occult as that of the transformation of +tadpoles into frogs, or that of Coryne into Sarzia. + +The first line of proof, successfully carried out, would establish +derivation as a true physical theory; the second, as a sufficient +hypothesis. + +Lamarck mainly undertook the first line, in a theory which has been so +assailed by ridicule that it rarely receives the credit for ability to +which in its day it was entitled, But he assigned partly unreal, partly +insufficient causes; and the attempt to account for a progressive change in +species through the direct influence of physical agencies, and through the +appetencies and habits of animals reacting upon their structure, thus +causing the production and the successive modification of organs, is a +conceded and total failure. The shadowy author of the "Vestiges of the +Natural History of Creation" can hardly be said to have undertaken either +line, in a scientific way. He would explain the whole progressive evolution +of Nature by virtue of an inherent tendency to development, thus giving us +an idea or a word in place of a natural cause, a restatement of the +proposition instead of an explanation. Mr. Darwin attempts both lines of +proof, and in a strictly scientific spirit; but the stress falls mainly upon +the first, for, as he does assign real causes, he is bound to prove their +adequacy. + +It should be kept in mind that, while all direct proof of independent +origination is attainable from the nature of the case, the overthrow of +particular schemes of derivation has not established the opposite +proposition. The futility of each hypothesis thus far proposed to account +for derivation may be made apparent, or unanswerable objections may be +urged against it; and each victory of the kind may render derivation more +improbable, and therefore specific creation more probable, without settling +the question either way. New facts, or new arguments and a new mode of +viewing the question, may some day change the whole aspect of the case. It +is with the latter that Mr. Darwin now reopens the discussion. + +Having conceived the idea that varieties are incipient species, he is led +to study variation in the field where it shows itself most strikingly, and +affords the greatest facilities to investigation. Thoughtful naturalists +have had increasing grounds to suspect that a reexamination of the question +of species in zoology and botany, commencing with those races which man +knows most about, viz., the domesticated and cultivated races, would be +likely somewhat to modify the received idea of the entire fixity of +species. This field, rich with various but unsystematized stores of +knowledge accumulated by cultivators and breeders, has been generally +neglected by naturalists, because these races are not in a state of nature; +whereas they deserve particular attention on this very account, as +experiments, or the materials for experiments, ready to our hand. In +domestication we vary some of the natural conditions of a species, and thus +learn experimentally what changes are within the reach of varying conditions +in Nature. We separate and protect a favorite race against its foes or its +competitors, and thus learn what it might become if Nature ever afforded it +equal opportunities. Even when, to subserve human uses, we modify a +domesticated race to the detriment of its native vigor, or to the extent of +practical monstrosity, although we secure forms which would not be +originated and could not be perpetuated in free Nature, yet we attain wider +and juster views of the possible degree of variation. We perceive that some +species are more variable than others, but that no species subjected to the +experiment persistently refuses to vary; and that, when it has once begun +to vary, its varieties are not the less but the more subject to variation. +"No case is on record of a variable being ceasing to be variable under +cultivation." It is fair to conclude, from the observation of plants and +animals in a wild as well as domesticated state, that the tendency to vary +is general, and even universal. Mr. Darwin does "not believe that +variability is an inherent and necessary contingency, under all +circumstances, with all organic beings, as some authors have thought." No +one supposes variation could occur under all circumstances; but the facts +on the whole imply a universal tendency, ready to be manifested under +favorable circumstances. In reply to the assumption that man has chosen for +domestication animals and plants having an extraordinary inherent tendency +to vary, and likewise to withstand diverse climates, it is asked: + + +"How could a savage possibly know, when he first tamed an animal, whether +it would vary in succeeding generations and whether it would endure other +climates? Has the little variability of the ass or Guinea-fowl, or the +small power of endurance of warmth by the reindeer, or of cold by the +common camel, prevented their domestication? I cannot doubt that if other +animals and plants, equal in number to our domesticated productions, and +belonging to equally diverse classes and countries, were taken from a state +of nature, and could be made to breed for an equal number of generations +under domestication, they would vary on an average as largely as the parent +species of our existing domesticated productions have varied." + + +As to amount of variation, there is the common remark of naturalists that +the varieties of domesticated plants or animals often differ more widely +than do the individuals of distinct species in a wild state: and even in +Nature the individuals of some species are known to vary to a degree +sensibly wider than that which separates related species. In his +instructive section on the breeds of the domestic pigeon, our author +remarks that "at least a score of pigeons might be chosen which if shown to +an ornithologist, and he were told that they were wild birds, would +certainly be ranked by him as well-defined species. Moreover, I do not +believe that any ornithologist would place the English carrier, the +short-faced tumbler, the runt, the barb, pouter, and fantail, in the same +genus; more especially as in each of these breeds several truly-inherited +sub-breeds, or species, as he might have called them, could be shown him." +That this is not a case like that of dogs, in which probably the blood of +more than one species is mingled, Mr. Darwin proceeds to show, adducing +cogent reasons for the common opinion that all have descended from the wild +rock-pigeon. Then follow some suggestive remarks: + + +"I have discussed the probable origin of domestic pigeons at some, yet +quite insufficient, length; because when I first kept pigeons and watched +the several kinds, knowing well how true they bred, I felt fully as much +difficulty in believing that they could ever have descended from a common +parent as any naturalist could in coming to a similar conclusion in regard +to many species of finches, or other large groups of birds, in Nature. One +circumstance has struck me much; namely, that all the breeders of the +various domestic animals and the cultivators of plants, with whom I have +ever conversed, or whose treatises I have read, are firmly convinced that +the several breeds to which each has attended are descended from so many +aboriginally distinct species. Ask, as I have asked, a celebrated raiser of +Hereford cattle, whether his cattle might not have descended from +long-horns, and he will laugh you to scorn. I have never met a pigeon, or +poultry, or duck, or rabbit fancier, who was not fully convinced that each +main breed was descended from a distinct species. Van Mons, in his treatise +on pears and apples, shows how utterly he disbelieves that the several +sorts, for instance a Ribston-pippin or Codlin-apple, could ever have +proceeded from the seeds of the same tree. Innumerable other examples could +be given. The explanation, I think, is simple: from long-continued study +they arc strongly impressed with the differences between the several races; +and though they well know that each race varies slightly, for they win +their prizes by selecting such slight differences, yet they ignore all +general arguments, and refuse to sum up in their minds slight differences +accumulated during many successive generations. May not those naturalists +who, knowing far less of the laws of inheritance than does the breeder, and +knowing no more than he does of the intermediate links in the long lines of +descent, yet admit that many of our domestic races have descended from the +same parents--may they not learn a lesson of caution, when they deride the +idea of species in a state of nature being lineal descendants of other +species?" + + +The actual causes of variation are unknown. Mr. Darwin favors the opinion +of the late Mr. Knight, the great philosopher of horticulture, that +variability tinder domestication is somehow connected with excess of food. +He regards the unknown cause as acting chiefly upon the reproductive system +of the parents, which system, judging from the effect of confinement or +cultivation upon its functions, he concludes to be more susceptible than +any other to the action of changed conditions of life. The tendency to vary +certainly appears to be much stronger under domestication than in free +Nature. But we are not sure that the greater variableness of cultivated +races is not mainly owing to the far greater opportunities for +manifestation and accumulation--a view seemingly all the more favorable to +Mr. Darwin's theory. The actual amount of certain changes, such as size or +abundance of fruit, size of udder, stands of course in obvious relation to +supply of food. Really, we no more know the reason why the progeny +occasionally deviates from the parent than we do why it usually resembles +it. Though the laws and conditions governing variation are known to a +certain extent, those governing inheritance are apparently inscrutable. +"Perhaps," Darwin remarks, "the correct way of viewing the whole subject +would be, to look at the inheritance of every character whatever as the +rule, and non-inheritance as the anomaly." This, from general and obvious +considerations, we have long been accustomed to do. Now, as exceptional +instances are expected to be capable of explanation, while ultimate laws +are not, it is quite possible that variation may be accounted for, while +the great primary law of inheritance remains a mysterious fact. + +The common proposition is, that species reproduce their like; this is a +sort of general inference, only a degree closer to fact than the statement +that genera reproduce their like. The true proposition, the fact incapable +of further analysis, is, that individuals reproduce their like--that +characteristics are inheritable. So varieties, or deviations, once +originated, are perpetuable, like species. Not so likely to be perpetuated, +at the outset; for the new form tends to resemble a grandparent and a long +line of similar ancestors, as well as to resemble its immediate progenitors. +Two forces which coincide in the ordinary case, where the offspring +resembles its parent, act in different directions when it does not and it +is uncertain which will prevail. If the remoter but very potent ancestral +influence predominates, the variation disappears with the life of the +individual. If that of the immediate parent--feebler no doubt, but +closer--the variety survives in the offspring; whose progeny now has a +redoubled tendency to produce its own like; whose progeny again is almost +sure to produce its like, since it is much the same whether it takes after +its mother or its grandmother. + +In this way races arise, which under favorable conditions may be as +hereditary as species. In following these indications, watching +opportunities, and breeding only from those individuals which vary most in +a desirable direction, man leads the course of variation as he leads a +streamlet--apparently at will, but never against the force of +gravitation--to a long distance from its source, and makes it more +subservient to his use or fancy. He unconsciously strengthens those +variations which he prizes when he plants the seed of a favorite fruit, +preserves a favorite domestic animal, drowns the uglier kittens of a +litter, and allows only the handsomest or the best mousers to propagate. +Still more, by methodical selection, in recent times almost marvelous +results have been produced in new breeds of cattle, sheep, and poultry, and +new varieties of fruit of greater and greater size or excellence. + +It is said that all domestic varieties, if left to run wild, would revert +to their aboriginal stocks. Probably they would wherever various races of +one species were left to commingle. At least the abnormal or exaggerated +characteristics induced by high feeding, or high cultivation and prolonged +close breeding, would promptly disappear; and the surviving stock would +soon blend into a homogeneous result (in a way presently explained), which +would naturally be taken for the original form; but we could seldom know if +it were so. It is by no means certain that the result would be the same if +the races ran wild each in a separate region. Dr. Hooker doubts if there is +a true reversion in the case of plants. Mr. Darwin's observations rather +favor it in the animal kingdom. With mingled races reversion seems well +made out in the case of pigeons. The common opinion upon this subject +therefore probably has some foundation, But even if we regard varieties as +oscillations around a primitive centre or type, still it appears from the +readiness with which such varieties originate that a certain amount of +disturbance would carry them beyond the influence of the primordial +attraction, where they may become new centres of variation. + +Some suppose that races cannot be perpetuated indefinitely even by keeping +up the conditions under which they were fixed; but the high antiquity of +several, and the actual fixity of many of them, negative this assumption. +"To assert that we could not breed our cart and race horses, long and short +horned cattle, and poultry of various breeds, for almost an infinite number +of generations, would be opposed to all experience." + +Why varieties develop so readily and deviate so widely under domestication, +while they are apparently so rare or so transient in free Nature, may +easily be shown. In Nature, even with hermaphrodite plants, there is a vast +amount of cross-fertilization among various individuals of the same +species. The inevitable result of this (as was long ago explained in this +Journal [I-7]) is to repress variation, to keep the mass of a species +comparatively homogeneous over any area in which it abounds in individuals. +Starting from a suggestion of the late Mr. Knight, now so familiar, that +close interbreeding diminishes vigor and fertility; [I-8] and perceiving +that bisexuality is ever aimed at in Nature--being attained physiologically +in numerous cases where it is not structurally--Mr. Darwin has worked out +the subject in detail, and shown how general is the concurrence, either +habitual or occasional, of two hermaphrodite individuals in the +reproduction of their kind; and has drawn the philosophical inference that +probably no organic being self-fertilizes indefinitely; but that a cross +with another individual is occasionally--perhaps at very long +intervals--indispensable. We refer the reader to the section on the +intercrossing of individuals (pp. 96--101), and also to an article in the +Gardeners' Chronicle a year and a half ago, for the details of a very +interesting contribution to science, irrespective of theory. In +domestication, this intercrossing may be prevented; and in this prevention +lies the art of producing varieties. But "the art itself is Nature," since +the whole art consists in allowing the most universal of all natural +tendencies in organic things (inheritance) to operate uncontrolled by other +and obviously incidental tendencies. No new power, no artificial force, is +brought into play either by separating the stock of a desirable variety so +as to prevent mixture, or by selecting for breeders those individuals which +most largely partake of the peculiarities for which the breed is valued. +{I-9] + +We see everywhere around us the remarkable results which Nature may be said +to have brought about under artificial selection and separation. Could she +accomplish similar results when left to herself? Variations might begin, we +know they do begin, in a wild state. But would any of them be preserved and +carried to an equal degree of deviation? Is there anything in Nature which +in the long-run may answer to artificial selection? Mr. Darwin thinks that +there is; and Natural Selection is the key-note of his discourse, + +As a preliminary, he has a short chapter to show that there is variation in +Nature, and therefore something for natural selection to act upon. He +readily shows that such mere variations as may be directly referred to +physical conditions (like the depauperation of plants in a sterile soil, or +their dwarfing as they approach an Alpine summit, the thicker fur of an +animal from far northward, etc.), and also those individual differences +which we everywhere recognize but do not pretend to account for, are not +separable by any assignable line from more strongly-marked varieties; +likewise that there is no clear demarkation between the latter and +sub-species, or varieties of the highest grade (distinguished from species +not by any known inconstancy, but by the supposed lower importance of their +characteristics); nor between these and recognized species. "These +differences blend into each other in an insensible series, and the series +impresses the mind with an idea of an actual passage." + +This gradation from species downward is well made out. To carry it one step +farther upward, our author presents in a strong light the differences which +prevail among naturalists as to what forms should be admitted to the rank +of species. Some genera (and these in some countries) give rise to far more +discrepancy than others; and it is concluded that the large or dominant +genera are usually the most variable. In a flora so small as the British, +182 plants, generally reckoned as varieties, have been ranked by some +botanists as species. Selecting the British genera which include the most +polymorphous forms, it appears that Babington's Flora gives them 251 +species, Bentham's only 112, a difference of 139 doubtful forms. These are +nearly the extreme views, but they are the views of two most capable and +most experienced judges, in respect to one of the best-known floras of the +world. The fact is suggestive, that the best-known countries furnish the +greatest number of such doubtful cases. Illustrations of this kind may be +multiplied to a great extent. They make it plain that, whether species in +Nature are aboriginal and definite or not, our practical conclusions about +them, as embodied in systematic works, are not facts but judgments, and +largely fallible judgments- + +How much of the actual coincidence of authorities is owing to imperfect or +restricted observation, and to one naturalist's adopting the conclusions of +another without independent observation, this is not the place to consider. +It is our impression that species of animals are more definitely marked +than those of plants; this may arise from our somewhat extended +acquaintance with the latter, and our ignorance of the former. But we are +constrained by our experience to admit the strong likelihood, in botany, +that varieties on the one hand, and what are called closely-related species +on the other, do not differ except in degree. Whenever this wider +difference separating the latter can be spanned by intermediate forms, as +it sometimes is, no botanist long resists the inevitable conclusion. +Whenever, therefore, this wider difference can be shown to be compatible +with community of origin, and explained through natural selection or in any +other way, we are ready to adopt the probable conclusion; and we see +beforehand how strikingly the actual geographical association of related +species favors the broader view. Whether we should continue to regard the +forms in question as distinct species, depends upon what meaning we shall +finally attach to that term; and that depends upon how far the doctrine of +derivation can be carried back and how well it can be supported. + +In applying his principle of natural selection to the work in hand, Mr. +Darwin assumes, as we have seen: i. Some variability of animals and plants +in nature; 2. The absence of any definite distinction between slight +variations, and varieties of the highest grade; 3. The fact that +naturalists do not practically agree, and do not increasingly tend to +agree, as to what forms are species and what are strong varieties, thus +rendering it probable that there may be no essential and original +difference, or no possibility of ascertaining it, at least in many cases; +also, 4. That the most flourishing and dominant species of the larger +genera on an average vary most (a proposition which can be substantiated +only by extensive comparisons, the details of which are not given); and, 5. +That in large genera the species are apt to be closely but unequally allied +together, forming little clusters round certain species--just such clusters +as would be formed if we suppose their members once to have been satellites +or varieties of a central or parent species, but to have attained at length +a wider divergence and a specific character. The fact of such association +is undeniable; and the use which Mr. Darwin makes of it seems fair and +natural. + +The gist of Mr. Darwin's work is to show that such varieties are gradually +diverged into species and genera through natural selection; that natural +selection is the inevitable result of the struggle for existence which all +living things are engaged in; and that this struggle is an unavoidable +consequence of several natural causes, but mainly of the high rate at which +all organic beings tend to increase. + +Curiously enough, Mr. Darwin's theory is grounded upon the doctrine of +Malthus and the doctrine of Hobbes. The elder DeCandolle had conceived the +idea of the struggle for existence, and, in a passage which would have +delighted the cynical philosopher of Malmesbury, had declared that all +Nature is at war, one organism with another or with external Nature; and +Lyell and Herbert had made considerable use of it. But Hobbes in his theory +of society, and Darwin in his theory of natural history, alone have built +their systems upon it. However moralists and political economists may +regard these doctrines in their original application to human society and +the relation of population to subsistence, their thorough applicability to +the great society of the organic world in general is now undeniable. And to +Mr. Darwin belongs the credit of making this extended application, and of +working out the immensely diversified results with rare sagacity and +untiring patience. He has brought to view real causes which have been +largely operative in the establishment of the actual association and +geographical distribution of plants and animals. In this he must be allowed +to have made a very important contribution to an interesting department of +science, even if his theory fails in the endeavor to explain the origin or +diversity of species. "Nothing is easier," says our author, "than to admit +in words the truth of the universal struggle for life, or more difficult--at +least I have found it so--than constantly to bear this conclusion in mind. +Yet, unless it be thoroughly ingrained in the mind, I am convinced that the +whole economy of Nature, with every fact on distribution, rarity, +abundance, extinction, and variation, will be dimly seen or quite +misunderstood. We behold the face of Nature bright with gladness, we often +see superabundance of food; we do not see, or we forget, that the birds +which are idly singing round us mostly live on insects or seeds, and are +thus constantly destroying life; or we forget how largely these songsters, +or their eggs, or their nestlings, are destroyed by birds and beasts of +prey; we do not always bear in mind that, though food may be now +superabundant, it is not so at all seasons of each recurring year."--(p. +62.) + +"There is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally +increases at so high a rate that, if not destroyed, the earth would soon be +covered by the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has doubled +in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in a few thousand years, there +would literally not be standing-room for his progeny. Linnaeus has +calculated that if an annual plant produced only two seeds--and there is no +plant so unproductive as this--and their seedlings next year produced two, +and so on, then in twenty years there would be a million plants. The +elephant is reckoned to be the slowest breeder of all known animals, and I +have taken some pains to estimate its pro!)able minimum rate of natural +increase; it will be under the mark to assume that it breeds when thirty +years old, and goes on breeding till ninety years old, bringing forth three +pairs of young in this interval; if this be so, at the end of the fifth +century there would be alive fifteen million elephants, descended from the +first pair. + +"But we have better evidence on this subject than mere theoretical +calculations, namely, the numerous recorded cases of the astonishingly +rapid increase of various animals in a state of nature, when circumstances +have been favorable to them during two or three following seasons. Still +more striking is the evidence from our domestic animals of many kinds which +have run wild in several parts of the world; if the statements of the rate +of increase of slow-breeding cattle and horses in South America, and +latterly in Australia, had not been well authenticated, they would have +been quite incredible. So it is with plants: cases could be given of +introduced plants which have become common throughout whole islands in a +period of less than ten years. Several of the plants now most numerous over +the wide plains of La Plata, clothing square leagues of surface almost to +the exclusion of all other plants, have been introduced from Europe; and +there are plants which now range in India, as I hear from Dr. Falconer, +from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya, which have been imported from America +since its discovery. In such cases, and endless instances could be given, +no one supposes that the fertility of these animals or plants has been +suddenly and temporarily increased in any sensible degree. The obvious +explanation is, that the conditions of life have been very favorable, and +that there has consequently been less destruction of the old and young, and +that nearly all the young have been enabled to breed. In such cases the +geometrical ratio of increase, the result of which never fails to be +surprising, simply explains the extraordinarily rapid increase and wide +diffusion of naturalized productions in their new homes."--(pp. 64, 65.) + +"All plants and animals are tending to increase at a geometrical ratio; all +would most rapidly stock any station in which they could anyhow exist; the +increase must be checked by destruction at some period of life."--(p. 65.) + + +The difference between the most and the least prolific species is of no +account: + + +"The condor lays a couple of eggs, and the ostrich a score; and yet in the +same country the condor may be the more numerous of the two. The Fulmar +petrel lays but one egg, yet it is believed to be the most numerous bird in +the world."--(p. 68.) + +"The amount of food gives the extreme limit to which each species can +increase; but very frequently it is not the obtaining of food, but the +serving as prey to other animals, which determines the average numbers of +species."--(p. 68.) + +"Climate plays an important part in determining the average numbers of a +species, and periodical seasons of extreme cold or drought I believe to be +the most effective of all checks. I estimated that the winter of 1854--'55 +destroyed four-fifths of the birds in my own grounds; and this is a +tremendous destruction, when we remember that ten per cent, is an +extraordinarily severe mortality from epidemics with man. The action of +climate seems at first sight to be quite independent of the struggle for +existence; but, in so far as climate chiefly acts in reducing food, it +brings on the most severe struggle between the individuals, whether of the +same or of distinct species, which subsist on the same kind of food, Even +when climate, for instance extreme cold, acts directly, it will be the +least vigorous, or those which have got least food through the advancing +winter, which will suffer most. When we travel from south to north, or from +a damp region to a dry, we invariably see some species gradually getting +rarer and rarer, and finally disappearing; and, the change of climate being +conspicuous, we are tempted to attribute the whole effect to its direct +action. But this is a very false view; we forget that each species, even +where it most abounds, is constantly suffering enormous destruction at some +period of its life, from enemies or from competitors for the same place and +food; and if these enemies or competitors be in the least degree favored by +any slight change of climate, they will increase in numbers, and, as each +area is already stocked with inhabitants, the other species will decrease. +When we travel southward and see a species decreasing in numbers, we may +feel sure that the cause lies quite as much in other species being favored +as in this one being hurt. So it is when we travel northward, but in a +somewhat lesser degree, for the number of species of all kinds, and +therefore of competitors, decreases northward; hence, in going northward, +or in ascending a mountain, we far oftener meet with stunted forms, due to +the directly injurious action of climate, than we do in proceeding +southward or in descending a mountain. When we reach the arctic regions, or +snow-capped summits, or absolute deserts, the struggle for life is almost +exclusively with the elements. + +"That climate acts in main part indirectly by favoring other species, we +may clearly see in the prodigious number of plants in our gardens which can +perfectly well endure our climate, but which never become naturalized, for +they cannot compete with our native plants, nor resist destruction by our +native animals."--(pp. 68, 69.) + + +After an instructive instance in which "cattle absolutely determine the +existence of the Scotch fir," we are referred to cases in which insects +determine the existence of cattle: + + +"Perhaps Paraguay offers the most curious instance of this; for here +neither cattle, nor horses, nor dogs, have ever run wild, though they swarm +southward and northward in a feral state; and Azara and Rengger have shown +that this is caused by the greater number in Paraguay of a certain fly, +which lays its eggs in the navels of these animals when first born. The +increase of these flies, numerous as they are, must be habitually checked +by some means, probably by birds. Hence, if certain insectivorous birds +(whose numbers are probably regulated by hawks or beasts of prey) were to +increase in Paraguay, the flies would decrease--then cattle and horses +would become feral, and this would certainly greatly alter (as indeed I +have observed in parts of South America) the vegetation; this, again, would +largely affect the insects; and this, as we have just seen in +Staffordshire, the insectivorous birds, and so onward in ever-increasing +circles of complexity. We began this series by insectivorous birds, and we +had ended with them. Not that in Nature the relations can ever be as simple +as this. Battle within battle must ever be recurring with varying success; +and yet in the long-run the forces are so nicely balanced that the face of +Nature remains uniform for long periods of time, though assuredly the +merest trifle would often give the victory to one organic being over +another. Nevertheless, so profound is our ignorance, and so high our +presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic +being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the +world, or invent laws on the duration of the forms of life!"--(pp. 72, 73.) + +"When we look at the plants and bushes clothing an entangled bank, we arc +tempted to attribute their proportional numbers and kinds to what we call +chance. But how false a view is this! Every one has heard that when an +American forest is cut down, a very different vegetation springs up; but it +has been observed that the trees now growing on the ancient Indian mounds, +in the Southern United States, display the same beautiful diversity and +proportion of kinds as in the surrounding virgin forests. What a struggle +between the several kinds of trees must here have gone on during long +centuries, each annually scattering its seeds by the thousand; what war +between insect and insect--between insects, snails, and other animals, with +birds and beasts of prey--all striving to increase, and all feeding on each +other or on the trees, or their seeds and seedlings, or on the other plants +which first clothed the ground and thus checked the growth of the trees! +Throw up a handful of feathers, and all must fall to the ground according +to definite laws; but how simple is this problem compared to the action and +reaction of the innumerable plants and animals which have determined, in the +course of centuries, the proportional numbers and kinds of trees now +growing on the old Indian ruins!"--(pp. 74, 75.) + + +For reasons obvious upon reflection, the competition is often, if not +generally, most severe between nearly related species when they are in +contact, so that one drives the other before it, as the Hanoverian the old +English rat, the small Asiatic cockroach in Russia, its greater congener, +etc. And this, when duly considered, explains many curious results; such, +for instance, as the considerable number of different genera of plants and +animals which are generally found to inhabit any limited area. + + +"The truth of the principle that the greatest amount of life can be +supported by great diversification of structure is seen under many natural +circumstances. In an extremely small area, especially if freely open to +immigration, and where the contest between individual and individual must +be severe, we always find great diversity in its inhabitants. For instance, +I found that a piece of turf, three feet by four in size, which had been +exposed for many years to exactly the same conditions, supported twenty +species of plants, and these belonged to eighteen genera, and to eight +orders, which showed how much these plants differed from each other. So it +is with the plants and insects on small and uniform islets; and so in small +ponds of fresh water. Farmers find that they can raise most food by a +rotation of plants belonging to the most different orders; Nature follows +what may be called a simultaneous rotation. Most of the animals and plants +which live close round any small piece of ground could live on it (supposing +it not to be in any way peculiar in its nature), and may be said to be +striving to the utmost to live there; but it is seen that, where they come +into the closest competition with each other, the advantages of +diversification of structure, with the accompanying differences of habit +and constitution, determine that the inhabitants, which thus jostle each +other most closely, shall, as a general rule, belong to what we call +different genera and orders."--(p. 114.) + + +The abundance of some forms, the rarity and final extinction of many +others, and the consequent divergence of character or increase of +difference among the surviving representatives, are other consequences. As +favored forms increase, the less favored must diminish in number, for there +is not room for all; and the slightest advantage, at first probably +inappreciable to human observation, must decide which shall prevail and +which must perish, or be driven to another and for it more favorable +locality. + +We cannot do justice to the interesting chapter upon natural selection by +separated extracts. The following must serve to show how the principle is +supposed to work: + + +"If during the long course of ages, and under varying conditions of life, +organic beings vary at all in the several parts of their organization, and +I think this cannot be disputed; if there be, owing to the high geometrical +powers of increase of each species, at some age, season, or year, a severe +struggle for life, and this certainly cannot be disputed: then, considering +the infinite complexity of the relations of all organic beings to each +other and to their conditions of existence, causing an infinite diversity +in structure, constitution, and habits, to be advantageous to them, I think +it would be a most extraordinary fact if no variation ever had occurred +useful to each being's own welfare, in the same way as so many variations +have occurred useful to man. But if variations useful to any organic being +do occur, assuredly individuals thus characterized will have the best +chance of being preserved in the struggle for life; and from the strong +principle of inheritance they will tend to produce offspring similarly +characterized. This principle of preservation I have called, for the sake +of brevity, Natural Selection."--(pp. 126, 127.) + + +"In order to make it clear how, as I believe, natural selection acts, I +must beg permission to give one or two imaginary illustrations. Let us take +the case of a wolf, which preys on various animals, securing some by craft, +some by strength, and some by fleetness; and let us suppose that the +fleetest prey, a deer for instance, had from any change in the country +increased in numbers, or that other prey had decreased in numbers, during +that season of the year when the wolf is hardest pressed for food. I can +under such circumstances see no reason to doubt that the swiftest and +slimmest wolves would have the best chance of surviving, and so be +preserved or selected--provided always that they retained strength to +master their prey at this or at some other period of the year, when they +might be compelled to prey on other animals. I can see no more reason to +doubt this than that man can improve the fleetness of his greyhounds by +careful and methodical selection, or by that unconscious selection which +results from each man trying to keep the best dogs without any thought of +modifying the breed. + +"Even without any change in the proportional numbers of the animals on +which our wolf preyed, a cub might be born with an innate tendency to +pursue certain kinds of prey. Nor can this be thought very improbable; for +we often observe great differences in the natural tendencies of our +domestic animals: one cat, for instance, taking to catching rats, another +mice; one cat, according to Mr. St. John, bringing home winged game, +another hares or rabbits, and another hunting on marshy ground!, and almost +nightly catching woodcocks or snipes. The tendency to catch rats rather +than mice is known to be inherited. Now, if any slight innate change of +habit or of structure benefited an individual wolf, it would have the best +chance of surviving and of leaving offspring. Some of its young would +probably inherit the same habits or structure, and by the repetition of +this process a new variety might be formed which would either supplant or +coexist with the parent-form of wolf. Or, again, the wolves inhabiting a +mountainous district, and those frequenting the lowlands, would naturally +be forced to hunt different prey; and from a continued preservation of the +individuals best fitted for the two sites, two varieties might slowly be +formed. These varieties would cross and blend where they met; but to this +subject of intercrossing we shall soon have to return. I may add that, +according to Mr. Pierce, there are two varieties of the wolf inhabiting the +Catskill Mountains in the United States, one with a light greyhound-like +form, which pursues deer, and the other more bulky, with shorter legs, +which more frequently attacks the shepherd's flock."--(pp. 90, 91.) + + +We eke out the illustration here with a counterpart instance, viz., the +remark of Dr. Bachman that "the deer that reside permanently in the swamps +of Carolina are taller and longer-legged than those in the higher grounds." +[I-10] + +The limits allotted to this article are nearly reached, yet only four of +the fourteen chapters of the volume have been touched. These, however, +contain the fundamental principles of the theory, and most of those +applications of it which are capable of something like verification, +relating as they do to the phenomena now occurring. Some of our extracts +also show how these principles are thought to have operated through the +long lapse of the ages. The chapters from the sixth to the ninth inclusive +are designed to obviate difficulties and objections, "some of them so grave +that to this day," the author frankly says, he "can never reflect on them +without being staggered." We do not wonder at it. After drawing what +comfort he can from "the imperfection of the geological record" (Chapter +IX), which we suspect is scarcely exaggerated, the author considers the +geological succession of organic beings (Chapter X), to see whether they +better accord with the common view of the immutability of species, or with +that of their slow and gradual modification. Geologists must settle that +question. Then follow two most interesting and able chapters on the +geographical distribution of plants and animals, the summary of which we +should be glad to cite; then a fitting chapter upon classification, +morphology, embryology, etc., as viewed in the light of this theory, closes +the argument; the fourteenth chapter being a recapitulation. + +The interest for the general reader heightens as the author advances on his +perilous way and grapples manfully with the most formidable difficulties. + +To account, upon these principles, for the gradual elimination and +segregation of nearly allied forms--such as varieties, sub-species, and +closely-related or representative species--also in a general way for their +geographical association and present range, is comparatively easy, is +apparently within the bounds of possibility. Could we stop here we should +be fairly contented. But, to complete the system, to carry out the +principles to their ultimate conclusion, and to explain by them many facts +in geographical distribution which would still remain anomalous, Mr. Darwin +is equally bound to account for the formation of genera, families, orders, +and even classes, by natural selection. He does "not doubt that the theory +of descent with modification embraces all the members of the same class," +and he concedes that analogy would press the conclusion still further; +while he admits that "the more distinct the forms are, the more the +arguments fall away in force." To command assent we naturally require +decreasing probability to be overbalanced by an increased weight of +evidence. An opponent might plausibly, and perhaps quite fairly, urge that +the links in the chain of argument are weakest just where the greatest +stress falls upon them. + +To which Mr. Darwin's answer is, that the best parts of the testimony have +been lost. He is confident that intermediate forms must have existed; that +in the olden times when the genera, the families, and the orders, diverged +from their parent stocks, gradations existed as fine as those which now +connect closely related species with varieties. But they have passed and +left no sign. The geological record, even if all displayed to view, is a +book from which not only many pages, but even whole alternate chapters, +have been lost out, or rather which were never printed from the autographs +of Nature. The record was actually made in fossil lithography only at +certain times and under certain conditions (i.e., at periods of slow +subsidence and places of abundant sediment); and of these records all but +the last volume is out of print; and of its pages only local glimpses have +been obtained. Geologists, except Lyell, will object to this--some of them +moderately, others with vehemence. Mr. Darwin himself admits, with a candor +rarely displayed on such occasions, that he should have expected more +geological evidence of transition than he finds, and that all the most +eminent paleontologists maintain the immutability of species. + +The general fact, however, that the fossil fauna of each period as a whole +is nearly intermediate in character between the preceding and the +succeeding faunas, is much relied on. We are brought one step nearer to the +desired inference by the similar "fact, insisted on by all paleontologists, +that fossils from two consecutive formations are far more closely related +to each other than are the fossils of two remote formations. Pictet gives a +well-known instance--the general resemblance of the organic remains from the +several stages of the chalk formation, though the species are distinct at +each stage. This fact alone, from its generality, seems to have shaken +Prof. Pictet in his firm belief in the immutability of species" (p. 335). +What Mr. Darwin now particularly wants to complete his inferential evidence +is a proof that the same gradation may be traced in later periods, say in +the Tertiary, and between that period and the present; also that the later +gradations are finer, so as to leave it doubtful whether the succession is +one of species--believed on the one theory to be independent, on the other, +derivative--or of varieties, which are confessedly derivative. The proof of +the finer gradation appears to be forthcoming. Des Hayes and Lyell have +concluded that many of the middle Tertiary and a large proportion of the +later Tertiary mollusca are specifically identical with living species; and +this is still the almost universally prevalent view. But Mr. Agassiz states +that, "in every instance where he had sufficient materials, he had found +that the species of the two epochs supposed to be identical by Des Hayes +and Lyell were in reality distinct, although closely allied species."[I-11] +Moreover, he is now satisfied, as we understand, that the same gradation is +traceable not merely in each great division of the Tertiary, but in +particular deposits or successive beds, each answering to a great number of +years; where what have passed unquestioned as members of one species, upon +closer examination of numerous specimens exhibit differences which in his +opinion entitle them to be distinguished into two, three, or more species. +It is plain, therefore, that whatever conclusions can be fairly drawn from +the present animal and vegetable kingdoms in favor of a gradation of +varieties into species, or into what may be regarded as such, the same may +be extended to the Tertiary period. In both cases, what some call species +others call varieties; and in the later Tertiary shells this difference in +judgment affects almost half of the species! + +We pass to a second difficulty in the way of Mr. Darwin's theory; to a case +where we are perhaps entitled to demand of him evidence of gradation like +that which connects the present with the Tertiary mollusca. Wide, very wide +is the gap, anatomically and physiologically (we do not speak of the +intellectual) between the highest quadrumana and man; and comparatively +recent, if ever, must the line have bifurcated. But where is there the +slightest evidence of a common progenitor? Perhaps Mr. Darwin would reply by +another question: where are the fossil remains of the men who made the +flint knives and arrowheads of the Somme Valley? + +We have a third objection, one, fortunately, which has nothing to do with +geology. We can only state it here in brief terms. The chapter on hybridism +is most ingenious, able, and instructive. If sterility of crosses is a +special original arrangement to prevent the confusion of species by +mingling, as is generally assumed, then, since varieties cross readily and +their offspring is fertile inter se, there is a fundamental distinction +between varieties and species. Mr. Darwin therefore labors to show that it +is not a special endowment, but an incidental acquirement. He does show that +the sterility of crosses is of all degrees; upon which we have only to say, +Natura non facit saltum, here any more than elsewhere. But, upon his theory +he is bound to show how sterility might be acquired, through natural +selection or through something else. And the difficulty is, that, whereas +individuals of the very same blood tend to be sterile, and somewhat remoter +unions diminish this tendency, and when they have diverged into two +varieties the cross-breeds between the two are more fertile than either pure +stock--yet when they have diverged only one degree more the whole tendency +is reversed, and the mongrel is sterile, either absolutely or relatively. +He who explains the genesis of species through purely natural agencies +should assign a natural cause for this remarkable result; and this Mr. +Darwin has not done. Whether original or derived, however, this arrangement +to keep apart those forms which have, or have acquired (as the case may be), +a certain moderate amount of difference, looks to us as much designed for +the purpose, as does a rachet to prevent reverse motion in a wheel. If +species have originated by divergence, this keeps them apart. + +Here let us suggest a possibly attainable test of the theory of derivation, +a kind of instance which Mr. Darwin may be fairly asked to produce--viz., +an instance of two varieties, or what may be assumed as such, which have +diverged enough to reverse the movement, to bring out some sterility in the +crosses. The best marked human races might offer the most likely case. If +mulattoes are sterile or tend to sterility, as some naturalists confidently +assert, they afford Mr. Darwin a case in point. If, as others think, no +such tendency is made out, the required evidence is wanting. + +A fourth and the most formidable difficulty is that of the production and +specialization of organs. + +It is well said that all organic beings have been formed on two great laws: +unity of type, and adaptation to the conditions of existence.[I-12] The +special teleologists, such as Paley, occupy themselves with the latter +only; they refer particular facts to special design, but leave an +overwhelming array of the widest facts inexplicable. The morphologists +build on unity of type, or that fundamental agreement in the structure of +each great class of beings which is quite independent of their habits or +conditions of life; which requires each individual "to go through a certain +formality," and to accept, at least for a time, certain organs, whether +they are of any use to him or not. Philosophical minds form various +conceptions for harmonizing the two views theoretically. Mr. Darwin +harmonizes and explains them naturally. Adaptation to the conditions of +existence is the result of natural selection; unity of type, of unity of +descent. Accordingly, as he puts his theory, he is bound to account for the +origination of new organs, and for their diversity in each great type, for +their specialization, and every adaptation of organ to function and of +structure to condition, through natural agencies. Whenever he attempts this +he reminds us of Lamarck, and shows us how little light the science of a +century devoted to structural investigation has thrown upon the mystery of +organization. Here purely natural explanations fail. The organs being given, +natural selection may account for some improvement; if given of a variety +of sorts or grades, natural selection might determine which should survive +and where it should prevail. + +On all this ground the only line for the theory to take is to make the most +of gradation and adherence to type as suggestive of derivation, and +unaccountable upon any other scientific view--deferring all attempts to +explain how such a metamorphosis was effected, until naturalists have +explained how the tadpole is metamorphosed into a frog, or one sort of +polyp into another. As to why it is so, the philosophy of efficient cause, +and even the whole argument from design, would stand, upon the admission of +such a theory of derivation, precisely where they stand without it. At +least there is, or need be, no ground of difference here between Darwin and +Agassiz. The latter will admit, with Owen and every morphologist, that +hopeless is the attempt to explain the similarity of pattern in members of +the same class by utility or the doctrine of final causes. "On the ordinary +view of the independent creation of each being, we can only say that so it +is, that it has so pleased the Creator to construct each animal and plant." +Mr. Darwin, in proposing a theory which suggests a how that harmonizes +these facts into a system, we trust implies that all was done wisely, in +the largest sense designedly, and by an intelligent first cause. The +contemplation of the subject on the intellectual side, the amplest +exposition of the unity of plan in creation, considered irrespective of +natural agencies, leads to no other conclusion. + +We are thus, at last, brought to the question, What would happen if the +derivation of species were to be substantiated, either as a true physical +theory, or as a sufficient hypothesis? What would come of it? The inquiry +is a pertinent one, just now. For, of those who agree with us in thinking +that Darwin has not established his theory of derivation many will admit +with us that he has rendered a theory of derivation much less improbable +than before; that such a theory chimes in with the established doctrines of +physical science, and is not unlikely to be largely accepted long before it +can be proved. Moreover, the various notions that prevail--equally among +the most and the least religious--as to the relations between natural +agencies or phenomena and efficient cause, are seemingly more crude, +obscure, and discordant, than they need be. + +It is not surprising that the doctrine of the book should be denounced as +atheistical. What does surprise and concern us is, that it should be so +denounced by a scientific man, on the broad assumption that a material +connection between the members of a series of organized beings is +inconsistent with the idea of their being intellectually connected with one +another through the Deity, i.e., as products of one mind, as indicating and +realizing a preconceived plan. An assumption the rebound of which is +somewhat fearful to contemplate, but fortunately one which every natural +birth protests against. + +It would be more correct to say that the theory in itself is perfectly +compatible with an atheistic view of the universe. That is true; but it is +equally true of physical theories generally. Indeed, it is more true of the +theory of gravitation, and of the nebular hypothesis, than of the +hypothesis in question. The latter merely takes up a particular, proximate +cause, or set of such causes, from which, it is argued, the present +diversity of species has or may have contingently resulted. The author does +not say necessarily resulted; that the actual results in mode and measure, +and none other, must have taken place. On the other hand, the theory of +gravitation and its extension in the nebular hypothesis assume a universal +and ultimate physical cause, from which the effects in Nature must +necessarily have resulted. Now, it is not thought, at least at the present +day, that the establishment of the Newtonian theory was a step toward +atheism or pantheism. Yet the great achievement of Newton consisted in +proving that certain forces (blind forces, so far as the theory is +concerned), acting upon matter in certain directions, must necessarily +produce planetary orbits of the exact measure and form in which observation +shows them to exist--a view which is just as consistent with eternal +necessity, either in the atheistic or the pantheistic form, as it is with +theism. + +Nor is the theory of derivation particularly exposed to the charge of the +atheism of fortuity; since it undertakes to assign real causes for +harmonious and systematic results. But, of this, a word at the close. + +The value of such objections to the theory of derivation may be tested by +one or two analogous cases. The common scientific as well as popular belief +is that of the original, independent creation of oxygen and hydrogen, iron, +gold, and the like. Is the speculative opinion now increasingly held, that +some or all of the supposed elementary bodies are derivative or compound, +developed from some preceding forms of matter, irreligious? Were the old +alchemists atheists as well as dreamers in their attempts to transmute +earth into gold? Or, to take an instance from force (power)--which stands +one step nearer to efficient cause than form--was the attempt to prove that +heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and even mechanical power, are +variations or transmutations of one force, atheistical in its tendency? The +supposed establishment of this view is reckoned as one of the greatest +scientific triumphs of this century. + +Perhaps, however, the objection is brought, not so much against the +speculation itself, as against the attempt to show how derivation might +have been brought about. Then the same objection applies to a recent +ingenious hypothesis made to account for the genesis of the chemical +elements out of the ethereal medium, and to explain their several atomic +weights and some other characteristics by their successive +complexity--hydrogen consisting of so many atoms of ethereal substance +united in a particular order, and so on. The speculation interested the +philosophers of the British Association, and was thought innocent, but +unsupported by facts. Surely Mr. Darwin's theory is none the worse, +morally, for having some foundation in fact. + +In our opinion, then, it is far easier to vindicate a theistic character +for the derivative theory, than to establish the theory itself upon +adequate scientific evidence. Perhaps scarcely any philosophical objection +can be urged against the former to which the nebular hypothesis is not +equally exposed. Yet the nebular hypothesis finds general scientific +acceptance, and is adopted as the basis of an extended and recondite +illustration in Mr. Agassiz's great work.[I-13] + +How the author of this book harmonizes his scientific theory with his +philosophy and theology, he has not informed us. Paley in his celebrated +analogy with the watch, insists that if the timepiece were so constructed +as to produce other similar watches, after a manner of generation in +animals, the argument from design would be all the stronger. What is to +hinder Mr. Darwin from giving Paley's argument a further a-fortiori +extension to the supposed case of a watch which sometimes produces better +watches, and contrivances adapted to successive conditions, and so at +length turns out a chronometer, a town clock, or a series of organisms of +the same type? From certain incidental expressions at the close of the +volume, taken in connection with the motto adopted from Whewell, we judge +it probable that our author regards the whole system of Nature as one which +had received at its first formation the impress of the will of its Author, +foreseeing the varied yet necessary laws of its action throughout the whole +of its existence, ordaining when and bow each particular of the stupendous +plan should be realized in effect, and--with Him to whom to will is to +do--in ordaining doing it, Whether profoundly philosophical or not, a view +maintained by eminent philosophical physicists and theologians, such as +Babbage on the one hand and Jowett on the other, will hardly be denounced +as atheism. Perhaps Mr. Darwin would prefer to express his idea in a more +general way, by adopting the thoughtful words of one of the most eminent +naturalists of this or any age, substituting the word action for "thought," +since it is the former (from which alone the latter can be inferred) that +he has been considering. "Taking Nature as exhibiting thought for my guide, +it appears to me that while human thought is consecutive, Divine thought is +simultaneous, embracing at the same time and forever, in the past, the +present and the future, the most diversified relations among hundreds of +thousands of organized beings, each of which may present complications +again, which to study and understand even imperfectly--as for instance man +himself-- mankind has already spent thousands of years."[I-14] In thus +conceiving of the Divine Power in act as coetaneous with Divine Thought, +and of both as far as may be apart from the human element of time, our +author may regard the intervention of the Creator either as, humanly +speaking, done from all time, or else as doing through all time. In the +ultimate analysis we suppose that every philosophical theist must adopt one +or the other conception. + +A perversion of the first view leads toward atheism, the notion of an +eternal sequence of cause and effect, for which there is no first cause--a +view which few sane persons can long rest in. The danger which may threaten +the second view is pantheism. We feel safe from either error, in our +profound conviction that there is order in the universe; that order +presupposes mind; design, will; and mind or will, personality. Thus +guarded, we much prefer the second of the two conceptions of causation, as +the more philosophical as well as Christian view--a view which leaves us +with the same difficulties and the same mysteries in Nature as in +Providence, and no other. Natural law, upon this view, is the human +conception of continued and orderly Divine action. + +We do not suppose that less power, or other power, is required to sustain +the universe and carry on its operations, than to bring it into being. So, +while conceiving no improbability of "interventions of Creative mind in +Nature," if by such is meant the bringing to pass of new and fitting events +at fitting times, we leave it for profounder minds to establish, if they +can, a rational distinction in kind between his working in Nature carrying +on operations, and in initiating those operations. + +We wished, under the light of such views, to examine more critically the +doctrine of this book, especially of some questionable parts; for instance, +its explanation of the natural development of organs, and its implication +of a "necessary acquirement of mental power" in the ascending scale of +gradation. But there is room only for the general declaration that we +cannot think the Cosmos a series which began with chaos and ends with mind, +or of which mind is a result: that, if, by the successive origination of +species and organs through natural agencies, the author means a series of +events which succeed each other irrespective of a continued directing +intelligence--events which mind does not order and shape to destined +ends--then he has not established that doctrine, nor advanced toward its +establishment, but has accumulated improbabilities beyond all belief. Take +the formation and the origination of the successive degrees of complexity +of eyes as a specimen. The treatment of this subject (pp. i88, 189), upon +one interpretation, is open to all the objections referred to; but, if, on +the other hand, we may rightly compare the eye "to a telescope, perfected +by the long-continued efforts of the highest human intellects," we could +carry out the analogy, and draw satisfactory illustrations and inferences +from it. The essential, the directly intellectual thing is the making of the +improvements in the telescope or the steam-engine. Whether the successive +improvements, being small at each step, and consistent with the general +type of the instrument, are applied to some of the individual machines, or +entire new machines are constructed for each, is a minor matter. Though, if +machines could engender, the adaptive method would be most economical; and +economy is said to be a paramount law in Nature. The origination of the +improvements, and the successive adaptations to meet new conditions or +subserve other ends, are what answer to the supernatural, and therefore +remain inexplicable. As to bringing them into use, though wisdom foresees +the result, the circumstances and the natural competition will take care of +that, in the long-run. The old ones will go out of use fast enough, except +where an old and simple machine remains still best adapted to a particular +purpose or condition--as, for instance, the old Newcomen engine for pumping +out coal-pits. If there's a Divinity that shapes these ends, the whole is +intelligible and reasonable; otherwise, not. + +We regret that the necessity of discussing philosophical questions has +prevented a fuller examination of the theory itself, and of the interesting +scientific points which are brought to bear in its favor. One of its +neatest points, certainly a very strong one for the local origination of +species, and their gradual diffusion under natural agencies, we must +reserve for some other convenient opportunity. + +The work is a scientific one, rigidly restricted to its direct object; and +by its science it must stand or fall. Its aim is, probably, not to deny +creative intervention in Nature--for the admission of the independent +origination of certain types does away with all antecedent improbability of +as much intervention as may be required--but to maintain that Natural +Selection, in explaining the facts, explains also many classes of facts +which thousand-fold repeated independent acts of creation do not explain, +but leave more mysterious than ever. How far the author has succeeded, the +scientific world will in due time be able to pronounce. + +As these sheets are passing through the press, a copy of the second edition +has reached us. We notice with pleasure the insertion of an additional +motto on the reverse of the title page, directly claiming the theistic view +which we have vindicated for the doctrine. Indeed, these pertinent words of +the eminently wise Bishop Butler comprise, in their simplest expression, +the whole substance of our later pages: + + +"The only distinct meaning of the word 'natural' is stated, fixed, or +settled; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an +intelligent mind to render it so, i.e., to effect it continually or at +stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for +once." + +II + +DESIGN VERSUS NECESSITY + +DISCUSSION BETWEEN TWO READERS +OF DARWIN'S TREATISE ON THE +ORIGIN OF SPECIES, UPON ITS +NATURAL THEOLOGY + +(American Journal of Science and Arts, September, 1860) + + +D.T.--Is Darwin's theory atheistic or pantheistic? or, does it tend to +atheism or pantheism? Before attempting any solution of this question, +permit me to say a few words tending to obtain a definite conception of +necessity and design, as the sources from which events may originate, each +independent of the other; and we shall, perhaps, best attain a clear +understanding of each, by the illustration of an example in which simple +human designers act upon the physical powers of common matter. + +Suppose, then, a square billiard-table to be placed with its corners +directed to the four cardinal points. Suppose a player, standing at the +north corner, to strike a red ball directly to the south, his design being +to lodge the ball in the south pocket; which design, if not interfered +with, must, of course be accomplished. Then suppose another player, +standing at the east corner, to direct a white ball to the west corner. This +design also, if not interfered with, must be accomplished. Next suppose both +players to strike their balls at the same instant, with like forces, in the +directions before given. In this case the balls would not pass as before, +namely, the red ball to the south, and the white ball to the west, but they +must both meet and strike each other in the centre of the table, and, being +perfectly elastic, the red ball must pass to the west pocket, and the white +ball to the south pocket. We may suppose that the players acted wholly +without concert with each other, indeed, they may be ignorant of each other' +s design, or even of each other's existence; still we know that the events +must happen as herein described. Now, the first half of the course of these +two balls is from an impulse, or proceeds from a power, acting from design. +Each player has the design of driving his ball across the table in a +diagonal line to accomplish its lodgment at the opposite corner of the +table. Neither designed that his ball should be deflected from that course +and pass to another corner of the table. The direction of this second part +of the motion must be referred entirely to necessity, which directly +interferes with the purpose of him who designed the rectilinear direction. +We are not, in this case, to go back to find design in the creation of the +powers or laws of inertia and elasticity, after the order of which the +deflection, at the instant of collision, necessarily takes place. We know +that these powers were inherent in the balls, and were not created to +answer this special deflection. We are required, by the hypothesis, to +confine attention in point of time, from the instant preceding the impact +of the balls, to the time of their arrival at the opposite corners of the +table. The cues aremoved by design. The impacts are acts from design. The +first half of the motion of each ball is under the direction of design. We +mean by this the particular design of each player. But, at the instant of +the collision of the balls upon each other, direction from design ceases, +and the balls no longer obey the particular designs of the players, the +ends or purposes intended by them are not accomplished, but frustrated, by +necessity, or by the necessary action of the powers of inertia and +elasticity, which are inherent in matter, and are not made by any design of +a Creator for this special action, or to serve this special purpose, but +would have existed in the materials of which the balls were made, although +the players had never been born. + +I have thus stated, by a simple example in physical action, what is meant +by design and what by necessity; and that the latter may exist without any +dependence upon the former. If I have given the statement with what may be +thought, by some, unnecessary prolixity, I have only to say that I have +found many minds to have a great difficulty in conceiving of necessity as +acting altogether independent of design. + +Let me now trace these principles as sources of action in Darwin's work or +theory. Let us see how much there is of design acting to produce a foreseen +end, and thus proving a reasoning and self-conscious Creator; and how much +of mere blind power acting without rational design, or without a specific +purpose or conscious foresight. Mr. Darwin has specified in a most clear +and unmistakable manner the operation of his three great powers, or rather, +the three great laws by which the organic power of life acts in the +formation of an eye. (See p. 169.) Following the method he has pointed out, +we will take a number of animals of the same species, in which the eye is +not developed. They may have all the other senses, with the organs of +nutrition, circulation, respiration, and locomotion. They all have a brain +and nerves, and some of these nerves may be sensitive to light; but have no +combination of retina, membranes, humors, etc., by which the distinct +image of an object may be formed and conveyed by the optic nerve to the +cognizance of the internal perception, or the mind. The animal in this case +would be merely sensible of the difference between light and darkness. He +would have no power of discriminating form, size, shape, or color, the +difference of objects, and to gain from these a knowledge of their being +useful or hurtful, friends or enemies. Up to this point there is no +appearance of necessity upon the scene. The billiard-balls have not yet +struck together, and we will suppose that none of the arguments that may be +used to prove, from this organism, thus existing, that it could not have +come into form and being without a creator acting to this end with +intelligence and design, are opposed by anything that can be found in +Darwin's theory; for, so far, Darwin's laws are supposed not to have come +into operation. Give the animals, thus organized, food and room, and they +may go on, from generation to generation, upon the same organic level. Those +individuals that, from natural variation, are born with light-nerves a +little more sensitive to light than their parents, will cross or interbreed +with those who have the same organs a little less sensitive, and thus the +mean standard will be kept up without any advancement. If our +billiard-table were sufficiently extensive, i. e., infinite, the balls +rolled from the corners would never meet, and the necessity which we have +supposed to deflect them would never act. + +The moment, however, that the want of space or food commences natural +selection begins. Here the balls meet, and all future action is governed by +necessity. The best forms, or those nerves most sensitive to light, +connected with incipient membranes and humors for corneas and lenses, are +picked out and preserved by natural selection, of necessity. All cannot +live and propagate, and it is a necessity, obvious to all, that the weaker +must perish, if the theory be true. Working on, in this way, through +countless generations, the eye is at last + + +55 + +formed in all its beauty and excellence. It must (always assuming that this +theory is true) result from this combined action of natural variation, the +struggle for life, and natural selection, with as much certainty as the +balls, after collision, must pass to corners of the table different from +those to which they were directed, and so far forth as the eye is formed by +these laws, acting upward from the nerve merely sensitive to light, we can +no more infer design, and from design a designer, than we can infer design +in the direction of the billiard-balls after the collision. Both are +sufficiently accounted for by blind powers acting under a blind necessity. +Take away the struggle for life from the one, and the collision of the +balls from the other--and neither of these was designed--and the animal +would have gone on without eyes. The balls would have found the corners of +the table to which they were first directed. + +While, therefore, it seems to me clear that one who can find no proof of +the existence of an intelligent Creator except through the evidence of +design in the organic world, can find no evidence of such design in the +construction of the eye, if it were constructed under the operation of +Darwin's laws, I shall not for one moment contend that these laws are +incompatible with design and a self-conscious, intelligent Creator. Such +design might, indeed, have coexisted with the necessity or natural +selection; and so the billiard-players might have designed the collision +of their balls; but neither the formation of the eye, nor the path of the +balls after collision, furnishes any sufficient proof of such design in +either case. + +One, indeed, who believes, from revelation or any other cause, in the +existence of such a Creator, the fountain and Source of all things in +heaven above and in the earth beneath, will see in natural variation, the +struggle for life, and natural selection, only the order or mode in which +this Creator, in his own perfect wisdom, sees fit to act. Happy is he who +can thus see and adore. But how many are there who have no such + + +56 + +belief from intuition, or faith in revelation; but who have by careful and +elaborate search in the physical, and more especially in the organic world, +inferred, by induction, the existence of God from what has seemed to them +the wonderful adaptation of the different organs and parts of the animal +body to its, apparently, designed ends! Imagine a mind of this skeptical +character, in all honesty and under its best reason, after finding itself +obliged to reject the evidence of revelation, to commence a search after +the Creator, in the light of natural theology. He goes through the proof for +final cause and design, as given in a summary though clear, plain, and +convincing form, in the pages of Paley and the "Bridgewater Treatises." The +eye and the hand, those perfect instruments of optical and mechanical +contrivance and adaptation, without the least waste or surplusage--these, +say Paley and Bell, certainly prove a designing maker as much as the palace +or the watch proves an architect or a watchmaker. Let this mind, in this +state, cross Darwin's work, and find that, after a sensitive nerve or a +rudimentary hoof or claw, no design is to be found. From this point upward +the development is the mere necessary result of natural selection; and let +him receive this law of natural selection as true, and where does he find +himself? Before, he could refer the existence of the eye, for example, only +to design, or chance. There was no other alternative. He rejected chance, +as impossible. + +It must then be a design. But Darwin brings up another power, namely, +natural selection, in place of this impossible chance. This not only may, +but, according to Darwin, must of necessity produce an eye. It may indeed +coexist with design, but it must exist and act and produce its results, +even without design. Will such a mind, under such circumstances, infer the +existence of the designer--God--when he can, at the same time, +satisfactorily account for the thing produced, by the operation of this +natural selection? It seems to me, therefore, perfectly evident + + +57 + + +that the substitution of natural selection, by necessity, for design in the +formation of the organic world, is a step decidedly atheistical. It is in +vain to say that Darwin takes the creation of organic life, in its simplest +forms, to have been the work of the Deity. In giving up design in these +highest and most complex forms of organization, which have always been +relied upon as the crowning proof of the existence of an intelligent +Creator, without whose intellectual power they could not have been brought +into being, he takes a most decided step to banish a belief in the +intelligent action of God from the organic world. The lower organisms will +go next. + +The atheist will say, Wait a little. Some future Darwin will show how the +simple forms came necessarily from inorganic matter. This is but another +step by which, according to Laplace, "the discoveries of science throw +final causes further back." + +A.G.--It is conceded that, if the two players in the supposed case were +ignorant of each other's presence, the designs of both were frustrated, and +from necessity. Thus far it is not needful to inquire whether this +necessary consequence is an unconditional or a conditioned necessity, nor +to require a more definite statement of the meaning attached to the word +necessity as a supposed third alternative. + +But, if the players knew of each other's presence, we could not infer from +the result that the design of both or of either was frustrated. One of them +may have intended to frustrate the other's design, and to effect his own. +Or both may have been equally conversant with the properties of the matter +and the relation of the forces concerned (whatever the cause, origin, or +nature, of these forces and properties), and the result may have been +according to the designs of both. + +As you admit that they might or might not have designed the collision of +their balls and its consequences the question arises whether there is any +way of ascertaining which of the +two conceptions we may form about it is the true one. Now, let it be +remarked that design can never be demonstrated. Witnessing the act does not +make known the design, as we have seen in the case assumed for the basis of +the argument. The word of the actor is not proof; and that source of +evidence is excluded from the cases in question. The only way left, and the +only possible way in cases where testimony is out of the question, is to +infer the design from the result, or from arrangements which strike us as +adapted or intended to produce a certain result, which affords a +presumption of design. The strength of this presumption may be zero, or an +even chance, as perhaps it is in the assumed case; but the probability of +design will increase with the particularity of the act, the specialty of +the arrangement or machinery, and with the number of identical or yet more +of similar and analogous instances, until it rises to a moral certainty--i. +e., to a conviction which practically we are as unable to resist as we are +to deny the cogency of a mathematical demonstration. A single instance, or +set of instances, of a comparatively simple arrangement might suffice. For +instance, we should not doubt that a pump was designed to raise water by +the moving of the handle. Of course, the conviction is the stronger, or at +least the sooner arrived at, where we can imitate the arrangement, and +ourselves produce the result at will, as we could with a pump, and also with +the billiard-balls. + +And here I would suggest that your billiard-table, with the case of +collision, answers well to a machine. In both a result is produced by +indirection--by applying a force out of line of the ultimate direction. +And, as I should feel as confident that a man intended to raise water who +was working a pumphandle, as if he were bringing it up in pailfuls from +below by means of a ladder, so, after due examination of the billiard-table +and its appurtenances, I should probably think it likely that the effect of +the rebound was expected and intended no less than that of the immediate +impulse. And a similar inspection of arrangements and results in Nature +would raise at least an equal presumption of design. + +You allow that the rebound might have been intended, but you require proof +that it was. We agree that a single such instance affords no evidence +either way. But how would it be if you saw the men doing the same thing +over and over? and if they varied it by other arrangements of the balls or +of the blow, and these were followed by analogous results? How if you at +length discovered a profitable end of the operation, say the winning of a +wager? So in the counterpart case of natural selection: must we not infer +intention from the arrangements and the results? But I will take another +case of the very same sort, though simpler, and better adapted to +illustrate natural selection; because the change of direction--your +necessity--acts gradually or successively, instead of abruptly. +Suppose I hit a man standing obliquely in my rear, by throwing forward a +crooked stick, called a boomerang. How could he know whether the blow was +intentional or not? But suppose I had been known to throw boomerangs +before; suppose that, on different occasions, I had before wounded persons +by the same, or other indirect and apparently aimless actions; and suppose +that an object appeared to be gained in the result--that definite ends were +attained--would it not at length be inferred that my assault, though +indirect, or apparently indirect, was designed? + +To make the case more nearly parallel with those it is brought to +illustrate, you have only to suppose that, although the boomerang thrown by +me went forward to a definite place, and at least appeared to subserve a +purpose, and the bystanders, after a while, could get traces of the mode or +the empirical law of its flight, yet they could not themselves do anything +with it. It was quite beyond their power to use it. Would they doubt, or +deny my intention, on that account? No: they would insist that design on my +part must be presumed from the nature of the results; that, though design +may have been wanting in any one case, yet the repetition of the result, +and from different positions and under varied circumstances, showed that +there must have been design. + +Moreover, in the way your case is stated, it seems to concede the most +important half of the question, and so affords a presumption for the rest, +on the side of design. For you seem to assume an actor, a designer, +accomplishing his design in the first instance. You--a bystander--infer +that the player effected his design in sending the first ball to the pocket +before him. You infer this from observation alone. Must you not from a +continuance of the same observation equally infer a common design of the two +players in the complex result, or a design of one of them to frustrate the +design of the other? If you grant a designing actor, the presumption of +design is as strong, or upon continued observation of instances soon +becomes as strong, in regard to the deflection of the balls, or variation +of the species, as it was for the result of the first impulse or for the +production of the original animal, etc. + +But, in the case to be illustrated, we do not see the player. We see only +the movement of the balls. Now, if the contrivances and adaptations +referred to really do "prove a designer as much as the palace or the watch +proves an architect or a watchmaker"--as Paley and Bell argue, and as your +skeptic admits, while the alternative is between design and chance--then +they prove it with all the proof the case is susceptible of, and with +complete conviction. For we cannot doubt that the watch had a watchmaker. +And if they prove it on the supposition that the unseen operator acted +immediately--i.e., that the player directly impelled the balls in the +directions we see them moving, I insist that this proof is not impaired by +our ascertaining that he acted mediately--i.e., that the present state or +form of the plants or animals, like the present position of the +billiard-balls, resulted from the collision of the individuals with one +another, or with the surroundings. The original impulse, which we once +supposed was in the line of the observed movement, only proves to have been +in a different direction; but the series of movements took place with a +series of results, each and all of them none the less determined, none the +less designed. + +Wherefore, when, at the close, you quote Laplace, that "the discoveries of +science throw final causes farther back," the most you can mean is, that +they constrain us to look farther back for the impulse. They do not at all +throw the argument for design farther back, in the sense of furnishing +evidence or presumption that only the primary impulse was designed, and +that all the rest followed from chance or necessity. + +Evidence of design, I think you will allow, everywhere is drawn from the +observation of adaptations and of results, and has really nothing to do with +anything else, except where you can take the word for the will. And in that +case you have not argument for design, but testimony. In Nature we have no +testimony; but the argument is overwhelming. + +Now, note that the argument of the olden time--that of Paley, etc., which +your skeptic found so convincing--was always the argument for design in the +movement of the balls after deflection. For it was drawn from animals +produced by generation, not by creation, and through a long succession of +generations or deflections. Wherefore, if the argument for design is +perfect in the case of an animal derived from a long succession of +individuals as nearly alike as offspring is generally like parents and +grandparents, and if this argument is not weakened when a variation, or +series of variations, has occurred in the course, as great as any +variations we know of among domestic cattle, how then is it weakened by the +supposition, or by the likelihood, that the variations have been twice or +thrice as great as we formerly supposed, or because the variations have been +"picked out," and a few of them pre served as breeders of still other +variations, by natural selection? + +Finally let it be noted that your element of necessity has to do, so far as +we know, only with the picking out and preserving of certain changing +forms, i. e., with the natural selection. This selection, you may say, must +happen under the circumstances. This is a necessary result of the collision +of the balls; and these results can be predicted. If the balls strike so +and so, they will be deflected so and so. But the variation itself is of +the nature of an origination. It answers well to the original impulse of the +balls, or to a series of such impulses. We cannot predict what particular +new variation will occur from any observation of the past. Just as the +first impulse was given to the balls at a point out of sight, so the +impulse which resulted in the variety or new form was given at a point +beyond observation, and is equally mysterious or unaccountable, except on +the supposition of an ordaining will. The parent had not the peculiarity of +the variety, the progeny has. Between the two is the dim or obscure region +of the formation of a new individual, in some unknown part of which, and in +some wholly unknown way, the difference is intercalated. To introduce +necessity here is gratuitous and unscientific; but here you must have it to +make your argument valid. + +I agree that, judging from the past, it is not improbable that variation +itself may be hereafter shown to result from physical causes. When it is so +shown, you may extend your necessity into this region, but not till then. +But the whole course of scientific discovery goes to assure us that the +discovery of the cause of variation will be only a resolution of variation +into two factors: one, the immediate secondary cause of the changes, which +so far explains them; the other an unresolved or unexplained phenomenon, +which will then stand just where the product, variation, stands now, only +that it will be one step nearer to the efficient cause. This line of +argument appears to me so convincing, that I am bound to suppose that it +does not meet your case. Although you introduced players to illustrate what +design is, it is probable that you did not intend, and would not accept, +the parallel which your supposed case suggested. When you declare that the +proof of design in the eye and the hand, as given by Paley and Bell, was +convincing, you mean, of course, that it was convincing, so long as the +question was between design and chance, but that now another alternative is +offered, one which obviates the force of those arguments, and may account +for the actual results without design. I do not clearly apprehend this +third alternative. + +Will you be so good, then, as to state the grounds upon which you conclude +that the supposed proof of design from the eye, or the hand, as it stood +before Darwin's theory was promulgated, would be invalidated by the +admission of this new theory? + +D.T.--As I have ever found you, in controversy, meeting the array of your +opponent fairly and directly, without any attempt to strike the body of his +argument through an unguarded joint in the phraseology, I was somewhat +surprised at the course taken in your answer to my statement on Darwin's +theory. You there seem to suppose that I instanced the action of the +billiard balls and players as a parallel, throughout, to the formation of +the organic world. Had it occurred to me that such an application might be +supposed to follow legitimately from my introduction of this action, I +should certainly have stated that I did not intend, and should by no means +accede to, that construction. My purpose in bringing the billiard-table +upon the scene was to illustrate, by example, design and necessity, as +different and independent sources from which results, it might indeed be +identical results, may be derived All the conclusions, therefore, that you +have arrived at through this misconception or misapplication of my +illustration, I cannot take as an answer to the matter stated or intended +to be stated by me. Again, following this misconception, you suppose the +skeptic (instanced by me as revealing through the evidence of design, +exhibited in the structure of the eye, for its designer, God) as bringing to +the examination a belief in the existence of design in the construction of +the animals as they existed up to the moment when the eye was, according to +my supposition, added to the heart, stomach, brain, etc. By skeptic I, of +course, intended one who doubted the existence of design in every organic +structure, or at least required proof of such design. Now, as the watch may +be instanced as a more complete exhibition of design than a flint knife or +an hour-glass, I selected, after the example of Paley, the eye, as +exhibiting by its complex but harmonious arrangements a higher evidence of +design and a designer than is to be found in a nerve sensitive to light, or +any mere rudimentary part or organ. I could not mean by skeptic one who +believed in design so far as a claw, or a nerve sensitive to light, was +concerned, but doubted all above. For one who believes in design at all +will not fail to recognize it in a hand or an eye. But I need not extend +these remarks, as you acknowledge in the sequel to your argument that you +may not have suited it to the case as I have stated it. + +You now request me to "state the grounds upon which I conclude that the +supposed proof of design from the eye and the hand, as it stood before +Darwin's theory was promulgated, is invalidated by the admission of that +theory." It seems to me that a sufficient answer to this question has +already been made in the last part of my former paper; but, as you request +it, I will go over the leading points as there given, with more minuteness +of detail. + +Let us, then, suppose a skeptic, one who is yet considering and doubting of +the existence of God, having already concluded that the testimony from any +and all revelation is insufficient, and having rejected what is called the +a priori arguments brought forward in natural theology, and pertinaciously +insisted upon by Dr. Clark and others, turning as a last resource to the +argument from design in the organic world. Voltaire tells him that a palace +could not exist without an architect to design it. Dr. Paley tells him +that a watch proves the design of a watchmaker. He thinks this very +reasonable, and, although he sees a difference between the works of Nature +and those of mere human art, yet if he can find in any organic body, or +part of a body, the same adaptation to its use that he finds in a watch, +this truth will go very far toward proving, if it is not entirely +conclusive, that, in making it, the powers of life by which it grew were +directed by an intelligent, reasoning master. Under the guidance of Paley he +takes an eye, which, although an optical, and not a mechanical instrument +like the watch, is as well adapted to testify to design. He sees, first, +that the eye is transparent when every other part of the body is opaque. +Was this the result of a mere Epicurean or Lucretian "fortuitous concourse" +of living "atoms"? He is not yet certain it might not be so. Next he sees +that it is spherical, and that this convex form alone is capable of changing +the direction of the light which proceeds from a distant body, and of +collecting it so as to form a distinct image within its globe. Next he sees +at the exact place where this image must be formed a curtain of nerve-work, +ready to receive and convey it, or excite from it, in its own mysterious +way, an idea of it in the mind. Last of all, he comes to the crystalline +lens. Now, he has before learned that without this lens an eye would by the +aqueous and Vitreous humors alone form an image upon the retina, but this +image would be indistinct from the light not being sufficiently refracted, +and likewise from having a colored fringe round its edges. This last effect +is attributable to the refrangibility of light, that is, to some of the +colors being more refracted than others. He likewise knows that more than a +hundred years ago Mr. Dollond having found out, after many experiments, +that some kinds of glass have the power of dispersing light, for each degree +of its refraction, much more than other kinds, and that on the discovery of +this fact he contrived to make telescopes in which he passed the light +through two object-glasses successively, one of which he made of crown and +one of flint glass, so ground and adapted to each other that the greater +dispersion produced by the substance of one should be corrected by the +smaller dispersion of the other. This contrivance corrected entirely the +colored images which had rendered all previous telescopes very imperfect. He +finds in this invention all the elements of design, as it appeared in the +thought and action of a human designer. First, conjecture of certain laws +or facts in optics. Then, experiment proving these laws or facts. Then, the +contrivance and formation of an instrument by which those laws or facts +must produce a certain sought result. + +Thus enlightened, our skeptic turns to his crystalline lens to see if he +can discover the work of a Dollond in this. Here he finds that an eye, +having a crystalline lens placed between the humors, not only refracts the +light more than it would be refracted by the humors alone, but that, in +this combination of humors and lens, the colors are as completely corrected +as in the combination of Dollond's telescope. Can it be that there was no +design, no designer, directing the powers of life in the formation of this +wonderful organ? Our skeptic is aware that, in the arts of man, great aid +has been, sometimes, given by chance, that is, by the artist or workman +observing some fortuitous combination, form, or action, around him. He has +heard it said that the chance arrangement of two pairs of spectacles, in +the shop of a Dutch optician, gave the direction + + +67 + +for constructing the first telescope. Possibly, in time, say a few +geological ages, it might in some optician's shop have brought about a +combination of flint and crown glass which, together, should have been +achromatic. But the space between the humors of the eye is not an optician' +s shop where object-glasses of all kinds, shapes, and sizes, are placed by +chance, in all manner of relations and positions. On the hypothesis under +which our skeptic is making his examination--the eye having been completed +in all but the formation of the lens--the place which the lens occupies +when completed was filled with parts of the humors and plane membrane, +homogeneous in texture and surface, presenting, therefore, neither the +variety of the materials nor forms which are contained in the optician's +shop for chance to make its combinations with. How, then, could it be cast +of a combination not before used, and fashioned to a shape different from +that before known, and placed in exact combination with all the parts +before enumerated, with many others not even mentioned? He sees no +parallelism of condition, then, by which chance could act in forming a +crystalline lens, which answers to the condition of an optician's shop, +where it might be possible in many ages for chance to combine existing forms +into an achromatic object-glass. + +Considering, therefore, the eye thus completed and placed in its bony case +and provided with its muscles, its lids, its tear-ducts, and all its other +elaborate and curious appendages, and, a thousand times more wonderful +still, without being encumbered with a single superfluous or useless part, +can he say that this could be the work of chance? The improbability of this +is so great, and consequently the evidence of design is so strong, that he +is about to seal his verdict in favor of design, when he opens Mr. Darwin's +book. +There he finds that an eye is no more than a vital aggregation or growth, +directed, not by design nor chance, but moulded by natural variation and +natural selection, through which it must, necessarily, have been developed +and formed. Particles or atoms being aggregated by the blind powers of +life, must become under the given conditions, by natural variation and +natural selection, eyes, without design, as certainly as the red +billiard-ball went to the west pocket, by the powers of inertia and +elasticity, without the design of the hand that put it in motion. (See +Darwin, p. 169.) + +Let us lay before our skeptic the way in which we may suppose that Darwin +would trace the operation of life, or the vital force conforming to these +laws. In doing this we need not go through with the formation of the +several membranes, humors, etc., but take the crystalline lens as the most +curious and nicely arranged and adapted of all the parts, and as giving, +moreover, a close parallel, in the end produced, to that produced by +design, by a human designer, Dollond, in forming his achromatic +object-glass. If it can be shown that natural variation and natural +selection were capable of forming the crystalline lens, it will not be +denied that they were capable of forming the iris, the sclerotica, the +aqueous humors, or any and all the other parts. Suppose, then, that we have +a number of animals, with eyes yet wanting the crystalline. In this state +the animals can see, but dimly and imperfectly, as a man sees after having +been couched. Some of the offspring of these animals have, by natural +variation, merely a portion of the membrane which separates the aqueous +from the vitreous humor a little thickened in its middle part, a little +swelled out. This refracts the light a little more than it would be +refracted by a membrane in which no such swelling existed, and not only so, +but, in combination with the humors, it corrects the errors of dispersion +and makes the image somewhat more colorless. All the young animals that +have this swelled membrane see more distinctly than their parents or +brethren. They, therefore, have an advantage over them in the struggle for +life. They can obtain food more easily; can find their prey, and escape +from their enemies with greater facility than their kindred. This thickening +and rounding of the membrane goes on from generation to generation by +natural variation; natural selection all the while "picking out with +unerring skill all the improvements, through countless generations," until +at length it is found that the membrane has become a perfect crystalline +lens. Now, where is the design in all this? The membrane was not thickened +and rounded to the end that the image should be more distinct and colorless; +but, being thickened and rounded by the operation of natural variation, +inherent in generation, natural selection of necessity produced the result +that we have seen. The same result was thus produced of necessity, in the +eye, that Dollond came at, in the telescope, with design, through painful +guessing, reasoning, experimenting, and forming. + +Suppose our skeptic to believe in all this power of natural selection; will +he now seal up his verdict for design, with the same confidence that he +would before he heard of Darwin? If not, then "the supposed proof from +design is invalidated by Darwin's theory." + +A.G.--Waiving incidental points and looking only to the gist of the +question, I remark that the argument for design as against chance, in the +formation of the eye, is most convincingly stated in your argument. Upon +this and upon numerous similar arguments the whole question we are +discussing turns. So, if the skeptic was about to seal his verdict in favor +of design, and a designer, when Darwin's book appeared, why should his +verdict now be changed or withheld? All the facts about the eye, which +convinced him that the organ was designed, remain just as they were. His +conviction was not produced through testimony or eyewitness, but design was +irresistibly inferred from the evidence of contrivance in the eye itself. + +Now, if the eye as it is, or has become, so convincingly argued design why +not each particular step or part of this result? If the production of a +perfect crystalline lens in the eye--you know not how--as much indicated +design as did the production of a Dollond achromatic lens--you understand +how--then why does not "the swelling out" of a particular portion of the +membrane behind the iris--caused you know not how--which, by "correcting +the errors of dispersion and making the image somewhat more colorless," +enabled the "young animals to see more distinctly than their parents or +brethren," equally indicate design--if not as much as a perfect +crystalline, or a Dollond compound lens, yet as much as a common +spectacle-glass? +Darwin only assures you that what you may have thought was done directly and +at once was done indirectly and successively. But you freely admit that +indirection and succession do not invalidate design, and also that Paley +and all the natural theologians drew the arguments which convinced your +skeptic wholly from eyes indirectly or naturally produced. + +Recall a woman of a past generation and show her a web of cloth; ask her +how it was made, and she will say that the wool or cotton was carded, spun, +and woven by hand. When you tell her it was not made by manual labor, that +probably no hand has touched the materials throughout the process, it is +possible that she might at first regard your statement as tantamount to the +assertion that the cloth was made without design. If she did, she would not +credit your statement. If you patiently explained to her the theory of +carding-machines, spinning-jennies, and power-looms, would her reception of +your explanation weaken her conviction that the cloth was the result of +design? It is certain that she would believe in design as firmly as before, +and that this belief would be attended by a higher conception and reverent +admiration of a wisdom, skill, and power greatly beyond anything she had +previously conceived possible. + +Wherefore, we may insist that, for all that yet appears, the argument for +design, as presented by the natural theologians, is just as good now, if we +accept Darwin's theory, as it was before that theory was promulgated; and +that the skeptical juryman, who was about to join the other eleven in a +unanimous verdict in favor of design, finds no good excuse for keeping the +court longer waiting.[II-1] + + + +III + +NATURAL SELECTION + +NOT INCONSISTENT WITH + +NATURAL THEOLOGY + +(Atlantic Monthly for July, August, and October, 1860, reprinted in 1861) + + +I + + +Novelties are enticing to most people; to us they are simply annoying. We +cling to a long-accepted theory, just as we cling to an old suit of +clothes. A new theory, like a new pair of breeches (the Atlantic still +affects the older type of nether garment), is sure to have hard-fitting +places; or, even when no particular fault can be found with the article, it +oppresses with a sense of general discomfort. New notions and new styles +worry us, till we get well used to them, which is only by slow degrees. + +Wherefore, in Galileo's time, we might have helped to proscribe, or to +burn--had he been stubborn enough to warrant cremation--even the great +pioneer of inductive research; although, when we had fairly recovered our +composure, and bad leisurely excogitated the matter, we might have come to +conclude that the new doctrine was better than the old one, after all, at +least for those who had nothing to unlearn. + +Such being our habitual state of mind, it may well be believed that the +perusal of the new book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural +Selection" left an uncomfortable impression, in spite of its plausible and +winning ways. We were not wholly unprepared for it, as many of our +contemporaries seem to have been. The scientific reading in which we +indulge as a relaxation from severer studies had raised dim forebodings. +Investigations about the succession of species in time, and their actual +geographical distribution over the earth's surface, were leading up from all +sides and in various ways to the question of their origin. Now and then we +encountered a sentence, like Prof. Owen's "axiom of the continuous +operation of the ordained becoming of living things," which haunted us like +an apparition. For, dim as our conception must needs be as to what such +oracular and grandiloquent phrases might really mean, we felt confident that +they presaged no good to old beliefs. Foreseeing, yet deprecating, the +coming time of trouble, we still hoped that, with some repairs and +makeshifts, the old views might last out our days. Apres nous le deluge. +Still, not to lag behind the rest of the world, we read the book in which +the new theory is promulgated. We took it up, like our neighbors, and, as +was natural, in a somewhat captious frame of mind. + +Well, we found no cause of quarrel with the first chapter. Here the author +takes us directly to the barn-yard and the kitchen-garden. Like an +honorable rural member of our General Court, who sat silent until, near the +close of a long session, a bill requiring all swine at large to wear pokes +was introduced, when he claimed the privilege of addressing the house, on +the proper ground that he had been "brought up among the pigs, and knew all +about them"--so we were brought up among cows and cabbages; and the lowing +of cattle, the cackle of hens, and the cooing of pigeons, were sounds native +and pleasant to our ears. So "Variation under Domestication" dealt with +familiar subjects in a natural way, and gently introduced "Variation under +Nature," which seemed likely enough. Then follows "Struggle for +Existence"--a principle which we experimentally know to be true and +cogent--bringing the comfortable assurance, that man, even upon Leviathan +Hobbes's theory of society, is no worse than the rest of creation, since all +Nature is at war, one species with another, and the nearer kindred the more +internecine--bringing in thousandfold confirmation and extension of the +Malthusian doctrine that population tends far to outrun means of +subsistence throughout the animal and vegetable world, and has to be kept +down by sharp preventive checks; so that not more than one of a hundred or a +thousand of the individuals whose existence is so wonderfully and so +sedulously provided for ever comes to anything, under ordinary +circumstances; so the lucky and the strong must prevail, and the weaker and +ill-favored must perish; and then follows, as naturally as one sheep +follows another, the chapter on "Natural Selection," Darwin's cheval de +bataille, which is very much the Napoleonic doctrine that Providence favors +the strongest battalions--that, since many more individuals are born than +can possibly survive, those individuals and those variations which possess +any advantage, however slight, over the rest, are in the long-run sure to +survive, to propagate, and to occupy the limited field, to the exclusion or +destruction of the weaker brethren. All this we pondered, and could not +much object to. In fact, we began to contract a liking for a system which at +the outset illustrates the advantages of good breeding, and which makes the +most "of every creature's best." + +Could we "let by-gones be by-gones," and, beginning now, go on improving +and diversifying for the future by natural selection, could we even take up +the theory at the introduction of the actually existing species, we should +be well content; and so, perhaps, would most naturalists be. It is by no +means difficult to believe that varieties are incipient or possible +species, when we see what trouble naturalists, especially botanists, have +to distinguish between them--one regarding as a true species what another +regards as a variety; when the progress of knowledge continually increases, +rather than diminishes, the number of doubtful instances; and when there is +less agreement than ever among naturalists as to what is the basis in +Nature upon which our idea of species reposes, or how the word is to be +defined. Indeed, when we consider the endless disputes of naturalists and +ethnologists over the human races, as to whether they belong to one species +or to more, and, if to more, whether to three, or five, or fifty, we can +hardly help fancying that both may be right--or rather, that the +uni-humanitarians would have been right many thousand years ago, and the +multi-humanitarians will be several thousand years later; while at present +the safe thing to say is, that probably there is some truth on both sides. + +"Natural selection," Darwin remarks, "leads to divergence of character; for +the more living beings can be supported on the same area, the more they +diverge in structure, habits, and constitution" (a principle which, +by-the-way, is paralleled and illustrated by the diversification of human +labor); and also leads to much extinction of intermediate or unimproved +forms. Now, though this divergence may "steadily tend to increase," yet +this is evidently a slow process in Nature, and liable to much counteraction +wherever man does not interpose, and so not likely to work much harm for +the future. And if natural selection, with artificial to help it, will +produce better animals and better men than the present, and fit them better +to the conditions of existence, why, let it work, say we, to the top of its +bent There is still room enough for improvement. Only let us hope that it +always works for good: if not, the divergent lines on Darwin's lithographic +diagram of "Transmutation made Easy," ominously show what small deviations +from the straight path may come to in the end. + +The prospect of the future, accordingly, is on the whole pleasant and +encouraging. It is only the backward glance, the gaze up the long vista of +the past, that reveals anything alarming. Here the lines converge as they +recede into the geological ages, and point to conclusions which, upon the +theory, are inevitable, but hardly welcome. The very first step backward +makes the negro and the Hottentot our blood-relations--not that reason or +Scripture objects to that, though pride may. The next suggests a closer +association of our ancestors of the olden time with "our poor relations" of +the quadrumanous family than we like to acknowledge. Fortunately, +however--even if we must account for him scientifically --man with his two +feet stands upon a foundation of his own. Intermediate links between the +Bimana and the Quadrumana are lacking altogether; so that, put the +genealogy of the brutes upon what footing you will, the four-handed races +will not serve for our forerunners--at least, not until some monkey, live +or fossil, is producible with great-toes, instead of thumbs, upon his nether +extremities; or until some lucky geologist turns up the bones of his +ancestor and prototype in France or England, who was so busy "napping the +chuckie-stanes" and chipping out flint knives and arrow-heads in the time +of the drift, very many ages ago--before the British Channel existed, says +Lyell [III-1]--and until these men of the olden time are shown to have worn +their great-toes in the divergent and thumblike fashion. That would be +evidence indeed: but, until some testimony of the sort is produced, we must +needs believe in the separate and special creation of man, however it may +have been with the lower animals and with plants. + +No doubt, the full development and symmetry of Darwin's hypothesis strongly +suggest the evolution of the human no less than the lower animal races out +of some simple primordial animal--that all are equally "lineal descendants +of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian +system was deposited." But, as the author speaks disrespectfully of +spontaneous generation, and accepts a supernatural beginning of life on +earth, in some form or forms of being which included potentially all that +have since existed and are yet to be, he is thereby not warranted to extend +his inferences beyond the evidence or the fair probability. There seems as +great likelihood that one special origination should be followed by another +upon fitting occasion (such as the introduction of man), as that one form +should be transmuted into another upon fitting occasion, as, for instance, +in the succession of species which differ from each other only in some +details. To compare small things with great in a homely illustration: man +alters from time to time his instruments or machines, as new circumstances +or conditions may require and his wit suggest. Minor alterations and +improvements he adds to the machine he possesses; he adapts a new rig or a +new rudder to an old boat: this answers to Variation. "Like begets like," +being the great rule in Nature, if boats could engender, the variations +would doubtless be propagated, like those of domestic cattle. In course of +time the old ones would be worn out or wrecked; the best sorts would be +chosen for each particular use, and further improved upon; and so the +primordial boat be developed into the scow, the skiff, the sloop, and other +species of water-craft--the very diversification, as well as the successive +improvements, entailing the disappearance of intermediate forms, less +adapted to any one particular purpose; wherefore these go slowly out of +use, and become extinct species: this is Natural Selection. Now, let a great +and important advance be made, like that of steam navigation: here, though +the engine might be added to the old vessel, yet the wiser and therefore +the actual way is to make a new vessel on a modified plan: this may answer +to Specific Creation. Anyhow, the one does not necessarily exclude the +other. Variation and natural selection may play their part, and so may +specific creation also. Why not? + +This leads us to ask for the reasons which call for this new theory of +transmutation. The beginning of things must needs lie in obscurity, beyond +the bounds of proof, though within those of conjecture or of analogical +inference. Why not hold fast to the customary view, that all species were +directly, instead of indirectly, created after their respective kinds, as +we now behold them--and that in a manner which, passing our comprehension, +we intuitively refer to the supernatural? Why this continual striving after +"the unattained and dim?" why these anxious endeavors, especially of late +years, by naturalists and philosophers of various schools and different +tendencies, to penetrate what one of them calls "that mystery of +mysteries," the origin of species? + +To this, in general, sufficient answer may be found in the activity of the +human intellect, "the delirious yet divine desire to know," stimulated as +it has been by its own success in unveiling the laws and processes of +inorganic Nature; in the fact that the principal triumphs of our age in +physical science have consisted in tracing connections where none were +known before, in reducing heterogeneous phenomena to a common cause or +origin, in a manner quite analogous to that of the reduction of supposed +independently originated species to a common ultimate origin--thus, and in +various other ways, largely and legitimately extending the domain of +secondary causes. Surely the scientific mind of an age which contemplates +the solar system as evolved from a common revolving fluid mass--which, +through experimental research, has come to regard light, heat, electricity, +magnetism, chemical affinity, and mechanical power as varieties or +derivative and convertible forms of one force, instead of independent +species--which has brought the so-called elementary kinds of matter, such +as the metals, into kindred groups, and pertinently raised the question, +whether the members of each group may not be mere varieties of one +species--and which speculates steadily in the direction of the ultimate +unity of matter, of a sort of prototype or simple element which may be to +the ordinary species of matter what the Protozoa or what the component +cells of an organism are to the higher sorts of animals and plants--the +mind of such an age cannot be expected to let the old belief about species +pass unquestioned. It will raise the question, how the diverse sorts of +plants and animals came to be as they are and where they are and will allow +that the whole inquiry transcends its powers only when all endeavors have +failed Granting the origin to be super natural or miraculous even, will not +arrest the inquiry All real origination the philosophers will say, is +supernatural, their very question is, whether we have yet gone back to the +origin and can affirm that the present forms of plants and animals are the +primordial, the miraculously created ones. And, even if they admit that, +they will still inquire into the order of the phenomena, into the form of +the miracle You might as well expect the child to grow up content with what +it is told about the advent of its infant brother Indeed, to learn that the +new comer is the gift of God, far from lulling inquiry, only stimulates +speculation as to how the precious gift was bestowed That questioning child +is father to the man--is philosopher in short-clothes. + +Since, then questions about the origin of species will be raised, and have +been raised--and since the theorizings, however different in particulars, +all proceed upon the notion that one species of plant or animal is somehow +derived from another, that the different sorts which now flourish are +lineal (or unlineal) descendants of other and earlier sorts--it now +concerns us to ask, What are the grounds in Nature, the admitted facts, +which suggest hypotheses of derivation in some :shape or other? Reasons +there must be, and plausible ones, for the persistent recurrence of +theories upon this genetic basis. A study of Darwin's book, and a general +glance at the present state of the natural sciences, enable us to gather +the following as among the most suggestive and influential. We can only +enumerate them here, without much indication of their particular bearing. +There is-- + +1. The general fact of variability, and the general tendency of the variety +to propagate its like--the patent facts that all species vary more or less; +that domesticated plants and animals, being in conditions favorable to the +production and preservation of varieties, are apt to vary widely; and that, +by interbreeding, any variety may be fixed into a race, that is, into a +variety which comes true from seed. Many such races, it is allowed, differ +from each other in structure and appearance as widely as do many admitted +species; and it is practically very difficult, even impossible, to draw a +clear line between races and species. Witness the human races, for +instance. Wild species also vary, perhaps about as widely as those of +domestication, though in different ways. Some of them apparently vary +little, others moderately, others immoderately, to the great bewilderment +of systematic botanists and zoologists, and increasing disagreement as to +whether various forms shall be held to be original species or strong +varieties. Moreover, the degree to which the descendants of the same stock, +varying in different directions, may at length diverge, is unknown. All we +know is, that varieties are themselves variable, and that very diverse +forms have been educed from one stock. + +2. Species of the same genus are not distinguished from each other by equal +amounts of difference. There is diversity in this respect analogous to that +of the varieties of a polymorphous species, some of them slight, others +extreme. And in large genera the unequal resemblance shows itself in the +clustering of the species around several types or central species, like +satellites around their respective planets. Obviously suggestive this of +the hypothesis that they were satellites, not thrown off by revolution, +like the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, and our own solitary moon, but gradually +and peacefully detached by divergent variation. That such closely-related +species may be only varieties of higher grade, earlier origin, or more +favored evolution, is not a very violent supposition. Anyhow, it was a +supposition sure to be made. + +3. The actual geographical distribution of species upon the earth's surface +tends to suggest the same notion. For, as a general thing, all or most of +the species of a peculiar genus or other type are grouped in the same +country, or occupy continuous, proximate, or accessible areas. So well does +this rule hold, so general is the implication that kindred species are or +were associated geographically, that most trustworthy naturalists, quite +free from hypotheses of transmutation, are constantly inferring former +geographical continuity between parts of the world now widely disjoined, in +order to account thereby for certain generic similarities among their +inhabitants; just as philologists infer former connection of races, and a +parent language, to account for generic similarities among existing +languages. Yet no scientific explanation has been offered to account for +the geographical association of kindred species, except the hypothesis of a +common origin. + +4. Here the fact of the antiquity of creation, and in particular of the +present kinds of the earth's inhabitants, or of a large part of them, comes +in to rebut the objection that there has not been time enough for any +marked diversification of living things through divergent variation--not +time enough for varieties to have diverged into what we call species. + +So long as the existing species of plants and animals were thought to have +originated a few thousand years ago, and without predecessors, there was no +room for a theory of derivation of one sort from another, nor time enough +even to account for the establishment of the races which are generally +believed to have diverged from a common stock. Not so much that five or six +thousand years was a short allowance for this; but because some of our +familiar domesticated varieties of grain, of fowls, and of other animals, +were pictured and mummified by the old Egyptians more than half that number +of years ago, if not earlier. Indeed, perhaps the strongest argument for +the original plurality of human species was drawn from the identification +of some of the present races of men upon these early historical monuments +and records. + +But this very extension of the current chronology, if we may rely upon the +archaeologists, removes the difficulty by opening up a longer vista. So does +the discovery in Europe of remains and implements of prehistoric races of +men, to whom the use of metals was unknown--men of the stone age, as the +Scandinavian archaeologists designate them. And now, "axes and knives of +flint, evidently wrought by human skill, are found in beds of the drift at +Amiens (also in other places, both in France and England), associated with +the bones of extinct species of animals." These implements, indeed, were +noticed twenty years ago; at a place in Suffolk they have been exhumed from +time to time for more than a century; but the full confirmation, the +recognition of the age of the deposit in which the implements occur, their +abundance, and the appreciation of their bearings upon most interesting +questions, belong to the present time. To complete the connection of these +primitive people with the fossil ages, the French geologists, we are told, +have now "found these axes in Picardy associated with remains of Elephas +primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Equus fossilis, and an extinct species +of Bos."[III-2] In plain language, these workers in flint lived in the time +of the mammoth, of a rhinoceros now extinct, and along with horses and +cattle unlike any now existing--specifically different, as naturalists say, +from those with which man is now associated. Their connection with +existing human races may perhaps be traced through the intervening people +of the stone age, who were succeeded by the people of the bronze age, and +these by workers in iron.[III-3] Now, various evidence carries back the +existence of many of the present lower species of animals, and probably of a +larger number of plants, to the same drift period. All agree that this was +very many thousand years ago. Agassiz tells us that the same species of +polyps which are now building coral walls around the present peninsula of +Florida actually made that peninsula, and have been building there for many +thousand centuries. + +5. The overlapping of existing and extinct species, and the seemingly +gradual transition of the life of the drift period into that of the present, +may be turned to the same account. Mammoths, mastodons, and Irish elks, now +extinct, must have lived down to human, if not almost to historic times. +Perhaps the last dodo did not long outlive his huge New Zealand kindred. +The aurochs, once the companion of mammoths, still survives, but owes his +present and precarious existence to man's care. Now, nothing that we know +of forbids the hypothesis that some new species have been independently and +supernaturally created within the period which other species have survived. +Some may even believe that man was created in the days of the mammoth, +became extinct, and was recreated at a later date. But why not say the same +of the aurochs, contemporary both of the old man and of the new? Still it +is more natural, if not inevitable, to infer that, if the aurochs of that +olden time were the ancestors of the aurochs of the Lithuanian forests, so +likewise were the men of that age the ancestors of the present human races. +Then, whoever concludes that these primitive makers of rude flint axes and +knives were the ancestors of the better workmen of the succeeding stone +age, and these again of the succeeding artificers in brass and iron, will +also be likely to suppose that the Equus and Bos of that time, different +though they be, were the remote progenitors of our own horses and cattle. +In all candor we must at least concede that such considerations suggest a +genetic descent from the drift period down to the present, and allow time +enough--if time is of any account-- for variation and natural selection to +work out some appreciable results in the way of divergence into races, or +even into so-called species. Whatever might have been thought, when +geological time was supposed to be separated from the present era by a +clear line, it is now certain that a gradual replacement of old forms by +new ones is strongly suggestive of some mode of origination which may still +be operative. When species, like individuals, were found to die out one by +one, and apparently to come in one by one, a theory for what Owen +sonorously calls "the continuous operation of the ordained becoming of +living things" could not be far off. + +That all such theories should take the form of a derivation of the new from +the old seems to be inevitable, perhaps from our inability to conceive of +any other line of secondary causes in this connection. Owen himself is +apparently in travail with some transmutation theory of his own conceiving, +which may yet see the light, although Darwin's came first to the birth. +Different as the two theories will probably be, they cannot fail to exhibit +that fundamental resemblance in this respect which betokens a community of +origin, a common foundation on the general facts and the obvious suggestions +of modern science. Indeed--to turn the point of a pungent simile directed +against Darwin--the difference between the Darwinian and the Owenian +hypotheses may, after all, be only that between homoeopathic and heroic +doses of the same drug. + +If theories of derivation could only stop here, content with explaining the +diversification and succession of species between the teritiary period and +the present time, through natural agencies or secondary causes still in +operation, we fancy they would not be generally or violently objected to by +the savants of the present day. But it is hard, if not impossible, to find +a stopping-place. Some of the facts or accepted conclusions already +referred to, and several others, of a more general character, which must be +taken into the account, impel the theory onward with accumulated force. +Vires (not to say virus) acquirit eundo. The theory hitches on wonderfully +well to Lyell's uniformitarian theory in geology--that the thing that has +been is the thing that is and shall be--that the natural operations now +going on will account for all geological changes in a quiet and easy way, +only give them time enough, so connecting the present and the proximate +with the farthest past by almost imperceptible gradations--a view which +finds large and increasing, if not general, acceptance in physical geology, +and of which Darwin's theory is the natural complement. + +So the Darwinian theory, once getting a foothold, marches; boldly on, +follows the supposed near ancestors of our present species farther and yet +farther back into the dim past, and ends with an analogical inference which +"makes the whole world kin." As we said at the beginning, this upshot +discomposes us. Several features of the theory have an uncanny look. They +may prove to be innocent: but their first aspect is suspicious, and high +authorities pronounce the whole thing to be positively mischievous. In this +dilemma we are going to take advice. Following the bent of our prejudices, +and hoping to fortify these by new and strong arguments, we are going now +to read the principal reviews which undertake to demolish the theory--with +what result our readers shall be duly informed. + + +II + + +"I can entertain no doubt, after the most deliberate study and +dispassionate judgment of which I am capable, that the view which most +naturalists entertain, and which I formerly entertained, namely, that each +species has been independently created, is erroneous. I am fully convinced +that species are not immutable; but that those belonging to what are called +the same genera are lineal descendants of some other and generally extinct +species, in the same manner as the acknowledged varieties of any one species +are the descendants of that species. Furthermore, I am convinced that +Natural Selection has been the main, but not exclusive, means of +modification." + + +This is the kernel of the new theory, the Darwinian creed, as recited at +the close of the introduction to the remarkable book under consideration. +The questions, "What will he do with it?" and "How far will he carry it?" +the author answers at the close of the volume: + + +"I cannot doubt that the theory of descent with modification embraces all +the members of the same class." Furthermore, "I believe that all animals +have descended from at most only four or five progenitors, and plants from +an equal or lesser number." + + +Seeing that analogy as strongly suggests a further step in the same +direction, while he protests that "analogy may be a deceitful guide," yet +he follows its inexorable leading to the inference that-- + +"Probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this ear have +descended from some one primordial form, into which life was first +breathed."[III-4] + + +In the first extract we have the thin end of the wedge driven a little way; +in the last, the wedge driven home. + +We have already sketched some of the reasons suggestive of such a theory of +derivation of species, reasons which gave it plausibility, and even no small +probability, as applied to our actual world and to changes occurring since +the latest tertiary period. We are well pleased at this moment to find that +the conclusions we were arriving at in this respect are sustained by the +very high authority and impartial judgment of Pictet, the Swiss +paleontologist. In his review of Darwin's book[III-5] -- the fairest and +most admirable opposing one that has appeared--he freely accepts that +ensemble of natural operations which Darwin impersonates under the now +familiar name of Natural Selection, allows that the exposition throughout +the first chapters seems "a la fois prudent et fort," and is disposed to +accept the whole argument in its foundations, that is, so far as it relates +to what is now going on, or has taken place in the present geological +period--which period he carries back through the diluvial epoch to the +borders of the tertiary.[III-6] Pictet accordingly admits that the theory +will very well account for the origination by divergence of nearly-related +species, whether within the present period or in remoter geological times; +a very natural view for him to take, since he appears to have reached and +published, several years ago, the pregnant conclusion that there most +probably was some material connection between the closely-related species of +two successive faunas, and that the numerous close species, whose limits are +so difficult to determine, were not all created distinct and independent. +But while thus accepting, or ready to accept, the basis of Darwin's theory, +and all its legitimate direct inferences, he rejects the ultimate +conclusions, brings some weighty arguments to bear against them, and is +evidently convinced that he can draw a clear line between the sound +inferences, which he favors, and the unsound or unwarranted theoretical +deductions, which he rejects. We hope he can. + +This raises the question, Why does Darwin press his theory to these extreme +conclusions? Why do all hypotheses of derivation converge so inevitably to +one ultimate point? Having already considered some of the reasons which +suggest or support the theory at its outset--which may carry it as far as +such sound and experienced naturalists as Pictet allow that it may be +true--perhaps as far as Darwin himself unfolds it in the introductory +proposition cited at the beginning of this article--we may now inquire after +the motives which impel the theorist so much farther. Here proofs, in the +proper sense of the word, are not to be had. We are beyond the region of +demonstration, and have only probabilities to consider. What are these +probabilities? What work will this hypothesis do to establish a claim to be +adopted in its completeness? Why should a theory which may plausibly enough +account for the diversification of the species of each special type or +genus be expanded into a general system for the origination or successive +diversification of all species, and all special types or forms, from four +or five remote primordial forms, or perhaps from one? We accept the theory +of gravitation because it explains all the facts we know, and bears all the +tests that we can put it to. We incline to accept the nebular hypothesis, +for similar reasons; not because it is proved--thus far it is incapable of +proof--but because it is a natural theoretical deduction from accepted +physical laws, is thoroughly congruous with the facts, and because its +assumption serves to connect and harmonize these into one probable and +consistent whole. Can the derivative hypothesis be maintained and carried +out into a system on similar grounds? If so, however unproved, it would +appear to be a tenable hypothesis, which is all that its author ought now +to claim. Such hypotheses as, from the conditions of the case, can neither +be proved nor disproved by direct evidence or experiment, are to be tested +only indirectly, and therefore imperfectly, by trying their power to +harmonize the known facts, and to account for what is otherwise +unaccountable. So the question comes to this: What will an hypothesis of +the derivation of species explain which the opposing view leaves +unexplained? + +Questions these which ought to be entertained before we take up the +arguments which have been advanced against this theory. We can barely +glance at some of the considerations which Darwin adduces, or will be sure +to adduce in the future and fuller exposition which is promised. To display +them in such wise as to indoctrinate the unscientific reader would require +a volume. Merely to refer to them in the most general terms would suffice +for those familiar with scientific matters, but would scarcely enlighten +those who are not. Wherefore let these trust the impartial Pictet, who +freely admits that, "in the absence of sufficient direct proofs to justify +the possibility of his hypothesis, Mr. Darwin relies upon indirect proofs, +the bearing of which is real and incontestable;" who concedes that "his +theory accords very well with the great facts of comparative anatomy and +zoology--comes in admirably to explain unity of composition of organisms, +also to explain rudimentary and representative organs, and the natural +series of genera and species--equally corresponds with many paleontological +data--agrees well with the specific resemblances which exist between two +successive faunas, with the parallelism which is sometimes observed between +the series of paleontological succession and of embryonal development," +etc.; and finally, although he does not accept the theory in these results, +he allows that "it appears to offer the best means of explaining the manner +in which organized beings were produced in epochs anterior to our own." + +What more than this could be said for such an hypothesis? Here, probably, +is its charm, and its strong hold upon the speculative mind. Unproven +though it be, and cumbered prima facie with cumulative improbabilities as +it proceeds, yet it singularly accords with great classes of facts +otherwise insulated and enigmatic, and explains many things which are thus +far utterly inexplicable upon any other scientific assumption. + +We have said that Darwin's hypothesis is the natural complement to Lyell's +uniformitarian theory in physical geology. It is for the organic world what +that is for the inorganic; and the accepters of the latter stand in a +position from which to regard the former in the most favorable light. +Wherefore the rumor that the cautious Lyell himself has adopted the +Darwinian hypothesis need not surprise us. The two views are made for each +other, and, like the two counterpart pictures for the stereoscope, when +brought together, combine into one apparently solid whole. + +If we allow, with Pictet, that Darwin's theory will very well serve for all +that concerns the present epoch of the world's history--an epoch in which +this renowned paleontologist includes the diluvial or quaternary +period--then Darwin's first and foremost need in his onward course is a +practicable road from this into and through the tertiary period, the +intervening region between the comparatively near and the far remote past. +Here Lyell's doctrine paves the way, by showing that in the physical geology +there is no general or absolute break between the two, probably no greater +between the latest tertiary and the quaternary period than between the +latter and the present time. So far, the Lyellian view is, we suppose, +generally concurred in. It is largely admitted that numerous tertiary +species have continued down into the quaternary, and many of them to the +present time. A goodly percentage of the earlier and nearly half of the +later tertiary mollusca, according to Des Hayes, Lye!!, and, if we mistake +not, Bronn, still live. This identification, however, is now questioned by +a naturalist of the very highest authority. But, in its bearings on the new +theory, the point here turns not upon absolute identity so much as upon +close resemblance. For those who, with Agassiz, doubt the specific identity +in any of these cases, and those who say, with Pictet, that "the later +tertiary deposits contain in general the debris of species very nearly +related to those which still exist, belonging to the same genera, but +specifically different," may also agree with Pictet, that the +nearly-related species of successive faunas must or may have had "a +material connection." But the only material connection that we have an idea +of in such a case is a genealogical one. And the supposition of a +genealogical connection is surely not unnatural in such cases--is +demonstrably the natural one as respects all those tertiary species which +experienced naturalists have pronounced to be identical with existing ones, +but which others now deem distinct For to identify the two is the same +thing as to conclude the one to be the ancestor of the other No doubt there +are differences between the tertiary and the present individuals, +differences equally noticed by both classes of naturalists, but differently +estimated By the one these are deemed quite compatible, by the other +incompatible, with community of origin But who can tell us what amount of +difference is compatible with community of origin? This is the very +question at issue, and one to be settled by observation alone Who would have +thought that the peach and the nectarine came from one stock? But, this +being proved is it now very improbable that both were derived from the +almond, or from some common amygdaline progenitor? Who would have thought +that the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli kale, and kohlrabi are derivatives +of one species, and rape or colza, turnip, and probably ruta-baga, of +another species? And who that is convinced of this can long undoubtingly +hold the original distinctness of turnips from cabbages as an article of +faith? On scientific grounds may not a primordial cabbage or rape be +assumed as the ancestor of all the cabbage races, on much the same ground +that we assume a common ancestry for the diversified human races? If all +Our breeds of cattle came from one stock why not this stock from the +auroch, which has had all the time between the diluvial and the historic +periods in which to set off a variation perhaps no greater than the +difference between some sorts of domestic cattle? + +That considerable differences are often discernible between tertiary +individuals and their supposed descendants of the present day affords no +argument against Darwin's theory, as has been rashly thought, but is +decidedly in its favor. If the identification were so perfect that no more +differences were observable between the tertiary and the recent shells than +between various individuals of either, then Darwin's opponents, who argue +the immutability of species from the ibises and cats preserved by the +ancient Egyptians being just like those of the present day, could +triumphantly add a few hundred thousand years more to the length of the +experiment and to the force of their argument. + +As the facts stand, it appears that, while some tertiary forms are +essentially undistinguishable from existing ones, others are the same with +a difference, which is judged not to be specific or aboriginal; and yet +others show somewhat greater differences, such as are scientifically +expressed by calling them marked varieties, or else doubtful species; while +others, differing a little more, are confidently termed distinct, but +nearly-related species. Now, is not all this a question of degree, of mere +gradation of difference? And is it at all likely that these several +gradations came to be established in two totally different ways--some of +them (though naturalists can't agree which) through natural variation, or +other secondary cause, and some by original creation, without secondary +cause? We have seen that the judicious Pictet answers such questions as +Darwin would have him do, in affirming that, in all probability, the +nearly-related species of two successive faunas were materially connected, +and that contemporaneous species, similarly resembling each other, were not +all created so, but have become so. This is equivalent to saying that +species (using the term as all naturalists do, and must continue to employ +the word) have only a relative, not an absolute fixity; that differences +fully equivalent to what are held to be specific may arise in the course of +time, so that one species may at length be naturally replaced by another +species a good deal like it, or may be diversified into two, three, or more +species, or forms as different as species. This concedes all that Darwin has +a right to ask, all that he can directly infer from evidence. We must add +that it affords a locus standi, more or less tenable, for inferring more. + +Here another geological consideration comes in to help on this inference. +The species of the later tertiary period for the most part not only +resembled those of our days--many of them so closely as to suggest an +absolute continuity--but also occupied in general the same regions that +their relatives occupy now. The same may be said, though less specially, of +the earlier tertiary and of the later secondary; but there is less and less +localization of forms as we recede, yet some localization even in palaeozoic +times. While in the secondary period one is struck with the similarity of +forms and the identity of many of the species which flourished apparently +at the same time in all or in the most widely-separated parts of the world, +in the tertiary epoch, on the contrary, along with the increasing +specialization of climates and their approximation to the present state, we +find abundant evidence of increasing localization of orders, genera and +species, and this localization strikingly accords with the present +geographical distribution of the same groups of species Where the imputed +forefathers lived their relatives and supposed descendants now flourish All +the actual classes of the animal and vegetable kingdoms were represented in +the tertiary faunas and floras and in nearly the same proportions and the +same diversities as at present The faunas of what is now Europe, Asia +America and Australia, differed from each other much as they now differ: in +fact--according to Adolphe Brongniart, whose statements we here +condense[III-7]--the inhabitants of these different regions appear for the +most part to have acquired, before the close of the tertiary period, the +characters which essentially distinguish their existing faunas. The Eastern +Continent had then, as now, its great pachyderms, elephants, rhinoceros, +hippopotamus; South America, its armadillos, sloths, and anteaters; +Australia, a crowd of marsupials; and the very strange birds of New Zealand +had predecessors of similar strangeness. + +Everywhere the same geographical distribution as now, with a difference in +the particular area, as respects the northern portion of the continents, +answering to a warmer climate then than ours, such as allowed species of +hippopotamus, rhinoceros, and elephant, to range even to the regions now +inhabited by the reindeer and the musk-ox, and with the serious disturbing +intervention of the glacial period within a comparatively recent time. Let +it be noted also that those tertiary species which have continued with +little change down to our days are the marine animals of the lower grades, +especially mollusca. Their low organization, moderate sensibility, and the +simple conditions of an existence in a medium like the ocean, not subject +to great variation and incapable of sudden change, may well account for +their continuance; while, on the other hand, the more intense, however +gradual, climatic vicissitudes on land, which have driven all tropical and +subtropical forms out of the higher latitudes and assigned to them their +actual limits, would be almost sure to extinguish such huge and unwieldy +animals as mastodons, mammoths, and the like, whose power of enduring +altered circumstances must have been small. + +This general replacement of the tertiary species of a country by others so +much like them is a noteworthy fact. The hypothesis of the independent +creation of all species, irrespective of their antecedents, leaves this +fact just as mysterious as is creation itself; that of derivation +undertakes to account for it. Whether it satisfactorily does so or not, it +must be allowed that the facts well accord with that hypothesis. The same +may be said of another conclusion, namely, that the geological succession +of animals and plants appears to correspond in a general way with their +relative standing or rank in a natural system of classification. It seems +clear that, though no one of the grand types of the animal kingdom can be +traced back farther than the rest, yet the lower classes long preceded the +higher; that there has been on the whole a steady progression within each +class and order; and that the highest plants and animals have appeared only +in relatively modern times. It is only, however, in a broad sense that this +generalization is now thought to hold good. It encounters many apparent +exceptions, and sundry real ones. So far as the rule holds, all is as it +should be upon an hypothesis of derivation. + +The rule has its exceptions. But, curiously enough, the most striking class +of exceptions, if such they be, seems to us even more favorable to the +doctrine of derivation than is the general rule of a pure and simple +ascending gradation. We refer to what Agassiz calls prophetic and synthetic +types; for which the former name may suffice, as the difference between the +two is evanescent. + + +"It has been noticed," writes our great zoologist, "that certain types, +which are frequently prominent among the representatives of past ages, +combine in their structure peculiarities which at later periods are only +observed separately in different, distinct types. Sauroid fishes before +reptiles, Pterodactyles before birds, Ichthyosauri before dolphins, etc. +There are entire families, of nearly every class of animals, which in the +state of their perfect development exemplify such prophetic relations. + +The sauroid fishes of the past geological ages are an example of this kind +These fishes which preceded the appearance of reptiles present a +combination of ichthyic and reptilian characters not to be found in the +true members of this class, which form its bulk at present. The +Pterodactyles, which preceded the class of birds, and the Ichthyosauri, +which preceded the Cetacea, are other examples of such prophetic +types."--(Agassiz, "Contributions, Essay on Classification," p. 117.) + + +Now, these reptile-like fishes, of which gar-pikes are the living +representatives, though of earlier appearance, are admittedly of higher rank +than common fishes. They dominated until reptiles appeared, when they +mostly gave place to (or, as the derivationists will insist, were resolved +by divergent variation and natural selection into) common fishes, destitute +of reptilian characters, and saurian reptiles--the intermediate grades, +which, according to a familiar piscine saying, are "neither fish, flesh, +nor good red-herring," being eliminated and extinguished by natural +consequence of the struggle for existence which Darwin so aptly portrays. +And so, perhaps, of the other prophetic types. Here type and antitype +correspond. If these are true prophecies, we need not wonder that some who +read them in Agassiz's book will read their fulfillment in Darwin's. + +Note also, in this connection, that along with a wonderful persistence of +type, with change of species, genera, orders, etc., from formation to +formation, no species and no higher group which has once unequivocally died +out ever afterward reappears. Why is this, but that the link of generation +has been sundered? Why, on the hypothesis of independent originations, were +not failing species recreated, either identically or with a difference, in +regions eminently adapted to their well-being? To take a striking case. +That no part of the world now offers more suitable conditions for wild +horses and cattle than the pampas and other plains of South America, is +shown by the facility with which they have there run wild and enormously +multiplied, since introduced from the Old World not long ago. There was no +wild American stock. Yet in the times of the mastodon and megatherium, at +the dawn of the present period, wild-horses--certainly very much like the +existing horse--roamed over those plains in abundance. On the principle of +original and direct created adaptation of species to climate and other +conditions, why were they not reproduced, when, after the colder +intervening era, those regions became again eminently adapted to such +animals? Why, but because, by their complete extinction in South America, +the line of descent was there utterly broken? Upon the ordinary hypothesis, +there is no scientific explanation possible of this series of facts, and of +many others like them. Upon the new hypothesis, "the succession of the same +types of structure within the same areas during the later geological +periods ceases to be mysterious, and is simply explained by inheritance." +Their cessation is failure of issue. + +Along with these considerations the fact (alluded to on page 98) should be +remembered that, as a general thing, related species of the present age are +geographically associated. The larger part of the plants, and still more of +the animals, of each separate country are peculiar to it; and, as most +species now flourish over the graves of their by-gone relatives of former +ages, so they now dwell among or accessibly near their kindred species. + +Here also comes in that general "parallelism between the order of +succession of animals and plants in geological times, and the gradation +among their living representatives" from low to highly organized, from +simple and general to complex and specialized forms; also "the parallelism +between the order of succession of animals in geological times and the +changes their living representatives undergo during their embryological +growth," as if the world were one prolonged gestation. Modern science has +much insisted on this parallelism, and to a certain extent is allowed to +have made it out. All these things, which conspire to prove that the +ancient and the recent forms of life "are somehow intimately connected +together in one grand system," equally conspire to suggest that the +connection is one similar or analogous to generation. Surely no naturalist +can be blamed for entering somewhat confidently upon a field of speculative +inquiry which here opens so invitingly; nor need former premature endeavors +and failures utterly dishearten him. + +All these things, it may naturally be said, go to explain the order, not +the mode, of the incoming of species. But they all do tend to bring out the +generalization expressed by Mr. Wallace in the formula that "every species +has come into existence coincident both in time and space with preexisting +closely-allied species." Not, however, that this is proved even of existing +species as a matter of general fact. It is obviously impossible to prove +anything of the kind. But we must concede that the known facts strongly +suggest such an inference. And--since species are only congeries of +individuals, since every individual came into existence in consequence of +preexisting individuals of the same sort, so leading up to the individuals +with which the species began, and since the only material sequence we know +of among plants and animals is that from parent to progeny--the presumption +becomes exceedingly strong that the connection of the incoming with the +preexisting species is a genealogical one. + +Here, however, all depends upon the probability that Mr. Wallace's +inference is really true. Certainly it is not yet generally accepted; but a +strong current is setting toward its acceptance. + +So long as universal cataclysms were in vogue, and all life upon the earth +was thought to have been suddenly destroyed and renewed many times in +succession, such a view could not be thought of. So the equivalent view +maintained by Agassiz, and formerly, we believe, by D'Orbigny, that +irrespectively of general and sudden catastrophes, or any known adequate +physical cause, there has been a total depopulation at the close of each +geological period or formation, say forty or fifty times or more, followed +by as many independent great acts of creation, at which alone have species +been originated, and at each of which a vegetable and an animal kingdom +were produced entire and complete, full-fledged, as flourishing, as +wide-spread, and populous, as varied and mutually adapted from the +beginning as ever afterward--such a view, of course, supersedes all +material connection between successive species, and removes even the +association and geographical range of species entirely out of the domain of +physical causes and of natural science. This is the extreme opposite of +Wallace's and Darwin's view, and is quite as hypothetical. The nearly +universal opinion, if we rightly gather it, manifestly is, that the +replacement of the species of successive formations was not complete and +simultaneous, but partial and successive; and that along the course of each +epoch some species probably were introduced, and some, doubtless, became +extinct. If all since the tertiary belongs to our present epoch, this is +certainly true of it: if to two or more epochs, then the hypothesis of a +total change is not true of them. + +Geology makes huge demands upon time; and we regret to find that it has +exhausted ours--that what we meant for the briefest and most general sketch +of some geological considerations in favor of Darwin's hypothesis has so +extended as to leave no room for considering "the great facts of +comparative anatomy and zoology" with which Darwin's theory "very well +accords," nor for indicating how "it admirably serves for explaining the +unity of composition of all organisms, the existence of representative and +rudimentary organs, and the natural series which genera and species +compose." Suffice it to say that these are the real strongholds of the new +system on its theoretical side; that it goes far toward explaining both the +physiological and the structural gradations and relations between the two +kingdoms, and the arrangement of all their forms in groups subordinate to +groups, all within a few great types; that it reads the riddle of abortive +organs and of morphological conformity, of which no other theory has ever +offered a scientific explanation, and supplies a ground for harmonizing the +two fundamental ideas which naturalists and philosophers conceive to have +ruled the organic world, though they could not reconcile them; namely, +Adaptation to Purpose and Conditions of Existence, and Unity of Type. To +reconcile these two undeniable principles is the capital problem in the +philosophy of natural history; and the hypothesis which consistently does +so thereby secures a great advantage. + +We all know that the arm and hand of a monkey, the foreleg and foot of a +dog and of a horse, the wing of a bat, and the fin of a porpoise, are +fundamentally identical; that the long neck of the giraffe has the same and +no more bones than the short one of the elephant; that the eggs of Surinam +frogs hatch into tadpoles with as good tails for swimming as any of their +kindred, although as tadpoles they never enter the water; that the +Guinea-pig is furnished with incisor teeth which it never uses, as it sheds +them before birth; that embryos of mammals and birds have branchial slits +and arteries running in loops, in imitation or reminiscence of the +arrangement which is permanent in fishes; and that thousands of animals and +plants have rudimentary organs which, at least in numerous cases, are +wholly useless to their possessors, etc., etc. Upon a derivative theory +this morphological conformity is explained by community of descent; and it +has not been explained in any other way. + +Naturalists are constantly speaking of "related species," of the "affinity" +of a genus or other group, and of "family resemblance"--vaguely conscious +that these terms of kinship are something more than mere metaphors, but +unaware of the grounds of their aptness. Mr. Darwin assures them that they +have been talking derivative doctrine all their lives--as M. Jourdain +talked prose--without knowing it. + +If it is difficult and in many cases practically impossible to fix the +limits of species, it is still more so to fix those of genera; and those of +tribes and families are still less susceptible of exact natural +circumscription. Intermediate forms occur, connecting one group with +another in a manner sadly perplexing to systematists, except to those who +have ceased to expect absolute limitations in Nature. All this blending +could hardly fail to suggest a former material connection among allied +forms, such as that which the hypothesis of derivation demands. + +Here it would not be amiss to consider the general principle of gradation +throughout organic Nature--a principle which answers in a general way to the +Law of Continuity in the inorganic world, or rather is so analogous to it +that both may fairly be expressed by the Leibnitzian axiom, Natura non agit +saltatim. As an axiom or philosophical principle, used to test modal laws +or hypotheses, this in strictness belongs only to physics. In the +investigation of Nature at large, at least in the organic world, nobody +would undertake to apply this principle as a test of the validity of any +theory or supposed law. But naturalists of enlarged views will not fail to +infer the principle from the phenomena they investigate--to perceive that +the rule holds, under due qualifications and altered forms, throughout the +realm of Nature; although we do not suppose that Nature in the organic +world makes no distinct steps, but only short and serial steps--not +infinitely fine gradations, but no long leaps, or few of them. + +To glance at a few illustrations out of many that present themselves. It +would be thought that the distinction between the two organic kingdoms was +broad and absolute. Plants and animals belong to two very different +categories, fulfill opposite offices and, as to the mass of them are so +unlike that the difficulty of the ordinary observer would be to find points +of comparison Without entering into details which would fill an article, we +may safely say that the difficulty with the naturalist is all the other +way--that all these broad differences vanish one by one as we approach the +lower confines of the two kingdoms, and that no absolute distinction +whatever is now known between them. It is quite possible that the same +organism may be both vegetable and animal, or may be first the one and then +the other. If some organisms may be said to be at first vegetables and then +animals, others, like the spores and other reproductive bodies of many of +the lower Algae, may equally claim to have first a characteristically +animal, and then an unequivocally vegetable existence. Nor is the gradation +restricted to these simple organisms. It appears in general functions, as +in that of reproduction, which is reducible to the same formula in both +kingdoms, while it exhibits close approximations in the lower forms; also +in a common or similar ground of sensibility in the lowest forms of both, a +common faculty of effecting movements tending to a determinate end, traces +of which pervade the vegetable kingdom--while, on the other hand, this +indefinable principle, this vegetable + +"Animula vagula, blandula, +Hospes comesque corporis," + +graduates into the higher sensitiveness of the lower class of animals. Nor +need we hesitate to recognize the fine gradations from simple sensitiveness +and volition to the higher instinctive and to the other psychical +manifestations of the higher brute animals. The gradation is undoubted, +however we may explain it. + +Again, propagation is of one mode in the higher animals, of two in all +plants; but vegetative propagation, by budding or offshoots, extends +through the lower grades of animals. In both kingdoms there may be +separation of the offshoots, or indifference in this respect, or continued +and organic union with the parent stock; and this either with essential +independence of the offshoots, or with a subordination of these to a common +whole; or finally with such subordination and amalgamation, along with +specialization of function, that the same parts, which in other cases can +be regarded only as progeny, in these become only members of an individual. + +This leads to the question of individuality, a subject quite too large and +too recondite for present discussion. The conclusion of the whole matter, +however, is, that individuality--that very ground of being as distinguished +from thing--is not attained in Nature at one leap. If anywhere truly +exemplified in plants, it is only in the lowest and simplest, where the +being is a structural unit, a single cell, member-less and organless, +though organic--the same thing as those cells of which all the more complex +plants are built up, and with which every plant and (structurally) every +animal began its development. In the ascending gradation of the vegetable +kingdom individuality is, so to say, striven after, but never attained; in +the lower animals it is striven after with greater though incomplete +success; it is realized only in animals of so high a rank that vegetative +multiplication or offshoots are out of the question, where all parts are +strictly members and nothing else, and all subordinated to a common nervous +centre--is fully realized only in a conscious person. + +So, also, the broad distinction between reproduction by seeds or ova and +propagation by buds, though perfect in some of the lowest forms of life, +becomes evanescent in others; and even the most absolute law we know in the +physiology of genuine reproduction--that of sexual cooperation--has its +exceptions in both kingdoms in parthenogenesis, to which in the vegetable +kingdom a most curious and intimate series of gradations leads. In plants, +likewise, a long and finely graduated series of transitions leads from +bisexual to unisexual blossoms; and so in various other respects. Everywhere +we may perceive that Nature secures her ends, and makes her distinctions on +the whole manifest and real but everywhere without abrupt breaks We need +not wonder therefore that gradations between species and varieties should +occur; the more so, since genera, tribes, and other groups into which the +naturalist collocates species, are far from being always absolutely limited +in Nature, though they are necessarily represented to be so in systems. +>From the necessity of the case, the classifications of the naturalist +abruptly define where Nature more or less blends. Our systems are nothing, +if not definite. They express differences, and some of the coarser +gradations. But this evinces not their perfection, but their imperfection. +Even the best of them are to the system of Nature what consecutive patches +of the seven colors are to the rainbow. + +Now the principle of gradation throughout organic Nature may, of course, be +interpreted upon other assumptions than those of Darwin's +hypothesis--certainly upon quite other than those of a materialistic +philosophy, with which we ourselves have no sympathy. Still we conceive it +not only possible, but probable, that this gradation, as it has its natural +ground, may yet have its scientific explanation. In any case, there is no +need to deny that the general facts correspond well with an hypothesis like +Darwin's, which is built upon fine gradations. + +We have contemplated quite long enough the general presumptions in favor of +an hypothesis of the derivation of species. We cannot forget, however, +while for the moment we overlook, the formidable difficulties which all +hypotheses of this class have to encounter, and the serious implications +which they seem to involve. We feel, moreover, that Darwin's particular +hypothesis is exposed to some special objections. It requires no small +strength of nerve steadily to conceive, not only of the diversification, but +of the formation of the organs of an animal through cumulative variation +and natural selection. Think of such an organ as the eye, that most perfect +of optical instruments, as so produced in the lower animals and perfected +in the higher! A friend of ours, who accepts the new doctrine, confesses +that for a long while a cold chill came over him whenever he thought of the +eye. He has at length got over that stage of the complaint, and is now in +the fever of belief, perchance to be succeeded by the sweating stage, during +which sundry peccant humors may be eliminated from the system. For +ourselves, we dread the chill, and have some misgivings about the +consequences of the reaction. We find ourselves in the "singular position" +acknowledged by Pictet--that is, confronted with a theory which, although +it can really explain much, seems inadequate to the heavy task it so boldly +assumes, but which, nevertheless, appears better fitted than any other that +has been broached to explain, if it be possible to explain, somewhat of the +manner in which organized beings may have arisen and succeeded each other. +In this dilemma we might take advantage of Mr. Darwin's candid admission, +that he by no means expects to convince old and experienced people, whose +minds are stocked with a multitude of facts all regarded during a long +course of years from the old point of view. This is nearly our case. So, +owning no call to a larger faith than is expected of us, but not prepared to +pronounce the whole hypothesis untenable, under such construction as we +should put upon it, we naturally sought to attain a settled conviction +through a perusal of several proffered refutations of the theory. At least, +this course seemed to offer the readiest way of bringing to a head the +various objections to which the theory is exposed. On several accounts some +of these opposed reviews especially invite examination. We propose, +accordingly, to conclude our task with an article upon "Darwin and his +Reviewers." + + +III + + +The origin of species, like all origination, like the institution of any +other natural state or order, is beyond our immediate ken. We see or may +learn how things go on; we can only frame hypotheses as to how they began. + +Two hypotheses divide the scientific world, very unequally, upon the origin +of the existing diversity of the plants and animals which surround us. One +assumes that the actual kinds are primordial; the other, that they are +derivative. One, that all kinds originated supernaturally and directly as +such, and have continued unchanged in the order of Nature; the other, that +the present kinds appeared in some sort of genealogical connection with +other and earlier kinds, that they became what they now are in the course +of time and in the order of Nature. + +Or, bringing in the word species, which is well defined as "the perennial +succession of individuals," commonly of very like individuals--as a close +corporation of individuals perpetuated by generation, instead of +election--and reducing the question to mathematical simplicity of +statement: species are lines of individuals coming down from the past and +running on to the future; lines receding, therefore, from our view in either +direction. Within our limited observation they appear to be parallel lines, +as a general thing neither approaching to nor diverging from each other. + +The first hypothesis assumes that they were parallel from the unknown +beginning and will be to the unknown end. The second hypothesis assumes +that the apparent parallelism is not real and complete, at least +aboriginally, but approximate or temporary; that we should find the lines +convergent in the past, if we could trace them far enough; that some of +them, if produced back, would fall into certain fragments of lines, which +have left traces in the past, lying not exactly in the same direction, and +these farther back into others to which they are equally unparallel. It will +also claim that the present lines, whether on the whole really or only +approximately parallel, sometimes fork or send off branches on one side or +the other, producing new lines (varieties), which run for a while, and for +aught we know indefinitely when not interfered with, near and approximately +parallel to the parent line. This claim it can establish; and it may also +show that these close subsidiary lines may branch or vary again, and that +those branches or varieties which are best adapted to the existing +conditions may be continued, while others stop or die out. And so we may +have the basis of a real theory of the diversification of species and here +indeed, there is a real, though a narrow, established ground to build upon +But as systems of organic Nature, both doctrines are equally hypotheses, +are suppositions of what there is no proof of from experience, assumed in +order to account for the observed phenomena, and supported by such indirect +evidence as can be had. + +Even when the upholders of the former and more popular system mix up +revelation with scientific discussion--which we decline to do--they by no +means thereby render their view other than hypothetical. Agreeing that +plants and animals were produced by Omnipotent fiat does not exclude the +idea of natural order and what we call secondary causes. The record of the +fiat--"Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed," etc., "and +it was so;" "let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, +cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was +so"--seems even to imply them. Agreeing that they were formed of "the dust +of the ground," and of thin air, only leads to the conclusion that the +pristine individuals were corporeally constituted like existing +individuals, produced through natural agencies. To agree that they were +created "after their kinds" determines nothing as to what were the original +kinds, nor in what mode, during what time, and in what connections it +pleased the Almighty to introduce the first individuals of each sort upon +the earth. Scientifically considered, the two opposing doctrines are +equally hypothetical. + +The two views very unequally divide the scientific world; so that believers +in "the divine right of majorities" need not hesitate which side to take, +at least for the present. Up to a time quite within the memory of a +generation still on the stage, two hypotheses about the nature of light +very unequally divided the scientific world. But the small minority has +already prevailed: the emission theory has gone out; the undulatory or wave +theory, after some fluctuation, has reached high tide, and is now the +pervading, the fully-established system. There was an intervening time +during which most physicists held their opinions in suspense. + +The adoption of the undulatory theory of light called for the extension of +the same theory to heat, and this promptly suggested the hypothesis of a +correlation, material connection, and transmutability of heat, light, +electricity, magnetism, etc.; which hypothesis the physicists held in +absolute suspense until very lately, but are now generally adopting. If not +already established as a system, it promises soon to become so. At least, +it is generally received as a tenable and probably true hypothesis. + +Parallel to this, however less cogent the reasons, Darwin and others, +having shown it likely that some varieties of plants or animals have +diverged in time into cognate species, or into forms as different as +species, are led to infer that all species of a genus may have thus +diverged from a common stock, and thence to suppose a higher community of +origin in ages still farther back, and so on. Following the safe example of +the physicists, and acknowledging the fact of the diversification of a once +homogeneous species into varieties, we may receive the theory of the +evolution of these into species, even while for the present we hold the +hypothesis of a further evolution in cool suspense or in grave suspicion. +In respect to very many questions a wise man's mind rests long in a state +neither of belief nor unbelief. But your intellectually short-sighted people +are apt to be preternaturally clear-sighted, and to find their way very +plain to positive conclusions upon one side or the other of every mooted +question. + +In fact, most people, and some philosophers, refuse to hold questions in +abeyance, however incompetent they may be to decide them. And, curiously +enough, the more difficult, recondite, and perplexing, the questions or +hypotheses are--such, for instance, as those about organic Nature--the more +impatient they are of suspense. Sometimes, and evidently in the present +case, this impatience grows out of a fear that a new hypothesis may +endanger cherished and most important beliefs. Impatience under such +circumstances is not unnatural, though perhaps needless, and, if so, unwise. + +To us the present revival of the derivative hypothesis, in a more winning +shape than it ever before had, was not unexpected. We wonder that any +thoughtful observer of the course of investigation and of speculation in +science should not have foreseen it, and have learned at length to take its +inevitable coming patiently; the more so, as in Darwin's treatise it comes +in a purely scientific form, addressed only to scientific men. The +notoriety and wide popular perusal of this treatise appear to have +astonished the author even more than the book itself has astonished the +reading world Coming as the new presentation does from a naturalist of +acknowledged character and ability and marked by a conscientiousness and +candor which have not always been reciprocated we have thought it simply +right to set forth the doctrine as fairly and as favorably as we could There +are plenty to decry it and the whole theory is widely exposed to attack For +the arguments on the other side we may look to the numerous adverse +publications which Darwin s volume has already called out and especially to +those reviews which propose directly to refute it. Taking various lines and +reflecting very diverse modes of thought, these hostile critics may be +expected to concentrate and enforce the principal objections which can be +brought to bear against the derivative hypothesis in general, and Darwin's +new exposition of it in particular. + +Upon the opposing side of the question we have read with attention--1. An +article in the North American Review for April last; 2. One in the +Christian Examiner, Boston, for May; 3. M. Pictet's article in the +Bibliotheque Universelle, which we have already made considerable use of, +which seems throughout most able and correct, and which in tone and +fairness is admirably in contrast with--4. The article in the Edinburgh +Review for May, attributed--although against a large amount of internal +presumptive evidence--to the most distinguished British comparative +anatomist; 5. An article in the North British Review for May; 6. Prof. +Agassiz has afforded an early opportunity to peruse the criticisms he makes +in the forthcoming third volume of his great work, by a publication of them +in advance in the American Journal of Science for July. + +In our survey of the lively discussion which has been raised, it matters +little how our own particular opinions may incline. But we may confess to +an impression, thus far, that the doctrine of the permanent and complete +immutability of species has not been established, and may fairly be +doubted. We believe that species vary, and that "Natural Selection" works; +but we suspect that its operation, like every analogous natural operation, +may be limited by something else. Just as every species by its natural rate +of reproduction would soon completely fill any country it could live in, +but does not, being checked by some other species or some other +condition--so it may be surmised that variation and natural selection have +their struggle and consequent check, or are limited by something inherent +in the constitution of organic beings. + +We are disposed to rank the derivative hypothesis in its fullness with the +nebular hypothesis, and to regard both as allowable, as not unlikely to +prove tenable in spite of some strong objections, but as not therefore +demonstrably true. Those, if any there be, who regard the derivative +hypothesis as satisfactorily proved, must have loose notions as to what +proof is. Those who imagine it can be easily refuted and cast aside, must, +we think, have imperfect or very prejudiced conceptions of the facts +concerned and of the questions at issue. + +We are not disposed nor prepared to take sides for or against the new +hypothesis, and so, perhaps, occupy a good position from which to watch the +discussion and criticise those objections which are seemingly inconclusive. +On surveying the arguments urged by those who have undertaken to demolish +the theory, we have been most impressed with a sense of their great +inequality. Some strike us as excellent and perhaps unanswerable; some, as +incongruous with other views of the same writers; others, when carried out, +as incompatible with general experience or general beliefs, and therefore +as proving too much; still others, as proving nothing at all; so that, on +the whole, the effect is rather confusing and disappointing. We certainly +expected a stronger adverse case than any which the thoroughgoing opposers +of Darwin appear to have made out. Wherefore, if it be found that the new +hypothesis has grown upon our favor as we proceeded, this must be +attributed not so much to the force of the arguments of the book itself as +to the want of force of several of those by which it has been assailed. +Darwin's arguments we might resist or adjourn; but some of the refutations +of it give us more concern than the book itself did. + +These remarks apply mainly to the philosophical and theological objections +which have been elaborately urged, almost exclusively by the American +reviewers. The North British reviewer, indeed, roundly denounces the book +as atheistical, but evidently deems the case too clear for argument. The +Edinburgh reviewer, on the contrary, scouts all such objections--as well he +may, since he records his belief in "a continuous creative operation," a +constantly operating secondary creational law," through which species are +successively produced; and he emits faint, but not indistinct, glimmerings +of a transmutation theory of his own;[III-8] so that he is equally exposed +to all the philosophical objections advanced by Agassiz, and to most of +those urged by the other American critics, against Darwin himself. + +Proposing now to criticise the critics, so far as to see what their most +general and comprehensive objections amount to, we must needs begin with +the American reviewers, and with their arguments adduced to prove that a +derivative hypothesis ought not to be true, or is not possible, +philosophical, or theistic. + +It must not be forgotten that on former occasions very confident judgments +have been pronounced by very competent persons, which have not been finally +ratified. Of the two great minds of the seventeenth century, Newton and +Leibnitz, both profoundly religious as well as philosophical, one produced +the theory of gravitation, the other objected to that theory that it was +subversive of natural religion. The nebular hypothesis--a natural +consequence of the theory of gravitation and of the subsequent progress of +physical and astronomical discovery--has been denounced as atheistical even +down to our own day. But it is now largely adopted by the most theistical +natural philosophers as a tenable and perhaps sufficient hypothesis, and +where not accepted is no longer objected to, so far as we know, on +philosophical or religious grounds. + +The gist of the philosophical objections urged by the two Boston reviewers +against an hypothesis of the derivation of species--or at least against +Darwin's particular hypothesis-- is, that it is incompatible with the idea +of any manifestation of design in the universe, that it denies final +causes. A serious objection this, and one that demands very serious +attention. + +The proposition, that things and events in Nature were not designed to be +so, if logically carried out, is doubtless tantamount to atheism. Yet most +people believe that some were designed and others were not, although they +fall into a hopeless maze whenever they undertake to define their position. +So we should not like to stigmatize as atheistically disposed a person who +regards certain things and events as being what they are through designed +laws (whatever that expression means), but as not themselves specially +ordained, or who, in another connection, believes in general, but not in +particular Providence. We could sadly puzzle him with questions; but in +return he might equally puzzle us. Then, to deny that anything was +specially designed to be what it is, is one proposition; while to deny that +the Designer supernaturally or immediately made it so, is another: though +the reviewers appear not to recognize the distinction. + +Also, "scornfully to repudiate" or to "sneer at the idea of any +manifestation of design in the material universe,"[III-9] is one thing; +while to consider, and perhaps to exaggerate, the difficulties which attend +the practical application of the doctrine of final causes to certain +instances, is quite another thing: yet the Boston reviewers, we regret to +say, have not been duly regardful of the difference. Whatever be thought of +Darwin's doctrine, we are surprised that he should be charged with scorning +or sneering at the opinions of others, upon such a subject. Perhaps Darwin' +s view is incompatible with final causes--we will consider that question +presently-- but as to the Examiner's charge, that he "sneers at the idea of +any manifestation of design in the material universe," though we are +confident that no misrepresentation was intended, we are equally confident +that it is not at all warranted by the two passages cited in support of it. +Here are the passages: + + +"If green woodpeckers alone had existed, or we did not know that there were +many black and pied kinds, I dare say that we should have thought that the +green color was a beautiful adaptation to hide this tree-frequenting bird +from its enemies." + +"If our reason leads us to admire with enthusiasm a multitude of inimitable +contrivances in Nature, this same reason tells us, though we may easily err +on both sides, that some contrivances are less perfect. Can we consider the +sting of the wasp or of the bee as perfect, which, when used against many +attacking animals, cannot be withdrawn, owing to the backward serratures, +and so inevitably causes the death of the insect by tearing out its +viscera?" + + +If the sneer here escapes ordinary vision in the detached extracts (one of +them wanting the end of the sentence), it is, if possible, more +imperceptible when read with the context. Moreover, this perusal inclines +us to think that the Examiner has misapprehended the particular argument or +object, as well as the spirit, of the author in these passages. The whole +reads more naturally as a caution against the inconsiderate use of final +causes in science, and an illustration of some of the manifold errors and +absurdities which their hasty assumption is apt to involve--considerations +probably equivalent to those which induced Lord Bacon to liken final causes +to "vestal virgins." So, if any one, it is here Bacon that "sitteth in the +seat of the scornful." As to Darwin, in the section from which the extracts +were made, he is considering a subsidiary question, and trying to obviate a +particular difficulty, but, we suppose, is wholly unconscious of denying +"any manifestation of design in the material universe." He concludes the +first sentence: + + + --"and consequently that it was a character of importance, and might have +been acquired through natural selection; as it is, I have no doubt that the +color is due to some quite distinct cause, probably to sexual selection." + + +After an illustration from the vegetable creation, Darwin adds: + + +"The naked skin on the head of a vulture is generally looked at as a direct +adaptation for wallowing in putridity; and so it may be, or it may possibly +be due to the direct action of putrid matter; but we should be very +cautious in drawing any such inference, when we see that the skin on the +head of the clean-feeding male turkey is likewise naked. The sutures in the +skulls of young mammals have been advanced as a beautiful adaptation for +aiding parturition, and no doubt they facilitate or may be indispensable +for this act; but as sutures occur in the skulls of young birds and +reptiles, which have only to escape from a broken egg, we may infer that +this structure has arisen from the laws of growth, and has been taken +advantage of in the parturition of the higher animals." + + +All this, simply taken, is beyond cavil, unless the attempt to explain +scientifically how any designed result is accomplished savors of +impropriety. + +In the other place, Darwin is contemplating the patent fact that +"perfection here below" is relative, not absolute--and illustrating this by +the circumstance that European animals, and especially plants, are now +proving to be better adapted for New Zealand than many of the indigenous +ones--that "the correction for the aberration of light is said, on high +authority, not to be quite perfect even in that most perfect organ, the +eye." And then follows the second extract of the reviewer. But what is the +position of the reviewer upon his own interpretation of these passages? If +he insists that green woodpeckers were specifically created so in order +that they might be less liable to capture, must he not equally hold that +the black and pied ones were specifically made of these colors in order +that they might be more liable to be caught? And would an explanation of the +mode in which those woodpeckers came to be green, however complete, +convince him that the color was undesigned? + +As to the other illustration, is the reviewer so complete an optimist as to +insist that the arrangement and the weapon are wholly perfect (quoad the +insect) the normal use of which often causes the animal fatally to injure +or to disembowel itself? Either way it seems to us that the argument here, +as well as the insect, performs hari-kari. The Examiner adds: + + +"We should in like manner object to the word favorable, as implying that +some species are placed by the Creator under unfavorable circumstances, at +least under such as might be advantageously modified." + + +But are not many individuals and some races of men placed by the Creator +"under unfavorable circumstances, at least under such as might be +advantageously modified?" Surely these reviewers must be living in an ideal +world, surrounded by "the faultless monsters which our world ne'er saw," in +some elysium where imperfection and distress were never heard of! Such +arguments resemble some which we often hear against the Bible, holding that +book responsible as if it originated certain facts on the shady side of +human nature or the apparently darker lines of Providential dealing, though +the facts are facts of common observation and have to be confronted upon +any theory. + +The North American reviewer also has a world of his own--just such a one as +an idealizing philosopher would be apt to devise--that is, full of sharp +and absolute distinctions: such, for instance, as the "absolute +invariableness of instinct;" an absolute want of intelligence in any brute +animal; and a complete monopoly of instinct by the brute animals, so that +this "instinct is a great matter" for them only, since it sharply and +perfectly distinguishes this portion of organic Nature from the vegetable +kingdom on the one hand and from man on the other: most convenient views for +argumentative purposes, but we suppose not borne out in fact. + +In their scientific objections the two reviewers take somewhat different +lines; but their philosophical and theological arguments strikingly +coincide. They agree in emphatically asserting that Darwin's hypothesis of +the origination of species through variation and natural selection +"repudiates the whole doctrine of final causes," and "all indication of +design or purpose in the organic world . . . is neither more nor less than +a formal denial of any agency beyond that of a blind chance in the +developing or perfecting of the organs or instincts of created beings. . . +. It is in vain that the apologists of this hypothesis might say that it +merely attributes a different mode and time to the Divine agency--that all +the qualities subsequently appearing in their descendants must have been +implanted, and have remained latent in the original pair." Such a view, the +Examiner declares, "is nowhere stated in this book, and would be, we are +sure, disclaimed by the author." + +We should like to be informed of the grounds of this sureness. The marked +rejection of spontaneous generation--the statement of a belief that all +animals have descended from four or five progenitors, and plants from an +equal or lesser number, or, perhaps, if constrained to it by analogy, "from +some one primordial form into which life was first breathed"--coupled with +the expression, "To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws +impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of +the past and present inhabitants of the world should have been due to +secondary causes," than "that each species has been independently +created"--these and similar expressions lead us to suppose that the author +probably does accept the kind of view which the Examiner is sure he would +disclaim. At least, we charitably see nothing in his scientific theory to +hinder his adoption of Lord Bacon's "Confession of Faith" in this regard-- +"That, notwithstanding God hath rested and ceased from creating, yet, +nevertheless, he doth accomplish and fulfill his divine will in all things, +great and small, singular and general, as fully and exactly by providence +as he could by miracle and new creation, though his working be not +immediate and direct, but by compass; not violating Nature, which is his +own law upon the creature." + + +However that may be, it is undeniable that Mr. Darwin has purposely been +silent upon the philosophical and theological applications of his theory. +This reticence, under the circumstances, argues design, and raises inquiry +as to the final cause or reason why. Here, as in higher instances, +confident as we are that there is a final cause, we must not be +overconfident that we can infer the particular or true one. Perhaps the +author is more familiar with natural-historical than with philosophical +inquiries, and, not having decided which particular theory about efficient +cause is best founded, he meanwhile argues the scientific questions +concerned--all that relates to secondary causes--upon purely scientific +grounds, as he must do in any case. Perhaps, confident, as he evidently is, +that his view will finally be adopted, he may enjoy a sort of satisfaction +in hearing it denounced as sheer atheism by the inconsiderate, and +afterward, when it takes its place with the nebular hypothesis and the +like, see this judgment reversed, as we suppose it would be in such event. + +Whatever Mr. Darwin's philosophy may be, or whether he has any, is a matter +of no consequence at all, compared with the important questions, whether a +theory to account for the origination and diversification of animal and +vegetable forms through the operation of secondary causes does or does not +exclude design; and whether the establishment by adequate evidence of +Darwin's particular theory of diversification through variation and natural +selection would essentially alter the present scientific and philosophical +grounds for theistic views of Nature. The unqualified affirmative judgment +rendered by the two Boston reviewers, evidently able and practised +reasoners, "must give us pause." We hesitate to advance our conclusions in +opposition to theirs. But, after full and serious consideration, we are +constrained to say that, in our opinion, the adoption of a derivative +hypothesis, and of Darwin's particular hypothesis, if we understand it, +would leave the doctrines of final causes, utility, and special design, +just where they were before. We do not pretend that the subject is not +environed with difficulties. Every view is so environed; and every shifting +of the view is likely, if it removes some difficulties, to bring others +into prominence. But we cannot perceive that Darwin's theory brings in any +new kind of scientific difficulty, that is, any with which philosophical +naturalists were not already familiar. + +Since natural science deals only with secondary or natural causes, the +scientific terms of a theory of derivation of species--no less than of a +theory of dynamics--must needs be the same to the theist as to the atheist. +The difference appears only when the inquiry is carried up to the question +of primary cause--a question which belongs to philosophy. Wherefore, Darwin +'s reticence about efficient cause does not disturb us. He considers only +the scientific questions. As already stated, we think that a theistic view +of Nature is implied in his book, and we must charitably refrain from +suggesting the contrary until the contrary is logically deduced from his +premises. If, however, he anywhere maintains that the natural causes +through which species are diversified operate without an ordaining and +directing intelligence, and that the orderly arrangements and admirable +adaptations we see all around us are fortuitous or blind, undesigned +results--that the eye, though it came to see, was not designed for seeing, +nor the hand for handling--then, we suppose, he is justly chargeable with +denying, and very needlessly denying, all design in organic Nature; +otherwise, we suppose not. Why, if Darwin's well-known passage about the +eye[III-10] equivocal though some of the language be--does not imply +ordaining and directing intelligence, then he refutes his own theory as +effectually as any of his opponents are likely to do. He asks: + +"May we not believe that [under variation proceeding long enough, +generation multiplying the better variations times enough, and natural +selection securing the improvements] a living optical instrument might be +thus formed as superior to one of glass as the works of the Creator are to +those of man?" + +This must mean one of two things: either that the living instrument was +made and perfected under (which is the same thing as by) an intelligent +First Cause, or that it was not. If it was, then theism is asserted; and as +to the mode of operation, how do we know, and why must we believe, that, +fitting precedent forms being in existence, a living instrument (so +different from a lifeless manufacture) would be originated and perfected in +any other way, or that this is not the fitting way? If it means that it was +not, if he so misuses words that by the Creator he intends an unintelligent +power, undirected force, or necessity, then he has put his case so as to +invite disbelief in it. For then blind forces have produced not only +manifest adaptions of means to specific ends--which is absurd enough--but +better adjusted and more perfect instruments or machines than intellect +(that is, human intellect) can contrive and human skill execute--which no +sane person will believe. + +On the other hand, if Darwin even admits--we will not say adopts--the +theistic view, he may save himself much needless trouble in the endeavor to +account for the absence of every sort of intermediate form. Those in the +line between one species and another supposed to be derived from it he may +be bound to provide; but as to "an infinite number of other varieties not +intermediate, gross, rude, and purposeless, the unmeaning creations of an +unconscious cause," born only to perish, which a relentless reviewer has +imposed upon his theory--rightly enough upon the atheistic alternative--the +theistic view rids him at once of this "scum of creation." For, as species +do not now vary at all times and places and in all directions, nor produce +crude, vague, imperfect, and useless forms, there is no reason for +supposing that they ever did. Good-for-nothing monstrosities, failures of +purpose rather than purposeless, indeed, sometimes occur; but these are just +as anomalous and unlikely upon Darwin's theory as upon any other. For his +particular theory is based, and even over-strictly insists, upon the most +universal of physiological laws, namely, that successive generations shall +differ only slightly, if at all, from their parents; and this effectively +excludes crude and impotent forms. Wherefore, if we believe that the +species were designed, and that natural propagation was designed, how can +we say that the actual varieties of the species were not equally designed? +Have we not similar grounds for inferring design in the supposed varieties +of species, that we have in the case of the supposed species of a genus? +When a naturalist comes to regard as three closely related species what +he before took to be so many varieties of one species how has he thereby +strengthened our conviction that the three forms are designed to have +the differences which they actually exhibit? Wherefore so long as +gradatory, orderly, and adapted forms in Nature argue design, and at +least while the physical cause of variation is utterly unknown and +mysterious, we should advise Mr. Darwin to assume in the philosophy of +his hypothesis that variation has been led along certain beneficial +lines. Streams flowing over a sloping plain by gravitation (here the +counterpart of natural selection) may have worn their actual channels as +they flowed; yet their particular courses may have been assigned; and +where we see them forming definite and useful lines of irrigation, after +a manner unaccountable on the laws of gravitation and dynamics, we +should believe that the distribution was designed. + +To insist, therefore, that the new hypothesis of the derivative origin of +the actual species is incompatible with final causes and design, is to take +a position which we must consider philosophically untenable. We must also +regard it as highly unwise and dangerous, in the present state and present +prospects of physical and physiological science. We should expect the +philosophical atheist or skeptic to take this ground; also, until better +informed, the unlearned and unphilosophical believer; but we should think +that the thoughtful theistic philosopher would take the other side. Not to +do so seems to concede that only supernatural events can be shown to be +designed, which no theist can admit--seems also to misconceive the scope +and meaning of all ordinary arguments for design in Nature. This +misconception is shared both by the reviewers and the reviewed. At least, +Mr. Darwin uses expressions which imply that the natural forms which +surround us, because they have a history or natural sequence, could have +been only generally, but not particularly designed--a view at once +superficial and contradictory; whereas his true line should be, that his +hypothesis concerns the order and not the cause, the how and not the why of +the phenomena, and so leaves the question of design just where it was +before. + +To illustrate this from the theist's point of view: Transfer the question +for a moment from the origination of species to the origination of +individuals, which occurs, as we say, naturally. Because natural, that is, +"stated, fixed, or settled," is it any the less designed on that account? +We acknowledge that God is our maker--not merely the originator of the +race, but our maker as individuals--and none the less so because it pleased +him to make us in the way of ordinary generation. If any of us were born +unlike our parents and grandparents, in a slight degree, or in whatever +degree, would the case be altered in this regard? + +The whole argument in natural theology proceeds upon the ground that the +inference for a final cause of the structure of the hand and of the valves +in the veins is just as valid now, in individuals produced through natural +generation, as it would have been in the case of the first man, +supernaturally created. Why not, then, just as good even on the supposition +of the descent of men from chimpanzees and gorillas, since those animals +possess these same contrivances? Or, to take a more supposable case: If the +argument from structure to design is convincing when drawn from a particular +animal, say a Newfoundland dog, and is not weakened by the knowledge that +this dog came from similar parents, would it be at all weakened if, in +tracing his genealogy, it were ascertained that he was a remote descendant +of the mastiff or some other breed, or that both these and other breeds +came (as is suspected) from some wolf? If not, how is the argument for +design in the structure of our particular dog affected by the supposition +that his wolfish progenitor came from a post-tertiary wolf, perhaps less +unlike an existing one than the dog in question is to some other of the +numerous existing races of dogs, and that this post-tertiary came from an +equally or more different tertiary wolf? And if the argument from structure +to design is not invalidated by our present knowledge that our +individual dog was developed from a single organic cell, how is it +invalidated by the supposition of an analogous natural descent, through a +long line of connected forms, from such a cell, or from some simple animal, +existing ages before there were any dogs? + +Again, suppose we have two well-known and apparently most decidedly +different animals or plants, A and D, both presenting, in their structure +and in their adaptations to the conditions of existence, as valid and clear +evidence of design as any animal or plant ever presented: suppose we have +now discovered two intermediate species, B and C, which make up a series +with equable differences from A to D. Is the proof of design or final cause +in A and D, whatever it amounted to, at all weakened by the discovery of the +intermediate forms? Rather does not the proof extend to the intermediate +species, and go to show that all four were equally designed? Suppose, now, +the number of intermediate forms to be much increased, and therefore the +gradations to be closer yet--as close as those between the various sorts of +dogs, or races of men, or of horned cattle: would the evidence of design, +as shown in the structure of any of the members of the series, be any +weaker than it was in the case of A and D? Whoever contends that it would +be, should likewise maintain that the origination of individuals by +generation is incompatible with design, or an impossibility in Nature. We +might all have confidently thought the latter, antecedently to experience +of the fact of reproduction. Let our experience teach us wisdom. + +These illustrations make it clear that the evidence of design from +structure and adaptation is furnished complete by the individual animal or +plant itself, and that our knowledge or our ignorance of the history of its +formation or mode of production adds nothing to it and takes nothing away. +We infer design from certain arrangements and results; and we have no other +way of ascertaining it. Testimony, unless infallible, cannot prove it, and +is out of the question here. Testimony is not the appropriate proof of +design: adaptation to purpose is. Some arrangements in Nature appear to be +contrivances, but may leave us in doubt. Many others, of which the eye and +the hand are notable examples, compel belief with a force not appreciably +short of demonstration. Clearly to settle that such as these must have been +designed goes far toward proving that other organs and other seemingly less +explicit adaptations in Nature must also have been designed, and clinches +our belief, from manifold considerations, that all Nature is a preconcerted +arrangement, a manifested design. A strange contradiction would it be to +insist that the shape and markings of certain rude pieces of flint, lately +found in drift-deposits, prove design, but that nicer and thousand-fold +more complex adaptations to use in animals and vegetables do not a fortiori +argue design. + +We could not affirm that the arguments for design in Nature are conclusive +to all minds. But we may insist, upon grounds already intimated, that, +whatever they were good for before Darwin's book appeared, they are good +for now. To our minds the argument from design always appeared conclusive +of the being and continued operation of an intelligent First Cause, the +Ordainer of Nature; and we do not see that the grounds of such belief would +be disturbed or shifted by the adoption of Darwin's hypothesis. We are not +blind to the philosophical difficulties which the thoroughgoing implication +of design in Nature has to encounter, nor is it our vocation to obviate +them It suffices us to know that they are not new nor peculiar +difficulties--that, as Darwin's theory and our reasonings upon it did not +raise these perturbing spirits, they are not bound to lay them. Meanwhile, +that the doctrine of design encounters the very same difficulties in the +material that it does in the moral world is Just what ought to be expected. + +So the issue between the skeptic and the theist is only the old one, long +ago argued out--namely, whether organic Nature is a result of design or of +chance. Variation and natural selection open no third alternative; they +concern only the question how the results, whether fortuitous or designed, +may have been brought about. Organic Nature abounds with unmistakable and +irresistible indications of design, and, being a connected and consistent +system, this evidence carries the implication of design throughout the +whole. On the other hand, chance carries no probabilities with it, can never +be developed into a consistent system, but, when applied to the explanation +of orderly or beneficial results, heaps up improbabilities at every step +beyond all computation. To us, a fortuitous Cosmos is simply inconceivable. +The alternative is a designed Cosmos. + +It is very easy to assume that, because events in Nature are in one sense +accidental, and the operative forces which bring them to pass are themselves +blind and unintelligent (physically considered, all forces are), therefore +they are undirected, or that he who describes these events as the results +of such forces thereby assumes that they are undirected. This is the +assumption of the Boston reviewers, and of Mr. Agassiz, who insists that +the only alternative to the doctrine, that all organized beings were +supernaturally created just as they are, is, that they have arisen +spontaneously through the omnipotence of matter.[III-11] + +As to all this, nothing is easier than to bring out in the conclusion what +you introduce in the premises. If you import atheism into your conception +of variation and natural selection, you can readily exhibit it in the +result. If you do not put it in, perhaps there need be none to come out. +While the mechanician is considering a steamboat or locomotive-engine as a +material organism, and contemplating the fuel, water, and steam, the source +of the mechanical forces, and how they operate, he may not have occasion to +mention the engineer. But, the orderly and special results accomplished, the +why the movements are in this or that particular direction, etc., is +inexplicable without him. If Mr. Darwin believes that the events which he +supposes to have occurred and the results we behold were undirected and +undesigned, or if the physicist believes that the natural forces to which +he refers phenomena are uncaused and undirected, no argument is needed to +show that such belief is atheism. But the admission of the phenomena and of +these natural processes and forces does not necessitate any such belief, nor +even render it one whit less improbable than before. + +Surely, too, the accidental element may play its part in Nature without +negativing design in the theist's view. He believes that the earth's surface +has been very gradually prepared for man and the existing animal races, +that vegetable matter has through a long series of generations imparted +fertility to the soil in order that it may support its present occupants, +that even beds of coal have been stored up for man's benefit Yet what is +more accidental, and more simply the consequence of physical agencies than +the accumulation of vegetable matter in a peat bog and its transformation +into coal? No scientific person at this day doubts that our solar system is +a progressive development, whether in his conception he begins with molten +masses, or aeriform or nebulous masses, or with a fluid revolving mass of +vast extent, from which the specific existing worlds have been developed +one by one What theist doubts that the actual results of the development in +the inorganic worlds are not merely compatible with design but are in the +truest sense designed re suits? Not Mr. Agassiz, certainly, who adopts a +remarkable illustration of design directly founded on the nebular hypothesis +drawing from the position and times of the revolution of the world, so +originated direct evidence that the physical world has been ordained in +conformity with laws which obtain also among living beings But the reader +of the interesting exposition[III-12] will notice that the designed result +has been brought to pass through what, speaking after the manner of men, +might be called a chapter of accidents. + +A natural corollary of this demonstration would seem to be, that a material +connection between a series of created things--such as the development of +one of them from another, or of all from a common stock--is highly +compatible with their intellectual connection, namely, with their being +designed and directed by one mind. Yet upon some ground which is not +explained, and which we are unable to conjecture, Mr. Agassiz concludes to +the contrary in the organic kingdoms, and insists that, because the members +of such a series have an intellectual connection, "they cannot be the result +of a material differentiation of the objects themselves,"[III-13] that is, +they cannot have had a genealogical connection. But is there not as much +intellectual connection between the successive generations of any species +as there is between the several species of a genus, or the several genera +of an order? As the intellectual connection here is realized through the +material connection, why may it not be so in the case of species and genera? +On all sides, therefore, the implication seems to be quite the other way. + + +Returning to the accidental element, it is evident that the strongest point +against the compatibility of Darwin's hypothesis with design in Nature is +made when natural selection is referred to as picking out those variations +which are improvements from a vast number which are not improvements, but +perhaps the contrary, and therefore useless or purposeless, and born to +perish. But even here the difficulty is not peculiar; for Nature abounds +with analogous instances. Some of our race are useless, or worse, as +regards the improvement of mankind; yet the race may be designed to improve, +and may be actually improving. Or, to avoid the complication with free +agency--the whole animate life of a country depends absolutely upon the +vegetation, the vegetation upon the rain. The moisture is furnished by the +ocean, is raised by the sun's heat from the ocean's surface, and is wafted +inland by the winds. But what multitudes of raindrops fall back into the +ocean--are as much without a final cause as the incipient varieties which +come to nothing! Does it therefore follow that the rains which are bestowed +upon the soil with such rule and average regularity were not designed to +support vegetable and animal life? Consider, likewise, the vast proportion +of seeds and pollen, of ova and young--a thousand or more to one--which +come to nothing, and are therefore purposeless in the same sense, and only +in the same sense, as are Darwin's unimproved and unused slight variations. +The world is full of such cases; and these must answer the argument--for we +cannot, except by thus showing that it proves too much. + +Finally, it is worth noticing that, though natural selection is +scientifically explicable, variation is not. Thus far the cause of +variation, or the reason why the offspring is sometimes unlike the parents, +is just as mysterious as the reason why it is generally like the parents. +It is now as inexplicable as any other origination; and, if ever explained, +the explanation will only carry up the sequence of secondary causes one +step farther, and bring us in face of a somewhat different problem, but +which will have the same element of mystery that the problem of variation +has now. Circumstances may preserve or may destroy the variations man may +use or direct them but selection whether artificial or natural no more +originates them than man originates the power which turns a wheel when he +dams a stream and lets the water fall upon it The origination of this power +is a question about efficient cause. The tendency of science in respect to +this obviously is not toward the omnipotence of matter, as some suppose, +but to ward the omnipotence of spirit. + +So the real question we come to is as to the way in which we are to +conceive intelligent and efficient cause to be exerted, and upon what +exerted. Are we bound to suppose efficient cause in all cases exerted upon +nothing to evoke something into existence--and this thousands of times +repeated, when a slight change in the details would make all the difference +between successive species? Why may not the new species, or some of them, +be designed diversifications of the old? + +There are, perhaps, only three views of efficient cause which may claim to +be both philosophical and theistic: + + 1. The view of its exertion at the beginning of time, endowing matter and +created things with forces which do the work and produce the phenomena. + + 2. This same view, with the theory of insulated interpositions, or +occasional direct action, engrafted upon it--the view that events and +operations in general go on in virtue simply of forces communicated at the +first, but that now and then, and only now and then, the Deity puts his +hand directly to the work. + + 3. The theory of the immediate, orderly, and constant, however infinitely +diversified, action of the intelligent efficient Cause. + +It must be allowed that, while the third is preeminently the Christian +view, all three are philosophically compatible with design in Nature. The +second is probably the popular conception. Perhaps most thoughtful people +oscillate from the middle view toward the first or the third--adopting the +first on some occasions, the third on others. Those philosophers who like +and expect to settle all mooted questions will take one or the other +extreme. The Examiner inclines toward, the North American reviewer fully +adopts, the third view, to the logical extent of maintaining that "the +origin of an individual, as well as the origin of a species or a genus, can +be explained only by the direct action of an intelligent creative cause." +To silence his critics, this is the line for Mr. Darwin to take; for it at +once and completely relieves his scientific theory from every theological +objection which his reviewers have urged against it. + +At present we suspect that our author prefers the first conception, +though he might contend that his hypothesis is compatible with either of +the three. That it is also compatible with an atheistic or pantheistic +conception of the universe, is an objection which, being shared by all +physical, and some ethical or moral science, cannot specially be urged +against Darwin's system. As he rejects spontaneous generation, and admits of +intervention at the beginning of organic life, and probably in more than one +instance, he is not wholly excluded from adopting the middle view, although +the interventions he would allow are few and far back. Yet one +interposition admits the principle as well as more. Interposition +presupposes particular necessity or reason for it, and raises the question, +when and how often it may have been necessary. It might be the natural +supposition, if we had only one set of species to account for, or if the +successive inhabitants of the earth had no other connections or +resemblances than those which adaptation to similar conditions, which final +causes in the narrower sense, might explain. But if this explanation of +organic Nature requires one to "believe that, at innumerable periods in the +earth's history, certain elemental atoms have been commanded suddenly to +flash into living tissues," and this when the results are seen to be +strictly connected and systematic, we cannot wonder that such interventions +should at length be considered, not as interpositions or interferences, but +rather--to use the reviewer's own language--as "exertions so frequent and +beneficent that we come to regard them as the ordinary action of Him who +laid the foundation of the earth, and without whom not a sparrow falleth to +the ground."[III-14] What does the difference between Mr. Darwin and his +reviewer now amount to? If we say that according to one view the +origination of species is natural, according to the other miraculous, Mr. +Darwin agrees that "what is natural as much requires and presupposes an +intelligent mind to render it so-- that is, to effect it continually or at +stated times--as what is supernatural does to effect it for once."[III-15] +He merely inquires into the form of the miracle, may remind us that all +recorded miracles (except the primal creation of matter) were +transformations or actions in and upon natural things, and will ask how +many times and how frequently may the origination of successive species be +repeated before the supernatural merges in the natural. + +In short, Darwin maintains that the origination of a species, no less than +that of an individual, is natural; the reviewer, that the natural +origination of an individual, no less than the origination of a species, +requires and presupposes Divine power. A fortiori, then, the origination of +a variety requires and presupposes Divine power. And so between the +scientific hypothesis of the one and the philosophical conception of the +other no contrariety remains. And so, concludes the North American +reviewer, "a proper view of the nature of causation places the vital +doctrine of the being and the providence of a God on ground that can never +be shaken."[III-16] A worthy conclusion, and a sufficient answer to the +denunciations and arguments of the rest of the article, so far as +philosophy and natural theology are concerned. If a writer must needs use +his own favorite dogma as a weapon with which to give coup de grace to a +pernicious theory, he should be careful to seize his edge-tool by the +handle, and not by the blade. + +We can barely glance at a subsidiary philosophical objection of the North +American reviewer, which the Examiner also raises, though less explicitly. +Like all geologists, Mr. Darwin draws upon time in the most unlimited +manner. He is not peculiar in this regard. Mr. Agassiz tells us that the +conviction is "now universal, among well-informed naturalists, that this +globe has been in existence for innumerable ages, and that the length of +time elapsed since it first became inhabited cannot be counted in years;" +Pictet, that the imagination refuses to calculate the immense number of +years and of ages during which the faunas of thirty or more epochs have +succeeded one another, and developed their long succession of generations. +Now, the reviewer declares that such indefinite succession of ages is +"virtually infinite," "lacks no characteristic of eternity except its +name," at least, that "the difference between such a conception and that of +the strictly infinite, if any, is not appreciable." But infinity belongs to +metaphysics. Therefore, he concludes, Darwin supports his theory, not by +scientific but by metaphysical evidence; his theory is "essentially and +completely metaphysical in character, resting altogether upon that idea of +'the infinite' which the human mind can neither put aside nor +comprehend."[III-17] And so a theory which will be generally regarded as +much too physical is transferred by a single syllogism to metaphysics. + +Well, physical geology must go with it: for, even on the soberest view, it +demands an indefinitely long time antecedent to the introduction of organic +life upon our earth. A fortiori is physical astronomy a branch of +metaphysics, demanding, as it does, still larger "instalments of infinity," +as the reviewer calls them, both as to time and number. Moreover, far the +greater part of physical inquiries now relate to molecular actions, which, +a distinguished natural philosopher informs us, "we have to regard as the +results of an infinite number of in finitely small material particles, +acting on each other at infinitely small distances"--a triad of +infinities--and so physics becomes the most metaphysical of sciences. +Verily, if this style of reasoning is to prevail-- + +"Thinking is but an idle waste of thought, + + And naught is everything, and everything is naught." + + +The leading objection of Mr. Agassiz is likewise of a philosophical +character. It is, that species exist only "as categories of thought"--that, +having no material existence, they can have had no material variation, and +no material community of origin. Here the predication is of species in the +subjective sense, the inference in the objective sense. Reduced to plain +terms, the argument seems to be: Species are ideas; therefore the objects +from which the idea is derived cannot vary or blend, and cannot have had a +genealogical connection. + +The common view of species is, that, although they are generalizations, yet +they have a direct objective ground in Nature, which genera, orders, etc., +have not. According to the succinct definition of Jussieu--and that of +Linnaeus is identical in meaning--a species is the perennial succession of +similar individuals in continued generations. The species is the chain of +which the individuals are the links. The sum of the +genealogically-connected similar individuals constitutes the species, which +thus has an actuality and ground of distinction not shared by genera and +other groups which were not supposed to be genealogically connected. How a +derivative hypothesis would modify this view, in assigning to species only +a temporary fixity, is obvious. Yet, if naturalists adopt that hypothesis, +they will still retain Jussieu's definition, which leaves untouched the +question as to how and when the "perennial successions" were established. +The practical question will only be, How much difference between two sets of +individuals entitles them to rank under distinct species? and that is the +practical question now, on whatever theory. The theoretical question is--as +stated at the beginning of this article--whether these specific lines were +always as distinct as now. + +Mr. Agassiz has "lost no opportunity of urging the idea that, while species +have no material existence, they yet exist as categories of thought in the +same way [and only in the same way] as genera, families, orders, classes," +etc. He + +"has taken the ground that all the natural divisions in the animal kingdom +are primarily distinct, founded upon different categories of characters, +and that all exist in the same way, that is, as categories of thought, +embodied in individual living forms. I have attempted to show that branches +in the animal kingdom are founded upon different plans of structure, and +for that very reason have embraced from the beginning representatives +between which there could be no community of origin; that classes are +founded upon different modes of execution of these plans, and therefore +they also embrace representatives which could have no community of origin; +that orders represent the different degrees of complication in the mode of +execution of each class, and therefore embrace representatives which could +not have a community of origin any more than the members of different +classes or branches; that families are founded upon different patterns of +form, and embrace, representatives equally independent in their origin; that +genera are founded upon ultimate peculiarities of structure, embracing +representatives which, from the very nature of their peculiarities, could +have no community of origin; and that, finally, species are based upon +relations--and proportions that exclude, as much as all the preceding +distinctions, the idea of a common descent. + +"As the community of characters among the beings belonging to these +different categories arises from the intellectual connection which shows +them to be categories of thought, they cannot be the result of a gradual + + material differentiation of the objects themselves. The argument on which +these views are founded may be summed up in the following few words: +Species, genera, families, etc., exist as thoughts, individuals as +facts."[III-18] + +An ingenious dilemma caps the argument: + + +"It seems to me that there is much confusion of ideas in the general +statement of the variability of species so often repeated lately. If +species do not exist at all, as the supporters of the transmutation theory +maintain, how can they vary? And if individuals alone exist, how can the +differences which may be observed among them prove the variability of +species?" + + +Now, we imagine that Mr. Darwin need not be dangerously gored by either +horn of this curious dilemma. Although we ourselves cherish old-fashioned +prejudices in favor of the probable permanence, and therefore of a more +stable objective ground of species, yet we agree--and Mr. Darwin will agree +fully with Mr. Agassiz--that species, and he will add varieties, "exist as +categories of thought," that is, as cognizable distinctions--which is all +that we can make of the phrase here, whatever it may mean in the +Aristotelian metaphysics. Admitting that species are only categories of +thought, and not facts or things, how does this prevent the individuals, +which are material things, from having varied in the course of time, so as +to exemplify the present almost innumerable categories of thought, or +embodiments of Divine thought in material forms, or--viewed on the human +side--in forms marked with such orderly and graduated resemblances and +differences as to suggest to our minds the idea of species, genera, orders, +etc., and to our reason the inference of a Divine Original? We have no +clear idea how Mr. Agassiz intends to answer this question, in saying that +branches are founded upon different plans of structure, classes upon +different mode of execution of these plans, orders on different degrees of +complication in the mode of execution, families upon different patterns of +form, genera upon ultimate peculiarities of structure, and species upon +relations and proportions. That is, we do not perceive how these several +"categories of thought" exclude the possibility or the probability that the +individuals which manifest or suggest the thoughts had an ultimate +community of origin. + +Moreover, Mr. Darwin might insinuate that the particular philosophy of +classification upon which this whole argument reposes is as purely +hypothetical and as little accepted as is his own doctrine. If both are +pure hypotheses, it is hardly fair or satisfactory to extinguish the one by +the other. If there is no real contradiction between them, nothing is +gained by the attempt. + +As to the dilemma propounded, suppose we try it upon that category of +thought which we call chair. This is a genus, comprising a common chair +(Sella vulgaris), arm or easy chair (S. cathedra), the rocking-chair (S. +oscillans)--widely distributed in the United States--and some others, each +of which has sported, as the gardeners say, into many varieties. But now, +as the genus and the species have no material existence, how can they vary? +If only individual chairs exist, how can the differences which may be +observed among them prove the variability of the species? To which we reply +by asking, Which does the question refer to, the category of thought, or +the individual embodiment? If the former, then we would remark that our +categories of thought vary from time to time in the readiest manner. And, +although the Divine thoughts are eternal, yet they are manifested to us in +time and succession, and by their manifestation only can we know them, how +imperfectly! Allowing that what has no material existence can have had no +material connection or variation, we should yet infer that what has +intellectual existence and connection might have intellectual variation; +and, turning to the individuals, which represent the species, we do not see +how all this shows that they may not vary. Observation shows us that they +do. Wherefore, taught by fact that successive individuals do vary, we +safely infer that the idea must have varied, and that this variation of the +individual representatives proves the variability of the species, whether +objectively or subjectively regarded. + +Each species or sort of chair, as we have said, has its varieties, and one +species shades off by gradations into another. And--note it well--these +numerous and successively slight variations and gradations, far from +suggesting an accidental origin to chairs and to their forms, are very +proofs of design. + +Again, edifice is a generic category of thought. Egyptian, Grecian, +Byzantine, and Gothic buildings are well-marked species, of which each +individual building of the sort is a material embodiment. Now, the question +is, whether these categories or ideas may not have been evolved, one from +another in succession, or from some primal, less specialized, edificial +category. What better evidence for such hypothesis could we have than the +variations and grades which connect these species with each other? We might +extend the parallel, and get some good illustrations of natural selection +from the history of architecture, and the origin of the different styles +under different climates and conditions. Two considerations may qualify or +limit the comparison. One, that houses do not propagate, so as to produce +continuing lines of each sort and variety; but this is of small moment on +Agassiz's view, he holding that genealogical connection is not of the +essence of a species at all. The other, that the formation and development +of the ideas upon which human works proceed are gradual; or, as the same +great naturalist well states it, "while human thought is consecutive, +Divine thought is simultaneous." But we have no right to affirm this of +Divine action. + +We must close here. We meant to review some of the more general scientific +objections which we thought not altogether tenable. But, after all, we are +not so anxious just now to know whether the new theory is well founded on +facts, as whether it would be harmless if it were. Besides, we feel quite +unable to answer some of these objections, and it is pleasanter to take up +those which one thinks he can. + +Among the unanswerable, perhaps the weightiest of the objections, is that +of the absence, in geological deposits, of vestiges of the intermediate +forms which the theory requires to have existed. Here all that Mr. Darwin +can do is to insist upon the extreme imperfection of the geological record +and the uncertainty of negative evidence. But, withal, he allows the force +of the objection almost as much as his opponents urge it--so much so, +indeed, that two of his English critics turn the concession unfairly upon +him, and charge him with actually basing his hypothesis upon these and +similar difficulties--as if he held it because of the difficulties, and not +in spite of them; a handsome return for his candor! + +As to this imperfection of the geological record, perhaps we should get a +fair and intelligible illustration of it by imagining the existing animals +and plants of New England, with all their remains and products since the +arrival of the Mayflower, to be annihilated; and that, in the coming time, +the geologists of a new colony, dropped by the New Zealand fleet on its way +to explore the ruins of London, undertake, after fifty years of +examination, to reconstruct in a catalogue the flora and fauna of our day, +that is, from the close of the glacial period to the present time. With all +the advantages of a surface exploration, what a beggarly account it would +be! How many of the land animals and plants which are enumerated in the +Massachusetts official reports would it be likely to contain? + +Another unanswerable question asked by the Boston reviewers is, Why, when +structure and instinct or habit vary-- as they must have varied, on Darwin's +hypothesis--they vary together and harmoniously, instead of vaguely? We +cannot tell, because we cannot tell why either varies at all. Yet, as they +both do vary in successive generations--as is seen under domestication--and +are correlated, we can only adduce the fact. Darwin may be precluded from +our answer, but we may say that they vary together because designed to do +so. A reviewer says that the chance of their varying together is +inconceivably small; yet, if they do not, the variant individuals must all +perish. Then it is well that it is not left to chance. To refer to a +parallel case: before we were born, nourishment and the equivalent to +respiration took place in a certain way. But the moment we were ushered +into this breathing world, our actions promptly conformed, both as to +respiration and nourishment, to the before unused structure and to the new +surroundings. + +"Now," says the Examiner, "suppose, for instance, the gills of an aquatic +animal converted into lungs, while instinct still compelled a continuance +under water, would not drowning ensue?" No doubt. But--simply contemplating +the facts, instead of theorizing--we notice that young frogs do not keep +their heads under water after ceasing to be tadpoles. The instinct promptly +changes with the structure, without supernatural interposition--just as +Darwin would have it, if the development of a variety or incipient species, +though rare, were as natural as a metamorphosis. + +"Or if a quadruped, not yet furnished with wings, were suddenly inspired +with the instinct of a bird, and precipitated itself from a cliff, would +not the descent be hazardously rapid?" Doubtless the animal would be no +better supported than the objection. But Darwin makes very little indeed of +voluntary efforts as a cause of change, and even poor Lamarck need not be +caricatured. He never supposed that an elephant would take such a notion +into his wise head, or that a squirrel would begin with other than short and +easy leaps; yet might not the length of the leap be increased by practice? + +The North American reviewer's position, that the higher brute animals have +comparatively little instinct and no intelligence, is a heavy blow and great +discouragement to dogs, horses, elephants, and monkeys. Thus stripped of +their all, and left to shift for themselves as they may in this hard world, +their pursuit and seeming attainment of knowledge under such peculiar +difficulties are interesting to contemplate. However, we are not so sure as +is the critic that instinct regularly increases downward and decreases +upward in the scale of being. Now that the case of the bee is reduced to +moderate proportions,[III-19] we know of nothing in instinct surpassing that +of an animal so high as a bird, the talegal, the male of which plumes +himself upon making a hot-bed in which to batch his partner's eggs--which +he tends and regulates the beat of about as carefully and skillfully as the +unplumed biped does an eccaleobion.[III-20] + +As to the real intelligence of the higher brutes, it has been ably defended +by a far more competent observer, Mr. Agassiz, to whose conclusions we +yield a general assent, although we cannot quite place the best of dogs "in +that respect upon a level with a considerable proportion of poor humanity," +nor indulge the hope, or indeed the desire, of a renewed acquaintance with +the whole animal kingdom in a future life. + +The assertion that acquired habitudes or instincts, and acquired +structures, are not heritable, any breeder or good observer can refute. + + That "the human mind has become what it is out of a developed +instinct," is a statement which Mr. Darwin nowhere makes, and, we presume, +would not accept. That he would have us believe that individual animals +acquire their instincts gradually,[III-21] is a statement which must have +been penned in inadvertence both of the very definition of instinct, and of +everything we know of in Mr. Darwin's book. + +It has been attempted to destroy the very foundation of Darwin's hypothesis +by denying that there are any wild varieties, to speak of, for natural +selection to operate upon. We cannot gravely sit down to prove that wild +varieties abound. We should think it just as necessary to prove that snow +falls in winter. That variation among plants cannot be largely due to +hybridism, and that their variation in Nature is not essentially different +from much that occurs in domestication, and, in the long-run, probably +hardly less in amount, we could show if our space permitted. + +As to the sterility of hybrids, that can no longer be insisted upon as +absolutely true, nor be practically used as a test between species and +varieties, unless we allow that hares and rabbits are of one species. That +such sterility, whether total or partial, subserves a purpose in keeping +species apart, and was so designed, we do not doubt. But the critics fail +to perceive that this sterility proves nothing whatever against the +derivative origin of the actual species; for it may as well have been +intended to keep separate those forms which have reached a certain amount +of divergence, as those which were always thus distinct. + +The argument for the permanence of species, drawn from the identity with +those now living of cats, birds, and other animals preserved in Egyptian +catacombs, was good enough as used by Cuvier against St.-Hilaire, that is, +against the supposition that time brings about a gradual alteration of +whole species; but it goes for little against Darwin, unless it be proved +that species never vary, or that the perpetuation of a variety necessitates +the extinction of the parent breed. For Darwin clearly maintains--what the +facts warrant--that the mass of a species remains fixed so long as it +exists at all, though it may set off a variety now and then. The variety may +finally supersede the parent form, or it may coexist with it; yet it does +not in the least hinder the unvaried stock from continuing true to the +breed, unless it crosses with it. The common law of inheritance may be +expected to keep both the original and the variety mainly true as long as +they last, and none the less so because they have given rise to occasional +varieties. The tailless Manx cats, like the curtailed fox in the fable, have +not induced the normal breeds to dispense with their tails, nor have the +Dorkings (apparently known to Pliny) affected the permanence of the common +sort of fowl. + +As to the objection that the lower forms of life ought, on Darwin's theory, +to have been long ago improved out of existence, and replaced by higher +forms, the objectors forget what a vacuum that would leave below, and what +a vast field there is to which a simple organization is best adapted, and +where an advance would be no improvement, but the contrary. To accumulate +the greatest amount of being upon a given space, and to provide as much +enjoyment of life as can be under the conditions, is what Nature seems to +aim at; and this is effected by diversification. + +Finally, we advise nobody to accept Darwin's or any other derivative theory +as true. The time has not come for that, and perhaps never will. We also +advise against a similar credulity on the other side, in a blind faith that +species--that the manifold sorts and forms of existing animals and +vegetables--"have no secondary cause." The contrary is already not +unlikely, and we suppose will hereafter become more and more probable. But +we are confident that, if a derivative hypothesis ever is established, it +will be so on a solid theistic ground. + +Meanwhile an inevitable and legitimate hypothesis is on trial--an +hypothesis thus far not untenable--a trial just now very useful to science, +and, we conclude, not harmful to religion, unless injudicious assailants +temporarily make it so. + +One good effect is already manifest; its enabling the advocates of the +hypothesis of a multiplicity of human species to perceive the double +insecurity of their ground. When the races of men are admitted to be of one +species, the corollary, that they are of one origin, may be expected to +follow. Those who allow them to be of one species must admit an actual +diversification into strongly-marked and persistent varieties, and so admit +the basis of fact upon which the Darwinian hypothesis is built; while those, +on the other hand, who recognize several or numerous human species, will +hardly be able to maintain that such species were primordial and +supernatural in the ordinary sense of the word. + +The English mind is prone to positivism and kindred forms of materialistic +philosophy, and we must expect the derivative theory to be taken up in that +interest. We have no predilection for that school, but the contrary. If we +had, we might have looked complacently upon a line of criticism which would +indirectly, but effectively, play into the hands of positivists and +materialistic atheists generally. The wiser and stronger ground to take is, +that the derivative hypothesis leaves the argument for design, and +therefore for a designer, as valid as it ever was; that to do any work by an +instrument must require, and therefore presuppose, the exertion rather of +more than of less power than to do it directly; that whoever would be a +consistent theist should believe that Design in the natural world is +coextensive with Providence, and hold as firmly to the one as he does to +the other, in spite of the wholly similar and apparently insuperable +difficulties which the mind encounters whenever it endeavors to develop the +idea into a system, either in the material and organic, or in the moral +world. It is enough, in the way of obviating objections, to show that the +philosophical difficulties of the one are the same, and only the same, as +of the other. IV + +SPECIES AS TO VARIATION, + +GEOGRAPHICAL + +DISTRIBUTION, + +AND SUCCESSION + +(American Journal of Science and Arts, May, 1863) + + + +Etude sur l'Espece, a l'Occasion d'une Revision de la Famille des +Cupuliferes, par M. ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE.-- This is the title of a paper by +M. Alph. De Candolle, growing out of his study of the oaks. It was +published in the November number of the Bibliotheque Universelle, and +separately issued as a pamphlet. A less inspiring task could hardly be +assigned to a botanist than the systematic elaboration of the genus Quercus +and its allies. The vast materials assembled under De Candolle's hands, +while disheartening for their bulk, offered small hope of novelty. The +subject was both extremely trite and extremely difficult. Happily it +occurred to De Candolle that an interest might be imparted to an onerous +undertaking, and a work of necessity be turned to good account for science, +by studying the oaks in view of the question of species. What this term +species means, or should mean, in natural history, what the limits of +species, inter se or chronologically, or in geographical distribution, their +modifications, actual or probable, their origin, and their destiny--these +are questions which surge up from time to time; and now and then in the +progress of science they come to assume a new and hopeful interest. Botany +and zoology, geology, and what our author, feeling the want of a new term +proposes to name epiontology, [IV-1] all lead up to and converge into this +class of questions, while recent theories shape and point the discussion So +we look with eager interest to see what light the study of oaks by a very +careful experienced and conservative botanist, particularly conversant with +the geographical relations of plants may throw upon the subject. + +The course of investigation in this instance does not differ from that +ordinarily pursued by working botanists nor, in deed are the theoretical +conclusions other than those to which a similar study of other orders might +not have equally led. The oaks afford a very good occasion for the +discussion of questions which press upon our attention, and perhaps they +offer peculiarly good materials on account of the number of fossil species. + +Preconceived notions about species being laid aside, the specimens in hand +were distributed, according to their obvious resemblances, into groups of +apparently identical or nearly identical forms, which were severally +examined and compared. Where specimens were few, as from countries little +explored, the work was easy, but the conclusions, as will be seen, of small +value. The fewer the materials, the smaller the likelihood of forms +intermediate between any two, and--what does not appear being treated upon +the old law-maxim as non-existent--species are readily enough defined. +Where, however, specimens abound, as in the case of the oaks of Europe, of +the Orient, and of the United States, of which the specimens amounted to +hundreds, collected at different ages, in varied localities, by botanists +of all sorts of views and predilections--here alone were data fit to draw +useful conclusions from. Here, as De Candolle remarks, he had every +advantage, being furnished with materials more complete than any one person +could have procured from his own herborizations, more varied than if he had +observed a hundred times over the same forms in the same district, and more +impartial than if they had all been amassed by one person with his own +ideas or predispositions. So that vast herbaria, into which contributions +from every source have flowed for years, furnish the best possible data--at +least are far better than any practicable amount of personal +herborization--or the comparative study of related forms occurring over +wide tracts of territory. But as the materials increase, so do the +difficulties. Forms, which appeared totally distinct, approach or blend +through intermediate gradations; characters, stable in a limited number of +instances or in a limited district, prove unstable occasionally, or when +observed over a wider area; and the practical question is forced upon the +investigator, What here is probably fixed and specific, and what is +variant, pertaining to individual, variety, or race? + +In the examination of these rich materials, certain characters were found +to vary upon the same branch, or upon the same tree, sometimes according to +age or development, sometimes irrespective of such relations or of any +assignable reasons. Such characters, of course, are not specific, although +many of them are such as would have been expected to be constant in the +same species, and are such as generally enter into specific definitions. +Variations of this sort, De Candolle, with his usual painstaking, classifies +and tabulates, and even expresses numerically their frequency in certain +species. The results are brought well to view in a systematic enumeration: + + 1. Of characters which frequently vary upon the same branch: over a dozen +such are mentioned. + + 2. Of those which sometimes vary upon the same branch: a smaller number of +these are mentioned. + + 3. Those so rare that they might be called monstrosities. +Then he enumerates characters, ten in number, which he has never found to +vary on the same branch, and which, therefore, may better claim to be +employed as specific. But, as among them he includes the duration of the +leaves, the size of the cupule, and the form and size of its scales, which +are by no means quite uniform in different trees of the same species, even +these characters must be taken with allowance. In fact, having first +brought together, as groups of the lowest order, those forms which varied +upon the same stock, he next had to combine similarly various forms which, +though not found associated upon the same branch, were thoroughly blended +by intermediate degrees: + + +"The lower groups (varieties or races) being thus constituted, I have given +the rank of species to the groups next above these, which differ in other +respects, i.e., either in characters which were not found united upon +certain individuals, or in those which do not show transitions from one +individual to another. For the oaks of regions sufficiently known, the +species thus formed rest upon satisfactory bases, of which the proof can be +furnished. It is quite otherwise with those which are represented in our +herbaria by single or few specimens. These are provisional species--species +which may hereafter fall to the rank of simple varieties. I have not been +inclined to prejudge such questions; indeed, in this regard, I am not +disposed to follow those authors whose tendency is, as they say, to reunite +species. I never reunite them without proof in each particular case; while +the botanists to whom I refer do so on the ground of analogous variations +or transitions occurring in the same genus or in the same family. For +example resting on the fact that Quercus hex, Q. coccifera, Q. acutifolia, +etc., have the leaves sometimes entire and sometimes toothed upon the same +branch, or present transitions from one tree to another, I might readily +have united my Q. Tlapuxahuensis to Q. Sartorii of Liebmann, since these +two differ only in their entire or their toothed leaves. From the fact that +the length of the peduncle varies in Q. Robur and many other oaks, I might +have combined Q. Seemannii Liebm. with Q. salicifolia Nee. I have not +admitted these inductions, but have demanded visible proof in each +particular case. Many species are thus left as provisional; but, in +proceeding thus, the progress of the science will be more regular, and the +synonymy less dependent upon the caprice or the theoretical opinions of +each author." + + +This is safe and to a certain degree judicious, no doubt, as respects +published species. Once admitted, they may stand until they are put down by +evidence, direct or circumstantial. Doubtless a species may rightfully be +condemned on good circumstantial evidence. But what course does De Candolle +pursue in the case--of every-day occurrence to most working botanists, +having to elaborate collections from countries not so well explored as +Europe--when the forms in question, or one of the two, are as yet unnamed? +Does he introduce as a new species every form which he cannot connect by +ocular proof with a near relative, from which it differs only in +particulars which he sees are inconstant in better known species of the +same group? We suppose not. But, if he does, little improvement for the +future upon the state of things revealed in the following quotation can be +expected: + +"In the actual state of our knowledge, after having seen nearly all the +original specimens, and in some species as many as two hundred +representatives from different localities, I estimate that, out of the +three hundred species of Cupuliferae which will be enumerated in the +Prodromus, two-thirds at least are provisional species. In general, when we +consider what a multitude of species were described from a single specimen, +or from the forms of a single locality, of a single country, or are badly +described, it is difficult to believe that above one-third of the actual +species in botanical works will remain unchanged." + + +Such being the results of the want of adequate knowledge, how is it likely +to be when our knowledge is largely increased? The judgment of so practised +a botanist as De Candolle is important in this regard, and it accords with +that of other botanists of equal experience. + +"They are mistaken," he pointedly asserts, "who repeat that the greater +part of our species are clearly limited, and that the doubtful species are +in a feeble minority. This seemed to be true, so long as a genus was +imperfectly known, and its species were founded upon few specimens, that is +to say, were provisional. Just as we come to know them better, intermediate +forms flow in, and doubts as to specific limits augment." + +De Candolle insists, indeed, in this connection, that the higher the rank +of the groups the more definite their limitation, or, in other terms, the +fewer the ambiguous or doubtful forms, that genera are more strictly +limited than species tribes than genera, orders than tribes, etc. We are +not convinced of this Often where it has appeared to be so, advancing +discovery has brought intermediate forms to light, perplexing to the +systematist. "They are mistaken, we think more than one systematic botanist +will say, "who repeat that the greater part of our natural orders and +tribes are absolutely limited," however we may agree that we will limit +them. Provisional genera we suppose are proportionally hardly less common +than provisional species; and hundreds of genera are kept up on +considerations of general propriety or general convenience, although well +known to shade off into adjacent ones by complete gradations. Somewhat of +this greater fixity of higher groups, therefore, is rather apparent than +real. On the other hand, that varieties should be less definite than +species, follows from the very terms employed. They are ranked as +varieties, rather than species, just because of their less definiteness. + +Singular as it may appear, we have heard it denied that spontaneous +varieties occur. De Candolle makes the important announcement that, in the +oak genus, the best known species are just those which present the greatest +number of spontaneous varieties and sub-varieties. The maximum is found in +Q. Robur, with twenty-eight varieties, all spontaneous. Of Q. Lusitanica +eleven varieties are enumerated, of Q. Calliprinos ten, of Q. coccifera +eight, * etc. And he significantly adds that "these very species which offer +such numerous modifications are themselves ordinarily surrounded by other +forms, provisionally called species, because of the absence of known +transitions or variations, but to which some of these will probably have to +be joined hereafter." The inference is natural, if not inevitable, that the +difference between such species and such varieties is only one of degree, +either as to amount of divergence, or of hereditary fixity, or as to the +frequency or rarity at the present time of intermediate forms. + +This brings us to the second section of De Candolle's article, in which he +passes on, from the observation of the present forms and affinities of +cupuliferous plants, to the consideration of their probable history and +origin. Suffice it to say, that he frankly accepts the inferences derived +from the whole course of observation, and contemplates a probable +historical connection between congeneric species. He accepts and, by +various considerations drawn from the geographical distribution of European +Cupuliferae, fortifies the conclusion--long ago arrived at by Edward +Forbes--that the present species, and even some of their varieties, date +back to about the close of the Tertiary epoch, since which time they have +been subject to frequent and great changes of habitation or limitation, but +without appreciable change of specific form or character; that is, without +profounder changes than those within which a species at the present time is +known to vary. Moreover, he is careful to state that he is far from +concluding that the time of the appearance of a species in Europe at all +indicates the time of its origin. Looking back still further into the +Tertiary epoch, of which the vegetable remains indicate many analogous, but +few, if any, identical forms, he concludes, with Heer and others, that +specific changes of form, as well as changes of station, are to be +presumed; and, finally, that "the theory of a succession of forms through +the deviation of anterior forms is the most natural hypothesis, and the +most accordant with the known facts in palaeontology, geographical botany +and zoology, of anatomical structure and classification: but direct proof +of it is wanting, and moreover, if true, it must have taken place very +slowly; so slowly, indeed, that its effects are discernible only after a +lapse of time far longer than our historic epoch." +In contemplating the present state of the species of Cupuliferae in Europe, +De Candolle comes to the conclusion that, while the beech is increasing, +and extending its limits southward and westward (at the expense of +Coniferae and birches), the common oak, to some extent, and the Turkey oak +decidedly, are diminishing and retreating, and this wholly irrespective of +man's agency. This is inferred of the Turkey oak from the great gaps found +in its present geographical area, which are otherwise inexplicable, and +which he regards as plain indications of a partial extinction. Community of +descent of all the individuals of species is of course implied in these and +all similar reasonings. + +An obvious result of such partial extinction is clearly enough brought to +view The European oaks (like the American species) greatly tend to vary +that is they manifest an active disposition to produce new forms Every form +tends to become hereditary and so to pass from the state of mere variation +to that of race and of these competing incipient races some only will +survive. Quercus Robur offers a familiar illustration of the manner in +which one form may in the course of time become separated into two or more +distinct ones. + +To Linnaeus this common oak of Europe was all of one species. But of late +years the greater number of European botanists have regarded it as +including three species, Q. pedunculata, Q. sessiliflora, and Q. pubescens. +De Candolle looks with satisfaction to the independent conclusion which he +reached from a long and patient study of the forms (and which Webb, Gay, +Bentham, and others, had equally reached), that the view of Linnaeus was +correct, inasmuch as it goes to show that the idea and the practical +application of the term species have remained unchanged during the century +which has elapsed since the publication of the "Species Plantarum." But, +the idea remaining unchanged, the facts might appear under a different +aspect, and the conclusion be different, under a slight and very supposable +change of circumstances. Of the twenty-eight spontaneous varieties of Q. +Robur, which De Candolle recognizes, all but six, he remarks, fall +naturally under the three sub-species, pedunculata, sessiliflora, and +pubescens, and are therefore forms grouped around these as centres; and, +moreover, the few connecting forms are by no means the most common. Were +these to die out, it is clear that the three forms which have already been +so frequently taken for species would be what the group of four or five +provisionally admitted species which closely surround Q. Robur now are. The +best example of such a case, as having in all probability occurred through +geographical segregation and partial extinction, is that of the cedar, thus +separated into the Deodar, the Lebanon, and the Atlantic cedars--a case +admirably worked out by Dr. Hooker two or three years ago. [IV-2] +A special advantage of the Cupuliferae for determining the probable +antiquity of existing species in Europe, De Candolle finds in the size and +character of their fruits. However it may be with other plants (and he +comes to the conclusion generally that marine currents and all other means +of distant transport have played only a very small part in the actual +dispersion of species), the transport of acorns and chestnuts by natural +causes across an arm of the sea in a condition to germinate, and much more +the spontaneous establishment of a forest of oaks or chestnuts in this way, +De Candolle conceives to be fairly impossible in itself, and contrary to +all experience. From such considerations, i.e., from the actual dispersion +of the existing species (with occasional aid from post-tertiary deposits), +it is thought to be shown that the principal Cupuliferae of the Old World +attained their actual extension before the present separation of Sicily, +Sardinia and Corsica, and of Britain, from the European Continent. + +This view once adopted, and this course once entered upon, has to be +pursued farther. Quercus Robur of Europe with its bevy of admitted +derivatives, and its attending species only provisionally admitted to that +rank, is very closely related to certain species of Eastern Asia, and of +Oregon and California--so closely that "a view of the specimens by no means +forbids the idea that they have all originated from Q. Robur, or have +originated, with the latter, from one or more preceding forms so like the +present ones that a naturalist could hardly know whether to call them +species or varieties." Moreover, there are fossil leaves from diluvian +deposits in Italy, figured by Gaudin, which are hardly distinguishable from +those of Q. Robur on the one hand, and from those of Q. Douglasii, etc., of +California, on the other. No such leaves are found in any tertiary deposit +in Europe; but such are found of that age, it appears, in Northwest +America, where their remote descendants still flourish. So that the probable +genealogy of Q. Robur, traceable in Europe up to the commencement of the +present epoch, looks eastward and far into the past on far-distant shores. + +Quercus Ilex, the evergreen oak of Southern Europe and Northern Africa, +reveals a similar archaeology; but its presence in Algeria leads De +Candolle to regard it as a much more ancient denizen of Europe than Q. +Robur; and a Tertiary oak, Q. ilicoides, from a very old Miocene bed in +Switzerland, is thought to be one of its ancestral forms. This high +antiquity once established, it follows almost of course that the very +nearly-related species in Central Asia, in Japan, in California, and even +our own live-oak with its Mexican relatives, may probably enough be +regarded as early offshoots from the same stock with Q. hex. + +In brief--not to continue these abstracts and remarks, and without +reference to Darwin's particular theory (which De Candolle at the close +very fairly considers)--if existing species, or many of them, are as +ancient as they are now generally thought to be, and were subject to the +physical and geographical changes (among them the coming and the going of +the glacial epoch) which this antiquity implies; if in former times they +were as liable to variation as they now are; and if the individuals of the +same species may claim a common local origin, then we cannot wonder that +"the theory of a succession of forms by deviations of anterior forms" +should be regarded as "the most natural hypothesis," nor at the general +advance made toward its acceptance. + +The question being, not, how plants and animals originated, but, how came +the existing animals and plants to be just where they are and what they +are, it is plain that naturalists interested in such inquiries are mostly +looking for the answer in one direction. The general drift of opinion, or +at least of expectation, is exemplified by this essay of De Candolle; and +the set and force of the current are seen by noticing how it carries along +naturalists of widely different views and prepossessions--some faster and +farther than others--but all in one way. The tendency is, we may say, to +extend the law of continuity, or something analogous to it, from inorganic +to organic Nature, and in the latter to connect the present with the past +in some sort of material connection. The generalization may indeed be +expressed so as not to assert that the connection is genetic, as in Mr. +Wallace's formula: "Every species has come into existence coincident both +in time and space with preexisting closely-allied species." Edward Forbes, +who may be called the originator of this whole line of inquiry, long ago +expressed a similar view. But the only material sequence we know, or can +clearly conceive, in plants and animals, is that from parent to progeny; +and, as De Candolle implies, the origin of species and that of races can +hardly be much unlike, nor governed by other than the same laws, whatever +these may be. + +The progress of opinion upon this subject in one generation is not badly +represented by that of De Candolle himself, who is by no means prone to +adopt new views without much consideration. In an elementary treatise +published in the year 1835, he adopted and, if we rightly remember, +vigorously maintained, Schouw's idea of the double or multiple origin of +species, at least of some species--a view which has been carried out to its +ultimate development only perhaps by Agassiz, in the denial of any necessary +genetic connection among the individuals of the same species, or of any +original localization more restricted than the area now occupied by the +species. But in i855, in his "Geographic Botanique," the multiple +hypothesis, although in principle not abandoned, loses its point, in view +of the probable high antiquity of existing species. The actual vegetation +of the world being now regarded as a continuation, through numerous +geological, geographical, and more recently historical changes, of anterior +vegetations, the actual distribution of plants is seen to be a consequence +of preceding conditions; and geological considerations, and these alone, +may be expected to explain all the facts--many of them so curious and +extraordinary--of the actual geographical distribution of the species. In +the present essay, not only the distribution but the origin of congeneric +species is regarded as something derivative; whether derived by slow and +very gradual changes in the course of ages, according to Darwin, or by a +sudden, inexplicable change of their tertiary ancestors, as conceived by +Heer, De Candolle hazards no opinion. It may, however, be inferred that he +looks upon "natural selection" as a real, but insufficient cause; while +some curious remarks upon the number of monstrosities annually produced, +and the possibility of their enduring, may be regarded as favorable to +Heer's view. + +As an index to the progress of opinion in the direction referred to, it +will be interesting to compare Sir Charles Lyell's well-known chapters of +twenty or thirty years ago, in which the permanence of species was ably +maintained, with his treatment of the same subject in a work just issued in +England, which, however, has not yet reached us. + +A belief of the derivation of species may be maintained along with a +conviction of great persistence of specific characters. This is the idea of +the excellent Swiss vegetable palaeontologist, Heer, who imagines a sudden +change of specific type at certain periods, and perhaps is that of Pictet. +Falconer adheres to somewhat similar views in his elaborate paper on +elephants, living and fossil, in the Natural History Review for January +last. Noting that "there is clear evidence of the true mammoth having +existed in America long after the period of the northern drift, when the +surface of the country had settled down into its present form, and also in +Europe so late as to have been a contemporary of the Irish elk, and on the +other hand that it existed in England so far back as before the deposition +of the bowlder clay; also that four well-defined species of fossil elephant +are known to have existed in Europe; that "a vast number of the remains of +three of these species have been exhumed over a large area in Europe; and, +even in the geological sense, an enormous interval of time has elapsed +between the formation of the most ancient and the most recent of these +deposits, quite sufficient to test the persistence of specific characters +in an elephant," he presents the question, "Do, then, the successive +elephants occurring in these strata show any signs of a passage from the +older form into the newer?" + +To which the reply is: "If there is one fact which is impressed on the +conviction of the observer with more force than any other, it is the +persistence and uniformity of the characters of the molar teeth in the +earliest known mammoth and his most modern successor . . . Assuming the +observation to be correct, what strong proof does it not afford of the +persistence and constancy, throughout vast intervals of time, of the +distinctive characters of those organs which arc most concerned in the +existence and habits of the species? If we cast a glance back on the long +vista of physical changes which our planet has undergone since the Neozoic +epoch, we can nowhere detect signs of a revolution more sudden and +pronounced, or more important in its results, than the intercalation and +sudden disappearance of the glacial period. Yet the 'dicyclotherian' +mammoth lived before it, and passed through the ordeal of all the hard +extremities it involved, bearing his organs of locomotion and digestion all +but unchanged. Taking the group of four European fossil species above +enumerated, do they show any signs in the successive deposits of a +transition from the one form into the other? Here again the result of my +observation, in so far as it has extended over the European area, is, that +the specific characters of the molars are constant in each, within a +moderate range of variation, and that we nowhere meet with intermediate +forms." . . . + +Dr. Falconer continues (page 80): + + +"The inferences which I draw from these facts are not opposed to one of the +leading propositions of Darwin's theory. With him, I have no faith in the +opinion that the mammoth and other extinct elephants made their appearance +suddenly, after the type in which their fossil remains are presented to us. +The most rational view seems to be, that they are in some shape the +modified descendants of earlier progenitors. But if the asserted facts be +correct, they seem clearly to indicate that the older elephants of Europe, +such as E. meridionalis and E. antiguus, were not the stocks from which the +later species, E. primigenius and E. Africanus sprung, and that we must +look elsewhere for their origin. The nearest affinity, and that a very +close one, of the European E. meridionalis is with the Miocene E. +planifrons of India; and of E. primigenius, with the existing India +species. + +"Another reflection is equally strong in my mind--that the means which have +been adduced to explain the origin of the species by 'natural selection,' +or a process of variation from external influences, are inadequate to +account for the phenomena. The law of phyllotaxis, which governs the +evolution of leaves around the axis of a plant, is as nearly constant in +its manifestation as any of the physical laws connected with the material +world. Each instance, however different from another, can be shown to be a +term of some series of continued fractions. When this is coupled with the +geometrical law governing the evolution of form, so manifest in some +departments of the animal kingdom, e. g., the spiral shells of the +Mollusca, it is difficult to believe that there is not, in Nature, a +deeper-seated and innate principle, to the operation of which natural +selection is merely an adjunct. The whole range of the Mammalia, fossil and +recent, cannot furnish a species which has had a wider geographical +distribution, and passed through a longer term of time, and through more +extreme changes of climatal conditions, than the mammoth. If species are so +unstable, and so susceptible of mutation through such influences, why does +that extinct form stand out so signally a monument of stability? By his +admirable researches and earnest writings, Darwin has, beyond all his +contemporaries, given an impulse to the philosophical investigation of the +most backward and obscure branch of the biological sciences of his day; he +has laid the foundations of a great edifice; but he need not be surprised +if, in the progress of erection, the superstructure is altered by his +successors, like the Duomo of Milan from the Roman to a different style of +architecture." + + +Entertaining ourselves the opinion that something more than natural +selection is requisite to account for the orderly production and succession +of species, we offer two incidental remarks upon the above extract. + + 1. We find in it--in the phrase "natural selection, or a process of +variation from external influences"--an example of the very common +confusion of two distinct things, viz., variation and natural selection. +The former has never yet been shown to have its cause in "external +influences," nor to occur at random. As we have elsewhere insisted, if not +inexplicable, it has never been explained; all we can yet say is, that +plants and animals are prone to vary, and that some conditions favor +variation. Perhaps in this Dr. Falconer may yet find what he seeks: for "it +is difficult to believe that there is not in nature a deeper-seated and +innate principle, to the operation of which natural selection is merely an +adjunct." The latter, which is the ensemble of the external influences, +including the competition of the individuals them selves, picks out certain +variations as they arise, but in no proper sense can be said to originate +them + + 2. Although we are not quite sure how Dr Falconer in tends to apply the law +of phyllotaxis to illustrate his idea, we fancy that a pertinent +illustration may be drawn from it in this way. There are two species of +phyllotaxis, perfectly distinct, and we suppose, not mathematically +reducible the one to the other, viz.: (1.) That of alternate leaves, with +its vane ties and (2.) That of verticillate leaves, of which opposite leaves +present the simplest case That although generally constant a change from one +variety of alternate phyllotaxis to an other should occur on the same axis, +or on successive axes, is not surprising, the different sorts being terms +of a regular series--although indeed we have not the least idea as to how +the change from the one to the other comes to pass But it is interesting +and in this connection perhaps instructive, to remark that while some +dicotyledonous plants hold to the verticillate, i.e., opposite-leaved +phyllotaxis throughout, a larger number--through the operation of some deep +seated and innate principle which we cannot fathom--change abruptly into +the other species at the second or third node, and change back again in the +flower, or else effect a synthesis of the two species in a manner which is +puzzling to understand. Here is a change from one fixed law to another, as +unaccountable, if not as great, as from one specific form to another. + +An elaborate paper on the vegetation of the Tertiary period in the +southeast of France, by Count Gaston de Saporta, published in the Annales +des Sciences Naturelles in 1862, vol. xvi., pp. 309-344--which we have not +space to analyze--is worthy of attention from the general inquirer, on +account of its analysis of the Tertiary flora into its separate types, +Cretaceous, Austral, Tropical, and Boreal, each of which has its separate +and different history--and for the announcement that "the hiatus, which, in +the idea of most geologists, intervened between the close of the Cretaceous +and the beginning of the Tertiary, appears to have had no existence, so far +as concerns the vegetation; that in general it was not by means of a total +overthrow, followed by a complete new emission of species, that the flora +has been renewed at each successive period; and that while the plants of +Southern Europe inherited from the Cretaceous period more or less rapidly +disappeared, as also the austral forms, and later the tropical types (except +the laurel, the myrtle, and the Chamaerops humilis), the boreal types, +coming later, survived all the others, and now compose, either in Europe, +or in the north of Asia, or in North America, the basis of the actual +arborescent vegetation. Especially "a very considerable number of forms +nearly identical with tertiary forms now exist in America, where they have +found, more easily than in our soil--less vast and less extended +southward--refuge from ulterior revolutions," The extinction of species is +attributed to two kinds of causes; the one material or physical, whether +slow or rapid; the other inherent in the nature of organic beings, +incessant, but slow, in a manner latent, but somehow assigning to the +species, as to the individuals, a limited period of existence, and, in some +equally mysterious but wholly natural way, connected with the development +of organic types: "By type meaning a collection of vegetable forms +constructed upon the same plan of organization, of which they reproduce the +essential lineaments with certain secondary modifications, and which appear +to run back to a common point of departure." + +In this community of types, no less than in the community of certain +existing species, Saporta recognizes a prolonged material union between +North America and Europe in former times. Most naturalists and geologists +reason in the same way--some more cautiously than others--yet perhaps most +of them seem not to perceive how far such inferences imply the doctrine of +the common origin of related species. + +For obvious reasons such doctrines are likely to find more favor with +botanists than with zoologists. But with both the advance in this direction +is seen to have been rapid and great; yet to us not unexpected. We note, +also, an evident disposition, notwithstanding some endeavors to the +contrary, to allow derivative hypotheses to stand or fall upon their own +merits--to have indeed upon philosophical grounds certain presumptions in +their favor--and to be, perhaps, quite as capable of being turned to good +account as to bad account in natural theology.[IV-3] + +Among the leading naturalists, indeed, such views--taken in the widest +sense--have one and, so far as we are now aware, only one thoroughgoing and +thoroughly consistent opponent, viz., Mr. Agassiz. + +Most naturalists take into their very conception of a species, explicitly +or by implication, the notion of a material connection resulting from the +descent of the individuals composing it from a common stock, of local +origin. Agassiz wholly eliminates community of descent from his idea of +species, and even conceives a species to have been as numerous in +individuals and as wide-spread over space, or as segregated in +discontinuous spaces, from the first as at the later period. + +The station which it inhabits, therefore, is with other naturalists in no +wise essential to the species, and may not have been the region of its +origin. In Agassiz's view the habitat is supposed to mark the origin, and +to be a part of the character of the species. The habitat is not merely the +place where it is, but a part of what it is. + +Most naturalists recognize varieties of species; and many, like De +Candolle, have come to conclude that varieties of the highest grade, or +races, so far partake of the characteristics of species, and are so far +governed by the same laws, that it is often very difficult to draw a clear +and certain distinction between the two. Agassiz will not allow that +varieties or races exist in Nature, apart from man's agency. + +Most naturalists believe that the origin of species is supernatural, their +dispersion or particular geographical area, natural, and their extinction, +when they disappear, also the result of physical causes. In the view of +Agassiz, if rightly understood, all three are equally independent of +physical cause and effect, are equally supernatural. + +In comparing preceding periods with the present and with each other, most +naturalists and palaeontologists now appear to recognize a certain number of +species as having survived from one epoch to the next, or even through more +than one formation, especially from the Tertiary into the post-Tertiary +period, and from that to the present age. Agassiz is understood to believe +in total extinctions and total new creations at each successive epoch, and +even to recognize no existing species as ever contemporary with extinct +ones, except in the case of recent exterminations. + +These peculiar views if sustained will effectually dispose of every form of +derivative hypothesis. + +Returning for a moment to De Candolle's article, we are disposed to notice +his criticism of Linnaeus's "definition" of the term species (Philosophia +Botanica, No. 157): "Species tot numeramus quot diversae formae in +principio sunt creatae"-- which he declares illogical, inapplicable, and +the worst that has been propounded. "So, to determine if a form is +specific, it is necessary to go back to its origin which is impossible A +definition by a character which can never be verified is no definition at +all." + +Now as Linnaeus practically applied the idea of species with a sagacity +which has never been surpassed and rarely equaled and indeed may be said to +have fixed its received meaning in natural history, it may well be inferred +that in the phrase above cited he did not so much undertake to frame a +logical definition, as to set forth the idea which, in his opinion, lay at +the foundation of species; on which basis A.L. Jussieu did construct a +logical definition--"Nunc rectius definitur perennis individuorum similium +successio continuata generatione renascentium." The fundamental idea of +species, we would still maintain, is that of a chain of which +genetically-connected individuals are the links. That, in the practical +recognition of species, the essential characteristic has to be inferred, is +no great objection--the general fact that like engenders like being an +induction from a vast number of instances, and the only assumption being +that of the uniformity of Nature. The idea of gravitation, that of the +atomic constitution of matter, and the like, equally have to be verified +inferentially. If we still hold to the idea of Linnaeus, and of Agassiz, +that existing species were created independently and essentially all at +once at the beginning of the present era, we could not better the +propositions of Linnaeus and of Jussieu. If; on the other hand, the time has +come in which we may accept, with De Candolle, their successive +origination, at the commencement of the present era or before, and even by +derivation from other forms, then the "in principio" of Linnaeus will refer +to that time, whenever it was, and his proposition be as sound and wise as +ever. + +In his "Geographie Botanique" (ii., 1068-1077) De Candolle discusses this +subject at length, and in the same interest. Remarking that of the two +great facts of species, viz., likeness among the individuals, and +genealogical connection, zoologists have generally preferred the +latter,[IV-4] while botanists have been divided in opinion, he pronounces +for the former as the essential thing, in the following argumentative +statement: + + +"Quant a moi, j'ai ete conduit, dans ma definition de l'espece, a mettre +decidement la ressemblance au-dessus de caracteres de succession. Ce n'est +pas seulement a cause des circonstances propres au regne vegetal, dont je +m'occupe exclusivement; ce n'est pas non plus afin de sortir ma definition +des theories et de la rendre le plus possible utile aux naturalistes +descripteurs et nomenclateurs, c'est aussi par un motif philosophique. En +toute chose il faut aller au fond des questions, quand on le peut. Or, +pourquoi la reproduction est-elle possible, habituelle, feconde +indefiniment, entre des etres organises que nous dirons de la meme espece? +Parce qu'ils se ressemblent et uniquement a cause de cela. Lorsque deux +especes ne peuvent, ou, s'il s'agit d'animaux superieurs, ne peuvent et ne +veulent se croiser, c'est qu'elles sont tres differentes. Si l'on obtient +des croisements, c'est que les individus sont analogues; si ces croisements +donnent des produits feconds, c'est que les individus etaient plus +analogues; si ces produits euxmemes sont feconds, c'est que la ressemblance +etait plus grande; s'ils sont fecond habituellement et indefiniment, c'est +que la ressemblance interieure et exterieure etait tres grande. Ainsi le +degre de ressemblance est le fond; la reproduction en est seulement la +manifestation et la mesure, et il est logique de placer la cause au-dessus +de l'effet." + + +We are not yet convinced. We still hold that genealogical connection, +rather than mutual resemblance, is the fundamental thing--first on the +ground of fact, and then from the philosophy of the case. Practically, no +botanist can say what amount of dissimilarity is compatible with unity of +species; in wild plants it is sometimes very great, in cultivated races +often enormous. De Candolle himself informs us that the different +variations which the same oak-tree exhibits arc significant indications of a +disposition to set up separate varieties, which becoming hereditary may +constitute a race; he evidently looks upon the extreme forms, say of +Quercus Robur, as having thus originated; and on this ground, inferred from +transitional forms, and not from their mutual resemblance, he includes them +in that species. This will be more apparent should the discovery of +transitions, which he leads us to expect, hereafter cause the four +provisional species which attend Q. Robur to be merged in that species. It +may rightly be replied that this conclusion would be arrived at from the +likeness step by step in the series of forms; but the cause of the likeness +here is obvious. And this brings in our "motif philosophique." + +Not to insist that the likeness is after all the variable, not the +constant, element--to learn which is the essential thing, resemblance among +individuals or their genetic connection--we have only to ask which can be +the cause of the other. + +In hermaphrodite plants (the normal case), and even as the question is +ingeniously put by De Candolle in the above extract, the former surely +cannot be the cause of the latter, though it may, in case of crossing, +offer occasion. But, on the ground of the most fundamental of all things in +the constitution of plants and animals--the fact incapable of further +analysis, that individuals reproduce their like, that characteristics are +inheritable--the likeness is a direct natural consequence of the genetic +succession; "and it is logical to place the cause above the effect." + +We are equally disposed to combat a proposition of De Candolle's about +genera, elaborately argued in the "Geographie Botanique," and incidentally +reaffirmed in his present article, viz., that genera are more natural than +species, and more correctly distinguished by people in general, as is shown +by vernacular names. But we have no space left in which to present some +evidence to the contrary. + + + V + +SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY + +THE RELATIONS OF NORTH AMERICAN + +TO NORTHEAST ASIAN AND TO + +TERTIARY VEGETATION + +(A Presidential Address to the American Association for the Advancement of +Science, at Dubuque, August, 1872) + + + +The session being now happily inaugurated, your presiding officer of the +last year has only one duty to perform before he surrenders the chair to +his successor. If allowed to borrow a simile from the language of my own +profession, I might liken the President of this Association to a biennial +plant. He flourishes for the year in which he comes into existence, and +performs his appropriate functions as presiding officer. When the second +year comes round, he is expected to blossom out in an address and disappear. +Each president, as he retires, is naturally expected to contribute something +from his own investigations or his own line of study, usually to discuss +some particular scientific topic. + +Now, although I have cultivated the field of North American botany, with +some assiduity, for more than forty years, have reviewed our vegetable +hosts, and assigned to no small number of them their names and their place +in the ranks, yet, so far as our own wide country is concerned, I have been +to a great extent a closet botanist. Until this summer I had not seen the +Mississippi, nor set foot upon a prairie. + +To gratify a natural interest, and to gain some title for addressing a body +of practical naturalists and explorers, I have made a pilgrimage across the +continent. I have sought and viewed in their native haunts many a plant and +flower which for me had long bloomed unseen, or only in the hortus siccus. +I have been able to see for myself what species and what forms constitute +the main features of the vegetation of each successive region, and +record--as the vegetation unerringly does--the permanent characteristics of +its climate. + +Passing on from the eastern district, marked by its equably distributed +rainfall, and therefore naturally forest-clad, I have seen the trees +diminish in number, give place to wide prairies, restrict their growth to +the borders of streams, and then disappear from the boundless drier plains; +have seen grassy plains change into a brown and sere desert--desert in the +common sense, but hardly anywhere botanically so--have seen a fair growth +of coniferous trees adorning the more favored slopes of a mountain-range +high enough to compel summer showers; have traversed that broad and bare +elevated region shut off on both sides by high mountains from the moisture +supplied by either ocean, and longitudinally intersected by sierras which +seemingly remain as naked as they were born; and have reached at length the +westward slopes of that high mountain-barrier which, refreshed by the +Pacific, bears the noble forests of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges, +and among them trees which are the wonder of the world. As I stood in their +shade, in the groves of Mariposa and Calaveras, and again under the canopy +of the commoner redwood, raised on columns of such majestic height and +ample girth, it occurred to me that I could not do better than to share +with you, upon this occasion, some of the thoughts which possessed my mind. +In their development they may, perhaps, lead us up to questions of +considerable scientific interest. + +I shall not detain you with any remarks--which would now be trite--upon the +size or longevity of these far-famed Sequoia-trees, or of the sugar-pines, +incense-cedar, and firs associated with them, of which even the prodigious +bulk of the dominating Sequoia does not sensibly diminish the grandeur. +Although no account and no photographic representation of either species of +the far-famed Sequoia-trees gives any adequate impression of their singular +majesty--still less of their beauty--yet my interest in them did not +culminate merely or mainly in considerations of their size and age. Other +trees, in other parts of the world, may claim to be older. Certain +Australian gumtrees (Eucalypti) are said to be taller. Some, we are told, +rise so high that they might even cast a flicker of shadow upon the summit +of the Pyramid of Cheops. Yet the oldest of them doubtless grew from seed +which was shed long after the names of the pyramid-builders had been +forgotten. So far as we can judge from the actual counting of the layers of +several trees, no Sequoia now alive sensibly antedates the Christian era. + +Nor was I much impressed with an attraction of man's adding. That the more +remarkable of these trees should bear distinguishing appellations seems +proper enough; but the tablets of personal names which are affixed to many +of them + + +172 + +in the most visited groves--as if the memory of more or less notable people +of our day might be made enduring by the juxtaposition--do suggest some +incongruity. When we consider that a hand's breadth at the circumference of +any one of the venerable trunks so placarded has recorded in annual lines +the lifetime of the individual thus associated with it, one may question +whether the next hand's breadth may not measure the fame of some of the +names thus ticketed for adventitious immortality. Whether it be the man or +the tree that is honored in the connection, probably either would live as +long, in fact and in memory, without it. + +One notable thing about the Sequoia-trees is their isolation. Most of the +trees associated with them are of peculiar species, and some of them are +nearly as local. Yet every pine, fir, and cypress of California is in some +sort familiar, because it has near relatives in other parts of the world. +But the redwoods have none. The redwood--including in that name the two +species of "big-trees"--belongs to the general Cypress family, but is sui +generis. Thus isolated systematically, and extremely isolated +geographically, and so wonderful in size and port, they more than other +trees suggest questions. + +Were they created thus local and lonely, denizens of California only; one +in limited numbers in a few choice spots on the Sierra Nevada, the other +along the Coast Range from the Bay of Monterey to the frontiers of Oregon? +Are they veritable Melchizedeks, without pedigree or early relationship, +and possibly fated to be without descent? +Or are they now coming upon the stage--or rather were they coming but for +man's interference--to play a part in the future? +Or are they remnants, sole and scanty survivors of a race that has played a +grander part in the past, but is now verging to extinction? Have they had a +career, and can that career be ascertained or surmised, so that we may at +least guess whence they came, and how, and when? + +SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY 173 + +Time was, and not long ago, when such questions as these were regarded as +useless and vain--when students of natural history, unmindful of what the +name denotes, were content with a knowledge of things as they now are, but +gave little heed as to how they came to be so. Now such questions are held +to be legitimate, and perhaps not wholly unanswerable. It cannot now be +said that these trees inhabit their present restricted areas simply because +they are there placed in the climate and soil of all the world most +congenial to them. These must indeed be congenial, or they would not +survive. But when we see how the Australian Eucalyptus-trees thrive upon +the Californian coast, and how these very redwoods flourish upon another +continent; how the so-called wild-oat (Avena sterilis of the Old World) has +taken full possession of California; how that cattle and horses, introduced +by the Spaniard, have spread as widely and made themselves as much at home +on the plains of La Plata as on those of Tartary; and that the +cardoon-thistle-seeds, and others they brought with them, have multiplied +there into numbers probably much exceeding those extant in their native +lands; indeed, when we contemplate our own race, and our particular stock, +taking such recent but dominating possession of this New World; when we +consider how the indigenous flora of islands generally succumbs to the +foreigners which come in the train of man; and that most weeds (i.e., the +prepotent plants in open soil) of all temperate climates are not "to the +manner born," but are self-invited intruders--we must needs abandon the +notion of any primordial and absolute adaptation of plants and animals to +their habitats, which may stand in lieu of explanation, and so preclude our +inquiring any further. The harmony of Nature and its admirable perfection +need not be regarded as inflexible and changeless. Nor need Nature be +likened to a statue, or a cast in rigid bronze, but rather to an organism, +with play and adaptability of parts, and life and even soul informing the +whole. Under the former view Nature + + +174 + +would be "the faultless monster which the world ne'er saw," but inscrutable +as the Sphinx, whom it were vain, or worse, to question of the whence and +whither. Under the other, the perfection of Nature, if relative, is +multifarious and ever renewed; and much that is enigmatical now may find +explanation in some record of the past. + +That the two species of redwood we are contemplating originated as they are +and where they are, and for the part they are now playing, is, to say the +least, not a scientific supposition, nor in any sense a probable one. Nor +is it more likely that they are destined to play a conspicuous part in the +future, or that they would have done so, even if the Indian's fires and the +white man's axe had spared them. The redwood of the coast (Sequoia +sempervirens) had the stronger hold upon existence, forming as it did large +forests throughout a narrow belt about three hundred miles in length, and +being so tenacious of life that every large stump sprouts into a copse. But +it does not pass the bay of Monterey, nor cross the line of Oregon, +although so grandly developed not far below it. The more remarkable Sequoia +gigantea of the Sierra exists in numbers so limited that the separate +groves may be reckoned upon the fingers, and the trees of most of them have +been counted, except near their southern limit, where they are said to be +more copious. A species limited in individuals holds its existence by a +precarious tenure; and this has a foothold only in a few sheltered spots, +of a happy mean in temperature, and locally favored with moisture in +summer. Even there, for some reason or other, the pines with which they are +associated (Pinus Lambertiana and P. ponderosa), the firs (Abies grandis +and A. amabilis), and even the incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), possess +a great advantage, and, though they strive in vain to emulate their size, +wholly overpower the Sequoias in numbers. "To him that hath shall be +given." The force of numbers eventually wins. At least in the +commonly-visited groves Sequoia gigantea is invested in its + +SEQUOIA AND ITS HISTORY 175 + +last stronghold, can neither advance into more exposed positions above, nor +fall back into drier and barer ground below, nor hold its own in the +long-run where it is, under present conditions; and a little further drying +of the climate, which must once have been much moister than now, would +precipitate its doom. Whatever the individual longevity, certain if not +speedy is the decline of a race in which a high death-rate afflicts the +young. Seedlings of the big trees occur not rarely, indeed, but in meagre +proportion to those of associated trees; T small indeed is the chance that +any of these will attain to "the days of the years of their fathers." "Few +and evil" are .: the days of all the forest likely to be, while man, both +bar-barian and civilized, torments them with fires, fatal at once to +seedlings, and at length to the aged also. The forests of California, proud +as the State may be of them, are already too scanty and insufficient for her +uses. Two lines, such as may be drawn with one sweep of a brush over the +map, would cover them all. The coast redwood--the most important tree in +California, although a million times more numerous than its relative of the +Sierra--is too good to live long. Such is its value for lumber and its +accessibility, that, judging the future by the past, it is not likely, in +its primeval growth, to outlast its rarer fellow-species. + +Happily man preserves and disseminates as well as destroys. The species +will doubtless be preserved to science, and for ornamental and other uses, +in its own and other lands; and the more remarkable individuals of the +present day are likely to be sedulously cared for, all the more so as they +become scarce. + +Our third question remains to be answered: Have these famous Sequoias +played in former times and upon a larger stage a more imposing part, of +which the present is but the epilogue? We cannot gaze high up the huge and +venerable trunks, which one crosses the continent to behold, without +wishing that these patriarchs of the grove were able, like the + + +176 + +long-lived antediluvians of Scripture, to hand down to us, through a few +generations, the traditions of centuries, and so tell us somewhat of the +history of their race. Fifteen hundred annual layers have been counted, or +satisfactorily made out, upon one or two fallen trunks. It is probable that +close to the heart of some of the living trees may be found the circle that +records the year of our Saviour's nativity. A few generations of such trees +might carry the history a long way back. But the ground they stand upon, and +the marks of very recent geological change and vicissitude in the region +around, testify that not very many such generations can have flourished +just there, at least in an unbroken series. When their site was covered by +glaciers, these Sequoias must have occupied other stations, if, as there is +reason to believe, they then existed in the land. + +I have said that the redwoods have no near relatives in the country of +their abode, and none of their genus anywhere else. Perhaps something may +be learned of their genealogy by inquiring of such relatives as they have. +There are only two of any particular nearness of kin; and they are far +away. One is the bald cypress, our Southern cypress, Taxodium, inhabiting +the swamps of the Atlantic coast from Maryland to Texas, thence +extending--with, probably, a specific difference--into Mexico. It is well +known as one of the largest trees of our Atlantic forest-district, and, +although it never--except perhaps in Mexico, and in rare instances--attains +the portliness of its Western relatives, yet it may equal them in +longevity. The other relative is Glyptostrobus, a sort of modified +Taxodium, being about as much like our bald cypress as one species of +redwood is like the other. + +Now, species of the same type, especially when few, and the type peculiar, +are, in a general way, associated geographically, i.e., inhabit the same +country, or (in a large sense) the same region. Where it is not so, where +near relatives are separated, there is usually something to be explained. +Here is an instance. stance. These four trees, sole representatives of +their tribe, dwell almost in three separate quarters of the world: the two +redwoods in California, the bald cypress in Atlantic North America, its +near relative, Glyptostrobus, in China. + +It was not always so. In the Tertiary period, the geological botanists +assure us, our own very Taxodium or bald cypress, and a Glyptostrobus, +exceedingly like the present Chinese tree, and more than one Sequoia, +coexisted in a fourth quarter of the globe, viz., in Europe! This brings up +the question, Is it possible to bridge over these four wide intervals of +space and the much vaster interval of time, so as to bring these +extraordinarily separated relatives into connection? The evidence which may +be brought to bear upon this question is various and widely scattered. I +bespeak your patience while I endeavor to bring together, in an abstract, +the most important points of it. + +Some interesting facts may come out by comparing generally the botany of +the three remote regions, each of which is the sole home of one of these +genera, i.e., Sequoia in California, Taxodium in the Atlantic United +States,[V-1] and Glyptostrobus in China, which compose the whole of the +peculiar tribe under consideration. + +Note then, first, that there is another set of three or four peculiar +trees, in this case of the yew family, which has just the same peculiar +distribution, and which therefore may have the same explanation, whatever +that explanation be. The genus Torreya, which commemorates our botanical +Nestor and a former president of this Association, Dr. Torrey, was founded +upon a tree rather lately discovered (that is, about thirty-five years ago) +in Northern Florida. It is a noble, yew like tree, and very local, being, so +far as known, nearly confined to a few miles along the shores of a single +river. It seems as if it had somehow been crowded down out of the +Alleghanies into its present limited southern quarters; for in cultivation +it evinces a northern hardiness. Now, another species of Torreya is a +characteristic tree of Japan; and one very like it, if not the same, +inhabits the mountains of Northern China--belongs, therefore, to the Eastern +Asiatic temperate region, of which Northern China is a part, and Japan, as +we shall see, the portion most interesting to us. There is only one more +species of Torreya, and that is a companion of the redwoods in California. +It is the tree locally known under the name of the California nutmeg. Here +are three or four near brethren, species of the same genus, known nowhere +else than in these three habitats. + +Moreover, the Torreya of Florida is associated with a yew; and the trees of +this grove are the only yew-trees of Eastern North America; for the yew of +our Northern woods is a decumbent shrub. A yew-tree, perhaps the same, is +found with Taxodium in the temperate parts of Mexico. The only other yews +in America grow with the redwoods and the other Torreya in California, and +extend northward into Oregon. Yews are also associated with Torreya in +Japan; and they extend westward through Mantchooria and the Himalayas to +Western Europe, and even to the Azores Islands, where occurs the common yew +of the Old World. + +So we have three groups of coniferous trees which agree in this peculiar +geographical distribution, with, however, a notable extension of range in +the case of the yew: 1. The redwoods, and their relatives, Taxodium and +Glyptostrobus, which differ so as to constitute a genus for each of the +three regions; 2. The Torreyas, more nearly akin, merely a different +species in each region; 3. The yews, still more closely related while more +widely disseminated, of which it is yet uncertain whether they constitute +seven, five, three, or only one species. Opinions differ, and can hardly +be brought to any decisive test. However it be determined, it may still be +said that the extreme differences among the yews do not surpass those of +the recognized variations of the European yew, the cultivated races +included. + +It appears to me that these several instances all raise the very same +question, only with different degrees of emphasis, and, if to be explained +at all, will have the same kind of explanation. + +Continuing the comparison between the three regions with which we are +concerned, we note that each has its own species of pines, firs, larches, +etc., and of a few deciduous-leaved trees, such as oaks and maples; all of +which have no peculiar significance for the present purpose, because they +are of genera which are common all round the northern hemisphere. Leaving +these out of view, the noticeable point is that the vegetation of +California is most strikingly unlike that of the Atlantic United States. +They possess some plants, and some peculiarly American plants, in +common--enough to show, as I imagine, that the difficulty was not in the +getting from the one district to the other, or into both from a common +source, but in abiding there. The primordially unbroken forest of Atlantic +North America, nourished by rainfall distributed throughout the year, is +widely separated from the western region of sparse and discontinuous +tree-belts of the same latitude on the western side of the continent (where +summer rain is wanting, or nearly so), by immense treeless plains and +plateaux of more or less aridity, traversed by longitudinal mountain-ranges +of a similar character. Their nearest approach is at the north, in the +latitude of Lake Superior, where, on a more rainy line, trees of the +Atlantic forest and that of Oregon may be said to intermix. The change of +species and of the aspect of vegetation in crossing, say on the +forty-seventh parallel, is slight in comparison with that on the +thirty-seventh or near it. Confining our attention to the lower latitude, +and under the exceptions already specially noted, we may say that almost +every characteristic form in the vegetation of the Atlantic States is +wanting in California, and the characteristic plants and trees of California +are wanting here. + +California has no magnolia nor tulip trees, nor star-anise tree; no +so-called papaw (Asimina); no barberry of the common single-leaved sort; no +Podophyllum or other of the peculiar associated genera; no nelumbo nor +white water-lily; no prickly ash nor sumach; no loblolly-bay nor Stuartia; +no basswood nor linden-trees; neither locust, honey-locust, coffeetrees +(Gymnocladus) nor yellow-wood (Cladrastis); nothing answering to Hydrangea +or witch-hazel, to gum-trees (Nyssa and Liquidambar), Viburnum or Diervilla; +it has few asters and golden-rods; no lobelias; no huckleberries and hardly +any blueberries; no Epigaea, charm of our earliest Eastern spring, +tempering an icy April wind with a delicious wild fragrance; no Kalmia nor +Clethra, nor holly, nor persimmon; no catalpa-tree, nor trumpet-creeper +(Tecoma); nothing answering to sassafras, nor to benzoin-tree, nor to +hickory; neither mulberry nor elm; no beech, true chestnut, hornbeam, nor +iron-wood, nor a proper birch-tree; and the enumeration might be continued +very much further by naming herbaceous plants and others familiar only to +botanists. + +In their place California is filled with plants of other types--trees, +shrubs, and herbs, of which I will only remark that they are, with one or +two exceptions, as different from the plants of the Eastern Asiatic region +with which we are concerned (Japan, China, and Mantchooria), as they are +from those of Atlantic North America. Their near relatives, when they have +any in other lands, are mostly southward, on the Mexican plateau, or many +as far south as Chili. The same may be said of the plants of the +intervening great Plains, except that northward in the subsaline vegetation +there are some close alliances with the flora of the steppes of Siberia. +And + + +181 + +along the crests of high mountain-ranges the Arctic-Alpine . flora has sent +southward more or less numerous representatives through the whole length of +the country. + +If we now compare, as to their flora generally, the Atlantic United States +with Japan, Mantchooria, and Northern China--i.e., Eastern North America +with Eastern North Asia, half the earth's circumference apart--we find an +astonishing similarity. The larger part of the genera of our own region, +which I have enumerated as wanting in California, are present in Japan or +Mantchooria, along with many other peculiar plants, divided between the +two. There are plants enough of the one region which have no representatives +in the other. There are types which appear to have reached the Atlantic +States from the south; and there is a larger infusion of subtropical +Asiatic types into temperate China and Japan; among these there is no +relationship between the two countries to speak of. There are also, as I +have already said, no small number of genera and some species which, being +common all round or partly round the northern temperate zone, have no +special significance because of their occurrence in these two antipodal +floras, although they have testimony to bear upon the general question of +geographical distribution. The point to be remarked is, that many, or even +most, of the genera and species which are peculiar to North America as +compared with Europe, and largely peculiar to Atlantic North America as +compared with the Californian region, are also represented in Japan and +Mantchooria, either by identical or by closely-similar forms! The same rule +holds on a more northward line, although not so strikingly. If we compare +the plants, say of New England and Pennsylvania (latitude 450_470), with +those of Oregon, and then with those of Northeastern Asia, we shall find +many of our own curiously repeated in the latter, while only a small number +of them can be traced along the route even so far as the western slope of +the Rocky Mountains. And these repetitions of East American types in Japan + + +182 + +and neighboring districts are in all degrees of likeness. Sometimes the one +is undistinguishable from the other; sometimes there is a difference of +aspect, but hardly of tangible character; sometimes the two would be termed +marked varieties if they grew naturally in the same forest or in the same +region; sometimes they are what the botanist calls representative species, +the one answering closely to the other, but with some differences regarded +as specific; sometimes the two are merely of the same genus, or not quite +that, but of a single or very few species in each country; in which case the +point which interests us is, that this peculiar limited type should occur +in two antipodal places, and nowhere else. + +It would be tedious, and, except to botanists, abstruse, to enumerate +instances; yet the whole strength of the case depends upon the number of +such instances. I propose therefore, if the Association does me the honor +to print this discourse, to append in a note a list of the more remarkable +ones.[V-2] But I would here mention certain cases as specimens. + +Our Rhus Toxicodendron, or poison-ivy, is very exactly repeated in Japan, +but is found in no other part of the world, although a species much like it +abounds in California. Our other poisonous Rhus (R. venenata), commonly +called poison-dogwood, is in no way represented in Western America, but has +so close an analogue in Japan that the two were taken for the same by +Thunberg and Linnaeus, who called them both R. vernix. + +Our northern fox-grape, Vitis Labrusca, is wholly confined to the Atlantic +States, except that it reappears in Japan and that region. +The original Wistaria is a woody leguminous climber with showy blossoms, +native to the middle Atlantic States; the other species, which we so much +prize in cultivation, W. Sinensis, is from China, as its name denotes, or +perhaps only from Japan, where it is certainly indigenous. + +Our yellow-wood (Cladrastis) inhabits a very limited district on the +western slope of the Alleghanies. Its only and very near relative, Maackia, +is confined to Mantchooria. + +The Hydrangeas have some species in our Alleghany region: all the rest +belong to the Chino-Japanese region and its continuation westward. The same +may be said of Philadelphus, except that there are one or two mostly very +similar species in California and Oregon. + +Our May-flower (Epigaea) and our creeping snowberry, otherwise peculiar to +Atlantic North America, recur in Japan. + +Our blue cohosh (Caulophyllum) is confined to the woods of the Atlantic +States, but has lately been discovered in Japan. A peculiar relative of it, +Diphylleia, confined to the higher Alleghanies, is also repeated in Japan, +with a slight difference, so that it may barely be distinguished as another +: species. Another relative is our twin-leaf (Jeffersonia) of the Alleghany +region alone: a second species has lately turned up in Mantchooria. A +relative of this is Podophyllum, our mandrake, a common inhabitant of the +Atlantic United States, but found nowhere else. There is one other species +of it, and that is in the Himalayas. Here are four most peculiar genera of +one family, each of a single species in the Atlantic United States, which +are duplicated on the other side of the world, either in identical or +almost identical species, or in an analogous species, while nothing else of +the kind is known in any other part of the world. + +I ought not to omit ginseng, the root so prized by the Chinese, which they +obtain from their northern provinces and Mantchooria, and which is now +known to inhabit Corea and Northern Japan. The Jesuit Fathers identified +the plant in Canada and the Atlantic States, brought over the Chinese name +by which we know it, and established the trade in it, which was for many +years most profitable. The exportation of ginseng to China probably has not +yet entirely ceased. Whether the Asiatic and the Atlantic American ginsengs +are to be regarded as of the same species or not is somewhat uncertain, but +they are hardly, if at all, distinguishable. + +There is a shrub, Elliottia, which is so rare and local that it is known +only at two stations on the Savannah River in Georgia. It is of peculiar +structure, and was without near relative until one was lately discovered in +Japan (Tripetaleia), so like it as hardly to be distinguishable except by +having the parts of the blossom in threes instead of fours--a difference +not uncommon in the same genus, or even in the same species. + +Suppose Elliottia had happened to be collected only once, a good while ago, +and all knowledge of the limited and obscure locality were lost; and +meanwhile the Japanese form came to be known. Such a case would be parallel +with an actual one. A specimen of a peculiar plant (Shortia galacifolia) +was detected in the herbarium of the elder Michaux, who collected it (as +his autograph ticket shows) somewhere in the high Alleghany Mountains, more +than eighty years ago. No one has seen the living plant since or knows +where to find it, if haply it still flourishes in some secluded spot. At +length it is found in Japan; and I had the satisfaction of making the +identification.[V-3] A relative is also known in Japan; and a less near one +has just been detected in Thibet. + +Whether the Japanese and the Alleghanian plants are exactly the same or +not, it needs complete specimens of the two to settle. So far as we know, +they are just alike; and, even if some difference were discerned between +them, it would not appreciably alter the question as to how such a result +came to pass. Each and every one of the analogous cases I have been +detailing--and very many more could be mentioned--raises the same question, +and would be satisfied with the same answer. + +These singular relations attracted my curiosity early in the course of my +botanical studies, when comparatively few of them were known, and my serious +attention in later years, when I had numerous and new Japanese plants to +study in the collections made, by Messrs. Williams and Morrow, during +Commodore Perry's visit in 1853, and especially, by Mr. Charles Wright, of +Commodore Rodgers's expedition in 1855. I then discussed this subject +somewhat fully, and tabulated the facts within my reach.[V-4] + +This was before Heer had developed the rich fossil botany of the arctic +zone, before the immense antiquity of existing species of plants was +recognized, and before the publication of Darwin's now famous volume on the +"Origin of Species" had introduced and familiarized the scientific world +with those now current ideas respecting the history and vicissitudes of +species with which I attempted to deal in a moderate and feeble way. + +My speculation was based upon the former glaciation of the northern +temperate zone, and the inference of a warmer period preceding and perhaps +following. I considered that our own present vegetation, or its proximate +ancestry, must have occupied the arctic and subarctic regions in pliocene +times, and that it had been gradually pushed southward as the temperature +lowered and the glaciation advanced, even beyond its present habitation; +that plants of the same stock and kindred, probably ranging round the arctic +zone as the present arctic species do, made their forced migration southward +upon widely different longitudes, and receded more or less as the climate +grew warmer; that the general difference of climate which marks the eastern +and the western sides of the continents--the one extreme, the other +mean--was doubtless even then established, so that the same species and the +same sorts of species would be likely to secure and retain foothold in the +similar climates of Japan and the Atlantic United States, but not in +intermediate regions of different distribution of heat and moisture; so that +different species of the same genus, as in Torreya, or different genera of +the same group, as redwood, Taxodium, and Glyptostrobus, or different +associations of forest-trees, might establish themselves each in the region +best suited to the particular requirements, while they would fail to do so +in any other. These views implied that the sources of our actual vegetation +and the explanation of these peculiarities were to be sought in, and +presupposed, an ancestry in pliocene or earlier times, occupying the higher +northern regions. And it was thought that the occurrence of peculiar North +American genera in Europe in the Tertiary period (such as Taxodium, Carya, +Liquidambar, sassafras, Negundo, etc.) might be best explained on the +assumption of early interchange and diffusion through North Asia, rather +than by that of the fabled Atlantis. + +The hypothesis supposed a gradual modification of species in different +directions under altering conditions, at least to the extent of producing +varieties, sub-species, and representative species, as they may be +variously regarded; likewise the single and local origination of each type, +which is now almost universally taken for granted. + +The remarkable facts in regard to the Eastern American and Asiatic floras +which these speculations were to explain have since increased in number, +especially through the admirable collections of Dr. Maximowicz in Japan and +adjacent countries, and the critical comparisons he has made and is still +engaged upon. + +I am bound to state that, in a recent general work[V-5] by a distinguished +European botanist, Prof. Grisebach, of Jotting, these facts have been +emptied of all special significance, and the relations between the Japanese +and the Atlantic United States flora declared to be no more intimate than +might be expected from the situation, climate, and present opportunity of +interchange. This extraordinary conclusion is reached by regarding as +distinct species all the plants common to both countries between which any +differences have been discerned, although such differences would probably +count for little if the two inhabited the same country, thus transferring +many of my list of identical to that of representative species; and then by +simply eliminating from consideration the whole array of representative +species, i.e., all cases in which the Japanese and the American plant are +not exactly alike. As if, by pronouncing the cabalistic word species, the +question were settled, or rather the greater part of it remanded out of the +domain of science; as if, while complete identity of forms implied +community of origin, anything short of it carried no presumption of the +kind; so leaving all these singular duplicates to be wondered at, indeed, +but wholly beyond the reach of inquiry. + +Now, the only known cause of such likeness is inheritance; and as all +transmission of likeness is with some difference in individuals, and as +changed conditions have resulted, as is well known, in very considerable +differences, it seems to me that, if the high antiquity of our actual +vegetation could be rendered probable, not to say certain, and the former +habitation of any of our species or of very near relatives of them in high +northern regions could be ascertained, my whole case would be made out. The +needful facts, of which I was ignorant when my essay was published, have now +been for some years made known--thanks, mainly, to the researches of Heer +upon ample collections of arctic fossil plants. These are confirmed and +extended by new investigations, by Heer and Lesquereux, the results of +which have been indicated to me by the latter.[V-6] +The Taxodium, which everywhere abounds in the miocene formations in Europe, +has been specifically identified, first by Goeppert, then by Heer, with our +common cypress of the Southern States. It has been found fossil in +Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Alaska--in the latter country along with the +remains of another form, distinguishable, but very like the common species; +and this has been identified by Lesquereux in the miocene of the Rocky +Mountains. So there is one species of tree which has come down essentially +unchanged from the Tertiary period, which for a long while inhabited both +Europe and North America, and also, at some part of the period, the region +which geographically connects the two (once doubtless much more closely +than now), but which has survived only in the Atlantic United States and +Mexico. + +The same Sequoia which abounds in the same miocene formations in Northern +Europe has been abundantly found in those of Iceland, Spitzbergen, +Greenland, Mackenzie River, and Alaska. It is named S. Langsdorfii, but is +pronounced to be very much like S. sempervirens, our living redwood of the +Californian coast, and to be the ancient representative of it. Fossil +specimens of a similar, if not the same, species have recently been +detected in the Rocky Mountains by Hayden, and determined by our eminent +palaeontological botanist, Lesquereux; and he assures me that he has the +common redwood itself from Oregon in a deposit of tertiary age. Another +Sequoia (S. Sternbergii), discovered in miocene deposits in Greenland, is +pronounced to be the representative of S. gigantea, the big tree of the +Californian Sierra. If the Taxodium of the tertiary time in Europe and +throughout the arctic regions is the ancestor of our present bald +cypress--which is assumed in regarding them as specifically identical-- then +I think we may, with our present light, fairly assume that the two redwoods +of California are the direct or collateral descendants of the two ancient +species which so closely resemble them. + +The forests of the arctic zone in tertiary times contained at least three +other species of Sequoia, as determined by their remains, one of which, +from Spitzbergen, also much resembles the common redwood of California. +Another, "which appears to have been the commonest coniferous tree on +Disco," was common in England and some other parts of Europe. So the +Sequoias, now remarkable for their restricted station and numbers, as well +as for their extraordinary size, are of an ancient stock; their ancestors +and kindred formed a large part of the forests which flourished throughout +the polar regions, now desolate and ice-clad, and which extended into low +latitudes in Europe. On this continent one species, at least, had reached +to the vicinity of its present habitat before the glaciation of the region. +Among the fossil specimens already found in California, but which our +trustworthy palaeontological botanist has not yet had time to examine, we +may expect to find evidence of the early arrival of these two redwoods upon +the ground which they now, after much vicissitude, scantily occupy. + +Differences of climate, or circumstances of migration, or both, must have +determined the survival of Sequoia upon the Pacific, and of Taxodium upon +the Atlantic coast. And still the redwoods will not stand in the east, nor +could our Taxodium find a congenial station in California. Both have +probably had their opportunity in the olden time, and failed. + +As to the remaining near relative of Sequoia, the Chinese Glyptostrobus, a +species of it, and its veritable representative, was contemporaneous with +Sequoia and Taxodium, not only in temperate Europe, but throughout the +arctic regions from Greenland to Alaska. According to Newberry, it was +abundantly represented in the miocene flora of the temperate zone of our +own continent, from Nebraska to the Pacific. + +Very similar would seem to have been the fate of a more familiar +gymnospermous tree, the Gingko or Salisburia. It is now indigenous to Japan +only. Its ancestor, as we may fairly call it--since, according to Heer, "it +corresponds so entirely with the living species that it can scarcely be +separated from it"--once inhabited Northern Europe and the whole arctic +region round to Alaska, and had even a representative farther south, in our +Rocky Mountain district. For some reason, this and Glyptostrobus survive +only on the shores of Eastern Asia. + +Libocedrus, on the other hand, appears to have cast in its lot with the +Sequoias. Two species, according to Heer, were with them in Spitzbergen. L. +decurrens, the incense cedar, is one of the noblest associates of the +present redwoods. But all the rest are in the southern hemisphere, two at +the southern extremity of the Andes, two in the South-Sea Islands. It is +only by bold and far-reaching suppositions that they can be geographically +associated. + +The genealogy of the Torreyas is still wholly obscure; yet it is not +unlikely that the yew-like trees, named Taxites, which flourished with the +Sequoias in the tertiary arctic forests, are the remote ancestors of the +three species of Torreya, now severally in Florida, in California, and in +Japan. + +As to the pines and firs, these were more numerously associated with the +ancient Sequoias of the polar forests than with their present +representatives, but in different species, apparently more like those of +Eastern than of Western North America. They must have encircled the polar +zone then, as they encircle the present temperate zone now. + +I must refrain from all enumeration of the angiospermous or ordinary +deciduous trees and shrubs, which are now known, by their fossil remains, +to have flourished throughout the polar regions when Greenland better +deserved its name and enjoyed the present climate of New England and New +Jersey. Then Greenland and the rest of the north abounded with oaks, +representing the several groups of species which now inhabit both our +Eastern and Western forest districts; several poplars, one very like our +balsam poplar or balm-of-Gilead tree; more beeches than there are now, a +hornbeam, and a hop-hornbeam, some birches, a persimmon, and a planer-tree, +near representatives of those of the Old World, at least of Asia, as well +as of Atlantic North America, but all wanting in California; one Juglans +like the walnut of the Old World, and another like our black walnut; two or +three grapevines, one near our Southern fox grape or muscadine, another +near our Northern frostgrape; a Tilia, very like our basswood of the +Atlantic States only; a Liquidambar; a magnolia, which recalls our M. +grandiflora; a Liriodendron, sole representative of our tulip-tree; and a +sassafras, very like the living tree. + +Most of these, it will be noticed, have their nearest or their only living +representatives in the Atlantic States, and when elsewhere, mainly in +Eastern Asia. Several of them, or of species like them, have been detected +in our tertiary deposits, west of the Mississippi, by Newberry and +Lesquereux. Herbaceous plants, as it happens, are rarely preserved in a +fossil state, else they would probably supply additional testimony to the +antiquity of our existing vegetation, its wide diffusion over the northern +and now frigid zone, and its enforced migration under changes of +climate.[V-7] Concluding, then, as we must, that our existing vegetation is +a continuation of that of the tertiary period, may we suppose that it +absolutely originated then? Evidently not. The preceding Cretaceous period +has furnished to Carruthers in Europe a fossil fruit like that of the +Sequoia gigantea of the famous groves, associated with pines of the same +character as those that accompany the present tree; has furnished to Heer, +from Greenland, two more Sequoias, one of them identical with a tertiary +species, and one nearly allied to Sequoia Langsdorfii, which in turn is a +probable ancestor of the common California redwood; has furnished to +Newberry and Lesquereux in North America the remains of another ancient +Sequoia, a Glyptostrobus, a Liquidambar which well represents our +sweet-gum-tree, oaks analogous to living ones, leaves of a plane-tree, which +are also in the Tertiary, and are scarcely distinguishable from our own +Platanus occidentalis, of a magnolia and a tulip-tree, and "of a sassafras +undistinguishable from our living species." I need not continue the +enumeration. Suffice it to say that the facts justify the conclusion which +Lesquereux--a scrupulous investigator--has already announced: that "the +essential types of our actual flora are marked in the Cretaceous period, and +have come to us after passing, without notable changes, through the +Tertiary formations of our continent." + +According to these views, as regards plants at least, the adaptation to +successive times and changed conditions has been maintained, not by absolute +renewals, but by gradual modifications. I, for one, cannot doubt that the +present existing species are the lineal successors of those that garnished +the earth in the old time before them, and that they were as well adapted +to their surroundings then, as those which flourish and bloom around us are +to their conditions now. Order and exquisite adaptation did not wait for +man's coming, nor were they ever stereotyped. Organic Nature--by which I +mean the system and totality of living things, and their adaptation to each +other and to the world--with all its apparent and indeed real stability, +should be likened, not to the ocean, which varies only by tidal +oscillations from a fixed level to which it is always returning, but rather +to a river, so vast that we can neither discern its shores nor reach its +sources, whose onward flow is not less actual because too slow to be +observed by the ephemerae which hover over its surface, or are borne upon +its bosom. + +Such ideas as these, though still repugnant to some, and not long since to +many, have so possessed the minds of the naturalists of the present day +that hardly a discourse can be pronounced or an investigation prosecuted +without reference to them. I suppose that the views here taken are little, +if at all, in advance of the average scientific mind of the day. I cannot +regard them as less noble than those which they are succeeding. An able +philosophical writer, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, has recently and truthfully +said:[V-8] + + +"It is a singular fact that, when we can find out how anything is done, our +first conclusion seems to be that God did not do it. No matter how +wonderful, how beautiful, how intimately complex and delicate has been the +machinery which has worked, perhaps for centuries, perhaps for millions of +ages, to bring about some beneficent result, if we can but catch a glimpse +of the wheels its divine character disappears." + + +I agree with the writer that this first conclusion is premature and +unworthy--I will add, deplorable. Through what faults or infirmities of +dogmatism on the one hand, and skepticism on the other, it came to be so +thought, we need not here consider. Let us hope, and I confidently expect, +that it is not to last; that the religious faith which survived without a +shock the notion of the fixity of the earth itself may equally outlast the +notion of the fixity of the species which inhabit it; that, in the future +even more than in the past, faith in an order, which is the basis of +science, will not--as it cannot reasonably--be dissevered from faith in an +Ordainer, which is the basis of religion. + + + + VI + +THE ATTITUDE OF + +WORKING NATURALISTS + +TOWARD DARWINISM [VI-1] + +(The Nation, October 16, 1873) + + + +That homely adage, "What is one man's meat is another man's poison," comes +to mind when we consider with what different eyes different naturalists +look upon the hypothesis of the derivative origin of actual specific forms, +since Mr. Darwin gave it vogue and vigor and a raison d'être for the +present day. This latter he did, not only by bringing forward a vera causa +in the survival of the fittest under changing circumstances--about which +the question among naturalists mainly is how much it will explain, some +allowing it a restricted, others an unlimited operation--but also by +showing that the theory may be made to do work, may shape and direct +investigations, the results of which must in time tell us whether the +theory is likely to hold good or not. If the hypothesis of natural +selection and the things thereto appertaining had not been capable of being +put to useful work, although, like the "Vestiges of the Natural History of +Creation," it might have made no little noise in the world, it would hardly +have engaged the attention of working naturalists as it has done. We have +no idea even of opening the question as to what work the Darwinian theory +has incited, and in what way the work done has reacted upon the theory; and +least of all do we like to meddle with the polemical literature of the +subject, already so voluminous that the German bibliographers and +booksellers make a separate class of it. But two or three treatises before +us, of a minor or incidental sort, suggest a remark or two upon the +attitude of mind toward evolutionary theories taken by some of the working +naturalists. + +Mr. Darwin's own expectation, that his new presentation of the subject +would have little or no effect upon those who had already reached +middle-age, has--out of Paris--not been fulfilled. There are, indeed, one +or two who have thought it their duty to denounce the theory as morally +dangerous, as well as scientifically baseless; a recent instance of the +sort we may have to consider further on. Others, like the youth at the +river's bank, have been waiting in confident expectation of seeing the +current run itself dry. On the other hand, a notable proportion of the more +active-minded naturalists had already come to doubt the received doctrine +of the entire fixity of species, and still more that of their independent +and supernatural origination. While their systematic work all proceeded +implicitly upon the hypothesis of the independence and entire permanence of +species, they were perceiving more or less clearly that the whole question +was inevitably to be mooted again, and so were prepared to give the +alternative hypothesis a dispassionate consideration. The veteran Lyell set +an early example, and, on a reconsideration of the whole question, wrote +anew his famous chapter and reversed his former and weighty opinion. Owen, +still earlier, signified his adhesion to the doctrine of derivation in some +form, but apparently upon general, speculative grounds; for he repudiated +natural selection, and offered no other natural solution of the mystery of +the orderly incoming of cognate forms. As examples of the effect of +Darwin's "Origin of Species" upon the minds of naturalists who are no +longer young, and whose prepossessions, even more than Lyell's, were likely +to bias them against the new doctrine, two from the botanical side are +brought to our notice through recent miscellaneous writings which are now +before us.[VI-2] + +Before the publication of Darwin's first volume, M. Alphonse de Candolle +had summed up the result of his studies in this regard, in the final +chapter of his classical "Geographie Botanique Raisonnee," in the +conclusion, that existing vegetation must be regarded as the continuation, +through many geological and geographical changes, of the anterior +vegetations of the world; and that, consequently, the present distribution +of species is explicable only in the light of their geological history. He +surmised that, notwithstanding the general stability of forms, certain +species or quasi-species might have originated through diversification +under geographical isolation. But, on the other hand, he was still disposed +to admit that even the same species might have originated independently in +two or more different regions of the world; and he declined, as unpractical +and unavailing, all attempts to apply hypotheses to the elucidation of the +origin of species. Soon after Darwin's book appeared, De Candolle had +occasion to study systematically a large and wide-spread genus-- that of +the oak. Investigating it under the new light of natural selection, he came +to the conclusion that the existing oaks are all descendants of earlier +forms, and that no clear line can be drawn between the diversification whic +h has resulted in species and that which is exhibited in races and minor +varieties. + +And now, in the introductory chapter of the volume of essays before us, he +informs us that the idea which pervades them all, and in some sort connects +very diverse topics, is that of considering this principle of selection. Of +the principle itself, he remarks that it is neither a theory nor an +hypothesis, but the expression of a necessary fact; that to deny it is very +much like denying that round stones will roll downhill faster and farther +than flat ones; and that the question of the present day in natural history +is not whether there be natural selection, or even whether forms are derived +from other forms, but to comprehend how, in what proportions, and by what +means hereditary deviations take place, and in what ways an inevitable +selection takes effect upon these. In two of these essays natural selection +is directly discussed in its application to the human race; the larger one +dealing ably with the whole subject, and with results at first view +seemingly in a great degree negative, but yet showing that the supposed +"failure of natural selection in the case of man" was an unwarrantable +conclusion from too limited a view of a very complicated question. The +article abounds in acute and fertile suggestions, and its closing chapter, +"on the probable future of the human species" under the laws of selection, +is highly interesting and noteworthy. The other and shorter essay discusses +a special point, and brings out a corollary of the law of heredity which may +not have been thought of before, but which is perfectly clear as soon as it +is stated. It explains at once why contagious or epidemic diseases are most +fatal at their first appearance, and less so afterward: not by the dying +out of a virus--for, when the disease reaches a new population, it is as +virulent as ever (as, for instance, the smallpox among the Indians)--but by +the selection of a race less subject to attack through the destruction of +those that were more so, and the inheritance of the comparative immunity by +the children and the grandchildren of the survivors; and how this immunity +itself, causing the particular disease to become rare, paves the way to a +return of the original fatality; for the mass of such population, both in +the present and the immediately preceding generation, not having been +exposed to the infection, or but little exposed, has not undergone +selection, and so in time the proportion liable to attack, or to fatal +attack, gets to be as large as ever. The greater the fatality, especially in +the population under marriageable age, the more favorable the condition of +the survivors; and, by the law of heredity, their children should share in +the immunity. This explanation of the cause, or of one cause, of the return +of pests at intervals no less applies to the diminution of the efficacy of +remedies, and of preventive means, such as vaccination. When Jenner +introduced vaccination, the small-pox in Europe and European colonies must +have lost somewhat of its primitive intensity by the vigorous weeding out +of the more susceptible through many generations. Upon the residue, +vaccination was almost complete protection, and, being generally practised, +small-pox consequently became rare. Selection thus ceasing to operate, a +population arises which has not been exposed to the contagion, and of which +a considerable proportion, under the common law of atavism, comes to be +very much in the condition of a people invaded for the first time by the +disease. To these, as we might expect, vaccination would prove a less +safeguard than to their progenitors three or four generations before. + +Mr. Bentham is a veteran systematic botanist of the highest rank and widest +knowledge. He had not, so far as we know, touched upon questions of +origination in the ante-Darwinian era. The dozen of presidential addresses +delivered at anniversary meetings of the Linnean Society, from his +assumption of the chair in the year 1862 down to the current year--each +devoted to some topic of interest--and his recent "Memoir on Compositae," +summing up the general results of a revision of an order to which a full +tenth of all higher plants belong, furnish apt examples both of cautious +criticism, conditional assent (as becomes the inaugurator of the +quantification of the predicate), and of fruitful application of the new +views to various problems concerning the classification and geographical +distribution of plants. In his hands the hypothesis is turned at once to +practical use as an instrument of investigation, as a means of +interrogating Nature. In the result, no doubt seems to be left upon the +author's mind that the existing species of plants are the result of the +differentiation of previous species, or at least that the derivative +hypothesis is to be adopted as that which offers the most natural, if not +the only, explanation of the problems concerned. Similar conclusions +reached in this country, from a study of the relations of its present flora +with that which in earlier ages occupied the arctic zone, might also be +referred to. (See preceding article.) + +An excellent instance of the way in which the derivative hypothesis is +practically applied in these days, by a zoologist, is before us in Prof. +Flower's modest and admirable paper on the Ungulata, or hoofed animals, and +their geological history. We refer to it here, not so much for the +conclusions it reaches or suggests, as to commend the clearness and the +impartiality of the handling, and the sobriety and moderation of the +deductions. Confining himself "within the region of the known, it is shown +that, at least in one group of animals, the facts which we have as yet +acquired point to the former existence of various intermediate forms, so +numerous that they go far to discredit the view of the sudden introduction +of new species. . . . The modern forms are placed along lines which +converge toward a common centre." The gaps between the existing forms of +the odd-toed group of ungulates (of which horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs, +are the principal representatives) are most bridged over by palaeontology, +and somewhat the same may be said of the even-toed group, to which the +ruminants and the porcine genus belong. "Moreover, the lines of both groups +to a certain extent approximate, but, within the limits of our knowledge, +they do not meet. . - . Was the order according to which the introduction +of new forms seems to have taken place since the Eocene then entirely +changed, or did it continue as far back as the period when these lines would +have been gradually fused in a common centre?" + +Facts like these, which suggest grave diversification under long lapse of +time, are well supplemented by those which essentially demonstrate a +slighter diversification of many species over a wide range of space; +whether into species or races depends partly upon how the naturalist uses +these terms, partly upon the extent of the observations, or luck in getting +together intermediate forms. The researches of Prof. Baird upon the birds +of this continent afford a good illustration. A great number of our birds +which have been, and must needs have been, regarded as very distinct +species, each mainly with its own geographical area, are found to mingle +their characters along bordering lines; and the same kinds of differences +(of coloration, form, or other) are found to prevail through the species of +each region, thus impressing upon them a geographical facies. Upon a +submergence of the continent, reducing these several regions to islands +sufficiently separated, these forms would be unquestioned species. + +Considerations such as these, of which a few specimens have now been +adduced (not general speculations, as the unscientific are apt to suppose), +and trials of the new views to see how far they will explain the problems +or collocate the facts they are severally dealing with, are what have +mainly influenced working naturalists in the direction of the provisional +acceptance of the derivative hypothesis. They leave to polemical +speculators the fruitless discussion of the question whether all species +came from one or two, or more; they are trying to grasp the thing by the +near, not by the farther end, and to ascertain, first of all, whether it is +probable or provable that present species are descendants of former ones +which were like them, but less and less like them the farther back we go. + +And it is worth noting that they all seem to be utterly unconscious of +wrong-doing. Their repugnance to novel hypotheses is only the natural and +healthy one. A change of a wonted line of thought is not made without an +effort, nor need be made without adequate occasion. Some courage was +required of the man who first swallowed an oyster from its shell; and of +most of us the snail would still demand more. As the unaccustomed food +proves to be good and satisfying, and also harmless, we may come to like +it. That, however, which many good and eminent naturalists find to be +healthful and reasonable, and others innocuous, a few still regard as most +unreasonable and harmful. At present, we call to mind only two who not only +hold to the entire fixity of species as an axiom or a confirmed principle, +but also as a dogma, and who maintain, either expressly or implicitly, that +the logical antithesis to the creation of species as they are, is not by +law (which implies intention), but by chance. A recent book by one of these +naturalists, or rather, by a geologist of eminence, the "Story of the Earth +and Man," by Dr. Dawson,4 is now before us. The title is too near that of +Guyot's "Earth and Man," with the publication of which popular volume that +distinguished physical naturalist commenced his career in this country; and +such catch-titles are a sort of trade-mark. As to the nature and merits of +Dr. Dawson's work, we have left ourselves space only to say: 1. That it is +addressed ad populum, which renders it rather the more than less amenable +to the criticisms we may be disposed to make upon it. 2. That the author is +thoroughly convinced that no species or form deserving the name was ever +derived from another, or originated from natural causes; and he maintains +this doctrine with earnestness, much variety of argument and illustration, +and no small ability; so that he may be taken as a representative of the +view exactly opposed to that which is favored by those naturalists whose +essays we have been considering--to whom, indeed, he stands in marked +contrast in spirit and method, being greatly disposed to argue the question +from the remote rather than the near end. 3. And finally, he has a +conviction that the evolutionary doctrines of the day are not only untrue, +but thoroughly bad and irreligious. This belief, and the natural anxiety +with which he contemplates their prevalence, may excuse a certain vehemence +and looseness of statement which were better avoided, as where the +geologists of the day are said to be "broken up into bands of specialists, +little better than scientific banditti, liable to be beaten in detail, and +prone to commit outrages on common-sense and good taste which bring their +otherwise good cause into disrepute;" and where he despairingly suggests +that the prevalence of the doctrines he deprecates "seems to indicate that +the accumulated facts of our age have gone altogether beyond its capacity +for generalization, and, but for the vigor which one sees everywhere, might +be taken as an indication that the human mind has fallen into a state of +senility." + +This is droll reading, when one considers that the "evolutionist" is the +only sort of naturalist who has much occasion to employ his "capacity for +generalization" upon "the accumulated facts" in their bearing upon the +problem of the origin of species; since the "special creationist," who +maintains that they were supernaturally originated just as they are, by the +very terms of his doctrine places them out of the reach of scientific +explanation. Again, when one reflects upon the new impetus which the +derivative hypothesis has given to systematic natural history, and reads +the declaration of a master in this department (the President of the +Linnean Society) that Mr. Darwin "has in this nineteenth century brought +about as great a revolution in the philosophic study of organic Nature as +that which was effected in the previous century by the immortal Swede," it +sounds oddly to hear from Dr. Dawson that "it obliterates the fine +perception of differences from the mind of the naturalist, . . . . destroys +the possibility of a philosophical classification, reducing all things to a +mere series, and leads to a rapid decay in systematic zoology and botany, +which is already very manifest among the disciples of Spencer and Darwin in +England." So, also, "it removes from the study of Nature the ideas of final +cause and purpose"--a sentence which reads curiously in the light of +Darwin's special investigations, such as those upon the climbing of plants, +the agency of insects in the fertilization of blossoms, and the like, which +have brought back teleology to natural science, wedded to morphology and +already fruitful of discoveries. The difficulty with Dr. Dawson here is +(and it need not be underrated) that apparently he cannot as yet believe an +adaptation, act, or result, to be purposed the apparatus of which is +perfected or evolved in the course of Nature--a common but a crude state of +mind on the part of those who believe that there is any originating purpose +in the universe, and one which, we are sure, Dr. Dawson does not share as +respects the material world until he reaches the organic kingdoms, and +there, possibly, because he sees man at the head of them--of them, while +above them. However that may be, the position which Dr. Dawson chooses to +occupy is not left uncertain. After concluding, substantially, that those +"evolutionists" who exclude design from Nature thereby exclude theism, which +nobody will deny, he proceeds (on page 348) to give his opinion that the +"evolutionism which professes to have a creator somewhere behind it . . . . +is practically atheistic," and, "if possible, more unphilosophical than +that which professes to set out from absolute and eternal nonentity," etc. + +There are some sentences which might lead one to suppose that Dr. Dawson +himself admitted of an evolution "with a creator somewhere behind it." He +offers it (page 320) as a permissible alternative that even man "has been +created mediately by the operation of forces also concerned in the +production of other animals;" concedes that a just theory "does not even +exclude evolution or derivation, to a certain extent" (page 341); and that +"a modern man of science" may safely hold "that all things have been +produced by the Supreme Creative Will, acting either directly or through +the agency of the forces and materials of his own production." Well, if +this be so, why denounce the modern man of science so severely upon the +other page merely for accepting the permission? At first sight, it might be +thought that our author is exposing himself in one paragraph to a share of +the condemnation which he deals out in the other. But the permitted views +are nowhere adopted as his own; the evolution is elsewhere restricted +within specific limits; and as to "mediate creation," although we cannot +divine what is here meant by the term, there is reason to think it does not +imply that the several species of a genus were mediately created, in a +natural way, through the supernatural creation of a remote common ancestor. +So that his own judgment in the matter is probably more correctly gathered +from the extract above referred to and other similar deliverances, such as +that in which he warns those who "endeavor to steer a middle course, and to +maintain that the Creator has proceeded by way of evolution," that "the +bare, hard logic of Spencer, the greatest English authority on evolution, +leaves no place for this compromise, and shows that the theory, carried out +to its legitimate consequences, excludes the knowledge of a Creator and the +possibility of his work." + +Now, this is a dangerous line to take. Those defenders of the faith are +more zealous than wise who must needs fire away in their catapults the very +bastions of the citadel, in the defense of outposts that have become +untenable. It has been and always will be possible to take an atheistic +view of Nature, but far more reasonable from science and philosophy only to +take a theistic view. Voltaire's saying here holds true: that if there were +no God known, it would be necessary to invent one. It is the best, if not +the only, hypothesis for the explanation of the facts. Whether the +philosophy of Herbert Spencer (which is not to our liking) is here fairly +presented, we have little occasion and no time to consider. In this regard, +the close of his article No. 12 in the Contemporary Review shows, at least, +his expectation of the entire permanence of our ideas of cause, origin, and +religion, and predicts the futility of the expectation that the "religion +of humanity" will be the religion of the future, or "can ever more than +temporarily shut out the thought of a Power, of which humanity is but a +small and fugitive product, which was in its course of ever-changing +manifestation before humanity was, and will continue through other +manifestations when humanity has ceased to be." If, on the one hand, the +philosophy of the unknowable of the Infinite may be held in a merely +quasi-theistic or even atheistic way, were not its ablest expounders and +defenders Hamilton and Dean Mansel? One would sup-pose that Dr. Dawson +might discern at least as much of a divine foundation to Nature as Herbert +Spencer and Matthew Arnold; might recognize in this power that "something +not ourselves that makes" for order as well as "for righteousness," and +which he fitly terms supreme creative will; and, resting in this, endure +with more complacency and faith the inevitable prevalence of evolutionary +views which he is powerless to hinder. Although he cannot arrest the stream, +he might do something toward keeping it in safe channels. + +We wished to say something about the way in which scientific men, worthy of +the name, hold hypotheses and theories, using them for the purpose of +investigation and the collocation of facts, yielding or withholding assent +in degrees or provisionally, according to the amount of verification or +likelihood, or holding it long in suspense; which is quite in contrast to +that of amateurs and general speculators (not that we reckon Dr. Dawson in +this class), whose assent or denial seldom waits, or endures qualification. +With them it must on all occasions be yea or nay only, according to the +letter of the Scriptural injunction, and whatsoever is less than this, or +between the two, cometh of evil. + + + +VII + +EVOLUTION AND + +THEOLOGY [VII-1] + +(The Nation, January 15, 1874) + + + +The attitude of theologians toward doctrines of evolution, from the nebular +hypothesis down to "Darwinism," is no less worthy of consideration, and +hardly less diverse, than that of naturalists. But the topic, if pursued +far, leads to questions too wide and deep for our handling here, except +incidentally, in the brief notice which it falls in our way to take of the +Rev. George Henslow's recent volume on "The Theory of Evolution of Living +Things." This treatise is on the side of evolution, "considered as +illustrative of the wisdom and beneficence of the Almighty." It was +submitted for and received one of the Actonian prizes recently awarded by +the Royal Institution of Great Britain. We gather that the staple of a part +of it is worked up anew from some earlier discourses of the author upon +"Genesis and Geology," "Science and Scripture not antagonistic," etc. + +In coupling with it a chapter of the second volume of Dr. Hodge's +"Systematic Theology (Part II, Anthropology)," we call attention to a +recent essay, by an able and veteran writer, on the other side of the +question. As the two fairly enough represent the extremes of Christian +thought upon the subject, it is convenient to review them in connection. +Theologians have a short and easy, if not wholly satisfactory, way of +refuting scientific doctrines which they object to, by pitting the authority +or opinion of one savant against another. Already, amid the currents and +eddies of modern opinion, the savants may enjoy the same advantage at the +expense of the divines-- we mean, of course, on the scientific arena; for +the mutual refutation of conflicting theologians on their own ground is no +novelty. It is not by way of offset, however, that these divergent or +contradictory views are here referred to, but only as an illustration of the +fact that the divines are by no means all arrayed upon one side of the +question in hand. And indeed, in the present transition period, until some +one goes much deeper into the heart of the subject, as respects the +relations of modern science to the foundations of religious belief, than +either of these writers has done, it is as well that the weight of opinion +should be distributed, even if only according to prepossessions, rather than +that the whole stress should bear upon a single point, and that perhaps the +authority of an interpretation of Scripture. A consensus of opinion upon +Dr. Hodge's ground, for instance (although better guarded than that of Dr. +Dawson), if it were still possible, would--to say the least--probably not +at all help to reconcile science and religion. Therefore, it is not to be +regretted that the diversities of view among accredited theologians and +theological naturalists are about as wide and as equably distributed between +the extremes (and we may add that the views themselves are quite as +hypothetical) as those which prevail among the various naturalists and +natural philosophers of the day. + +As a theologian, Mr. Henslow doubtless is not to be compared with the +veteran professor at Princeton. On the other hand, he has the advantage of +being a naturalist, and the son of a naturalist, as well as a clergyman: +consequently he feels the full force of an array of facts in nature, and of +the natural inferences from them, which the theological professor, from his +Biblical standpoint, and on his implicit assumption that the Old Testament +must needs teach true science, can hardly be expected to appreciate. +Accordingly, a naturalist would be apt to say of Dr. Hodge's exposition of +"theories of the universe" and kindred topics--and in no captious spirit-- +that whether right or wrong on particular points, he is not often right or +wrong in the way of a man of science. + +Probably from the lack of familiarity with prevalent ideas and their +history, the theologians are apt to suppose that scientific men of the +present day are taking up theories of evolution in pure wantonness or mere +superfluity of naughtiness; that it would have been quite possible, as well +as more proper, to leave all such matters alone. Quieta non movere is +doubtless a wise rule upon such subjects, so long as it is fairly +applicable. But the time for its application in respect to questions of the +origin and relations of existing species has gone by. To ignore them is to +imitate the foolish bird that seeks security by hiding its head in the +sand. Moreover, the naturalists did not force these questions upon the +world; but the world they study forced them upon the naturalists. How these +questions of derivation came naturally and inevitably to be revived, how +the cumulative probability that the existing are derived from preexisting +forms impressed itself upon the minds of many naturalists and thinkers, Mr. +Henslow has briefly explained in the introduction and illustrated in the +succeeding chapters of the first part of his book. Science, he declares, +has been compelled to take up the hypothesis of the evolution of living +things as better explaining all the phenomena. In his opinion, it has +become "infinitely more probable that all living and extinct beings have +been developed or evolved by natural laws of generation from preexisting +forms, than that they, with all their innumerable races and varieties, +should owe their existences severally to Creative fiats." This doctrine, +which even Dr. Hodge allows may possibly be held in a theistic sense, and +which, as we suppose, is so held or viewed by a great proportion of the +naturalists of our day, Mr. Henslow maintains is fully compatible with +dogmatic as well as natural theology; that it explains moral anomalies, and +accounts for the mixture of good and evil in the world, as well as for the +merely relative perfection of things; and, finally, that "the whole scheme +which God has framed for man's existence, from the first that was created +to all eternity, collapses if the great law of evolution be suppressed." +The second part of his book is occupied with a development of this line of +argument. By this doctrine of evolution he does not mean the Darwinian +hypothesis, although he accepts and includes this, looking upon natural +selection as playing an important though not an unlimited part. He would be +an evolutionist with Mivart and Owen and Argyll, even if he had not the +vera causa which Darwin contributed to help him on. And, on rising to man, +he takes ground with Wallace, saying: + + +"I would wish to state distinctly that I do not at present see any evidence +for believing in a gradual development of man from the lower animals by +ordinary natural laws; that is, without some special interference, or, if +it be preferred, some exceptional conditions which have thereby separated +him from all other creatures, and placed him decidedly in advance of them +all. On the other hand, it would be absurd to regard him as totally severed +from them. It is the great degree of difference I would insist upon, +bodily, mental, and spiritual, which precludes the idea of his having been +evolved by exactly the same processes, and with the same limitations, as, +for example, the horse from the palaeotherium." + + +In illustrating this view, he reproduces Wallace's well-known points, and +adds one or two of his own. We need not follow up his lines of argument. +The essay, indeed, adds nothing material to the discussion of evolution, +although it states one side of the case moderately well, as far as it goes. + +Dr. Hodge approaches the subject from the side of systematic theology, and +considers it mainly in its bearing upon the origin and original state of +man. Under each head he first lays down "the Scriptural doctrine," and then +discusses "anti-Scriptural theories," which latter, under the first head, +are the heathen doctrine of spontaneous generation, the modern doctrine of +spontaneous generation, theories of development, specially that of Darwin, +the atheistic character of the theory, etc. Although he admits "that there +is a theistic and an atheistic form of the nebular hypothesis as to the +origin of the universe, so there may be a theistic interpretation of the +Darwinian theory," yet he contends that "the system is thoroughly +atheistic," notwithstanding that the author "expressly acknowledges the +existence of God." Curiously enough, the atheistic form of evolutionary +hypotheses, or what he takes for such, is the only one which Dr. Hodge +cares to examine. Even the "Reign of Law" theory, Owen's "purposive route of +development and chance . . . . by virtue of inherent tendencies thereto," as +well as other expositions of the general doctrine on a theistic basis, are +barely mentioned without a word of comment, except, perhaps, a general +"protest against the arraying of probabilities against the teachings of +Scripture." + +Now, all former experience shows that it is neither safe nor wise to +pronounce a whole system "thoroughly atheistic" which it is conceded may be +held theistically, and which is likely to be largely held, if not to +prevail, on scientific grounds. It may be well to remember that, "of the +two great minds of the seventeenth century, Newton and Leibnitz, both +profoundly religious as well as philosophical, one produced the theory of +gravitation, the other objected to that theory that it was subversive of +natural religion; also that the nebular hypothesis--a natural consequence +of the theory of gravitation and of the subsequent progress of physical and +astronomical discovery--has been denounced as atheistical even down to our +day." It has now outlived anathema. + +It is undeniable that Mr. Darwin lays himself open to this kind of attack. +The propounder of natural selection might be expected to make the most of +the principle, and to overwork the law of parsimony in its behalf. And a +system in which exquisite adaptation of means to ends, complicated +inter-dependencies, and orderly sequences, appear as results instead of +being introduced as factors, and in which special design is ignored in the +particulars, must needs be obnoxious, unless guarded as we suppose Mr. +Darwin might have guarded his. ground if he had chosen to do so. Our own +opinion, after long consideration, is, that Mr. Darwin has no atheistical +intent; and that, as respects the test question of design in Nature, his +view may be made clear to the theological mind by likening it to that of +the "believer in general but not in particular Providence." There is no +need to cull passages in support of this interpretation from his various +works while the author--the most candid of men--retains through all the +editions of the "Origin of Species" the two mottoes from Whewell and Bishop +Butler.[VII-2] + +The gist of the matter lies in the answer that should be rendered to the +questions--1. Do order and useful-working collocation, pervading a system +throughout all its parts, prove design? and, 2. Is such evidence negatived +or invalidated by the probability that these particular collocations belong +to lineal series of such in time, and diversified in the course of +Nature--grown up, so to say, step by step? We do not use the terms +"adaptation, "arrangement of means to ends," and the like, because they beg +the question in stating it. + +Finally, ought not theologians to consider whether they have not already, +in principle, conceded to the geologists and physicists all that they are +asked to concede to the evolutionists; whether, indeed, the main natural +theological difficulties which attend the doctrine of evolution--serious as +they may be--are not virtually contained in the admission that there is a +system of Nature with fixed laws. This, at least, we may say, that, under a +system in which so much is done "by the establishment of general laws," it +is legitimate for any one to prove, if he can, that any particular thing in +the natural world is so done; and it is the proper business of scientific +men to push their enquiries in this direction. + +It is beside the point for Dr. Hodge to object that, "from the nature of +the case, what concerns the origin of things cannot be known except by a +supernatural revelation;" that "science has to do with the facts and laws +of Nature: here the question concerns the origin of such facts." For the +very object of the evolutionists, and of Mr. Darwin in particular, is to +remove these subjects from the category of origination, and to bring them +under the domain of science by treating them as questions about how things +go on, not how they began. Whether the succession of living forms on the +earth is or is not among the facts and laws of Nature, is the very matter +in controversy. + +Moreover, adds Dr. Hodge, it has been conceded that in this matter "proofs, +in the proper sense of the word, are not to be had; we are beyond the +region of demonstration, and have only probabilities to consider." +Wherefore "Christians have a right to protest against the arraying of +probabilities against the clear teachings of Scripture." The word is +italicized, as if to intimate that probabilities have no claims which a +theologian is bound to respect. As to arraying them against Scripture, there +is nothing whatever in the essay referred to that justifies the statement. +Indeed, no occasion offered; for the writer was discussing evolution in its +relations to theism, not to Biblical theology, and probably would not be +disposed to intermix arguments so different in kind as those from natural +science and those from revelation. To pursue each independently, according +to its own method, and then to compare the results, is thought to be the +better mode of proceeding. The weighing of probabilities we had regarded as +a proper exercise of the mind preparatory to forming an opinion. +Probabilities, hypotheses, and even surmises, whatever they may be worth, +are just what, as it seems to us, theologians ought not to be foremost in +decrying, particularly those who deal with the reconciliation of science +with Scripture, Genesis with geology, and the like. As soon as they go +beyond the literal statements even of the English text, and enter into the +details of the subject, they find ample occasion and display a special +aptitude for producing and using them, not always with very satisfactory +results. It is not, perhaps, for us to suggest that the theological army in +the past has been too much encumbered with impedimenta for effective +aggression in the conflict against atheistic tendencies in modern science; +and that in resisting attack it has endeavored to hold too much ground, so +wasting strength in the obstinate defense of positions which have become +unimportant as well as untenable. Some of the arguments, as well as the +guns, which well served a former generation, need to be replaced by others +of longer range and greater penetration. + +If the theologians are slow to discern the signs and exigencies of the +times, the religious philosophical naturalists must be looked to. Since the +above remarks were written, Prof. Le Conte's "Religion and Science," just +issued, has come to our hands. It is a series of nineteen Sunday lectures +on the relation of natural and revealed religion, prepared in the first +instance for a Bible-class of young men, his pupils in the University of +South Carolina, repeated to similar classes at the University of +California, and finally delivered to a larger and general audience. They are +printed, the preface states, from a verbatim report, with only verbal +alterations and corrections of some redundancies consequent upon +extemporaneous delivery. They are not, we find, lectures on science under a +religious aspect, but discourses upon Christian theology and its +foundations from a scientific layman's point of view, with illustrations +from his own lines of study. As the headings show, they cover, or, more +correctly speaking, range over, almost the whole field of theological +thought, beginning with the personality of Deity as revealed in Nature, the +spiritual nature and attributes of Deity, and the incarnation; discussing +by the way the general relations of theology to science, man, and his place +in Nature; and ending with a discussion of predestination and free-will, and +of prayer in relation to invariable law--all in a volume of three hundred +and twenty-four duodecimo pages! And yet the author remarks that many +important subjects have been omitted because he felt unable to present them +in a satisfactory manner from a scientific point of view. We note, indeed, +that one or two topics which would naturally come in his way--such, +especially, as the relation of evolution to the human race--are somewhat +conspicuously absent. That most of the momentous subjects which he takes up +are treated discursively, and not exhaustively, is all the better for his +readers. What they and we most want to know is, how these serious matters +are viewed by an honest, enlightened, and devout scientific man. To solve +the mysteries of the universe, as the French lady required a philosopher to +explain his new system, "dans un mot," is beyond rational expectation. + +All that we have time and need to say of this little book upon great +subjects relates to its spirit and to the view it takes of evolution. Its +theology is wholly orthodox; its tone devotional, charitable, and hopeful; +its confidence in religious truth, as taught both in Nature and revelation, +complete; the illustrations often happy, but often too rhetorical; the +science, as might be expected from this author, unimpeachable as regards +matters of fact, discreet as to matters of opinion. The argument from +design in the first lecture brings up the subject of the introduction of +species. Of this, considered "as a question of history, there is no witness +on the stand except geology." + + +"The present condition of geological evidence is undoubtedly in favor of +some degree of suddenness--is against infinite gradations. The evidence may +be meagre . . . but whether meagre or not, it is all the evidence we have. +. . . Now, the evidence of geology to-day is, that species seem to come in +suddenly and in full perfection, remain substantially unchanged during the +term of their existence, and pass away in full perfection. Other species +take their place apparently by substitution, not by transmutation. But you +will ask me, 'Do you, then, reject the doctrine of evolution? Do you accept +the creation of species directly and without secondary agencies and +processes?' I answer, No! Science knows nothing of phenomena which do not +take place by secondary causes and processes. She does not deny such +occurrence, for true Science is not dogmatic, and she knows full well that, +tracing up the phenomena from cause to cause, we must somewhere reach the +more direct agency of a First Cause. . . . It is evident that, however +species were introduced, whether suddenly or gradually, it is the duty of +Science ever to strive to understand the means and processes by which +species originated. . . . Now, of the various conceivable secondary causes +and processes, by some of which we must believe species originated, by far +the most probable is certainly that of evolution from other species." + + + (We might interpose the remark that the witness on the stand, if subjected +to cross-examination by a biologist, might be made to give a good deal of +testimony in favor of transmutation rather than substitution.) After +referring to different ideas as to the cause or mode of evolution, he +concludes that it can make no difference, so far as the argument of design +in Nature is concerned, whether there be evolution or not, or whether, in +the case of evolution, the change be paroxysmal or uniform. We may infer +even that he accepts the idea that "physical and chemical forces are +changed into vital force, and vice versa." Physicists incline more readily +to this than physiologists; and if what is called vital force be a force in +the physicists' sense, then it is almost certainly so. But the illustration +on page 275 touches this point only seemingly. It really concerns only the +storing and the using of physical force in a living organism. If, for want +of a special expression, we continue to use the term vital force to +designate that intangible something which directs and governs the +accumulation and expenditure of physical force in organisms, then there is +as yet no proof and little likelihood that this is correlate with physical +force. + +"A few words upon the first chapter of Genesis and the Mosaic cosmogony, +and I am done," says Prof. Le Conte, and so are we: + + +"It might be expected by many that, after speaking of schemes of +reconciliation, I should give mine also. My Christian friends, these +schemes of reconciliation become daily more and more distasteful to me. I +have used them in times past; but now the deliberate construction of such +schemes seems to me almost like trifling with the words of Scripture and +the teachings of Nature. They seem to me almost irreverent, and quite +foreign to the true, humble, liberal spirit of Christianity; they are so +evidently artificial, so evidently mere ingenious human devices. It seems +to me that if we will only regard the two books in the philosophical spirit +which I have endeavored to describe, and then simply wait and possess our +souls in patience, the questions in dispute will soon adjust themselves as +other similar questions have already done." + + + +VIII + +WHAT IS DARWINISM? [VIII-1] + +The Nation, May 28, 1874) + + +The question which Dr. Hodge asks he promptly and decisively answers: "What +is Darwinism? it is atheism." + +Leaving aside all subsidiary and incidental matters, let us consider--1. +What the Darwinian doctrine is, and 2. How it is proved to be atheistic. +Dr. Hodge's own statement of it cannot be very much bettered: + + +"His [Darwin's] work on the 'Origin of Species' does not purport to be +philosophical. In this aspect it is very different from the cognate works of +Mr. Spencer. Darwin does not speculate on the origin of the universe, on +the nature of matter or of force. He is simply a naturalist, a careful and +laborious observer, skillful in his descriptions, and singularly candid in +dealing with the difficulties in the way of his peculiar doctrine. He set +before himself a single problem--namely, How are the fauna and flora of our +earth to be accounted for? . . . To account for the existence of matter and +life, Mr. Darwin admits a Creator. This is done explicitly and repeatedly. . +. . He assumes the efficiency of physical causes, showing no disposition to +resolve them into mind-force or into the efficiency of the First Cause. . . +. He assumes, also, the existence of life in the form of one or more +primordial germs. . . . How all living things on earth, including the +endless variety of plants and all the diversity of animals, . . . have +descended from the primordial animalcule, he thinks, may be accounted for +by the operation of the following natural laws, viz.: First, the law of +Heredity, or that by which like begets like--the offspring are like the +parent. Second, the law of Variation; that is, while the offspring are in +all essential characteristics like their immediate progenitor, they +nevertheless vary more or less within narrow limits from their parent and +from each other. Some of these variations are indifferent, some +deteriorations, some improvements--that is, such as enable the plant or +animal to exercise its functions to greater advantage. Third, the law of +Over-Production. All plants and animals tend to increase in a geometrical +ratio, and therefore tend to overrun enormously the means of support. If +all the seeds of a plant, all the spawn of a fish, were to arrive at +maturity, in a very short time the world could not contain them. Hence, of +necessity, arises a struggle for life. Only a few of the myriads born can +possibly live. Fourth, here comes in the law of Natural Selection, or the +Survival of the Fittest; that is, if any individual of a given species of +plant or animal happens to have a slight deviation from the normal type +favorable to its success in the struggle for life, it will survive. This +variation, by the law of heredity, will be transmitted to its offspring, +and by them again to theirs. Soon these favored ones gain the ascendency, +and the less favored perish, and the modification becomes established in +the species. After a time, another and another of such favorable variations +occur, with like results. Thus, very gradually, great changes of structure +are introduced, and not only species, but genera, families, and orders, in +the vegetable and animal world, are produced" (pp. 26-29). + + +Now, the truth or the probability of Darwin's hypothesis is not here the +question, but only its congruity or incongruity with theism. We need take +only one exception to this abstract of it, but that is an important one for +the present investigation. It is to the sentence which we have italicized +in the earlier part of Dr. Hodge's own statement of what Darwinism is. With +it begins our inquiry as to how he proves the doctrine to be atheistic. + +First, if we rightly apprehend it, a suggestion of atheism is infused into +the premises in a negative form: Mr. Darwin shows no disposition to resolve +the efficiency of physical causes into the efficiency of the First Cause. +Next (on page 48) comes the positive charge that "Mr. Darwin, although +himself a theist," maintains that "the contrivances manifested in the +organs of plants and animals . . . are not due to the continued cooperation +and control of the divine mind, nor to the original purpose of God in the +constitution of the universe." As to the negative statement, it might +suffice to recall Dr. Hodge's truthful remark that Darwin "is simply a +naturalist," and that "his work on the origin of species does not purport +to be philosophical." In physical and physiological treatises, the most +religious men rarely think it necessary to postulate the First Cause, nor +are they misjudged by the omission. But surely Mr. Darwin does show the +disposition which our author denies him, not only by implication in many +instances, but most explicitly where one would naturally look for it, +namely--at the close of the volume in question: "To my mind, it accords +better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator," +etc. If that does not refer the efficiency of physical causes to the First +Cause, what form of words could do so? The positive charge appears to be +equally gratuitous. In both Dr. Hodge must have overlooked the beginning as +well as the end of the volume which he judges so hardly. Just as +mathematicians and physicists, in their systems, are wont to postulate the +fundamental and undeniable truths they are concerned with, or what they +take for such and require to be taken for granted, so Mr. Darwin +postulates, upon the first page of his notable work, and in the words of +Whewell and Bishop Butler: 1. The establishment by divine power of general +laws, according to which, rather than by insulated interpositions in each +particular case, events are brought about in the material world; and 2. +That by the word ':natural" is meant "stated, fixed, or settled," by this +same power, "since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an +intelligent agent to render it so--i.e., to effect it continually or at +stated times--as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for +once.[VIII-2] So when Mr. Darwin makes such large and free use of "natural +as antithetical to supernatural" causes, we are left in no doubt as to the +ultimate source which he refers them to. Rather let us say there ought to +be no doubt, unless there are other grounds for it to rest upon. + +Such ground there must be, or seem to be, to justify or excuse a veteran +divine and scholar like Dr. Hodge in his deduction of pure atheism from a +system produced by a confessed theist, and based, as we have seen, upon +thoroughly orthodox fundamental conceptions. Even if we may not hope to +reconcile the difference between the theologian and the naturalist, it may +be well to ascertain where their real divergence begins, or ought to begin, +and what it amounts to. Seemingly, it is in their proximate, not in their +ultimate, principles, as Dr. Hodge insists when he declares that the whole +drift of Darwinism is to prove that everything "may be accounted for by the +blind operation of natural causes, without any intention, purpose, or +cooperation of God." "Why don't he say," cries the theologian, "that the +complicated organs of plants and animals are the product of the divine +intelligence? If God made them, it makes no difference, so far as the +question of design is concerned, how he made them, whether at once or by +process of evolution." But, as we have seen, Mr. Darwin does say that, and +he over and over implies it when he refers the production of species "to +secondary causes," and likens their origination to the origination of +individuals; species being series of individuals with greater difference. +It is not for the theologian to object that the power which made individual +men and other animals, and all the differences which the races of mankind +exhibit, through secondary causes, could not have originated congeries of +more or less greatly differing individuals through the same causes. + +Clearly, then, the difference between the theologian and the naturalist is +not fundamental, and evolution may be as profoundly and as particularly +theistic as it is increasingly probable. The taint of atheism which, in Dr. +Hodge's view, leavens the whole lump, is not inherent in the original grain +of Darwinism--in the principles posited--but has somehow been introduced in +the subsequent treatment. Possibly, when found, it may be eliminated. +Perhaps there is mutual misapprehension growing out of some ambiguity in the +use of terms. "Without any intention, purpose, or cooperation of God."- +These are sweeping and effectual words. How came they to be applied to +natural selection by a divine who professes that God ordained whatsoever +cometh to pass? In this wise: "The point to be proved is, that it is the +distinctive doctrine of Mr. Darwin that species owe their origin--1. Not to +the original intention of the divine mind; 2. Not to special acts of +creation calling new forms into existence at certain epochs; 3. Not to the +constant and everywhere operative efficiency of God guiding physical causes +in the production of intended effects; but 4. To the gradual accumulation +of unintended variations of structure and instinct securing some advantage +to their subjects." Then Dr. Hodge adduces "Darwin's own testimony," to the +purport that natural selection denotes the totality of natural causes and +their interactions, physical and physiological, reproduction, variation, +birth, struggle, extinction--in short, all that is going on in Nature; that +the variations which in this interplay are picked out for survival are not +intentionally guided; that "nothing can be more hopeless than the attempt +to explain this similarity of pattern in members of the same class by +utility or the doctrine of final causes" (which Dr. Hodge takes to be the +denial of any such thing as final causes); and that the interactions and +processes going on which constitute natural selection may suffice to +account for the present diversity of animals and plants (primordial +organisms being postulated and time enough given) with all their structures +and adaptations--that is, to account for them scientifically, as science +accounts for other things. + +A good deal may be made of this, but does it sustain the indictment? +Moreover, the counts of the indictment may be demurred to. It seems to us +that only one of the three points which Darwin is said to deny is really +opposed to the fourth, which he is said to maintain, except as concerns the +perhaps ambiguous word unintended. Otherwise, the origin of species through +the gradual accumulation of variations--i.e., by the addition of a series +of small differences--is surely not incongruous with their origin through +"the original intention of the divine mind" or through "the constant and +everywhere operative efficiency of God."- One or both of these Mr. Darwin +(being, as Dr. Hodge says, a theist) must needs hold to in some form or +other; wherefore he may be presumed to hold the fourth proposition in such +wise as not really to contradict the first or the third. The proper +antithesis is with the second proposition only, and the issue comes to +this: Have the multitudinous forms of living creatures, past and present, +been produced by as many special and independent acts of creation at very +numerous epochs? Or have they originated under causes as natural as +reproduction and birth, and no more so, by the variation and change of +preceding into succeeding species? + +Those who accept the latter alternative are evolutionists. And Dr. Hodge +fairly allows that their views, although clearly wrong, may be genuinely +theistic. Surely they need not become the less so by the discovery or by +the conjecture of natural operations through which this diversification and +continued adaptation of species to conditions is brought about. Now, Mr. +Darwin thinks--and by this he is distinguished. from most +evolutionists--that he can assign actual natural causes, adequate to the +production of the present out of the preceding state of the animal and +vegetable world, and so on backward--thus uniting, not indeed the beginning +but the far past with the present in one coherent system of Nature. But in +assigning actual natural causes and processes, and applying them to the +explanation of the whole case, Mr. Dar-win assumes the obligation of +maintaining their general sufficiency--a task from which the numerous +advocates and acceptors of evolution on the general concurrence of +probabilities and its usefulness as a working hypothesis (with or without +much conception of the manner how) are happily free. Having hit upon a +modus operandi which all who understand it admit will explain something, +and many that it will explain very much, it is to be expected that Mr. +Darwin will make the most of it. Doubtless he is far from pretending to +know all the causes and operations at work; he has already added some and +restricted the range of others; he probably looks for additions to their +number and new illustrations of their efficiency; but he is bound to expect +them all to fall within the category of what he calls natural selection (a +most expansible principle), or to be congruous with it--that is, that they +shall be natural causes. Also--and this is the critical point--he is bound +to maintain their sufficiency without intervention. + +Here, at length, we reach the essential difference between Darwin, as we +understand him, and Dr. Hodge. The terms which Darwin sometimes uses, and +doubtless some of the ideas they represent, are not such as we should adopt +or like to defend; and we may say once for all--aside though it be from the +present issue--that, in our opinion, the adequacy of the assigned causes to +the explanation of the phenomena has not been made out. But we do not +understand him to deny "purpose, intention, or the cooperation of God" in +Nature. This would be as gratuitous as unphilosophical, not to say +unscientific. When he speaks of this or that particular or phase in the +course of events or the procession of organic forms as not intended, he +seems to mean not specially and disjunctively intended and not brought +about by intervention. Purpose in the whole, as we suppose, is not denied +but implied. And when one considers how, under whatever view of the case, +the designed and the contingent lie inextricably commingled in this world +of ours, past man's disentanglement, and into what metaphysical dilemmas +the attempt at unraveling them leads, we cannot greatly blame the +naturalist for relegating such problems to the philosopher and the +theologian. If charitable, these will place the most favorable construction +upon attempts to extend and unify the operation of known secondary causes, +this being the proper business of the naturalist and physicist; if wise, +they will be careful not to predicate or suggest the absence of intention +from what comes about by degrees through the continuous operation of +physical causes, even in the organic world, lest, in their endeavor to +retain a probable excess of supernaturalism in that realm of Nature, they +cut away the grounds for recognizing it at all in inorganic Nature, and so +fall into the same condemnation that some of them award to the Darwinian. + +Moreover, it is not certain that Mr. Darwin would very much better his +case, Dr. Hodge being judge, if he did propound some theory of the nexus of +divine causation and natural laws, or even if he explicitly adopted the one +or the other of the views which he is charged with rejecting. Either way he +might meet a procrustean fate; and, although a saving amount of theism +might remain, he would not be sound or comfortable. For, if he predicates +"the constant and everywhere operative efficiency of God," he may "lapse +into the same doctrine" that the Duke of Argyll and Sir John Herschel "seem +inclined to," the latter of whom is blamed for thinking "it but reasonable +to regard the force of gravitation as the direct or indirect result of a +consciousness or will existing somewhere," and the former for regarding "it +unphilosophical 'to think or speak as if the forces of Nature were either +independent of or even separate from the Creator's power' ": while if he +falls back upon an "original intention of the divine mind," endowing matter +with forces which he foresaw and intended should produce such results as +these contrivances in Nature, he is told that this banishes God from the +world, and is inconsistent with obvious facts. And that because of its +implying that "He never interferes to guide the operation of physical +causes. We italicize the word, for interference proves to be the keynote of +Dr. Hodge's system. Interference with a divinely ordained physical Nature +for the accomplishment of natural results! An unorthodox friend has just +imparted to us, with much misgiving and solicitude lest he should be thought +irreverent, his tentative hypothesis, which is, that even the Creator may be +conceived to have improved with time and experience! Never before was this +theory so plainly and barely put before us. We were obliged to say that, in +principle and by implication, it was not wholly original. + +But in such matters, which are far too high for us, no one is justly to be +held responsible for the conclusions which another may draw from his +principles or assumptions. Dr. Hodge's particular view should be gathered +from his own statement of it: + + +"In the external world there is always and everywhere indisputable evidence +of the activity of two kinds of force, the one physical, the other mental. +The physical belongs to matter, and is due to the properties with which it +has been endowed; the other is the everywhere present and ever-acting mind +of God. To the latter are to be referred all the manifestations of design +in Nature, and the ordering of events in Providence. This doctrine does not +ignore the efficiency of second causes; it simply asserts that God +overrules and controls them. Thus the Psalmist says: 'I am fearfully and +wonderfully made. My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in +secret, and curiously wrought (or embroidered) in the lower parts of the +earth. . . . God makes the grass to grow, and herbs for the children of +men.'- He sends rain, frost, and snow. He controls the winds and the waves. +He determines the casting of the lot, the flight of an arrow, and the +falling of a sparrow." + + +Far be it from us to object to this mode of conceiving divine causation, +although, like the two other theistic conceptions referred to, it has its +difficulties, and perhaps the difficulties of both. But, if we understand +it, it draws an unusually hard and fast line between causation in organic +and inorganic Nature, seems to look for no manifestation of design in the +latter except as "God overrules and controls" second causes, and, finally, +refers to this overruling and controlling (rather than to a normal action +through endowment) all embryonic development, the growth of vegetables, and +the like. He even adds, without break or distinction, the sending of rain, +frost, and snow, the flight of an arrow, and the falling of a sparrow. +Somehow we must have misconceived the bearing of the statement; but so it +stands as one of "the three ways," and the right way, of "accounting for +contrivances in Nature; the other two being--1. Their reference to the +blind operation of natural causes; and, 2. That they were foreseen and +purposed by God, who endowed matter with forces which he foresaw and +intended should produce such results, but never interferes to guide their +operation. + +In animadverting upon this latter view, Dr. Hodge brings forward an +argument against evolution, with the examination of which our remarks must +close: + + +"Paley, indeed, says that if the construction of a watch be an undeniable +evidence of design, it would be a still more wonderful manifestation of +skill if a watch could be made to produce other watches, and, it may be +added, not only other watches, but all kinds of timepieces, in endless +variety. So it has been asked, If a man can make a telescope, why cannot +God make a telescope which produces others like itself? This is simply +asking whether matter can be made to do the work of mind. The idea involves +a contradiction. For a telescope to make a telescope supposes it to select +copper and zinc in due proportions, and fuse them into brass; to fashion +that brass into inter-entering tubes; to collect and combine the requisite +materials for the different kinds of glass needed; to melt them, grind, +fashion, and polish them, adjust their densities, focal distances, etc., +etc. A man who can believe that brass can do all this might as well believe +in God" (pp. 45, 46). + + +If Dr. Hodge's meaning is, that matter unconstructed cannot do the work of +mind, he misses the point altogether; for original construction by an +intelligent mind is given in the premises. If he means that the machine +cannot originate the power that operates it, this is conceded by all except +believers in perpetual motion, and it equally misses the point; for the +operating power is given in the case of the watch, and implied in that of +the reproductive telescope. But if he means that matter cannot be made to do +the work of mind in constructions, machines, or organisms, he is surely +wrong. "Sovitur ambulando," vel scribendo; he confuted his argument in the +act of writing the sentence. That is just what machines and organisms are +for; and a consistent Christian theist should maintain that is what all +matter is for. Finally, if, as we freely suppose, he means none of these, +he must mean (unless we are much mistaken) that organisms originated by the +Almighty Creator could not be endowed with the power of producing similar +organisms, or slightly dissimilar organisms, without successive +interventions. Then he begs the very question in dispute, and that, too, in +the face of the primal command, "Be fruitful and multiply," and its +consequences in every natural birth. If the actual facts could be ignored, +how nicely the parallel would run! "The idea involves a contradiction." For +an animal to make an animal, or a plant to make a plant, supposes it to +select carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, to combine these into +cellulose and protoplasm, to join with these some phosphorus, lime, etc., +to build them into structures and usefully-adjusted organs. A man who can +believe that plants and animals can do this (not, indeed, in the crude way +suggested, but in the appointed way) "might as well believe in God." Yes, +verily, and so he probably will, in spite of all that atheistical +philosophers have to offer, if not harassed and confused by such arguments +and statements as these. + +There is a long line of gradually-increasing divergence from the +ultra-orthodox view of Dr. Hodge through those of such men as Sir William +Thomson, Herschel, Argyll, Owen, Mivart, Wallace, and Darwin, down to those +of Strauss, Vogt, and Buchner. To strike the line with telling power and +good effect, it is necessary to aim at the right place. Excellent as the +present volume is in motive and clearly as it shows that Darwinism may bear +an atheistic as well as a theistic interpretation, we fear that it will not +contribute much to the reconcilement of science and religion. + +The length of the analysis of the first book on our list precludes the +notices which we intended to take of the three others. They are all the +production of men who are both scientific and religious, one of them a +celebrated divine and writer unusually versed in natural history. They all +look upon theories of evolution either as in the way of being established +or as not unlikely to prevail, and they confidently expect to lose thereby +no solid ground for theism or religion. Mr. St. Clair, a new writer, in his +"Darwinism and Design; or, Creation by Evolution," takes his ground in the +following succinct statement of his preface: + + +"It is being assumed by our scientific guides that the design-argument has +been driven out of the field by the doctrine of evolution. It seems to be +thought by our theological teachers that the best defense of the faith is +to deny evolution in toto, and denounce it as anti-Biblical. My volume +endeavors to show that, if evolution be true, all is not lost; but, on the +contrary, something is gained: the design-argument remains unshaken, and +the wisdom and beneficence of God receive new illustration." + + +Of his closing remark, that, so far as he knows, the subject has never +before been handled in the same way for the same purpose, we will only say +that the handling strikes us as mainly sensible rather than as +substantially novel. He traverses the whole ground of evolution, from that +of the solar system to "the origin of moral species." He is clearly a +theistic Darwinian without misgiving, and the arguments for that hypothesis +and for its religious aspects obtain from him their most favorable +presentation, while he combats the dysteleology of Hackel, Buchner, etc., +not, however, with any remarkable strength. + +Dr. Winchell, chancellor of the new university at Syracuse, in his volume +just issued upon the "Doctrine of Evolution," adopts it in the abstract as +"clearly as the law of universal intelligence under which complex results +are brought into existence" (whatever that may mean), accepts it +practically for the inorganic world as a geologist should, hesitates as to +the organic world, and sums up the arguments for the origin of species by +diversification unfavorably for the Darwinians, regarding it mainly from the +geological side. As some of our zoologists and palaeontologists may have +somewhat to say upon this matter, we leave it for their consideration. We +are tempted to develop a point which Dr. Winchell incidentally refers +to--viz., how very modern the idea of the independent creation and fixity +of species is, and how well the old divines got on without it. Dr. Winchell +reminds us that St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas were model +evolutionists; and, where authority is deferred to, this should count for +something. + +Mr. Kingsley's eloquent and suggestive "Westminster Sermons," in which he +touches here and there upon many of the topics which evolution brings up, +has incorporated into the preface a paper which he read in 187i to a +meeting of London clergy at Sion College, upon certain problems of natural +theology as affected by modern theories in science. We may hereafter have +occasion to refer to this volume. Meanwhile, perhaps we may usefully +conclude this article with two or three short extracts from it: + + +"The God who satisfies our conscience ought more or less to satisfy our +reason also. To teach that was Butler's mission; and he fulfilled it well. +But it is a mission which has to be refulfilled again and again, as human +thought changes, and human science develops, For if, in any age or country, +the God who seems to be revealed by Nature seems also different from the +God who is revealed by the then-popular religion, then that God and the +religion which tells of that God will gradually cease to be believed in. + +"For the demands of reason--as none knew better than good Bishop +Butler--must be and ought to be satisfied. And, therefore, when a popular +war arises between the reason of any generation and its theology, then it +behooves the ministers of religion to inquire, with all humility and godly +fear, on whose side lies the fault; whether the theology which they expound +is all that it should be, or whether the reason of those who impugn it is +all that it should be." + + +Pronouncing it to be the duty of the naturalist to find out the how of +things, and of the natural theologian to find out the why, Mr. Kingsley +continues: + + +"But if it be said, 'After all, there is no why; the doctrine of evolution, +by doing away with the theory of creation, does away with that of final +causes,' let us answer boldly, 'Not in the least.' We might accept all that +Mr. Darwin, all that Prof. Huxley, all that other most able men have so +learnedly and acutely written on physical science, and yet preserve our +natural theology on the same basis as that on which Butler and Paley left +it. That we should have to develop it I do not deny. + +"Let us rather look with calmness, and even with hope and good-will, on +these new theories; they surely mark a tendency toward a more, not a less, +Scriptural view of Nature. + +"Of old it was said by Him, without whom nothing is made, 'My Father +worketh hitherto, and I work.' Shall we quarrel with Science if she should +show how these words are true? What, in one word, should we have to say but +this: 'We know of old that God was so wise that he could make all things; +but, behold, he is so much wiser than even that, that he can make all +things make themselves?' " + + + +CHARLES DARWIN: A SKETCH + +(Nature, June 4, 1874, accompanying a portrait) + + +Two British naturalists, Robert Brown and Charles Darwin, have, more than +any others, impressed their influence upon science in this nineteenth +century. Unlike as these men and their works were and are, we may most +readily subserve the present purpose in what we are called upon to say of +the latter by briefly comparing and contrasting the two. + +Robert Brown died sixteen years ago, full of years and scientific honors, +and he seems to have finished, several years earlier, all the scientific +work that he had undertaken. To the other, Charles Darwin, a fair number of +productive years may yet remain, and are earnestly hoped for. Both enjoyed +the great advantage of being all their lives long free from exacting +professional duties or cares, and so were able in the main to apply +themselves to research without distraction and according to their bent. +Both, at the beginning of their career, were attached to expeditions of +exploration in the southern hemisphere, where they amassed rich stores of +observation and materials, and probably struck out, while in the field, +some of the best ideas which they subsequently developed. They worked in +different fields and upon different methods; only in a single instance, so +far as we know, have they handled the same topic; and in this the more +penetrating insight of the younger naturalist into an interesting general +problem may be appealed to in justification of a comparison which some will +deem presumptuous. Be this as it may, there will probably be little dissent +from the opinion that the characteristic trait common to the two is an +unrivaled scientific sagacity. In this these two naturalists seem to us, +each in his way, preeminent. There is a characteristic likeness, +too--underlying much difference--in their admirable manner of dealing with +facts closely, and at first hand, without the interposition of the formal +laws, vague ideal conceptions, or "glittering generalities" which some +philosophical naturalists make large use of. + +A likeness may also be discerned in the way in which the work or +contributions of predecessors and contemporaries are referred to. The brief +historical summaries prefixed to many of Mr. Brown's papers are models of +judicial conscientiousness. And Mr. Darwin's evident delight at discovering +that some one else has "said his good things before him," or has been on +the verge of uttering them, seemingly equals that of making the discovery +himself. It reminds one of Goethe's insisting that his views in morphology +must have been held before him and must be somewhere on record, so obvious +did they appear to him. + +Considering the quiet and retired lives led by both these men, and the +prominent place they are likely to occupy in the history of science, the +contrast between them as to contemporary and popular fame is very +remarkable. While Mr. Brown was looked up to with the greatest reverence by +all the learned botanists, he was scarcely heard of by any one else; and +out of botany he was unknown to science except as the discoverer of the +Brownian motion of minute particles, which discovery was promulgated in a +privately-printed pamphlet that few have ever seen. Although Mr. Darwin had +been for twenty years well and widely known for his "Naturalist's Journal," +his works on "Coral Islands," on "Volcanic Islands, and especially for his +researches on the Barnacles, it was not till about fifteen years ago that +his name became popularly famous. Ever since no scientific name has been so +widely spoken. Many others have had hypotheses or systems named after them, +but no one else that we know of a department of bibliography. The nature of +his latest researches accounts for most of the difference, but not for all, +The Origin of Species is a fascinating topic, having interests and +connections with every branch of science, natural and moral. The +investigation of recondite affinities is very dry and special; its +questions, processes, and results alike--although in part generally +presentable in the shape of morphology--are mainly, like the higher +mathematics, unintelligible except to those who make them a subject of +serious study. They are especially so when presented in Mr. Brown's manner. +Perhaps no naturalist ever recorded the results of his investigations in +fewer words and with greater precision than Robert Brown: certainly no one +ever took more pains to state nothing beyond the precise point in question. +Indeed, we have sometimes fancied that he preferred to enwrap rather than to +explain his meaning; to put it into such a form that, unless you follow +Solomon's injunction and dig for the wisdom as for hid treasure, you may +hardly apprehend it until you have found it all out for yourself, when you +will have the satisfaction of perceiving that Mr. Brown not only knew all +about it, but had put it upon record. Very different from this is the way +in which Mr. Darwin takes his readers into his confidence, freely displays +to them the sources of his information, and the working of his mind, and +even shares with them all his doubts and misgivings, while in a clear +exposition he sets forth the reasons which have guided him to his +conclusions. These you may hesitate or decline to adopt, but you feel sure +that they have been presented with perfect fairness; and if you think of +arguments against them you may be confident that they have all been duly +considered before. + +The sagacity which characterizes these two naturalists is seen in their +success in finding decisive instances, and their sure insight into the +meaning of things. As an instance of the latter on Mr. Darwin's part, and a +justification of our venture to compare him with the facile princeps +botanicorum, we will, in conclusion, allude to the single instance in which +they took the same subject in hand. In his papers on the organs and modes +of fecundation in Orchideae and Asclepiadeae, Mr. Brown refers more than +once to C.K. Sprengel's almost forgotten work, shows how the structure of +the flowers in these orders largely requires the agency of insects for +their fecundation, and is aware that "in Asclepiadeae . . . the insect so +readily passes from one corolla to another that it not unfrequently visits +every flower of the umbel." He must also have contemplated the transport of +pollen from plant to plant by wind and insects; and we know from another +source that he looked upon Sprengel's ideas as far from fantastic. Yet, +instead of taking the single forward step which now seems so obvious, he +even hazarded the conjecture that the insect-forms of some orchideous +flowers are intended to deter rather than to attract insects. And so the +explanation of all these and other extraordinary structures, as well as of +the arrangement of blossoms in general, and even the very meaning and need +of sexual propagation, were left to be supplied by Mr. Darwin. The aphorism +"Nature abhors a vacuum" is a characteristic specimen of the science of the +middle ages. The aphorism "Nature abhors close fertilization," and the +demonstration of the principle, belong to our age, and to Mr. Darwin. To +have originated this, and also the principle of natural selection--the +truthfulness and importance of which are evident the moment it is +apprehended--and to have applied these principles to the system of Nature in +such a manner as to make, within a dozen years, a deeper impression upon +natural history than has been made since Linnaeus, is ample title for one +man's fame. + +There is no need of our giving any account or of estimating the importance +of such works as the "Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection," the +"Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," the "Descent of Man, +and Selection in Relation to Sex," and the "Expression of the Emotions in +Men and Animals"--a series to which we may hope other volumes may in due +time be added. We would rather, if space permitted, attempt an analysis of +the less known, but not less masterly, subsidiary essays, upon the various +arrangements for insuring cross-fertilization in flowers, for the climbing +of plants, and the like. These, as we have heard, may before long be +reprinted in a volume, and supplemented by some long-pending but still +unfinished investigations upon the action of Dionaea and Drosera--a capital +subject for Mr. Darwin's handling. + +A propos to these papers, which furnish excellent illustrations of it, let +us recognize Darwin's great service to natural science in bringing back to +it Teleology; so that, instead of Morphology versus Teleology, we shall +have Morphology wedded to Teleology. To many, no doubt, evolutionary +Teleology comes in such a questionable shape as to seem shorn of all its +goodness; but they will think better of it in time, when their ideas become +adjusted, and they see what an impetus the new doctrines have given to +investigation. They are much mistaken who suppose that Darwinism is only of +speculative importance, and perhaps transient interest. In its working +applications it has proved to be a new power, eminently practical and +fruitful. + +And here, again, we are bound to note a striking contrast to Mr. Brown, +greatly as we revere his memory. He did far less work than was justly to be +expected from him. Mr. Darwin not only points out the road, but labors upon +it indefatigably and unceasingly. A most commendable noblesse oblige +assures us that he will go on while strength (would we could add health) +remains. The vast amount of such work he has already accomplished might +overtax the powers of the strongest. That it could have been done at all +under constant infirm health is most wonderful. + + + +X + +INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS + +(The Nation, April 2 and 9, 1874) + + + +That animals should feed upon plants is natural and normal, and the reverse +seems impossible. But the adage, "Natura non agit saltatim," has its +application even here. It is the naturalist, rather than Nature, that draws +hard and fast lines everywhere, and marks out abrupt boundaries where she +shades off with gradations. However opposite the parts which animals and +vegetables play in the economy of the world as the two opposed kingdoms of +organic Nature, it is becoming more and more obvious that they are not only +two contiguous kingdoms, but are parts of one whole--antithetical and +complementary to each other, indeed; but such "thin partitions do the +bounds divide" that no definitions yet framed hold good without exception. +This is a world of transition in more senses than is commonly thought; and +one of the lessons which the philosophical naturalist learns, or has to +learn, is, that differences the most wide and real in the main, and the most +essential, may nevertheless be here and there connected or bridged over by +gradations. There is a limbo filled with organisms which never rise high +enough in the scale to be manifestly either animal or plant, unless it may +be said of some of them that they are each in turn and neither long. There +are undoubted animals which produce the essential material of vegetable +fabric, or build up a part of their structure of it, or elaborate the +characteristic leaf-green which, under solar light, assimilates inorganic +into organic matter, the most distinguishing function of vegetation. On the +other hand, there are plants--microscopic, indeed, but +unquestionable--which move spontaneously and freely around and among +animals that are fixed and rooted. And, to come without further parley to +the matter in hand, while the majority of animals feed directly upon plants, +"for 'tis their nature to," there are plants which turn the tables and feed +upon them. Some, being parasitic upon living animals, feed insidiously and +furtively; these, although really cases in point, are not so extraordinary, +and, as they belong to the lower orders, they are not much regarded, except +for the harm they do. There are others, and those of the highest orders, +which lure or entrap animals in ways which may well excite our special +wonder--all the more so since we are now led to conclude that they not only +capture but consume their prey. + +As respects the two or three most notable instances, the conclusions which +have been reached are among the very recent acquisitions of physiological +science. Curiously enough, however, now that they are made out, it appears +that they were in good part long ago attained, recorded, and mainly +forgotten. The earlier observations and surmises shared the common fate of +discoveries made before the time, or by those who were not sagacious enough +to bring out their full meaning or importance. Vegetable morphology, dimly +apprehended by Linnaeus, initiated by Casper Frederick Wolff, and again, +independently in successive generations, by Goethe and by De Candolle, +offers a parallel instance. The botanists of Goethe's day could not see any +sense, advantage, or practical application, to be made of the proposition +that the parts of a blossom answer to leaves; and so the study of +homologies had long to wait. Until lately it appeared to be of no +consequence whatever (except, perhaps, to the insects) whether Drosera and +Sarracenia caught flies or not; and even Dionaea excited only unreflecting +wonder as a vegetable anomaly. As if there were real anomalies in Nature, +and some one plant possessed extraordinary powers denied to all others, and +(as was supposed) of no importance to itself! + +That most expert of fly-catchers, Dionaea, of which so much has been +written and so little known until lately, came very near revealing its +secret to Solander and Ellis a hundred years ago, and doubtless to John +Bartram, our botanical pioneer, its C probable discoverer, who sent it to +Europe. Ellis, in his published letter to Linnaeus, with which the history +begins, described the structure and action of the living trap correctly; +noticed that the irritability which called forth the quick movement closing +the trap, entirely resided in the few small bristles of its upper face; +that this whole surface was studded C with glands, which probably secreted +a liquid; and that the trap did not open again when an insect was captured, +even upon the death of the captive, although it opened very soon when +nothing was caught, or when the irritation was caused by a bit of straw, or +any such substance. It was Linnaeus who originated the contrary and +erroneous statement, which has long prevailed in the books, that the trap +reopened when the fatigued captive became quiet, and let it go; as if the +plant caught flies in mere play and pastime! Linnaeus also omitted all +allusion to a secreted liquid--which was justifiable, as. Ellis does not +state that he had actually seen any; and, if he did see it, quite mistook +its use, supposing it to be, like the nectar of flowers, a lure for +insects, a bait for the trap. Whereas, in fact, the lure, if there be any, +must be an odor (although nothing is perceptible to the human olfactories); +for the liquid secreted by the glands never appears until the trap has +closed upon some insect, and held it at least for some hours a prisoner. +Within twenty-four or forty-eight hours this glairy liquid is abundant, +bathing and macerating the body of the perished insect. Its analogue is not +the nectar of flowers, but the saliva or the gastric juice! + +The observations which compel such an inference are re-cent, and the +substance of them may be briefly stated. The late Rev. Dr. M. A. Curtis (by +whose death, two years ago, we lost one of our best botanists, and the +master in his especial line, mycology), forty years and more ago resided at +Wilmington, North Carolina, in the midst of the only district to which the +Dionaea is native; and he published, in 1834, in the first volume of the +"Journal of the Boston Society of Natural History," by far the best account +of this singular plant which had then appeared. He remarks that "the little +prisoner is not crushed and suddenly destroyed, as is sometimes supposed," +for he had often liberated "captive flies and spiders, which sped away as +fast as fear or joy could hasten them." But he neglected to state, although +he must have noticed the fact, that the two sides of the trap, at first +concave to the contained insect, at length flatten and close down firmly +upon the prey, exerting no inconsiderable pressure, and insuring the death +of any soft-bodied insect, if it had not already succumbed to the +confinement and salivation. This last Dr. Curtis noticed, and first +discerned its import, although he hesitated to pronounce upon its +universality. That the captured insects were in some way "made subservient +to the nourishment of the plant" had been conjectured from the first. Dr. +Curtis "at times (and he might have always at the proper time) found them +enveloped in a fluid of mucilaginous consistence, which seems to act as a +solvent, the insects being more or less consumed in it." This was verified +and the digestive character of the liquid well-nigh demonstrated six or +seven years ago by Mr. Canby, of Wilmington, Delaware, who, upon a visit to +the sister-town of North Carolina, and afterward at his home, followed up +Dr. Curtis's suggestions with some capital observations and experiments. +These were published at Philadelphia in the tenth volume of Meehan's +Gardeners' Monthly, August, i868; but they do not appear to have attracted +the attention which they merited. + +The points which Mr. Canby made out are, that this fluid is always poured +out around the captured insect in due time, "if the leaf is in good +condition and the prey suitable;" that it comes from the leaf itself, and +not from the decomposing insect (for, when the trap caught a plum-curculio, +the fluid was poured out while he was still alive, though very weak, and +endeavoring, ineffectively, to eat his way out); that bits of raw beef, +although sometimes rejected after a while, were generally acted upon in the +same manner--i.e., closed down upon tightly, salvered with the liquid, +dissolved mainly, and absorbed; so that, in fine, the fluid may well be +said to be analogous to the gastric juice of animals, dissolving the prey +and rendering it fit for absorption by the leaf. Many leaves remain +inactive or slowly die away after one meal; others reopen for a second and +perhaps even a third capture, and are at least capable of digesting a second +meal. + +Before Mr. Canby's experiments had been made, we were aware that a similar +series had been made in England by Mr. Darwin, with the same results, and +with a small but highly-curious additional one--namely, that the fluid +secreted in the trap of Dionaea, like the gastric juice, has an acid +reaction. Having begun to mention unpublished results (too long allowed to +remain so), it may be well, under the circumstances, to refer to a still +more remarkable experiment by the same most sagacious investigator. By a +prick with a sharp lancet at a certain point, he has been able to paralyze +one-half of the leaf-trap, so that it remained motionless under the +stimulus to which the other half responded. Such high and sensitive +organization entails corresponding ailments. Mr. Canby tells us that he +gave to one of his Dionaea-subjects a fatal dyspepsia by feeding it with +cheese; and under Mr. Darwin's hands another suffers from paraplegia. + +Finally, Dr. Burdon-Sanderson's experiments, detailed at the last meeting +of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, show that the +same electrical currents are developed upon the closing of the Dionaea-trap +as in the contraction of a muscle. + +If the Venus's Fly-trap stood alone, it would be doubly marvelous--first, +on account of its carnivorous propensities, and then as constituting a real +anomaly in organic Nature, to which nothing leads up. Before acquiescing in +such a conclusion, the modern naturalist would scrutinize its relatives. +Now, the nearest relatives of our vegetable wonder are the sundews. + +While Dionaea is as local in habitation as it is singular in structure and +habits, the Droseras or sundews are widely diffused over the world and +numerous in species. The two whose captivating habits have attracted +attention abound in bogs all around the northern hemisphere. That flies are +caught by them is a matter of common observation; but this was thought to +be purely accidental. They spread out from the root a circle of small +leaves, the upper face of which especially is beset and the margin fringed +with stout bristles (or what seem to be such, although the structure is more +complex), tipped by a secreting gland, which produces, while in vigorous +state, a globule of clear liquid like a drop of dew-- whence the name, both +Greek and English. One expects these seeming dew-drops to be dissipated by +the morning sun; but they remain unaffected. A touch shows that the +glistening drops are glutinous and extremely tenacious, as flies learn to +their cost on alighting, perhaps to sip the tempting liquid, which acts +first as a decoy and then like birdlime. A small fly is held so fast, and +in its struggles comes in contact with so many of these glutinous globules, +that it seldom escapes. + +The result is much the same to the insect, whether captured in the trap of +Dionaea or stuck fast to the limed bristles of Drosera. As there are various +plants upon whose glandular hairs or glutinous surfaces small insects are +habitually caught and perish, it might be pure coincidence that the most +effectual arrangement of the kind happens to occur in the nearest relatives +of Dionaea. Roth, a keen German botanist of the eighteenth century, was the +first to detect, or at least to record, some evidence of intention in +Drosera, and to compare its action with that of Dionaea, which, through +Ellis's account, had shortly before been made known in Europe. He noticed +the telling fact that not only the bristles which the unfortunate insect +had come in contact with, but also the surrounding rows, before widely +spreading, curved inward one by one, although they had not been touched, so +as within a few hours to press their glutinous tips likewise against the +body of the captive insect--thus doubling or quadrupling the bonds of the +victim and (as we may now suspect) the surfaces through which some part of +the animal substance may be imbibed. For Roth surmised that both these +plants were, in their way, predaceous. He even observed that the disk of +the Drosera-leaf itself often became concave and enveloped the prey. These +facts, although mentioned now and then in some succeeding works, were +generally forgotten, except that of the adhesion of small insects to the +leaves of sundews, which must have been observed in every generation. Up to +and even within a few years past, if any reference was made to these +asserted movements (as by such eminent physiologists as Meyen and +Treviranus) it was to discredit them. Not because they are difficult to +verify, but because, being naturally thought improbable, it was easier to +deny or ignore them. So completely had the knowledge of almost a century +ago died out in later years that, when the subject was taken up anew in our +days by Mr. Darwin, he had, as we remember, to advertise for it, by sending +a "note and query" to the magazines, asking where any account of the +fly-catching of the leaves of sundew was recorded. + +When Mr. Darwin takes a matter of this sort in hand, he is not likely to +leave it where he found it. He not only confirmed all Roth's observations +as to the incurving of the bristles toward and upon an insect entangled on +any part of the disk of the leaf, but also found that they responded +similarly to a bit of muscle or other animal substance, while to any +particles of inorganic matter they were nearly indifferent. To minute +fragments of carbonate of ammonia, however, they were more responsive. As +these remarkable results, attained (as we are able to attest) half a dozen +years ago, remained unpublished (being portions of an investigation not yet +completed), it would have been hardly proper to mention them, were it not +that independent observers were beginning to bring out the same or similar +facts. Mrs. Treat, of New Jersey, noticed the habitual infolding of the +leaf in the longer-leaved species of sundew (American Journal of Science +for November, 1871), as was then thought for the first time--Roth's and +Withering's observations not having been looked up. In recording this, the +next year, in a very little book, entitled "How Plants Behave," the +opportunity was taken to mention, in the briefest way, the capital +discovery of Mr. Darwin that the leaves of Drosera act differently when +different objects are placed upon them, the bristles closing upon a +particle of raw meat as upon a living insect, while to a particle of chalk +or wood they are nearly inactive. The same facts were independently brought +out by Mr. A. W. Bennett at the last year's meeting of the British +Association for the Advancement of Science, and have been mentioned in the +journals. + +If to these statements, which we may certify, were added some far more +extraordinary ones, communicated to the French Academy of Science in May +last by M. Zeigler, a stranger story of discrimination on the part of +sundew-bristles would be told. But it is safer to wait for the report of +the committee to which these marvels were referred, and conclude this +sufficiently "strange eventful history" with some details of experiments +made last summer by Mrs. Treat, of New Jersey, and published in the December +number of the American Naturalist. It is well to note that Mrs. Treat +selects for publication the observations of one particular day in July, +when the sundew-leaves were unusually active; for their moods vary with +the weather, and also in other unaccountable ways, although in general the +sultrier days are the most appetizing: + + +"At fifteen minutes past ten of the same day I placed bits of raw beef on +some of the most vigorous leaves of Drosera longifolia. Ten minutes past +twelve, two of the leaves had folded around the beef, hiding it from sight. +Half-past eleven of the same day, I placed living flies on the leaves of D. +longifolia. At 12 and 48 minutes one of the leaves had folded entirely +around its victim, the other leaves had partially folded, and the flies had +ceased to struggle. By 2 and 30 minutes four leaves had each folded around +a fly. . . . I tried mineral substances--bits of dry chalk, magnesia, and +pebbles. In twenty-four hours, neither the leaves nor their bristles had +made any move like clasping these articles. I wet a piece of chalk in +water, and in less than an hour the bristles were curving about it, but +soon unfolded again, leaving the chalk free on the blade of the leaf. +Parallel experiments made on D. rotundifolia, with bits of beef and of +chalk, gave the same results as to the action of the bristles; while with a +piece of raw apple, after eleven hours, "part of the bristles were clasping +it, but not so closely as the beef," and in twenty-four hours "nearly all +the bristles were curved toward it, but not many of the glands were +touching it." + + +To make such observations is as easy as it is interesting. Throughout the +summer one has only to transfer plants of Drosera from the bogs into pots +or pans filled with wet moss--if need be, allowing them to become +established in the somewhat changed conditions, or even to put out fresh +leaves--and to watch their action or expedite it by placing small flies +upon the disk of the leaves. The more common round-leaved sundew acts as +well as the other by its bristles, and the leaf itself is sometimes almost +equally prehensile, although in a different way, infolding the whole border +instead of the summit only. Very curious, and even somewhat painful, is the +sight when a fly, alighting upon the central dew-tipped bristles, is held +as fast as by a spider's web; while the efforts to escape not only entangle +the insect more hopelessly as they exhaust its strength, but call into +action the surrounding bristles, which, one by one, add to the number of the +bonds, each by itself apparently feeble, but in their combination so +effectual that the fly may be likened to the sleeping Gulliver made fast in +the tiny but multitudinous toils of the Liliputians. Anybody who can +believe that such an apparatus was not intended to capture flies might say +the same of a spider's web. + +Is the intention here to be thought any the less real because there are +other species of Drosera which are not so perfectly adapted for +fly-catching, owing to the form of their leaves and the partial or total +want of cooperation of their scattered bristles? One such species, D. +filiformis, the thread-leaved sundew, is not uncommon in this country, both +north and south of the district that Dionaea locally inhabits. Its leaves +are long and thread-shaped, beset throughout with glutinous gland-tipped +bristles, but wholly destitute of a blade. Flies, even large ones, and even +moths and butterflies, as Mrs. Treat and Mr. Canby affirm (in the American +Naturalist), get stuck fast to these bristles, whence they seldom escape. +Accidental as such captures are, even these thread-shaped leaves respond +more or less to the contact, somewhat in the manner of their brethren. In +Mr. Canby's recent and simple experiment, made at Mr. Darwin's suggestion, +when a small fly alights upon a leaf a little below its slender apex, or +when a bit of crushed fly is there affixed, within a few hours the tip of +the leaf bends at the point of contact, and curls over or around the body +in question; and Mrs. Treat even found that when living flies were pinned +at half an inch in distance from the leaves, these in forty minutes had +bent their tips perceptibly toward the flies, and in less than two hours +reached them! If this be confirmed--and such a statement needs ample +confirmation--then it may be suspected that these slender leaves not only +incurve after prolonged contact, just as do the leaf-stalks of many +climbers, but also make free and independent circular sweeps, in the manner +of twining stems and of many tendrils. + +Correlated movements like these indicate purpose. When performed by +climbing plants, the object and the advantage are obvious. That the +apparatus and the actions of Dionaea and Drosera are purposeless and +without advantage to the plants themselves, many have been believed in +former days, when it was likewise conceived that abortive and functionless +organs were specially created "for the sake of symmetry" and to display a +plan; but this is not according to the genius of modern science. + +In the cases of insecticide next to be considered, such evidence of intent +is wanting, but other and circumstantial evidence may be had, sufficient to +warrant convictions. Sarracenias have hollow leaves in the form of pitchers +or trumpet-shaped tubes, containing water, in which flies and other insects +are habitually drowned. They are all natives of the eastern side of North +America, growing in bogs or low ground, so that they cannot be supposed to +need the water as such. Indeed, they secrete a part if not all of it. The +commonest species, and the only one at the North, which ranges from +Newfoundland to Florida, has a broad-mouthed pitcher with an upright lid, +into which rain must needs fall more or less. The yellow Sarracenia, with +long tubular leaves, called "trumpets in the Southern States, has an +arching or partly upright lid, raised well above the orifice, so that some +water may rain in; but a portion is certainly secreted there, and may be +seen bedewing the sides and collected at the bottom before the mouth opens. +In other species, the orifice is so completely overarched as essentially to +prevent the access of water from without. In these tubes, mainly in the +water, flies and other insects accumulate, perish, and decompose. Flies +thrown into the open-mouthed tube of the yellow Sarracenia, even when free +from water, are unable to get out--one hardly sees why, except that they +cannot fly directly upward; and microscopic chevaux-de-frise of fine, +sharp-pointed bristles which line most of the interior, pointing strictly +downward, may be a more effectual obstacle to crawling up the sides than +one would think possible. On the inside of the lid or hood of the purple +Northern species, the bristles are much stronger; but an insect might +escape by the front without encountering these. In this species, the +pitchers, however, are so well supplied with water that the insects which +somehow are most abundantly attracted thither are effectually drowned, and +the contents all summer long are in the condition of a rich liquid manure. + +That the tubes or pitchers of the Southern species are equally attractive +and fatal to flies is well known. Indeed, they are said to be taken into +houses and used as fly-traps. There is no perceptible odor to draw insects, +except what arises from the decomposition of macerated victims; nor is any +kind of lure to be detected at the mouth of the pitcher of the common +purple-flowered species. Some incredulity was therefore natural when it was +stated by a Carolinian correspondent (Mr. B.F. Grady) that in the +long-leaved, yellow-flowered species the lid just above the mouth of the +tubular pitcher habitually secretes drops of a sweet and viscid liquid, +which attracts flies and apparently intoxicates them, since those that sip +it soon become unsteady in gait and mostly fall irretrievably into the well +beneath. But upon cultivating plants of this species, obtained for the +purpose, the existence of this lure was abundantly verified; and, although +we cannot vouch for its inebriating quality, we can no longer regard it as +unlikely. + +No sooner was it thus ascertained that at least one species of Sarracenia +allures flies to their ruin than it began to appear that--just as in the +case of Drosera--most of this was a mere revival of obsolete knowledge. The +"insect-destroying process" was known and well described sixty years ago, +the part played by the sweet exudation indicated, and even the intoxication +perhaps hinted at, although evidently little thought of in those +ante-temperance days. Dr. James Macbride, of South Carolina--the early +associate of Elliott in his "Botany of South Carolina and Georgia," and to +whose death, at the age of thirty-three, cutting short a life of remarkable +promise, the latter touchingly alludes in the preface to his second +volume--sent to Sir James Edward Smith an account of his observations upon +this subject, made in 1810 and the following years. This was read to the +Linnaean Society in 1815, and published in the twelfth volume of its +"Transactions." From this forgotten paper (to which attention has lately +been recalled) we cull the following extracts, premising that the +observations mostly relate to a third species, Sarracenia adunca, alias +variolaris, which is said to be the most efficient fly-catcher of the kind: + + +"If, in the months of May, June, or July, when the leaves of those plants +perform their extraordinary functions in the greatest perfection, some of +them be removed to a house and fixed in an erect position, it will soon be +perceived that flies are attracted by them. These insects immediately +approach the fauces of the leaves, and, leaning over their edges, appear to +sip with eagerness something from their internal surfaces. In this position +they linger; but at length, allured as it would seem by the pleasure of +taste, they enter the tubes. The fly which has thus changed its situation +will be seen to stand unsteadily; it totters for a few seconds, slips, and +falls to the bottom of the tube, where it is either drowned or attempts in +vain to ascend against the points of the hairs. The fly seldom takes wing +in its fall and escapes. . . . in a house much infested with flies, this +entrapment goes on so rapidly that a tube is filled in a few hours, and it +becomes necessary to add water, the natural quantity being insufficient to +drown the imprisoned insects. The leaves of S. adunca and rubra might well +be employed as fly-catchers; indeed, I am credibly informed they are in +some neighborhoods. The leaves of the S. flava [the species to which our +foregoing remarks mainly relate], although they are very capacious, and +often grow to the height of three feet or more, are never found to contain +so many insects as those of the species above mentioned. + +"The cause which attracts flies is evidently a sweet, viscid substance +resembling honey, secreted by or exuding from the internal surface of the +tube . . . From the margin, where it commences, it does not extend lower +than one-fourth of an inch. + +"The falling of the insect as soon as it enters the tube is wholly +attributable to the downward or inverted position of the hairs of the +internal surface of the leaf. At the bottom of a tube split open, the hairs +are plainly discernible pointing downward; as the eye ranges upward, they +gradually become shorter and attenuated, till at or just below the surface +covered by the bait they are no longer perceptible to the naked eye nor to +the most delicate touch. It is here that the fly cannot take a hold +sufficiently strong to support itself, but falls. The in. ability of +insects to crawl up against the points of the hairs I have often tested in +the most satisfactory manner." + + +From the last paragraph it may be inferred that Dr. Macbride did not +suspect any inebriating property in the nectar, and in a closing note there +is a conjecture of an impalpable loose powder in S. flava, at the place +where the fly stands so unsteadily, and from which it is supposed to slide. +We incline to take Mr. Grady's view of the case. + +The complete oblivion into which this paper and the whole subject had +fallen is the more remarkable when it is seen that both are briefly but +explicitly referred to in Elliott's book, with which botanists are +familiar. + +It is not so wonderful that the far earlier allusion to these facts by the +younger Bartram should have been overlooked or disregarded. With the genuine +love of Nature and fondness for exploration, 'William Bartram did not +inherit the simplicity of his father, the earliest native botanist of this +country. Fine writing was his foible; and the preface to his well-known +"Travels" (published at Philadelphia in 1791) is its full-blown +illustration, sometimes perhaps deserving the epithet which he applies to +the palms of Florida--that of pomposity. In this preface he declares that +"all the Sarracenias are insect-catchers, and so is the Drosera +rotundifolia. Whether the insects caught in their leaves, and which +dissolve and mix with the fluid, serve for aliment or support to these kind +of plants is doubtful," he thinks, but he should be credited with the +suggestion. In one sentence he speaks of the quantities of insects which, +"being invited down to sip the mellifluous exuvia from the interior surface +of the tube, where they inevitably perish," being prevented from returning +by the stiff hairs all pointing downward. This, if it refers to the sweet +secretion, would place it below, and not, as it is, above the bristly +surface, while the liquid below, charged with decomposing insects, is +declared in an earlier sentence to be "cool and animating, limpid as the +morning dew." Bartram was evidently writing from memory; and it is very +doubtful if he ever distinctly recognized the sweet exudation which entices +insects. + +Why should these plants take to organic food more than others? If we cannot +answer the question, we may make a probable step toward it. For plants that +are not parasitic, these, especially the sundews, have much less than the +ordinary amount of chlorophyll--that is, of the universal leaf-green upon +which the formation of organic matter out of inorganic materials depends. +These take it instead of making it, to a certain extent. + +What is the bearing of these remarkable adaptations and operations upon +doctrines of evolution? There seems here to be a field on which the +specific creationist, the evolutionist with design, and the necessary +evolutionist, may fight out an interesting, if not decisive, "triangular +duel." + + + +XI + +INSECTIVOROUS AND + +CLIMBING PLANTS [XI-1] + +(The Nation, January 6 and 13, 1876) + + +"Minerals grow; vegetables grow and live; animals grow, live, and feel;" +this is the well-worn, not to say out-worn, diagnosis of the three kingdoms +by Linnaeus. It must be said of it that the agreement indicated in the +first couplet is unreal, and that the distinction declared in the second is +evanescent. Crystals do not grow at all in the sense that plants and +animals grow. On the other hand, if a response to external impressions by +special movements is evidence of feeling, vegetables share this endowment +with animals; while, if conscious feeling is meant, this can be affirmed +only of the higher animals. What appears to remain true is, that the +difference is one of successive addition. That the increment in the organic +world is of many steps; that in the long series no absolute lines separate, +or have always separated, organisms which barely respond to impressions +from those which more actively and variously respond, and even from those +that consciously so respond--this, as we all know, is what the author of the +works before us has undertaken to demonstrate. Without reference here either +to that part of the series with which man is connected, and in some sense +or other forms a part of, or to that lower limbo where the two organic +kingdoms apparently merge--or whence, in evolutionary phrase, they have +emerged--Mr. Darwin, in the present volumes, directs our attention to the +behavior of the highest plants alone. He shows that some (and he might add +that all) of them execute movements for their own advantage, and that some +capture and digest living prey. When plants are seen to move and to devour, +what faculties are left that are distinctively animal? + +As to insectivorous or otherwise carnivorous plants, we have so recently +here discussed this subject--before it attained to all this new +popularity--that a brief account of Mr. Darwin's investigation may +suffice.[XI-2] It is full of interest as a physiological research, and is a +model of its kind, as well for the simplicity and directness of the means +employed as for the clearness with which the results are brought +out--results which any one may verify now that the way to them is pointed +out, and which, surprising as they are, lose half their wonder in the ease +and sureness with which they seem to have been reached. + +Rather more than half the volume is devoted to one subject, the +round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), a rather common plant in the +northern temperate zone. That flies stick fast to its leaves, being limed +by the tenacious seeming dew-drops which stud its upper face and margins, +had long been noticed in Europe and in this country. We have heard hunters +and explorers in our Northern woods refer with satisfaction to the fate +which in this way often befalls one of their plagues, the black fly of early +summer. And it was known to some observant botanists in the last century, +although forgotten or discredited in this, that an insect caught on the +viscid glands it has happened to alight upon is soon fixed by many +more--not merely in consequence of its struggles, but by the spontaneous +incurvation of the stalks of surrounding and untouched glands; and even the +body of the leaf had been observed to incurve or become cup-shaped so as +partly to involve the captive insect. + +Mr. Darwin's peculiar investigations not only confirm all this, but add +greater wonders. They relate to the sensitiveness of these tentacles, as he +prefers to call them, and the mode in which it is manifested; their power +of absorption; their astonishing discernment of the presence of animal or +other soluble azotized matter, even in quantities so minute as to rival the +spectroscope--that most exquisite instrument of modern research--in +delicacy; and, finally, they establish the fact of a true digestion, in all +essential respects similar to that of the stomach of animals. + +First as to sensitiveness and movement. Sensitiveness is manifested by +movement or change of form in response to an external impression. The +sensitiveness in the sundew is all in the gland which surmounts the +tentacle. To incite movement or other action, it is necessary that the +gland itself should be reached. Anything laid on the surface of the viscid +drop, the spherule of clear, glairy liquid which it secretes, produces no +effect unless it sinks through to the gland; or unless the substance is +soluble and reaches it in solution, which, in the case of certain +substances, has the same effect. But the glands themselves do not move, nor +does any neighboring portion of the tentacle. The outer and longer +tentacles bend inward (toward the centre of the leaf) promptly, when the +gland is irritated or stimulated, sweeping through an arc of 1800 or less, +or more--the quickness and the extent of the inflection depending, in +equally vigorous leaves, upon the amount of irritation or stimulation, and +also upon its kind. A tentacle with a particle of raw meat on its gland +sometimes visibly begins to bend in ten seconds, becomes strongly incurved +in five minutes, and its tip reaches the centre of the leaf in half an +hour; but this is a case of extreme rapidity. A particle of cinder, chalk, +or sand, will also incite the bending, if actually brought in contact with +the gland, not merely resting on the drop; but the inflection is then much +less pronounced and more transient. Even a bit of thin human hair, only +1/8000 of an inch in length, weighing only the 1/78740 of a grain, and +largely supported by the viscid secretion, suffices to induce movement; +but, on the other hand, one or two momentary, although rude, touches with a +hard object produce no effect, although a repeated touch or the slightest +pressure, such as that of a gnat's foot, prolonged for a short time, causes +bending. The seat of the movement is wholly or nearly confined to a portion +of the lower part of the tentacle, above the base, where local irritation +produces not the slightest effect. The movement takes place only in +response to some impression made upon its own gland at the distant +extremity, or upon other glands far more remote. For if one of these members +suffers irritation the others sympathize with it. Very noteworthy is the +correlation between the central tentacles, upon which an insect is most +likely to alight, and these external and larger ones, which, in proportion +to their distance from the centre, take the larger share in the movement. +The shorter central ones do not move at all when a bit of meat, or a +crushed fly, or a particle of a salt of ammonia, or the like, is placed upon +them; but they transmit their excitation across the leaf to the surrounding +tentacles on all sides; and they, although absolutely untouched, as they +successively receive the mysterious impulse, bend strongly inward, just as +they do when their own glands are excited. Whenever a tentacle bends in +obedience to an impulse from its own gland, the movement is always toward +the centre of the leaf; and this also takes place, as we have seen, when an +exciting object is lodged at the centre. But when the object is placed upon +either half of the leaf, the impulse radiating thence causes all the +surrounding untouched tentacles to bend with precision toward the point of +excitement, even the central tentacles, which are motionless when +themselves charged, now responding to the call. The inflection which +follows mechanical irritation or the presence of any inorganic or insoluble +body is transient; that which follows the application of organic matter +lasts longer, more or less, according to its nature and the amount; but +sooner or later the tentacles resume their former position, their glands +glisten anew with fresh secretion, and they are ready to act again. + +As to how the impulse is originated and propagated, and how the movements +are made, comparatively simple as the structure is, we know as little as we +do of the nature of nervous impulse and muscular motion. But two things Mr. +Darwin has wellnigh made out, both of them by means and observations so +simple and direct as to command our confidence, although they are contrary +to the prevalent teaching. First, the transmission is through the ordinary +cellular tissue, and not through what are called the fibrous or vascular +bundles. Second, the movement is a vital one, and is effected by contraction +on the side toward which the bending takes place, rather than by turgescent +tension of the opposite side. The tentacle is pulled over rather than +pushed over. So far all accords with muscular action. + +The operation of this fly-catching apparatus, in any case, is plain. If the +insect alights upon the disk of the leaf, the viscid secretion holds it +fast--at least, an ordinary fly is unable to escape--its struggles only +increase the number of glands involved and the amount of excitement; this +is telegraphed to the surrounding and successively longer tentacles, which +bent over in succession, so that within ten to thirty hours, if the leaf is +active and the fly large enough, every one of the glands (on the average, +nearly two hundred in number) will be found applied to the body of the +insect. If the insect is small, and the lodgment toward one side, only the +neighboring tentacles may take part in the capture. If two or three of the +strong marginal tentacles are first encountered, their prompt inflection +carries the intruder to the centre, and presses it down upon the glands +which thickly pave the floor; these notify all the surrounding tentacles of +the capture, that they may share the spoil, and the fate of that victim is +even as of the first. A bit of meat or a crushed insect is treated in the +same way. + +This language implies that the animal matter is in some way or other +discerned by the tentacles, and is appropriated. Formerly there was only a +presumption of this, on the general ground that such an organization could +hardly be purposeless. Yet, while such expressions were natural, if not +unavoidable, they generally were used by those familiar with the facts in a +half-serious, half-metaphorical sense. Thanks to Mr. Darwin's +investigations, they may now be used in simplicity and seriousness. + +That the glands secrete the glairy liquid of the drop is evident, not only +from its nature, but from its persistence through a whole day's exposure to +a summer sun, as also from its renewal after it has been removed, dried up, +or absorbed. That they absorb as well as secrete, and that the whole +tentacle may be profoundly affected thereby, are proved by the different +effects, in kind and degree, which follow the application of different +substances. Drops of rain-water, like single momentary touches of a solid +body, produce no effect, as indeed they could be of no advantage; but a +little carbonate of ammonia in the water, or an infusion of meat, not only +causes inflection, but promptly manifests its action upon the contents of +the cells of which the tentacle is constructed. These cells are +sufficiently transparent to be viewed under the microscope without +dissection or other interference; and the change which takes place in the +fluid contents of these cells, when the gland above has been acted upon, is +often visible through a weak lens, or sometimes even by the naked eye, +although higher powers are required to discern what actually takes place. +This change, which Mr. Darwin discovered, and turns to much account in his +researches, he terms "aggregation of the protoplasm." When untouched and +quiescent, the contents appear as an homogeneous purple fluid. When the +gland is acted upon, minute purple particles appear, suspended in the now +colorless or almost colorless fluid; and this change appears first in the +cells next the gland, and then in those next beneath, traveling down the +whole length of the tentacle. When the action is slight, this appearance +does not last long; the particles of "aggregated protoplasm redissolved, the +process of redissolution traveling upward from the base of the tentacle to +the gland in a reverse direction to that of the aggregation. Whenever the +action is more prolonged or intense, as when a bit of meat or crushed fly, +or a fitting solution, is left upon the gland, the aggregation proceeds +further, so that the whole protoplasm of each cell condenses into one or +two masses, or into a single mass which will often separate into two, which +afterward reunite; indeed, they incessantly change their forms and +positions, being never at rest, although their movements are rather slow. +In appearance and movements they are very like amoebae and the white +corpuscles of the blood. Their motion, along with the streaming movement of +rotation in the layer of white granular protoplasm that flows along the +walls of the cell, under the high powers of the microscope "presents a +wonderful scene of vital activity." This continues while the tentacle is +inflected or the gland fed by animal matter, but vanishes by dissolution +when the work is over and the tentacle straightens. That absorption takes +place, and matter is conveyed from cell to cell, is well made out, +especially by the experiments with carbonate of ammonia. Nevertheless, this +aggregation is not dependent upon absorption, for it equally occurs from +mechanical irritation of the gland, and always accompanies inflection, +however caused, though it may take place without it. This is also apparent +from the astonishingly minute quantity of certain substances which suffices +to produce sensible inflection and aggregation--such, for instance, as the +1/20000000 or even the 1/30000000 of a grain of phosphate or nitrate of +ammonia! + +By varied experiments it was found that the nitrate of ammonia was more +powerful than the carbonate, and the phosphate more powerful than the +nitrate, this result being intelligible from the difference in the amount +of nitrogen in the first two salts, and from the presence of phosphorus in +the third. There is nothing surprising in the absorption of such extremely +dilute solutions by a gland. As our author remarks: "All physiologists +admit that the roots of plants absorb the salts of ammonia brought to them +by the rain; and fourteen gallons of rain-water contain a grain of ammonia; +therefore, only a little more than twice as much as in the weakest solution +employed by me. The fact which appears truly wonderful is that the +1/20000000 of a grain of the phosphate of ammonia, including less than +1/30000000 of efficient matter (if the water of crystallization is +deducted), when absorbed by a gland, should induce some change in it which +leads to a motor impulse being transmitted down the whole length of the +tentacle, causing its basal part to bend, often through an angle of 180 +degrees." But odoriferous particles which act upon the nerves of animals +must be infinitely smaller, and by these a dog a quarter of a mile to the +leeward of a deer perceives his presence by some change in the olfactory +nerves transmitted through them to the brain. + +When Mr. Darwin obtained these results, fourteen years ago, he could claim +for Drosera a power and delicacy in the detection of minute quantities of a +substance far beyond the resources of the most skillful chemist; but in a +foot-note he admits that "now the spectroscope has altogether beaten +Drosera; for, according to Bunsen and Kirchhoff, probably less than the +1/200000000 of a grain of sodium can be thus detected." + +Finally, that this highly-sensitive and active living organism absorbs, +will not be doubted when it is proved to digest, that is, to dissolve +otherwise insoluble animal matter by the aid of special secretions. That it +does this is now past doubting. In the first place, when the glands are +excited they pour forth an increased amount of the ropy secretion. This +occurs directly when a bit of meat is laid upon the central glands; and the +influence which they transmit to the long-stalked marginal glands causes +them, while incurving their tentacles, to secrete more copiously long +before they have themselves touched anything. The primary fluid, secreted +without excitation, does not of itself digest. But the secretion under +excitement changes in Nature and becomes acid. So, according to Schiff, +mechanical irritation excites the glands of the stomach to secrete an acid. +In both this acid appears to be necessary to, but of itself insufficient +for, digestion. The requisite solvent, a kind of ferment called pepsin, +which acts only in the presence of the acid, is poured forth by the glands +of the stomach only after they have absorbed certain soluble nutritive +substances of the food; then this pepsin promptly dissolves muscle, +fibrine, coagulated albumen, cartilage, and the like. Similarly it appears +that Drosera-glands, after irritation by particles of glass, did not act +upon little cubes of albumen. But when moistened with saliva, or replaced +by bits of roast-meat or gelatine, or even cartilage, which supply some +soluble peptone-matter to initiate the process, these substances are +promptly acted upon, and dissolved or digested; whence it is inferred that +the analogy with the stomach holds good throughout, and that a ferment +similar to pepsin is poured out under the stimulus of some soluble animal +matter. But the direct evidence of this is furnished only by the related +carnivorous plant, Dionaea, from which the secretions, poured out when +digestion is about to begin, may be collected in quantity sufficient for +chemical examination. In short, the experiments show "that there is a +remarkable accordance in the power of digestion between the gastric juice +of animals, with its pepsin and hydrochloric acid, and the secretion of +Drosera, with its ferment and acid belonging to the acetic series. We can, +therefore, hardly doubt that the ferment in both cases is closely similar, +if not identically the same. That a plant and an animal should pour forth +the same, or nearly the same, complex secretion, adapted for the same +purpose of digestion, is a new and wonderful fact in physiology." + +There are one or two other species of sundew--one of them almost as common +in Europe and North America as the ordinary round-leaved species--which act +in the same way, except that, having their leaves longer in proportion to +their breadth, their sides never curl inward, but they are much disposed to +aid the action of their tentacles by incurving the tip of the leaf, as if +to grasp the morsel. There are many others, with variously less efficient +and less advantageously arranged insectivorous apparatus, which, in the +language of the new science, may be either on the way to acquire something +better, or of losing what they may have had, while now adapting themselves +to a proper vegetable life. There is one member of the family (Drosophyllum +Lusitanicum), an almost shrubby plant, which grows on dry and sunny hills +in Portugal and Morocco--which the villagers call "the flycatcher," and +hang up in their cottages for the purpose--the glandular tentacles of which +have wholly lost their powers of movement, if they ever had any, but which +still secrete, digest, and absorb, being roused to great activity by the +contact of any animal matter. A friend of ours once remarked that it was +fearful to contemplate the amount of soul that could be called forth in a +dog by the sight of a piece of meat. Equally wonderful is the avidity for +animal food manifested by these vegetable tentacles, that can "only stand +and wait" for it. + +Only a brief chapter is devoted to Dionaea of North Carolina, the Venus's +fly-trap, albeit, "from the rapidity and force of its movements, one of the +most wonderful in the world." It is of the same family as the sundew; but +the action is transferred from tentacles on the leaf to the body of the +leaf itself, which is transformed into a spring-trap, closing with a sudden +movement over the alighted insect. No secretion is provided beforehand +either for allurement or detention; but after the captive is secured, +microscopic glands within the surface of the leaf pour out an abundant +gastric juice to digest it. Mrs. Glass's classical directions in the +cook-book, "first catch your hare," are implicitly followed. + +Avoiding here all repetition or recapitulation of our former narrative, +suffice it now to mention two interesting recent additions to our +knowledge, for which we are indebted to Mr. Darwin. One is a research, the +other an inspiration. It is mainly his investigations which have shown that +the glairy liquid, which is poured upon and macerates the captured insect, +accomplishes a true digestion; that, like the gastric juice of animals, it +contains both a free acid and pepsin or its analogue, these two together +dissolving albumen, meat, and the like. The other point relates to the +significance of a peculiarity in the process of capture. When the trap +suddenly incloses an insect which has betrayed its presence by touching one +of the internal sensitive bristles, the closure is at first incomplete. For +the sides approach in an arching way, surrounding a considerable cavity, +and the marginal spine-like bristles merely intercross their tips, leaving +intervening spaces through which one may look into the cavity beneath. A +good idea may be had of it by bringing the two palms near together to +represent the sides of the trap, and loosely interlocking the fingers to +represent the marginal bristles or bars. After remaining some time in this +position the closure is made complete by the margins coming into full +contact, and the sides finally flattening down so as to press firmly upon +the insect within; the secretion excited by contact is now poured out, and +digestion begins. Why these two stages? Why should time be lost by this +preliminary and incomplete closing? The query probably was never distinctly +raised before, no one noticing anything here that needed explanation. +Darwinian teleology, however, raises questions like this, and Mr. Darwin +not only propounded the riddle but solved it. The object of the partial +closing is to permit small insects to escape through the meshes, detaining +only those plump enough to be worth the trouble of digesting. For naturally +only one insect is caught at a time, and digestion is a slow business with +Dionaeas, as with anacondas, requiring ordinarily a fortnight. It is not +worth while to undertake it with a gnat when larger game may be had. To +test this happy conjecture, Mr. Canby was asked, on visiting the Dionaeas +in their native habitat, to collect early in the season a good series of +leaves in the act of digesting naturally-caught insects. Upon opening them +it was found that ten out of fourteen were engaged upon relatively large +prey, and of the remaining four three had insects as large as ants, and one +a rather small fly. + +"There be land-rats and water-rats" in this carnivorous sun-dew family. +Aldrovanda, of the warmer parts of Europe and of India, is an aquatic plant, +with bladdery leaves, which were supposed to be useful in rendering the +herbage buoyant in water. But it has recently been found that the bladder +is composed of two lobes, like the trap of its relative Dionaea, or the +valves of a mussel-shell; that these open when the plant is in an active +state, are provided with some sensitive bristles within, and when these are +touched close with a quick movement. These water-traps are manifestly +adapted for catching living creatures; and the few incomplete +investigations that have already been made render it highly probably that +they appropriate their prey for nourishment; whether by digestion or by +mere absorption of decomposing animal matter, is uncertain. It is certainly +most remarkable that this family of plants, wherever met with, and under the +most diverse conditions and modes of life, should always in some way or +other be predaceous and carnivorous. + +If it be not only surprising but somewhat confounding to our +classifications that a whole group of plants should subsist partly by +digesting animal matter and partly in the normal way of decomposing +carbonic acid and producing the basis of animal matter, we have, as Mr. +Darwin remarks, a counterpart anomaly in the animal kingdom. While some +plants have stomachs, some animals have roots. "The rhizocephalous +crustaceans do not feed like other animals by their mouths, for they are +destitute of an alimentary canal, but they live by absorbing through +root-like processes the juices of the animals on which they are parasitic." + +To a naturalist of our day, imbued with those ideas of the solidarity of +organic Nature which such facts as those we have been considering suggest, +the greatest anomaly of all would be that they are really anomalous or +unique. Reasonably supposing, therefore, that the sundew did not stand +alone, Mr. Darwin turned his attention to other groups of plants; and, +first, to the bladderworts, which have no near kinship with the sundews, +but, like the aquatic representative of that family, are provided with +bladdery sacs, under water. In the common species of Utricularia or +bladderwort, these little sacs, hanging from submerged leaves or branches, +have their orifice closed by a lid which opens inwardly--a veritable +trapdoor. It had been noticed in England and France that they contained +minute crustacean animals. Early in the summer of 1874, Mr. Darwin +ascertained the mechanism for their capture and the great success with +which it is used. But before his account was written out, Prof. Cohn +published an excellent paper on the subject in Germany; and Mrs. Treat, of +Vineland, New Jersey, a still earlier one in this country--in the New York +Tribune in the autumn of 1874. Of the latter, Mr. Darwin remarks that she +"has been more successful than any other observer in witnessing the actual +entrance of these minute creatures." They never come out, but soon perish +in their prison, which receives a continued succession of victims, but +little, if any, fresh air to the contained water. The action of the trap is +purely mechanical, without evident irritability in the opening or shutting. +There is no evidence nor much likelihood of proper digestion; indeed, Mr. +Darwin found evidence to the contrary. But the more or less decomposed and +dissolved animal matter is doubtless absorbed into the plant; for the whole +interior of the sac is lined with peculiar, elongated and four-armed very +thin-walled processes, which contain active protoplasm, and which were +proved by experiment to "have the power of absorbing matter from weak +solutions of certain salts of ammonia and urea, and from a putrid infusion +of raw meat." + +Although the bladderworts "prey on garbage," their terrestrial relatives +"live cleanly," as nobler plants should do, and have a good and true +digestion. Pinguicula, or butterwort, is the representative of this family +upon land. It gets both its Latin and its English name from the fatty or +greasy appearance of the upper face of its broad leaves; and this +appearance is due to a dense coat or pile of short-stalked glands, which +secrete a colorless and extremely viscid liquid. By this small flies, or +whatever may alight or fall upon the leaf, are held fast. These waifs might +be useless or even injurious to the plant. Probably Mr. Darwin was the +first to ask whether they might be of advantage. He certainly was the first +to show that they probably are so. The evidence from experiment, shortly +summed up, is, that insects alive or dead, and also other nitrogenous +bodies, excite these glands to increased secretion; the secretion then +becomes acid, and acquires the power of dissolving solid animal +substances--that is, the power of digestion in the manner of Drosera and +Dionaea. And the stalks of their glands under the microscope give the same +ocular evidence of absorption. The leaves of the butterwort are apt to have +their margins folded inward, like a rim or hem. Taking young and vigorous +leaves to which hardly anything had yet adhered, and of which the margins +were still flat, Mr. Darwin set within one margin a row of small flies. +Fifteen hours afterward this edge was neatly turned inward, partly covering +the row of flies, and the surrounding glands were secreting copiously. The +other edge remained flat and unaltered. Then he stuck a fly to the middle +of the leaf just below its tip, and soon both margins infolded, so as to +clasp the object. Many other and varied experiments yielded similar +results. Even pollen, which would not rarely be lodged upon these leaves, as +it falls from surrounding wind-fertilized plants, also small seeds, excited +the same action, and showed signs of being acted upon. "We may therefore +conclude," with Mr. Darwin, "that Pinguicula vulgaris, with its small +roots, is not only supported to a large extent by the extraordinary number +of insects which it habitually captures, but likewise draws some +nourishment from the pollen, leaves, and seeds, of other plants which often +adhere to its leaves. It is, therefore, partly a vegetable as well as an +animal feeder." + +What is now to be thought of the ordinary glandular hairs which render the +surface of many and the most various plants extremely viscid? Their number +is legion. The Chinese primrose of common garden and house culture is no +extraordinary instance; but Mr. Francis Darwin, counting those on a small +space measured by the micrometer, estimated them at 65,371 to the square +inch of foliage, taking in both surfaces of the leaf, or two or three +millions on a moderate-sized specimen of this small herb. Glands of this +sort were loosely regarded as organs for excretion, without much +consideration of the question whether, in vegetable life, there could be +any need to excrete, or any advantage gained by throwing off such products; +and, while the popular name of catch-fly, given to several common species +of Silene, indicates long familiarity with the fact, probably no one ever +imagined that the swarms of small insects which perish upon these sticky +surfaces were ever turned to account by the plant. In many such cases, no +doubt they perish as uselessly as when attracted into the flame of a +candle. In the tobacco-plant, for instance, Mr. Darwin could find no +evidence that the glandular hairs absorb animal matter. But Darwinian +philosophy expects all gradations between casualty and complete adaptation. +It is most probable that any thin-walled vegetable structure which secretes +may also be capable of absorbing under favorable conditions. The myriads of +exquisitely-constructed glands of the Chinese primrose are not likely to be +functionless. Mr. Darwin ascertained by direct experiment that they +promptly absorb carbonate of ammonia, both in watery solution and in vapor. +So, since rain-water usually contains a small percentage of ammonia, a use +for these glands becomes apparent--one completely congruous with that of +absorbing any animal matter, or products of its decomposition, which may +come in their way through the occasional entanglement of insects in their +viscid secretion. In several saxifrages--not very distant relatives of +Drosera--the viscid glands equally manifested the power of absorption. + +To trace a gradation between a simply absorbing hair with a glutinous tip, +through which the plant may perchance derive slight contingent advantage, +and the tentacles of a sundew, with their exquisite and associated +adaptations, does not much lessen the wonder nor explain the phenomena. +After all, as Mr. Darwin modestly concludes, "we see how little has been +made out in comparison with what remains unexplained and unknown." But all +this must be allowed to be an important contribution to the doctrine of the +gradual acquirement of uses and functions, and hardly to find conceivable +explanation upon any other hypothesis. + +There remains one more mode in which plants of the higher grade are known +to prey upon animals; namely, by means of pitchers, urns, or tubes, in +which insects and the like are drowned or confined, and either macerated or +digested. To this Mr. Darwin barely alludes on the last page of the present +volume. The main facts known respecting the American pitcher-plants have, +as was natural, been ascertained in this country; and we gave an abstract, +two years ago, of our then incipient knowledge. Much has been learned +since, although all the observations have been of a desultory character. If +space permitted, an instructive narrative might be drawn up, as well of the +economy of the Sarracenias as of how we came to know what we do of it. But +the very little we have room for will be strictly supplementary to our +former article. + +The pitchers of our familiar Northern Sarracenia, which is likewise +Southern, are open-mouthed; and, although they certainly secrete some +liquid when young, must derive most of the water they ordinarily contain +from rain. How insects are attracted is unknown, but the water abounds with +their drowned bodies and decomposing remains. + +In the more southern S. flava, the long and trumpet-shaped pitchers +evidently depend upon the liquid which they themselves secrete, although at +maturity, when the hood becomes erect, rain may somewhat add to it. This +species, as we know, allures insects by a peculiar sweet exudation within +the orifice; they fall in and perish, though seldom by drowning, yet few +are able to escape; and their decomposing remains accumulate in the narrow +bottom of the vessel. Two other long-tubed species of the Southern States +are similar in these respects. There is another, S. psittacina, the +parrot-headed species, remarkable for the cowl-shaped hood so completely +inflexed over the mouth of the small pitcher that no rain can possibly +enter. Little is known, however, of the efficiency of this species as a +fly-catcher; but its conformation has a morphological interest, leading up, +as it does, to the Californian type of pitcher presently to be mentioned. + +But the remaining species, S. variolaris, is the most wonderful of our +pitcher-plants in its adaptations for the capture of insects. The inflated +and mottled lid or hood overarches the ample orifice of the tubular pitcher +sufficiently to ward off the rain, but not to obstruct the free access of +flying insects. Flies, ants, and most insects, glide and fall from the +treacherous smooth throat into the deep well below, and never escape. They +are allured by a sweet secretion just within the orifice-- which was +discovered and described long ago, and the knowledge of it wellnigh +forgotten until recently. And, finally, Dr. Mellichamp, of South Carolina, +two years ago made the capital discovery that, during the height of the +season, this lure extends from the orifice down nearly to the ground, a +length of a foot or two, in the form of a honeyed line or narrow trail on +the edge of the wing-like border which is conspicuous in all these species, +although only in this one, so far as known, turned to such account. Here, +one would say, is a special adaptation to ants and such terrestrial and +creeping insects. Well, long before this sweet trail was known, it was +remarked by the late Prof. Wyman and others that the pitchers of this +species, in the savannahs of Georgia and Florida, contain far more ants +than they do of all other insects put together. + +Finally, all this is essentially repeated in the peculiar Californian +pitcher-plant (Darlingtonia), a genus of the same natural family, which +captures insects in great variety, enticing them by a sweetish secretion +over the whole inside of the inflated hood and that of a curious forked +appendage, resembling a fish-tail, which overhangs the orifice. This +orifice is so concealed that it can be seen and approached only from below, +as if--the casual observer might infer--to escape visitation. But dead +insects of all kinds, and their decomposing remains, crowd the cavity and +saturate the liquid therein contained, enticed, it is said, by a peculiar +odor, as well as by the sweet lure which is at some stages so abundant as +to drip from the tips of the overhanging appendage. The principal +observations upon this pitcher-plant in its native habitat have been made +by Mrs. Austin, and only some of the earlier ones have thus far been +published by Mr. Canby. But we are assured that in this, as in the +Sarracenia variolaris, the sweet exudation extends at the proper season +from the orifice down the wing nearly to the ground, and that ants follow +this honeyed pathway to their destruction. Also, that the watery liquid in +the pitcher, which must be wholly a secretion, is much increased in +quantity after the capture of insects. + +It cannot now well be doubted that the animal matter is utilized by the +plant in all these cases, although most probably only after maceration or +decomposition. In some of them even digestion, or at least the absorption +of undecomposed soluble animal juices, may be suspected; but there is no +proof of it. But, if pitchers of the Sarracenia family are only macerating +vessels, those of Nepenthes--the pitchers of the Indian Archipelago, +familiar in conservatories--seem to be stomachs. The investigations of the +President of the Royal Society, Dr. Hooker, although incomplete, wellnigh +demonstrate that these not only allure insects by a sweet secretion at the +rim and upon the lid of the cup, but also that their capture, or the +presence of other partly soluble animal matter, produces an increase and an +acidulation of the contained watery liquid, which thereupon becomes capable +of acting in the manner of that of Drosera and Dionaea, dissolving flesh, +albumen, and the like. + +After all, there never was just ground for denying to vegetables the use of +animal food. The fungi are by far the most numerous family of plants, and +they all live upon organic matter, some upon dead and decomposing, some +upon living, some upon both; and the number of those that feed upon living +animals is large. Whether these carnivorous propensities of higher plants +which so excite our wonder be regarded as survivals of ancestral habits, or +as comparatively late acquirements, or even as special endowments, in any +case what we have now learned of them goes to strengthen the conclusion that +the whole organic world is akin. + +The volume upon "The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants" is a revised +and enlarged edition of a memoir communicated to the Linnaean Society in +1865, and published in the ninth volume of its Journal. There was an extra +impression, but, beyond the circle of naturalists, it can hardly have been +much known at first-hand. Even now, when it is made a part of the general +Darwinian literature, it is unlikely to be as widely read as the companion +volume which we have been reviewing; although it is really a more readable +book, and well worthy of far more extended notice at our hands than it can +now receive. The reason is obvious. It seems as natural that plants should +climb as it does unnatural that any should take animal food. Most people, +knowing that some plants "twine with the sun," and others "against the +sun," have an idea that the sun in some way causes the twining; indeed, the +notion is still fixed in the popular mind that the same species twines in +opposite directions north and south of the equator. + +Readers of this fascinating treatise will learn, first of all, that the sun +has no influence over such movements directly, and that its indirect +influence is commonly adverse or disturbing, except the heat, which +quickens vegetable as it does animal life. Also, that climbing is +accomplished by powers and actions as unlike those generally predicated of +the vegetable kingdom as any which have been brought to view in the +preceding volume. Climbing plants "feel" as well as "grow and live;" and +they also manifest an automatism which is perhaps more wonderful than a +response by visible movement to an external irritation. Nor do plants grow +up their supports, as is unthinkingly supposed; for, although only growing +or newly-grown parts act in climbing, the climbing and the growth are +entirely distinct. To this there is one exception--an instructive one, as +showing how one action passes into another, and how the same result may be +brought about in different ways--that of stems which climb by rootlets, such +as of ivy and trumpet-creeper. Here the stem ascends by growth alone, +taking upward direction, and is fixed by root-lets as it grows. There is no +better way of climbing walls, precipices, and large tree-trunks. + +But small stems and similar supports are best ascended by twining; and this +calls out powers of another and higher order. The twining stem does not +grow around its support, but winds around it, and it does this by a +movement the nature of which is best observed in stems which have not yet +reached their support, or have overtopped it and stretched out beyond it. +Then it may be seen that the extending summit, reaching farther and farther +as it grows, is making free circular sweeps, by night as well as by day, and +irrespective of external circumstances, except that warmth accelerates the +movement, and that the general tendency of young stems to bend toward the +light may, in case of lateral illumination, accelerate one-half the circuit +while it equally retards the other. The arrest of the revolution where the +supporting body is struck, while the portion beyond continues its movement, +brings about the twining. As to the proximate cause of this sweeping +motion, a few simple experiments prove that it results from the bowing or +bending of the free summit of the stem into a more or less horizontal +position (this bending being successively to every point of the compass, +through an action which circulates around the stem in the direction of the +sweep), and of the consequent twining, i.e., "with the sun," or with the +movement of the hands of a watch, in the hop, or in the opposite direction +in pole-beans and most twiners. Twining plants, therefore, ascend trees or +other stems by an action and a movement of their own, from which they derive +advantage. To plants liable to be overshadowed by more robust companions, +climbing is an economical method of obtaining a freer exposure to light and +air with the smallest possible expenditure of material. But twiners have +one disadvantage: to rise ten feet they must produce fifteen feet of stem +or thereabouts, according to the diameter of the support, and the openness +or closeness of the coil. A rootlet-climber saves much in this respect, but +has a restricted range of action, and other disadvantages. + +There are two other modes, which combine the utmost economy of material +with freer range of action. There are, in the first place, leaf-climbers of +various sorts, agreeing only in this, that the duty of laying hold is +transferred to the leaves, so that the stem may rise in a direct line. +Sometimes the blade or leaflets, or some of them, but more commonly their +slender stalks, undertake the work, and the plant rises as a boy ascends a +tree, grasping first with one hand or arm, then with the other. Indeed, the +comparison, like the leaf-stalk, holds better than would be supposed; for +the grasping of the latter is not the result of a blind groping in all +directions by a continuous movement, but of a definite sensitiveness which +acts only upon the occasion. Most leaves make no regular sweeps; but when +the stalks of a leaf-climbing species come into prolonged contact with any +fitting extraneous body, they slowly incurve and make a turn around it, and +then commonly thicken and harden until they attain a strength which may +equal that of the stem itself. Here we have the faculty of movement to a +definite end, upon external irritation, of the same nature with that +displayed by Dionaea and Drosera, although slower for the most part than +even in the latter. But the movement of the hour-hand of the clock is not +different in nature or cause from that of the second-hand. + +Finally--distribution of office being, on the whole, most advantageous and +economical, and this, in the vegetable kingdom, being led up to by +degrees--we reach, through numerous gradations, the highest style of +climbing plants in the tendril-climber. A tendril morphologically, is +either a leaf or branch of stem, or a portion of one, specially organized +for climbing. Some tendrils simply turn away from light, as do those of +grape-vines, thus taking the direction in which some supporting object is +likely to be encountered; most are indifferent to light; and many revolve +in the manner of the summit of twining stems. As the stems which bear these +highly-endowed tendrils in many cases themselves also revolve more or less, +though they seldom twine, their reach is the more extensive; and to this +endowment of automatic movement most tendrils add the other faculty, that +of incurving and coiling upon prolonged touch, or even brief contact, in +the highest degree. Some long tendrils, when in their best condition, +revolve so rapidly that the sweeping movement may be plainly seen; indeed, +we have seen a quarter-circuit in a Passiflora sicyoides accomplished in +less than a minute, and the half-circuit in ten minutes; but the other half +(for a reason alluded to in the next paragraph) takes a much longer time. +Then, as to the coiling upon contact, in the case first noticed in this +country,[XI-3] in the year 1858, which Mr. Darwin mentions as having led him +into this investigation, the tendril of Sicyos was seen to coil within half +a minute after a stroke with the hand, and to make a full turn or more +within the next minute; furnishing ocular evidence that tendrils grasp and +coil in virtue of sensitiveness to contact, and, one would suppose, +negativing Sachs's recent hypothesis that all these movements are owing "to +rapid growth on the side opposite to that which becomes concave"--a view to +which Mr. Darwin objects, but not so strongly as he might. The tendril of +this sort, on striking some fitting object, quickly curls round and firmly +grasps it; then, after some hours, one side shortening or remaining short +in proportion to the other, it coils into a spire, dragging the stem up to +its support, and enabling the next tendril above to secure a readier hold. + +In revolving tendrils perhaps the most wonderful adaptation is that by +which they avoid attachment to, or winding themselves upon, the ascending +summit of the stem that bears them. This they would inevitably do if they +continued their sweep horizontally. But when in its course it nears the +parent + + stem the tendril moves slowly, as if to gather strength, then C.~ stiffens +and rises into an erect position parallel with it, and C so passes by the +dangerous point; after which it comes rapidly down to the horizontal +position, in which it moves until it again approaches and again avoids the +impending obstacle. + +Climbing plants are distributed throughout almost all the natural orders. +In some orders climbing is the rule, in most it is the exception, occurring +only in certain genera. The tendency of stems to move in circuits--upon +which climbing more commonly depends, and out of which it is conceived to +have been educed--is manifested incipiently by many a plant which does not +climb. Of those that do there are all degrees, from the feeblest to the +most efficient, from those which have no special adaptation to those which +have exquisitely-endowed special organs for climbing. The conclusion reached +is, that the power "is inherent, though undeveloped, in almost every +plant;" "that climbing plants have utilized and perfected a +widely-distributed and incipient capacity, which, as far as we can see, is +of no service to ordinary plants." + +Inherent powers and incipient manifestations, useless to their possessors +but useful to their successors--this, doubtless, is according to the order +of Nature; but it seems to need something more than natural selection to +account for it. + + + +XII + +DURATION AND + +ORIGINATION OF + +RACE AND SPECIES-- + +IMPORT OF SEXUAL REPRODUCTION + + +I +Do Varieties wear out, or tend to wear out? + +(New York Tribune, and American Journal of Science and the Arts, February, +1875) + + + +This question has been argued from time to time for more than half a +century, and is far from being settled yet. Indeed, it is not to be settled +either way so easily as is sometimes thought. The result of a prolonged and +rather lively discussion of the topic about forty years ago in England, in +which Lindley bore a leading part on the negative side, was, if we rightly +remember, that the nays had the best of the argument. The deniers could +fairly well explain away the facts adduced by the other side, and evade the +force of the reasons then assigned to prove that varieties were bound to die +out in the course of time. But if the case were fully re-argued now, it is +by no means certain that the nays would win it. The most they could expect +would be the Scotch verdict, "not proven." And this not because much, if +any, additional evidence of the actual wearing out of any variety has +turned up since, but because a presumption has been raised under which the +evidence would take a bias the other way. There is now in the minds of +scientific men some reason to expect that certain varieties would die out +in the long run, and this might have an important influence upon the +interpretation of the facts. Curiously enough, however, the recent +discussions to which our attention has been called seem, on both sides, to +have overlooked this. + +But, first of all, the question needs to be more specifically stated. There +are varieties and varieties. They may, some of them, disappear or +deteriorate, but yet not wear out--not come to an end from any inherent +cause. One might even say, the younger they are the less the chance of +survival unless well cared for. They may be smothered out by the adverse +force of superior numbers; they are even more likely to be bred out of +existence by unprevented cross-fertilization, or to disappear from mere +change of fashion. The question, however, is not so much about reversion to +an ancestral state, or the falling off of a high-bred stock into an +inferior condition. Of such cases it is enough to say that, when a variety +or strain, of animal or vegetable, is led up to unusual fecundity or of +size or product of any organ, for our good, and not for the good of the +plant or animal itself, it can be kept so only by high feeding and +exceptional care; and that with high feeding and artificial appliances +comes vastly increased liability to disease, which may practically +annihilate the race. But then the race, like the bursted boiler, could not +be said to wear out, while if left to ordinary conditions, and allowed to +degenerate back into a more natural if less useful state, its hold on life +would evidently be increased rather than diminished. + +As to natural varieties or races under normal conditions, sexually +propagated, it could readily be shown that they are neither more nor less +likely to disappear from any inherent cause than the species from which +they originated. Whether species wear out, i.e., have their rise, +culmination, and decline, from any inherent cause, is wholly a geological +and very speculative problem, upon which, indeed, only vague conjectures can +be offered. The matter actually under discussion concerns cultivated +domesticated varieties only, and, as to plants, is covered by two +questions. + +First, Will races propagated by seed, being so fixed that they come true to +seed, and purely bred (not crossed with any other sort), continue so +indefinitely, or will they run out in time--not die out, perhaps, but lose +their distinguishing characters? Upon this, all we are able to say is that +we know no reason why they should wear out or deteriorate from any inherent +cause. The transient existence or the deterioration and disappearance of +many such races are sufficiently accounted for otherwise; as in the case of +extraordinarily exuberant varieties, such as mammoth fruits or roots, by +increased liability to disease, already adverted to, or by the failure of +the high feeding they demand. A common cause, in ordinary cases, is +cross-breeding, through the agency of wind or insects, which is difficult +to guard against. Or they go out of fashion and are superseded by others +thought to be better, and so the old ones disappear. + +Or, finally, they may revert to an ancestral form. As offspring tend to +resemble grandparents almost as much as parents, and as a line of +close-bred ancestry is generally prepotent, so newly-originated varieties +have always a tendency to reversion. This is pretty sure to show itself in +some of the progeny of the earlier generations, and the breeder has to +guard against it by rigid selection. But the older the variety is--that is, +the longer the series of generations in which it has come true from +seed--the less the chance of reversion: for now, to be like the immediate +parents, is also to be like a long line of ancestry; and so all the +influences concerned--- that is, both parental and ancestral +heritability--act in one and the same direction. So, since the older a race +is the more reason it has to continue true, the presumption of the +unlimited permanence of old races is very strong. + +Of course the race itself may give off new varieties; but that is no +interference with the vitality of the original stock. If some of the new +varieties supplant the old, that will not be because the unvaried stock is +worn out or decrepit with age, but because in wild Nature the newer forms +are better adapted to the surroundings, or, under man's care, better +adapted to his wants or fancies. + +The second question, and one upon which the discussion about the wearing +out of varieties generally turns, is, Will varieties propagated from buds, +i.e., by division, grafts, bulbs, tubers, and the like, necessarily +deteriorate and die out? First, Do they die out as a matter of fact? Upon +this, the testimony has all along been conflicting. Andrew Knight was sure +that they do, and there could hardly be a more trustworthy witness. + + +"The fact," he says, fifty years ago, "that certain varieties of some +species of fruit which have been long cultivated cannot now be made to grow +in the same soils and under the same mode of management, which was a +century ago so perfectly successful, is placed beyond the reach of +controversy. Every experiment which seemed to afford the slightest prospect +of success was tried by myself and others to propagate the old varieties of +the apple and pear which formerly constituted the orchards of Herefordshire, +without a single healthy or efficient tree having been obtained; and I +believe all attempts to propagate these varieties have, during some years, +wholly ceased to be made." + + +To this it was replied, in that and the next generation, that cultivated +vines have been transmitted by perpetual division from the time of the +Romans, and that several of the sorts, still prized and prolific, are well +identified, among them the ancient Graecula, considered to be the modern +Corinth or currant grape, which has immemorially been seedless; that the +old nonpareil apple was known in the time of Queen Elizabeth; that the +white beurre pears of France have been propagated from the earliest times; +and that golden pippins, St. Michael pears, and others said to have run +out, were still to be had in good condition. + +Coming down to the present year, a glance through the proceedings of +pomological societies, and the debates of farmers' clubs, brings out the +same difference of opinion. The testimony is nearly equally divided. +Perhaps the larger number speak of the deterioration and failure of +particular old sorts; but when the question turns on "wearing out," the +positive evidence of vigorous trees and sound fruits is most telling. A +little positive testimony outweighs a good deal of negative. This cannot +readily be explained away, while the failures may be, by exhaustion of +soil, incoming of disease, or alteration of climate or circumstances. On +the other hand, it may be urged that, if a variety of this sort is fated to +become decrepit and die out, it is not bound to die out all at once, and +everywhere at the same time. It would be expected first to give way +wherever it is weakest, from whatever cause. This consideration has an +important bearing upon the final question, Are old varieties of this kind +on the way to die out on account of their age or any inherent limit of +vitality? + +Here, again, Mr. Knight took an extreme view. In his essay in the +"Philosophical Transactions," published in the year 1810, he propounded the +theory, not merely of a natural limit to varieties from grafts and +cuttings, but even that they would not survive the natural term of the life +of the seedling trees from which they were originally taken. Whatever may +have been his view of the natural term of the life of a tree, and of a +cutting being merely a part of the individual that produced it, there is no +doubt that he laid himself open to the effective replies which were made +from all sides at the time, and have lost none of their force since. +Weeping-willows, bread-fruits, bananas, sugar-cane, tiger-lilies, Jerusalem +artichokes, and the like, have been propagated for a long while in this +way, without evident decadence. Moreover, the analogy upon which his +hypothesis is founded will not hold. Whether or not one adopts the present +writer's conception, that individuality is not actually reached or +maintained in the vegetable world, it is clear enough that a common plant +or tree is not an individual in the sense that a horse or man, or any one +of the higher animals, is--that it is an individual only in the sense that +a branching zoophyte or mass of coral is. Solvitur crescendo: the tree and +the branch equally demonstrate that they are not individuals, by being +divided with impunity and advantage, with no loss of life, but much +increase. It looks odd enough to see a writer like Mr. Sisley reproducing +the old hypothesis in so bare a form as this: "I am prepared to maintain +that varieties are individuals, and that as they are born they must die, +like other individuals . . . We know that oaks, Sequoias, and other trees, +live several centuries, but how many we do not exactly know. But that they +must die, no one in his senses will dispute." Now, what people in their +senses do dispute is, not that the tree will die, but that other trees, +established from its cuttings, will die with it. + +But does it follow from this that non-sexually-propagated varieties are +endowed with the same power of unlimited duration that is possessed by +varieties and species propagated sexually--i.e., by seed? Those who think +so jump too soon at their conclusion. For, as to the facts, it is not +enough to point out the diseases or the trouble in the soil or the +atmosphere to which certain old fruits are succumbing, nor to prove that a +parasitic fungus (Peronospora infestans) is what is the matter with +potatoes. For how else would constitutional debility, if such there be, +more naturally manifest itself than in such increased liability or +diminished resistance to such attacks? And if you say that, anyhow, such +varieties do not die of old age--meaning that each individual attacked does +not die of old age, but of manifest disease--it may be asked in return, what +individual man ever dies of old age in any other sense than of a similar +inability to resist invasions which in earlier years would have produced no +noticeable effect? Aged people die of a slight cold or a slight accident, +but the inevitable weakness that attends old age is what makes these slight +attacks fatal. + +Finally, there is a philosophical argument which tells strongly for some +limitation of the duration of non-sexually propagated forms, one that +probably Knight never thought of, but which we should not have expected +recent writers to overlook. When Mr. Darwin announced the principle that +cross-fertilization between the individuals of a species is the plan of +Nature, and is practically so universal that it fairly sustains his +inference that no hermaphrodite species continually self-fertilized would +continue to exist, he made it clear to all who apprehend and receive the +principle that a series of plants propagated by buds only must have weaker +hold of life than a series reproduced by seed. For the former is the +closest possible kind of close breeding. Upon this ground such varieties +may be expected ultimately to die out; but "the mills of the gods grind so +exceeding slow" that we cannot say that any particular grist has been +actually ground out under human observation. + +If it be asked how the asserted principle is proved or made probable, we +can here merely say that the proof is wholly inferential. But the inference +is drawn from such a vast array of facts that it is wellnigh irresistible. +It is the legitimate explanation of those arrangements in Nature to secure +cross-fertilization in the species, either constantly or occasionally, +which are so general, so varied and diverse, and, we may add, so exquisite +and wonderful, that, once propounded, we see that it must be true.* What +else, indeed, is the meaning and + + + * Here an article would be in place, explaining the arrangements in Nature +for cross-fertilization, or wide-breeding, in plants, through the agency, +sometimes of the winds, but more commonly of insects; the more so, since +the development of the principle, the appreciation of its importance, and +its confirmation by abundant facts, are mainly due to Mr. Darwin. But our +reviews and notices of his early work "On the Contrivances in Nature for +the Fertilization of Orchids by Means of Insects, in 1862, and his various +subsequent papers upon other parts of this subject, are either too technical +or too fragmentary or special to be here reproduced. Indeed, a popular +essay is now hardly needed, since the topic has been fully presented, of +late years, in the current popular and scientific journals, and in common +educational works and text-books, so that it is in the way of becoming a +part--and a most inviting part--of ordinary botanical instruction. use of +sexual reproduction? Not simply increase of numbers; for that is otherwise +effectually provided for by budding propagation in plants and many of the +lower animals. There are plants, indeed, of the lower sort (such as +diatoms), in which the whole multiplication takes place in this way, and +with great rapidity. These also have sexual reproduction; but in it two old +individuals are always destroyed to make a single new one! Here propagation +diminishes the number of individuals fifty per cent. Who can suppose that +such a costly process as this, and that all the exquisite arrangements for +cross-fertilization in hermaphrodite plants, do not subserve some most +important purpose? How and why the union of two organisms, or generally of +two very minute portions of them, should reenforce vitality, we do not +know, and can hardly conjecture. But this must be the meaning of sexual +reproduction. + +The conclusion of the matter, from the scientific point of view, is, that +sexually-propagated varieties or races, although liable to disappear through +change, need not be expected to wear out, and there is no proof that they +do; but, that non-sexually propagated varieties, though not especially +liable to change, may theoretically be expected to wear out, but to be a +very long time about it. + + +II + +Do Species wear out? and if not, why not? + + +The question we have just been considering was merely whether races are, or +may be, as enduring as species. As to the inherently unlimited existence of +species themselves, or the contrary, this, as we have said, is a geological +and very speculative problem. Not a few geologists and naturalists, +however, have concluded, or taken for granted, that species have a natural +term of existence--that they culminate, decline, and disappear through +exhaustion of specific vitality, or some equivalent internal cause. As +might be expected from the nature of the inquiry, the facts which bear upon +the question are far from decisive. If the fact that species in general +have not been interminable, but that one after another in long succession +has become extinct, would seem to warrant this conclusion, the persistence +through immense periods of no inconsiderable number of the lower forms of +vegetable and animal life, and of a few of the higher plants from the +Tertiary period to the present, tells even more directly for the limitless +existence of species. The disappearance is quite compatible with the latter +view; while the persistence of any species is hardly explicable upon any +other. So that, even under the common belief of the entire stability and +essential inflexibility of species, extinction is more likely to have been +accidental than predetermined, and the doctrine of inherent limitation is +unsupported by positive evidence. + +On the other hand, it is an implication of the Darwinian doctrine that +species are essentially unlimited in existence. When they die out--as +sooner or later any species may--the verdict must be accidental death, +under stress of adverse circumstances, not exhaustion of vitality; and, +commonly, when the species seems to die out, it will rather have suffered +change. For the stock of vitality which enables it to vary and. survive in +changed forms under changed circumstances must be deemed sufficient for a +continued unchanged existence under unaltered conditions. And, indeed, the +advancement from simpler to more complex, which upon the theory must have +attended the diversification, would warrant or require the supposition of +increase instead of diminution of power from age to age. + +The only case we call to mind which, under the Darwinian view, might be +interpreted as a dying out from inherent causes, is that of a species which +refuses to vary, and thus lacks the capacity of adaptation to altering +conditions. Under altering conditions, this lack would be fatal. But this +would be the fatality of some species or form in particular, not of species +or forms generally, which, for the most part, may and do vary sufficiently, +and in varying survive, seemingly none the worse, but rather the better, +for their long tenure of life. + +The opposite idea, however, is maintained by M. Naudin,[XII-1] in a +detailed exposition of his own views of evolution, which differ widely from +those of Darwin in most respects, and notably in excluding that which, in +our day, gives to the subject its first claim to scientific (as +distinguished from purely speculative) attention; namely, natural +selection. Instead of the causes or operations collectively personified +under this term, and which are capable of exact or probable appreciation, +M. Naudin invokes "the two principles of rhythm and of the decrease of +forces in Nature." He is a thorough evolutionist, starting from essentially +the same point with Darwin; for he conceives of all the forms or species of +animals and plants "comme tire tout entier d'un protoplasma primordial, +uniform, instable, eminemment plastique." Also in "l'integration croissante +de la force evolutive a mesure qu'elle se partage dans les formes produites, +et la decroissance proportionelle de la plasticite de ces formes a mesure +qu'elles s'eloignent davantage de leur origine, et qu'elles sont mieux +arretees." As they get older, they gain in fixity through the operation of +the fundamental law of inheritance; but the species, like the individual, +loses plasticity and vital force. To continue in the language of the +original: + + +"C'est dire qu'il y a eu, pour l'ensemble du monde organique, une periode +de formation ou tout etait changeant et mobile, une phase analogue a la vie +embryonnaire et a la jeunesse de chaque etre particulier; et qu'a cet age +de mobilite et de croissance a succede une periode de stabilite, au moins +relative, une sorte d'age adulte, ou la force evolutive, ayant acheve son +oeuvre, n'est plus occupee qu'a la maintenir, sans pouvoir produire +d'organismes nouveaux. Limitee en quantite, comme toutes les forces en jeu +dans une planete ou dans un systeme sideral tout entier, cette force n'a pu +accomplir qu'un travail limite; et du meme qu'un organisme, animal ou +vegetal, ne croit pas indefiniment et qu'il s'arrete a des proportions que +rien ne peut faire depasser, de meme aussi l'organisme total de la nature +s'est arrete a un etat d'equilibre, dont la duree, selon toutes +vraisemblances, doit etre beaucoup plus longue que celle de la phase de +developpement et de croissance. + + +A fixed amount of "evolutive force" is given, to begin with. At first +enormous, because none has been used up in work, it is necessarily +enfeebled in the currents into which the stream divides, and the narrower +and narrower channels in which it flows with slowly-diminishing power. +Hence the limited although very unequal duration of all individuals, of all +species, and of all types of organization. A multitude of forms have +disappeared already, and the number of species, far from increasing, as some +have believed, must, on the contrary, be diminishing. Some species, no +doubt, have suffered death by violence or accident, by geological changes, +local alteration of the conditions, or the direct or indirect attacks of +other species; but these have only anticipated their fate, for M. Naudin +contends that most of the extinct species have died a natural death from +exhaustion of force, and that all the survivors are on the way to it. The +great timepiece of Nature was wound up at the beginning, and is running +down. In the earlier stages of great plasticity and exuberant power, +diversification took place freely, but only in definite lines, and species +and types multiplied. As the power of survival is inherently limited, still +more the power of change: this diminishes in time, if we rightly apprehend +the idea, partly through the waning of vital force, partly through the +fixity acquired by heredity--like producing like, the more certainly in +proportion to the length and continuity of the ancestral chain And so the +small variations of species which we behold are the feeble remnants of the +pristine plasticity and an exhausted force.[XII-2] This force of variation +or origination of forms has acted rhythmically or intermittently, because +each movement was the result of the rupture of an equilibrium, the +liberation of a force which till then was retained in a potential state by +some opposing force or obstacle, overcoming which it passes to a new +equilibrium and so on Hence alternations of dynamic activity and static +repose, of origination of species and types, alternated with periods of +stability or fixity. The timepiece does not run down regularly, but "la +force procede par saccades; et . . . par pulsations d'autant plus +energiques que la nature etait plus pres de son commencement." + +Such is the hypothesis. For a theory of evolution, this is singularly +unlike Darwin's in most respects, and particularly in the kind of causes +invoked and speculations indulged in. But we are not here to comment upon +it beyond the particular point under consideration, namely, its doctrine of +the inherently limited duration of species. This comes, it will be noticed, +as a deduction from the modern physical doctrine of the equivalence of +force. The reasoning is ingenious, but, if we mistake not, fallacious. + +To call that "evolutive force" which produces the change of one kind of +plant or animal into another, is simple and easy, but of little help by way +of explanation. To homologize it with physical force, as M. Naudin's +argument requires, is indeed a step, and a hardy one; but it quite +invalidates the argument. For, if the "evolutive force" is a part of the +physical force of the universe, of which, as he reminds us, the sum is +fixed and the tendency is toward a stable equilibrium in which all change is +to end, then this evolutive was derived from the physical force; and why +not still derivable from it? What is to prevent its replenishment in +vegetation, pari passu with that great operation in which physical force is +stored up in vegetable organisms, and by the expenditure or transformation +of which their work, and that of all animals, is carried on? Whatever be +the cause (if any there be) which determines the decadence and death of +species, one cannot well believe that it is a consequence of a diminution +of their proper force by plant-development and division; for instance, that +the sum of what is called vital force in a full-grown tree is not greater, +instead of less, than that in the seeding, and in the grove greater than in +the single parental tree. This power, if it be properly a force, is +doubtless as truly derived from the sunbeam as is the power which the plant +and animal expend in work. Here, then, is a source of replenishment as +lasting as the sun itself, and a ground--so far as a supply of force is +concerned--for indefinite duration. For all that any one can mean by the +indefinite existence of species is, that they may (for all that yet +appears) continue while the external conditions of their being or +well-being continue. + +Perhaps, however, M. Naudin does not mean that "evolutive force," or the +force of vitality, is really homologous with common physical force, but +only something which may be likened to it. In that case the parallel has +only a metaphorical value, and the reason why variation must cease and +species die out is still to seek. In short, if that which continues the +series of individuals in propagation, whether like or unlike the parents, +be a force in the physical sense of the term, then there is abundant +provision in Nature for its indefinite replenishment. If, rather, it be a +part or phase of that something which directs and determines the +expenditure of force, then it is not subject to the laws of the latter, and +there is no ground for inferring its exhaustibility. The limited vitality +is an unproved and unprovable conjecture. The evolutive force, dying out in +the using, is either the same conjecture repeated, or a misapplied analogy. + +After all--apart from speculative analogies--the only evidences we possess +which indicate a tendency in species to die out, are those to which Mr. +Darwin has called attention. These are, first, the observed deterioration +which results, at least in animals, from continued breeding in and in, +which may possibly be resolvable into cumulative heritable disease; and, +secondly, as already stated (p. 285), what may be termed the sedulous and +elaborate pains everywhere taken in Nature to prevent close +breeding--arrangements which are particularly prominent in plants, the +greater number of which bear hermaphrodite blossoms. The importance of this +may be inferred from the universality, variety, and practical perfection of +the arrangements which secure the end; and the inference may fairly be +drawn that this is the physiological import of sexes. +It follows from this that there is a tendency, seemingly inherent, in +species as in individuals, to die out; but that this tendency is +counteracted or checked by sexual wider breeding, which is, on the whole, +amply secured in Nature, and which in some way or other reenforces vitality +to such an extent as to warrant Darwin's inference that "some unknown great +good is derived from the union of individuals which have been kept distinct +for many generations." Whether this reenforcement is a complete preventive +of decrepitude in species, or only a palliative, is more than we can +determine. If the latter, then existing species and their derivatives must +perish in time, and the earth may be growing poorer in species, as M. +Naudin supposes, through mere senility. If the former, then the earth, if +not even growing richer, may be expected to hold its own, and extant species +or their derivatives should last as long as the physical world lasts and +affords favorable conditions. General analogies seem to favor the former +view. Such facts as we possess, and the Darwinian hypothesis, favor the +latter. + +XIII + +EVOLUTIONARY TELEOLOGY + + +When Cuvier spoke of the "combination of organs in such order that they may +be in consistence with the part which the animal has to play in Nature," +his opponent, Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, rejoined, "I know nothing of animals +which have to play a part in Nature." The discussion was a notable one in +its day. From that time to this, the reaction of morphology against "final +causes" has not rarely gone to the extent of denying the need and the +propriety of assuming ends in the study of animal and vegetable +organizations. Especially in our day, when it became apparent that the +actual use of an organ might not be the fundamental reason of its +existence-- that one and the same organ, morphologically considered, was +modified in different cases to the most diverse uses, while intrinsically +different organs subserved identical functions, and consequently that use +was a fallacious and homology the surer guide to correct classification--it +was not surprising that teleological ideas nearly disappeared from natural +history. Probably it is still generally thought that the school of Cuvier +and that of St.-Hilaire have neither common ground nor capability of +reconcilement. + +In a review of Darwin's volume on the "Fertilization of Orchids" * (too +technical and too detailed for reproduction here), and later in a brief +sketch of the character of his scientific work (art. IX, p. 234), we +expressed our sense of the great gain to science from his having brought +back teleology to natural history. In Darwinism, usefulness and purpose +come to the front again as working principles of the first order; upon +them, indeed, the whole system rests. + +To most, this restoration of teleology has come from an unexpected quarter, +and in an unwonted guise; so that the first look of it is by no means +reassuring to the minds of those who cherish theistic views of Nature. +Adaptations irresistibly suggesting purpose had their supreme application +in natural theology. Being manifold, particular, and exquisite, and +evidently inwrought into the whole system of the organic world, they were +held to furnish irrefragable as well as independent proof of a personal +designer, a divine originator of Nature. By a confusion of thought, now +obvious, but at the time not unnatural, they were also regarded as proof of +a direct execution of the contriver's purpose in the creation of each organ +and organism, as it were, in the manner man contrives and puts together a +machine--an idea which has been set up as the orthodox doctrine, but which +to St. Augustine and other learned Christian fathers would have savored of +heterodoxy. + +In the doctrine of the origination of species through natural selection, +these adaptations appear as the outcome rather than as the motive, as final +results rather than final causes. Adaptation to use, although the very +essence of Darwinism, is not a fixed and inflexible adaptation, realized +once for all at the outset; it includes a long progression and succession +of modifications, adjusting themselves to changing circumstances, under +which they may be more and more diversified, specialized, and in a just +sense perfected. Now, the question is, Does this involve the destruction or +only the reconstruction of our consecrated ideas of teleology? Is it +compatible with our seemingly inbore conception of Nature as an ordered +system? Furthermore, and above all, can the Darwinian theory itself +dispense with the idea of purpose, in the ordinary sense of the word, as +tantamount to design? + +From two opposing sides we hear the first two questions answered in the +negative. And an affirmative response to the third is directly implied in +the following citation: + + +"The word purpose has been used in a sense to which it is, perhaps, worth +while to call attention. Adaptation of means to an end may be provided in +two ways that we at present know of: by processes of natural selection, and +by the agency of an intelligence in which an image or idea of the end +preceded the use of the means. In both cases the existence of the +adaptation is accounted for by the necessity or utility of the end. It +seems to me convenient to use the word purpose as meaning generally the end +to which certain means are adapted, both in these two cases and in any +other that may hereafter become known, provided only that the adaptation is +accounted for by the necessity or utility of the end. And there seems no +objection to the use of the phrase 'final cause' in this wider sense, if it +is to be kept at all. The word 'design' might then be kept for the special +case of adaptation by an intelligence. And we may then say that, since the +process of natural selection has been understood, purpose has ceased to +suggest design to instructed people, except in cases where the agency of +man is independently probable."--P.C.W., in the Contemporary Review for +September, 1875, p. 657. + + +The distinction made by this anonymous writer is convenient and useful, and +his statement clear. We propose to adopt this use of the terms purpose and +design, and to examine the allegation. The latter comes to this: "Processes +of natural selection" exclude "the agency of an intelligence in which the +image or idea of the end precedes the use of the means;" and since the +former have been understood "purpose has ceased to suggest design to +instructed people, except in cases where the agency of man is independently +probable." The maxim "L'homme propose, Dieu dispose," under this reading +means that the former has the monopoly of design, while the latter +accomplishes without designing. Man's works alone suggest design. + +But it is clear to us that this monopoly is shared with certain beings of +inferior grade. Granting that quite possibly the capture of flies for food +by Dionaea and the sundews may be attributed to purpose apart from design +(if it be practicable in the last resort to maintain this now convenient +distinction), still their capture by a spider's-web, and by a swallow on +the wing, can hardly "cease to suggest design to instructed people." And +surely, in coming at his master's call, the dog fulfills his own design as +well as that of his master; and so of other actions and constructions of +brute animals. + +Without doubt so acute a writer has a clear and sensible meaning; so we +conclude that he regards brutes as automata, and was thinking of design as +coextensive merely with general conceptions. Not concerning ourselves with +the difficulty he may have in drawing a line between the simpler judgments +and affections of man and those of the highest-endowed brutes, we subserve +our immediate ends by remarking that the automatic theory would seem to be +one which can least of all dispense with design, since, either in the +literal or current sense of the word, undesigned automatism is, as near as +may be, a contradiction in terms. As the automaton man constructs manifests +the designs of its maker and mover, so the more efficient automata which +man did not construct would not legitimately suggest less than human +intelligence. And so all adaptations in the animal and vegetable world +which irresistibly suggest purpose (in the sense now accepted) would also +suggest design, and, under the law of parsimony, claim to be thus +interpreted, unless some other hypothesis will better account for the +facts. We will consider, presently, if any other does so. + +We here claim only that some beings other than men design, and that the +adaptations of means to ends in the structure of animals and plants, in so +far as they carry the marks of purpose, carry also the implication of +having been designed. Also, that the idea or hypothesis of a designing +mind, as the author of Nature--however we came by it--having possession of +the field, and being one which man, himself a designer, seemingly must +needs form, cannot be rivaled except by some other equally adequate for +explanation, or displaced except by showing the illegitimacy of the +inference. As to the latter, is the common apprehension and sense of +mankind in this regard well grounded? Can we rightly reason from our own +intelligence and powers to a higher or a supreme intelligence ordering and +shaping the system of Nature? + +A very able and ingenious writer upon "The Evidences of Design in Nature," +in the Westminster Review for July, 1875, maintains the negative. His +article may be taken as the argument in support of the position assumed by +"P.C.W.," in the Contemporary Review above cited. It opens with the +admission that the orthodox view is the most simple and apparently +convincing, has had for centuries the unhesitating assent of an immense +majority of thinkers, and that the latest master-writer upon the subject +disposed to reject it, namely, Mill, comes to the conclusion that, "in the +present state of our knowledge, the adaptations in Nature afford a large +balance of probability in favor of creation by intelligence." It proceeds +to attack not so much the evidence in favor of design as the foundation +upon which the whole doctrine rests, and closes with the prediction that +sooner or later the superstructure must fall. And, truly, if his reasonings +are legitimate, and his conclusions just, "Science has laid the axe to the +tree." + + +"Given a set of marks which we look upon in human productions as unfailing +indications of design," he asks, "is not the inference equally legitimate +when we recognize these marks in Nature? To gaze on such a universe as +this, to feel our hearts exult within us in the fullness of existence, and +to offer in explanation of such beneficent provision no other word but +Chance, seems as unthankful and iniquitous as it seems absurd. Chance +produces nothing in the human sphere; nothing, at least, that can be relied +upon for good. Design alone engenders harmony, consistency; and Chance not +only never is the parent, but is constantly the enemy of these. How, then, +can we suppose Chance to be the author of a system in which everything is +as regular as clockwork? . . . The hypothesis of Chance is inadmissible." + + +There is, then, in Nature, an order; and, in "P.C.W.'s" sense of the word, +a manifest purpose. Some sort of conception as to the cause of it is +inevitable, that of design first and foremost. "Why"--the Westminster +Reviewer repeats the question--"why, if the marks of utility and adaptation +are conclusive in the works of man, should they not be considered equally +conclusive in the works of Nature?" His answer appears to us more ingenious +than sound. Because, referring to Paley's watch,-- + + +"The watch-finder is not guided solely in his inference by marks of +adaptation and utility; he would recognize design in half a watch, in a +mere fragment of a watch, just as surely as in a whole time-keeper . . . +Two cog-wheels, grasping each other, will be thought conclusive evidence of +design, quite independently of any use attaching to them. And the +inference, indeed, is perfectly correct; only it is an inference, not from +a mark of design, properly so called, but from a mark of human workmanship . +. . No more is needed for the watch-finder, since all the works of man are, +at the same time, products of design; but a great deal more is requisite +for us, who are called upon by Paley to recognize design in works in which +this stamp, this label of human workmanship, is wanting. The mental +operation required in the one case is radically different from that +performed in the other; there is no parallel, and Paley's demonstration is +totally irrelevant."[XIII-2] But, surely, all human doings are not +"products of design;" many are contingent or accidental. And why not +suppose that the finder of the watch, or of the watch-wheel, infers both +design and human workmanship? The two are mutually exclusive only on the +supposition that man alone is a designer, which is simply begging the +question in discussion. If the watch-finder's attention had been arrested by +a different object, such as a spider's web, he would have inferred both +design and non-human workmanship. Of some objects he might be uncertain +whether they were of human origin or not, with-out ever doubting they were +designed, while of others this might remain doubtful. Nor is man's +recognition of human workmanship, or of any other, dependent upon his +comprehending how it was done, or what particular ends it subserves. Such +considerations make it clear that "the label of human workmanship" is not +the generic stamp from which man infers design. It seems equally clear that +"the mental operation required in the one case" is not so radically or +materially "different from that performed in the other" as this writer +would have us suppose. The judgment respecting a spider's web, or a +trap-door spider's dwelling, would be the very same in this regard if it +preceded, as it occasionally might, all knowledge of whether the object met +with were of human or animal origin. A dam across a stream, and the +appearance of the stumps of trees which entered into its formation, would +suggest design quite irrespective of and antecedent to the considerable +knowledge or experience which would enable the beholder to decide whether +this was the work of men or of beavers. Why, then, should the judgment that +any particular structure is a designed work be thought illegitimate when +attributed to a higher instead of a lower intelligence than that of man? It +might, indeed, be so if the supposed observer had no conception of a power +and intelligence superior to his own. But it would then be more than +"irrelevant;" it would be impossible, except on the supposition that the +phenomena would of themselves give rise to such an inference. That it is +now possible to make the inference, and, indeed, hardly possible not to make +it, is sufficient warrant of its relevancy. + +It may, of course, be rejoined that, if this important factor is given, the +inference yields no independent argument of a divine creator; and it may +also be reasonably urged that the difference between things that are made +under our observation and comprehension, and things that grow, but have +originated beyond our comprehension, is too wide for a sure inference from +the one to the other. But the present question involves neither of these. +It is simply whether the argument for design from adaptations in Nature is +relevant, not whether it is independent or sure. It is conceded that the +argument is analogical, and the parallel incomplete. But the gist is in the +points that are parallel or similar. Pulleys, valves, and suchlike +elaborate mechanical adaptations, cannot differ greatly in meaning, +wherever met with. + +The opposing argument is repeated and passed in another form: + + +"The evidence of design afforded by the marks of adaptation in works of +human competence is null and void in the case of creation itself . . . +Nature is full of adaptations; but these are valueless to us as traces of +design, unless we know something of the rival adaptations among which an +intelligent being might have chosen. To assert that in Nature no such rival +adaptations existed, and that in every case the useful function in question +could be established by no other instrument but one, is simply to reason in +a circle, since it is solely from what we find existing that our notions of +possibility and impossibility are drawn. . . . We cannot imagine ourselves +in the position of the Creator before his work began, nor examine the +materials among which he had to choose, nor count the laws which limited +his operations. Here all is dark, and the inference we draw from the +seeming perfections of the existing instruments or means is a measure of +nothing but our ignorance." + + +But the question is not about the perfection of these adaptations, or +whether others might have been instituted in their place. It is simply +whether observed adaptations of intricate sorts, admirably subserving uses, +do or do not legitimately suggest to one designing mind that they are the +product of some other. If so, no amount of ignorance, or even +inconceivability, of the conditions and mode of production could affect the +validity of the inference, nor could it be affected by any misunderstanding +on our part as to what the particular use or function was; a statement +which would have been deemed superfluous, except for the following: + + +"There is not an organ in our bodies but what has passed, and is still +passing, through a series of different and often contradictory +interpretations. Our lungs, for instance, were anciently conceived to be a +kind of cooling apparatus, a refrigerator; at the close of the last century +they were supposed to be a centre of combustion; and nowadays both these +theories have been abandoned for a third . . . Have these changes modified +in the slightest degree the supposed evidence of design?" + + +We have not the least idea why they should. So, also, of complicated +processes, such as human digestion, being replaced by other and simpler +ones in lower animals, or even in certain plants. If "we argue the +necessity of every adaptation solely from the fact that it exists," and +that "we cannot mutilate it grossly without injury to the function," we do +not "announce triumphantly that digestion is impossible in any way but +this," etc., but see equal wisdom and no impugnment of design in any number +of simpler adaptations accomplishing equivalent purposes in lower animals. + +Finally, adaptation and utility being the only marks of design in Nature +which we possess, and adaptation only as subservient to usefulness, the +Westminster Reviewer shows us how: + + +"The argument from utility may be equally refuted another way. We found in +our discussion of the mark of adaptation that the positive evidence of +design afforded by the mechanisms of the human frame was never accompanied +by the possibility of negative evidence. We regarded this as a suspicious +circumstance, just as the fox, invited to attend the lion in his den, was +deterred from his visit by observing that all the foottracks lay in one +direction. The same suspicious circumstance warns us now. If positive +evidence of design be afforded by the presence of a faculty, negative +evidence of design ought to be afforded by the absence of a faculty. This, +however, is not the case." [Then follows the account of a butterfly, which, +from the wonderful power of the males to find the females at a great +distance, is conceived to possess a sixth sense.] "Do we consider the +deficiency of this sixth sense in man as the slightest evidence against +design? Should we be less apt to infer creative wisdom if we had only four +senses instead of five, or three instead of four? No, the case would stand +precisely as it does now. We value our senses simply because we have them, +and because our conception of life as we desire it is drawn from them. But +to reason from such value to the origin of our endowment, to argue that our +senses must have been given to us by a deity because we prize them, is +evidently to move round and round in a vicious circle. + +"The same rejoinder is easily applicable to the argument from beauty, which +indeed is only a particular aspect of the argument from utility. It is +certainly improbable that a random daubing of colors on a canvas will +produce a tolerable painting, even should the experiment be continued for +thousands of years. Our conception of beauty being given, it is utterly +improbable that chance should select, out of the infinity of combinations +which form and color may afford, the precise combination which that +conception will approve. But the universe is not posterior to our sense of +beauty, but antecedent to it: our sense of beauty grows out of what we see; +and hence the conformance of our world to our aesthetical conceptions is +evidence, not of the world's origin, but of our own." + + +We are accustomed to hear design doubted on account of certain failures of +provision, waste of resources, or functionless condition of organs; but it +is refreshingly new to have the very harmony itself of man with his +surroundings, and the completeness of provision for his wants and desires, +brought up as a refutation of the validity of the argument for design. It +is hard, indeed, if man must be out of harmony with Nature in order to +judge anything respecting it, or his relations with it; if he must have +experience of chaos before he can predicate anything of order. + +But is it true that man has all that he conceives of, or thinks would be +useful, and has no "negative evidence of design afforded by the absence of +a faculty" to set against the positive evidence afforded by its presence? +He notes that he lacks the faculty of flight, sometimes wants it, and in +dreams imagines that he has it, yet as thoroughly believes that he was +designed not to have it as that he was designed to have the faculties and +organs which he possesses. He notes that some animals lack sight, and so, +with this negative side of the testimony to the value of vision, he is "apt +to infer creative wisdom" both in what he enjoys and in what the lower +animal neither needs nor wants. That man does not miss that which he has no +conception of, and is by this limitation disqualified from judging rightly +of what he can conceive and know, is what the Westminster Reviewer comes +to, as follows: + + +"We value the constitution of our world because we live by it, and because +we cannot conceive ourselves as living otherwise. Our conceptions of +possibility, of law, of regularity, of logic, are all derived from the same +source; and as we are constantly compelled to work with these conceptions, +as in our increasing endeavors to better our condition and increase our +provision we are constantly compelled to guide ourselves by Nature's +regulations, we accustom ourselves to look upon these regularities and +conceptions as antecedent to all work, even to a Creator's, and to judge of +the origin of Nature as we judge of the origin of inventions and utilities +ascribable to man. This explains why the argument of design has enjoyed +such universal popularity. But that such popularity is no criterion of the +argument's worth, and that, indeed, it is no evidence of anything save of +an unhappy weakness in man's mental constitution, is abundantly proved by +the explanation itself." Well, the constitution and condition of man being +such that he always does infer design in Nature, what stronger presumption +could there possibly be of the relevancy of the inference? We do not say of +its correctness: that is another thing, and is not the present point. At +the last, as has well been said, the whole question resolves itself into +one respecting the ultimate veracity of Nature, or of the author of Nature, +if there be any. + +Passing from these attempts to undermine the foundation of the +doctrine--which we judge to be unsuccessful--we turn to the consideration +of those aimed at the superstructure. Evidences of design may be relevant, +but not cogent. They may, as Mill thought, preponderate, or the wavering +balance may incline the other way. There are two lines of argument: one +against the sufficiency, the other against the necessity, of the principle +of design. Design has been denied on the ground that it squares with only +one part of the facts, and fails to explain others; it may be superseded by +showing that all the facts are in the way of being explained without it. + +The things which the principle of design does not explain are many and +serious. Some are in their nature inexplicable, at least are beyond the +power and province of science. Others are of matters which scientific +students have to consider, and upon which they may form opinions, more or +less well grounded. As to biological science--with which alone we are +concerned--it is getting to be generally thought that this principle, as +commonly understood, is weighted with much more than it can carry. + +This statement will not be thought exaggerated by those most familiar with +the facts and the ideas of the age, and accustomed to look them in the +face. Design is held to, no doubt, by most, and by a sure instinct; not, +however, as always offering an explanation of the facts, but in spite of +the failure to do so. The stumbling-blocks are various, and they lie in +every path: we can allude only to one or two as specimens. + +Adaptation and utility are the marks of design. What, then, are organs not +adapted to use marks of? Functionless organs of some sort are the heritage +of almost every species. We have ways of seeming to account for them--and +of late one which may really account for them--but they are unaccountable +on the principle of design. Some, shutting their eyes to the difficulty, +deny that we know them to be functionless, and prefer to believe they must +have a use because they exist, and are more or less connected with organs +which are correlated to obvious use; but only blindfolded persons care to +tread the round of so narrow a circle. Of late some such abortive organs in +flowers and fruits are found to have a use, though not the use of their +kind. But unwavering believers in design should not trust too much to +instances of this sort. There is an old adage that, if anything be kept +long enough, a use will be found for it. If the following up of this line, +when it comes in our way, should bring us round again to a teleological +principle, it will not be one which conforms to the prevalent ideas now +attacked. + +It is commonly said that abortive and useless organs exist for the sake of +symmetry, or as parts of a plan. To say this, and stop there, is a fine +instance of mere seeming to say something. For, under the principle of +design, what is the sense of introducing useless parts into a useful +organism, and what shadow of explanation does "symmetry" give? To go +further and explain the cause of the symmetry and how abortive organs came +to be, is more to the purpose, but it introduces quite another principle +than that of design. The difficulty recurs in a somewhat different form +when an organ is useful and of exquisite perfection in some species, but +functionless in another. An organ, such as an eye, strikes us by its +exquisite and, as we may, perfect adaptation and utility in some animal; it +is found repeated, still useful but destitute of many of its adaptations, +in some animal of lower grade; in some one lower still it is rudimentary and +useless. It is asked, If the first was so created for its obvious and actual +use, and the second for such use as it has, what was the design of the +third? One more case, in which use after all is well subserved, we cite +from the article already much quoted from: + + +"It is well known that certain fishes (Pleuronecta) display the singularity +of having both eyes on the same side of their head, one eye being placed a +little higher than the other. This arrangement has its utility; for the +Pleuronecta, swimming on their side quite near the bottom of the sea, have +little occasion for their eyesight except to observe what is going on above +them. But the detail to which we would call notice is, that the original +position of the eyes is symmetrical in these fishes, and that it is only at +a certain point of their development that the anomaly is manifested, one of +the eyes passing to the other side of the head. It is almost inconceivable +that an intelligent being should have selected such an arrangement; and +that, intending the eyes to be used only on one side of the head, he should +have placed them originally on different sides." + + +Then the waste of being is enormous, far beyond the common apprehension. +Seeds, eggs, and other germs, are designed to be plants and animals, but +not one of a thousand or of a million achieves its destiny. Those that fall +into fitting places and in fitting numbers find beneficent provision, and, +if they were to wake to consciousness, might argue design from the +adaptation of their surroundings to their well-being. But what of the vast +majority that perish? As of the light of the sun, sent forth in all +directions, only a minute portion is intercepted by the earth or other +planets where some of it may be utilized for present or future life, so of +potential organisms, or organisms begun, no larger proportion attain the +presumed end of their creation. + + +"Destruction, therefore, is the rule; life is the exception. We notice +chiefly the exception--namely, the lucky prize-winner in the lottery-- and +take but little thought about the losers, who vanish from our field of +observation, and whose number it is often impossible to estimate. But, in +this question of design, the losers are important witnesses. If the maxim +'audi alteram partem' is applicable anywhere, it is applicable here. We +must hear both sides, and the testimony of the seed fallen on good ground +must be corrected by the testimony of that which falls by the wayside, or on +the rocks. When we find, as we have seen above, that the sowing is a +scattering at random, and that, for one being provided for and living, ten +thousand perish unprovided for, we must allow that the existing order would +be accounted as the worst disorder in any human sphere of action." + + +It is urged, moreover, that all this and much more applies equally to the +past stages of our earth and its immensely long and varied succession of +former inhabitants, different from, yet intimately connected with, the +present. It is not one specific creation that the question has to deal +with--as was thought not very many years ago--but a series of creations +through countless ages, and of which the beginning is unknown. + +These references touch a few out of many points, and merely allude to some +of the difficulties which the unheeding pass by, but which, when brought +before the mind, are seen to be stupendous. + +Somewhat may be justly, or at least plausibly, said in reply to all this +from the ordinary standpoint, but probably not to much effect. There were +always insuperable difficulties, which, when they seemed to be few, might +be regarded as exceptional; but, as they increase in number and variety, +they seem to fall into a system. No doubt we may still insist that, "in the +present state of our knowledge, the adaptations in Nature afford a large +balance of probability in favor of creation by intelligence," as Mill +concluded; and probability must needs be the guide of reason through these +dark places. Still, the balancing of irreconcilable facts is not a +satisfying occupation, nor a wholly hopeful one, while fresh weights are +from time to time dropping into the lighter side of the balance. Strong as +our convictions are, they may be overborne by evidence. We cannot rival the +fabled woman of Ephesus, who, beginning by carrying her calf from the day of +its birth, was still able to do so when it became an ox. The burden which +our fathers carried comfortably, with some adventitious help, has become +too heavy for our shoulders. + +Seriously, there must be something wrong in the position, some baleful +error mixed with the truth, to which this contradiction of our inmost +convictions may be attributed. The error, as we suppose, lies in the +combination of the principle of design with the hypothesis of the +immutability and isolated creation of species. The latter hypothesis, in +its nature un-provable, has, on scientific grounds, become so far +improbable that few, even of the anti-Darwinian naturalists, now hold to it; +and, whatever may once have been its religious claims, it is at present a +hinderance rather than a help to any just and consistent teleology. + +By the adoption of the Darwinian hypothesis, or something like it, which we +incline to favor, many of the difficulties are obviated, and others +diminished. In the comprehensive and far-reaching teleology which may take +the place of the former narrow conceptions, organs and even faculties, +useless to the individual, find their explanation and reason of being. +Either they have done service in the past, or they may do service in the +future. They may have been essentially useful in one way in a past species, +and, though now functionless, they may be turned to useful account in some +very different way hereafter. In botany several cases come to our mind +which suggest such interpretation. + +Under this view, moreover, waste of life and material in organic Nature +ceases to be utterly inexplicable, because it ceases to be objectless. It +is seen to be a part of the general "economy of Nature," a phrase which has +a real meaning. One good illustration of it is furnished by the pollen of +flowers. The seeming waste of this in a pine-forest is enormous. It gives +rise to the so-called "showers of sulphur," which every one has heard of. +Myriads upon myriads of pollen-grains (each an elaborate organic structure) +are wastefully dispersed by the winds to one which reaches a female flower +and fertilizes a seed. Contrast this with one of the close-fertilized +flowers of a violet, in which there are not many times more grains of +pollen produced than there are of seeds to be fertilized; or with an +orchis-flower, in which the proportion is not widely different. These +latter are certainly the more economical; but there is reason to believe +that the former arrangement is not wasteful. The plan in the violet-flower +assures the result with the greatest possible saving of material and +action; but this result, being close-fertilization or breeding in and in, +would, without much doubt, in the course of time, defeat the very object of +having seeds at all.[XIII-3] So the same plant produces other flowers also, +provided with a large surplus of pollen, and endowed (as the others are +not) with color, fragrance, and nectar, attractive to certain insects, which +are thereby induced to convey this pollen from blossom to blossom, that it +may fulfill its office. In such blossoms, and in the great majority of +flowers, the fertilization and consequent perpetuity of which are committed +to insects, the likelihood that much pollen may be left behind or lost in +the transit is sufficient reason for the apparent superfluity. So, too, the +greater economy in orchis-flowers is accounted for by the fact that the +pollen is packed in coherent masses, all attached to a common stalk, the end +of which is expanded into a sort of button, with a glutinous adhesive face +(like a bit of sticking-plaster), and this is placed exactly where the head +of a moth or butterfly will be pressed against it when it sucks nectar from +the flower, and so the pollen will be bodily conveyed from blossom to +blossom, with small chance of waste or loss. The floral world is full of +such contrivances; and while they exist the doctrine of purpose or final +cause is not likely to die out. Now, in the contrasted case, that of +pine-trees, the vast superabundance of pollen would be sheer waste if the +intention was to fertilize the seeds of the same tree, or if there were any +provision for insect-carriage; but with wide-breeding as the end, and the +wind which "bloweth where it listeth" as the means, no one is entitled to +declare that pine-pollen is in wasteful excess. The cheapness of +wind-carriage may be set against the overproduction of pollen. + +Similar considerations may apply to the mould-fungi and other very low +organisms, with spores dispersed through the air in countless myriads, but +of which only an infinitesimal portion find opportunity for development. +The myriads perish. The exceptional one, falling into a fit medium, is +imagined by the Westminster Reviewer to argue design from the beneficial +provision it finds itself enjoying, in happy ignorance of the perishing or +latent multitude. But, in view of the large and important part they play +(as the producers of all fermentation and as the omnipresent +scavenger-police of Nature), no good ground appears for arguing either +wasteful excess or absence of design from the vast disparity between their +potential and their actual numbers. The reserve and the active members of +the force should both be counted in, ready as they always and everywhere +are for service. Considering their ubiquity, persistent vitality, and +promptitude of action upon fitting occasion, the suggestion would rather be +that, while + +". . . thousands at His bidding speed, +And post o'er land and ocean without rest, +They also serve [which] only stand and wait." + + +Finally, Darwinian teleology has the special advantage of accounting for +the imperfections and failures as well as for successes. It not only +accounts for them, but turns them to practical account. It explains the +seeming waste as being part and parcel of a great economical process. +Without the competing multitude, no struggle for life; and without this, no +natural selection and survival of the fittest, no continuous adaptation to +changing surroundings, no diversification and improvement, leading from +lower up to higher and nobler forms. So the most puzzling things of all to +the old-school teleologists are the principia of the Darwinian. In this +system the forms and species, in all their variety, are not mere ends in +themselves, but the whole a series of means and ends, in the contemplation +of which we may obtain higher and more comprehensive, and perhaps worthier, +as well as more consistent, views of design in Nature than heretofore. At +least, it would appear that in Darwinian evolution we may have a theory that +accords with if it does not explain the principal facts, and a teleology +that is free from the common objections. + +But is it a teleology, or rather--to use the new-fangled term--a +dysteleology? That depends upon how it is held. Darwinian evolution +(whatever may be said of other kinds) is neither theistical nor +nontheistical. Its relations to the question of design belong to the +natural theologian, or, in the larger sense, to the philosopher. So long as +the world lasts it will probably be open to any one to hold consistently, in +the last resort, either of the two hypotheses, that of a divine mind, or +that of no divine mind. There is no way that we know of C by which the +alternative may be excluded. Viewed philosophically, the question only is, +Which is the better supported hypothesis of the two? + +We have only to say that the Darwinian system, as we understand it, +coincides well with the theistic view of Nature. It not only acknowledges +purpose (in the Contemporary Reviewer's sense), but builds upon it; and if +purpose in this sense does not of itself imply design, it is certainly +compatible with it, and suggestive of it. Difficult as it may be to +conceive and impossible to demonstrate design in a whole of which the +series of parts appear to be contingent, the alternative may be yet more +difficult and less satisfactory. If all Nature is of a piece--as modern +physical philosophy insists-- then it seems clear that design must in some +way, and in some sense, pervade the system, or be wholly absent from it. Of +the alternatives, the predication of design--special, general, or +universal, as the case may be--is most natural to the mind; while the +exclusion of it throughout, because some utilities may happen, many +adaptations may be contingent results, and no organic maladaptations could +continue, runs counter to such analogies as we have to guide us, and leads +to a conclusion which few men ever rested in. It need not much trouble us +that we are incapable of drawing clear lines of demarkation between mere +utilities, contingent adaptations, and designed contrivances in Nature; for +we are in much the same condition as respects human affairs and those of +lower animals. What results are comprehended in a plan, and what are +incidental, is often more than we can readily determine in matters open to +observation. And in plans executed mediately or indirectly, and for ends +comprehensive and far-reaching, many purposed steps must appear to us +incidental or meaningless. But the higher the intelligence, the more fully +will the incidents enter into the plan, and the more universal and +interconnected may the ends be. Trite as the remark is, it would seem still +needful to insist that the failure of a finite being to compass the designs +of an infinite mind should not invalidate its conclusions respecting +proximate ends which he can understand. It is just as in physical science, +where, as our knowledge and grasp increase, and happy discoveries are made, +wider generalizations are formed, which commonly comprehend, rather than +destroy, the earlier and partial ones. So, too, the "sterility" of the old +doctrine of final causes in science, and the presumptuous uses made of +them, when it was supposed that every adapted arrangement or structure +existed for this or that direct and special end, and for no other, can +hardly be pressed to the conclusion that there are no final causes, i.e., +ultimate reasons of things.[XIII-4] Design in Nature is distinguished from +that in human affairs--as it fittingly should be--by all comprehensiveness +and system. Its theological synonym is Providence. Its application in +particular is surrounded by similar insoluble difficulties; nevertheless, +both are bound up with theism. + +Probably few at the present day will maintain that Darwinian evolution is +incompatible with the principle of design; but some insist that the theory +can dispense with, and in fact supersedes, this principle. + +The Westminster Reviewer cleverly expounds how it does so. The exposition +is too long to quote, and an abstract is unnecessary, for the argument +adverse to design is, as usual, a mere summation or illustration of the +facts and assumptions of the hypothesis itself, by us freely admitted. +Simplest forms began; variations occurred among them; under the competition +consequent upon the arithmetical or geometrical progression in numbers, +only the fittest for the conditions survive and propagate, vary further, and +are similarly selected; and so on. + + +"Progress having once begun by the establishment of species, the laws of +atavism and variability will suffice to tell the remainder of the story. +The colonies gifted with the faculty of forming others in their likeness +will soon by their increase become sole masters of the field; but the +common enemy being thus destroyed, the struggle for life will be renewed +among the conquerors. The saying that 'a house divided against itself +cannot stand,' receives in Nature its flattest contradiction. Civil war is +here the very instrument of progress; it brings about the survival of the +fittest. Original differences in the cell-colonies, however slight, will +bring about differences of life and action; the latter, continued through +successive generations, will widen the original differences of structure; +innumerable species will thus spring up, branching forth in every direction +from the original stock; and the competition of these species among each +other for the ground they occupy, or the food they seek, will bring out and +develop the powers of the rivals. One chief cause of superiority will lie +in the division of labor instituted by each colony; or, in other words, in +the localization of the colony's functions. In the primitive associations +(as in the lowest organisms existing now), each cell performed much the +same work as its neighbor, and the functions necessary to the existence of +the whole (alimentation, digestion, respiration, etc.) were exercised by +every colonist in his own behalf. Social life, however, acting upon the +cells as it acts upon the members of a human family, soon created +differences among them--differences ever deepened by continuance, and +which, by narrowing the limits of each colonist's activity, and increasing +his dependence on the rest, rendered him fitter for his special task. Each +function was thus gradually monopolized; but it came to be the appanage of a +single group of cells, or organ; and so excellent did this arrangement +prove, so greatly were the powers of each commonwealth enhanced by the +division of its labor, that the more organs a colony possessed, the more +likely it was to succeed in its struggle for life. . . We shall go no +further, for the reader will easily fill out the remainder of the picture +for himself. Man is but an immense colony of cells, in which the division +of labor, together with the centralization of the nervous system, has +reached its highest limit. It is chiefly to this that his superiority is +due; a superiority so great, as regards certain functions of the brain, +that he may be excused for having denied his humbler relatives, and dreamed +that, standing alone in the centre of the universe, sun, moon, and stars, +were made for him." + + +Let us learn from the same writer how both eyes of the flounder get, quite +unintentionally, on the same side of the head. The writer makes much of this +case (see p. 306), and we are not disposed to pass it by: + + +"A similar application may be made to the Pleuronecta. Presumably, these +fishes had adopted their peculiar mode of swimming long before the position +of their eyes became adapted to it. A spontaneous variation occurred, +consisting in the passage of one eye to the opposite side of the head; and +this variation afforded its possessors such increased facilities of sight +that in the course of time the exception became the rule. But the +remarkable point is, that the law of heredity not only preserved the +variation itself, but the date of its occurrence; and that, although for +thousands of years the adult Pleuronecta have had both eyes on the same +side, the young still continue during their earlier development to exhibit +the contrary arrangement, just as if the variation still occurred +spontaneously." + + +Here a wonderful and one would say unaccountable transference takes place +in a short time. As Steenstrup showed, one eye actually passes through the +head while the young fish is growing. We ask how this comes about; and we +are told, truly enough, that it takes place in each generation because it +did so in the parents and in the whole line of ancestors. Why offspring +should be like parent is more than any one can explain; but so it is, in a +manner so nearly fixed and settled that we can count on it; yet not from +any absolute necessity that we know of, and, indeed, with sufficiently +striking difference now and then to demonstrate that it might have been +otherwise, or is so in a notable degree. This transference of one eye +through the head, from the side where it would be nearly useless to that in +which it may help the other, bears all the marks of purpose, and so carries +the implication of design. The case is adduced as part of the evidence that +Darwinian evolution supersedes design. But how? Not certainly in the way +this goes on from generation to generation; therefore, doubtless in the way +it began. So we look for the explanation of how it came about at the first +unintentionally or accidentally; how, under known or supposed conditions, +it must have happened, or at least was likely to happen. And we read, "A +spontaneous variation occurred, consisting in the passage of one eye to the +opposite side of the head." That is all; and we suppose there is nothing +more to be said. In short, this surprising thing was undesigned because it +took place, and has taken place ever since! The writer presumes, moreover +(but this is an obiter dictum), that the peculiarity originated long after +flounders had fixed the habit of swimming on one side (and in this +particular case it is rather difficult to see how the two may have gone on +pari passu), and so he cuts away all obvious occasion for the alteration +through the summation of slight variations in one direction, each bringing +some advantage. + +This is a strongly-marked case; but its features, although unusually +prominent, are like those of the general run of the considerations by which +evolution is supposed to exclude design. Those of the penultimate citation +and its context are all of the same stamp. The differences which begin as +variations are said to be spontaneous--a metaphorical word of wide +meanings--are inferred to be casual (whereas we only know them to be +occult), or to be originated by surrounding agencies (which is not in a just +sense true); they are legitimately inferred to be led on by natural +selection, wholly new structures or organs appear, no one can say how, +certainly no one can show that they are necessary outcomes of what +preceded; and these two are through natural selection kept in harmony with +the surroundings, adapted to different ones, diversified, and perfected; +purposes are all along subserved through exquisite adaptations; and yet the +whole is thought to be undesigned, not because of any assigned reason why +this or that must have been thus or so, but simply because they all +occurred in Nature! The Darwinian theory implies that the birth and +development of a species are as natural as those of an individual, are +facts of the same kind in a higher order. The alleged proof of the absence +of design from it amounts to a simple reiteration of the statement, with +particulars. Now, the marks of contrivance in the structure of animals used +not to be questioned because of their coming in the way of birth and +development. It is curious that a further extension of this birth and +development should be held to disprove them. It appears to us that all this +is begging the question against design in Nature, instead of proving that +it may be dispensed with. + +Two things have helped on this confusion. One is the notion of the direct +and independent creation of species, with only an ideal connection between +them, to question which was thought to question the principle of design. +The other is a wrong idea of the nature and province of natural selection. +In former papers we have over and over explained the Darwinian doctrine in +this respect. It may be briefly illustrated thus: Natural selection is not +the wind which propels the vessel, but the rudder which, by friction, now +on this side and now on that, shapes the course. The rudder acts while the +vessel is in motion, effects nothing when it is at rest. Variation answers +to the wind: "Thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell when it +cometh and whither it goeth." Its course is controlled by natural +selection, the action of which, at any given moment, is seemingly small or +insensible; but the ultimate results are great. This proceeds mainly +through outward influences. But we are more and more convinced that +variation, and therefore the ground of adaptation, is not a product of, but +a response to, the action of the environment. Variations, in other words, +the differences between individual plants and animals, however originated, +are evidently not from without but from within--not physical but +physiological. + +We cannot here assign particularly the reasons for this opinion. But we +notice that the way in which varieties make their appearance strongly +suggests it. The variations of plants which spring up in a seed-bed, for +instance, seem to be in no assignable relation to the external conditions. +They arise, as we say, spontaneously, and either with decided characters +from the first, or with obvious tendencies in one or few directions. The +occult power, whatever it be, does not seem in any given case to act +vaguely, producing all sorts of variations from a common centre, to be +reduced by the struggle for life to fewness and the appearance of order; +there are, rather, orderly indications from the first. The variations of +which we speak, as originating in no obvious casual relation to the +external conditions, do not include dwarfed or starved, and gigantesque or +luxuriant forms, and those drawn up or expanded on the one hand, or +contracted and hardened on the other, by the direct difference in the supply +of food and moisture, light and heat. Here the action of the environment is +both obvious and direct. But such cases do not account for much in +evolution. + +Moreover, while we see how the mere struggle and interplay among occurring +forms may improve them and lead them on, we cannot well imagine how the +adaptations which arrest our attention are thereby secured. Our difficulty, +let it be understood, is not about the natural origination of organs. To +the triumphant outcry, "How can an organ, such as an eye, be formed under +Nature?" we would respond with a parallel question, How can a complex and +elaborate organ, such as a nettle-sting, be formed under Nature? But it is +so formed. In the same species some individuals have these +exquisitely-constructed organs and some have not. And so of other glands, +the structure and adaptation of which, when looked into, appear to be as +wonderful as anything in Nature. The impossibility lies in conceiving how +the obvious purpose was effectuated under natural selection alone. This, +under our view, any amount of gradation in a series of forms goes a small +way in explaining. The transit of a young flounder's eye across the head is +a capital instance of a wonderful thing done under Nature, and done +unaccountably. + +But simpler correlations are involved in similar difficulty. The +superabundance of the pollen of pine-trees above referred to, and in +oak-trees, is correlated with chance fertilization under the winds. In the +analogous instance of willows a diminished amount of pollen is correlated +with direct transportation by insects. Even in so simple a case as this it +is not easy to see how this difference in the conveyance would reduce the +quantity of pollen produced. It is, we know, in the very alphabet of +Darwinism that if a male willow-tree should produce a smaller amount of +pollen, and if this pollen communicated to the offspring of the female +flowers it fertilized a similar tendency (as it might), this male progeny +would secure whatever advantage might come from the saving of a certain +amount of work and material; but why should it begin to produce less pollen? +But this is as nothing compared with the arrangements in orchid-flowers, +where new and peculiar structures are introduced--structures which, once +originated and then set into variation, may thereupon be selected, and +thereby led on to improvement and diversification. But the origination, and +even the variation, still remains unexplained either by the action of +insects or by any of the processes which collectively are personified by +the term natural selection. We really believe that these exquisite +adaptations have come to pass in the course of Nature, and under natural +selection, but not that natural selection alone explains or in a just sense +originates them. Or rather, if this term is to stand for sufficient cause +and rational explanation, it must denote or include that inscrutable +something which produces--as well as that which results in the survival +of--"the fittest." + +We have been considering this class of questions only as a naturalist might +who sought for the proper or reasonable interpretation of the problem +before him, unmingled with considerations from any other source. Weightier +arguments in the last resort, drawn from the intellectual and moral +constitution of man, lie on a higher plane, to which it was unnecessary for +our particular purpose to rise, however indispensable this be to a full +presentation of the evidence of mind in Nature. To us the evidence, judged +as impartially as we are capable of judging, appears convincing. But, +whatever view one unconvinced may take, it cannot remain doubtful what +position a theist ought to occupy. If he cannot recognize design in Nature +because of evolution, he may be ranked with those of whom it was said, +"Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe." How strange that a +convinced theist should be so prone to associate design only with miracle! + +All turns, however, upon what is meant by this Nature, to which it appears +more and more probable that the being and becoming--no less than the +well-being and succession--of species and genera, as well as of +individuals, are committed. To us it means "the world of force and movement +in time and space," as Aristotle defined it--the system and totality of +things in the visible universe. What is generally called Nature Prof. +Tyndall names matter--a peculiar nomenclature, requiring new definitions (as +he avers), inviting misunderstanding, and leaving the questions we are +concerned with just where they were. For it is still to ask: whence this +rich endowment of matter? Whence comes that of which all we see and know is +the outcome? That to which potency may in the last resort be ascribed, +Prof. Tyndall, suspending further judgment, calls mystery--using the word +in one of its senses, namely, something hidden from us which we are not to +seek to know. But there are also mysteries proper to be inquired into and +to be reasoned about; and, although it may not be given unto us to know the +mystery of causation, there can hardly be a more legitimate subject of +philosophical inquiry. Most scientific men have thought themselves +intellectually authorized to have an opinion about it. "For, by the +primitive and very ancient men, it has been handed down in the form of +myths, and thus left to later generations, that the Divine it is which +holds together all Nature;" and this tradition, of which Aristotle, both +naturalist and philosopher, thus nobly speaks[XIII-5]--continued through +succeeding ages, and illuminated by the Light which has come into the +world--may still express the worthiest thoughts of the modern scientific +investigator and reasoner. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +I-1. "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the +Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life," by Charles Darwin, +M.A., Fellow of the Royal, Geological, Linnaean, etc., Societies, Author of +"Journal of Researches during H. M. S. Beagle's Voyage round the World." +London: John Murray. 1859. 502 pp., post 8vo. + +I-2. Article in this Journal, vol. xxiv., p. 305. + +I-3. "Species tot sunt, quot diversas formas ab initio produxit Infinitum +Ens; quae formae secundum generationis inditas leges, produxere plures, at +sibi semper similes."--Linn. Phil. Bot., 99, 157. + +I-4. Agassiz, "Essay on Classification; Contributions to Natural History," +p. 132, et seq. + +I-5. As to this, Darwin remarks that he can only hope to see the law +hereafter proved true (p. 449); and p. 338: "Agassiz insists that ancient +animals resemble to a certain extent the embryos of recent animals of the +same classes; or that the geological succession of extinct forms is in some +degree parallel to the embryological development of recent forms. I must +follow Pictet and Huxley in thinking that the truth of this doctrine is +very far from proved. Yet I fully expect to see it hereafter confirmed, at +least in regard to subordinate groups, which have branched off from each +other within comparatively recent times. For this doctrine of Agassiz +accords well with the theory of natural selection." + +I-6. Op. cit., p. 131.--One or two Bridgewater Treatises, and most modern +works upon natural theology, should have rendered the evidences of thought +in inorganic Nature not "unexpected." + +I-7. Volume xvii. (2), 1854, p. 13. + +I-8. We suspect that this is not an ultimate fact, but a natural consequence + of inheritance--the inheritance of disease or of tendency to disease, + which close interbreeding perpetuates and accumulates, but wide + breeding may neutralize or eliminate. + +I-9. The rules and processes of breeders of animals, and their results, are +so familiar that they need not be particularized. Less is popularly known +about the production of vegetable races. We refer our readers back to this +Journal, vol. xxvii., pp. 440--442 (May, 1859), for an abstract of the +papers of M. Vilmorin upon this subject. + +I-10. Quadrupeds of America," vol. ii., p. 239. + +I-11. "Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences," vol. iv., +p. 178. + +I-12. Owen adds a third, viz., vegetative repetition; but this, in the +vegetable kingdom, is simply unity of type. + +I-13. "Contributions to Natural History of America," vol. i., pp. 127--131. + +I-14. Op. cit., p. 130. + +II-1. To parry an adversary's thrust at a vulnerable part, or to show that +it need not be fatal, is an incomplete defense. If the discussion had gone +on, it might, perhaps, have been made to appear that the Darwinian +hypothesis, so far from involving the idea of necessity (except in the +sense that everything is of necessity), was based upon the opposite idea, +that of contingency. + +III-1. Vide "Proceedings of the British Association for the Advancement of +Science," 1859, and London Athenoeum, passim. It appears to be conceded +that these "celts" or stone knives are artificial productions, and +apparently of the age of the mammoth, the fossil rhinoceros, etc. + +III-2. See "Correspondence of M. Nickles," in American Journal of Science +and Arts, for March, 1860. + +III-3. See Morlot, "Some General Views on Archaeology," in American Journal +of Science and Arts, for January, 186o, translated from "Bulletin de la +Societe Vaudoise," 1859. + +III-4. Page 484, English edition. In the new American edition (vide +Supplement, pp. 431, 432) the principal analogies which suggest the extreme +view are referred to, and the remark is appended: "But this inference is +chiefly grounded on analogy, and it is immaterial whether or not it be +accepted. The case is different with the members of each great class, as +the Vertebrata or Articulata; for here we have in the laws of homology, +embryology, etc., some distinct evidence that all have descended from a +single primordial parent." + +III-5. In Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve, March, 1860. + +III-6. This we learn from his very interesting article, "De la Question de +l'Homme Fossile," in the same (March) number of the Biblioteque +Universelle. (See, also, the same author's "Note sur la Periode +Quaternaire ou Diluvienne, consideree dans ses Rapports avec l'Epoque +Actuelle," in the number for August, 1860, of the same periodical.) + +III-7. In Comptes Rendus, Academie des Sciences, February 2, 1857. + +III-8. Whatever it may be, it is not "the homoeopathic form of the +transmutative hypothesis," as Darwin's is said to be (p. 252, American +reprint), so happily that the prescription is repeated in the second (p. +259) and third (p. 271) dilutions, no doubt, on Hahnemann's famous +principle, of an increase of potency at each dilution. Probably the +supposed transmutation is per saltus. "Homoeopathic doses of +transmutation," indeed! Well, if we really must swallow transmutation in +some form or other, as this reviewer intimates, we might prefer the mild +homoeopathic doses of Darwin's formula to the allopathic bolus which the +Edinburgh general practitioner appears to be compounding. + +III-9. Vide North American Review, for April, 1860, p. 475, and Christian +Examiner, for May, p. 457. + +III-10. Page 188, English edition. + +III-11. In American Journal of Science, July, 1860, pp. 147--149. + +III-12. In "Contributions to the Natural History of the United States," vol. +i., p.128, 129. + +III-13. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States," vol. 1, +p. 130; and American Journal of Science, July, 1860, p. 143. + +III-14. North American Review for April 1860, p. 506. + +III-15. Vide motto from Butler, prefixed to the second edition of Darwin's +work. + +III-16. North American Review, loc. cit., p. 504. + +III-17. North American Review, loc. cit., p. 487, et passim. + +III-18. In American Journal of Science, July, 1860, p. 143. + +III-19. Vide article by Mr. C. Wright, in the Mathematical Monthly for May +last. + +III-20. Vide Edinburgh Review for January, 1860, article on +"Acclimatization," etc. + +III-21. American Journal of Science, July, 1860, p. 146. + +IV-1. A name which, at the close of his article, De Candolle proposes for +the study of the succession of organized beings, to comprehend, therefore, +palaeontology and all included under what is called geographical botany and +zoology--the whole forming a science parallel to geology--the latter +devoted to the history of unorganized bodies, the former, to that of +organized beings, as respects origin, distribution, and succession. We are +not satisfied with the word, notwithstanding the precedent of palaeontology; +since ontology, the Science of being, has an established meaning as +referring to mental existence--i.e., is a synonym for a department of +metaphysics. + +IV-2. Natural History Review, January, 1862 + +IV-3. What the Rev. Principal Tulloch remarks in respect to the philosophy +of miracles has a pertinent application here. We quote at second hand: + +"The stoutest advocates of interference can mean nothing more than that the +Supreme Will has so moved the hidden springs of Nature that a new issue +arises on given circumstances. The ordinary issue is supplanted by a higher +issue. The essential facts before us are a certain set of phenomena, and a +Higher Will moving them. How moving them? is a question for human +definition; the answer to which does not and cannot affect the divine +meaning of the change. Yet when we reflect that this Higher Will is every. +where reason and wisdom, it seems a juster as well as a more comprehensive +view to regard it as operating by subordination and evolution, rather than +by interference or violation." + +IV-4. Particularly citing Flourens: "La ressemblance n'est qu'une condition +secondaire; la condition essentielle est la descendance: ce n'est pas la +ressemblance, c'est la succession des individus, qui fait l'espece." + +V-1. The phrase "Atlantic United States" is here used throughout in +contradistinction to Pacific United States: to the former of course belong, +botanically and geographically, the valley of the Mississippi and its +tributaries up to the eastern border of the great woodless plains, which +constitute an intermediate region. + +V-2. The tabulated list referred to was printed as an appendix to the +official edition of this discourse, but is here omitted. + +V-3. American Journal of Science, 1867, p. 402; "Proceedings of American +Academy," vol. viii., p. 244. + +V-4. "Memoirs of American Academy," vol. vi., pp. 377--458 (1859) + + +V-5. Die vegetation der erde nach ihrer kilmatischen Anordnung," 1871. + +V-6. Reference should also be made to the extensive researches of Newberry +upon the tertiary and cretaceous floras of the Western United States. See +especially Prof. Newberry's paper in the Boston Journal of Natural History, +vol. vii., No. 4, describing fossil plants of Vancouver's Island, etc.; his +"Notes on the Later Extinct Floras of North America," etc., in "Annals of +the Lyceum of Natural History," vol. ix., April, 1868; "Report on the +Cretaceous and Tertiary Plants collected in Raynolds and Hayden's +Yellowstone and Missouri Exploring Expedition, 1859--1860," published in +1869; and an interesting article entitled "The Ancient Lakes of Western +America, their Deposits and Drainage," published in The American +Naturalist, January, 1871. + +The only document I was able to consult was Lesquereux's "Report on the +Fossil Plants," in Hayden's report of 1872. + +V-7. There is, at least, one instance so opportune to the present argument +that it should not pass unnoticed, although I had overlooked the record +until now. Onoclea sensibilis is a fern peculiar to the Atlantic United +States (where it is common and wide-spread) and to Japan. Prof. Newberry +identified it several years ago in a collection, obtained by Dr. Hayden, of +miocene fossil plants of Dakota Territory, which is far beyond its present +habitat. He moreover regards it as probably identical with a fossil specimen +"described by the late Prof. E. Forbes, under the name of Filicites +Hebridicus, and obtained by the Duke of Argyll from the island of Mull." + +V-8. "Darwinism in Morals," in Theological Review, April, 1871. + +VI-1. "Histoire des Sciences et des Sevants depuis deux Siecles, suivie +d'autres etudes sur des sujets scientifiques, en particulier sur la +Selection dans 1'Espèce Humaine, par Alphonse De Candolle." Geneve: H. +Georg. 1873. + +"Addresses of George Bentham, President, read at the anniversary meetings +of the Linnaean Society, 1862--1873." + +"Notes on the Classification, History, and Geographical Distribution of +Compositae. By George Bentham." Separate issue from the Journal of the +Linnean Society. Vol. XIII. London. 1873. + +"On Palaeontological Evidence of Gradual Modification of Animal Forms, read +at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, April 25, 1873. By Prof. W.H. +Flower." (Journal of the Royal Institution, pp. 11.) + +"The Distribution and Migration of Birds. Memoir presented to the National +Academy of Sciences, January, 1865, abstracted in the American Journal of +Science and the Arts. 1866, etc. By Spencer F. Baird." + +"The Story of the Earth and Man. By J.W. Dawson, LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., +Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University, Montreal. London: +Hodder & Stoughton; New York: Harper & Brothers. 1873. Pp. 403, 12mo. + +VI-2. Since this article was in type, noteworthy examples of appreciative +scientific judgment of the derivative hypothesis have come to hand: 1. In +the opening address to the Geological Section of the British Association, +at its recent meeting, by its president, the veteran Phillips, perhaps the +oldest surviving geologist after Lyell; and, 2. That of Prof. Allman, +President of the Biological Section. The first touches the subject briefly, +but in the way of favorable suggestion; the second is a full and +discriminating exposition of the reasons which seem to assure at least the +provisional acceptance of the hypothesis, as a guide in all biological +studies, "a key to the order and hidden forces of the world of life." + +VII-1. "The Theory of Evolution of Living Things, and the Application of the +Principles of Evolution to Religion, considered as illustrative of the +'Wisdom and Beneficence of the Almighty.' By the Rev. George Henslow, M.A., +F.L.S., F.G.S., etc." New York: Macmillan & Co. 1873. 12mo, pp. 220. + +"Systematic Theology. By Charles Hodge, D.D., Professor in the Theological +Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey. Vol. ii. (Part II, Anthropology.") New +York: Charles Scribner & Co. 1872. + +"Religion and Science: A Series of Sunday Lectures on the Relation of +Natural and Revealed Religion, or the Truths Revealed in Nature and +Scripture. By Joseph Le Conte, Professor of Geology and Natural History in +the University of California." New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1874. 12mo, pp. +324. + +VII-2. "But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as +this-- we can perceive that events are brought about, not by insulated +interpositions of divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the +establishment of general laws.--Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise. + +"The only distinct meaning of the world 'natural' is stated, fixed, or +settled; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an +intelligent agent to render it so--i.e., to effect it continually or at +stated times--as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect it for +once."--Butler's Analogy. + +VIII-1. "What Is Darwinism? By Charles Hodge, Princeton, N.J." New York: + +Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874. +"The Doctrine of Evolution. By Alexander Winchell, LL.D., etc. New York: +Harper & Brothers. 1874. + +"Darwinism and Design; or, Creation by Evolution. By George St. Clair." +London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1873. + +"Westminster Sermons. By the Rev. Charles Kingsley, F.L.S., F.G.S., Canon +of Westminster, etc." London and New York: Macmillan & Co. 1874. + +VIII-2. These two postulate-mottoes are quoted in full in a previous +article, in No. 446 of The Nation. + +XI-1. "Insectivorous Plants. By Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S." With +Illustrations. London: John Murray. 1875. Pp. 462. New York: D. Appleton & +Co. + +"The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. By Charles Darwin, M.A., +F.R.S., etc." Second Edition, revised, with Illustrations. London: John +Murray. 1875. Pp. 208. New York: D. Appleton & Co. + +XI-2. The Nation, Nos. 457, 458, 1874. It was in these somewhat light and +desultory, but substantially serious, articles that some account of Mr. +Darwin's observations upon the digestive powers of Drosera and Dionaea +first appeared; in fact, their leading motive was to make sufficient +reference to his then unpublished discoveries to guard against expected or +possible claims to priority. Dr. Burdon-Sanderson's lecture, and the report +in Nature, which first made them known in England, appeared later. + +A mistake on our part in the reading of a somewhat ambiguous sentence in a +letter led to the remark, at the close of the first of those articles, that +the leaf-trap of Dionaea had been paralyzed on one side in consequence of a +dexterous puncture. What was communicated really related to Drosera. + +XI-3. A. Gray, in "Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and +Sciences," vol. iv., p. 98; and American Journal of Science and the Arts, +March, 1859, p. 278. + +XII-1. "Les Especes affines et la Theorie de l'Evolution," par Charles +Naudin, Membre de l'Institut, in Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de +France, tome xxi., pp. 240-272, 1874. See also Comptes Rendus, September 27 +and October 4, 1875, reproduced in "Annales des Sciences Naturelles," 1876, +pp. 73-81. + +XII-2. In noticing M. Naudin's paper in the Comptes Rendus, now reprinted in +the "Annales des Sciences Naturelles," entitled "Variation desordonnee des +Plantes Hybrides et Deductions qu'on peut en tirer," we were at a loss to +conceive why he attributed all present variation of species to atavism, +i.e., to the reappearance of ancestral characters (American Journal of +Science, February, 1876). His anterior paper was not then known to us; from +which it now appears that this view comes in as a part of the hypothesis of +extreme plasticity and variability at the first, subsiding at length into +entire fixity and persistence of character. According to which, it is +assumed that the species of our time have lost all power of original +variation, but can still reproduce some old ones--some reminiscences, as it +were, of youthful vagaries--in the way of atavism. + +XIII-1. London, 1862. + +XIII-2. Hume, in his "Essays," anticipated this argument. But he did not +rest on it. His matured convictions appear to be expressed in statements +such as the following, here cited at second hand from Jackson's "Philosophy +of Natural Theology," a volume to which a friend has just called our +attention: + +"Though the stupidity of men," writes Hume, "barbarous and uninstructed, be +so great that they may not see a sovereign author in the more obvious works +of Nature, to which they are so much familiarized, yet it scarce seems +possible that any one of good understanding should reject that idea, when +once it is suggested to him. A purpose, an intention, a design, is evident +in everything; and when our comprehension is so far enlarged as to +contemplate the first rise of this visible system, we must adopt, with the +strongest conviction, the idea of some intelligent cause or author. The +uniform maxims, too, which prevail throughout the whole frame of the +universe, naturally, if not necessarily, lead us to conceive this +intelligence as single and undivided, where the prejudices of education +oppose not so reasonable a theory. Even the contrarieties of Nature, by +discovering themselves everywhere, become proofs of some consistent plan, +and establish one single purpose or intention, however inexplicable and +incomprehensible."---("Natural History of Religion," xv.) + +"In many views of the universe, and of its parts, particularly the latter, +the beauty and fitness of final causes strike us with such irresistible +force that all objections appear (what I believe they really are) mere +cavils and sophisms."-- ("Dialogues concerning Natural Religion," Part X.) + +"The order and arrangement of Nature, the curious adjustment of final +causes, the plain use and intention of every part and organ, all these +bespeak in the clearest language an intelligent cause or author."--(Ibid., +Part IV.) + + + +XIII-3. See Section I, Chapter 12. + +XIII-4. "No single and limited good can be assigned by us as the final cause +of any contrivance in Nature. The real final cause . . . is the sum of all +the uses to which it is ever to be put. Any use to which a contrivance of +Nature is put, we may be sure, is a part of its final cause."--(G. F. +Wright, in The New-Englander, October, 1871.) + +XIII-5. "No single and limited good can be assigned by us as the final cause +of any contrivance in Nature. The real final cause . . . is the sum of all +the uses to which it is ever to be put. Any use to which a contrivance of +Nature is put, we may be sure, is a part of its final cause."--(G. F. +Wright, in The New-Englander, October, 1871.) + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 5273 *** |