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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6414-h.zip b/6414-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4a5a43 --- /dev/null +++ b/6414-h.zip diff --git a/6414-h/6414-h.htm b/6414-h/6414-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d0a8a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/6414-h/6414-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17217 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lectures and Essays, by T.h. Huxley + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures and Essays, by T.H. Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lectures and Essays + +Author: T.H. Huxley + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6414] +Last Updated: January 15, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LECTURES AND ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher and David Widger + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + LECTURES AND ESSAYS + </h1> + <h2> + By T.H. Huxley + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + The People's Library <br /><br /> Cassell And Company, Ltd. <br /><br /> + London, Paris, New York, Toronto & Melbourne. <br /><br /> MCMVIII. + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EDITOR'S NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + Of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley, son + of an Ealing schoolmaster, was undoubtedly the most noteworthy. His + researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his + pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably had + greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And yet he + was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that his father + was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of education. "I + had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school (between eight and + ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any intellectual + direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a craving for + reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when fifteen in + Hamilton's "Logic." + </p> + <p> + At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and + three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for + anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved to be + the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was gazetted to the + "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in Torres Straits. He was + attracted by the teeming surface life of tropical seas and his study of it + was the commencement of that revolution in scientific knowledge ultimately + brought about by his researches. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at + Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> EDITOR'S NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA + OF ORGANIC NATURE: </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT + AND PAST CONDITIONS OF ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.—THE + ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY + TRANSMISSION AND VARIATION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE + PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. + DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE + THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> DARWIN ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> TIME AND LIFE.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> MR. DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES". </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES".* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY RESPECTING + THE CEREBRAL STRUCTURE OF MAN AND THE APES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL + KNOWLEDGE.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES + OF LIFE.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> CORAL AND CORAL REEFS.* </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> YEAST. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> WILLIAM HARVEY AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE + CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. </a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + </h2> + <p> + The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement + for their publication with Mr. J.A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append the + following note from Professor Huxley:— + </p> + <p> + "Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to + Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print + those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this + request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect that + I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations in them, + beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of fact." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + </h2> + <p> + When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the six + lectures* ([Footnote] *To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical Geology, + 1863.) which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to you, it + occurred to me that I could not do better than endeavour to put before you + in a true light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty call, that + which I conceive myself to be the true light, the position of a book which + has been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any book which has + appeared for some years;—I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the "Origin of + Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; for I know the + inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, all of you will + have heard of it,—some by one kind of report and some by another + kind of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of all have been + probably more or less excited on the subject of that work. All I can do, + and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before you that kind of judgment + which has been formed by a man, who, of course, is liable to judge + erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose business and profession it is + to form judgments upon questions of this nature. + </p> + <p> + And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive subject, + the greater part of my course—if, indeed, so small a number of + lectures can be properly called a course—must be devoted to + preliminary matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of those + principles which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or less + directly before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of you are + naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and + misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters would + make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to take,—that + I should start from the beginning,—that I should endeavour to point + out what is the existing state of the organic world,—that I should + point out its past condition,—that I should state what is the + precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; that + I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which that + undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you how far + the author of the work in question has satisfied those conditions, how far + he has not satisfied them, how far they are satisfiable by man, and how + far they are not satisfiable by man. + </p> + <p> + To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall endeavour + to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of the condition + of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. I might deal with + it pictorially and graphically. Following the example of Humboldt in his + "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to point out the infinite variety + of organic life in every mode of its existence, with reference to the + variations of climate and the like; and such an attempt would be fraught + with interest to us all; but considering the subject before us, such a + course would not be that best calculated to assist us. In an argument of + this kind we must go further and dig deeper into the matter; we must + endeavour to look into the foundations of living Nature, if I may so say, + and discover the principles involved in some of her most secret + operations. I propose, therefore, in the first place, to take some + ordinary animal with which you are all familiar, and, by easily + comprehensible and obvious examples drawn from it, to show what are the + kind of problems which living beings in general lay before us; and I shall + then show you that the same problems are laid open to us by all kinds of + living beings. But first, let me say in what sense I have used the words + "organic nature." In speaking of the causes which lead to our present + knowledge of organic nature, I have used it almost as an equivalent of the + word "living," and for this reason,—that in almost all living beings + you can distinguish several distinct portions set apart to do particular + things and work in a particular way. These are termed "organs," and the + whole together is called "organic." And as it is universally + characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very conveniently + employed to denote the whole of living nature,—the whole of the + plant world, and the whole of the animal world. + </p> + <p> + Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is shown + on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus caballus" + written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does not make it + any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we wish to + understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to study the + structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed within a hide, + a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be taken off, we find a + great mass of flesh, or what is technically called muscle, being the + substance which by its power of contraction enables the animal to move. + These muscles move the hard parts one upon the other, and so give that + strength and power of motion which renders the Horse so useful to us in + the performance of those services in which we employ him. + </p> + <p> + And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, you + have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with + ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 1. Section through a horse. + </p> + <p> + FIGURE 2. Section through a cell.) + </p> + <p> + In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The long + series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, is + called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there are two + pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what we all know + as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our researches into the + interior of this animal, we find within the framework of the skeleton a + great cavity, or rather, I should say, two great cavities,—one + cavity beginning in the skull and running through the neck-bones, along + the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the brain and the spinal + marrow, which are extremely important organs. The second great cavity, + commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, the stomach, the long + intestine, and all the rest of those internal apparatus which are + essential for digestion; and then in the same great cavity, there are + lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from it; and, besides + that, the organs of respiration—the lungs: and then the kidneys, and + the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now endeavour to reduce this + notion of a horse that we now have, to some such kind of simple expression + as can be at once, and without difficulty, retained in the mind, apart + from all minor details. If I make a transverse section, that is, if I were + to saw a dead horse across, I should find that, if I left out the details, + and supposing I took my section through the anterior region, and through + the fore-limbs, I should have here this kind of section of the body + (Figure 1). Here would be the upper part of the animal—that great + mass of bones that we spoke of as the spine (a, Figure 1). Here I should + have the alimentary canal (b, Figure 1). Here I should have the heart (c, + Figure 1); and then you see, there would be a kind of double tube, the + whole being inclosed within the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed in + the upper tube (a, Figure 1), and in the lower tube (d d, Figure 1), there + would be the alimentary canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I shall + have the legs proceeding from each side. For simplicity's sake, I + represent them merely as stumps (e e, Figure 1). Now that is a horse—as + mathematicians would say—reduced to its most simple expression. + Carry that in your minds, if you please, as a simplified idea of the + structure of the Horse. The considerations which I have now put before you + belong to what we technically call the 'Anatomy' of the Horse. Now, + suppose we go to work upon these several parts,—flesh and hair, and + skin and bone,—and lay open these various organs with our scalpels, + and examine them by means of our magnifying-glasses, and see what we can + make of them. We shall find that the flesh is made up of bundles of strong + fibres. The brain and nerves, too, we shall find, are made up of fibres, + and these queer-looking things that are called ganglionic corpuscles. If + we take a slice of the bone and examine it, we shall find that it is very + like this diagram of a section of the bone of an ostrich, though + differing, of course, in some details; and if we take any part whatsoever + of the tissue, and examine it, we shall find it all has a minute + structure, visible only under the microscope. All these parts constitute + microscopic anatomy or 'Histology.' These parts are constantly being + changed; every part is constantly growing, decaying, and being replaced + during the life of the animal. The tissue is constantly replaced by new + material; and if you go back to the young state of the tissue in the case + of muscle, or in the case of skin, or any of the organs I have mentioned, + you will find that they all come under the same condition. Every one of + these microscopic filaments and fibres (I now speak merely of the general + character of the whole process)—every one of these parts—could + be traced down to some modification of a tissue which can be readily + divided into little particles of fleshy matter, of that substance which is + composed of the chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, + having such a shape as this (Figure 2). These particles, into which all + primitive tissues break up, are called cells. If I were to make a section + of a piece of the skin of my hand, I should find that it was made up of + these cells. If I examine the fibres which form the various organs of all + living animals, I should find that all of them, at one time or other, had + been formed out of a substance consisting of similar elements; so that you + see, just as we reduced the whole body in the gross to that sort of simple + expression given in Figure 1, so we may reduce the whole of the + microscopic structural elements to a form of even greater simplicity; just + as the plan of the whole body may be so represented in a sense (Figure 1), + so the primary structure of every tissue may be represented by a mass of + cells (Figure 2). + </p> + <p> + Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may call, + perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term + technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A horse is + not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working machine. + Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine with the + fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the living animal is + a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part has its different work + to do in the working of that machine, which is what we call its life. The + Horse, if you see him after his day's work is done, is cropping the grass + in the fields, as it may be, or munching the oats in his stable. What is + he doing? His jaws are working as a mill—and a very complex mill too—grinding + the corn, or crushing the grass to a pulp. As soon as that operation has + taken place, the food is passed down to the stomach, and there it is mixed + with the chemical fluid called the gastric juice, a substance which has + the peculiar property of making soluble and dissolving out the nutritious + matter in the grass, and leaving behind those parts which are not + nutritious; so that you have, first, the mill, then a sort of chemical + digester; and then the food, thus partially dissolved, is carried back by + the muscular contractions of the intestines into the hinder parts of the + body, while the soluble portions are taken up into the blood. The blood is + contained in a vast system of pipes, spreading through the whole body, + connected with a force pump,—the heart,—which, by its position + and by the contractions of its valves, keeps the blood constantly + circulating in one direction, never allowing it to rest; and then, by + means of this circulation of the blood, laden as it is with the products + of digestion, the skin, the flesh, the hair, and every other part of the + body, draws from it that which it wants, and every one of these organs + derives those materials which are necessary to enable it to do its work. + </p> + <p> + The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these + various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of the + matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant + formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and conveyed + by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have allotted to + them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid of these waste + products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and repair of the + whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But not only is it a + machine which feeds and appropriates to its own support the nourishment + necessary to its existence—it is an engine for locomotive purposes. + The Horse desires to go from one place to another; and to enable it to do + this, it has those strong contractile bundles of muscles attached to the + bones of its limbs, which are put in motion by means of a sort of + telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the great spinal cord + running through the spine or backbone; and to this spinal cord are + attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which proceed to all parts of + the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, tongue, and skin—all + the organs of perception—transmit impressions or sensations to the + brain, which acts as a sort of great central telegraph-office, receiving + impressions and sending messages to all parts of the body, and putting in + motion the muscles necessary to accomplish any movement that may be + desired. So that you have here an extremely complex and + beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its parts working harmoniously + together towards one common object—the preservation of the life of + the animal. + </p> + <p> + Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food is + grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in the long + run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the vegetable + kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other plant, obtain + this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is a little seed, + which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the surrounding + air matters which in themselves contain no vital properties whatever; it + absorbs into its own substance water, an inorganic body; it draws into its + substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and ammonia, another + inorganic matter, found in the air; and then, by some wonderful chemical + process, the details of which chemists do not yet understand, though they + are near foreshadowing them, it combines them into one substance, which is + known to us as 'Protein,' a complex compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, + and nitrogen, which alone possesses the property of manifesting vitality + and of permanently supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste + products of the animal economy, the effete materials which are continually + being thrown off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are + constantly replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding + materials drawn from the plants, which in their turn manufacture them, so + to speak, by a mysterious combination of those same inorganic materials. + </p> + <p> + Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After a + certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of + accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal dies. + The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in their + performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing through the + curious series of changes comprised in its formation and preservation, it + finally decays, and ends its life by going back into that inorganic world + from which all but an inappreciable fraction of its substance was derived. + Its bones become mere carbonate and phosphate of lime; the matter of its + flesh, and of its other parts, becomes, in the long run, converted into + carbonic acid, into water, and into ammonia. You will now, perhaps, + understand the curious relation of the animal with the plant, of the + organic with the inorganic world, which is shown in this diagram (Figure + 3). + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 3. Diagram showing material relationship of the Vegetable, Animal + and Inorganic Worlds.) + </p> + <p> + The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up + into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the + nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the + useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole body + is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is thus a + constant circulation from one to the other, a continual formation of + organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a return of the + matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that the materials of + which our bodies are composed are largely, in all probability, the + substances which constituted the matter of long extinct creations, but + which have in the interval constituted a part of the inorganic world. + </p> + <p> + Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER + constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the + inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the + powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by living + beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those which exist + in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; I mean in just + the same sense as the researches of physical philosophers have shown that + heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is convertible into + magnetism, magnetism into mechanical force or chemical force, and any one + of them with the other, each being measurable in terms of the other,—even + so, I say, that great law is applicable to the living world. Consider why + is the skeleton of this horse capable of supporting the masses of flesh + and the various organs forming the living body, unless it is because of + the action of the same forces of cohesion which combines together the + particles of matter composing this piece of chalk? What is there in the + muscular contractile power of the animal but the force which is + expressible, and which is in a certain sense convertible, into the force + of gravity which it overcomes? Or, if you go to more hidden processes, in + what does the process of digestion differ from those processes which are + carried on in the laboratory of the chemist? Even if we take the most + recondite and most complex operations of animal life—those of the + nervous system, these of late years have been shown to be—I do not + say identical in any sense with the electrical processes—but this + has been shown, that they are in some way or other associated with them; + that is to say, that every amount of nervous action is accompanied by a + certain amount of electrical disturbance in the particles of the nerves in + which that nervous action is carried on. In this way the nervous action is + related to electricity in the same way that heat is related to + electricity; and the same sort of argument which demonstrates the two + latter to be related to one another shows that the nervous forces are + correlated to electricity; for the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and + others have shown that whenever a nerve is in a state of excitement, + sending a message to the muscles or conveying an impression to the brain, + there is a disturbance of the electrical condition of that nerve which + does not exist at other times; and there are a number of other facts and + phenomena of that sort; so that we come to the broad conclusion that not + only as to living matter itself, but as to the forces that matter exerts, + there is a close relationship between the organic and the inorganic world—the + difference between them arising from the diverse combination and + disposition of identical forces, and not from any primary diversity, so + far as we can see. + </p> + <p> + I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted into + the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable + fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual + wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the soul + fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the one sex + or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of the + organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of the two + sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that conjunction, + from that union which then takes place, there results the formation of a + new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular part of the + interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a minute particle of + matter comparable in all essential respects with that which we called a + cell a little while since, which cell contains a kind of nucleus in its + centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a viscid mass of protein + substance (Figure 2); and though it is different in appearance from the + eggs which we are mostly acquainted with, it is really an egg. After a + time this minute particle of matter, which may only be a small fraction of + a grain in weight, undergoes a series of changes,—wonderful, complex + changes. Finally, upon its surface there is fashioned a little elevation, + which afterwards becomes divided and marked by a groove. The lateral + boundaries of the groove extend upwards and downwards, and at length give + rise to a double tube. In the upper smaller tube the spinal marrow and + brain are fashioned; in the lower, the alimentary canal and heart; and at + length two pairs of buds shoot out at the sides of the body, which are the + rudiments of the limbs. In fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo + in this state would in all essential respects resemble that diagram of a + horse reduced to its simplest expression, which I first placed before you + (Figure 1). + </p> + <p> + Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, at + first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place + metamorphosed into muscle,—in another place into gristle and bone,—in + another place into fibrous tissue,—and in another into hair; every + part becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an + artificer at work in each of these complex structures that we have + mentioned. This embryo, as it is called, then passes into other + conditions. I should tell you that there is a time when the embryos of + neither dog, nor horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be + distinguished by any essential feature one from the other; there is a time + when they each and all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But as + development advances, all the parts acquire their speciality, till at + length you have the embryo converted into the form of the parent from + which it started. So that you see, this living animal, this horse, begins + its existence as a minute particle of nitrogenous matter, which, being + supplied with nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from the inorganic + world), grows up according to the special type and construction of its + parents, works and undergoes a constant waste, and that waste is made good + by nutriment derived from the inorganic world; the waste given off in this + way being directly added to the inorganic world; and eventually the animal + itself dies, and, by the process of decomposition, its whole body is + returned to those conditions of inorganic matter in which its substance + originated. + </p> + <p> + This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest + plant to the highest animal—to man himself. You might define the + life of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now + used; the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in + the complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural + forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted by + each. + </p> + <p> + If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I should + find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a cell; the + acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to absorb the + inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, and we can + see it, year after year, extending itself upward and downward, attracting + and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, which it vivifies, and + eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own proper acorns, which again run + the same course. But I need not multiply examples,—from the highest + to the lowest the essential features of life are the same, as I have + described in each of these cases. + </p> + <p> + So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, which + you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine yourself to one + sort of living being, and study that only. + </p> + <p> + But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the world; + and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits—are + confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we live,—and, + as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. In its wild state, + and before the discovery of America, when the natural state of things was + interfered with by the Spaniards, the Horse was only to be found in parts + of the earth which are known to geographers as the Old World; that is to + say, you might meet with horses in Europe, Asia, or Africa; but there were + none in Australia, and there were none whatsoever in the whole continent + of America, from Labrador down to Cape Horn. This is an empirical fact, + and it is what is called, stated in the way I have given it you, the + 'Geographical Distribution' of the Horse. + </p> + <p> + Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in + America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in + America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they had + not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the invading + Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these countries + for their own use, they were found to thrive well and multiply very + rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those countries, and in a + perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were to do for every animal + what we have here done for the Horse,—that is, to mark off and + distinguish the particular district or region to which each belonged; and + supposing we tabulated all these results, that would be called the + Geographical Distribution of animals, while a corresponding study of + plants would yield as a result the Geographical Distribution of plants. + </p> + <p> + I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I meant + by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, there is + another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, the relations + of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a very well-defined + matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty familiar with its + structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that it resembles very much + no other member of the animal kingdom, except perhaps the Zebra or the + Ass. But let me ask you to look along these diagrams. Here is the skeleton + of the Horse, and here the skeleton of the Dog. You will notice that we + have in the Horse a skull, a backbone and ribs, shoulder-blades and + haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one upper arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, + wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), and middle hand-bones, ending in the + three bones of a finger, the last of which is sheathed in the horny hoof + of the fore-foot: in the hind-limb, one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, + anklebones, and middle foot-bones, ending in the three bones of a toe, the + last of which is encased in the hoof of the hind-foot. Now turn to the + Dog's skeleton. We find identically the same bones, but more of them, + there being more toes in each foot, and hence more toe-bones. + </p> + <p> + Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the Horse—when + one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of the skin—are + found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. And if I were to + make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find the same organs that I + have already shown you as forming parts of the Horse. Well, here is + another skeleton—that of a kind of Lemur—you see he has just + the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse section of it, it would + be just the same again. In your mind's eye turn him round, so as to put + his backbone in a position inclined obliquely upwards and forwards, just + as in the next three diagrams, which represent the skeletons of an Orang, + a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and you find you have no trouble in identifying + the bones throughout; and lastly turn to the end of the series, the + diagram representing a man's skeleton, and still you find no great + structural feature essentially altered. There are the same bones in the + same relations. From the Horse we pass on and on, with gradual steps, + until we arrive at last at the highest known forms. On the other hand, + take the other line of diagrams, and pass from the Horse downwards in the + scale to this fish; and still, though the modifications are vastly + greater, the essential framework of the organization remains unchanged. + Here, for instance, is a Porpoise: here is its strong backbone, with the + cavity running through it, which contains the spinal cord; here are the + ribs, here the shoulder blade; here is the little short upper-arm bone, + here are the two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, and the finger-bones. + </p> + <p> + Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer-looking + affair—its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental elements + as the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; and here you + will notice a very curious thing,—the hinder limbs are absent. Now, + let us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: here you see is the + forearm, in this large pectoral fin—carrying your mind's eye onward + from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have the hinder limbs + restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I were to make a + transverse section of this, I should find just the same organs that we + have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out this strange + conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the Horse, when + examined and compared with other animals, is found by no means to stand + alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number of other creatures + which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other parts arranged in the same + general manner, and in all their formation exhibiting the same broad + peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely + elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without + seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you + that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of plan, + or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at first sight + to be extremely dissimilar. + </p> + <p> + And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the animals + which have backbones, and which we technically call "Vertebrata". But + there are multitudes of other animals, such as crabs, lobsters, spiders, + and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In these I could not point out to you + the parts that correspond with those of the Horse,—the backbone, for + instance,—as they are constructed upon a very different principle, + which is also common to all of them; that is to say, the Lobster, the + Spider, and the Centipede, have a common plan running through their whole + arrangement, in just the same way that the Horse, the Dog, and the + Porpoise assimilate to each other. + </p> + <p> + Yet other creatures—whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all + their tribe ("Mollusca")—resemble one another in the same way, but + differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of the + animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules and + sponges). + </p> + <p> + Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at the + conviction that there are,—some think five, and some seven,—but + certainly not more than the latter number—and perhaps it is simpler + to assume five—distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the + animal world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures + on the surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, + seven, plans of organization. + </p> + <p> + But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is + tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet further + and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial unit. The + anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the study of + development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct as those plans + are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any of those other + kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence with one and the + same primitive form,—that of the egg, consisting, as we have seen, + of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or nucleus in the + centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each are substantially + the same. And it is in this that lies that true "unity of organization" of + the animal kingdom which has been guessed at and fancied for many years; + but which it has been left to the present time to be demonstrated by the + careful study of development. But is it possible to go another step + further still, and to show that in the same way the whole of the organic + world is reducible to one primitive condition of form? Is there among the + plants the same primitive form of organization, and is that identical with + that of the animal kingdom? The reply to that question, too, is not + uncertain or doubtful. It is now proved that every plant begins its + existence under the same form; that is to say, in that of a cell—a + particle of nitrogenous matter having substantially the same conditions. + So that if you trace back the oak to its first germ, or a man, or a horse, + or lobster, or oyster, or any other animal you choose to name, you shall + find each and all of these commencing their existence in forms essentially + similar to each other: and, furthermore, that the first processes of + growth, and many of the subsequent modifications, are essentially the same + in principle in almost all. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which I + have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking mere + theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly demonstrable + as the commonest propositions of Euclid—of facts that must form the + basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological science. We have + gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other words, we have + analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until we found that + each species took its origin in a form similar to that under which all the + others commence their existence. We have found the whole of the vast array + of living forms, with which we are surrounded, constantly growing, + increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal constantly attracting, + modifying, and applying to its sustenance the matter of the vegetable + kingdom, which derived its support from the absorption and conversion of + inorganic matter. And so constant and universal is this absorption, waste, + and reproduction, that it may be said with perfect certainty that there is + left in no one of our bodies at the present moment a millionth part of the + matter of which they were originally formed! We have seen, again, that not + only is the living matter derived from the inorganic world, but that the + forces of that matter are all of them correlative with and convertible + into those of inorganic nature. + </p> + <p> + This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present condition + of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you the great + outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your own study. + </p> + <p> + In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into the + past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in epochs + preceding our own. + </p> + <p> + End of The Present Condition of Organic Nature. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + </h2> + <p> + In the lecture which I delivered last Monday evening, I endeavoured to + sketch in a very brief manner, but as well as the time at my disposal + would permit, the present condition of organic nature, meaning by that + large title simply an indication of the great, broad, and general + principles which are to be discovered by those who look attentively at the + phenomena of organic nature as at present displayed. The general result of + our investigations might be summed up thus: we found that the multiplicity + of the forms of animal life, great as that may be, may be reduced to a + comparatively few primitive plans or types of construction; that a further + study of the development of those different forms revealed to us that they + were again reducible, until we at last brought the infinite diversity of + animal, and even vegetable life, down to the primordial form of a single + cell. + </p> + <p> + We found that our analysis of the organic world, whether animals or + plants, showed, in the long run, that they might both be reduced into, and + were, in fact, composed of, the same constituents. And we saw that the + plant obtained the materials constituting its substance by a peculiar + combination of matters belonging entirely to the inorganic world; that, + then, the animal was constantly appropriating the nitrogenous matters of + the plant to its own nourishment, and returning them back to the inorganic + world, in what we spoke of as its waste; and that finally, when the animal + ceased to exist, the constituents of its body were dissolved and + transmitted to that inorganic world whence they had been at first + abstracted. Thus we saw in both the blade of grass and the horse but the + same elements differently combined and arranged. We discovered a continual + circulation going on,—the plant drawing in the elements of inorganic + nature and combining them into food for the animal creation; the animal + borrowing from the plant the matter for its own support, giving off during + its life products which returned immediately to the inorganic world; and + that, eventually, the constituent materials of the whole structure of both + animals and plants were thus returned to their original source: there was + a constant passage from one state of existence to another, and a returning + back again. + </p> + <p> + Lastly, when we endeavoured to form some notion of the nature of the + forces exercised by living beings, we discovered that they—if not + capable of being subjected to the same minute analysis as the constituents + of those beings themselves—that they were correlative with—that + they were the equivalents of the forces of inorganic nature—that + they were, in the sense in which the term is now used, convertible with + them. That was our general result. + </p> + <p> + And now, leaving the Present, I must endeavour in the same manner to put + before you the facts that are to be discovered in the Past history of the + living world, in the past conditions of organic nature. We have, to-night, + to deal with the facts of that history—a history involving periods + of time before which our mere human records sink into utter insignificance—a + history the variety and physical magnitude of whose events cannot even be + foreshadowed by the history of human life and human phenomena—a + history of the most varied and complex character. + </p> + <p> + We must deal with the history, then, in the first place, as we should deal + with all other histories. The historical student knows that his first + business should be to inquire into the validity of his evidence, and the + nature of the record in which the evidence is contained, that he may be + able to form a proper estimate of the correctness of the conclusions which + have been drawn from that evidence. So, here, we must pass, in the first + place, to the consideration of a matter which may seem foreign to the + question under discussion. We must dwell upon the nature of the records, + and the credibility of the evidence they contain; we must look to the + completeness or incompleteness of those records themselves, before we turn + to that which they contain and reveal. The question of the credibility of + the history, happily for us, will not require much consideration, for, in + this history, unlike those of human origin, there can be no cavilling, no + differences as to the reality and truth of the facts of which it is made + up; the facts state themselves, and are laid out clearly before us. + </p> + <p> + But, although one of the greatest difficulties of the historical student + is cleared out of our path, there are other difficulties—difficulties + in rightly interpreting the facts as they are presented to us—which + may be compared with the greatest difficulties of any other kinds of + historical study. + </p> + <p> + What is this record of the past history of the globe, and what are the + questions which are involved in an inquiry into its completeness or + incompleteness? That record is composed of mud; and the question which we + have to investigate this evening resolves itself into a question of the + formation of mud. You may think, perhaps, that this is a vast step—of + almost from the sublime to the ridiculous—from the contemplation of + the history of the past ages of the world's existence to the consideration + of the history of the formation of mud! But, in nature, there is nothing + mean and unworthy of attention; there is nothing ridiculous or + contemptible in any of her works; and this inquiry, you will soon see, I + hope, takes us to the very root and foundations of our subject. + </p> + <p> + How, then, is mud formed? Always, with some trifling exception, which I + need not consider now—always, as the result of the action of water, + wearing down and disintegrating the surface of the earth and rocks with + which it comes in contact—pounding and grinding it down, and + carrying the particles away to places where they cease to be disturbed by + this mechanical action, and where they can subside and rest. For the + ocean, urged by winds, washes, as we know, a long extent of coast, and + every wave, loaded as it is with particles of sand and gravel as it breaks + upon the shore, does something towards the disintegrating process. And + thus, slowly but surely, the hardest rocks are gradually ground down to a + powdery substance; and the mud thus formed, coarser or finer, as the case + may be, is carried by the rush of the tides, or currents, till it reaches + the comparatively deeper parts of the ocean, in which it can sink to the + bottom, that is, to parts where there is a depth of about fourteen or + fifteen fathoms, a depth at which the water is, usually, nearly + motionless, and in which, of course, the finer particles of this detritus, + or mud as we call it, sinks to the bottom. + </p> + <p> + Or, again, if you take a river, rushing down from its mountain sources, + brawling over the stones and rocks that intersect its path, loosening, + removing, and carrying with it in its downward course the pebbles and + lighter matters from its banks, it crushes and pounds down the rocks and + earths in precisely the same way as the wearing action of the sea waves. + The matters forming the deposit are torn from the mountain-side and + whirled impetuously into the valley, more slowly over the plain, thence + into the estuary, and from the estuary they are swept into the sea. The + coarser and heavier fragments are obviously deposited first, that is, as + soon as the current begins to lose its force by becoming amalgamated with + the stiller depths of the ocean, but the finer and lighter particles are + carried further on, and eventually deposited in a deeper and stiller + portion of the ocean. + </p> + <p> + It clearly follows from this that mud gives us a chronology; for it is + evident that supposing this, which I now sketch, to be the sea bottom, and + supposing this to be a coast-line; from the washing action of the sea upon + the rock, wearing and grinding it down into a sediment of mud, the mud + will be carried down, and at length, deposited in the deeper parts of this + sea bottom, where it will form a layer; and then, while that first layer + is hardening, other mud which is coming from the same source will, of + course, be carried to the same place; and, as it is quite impossible for + it to get beneath the layer already there, it deposits itself above it, + and forms another layer, and in that way you gradually have layers of mud + constantly forming and hardening one above the other, and conveying a + record of time. + </p> + <p> + It is a necessary result of the operation of the law of gravitation that + the uppermost layer shall be the youngest and the lowest the oldest, and + that the different beds shall be older at any particular point or spot in + exactly the ratio of their depth from the surface. So that if they were + upheaved afterwards, and you had a series of these different layers of + mud, converted into sandstone, or limestone, as the case might be, you + might be sure that the bottom layer was deposited first, and that the + upper layers were formed afterwards. Here, you see, is the first step in + the history—these layers of mud give us an idea of time. + </p> + <p> + The whole surface of the earth,—I speak broadly, and leave out minor + qualifications,—is made up of such layers of mud, so hard, the + majority of them, that we call them rock whether limestone or sandstone, + or other varieties of rock. And, seeing that every part of the crust of + the earth is made up in this way, you might think that the determination + of the chronology, the fixing of the time which it has taken to form this + crust is a comparatively simple matter. Take a broad average, ascertain + how fast the mud is deposited upon the bottom of the sea, or in the + estuary of rivers; take it to be an inch, or two, or three inches a year, + or whatever you may roughly estimate it at; then take the total thickness + of the whole series of stratified rocks, which geologists estimate at + twelve or thirteen miles, or about seventy thousand feet, make a sum in + short division, divide the total thickness by that of the quantity + deposited in one year, and the result will, of course, give you the number + of years which the crust has taken to form. + </p> + <p> + Truly, that looks a very simple process! It would be so except for certain + difficulties, the very first of which is that of finding how rapidly + sediments are deposited; but the main difficulty—a difficulty which + renders any certain calculations of such a matter out of the question—is + this, the sea-bottom on which the deposit takes place is continually + shifting. + </p> + <p> + Instead of the surface of the earth being that stable, fixed thing that it + is popularly believed to be, being, in common parlance, the very emblem of + fixity itself, it is incessantly moving, and is, in fact, as unstable as + the surface of the sea, except that its undulations are infinitely slower + and enormously higher and deeper. + </p> + <p> + Now, what is the effect of this oscillation? Take the case to which I have + previously referred. The finer or coarser sediments that are carried down + by the current of the river, will only be carried out a certain distance, + and eventually, as we have already seen, on reaching the stiller part of + the ocean, will be deposited at the bottom. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 4. Section through deposits on sea-bottom and shore.) + </p> + <p> + Let C y (Figure 4) be the sea-bottom, y D the shore, x y the sea-level, + then the coarser deposit will subside over the region B, the finer over A, + while beyond A there will be no deposit at all; and, consequently, no + record will be kept, simply because no deposit is going on. Now, suppose + that the whole land, C, D, which we have regarded as stationary, goes + down, as it does so, both A and B go further out from the shore, which + will be at yl; x1, y1, being the new sea-level. The consequence will be + that the layer of mud (A), being now, for the most part, further than the + force of the current is strong enough to convey even the finest 'debris', + will, of course, receive no more deposits, and having attained a certain + thickness will now grow no thicker. + </p> + <p> + We should be misled in taking the thickness of that layer, whenever it may + be exposed to our view, as a record of time in the manner in which we are + now regarding this subject, as it would give us only an imperfect and + partial record: it would seem to represent too short a period of time. + </p> + <p> + Suppose, on the other hand, that the land (C D) had gone on rising slowly + and gradually—say an inch or two inches in the course of a century,—what + would be the practical effect of that movement? Why, that the sediment A + and B which has been already deposited, would eventually be brought nearer + to the shore-level, and again subjected to the wear and tear of the sea; + and directly the sea begins to act upon it, it would of course soon cut up + and carry it away, to a greater or less extent, to be re-deposited further + out. + </p> + <p> + Well, as there is, in all probability, not one single spot on the whole + surface of the earth, which has not been up and down in this way a great + many times, it follows that the thickness of the deposits formed at any + particular spot cannot be taken (even supposing we had at first obtained + correct data as to the rate at which they took place) as affording + reliable information as to the period of time occupied in its deposit. So + that you see it is absolutely necessary from these facts, seeing that our + record entirely consists of accumulations of mud, superimposed one on the + other; seeing in the next place that any particular spots on which + accumulations have occurred, have been constantly moving up and down, and + sometimes out of the reach of a deposit, and at other times its own + deposit broken up and carried away, it follows that our record must be in + the highest degree imperfect, and we have hardly a trace left of thick + deposits, or any definite knowledge of the area that they occupied, in a + great many cases. And mark this! That supposing even that the whole + surface of the earth had been accessible to the geologist,—that man + had had access to every part of the earth, and had made sections of the + whole, and put them all together,—even then his record must of + necessity be imperfect. + </p> + <p> + But to how much has man really access? If you will look at this Map you + will see that it represents the proportion of the sea to the earth: this + coloured part indicates all the dry land, and this other portion is the + water. You will notice at once that the water covers three-fifths of the + whole surface of the globe, and has covered it in the same manner ever + since man has kept any record of his own observations, to say nothing of + the minute period during which he has cultivated geological inquiry. So + that three-fifths of the surface of the earth is shut out from us because + it is under the sea. Let us look at the other two-fifths, and see what are + the countries in which anything that may be termed searching geological + inquiry has been carried out: a good deal of France, Germany, and Great + Britain and Ireland, bits of Spain, of Italy, and of Russia, have been + examined, but of the whole great mass of Africa, except parts of the + southern extremity, we know next to nothing; little bits of India, but of + the greater part of the Asiatic continent nothing; bits of the Northern + American States and of Canada, but of the greater part of the continent of + North America, and in still larger proportion, of South America, nothing! + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances, it follows that even with reference to that + kind of imperfect information which we can possess, it is only of about + the ten-thousandth part of the accessible parts of the earth that has been + examined properly. Therefore, it is with justice that the most thoughtful + of those who are concerned in these inquiries insist continually upon the + imperfection of the geological record; for, I repeat, it is absolutely + necessary, from the nature of things, that that record should be of the + most fragmentary and imperfect character. Unfortunately this circumstance + has been constantly forgotten. Men of science, like young colts in a fresh + pasture, are apt to be exhilarated on being turned into a new field of + inquiry, to go off at a hand-gallop, in total disregard of hedges and + ditches, losing sight of the real limitation of their inquiries, and to + forget the extreme imperfection of what is really known. Geologists have + imagined that they could tell us what was going on at all parts of the + earth's surface during a given epoch; they have talked of this deposit + being contemporaneous with that deposit, until, from our little local + histories of the changes at limited spots of the earth's surface, they + have constructed a universal history of the globe as full of wonders and + portents as any other story of antiquity. + </p> + <p> + But what does this attempt to construct a universal history of the globe + imply? It implies that we shall not only have a precise knowledge of the + events which have occurred at any particular point, but that we shall be + able to say what events, at any one spot, took place at the same time with + those at other spots. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 5. Section through two beds of mud.) + </p> + <p> + Let us see how far that is in the nature of things practicable. Suppose + that here I make a section of the Lake of Killarney, and here the section + of another lake—that of Loch Lomond in Scotland for instance. The + rivers that flow into them are constantly carrying down deposits of mud, + and beds, or strata, are being as constantly formed, one above the other, + at the bottom of those lakes. Now, there is not a shadow of doubt that in + these two lakes the lower beds are all older than the upper—there is + no doubt about that; but what does 'this' tell us about the age of any + given bed in Loch Lomond, as compared with that of any given bed in the + Lake of Killarney? It is, indeed, obvious that if any two sets of deposits + are separated and discontinuous, there is absolutely no means whatever + given you by the nature of the deposit of saying whether one is much + younger or older than the other; but you may say, as many have said and + think, that the case is very much altered if the beds which we are + comparing are continuous. Suppose two beds of mud hardened into rock,—A + and B—are seen in section. (Figure 5.) + </p> + <p> + Well, you say, it is admitted that the lowermost bed is always the older. + Very well; B, therefore, is older than A. No doubt, 'as a whole', it is + so; or if any parts of the two beds which are in the same vertical line + are compared, it is so. But suppose you take what seems a very natural + step further, and say that the part 'a' of the bed A is younger than the + part 'b' of the bed B. Is this sound reasoning? If you find any record of + changes taking place at 'b', did they occur before any events which took + place while 'a' was being deposited? It looks all very plain sailing, + indeed, to say that they did; and yet there is no proof of anything of the + kind. As the former Director of this Institution, Sir H. De la Beche, long + ago showed, this reasoning may involve an entire fallacy. It is extremely + possible that 'a' may have been deposited ages before 'b'. It is very easy + to understand how that can be. To return to Figure 4; when A and B were + deposited, they were 'substantially' contemporaneous; A being simply the + finer deposit, and B the coarser of the same detritus or waste of land. + Now suppose that that sea-bottom goes down (as shown in Figure 4), so that + the first deposit is carried no farther than 'a', forming the bed Al, and + the coarse no farther than 'b', forming the bed B1, the result will be the + formation of two continuous beds, one of fine sediment (A A1) over-lapping + another of coarse sediment (B Bl). Now suppose the whole sea-bottom is + raised up, and a section exposed about the point Al; no doubt, AT THIS + SPOT, the upper bed is younger than the lower. But we should obviously + greatly err if we concluded that the mass of the upper bed at A was + younger than the lower bed at B; for we have just seen that they are + contemporaneous deposits. Still more should we be in error if we supposed + the upper bed at A to be younger than the continuation of the lower bed at + Bl; for A was deposited long before B1. In fine, if, instead of comparing + immediately adjacent parts of two beds, one of which lies upon another, we + compare distant parts, it is quite possible that the upper may be any + number of years older than the under, and the under any number of years + younger than the upper. + </p> + <p> + Now you must not suppose that I put this before you for the purpose of + raising a paradoxical difficulty; the fact is, that the great mass of + deposits have taken place in sea-bottoms which are gradually sinking, and + have been formed under the very conditions I am here supposing. + </p> + <p> + Do not run away with the notion that this subverts the principle I laid + down at first. The error lies in extending a principle which is perfectly + applicable to deposits in the same vertical line to deposits which are not + in that relation to one another. + </p> + <p> + It is in consequence of circumstances of this kind, and of others that I + might mention to you, that our conclusions on and interpretations of the + record are really and strictly only valid so long as we confine ourselves + to one vertical section. I do not mean to tell you that there are no + qualifying circumstances, so that, even in very considerable areas, we may + safely speak of conformably superimposed beds being older or younger than + others at many different points. But we can never be quite sure in coming + to that conclusion, and especially we cannot be sure if there is any break + in their continuity, or any very great distance between the points to be + compared. + </p> + <p> + Well now, so much for the record itself,—so much for its + imperfections,—so much for the conditions to be observed in + interpreting it, and its chronological indications, the moment we pass + beyond the limits of a vertical linear section. + </p> + <p> + Now let us pass from the record to that which it contains,—from the + book itself to the writing and the figures on its pages. This writing and + these figures consist of remains of animals and plants which, in the great + majority of cases, have lived and died in the very spot in which we now + find them, or at least in the immediate vicinity. You must all of you be + aware—and I referred to the fact in my last lecture—that there + are vast numbers of creatures living at the bottom of the sea. These + creatures, like all others, sooner or later die, and their shells and hard + parts lie at the bottom; and then the fine mud which is being constantly + brought down by rivers and the action of the wear and tear of the sea, + covers them over and protects them from any further change or alteration; + and, of course, as in process of time the mud becomes hardened and + solidified, the shells of these animals are preserved and firmly imbedded + in the limestone or sandstone which is being thus formed. You may see in + the galleries of the Museum up stairs specimens of limestones in which + such fossil remains of existing animals are imbedded. There are some + specimens in which turtles' eggs have been imbedded in calcareous sand, + and before the sun had hatched the young turtles, they became covered over + with calcareous mud, and thus have been preserved and fossilized. + </p> + <p> + Not only does this process of imbedding and fossilization occur with + marine and other aquatic animals and plants, but it affects those land + animals and plants which are drifted away to sea, or become buried in bogs + or morasses; and the animals which have been trodden down by their fellows + and crushed in the mud at the river's bank, as the herd have come to + drink. In any of these cases, the organisms may be crushed or be + mutilated, before or after putrefaction, in such a manner that perhaps + only a part will be left in the form in which it reaches us. It is, + indeed, a most remarkable fact, that it is quite an exceptional case to + find a skeleton of any one of all the thousands of wild land animals that + we know are constantly being killed, or dying in the course of nature: + they are preyed on and devoured by other animals or die in places where + their bodies are not afterwards protected by mud. There are other animals + existing in the sea, the shells of which form exceedingly large deposits. + You are probably aware that before the attempt was made to lay the + Atlantic telegraphic cable, the Government employed vessels in making a + series of very careful observations and soundings of the bottom of the + Atlantic; and although, as we must all regret, up to the present time that + project has not succeeded, we have the satisfaction of knowing that it + yielded some most remarkable results to science. The Atlantic Ocean had to + be sounded right across, to depths of several miles in some places, and + the nature of its bottom was carefully ascertained. Well, now, a space of + about 1,000 miles wide from east to west, and I do not exactly know how + many from north to south, but at any rate 600 or 700 miles, was carefully + examined, and it was found that over the whole of that immense area an + excessively fine chalky mud is being deposited; and this deposit is + entirely made up of animals whose hard parts are deposited in this part of + the ocean, and are doubtless gradually acquiring solidity and becoming + metamorphosed into a chalky limestone. Thus, you see, it is quite possible + in this way to preserve unmistakable records of animal and vegetable life. + Whenever the sea-bottom, by some of those undulations of the earth's crust + that I have referred to, becomes upheaved, and sections or borings are + made, or pits are dug, then we become able to examine the contents and + constituents of these ancient sea-bottoms, and find out what manner of + animals lived at that period. + </p> + <p> + Now it is a very important consideration in its bearing on the + completeness of the record, to inquire how far the remains contained in + these fossiliferous limestones are able to convey anything like an + accurate or complete account of the animals which were in existence at the + time of its formation. Upon that point we can form a very clear judgment, + and one in which there is no possible room for any mistake. There are of + course a great number of animals—such as jelly-fishes, and other + animals—without any hard parts, of which we cannot reasonably expect + to find any traces whatever: there is nothing of them to preserve. Within + a very short time, you will have noticed, after they are removed from the + water, they dry up to a mere nothing; certainly they are not of a nature + to leave any very visible traces of their existence on such bodies as + chalk or mud. Then again, look at land animals; it is, as I have said, a + very uncommon thing to find a land animal entire after death. Insects and + other carnivorous animals very speedily pull them to pieces, putrefaction + takes place, and so, out of the hundreds of thousands that are known to + die every year, it is the rarest thing in the world to see one imbedded in + such a way that its remains would be preserved for a lengthened period. + Not only is this the case, but even when animal remains have been safely + imbedded, certain natural agents may wholly destroy and remove them. + </p> + <p> + Almost all the hard parts of animals—the bones and so on—are + composed chiefly of phosphate of lime and carbonate of lime. Some years + ago, I had to make an inquiry into the nature of some very curious fossils + sent to me from the North of Scotland. Fossils are usually hard bony + structures that have become imbedded in the way I have described, and have + gradually acquired the nature and solidity of the body with which they are + associated; but in this case I had a series of 'holes' in some pieces of + rock, and nothing else. Those holes, however, had a certain definite shape + about them, and when I got a skilful workman to make castings of the + interior of these holes, I found that they were the impressions of the + joints of a backbone and of the armour of a great reptile, twelve or more + feet long. This great beast had died and got buried in the sand; the sand + had gradually hardened over the bones, but remained porous. Water had + trickled through it, and that water being probably charged with a + superfluity of carbonic acid, had dissolved all the phosphate and + carbonate of lime, and the bones themselves had thus decayed and entirely + disappeared; but as the sandstone happened to have consolidated by that + time, the precise shape of the bones was retained. If that sandstone had + remained soft a little longer, we should have known nothing whatsoever of + the existence of the reptile whose bones it had encased. + </p> + <p> + How certain it is that a vast number of animals which have existed at one + period on this earth have entirely perished, and left no trace whatever of + their forms, may be proved to you by other considerations. There are large + tracts of sandstone in various parts of the world, in which nobody has yet + found anything but footsteps. Not a bone of any description, but an + enormous number of traces of footsteps. There is no question about them. + There is a whole valley in Connecticut covered with these footsteps, and + not a single fragment of the animals which made them has yet been found. + Let me mention another case while upon that matter, which is even more + surprising than those to which I have yet referred. There is a limestone + formation near Oxford, at a place called Stonesfield, which has yielded + the remains of certain very interesting mammalian animals, and up to this + time, if I recollect rightly, there have been found seven specimens of its + lower jaws, and not a bit of anything else, neither limb-bones nor skull, + or any part whatever; not a fragment of the whole system! Of course, it + would be preposterous to imagine that the beasts had nothing else but a + lower jaw! The probability is, as Dr. Buckland showed, as the result of + his observations on dead dogs in the river Thames, that the lower jaw, not + being secured by very firm ligaments to the bones of the head, and being a + weighty affair, would easily be knocked off, or might drop away from the + body as it floated in water in a state of decomposition. The jaw would + thus be deposited immediately, while the rest of the body would float and + drift away altogether, ultimately reaching the sea, and perhaps becoming + destroyed. The jaw becomes covered up and preserved in the river silt, and + thus it comes that we have such a curious circumstance as that of the + lower jaws in the Stonesfield slates. So that, you see, faulty as these + layers of stone in the earth's crust are, defective as they necessarily + are as a record, the account of contemporaneous vital phenomena presented + by them is, by the necessity of the case, infinitely more defective and + fragmentary. + </p> + <p> + It was necessary that I should put all this very strongly before you, + because, otherwise, you might have been led to think differently of the + completeness of our knowledge by the next facts I shall state to you. + </p> + <p> + The researches of the last three-quarters of a century have, in truth, + revealed a wonderful richness of organic life in those rocks. Certainly + not fewer than thirty or forty thousand different species of fossils have + been discovered. You have no more ground for doubting that these creatures + really lived and died at or near the places in which we find them than you + have for like scepticism about a shell on the sea-shore. The evidence is + as good in the one case as in the other. + </p> + <p> + Our next business is to look at the general character of these fossil + remains, and it is a subject which it will be requisite to consider + carefully; and the first point for us is to examine how much the extinct + 'Flora' and 'Fauna' as a 'whole'—disregarding altogether the + 'succession' of their constituents, of which I shall speak afterwards—differ + from the 'Flora' and 'Fauna' of the present day;—how far they differ + in what we 'do' know about them, leaving altogether out of consideration + speculations based upon what we 'do not' know. + </p> + <p> + I strongly imagine that if it were not for the peculiar appearance that + fossilised animals have, any of you might readily walk through a museum + which contains fossil remains mixed up with those of the present forms of + life, and I doubt very much whether your uninstructed eyes would lead you + to see any vast or wonderful difference between the two. If you looked + closely, you would notice, in the first place, a great many things very + like animals with which you are acquainted now: you would see differences + of shape and proportion, but on the whole a close similarity. + </p> + <p> + I explained what I meant by ORDERS the other day, when I described the + animal kingdom as being divided in sub-kingdoms, classes and orders. If + you divide the animal kingdom into orders, you will find that there are + about one hundred and twenty. The number may vary on one side or the + other, but this is a fair estimate. That is the sum total of the orders of + all the animals which we know now, and which have been known in past + times, and left remains behind. + </p> + <p> + Now, how many of those are absolutely extinct? That is to say, how many of + these orders of animals have lived at a former period of the world's + history, but have at present no representatives? That is the sense in + which I meant to use the word "extinct." I mean that those animals did + live on this earth at one time, but have left no one of their kind with us + at the present moment. So that estimating the number of extinct animals is + a sort of way of comparing the past creation as a whole with the present + as a whole. Among the mammalia and birds there are none extinct; but when + we come to the reptiles there is a most wonderful thing: out of the eight + orders, or thereabouts, which you can make among reptiles, one-half are + extinct. These diagrams of the plesiosaurus, the ichthyosaurus, the + pterodactyle, give you a notion of some of these extinct reptiles. And + here is a cast of the pterodactyle and bones of the ichthyosaurus and the + plesiosaurus, just as fresh as if it had been recently dug up in a + churchyard. Thus, in the reptile class, there are no less than half of the + orders which are absolutely extinct. If we turn to the 'Amphibia', there + was one extinct order, the Labyrinthodonts, typified by the large + salamander-like beast shown in this diagram. + </p> + <p> + No order of fishes is known to be extinct. Every fish that we find in the + strata—to which I have been referring—can be identified and + placed in one of the orders which exist at the present day. There is not + known to be a single ordinal form of insect extinct. There are only two + orders extinct among the 'Crustacea'. There is not known to be an extinct + order of these creatures, the parasitic and other worms; but there are + two, not to say three, absolutely extinct orders of this class, the + 'Echinodermata'; out of all the orders of the 'Coelenterata' and + 'Protozoa' only one, the Rugose Corals. + </p> + <p> + So that, you see, out of somewhere about 120 orders of animals, taking + them altogether, you will not, at the outside estimate, find above ten or + a dozen extinct. Summing up all the orders of animals which have left + remains behind them, you will not find above ten or a dozen which cannot + be arranged with those of the present day; that is to say, that the + difference does not amount to much more than ten per cent.: and the + proportion of extinct orders of plants is still smaller. I think that that + is a very astounding, a most astonishing fact, seeing the enormous epochs + of time which have elapsed during the constitution of the surface of the + earth as it at present exists; it is, indeed, a most astounding thing that + the proportion of extinct ordinal types should be so exceedingly small. + </p> + <p> + But now, there is another point of view in which we must look at this past + creation. Suppose that we were to sink a vertical pit through the floor + beneath us, and that I could succeed in making a section right through in + the direction of New Zealand, I should find in each of the different beds + through which I passed the remains of animals which I should find in that + stratum and not in the others. First, I should come upon beds of gravel or + drift containing the bones of large animals, such as the elephant, + rhinoceros, and cave tiger. Rather curious things to fall across in + Piccadilly! If I should dig lower still, I should come upon a bed of what + we call the London clay, and in this, as you will see in our galleries + upstairs, are found remains of strange cattle, remains of turtles, palms, + and large tropical fruits; with shell-fish such as you see the like of now + only in tropical regions. If I went below that, I should come upon the + chalk, and there I should find something altogether different, the remains + of ichthyosauri and pterodactyles, and ammonites, and so forth. + </p> + <p> + I do not know what Mr. Godwin Austin would say comes next, but probably + rocks containing more ammonites, and more ichthyosauri and plesiosauri, + with a vast number of other things; and under that I should meet with yet + older rocks, containing numbers of strange shells and fishes; and in thus + passing from the surface to the lowest depths of the earth's crust, the + forms of animal life and vegetable life which I should meet with in the + successive beds would, looking at them broadly, be the more different the + further that I went down. Or, in other words, inasmuch as we started with + the clear principle, that in a series of naturally-disposed mud beds the + lowest are the oldest, we should come to this result, that the further we + go back in time the more difference exists between the animal and + vegetable life of an epoch and that which now exists. That was the + conclusion to which I wished to bring you at the end of this Lecture. + </p> + <p> + End of The Past Condition of Organic Nature. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST CONDITIONS OF + ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.—THE ORIGINATION OF LIVING + BEINGS. + </h2> + <p> + In the two preceding lectures I have endeavoured to indicate to you the + extent of the subject-matter of the inquiry upon which we are engaged; and + now, having thus acquired some conception of the Past and Present + phenomena of Organic Nature, I must now turn to that which constitutes the + great problem which we have set before ourselves;—I mean, the + question of what knowledge we have of the causes of these phenomena of + organic nature, and how such knowledge is obtainable. + </p> + <p> + Here, on the threshold of the inquiry, an objection meets us. There are in + the world a number of extremely worthy, well-meaning persons, whose + judgments and opinions are entitled to the utmost respect on account of + their sincerity, who are of opinion that Vital Phenomena, and especially + all questions relating to the origin of vital phenomena, are questions + quite apart from the ordinary run of inquiry, and are, by their very + nature, placed out of our reach. They say that all these phenomena + originated miraculously, or in some way totally different from the + ordinary course of nature, and that therefore they conceive it to be + futile, not to say presumptuous, to attempt to inquire into them. + </p> + <p> + To such sincere and earnest persons, I would only say, that a question of + this kind is not to be shelved upon theoretical or speculative grounds. + You may remember the story of the Sophist who demonstrated to Diogenes in + the most complete and satisfactory manner that he could not walk; that, in + fact, all motion was an impossibility; and that Diogenes refuted him by + simply getting up and walking round his tub. So, in the same way, the man + of science replies to objections of this kind, by simply getting up and + walking onward, and showing what science has done and is doing—by + pointing to that immense mass of facts which have been ascertained and + systematized under the forms of the great doctrines of Morphology, of + Development, of Distribution, and the like. He sees an enormous mass of + facts and laws relating to organic beings, which stand on the same good + sound foundation as every other natural law; and therefore, with this mass + of facts and laws before us, therefore, seeing that, as far as organic + matters have hitherto been accessible and studied, they have shown + themselves capable of yielding to scientific investigation, we may accept + this as proof that order and law reign there as well as in the rest of + nature; and the man of science says nothing to objectors of this sort, but + supposes that we can and shall walk to a knowledge of the origin of + organic nature, in the same way that we have walked to a knowledge of the + laws and principles of the inorganic world. + </p> + <p> + But there are objectors who say the same from ignorance and ill-will. To + such I would reply that the objection comes ill from them, and that the + real presumption, I may almost say the real blasphemy, in this matter, is + in the attempt to limit that inquiry into the causes of phenomena which is + the source of all human blessings, and from which has sprung all human + prosperity and progress; for, after all, we can accomplish comparatively + little; the limited range of our own faculties bounds us on every side,—the + field of our powers of observation is small enough, and he who endeavours + to narrow the sphere of our inquiries is only pursuing a course that is + likely to produce the greatest harm to his fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + But now, assuming, as we all do, I hope, that these phenomena are properly + accessible to inquiry, and setting out upon our search into the causes of + the phenomena of organic nature, or, at any rate, setting out to discover + how much we at present know upon these abstruse matters, the question + arises as to what is to be our course of proceeding, and what method we + must lay down for our guidance. I reply to that question, that our method + must be exactly the same as that which is pursued in any other scientific + inquiry, the method of scientific investigation being the same for all + orders of facts and phenomena whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + I must dwell a little on this point, for I wish you to leave this room + with a very clear conviction that scientific investigation is not, as many + people seem to suppose, some kind of modern black art. I say that you + might easily gather this impression from the manner in which many persons + speak of scientific inquiry, or talk about inductive and deductive + philosophy, or the principles of the "Baconian philosophy." I do protest + that, of the vast number of cants in this world, there are none, to my + mind, so contemptible as the pseudoscientific cant which is talked about + the "Baconian philosophy." + </p> + <p> + To hear people talk about the great Chancellor—and a very great man + he certainly was,—you would think that it was he who had invented + science, and that there was no such thing as sound reasoning before the + time of Queen Elizabeth. Of course you say, that cannot possibly be true; + you perceive, on a moment's reflection, that such an idea is absurdly + wrong, and yet, so firmly rooted is this sort of impression,—I + cannot call it an idea, or conception,—the thing is too absurd to be + entertained,—but so completely does it exist at the bottom of most + men's minds, that this has been a matter of observation with me for many + years past. There are many men who, though knowing absolutely nothing of + the subject with which they may be dealing, wish, nevertheless, to damage + the author of some view with which they think fit to disagree. What they + do, then, is not to go and learn something about the subject, which one + would naturally think the best way of fairly dealing with it; but they + abuse the originator of the view they question, in a general manner, and + wind up by saying that, "After all, you know, the principles and method of + this author are totally opposed to the canons of the Baconian philosophy." + Then everybody applauds, as a matter of course, and agrees that it must be + so. But if you were to stop them all in the middle of their applause, you + would probably find that neither the speaker nor his applauders could tell + you how or in what way it was so; neither the one nor the other having the + slightest idea of what they mean when they speak of the "Baconian + philosophy." + </p> + <p> + You will understand, I hope, that I have not the slightest desire to join + in the outcry against either the morals, the intellect, or the great + genius of Lord Chancellor Bacon. He was undoubtedly a very great man, let + people say what they will of him; but notwithstanding all that he did for + philosophy, it would be entirely wrong to suppose that the methods of + modern scientific inquiry originated with him, or with his age; they + originated with the first man, whoever he was; and indeed existed long + before him, for many of the essential processes of reasoning are exerted + by the higher order of brutes as completely and effectively as by + ourselves. We see in many of the brute creation the exercise of one, at + least, of the same powers of reasoning as that which we ourselves employ. + </p> + <p> + The method of scientific investigation is nothing but the expression of + the necessary mode of working of the human mind. It is simply the mode at + which all phenomena are reasoned about, rendered precise and exact. There + is no more difference, but there is just the same kind of difference, + between the mental operations of a man of science and those of an ordinary + person, as there is between the operations and methods of a baker or of a + butcher weighing out his goods in common scales, and the operations of a + chemist in performing a difficult and complex analysis by means of his + balance and finely-graduated weights. It is not that the action of the + scales in the one case, and the balance in the other, differ in the + principles of their construction or manner of working; but the beam of one + is set on an infinitely finer axis than the other, and of course turns by + the addition of a much smaller weight. + </p> + <p> + You will understand this better, perhaps, if I give you some familiar + example. You have all heard it repeated, I dare say, that men of science + work by means of Induction and Deduction, and that by the help of these + operations, they, in a sort of sense, wring from Nature certain other + things, which are called Natural Laws, and Causes, and that out of these, + by some cunning skill of their own, they build up Hypotheses and Theories. + And it is imagined by many, that the operations of the common mind can be + by no means compared with these processes, and that they have to be + acquired by a sort of special apprenticeship to the craft. To hear all + these large words, you would think that the mind of a man of science must + be constituted differently from that of his fellow men; but if you will + not be frightened by terms, you will discover that you are quite wrong, + and that all these terrible apparatus are being used by yourselves every + day and every hour of your lives. + </p> + <p> + There is a well-known incident in one of Moliere's plays, where the author + makes the hero express unbounded delight on being told that he had been + talking prose during the whole of his life. In the same way, I trust, that + you will take comfort, and be delighted with yourselves, on the discovery + that you have been acting on the principles of inductive and deductive + philosophy during the same period. Probably there is not one here who has + not in the course of the day had occasion to set in motion a complex train + of reasoning, of the very same kind, though differing of course in degree, + as that which a scientific man goes through in tracing the causes of + natural phenomena. + </p> + <p> + A very trivial circumstance will serve to exemplify this. Suppose you go + into a fruiterer's shop, wanting an apple,—you take up one, and, on + biting it, you find it is sour; you look at it, and see that it is hard + and green. You take up another one, and that too is hard, green, and sour. + The shopman offers you a third; but, before biting it, you examine it, and + find that it is hard and green, and you immediately say that you will not + have it, as it must be sour, like those that you have already tried. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be more simple than that, you think; but if you will take the + trouble to analyze and trace out into its logical elements what has been + done by the mind, you will be greatly surprised. In the first place, you + have performed the operation of INDUCTION. You found that, in two + experiences, hardness and greenness in apples go together with sourness. + It was so in the first case, and it was confirmed by the second. True, it + is a very small basis, but still it is enough to make an induction from; + you generalize the facts, and you expect to find sourness in apples where + you get hardness and greenness. You found upon that a general law, that + all hard and green apples are sour; and that, so far as it goes, is a + perfect induction. Well, having got your natural law in this way, when you + are offered another apple which you find is hard and green, you say, "All + hard and green apples are sour; this apple is hard and green, therefore + this apple is sour." That train of reasoning is what logicians call a + syllogism, and has all its various parts and terms,—its major + premiss, its minor premiss, and its conclusion. And, by the help of + further reasoning, which, if drawn out, would have to be exhibited in two + or three other syllogisms, you arrive at your final determination, "I will + not have that apple." So that, you see, you have, in the first place, + established a law by Induction, and upon that you have founded a + Deduction, and reasoned out the special conclusion of the particular case. + Well now, suppose, having got your law, that at some time afterwards, you + are discussing the qualities of apples with a friend: you will say to him, + "It is a very curious thing,—but I find that all hard and green + apples are sour!" Your friend says to you, "But how do you know that?" You + at once reply, "Oh, because I have tried it over and over again, and have + always found them to be so." Well, if we were talking science instead of + common sense, we should call that an Experimental Verification. And, if + still opposed, you go further, and say, "I have heard from the people in + Somersetshire and Devonshire, where a large number of apples are grown, + that they have observed the same thing. It is also found to be the case in + Normandy, and in North America. In short, I find it to be the universal + experience of mankind wherever attention has been directed to the + subject." Whereupon, your friend, unless he is a very unreasonable man, + agrees with you, and is convinced that you are quite right in the + conclusion you have drawn. He believes, although perhaps he does not know + he believes it, that the more extensive Verifications are,—that the + more frequently experiments have been made, and results of the same kind + arrived at,—that the more varied the conditions under which the same + results have been attained, the more certain is the ultimate conclusion, + and he disputes the question no further. He sees that the experiment has + been tried under all sorts of conditions, as to time, place, and people, + with the same result; and he says with you, therefore, that the law you + have laid down must be a good one, and he must believe it. + </p> + <p> + In science we do the same thing;—the philosopher exercises precisely + the same faculties, though in a much more delicate manner. In scientific + inquiry it becomes a matter of duty to expose a supposed law to every + possible kind of verification, and to take care, moreover, that this is + done intentionally, and not left to a mere accident, as in the case of the + apples. And in science, as in common life, our confidence in a law is in + exact proportion to the absence of variation in the result of our + experimental verifications. For instance, if you let go your grasp of an + article you may have in your hand, it will immediately fall to the ground. + That is a very common verification of one of the best established laws of + nature—that of gravitation. The method by which men of science + establish the existence of that law is exactly the same as that by which + we have established the trivial proposition about the sourness of hard and + green apples. But we believe it in such an extensive, thorough, and + unhesitating manner because the universal experience of mankind verifies + it, and we can verify it ourselves at any time; and that is the strongest + possible foundation on which any natural law can rest. + </p> + <p> + So much by way of proof that the method of establishing laws in science is + exactly the same as that pursued in common life. Let us now turn to + another matter (though really it is but another phase of the same + question), and that is, the method by which, from the relations of certain + phenomena, we prove that some stand in the position of causes towards the + others. + </p> + <p> + I want to put the case clearly before you, and I will therefore show you + what I mean by another familiar example. I will suppose that one of you, + on coming down in the morning to the parlour of your house, finds that a + tea-pot and some spoons which had been left in the room on the previous + evening are gone,—the window is open, and you observe the mark of a + dirty hand on the window-frame, and perhaps, in addition to that, you + notice the impress of a hob-nailed shoe on the gravel outside. All these + phenomena have struck your attention instantly, and before two minutes + have passed you say, "Oh, somebody has broken open the window, entered the + room, and run off with the spoons and the tea-pot!" That speech is out of + your mouth in a moment. And you will probably add, "I know there has; I am + quite sure of it!" You mean to say exactly what you know; but in reality + what you have said has been the expression of what is, in all essential + particulars, an Hypothesis. You do not 'know' it at all; it is nothing but + an hypothesis rapidly framed in your own mind! And it is an hypothesis + founded on a long train of inductions and deductions. + </p> + <p> + What are those inductions and deductions, and how have you got at this + hypothesis? You have observed, in the first place, that the window is + open; but by a train of reasoning involving many Inductions and + Deductions, you have probably arrived long before at the General Law—and + a very good one it is—that windows do not open of themselves; and + you therefore conclude that something has opened the window. A second + general law that you have arrived at in the same way is, that tea-pots and + spoons do not go out of a window spontaneously, and you are satisfied + that, as they are not now where you left them, they have been removed. In + the third place, you look at the marks on the window-sill, and the + shoemarks outside, and you say that in all previous experience the former + kind of mark has never been produced by anything else but the hand of a + human being; and the same experience shows that no other animal but man at + present wears shoes with hob-nails on them such as would produce the marks + in the gravel. I do not know, even if we could discover any of those + "missing links" that are talked about, that they would help us to any + other conclusion! At any rate the law which states our present experience + is strong enough for my present purpose.—You next reach the + conclusion, that as these kinds of marks have not been left by any other + animals than men, or are liable to be formed in any other way than by a + man's hand and shoe, the marks in question have been formed by a man in + that way. You have, further, a general law, founded on observation and + experience, and that, too, is, I am sorry to say, a very universal and + unimpeachable one,—that some men are thieves; and you assume at once + from all these premisses—and that is what constitutes your + hypothesis—that the man who made the marks outside and on the + window-sill, opened the window, got into the room, and stole your tea-pot + and spoons. You have now arrived at a 'Vera Causa';—you have assumed + a Cause which it is plain is competent to produce all the phenomena you + have observed. You can explain all these phenomena only by the hypothesis + of a thief. But that is a hypothetical conclusion, of the justice of which + you have no absolute proof at all; it is only rendered highly probable by + a series of inductive and deductive reasonings. + </p> + <p> + I suppose your first action, assuming that you are a man of ordinary + common sense, and that you have established this hypothesis to your own + satisfaction, will very likely be to go off for the police, and set them + on the track of the burglar, with the view to the recovery of your + property. But just as you are starting with this object, some person comes + in, and on learning what you are about, says, "My good friend, you are + going on a great deal too fast. How do you know that the man who really + made the marks took the spoons? It might have been a monkey that took + them, and the man may have merely looked in afterwards." You would + probably reply, "Well, that is all very well, but you see it is contrary + to all experience of the way tea-pots and spoons are abstracted; so that, + at any rate, your hypothesis is less probable than mine." While you are + talking the thing over in this way, another friend arrives, one of that + good kind of people that I was talking of a little while ago. And he might + say, "Oh, my dear sir, you are certainly going on a great deal too fast. + You are most presumptuous. You admit that all these occurrences took place + when you were fast asleep, at a time when you could not possibly have + known anything about what was taking place. How do you know that the laws + of Nature are not suspended during the night? It may be that there has + been some kind of supernatural interference in this case." In point of + fact, he declares that your hypothesis is one of which you cannot at all + demonstrate the truth, and that you are by no means sure that the laws of + Nature are the same when you are asleep as when you are awake. + </p> + <p> + Well, now, you cannot at the moment answer that kind of reasoning. You + feel that your worthy friend has you somewhat at a disadvantage. You will + feel perfectly convinced in your own mind, however, that you are quite + right, and you say to him, "My good friend, I can only be guided by the + natural probabilities of the case, and if you will be kind enough to stand + aside and permit me to pass, I will go and fetch the police." Well, we + will suppose that your journey is successful, and that by good luck you + meet with a policeman; that eventually the burglar is found with your + property on his person, and the marks correspond to his hand and to his + boots. Probably any jury would consider those facts a very good + experimental verification of your hypothesis, touching the cause of the + abnormal phenomena observed in your parlour, and would act accordingly. + </p> + <p> + Now, in this supposititious case, I have taken phenomena of a very common + kind, in order that you might see what are the different steps in an + ordinary process of reasoning, if you will only take the trouble to + analyse it carefully. All the operations I have described, you will see, + are involved in the mind of any man of sense in leading him to a + conclusion as to the course he should take in order to make good a robbery + and punish the offender. I say that you are led, in that case, to your + conclusion by exactly the same train of reasoning as that which a man of + science pursues when he is endeavouring to discover the origin and laws of + the most occult phenomena. The process is, and always must be, the same; + and precisely the same mode of reasoning was employed by Newton and + Laplace in their endeavours to discover and define the causes of the + movements of the heavenly bodies, as you, with your own common sense, + would employ to detect a burglar. The only difference is, that the nature + of the inquiry being more abstruse, every step has to be most carefully + watched, so that there may not be a single crack or flaw in your + hypothesis. A flaw or crack in many of the hypotheses of daily life may be + of little or no moment as affecting the general correctness of the + conclusions at which we may arrive; but, in a scientific inquiry, a + fallacy, great or small, is always of importance, and is sure to be + constantly productive of mischievous, if not fatal results. + </p> + <p> + Do not allow yourselves to be misled by the common notion that an + hypothesis is untrustworthy simply because it is an hypothesis. It is + often urged, in respect to some scientific conclusion, that, after all, it + is only an hypothesis. But what more have we to guide us in nine-tenths of + the most important affairs of daily life than hypotheses, and often very + ill-based ones? So that in science, where the evidence of an hypothesis is + subjected to the most rigid examination, we may rightly pursue the same + course. You may have hypotheses and hypotheses. A man may say, if he + likes, that the moon is made of green cheese: that is an hypothesis. But + another man, who has devoted a great deal of time and attention to the + subject, and availed himself of the most powerful telescopes and the + results of the observations of others, declares that in his opinion it is + probably composed of materials very similar to those of which our own + earth is made up: and that is also only an hypothesis. But I need not tell + you that there is an enormous difference in the value of the two + hypotheses. That one which is based on sound scientific knowledge is sure + to have a corresponding value; and that which is a mere hasty random guess + is likely to have but little value. Every great step in our progress in + discovering causes has been made in exactly the same way as that which I + have detailed to you. A person observing the occurrence of certain facts + and phenomena asks, naturally enough, what process, what kind of operation + known to occur in nature applied to the particular case, will unravel and + explain the mystery? Hence you have the scientific hypothesis; and its + value will be proportionate to the care and completeness with which its + basis had been tested and verified. It is in these matters as in the + commonest affairs of practical life: the guess of the fool will be folly, + while the guess of the wise man will contain wisdom. In all cases, you see + that the value of the result depends on the patience and faithfulness with + which the investigator applies to his hypothesis every possible kind of + verification. + </p> + <p> + I dare say I may have to return to this point by-and-by; but having dealt + thus far with our logical methods, I must now turn to something which, + perhaps, you may consider more interesting, or, at any rate, more + tangible. But in reality there are but few things that can be more + important for you to understand than the mental processes and the means by + which we obtain scientific conclusions and theories.* ([Footnote] *Those + who wish to study fully the doctrines of which I have endeavoured to give + some rough and ready illustrations, must read Mr. John Stuart Mill's + 'System of Logic'.) Having granted that the inquiry is a proper one, and + having determined on the nature of the methods we are to pursue and which + only can lead to success, I must now turn to the consideration of our + knowledge of the nature of the processes which have resulted in the + present condition of organic nature. + </p> + <p> + Here, let me say at once, lest some of you misunderstand me, that I have + extremely little to report. The question of how the present condition of + organic nature came about, resolves itself into two questions. The first + is: How has organic or living matter commenced its existence? And the + second is: How has it been perpetuated? On the second question I shall + have more to say hereafter. But on the first one, what I now have to say + will be for the most part of a negative character. + </p> + <p> + If you consider what kind of evidence we can have upon this matter, it + will resolve itself into two kinds. We may have historical evidence and we + may have experimental evidence. It is, for example, conceivable, that + inasmuch as the hardened mud which forms a considerable portion of the + thickness of the earth's crust contains faithful records of the past forms + of life, and inasmuch as these differ more and more as we go further down,—it + is possible and conceivable that we might come to some particular bed or + stratum which should contain the remains of those creatures with which + organic life began upon the earth. And if we did so, and if such forms of + organic life were preservable, we should have what I would call historical + evidence of the mode in which organic life began upon this planet. Many + persons will tell you, and indeed you will find it stated in many works on + geology, that this has been done, and that we really possess such a + record; there are some who imagine that the earliest forms of life of + which we have as yet discovered any record, are in truth the forms in + which animal life began upon the globe. The grounds on which they base + that supposition are these:—That if you go through the enormous + thickness of the earth's crust and get down to the older rocks, the higher + vertebrate animals—the quadrupeds, birds, and fishes—cease to + be found; beneath them you find only the invertebrate animals; and in the + deepest and lowest rocks those remains become scantier and scantier, not + in any very gradual progression, however, until, at length, in what are + supposed to be the oldest rocks, the animal remains which are found are + almost always confined to four forms—'Oldhamia', whose precise + nature is not known, whether plant or animal; 'Lingula', a kind of + mollusc; 'Trilobites', a crustacean animal, having the same essential plan + of construction, though differing in many details from a lobster or crab; + and Hymenocaris, which is also a crustacean. So that you have all the + 'Fauna' reduced, at this period, to four forms: one a kind of animal or + plant that we know nothing about, and three undoubted animals—two + crustaceans and one mollusc. + </p> + <p> + I think, considering the organization of these mollusca and crustacea, and + looking at their very complex nature, that it does indeed require a very + strong imagination to conceive that these were the first created of all + living things. And you must take into consideration the fact that we have + not the slightest proof that these which we call the oldest beds are + really so: I repeat, we have not the slightest proof of it. When you find + in some places that in an enormous thickness of rocks there are but very + scanty traces of life, or absolutely none at all; and that in other parts + of the world rocks of the very same formation are crowded with the records + of living forms, I think it is impossible to place any reliance on the + supposition, or to feel oneself justified in supposing that these are the + forms in which life first commenced. I have not time here to enter upon + the technical grounds upon which I am led to this conclusion,—that + could hardly be done properly in half a dozen lectures on that part alone;—I + must content myself with saying that I do not at all believe that these + are the oldest forms of life. + </p> + <p> + I turn to the experimental side to see what evidence we have there. To + enable us to say that we know anything about the experimental origination + of organization and life, the investigator ought to be able to take + inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and salines, in + any sort of inorganic combination, and be able to build them up into + Protein matter, and that that Protein matter ought to begin to live in an + organic form. That, nobody has done as yet, and I suspect it will be a + long while before anybody does do it. But the thing is by no means so + impossible as it looks; for the researches of modern chemistry have shown + us—I won't say the road towards it, but, if I may so say, they have + shown the finger-post pointing to the road that may lead to it. + </p> + <p> + It is not many years ago—and you must recollect that Organic + Chemistry is a young science, not above a couple of generations old,—you + must not expect too much of it; it is not many years ago since it was said + to be perfectly impossible to fabricate any organic compound; that is to + say, any non-mineral compound which is to be found in an organized being. + It remained so for a very long period; but it is now a considerable number + of years since a distinguished foreign chemist contrived to fabricate + Urea, a substance of a very complex character, which forms one of the + waste products of animal structures. And of late years a number of other + compounds, such as Butyric Acid, and others, have been added to the list. + I need not tell you that chemistry is an enormous distance from the goal I + indicate; all I wish to point out to you is, that it is by no means safe + to say that that goal may not be reached one day. It may be that it is + impossible for us to produce the conditions requisite to the origination + of life; but we must speak modestly about the matter, and recollect that + Science has put her foot upon the bottom round of the ladder. Truly he + would be a bold man who would venture to predict where she will be fifty + years hence. + </p> + <p> + There is another inquiry which bears indirectly upon this question, and + upon which I must say a few words. You are all of you aware of the + phenomena of what is called spontaneous generation. Our forefathers, down + to the seventeenth century, or thereabouts, all imagined, in perfectly + good faith, that certain vegetable and animal forms gave birth, in the + process of their decomposition, to insect life. Thus, if you put a piece + of meat in the sun, and allowed it to putrefy, they conceived that the + grubs which soon began to appear were the result of the action of a power + of spontaneous generation which the meat contained. And they could give + you receipts for making various animal and vegetable preparations which + would produce particular kinds of animals. A very distinguished Italian + naturalist, named Redi, took up the question, at a time when everybody + believed in it; among others our own great Harvey, the discoverer of the + circulation of the blood. You will constantly find his name quoted, + however, as an opponent of the doctrine of spontaneous generation; but the + fact is, and you will see it if you will take the trouble to look into his + works, Harvey believed it as profoundly as any man of his time; but he + happened to enunciate a very curious proposition—that every living + thing came from an 'egg'; he did not mean to use the word in the sense in + which we now employ it, he only meant to say that every living thing + originated in a little rounded particle of organized substance; and it is + from this circumstance, probably, that the notion of Harvey having opposed + the doctrine originated. Then came Redi, and he proceeded to upset the + doctrine in a very simple manner. He merely covered the piece of meat with + some very fine gauze, and then he exposed it to the same conditions. The + result of this was that no grubs or insects were produced; he proved that + the grubs originated from the insects who came and deposited their eggs in + the meat, and that they were hatched by the heat of the sun. By this kind + of inquiry he thoroughly upset the doctrine of spontaneous generation, for + his time at least. + </p> + <p> + Then came the discovery and application of the microscope to scientific + inquiries, which showed to naturalists that besides the organisms which + they already knew as living beings and plants, there were an immense + number of minute things which could be obtained apparently almost at will + from decaying vegetable and animal forms. Thus, if you took some ordinary + black pepper or some hay, and steeped it in water, you would find in the + course of a few days that the water had become impregnated with an immense + number of animalcules swimming about in all directions. From facts of this + kind naturalists were led to revive the theory of spontaneous generation. + They were headed here by an English naturalist,—Needham,—and + afterwards in France by the learned Buffon. They said that these things + were absolutely begotten in the water of the decaying substances out of + which the infusion was made. It did not matter whether you took animal or + vegetable matter, you had only to steep it in water and expose it, and you + would soon have plenty of animalcules. They made an hypothesis about this + which was a very fair one. They said, this matter of the animal world, or + of the higher plants, appears to be dead, but in reality it has a sort of + dim life about it, which, if it is placed under fair conditions, will + cause it to break up into the forms of these little animalcules, and they + will go through their lives in the same way as the animal or plant of + which they once formed a part. + </p> + <p> + The question now became very hotly debated. Spallanzani, an Italian + naturalist, took up opposite views to those of Needham and Buffon, and by + means of certain experiments he showed that it was quite possible to stop + the process by boiling the water, and closing the vessel in which it was + contained. "Oh!" said his opponents; "but what do you know you may be + doing when you heat the air over the water in this way? You may be + destroying some property of the air requisite for the spontaneous + generation of the animalcules." + </p> + <p> + However, Spallanzani's views were supposed to be upon the right side, and + those of the others fell into discredit; although the fact was that + Spallanzani had not made good his views. Well, then, the subject continued + to be revived from time to time, and experiments were made by several + persons; but these experiments were not altogether satisfactory. It was + found that if you put an infusion in which animalcules would appear if it + were exposed to the air into a vessel and boiled it, and then sealed up + the mouth of the vessel, so that no air, save such as had been heated to + 212 degrees, could reach its contents, that then no animalcules would be + found; but if you took the same vessel and exposed the infusion to the + air, then you would get animalcules. Furthermore, it was found that if you + connected the mouth of the vessel with a red-hot tube in such a way that + the air would have to pass through the tube before reaching the infusion, + that then you would get no animalcules. Yet another thing was noticed: if + you took two flasks containing the same kind of infusion, and left one + entirely exposed to the air, and in the mouth of the other placed a ball + of cotton wool, so that the air would have to filter itself through it + before reaching the infusion, that then, although you might have plenty of + animalcules in the first flask, you would certainly obtain none from the + second. + </p> + <p> + These experiments, you see, all tended towards one conclusion—that + the infusoria were developed from little minute spores or eggs which were + constantly floating in the atmosphere, which lose their power of + germination if subjected to heat. But one observer now made another + experiment which seemed to go entirely the other way, and puzzled him + altogether. He took some of this boiled infusion that I have been speaking + of, and by the use of a mercurial bath—a kind of trough used in + laboratories—he deftly inverted a vessel containing the infusion + into the mercury, so that the latter reached a little beyond the level of + the mouth of the 'inverted' vessel. You see that he thus had a quantity of + the infusion shut off from any possible communication with the outer air + by being inverted upon a bed of mercury. + </p> + <p> + He then prepared some pure oxygen and nitrogen gases, and passed them by + means of a tube going from the outside of the vessel, up through the + mercury into the infusion; so that he thus had it exposed to a perfectly + pure atmosphere of the same constituents as the external air. Of course, + he expected he would get no infusorial animalcules at all in that + infusion; but, to his great dismay and discomfiture, he found he almost + always did get them. + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, it has been found that experiments made in the manner + described above answer well with most infusions; but that if you fill the + vessel with boiled milk, and then stop the neck with cotton-wool, you + 'will' have infusoria. So that you see there were two experiments that + brought you to one kind of conclusion, and three to another; which was a + most unsatisfactory state of things to arrive at in a scientific inquiry. + </p> + <p> + Some few years after this, the question began to be very hotly discussed + in France. There was M. Pouchet, a professor at Rouen, a very learned man, + but certainly not a very rigid experimentalist. He published a number of + experiments of his own, some of which were very ingenious, to show that if + you went to work in a proper way, there was a truth in the doctrine of + spontaneous generation. Well, it was one of the most fortunate things in + the world that M. Pouchet took up this question, because it induced a + distinguished French chemist, M. Pasteur, to take up the question on the + other side; and he has certainly worked it out in the most perfect manner. + I am glad to say, too, that he has published his researches in time to + enable me to give you an account of them. He verified all the experiments + which I have just mentioned to you—and then finding those + extraordinary anomalies, as in the case of the mercury bath and the milk, + he set himself to work to discover their nature. In the case of milk he + found it to be a question of temperature. Milk in a fresh state is + slightly alkaline; and it is a very curious circumstance, but this very + slight degree of alkalinity seems to have the effect of preserving the + organisms which fall into it from the air from being destroyed at a + temperature of 212 degrees, which is the boiling point. But if you raise + the temperature 10 degrees when you boil it, the milk behaves like + everything else; and if the air with which it comes in contact, after + being boiled at this temperature, is passed through a red-hot tube, you + will not get a trace of organisms. + </p> + <p> + He then turned his attention to the mercury bath, and found on examination + that the surface of the mercury was almost always covered with a very fine + dust. He found that even the mercury itself was positively full of organic + matters; that from being constantly exposed to the air, it had collected + an immense number of these infusorial organisms from the air. Well, under + these circumstances he felt that the case was quite clear, and that the + mercury was not what it had appeared to M. Schwann to be,—a bar to + the admission of these organisms; but that, in reality, it acted as a + reservoir from which the infusion was immediately supplied with the large + quantity that had so puzzled him. + </p> + <p> + But not content with explaining the experiments of others, M. Pasteur went + to work to satisfy himself completely. He said to himself: "If my view is + right, and if, in point of fact, all these appearances of spontaneous + generation are altogether due to the falling of minute germs suspended in + the atmosphere,—why, I ought not only to be able to show the germs, + but I ought to be able to catch and sow them, and produce the resulting + organisms." He, accordingly, constructed a very ingenious apparatus to + enable him to accomplish this trapping of this "germ dust" in the air. He + fixed in the window of his room a glass tube, in the centre of which he + had placed a ball of gun-cotton, which, as you all know, is ordinary + cotton-wool, which, from having been steeped in strong acid, is converted + into a substance of great explosive power. It is also soluble in alcohol + and ether. One end of the glass tube was, of course, open to the external + air; and at the other end of it he placed an aspirator, a contrivance for + causing a current of the external air to pass through the tube. He kept + this apparatus going for four-and-twenty hours, and then removed the + 'dusted' gun-cotton, and dissolved it in alcohol and ether. He then + allowed this to stand for a few hours, and the result was, that a very + fine dust was gradually deposited at the bottom of it. That dust, on being + transferred to the stage of a microscope, was found to contain an enormous + number of starch grains. You know that the materials of our food and the + greater portion of plants are composed of starch, and we are constantly + making use of it in a variety of ways, so that there is always a quantity + of it suspended in the air. It is these starch grains which form many of + those bright specks that we see dancing in a ray of light sometimes. But + besides these, M. Pasteur found also an immense number of other organic + substances such as spores of fungi, which had been floating about in the + air and had got caged in this way. + </p> + <p> + He went farther, and said to himself, "If these really are the things that + give rise to the appearance of spontaneous generation, I ought to be able + to take a ball of this 'dusted' gun-cotton and put it into one of my + vessels, containing that boiled infusion which has been kept away from the + air, and in which no infusoria are at present developed, and then, if I am + right, the introduction of this gun-cotton will give rise to organisms." + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, he took one of these vessels of infusion, which had been kept + eighteen months, without the least appearance of life, and by a most + ingenious contrivance, he managed to break it open and introduce such a + ball of gun-cotton, without allowing the infusion or the cotton ball to + come into contact with any air but that which had been subjected to a red + heat, and in twenty-four hours he had the satisfaction of finding all the + indications of what had been hitherto called spontaneous generation. He + had succeeded in catching the germs and developing organisms in the way he + had anticipated. + </p> + <p> + It now struck him that the truth of his conclusions might be demonstrated + without all the apparatus he had employed. To do this, he took some + decaying animal or vegetable substance, such as urine, which is an + extremely decomposable substance, or the juice of yeast, or perhaps some + other artificial preparation, and filled a vessel having a long tubular + neck with it. He then boiled the liquid and bent that long neck into an S + shape or zig-zag, leaving it open at the end. The infusion then gave no + trace of any appearance of spontaneous generation, however long it might + be left, as all the germs in the air were deposited in the beginning of + the bent neck. He then cut the tube close to the vessel, and allowed the + ordinary air to have free and direct access; and the result of that was + the appearance of organisms in it, as soon as the infusion had been + allowed to stand long enough to allow of the growth of those it received + from the air, which was about forty-eight hours. The result of M. + Pasteur's experiments proved, therefore, in the most conclusive manner, + that all the appearances of spontaneous generation arose from nothing more + than the deposition of the germs of organisms which were constantly + floating in the air. + </p> + <p> + To this conclusion, however, the objection was made, that if that were the + cause, then the air would contain such an enormous number of these germs, + that it would be a continual fog. But M. Pasteur replied that they are not + there in anything like the number we might suppose, and that an + exaggerated view has been held on that subject; he showed that the chances + of animal or vegetable life appearing in infusions, depend entirely on the + conditions under which they are exposed. If they are exposed to the + ordinary atmosphere around us, why, of course, you may have organisms + appearing early. But, on the other hand, if they are exposed to air from a + great height, or from some very quiet cellar, you will often not find a + single trace of life. + </p> + <p> + So that M. Pasteur arrived at last at the clear and definite result, that + all these appearances are like the case of the worms in the piece of meat, + which was refuted by Redi, simply germs carried by the air and deposited + in the liquids in which they afterwards appear. For my own part, I + conceive that, with the particulars of M. Pasteur's experiments before us, + we cannot fail to arrive at his conclusions; and that the doctrine of + spontaneous generation has received a final 'coup de grace'. + </p> + <p> + You, of course, understand that all this in no way interferes with the + POSSIBILITY of the fabrication of organic matters by the direct method to + which I have referred, remote as that possibility may be. + </p> + <p> + End of The Origination of Living Beings. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION AND VARIATION. + </h2> + <p> + The inquiry which we undertook, at our last meeting, into the state of our + knowledge of the causes of the phenomena of organic nature,—of the + past and of the present,—resolved itself into two subsidiary + inquiries: the first was, whether we know anything, either historically or + experimentally, of the mode of origin of living beings; the second + subsidiary inquiry was, whether, granting the origin, we know anything + about the perpetuation and modifications of the forms of organic beings. + The reply which I had to give to the first question was altogether + negative, and the chief result of my last lecture was, that, neither + historically nor experimentally, do we at present know anything whatsoever + about the origin of living forms. We saw that, historically, we are not + likely to know anything about it, although we may perhaps learn something + experimentally; but that at present we are an enormous distance from the + goal I indicated. + </p> + <p> + I now, then, take up the next question, What do we know of the + reproduction, the perpetuation, and the modifications of the forms of + living beings, supposing that we have put the question as to their + origination on one side, and have assumed that at present the causes of + their origination are beyond us, and that we know nothing about them? Upon + this question the state of our knowledge is extremely different; it is + exceedingly large, and, if not complete, our experience is certainly most + extensive. It would be impossible to lay it all before you, and the most I + can do, or need do to-night, is to take up the principal points and put + them before you with such prominence as may subserve the purposes of our + present argument. + </p> + <p> + The method of the perpetuation of organic beings is of two kinds,—the + asexual and the sexual. In the first the perpetuation takes place from and + by a particular act of an individual organism, which sometimes may not be + classed as belonging to any sex at all. In the second case, it is in + consequence of the mutual action and interaction of certain portions of + the organisms of usually two distinct individuals,—the male and the + female. The cases of asexual perpetuation are by no means so common as the + cases of sexual perpetuation; and they are by no means so common in the + animal as in the vegetable world. You are all probably familiar with the + fact, as a matter of experience, that you can propagate plants by means of + what are called "cuttings;" for example, that by taking a cutting from a + geranium plant, and rearing it properly, by supplying it with light and + warmth and nourishment from the earth, it grows up and takes the form of + its parent, having all the properties and peculiarities of the original + plant. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes this process, which the gardener performs artificially, takes + place naturally; that is to say, a little bulb, or portion of the plant, + detaches itself, drops off, and becomes capable of growing as a separate + thing. That is the case with many bulbous plants, which throw off in this + way secondary bulbs, which are lodged in the ground and become developed + into plants. This is an asexual process, and from it results the + repetition or reproduction of the form of the original being from which + the bulb proceeds. + </p> + <p> + Among animals the same thing takes place. Among the lower forms of animal + life, the infusorial animalculae we have already spoken of throw off + certain portions, or break themselves up in various directions, sometimes + transversely or sometimes longitudinally; or they may give off buds, which + detach themselves and develop into their proper forms. There is the common + fresh-water Polype, for instance, which multiplies itself in this way. + Just in the same way as the gardener is able to multiply and reproduce the + peculiarities and characters of particular plants by means of cuttings, so + can the physiological experimentalist—as was shown by the Abbe + Trembley many years ago—so can he do the same thing with many of the + lower forms of animal life. M. de Trembley showed that you could take a + polype and cut it into two, or four, or many pieces, mutilating it in all + directions, and the pieces would still grow up and reproduce completely + the original form of the animal. These are all cases of asexual + multiplication, and there are other instances, and still more + extraordinary ones, in which this process takes place naturally, in a more + hidden, a more recondite kind of way. You are all of you familiar with + those little green insects, the 'Aphis' or blight, as it is called. These + little animals, during a very considerable part of their existence, + multiply themselves by means of a kind of internal budding, the buds being + developed into essentially asexual animals, which are neither male nor + female; they become converted into young 'Aphides', which repeat the + process, and their offspring after them, and so on again; you may go on + for nine or ten, or even twenty or more successions; and there is no very + good reason to say how soon it might terminate, or how long it might not + go on if the proper conditions of warmth and nourishment were kept up. + </p> + <p> + Sexual reproduction is quite a distinct matter. Here, in all these cases, + what is required is the detachment of two portions of the parental + organisms, which portions we know as the egg and the spermatozoon. In + plants it is the ovule and the pollen-grain, as in the flowering plants, + or the ovule and the antherozooid, as in the flowerless. Among all forms + of animal life, the spermatozoa proceed from the male sex, and the egg is + the product of the female. Now, what is remarkable about this mode of + reproduction is this, that the egg by itself, or the spermatozoa by + themselves, are unable to assume the parental form; but if they be brought + into contact with one another, the effect of the mixture of organic + substances proceeding from two sources appears to confer an altogether new + vigour to the mixed product. This process is brought about, as we all + know, by the sexual intercourse of the two sexes, and is called the act of + impregnation. The result of this act on the part of the male and female + is, that the formation of a new being is set up in the ovule or egg; this + ovule or egg soon begins to be divided and subdivided, and to be fashioned + into various complex organisms, and eventually to develop into the form of + one of its parents, as I explained in the first lecture. These are the + processes by which the perpetuation of organic beings is secured. Why + there should be the two modes—why this re-invigoration should be + required on the part of the female element we do not know; but it is most + assuredly the fact, and it is presumable, that, however long the process + of asexual multiplication could be continued, I say there is good reason + to believe that it would come to an end if a new commencement were not + obtained by a conjunction of the two sexual elements. + </p> + <p> + That character which is common to these two distinct processes is this, + that, whether we consider the reproduction, or perpetuation, or + modification of organic beings as they take place asexually, or as they + may take place sexually,—in either case, I say, the offspring has a + constant tendency to assume, speaking generally, the character of the + parent. As I said just now, if you take a slip of a plant, and tend it + with care, it will eventually grow up and develop into a plant like that + from which it had sprung; and this tendency is so strong that, as + gardeners know, this mode of multiplying by means of cuttings is the only + secure mode of propagating very many varieties of plants; the peculiarity + of the primitive stock seems to be better preserved if you propagate it by + means of a slip than if you resort to the sexual mode. + </p> + <p> + Again, in experiments upon the lower animals, such as the polype, to which + I have referred, it is most extraordinary that, although cut up into + various pieces, each particular piece will grow up into the form of the + primitive stock; the head, if separated, will reproduce the body and the + tail; and if you cut off the tail, you will find that that will reproduce + the body and all the rest of the members, without in any way deviating + from the plan of the organism from which these portions have been + detached. And so far does this go, that some experimentalists have + carefully examined the lower orders of animals,—among them the Abbe + Spallanzani, who made a number of experiments upon snails and salamanders,—and + have found that they might mutilate them to an incredible extent; that you + might cut off the jaw or the greater part of the head, or the leg or the + tail, and repeat the experiment several times, perhaps, cutting off the + same member again and again; and yet each of those types would be + reproduced according to the primitive type: nature making no mistake, + never putting on a fresh kind of leg, or head, or tail, but always tending + to repeat and to return to the primitive type. + </p> + <p> + It is the same in sexual reproduction: it is a matter of perfectly common + experience, that the tendency on the part of the offspring always is, + speaking broadly, to reproduce the form of the parents. The proverb has it + that the thistle does not bring forth grapes; so, among ourselves, there + is always a likeness, more or less marked and distinct, between children + and their parents. That is a matter of familiar and ordinary observation. + We notice the same thing occurring in the cases of the domestic animals—dogs, + for instance, and their offspring. In all these cases of propagation and + perpetuation, there seems to be a tendency in the offspring to take the + characters of the parental organisms. To that tendency a special name is + given—it is called 'Atavism', it expresses this tendency to revert + to the ancestral type, and comes from the Latin word 'atavus', ancestor. + </p> + <p> + Well, this 'Atavism' which I shall speak of, is, as I said before, one of + the most marked and striking tendencies of organic beings; but, side by + side with this hereditary tendency there is an equally distinct and + remarkable tendency to variation. The tendency to reproduce the original + stock has, as it were, its limits, and side by side with it there is a + tendency to vary in certain directions, as if there were two opposing + powers working upon the organic being, one tending to take it in a + straight line, and the other tending to make it diverge from that straight + line, first to one side and then to the other. + </p> + <p> + So that you see these two tendencies need not precisely contradict one + another, as the ultimate result may not always be very remote from what + would have been the case if the line had been quite straight. + </p> + <p> + This tendency to variation is less marked in that mode of propagation + which takes place asexually; it is in that mode that the minor characters + of animal and vegetable structures are most completely preserved. Still, + it will happen sometimes, that the gardener, when he has planted a cutting + of some favourite plant, will find, contrary to his expectation, that the + slip grows up a little different from the primitive stock—that it + produces flowers of a different colour or make, or some deviation in one + way or another. This is what is called the 'sporting' of plants. + </p> + <p> + In animals the phenomena of asexual propagation are so obscure, that at + present we cannot be said to know much about them; but if we turn to that + mode of perpetuation which results from the sexual process, then we find + variation a perfectly constant occurrence, to a certain extent; and, + indeed, I think that a certain amount of variation from the primitive + stock is the necessary result of the method of sexual propagation itself; + for, inasmuch as the thing propagated proceeds from two organisms of + different sexes and different makes and temperaments, and as the offspring + is to be either of one sex or the other, it is quite clear that it cannot + be an exact diagonal of the two, or it would be of no sex at all; it + cannot be an exact intermediate form between that of each of its parents—it + must deviate to one side or the other. You do not find that the male + follows the precise type of the male parent, nor does the female always + inherit the precise characteristics of the mother,—there is always a + proportion of the female character in the male offspring, and of the male + character in the female offspring. That must be quite plain to all of you + who have looked at all attentively on your own children or those of your + neighbours; you will have noticed how very often it may happen that the + son shall exhibit the maternal type of character, or the daughter possess + the characteristics of the father's family. There are all sorts of + intermixtures and intermediate conditions between the two, where + complexion, or beauty, or fifty other different peculiarities belonging to + either side of the house, are reproduced in other members of the same + family. Indeed, it is sometimes to be remarked in this kind of variation, + that the variety belongs, strictly speaking, to neither of the immediate + parents; you will see a child in a family who is not like either its + father or its mother; but some old person who knew its grandfather or + grandmother, or, it may be, an uncle, or, perhaps, even a more distant + relative, will see a great similarity between the child and one of these. + In this way it constantly happens that the characteristic of some previous + member of the family comes out and is reproduced and recognised in the + most unexpected manner. + </p> + <p> + But apart from that matter of general experience, there are some cases + which put that curious mixture in a very clear light. You are aware that + the offspring of the Ass and the Horse, or rather of the he-Ass and the + Mare, is what is called a Mule; and, on the other hand, the offspring of + the Stallion and the she-Ass is what is called a 'Hinny'. I never saw one + myself; but they have been very carefully studied. Now, the curious thing + is this, that although you have the same elements in the experiment in + each case, the offspring is entirely different in character, according as + the male influence comes from the Ass or the Horse. Where the Ass is the + male, as in the case of the Mule, you find that the head is like that of + the Ass, that the ears are long, the tail is tufted at the end, the feet + are small, and the voice is an unmistakable bray; these are all points of + similarity to the Ass; but, on the other hand, the barrel of the body and + the cut of the neck are much more like those of the Mare. Then, if you + look at the Hinny,—the result of the union of the Stallion and the + she-Ass, then you find it is the Horse that has the predominance; that the + head is more like that of the Horse, the ears are shorter, the legs + coarser, and the type is altogether altered; while the voice, instead of + being a bray, is the ordinary neigh of the Horse. Here, you see, is a most + curious thing: you take exactly the same elements, Ass and Horse, but you + combine the sexes in a different manner, and the result is modified + accordingly. You have in this case, however, a result which is not general + and universal—there is usually an important preponderance, but not + always on the same side. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, is one intelligible, and, perhaps, necessary cause of + variation: the fact, that there are two sexes sharing in the production of + the offspring, and that the share taken by each is different and variable, + not only for each combination, but also for different members of the same + family. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, there is a variation, to a certain extent—though, in all + probability, the influence of this cause has been very much exaggerated—but + there is no doubt that variation is produced, to a certain extent, by what + are commonly known as external conditions,—such as temperature, + food, warmth, and moisture. In the long run, every variation depends, in + some sense, upon external conditions, seeing that everything has a cause + of its own. I use the term "external conditions" now in the sense in which + it is ordinarily employed: certain it is, that external conditions have a + definite effect. You may take a plant which has single flowers, and by + dealing with the soil, and nourishment, and so on, you may by-and-by + convert single flowers into double flowers, and make thorns shoot out into + branches. You may thicken or make various modifications in the shape of + the fruit. In animals, too, you may produce analogous changes in this way, + as in the case of that deep bronze colour which persons rarely lose after + having passed any length of time in tropical countries. You may also alter + the development of the muscles very much, by dint of training; all the + world knows that exercise has a great effect in this way; we always expect + to find the arm of a blacksmith hard and wiry, and possessing a large + development of the brachial muscles. No doubt training, which is one of + the forms of external conditions, converts what are originally only + instructions, teachings, into habits, or, in other words, into + organizations, to a great extent; but this second cause of variation + cannot be considered to be by any means a large one. The third cause that + I have to mention, however, is a very extensive one. It is one that, for + want of a better name, has been called "spontaneous variation;" which + means that when we do not know anything about the cause of phenomena, we + call it spontaneous. In the orderly chain of causes and effects in this + world, there are very few things of which it can be said with truth that + they are spontaneous. Certainly not in these physical matters,—in + these there is nothing of the kind,—everything depends on previous + conditions. But when we cannot trace the cause of phenomena, we call them + spontaneous. + </p> + <p> + Of these variations, multitudinous as they are, but little is known with + perfect accuracy. I will mention to you some two or three cases, because + they are very remarkable in themselves, and also because I shall want to + use them afterwards. Reaumur, a famous French naturalist, a great many + years ago, in an essay which he wrote upon the art of hatching chickens,—which + was indeed a very curious essay,—had occasion to speak of variations + and monstrosities. One very remarkable case had come under his notice of a + variation in the form of a human member, in the person of a Maltese, of + the name of Gratio Kelleia, who was born with six fingers upon each hand, + and the like number of toes to each of his feet. That was a case of + spontaneous variation. Nobody knows why he was born with that number of + fingers and toes, and as we don't know, we call it a case of "spontaneous" + variation. There is another remarkable case also. I select these, because + they happen to have been observed and noted very carefully at the time. It + frequently happens that a variation occurs, but the persons who notice it + do not take any care in noting down the particulars, until at length, when + inquiries come to be made, the exact circumstances are forgotten; and + hence, multitudinous as may be such "spontaneous" variations, it is + exceedingly difficult to get at the origin of them. + </p> + <p> + The second case is one of which you may find the whole details in the + "Philosophical Transactions" for the year 1813, in a paper communicated by + Colonel Humphrey to the President of the Royal Society,—"On a new + Variety in the Breed of Sheep," giving an account of a very remarkable + breed of sheep, which at one time was well known in the northern states of + America, and which went by the name of the Ancon or the Otter breed of + sheep. In the year 1791, there was a farmer of the name of Seth Wright in + Massachusetts, who had a flock of sheep, consisting of a ram and, I think, + of some twelve or thirteen ewes. Of this flock of ewes, one at the + breeding-time bore a lamb which was very singularly formed; it had a very + long body, very short legs, and those legs were bowed! I will tell you + by-and-by how this singular variation in the breed of sheep came to be + noted, and to have the prominence that it now has. For the present, I + mention only these two cases; but the extent of variation in the breed of + animals is perfectly obvious to any one who has studied natural history + with ordinary attention, or to any person who compares animals with others + of the same kind. It is strictly true that there are never any two + specimens which are exactly alike; however similar, they will always + differ in some certain particular. + </p> + <p> + Now let us go back to Atavism,—to the hereditary tendency I spoke + of. What will come of a variation when you breed from it, when Atavism + comes, if I may say so, to intersect variation? The two cases of which I + have mentioned the history, give a most excellent illustration of what + occurs. Gratio Kelleia, the Maltese, married when he was twenty-two years + of age, and, as I suppose there were no six-fingered ladies in Malta, he + married an ordinary five-fingered person. The result of that marriage was + four children; the first, who was christened Salvator, had six fingers and + six toes, like his father; the second was George, who had five fingers and + toes, but one of them was deformed, showing a tendency to variation; the + third was Andre; he had five fingers and five toes, quite perfect; the + fourth was a girl, Marie; she had five fingers and five toes, but her + thumbs were deformed, showing a tendency toward the sixth. + </p> + <p> + These children grew up, and when they came to adult years, they all + married, and of course it happened that they all married five-fingered and + five-toed persons. Now let us see what were the results. Salvator had four + children; they were two boys, a girl, and another boy; the first two boys + and the girl were six-fingered and six-toed like their grandfather; the + fourth boy had only five fingers and five toes. George had only four + children; there were two girls with six fingers and six toes; there was + one girl with six fingers and five toes on the right side, and five + fingers and five toes on the left side, so that she was half and half. The + last, a boy, had five fingers and five toes. The third, Andre, you will + recollect, was perfectly well-formed, and he had many children whose hands + and feet were all regularly developed. Marie, the last, who, of course, + married a man who had only five fingers, had four children; the first, a + boy, was born with six toes, but the other three were normal. + </p> + <p> + Now observe what very extraordinary phenomena are presented here. You have + an accidental variation arising from what you may call a monstrosity; you + have that monstrosity tendency or variation diluted in the first instance + by an admixture with a female of normal construction, and you would + naturally expect that, in the results of such an union, the monstrosity, + if repeated, would be in equal proportion with the normal type; that is to + say, that the children would be half and half, some taking the peculiarity + of the father, and the others being of the purely normal type of the + mother; but you see we have a great preponderance of the abnormal type. + Well, this comes to be mixed once more with the pure, the normal type, and + the abnormal is again produced in large proportion, notwithstanding the + second dilution. Now what would have happened if these abnormal types had + intermarried with each other; that is to say, suppose the two boys of + Salvator had taken it into their heads to marry their first cousins, the + two first girls of George, their uncle? You will remember that these are + all of the abnormal type of their grandfather. The result would probably + have been, that their offspring would have been in every case a further + development of that abnormal type. You see it is only in the fourth, in + the person of Marie, that the tendency, when it appears but slightly in + the second generation, is washed out in the third, while the progeny of + Andre, who escaped in the first instance, escape altogether. + </p> + <p> + We have in this case a good example of nature's tendency to the + perpetuation of a variation. Here it is certainly a variation which + carried with it no use or benefit; and yet you see the tendency to + perpetuation may be so strong, that, notwithstanding a great admixture of + pure blood, the variety continues itself up to the third generation, which + is largely marked with it. In this case, as I have said, there was no + means of the second generation intermarrying with any but five-fingered + persons, and the question naturally suggests itself, What would have been + the result of such marriage? Reaumur narrates this case only as far as the + third generation. Certainly it would have been an exceedingly curious + thing if we could have traced this matter any further; had the cousins + intermarried, a six-fingered variety of the human race might have been set + up. + </p> + <p> + To show you that this supposition is by no means an unreasonable one, let + me now point out what took place in the case of Seth Wright's sheep, where + it happened to be a matter of moment to him to obtain a breed or raise a + flock of sheep like that accidental variety that I have described—and + I will tell you why. In that part of Massachusetts where Seth Wright was + living, the fields were separated by fences, and the sheep, which were + very active and robust, would roam abroad, and without much difficulty + jump over these fences into other people's farms. As a matter of course, + this exuberant activity on the part of the sheep constantly gave rise to + all sorts of quarrels, bickerings, and contentions among the farmers of + the neighbourhood; so it occurred to Seth Wright, who was, like his + successors, more or less 'cute, that if he could get a stock of sheep like + those with the bandy legs, they would not be able to jump over the fences + so readily, and he acted upon that idea. He killed his old ram, and as + soon as the young one arrived at maturity, he bred altogether from it. The + result was even more striking than in the human experiment which I + mentioned just now. Colonel Humphreys testifies that it always happened + that the offspring were either pure Ancons or pure ordinary sheep; that in + no case was there any mixing of the Ancons with the others. In consequence + of this, in the course of a very few years, the farmer was able to get a + very considerable flock of this variety, and a large number of them were + spread throughout Massachusetts. Most unfortunately, however—I + suppose it was because they were so common—nobody took enough notice + of them to preserve their skeletons; and although Colonel Humphreys states + that he sent a skeleton to the President of the Royal Society at the same + time that he forwarded his paper, I am afraid that the variety has + entirely disappeared; for a short time after these sheep had become + prevalent in that district, the Merino sheep were introduced; and as their + wool was much more valuable, and as they were a quiet race of sheep, and + showed no tendency to trespass or jump over fences, the Otter breed of + sheep, the wool of which was inferior to that of the Merino, was gradually + allowed to die out. + </p> + <p> + You see that these facts illustrate perfectly well what may be done if you + take care to breed from stocks that are similar to each other. After + having got a variation, if, by crossing a variation with the original + stock, you multiply that variation, and then take care to keep that + variation distinct from the original stock, and make them breed together,—then + you may almost certainly produce a race whose tendency to continue the + variation is exceedingly strong. + </p> + <p> + This is what is called "selection"; and it is by exactly the same process + as that by which Seth Wright bred his Ancon sheep, that our breeds of + cattle, dogs, and fowls, are obtained. There are some possibilities of + exception, but still, speaking broadly, I may say that this is the way in + which all our varied races of domestic animals have arisen; and you must + understand that it is not one peculiarity or one characteristic alone in + which animals may vary. There is not a single peculiarity or + characteristic of any kind, bodily or mental, in which offspring may not + vary to a certain extent from the parent and other animals. + </p> + <p> + Among ourselves this is well known. The simplest physical peculiarity is + mostly reproduced. I know a case of a man whose wife has the lobe of one + of her ears a little flattened. An ordinary observer might scarcely notice + it, and yet every one of her children has an approximation to the same + peculiarity to some extent. If you look at the other extreme, too, the + gravest diseases, such as gout, scrofula, and consumption, may be handed + down with just the same certainty and persistence as we noticed in the + perpetuation of the bandy legs of the Ancon sheep. + </p> + <p> + However, these facts are best illustrated in animals, and the extent of + the variation, as is well known, is very remarkable in dogs. For example, + there are some dogs very much smaller than others; indeed, the variation + is so enormous that probably the smallest dog would be about the size of + the head of the largest; there are very great variations in the structural + forms not only of the skeleton but also in the shape of the skull, and in + the proportions of the face and the disposition of the teeth. + </p> + <p> + The Pointer, the Retriever, Bulldog, and the Terrier, differ very greatly, + and yet there is every reason to believe that every one of these races has + arisen from the same source,—that all the most important races have + arisen by this selective breeding from accidental variation. + </p> + <p> + A still more striking case of what may be done by selective breeding, and + it is a better case, because there is no chance of that partial infusion + of error to which I alluded, has been studied very carefully by Mr. + Darwin,—the case of the domestic pigeons. I dare say there may be + some among you who may be pigeon 'fanciers', and I wish you to understand + that in approaching the subject, I would speak with all humility and + hesitation, as I regret to say that I am not a pigeon fancier. I know it + is a great art and mystery, and a thing upon which a man must not speak + lightly; but I shall endeavour, as far as my understanding goes, to give + you a summary of the published and unpublished information which I have + gained from Mr. Darwin. + </p> + <p> + Among the enormous variety,—I believe there are somewhere about a + hundred and fifty kinds of pigeons,—there are four kinds which may + be selected as representing the extremest divergences of one kind from + another. Their names are the Carrier, the Pouter, the Fantail, and the + Tumbler. In the large diagrams they are each represented in their relative + sizes to each other. This first one is the Carrier; you will notice this + large excrescence on its beak; it has a comparatively small head; there is + a bare space round the eyes; it has a long neck, a very long beak, very + strong legs, large feet, long wings, and so on. The second one is the + Pouter, a very large bird, with very long legs and beak. It is called the + Pouter because it is in the habit of causing its gullet to swell up by + inflating it with air. I should tell you that all pigeons have a tendency + to do this at times, but in the Pouter it is carried to an enormous + extent. The birds appear to be quite proud of their power of swelling and + puffing themselves out in this way; and I think it is about as droll a + sight as you can well see to look at a cage full of these pigeons puffing + and blowing themselves out in this ridiculous manner. + </p> + <p> + The third kind I mentioned—the Fantail—is a small bird, with + exceedingly small legs and a very small beak. It is most curiously + distinguished by the size and extent of its tail, which, instead of + containing twelve feathers, may have many more,—say thirty, or even + more—I believe there are some with as many as forty-two. This bird + has a curious habit of spreading out the feathers of its tail in such a + way that they reach forward, and touch its head; and if this can be + accomplished, I believe it is looked upon as a point of great beauty. + </p> + <p> + But here is the last great variety,—the Tumbler; and of that great + variety, one of the principal kinds, and one most prized, is the specimen + represented here—the short-faced Tumbler. Its beak is reduced to a + mere nothing. Just compare the beak of this one and that of the first one, + the Carrier—I believe the orthodox comparison of the head and beak + of a thoroughly well-bred Tumbler is to stick an oat into a cherry, and + that will give you the proper relative proportions of the head and beak. + The feet and legs are exceedingly small, and the bird appears to be quite + a dwarf when placed side by side with this great Carrier. + </p> + <p> + These are differences enough in regard to their external appearance; but + these differences are by no means the whole or even the most important of + the differences which obtain between these birds. There is hardly a single + point of their structure which has not become more or less altered; and to + give you an idea of how extensive these alterations are, I have here some + very good skeletons, for which I am indebted to my friend, Mr. Tegetmeier, + a great authority in these matters; by means of which, if you examine them + by-and-by, you will be able to see the enormous difference in their bony + structures. + </p> + <p> + I had the privilege, some time ago, of access to some important MSS. of + Mr. Darwin, who, I may tell you, has taken very great pains and spent much + valuable time and attention on the investigation of these variations, and + getting together all the facts that bear upon them. I obtained from these + MSS. the following summary of the differences between the domestic breeds + of pigeons; that is to say, a notification of the various points in which + their organization differs. In the first place, the back of the skull may + differ a good deal, and the development of the bones of the face may vary + a great deal; the back varies a good deal; the shape of the lower jaw + varies; the tongue varies very greatly, not only in correlation to the + length and size of the beak, but it seems also to have a kind of + independent variation of its own. Then the amount of naked skin round the + eyes, and at the base of the beak, may vary enormously; so may the length + of the eyelids, the shape of the nostrils, and the length of the neck. I + have already noticed the habit of blowing out the gullet, so remarkable in + the Pouter, and comparatively so in the others. There are great + differences, too, in the size of the female and the male, the shape of the + body, the number and width of the processes of the ribs, the development + of the ribs, and the size, shape, and development of the breastbone. We + may notice, too,—and I mention the fact because it has been disputed + by what is assumed to be high authority,—the variation in the number + of the sacral vertebrae. The number of these varies from eleven to + fourteen, and that without any diminution in the number of the vertebrae + of the back or of the tail. Then the number and position of the + tail-feathers may vary enormously, and so may the number of the primary + and secondary feathers of the wings. Again, the length of the feet and of + the beak,—although they have no relation to each other, yet appear + to go together,—that is, you have a long beak wherever you have long + feet. There are differences also in the periods of the acquirement of the + perfect plumage,—the size and shape of the eggs,—the nature of + flight, and the powers of flight,—so-called "homing" birds having + enormous flying powers;* ([Footnote] *The "Carrier," I learn from Mr. + Tegetmeier, does not 'carry'; a high-bred bird of this breed being but a + poor flier. The birds which fly long distances, and come home,—"homing" + birds,—and are consequently used as carriers, are not "carriers" in + the fancy sense.) while, on the other hand, the little Tumbler is so + called because of its extraordinary faculty of turning head over heels in + the air, instead of pursuing a direct course. And, lastly, the + dispositions and voices of the birds may vary. Thus the case of the + pigeons shows you that there is hardly a single particular,—whether + of instinct, or habit, or bony structure, or of plumage,—of either + the internal economy or the external shape, in which some variation or + change may not take place, which, by selective breeding, may become + perpetuated, and form the foundation of, and give rise to, a new race. + </p> + <p> + If you carry in your mind's eye these four varieties of pigeons, you will + bear with you as good a notion as you can have, perhaps, of the enormous + extent to which a deviation from a primitive type may be carried by means + of this process of selective breeding. + </p> + <p> + End of The Perpetuation of Living Beings. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING + BEINGS. + </h2> + <p> + In the last Lecture I endeavoured to prove to you that, while, as a + general rule, organic beings tend to reproduce their kind, there is in + them, also, a constantly recurring tendency to vary—to vary to a + greater or to a less extent. Such a variety, I pointed out to you, might + arise from causes which we do not understand; we therefore called it + spontaneous; and it might come into existence as a definite and marked + thing, without any gradations between itself and the form which preceded + it. I further pointed out, that such a variety having once arisen, might + be perpetuated to some extent, and indeed to a very marked extent, without + any direct interference, or without any exercise of that process which we + called selection. And then I stated further, that by such selection, when + exercised artificially—if you took care to breed only from those + forms which presented the same peculiarities of any variety which had + arisen in this manner—the variation might be perpetuated, as far as + we can see, indefinitely. + </p> + <p> + The next question, and it is an important one for us, is this: Is there + any limit to the amount of variation from the primitive stock which can be + produced by this process of selective breeding? In considering this + question, it will be useful to class the characteristics, in respect of + which organic beings vary, under two heads: we may consider structural + characteristics, and we may consider physiological characteristics. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, as regards structural characteristics, I endeavoured + to show you, by the skeletons which I had upon the table, and by reference + to a great many well-ascertained facts, that the different breeds of + Pigeons, the Carriers, Pouters, and Tumblers, might vary in any of their + internal and important structural characters to a very great degree; not + only might there be changes in the proportions of the skull, and the + characters of the feet and beaks, and so on; but that there might be an + absolute difference in the number of the vertebrae of the back, as in the + sacral vertebrae of the Pouter; and so great is the extent of the + variation in these and similar characters that I pointed out to you, by + reference to the skeletons and the diagrams, that these extreme varieties + may absolutely differ more from one another in their structural characters + than do what naturalists call distinct SPECIES of pigeons; that is to say, + that they differ so much in structure that there is a greater difference + between the Pouter and the Tumbler than there is between such wild and + distinct forms as the Rock Pigeon or the Ring Pigeon, or the Ring Pigeon + and the Stock Dove; and indeed the differences are of greater value than + this, for the structural differences between these domesticated pigeons + are such as would be admitted by a naturalist, supposing he knew nothing + at all about their origin, to entitle them to constitute even distinct + genera. + </p> + <p> + As I have used this term SPECIES, and shall probably use it a good deal, I + had better perhaps devote a word or two to explaining what I mean by it. + </p> + <p> + Animals and plants are divided into groups, which become gradually + smaller, beginning with a KINGDOM, which is divided into SUB-KINGDOMS; + then come the smaller divisions called PROVINCES; and so on from a + PROVINCE to a CLASS from a CLASS to an ORDER, from ORDERS to FAMILIES, and + from these to GENERA, until we come at length to the smallest groups of + animals which can be defined one from the other by constant characters, + which are not sexual; and these are what naturalists call SPECIES in + practice, whatever they may do in theory. + </p> + <p> + If, in a state of nature, you find any two groups of living beings, which + are separated one from the other by some constantly-recurring + characteristic, I don't care how slight and trivial, so long as it is + defined and constant, and does not depend on sexual peculiarities, then + all naturalists agree in calling them two species; that is what is meant + by the use of the word species—that is to say, it is, for the + practical naturalist, a mere question of structural differences.* + ([Footnote] * I lay stress here on the PRACTICAL signification of + "Species." Whether a physiological test between species exist or not, it + is hardly ever applicable by the practical naturalist.) + </p> + <p> + We have seen now—to repeat this point once more, and it is very + essential that we should rightly understand it—we have seen that + breeds, known to have been derived from a common stock by selection, may + be as different in their structure from the original stock as species may + be distinct from each other. + </p> + <p> + But is the like true of the physiological characteristics of animals? Do + the physiological differences of varieties amount in degree to those + observed between forms which naturalists call distinct species? This is a + most important point for us to consider. + </p> + <p> + As regards the great majority of physiological characteristics, there is + no doubt that they are capable of being developed, increased, and modified + by selection. + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that breeds may be made as different as species in many + physiological characters. I have already pointed out to you very briefly + the different habits of the breeds of Pigeons, all of which depend upon + their physiological peculiarities,—as the peculiar habit of + tumbling, in the Tumbler—the peculiarities of flight, in the + "homing" birds,—the strange habit of spreading out the tail, and + walking in a peculiar fashion, in the Fantail,—and, lastly, the + habit of blowing out the gullet, so characteristic of the Pouter. These + are all due to physiological modifications, and in all these respects + these birds differ as much from each other as any two ordinary species do. + </p> + <p> + So with Dogs in their habits and instincts. It is a physiological + peculiarity which leads the Greyhound to chase its prey by sight,—that + enables the Beagle to track it by the scent,—that impels the Terrier + to its rat-hunting propensity,—and that leads the Retriever to its + habit of retrieving. These habits and instincts are all the results of + physiological differences and peculiarities, which have been developed + from a common stock, at least there is every reason to believe so. But it + is a most singular circumstance, that while you may run through almost the + whole series of physiological processes, without finding a check to your + argument, you come at last to a point where you do find a check, and that + is in the reproductive processes. For there is a most singular + circumstance in respect to natural species—at least about some of + them—and it would be sufficient for the purposes of this argument if + it were true of only one of them, but there is, in fact, a great number of + such cases—and that is, that, similar as they may appear to be to + mere races or breeds, they present a marked peculiarity in the + reproductive process. If you breed from the male and female of the same + race, you of course have offspring of the like kind, and if you make the + offspring breed together, you obtain the same result, and if you breed + from these again, you will still have the same kind of offspring; there is + no check. But if you take members of two distinct species, however similar + they may be to each other and make them breed together, you will find a + check, with some modifications and exceptions, however, which I shall + speak of presently. If you cross two such species with each other, then,—although + you may get offspring in the case of the first cross, yet, if you attempt + to breed from the products of that crossing, which are what are called + HYBRIDS—that is, if you couple a male and a female hybrid—then + the result is that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred you will get no + offspring at all; there will be no result whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + The reason of this is quite obvious in some cases; the male hybrids, + although possessing all the external appearances and characteristics of + perfect animals, are physiologically imperfect and deficient in the + structural parts of the reproductive elements necessary to generation. It + is said to be invariably the case with the male mule, the cross between + the Ass and the Mare; and hence it is, that, although crossing the Horse + with the Ass is easy enough, and is constantly done, as far as I am aware, + if you take two mules, a male and a female, and endeavour to breed from + them, you get no offspring whatever; no generation will take place. This + is what is called the sterility of the hybrids between two distinct + species. + </p> + <p> + You see that this is a very extraordinary circumstance; one does not see + why it should be. The common teleological explanation is, that it is to + prevent the impurity of the blood resulting from the crossing of one + species with another, but you see it does not in reality do anything of + the kind. There is nothing in this fact that hybrids cannot breed with + each other, to establish such a theory; there is nothing to prevent the + Horse breeding with the Ass, or the Ass with the Horse. So that this + explanation breaks down, as a great many explanations of this kind do, + that are only founded on mere assumptions. + </p> + <p> + Thus you see that there is a great difference between "mongrels," which + are crosses between distinct races, and "hybrids," which are crosses + between distinct species. The mongrels are, so far as we know, fertile + with one another. But between species, in many cases, you cannot succeed + in obtaining even the first cross: at any rate it is quite certain that + the hybrids are often absolutely infertile one with another. + </p> + <p> + Here is a feature, then, great or small as it may be, which distinguishes + natural species of animals. Can we find any approximation to this in the + different races known to be produced by selective breeding from a common + stock? Up to the present time the answer to that question is absolutely a + negative one. As far as we know at present, there is nothing approximating + to this check. In crossing the breeds between the Fantail and the Pouter, + the Carrier and the Tumbler, or any other variety or race you may name—so + far as we know at present—there is no difficulty in breeding + together the mongrels. Take the Carrier and the Fantail, for instance, and + let them represent the Horse and the Ass in the case of distinct species; + then you have, as the result of their breeding, the Carrier-Fantail + mongrel,—we will say the male and female mongrel,—and, as far + as we know, these two when crossed would not be less fertile than the + original cross, or than Carrier with Carrier. Here, you see, is a + physiological contrast between the races produced by selective + modification and natural species. I shall inquire into the value of this + fact, and of some modifying circumstances by and by; for the present I + merely put it broadly before you. + </p> + <p> + But while considering this question of the limitations of species, a word + must be said about what is called RECURRENCE—the tendency of races + which have been developed by selective breeding from varieties to return + to their primitive type. This is supposed by many to put an absolute limit + to the extent of selective and all other variations. People say, "It is + all very well to talk about producing these different races, but you know + very well that if you turned all these birds wild, these Pouters, and + Carriers, and so on, they would all return to their primitive stock." This + is very commonly assumed to be a fact, and it is an argument that is + commonly brought forward as conclusive; but if you will take the trouble + to inquire into it rather closely, I think you will find that it is not + worth very much. The first question of course is, Do they thus return to + the primitive stock? And commonly as the thing is assumed and accepted, it + is extremely difficult to get anything like good evidence of it. It is + constantly said, for example, that if domesticated Horses are turned wild, + as they have been in some parts of Asia Minor and South America, that they + return at once to the primitive stock from which they were bred. But the + first answer that you make to this assumption is, to ask who knows what + the primitive stock was; and the second answer is, that in that case the + wild Horses of Asia Minor ought to be exactly like the wild Horses of + South America. If they are both like the same thing, they ought manifestly + to be like each other! The best authorities, however, tell you that it is + quite different. The wild Horse of Asia is said to be of a dun colour, + with a largish head, and a great many other peculiarities; while the best + authorities on the wild Horses of South America tell you that there is no + similarity between their wild Horses and those of Asia Minor; the cut of + their heads is very different, and they are commonly chestnut or + bay-coloured. It is quite clear, therefore, that as by these facts there + ought to have been two primitive stocks, they go for nothing in support of + the assumption that races recur to one primitive stock, and so far as this + evidence is concerned, it falls to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Suppose for a moment that it were so, and that domesticated races, when + turned wild, did return to some common condition, I cannot see that this + would prove much more than that similar conditions are likely to produce + similar results; and that when you take back domesticated animals into + what we call natural conditions, you do exactly the same thing as if you + carefully undid all the work you had gone through, for the purpose of + bringing the animal from its wild to its domesticated state. I do not see + anything very wonderful in the fact, if it took all that trouble to get it + from a wild state, that it should go back into its original state as soon + as you removed the conditions which produced the variation to the + domesticated form. There is an important fact, however, forcibly brought + forward by Mr. Darwin, which has been noticed in connection with the + breeding of domesticated pigeons; and it is, that however different these + breeds of pigeons may be from each other, and we have already noticed the + great differences in these breeds, that if, among any of those variations, + you chance to have a blue pigeon turn up, it will be sure to have the + black bars across the wings, which are characteristic of the original wild + stock, the Rock Pigeon. + </p> + <p> + Now, this is certainly a very remarkable circumstance; but I do not see + myself how it tells very strongly either one way or the other. I think, in + fact, that this argument in favour of recurrence to the primitive type + might prove a great deal too much for those who so constantly bring it + forward. For example, Mr. Darwin has very forcibly urged, that nothing is + commoner than if you examine a dun horse—and I had an opportunity of + verifying this illustration lately, while in the islands of the West + Highlands, where there are a great many dun horses—to find that + horse exhibit a long black stripe down his back, very often stripes on his + shoulder, and very often stripes on his legs. I, myself, saw a pony of + this description a short time ago, in a baker's cart, near Rothesay, in + Bute: it had the long stripe down the back, and stripes on the shoulders + and legs, just like those of the Ass, the Quagga, and the Zebra. Now, if + we interpret the theory of recurrence as applied to this case, might it + not be said that here was a case of a variation exhibiting the characters + and conditions of an animal occupying something like an intermediate + position between the Horse, the Ass, the Quagga, and the Zebra, and from + which these had been developed? In the same way with regard even to Man. + Every anatomist will tell you that there is nothing commoner, in + dissecting the human body, than to meet with what are called muscular + variations—that is, if you dissect two bodies very carefully, you + will probably find that the modes of attachment and insertion of the + muscles are not exactly the same in both, there being great peculiarities + in the mode in which the muscles are arranged; and it is very singular, + that in some dissections of the human body you will come upon arrangements + of the muscles very similar indeed to the same parts in the Apes. Is the + conclusion in that case to be, that this is like the black bars in the + case of the Pigeon, and that it indicates a recurrence to the primitive + type from which the animals have been probably developed? Truly, I think + that the opponents of modification and variation had better leave the + argument of recurrence alone, or it may prove altogether too strong for + them. + </p> + <p> + To sum up—the evidence as far as we have gone is against the + argument as to any limit to divergences, so far as structure is concerned; + and in favour of a physiological limitation. By selective breeding we can + produce structural divergences as great as those of species, but we cannot + produce equal physiological divergences. For the present I leave the + question there. + </p> + <p> + Now, the next problem that lies before us—and it is an extremely + important one—is this: Does this selective breeding occur in nature? + Because, if there is no proof of it, all that I have been telling you goes + for nothing in accounting for the origin of species. Are natural causes + competent to play the part of selection in perpetuating varieties? Here we + labour under very great difficulties. In the last lecture I had occasion + to point out to you the extreme difficulty of obtaining evidence even of + the first origin of those varieties which we know to have occurred in + domesticated animals. I told you, that almost always the origin of these + varieties is overlooked, so that I could only produce two of three cases, + as that of Gratio Kelleia and of the Ancon sheep. People forget, or do not + take notice of them until they come to have a prominence; and if that is + true of artificial cases, under our own eyes, and in animals in our own + care, how much more difficult it must be to have at first hand good + evidence of the origin of varieties in nature! Indeed, I do not know that + it is possible by direct evidence to prove the origin of a variety in + nature, or to prove selective breeding; but I will tell you what we can + prove—and this comes to the same thing—that varieties exist in + nature within the limits of species, and, what is more, that when a + variety has come into existence in nature, there are natural causes and + conditions, which are amply competent to play the part of a selective + breeder; and although that is not quite the evidence that one would like + to have—though it is not direct testimony—yet it is exceeding + good and exceedingly powerful evidence in its way. + </p> + <p> + As to the first point, of varieties existing among natural species, I + might appeal to the universal experience of every naturalist, and of any + person who has ever turned any attention at all to the characteristics of + plants and animals in a state of nature; but I may as well take a few + definite cases, and I will begin with Man himself. + </p> + <p> + I am one of those who believe that, at present, there is no evidence + whatever for saying, that mankind sprang originally from any more than a + single pair; I must say, that I cannot see any good ground whatever, or + even any tenable sort of evidence, for believing that there is more than + one species of Man. Nevertheless, as you know, just as there are numbers + of varieties in animals, so there are remarkable varieties of men. I speak + not merely of those broad and distinct variations which you see at a + glance. Everybody, of course, knows the difference between a Negro and a + white man, and can tell a Chinaman from an Englishman. They each have + peculiar characteristics of colour and physiognomy; but you must recollect + that the characters of these races go very far deeper—they extend to + the bony structure, and to the characters of that most important of all + organs to us—the brain; so that, among men belonging to different + races, or even within the same race, one man shall have a brain a third, + or half, or even seventy per cent. bigger than another; and if you take + the whole range of human brains, you will find a variation in some cases + of a hundred per cent. Apart from these variations in the size of the + brain, the characters of the skull vary. Thus if I draw the figures of a + Mongul and of a Negro head on the blackboard, in the case of the last the + breadth would be about seven-tenths, and in the other it would be + nine-tenths of the total length. So that you see there is abundant + evidence of variation among men in their natural condition. And if you + turn to other animals there is just the same thing. The fox, for example, + which has a very large geographical distribution all over Europe, and + parts of Asia, and on the American Continent, varies greatly. There are + mostly large foxes in the North, and smaller ones in the South. In Germany + alone, the foresters reckon some eight different sorts. + </p> + <p> + Of the tiger, no one supposes that there is more than one species; they + extend from the hottest parts of Bengal, into the dry, cold, bitter + steppes of Siberia, into a latitude of 50 degrees,—so that they may + even prey upon the reindeer. These tigers have exceedingly different + characteristics, but still they all keep their general features, so that + there is no doubt as to their being tigers. The Siberian tiger has a thick + fur, a small mane, and a longitudinal stripe down the back, while the + tigers of Java and Sumatra differ in many important respects from the + tigers of Northern Asia. So lions vary; so birds vary; and so, if you go + further back and lower down in creation, you find that fishes vary. In + different streams, in the same country even, you will find the trout to be + quite different to each other and easily recognisable by those who fish in + the particular streams. There is the same differences in leeches; leech + collectors can easily point out to you the differences and the + peculiarities which you yourself would probably pass by; so with + fresh-water mussels; so, in fact, with every animal you can mention. + </p> + <p> + In plants there is the same kind of variation. Take such a case even as + the common bramble. The botanists are all at war about it; some of them + wanting to make out that there are many species of it, and others + maintaining that they are but many varieties of one species; and they + cannot settle to this day which is a species and which is a variety! + </p> + <p> + So that there can be no doubt whatsoever that any plant and any animal may + vary in nature; that varieties may arise in the way I have described,—as + spontaneous varieties,—and that those varieties may be perpetuated + in the same way that I have shown you spontaneous varieties are + perpetuated; I say, therefore, that there can be no doubt as to the origin + and perpetuation of varieties in nature. + </p> + <p> + But the question now is:—Does selection take place in nature? is + there anything like the operation of man in exercising selective breeding, + taking place in nature? You will observe that, at present, I say nothing + about species; I wish to confine myself to the consideration of the + production of those natural races which everybody admits to exist. The + question is, whether in nature there are causes competent to produce + races, just in the same way as man is able to produce by selection, such + races of animals as we have already noticed. + </p> + <p> + When a variety has arisen, the CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE are such as to + exercise an influence which is exactly comparable to that of artificial + selection. By Conditions of Existence I mean two things,—there are + conditions which are furnished by the physical, the inorganic world, and + there are conditions of existence which are furnished by the organic + world. There is, in the first place, CLIMATE; under that head I include + only temperature and the varied amount of moisture of particular places. + In the next place there is what is technically called STATION, which means—given + the climate, the particular kind of place in which an animal or a plant + lives or grows; for example, the station of a fish is in the water, of a + fresh-water fish in fresh water; the station of a marine fish is in the + sea, and a marine animal may have a station higher or deeper. So again + with land animals: the differences in their stations are those of + different soils and neighbourhoods; some being best adapted to a + calcareous, and others to an arenaceous soil. The third condition of + existence is FOOD, by which I mean food in the broadest sense, the supply + of the materials necessary to the existence of an organic being; in the + case of a plant the inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, water, + ammonia, and the earthy salts or salines; in the case of the animal the + inorganic and organic matters, which we have seen they require; then these + are all, at least the two first, what we may call the inorganic or + physical conditions of existence. Food takes a mid-place, and then come + the organic conditions; by which I mean the conditions which depend upon + the state of the rest of the organic creation, upon the number and kind of + living beings, with which an animal is surrounded. You may class these + under two heads: there are organic beings, which operate as 'opponents', + and there are organic beings which operate as 'helpers' to any given + organic creature. The opponents may be of two kinds: there are the + 'indirect opponents', which are what we may call 'rivals'; and there are + the 'direct opponents', those which strive to destroy the creature; and + these we call 'enemies'. By rivals I mean, of course, in the case of + plants, those which require for their support the same kind of soil and + station, and, among animals, those which require the same kind of station, + or food, or climate; those are the indirect opponents; the direct + opponents are, of course, those which prey upon an animal or vegetable. + The 'helpers' may also be regarded as direct and indirect: in the case of + a carnivorous animal, for example, a particular herbaceous plant may in + multiplying be an indirect helper, by enabling the herbivora on which the + carnivore preys to get more food, and thus to nourish the carnivore more + abundantly; the direct helper may be best illustrated by reference to some + parasitic creature, such as the tape-worm. The tape-worm exists in the + human intestines, so that the fewer there are of men the fewer there will + be of tape-worms, other things being alike. It is a humiliating + reflection, perhaps, that we may be classed as direct helpers to the + tape-worm, but the fact is so: we can all see that if there were no men + there would be no tape-worms. + </p> + <p> + It is extremely difficult to estimate, in a proper way, the importance and + the working of the Conditions of Existence. I do not think there were any + of us who had the remotest notion of properly estimating them until the + publication of Mr. Darwin's work, which has placed them before us with + remarkable clearness; and I must endeavour, as far as I can in my own + fashion, to give you some notion of how they work. We shall find it + easiest to take a simple case, and one as free as possible from every kind + of complication. + </p> + <p> + I will suppose, therefore, that all the habitable part of this globe—the + dry land, amounting to about 51,000,000 square miles,—I will suppose + that the whole of that dry land has the same climate, and that it is + composed of the same kind of rock or soil, so that there will be the same + station everywhere; we thus get rid of the peculiar influence of different + climates and stations. I will then imagine that there shall be but one + organic being in the world, and that shall be a plant. In this we start + fair. Its food is to be carbonic acid, water and ammonia, and the saline + matters in the soil, which are, by the supposition, everywhere alike. We + take one single plant, with no opponents, no helpers, and no rivals; it is + to be a "fair field, and no favour". Now, I will ask you to imagine + further that it shall be a plant which shall produce every year fifty + seeds, which is a very moderate number for a plant to produce; and that, + by the action of the winds and currents, these seeds shall be equally and + gradually distributed over the whole surface of the land. I want you now + to trace out what will occur, and you will observe that I am not talking + fallaciously any more than a mathematician does when he expounds his + problem. If you show that the conditions of your problem are such as may + actually occur in nature and do not transgress any of the known laws of + nature in working out your proposition, then you are as safe in the + conclusion you arrive at as is the mathematician in arriving at the + solution of his problem. In science, the only way of getting rid of the + complications with which a subject of this kind is environed, is to work + in this deductive method. What will be the result, then? I will suppose + that every plant requires one square foot of ground to live upon; and the + result will be that, in the course of nine years, the plant will have + occupied every single available spot in the whole globe! I have chalked + upon the blackboard the figures by which I arrive at the result:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Plants. Plants + 1 x 50 in 1st year = 50 + 50 x 50 " 2nd " = 2,500 + 2,500 x 50 " 3rd " = 125,000 + 125,000 x 50 " 4th " = 6,250,000 + 6,250,000 x 50 " 5th " = 312,500,000 + 312,500,000 x 50 " 6th " = 15,625,000,000 + 15,625,000,000 x 50 " 7th " = 781,250,000,000 + 781,250,000,000 x 50 " 8th " = 39,062,500,000,000 + 39,062,500,000,000 x 50 " 9th " = 1,953,125,000,000,000 +</pre> + <p> + 51,000,000 sq. miles—the dry surface of the earth x 27,878,400—the + number of sq. ft. in 1 sq. mile = sq. ft. 1,421,798,400,000,000 being + 531,326,600,000,000 square feet less than would be required at the end of + the ninth year. + </p> + <p> + You will see from this that, at the end of the first year the single plant + will have produced fifty more of its kind; by the end of the second year + these will have increased to 2,500; and so on, in succeeding years, you + get beyond even trillions; and I am not at all sure that I could tell you + what the proper arithmetical denomination of the total number really is; + but, at any rate, you will understand the meaning of all those noughts. + Then you see that, at the bottom, I have taken the 51,000,000 of square + miles, constituting the surface of the dry land; and as the number of + square feet are placed under and subtracted from the number of seeds that + would be produced in the ninth year, you can see at once that there would + be an immense number more of plants than there would be square feet of + ground for their accommodation. This is certainly quite enough to prove my + point; that between the eighth and ninth year after being planted the + single plant would have stocked the whole available surface of the earth. + </p> + <p> + This is a thing which is hardly conceivable—it seems hardly + imaginable—yet it is so. It is indeed simply the law of Malthus + exemplified. Mr. Malthus was a clergyman, who worked out this subject most + minutely and truthfully some years ago; he showed quite clearly,—and + although he was much abused for his conclusions at the time, they have + never yet been disproved and never will be—he showed that in + consequence of the increase in the number of organic beings in a + geometrical ratio, while the means of existence cannot be made to increase + in the same ratio, that there must come a time when the number of organic + beings will be in excess of the power of production of nutriment, and that + thus some check must arise to the further increase of those organic + beings. At the end of the ninth year we have seen that each plant would + not be able to get its full square foot of ground, and at the end of + another year it would have to share that space with fifty others the + produce of the seeds which it would give off. + </p> + <p> + What, then, takes place? Every plant grows up, flourishes, occupies its + square foot of ground, and gives off its fifty seeds; but notice this, + that out of this number only one can come to anything; there is thus, as + it were, forty-nine chances to one against its growing up; it depends upon + the most fortuitous circumstances whether any one of these fifty seeds + shall grow up and flourish, or whether it shall die and perish. This is + what Mr. Darwin has drawn attention to, and called the "STRUGGLE FOR + EXISTENCE"; and I have taken this simple case of a plant because some + people imagine that the phrase seems to imply a sort of fight. + </p> + <p> + I have taken this plant and shown you that this is the result of the ratio + of the increase, the necessary result of the arrival of a time coming for + every species when exactly as many members must be destroyed as are born; + that is the inevitable ultimate result of the rate of production. Now, + what is the result of all this? I have said that there are forty-nine + struggling against every one; and it amounts to this, that the smallest + possible start given to any one seed may give it an advantage which will + enable it to get ahead of all the others; anything that will enable any + one of these seeds to germinate six hours before any of the others will, + other things being alike, enable it to choke them out altogether. I have + shown you that there is no particular in which plants will not vary from + each other; it is quite possible that one of our imaginary plants may vary + in such a character as the thickness of the integument of its seeds; it + might happen that one of the plants might produce seeds having a thinner + integument, and that would enable the seeds of that plant to germinate a + little quicker than those of any of the others, and those seeds would most + inevitably extinguish the forty-nine times as many that were struggling + with them. + </p> + <p> + I have put it in this way, but you see the practical result of the process + is the same as if some person had nurtured the one and destroyed the other + seeds. It does not matter how the variation is produced, so long as it is + once allowed to occur. The variation in the plant once fairly started + tends to become hereditary and reproduce itself; the seeds would spread + themselves in the same way and take part in the struggle with the + forty-nine hundred, or forty-nine thousand, with which they might be + exposed. Thus, by degrees, this variety, with some slight organic change + or modification, must spread itself over the whole surface of the + habitable globe, and extirpate or replace the other kinds. That is what is + meant by NATURAL SELECTION; that is the kind of argument by which it is + perfectly demonstrable that the conditions of existence may play exactly + the same part for natural varieties as man does for domesticated + varieties. No one doubts at all that particular circumstances may be more + favourable for one plant and less so for another, and the moment you admit + that, you admit the selective power of nature. Now, although I have been + putting a hypothetical case, you must not suppose that I have been + reasoning hypothetically. There are plenty of direct experiments which + bear out what we may call the theory of natural selection; there is + extremely good authority for the statement that if you take the seed of + mixed varieties of wheat and sow it, collecting the seed next year and + sowing it again, at length you will find that out of all your varieties + only two or three have lived, or perhaps even only one. There were one or + two varieties which were best fitted to get on, and they have killed out + the other kinds in just the same way and with just the same certainty as + if you had taken the trouble to remove them. As I have already said, the + operation of nature is exactly the same as the artificial operation of + man. + </p> + <p> + But if this be true of that simple case, which I put before you, where + there is nothing but the rivalry of one member of a species with others, + what must be the operation of selective conditions, when you recollect as + a matter of fact, that for every species of animal or plant there are + fifty or a hundred species which might all, more or less, be comprehended + in the same climate, food, and station;—that every plant has + multitudinous animals which prey upon it, and which are its direct + opponents; and that these have other animals preying upon them,—that + every plant has its indirect helpers in the birds that scatter abroad its + seed, and the animals that manure it with their dung;—I say, when + these things are considered, it seems impossible that any variation which + may arise in a species in nature should not tend in some way or other + either to be a little better or worse than the previous stock; if it is a + little better it will have an advantage over and tend to extirpate the + latter in this crush and struggle; and if it is a little worse it will + itself be extirpated. + </p> + <p> + I know nothing that more appropriately expresses this, than the phrase, + "the struggle for existence"; because it brings before your minds, in a + vivid sort of way, some of the simplest possible circumstances connected + with it. When a struggle is intense there must be some who are sure to be + trodden down, crushed, and overpowered by others; and there will be some + who just manage to get through only by the help of the slightest accident. + I recollect reading an account of the famous retreat of the French troops, + under Napoleon, from Moscow. Worn out, tired, and dejected, they at length + came to a great river over which there was but one bridge for the passage + of the vast army. Disorganised and demoralised as that army was, the + struggle must certainly have been a terrible one—every one heeding + only himself, and crushing through the ranks and treading down his + fellows. The writer of the narrative, who was himself one of those who + were fortunate enough to succeed in getting over, and not among the + thousands who were left behind or forced into the river, ascribed his + escape to the fact that he saw striding onward through the mass a great + strong fellow,—one of the French Cuirassiers, who had on a large + blue cloak—and he had enough presence of mind to catch and retain a + hold of this strong man's cloak. He says, "I caught hold of his cloak, and + although he swore at me and cut at and struck me by turns, and at last, + when he found he could not shake me off, fell to entreating me to leave go + or I should prevent him from escaping, besides not assisting myself, I + still kept tight hold of him, and would not quit my grasp until he had at + last dragged me through." Here you see was a case of selective saving—if + we may so term it—depending for its success on the strength of the + cloth of the Cuirassier's cloak. It is the same in nature; every species + has its bridge of Beresina; it has to fight its way through and struggle + with other species; and when well nigh overpowered, it may be that the + smallest chance, something in its colour, perhaps—the minutest + circumstance—will turn the scale one way or the other. + </p> + <p> + Suppose that by a variation of the black race it had produced the white + man at any time—you know that the Negroes are said to believe this + to have been the case, and to imagine that Cain was the first white man, + and that we are his descendants—suppose that this had ever happened, + and that the first residence of this human being was on the West Coast of + Africa. There is no great structural difference between the white man and + the Negro, and yet there is something so singularly different in the + constitution of the two, that the malarias of that country, which do not + hurt the black at all, cut off and destroy the white. Then you see there + would have been a selective operation performed; if the white man had + risen in that way, he would have been selected out and removed by means of + the malaria. Now there really is a very curious case of selection of this + sort among pigs, and it is a case of selection of colour too. In the woods + of Florida there are a great many pigs, and it is a very curious thing + that they are all black, every one of them. Professor Wyman was there some + years ago, and on noticing no pigs but these black ones, he asked some of + the people how it was that they had no white pigs, and the reply was that + in the woods of Florida there was a root which they called the Paint Root, + and that if the white pigs were to eat any of it, it had the effect of + making their hoofs crack, and they died, but if the black pigs eat any of + it, it did not hurt them at all. Here was a very simple case of natural + selection. A skilful breeder could not more carefully develope the black + breed of pigs, and weed out all the white pigs, than the Paint Root does. + </p> + <p> + To show you how remarkably indirect may be such natural selective agencies + as I have referred to, I will conclude by noticing a case mentioned by Mr. + Darwin, and which is certainly one of the most curious of its kind. It is + that of the Humble Bee. It has been noticed that there are a great many + more humble bees in the neighbourhood of towns, than out in the open + country; and the explanation of the matter is this: the humble bees build + nests, in which they store their honey and deposit the larvae and eggs. + The field mice are amazingly fond of the honey and larvae; therefore, + wherever there are plenty of field mice, as in the country, the humble + bees are kept down; but in the neighbourhood of towns, the number of cats + which prowl about the fields eat up the field mice, and of course the more + mice they eat up the less there are to prey upon the larvae of the bees—the + cats are therefore the INDIRECT HELPERS of the bees!* Coming back a step + farther we may say that the old maids are also indirect friends of the + humble bees, and indirect enemies of the field mice, as they keep the cats + which eat up the latter! This is an illustration somewhat beneath the + dignity of the subject, perhaps, but it occurs to me in passing, and with + it I will conclude this lecture. ([Footnote] *The humble bees, on the + other hand, are direct helpers of some plants, such as the heartsease and + red clover, which are fertilized by the visits of the bees; and they are + indirect helpers of the numerous insects which are more or less completely + supported by the heartsease and red clover.) + </p> + <p> + End of The Conditions of Existence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE + ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF + THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. + </h2> + <p> + In the preceding five lectures I have endeavoured to give you an account + of those facts, and of those reasonings from facts, which form the data + upon which all theories regarding the causes of the phenomena of organic + nature must be based. And, although I have had frequent occasion to quote + Mr. Darwin—as all persons hereafter, in speaking upon these + subjects, will have occasion to quote his famous book on the "Origin of + Species,"—you must yet remember that, wherever I have quoted him, it + has not been upon theoretical points, or for statements in any way + connected with his particular speculations, but on matters of fact, + brought forward by himself, or collected by himself, and which appear + incidentally in his book. If a man WILL make a book, professing to discuss + a single question, an encyclopaedia, I cannot help it. + </p> + <p> + Now, having had an opportunity of considering in this sort of way the + different statements bearing upon all theories whatsoever, I have to lay + before you, as fairly as I can, what is Mr. Darwin's view of the matter + and what position his theories hold, when judged by the principles which I + have previously laid down, as deciding our judgments upon all theories and + hypotheses. + </p> + <p> + I have already stated to you that the inquiry respecting the causes of the + phenomena of organic nature resolves itself into two problems—the + first being the question of the origination of living or organic beings; + and the second being the totally distinct problem of the modification and + perpetuation of organic beings when they have already come into existence. + The first question Mr. Darwin does not touch; he does not deal with it at + all; but he says—given the origin of organic matter—supposing + its creation to have already taken place, my object is to show in + consequence of what laws and what demonstrable properties of organic + matter, and of its environments, such states of organic nature as those + with which we are acquainted must have come about. This, you will observe, + is a perfectly legitimate proposition; every person has a right to define + the limits of the inquiry which he sets before himself; and yet it is a + most singular thing that in all the multifarious, and, not unfrequently, + ignorant attacks which have been made upon the 'Origin of Species', there + is nothing which has been more speciously criticised than this particular + limitation. If people have nothing else to urge against the book, they say—"Well, + after all, you see, Mr. Darwin's explanation of the 'Origin of Species' is + not good for much, because, in the long run, he admits that he does not + know how organic matter began to exist. But if you admit any special + creation for the first particle of organic matter you may just as well + admit it for all the rest; five hundred or five thousand distinct + creations are just as intelligible, and just as little difficult to + understand, as one." The answer to these cavils is two-fold. In the first + place, all human inquiry must stop somewhere; all our knowledge and all + our investigation cannot take us beyond the limits set by the finite and + restricted character of our faculties, or destroy the endless unknown, + which accompanies, like its shadow, the endless procession of phenomena. + So far as I can venture to offer an opinion on such a matter, the purpose + of our being in existence, the highest object that human beings can set + before themselves, is not the pursuit of any such chimera as the + annihilation of the unknown; but it is simply the unwearied endeavour to + remove its boundaries a little further from our little sphere of action. + </p> + <p> + I wonder if any historian would for a moment admit the objection, that it + is preposterous to trouble ourselves about the history of the Roman + Empire, because we do not know anything positive about the origin and + first building of the city of Rome! Would it be a fair objection to urge, + respecting the sublime discoveries of a Newton, or a Kepler, those great + philosophers, whose discoveries have been of the profoundest benefit and + service to all men,—to say to them—"After all that you have + told us as to how the planets revolve, and how they are maintained in + their orbits, you cannot tell us what is the cause of the origin of the + sun, moon, and stars. So what is the use of what you have done?" Yet these + objections would not be one whit more preposterous than the objections + which have been made to the 'Origin of Species.' Mr. Darwin, then, had a + perfect right to limit his inquiry as he pleased, and the only question + for us—the inquiry being so limited—is to ascertain whether + the method of his inquiry is sound or unsound; whether he has obeyed the + canons which must guide and govern all investigation, or whether he has + broken them; and it was because our inquiry this evening is essentially + limited to that question, that I spent a good deal of time in a former + lecture (which, perhaps, some of you thought might have been better + employed), in endeavouring to illustrate the method and nature of + scientific inquiry in general. We shall now have to put in practice the + principles that I then laid down. + </p> + <p> + I stated to you in substance, if not in words, that wherever there are + complex masses of phenomena to be inquired into, whether they be phenomena + of the affairs of daily life, or whether they belong to the more abstruse + and difficult problems laid before the philosopher, our course of + proceeding in unravelling that complex chain of phenomena with a view to + get at its cause, is always the same; in all cases we must invent an + hypothesis; we must place before ourselves some more or less likely + supposition respecting that cause; and then, having assumed an hypothesis, + having supposed cause for the phenomena in question, we must endeavour, on + the one hand, to demonstrate our hypothesis, or, on the other, to upset + and reject it altogether, by testing it in three ways. We must, in the + first place, be prepared to prove that the supposed causes of the + phenomena exist in nature; that they are what the logicians call 'vera + causae'—true causes;—in the next place, we should be prepared + to show that the assumed causes of the phenomena are competent to produce + such phenomena as those which we wish to explain by them; and in the last + place, we ought to be able to show that no other known causes are + competent to produce those phenomena. If we can succeed in satisfying + these three conditions we shall have demonstrated our hypothesis; or + rather I ought to say we shall have proved it as far as certainty is + possible for us; for, after all, there is no one of our surest convictions + which may not be upset, or at any rate modified by a further accession of + knowledge. It was because it satisfied these conditions that we accepted + the hypothesis as to the disappearance of the tea-pot and spoons in the + case I supposed in a previous lecture; we found that our hypothesis on + that subject was tenable and valid, because the supposed cause existed in + nature, because it was competent to account for the phenomena, and because + no other known cause was competent to account for them; and it is upon + similar grounds that any hypothesis you choose to name is accepted in + science as tenable and valid. + </p> + <p> + What is Mr. Darwin's hypothesis? As I apprehend it—for I have put it + into a shape more convenient for common purposes than I could find + 'verbatim' in his book—as I apprehend it, I say, it is, that all the + phenomena of organic nature, past and present, result from, or are caused + by, the inter-action of those properties of organic matter, which we have + called ATAVISM and VARIABILITY, with the CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE; or, in + other words,—given the existence of organic matter, its tendency to + transmit its properties, and its tendency occasionally to vary; and, + lastly, given the conditions of existence by which organic matter is + surrounded—that these put together are the causes of the Present and + of the Past conditions of ORGANIC NATURE. + </p> + <p> + Such is the hypothesis as I understand it. Now let us see how it will + stand the various tests which I laid down just now. In the first place, do + these supposed causes of the phenomena exist in nature? Is it the fact + that in nature these properties of organic matter—atavism and + variability—and those phenomena which we have called the conditions + of existence,—is it true that they exist? Well, of course, if they + do not exist, all that I have told you in the last three or four lectures + must be incorrect, because I have been attempting to prove that they do + exist, and I take it that there is abundant evidence that they do exist; + so far, therefore, the hypothesis does not break down. + </p> + <p> + But in the next place comes a much more difficult inquiry:—Are the + causes indicated competent to give rise to the phenomena of organic + nature? I suspect that this is indubitable to a certain extent. It is + demonstrable, I think, as I have endeavoured to show you, that they are + perfectly competent to give rise to all the phenomena which are exhibited + by RACES in nature. Furthermore, I believe that they are quite competent + to account for all that we may call purely structural phenomena which are + exhibited by SPECIES in nature. On that point also I have already enlarged + somewhat. Again, I think that the causes assumed are competent to account + for most of the physiological characteristics of species, and I not only + think that they are competent to account for them, but I think that they + account for many things which otherwise remain wholly unaccountable and + inexplicable, and I may say incomprehensible. For a full exposition of the + grounds on which this conviction is based, I must refer you to Mr. + Darwin's work; all that I can do now is to illustrate what I have said by + two or three cases taken almost at random. + </p> + <p> + I drew your attention, on a previous evening, to the facts which are + embodied in our systems of Classification, which are the results of the + examination and comparison of the different members of the animal kingdom + one with another. I mentioned that the whole of the animal kingdom is + divisible into five sub-kingdoms; that each of these sub-kingdoms is again + divisible into provinces; that each province may be divided into classes, + and the classes into the successively smaller groups, orders, families, + genera, and species. + </p> + <p> + Now, in each of these groups, the resemblance in structure among the + members of the group is closer in proportion as the group is smaller. + Thus, a man and a worm are members of the animal kingdom in virtue of + certain apparently slight though really fundamental resemblances which + they present. But a man and a fish are members of the same sub-kingdom + 'Vertebrata', because they are much more like one another than either of + them is to a worm, or a snail, or any member of the other sub-kingdoms. + For similar reasons men and horses are arranged as members of the same + Class, 'Mammalia'; men and apes as members of the same Order, 'Primates'; + and if there were any animals more like men than they were like any of the + apes, and yet different from men in important and constant particulars of + their organization, we should rank them as members of the same Family, or + of the same Genus, but as of distinct Species. + </p> + <p> + That it is possible to arrange all the varied forms of animals into + groups, having this sort of singular subordination one to the other, is a + very remarkable circumstance; but, as Mr. Darwin remarks, this is a result + which is quite to be expected, if the principles which he lays down be + correct. Take the case of the races which are known to be produced by the + operation of atavism and variability, and the conditions of existence + which check and modify these tendencies. Take the case of the pigeons that + I brought before you; there it was shown that they might be all classed as + belonging to some one of five principal divisions, and that within these + divisions other subordinate groups might be formed. The members of these + groups are related to one another in just the same way as the genera of a + family, and the groups themselves as the families of an order, or the + orders of a class; while all have the same sort of structural relations + with the wild rock-pigeon, as the members of any great natural group have + with a real or imaginary typical form. Now, we know that all varieties of + pigeons of every kind have arisen by a process of selective breeding from + a common stock, the rock-pigeon; hence, you see, that if all species of + animals have proceeded from some common stock, the general character of + their structural relations, and of our systems of classification, which + express those relations, would be just what we find them to be. In other + words, the hypothetical cause is, so far, competent to produce effects + similar to those of the real cause. + </p> + <p> + Take, again, another set of very remarkable facts,—the existence of + what are called rudimentary organs, organs for which we can find no + obvious use, in the particular animal economy in which they are found, and + yet which are there. + </p> + <p> + Such are the splint-like bones in the leg of the horse, which I here show + you, and which correspond with bones which belong to certain toes and + fingers in the human hand and foot. In the horse you see they are quite + rudimentary, and bear neither toes nor fingers; so that the horse has only + one "finger" in his fore-foot and one "toe" in his hind foot. But it is a + very curious thing that the animals closely allied to the horse show more + toes than he; as the rhinoceros, for instance: he has these extra toes + well formed, and anatomical facts show very clearly that he is very + closely related to the horse indeed. So we may say that animals, in an + anatomical sense nearly related to the horse, have those parts which are + rudimentary in him, fully developed. + </p> + <p> + Again, the sheep and the cow have no cutting-teeth, but only a hard pad in + the upper jaw. That is the common characteristic of ruminants in general. + But the calf has in its upper jaw some rudiments of teeth which never are + developed, and never play the part of teeth at all. Well, if you go back + in time, you find some of the older, now extinct, allies of the ruminants + have well-developed teeth in their upper jaws; and at the present day the + pig (which is in structure closely connected with ruminants) has + well-developed teeth in its upper jaw; so that here is another instance of + organs well-developed and very useful, in one animal, represented by + rudimentary organs, for which we can discover no purpose whatsoever, in + another closely allied animal. The whalebone whale, again, has horny + "whalebone" plates in its mouth, and no teeth; but the young foetal whale, + before it is born, has teeth in its jaws; they, however, are never used, + and they never come to anything. But other members of the group to which + the whale belongs have well-developed teeth in both jaws. + </p> + <p> + Upon any hypothesis of special creation, facts of this kind appear to me + to be entirely unaccountable and inexplicable, but they cease to be so if + you accept Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, and see reason for believing that the + whalebone whale and the whale with teeth in its mouth both sprang from a + whale that had teeth, and that the teeth of the foetal whale are merely + remnants—recollections, if we may so say—of the extinct whale. + So in the case of the horse and the rhinoceros: suppose that both have + descended by modification from some earlier form which had the normal + number of toes, and the persistence of the rudimentary bones which no + longer support toes in the horse becomes comprehensible. + </p> + <p> + In the language that we speak in England, and in the language of the + Greeks, there are identical verbal roots, or elements entering into the + composition of words. That fact remains unintelligible so long as we + suppose English and Greek to be independently created tongues; but when it + is shown that both languages are descended from one original, the + Sanscrit, we give an explanation of that resemblance. In the same way the + existence of identical structural roots, if I may so term them, entering + into the composition of widely different animals, is striking evidence in + favour of the descent of those animals from a common original. + </p> + <p> + To turn to another kind of illustration:—If you regard the whole + series of stratified rocks—that enormous thickness of sixty or + seventy thousand feet that I have mentioned before, constituting the only + record we have of a most prodigious lapse of time, that time being, in all + probability, but a fraction of that of which we have no record;—if + you observe in these successive strata of rocks successive groups of + animals arising and dying out, a constant succession, giving you the same + kind of impression, as you travel from one group of strata to another, as + you would have in travelling from one country to another;—when you + find this constant succession of forms, their traces obliterated except to + the man of science,—when you look at this wonderful history, and ask + what it means, it is only a paltering with words if you are offered the + reply,—'They were so created.' + </p> + <p> + But if, on the other hand, you look on all forms of organized beings as + the results of the gradual modification of a primitive type, the facts + receive a meaning, and you see that these older conditions are the + necessary predecessors of the present. Viewed in this light the facts of + palaeontology receive a meaning—upon any other hypothesis, I am + unable to see, in the slightest degree, what knowledge or signification we + are to draw out of them. Again, note as bearing upon the same point, the + singular likeness which obtains between the successive Faunae and Florae, + whose remains are preserved on the rocks: you never find any great and + enormous difference between the immediately successive Faunae and Florae, + unless you have reason to believe there has also been a great lapse of + time or a great change of conditions. The animals, for instance, of the + newest tertiary rocks, in any part of the world, are always, and without + exception, found to be closely allied with those which now live in that + part of the world. For example, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, the large + mammals are at present rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, + tigers, oxen, horses, etc.; and if you examine the newest tertiary + deposits, which contain the animals and plants which immediately preceded + those which now exist in the same country, you do not find gigantic + specimens of ant-eaters and kangaroos, but you find rhinoceroses, + elephants, lions, tigers, etc.,—of different species to those now + living,—but still their close allies. If you turn to South America, + where, at the present day, we have great sloths and armadilloes and + creatures of that kind, what do you find in the newest tertiaries? You + find the great sloth-like creature, the 'Megatherium', and the great + armadillo, the 'Glyptodon', and so on. And if you go to Australia you find + the same law holds good, namely, that that condition of organic nature + which has preceded the one which now exists, presents differences perhaps + of species, and of genera, but that the great types of organic structure + are the same as those which now flourish. + </p> + <p> + What meaning has this fact upon any other hypothesis or supposition than + one of successive modification? But if the population of the world, in any + age, is the result of the gradual modification of the forms which peopled + it in the preceding age,—if that has been the case, it is + intelligible enough; because we may expect that the creature that results + from the modification of an elephantine mammal shall be something like an + elephant, and the creature which is produced by the modification of an + armadillo-like mammal shall be like an armadillo. Upon that supposition, I + say, the facts are intelligible; upon any other, that I am aware of, they + are not. + </p> + <p> + So far, the facts of palaeontology are consistent with almost any form of + the doctrine of progressive modification; they would not be absolutely + inconsistent with the wild speculations of De Maillet, or with the less + objectionable hypothesis of Lamarck. But Mr. Darwin's views have one + peculiar merit; and that is, that they are perfectly consistent with an + array of facts which are utterly inconsistent with and fatal to, any other + hypothesis of progressive modification which has yet been advanced. It is + one remarkable peculiarity of Mr. Darwin's hypothesis that it involves no + necessary progression or incessant modification, and that it is perfectly + consistent with the persistence for any length of time of a given + primitive stock, contemporaneously with its modifications. To return to + the case of the domestic breeds of pigeons, for example; you have the + Dove-cot pigeon, which closely resembles the Rock pigeon, from which they + all started, existing at the same time with the others. And if species are + developed in the same way in nature, a primitive stock and its + modifications may, occasionally, all find the conditions fitted for their + existence; and though they come into competition, to a certain extent, + with one another, the derivative species may not necessarily extirpate the + primitive one, or 'vice versa'. + </p> + <p> + Now palaeontology shows us many facts which are perfectly harmonious with + these observed effects of the process by which Mr. Darwin supposes species + to have originated, but which appear to me to be totally inconsistent with + any other hypothesis which has been proposed. There are some groups of + animals and plants, in the fossil world, which have been said to belong to + "persistent types," because they have persisted, with very little change + indeed, through a very great range of time, while everything about them + has changed largely. There are families of fishes whose type of + construction has persisted all the way from the carboniferous rock right + up to the cretaceous; and others which have lasted through almost the + whole range of the secondary rocks, and from the lias to the older + tertiaries. It is something stupendous this—to consider a genus + lasting without essential modifications through all this enormous lapse of + time while almost everything else was changed and modified. + </p> + <p> + Thus I have no doubt that Mr. Darwin's hypothesis will be found competent + to explain the majority of the phenomena exhibited by species in nature; + but in an earlier lecture I spoke cautiously with respect to its power of + explaining all the physiological peculiarities of species. + </p> + <p> + There is, in fact, one set of these peculiarities which the theory of + selective modification, as it stands at present, is not wholly competent + to explain, and that is the group of phenomena which I mentioned to you + under the name of Hybridism, and which I explained to consist in the + sterility of the offspring of certain species when crossed one with + another. It matters not one whit whether this sterility is universal, or + whether it exists only in a single case. Every hypothesis is bound to + explain, or, at any rate, not be inconsistent with, the whole of the facts + which it professes to account for; and if there is a single one of these + facts which can be shown to be inconsistent with (I do not merely mean + inexplicable by, but contrary to) the hypothesis, the hypothesis falls to + the ground,—it is worth nothing. One fact with which it is + positively inconsistent is worth as much, and as powerful in negativing + the hypothesis, as five hundred. If I am right in thus defining the + obligations of an hypothesis, Mr. Darwin, in order to place his views + beyond the reach of all possible assault, ought to be able to demonstrate + the possibility of developing from a particular stock by selective + breeding, two forms, which should either be unable to cross one with + another, or whose cross-bred offspring should be infertile with one + another. + </p> + <p> + For, you see, if you have not done that you have not strictly fulfilled + all the conditions of the problem; you have not shown that you can + produce, by the cause assumed, all the phenomena which you have in nature. + Here are the phenomena of Hybridism staring you in the face, and you + cannot say, 'I can, by selective modification, produce these same + results.' Now, it is admitted on all hands that, at present, so far as + experiments have gone, it has not been found possible to produce this + complete physiological divergence by selective breeding. I stated this + very clearly before, and I now refer to the point, because, if it could be + proved, not only that this HAS not been done, but that it CANNOT be done; + if it could be demonstrated that it is impossible to breed selectively, + from any stock, a form which shall not breed with another, produced from + the same stock; and if we were shown that this must be the necessary and + inevitable results of all experiments, I hold that Mr. Darwin's hypothesis + would be utterly shattered. + </p> + <p> + But has this been done? or what is really the state of the case? It is + simply that, so far as we have gone yet with our breeding, we have not + produced from a common stock two breeds which are not more or less fertile + with one another. + </p> + <p> + I do not know that there is a single fact which would justify any one in + saying that any degree of sterility has been observed between breeds + absolutely known to have been produced by selective breeding from a common + stock. On the other hand, I do not know that there is a single fact which + can justify any one in asserting that such sterility cannot be produced by + proper experimentation. For my own part, I see every reason to believe + that it may, and will be so produced. For, as Mr. Darwin has very properly + urged, when we consider the phenomena of sterility, we find they are most + capricious; we do not know what it is that the sterility depends on. There + are some animals which will not breed in captivity; whether it arises from + the simple fact of their being shut up and deprived of their liberty, or + not, we do not know, but they certainly will not breed. What an astounding + thing this is, to find one of the most important of all functions + annihilated by mere imprisonment! + </p> + <p> + So, again, there are cases known of animals which have been thought by + naturalists to be undoubted species, which have yielded perfectly fertile + hybrids; while there are other species which present what everybody + believes to be varieties* which are more or less infertile with one + another. ([Footnote] *And as I conceive with very good reason; but if any + objector urges that we cannot prove that they have been produced by + artificial or natural selection, the objection must be admitted—ultrasceptical + as it is. But in science, scepticism is a duty.) There are other cases + which are truly extraordinary; there is one, for example, which has been + carefully examined,—of two kinds of sea-weed, of which the male + element of the one, which we may call A, fertilizes the female element of + the other, B; while the male element of B will not fertilize the female + element of A; so that, while the former experiment seems to show us that + they are 'varieties', the latter leads to the conviction that they are + 'species'. + </p> + <p> + When we see how capricious and uncertain this sterility is, how unknown + the conditions on which it depends, I say that we have no right to affirm + that those conditions will not be better understood by and by, and we have + no ground for supposing that we may not be able to experiment so as to + obtain that crucial result which I mentioned just now. So that though Mr. + Darwin's hypothesis does not completely extricate us from this difficulty + at present, we have not the least right to say it will not do so. + </p> + <p> + There is a wide gulf between the thing you cannot explain and the thing + that upsets you altogether. There is hardly any hypothesis in this world + which has not some fact in connection with it which has not been + explained, but that is a very different affair to a fact that entirely + opposes your hypothesis; in this case all you can say is, that your + hypothesis is in the same position as a good many others. + </p> + <p> + Now, as to the third test, that there are no other causes competent to + explain the phenomena, I explained to you that one should be able to say + of an hypothesis, that no other known causes than those supposed by it are + competent to give rise to the phenomena. Here, I think, Mr. Darwin's view + is pretty strong. I really believe that the alternative is either + Darwinism or nothing, for I do not know of any rational conception or + theory of the organic universe which has any scientific position at all + beside Mr. Darwin's. I do not know of any proposition that has been put + before us with the intention of explaining the phenomena of organic + nature, which has in its favour a thousandth part of the evidence which + may be adduced in favour of Mr. Darwin's views. Whatever may be the + objections to his views, certainly all others are absolutely out of court. + </p> + <p> + Take the Lamarckian hypothesis, for example. Lamarck was a great + naturalist, and to a certain extent went the right way to work; he argued + from what was undoubtedly a true cause of some of the phenomena of organic + nature. He said it is a matter of experience that an animal may be + modified more or less in consequence of its desires and consequent + actions. Thus, if a man exercise himself as a blacksmith, his arms will + become strong and muscular; such organic modification is a result of this + particular action and exercise. Lamarck thought that by a very simple + supposition based on this truth he could explain the origin of the various + animal species: he said, for example, that the short-legged birds which + live on fish had been converted into the long-legged waders by desiring to + get the fish without wetting their bodies, and so stretching their legs + more and more through successive generations. If Lamarck could have shown + experimentally, that even races of animals could be produced in this way, + there might have been some ground for his speculations. But he could show + nothing of the kind, and his hypothesis has pretty well dropped into + oblivion, as it deserved to do. I said in an earlier lecture that there + are hypotheses and hypotheses, and when people tell you that Mr. Darwin's + strongly-based hypothesis is nothing but a mere modification of Lamarck's, + you will know what to think of their capacity for forming a judgment on + this subject. + </p> + <p> + But you must recollect that when I say I think it is either Mr. Darwin's + hypothesis or nothing; that either we must take his view, or look upon the + whole of organic nature as an enigma, the meaning of which is wholly + hidden from us; you must understand that I mean that I accept it + provisionally, in exactly the same way as I accept any other hypothesis. + Men of science do not pledge themselves to creeds; they are bound by + articles of no sort; there is not a single belief that it is not a bounden + duty with them to hold with a light hand and to part with it cheerfully, + the moment it is really proved to be contrary to any fact, great or small. + And if, in course of time I see good reasons for such a proceeding, I + shall have no hesitation in coming before you, and pointing out any change + in my opinion without finding the slightest occasion to blush for so + doing. So I say that we accept this view as we accept any other, so long + as it will help us, and we feel bound to retain it only so long as it will + serve our great purpose—the improvement of Man's estate and the + widening of his knowledge. The moment this, or any other conception, + ceases to be useful for these purposes, away with it to the four winds; we + care not what becomes of it! + </p> + <p> + But to say truth, although it has been my business to attend closely to + the controversies roused by the publication of Mr. Darwin's book, I think + that not one of the enormous mass of objections and obstacles which have + been raised is of any very great value, except that sterility case which I + brought before you just now. All the rest are misunderstandings of some + sort, arising either from prejudice, or want of knowledge, or still more + from want of patience and care in reading the work. + </p> + <p> + For you must recollect that it is not a book to be read with as much ease + as its pleasant style may lead you to imagine. You spin through it as if + it were a novel the first time you read it, and think you know all about + it; the second time you read it you think you know rather less about it; + and the third time, you are amazed to find how little you have really + apprehended its vast scope and objects. I can positively say that I never + take it up without finding in it some new view, or light, or suggestion + that I have not noticed before. That is the best characteristic of a + thorough and profound book; and I believe this feature of the 'Origin of + Species' explains why so many persons have ventured to pass judgment and + criticisms upon it which are by no means worth the paper they are written + on. + </p> + <p> + Before concluding these lectures there is one point to which I must + advert,—though, as Mr. Darwin has said nothing about man in his + book, it concerns myself rather than him;—for I have strongly + maintained on sundry occasions that if Mr. Darwin's views are sound, they + apply as much to man as to the lower mammals, seeing that it is perfectly + demonstrable that the structural differences which separate man from the + apes are not greater than those which separate some apes from others. + There cannot be the slightest doubt in the world that the argument which + applies to the improvement of the horse from an earlier stock, or of ape + from ape, applies to the improvement of man from some simpler and lower + stock than man. There is not a single faculty—functional or + structural, moral, intellectual, or instinctive,—there is no faculty + whatever that is not capable of improvement; there is no faculty + whatsoever which does not depend upon structure, and as structure tends to + vary, it is capable of being improved. + </p> + <p> + Well, I have taken a good deal of pains at various times to prove this, + and I have endeavoured to meet the objections of those who maintain, that + the structural differences between man and the lower animals are of so + vast a character and enormous extent, that even if Mr. Darwin's views are + correct, you cannot imagine this particular modification to take place. It + is, in fact, easy matter to prove that, so far as structure is concerned, + man differs to no greater extent from the animals which are immediately + below him than these do from other members of the same order. Upon the + other hand, there is no one who estimates more highly than I do the + dignity of human nature, and the width of the gulf in intellectual and + moral matters, which lies between man and the whole of the lower creation. + </p> + <p> + But I find this very argument brought forward vehemently by some. "You say + that man has proceeded from a modification of some lower animal, and you + take pains to prove that the structural differences which are said to + exist in his brain do not exist at all, and you teach that all functions, + intellectual, moral, and others, are the expression or the result, in the + long run, of structures, and of the molecular forces which they exert." It + is quite true that I do so. + </p> + <p> + "Well, but," I am told at once, somewhat triumphantly, "you say in the + same breath that there is a great moral and intellectual chasm between man + and the lower animals. How is this possible when you declare that moral + and intellectual characteristics depend on structure, and yet tell us that + there is no such gulf between the structure of man and that of the lower + animals?" + </p> + <p> + I think that objection is based upon a misconception of the real relations + which exist between structure and function, between mechanism and work. + Function is the expression of molecular forces and arrangements no doubt; + but, does it follow from this, that variation in function so depends upon + variation in structure that the former is always exactly proportioned to + the latter? If there is no such relation, if the variation in function + which follows on a variation in structure, may be enormously greater than + the variation of the structure, then, you see, the objection falls to the + ground. + </p> + <p> + Take a couple of watches—made by the same maker, and as completely + alike as possible; set them upon the table, and the function of each—which + is its rate of going—will be performed in the same manner, and you + shall be able to distinguish no difference between them; but let me take a + pair of pincers, and if my hand is steady enough to do it, let me just + lightly crush together the bearings of the balance-wheel, or force to a + slightly different angle the teeth of the escapement of one of them, and + of course you know the immediate result will be that the watch, so + treated, from that moment will cease to go. But what proportion is there + between the structural alteration and the functional result? Is it not + perfectly obvious that the alteration is of the minutest kind, yet that + slight as it is, it has produced an infinite difference in the performance + of the functions of these two instruments? + </p> + <p> + Well, now, apply that to the present question. What is it that constitutes + and makes man what he is? What is it but his power of language—that + language giving him the means of recording his experience—making + every generation somewhat wiser than its predecessor,—more in + accordance with the established order of the universe? + </p> + <p> + What is it but this power of speech, of recording experience, which + enables men to be men—looking before and after and, in some dim + sense, understanding the working of this wondrous universe—and which + distinguishes man from the whole of the brute world? I say that this + functional difference is vast, unfathomable, and truly infinite in its + consequences; and I say at the same time, that it may depend upon + structural differences which shall be absolutely inappreciable to us with + our present means of investigation. What is this very speech that we are + talking about? I am speaking to you at this moment, but if you were to + alter, in the minutest degree, the proportion of the nervous forces now + active in the two nerves which supply the muscles of my glottis, I should + become suddenly dumb. The voice is produced only so long as the vocal + chords are parallel; and these are parallel only so long as certain + muscles contract with exact equality; and that again depends on the + equality of action of those two nerves I spoke of. So that a change of the + minutest kind in the structure of one of these nerves, or in the structure + of the part in which it originates, or of the supply of blood to that + part, or of one of the muscles to which it is distributed, might render + all of us dumb. But a race of dumb men, deprived of all communication with + those who could speak, would be little indeed removed from the brutes. And + the moral and intellectual difference between them and ourselves would be + practically infinite, though the naturalist should not be able to find a + single shadow of even specific structural difference. + </p> + <p> + But let me dismiss this question now, and, in conclusion, let me say that + you may go away with it as my mature conviction, that Mr. Darwin's work is + the greatest contribution which has been made to biological science since + the publication of the 'Regne Animal' of Cuvier, and since that of the + 'History of Development' of Von Baer. I believe that if you strip it of + its theoretical part it still remains one of the greatest encyclopaedias + of biological doctrine that any one man ever brought forth; and I believe + that, if you take it as the embodiment of an hypothesis, it is destined to + be the guide of biological and psychological speculation for the next + three or four generations. + </p> + <p> + End of A Critical Examination of "On The Origin of Species". + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS.* + </h2> + <h3> + ([Footnote] *'Times', December 26th, 1850.) + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DARWIN ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. + </h2> + <p> + There is a growing immensity in the speculations of science to which no + human thing or thought at this day is comparable. Apart from the results + which science brings us home and securely harvests, there is an expansive + force and latitude in its tentative efforts, which lifts us out of + ourselves and transfigures our mortality. We may have a preference for + moral themes, like the Homeric sage, who had seen and known much:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Cities of men + And manners, climates, councils, governments"; +</pre> + <p> + yet we must end by confession that + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The windy ways of men + Are but dust which rises up + And is lightly laid again," +</pre> + <p> + in comparison with the work of nature, to which science testifies, but + which has no boundaries in time or space to which science can approximate. + </p> + <p> + There is something altogether out of the reach of science, and yet the + compass of science is practically illimitable. Hence it is that from time + to time we are startled and perplexed by theories which have no parallel + in the contracted moral world; for the generalizations of science sweep on + in ever-widening circles, and more aspiring flights, through a limitless + creation. While astronomy, with its telescope, ranges beyond the known + stars, and physiology, with its microscope, is subdividing infinite + minutiae, we may expect that our historic centuries may be treated as + inadequate counters in the history of the planet on which we are placed. + We must expect new conceptions of the nature and relations of its + denizens, as science acquires the materials for fresh generalizations; nor + have we occasion for alarms if a highly advanced knowledge, like that of + the eminent Naturalist before us, confronts us with an hypothesis as vast + as it is novel. This hypothesis may or may not be sustainable hereafter; + it may give way to something else, and higher science may reverse what + science has here built up with so much skill and patience, but its + sufficiency must be tried by the tests of science alone, if we are to + maintain our position as the heirs of Bacon and the acquitters of Galileo. + We must weigh this hypothesis strictly in the controversy which is coming, + by the only tests which are appropriate, and by no others whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + The hypothesis to which we point, and of which the present work of Mr. + Darwin is but the preliminary outline, may be stated in his own language + as follows:—"Species originated by means of natural selection, or + through the preservation of the favoured races in the struggle for life." + To render this thesis intelligible, it is necessary to interpret its + terms. In the first place, what is a species? The question is a simple + one, but the right answer to it is hard to find, even if we appeal to + those who should know most about it. It is all those animals or plants + which have descended from a single pair of parents; it is the smallest + distinctly definable group of living organisms; it is an eternal and + immutable entity; it is a mere abstraction of the human intellect having + no existence in nature. Such are a few of the significations attached to + this simple word which may be culled from authoritative sources; and if, + leaving terms and theoretical subtleties aside, we turn to facts and + endeavour to gather a meaning for ourselves, by studying the things to + which, in practice, the name of species is applied, it profits us little. + For practice varies as much as theory. Let the botanist or the zoologist + examine and describe the productions of a country, and one will pretty + certainly disagree with the other as to the number, limits, and + definitions of the species into which he groups the very same things. In + these islands, we are in the habit of regarding mankind as of one species, + but a fortnight's steam will land us in a country where divines and + savants, for once in agreement, vie with one another in loudness of + assertion, if not in cogency of proof, that men are of different species; + and, more particularly, that the species negro is so distinct from our own + that the Ten Commandments have actually no reference to him. Even in the + calm region of entomology, where, if anywhere in this sinful world, + passion and prejudice should fail to stir the mind, one learned + coleopterist will fill ten attractive volumes with descriptions of species + of beetles, nine-tenths of which are immediately declared by his brother + beetle-mongers to be no species at all. + </p> + <p> + The truth is that the number of distinguishable living creatures almost + surpasses imagination. At least a hundred thousand such kinds of insects + alone have been described and may be identified in collections, and the + number of separable kinds of living things is under estimated at half a + million. Seeing that most of these obvious kinds have their accidental + varieties, and that they often shade into others by imperceptible degrees, + it may well be imagined that the task of distinguishing between what is + permanent and what fleeting, what is a species and what a mere variety, is + sufficiently formidable. + </p> + <p> + But is it not possible to apply a test whereby a true species may be known + from a mere variety? Is there no criterion of species? Great authorities + affirm that there is—that the unions of members of the same species + are always fertile, while those of distinct species are either sterile, or + their offspring, called hybrids, are so. It is affirmed not only that this + is an experimental fact, but that it is a provision for the preservation + of the purity of species. Such a criterion as this would be invaluable; + but, unfortunately, not only is it not obvious how to apply it in the + great majority of cases in which its aid is needed, but its general + validity is stoutly denied. The Hon. and Rev. Mr. Herbert, a most + trustworthy authority, not only asserts as the result of his own + observations and experiments that many hybrids are quite as fertile as the + parent species, but he goes so far as to assert that the particular plant + 'Crinum capense' is much more fertile when crossed by a distinct species + than when fertilised by its proper pollen! On the other hand, the famous + Gaertner, though he took the greatest pains to cross the primrose and the + cowslip, succeeded only once or twice in several years; and yet it is a + well-established fact that the primrose and the cowslip are only varieties + of the same kind of plant. Again, such cases as the following are well + established. The female of species A, if crossed with the male of species + B, is fertile; but, if the female of B is crossed with the male of A, she + remains barren. Facts of this kind destroy the value of the supposed + criterion. + </p> + <p> + If, weary of the endless difficulties involved in the determination of + species, the investigator, contenting himself with the rough practical + distinction of separable kinds, endeavours to study them as they occur in + nature—to ascertain their relations to the conditions which surround + them, their mutual harmonies and discordances of structure, the bond of + union of their parts and their past history, he finds himself, according + to the received notions, in a mighty maze, and with, at most, the dimmest + adumbration of a plan. If he starts with any one clear conviction, it is + that every part of a living creature is cunningly adapted to some special + use in its life. Has not his Paley told him that that seemingly useless + organ, the spleen, is beautifully adjusted as so much packing between the + other organs? And yet, at the outset of his studies, he finds that no + adaptive reason whatsoever can be given for one-half of the peculiarities + of vegetable structure; he also discovers rudimentary teeth, which are + never used, in the gums of the young calf and in those of the foetal + whale; insects which never bite have rudimental jaws, and others which + never fly have rudimental wings; naturally blind creatures have rudimental + eyes; and the halt have rudimentary limbs. So, again, no animal or plant + puts on its perfect form at once, but all have to start from the same + point, however various the course which each has to pursue. Not only men + and horses, and cats and dogs, lobsters and beetles, periwinkles and + mussels, but even the very sponges and animalcules commence their + existence under forms which are essentially undistinguishable; and this is + true of all the infinite variety of plants. Nay, more, all living beings + march side by side along the high road of development, and separate the + later the more like they are; like people leaving church, who all go down + the aisle, but having reached the door some turn into the parsonage, + others go down the village, and others part only in the next parish. A man + in his development runs for a little while parallel with, though never + passing through, the form of the meanest worm, then travels for a space + beside the fish, then journeys along with the bird and the reptile for his + fellow travellers; and only at last, after a brief companionship with the + highest of the four-footed and four-handed world, rises into the dignity + of pure manhood. No competent thinker of the present day dreams of + explaining these indubitable facts by the notion of the existence of + unknown and undiscoverable adaptations to purpose. And we would remind + those who, ignorant of the facts, must be moved by authority, that no one + has asserted the incompetence of the doctrine of final causes, in its + application to physiology and anatomy, more strongly than our own eminent + anatomist, Professor Owen, who, speaking of such cases, says ('On the + Nature of Limbs', pp. 39, 40): "I think it will be obvious that the + principle of final adaptations fails to satisfy all the conditions of the + problem." + </p> + <p> + But, if the doctrine of final causes will not help us to comprehend the + anomalies of living structure, the principle of adaptation must surely + lead us to understand why certain living beings are found in certain + regions of the world and not in others. The palm, as we know, will not + grow in our climate, nor the oak in Greenland. The white bear cannot live + where the tiger thrives, nor 'vice versa', and the more the natural habits + of animal and vegetable species are examined, the more do they seem, on + the whole, limited to particular provinces. But when we look into the + facts established by the study of the geographical distribution of animals + and plants it seems utterly hopeless to attempt to understand the strange + and apparently capricious relations which they exhibit. One would be + inclined to suppose 'a priori' that every country must be naturally + peopled by those animals that are fittest to live and thrive in it. And + yet how, on this hypothesis, are we to account for the absence of cattle + in the Pampas of South America, when those parts of the New World were + discovered? It is not that they were unfit for cattle, for millions of + cattle now run wild there; and the like holds good of Australia and New + Zealand. It is a curious circumstance, in fact, that the animals and + plants of the Northern Hemisphere are not only as well adapted to live in + the Southern Hemisphere as its own autochthones, but are in many cases + absolutely better adapted, and so overrun and extirpate the aborigines. + Clearly, therefore, the species which naturally inhabit a country are not + necessarily the best adapted to its climate and other conditions. The + inhabitants of islands are often distinct from any other known species of + animal or plants (witness our recent examples from the work of Sir Emerson + Tennent, on Ceylon), and yet they have almost always a sort of general + family resemblance to the animals and plants of the nearest mainland. On + the other hand, there is hardly a species of fish, shell, or crab common + to the opposite sides of the narrow isthmus of Panama. Wherever we look, + then, living nature offers us riddles of difficult solution, if we suppose + that what we see is all that can be known of it. + </p> + <p> + But our knowledge of life is not confined to the existing world. Whatever + their minor differences, geologists are agreed as to the vast thickness of + the accumulated strata which compose the visible part of our earth, and + the inconceivable immensity of the time of whose lapse they are the + imperfect, but the only accessible witnesses. Now, throughout the greater + part of this long series of stratified rocks are scattered, sometimes very + abundantly, multitudes of organic remains, the fossilized exuviae of + animals and plants which lived and died while the mud of which the rocks + are formed was yet soft ooze, and could receive and bury them. It would be + a great error to suppose that these organic remains were fragmentary + relics. Our museums exhibit fossil shells of immeasurable antiquity, as + perfect as the day they were formed, whole skeletons without a limb + disturbed—nay, the changed flesh, the developing embryos, and even + the very footsteps of primeval organisms. Thus the naturalist finds in the + bowels of the earth species as well defined as, and in some groups of + animals more numerous than, those that breathe the upper air. But, + singularly enough, the majority of these entombed species are wholly + distinct from those that now live. Nor is this unlikeness without its rule + and order. As a broad fact, the further we go back in time the less the + buried species are like existing forms; and the further apart the sets of + extinct creatures are the less they are like one another. In other words, + there has been a regular succession of living beings, each younger set + being in a very broad and general sense somewhat more like those which now + live. + </p> + <p> + It was once supposed that this succession had been the result of vast + successive catastrophes, destructions, and re-creations en masse; but + catastrophes are now almost eliminated from geological, or at least + palaeontological speculation; and it is admitted on all hands that the + seeming breaks in the chain of being are not absolute, but only relative + to our imperfect knowledge; that species have replaced species, not in + assemblages, but one by one; and that, if it were possible to have all the + phenomena of the past presented to us, the convenient epochs and + formations of the geologist, though having a certain distinctness, would + fade into one another with limits as undefinable as those of the distinct + and yet separable colours of the solar spectrum. + </p> + <p> + Such is a brief summary of the main truths which have been established + concerning species. Are these truths ultimate and irresolvable facts, or + are their complexities and perplexities the mere expressions of a higher + law? + </p> + <p> + A large number of persons practically assume the former position to be + correct. They believe that the writer of the Pentateuch was empowered and + commissioned to teach us scientific as well as other truth, that the + account we find there of the creation of living things is simply and + literally correct, and that anything which seems to contradict it is, by + the nature of the case, false. All the phenomena which have been detailed + are, on this view, the immediate product of a creative fiat and + consequently are out of the domain of science altogether. + </p> + <p> + Whether this view prove ultimately to be true or false, it is, at any + rate, not at present supported by what is commonly regarded as logical + proof, even if it be capable of discussion by reason; and hence we + consider ourselves at liberty to pass it by, and to turn to those views + which profess to rest on a scientific basis only, and therefore admit of + being argued to their consequences. And we do this with the less + hesitation as it so happens that those persons who are practically + conversant with the facts of the case (plainly a considerable advantage) + have always thought fit to range themselves under the latter category. + </p> + <p> + The majority of these competent persons have up to the present time + maintained two positions,—the first, that every species is, within + certain defined or definable limits, fixed and incapable of modification; + the second, that every species was originally produced by a distinct + creative act. The second position is obviously incapable of proof or + disproof, the direct operations of the Creator not being subjects of + science; and it must therefore be regarded as a corollary from the first, + the truth or falsehood of which is a matter of evidence. Most persons + imagine that the arguments in favour of it are overwhelming; but to some + few minds, and these, it must be confessed, intellects of no small power + and grasp of knowledge, they have not brought conviction. Among these + minds, that of the famous naturalist Lamarck, who possessed a greater + acquaintance with the lower forms of life than any man of his day, Cuvier + not excepted, and was a good botanist to boot, occupies a prominent place. + </p> + <p> + Two facts appear to have strongly affected the course of thought of this + remarkable man—the one, that finer or stronger links of affinity + connect all living beings with one another, and that thus the highest + creature grades by multitudinous steps into the lowest; the other, that an + organ may be developed in particular directions by exerting itself in + particular ways, and that modifications once induced may be transmitted + and become hereditary. Putting these facts together, Lamarck endeavoured + to account for the first by the operation of the second. Place an animal + in new circumstances, says he, and its needs will be altered; the new + needs will create new desires, and the attempt to gratify such desires + will result in an appropriate modification of the organs exerted. Make a + man a blacksmith, and his brachial muscles will develop in accordance with + the demands made upon them, and in like manner, says Lamarck, "the efforts + of some short-necked bird to catch fish without wetting himself have, with + time and perseverance, given rise to all our herons and long-necked + waders." + </p> + <p> + The Lamarckian hypothesis has long since been justly condemned, and it is + the established practice for every tyro to raise his heel against the + carcass of the dead lion. But it is rarely either wise or instructive to + treat even the errors of a really great man with mere ridicule, and in the + present case the logical form of the doctrine stands on a very different + footing from its substance. + </p> + <p> + If species have really arisen by the operation of natural conditions, we + ought to be able to find those conditions now at work; we ought to be able + to discover in nature some power adequate to modify any given kind of + animal or plant in such a manner as to give rise to another kind, which + would be admitted by naturalists as a distinct species. Lamarck imagined + that he had discovered this 'vera causa' in the admitted facts that some + organs may be modified by exercise; and that modifications, once produced, + are capable of hereditary transmission. It does not seem to have occurred + to him to inquire whether there is any reason to believe that there are + any limits to the amount of modification producible, or to ask how long an + animal is likely to endeavour to gratify an impossible desire. The bird, + in our example, would surely have renounced fish dinners long before it + had produced the least effect on leg or neck. + </p> + <p> + Since Lamarck's time, almost all competent naturalists have left + speculations on the origin of species to such dreamers as the author of + the 'Vestiges', by whose well-intentioned efforts the Lamarckian theory + received its final condemnation in the minds of all sound thinkers. + Notwithstanding this silence, however, the transmutation theory, as it has + been called, has been a "skeleton in the closet" to many an honest + zoologist and botanist who had a soul above the mere naming of dried + plants and skins. Surely, has such an one thought, nature is a mighty and + consistent whole, and the providential order established in the world of + life must, if we could only see it rightly, be consistent with that + dominant over the multiform shapes of brute matter. But what is the + history of astronomy, of all the branches of physics, of chemistry, of + medicine, but a narration of the steps by which the human mind has been + compelled, often sorely against its will, to recognize the operation of + secondary causes in events where ignorance beheld an immediate + intervention of a higher power? And when we know that living things are + formed of the same elements as the inorganic world, that they act and + react upon it, bound by a thousand ties of natural piety, is it probable, + nay is it possible, that they, and they alone, should have no order in + their seeming disorder, no unity in their seeming multiplicity, should + suffer no explanation by the discovery of some central and sublime law of + mutual connexion? + </p> + <p> + Questions of this kind have assuredly often arisen, but it might have been + long before they received such expression as would have commanded the + respect and attention of the scientific world, had it not been for the + publication of the work which prompted this article. Its author, Mr. + Darwin, inheritor of a once celebrated name, won his spurs in science when + most of those now distinguished were young men, and has for the last 20 + years held a place in the front ranks of British philosophers. After a + circumnavigatory voyage, undertaken solely for the love of his science, + Mr. Darwin published a series of researches which at once arrested the + attention of naturalists and geologists; his generalizations have since + received ample confirmation, and now command universal assent, nor is it + questionable that they have had the most important influence on the + progress of science. More recently Mr. Darwin, with a versatility which is + among the rarest of gifts, turned his attention to a most difficult + question of zoology and minute anatomy; and no living naturalist and + anatomist has published a better monograph than that which resulted from + his labours. Such a man, at all events, has not entered the sanctuary with + unwashed hands, and when he lays before us the results of 20 years' + investigation and reflection we must listen even though we be disposed to + strike. But, in reading his work it must be confessed that the attention + which might at first be dutifully, soon becomes willingly, given, so clear + is the author's thought, so outspoken his conviction, so honest and fair + the candid expression of his doubts. Those who would judge the book must + read it; we shall endeavour only to make its line of argument and its + philosophical position intelligible to the general reader in our own way. + </p> + <p> + The Baker-street Bazaar has just been exhibiting its familiar annual + spectacle. Straight-backed, small-headed, big-barrelled oxen, as + dissimilar from any wild species as can well be imagined, contended for + attention and praise with sheep of half-a-dozen different breeds and styes + of bloated preposterous pigs, no more like a wild boar or sow than a city + alderman is like an ourang-outang. The cattle show has been, and perhaps + may again be, succeeded by a poultry show, of whose crowing and clucking + prodigies it can only be certainly predicated that they will be very + unlike the aboriginal 'Phasianus gallus'. If the seeker after animal + anomalies is not satisfied, a turn or two in Seven Dials will convince him + that the breeds of pigeons are quite as extraordinary and unlike one + another and their parent stock, while the Horticultural Society will + provide him with any number of corresponding vegetable aberrations from + nature's types. He will learn with no little surprise, too, in the course + of his travels, that the proprietors and producers of these animal and + vegetable anomalies regard them as distinct species, with a firm belief, + the strength of which is exactly proportioned to their ignorance of + scientific biology, and which is the more remarkable as they are all proud + of their skill in ORIGINATING such "species." + </p> + <p> + On careful inquiry it is found that all these, and the many other + artificial breeds or races of animals and plants, have been produced by + one method. The breeder—and a skilful one must be a person of much + sagacity and natural or acquired perceptive faculty—notes some + slight difference, arising he knows not how, in some individuals of his + stock. If he wish to perpetuate the difference, to form a breed with the + peculiarity in question strongly marked, he selects such male and female + individuals as exhibit the desired character, and breeds from them. Their + offspring are then carefully examined, and those which exhibit the + peculiarity the most distinctly are selected for breeding, and this + operation is repeated until the desired amount of divergence from the + primitive stock is reached. It is then found that by continuing the + process of selection—always breeding, that is, from well-marked + forms, and allowing no impure crosses to interfere,—a race may be + formed, the tendency of which to reproduce itself is exceedingly strong; + nor is the limit to the amount of divergence which may be thus produced + known, but one thing is certain, that, if certain breeds of dogs, or of + pigeons, or of horses, were known only in a fossil state, no naturalist + would hesitate in regarding them as distinct species. + </p> + <p> + But, in all these cases we have HUMAN INTERFERENCE. Without the breeder + there would be no selection, and without the selection no race. Before + admitting the possibility of natural species having originated in any + similar way, it must be proved that there is in nature some power which + takes the place of man, and performs a selection sua sponte. It is the + claim of Mr. Darwin that he professes to have discovered the existence and + the modus operandi of this natural selection, as he terms it; and, if he + be right, the process is perfectly simple and comprehensible, and + irresistibly deducible from very familiar but well nigh forgotten facts. + </p> + <p> + Who, for instance, has duly reflected upon all the consequences of the + marvellous struggle for existence which is daily and hourly going on among + living beings? Not only does every animal live at the expense of some + other animal or plant, but the very plants are at war. The ground is full + of seeds that cannot rise into seedlings; the seedlings rob one another of + air, light and water, the strongest robber winning the day, and + extinguishing his competitors. Year after year, the wild animals with + which man never interferes are, on the average, neither more nor less + numerous than they were; and yet we know that the annual produce of every + pair is from one to perhaps a million young,—so that it is + mathematically certain that, on the average, as many are killed by natural + causes as are born every year, and those only escape which happen to be a + little better fitted to resist destruction than those which die. The + individuals of a species are like the crew of a foundered ship, and none + but good swimmers have a chance of reaching the land. + </p> + <p> + Such being unquestionably the necessary conditions under which living + creatures exist, Mr. Darwin discovers in them the instrument of natural + selection. Suppose that in the midst of this incessant competition some + individuals of a species (A) present accidental variations which happen to + fit them a little better than their fellows for the struggle in which they + are engaged, then the chances are in favour, not only of these individuals + being better nourished than the others, but of their predominating over + their fellows in other ways, and of having a better chance of leaving + offspring, which will of course tend to reproduce the peculiarities of + their parents. Their offspring will, by a parity of reasoning, tend to + predominate over their contemporaries, and there being (suppose) no room + for more than one species such as A, the weaker variety will eventually be + destroyed by the new destructive influence which is thrown into the scale, + and the stronger will take its place. Surrounding conditions remaining + unchanged, the new variety (which we may call B)—supposed, for + argument's sake, to be the best adapted for these conditions which can be + got out of the original stock—will remain unchanged, all accidental + deviations from the type becoming at once extinguished, as less fit for + their post than B itself. The tendency of B to persist will grow with its + persistence through successive generations, and it will acquire all the + characters of a new species. + </p> + <p> + But, on the other hand, if the conditions of life change in any degree, + however slight, B may no longer be that form which is best adapted to + withstand their destructive, and profit by their sustaining, influence; in + which case if it should give rise to a more competent variety (C), this + will take its place and become a new species; and thus, by 'natural + selection', the species B and C will be successively derived from A. + </p> + <p> + That this most ingenious hypothesis enables us to give a reason for many + apparent anomalies in the distribution of living beings in time and space, + and that it is not contradicted by the main phenomena of life and + organization appear to us to be unquestionable; and so far it must be + admitted to have an immense advantage over any of its predecessors. But it + is quite another matter to affirm absolutely either the truth or falsehood + of Mr. Darwin's views at the present stage of the inquiry. Goethe has an + excellent aphorism defining that state of mind which he calls 'Thatige + Skepsis'—active doubt. It is doubt which so loves truth that it + neither dares rest in doubting, nor extinguish itself by unjustified + belief; and we commend this state of mind to students of species, with + respect to Mr. Darwin's or any other hypothesis, as to their origin. The + combined investigations of another 20 years may, perhaps, enable + naturalists to say whether the modifying causes and the selective power, + which Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily shown to exist in nature, are + competent to produce all the effects he ascribes to them, or whether, on + the other hand, he has been led to over-estimate the value of his + principle of natural selection, as greatly as Lamarck overestimated his + vera causa of modification by exercise. + </p> + <p> + But there is, at all events, one advantage possessed by the more recent + writer over his predecessor. Mr. Darwin abhors mere speculation as nature + abhors a vacuum. He is as greedy of cases and precedents as any + constitutional lawyer, and all the principles he lays down are capable of + being brought to the test of observation and experiment. The path he bids + us follow professes to be, not a mere airy track, fabricated of ideal + cobwebs, but a solid and broad bridge of facts. If it be so, it will carry + us safely over many a chasm in our knowledge, and lead us to a region free + from the snares of those fascinating but barren Virgins, the Final Causes, + against whom a high authority has so justly warned us. "My sons, dig in + the vineyard," were the last words of the old man in the fable; and, + though the sons found no treasure, they made their fortunes by the grapes. + </p> + <p> + End of The Darwinian Hypothesis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TIME AND LIFE.* + </h2> + <h3> + ([Footnote] *"Macmillan's Magazine", December 1859.) + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES". + </h2> + <p> + Everyone knows that that superficial film of the earth's substance, hardly + ten miles thick, which is accessible to human investigation, is composed + for the most part of beds or strata of stone, the consolidated muds and + sands of former seas and lakes, which have been deposited one upon the + other, and hence are the older the deeper they lie. These multitudinous + strata present such resemblances and differences among themselves that + they are capable of classification into groups or formations, and these + formations again are brigaded together into still larger assemblages, + called by the older geologists, primary, secondary, and tertiary; by the + moderns, palaeozoic, mesozoic, and cainozoic: the basis of the former + nomenclature being the relative age of the groups of strata; that of the + latter, the kinds of living forms contained in them. + </p> + <p> + Though but a film if compared with the total diameter of our planet, the + total series of formations is vast indeed when measured by any human + standard, and, as all action implies time, so are we compelled to regard + these mineral masses as a measure of the time which has elapsed during + their accumulation. The amount of the time which they represent is, of + course, in the inverse proportion of the intensity of the forces which + have been in operation. If, in the ancient world, mud and sand accumulated + on sea-bottoms at tenfold their present rate, it is clear that a bed of + mud or sand ten feet thick would have been formed then in the same time as + a stratum of similar materials one foot thick would be formed now, and + 'vice versa'. + </p> + <p> + At the outset of his studies, therefore, the physical geologist had to + choose between two hypotheses; either, throughout the ages which are + represented by the accumulated strata, and which we may call 'geologic + time', the forces of nature have operated with much same average intensity + as at present, and hence the lapse of time which they represent must be + something prodigious and inconceivable, or, in the primeval epochs, the + natural powers were infinitely more intense than now, and hence the time + through which they acted to produce the effects we see was comparatively + short. + </p> + <p> + The earlier geologists adopted the latter view almost with one consent. + For they had little knowledge of the present workings of nature, and they + read the records of geologic time as a child reads the history of Rome or + Greece, and fancies that antiquity was grand, heroic, and unlike the + present because it is unlike his little experience of the present. + </p> + <p> + Even so the earlier observers were moved with wonder at the seeming + contrast between the ancient and the present order of nature. The + elemental forces seemed to have been grander and more energetic in + primeval times. Upheaved and contorted, rifted and fissured, pierced by + dykes of molten matter or worn away over vast areas by aqueous action, the + older rocks appeared to bear witness to a state of things far different + from that exhibited by the peaceful epoch on which the lot of man has + fallen. + </p> + <p> + But by degrees thoughtful students of geology have been led to perceive + that the earliest efforts of nature have been by no means the grandest. + Alps and Andes are children of yesterday when compared with Snowdon and + the Cumberland hills; and the so-called glacial epoch—that in which + perhaps the most extensive physical changes of which any record remaining + occurred—is the last and the newest of the revolutions of the globe. + And in proportion as physical geography—which is the geology of our + own epoch—has grown into a science, and the present order of nature + has been ransacked to find what, hibernice, we may call precedents for the + phenomena of the past, so the apparent necessity of supposing the past to + be widely different from the present has diminished. + </p> + <p> + The transporting power of the greatest deluge which can be imagined sinks + into insignificance beside that of the slowly floating, slowly melting + iceberg, or the glacier creeping along at its snail's pace of a yard a + day. The study of the deltas of the Nile, the Ganges, and the Mississippi + has taught us how slow is the wearing action of water, how vast its + effects when time is allowed for its operation. The reefs of the Pacific, + the deep-sea soundings of the Atlantic, show that it is to the + slow-growing coral and to the imperceptible animalcule, which lives its + brief space and then adds its tiny shell to the muddy cairn left by its + brethren and ancestors, that we must look as the agents in the formation + of limestone and chalk, and not to hypothetical oceans saturated with + calcareous salts and suddenly depositing them. + </p> + <p> + And while the inquirer has thus learnt that existing forces—GIVE + THEM TIME—are competent to produce all the physical phenomena we + meet with in the rocks, so, on the other side, the study of the marks left + in the ancient strata by past physical actions shows that these were + similar to those which now obtain. Ancient beaches are met with whose + pebbles are like those found on modern shores; the hardened sea-sands of + the oldest epochs show ripple-marks, such as may now be found on every + sandy coast; nay, more, the pits left by ancient rain-drops prove that + even in the very earliest ages, the "bow in the clouds" must have adorned + the palaeozoic firmament. So that if we could reverse the legend of the + Seven Sleepers,—if we could sleep back through the past, and awake a + million ages before our own epoch, in the midst of the earliest geologic + times,—there is no reason to believe that sea, or sky, or the aspect + of the land would warn us of the marvellous retrospection. + </p> + <p> + Such are the beliefs which modern physical geologists hold, or, at any + rate, tend towards holding. But, in so doing, it is obvious that they by + no means prejudge the question, as to what the physical condition of the + globe may have been before our chapters of its history begin, in what may + be called (with that licence which is implied in the often-used term + "prehistoric epoch") "pre-geologic time." The views indicated, in fact, + are not only quite consistent with the hypothesis, that, in the still + earlier period referred to, the condition of our world was very different; + but they may be held by some to necessitate that hypothesis. The physical + philosopher who is accurately acquainted with the velocity of a + cannon-ball, and the precise character of the line which it traverses for + a yard of its course, is necessitated by what he knows of the laws of + nature to conclude that it came from a certain spot, whence it was + impelled by a certain force, and that it has followed a certain + trajectory. In like manner, the student of physical geology, who fully + believes in the uniformity of the general condition of the earth through + geologic time, may feel compelled by what he knows of causation, and by + the general analogy of nature, to suppose that our solar system was once a + nebulous mass; that it gradually condensed, that it broke up into that + wonderful group of harmoniously rolling balls we call planets and + satellites, and that then each of these underwent its appointed + metamorphosis, until at last our own share of the cosmic vapour passed + into that condition in which we first meet with definite records of its + state, and in which it has since, with comparatively little change, + remained. + </p> + <p> + The doctrine of uniformity and the doctrine of progression are, therefore, + perfectly consistent; perhaps, indeed, they might be shown to be + necessarily connected with one another. + </p> + <p> + If, however, the condition of the world, which has obtained throughout + geologic time, is but the sequel to a vast series of changes which took + place in pre-geologic time, then it seems not unlikely that the duration + of this latter is to that of the former as the vast extent of geologic + time is to the length of the brief epoch we call the historical period; + and that even the oldest rocks are records of an epoch almost infinitely + remote from that which could have witnessed the first shaping of our + globe. + </p> + <p> + It is probable that no modern geologist would hesitate to admit the + general validity of these reasonings when applied to the physics of his + subject, whence it is the more remarkable that the moment the question + changes from one of physics and chemistry to one of natural history, + scientific opinions and the popular prejudices, which reflect them in a + distorted form, undergo a sudden metamorphosis. Geologists and + palaeontologists write about the "beginning of life" and the + "first-created forms of living beings," as if they were the most familiar + things in the world; and even cautious writers seem to be on quite + friendly terms with the "archetype" whereby the Creator was guided "amidst + the crash of falling worlds." Just as it used to be imagined that the + ancient world was physically opposed to the present, so it is still widely + assumed that the living population of our globe, whether animal or + vegetable, in the older epochs, exhibited forms so strikingly contrasted + with those which we see around us, that there is hardly anything in common + between the two. It is constantly tacitly assumed that we have before us + all the forms of life which have ever existed; and though the progress of + knowledge, yearly and almost monthly, drives the defenders of that + position from their ground, they entrench themselves in the new line of + defences as if nothing had happened, and proclaim that the NEW beginning + is the REAL beginning. + </p> + <p> + Without for an instant denying or endeavouring to soften down the + considerable positive differences (the negative ones are met by another + line of argument) which undoubtedly obtain between the ancient and the + modern worlds of life, we believe they have been vastly overstated and + exaggerated, and this belief is based upon certain facts whose value does + not seem to have been fully appreciated, though they have long been more + or less completely known. + </p> + <p> + The multitudinous kinds of animals and plants, both recent and fossil, + are, as is well known, arranged by zoologists and botanists, in accordance + with their natural relations, into groups which receive the names of + sub-kingdoms, classes, orders, families, genera and species. Now it is a + most remarkable circumstance that, viewed on the great scale, living + beings have differed so little throughout all geologic time that there is + no sub-kingdom and no class wholly extinct or without living + representatives. + </p> + <p> + If we descend to the smaller groups, we find that the number of orders of + plants is about two hundred; and I have it on the best authority that not + one of these is exclusively fossil; so that there is absolutely not a + single extinct ordinal type of vegetable life; and it is not until we + descend to the next group, or the families, that we find types which are + wholly extinct. The number of orders of animals, on the other hand, may be + reckoned at a hundred and twenty, or thereabouts, and of these, eight or + nine have no living representatives. The proportion of extinct ordinal + types of animals to the existing types, therefore, does not exceed seven + per cent—a marvellously small proportion when we consider the + vastness of geologic time. + </p> + <p> + Another class of considerations—of a different kind, it is true, but + tending in the same direction—seems to have been overlooked. Not + only is it true that the general plan of construction of animals and + plants has been the same in all recorded time as at present, but there are + particular kinds of animals and plants which have existed throughout vast + epochs, sometimes through the whole range of recorded time, with very + little change. By reason of this persistency, the typical form of such a + kind might be called a "persistent type," in contradistinction to those + types which have appeared for but a short time in the course of the + world's history. Examples of these persistent types are abundant enough in + both the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. The oldest group of plants + with which we are well acquainted is that of whose remains coal is + constituted; and as far as they can be identified, the carboniferous + plants are ferns, or club-mosses, or Coniferae, in many cases generically + identical with those now living! + </p> + <p> + Among animals, instances of the same kind may be found in every + sub-kingdom. The 'Globigerina' of the Atlantic soundings is identical with + that which occurs in the chalk; and the casts of lower silurian + 'Foraminifera', which Ehrenberg has recently described, seem to indicate + the existence at that remote period of forms singularly like those which + now exist. Among the corals, the palaeozoic 'Tabulata' are constructed on + precisely the same type as the modern millepores; and if we turn to + molluscs, the most competent malacologists fail to discover any generic + distinction between the 'Craniae', 'Lingulae' and 'Discinae' of the + silurian rocks and those which now live. Our existing 'Nautilus' has its + representative species in every great formation, from the oldest to the + newest; and 'Loligo', the squid of modern seas, appears in the lias, or at + the bottom of the mesozoic series, in a form, at most, specifically + different from its living congeners. In the great assemblage of annulose + animals, the two highest classes, the insects and spider tribe, exhibit a + wonderful persistency of type. The cockroaches of the carboniferous epoch + are exceedingly similar to those which now run about our coal-cellars; and + its locusts, termites and dragon-flies are closely allied to the members + of the same groups which now chirrup about our fields, undermine our + houses, or sail with swift grace about the banks of our sedgy pools. And, + in like manner, the palaeozoic scorpions can only be distinguished by the + eye of a naturalist from the modern ones. + </p> + <p> + Finally, with respect to the 'Vertebrata', the same law holds good: + certain types, such as those of the ganoid and placoid fishes, having + persisted from the palaeozoic epoch to the present time without a greater + amount of deviation from the normal standard than that which is seen + within the limits of the group as it now exists. Even among the 'Reptilia'—the + class which exhibits the largest proportion of entirely extinct forms of + any one type,—that of the 'Crocodilia', has persisted from at least + the commencement of the Mesozoic epoch up to the present time with so much + constancy, that the amount of change which it exhibits may fairly, in + relation to the time which has elapsed, be called insignificant. And the + imperfect knowledge we have of the ancient mammalian population of our + earth leads to the belief that certain of its types, such as that of the + 'Marsupialia', have persisted with correspondingly little change through a + similar range of time. + </p> + <p> + Thus it would appear to be demonstrable, that, notwithstanding the great + change which is exhibited by the animal population of the world as a + whole, certain types have persisted comparatively without alteration, and + the question arises, What bearing have such facts as these on our notions + of the history of life through geological time? The answer to this + question would seem to depend on the view we take respecting the origin of + species in general. If we assume that every species of animal and of plant + was formed by a distinct act of creative power, and if the species which + have incessantly succeeded one another were placed upon the globe by these + separate acts, then the existence of persistent types is simply an + unintelligible irregularity. Such assumption, however, is as unsupported + by tradition or by Revelation as it is opposed by the analogy of the rest + of the operations of nature; and those who imagine that, by adopting any + such hypothesis, they are strengthening the hands of the advocates of the + letter of the Mosaic account, are simply mistaken. If, on the other hand, + we adopt that hypothesis to which alone the study of physiology lends any + support—that hypothesis which, having struggled beyond the reach of + those fatal supporters, the Telliameds and Vestigiarians, who so nearly + caused its suffocation by wind in early infancy, is now winning at least + the provisional assent of all the best thinkers of the day—the + hypothesis that the forms or species of living beings, as we know them, + have been produced by the gradual modification of pre-existing species—then + the existence of persistent types seems to teach us much. Just as a small + portion of a great curve appears straight, the apparent absence of change + in direction of the line being the exponent of the vast extent of the + whole, in proportion to the part we see; so, if it be true that all living + species are the result of the modification of other and simpler forms, the + existence of these little altered persistent types, ranging through all + geological time, must indicate that they are but the final terms of an + enormous series of modifications, which had their being in the great lapse + of pregeologic time, and are now perhaps for ever lost. + </p> + <p> + In other words, when rightly studied, the teachings of palaeontology are + at one with those of physical geology. Our farthest explorations carry us + back but a little way above the mouth of the great river of Life: where it + arose, and by what channels the noble tide has reached the point when it + first breaks upon our view, is hidden from us. + </p> + <p> + The foregoing pages contain the substance of a lecture delivered before + the Royal Institution of Great Britain many months ago, and of course long + before the appearance of the remarkable work on the "Origin of Species" + just published by Mr. Darwin, who arrives at very similar conclusions. + Although, in one sense, I might fairly say that my own views have been + arrived at independently, I do not know that I can claim any equitable + right to property in them; for it has long been my privilege to enjoy Mr. + Darwin's friendship, and to profit by corresponding with him, and by, to + some extent, becoming acquainted with the workings of his singularly + original and well-stored mind. It was in consequence of my knowledge of + the general tenor of the researches in which Mr. Darwin had been so long + engaged; because I had the most complete confidence in his perseverance, + his knowledge, and, above all things, his high-minded love of truth; and, + moreover, because I found that the better I became acquainted with the + opinions of the best naturalists regarding the vexed question of species, + the less fixed they seemed to be, and the more inclined they were to the + hypothesis of gradual modification, that I ventured to speak as strongly + as I have done in the final paragraphs of my discourse. + </p> + <p> + Thus, my daw having so many borrowed plumes, I see no impropriety in + making a tail to this brief paper by taking another handful of feathers + from Mr. Darwin; endeavouring to point out in a few words, in fact, what, + as I gather from the perusal of his book, his doctrines really are, and on + what sort of basis they rest. And I do this the more willingly, as I + observe that already the hastier sort of critics have begun, not to review + my friend's book, but to howl over it in a manner which must tend greatly + to distract the public mind. + </p> + <p> + No one will be better satisfied than I to see Mr. Darwin's book refuted, + if any person be competent to perform that feat; but I would suggest that + refutation is retarded, not aided, by mere sarcastic misrepresentation. + Every one who has studied cattle-breeding, or turned pigeon-fancier, or + "pomologist," must have been struck by the extreme modifiability or + plasticity of those kinds of animals and plants which have been subjected + to such artificial conditions as are imposed by domestication. Breeds of + dogs are more different from one another than are the dog and the wolf; + and the purely artificial races of pigeons, if their origin were unknown, + would most assuredly be reckoned by naturalists as distinct species and + even genera. + </p> + <p> + These breeds are always produced in the same way. The breeder selects a + pair, one or other, or both, of which present an indication of the + peculiarity he wishes to perpetuate, and then selects from the offspring + of them those which are most characteristic, rejecting the others. From + the selected offspring he breeds again, and, taking the same precautions + as before, repeats the process until he has obtained the precise degree of + divergence from the primitive type at which he aimed. + </p> + <p> + If he now breeds from the variety thus established for some generations, + taking care always to keep the stock pure, the tendency to produce this + particular variety becomes more and more strongly hereditary; and it does + not appear that there is any limit to the persistency of the race thus + developed. + </p> + <p> + Men like Lamarck, apprehending these facts, and knowing that varieties + comparable to those produced by the breeder are abundantly found in + nature, and finding it impossible to discriminate in some cases between + varieties and true species, could hardly fail to divine the possibility + that species even the most distinct were, after all, only exceedingly + persistent varieties, and that they had arisen by the modification of some + common stock, just as it is with good reason believed that turnspits and + greyhounds, carrier and tumbler pigeons, have arisen. + </p> + <p> + But there was a link wanting to complete the parallel. Where in nature was + the analogue of the breeder to be found? How could that operation of + selection, which is his essential function, be carried out by mere natural + agencies? Lamarck did not value this problem; neither did he admit his + impotence to solve it; but he guessed a solution. Now, guessing in science + is a very hazardous proceeding, and Lamarck's reputation has suffered + woefully for the absurdities into which his baseless suppositions led him. + </p> + <p> + Lamarck's conjectures, equipped with a new hat and stick, as Sir Walter + Scott was wont to say of an old story renovated, formed the foundation of + the biological speculations of the 'Vestiges', a work which has done more + harm to the progress of sound thought on these matters than any that could + be named; and, indeed, I mention it here simply for the purpose of denying + that it has anything in common with what essentially characterises Mr. + Darwin's work. + </p> + <p> + The peculiar feature of the latter is, in fact, that it professes to tell + us what in nature takes the place of the breeder; what it is that favours + the development of one variety into which a species may run, and checks + that of another; and, finally, shows how this natural selection, as it is + termed, may be the physical cause of the production of species by + modification. + </p> + <p> + That which takes the place of the breeder and selector in nature is Death. + In a most remarkable chapter, 'On the Struggle for Existence', Mr. Darwin + draws attention to the marvellous destruction of life which is constantly + going on in nature. For every species of living thing, as for man, "Eine + Bresche ist ein jeder Tag."—Every species has its enemies; every + species has to compete with others for the necessaries of existence; the + weakest goes to the wall, and death is the penalty inflicted on all + laggards and stragglers. Every variety to which a species may give rise is + either worse or better adapted to surrounding circumstances than its + parent. If worse, it cannot maintain itself against death, and speedily + vanishes again. But if better adapted, it must, sooner or later, "improve" + its progenitor from the face of the earth, and take its place. If + circumstances change, the victor will be similarly supplanted by its own + progeny; and thus, by the operation of natural causes, unlimited + modification may in the lapse of long ages occur. + </p> + <p> + For an explanation of what I have here called vaguely "surrounding + circumstances," and of why they continually change—for ample proof + that the "struggle for existence" is a very great reality, and assuredly + 'tends' to exert the influence ascribed to it—I must refer to Mr. + Darwin's book. I believe I have stated fairly the position upon which his + whole theory must stand or fall; and it is not my purpose to anticipate a + full review of his work. If it can be proved that the process of natural + selection, operating upon any species, can give rise to varieties of + species so different from one another that none of our tests will + distinguish them from true species, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis of the origin + of species will take its place among the established theories of science, + be its consequences whatever they may. If, on the other hand, Mr. Darwin + has erred, either in fact or in reasoning, his fellow-workers will soon + find out the weak points in his doctrines, and their extinction by some + nearer approximation to the truth will exemplify his own principle of + natural selection. + </p> + <p> + In either case the question is one to be settled only by the painstaking, + truth-loving investigation of skilled naturalists. It is the duty of the + general public to await the result in patience; and, above all things, to + discourage, as they would any other crimes, the attempt to enlist the + prejudices of the ignorant, or the uncharitableness of the bigoted, on + either side of the controversy. + </p> + <p> + End of Time and Life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.* + </h2> + <h3> + ([Footnote] *'The Westminster Review', April 1860.) + </h3> + <p> + Mr. Darwin's long-standing and well-earned scientific eminence probably + renders him indifferent to that social notoriety which passes by the name + of success; but if the calm spirit of the philosopher have not yet wholly + superseded the ambition and the vanity of the carnal man within him, he + must be well satisfied with the results of his venture in publishing the + 'Origin of Species'. Overflowing the narrow bounds of purely scientific + circles, the "species question" divides with Italy and the Volunteers the + attention of general society. Everybody has read Mr. Darwin's book, or, at + least, has given an opinion upon its merits or demerits; pietists, whether + lay or ecclesiastic, decry it with the mild railing which sounds so + charitable; bigots denounce it with ignorant invective; old ladies of both + sexes consider it a decidedly dangerous book, and even savants, who have + no better mud to throw, quote antiquated writers to show that its author + is no better than an ape himself; while every philosophical thinker hails + it as a veritable Whitworth gun in the armoury of liberalism; and all + competent naturalists and physiologists, whatever their opinions as to the + ultimate fate of the doctrines put forth, acknowledge that the work in + which they are embodied is a solid contribution to knowledge and + inaugurates a new epoch in natural history. + </p> + <p> + Nor has the discussion of the subject been restrained within the limits of + conversation. When the public is eager and interested, reviewers must + minister to its wants; and the genuine litterateur is too much in the + habit of acquiring his knowledge from the book he judges—as the + Abyssinian is said to provide himself with steaks from the ox which + carries him—to be withheld from criticism of a profound scientific + work by the mere want of the requisite preliminary scientific acquirement; + while, on the other hand, the men of science who wish well to the new + views, no less than those who dispute their validity, have naturally + sought opportunities of expressing their opinions. Hence it is not + surprising that almost all the critical journals have noticed Mr. Darwin's + work at greater or less length; and so many disquisitions, of every degree + of excellence, from the poor product of ignorance, too often stimulated by + prejudice, to the fair and thoughtful essay of the candid student of + Nature, have appeared, that it seems an almost hopeless task to attempt to + say anything new upon the question. + </p> + <p> + But it may be doubted if the knowledge and acumen of prejudged scientific + opponents, or the subtlety of orthodox special pleaders, have yet exerted + their full force in mystifying the real issues of the great controversy + which has been set afoot, and whose end is hardly likely to be seen by + this generation; so that, at this eleventh hour, and even failing anything + new, it may be useful to state afresh that which is true, and to put the + fundamental positions advocated by Mr. Darwin in such a form that they may + be grasped by those whose special studies lie in other directions. And the + adoption of this course may be the more advisable, because, + notwithstanding its great deserts, and indeed partly on account of them, + the 'Origin of Species' is by no means an easy book to read—if by + reading is implied the full comprehension of an author's meaning. + </p> + <p> + We do not speak jestingly in saying that it is Mr. Darwin's misfortune to + know more about the question he has taken up than any man living. + Personally and practically exercised in zoology, in minute anatomy, in + geology; a student of geographical distribution, not on maps and in + museums only, but by long voyages and laborious collection; having largely + advanced each of these branches of science, and having spent many years in + gathering and sifting materials for his present work, the store of + accurately registered facts upon which the author of the 'Origin of + Species' is able to draw at will is prodigious. + </p> + <p> + But this very superabundance of matter must have been embarrassing to a + writer who, for the present, can only put forward an abstract of his + views; and thence it arises, perhaps, that notwithstanding the clearness + of the style, those who attempt fairly to digest the book find much of it + a sort of intellectual pemmican—a mass of facts crushed and pounded + into shape, rather than held together by the ordinary medium of an obvious + logical bond; due attention will, without doubt, discover this bond, but + it is often hard to find. + </p> + <p> + Again, from sheer want of room, much has to be taken for granted which + might readily enough be proved; and hence, while the adept, who can supply + the missing links in the evidence from his own knowledge, discovers fresh + proof of the singular thoroughness with which all difficulties have been + considered and all unjustifiable suppositions avoided, at every reperusal + of Mr. Darwin's pregnant paragraphs, the novice in biology is apt to + complain of the frequency of what he fancies is gratuitous assumption. + </p> + <p> + Thus while it may be doubted if, for some years, any one is likely to be + competent to pronounce judgment on all the issues raised by Mr. Darwin, + there is assuredly abundant room for him, who, assuming the humbler, + though perhaps as useful, office of an interpreter between the 'Origin of + Species' and the public, contents himself with endeavouring to point out + the nature of the problems which it discusses; to distinguish between the + ascertained facts and the theoretical views which it contains; and + finally, to show the extent to which the explanation it offers satisfies + the requirements of scientific logic. At any rate, it is this office which + we purpose to undertake in the following pages. + </p> + <p> + It may be safely assumed that our readers have a general conception of the + nature of the objects to which the word "species" is applied; but it has, + perhaps, occurred to a few, even to those who are naturalists ex professo, + to reflect, that, as commonly employed, the term has a double sense and + denotes two very different orders of relations. When we call a group of + animals, or of plants, a species, we may imply thereby, either that all + these animals or plants have some common peculiarity of form or structure; + or, we may mean that they possess some common functional character. That + part of biological science which deals with form and structure is called + Morphology—that which concerns itself with function, Physiology—so + that we may conveniently speak of these two senses, or aspects, of + "species"—the one as morphological, the other as physiological. + Regarded from the former point of view, a species is nothing more than a + kind of animal or plant, which is distinctly definable from all others, by + certain constant, and not merely sexual, morphological peculiarities. Thus + horses form a species, because the group of animals to which that name is + applied is distinguished from all others in the world by the following + constantly associated characters. They have—1, A vertebral column; + 2, Mammae; 3, A placental embryo; 4, Four legs; 5, A single well-developed + toe in each foot provided with a hoof; 6, A bushy tail; and 7, Callosities + on the inner sides of both the fore and the hind legs. The asses, again, + form a distinct species, because, with the same characters, as far as the + fifth in the above list, all asses have tufted tails, and have callosities + only on the inner side of the fore-legs. If animals were discovered having + the general characters of the horse, but sometimes with callosities only + on the fore-legs, and more or less tufted tails; or animals having the + general characters of the ass, but with more or less bushy tails, and + sometimes with callosities on both pairs of legs, besides being + intermediate in other respects—the two species would have to be + merged into one. They could no longer be regarded as morphologically + distinct species, for they would not be distinctly definable one from the + other. + </p> + <p> + However bare and simple this definition of species may appear to be, we + confidently appeal to all practical naturalists, whether zoologists, + botanists, or palaeontologists, to say if, in the vast majority of cases, + they know, or mean to affirm anything more of the group of animals or + plants they so denominate than what has just been stated. Even the most + decided advocates of the received doctrines respecting species admit this. + </p> + <p> + "I apprehend," says Professor Owen,* "that few naturalists nowadays, in + describing and proposing a name for what they call 'a new species,' use + that term to signify what was meant by it twenty or thirty years ago; that + is, an originally distinct creation, maintaining its primitive distinction + by obstructive generative peculiarities. The proposer of the new species + now intends to state no more than he actually knows; as, for example, that + the differences on which he founds the specific character are constant in + individuals of both sexes, so far as observation has reached; and that + they are not due to domestication or to artificially superinduced external + circumstances, or to any outward influence within his cognizance; that the + species is wild, or is such as it appears by Nature." ([Footnote] *On the + Osteology of the Chimpanzees and Orangs: Transactions of the Zoological + Society, 1858.) + </p> + <p> + If we consider, in fact, that by far the largest proportion of recorded + existing species are known only by the study of their skins, or bones, or + other lifeless exuvia; that we are acquainted with none, or next to none, + of their physiological peculiarities, beyond those which can be deduced + from their structure, or are open to cursory observation; and that we + cannot hope to learn more of any of those extinct forms of life which now + constitute no inconsiderable proportion of the known Flora and Fauna of + the world: it is obvious that the definitions of these species can be only + of a purely structural, or morphological, character. It is probable that + naturalists would have avoided much confusion of ideas if they had more + frequently borne the necessary limitations of our knowledge in mind. But + while it may safely be admitted that we are acquainted with only the + morphological characters of the vast majority of species—the + functional or physiological, peculiarities of a few have been carefully + investigated, and the result of that study forms a large and most + interesting portion of the physiology of reproduction. + </p> + <p> + The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the + more conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the perennial + miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most worthy of + admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal from its embryo. + Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal, such as a salamander + or newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the best microscope will reveal + nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing a glairy fluid, holding + granules in suspension. But strange possibilities lie dormant in that + semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth reach its watery + cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, yet so steady + and purposelike in their succession, that one can only compare them to + those operated by a skilled modeller upon a formless lump of clay. As with + an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided into smaller and + smaller portions, until it is reduced to an aggregation of granules not + too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the nascent organism. And, + then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out the line to be occupied by + the spinal column, and moulded the contour of the body; pinching up the + head at one end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into + due salamandrine proportions, in so artistic a way, that, after watching + the process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily possessed by the + notion, that some more subtle aid to vision than an achromatic, would show + the hidden artist, with his plan before him, striving with skilful + manipulation to perfect his work. + </p> + <p> + As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror of + his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles supplied + by its prey, by the addition of which to its frame, growth takes place, + laid down, each in its proper spot, and in such due proportion to the + rest, as to reproduce the form, the colour, and the size, characteristic + of the parental stock; but even the wonderful powers of reproducing lost + parts possessed by these animals are controlled by the same governing + tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws, separately or all + together, and, as Spallanzani showed long ago, these parts not only grow + again, but the reintegrated limb is formed on the same type as those which + were lost. The new jaw, or leg, is a newt's, and never by any accident + more like that of a frog. What is true of the newt is true of every animal + and of every plant; the acorn tends to build itself up again into a + woodland giant such as that from whose twig it fell; the spore of the + humblest lichen reproduces the green or brown incrustation which gave it + birth; and at the other end of the scale of life, the child that resembled + neither the paternal nor the maternal side of the house would be regarded + as a kind of monster. + </p> + <p> + So that the one end to which, in all living beings, the formative impulse + is tending—the one scheme which the Archaeus of the old speculators + strives to carry out, seems to be to mould the offspring into the likeness + of the parent. It is the first great law of reproduction, that the + offspring tends to resemble its parent or parents, more closely than + anything else. + </p> + <p> + Science will some day show us how this law is a necessary consequence of + the more general laws which govern matter; but, for the present, more can + hardly be said than that it appears to be in harmony with them. We know + that the phenomena of vitality are not something apart from other physical + phenomena, but one with them; and matter and force are the two names of + the one artist who fashions the living as well as the lifeless. Hence + living bodies should obey the same great laws as other matter—nor, + throughout Nature, is there a law of wider application than this, that a + body impelled by two forces takes the direction of their resultant. But + living bodies may be regarded as nothing but extremely complex bundles of + forces held in a mass of matter, as the complex forces of a magnet are + held in the steel by its coercive force; and, since the differences of sex + are comparatively slight, or, in other words, the sum of the forces in + each has a very similar tendency, their resultant, the offspring, may + reasonably be expected to deviate but little from a course parallel to + either, or to both. + </p> + <p> + Represent the reason of the law to ourselves by what physical metaphor or + analogy we will, however, the great matter is to apprehend its existence + and the importance of the consequences deducible from it. For things which + are like to the same are like to one another; and if; in a great series of + generations, every offspring is like its parent, it follows that all the + offspring and all the parents must be like one another; and that, given an + original parental stock, with the opportunity of undisturbed + multiplication, the law in question necessitates the production, in course + of time, of an indefinitely large group, the whole of whose members are at + once very similar and are blood relations, having descended from the same + parent, or pair of parents. The proof that all the members of any given + group of animals, or plants, had thus descended, would be ordinarily + considered sufficient to entitle them to the rank of physiological + species, for most physiologists consider species to be definable as "the + offspring of a single primitive stock." + </p> + <p> + But though it is quite true that all those groups we call species MAY, + according to the known laws of reproduction, have descended from a single + stock, and though it is very likely they really have done so, yet this + conclusion rests on deduction and can hardly hope to establish itself upon + a basis of observation. And the primitiveness of the supposed single + stock, which, after all, is the essential part of the matter, is not only + a hypothesis, but one which has not a shadow of foundation, if by + "primitive" be meant "independent of any other living being." A scientific + definition, of which an unwarrantable hypothesis forms an essential part, + carries its condemnation within itself; but, even supposing such a + definition were, in form, tenable, the physiologist who should attempt to + apply it in Nature would soon find himself involved in great, if not + inextricable, difficulties. As we have said, it is indubitable that + offspring TEND to resemble the parental organism, but it is equally true + that the similarity attained never amounts to identity, either in form or + in structure. There is always a certain amount of deviation, not only from + the precise characters of a single parent, but when, as in most animals + and many plants, the sexes are lodged in distinct individuals, from an + exact mean between the two parents. And indeed, on general principles, + this slight deviation seems as intelligible as the general similarity, if + we reflect how complex the co-operating "bundles of forces" are, and how + improbable it is that, in any case, their true resultant shall coincide + with any mean between the more obvious characters of the two parents. + Whatever be its cause, however, the co-existence of this tendency to minor + variation with the tendency to general similarity, is of vast importance + in its bearing on the question of the origin of species. + </p> + <p> + As a general rule, the extent to which an offspring differs from its + parent is slight enough; but, occasionally, the amount of difference is + much more strongly marked, and then the divergent offspring receives the + name of a Variety. Multitudes, of what there is every reason to believe + are such varieties, are known, but the origin of very few has been + accurately recorded, and of these we will select two as more especially + illustrative of the main features of variation. The first of them is that + of the "Ancon," or "Otter" sheep, of which a careful account is given by + Colonel David Humphreys, F.R.S., in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, + published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813. It appears that one + Seth Wright, the proprietor of a farm on the banks of the Charles River, + in Massachusetts, possessed a flock of fifteen ewes and a ram of the + ordinary kind. In the year 1791, one of the ewes presented her owner with + a male lamb, differing, for no assignable reason, from its parents by a + proportionally long body and short bandy legs, whence it was unable to + emulate its relatives in those sportive leaps over the neighbours' fences, + in which they were in the habit of indulging, much to the good farmer's + vexation. + </p> + <p> + The second case is that detailed by a no less unexceptionable authority + than Reaumur, in his 'Art de faire eclore les Poulets'. A Maltese couple, + named Kelleia, whose hands and feet were constructed upon the ordinary + human model, had born to them a son, Gratio, who possessed six perfectly + movable fingers on each hand, and six toes, not quite so well formed, on + each foot. No cause could be assigned for the appearance of this unusual + variety of the human species. + </p> + <p> + Two circumstances are well worthy of remark in both these cases. In each, + the variety appears to have arisen in full force, and, as it were, per + saltum; a wide and definite difference appearing, at once, between the + Ancon ram and the ordinary sheep; between the six-fingered and six-toed + Gratio Kelleia and ordinary men. In neither case is it possible to point + out any obvious reason for the appearance of the variety. Doubtless there + were determining causes for these as for all other phenomena; but they do + not appear, and we can be tolerably certain that what are ordinarily + understood as changes in physical conditions, as in climate, in food, or + the like, did not take place and had nothing to do with the matter. It was + no case of what is commonly called adaptation to circumstances; but, to + use a conveniently erroneous phrase, the variations arose spontaneously. + The fruitless search after final causes leads their pursuers a long way; + but even those hardy teleologists, who are ready to break through all the + laws of physics in chase of their favourite will-o'-the-wisp, may be + puzzled to discover what purpose could be attained by the stunted legs of + Seth Wright's ram or the hexadactyle members of Gratio Kelleia. + </p> + <p> + Varieties then arise we know not why; and it is more than probable that + the majority of varieties have arisen in this "spontaneous" manner, though + we are, of course, far from denying that they may be traced, in some + cases, to distinct external influences; which are assuredly competent to + alter the character of the tegumentary covering, to change colour, to + increase or diminish the size of muscles, to modify constitution, and, + among plants, to give rise to the metamorphosis of stamens into petals, + and so forth. But however they may have arisen, what especially interests + us at present is, to remark that, once in existence, varieties obey the + fundamental law of reproduction that like tends to produce like; and their + offspring exemplify it by tending to exhibit the same deviation from the + parental stock as themselves. Indeed, there seems to be, in many + instances, a pre-potent influence about a newly-arisen variety which gives + it what one may call an unfair advantage over the normal descendants from + the same stock. This is strikingly exemplified by the case of Gratio + Kelleia, who married a woman with the ordinary pentadactyle extremities, + and had by her four children, Salvator, George, Andre, and Marie. Of these + children Salvator, the eldest boy, had six fingers and six toes, like his + father; the second and third, also boys, had five fingers and five toes, + like their mother, though the hands and feet of George were slightly + deformed. The last, a girl, had five fingers and five toes, but the thumbs + were slightly deformed. The variety thus reproduced itself purely in the + eldest, while the normal type reproduced itself purely in the third, and + almost purely in the second and last: so that it would seem, at first, as + if the normal type were more powerful than the variety. But all these + children grew up and intermarried with normal wives and husband, and then, + note what took place: Salvator had four children, three of whom exhibited + the hexadactyle members of their grandfather and father, while the + youngest had the pentadactyle limbs of the mother and grandmother; so that + here, notwithstanding a double pentadactyle dilution of the blood, the + hexadactyle variety had the best of it. The same pre-potency of the + variety was still more markedly exemplified in the progeny of two of the + other children, Marie and George. Marie (whose thumbs only were deformed) + gave birth to a boy with six toes, and three other normally formed + children; but George, who was not quite so pure a pentadactyle, begot, + first, two girls, each of whom had six fingers and toes; then a girl with + six fingers on each hand and six toes on the right foot, but only five + toes on the left; and lastly, a boy with only five fingers and toes. In + these instances, therefore, the variety, as it were, leaped over one + generation to reproduce itself in full force in the next. Finally, the + purely pentadactyle Andre was the father of many children, not one of whom + departed from the normal parental type. + </p> + <p> + If a variation which approaches the nature of a monstrosity can strive + thus forcibly to reproduce itself, it is not wonderful that less aberrant + modifications should tend to be preserved even more strongly; and the + history of the Ancon sheep is, in this respect, particularly instructive. + With the "'cuteness" characteristic of their nation, the neighbours of the + Massachusetts farmer imagined it would be an excellent thing if all his + sheep were imbued with the stay-at-home tendencies enforced by Nature upon + the newly-arrived ram; and they advised Wright to kill the old patriarch + of his fold, and install the Ancon ram in his place. The result justified + their sagacious anticipations, and coincided very nearly with what + occurred to the progeny of Gratio Kelleia. The young lambs were almost + always either pure Ancons, or pure ordinary sheep.* ([Footnote] *Colonel + Humphreys' statements are exceedingly explicit on this point:—"When + an Ancon ewe is impregnated by a common ram, the increase resembles wholly + either the ewe or the ram. The increase of the common ewe impregnated by + an Ancon ram follows entirely the one or the other, without blending any + of the distinguishing and essential peculiarities of both. Frequent + instances have happened where common ewes have had twins by Ancon rams, + when one exhibited the complete marks and features of the ewe, the other + of the ram. The contrast has been rendered singularly striking, when one + short-legged and one long-legged lamb, produced at a birth, have been seen + sucking the dam at the same time."—'Philosophical Transactions', + 1813, Pt. I. pp. 89, 90.) But when sufficient Ancon sheep were obtained to + interbreed with one another, it was found that the offspring was always + pure Ancon. Colonel Humphreys, in fact, states that he was acquainted with + only "one questionable case of a contrary nature." Here, then, is a + remarkable and well-established instance, not only of a very distinct race + being established per saltum, but of that race breeding "true" at once, + and showing no mixed forms, even when crossed with another breed. + </p> + <p> + By taking care to select Ancons of both sexes, for breeding from, it thus + became easy to establish an extremely well-marked race; so peculiar that, + even when herded with other sheep, it was noted that the Ancons kept + together. And there is every reason to believe that the existence of this + breed might have been indefinitely protracted; but the introduction of the + Merino sheep, which were not only very superior to the Ancons in wool and + meat, but quite as quiet and orderly, led to the complete neglect of the + new breed, so that, in 1813, Colonel Humphreys found it difficult to + obtain the specimen, whose skeleton was presented to Sir Joseph Banks. We + believe that, for many years, no remnant of it has existed in the United + States. + </p> + <p> + Gratio Kelleia was not the progenitor of a race of six-fingered men, as + Seth Wright's ram became a nation of Ancon sheep, though the tendency of + the variety to perpetuate itself appears to have been fully as strong in + the one case as in the other. And the reason of the difference is not far + to seek. Seth Wright took care not to weaken the Ancon blood by matching + his Ancon ewes with any but males of the same variety, while Gratio + Kelleia's sons were too far removed from the patriarchal times to + intermarry with their sisters; and his grandchildren seem not to have been + attracted by their six-fingered cousins. In other words, in the one + example a race was produced, because, for several generations, care was + taken to 'select' both parents of the breeding stock from animals + exhibiting a tendency to vary in the same condition; while, in the other, + no race was evolved, because no such selection was exercised. A race is a + propagated variety; and as, by the laws of reproduction, offspring tend to + assume the parental forms, they will be more likely to propagate a + variation exhibited by both parents than that possessed by only one. + </p> + <p> + There is no organ of the body of an animal which may not, and does not, + occasionally, vary more or less from the normal type; and there is no + variation which may not be transmitted and which, if selectively + transmitted, may not become the foundation of a race. This great truth, + sometimes forgotten by philosophers, has long been familiar to practical + agriculturists and breeders; and upon it rest all the methods of improving + the breeds of domestic animals, which, for the last century, have been + followed with so much success in England. Colour, form, size, texture of + hair or wool, proportions of various parts, strength or weakness of + constitution, tendency to fatten or to remain lean, to give much or little + milk, speed, strength, temper, intelligence, special instincts; there is + not one of these characters whose transmission is not an every-day + occurrence within the experience of cattle-breeders, stock-farmers, + horse-dealers, and dog and poultry fanciers. Nay, it is only the other day + that an eminent physiologist, Dr. Brown-Sequard, communicated to the Royal + Society his discovery that epilepsy, artificially produced in guinea-pigs, + by a means which he has discovered, is transmitted to their offspring. + </p> + <p> + But a race, once produced, is no more a fixed and immutable entity than + the stock whence it sprang; variations arise among its members, and as + these variations are transmitted like any others, new races may be + developed out of the pre-existing one ad infinitum, or, at least, within + any limit at present determined. Given sufficient time and sufficiently + careful selection, and the multitude of races which may arise from a + common stock is as astonishing as are the extreme structural differences + which they may present. A remarkable example of this is to be found in the + rock-pigeon, which Dr. Darwin has, in our opinion, satisfactorily + demonstrated to be the progenitor of all our domestic pigeons, of which + there are certainly more than a hundred well-marked races. The most + noteworthy of these races are, the four great stocks known to the "fancy" + as tumblers, pouters, carriers, and fantails; birds which not only differ + most singularly in size, colour, and habits, but in the form of the beak + and of the skull: in the proportions of the beak to the skull; in the + number of tail-feathers; in the absolute and relative size of the feet; in + the presence or absence of the uropygial gland; in the number of vertebrae + in the back; in short, in precisely those characters in which the genera + and species of birds differ from one another. + </p> + <p> + And it is most remarkable and instructive to observe, that none of these + races can be shown to have been originated by the action of changes in + what are commonly called external circumstances, upon the wild + rock-pigeon. On the contrary, from time immemorial, pigeon-fanciers have + had essentially similar methods of treating their pets, which have been + housed, fed, protected and cared for in much the same way in all + pigeonries. In fact, there is no case better adapted than that of the + pigeons to refute the doctrine which one sees put forth on high authority, + that "no other characters than those founded on the development of bone + for the attachment of muscles" are capable of variation. In precise + contradiction of this hasty assertion, Mr. Darwin's researches prove that + the skeleton of the wings in domestic pigeons has hardly varied at all + from that of the wild type; while, on the other hand, it is in exactly + those respects, such as the relative length of the beak and skull, the + number of the vertebrae, and the number of the tail-feathers, in which + muscular exertion can have no important influence, that the utmost amount + of variation has taken place. + </p> + <p> + We have said that the following out of the properties exhibited by + physiological species would lead us into difficulties, and at this point + they begin to be obvious; for if, as the result of spontaneous variation + and of selective breeding, the progeny of a common stock may become + separated into groups distinguished from one another by constant, not + sexual, morphological characters, it is clear that the physiological + definition of species is likely to clash with the morphological + definition. No one would hesitate to describe the pouter and the tumbler + as distinct species, if they were found fossil, or if their skins and + skeletons were imported, as those of exotic wild birds commonly are—and + without doubt, if considered alone, they are good and distinct + morphological species. On the other hand, they are not physiological + species, for they are descended from a common stock, the rock-pigeon. + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances, as it is admitted on all sides that races occur + in Nature, how are we to know whether any apparently distinct animals are + really of different physiological species, or not, seeing that the amount + of morphological difference is no safe guide? Is there any test of a + physiological species? The usual answer of physiologists is in the + affirmative. It is said that such a test is to be found in the phenomena + of hybridization—in the results of crossing races, as compared with + the results of crossing species. + </p> + <p> + So far as the evidence goes at present, individuals, of what are certainly + known to be mere races produced by selection, however distinct they may + appear to be, not only breed freely together, but the offspring of such + crossed races are only perfectly fertile with one another. Thus, the + spaniel and the greyhound, the dray-horse and the Arab, the pouter and the + tumbler, breed together with perfect freedom, and their mongrels, if + matched with other mongrels of the same kind, are equally fertile. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the individuals of many + natural species are either absolutely infertile if crossed with + individuals of other species, or, if they give rise to hybrid offspring, + the hybrids so produced are infertile when paired together. The horse and + the ass, for instance, if so crossed, give rise to the mule, and there is + no certain evidence of offspring ever having been produced by a male and + female mule. The unions of the rock-pigeon and the ring-pigeon appear to + be equally barren of result. Here, then, says the physiologist, we have a + means of distinguishing any two true species from any two varieties. If a + male and a female, selected from each group, produce offspring, and that + offspring is fertile with others produced in the same way, the groups are + races and not species. If, on the other hand, no result ensues, or if the + offspring are infertile with others produced in the same way, they are + true physiological species. The test would be an admirable one, if, in the + first place, it were always practicable to apply it, and if, in the + second, it always yielded results susceptible of a definite + interpretation. Unfortunately, in the great majority of cases, this + touchstone for species is wholly inapplicable. + </p> + <p> + The constitution of many wild animals is so altered by confinement that + they will not breed even with their own females, so that the negative + results obtained from crosses are of no value; and the antipathy of wild + animals of the same species for one another, or even of wild and tame + members of the same species, is ordinarily so great, that it is hopeless + to look for such unions in Nature. The hermaphrodism of most plants, the + difficulty in the way of insuring the absence of their own, or the proper + working of other pollen, are obstacles of no less magnitude in applying + the test to them. And, in both animals and plants, is superadded the + further difficulty, that experiments must be continued over a long time + for the purpose of ascertaining the fertility of the mongrel or hybrid + progeny, as well as of the first crosses from which they spring. + </p> + <p> + Not only do these great practical difficulties lie in the way of applying + the hybridization test, but even when this oracle can be questioned, its + replies are sometimes as doubtful as those of Delphi. For example, cases + are cited by Mr. Darwin, of plants which are more fertile with the pollen + of another species than with their own; and there are others, such as + certain fuci, whose male element will fertilize the ovule of a plant of + distinct species, while the males of the latter species are ineffective + with the females of the first. So that, in the last-named instance, a + physiologist, who should cross the two species in one way, would decide + that they were true species; while another, who should cross them in the + reverse way, would, with equal justice, according to the rule, pronounce + them to be mere races. Several plants, which there is great reason to + believe are mere varieties, are almost sterile when crossed; while both + animals and plants, which have always been regarded by naturalists as of + distinct species, turn out, when the test is applied, to be perfectly + fertile. Again, the sterility or fertility of crosses seems to bear no + relation to the structural resemblances or differences of the members of + any two groups. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Darwin has discussed this question with singular ability and + circumspection, and his conclusions are summed up as follows, at page 276 + of his work:— + </p> + <p> + "First crosses between forms sufficiently distinct to be ranked as + species, and their hybrids, are very generally, but not universally, + sterile. The sterility is of all degrees, and is often so slight that the + two most careful experimentalists who have ever lived have come to + diametrically opposite conclusions in ranking forms by this test. The + sterility is innately variable in individuals of the same species, and is + eminently susceptible of favourable and unfavourable conditions. The + degree of sterility does not strictly follow systematic affinity, but is + governed by several curious and complex laws. It is generally different + and sometimes widely different, in reciprocal crosses between the same two + species. It is not always equal in degree in a first cross, and in the + hybrid produced from this cross. + </p> + <p> + "In the same manner as in grafting trees, the capacity of one species or + variety to take on another is incidental on generally unknown differences + in their vegetative systems; so in crossing, the greater or less facility + of one species to unite with another is incidental on unknown differences + in their reproductive systems. There is no more reason to think that + species have been specially endowed with various degrees of sterility to + prevent them crossing and breeding in Nature, than to think that trees + have been specially endowed with various and somewhat analogous degrees of + difficulty in being grafted together, in order to prevent them becoming + inarched in our forests. + </p> + <p> + "The sterility of first crosses between pure species, which have their + reproductive systems perfect, seems to depend on several circumstances; in + some cases largely on the early death of the embryo. The sterility of + hybrids which have their reproductive systems imperfect, and which have + had this system and their whole organization disturbed by being compounded + of two distinct species, seems closely allied to that sterility which so + frequently affects pure species when their natural conditions of life have + been disturbed. This view is supported by a parallelism of another kind: + namely, that the crossing of forms, only slightly different, is favourable + to the vigour and fertility of the offspring; and that slight changes in + the conditions of life are apparently favourable to the vigour and + fertility of all organic beings. It is not surprising that the degree of + difficulty in uniting two species, and the degree of sterility of their + hybrid offspring, should generally correspond, though due to distinct + causes; for both depend on the amount of difference of some kind between + the species which are crossed. Nor is it surprising that the facility of + effecting a first cross, the fertility of hybrids produced from it, and + the capacity of being grafted together—though this latter capacity + evidently depends on widely different circumstances—should all run + to a certain extent parallel with the systematic affinity of the forms + which are subjected to experiment; for systematic affinity attempts to + express all kinds of resemblance between all species. + </p> + <p> + "First crosses between forms known to be varieties, or sufficiently alike + to be considered as varieties, and their mongrel offspring, are very + generally, but not quite universally, fertile. Nor is this nearly general + and perfect fertility surprising, when we remember how liable we are to + argue in a circle with respect to varieties in a state of Nature; and when + we remember that the greater number of varieties have been produced under + domestication by the selection of mere external differences, and not of + differences in the reproductive system. In all other respects, excluding + fertility, there is a close general resemblance between hybrids and + mongrels."—Pp. 276-8. + </p> + <p> + We fully agree with the general tenor of this weighty passage; but + forcible as are these arguments, and little as the value of fertility or + infertility as a test of species may be, it must not be forgotten that the + really important fact, so far as the inquiry into the origin of species + goes, is, that there are such things in Nature as groups of animals and of + plants, whose members are incapable of fertile union with those of other + groups; and that there are such things as hybrids, which are absolutely + sterile when crossed with other hybrids. For, if such phenomena as these + were exhibited by only two of those assemblages of living objects, to + which the name of species (whether it be used in its physiological or in + its morphological sense) is given, it would have to be accounted for by + any theory of the origin of species, and every theory which could not + account for it would be, so far, imperfect. + </p> + <p> + Up to this point, we have been dealing with matters of fact, and the + statements which we have laid before the reader would, to the best of our + knowledge, be admitted to contain a fair exposition of what is at present + known respecting the essential properties of species, by all who have + studied the question. And whatever may be his theoretical views, no + naturalist will probably be disposed to demur to the following summary of + that exposition:— + </p> + <p> + Living beings, whether animals or plants, are divisible into multitudes of + distinctly definable kinds, which are morphological species. They are also + divisible into groups of individuals, which breed freely together, tending + to reproduce their like, and are physiological species. Normally + resembling their parents, the offspring of members of these species are + still liable to vary; and the variation may be perpetuated by selection, + as a race, which race, in many cases, presents all the characteristics of + a morphological species. But it is not as yet proved that a race ever + exhibits, when crossed with another race of the same species, those + phenomena of hybridization which are exhibited by many species when + crossed with other species. On the other hand, not only is it not proved + that all species give rise to hybrids infertile inter se, but there is + much reason to believe that, in crossing, species exhibit every gradation + from perfect sterility to perfect fertility. + </p> + <p> + Such are the most essential characteristics of species. Even were man not + one of them—a member of the same system and subject to the same laws—the + question of their origin, their causal connexion, that is, with the other + phenomena of the universe, must have attracted his attention, as soon as + his intelligence had raised itself above the level of his daily wants. + </p> + <p> + Indeed history relates that such was the case, and has embalmed for us the + speculations upon the origin of living beings, which were among the + earliest products of the dawning intellectual activity of man. In those + early days positive knowledge was not to be had, but the craving after it + needed, at all hazards, to be satisfied, and according to the country, or + the turn of thought, of the speculator, the suggestion that all living + things arose from the mud of the Nile, from a primeval egg, or from some + more anthropomorphic agency, afforded a sufficient resting-place for his + curiosity. The myths of Paganism are as dead as Osiris or Zeus, and the + man who should revive them, in opposition to the knowledge of our time, + would be justly laughed to scorn; but the coeval imaginations current + among the rude inhabitants of Palestine, recorded by writers whose very + name and age are admitted by every scholar to be unknown, have + unfortunately not yet shared their fate, but, even at this day, are + regarded by nine-tenths of the civilized world as the authoritative + standard of fact and the criterion of the justice of scientific + conclusions, in all that relates to the origin of things, and, among them, + of species. In this nineteenth century, as at the dawn of modern physical + science, the cosmogony of the semi-barbarous Hebrew is the incubus of the + philosopher and the opprobrium of the orthodox. Who shall number the + patient and earnest seekers after truth, from the days of Galileo until + now, whose lives have been embittered and their good name blasted by the + mistaken zeal of Bibliolaters? Who shall count the host of weaker men + whose sense of truth has been destroyed in the effort to harmonize + impossibilities—whose life has been wasted in the attempt to force + the generous new wine of Science into the old bottles of Judaism, + compelled by the outcry of the same strong party? + </p> + <p> + It is true that if philosophers have suffered, their cause has been amply + avenged. Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every science as + the strangled snakes beside that of Hercules; and history records that + whenever science and orthodoxy have been fairly opposed, the latter has + been forced to retire from the lists, bleeding and crushed if not + annihilated; scotched, if not slain. But orthodoxy is the Bourbon of the + world of thought. It learns not, neither can it forget; and though, at + present, bewildered and afraid to move, it is as willing as ever to insist + that the first chapter of Genesis contains the beginning and the end of + sound science; and to visit, with such petty thunderbolts as its + half-paralysed hands can hurl, those who refuse to degrade Nature to the + level of primitive Judaism. + </p> + <p> + Philosophers, on the other hand, have no such aggressive tendencies. With + eyes fixed on the noble goal to which "per aspera et ardua" they tend, + they may, now and then, be stirred to momentary wrath by the unnecessary + obstacles with which the ignorant, or the malicious, encumber, if they + cannot bar, the difficult path; but why should their souls be deeply + vexed? The majesty of Fact is on their side, and the elemental forces of + Nature are working for them. Not a star comes to the meridian at its + calculated time but testifies to the justice of their methods—their + beliefs are "one with falling rain and with the growing corn." By doubt + they are established, and open inquiry is their bosom friend. Such men + have no fear of traditions however venerable, and no respect for them when + they become mischievous and obstructive; but they have better than mere + antiquarian business in hand, and if dogmas, which ought to be fossil but + are not, are not forced upon their notice, they are too happy to treat + them as non-existent. + </p> + <p> + The hypotheses respecting the origin of species which profess to stand + upon a scientific basis, and, as such, alone demand serious attention, are + of two kinds. The one, the "special creation" hypothesis, presumes every + species to have originated from one or more stocks, these not being the + result of the modification of any other form of living matter—or + arising by natural agencies—but being produced, as such, by a + supernatural creative act. + </p> + <p> + The other, the so-called "transmutation" hypothesis, considers that all + existing species are the result of the modification of pre-existing + species, and those of their predecessors, by agencies similar to those + which at the present day produce varieties and races, and therefore in an + altogether natural way; and it is a probable, though not a necessary + consequence of this hypothesis, that all living beings have arisen from a + single stock. With respect to the origin of this primitive stock, or + stocks, the doctrine of the origin of species is obviously not necessarily + concerned. The transmutation hypothesis, for example, is perfectly + consistent either with the conception of a special creation of the + primitive germ, or with the supposition of its having arisen, as a + modification of inorganic matter, by natural causes. + </p> + <p> + The doctrine of special creation owes its existence very largely to the + supposed necessity of making science accord with the Hebrew cosmogony; but + it is curious to observe that, as the doctrine is at present maintained by + men of science, it is as hopelessly inconsistent with the Hebrew view as + any other hypothesis. + </p> + <p> + If there be any result which has come more clearly out of geological + investigation than another, it is, that the vast series of extinct animals + and plants is not divisible, as it was once supposed to be, into distinct + groups, separated by sharply-marked boundaries. There are no great gulfs + between epochs and formations—no successive periods marked by the + appearance of plants, of water animals, and of land animals, en masse. + Every year adds to the list of links between what the older geologists + supposed to be widely separated epochs: witness the crags linking the + drift with older tertiaries; the Maestricht beds linking the tertiaries + with the chalk; the St. Cassian beds exhibiting an abundant fauna of mixed + mesozoic and palaeozoic types, in rocks of an epoch once supposed to be + eminently poor in life; witness, lastly, the incessant disputes as to + whether a given stratum shall be reckoned devonian or carboniferous, + silurian or devonian, cambrian or silurian. + </p> + <p> + This truth is further illustrated in a most interesting manner by the + impartial and highly competent testimony of M. Pictet, from whose + calculations of what percentage of the genera of animals, existing in any + formation, lived during the preceding formation, it results that in no + case is the proportion less than 'one-third', or 33 per cent. It is the + triassic formation, or the commencement of the mesozoic epoch, which has + received the smallest inheritance from preceding ages. The other + formations not uncommonly exhibit 60, 80, or even 94 per cent. of genera + in common with those whose remains are imbedded in their predecessor. Not + only is this true, but the subdivisions of each formation exhibit new + species characteristic of, and found only in, them; and, in many cases, as + in the lias for example, the separate beds of these subdivisions are + distinguished by well-marked and peculiar forms of life. A section, a + hundred feet thick, will exhibit, at different heights, a dozen species of + ammonite, none of which passes beyond its particular zone of limestone, or + clay, into the zone below it or into that above it; so that those who + adopt the doctrine of special creation must be prepared to admit, that at + intervals of time, corresponding with the thickness of these beds, the + Creator thought fit to interfere with the natural course of events for the + purpose of making a new ammonite. It is not easy to transplant oneself + into the frame of mind of those who can accept such a conclusion as this, + on any evidence short of absolute demonstration; and it is difficult to + see what is to be gained by so doing, since, as we have said, it is + obvious that such a view of the origin of living beings is utterly opposed + to the Hebrew cosmogony. Deserving no aid from the powerful arm of + Bibliolatry, then, does the received form of the hypothesis of special + creation derive any support from science or sound logic? Assuredly not + much. The arguments brought forward in its favour all take one form: If + species were not supernaturally created, we cannot understand the facts + 'x' or 'y', or 'z'; we cannot understand the structure of animals or + plants, unless we suppose they were contrived for special ends; we cannot + understand the structure of the eye, except by supposing it to have been + made to see with; we cannot understand instincts, unless we suppose + animals to have been miraculously endowed with them. + </p> + <p> + As a question of dialectics, it must be admitted that this sort of + reasoning is not very formidable to those who are not to be frightened by + consequences. It is an argumentum ad ignorantiam—take this + explanation or be ignorant. + </p> + <p> + But suppose we prefer to admit our ignorance rather than adopt a + hypothesis at variance with all the teachings of Nature? Or, suppose for a + moment we admit the explanation, and then seriously ask ourselves how much + the wiser are we; what does the explanation explain? Is it any more than a + grandiloquent way of announcing the fact, that we really know nothing + about the matter? A phenomenon is explained when it is shown to be a case + of some general law of Nature; but the supernatural interposition of the + Creator can, by the nature of the case, exemplify no law, and if species + have really arisen in this way, it is absurd to attempt to discuss their + origin. + </p> + <p> + Or, lastly, let us ask ourselves whether any amount of evidence which the + nature of our faculties permits us to attain, can justify us in asserting + that any phenomenon is out of the reach of natural causation. To this end + it is obviously necessary that we should know all the consequences to + which all possible combinations, continued through unlimited time, can + give rise. If we knew these, and found none competent to originate + species, we should have good ground for denying their origin by natural + causation. Till we know them, any hypothesis is better than one which + involves us in such miserable presumption. + </p> + <p> + But the hypothesis of special creation is not only a mere specious mask + for our ignorance; its existence in Biology marks the youth and + imperfection of the science. For what is the history of every science but + the history of the elimination of the notion of creative, or other + interferences, with the natural order of the phenomena which are the + subject-matter of that science? When Astronomy was young "the morning + stars sang together for joy," and the planets were guided in their courses + by celestial hands. Now, the harmony of the stars has resolved itself into + gravitation according to the inverse squares of the distances, and the + orbits of the planets are deducible from the laws of the forces which + allow a schoolboy's stone to break a window. The lightning was the angel + of the Lord; but it has pleased Providence, in these modern times, that + science should make it the humble messenger of man, and we know that every + flash that shimmers about the horizon on a summer's evening is determined + by ascertainable conditions, and that its direction and brightness might, + if our knowledge of these were great enough, have been calculated. + </p> + <p> + The solvency of great mercantile companies rests on the validity of the + laws which have been ascertained to govern the seeming irregularity of + that human life which the moralist bewails as the most uncertain of + things; plague, pestilence, and famine are admitted, by all but fools, to + be the natural result of causes for the most part fully within human + control, and not the unavoidable tortures inflicted by wrathful + Omnipotence upon His helpless handiwork. + </p> + <p> + Harmonious order governing eternally continuous progress—the web and + woof of matter and force interweaving by slow degrees, without a broken + thread, that veil which lies between us and the Infinite—that + universe which alone we know or can know; such is the picture which + science draws of the world, and in proportion as any part of that picture + is in unison with the rest, so may we feel sure that it is rightly + painted. Shall Biology alone remain out of harmony with her sister + sciences? + </p> + <p> + Such arguments against the hypothesis of the direct creation of species as + these are plainly enough deducible from general considerations; but there + are, in addition, phenomena exhibited by species themselves, and yet not + so much a part of their very essence as to have required earlier mention, + which are in the highest degree perplexing, if we adopt the popularly + accepted hypothesis. Such are the facts of distribution in space and in + time; the singular phenomena brought to light by the study of development; + the structural relations of species upon which our systems of + classification are founded; the great doctrines of philosophical anatomy, + such as that of homology, or of the community of structural plan exhibited + by large groups of species differing very widely in their habits and + functions. + </p> + <p> + The species of animals which inhabit the sea on opposite sides of the + isthmus of Panama are wholly distinct;* the animals and plants which + inhabit islands are commonly distinct from those of the neighbouring + mainlands, and yet have a similarity of aspect. ([Footnote] *Recent + investigations tend to show that this statement is not strictly accurate.—1870.) + The mammals of the latest tertiary epoch in the Old and New Worlds belong + to the same genera, or family groups, as those which now inhabit the same + great geographical area. The crocodilian reptiles which existed in the + earliest secondary epoch were similar in general structure to those now + living, but exhibit slight differences in their vertebrae, nasal passages, + and one or two other points. The guinea-pig has teeth which are shed + before it is born, and hence can never subserve the masticatory purpose + for which they seem contrived, and, in like manner, the female dugong has + tusks which never cut the gum. All the members of the same great group run + through similar conditions in their development, and all their parts, in + the adult state, are arranged according to the same plan. Man is more like + a gorilla than a gorilla is like a lemur. Such are a few, taken at random, + among the multitudes of similar facts which modern research has + established; but when the student seeks for an explanation of them from + the supporters of the received hypothesis of the origin of species, the + reply he receives is, in substance, of Oriental simplicity and brevity—"Mashallah! + it so pleases God!" There are different species on opposite sides of the + isthmus of Panama, because they were created different on the two sides. + The pliocene mammals are like the existing ones, because such was the plan + of creation; and we find rudimental organs and similarity of plan, because + it has pleased the Creator to set before Himself a "divine exemplar or + archetype," and to copy it in His works; and somewhat ill, those who hold + this view imply, in some of them. That such verbal hocus-pocus should be + received as science will one day be regarded as evidence of the low state + of intelligence in the nineteenth century, just as we amuse ourselves with + the phraseology about Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum, wherewith + Torricelli's compatriots were satisfied to explain the rise of water in a + pump. And be it recollected that this sort of satisfaction works not only + negative but positive ill, by discouraging inquiry, and so depriving man + of the usufruct of one of the most fertile fields of his great patrimony, + Nature. + </p> + <p> + The objections to the doctrine of the origin of species by special + creation which have been detailed, must have occurred, with more or less + force, to the mind of every one who has seriously and independently + considered the subject. It is therefore no wonder that, from time to time, + this hypothesis should have been met by counter hypotheses, all as well, + and some better founded than itself; and it is curious to remark that the + inventors of the opposing views seem to have been led into them as much by + their knowledge of geology, as by their acquaintance with biology. In + fact, when the mind has once admitted the conception of the gradual + production of the present physical state of our globe, by natural causes + operating through long ages of time, it will be little disposed to allow + that living beings have made their appearance in another way, and the + speculations of De Maillet and his successors are the natural complement + of Scilla's demonstration of the true nature of fossils. + </p> + <p> + A contemporary of Newton and of Leibnitz, sharing therefore in the + intellectual activity of the remarkable age which witnessed the birth of + modern physical science, Benoit de Maillet spent a long life as a consular + agent of the French Government in various Mediterranean ports. For sixteen + years, in fact, he held the office of Consul-General in Egypt, and the + wonderful phenomena offered by the valley of the Nile appear to have + strongly impressed his mind, to have directed his attention to all facts + of a similar order which came within his observation, and to have led him + to speculate on the origin of the present condition of our globe and of + its inhabitants. But, with all his ardour for science, De Maillet seems to + have hesitated to publish views which, notwithstanding the ingenious + attempts to reconcile them with the Hebrew hypothesis contained in the + preface to "Telliamed," were hardly likely to be received with favour by + his contemporaries. + </p> + <p> + But a short time had elapsed since more than one of the great anatomists + and physicists of the Italian school had paid dearly for their endeavours + to dissipate some of the prevalent errors; and their illustrious pupil, + Harvey, the founder of modern physiology, had not fared so well, in a + country less oppressed by the benumbing influences of theology, as to + tempt any man to follow his example. Probably not uninfluenced by these + considerations, his Catholic majesty's Consul-General for Egypt kept his + theories to himself throughout a long life, for 'Telliamed,' the only + scientific work which is known to have proceeded from his pen, was not + printed till 1735, when its author had reached the ripe age of + seventy-nine; and though De Maillet lived three years longer, his book was + not given to the world before 1748. Even then it was anonymous to those + who were not in the secret of the anagrammatic character of its title; and + the preface and dedication are so worded as, in case of necessity, to give + the printer a fair chance of falling back on the excuse that the work was + intended for a mere jeu d'esprit. + </p> + <p> + The speculations of the supposititious Indian sage, though quite as sound + as those of many a "Mosaic Geology," which sells exceedingly well, have no + great value if we consider them by the light of modern science. The waters + are supposed to have originally covered the whole globe; to have deposited + the rocky masses which compose its mountains by processes comparable to + those which are now forming mud, sand, and shingle; and then to have + gradually lowered their level, leaving the spoils of their animal and + vegetable inhabitants embedded in the strata. As the dry land appeared, + certain of the aquatic animals are supposed to have taken to it, and to + have become gradually adapted to terrestrial and aerial modes of + existence. But if we regard the general tenor and style of the reasoning + in relation to the state of knowledge of the day, two circumstances appear + very well worthy of remark. The first, that De Maillet had a notion of the + modifiability of living forms (though without any precise information on + the subject), and how such modifiability might account for the origin of + species; the second, that he very clearly apprehended the great modern + geological doctrine, so strongly insisted upon by Hutton, and so ably and + comprehensively expounded by Lyell, that we must look to existing causes + for the explanation of past geological events. Indeed, the following + passage of the preface, in which De Maillet is supposed to speak of the + Indian philosopher Telliamed, his 'alter ego', might have been written by + the most philosophical uniformitarian of the present day:— + </p> + <p> + "Ce qu'il y a d'etonnant, est que pour arriver a ces connoissances il + semble avoir perverti l'ordre naturel, puisqu'au lieu de s'attacher + d'abord a rechercher l'origine de notre globe il a commence par travailler + a s'instruire de la nature. Mais a l'entendre, ce renversement de l'ordre + a ete pour lui l'effet d'un genie favorable qui l'a conduit pas a pas et + comme par la main aux decouvertes les plus sublimes. C'est en decomposant + la substance de ce globe par une anatomie exacte de toutes ses parties + qu'il a premierement appris de quelles matieres il etait compose et quels + arrangemens ces memes matieres observaient entre elles. Ces lumieres + jointes a l'esprit de comparaison toujours necessaire a quiconque + entreprend de percer les voiles dont la nature aime a se cacher, ont servi + de guide a notre philosophe pour parvenir a des connoissances plus + interessantes. Par la matiere et l'arrangement de ces compositions il + pretend avoir reconnu quelle est la veritable origine de ce globe que nous + habitons, comment et par qui il a ete forme."—Pp. xix. xx. + </p> + <p> + But De Maillet was before his age, and as could hardly fail to happen to + one who speculated on a zoological and botanical question before Linnaeus, + and on a physiological problem before Haller, he fell into great errors + here and there; and hence, perhaps, the general neglect of his work. + Robinet's speculations are rather behind, than in advance of, those of De + Maillet; and though Linnaeus may have played with the hypothesis of + transmutation, it obtained no serious support until Lamarck adopted it, + and advocated it with great ability in his 'Philosophie Zoologique.' + </p> + <p> + Impelled towards the hypothesis of the transmutation of species, partly by + his general cosmological and geological views; partly by the conception of + a graduated, though irregularly branching, scale of being, which had + arisen out of his profound study of plants and of the lower forms of + animal life, Lamarck, whose general line of thought often closely + resembles that of De Maillet, made a great advance upon the crude and + merely speculative manner in which that writer deals with the question of + the origin of living beings, by endeavouring to find physical causes + competent to effect that change of one species into another, which De + Maillet had only supposed to occur. And Lamarck conceived that he had + found in Nature such causes, amply sufficient for the purpose in view. It + is a physiological fact, he says, that organs are increased in size by + action, atrophied by inaction; it is another physiological fact that + modifications produced are transmissible to offspring. Change the actions + of an animal, therefore, and you will change its structure, by increasing + the development of the parts newly brought into use and by the diminution + of those less used; but by altering the circumstances which surround it + you will alter its actions, and hence, in the long run, change of + circumstance must produce change of organization. All the species of + animals, therefore, are, in Lamarck's view, the result of the indirect + action of changes of circumstance, upon those primitive germs which he + considered to have originally arisen, by spontaneous generation, within + the waters of the globe. It is curious, however, that Lamarck should + insist so strongly* as he has done, that circumstances never in any degree + directly modify the form or the organization of animals, but only operate + by changing their wants and consequently their actions; for he thereby + brings upon himself the obvious question, how, then, do plants, which + cannot be said to have wants or actions, become modified? To this he + replies, that they are modified by the changes in their nutritive + processes, which are effected by changing circumstances; and it does not + seem to have occurred to him that such changes might be as well supposed + to take place among animals. ([Footnote] *See 'Phil. Zoologique,' vol. i. + p. 222, et seq.) + </p> + <p> + When we have said that Lamarck felt that mere speculation was not the way + to arrive at the origin of species, but that it was necessary, in order to + the establishment of any sound theory on the subject, to discover by + observation or otherwise, some 'vera causa', competent to give rise to + them; that he affirmed the true order of classification to coincide with + the order of their development one from another; that he insisted on the + necessity of allowing sufficient time, very strongly; and that all the + varieties of instinct and reason were traced back by him to the same cause + as that which has given rise to species, we have enumerated his chief + contributions to the advance of the question. On the other hand, from his + ignorance of any power in Nature competent to modify the structure of + animals, except the development of parts, or atrophy of them, in + consequence of a change of needs, Lamarck was led to attach infinitely + greater weight than it deserves to this agency, and the absurdities into + which he was led have met with deserved condemnation. Of the struggle for + existence, on which, as we shall see, Mr. Darwin lays such great stress, + he had no conception; indeed, he doubts whether there really are such + things as extinct species, unless they be such large animals as may have + met their death at the hands of man; and so little does he dream of there + being any other destructive causes at work, that, in discussing the + possible existence of fossil shells, he asks, "Pourquoi d'ailleurs + seroient-ils perdues des que l'homme n'a pu operer leur destruction?" + ('Phil. Zool.,' vol. i. p. 77.) Of the influence of selection Lamarck has + as little notion, and he makes no use of the wonderful phenomena which are + exhibited by domesticated animals, and illustrate its powers. The vast + influence of Cuvier was employed against the Lamarckian views, and, as the + untenability of some of his conclusions was easily shown, his doctrines + sank under the opprobrium of scientific, as well as of theological, + heterodoxy. Nor have the efforts made of late years to revive them tended + to re-establish their credit in the minds of sound thinkers acquainted + with the facts of the case; indeed it may be doubted whether Lamarck has + not suffered more from his friends than from his foes. + </p> + <p> + Two years ago, in fact, though we venture to question if even the + strongest supporters of the special creation hypothesis had not, now and + then, an uneasy consciousness that all was not right, their position + seemed more impregnable than ever, if not by its own inherent strength, at + any rate by the obvious failure of all the attempts which had been made to + carry it. On the other hand, however much the few, who thought deeply on + the question of species, might be repelled by the generally received + dogmas, they saw no way of escaping from them save by the adoption of + suppositions so little justified by experiment or by observation as to be + at least equally distasteful. + </p> + <p> + The choice lay between two absurdities and a middle condition of uneasy + scepticism; which last, however unpleasant and unsatisfactory, was + obviously the only justifiable state of mind under the circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Such being the general ferment in the minds of naturalists, it is no + wonder that they mustered strong in the rooms of the Linnaean Society, on + the 1st of July of the year 1858, to hear two papers by authors living on + opposite sides of the globe, working out their results independently, and + yet professing to have discovered one and the same solution of all the + problems connected with species. The one of these authors was an able + naturalist, Mr. Wallace, who had been employed for some years in studying + the productions of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and who had + forwarded a memoir embodying his views to Mr. Darwin, for communication to + the Linnaean Society. On perusing the essay, Mr. Darwin was not a little + surprised to find that it embodied some of the leading ideas of a great + work which he had been preparing for twenty years, and parts of which, + containing a development of the very same views, had been perused by his + private friends fifteen or sixteen years before. Perplexed in what manner + to do full justice both to his friend and to himself, Mr. Darwin placed + the matter in the hands of Dr. Hooker and Sir Charles Lyell, by whose + advice he communicated a brief abstract of his own views to the Linnaean + Society, at the same time that Mr. Wallace's paper was read. Of that + abstract, the work on the 'Origin of Species' is an enlargement; but a + complete statement of Mr. Darwin's doctrine is looked for in the large and + well-illustrated work which he is said to be preparing for publication. + </p> + <p> + The Darwinian hypothesis has the merit of being eminently simple and + comprehensible in principle, and its essential positions may be stated in + a very few words: all species have been produced by the development of + varieties from common stocks; by the conversion of these, first into + permanent races and then into new species, by the process of NATURAL + SELECTION, which process is essentially identical with that artificial + selection by which man has originated the races of domestic animals—the + STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE taking the place of man, and exerting, in the case + of natural selection, that selective action which he performs in + artificial selection. + </p> + <p> + The evidence brought forward by Mr. Darwin in support of his hypothesis is + of three kinds. First, he endeavours to prove that species may be + originated by selection; secondly, he attempts to show that natural causes + are competent to exert selection; and thirdly, he tries to prove that the + most remarkable and apparently anomalous phenomena exhibited by the + distribution, development, and mutual relations of species, can be shown + to be deducible from the general doctrine of their origin, which he + propounds, combined with the known facts of geological change; and that, + even if all these phenomena are not at present explicable by it, none are + necessarily inconsistent with it. + </p> + <p> + There cannot be a doubt that the method of inquiry which Mr. Darwin has + adopted is not only rigorously in accordance with the canons of scientific + logic, but that it is the only adequate method. Critics exclusively + trained in classics or in mathematics, who have never determined a + scientific fact in their lives by induction from experiment or + observation, prate learnedly about Mr. Darwin's method, which is not + inductive enough, not Baconian enough, forsooth, for them. But even if + practical acquaintance with the process of scientific investigation is + denied them, they may learn, by the perusal of Mr. Mill's admirable + chapter "On the Deductive Method," that there are multitudes of scientific + inquiries in which the method of pure induction helps the investigator but + a very little way. + </p> + <p> + "The mode of investigation," says Mr. Mill, "which, from the proved + inapplicability of direct methods of observation and experiment, remains + to us as the main source of the knowledge we possess, or can acquire, + respecting the conditions and laws of recurrence of the more complex + phenomena, is called, in its most general expression, the deductive + method, and consists of three operations: the first, one of direct + induction; the second, of ratiocination; and the third, of verification." + </p> + <p> + Now, the conditions which have determined the existence of species are not + only exceedingly complex, but, so far as the great majority of them are + concerned, are necessarily beyond our cognizance. But what Mr. Darwin has + attempted to do is in exact accordance with the rule laid down by Mr. + Mill; he has endeavoured to determine certain great facts inductively, by + observation and experiment; he has then reasoned from the data thus + furnished; and lastly, he has tested the validity of his ratiocination by + comparing his deductions with the observed facts of Nature. Inductively, + Mr. Darwin endeavours to prove that species arise in a given way. + Deductively, he desires to show that, if they arise in that way, the facts + of distribution, development, classification, etc., may be accounted for, + i.e. may be deduced from their mode of origin, combined with admitted + changes in physical geography and climate, during an indefinite period. + And this explanation, or coincidence of observed with deduced facts, is, + so far as it extends, a verification of the Darwinian view. + </p> + <p> + There is no fault to be found with Mr. Darwin's method, then; but it is + another question whether he has fulfilled all the conditions imposed by + that method. Is it satisfactorily proved, in fact, that species may be + originated by selection? that there is such a thing as natural selection? + that none of the phenomena exhibited by species are inconsistent with the + origin of species in this way? If these questions can be answered in the + affirmative, Mr. Darwin's view steps out of the rank of hypotheses into + those of proved theories; but, so long as the evidence at present adduced + falls short of enforcing that affirmation, so long, to our minds, must the + new doctrine be content to remain among the former—an extremely + valuable, and in the highest degree probable, doctrine, indeed the only + extant hypothesis which is worth anything in a scientific point of view; + but still a hypothesis, and not yet the theory of species. + </p> + <p> + After much consideration, and with assuredly no bias against Mr. Darwin's + views, it is our clear conviction that, as the evidence stands, it is not + absolutely proven that a group of animals, having all the characters + exhibited by species in Nature, has ever been originate by selection, + whether artificial or natural. Groups having the morphological character + of species, distinct and permanent races in fact, have been so produced + over and over again; but there is no positive evidence, at present, that + any group of animals has, by variation and selective breeding, given rise + to another group which was, even in the least degree, infertile with the + first. Mr. Darwin is perfectly aware of this weak point, and brings + forward a multitude of ingenious and important arguments to diminish the + force of the objection. We admit the value of these arguments to their + fullest extent; nay, we will go so far as to express our belief that + experiments, conducted by a skilful physiologist, would very probably + obtain the desired production of mutually more or less infertile breeds + from a common stock, in a comparatively few years; but still, as the case + stands at present, this "little rift within the lute" is not to be + disguised nor overlooked. + </p> + <p> + In the remainder of Mr. Darwin's argument our own private ingenuity has + not hitherto enabled us to pick holes of any great importance; and judging + by what we hear and read, other adventurers in the same field do not seem + to have been much more fortunate. It has been urged, for instance, that in + his chapters on the struggle for existence and on natural selection, Mr. + Darwin does not so much prove that natural selection does occur, as that + it must occur; but, in fact, no other sort of demonstration is attainable. + A race does not attract our attention in Nature until it has, in all + probability, existed for a considerable time, and then it is too late to + inquire into the conditions of its origin. Again, it is said that there is + no real analogy between the selection which takes place under + domestication, by human influence, and any operation which can be effected + by Nature, for man interferes intelligently. Reduced to its elements, this + argument implies that an effect produced with trouble by an intelligent + agent must, a fortiori, be more troublesome, if not impossible, to an + unintelligent agent. Even putting aside the question whether Nature, + acting as she does according to definite and invariable laws, can be + rightly called an unintelligent agent, such a position as this is wholly + untenable. Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with + his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand from all + the grains of salt; but a shower of rain will effect the same object in + ten minutes. And so, while man may find it tax all his intelligence to + separate any variety which arises, and to breed selectively from it, the + destructive agencies incessantly at work in Nature, if they find one + variety to be more soluble in circumstances than the other, will + inevitably, in the long run, eliminate it. + </p> + <p> + A frequent and a just objection to the Lamarckian hypothesis of the + transmutation of species is based upon the absence of transitional forms + between many species. But against the Darwinian hypothesis this argument + has no force. Indeed, one of the most valuable and suggestive parts of Mr. + Darwin's work is that in which he proves, that the frequent absence of + transitions is a necessary consequence of his doctrine, and that the stock + whence two or more species have sprung, need in no respect be intermediate + between these species. If any two species have arisen from a common stock + in the same way as the carrier and the pouter, say, have arisen from the + rock-pigeon, then the common stock of these two species need be no more + intermediate between the two than the rock-pigeon is between the carrier + and pouter. Clearly appreciate the force of this analogy, and all the + arguments against the origin of species by selection, based on the absence + of transitional forms, fall to the ground. And Mr. Darwin's position + might, we think, have been even stronger than it is if he had not + embarrassed himself with the aphorism, "Natura non facit saltum," which + turns up so often in his pages. We believe, as we have said above, that + Nature does make jumps now and then, and a recognition of the fact is of + no small importance in disposing of many minor objections to the doctrine + of transmutation. + </p> + <p> + But we must pause. The discussion of Mr. Darwin's arguments in detail + would lead us far beyond the limits within which we proposed, at starting, + to confine this article. Our object has been attained if we have given an + intelligible, however brief, account of the established facts connected + with species, and of the relation of the explanation of those facts + offered by Mr. Darwin to the theoretical views held by his predecessors + and his contemporaries, and, above all, to the requirements of scientific + logic. We have ventured to point out that it does not, as yet, satisfy all + those requirements; but we do not hesitate to assert that it is as + superior to any preceding or contemporary hypothesis, in the extent of + observational and experimental basis on which it rests, in its rigorously + scientific method, and in its power of explaining biological phenomena, as + was the hypothesis of Copernicus to the speculations of Ptolemy. But the + planetary orbits turned out to be not quite circular after all, and, grand + as was the service Copernicus rendered to science, Kepler and Newton had + to come after him. What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too + circular? What if species should offer residual phenomena, here and there, + not explicable by natural selection? Twenty years hence naturalists may be + in a position to say whether this is, or is not, the case; but in either + event they will owe the author of 'The Origin of Species' an immense debt + of gratitude. We should leave a very wrong impression on the reader's mind + if we permitted him to suppose that the value of that work depends wholly + on the ultimate justification of the theoretical views which it contains. + On the contrary, if they were disproved to-morrow, the book would still be + the best of its kind—the most compendious statement of well-sifted + facts bearing on the doctrine of species that has ever appeared. The + chapters on Variation, on the Struggle for Existence, on Instinct, on + Hybridism, on the Imperfection of the Geological Record, on Geographical + Distribution, have not only no equals, but, so far as our knowledge goes, + no competitors, within the range of biological literature. And viewed as a + whole, we do not believe that, since the publication of Von Baer's + Researches on Development, thirty years ago, any work has appeared + calculated to exert so large an influence, not only on the future of + Biology, but in extending the domination of Science over regions of + thought into which she has, as yet, hardly penetrated. + </p> + <p> + End of The Origin of Species. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES".* + </h2> + <h3> + ([Footnote] *'The Natural History Review', 1864.) + </h3> + <p> + 1. UEBER DIE DARWIN'SCHE SCHOPFUNGSTHEORIE; EIN VORTRAG, VON A. KOLLIKER. + Leipzig, 1864. + </p> + <p> + 2. EXAMINATION DU LIVRE DE M. DARWIN SUR L'ORIGINE DES ESPECES. PAR P. + FLOURENS. Paris, 1864. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the present year several foreign commentaries upon Mr. + Darwin's great work have made their appearance. Those who have perused + that remarkable chapter of the 'Antiquity of Man,' in which Sir Charles + Lyell draws a parallel between the development of species and that of + languages, will be glad to hear that one of the most eminent philologers + of Germany, Professor Schleicher, has, independently, published a most + instructive and philosophical pamphlet (an excellent notice of which is to + be found in the 'Reader', for February 27th of this year) supporting + similar views with all the weight of his special knowledge and established + authority as a linguist. Professor Haeckel, to whom Schleicher addresses + himself, previously took occasion, in his splendid monograph on the + 'Radiolaria',* to express his high appreciation of, and general + concordance with, Mr. Darwin's views. ([Footnote] *'Die Radiolarien: eine + Monographie', p. 231.) + </p> + <p> + But the most elaborate criticisms of the 'Origin of Species' which have + appeared are two works of very widely different merit, the one by + Professor Kolliker, the well-known anatomist and histologist of Wurzburg; + the other by M. Flourens, Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of + Sciences. + </p> + <p> + Professor Kolliker's critical essay 'Upon the Darwinian Theory' is, like + all that proceeds from the pen of that thoughtful and accomplished writer, + worthy of the most careful consideration. It comprises a brief but clear + sketch of Darwin's views, followed by an enumeration of the leading + difficulties in the way of their acceptance; difficulties which would + appear to be insurmountable to Professor Kolliker, inasmuch as he proposes + to replace Mr. Darwin's Theory by one which he terms the 'Theory of + Heterogeneous Generation.' We shall proceed to consider first the + destructive, and secondly, the constructive portion of the essay. + </p> + <p> + We regret to find ourselves compelled to dissent very widely from many of + Professor Kolliker's remarks; and from none more thoroughly than from + those in which he seeks to define what we may term the philosophical + position of Darwinism. + </p> + <p> + "Darwin," says Professor Kolliker, "is, in the fullest sense of the word, + a Teleologist. He says quite distinctly (First Edition, pp. 199, 200) that + every particular in the structure of an animal has been created for its + benefit, and he regards the whole series of animal forms only from this + point of view." + </p> + <p> + And again: + </p> + <p> + "7. The teleological general conception adopted by Darwin is a mistaken + one. + </p> + <p> + "Varieties arise irrespectively of the notion of purpose, or of utility, + according to general laws of Nature, and may be either useful, or hurtful, + or indifferent. + </p> + <p> + "The assumption that an organism exists only on account of some definite + end in view, and represents something more than the incorporation of a + general idea, or law, implies a one-sided conception of the universe. + Assuredly, every organ has, and every organism fulfils, its end, but its + purpose is not the condition of its existence. Every organism is also + sufficiently perfect for the purpose it serves, and in that, at least, it + is useless to seek for a cause of its improvement." + </p> + <p> + It is singular how differently one and the same book will impress + different minds. That which struck the present writer most forcibly on his + first perusal of the 'Origin of Species' was the conviction that + Teleology, as commonly understood, had received its deathblow at Mr. + Darwin's hands. For the teleological argument runs thus: an organ or + organism (A) is precisely fitted to perform a function or purpose (B); + therefore it was specially constructed to perform that function. In + Paley's famous illustration, the adaptation of all the parts of the watch + to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held to be evidence + that the watch was specially contrived to that end; on the ground, that + the only cause we know of, competent to produce such an effect as a watch + which shall keep time, is a contriving intelligence adapting the means + directly to that end. + </p> + <p> + Suppose, however, that any one had been able to show that the watch had + not been made directly by any person, but that it was the result of the + modification of another watch which kept time but poorly; and that this + again had proceeded from a structure which could hardly be called a watch + at all—seeing that it had no figures on the dial and the hands were + rudimentary; and that going back and back in time we came at last to a + revolving barrel as the earliest traceable rudiment of the whole fabric. + And imagine that it had been possible to show that all these changes had + resulted, first, from a tendency of the structure to vary indefinitely; + and secondly, from something in the surrounding world which helped all + variations in the direction of an accurate time-keeper, and checked all + those in other directions; then it is obvious that the force of Paley's + argument would be gone. For it would be demonstrated that an apparatus + thoroughly well adapted to a particular purpose might be the result of a + method of trial and error worked by unintelligent agents, as well as of + the direct application of the means appropriate to that end, by an + intelligent agent. + </p> + <p> + Now it appears to us that what we have here, for illustration's sake, + supposed to be done with the watch, is exactly what the establishment of + Darwin's Theory will do for the organic world. For the notion that every + organism has been created as it is and launched straight at a purpose, Mr. + Darwin substitutes the conception of something which may fairly be termed + a method of trial and error. Organisms vary incessantly; of these + variations the few meet with surrounding conditions which suit them and + thrive; the many are unsuited and become extinguished. + </p> + <p> + According to Teleology, each organism is like a rifle bullet fired + straight at a mark; according to Darwin, organisms are like grapeshot of + which one hits something and the rest fall wide. + </p> + <p> + For the teleologist an organism exists because it was made for the + conditions in which it is found; for the Darwinian an organism exists + because, out of many of its kind, it is the only one which has been able + to persist in the conditions in which it is found. + </p> + <p> + Teleology implies that the organs of every organism are perfect and cannot + be improved; the Darwinian theory simply affirms that they work well + enough to enable the organism to hold its own against such competitors as + it has met with, but admits the possibility of indefinite improvement. But + an example may bring into clearer light the profound opposition between + the ordinary teleological, and the Darwinian, conception. + </p> + <p> + Cats catch mice, small birds and the like, very well. Teleology tells us + that they do so because they were expressly constructed for so doing—that + they are perfect mousing apparatuses, so perfect and so delicately + adjusted that no one of their organs could be altered, without the change + involving the alteration of all the rest. Darwinism affirms on the + contrary, that there was no express construction concerned in the matter; + but that among the multitudinous variations of the Feline stock, many of + which died out from want of power to resist opposing influences, some, the + cats, were better fitted to catch mice than others, whence they throve and + persisted, in proportion to the advantage over their fellows thus offered + to them. + </p> + <p> + Far from imagining that cats exist IN ORDER to catch mice well, Darwinism + supposes that cats exist BECAUSE they catch mice well—mousing being + not the end, but the condition, of their existence. And if the cat type + has long persisted as we know it, the interpretation of the fact upon + Darwinian principles would be, not that the cats have remained invariable, + but that such varieties as have incessantly occurred have been, on the + whole, less fitted to get on in the world than the existing stock. + </p> + <p> + If we apprehend the spirit of the 'Origin of Species' rightly, then, + nothing can be more entirely and absolutely opposed to Teleology, as it is + commonly understood, than the Darwinian Theory. So far from being a + "Teleologist in the fullest sense of the word," we would deny that he is a + Teleologist in the ordinary sense at all; and we should say that, apart + from his merits as a naturalist, he has rendered a most remarkable service + to philosophical thought by enabling the student of Nature to recognise, + to their fullest extent, those adaptations to purpose which are so + striking in the organic world, and which Teleology has done good service + in keeping before our minds, without being false to the fundamental + principles of a scientific conception of the universe. The apparently + diverging teachings of the Teleologist and of the Morphologist are + reconciled by the Darwinian hypothesis. + </p> + <p> + But leaving our own impressions of the 'Origin of Species,' and turning to + those passages especially cited by Professor Kolliker, we cannot admit + that they bear the interpretation he puts upon them. Darwin, if we read + him rightly, does 'not' affirm that every detail in the structure of an + animal has been created for its benefit. His words are (p. 199):— + </p> + <p> + "The foregoing remarks lead me to say a few words on the protest lately + made by some naturalists against the utilitarian doctrine that every + detail of structure has been produced for the good of its possessor. They + believe that very many structures have been created for beauty in the eyes + of man, or for mere variety. This doctrine, if true, would be absolutely + fatal to my theory—yet I fully admit that many structures are of no + direct use to their possessor." + </p> + <p> + And after sundry illustrations and qualifications, he concludes (p. 200):— + </p> + <p> + "Hence every detail of structure in every living creature (making some + little allowance for the direct action of physical conditions) may be + viewed either as having been of special use to some ancestral form, or as + being now of special use to the descendants of this form—either + directly, or indirectly, through the complex laws of growth." + </p> + <p> + But it is one thing to say, Darwinically, that every detail observed in an + animal's structure is of use to it, or has been of use to its ancestors; + and quite another to affirm, teleologically, that every detail of an + animal's structure has been created for its benefit. On the former + hypothesis, for example, the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena' have a meaning; + on the latter, none. So far as we are aware, there is not a phrase in the + 'Origin of Species', inconsistent with Professor Kolliker's position, that + "varieties arise irrespectively of the notion of purpose, or of utility, + according to general laws of Nature, and may be either useful, or hurtful, + or indifferent." + </p> + <p> + On the contrary, Mr. Darwin writes (Summary of Chap. V.):— + </p> + <p> + "Our ignorance of the laws of variation is profound. Not in one case out + of a hundred can we pretend to assign any reason why this or that part + varies more or less from the same part in the parents...The external + conditions of life, as climate and food, etc., seem to have induced some + slight modifications. Habit, in producing constitutional differences, and + use, in strengthening, and disuse, in weakening and diminishing organs, + seem to have been more potent in their effects." + </p> + <p> + And finally, as if to prevent all possible misconception, Mr. Darwin + concludes his Chapter on Variation with these pregnant words:— + </p> + <p> + "Whatever the cause may be of each slight difference in the offspring from + their parents—and a cause for each must exist—it is the steady + accumulation, through natural selection of such differences, when + beneficial to the individual, that gives rise to all the more important + modifications of structure which the innumerable beings on the face of the + earth are enabled to struggle with each other, and the best adapted to + survive." + </p> + <p> + We have dwelt at length upon this subject, because of its great general + importance, and because we believe that Professor Kolliker's criticisms on + this head are based upon a misapprehension of Mr. Darwin's views—substantially + they appear to us to coincide with his own. The other objections which + Professor Kolliker enumerates and discusses are the following*:—([Footnote] + *Space will not allow us to give Professor Kolliker's arguments in detail; + our readers will find a full and accurate version of them in the 'Reader' + for August 13th and 20th, 1864.) + </p> + <p> + "1. No transitional forms between existing species are known; and known + varieties, whether selected or spontaneous, never go so far as to + establish new species." + </p> + <p> + To this Professor Kolliker appears to attach some weight. He makes the + suggestion that the short-faced tumbler pigeon may be a pathological + product. + </p> + <p> + "2. No transitional forms of animals are met with among the organic + remains of earlier epochs." + </p> + <p> + Upon this, Professor Kolliker remarks that the absence of transitional + forms in the fossil world, though not necessarily fatal to Darwin's views, + weakens his case. + </p> + <p> + "3. The struggle for existence does not take place." + </p> + <p> + To this objection, urged by Pelzeln, Kolliker, very justly, attaches no + weight. + </p> + <p> + "4. A tendency of organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and a + natural selection, do not exist. + </p> + <p> + "The varieties which are found arise in consequence of manifold external + influences, and it is not obvious why they all, or partially, should be + particularly useful. Each animal suffices for its own ends, is perfect of + its kind, and needs no further development. Should, however, a variety be + useful and even maintain itself, there is no obvious reason why it should + change any further. The whole conception of the imperfection of organisms + and the necessity of their becoming perfected is plainly the weakest side + of Darwin's Theory, and a pis aller (Nothbehelf) because Darwin could + think of no other principle by which to explain the metamorphoses which, + as I also believe, have occurred." + </p> + <p> + Here again we must venture to dissent completely from Professor Kolliker's + conception of Mr. Darwin's hypothesis. It appears to us to be one of the + many peculiar merits of that hypothesis that it involves no belief in a + necessary and continual progress of organisms. + </p> + <p> + Again, Mr. Darwin, if we read him aright, assumes no special tendency of + organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and knows nothing of needs of + development, or necessity of perfection. What he says is, in substance: + All organisms vary. It is in the highest degree improbable that any given + variety should have exactly the same relations to surrounding conditions + as the parent stock. In that case it is either better fitted (when the + variation may be called useful), or worse fitted, to cope with them. If + better, it will tend to supplant the parent stock; if worse, it will tend + to be extinguished by the parent stock. + </p> + <p> + If (as is hardly conceivable) the new variety is so perfectly adapted to + the conditions that no improvement upon it is possible,—it will + persist, because, though it does not cease to vary, the varieties will be + inferior to itself. + </p> + <p> + If, as is more probable, the new variety is by no means perfectly adapted + to its conditions, but only fairly well adapted to them, it will persist, + so long as none of the varieties which it throws off are better adapted + than itself. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, as soon as it varies in a useful way, i.e. when the + variation is such as to adapt it more perfectly to its conditions, the + fresh variety will tend to supplant the former. + </p> + <p> + So far from a gradual progress towards perfection forming any necessary + part of the Darwinian creed, it appears to us that it is perfectly + consistent with indefinite persistence in one estate, or with a gradual + retrogression. Suppose, for example, a return of the glacial epoch and a + spread of polar climatal conditions over the whole globe. The operation of + natural selection under these circumstances would tend, on the whole, to + the weeding out of the higher organisms and the cherishing of the lower + forms of life. Cryptogamic vegetation would have the advantage over + Phanerogamic; Hydrozoa over Corals; Crustacea over Insecta, and Amphipoda + and Isopoda over the higher Crustacea; Cetaceans and Seals over the + Primates; the civilization of the Esquimaux over that of the European. + </p> + <p> + "5. Pelzeln has also objected that if the later organisms have proceeded + from the earlier, the whole developmental series, from the simplest to the + highest, could not now exist; in such a case the simpler organisms must + have disappeared." + </p> + <p> + To this Professor Kolliker replies, with perfect justice, that the + conclusion drawn by Pelzeln does not really follow from Darwin's + premisses, and that, if we take the facts of Palaeontology as they stand, + they rather support than oppose Darwin's theory. + </p> + <p> + "6. Great weight must be attached to the objection brought forward by + Huxley, otherwise a warm supporter of Darwin's hypothesis, that we know of + no varieties which are sterile with one another, as is the rule among + sharply distinguished animal forms. + </p> + <p> + "If Darwin is right, it must be demonstrated that forms may be produced by + selection, which, like the present sharply distinguished animal forms, are + infertile, when coupled with one another, and this has not been done." + </p> + <p> + The weight of this objection is obvious; but our ignorance of the + conditions of fertility and sterility, the want of carefully conducted + experiments extending over long series of years, and the strange anomalies + presented by the results of the cross-fertilization of many plants, should + all, as Mr. Darwin has urged, be taken into account in considering it. + </p> + <p> + The seventh objection is that we have already discussed (supra). + </p> + <p> + The eighth and last stands as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "8. The developmental theory of Darwin is not needed to enable us to + understand the regular harmonious progress of the complete series of + organic forms from the simpler to the more perfect. + </p> + <p> + "The existence of general laws of Nature explains this harmony, even if we + assume that all beings have arisen separately and independent of one + another. Darwin forgets that inorganic nature, in which there can be no + thought of genetic connexion of forms, exhibits the same regular plan, the + same harmony, as the organic world; and that, to cite only one example, + there is as much a natural system of minerals as of plants and animals." + </p> + <p> + We do not feel quite sure that we seize Professor Kolliker's meaning here, + but he appears to suggest that the observation of the general order and + harmony which pervade inorganic nature, would lead us to anticipate a + similar order and harmony in the organic world. And this is no doubt true, + but it by no means follows that the particular order and harmony observed + among them should be that which we see. Surely the stripes of dun horses, + and the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena', are not explained by the "existence + of general laws of Nature." Mr. Darwin endeavours to explain the exact + order of organic nature which exists; not the mere fact that there is some + order. + </p> + <p> + And with regard to the existence of a natural system of minerals; the + obvious reply is that there may be a natural classification of any objects—of + stones on a sea-beach, or of works of art; a natural classification being + simply an assemblage of objects in groups, so as to express their most + important and fundamental resemblances and differences. No doubt Mr. + Darwin believes that those resemblances and differences upon which our + natural systems or classifications of animals and plants are based, are + resemblances and differences which have been produced genetically, but we + can discover no reason for supposing that he denies the existence of + natural classifications of other kinds. + </p> + <p> + And, after all, is it quite so certain that a genetic relation may not + underlie the classification of minerals? The inorganic world has not + always been what we see it. It has certainly had its metamorphoses, and, + very probably, a long "Entwickelungsgeschichte" out of a nebular blastema. + Who knows how far that amount of likeness among sets of minerals, in + virtue of which they are now grouped into families and orders, may not be + the expression of the common conditions to which that particular patch of + nebulous fog, which may have been constituted by their atoms, and of which + they may be, in the strictest sense, the descendants, was subjected? + </p> + <p> + It will be obvious from what has preceded, that we do not agree with + Professor Kolliker in thinking the objections which he brings forward so + weighty as to be fatal to Darwin's view. But even if the case were + otherwise, we should be unable to accept the "Theory of Heterogeneous + Generation" which is offered as a substitute. That theory is thus stated:— + </p> + <p> + "The fundamental conception of this hypothesis is, that, under the + influence of a general law of development, the germs of organisms produce + others different from themselves. This might happen (1) by the fecundated + ova passing, in the course of their development, under particular + circumstances, into higher forms; (2) by the primitive and later organisms + producing other organisms without fecundation, out of germs or eggs + (Parthenogenesis)." + </p> + <p> + In favour of this hypothesis, Professor Kolliker adduces the well-known + facts of Agamogenesis, or "alternate generation"; the extreme + dissimilarity of the males and females of many animals; and of the males, + females, and neuters of those insects which live in colonies: and he + defines its relations to the Darwinian theory as follows:—"It is + obvious that my hypothesis is apparently very similar to Darwin's, + inasmuch as I also consider that the various forms of animals have + proceeded directly from one another. My hypothesis of the creation of + organisms by heterogeneous generation, however, is distinguished very + essentially from Darwin's by the entire absence of the principle of useful + variations and their natural selection: and my fundamental conception is + this, that a great plan of development lies at the foundation of the + origin of the whole organic world, impelling the simpler forms to more and + more complex developments. How this law operates, what influences + determine the development of the eggs and germs, and impel them to assume + constantly new forms, I naturally cannot pretend to say; but I can at + least adduce the great analogy of the alternation of generations. If a + 'Bipinnaria', a 'Brachialaria', a 'Pluteus', is competent to produce the + Echinoderm, which is so widely different from it; if a hydroid polype can + produce the higher Medusa; if the vermiform Trematode 'nurse' can develop + within itself the very unlike 'Cercaria', it will not appear impossible + that the egg, or ciliated embryo, of a sponge, for once, under special + conditions, might become a hydroid polype, or the embryo of a Medusa, an + Echinoderm." + </p> + <p> + It is obvious, from these extracts, that Professor Kolliker's hypothesis + is based upon the supposed existence of a close analogy between the + phenomena of Agamogenesis and the production of new species from + pre-existing ones. But is the analogy a real one? We think that it is not, + and, by the hypothesis, cannot be. + </p> + <p> + For what are the phenomena of Agamogenesis, stated generally? An + impregnated egg develops into an asexual form, A; this gives rise, + asexually, to a second form or forms, B, more or less different from A. B + may multiply asexually again; in the simpler cases, however, it does not, + but, acquiring sexual characters, produces impregnated eggs from whence A, + once more, arises. + </p> + <p> + No case of Agamogenesis is known in which, WHEN A DIFFERS WIDELY FROM B, + it is itself capable of sexual propagation. No case whatever is known in + which the progeny of B, by sexual generation, is other than a reproduction + of A. + </p> + <p> + But if this be a true statement of the nature of the process of + Agamogenesis, how can it enable us to comprehend the production of new + species from already existing ones? Let us suppose Hyaenas to have + preceded Dogs, and to have produced the latter in this way. Then the Hyena + will represent A, and the Dog, B. The first difficulty that presents + itself is that the Hyena must be asexual, or the process will be wholly + without analogy in the world of Agamogenesis. But passing over this + difficulty, and supposing a male and female Dog to be produced at the same + time from the Hyaena stock, the progeny of the pair, if the analogy of the + simpler kinds of Agamogenesis* is to be followed, should be a litter, not + of puppies, but of young Hyenas. ([Footnote] * If, on the contrary, we + follow the analogy of the more complex forms of Agamogenesis, such as that + exhibited by some 'Trematoda' and by the 'Aphides', the Hyaena must + produce, asexually, a brood of asexual Dogs, from which other sexless Dogs + must proceed. At the end of a certain number of terms of the series, the + Dogs would acquire sexes and generate young; but these young would be, not + Dogs, but Hyaenas. In fact, we have DEMONSTRATED, in Agamogenetic + phenomena, that inevitable recurrence to the original type, which is + ASSERTED to be true of variations in general, by Mr. Darwin's opponents; + and which, if the assertion could be changed into a demonstration would, + in fact, be fatal to his hypothesis.) For the Agamogenetic series is + always, as we have seen, A: B: A: B, etc.; whereas, for the production of + a new species, the series must be A: B: B: B, etc. The production of new + species, or genera, is the extreme permanent divergence from the primitive + stock. All known Agamogenetic processes, on the other hand, end in a + complete return to the primitive stock. How then is the production of new + species to be rendered intelligible by the analogy of Agamogenesis? + </p> + <p> + The other alternative put by Professor Kolliker—the passage of + fecundated ova in the course of their development into higher forms—would, + if it occurred, be merely an extreme case of variation in the Darwinian + sense, greater in degree than, but perfectly similar in kind to, that + which occurred when the well-known Ancon Ram was developed from an + ordinary Ewe's ovum. Indeed we have always thought that Mr. Darwin has + unnecessarily hampered himself by adhering so strictly to his favourite + "Natura non facit saltum." We greatly suspect that she does make + considerable jumps in the way of variation now and then, and that these + saltations give rise to some of the gaps which appear to exist in the + series of known forms. + </p> + <p> + Strongly and freely as we have ventured to disagree with Professor + Kolliker, we have always done so with regret, and we trust without + violating that respect which is due, not only to his scientific eminence + and to the careful study which he has devoted to the subject, but to the + perfect fairness of his argumentation, and the generous appreciation of + the worth of Mr. Darwin's labours which he always displays. It would be + satisfactory to be able to say as much for M. Flourens. + </p> + <p> + But the Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences deals with + Mr. Darwin as the first Napoleon would have treated an "ideologue;" and + while displaying a painful weakness of logic and shallowness of + information, assumes a tone of authority, which always touches upon the + ludicrous, and sometimes passes the limits of good breeding. + </p> + <p> + For example (p. 56):— + </p> + <p> + "M. Darwin continue: 'Aucune distinction absolue n'a ete et ne pout etre + etablie entre les especes et les varietes.' Je vous ai deja dit que vous + vous trompiez; une distinction absolue separe les varietes d'avec les + especes." + </p> + <p> + "JE VOUS AI DEJA DIT; moi, M. le Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie des + Sciences: et vous + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'Qui n'etes rien, + Pas meme Academicien;' +</pre> + <p> + what do you mean by asserting the contrary?" Being devoid of the blessings + of an Academy in England, we are unaccustomed to see our ablest men + treated in this fashion, even by a "Perpetual Secretary." + </p> + <p> + Or again, considering that if there is any one quality of Mr. Darwin's + work to which friends and foes have alike borne witness, it is his candour + and fairness in admitting and discussing objections, what is to be thought + of M. Flourens' assertion, that + </p> + <p> + "M. Darwin ne cite que les auteurs qui partagent ses opinions." (P. 40.) + </p> + <p> + Once more (p. 65):— + </p> + <p> + "Enfin l'ouvrage de M. Darwin a paru. On ne peut qu'etre frappe du talent + de l'auteur. Mais que d'idees obscures, que d'idees fausses! Quel jargon + metaphysique jete mal a propos dans l'histoire naturelle, qui tombe dans + le galimatias des qu'elle sort des idees claires, des idees justes! Quel + langage pretentieux et vide! Quelles personifications pueriles et + surannees! O lucidite! O solidite de l'esprit Francais, que devenez-vous?" + </p> + <p> + "Obscure ideas," "metaphysical jargon," "pretentious and empty language," + "puerile and superannuated personifications." Mr. Darwin has many and hot + opponents on this side of the Channel and in Germany, but we do not + recollect to have found precisely these sins in the long catalogue of + those hitherto laid to his charge. It is worth while, therefore, to + examine into these discoveries effected solely by the aid of the "lucidity + and solidity" of the mind of M. Flourens. + </p> + <p> + According to M. Flourens, Mr. Darwin's great error is that he has + personified Nature (p. 10), and further that he has + </p> + <p> + "imagined a natural selection: he imagines afterwards that this power of + selection (pouvoir d'elire) which he gives to Nature is similar to the + power of man. These two suppositions admitted, nothing stops him: he plays + with Nature as he likes, and makes her do all he pleases." (P. 6.) + </p> + <p> + And this is the way M. Flourens extinguishes natural selection: + </p> + <p> + "Voyons donc encore une fois, ce qu'il peut y avoir de fonde dans ce qu'on + nomme 'election naturelle'. + </p> + <p> + "'L'election naturelle' n'est sous un autre nom que la nature. Pour un + etre organise, la nature n'est que l'organisation, ni plus ni moins. + </p> + <p> + "Il faudra donc aussi personnifier 'l'organisation', et dire que + 'l'organisation choisit l'organisation'. 'L'election naturelle' est cette + 'forme substantielle' dont on jouait autrefois avec tant de facilite. + Aristote disait que 'Si l'art de batir etait dans le bois, cet art agirait + comme la nature.' A la place de 'l'art de batir' M. Darwin met 'l'election + naturelle', et c'est tout un: l'un n'est pas plus chimerique que l'autre." + (P.31.) + </p> + <p> + And this is really all that M. Flourens can make of Natural Selection. We + have given the original, in fear lest a translation should be regarded as + a travesty; but with the original before the reader, we may try to analyse + the passage. "For an organized being, Nature is only organization, neither + more nor less." + </p> + <p> + Organized beings then have absolutely no relation to inorganic nature: a + plant does not, depend on soil or sunshine, climate, depth in the ocean, + height above it; the quantity of saline matters in water have no influence + upon animal life; the substitution of carbonic acid for oxygen in our + atmosphere would hurt nobody! That these are absurdities no one should + know better than M. Flourens; but they are logical deductions from the + assertion just quoted, and from the further statement that natural + selection means only that "organization chooses and selects organization." + </p> + <p> + For if it be once admitted (what no sane man denies) that the chances of + life of any given organism are increased by certain conditions (A) and + diminished by their opposites (B), then it is mathematically certain that + any change of conditions in the direction of (A) will exercise a selective + influence in favour of that organism, tending to its increase and + multiplication, while any change in the direction of (B) will exercise a + selective influence against that organism, tending to its decrease and + extinction. + </p> + <p> + Or, on the other hand, conditions remaining the same, let a given organism + vary (and no one doubts that they do vary) in two directions: into one + form (a) better fitted to cope with these conditions than the original + stock, and a second (b) less well adapted to them. Then it is no less + certain that the conditions in question must exercise a selective + influence in favour of (a) and against ( b), so that (a) will tend to + predominance, and (b) to extirpation. + </p> + <p> + That M. Flourens should be unable to perceive the logical necessity of + these simple arguments, which lie at the foundation of all Mr. Darwin's + reasoning; that he should confound an irrefragable deduction from the + observed relations of organisms to the conditions which lie around them, + with a metaphysical "forme substantielle," or a chimerical personification + of the powers of Nature, would be incredible, were it not that other + passages of his work leave no room for doubt upon the subject. + </p> + <p> + "On imagine une 'election naturelle' que, pour plus de menagement, on me + dit etre 'inconsciente', sans s'apercevoir que le contre-sens litteral est + precisement la: 'election inconsciente'." (P. 52.) + </p> + <p> + "J'ai deja dit ce qu'il faut penser de 'l'election naturelle'. Ou + 'l'election naturelle' n'est rien, ou c'est la nature: mais la nature + douee 'd'election', mais la nature personnifiee: derniere erreur du + dernier siecle: Le xixe fait plus de personnifications." (P. 53.) + </p> + <p> + M. Flourens cannot imagine an unconscious selection—it is for him a + contradiction in terms. Did M. Flourens ever visit one of the prettiest + watering-places of "la belle France," the Baie d'Arcachon? If so, he will + probably have passed through the district of the Landes, and will have had + an opportunity of observing the formation of "dunes" on a grand scale. + What are these "dunes"? The winds and waves of the Bay of Biscay have not + much consciousness, and yet they have with great care "selected," from + among an infinity of masses of silex of all shapes and sizes, which have + been submitted to their action, all the grains of sand below a certain + size, and have heaped them by themselves over a great area. This sand has + been "unconsciously selected" from amidst the gravel in which it first lay + with as much precision as if man had "consciously selected" it by the aid + of a sieve. Physical Geology is full of such selections—of the + picking out of the soft from the hard, of the soluble from the insoluble, + of the fusible from the infusible, by natural agencies to which we are + certainly not in the habit of ascribing consciousness. + </p> + <p> + But that which wind and sea are to a sandy beach, the sum of influences, + which we term the "conditions of existence," is to living organisms. The + weak are sifted out from the strong. A frosty night "selects" the hardy + plants in a plantation from among the tender ones as effectually as if it + were the wind, and they, the sand and pebbles, of our illustration; or, on + the other hand, as if the intelligence of a gardener had been operative in + cutting the weaker organisms down. The thistle, which has spread over the + Pampas, to the destruction of native plants, has been more effectually + "selected" by the unconscious operation of natural conditions than if a + thousand agriculturists had spent their time in sowing it. + </p> + <p> + It is one of Mr. Darwin's many great services to Biological science that + he has demonstrated the significance of these facts. He has shown that—given + variation and given change of conditions—the inevitable result is + the exercise of such an influence upon organisms that one is helped and + another is impeded; one tends to predominate, another to disappear; and + thus the living world bears within itself, and is surrounded by, impulses + towards incessant change. + </p> + <p> + But the truths just stated are as certain as any other physical laws, + quite independently of the truth, or falsehood, of the hypothesis which + Mr. Darwin has based upon them; and that M. Flourens, missing the + substance and grasping at a shadow, should be blind to the admirable + exposition of them, which Mr. Darwin has given, and see nothing there but + a "derniere erreur du dernier siecle"—a personification of Nature—leads + us indeed to cry with him: "O lucidite! O solidite de l'esprit Francais, + que devenez-vous?" + </p> + <p> + M. Flourens has, in fact, utterly failed to comprehend the first + principles of the doctrine which he assails so rudely. His objections to + details are of the old sort, so battered and hackneyed on this side of the + Channel, that not even a Quarterly Reviewer could be induced to pick them + up for the purpose of pelting Mr. Darwin over again. We have Cuvier and + the mummies; M. Roulin and the domesticated animals of America; the + difficulties presented by hybridism and by Palaeontology; Darwinism a + 'rifacciamento' of De Maillet and Lamarck; Darwinism a system without a + commencement, and its author bound to believe in M. Pouchet, etc. etc. How + one knows it all by heart, and with what relief one reads at p. 65— + </p> + <p> + "Je laisse M. Darwin!" + </p> + <p> + But we cannot leave M. Flourens without calling our readers' attention to + his wonderful tenth chapter, "De la Preexistence des Germes et de + l'Epigenese," which opens thus:— + </p> + <p> + "Spontaneous generation is only a chimera. This point established, two + hypotheses remain: that of 'pre-existence' and that of 'epigenesis'. The + one of these hypotheses has as little foundation as the other." (P. 163.) + </p> + <p> + "The doctrine of 'epigenesis' is derived from Harvey: following by ocular + inspection the development of the new being in the Windsor does, he saw + each part appear successively, and taking the moment of 'appearance' for + the moment of 'formation' he imagined 'epigenesis'." (P. 165.) + </p> + <p> + On the contrary, says M. Flourens (p. 167), + </p> + <p> + "The new being is formed at a stroke (tout d'un coup) as a whole, + instantaneously; it is not formed part by part, and at different times. It + is formed at once at the single 'individual' moment at which the + conjunction of the male and female elements takes place." + </p> + <p> + It will be observed that M. Flourens uses language which cannot be + mistaken. For him, the labours of von Baer, of Rathke, of Coste, and their + contemporaries and successors in Germany, France, and England, are + non-existent: and, as Darwin "imagina" natural selection, so Harvey + "imagina" that doctrine which gives him an even greater claim to the + veneration of posterity than his better known discovery of the circulation + of the blood. + </p> + <p> + Language such as that we have quoted is, in fact, so preposterous, so + utterly incompatible with anything but absolute ignorance of some of the + best established facts, that we should have passed it over in silence had + it not appeared to afford some clue to M. Flourens' unhesitating, a + priori, repudiation of all forms of the doctrine of progressive + modification of living beings. He whose mind remains uninfluenced by an + acquaintance with the phenomena of development, must indeed lack one of + the chief motives towards the endeavour to trace a genetic relation + between the different existing forms of life. Those who are ignorant of + Geology, find no difficulty in believing that the world was made as it is; + and the shepherd, untutored in history, sees no reason to regard the green + mounds which indicate the site of a Roman camp, as aught but part and + parcel of the primeval hill-side. So M. Flourens, who believes that + embryos are formed "tout d'un coup," naturally finds no difficulty in + conceiving that species came into existence in the same way. + </p> + <p> + End of Criticisms on "The Origin of Species". + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE + </h2> + <h3> + 1863. + </h3> + <p> + (entire page is illustration with caption as follows:) + </p> + <p> + Skeletons of the GIBBON. ORANG. CHIMPANZEE. GORILLA. MAN. Photographically + reduced from Diagrams of the natural size (except that of the Gibbon, + which was twice as large as nature), drawn by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins from + specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + </h2> + <p> + Ancient traditions, when tested by the severe processes of modern + investigation, commonly enough fade away into mere dreams: but it is + singular how often the dream turns out to have been a half-waking one, + presaging a reality. Ovid foreshadowed the discoveries of the geologist: + the Atlantis was an imagination, but Columbus found a western world: and + though the quaint forms of Centaurs and Satyrs have an existence only in + the realms of art, creatures approaching man more nearly than they in + essential structure, and yet as thoroughly brutal as the goat's or horse's + half of the mythical compound, are now not only known, but notorious. + </p> + <p> + I have not met with any notice of one of these MAN-LIKE APES of earlier + date than that contained in Pigafetta's 'Description of the Kingdom of + Congo,'* drawn up from the notes of a Portuguese sailor, Eduardo Lopez, + and published in 1598. The tenth chapter of this work is entitled "De + Animalibus quae in hac provincia reperiuntur," and contains a brief + passage to the effect that "in the Songan country, on the banks of the + Zaire, there are multitudes of apes, which afford great delight to the + nobles by imitating human gestures." As this might apply to almost any + kind of apes, I should have thought little of it, had not the brothers De + Bry, whose engravings illustrate the work, thought fit, in their eleventh + 'Argumentum,' to figure two of these "Simiae magnatum deliciae." So much + of the plate as contains these apes is faithfully copied in the woodcut + (Figure 1), and it will be observed that they are tail-less, long-armed, + and large-eared; and about the size of Chimpanzees. It may be that these + apes are as much figments of the imagination of the ingenious brothers as + the winged, two-legged, crocodile-headed dragon which adorns the same + plate; or, on the other hand, it may be that the artists have constructed + their drawings from some essentially faithful description of a Gorilla or + a Chimpanzee. And, in either case, though these figures are worth a + passing notice, the oldest trustworthy and definite accounts of any animal + of this kind date from the 17th century, and are due to an Englishman. + ([Footnote] * REGNUM CONGO: hoc est VERA DESCRIPTIO REGNI AFRICANI QUOD + TAM AB INCOLIS QUAM LUSITANIS CONGUS APPELLATUR, per Philippum Pigafettam, + olim ex Edoardo Lopez acroamatis lingua Italica excerpta, num Latio + sermone donata ab August. Cassiod. Reinio. Iconibus et imaginibus rerum + memorabilium quasi vivis, opera et industria Joan. Theodori et Joan. + Israelis de Bry, fratrum exornata. Francofurti, MDXCVIII.) + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 1.—SIMIAE MAGNATUM DELICIAE.—De Bry, 1598.) + </p> + <p> + The first edition of that most amusing old book, 'Purchas his Pilgrimage,' + was published in 1613, and therein are to be found many references to the + statements of one whom Purchas terms "Andrew Battell (my neere neighbour, + dwelling at Leigh in Essex) who served under Manuel Silvera Perera, + Governor under the King of Spaine, at his city of Saint Paul, and with him + went farre into the countrey of Angola"; and again, "my friend, Andrew + Battle, who lived in the kingdom of Congo many yeares," and who, "upon + some quarell betwixt the Portugals (among whom he was a sergeant of a + band) and him, lived eight or nine moneths in the woodes." From this + weather-beaten old soldier, Purchas was amazed to hear "of a kinde of + Great Apes, if they might so bee termed, of the height of a man, but twice + as bigge in feature of their limmes, with strength proportionable, hairie + all over, otherwise altogether like men and women in their whole bodily + shape.* They lived on such wilde fruits as the trees and woods yielded, + and in the night time lodged on the trees." ([Footnote] *"Except this that + their legges had no calves."—[Ed. 1626.] And in a marginal note, + "These great apes are called Pongo's.") + </p> + <p> + This extract is, however, less detailed and clear in its statements than a + passage in the third chapter of the second part of another work—'Purchas + his Pilgrimes,' published in 1625, by the same author—which has been + often, though hardly ever quite rightly, cited. The chapter is entitled, + "The strange adventures of Andrew Battell, of Leigh in Essex, sent by the + Portugals prisoner to Angola, who lived there and in the adjoining regions + neere eighteene yeeres." And the sixth section of this chapter is headed—"Of + the Provinces of Bongo, Calongo, Mayombe, Manikesocke, Motimbas: of the + Ape Monster Pongo, their hunting: Idolatries; and divers other + observations." + </p> + <p> + "This province (Calongo) toward the east bordereth upon Bongo, and toward + the north upon Mayombe, which is nineteen leagues from Longo along the + coast. + </p> + <p> + "This province of Mayombe is all woods and groves, so over-growne that a + man may travaile twentie days in the shadow without any sunne or heat. + Here is no kind of corne nor graine, so that the people liveth onely upon + plantanes and roots of sundrie sorts, very good; and nuts; nor any kinde + of tame cattell, nor hens. + </p> + <p> + "But they have great store of elephant's flesh, which they greatly + esteeme, and many kinds of wild beasts; and great store of fish. Here is a + great sandy bay, two leagues to the northward of Cape Negro,* which is the + port of Mayombe. ([Footnote] *Purchas' note.—Cape Negro is in 16 + degrees south of the line.) Sometimes the Portugals lade logwood in this + bay. Here is a great river, called Banna: in the winter it hath no barre, + because the generall winds cause a great sea. But when the sunne hath his + south declination, then a boat may goe in; for then it is smooth because + of the raine. This river is very great, and hath many ilands and people + dwelling in them. The woods are so covered with baboones, monkies, apes + and parrots, that it will feare any man to travaile in them alone. Here + are also two kinds of monsters, which are common in these woods, and very + dangerous. + </p> + <p> + "The greatest of these two monsters is called Pongo in their language, and + the lesser is called Engeco. This Pongo is in all proportion like a man; + but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man; for he is very + tall, and hath a man's face, hollow-eyed, with long haire upon his browes. + His face and eares are without haire, and his hands also. His bodie is + full of haire, but not very thicke; and it is of a dunnish colour. + </p> + <p> + "He differeth not from a man but in his legs; for they have no calfe. Hee + goeth alwaies upon his legs, and carrieth his hands clasped in the nape of + his necke when he goeth upon the ground. They sleepe in the trees, and + build shelters for the raine. They feed upon fruit that they find in the + woods, and upon nuts, for they eate no kind of flesh. They cannot speake, + and have no understanding more than a beast. The people of the countrie, + when they travaile in the woods make fires where they sleepe in the night; + and in the morning when they are gone, the Pongoes will come and sit about + the fire till it goeth out; for they have no understanding to lay the wood + together. They goe many together and kill many negroes that travaile in + the woods. Many times they fall upon the elephants which come to feed + where they be, and so beate them with their clubbed fists, and pieces of + wood, that they will runne roaring away from them. Those Pongoes are never + taken alive because they are so strong, that ten men cannot hold one of + them; but yet they take many of their young ones with poisoned arrowes. + </p> + <p> + "The young Pongo hangeth on his mother's belly with his hands fast clasped + about her, so that when the countrie people kill any of the females they + take the young one, which hangeth fast upon his mother. + </p> + <p> + "When they die among themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps of + boughs and wood, which is commonly found in the forest."* ([Footnote] + *Purchas' marginal note, p. 982:—"The Pongo a giant ape. He told me + in conference with him, that one of these pongoes tooke a negro boy of his + which lived a moneth with them. For they hurt not those which they + surprise at unawares, except they look on them; which he avoyded. He said + their highth was like a man's, but their bignesse twice as great. I saw + the negro boy. What the other monster should be he hath forgotten to + relate; and these papers came to my hand since his death, which, + otherwise, in my often conferences, I might have learned. Perhaps he + meaneth the Pigmy Pongo killers mentioned.") + </p> + <p> + It does not appear difficult to identify the exact region of which Battell + speaks. Longo is doubtless the name of the place usually spelled Loango on + our maps. Mayombe still lies some nineteen leagues northward from Loango, + along the coast; and Cilongo or Kilonga, Manikesocke, and Motimbas are yet + registered by geographers. The Cape Negro of Battell, however, cannot be + the modern Cape Negro in 16 degrees S., since Loango itself is in 4 + degrees S. latitude. On the other hand, the "great river called Banna" + corresponds very well with the "Camma" and "Fernand Vas," of modern + geographers, which form a great delta on this part of the African coast. + </p> + <p> + Now this "Camma" country is situated about a degree and a-half south of + the Equator, while a few miles to the north of the line lies the Gaboon, + and a degree or so north of that, the Money River—both well known to + modern naturalists as localities where the largest of man-like Apes has + been obtained. Moreover, at the present day, the word Engeco, or N'schego, + is applied by the natives of these regions to the smaller of the two great + Apes which inhabit them; so that there can be no rational doubt that + Andrew Battell spoke of that which he knew of his own knowledge, or, at + any rate, by immediate report from the natives of Western Africa. The + "Engeco," however, is that "other monster" whose nature Battell "forgot to + relate," while the name "Pongo"—applied to the animal whose + characters and habits are so fully and carefully described—seems to + have died out, at least in its primitive form and signification. Indeed, + there is evidence that not only in Battell's time, but up to a very recent + date, it was used in a totally different sense from that in which he + employs it. + </p> + <p> + For example, the second chapter of Purchas' work, which I have just + quoted, contains "A Description and Historicall Declaration of the Golden + Kingdom of Guinea, etc. etc. Translated from the Dutch, and compared also + with the Latin," wherein it is stated (p. 986) that—"The River + Gaboon lyeth about fifteen miles northward from Rio de Angra, and eight + miles northward from Cape de Lope Gonsalves (Cape Lopez), and is right + under the Equinoctial line, about fifteene miles from St. Thomas, and is a + great land, well and easily to be knowne. At the mouth of the river there + lieth a sand, three or foure fathoms deepe, whereon it beateth mightily + with the streame which runneth out of the river into the sea. This river, + in the mouth thereof, is at least four miles broad; but when you are about + the Iland called 'Pongo', it is not above two miles broad...On both sides + the river there standeth many trees...The Iland called 'Pongo', which hath + a monstrous high hill." + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 2.—"Homo Sylvestris. Orang Outang." The Orang of Tulpius, + 1641.) + </p> + <p> + The French naval officers, whose letters are appended to the late M. + Isidore Geoff. Saint Hilaire's excellent essay on the Gorilla,* + ([Footnote] *'Archives du Museum', tome x.) note in similar terms the + width of the Gaboon, the trees that line its banks down to the water's + edge, and the strong current that sets out of it. They describe two + islands in its estuary;—one low, called Perroquet; the other high, + presenting three conical hills, called Coniquet; and one of them, M. + Franquet, expressly states that, formerly, the Chief of Coniquet was + called 'Meni-Pongo', meaning thereby Lord of 'Pongo'; and that the + 'N'Pongues' (as, in agreement with Dr. Savage, he affirms the natives call + themselves) term the estuary of the Gaboon itself 'N'Pongo'. + </p> + <p> + It is so easy, in dealing with savages, to misunderstand their + applications of words to things, that one is at first inclined to suspect + Battell of having confounded the name of this region, where his "greater + monster" still abounds, with the name of the animal itself. But he is so + right about other matters (including the name of the "lesser monster") + that one is loth to suspect the old traveller of error; and, on the other + hand, we shall find that a voyager of a hundred years' later date speaks + of the name "Boggoe," as applied to a great Ape, by the inhabitants of + quite another part of Africa—Sierra Leone. + </p> + <p> + But I must leave this question to be settled by philologers and + travellers; and I should hardly have dwelt so long upon it except for the + curious part played by this word 'Pongo' in the later history of the + man-like Apes. + </p> + <p> + The generation which succeeded Battell saw the first of the man-like Apes + which was ever brought to Europe, or, at any rate, whose visit found a + historian. In the third book of Tulpius' 'Observationes Medicae', + published in 1641, the 56th chapter or section is devoted to what he calls + 'Satyrus indicus', "called by the Indians Orang-autang or + Man-of-the-Woods, and by the Africans Quoias Morrou." He gives a very good + figure, evidently from the life, of the specimen of this animal, "nostra + memoria ex Angola delatum," presented to Frederick Henry Prince of Orange. + Tulpius says it was as big as a child of three years old, and as stout as + one of six years: and that its back was covered with black hair. It is + plainly a young Chimpanzee. + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile, the existence of other, Asiatic, man-like Apes became + known, but at first in a very mythical fashion. Thus Bontius (1658) gives + an altogether fabulous and ridiculous account and figure of an animal + which he calls "Orang-outang"; and though he says "vidi Ego cujus effigiem + hic exhibeo," the said effigies (see Figure 6 for Hoppius' copy of it) is + nothing but a very hairy woman of rather comely aspect, and with + proportions and feet wholly human. The judicious English anatomist, Tyson, + was justified in saying of this description by Bontius, "I confess I do + mistrust the whole representation." + </p> + <p> + It is to the last mentioned writer, and his coadjutor Cowper, that we owe + the first account of a man-like ape which has any pretensions to + scientific accuracy and completeness. The treatise entitled, + "'Orang-outang, sive Homo Sylvestris'; or the Anatomy of a Pygmie compared + with that of a 'Monkey', an 'Ape', and a 'Man'," published by the Royal + Society in 1699, is, indeed, a work of remarkable merit, and has, in some + respects, served as a model to subsequent inquirers. This "Pygmie," Tyson + tells us "was brought from Angola, in Africa; but was first taken a great + deal higher up the country"; its hair "was of a coal-black colour and + strait," and "when it went as a quadruped on all four, 'twas awkwardly; + not placing the palm of the hand flat to the ground, but it walk'd upon + its knuckles, as I observed it to do when weak and had not strength enough + to support its body."—"From the top of the head to the heel of the + foot, in a strait line, it measured twenty-six inches." + </p> + <p> + (FIGURES 3 AND 4.—The 'Pygmie' reduced from Tyson's figures 1 and 2, + 1699.) + </p> + <p> + These characters, even without Tyson's good figures (Figs. 3 and 4), would + have been sufficient to prove his "Pygmie" to be a young Chimpanzee. But + the opportunity of examining the skeleton of the very animal Tyson + anatomised having most unexpectedly presented itself to me, I am able to + bear independent testimony to its being a veritable 'Troglodytes niger',* + though still very young. Although fully appreciating the resemblances + between his Pygmie and Man, Tyson by no means overlooked the differences + between the two, and he concludes his memoir by summing up first, the + points in which "the Ourang-outang or Pygmie more resembled a Man than + Apes and Monkeys do," under forty-seven distinct heads; and then giving, + in thirty-four similar brief paragraphs, the respects in which "the + Ourang-outang or Pygmie differ'd from a Man and resembled more the Ape and + Monkey kind." + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] * I am indebted to Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, whose + paleontological labours are so well known, for bringing this interesting + relic to my knowledge. Tyson's granddaughter, it appears, married Dr. + Allardyce, a physician of repute in Cheltenham, and brought, as part of + her dowry, the skeleton of the 'Pygmie.' Dr. Allardyce presented it to the + Cheltenham Museum, and, through the good offices of my friend Dr. Wright, + the authorities of the Museum have permitted me to borrow, what is, + perhaps its most remarkable ornament. + </p> + <p> + After a careful survey of the literature of the subject extant in his + time, our author arrives at the conclusion that his "Pygmie" is identical + neither with the Orangs of Tulpius and Bontius, nor with the Quoias Morrou + of Dapper (or rather of Tulpius), the Barris of d'Arcos, nor with the + Pongo of Battell; but that it is a species of ape probably identical with + the Pygmies of the Ancients, and, says Tyson, though it "does so much + resemble a 'Man' in many of its parts, more than any of the ape kind, or + any other 'animal' in the world, that I know of: yet by no means do I look + upon it as the product of a 'mixt' generation—'tis a 'Brute-Animal + sui generis', and a particular 'species of Ape'." + </p> + <p> + The name of "Chimpanzee," by which one of the African Apes is now so well + known, appears to have come into use in the first half of the eighteenth + century, but the only important addition made, in that period, to our + acquaintance with the man-like apes of Africa is contained in 'A New + Voyage to Guinea', by William Smith, which bears the date 1744. + </p> + <p> + In describing the animals of Sierra Leone, p. 51, this writer says:— + </p> + <p> + "I shall next describe a strange sort of animal, called by the white men + in this country Mandrill,* but why it is so called I know not, nor did I + ever hear the name before, neither can those who call them so tell, except + it be for their near resemblance of a human creature, though nothing at + all like an Ape. ([Footnote] *"Mandrill" seems to signify a "man-like + ape," the word "Drill" or "Dril" having been anciently employed in England + to denote an Ape or Baboon. Thus in the fifth edition of Blount's + "Glossographia, or a Dictionary interpreting the hard words of whatsoever + language now used in our refined English tongue...very useful for all such + as desire to understand what they read," published in 1681, I find, "Dril—a + stone-cutter's tool wherewith he bores little holes in marble, etc. Also a + large overgrown Ape and Baboon, so called." "Drill" is used in the same + sense in Charleton's "Onomasticon Zoicon," 1668. The singular etymology of + the word given by Buffon seems hardly a probable one.) Their bodies, when + full grown, are as big in circumference as a middle-sized man's—their + legs much shorter, and their feet larger; their arms and hands in + proportion. The head is monstrously big, and the face broad and flat, + without any other hair but the eyebrows; the nose very small, the mouth + wide, and the lips thin. The face, which is covered by a white skin, is + monstrously ugly, being all over wrinkled as with old age; the teeth broad + and yellow; the hands have no more hair than the face, but the same white + skin, though all the rest of the body is covered with long black hair, + like a bear. They never go upon all fours, like apes; but cry, when vexed + or teased, just like children...." + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 5.—"A Mandrill". Facsimile of William Smith's figure of the + "Mandrill," 1744.) + </p> + <p> + "When I was at Sherbro, one Mr. Cummerbus, whom I shall have occasion + hereafter to mention, made me a present of one of these strange animals, + which are called by the natives Boggoe: it was a she-cub, of six months' + age, but even then larger than a Baboon. I gave it in charge to one of the + slaves, who knew how to feed and nurse it, being a very tender sort of + animal; but whenever I went off the deck the sailors began to teaze it—some + loved to see its tears and hear it cry; others hated its snotty nose; one + who hurt it, being checked by the negro that took care of it, told the + slave he was very fond of his country-woman, and asked him if he should + not like her for a wife? To which the slave very readily replied, 'No, + this no my wife; this a white woman—this fit wife for you.' This + unlucky wit of the negro's, I fancy, hastened its death, for next morning + it was found dead under the windlass." + </p> + <p> + William Smith's 'Mandrill,' or 'Boggoe,' as his description and figure + testify, was, without doubt, a Chimpanzee. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 6.—The Anthropomorpha of Linnaeus.) + </p> + <p> + Linnaeus knew nothing, of his own observation, of the man-like Apes of + either Africa or Asia, but a dissertation by his pupil Hoppius in the + 'Amoenitates Academicae' (VI. 'Anthropomorpha') may be regarded as + embodying his views respecting these animals. + </p> + <p> + The dissertation is illustrated by a plate, of which the accompanying + woodcut, Fig, 6, is a reduced copy, The figures are entitled (from left to + right) 1. 'Troglodyta Bontii'; 2. 'Lucifer Aldrovandi'; 3. 'Satyrus + Tulpii'; 4. 'Pygmaeus Edwardi'. The first is a bad copy of Bontius' + fictitious 'Ourang-outang,' in whose existence, however, Linnaeus appears + to have fully believed; for in the standard edition of the 'Systema + Naturae', it is enumerated as a second species of Homo; "H. nocturnus." + 'Lucifer Aldrovandi' is a copy of a figure in Aldrovandus, 'De + Quadrupedibus digitatis viviparis', Lib. 2, p. 249 (1645), entitled + "Cercopithecus formae rarae 'Barbilius' vocatus et originem a china + ducebat." Hoppius is of opinion that this may be one of that cat-tailed + people, of whom Nicolaus Koping affirms that they eat a boat's crew, + "gubernator navis" and all! In the 'Systema Naturae' Linnaeus calls it in + a note, 'Homo caudatus', and seems inclined to regard it as a third + species of man. According to Temminck, 'Satyrus Tulpii' is a copy of the + figure of a Chimpanzee published by Scotin in 1738, which I have not seen. + It is the 'Satyrus indicus' of the 'Systema Naturae', and is regarded by + Linnaeus as possibly a distinct species from 'Satyrus sylvestris'. The + last, named 'Pygmaeus Edwardi', is copied from the figure of a young "Man + of the Woods," or true Orang-Utan, given in Edwards' 'Gleanings of Natural + History' (1758). + </p> + <p> + Buffon was more fortunate than his great rival. Not only had he the rare + opportunity of examining a young Chimpanzee in the living state, but he + became possessed of an adult Asiatic man-like Ape—the first and the + last adult specimen of any of these animals brought to Europe for many + years. With the valuable assistance of Daubenton, Buffon gave an excellent + description of this creature, which, from its singular proportions, he + termed the long-armed Ape, or Gibbon. It is the modern 'Hylobates lar'. + </p> + <p> + Thus when, in 1766, Buffon wrote the fourteenth volume of his great work, + he was personally familiar with the young of one kind of African man-like + Ape, and with the adult of an Asiatic species—while the Orang-Utan + and the Mandrill of Smith were known to him by report. Furthermore, the + Abbe Prevost had translated a good deal of Purchas' Pilgrims into French, + in his 'Histoire generale des Voyages' (1748), and there Buffon found a + version of Andrew Battell's account of the Pongo and the Engeco. All these + data Buffon attempts to weld together into harmony in his chapter entitled + "Les Orang-outangs ou le Pongo et le Jocko." To this title the following + note is appended:— + </p> + <p> + "Orang-outang nom de cet animal aux Indes orientales: Pongo nom de cet + animal a Lowando Province de Congo. + </p> + <p> + "Jocko, Enjocko, nom de cet animal a Congo que nous avons adopte. 'En' est + l'article que nous avons retranche." + </p> + <p> + Thus it was that Andrew Battell's "Engeco" became metamorphosed into + "Jocko," and, in the latter shape, was spread all over the world, in + consequence of the extensive popularity of Buffon's works. The Abbe + Prevost and Buffon between them, however, did a good deal more + disfigurement to Battell's sober account than 'cutting off an article.' + Thus Battell's statement that the Pongos "cannot speake, and have no + understanding more than a beast," is rendered by Buffon "qu'il ne peut + parler 'quoiqu'il ait plus d'entendement que les autres animaux'"; and + again, Purchas' affirmation, "He told me in conference with him, that one + of these Pongos tooke a negro boy of his which lived a moneth with them," + stands in the French version, "un pongo lui enleva un petit negre qui + passa un 'an' entier dans la societe de ces animaux." + </p> + <p> + After quoting the account of the great Pongo, Buffon justly remarks, that + all the 'Jockos' and 'Orangs' hitherto brought to Europe were young; and + he suggests that, in their adult condition, they might be as big as the + Pongo or 'great Orang'; so that, provisionally, he regarded the Jockos, + Orangs, and Pongos as all of one species. And perhaps this was as much as + the state of knowledge at the time warranted. But how it came about that + Buffon failed to perceive the similarity of Smith's 'Mandrill' to his own + 'Jocko,' and confounded the former with so totally different a creature as + the blue-faced Baboon, is not so easily intelligible. + </p> + <p> + Twenty years later Buffon changed his opinion,* and expressed his belief + that the Orangs constituted a genus with two species,—a large one, + the Pongo of Battell, and a small one, the Jocko: that the small one + (Jocko) is the East Indian Orang; and that the young animals from Africa, + observed by himself and Tulpius, are simply young Pongos. ([Footnote] + *'Histoire Naturelle', Suppl. tome 7eme, 1789.) + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile, the Dutch naturalist, Vosmaer, gave, in 1778, a very + good account and figure of a young Orang, brought alive to Holland, and + his countryman, the famous anatomist, Peter Camper, published (1779) an + essay on the Orang-Utan of similar value to that of Tyson on the + Chimpanzee. He dissected several females and a male, all of which, from + the state of their skeleton and their dentition, he justly supposes to + have been young. However, judging by the analogy of man, he concludes that + they could not have exceeded four feet in height in the adult condition. + Furthermore, he is very clear as to the specific distinctness of the true + East Indian Orang. + </p> + <p> + "The Orang," says he, "differs not only from the Pigmy of Tyson and from + the Orang of Tulpius by its peculiar colour and its long toes, but also by + its whole external form. Its arms, its hands, and its feet are longer, + while the thumbs, on the contrary, are much shorter, and the great toes + much smaller in proportion."* ([Footnote] *Camper, 'Oeuvres', i. p. 56.) + And again, "The true Orang, that is to say, that of Asia, that of Borneo, + is consequently not the Pithecus, or tailless Ape, which the Greeks, and + especially Galen, have described. It is neither the Pongo nor the Jocko, + nor the Orang of Tulpius, nor the Pigmy of Tyson,—IT IS AN ANIMAL OF + A PECULIAR SPECIES, as I shall prove in the clearest manner by the organs + of voice and the skeleton in the following chapters" (l. c. p. 64). + </p> + <p> + A few years later, M. Radermacher, who held a high office in the + Government of the Dutch dominions in India, and was an active member of + the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, published, in the second part + of the Transactions of that Society,* a Description of the Island of + Borneo, which was written between the years 1779 and 1781, and, among much + other interesting matter, contains some notes upon the Orang. ([Footnote] + *Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap. Tweede Deel. Derde Druk. + 1826. The small sort of Orang-Utan, viz. that of Vosmaer and of Edwards, + he says, is found only in Borneo, and chiefly about Banjermassing, + Mampauwa, and Landak. Of these he had seen some fifty during his residence + in the Indies; but none exceeded 2 1/2 feet in length. The larger sort, + often regarded as a chimera, continues Radermacher, would perhaps long + have remained so, had it not been for the exertions of the Resident at + Rembang, M. Palm, who, on returning from Landak towards Pontiana, shot + one, and forwarded it to Batavia in spirit, for transmission to Europe. + </p> + <p> + Palm's letter describing the capture runs thus:—"Herewith I send + your Excellency, contrary to all expectation (since long ago I offered + more than a hundred ducats to the natives for an Orang-Utan of four or + five feet high) an Orang which I heard of this morning about eight + o'clock. For a long time we did our best to take the frightful beast alive + in the dense forest about half way to Landak. We forgot even to eat, so + anxious were we not to let him escape; but it was necessary to take care + that he did not revenge himself, as he kept continually breaking off heavy + pieces of wood and green branches, and dashing them at us. This game + lasted till four o'clock in the afternoon, when we determined to shoot + him; in which I succeeded very well, and indeed better than I ever shot + from a boat before; for the bullet went just into the side of his chest, + so that he was not much damaged. We got him into the prow still living, + and bound him fast, and next morning he died of his wounds. All Pontiana + came on board to see him when we arrived." Palm gives his height from the + head to the heel as 49 inches. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 7.—The Pongo Skull, sent by Radermacher to Camper, after + Camper's original sketches, as reproduced by Lucae.) + </p> + <p> + A very intelligent German officer, Baron Von Wurmb, who at this time held + a post in the Dutch East India service, and was Secretary of the Batavian + Society, studied this animal, and his careful description of it, entitled + "Beschrijving van der Groote Borneosche Orang-outang of de Oost-Indische + Pongo," is contained in the same volume of the Batavian Society's + Transactions. After Von Wurmb had drawn up his description he states, in a + letter dated Batavia, Feb. 18, 1781,* ([Footnote] *"Briefe des Herrn v. + Wurmb und des H. Baron von Wollzogen. Gotha, 1794." that the specimen was + sent to Europe in brandy to be placed in the collection of the Prince of + Orange; "unfortunately," he continues, "we hear that the ship has been + wrecked." Von Wurmb died in the course of the year 1781, the letter in + which this passage occurs being the last he wrote; but in his posthumous + papers, published in the fourth part of the Transactions of the Batavian + Society, there is a brief description, with measurements, of a female + Pongo four feet high. + </p> + <p> + Did either of these original specimens, on which Von Wurmb's descriptions + are based, ever reach Europe? It is commonly supposed that they did; but I + doubt the fact. For, appended to the memoir 'De l'Ourang-outang,' in the + collected edition of Camper's works, tome i., pp. 64-66, is a note by + Camper himself, referring to Von Wurmb's papers, and continuing thus:—"Heretofore, + this kind of ape had never been known in Europe. Radermacher has had the + kindness to send me the skull of one of these animals, which measured + fifty-three inches, or four feet five inches, in height. I have sent some + sketches of it to M. Soemmering at Mayence, which are better calculated, + however, to give an idea of the form than of the real size of the parts." + </p> + <p> + These sketches have been reproduced by Fischer and by Lucae, and bear date + 1783, Soemmering having received them in 1784. Had either of Von Wurmb's + specimens reached Holland, they would hardly have been unknown at this + time to Camper, who, however, goes on to say—"It appears that since + this, some more of these monsters have been captured, for an entire + skeleton, very badly set up, which had been sent to the Museum of the + Prince of Orange, and which I saw only on the 27th of June, 1784, was more + than four feet high. I examined this skeleton again on the 19th December, + 1785, after it had been excellently put to rights by the ingenious + Onymus." + </p> + <p> + It appears evident, then, that this skeleton, which is doubtless that + which has always gone by the name of Wurmb's Pongo, is not that of the + animal described by him, though unquestionably similar in all essential + points. + </p> + <p> + Camper proceeds to note some of the most important features of this + skeleton; promises to describe it in detail by-and-bye; and is evidently + in doubt as to the relation of this great 'Pongo' to his "petit Orang." + </p> + <p> + The promised further investigations were never carried out; and so it + happened that the Pongo of Von Wurmb took its place by the side of the + Chimpanzee, Gibbon, and Orang as a fourth and colossal species of man-like + Ape. And indeed nothing could look much less like the Chimpanzees or the + Orangs, then known, than the Pongo; for all the specimens of Chimpanzee + and Orang which had been observed were small of stature, singularly human + in aspect, gentle and docile; while Wurmb's Pongo was a monster almost + twice their size, of vast strength and fierceness, and very brutal in + expression; its great projecting muzzle, armed with strong teeth, being + further disfigured by the outgrowth of the cheeks into fleshy lobes. + </p> + <p> + Eventually, in accordance with the usual marauding habits of the + Revolutionary armies, the 'Pongo' skeleton was carried away from Holland + into France, and notices of it, expressly intended to demonstrate its + entire distinctness from the Orang and its affinity with the baboons, were + given, in 1798, by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Cuvier. + </p> + <p> + Even in Cuvier's 'Tableau Elementaire', and in the first edition of his + great work, the 'Regne Animal', the 'Pongo' is classed as a species of + Baboon. However, so early as 1818, it appears that Cuvier saw reason to + alter this opinion, and to adopt the view suggested several years before + by Blumenbach,* and after him by Tilesius, that the Bornean Pongo is + simply an adult Orang. ([Footnote] *See Blumenbach, 'Abbildungen + Naturhistorichen Gegenstande', No. 12, 1810; and Tilesius, + 'Naturhistoriche Fruchte der ersten Kaiserlich-Russischen Erdumsegelung', + p. 115, 1813.) In 1824, Rudolphi demonstrated, by the condition of the + dentition, more fully and completely than had been done by his + predecessors, that the Orangs described up to that time were all young + animals, and that the skull and teeth of the adult would probably be such + as those seen in the Pongo of Wurmb. In the second edition of the 'Regne + Animal' (1829), Cuvier infers, from the 'proportions of all the parts' and + 'the arrangements of the foramina and sutures of the head,' that the Pongo + is the adult of the Orang-Utan, 'at least of a very closely allied + species,' and this conclusion was eventually placed beyond all doubt by + Professor Owen's Memoir published in the 'Zoological Transactions' for + 1835, and by Temminck in his 'Monographies de Mammalogie'. Temminck's + memoir is remarkable for the completeness of the evidence which it affords + as to the modification which the form of the Orang undergoes according to + age and sex. Tiedemann first published an account of the brain of the + young Orang, while Sandifort, Muller and Schlegel, described the muscles + and the viscera of the adult, and gave the earliest detailed and + trustworthy history of the habits of the great Indian Ape in a state of + nature; and as important additions have been made by later observers, we + are at this moment better acquainted with the adult of the Orang-Utan, + than with that of any of the other greater man-like Apes. + </p> + <p> + It is certainly the Pongo of Wurmb;* and it is as certainly not the Pongo + of Battell, seeing that the Orang-Utan is entirely confined to the great + Asiatic islands of Borneo and Sumatra. ([Footnote] *Speaking broadly and + without prejudice to the question, whether there be more than one species + of Orang.) + </p> + <p> + And while the progress of discovery thus cleared up the history of the + Orang, it also became established that the only other man-like Apes in the + eastern world were the various species of Gibbon—Apes of smaller + stature, and therefore attracting less attention than the Orangs, though + they are spread over a much wider range of country, and are hence more + accessible to observation. + </p> + <p> + Although the geographical area inhabited by the 'Pongo' and Engeco of + Battell is so much nearer to Europe than that in which the Orang and + Gibbon are found, our acquaintance with the African Apes has been of + slower growth; indeed, it is only within the last few years that the + truthful story of the old English adventurer has been rendered fully + intelligible. It was not until 1835 that the skeleton of the adult + Chimpanzee became known, by the publication of Professor Owen's + above-mentioned very excellent memoir 'On the osteology of the Chimpanzee + and Orang', in the 'Zoological Transactions'—a memoir which, by the + accuracy of its descriptions, the carefulness of its comparisons, and the + excellence of its figures, made an epoch in the history of our knowledge + of the bony framework, not only of the Chimpanzee, but of all the + anthropoid Apes. + </p> + <p> + By the investigations herein detailed, it became evident that the old + Chimpanzee acquired a size and aspect as different from those of the young + known to Tyson, to Buffon, and to Traill, as those of the old Orang from + the young Orang; and the subsequent very important researches of Messrs. + Savage and Wyman, the American missionary and anatomist, have not only + confirmed this conclusion, but have added many new details.* ([Footnote] + *See "Observations on the external characters and habits of the + Troglodytes niger, by Thomas N. Savage, M.D., and on its organization by + Jeffries Wyman, M.D.," 'Boston Journal of Natural History', vol. iv., + 1843-4; and "External characters, habits, and osteology of Troglodytes + Gorilla," by the same authors, 'ibid'., vol. v., 1847.) + </p> + <p> + One of the most interesting among the many valuable discoveries made by + Dr. Thomas Savage is the fact, that the natives in the Gaboon country at + the present day, apply to the Chimpanzee a name—"Enche-eko"—which + is obviously identical with the "Engeko" of Battell; a discovery which has + been confirmed by all later inquirers. Battell's "lesser monster" being + thus proved to be a veritable existence, of course a strong presumption + arose that his "greater monster," the 'Pongo,' would sooner or later be + discovered. And, indeed, a modern traveller, Bowdich, had, in 1819, found + strong evidence, among the natives, of the existence of a second great + Ape, called the 'Ingena,' "five feet high, and four across the shoulders," + the builder of a rude house, on the outside of which it slept. + </p> + <p> + In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make another and most + important addition to our knowledge of the man-like Apes; for, being + unexpectedly detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house of the Rev. + Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident there, "a skull represented by the + natives to be a monkey-like animal, remarkable for its size, ferocity, and + habits." From the contour of the skull, and the information derived from + several intelligent natives, "I was induced," says Dr. Savage (using the + term Orang in its old general sense) "to believe that it belonged to a new + species of Orang. I expressed this opinion to Mr. Wilson, with a desire + for further investigation; and, if possible, to decide the point by the + inspection of a specimen alive or dead." The result of the combined + exertions of Messrs. Savage and Wilson was not only the obtaining of a + very full account of the habits of this new creature, but a still more + important service to science, the enabling the excellent American + anatomist already mentioned, Professor Wyman, to describe, from ample + materials, the distinctive osteological characters of the new form. This + animal was called by the natives of the Gaboon "Enge-ena," a name + obviously identical with the "Ingena" of Bowdich; and Dr. Savage arrived + at the conviction that this last discovered of all the great Apes was the + long-sought "Pongo" of Battell. + </p> + <p> + The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond doubt—for not only + does the 'Enge-ena' agree with Battell's "greater monster" in its hollow + eyes, its great stature, and its dun or iron-grey colour, but the only + other man-like Ape which inhabits these latitudes—the Chimpanzee—is + at once identified, by its smaller size, as the "lesser monster," and is + excluded from any possibility of being the 'Pongo,' by the fact that it is + black and not dun, to say nothing of the important circumstance already + mentioned that it still retains the name of 'Engeko,' or "Enche-eko," by + which Battell knew it. + </p> + <p> + In seeking for a specific name for the "Enge-ena," however, Dr. Savage + wisely avoided the much misused 'Pongo'; but finding in the ancient + Periplus of Hanno the word "Gorilla" applied to certain hairy savage + people, discovered by the Carthaginian voyager in an island on the African + coast, he attached the specific name "Gorilla" to his new ape, whence + arises its present well-known appellation. But Dr. Savage, more cautious + than some of his successors, by no means identifies his ape with Hanno's + "wild men." He merely says that the latter were "probably one of the + species of the Orang;" and I quite agree with M. Brulle, that there is no + ground for identifying the modern 'Gorilla' with that of the Carthaginian + admiral. + </p> + <p> + Since the memoir of Savage and Wyman was published, the skeleton of the + Gorilla has been investigated by Professor Owen and by the late Professor + Duvernoy, of the Jardin des Plantes, the latter having further supplied a + valuable account of the muscular system and of many of the other soft + parts; while African missionaries and travellers have confirmed and + expanded the account originally given of the habits of this great man-like + Ape, which has had the singular fortune of being the first to be made + known to the general world and the last to be scientifically investigated. + </p> + <p> + Two centuries and a half have passed away since Battell told his stories + about the 'greater' and the 'lesser monsters' to Purchas, and it has taken + nearly that time to arrive at the clear result that there are four + distinct kinds of Anthropoids—in Eastern Asia, the Gibbons and the + Orangs; in Western Africa, the Chimpanzees and the Gorilla. + </p> + <p> + The man-like Apes, the history of whose discovery has just been detailed, + have certain characters of structure and of distribution in common. Thus + they all have the same number of teeth as man—possessing four + incisors, two canines, four false molars, and six true molars in each jaw, + or 32 teeth in all, in the adult condition; while the milk dentition + consists of 20 teeth—or four incisors, two canines, and four molars + in each jaw. They are what are called catarrhine Apes—that is, their + nostrils have a narrow partition and look downwards; and, furthermore, + their arms are always longer than their legs, the difference being + sometimes greater and sometimes less; so that if the four were arranged in + the order of the length of their arms in proportion to that of their legs, + we should have this series—Orang (1 4/9: 1), Gibbon (1 1/4: 1), + Gorilla (1 1/5: 1), Chimpanzee (1 1/16: 1). In all, the fore limbs are + terminated by hands, provided with longer or shorter thumbs; while the + great toe of the foot, always smaller than in Man, is far more movable + than in him and can be opposed, like a thumb, to the rest of the foot. + None of these apes have tails, and none of them possess the cheek pouches + common among monkeys. Finally, they are all inhabitants of the old world. + </p> + <p> + The Gibbons are the smallest, slenderest, and longest-limbed of the + man-like apes: their arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than + those of any of the other man-like Apes, so that they can touch the ground + when erect; their hands are longer than their feet, and they are the only + Anthropoids which possess callosities like the lower monkeys. They are + variously coloured. The Orangs have arms which reach to the ankles in the + erect position of the animal; their thumbs and great toes are very short, + and their feet are longer than their hands. They are covered with reddish + brown hair, and the sides of the face, in adult males, are commonly + produced into two crescentic, flexible excrescences, like fatty tumours. + The Chimpanzees have arms which reach below the knees; they have large + thumbs and great toes, their hands are longer than their feet; and their + hair is black, while the skin of the face is pale. The Gorilla, lastly, + has arms which reach to the middle of the leg, large thumbs and great + toes, feet longer than the hands, a black face, and dark-grey or dun hair. + </p> + <p> + For the purpose which I have at present in view, it is unnecessary that I + should enter into any further minutiae respecting the distinctive + characters of the genera and species into which these man-like Apes are + divided by naturalists. Suffice it to say, that the Orangs and the Gibbons + constitute the distinct genera, 'Simia' and 'Hylobates'; while the + Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some regarded simply as distinct species + of one genus, 'Troglodytes'; by others as distinct genera—'Troglodytes' + being reserved for the Chimpanzees, and 'Gorilla' for the Enge-ena or + Pongo. + </p> + <p> + Sound knowledge respecting the habits and mode of life of the man-like + Apes has been even more difficult of attainment than correct information + regarding their structure. + </p> + <p> + Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physically, mentally, and + morally qualified to wander unscathed through the tropical wilds of + America and of Asia; to form magnificent collections as he wanders; and + withal to think out sagaciously the conclusions suggested by his + collections: but, to the ordinary explorer or collector, the dense forests + of equatorial Asia and Africa, which constitute the favourite habitation + of the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla, present difficulties of no + ordinary magnitude: and the man who risks his life by even a short visit + to the malarious shores of those regions may well be excused if he shrinks + from facing the dangers of the interior; if he contents himself with + stimulating the industry of the better seasoned natives, and collecting + and collating the more or less mythical reports and traditions with which + they are too ready to supply him. + </p> + <p> + In such a manner most of the earlier accounts of the habits of the + man-like Apes originated; and even now a good deal of what passes current + must be admitted to have no very safe foundation. The best information we + possess is that, based almost wholly on direct European testimony + respecting the Gibbons; the next best evidence relates to the Orangs; + while our knowledge of the habits of the Chimpanzee and the Gorilla stands + much in need of support and enlargement by additional testimony from + instructed European eye-witnesses. + </p> + <p> + It will therefore be convenient in endeavouring to form a notion of what + we are justified in believing about these animals, to commence with the + best known man-like Apes, the Gibbons and Orangs; and to make use of the + perfectly reliable information respecting them as a sort of criterion of + the probable truth or falsehood of assertions respecting the others. + </p> + <p> + Of the GIBBONS, half a dozen species are found scattered over the Asiatic + islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and through Malacca, Siam, Arracan, and an + uncertain extent of Hindostan, on the main land of Asia. The largest + attain a few inches above three feet in height, from the crown to the + heel, so that they are shorter than the other man-like Apes; while the + slenderness of their bodies renders their mass far smaller in proportion + even to this diminished height. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Salomon Muller, an accomplished Dutch naturalist, who lived for many + years in the Eastern Archipelago, and to the results of whose personal + experience I shall frequently have occasion to refer, states that the + Gibbons are true mountaineers, loving the slopes and edges of the hills, + though they rarely ascend beyond the limit of the fig-trees. All day long + they haunt the tops of the tall trees; and though, towards evening, they + descend in small troops to the open ground, no sooner do they spy a man + than they dart up the hill-sides, and disappear in the darker valleys. + </p> + <p> + All observers testify to the prodigious volume of voice possessed by these + animals. According to the writer whom I have just cited, in one of them, + the Siamang, "the voice is grave and penetrating, resembling the sounds + goek, goek, goek, goek, goek ha ha ha ha haaaaa, and may easily be heard + at a distance of half a league." While the cry is being uttered, the great + membranous bag under the throat which communicates with the organ of + voice, the so-called "laryngeal sac," becomes greatly distended, + diminishing again when the creature relapses into silence. + </p> + <p> + M. Duvaucel, likewise, affirms that the cry of the Siamang may be heard + for miles—making the woods ring again. So Mr. Martin* describes the + cry of the agile Gibbon as "overpowering and deafening" in a room, and + "from its strength, well calculated for resounding through the vast + forests." ([Footnote] *'Man and Monkies', p. 423.) Mr. Waterhouse, an + accomplished musician as well as zoologist, says, "The Gibbon's voice is + certainly much more powerful than that of any singer I have ever heard." + And yet it is to be recollected that this animal is not half the height + of, and far less bulky in proportion than, a man. + </p> + <p> + There is good testimony that various species of Gibbon readily take to the + erect posture. Mr. George Bennett,* a very excellent observer, in + describing the habits of a male 'Hylobates syndactylus' which remained for + some time in his possession, says: "He invariably walks in the erect + posture when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down, + enabling him to assist himself with his knuckles; or what is more usual, + he keeps his arms uplifted in nearly an erect position, with the hands + pendent ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger or + on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect posture, + but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst pursued, he has + no opportunity of escaping by climbing...When he walks in the erect + posture he turns the leg and foot outwards, which occasions him to have a + waddling gait and to seem bow-legged." ([Footnote] *'Wanderings in New + South Wales', vol. ii. chap. viii., 1834.) + </p> + <p> + Dr. Burrough states of another Gibbon, the Horlack or Hooluk: "They walk + erect; and when placed on the floor, or in an open field, balance + themselves very prettily, by raising their hands over their head and + slightly bending the arm at the wrist and elbow, and then run tolerably + fast, rocking from side to side; and, if urged to greater speed, they let + fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward, rather + jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly erect." + </p> + <p> + Somewhat different evidence, however, is given by Dr. Winslow Lewis:* + ([Footnote] *'Boston Journal of Natural History', vol. i., 1834.) + </p> + <p> + "Their only manner of walking was on their posterior or inferior + extremities, the others being raised upwards to preserve their + equilibrium, as rope-dancers are assisted by long poles at fairs. Their + progression was not by placing one foot before the other, but by + simultaneously using both, as in jumping." Dr. Salomon Muller also states + that the Gibbons progress along the ground by a short series of tottering + jumps, effected only by the hind limbs, the body being held altogether + upright. + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 418), who also speaks from direct observation, + says of the Gibbons generally: + </p> + <p> + "Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and displaying among the + branches amazing activity, the Gibbons are not so awkward or embarrassed + on a level surface as might be imagined. They walk erect, with a waddling + or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the equilibrium of the body + requiring to be kept up, either by touching the ground with the knuckles, + first on one side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms so as to + poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the narrow, long sole of + the foot is placed upon the ground at once and raised at once, without any + elasticity of step." + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 8.—Gibbon ('H. pileatus'), after Wolf.) + </p> + <p> + After this mass of concurrent and independent testimony, it cannot + reasonably be doubted that the Gibbons commonly and habitually assume the + erect attitude. + </p> + <p> + But level ground is not the place where these animals can display their + very remarkable and peculiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious + activity which almost tempts one to rank them among flying, rather than + among ordinary climbing mammals. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Martin (l.c. p. 430) has given so excellent and graphic an account of + the movements of a 'Hylobates agilis', living in the Zoological Gardens, + in 1840, that I will quote it in full: + </p> + <p> + "It is almost impossible to convey in words an idea of the quickness and + graceful address of her movements: they may indeed be termed aerial, as + she seems merely to touch in her progress the branches among which she + exhibits her evolutions. In these feats her hands and arms are the sole + organs of locomotion; her body hanging as if suspended by a rope, + sustained by one hand (the right for example) she launches herself, by an + energetic movement, to a distant branch, which she catches with the left + hand; but her hold is less than momentary: the impulse for the next launch + is acquired: the branch then aimed at is attained by the right hand again, + and quitted instantaneously, and so on, in alternate succession. In this + manner spaces of twelve and eighteen feet are cleared, with the greatest + ease and uninterruptedly, for hours together, without the slightest + appearance of fatigue being manifested; and it is evident that, if more + space could be allowed, distances very greatly exceeding eighteen feet + would be as easily cleared; so that Duvaucel's assertion that he has seen + these animals launch themselves from one branch to another, forty feet + asunder, startling as it is, may be well credited. Sometimes, on seizing a + branch in her progress, she will throw herself, by the power of one arm + only, completely round it, making a revolution with such rapidity as + almost to deceive the eye, and continue her progress with undiminished + velocity. It is singular to observe how suddenly this Gibbon can stop, + when the impetus given by the rapidity and distance of her swinging leaps + would seem to require a gradual abatement of her movements. In the very + midst of her flight a branch is seized, the body raised, and she is seen, + as if by magic, quietly seated on it, grasping it with her feet. As + suddenly she again throws herself into action. + </p> + <p> + "The following facts will convey some notion of her dexterity and + quickness. A live bird was let loose in her apartment; she marked its + flight, made a long swing to a distant branch, caught the bird with one + hand in her passage, and attained the branch with her other hand; her aim, + both at the bird and at the branch, being as successful as if one object + only had engaged her attention. It may be added that she instantly bit off + the head of the bird, picked its feathers, and then threw it down without + attempting to eat it. + </p> + <p> + "On another occasion this animal swung herself from a perch, across a + passage at least twelve feet wide, against a window which it was thought + would be immediately broken: but not so; to the surprise of all, she + caught the narrow framework between the panes with her hand, in an instant + attained the proper impetus, and sprang back again to the cage she had + left—a feat requiring not only great strength, but the nicest + precision." + </p> + <p> + The Gibbons appear to be naturally very gentle, but there is very good + evidence that they will bite severely when irritated—a female + 'Hylobates agilis' having so severely lacerated one man with her long + canines, that he died; while she had injured others so much that, by way + of precaution, these formidable teeth had been filed down; but, if + threatened, she would still turn on her keeper. The Gibbons eat insects, + but appear generally to avoid animal food. A Siamang, however, was seen by + Mr. Bennett to seize and devour greedily a live lizard. They commonly + drink by dipping their fingers in the liquid and then licking them. It is + asserted that they sleep in a sitting posture. + </p> + <p> + Duvaucel affirms that he has seen the females carry their young to the + waterside and there wash their faces, in spite of resistance and cries. + They are gentle and affectionate in captivity—full of tricks and + pettishness, like spoiled children, and yet not devoid of a certain + conscience, as an anecdote, told by Mr. Bennett (l. c. p. 156), will show. + It would appear that his Gibbon had a peculiar inclination for + disarranging things in the cabin. Among these articles, a piece of soap + would especially attract his notice, and for the removal of this he had + been once or twice scolded. "One morning," says Mr. Bennett, "I was + writing, the ape being present in the cabin, when casting my eyes towards + him, I saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched him without his + perceiving that I did so: and he occasionally would cast a furtive glance + towards the place where I sat. I pretended to write; he, seeing me busily + occupied, took the soap, and moved away with it in his paw. When he had + walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke quietly, without frightening + him. The instant he found I saw him, he walked back again, and deposited + the soap nearly in the same place from whence he had taken it. There was + certainly something more than instinct in that action: he evidently + betrayed a consciousness of having done wrong both by his first and last + actions—and what is reason if that is not an exercise of it?" + </p> + <p> + The most elaborate account of the natural history of the ORANG-UTAN + extant, is that given in the "Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke + Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen (1839-45)," by Dr. + Salomon Muller and Dr. Schlegel, and I shall base what I have to say, upon + this subject almost entirely on their statements, adding, here and there, + particulars of interest from the writings of Brooke, Wallace, and others. + </p> + <p> + The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but the + body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in circumference.* + ([Footnote] *The largest Orang-Utan, cited by Temminck, measured, when + standing upright, 4 ft.; but he mentions having just received news of the + capture of an Orang 5 ft. 3 in. high. Schlegel and Muller say that their + largest old male measured, upright, 1.25 Netherlands "el"; and from the + crown to the end of the toes, 1.5 el; the circumference of the body being + about 1 el. The largest old female was 1.09 el high, when standing. The + adult skeleton in the College of Surgeons' Museum, if set upright, would + stand 3 ft. 6-8 in. from crown to sole. Dr. Humphry gives 3 ft. 8 in. as + the mean height of two Orangs. Of seventeen Orangs examined by Mr. + Wallace, the largest was 4 ft. 2 in. high, from the heel to the crown of + the head. Mr. Spencer St. John, however, in his 'Life in the Forests of + the Far East', tells us of an Orang of "5 ft. 2 in., measuring fairly from + the head to the heel," 15 in. across the face, and 12 in. round the wrist. + It does not appear, however, that Mr. St. John measured this Orang + himself.) + </p> + <p> + The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in + neither of these islands—in both of which it occurs always in low, + flat plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre + of the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found + only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur, + though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in + the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places, the + hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 9.—An adult male Orang-utan, after Muller and Schlegel.) + </p> + <p> + Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves. The + old females, and the immature males, on the other hand, are often met with + in twos and threes; and the former occasionally have young with them, + though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and sometimes + remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring. The young + Orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother's protection, + probably in consequence of their slow growth. While climbing, the mother + always carries her young against her bosom, the young holding on by his + mother's hair.* ([Footnote] *See Mr. Wallace's account of an infant + "Orang-utan," in the 'Annals of Natural History' for 1856. Mr. Wallace + provided his interesting charge with an artificial mother of buffalo-skin, + but the cheat was too successful. The infant's entire experience led it to + associate teats with hair, and feeling the latter, it spent its existence + in vain endeavours to discover the former.) At what time of life the + Orang-Utan becomes capable of propagation, and how long the females go + with young, is unknown, but it is probable that they are not adult until + they arrive at ten or fifteen years of age. A female which lived for five + years at Batavia, had not attained one-third the height of the wild + females. It is probable that, after reaching adult years, they go on + growing, though slowly, and that they live to forty or fifty years. The + Dyaks tell of old Orangs, which have not only lost all their teeth, but + which find it so troublesome to climb, that they maintain themselves on + windfalls and juicy herbage. + </p> + <p> + The Orang is sluggish, exhibiting none of that marvellous activity + characteristic of the Gibbons. Hunger alone seems to stir him to exertion, + and when it is stilled, he relapses into repose. When the animal sits, it + curves its back and bows its head, so as to look straight down on the + ground; sometimes it holds on with its hands by a higher branch, sometimes + lets them hang phlegmatically down by its side—and in these + positions the Orang will remain, for hours together, in the same spot, + almost without stirring, and only now and then giving utterance to its + deep, growling voice. By day, he usually climbs from one tree-top to + another, and only at night descends to the ground, and if then threatened + with danger, he seeks refuge among the underwood. When not hunted, he + remains a long time in the same locality, and sometimes stops for many + days on the same tree—a firm place among its branches serving him + for a bed. It is rare for the Orang to pass the night in the summit of a + large tree, probably because it is too windy and cold there for him; but, + as soon as night draws on, he descends from the height and seeks out a fit + bed in the lower and darker part, or in the leafy top of a small tree, + among which he prefers Nibong Palms, Pandani, or one of those parasitic + Orchids which give the primeval forests of Borneo so characteristic and + striking an appearance. But wherever he determines to sleep, there he + prepares himself a sort of nest: little boughs and leaves are drawn + together round the selected spot, and bent crosswise over one another; + while to make the bed soft, great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of + 'Pandanus fascicularis', 'Nipa fruticans', etc., are laid over them. Those + which Muller saw, many of them being very fresh, were situated at a height + of ten to twenty-five feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on + the average, of two or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with + 'Pandanus' leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, + which, united in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude + 'hut'," says Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the + trees, would be more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or + cover of any sort. The facility with which they form this nest is curious, + and I had an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the branches + together and seat herself, within a minute." + </p> + <p> + According to the Dyaks, the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun is + well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about + nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in the + twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change, turns on + one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and resting his + head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy, he usually + covers his body with a heap of 'Pandanus', 'Nipa', or Fern leaves, like + those of which his bed is made, and he is especially careful to wrap up + his head in them. It is this habit of covering himself up which has + probably led to the fable that the Orang builds huts in the trees. + </p> + <p> + Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during + the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch, as other + apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the contrary, + confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he is seen right + at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely related to the + constitution of his hinder limbs, and especially to that of his seat. For + this is provided with no callosities, such as are possessed by many of the + lower apes, and even by the Gibbons; and those bones of the pelvis, which + are termed the ischia, and which form the solid framework of the surface + on which the body rests in the sitting posture, are not expanded like + those of the apes which possess callosities, but are more like those of + man. + </p> + <p> + An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously,* as, in this act, to resemble a + man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury of + them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. ([Footnote] * + "They are the slowest and least active of all the monkey tribe, and their + motions are surprisingly awkward and uncouth."—Sir James Brooke, in + the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society', 1841.) Unlike the Gibbons, + whose forearms do the greater part of the work, as they swing from branch + to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest jump. In climbing, he + moves alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having laid fast hold + with the hands, he draws up both feet together. In passing from one tree + to another, he always seeks out a place where the twigs of both come close + together, or interlace. Even when closely pursued, his circumspection is + amazing: he shakes the branches to see if they will bear him, and then + bending an overhanging bough down by throwing his weight gradually along + it, he makes a bridge from the tree he wishes to quit to the next.* + ([Footnote] *Mr. Wallace's account of the progression of the Orang almost + exactly corresponds with this.) + </p> + <p> + On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all fours. + At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon be + overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little bent, + raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much the + posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way along by + the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed straight + forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less obliquely; except + the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other respects, depart remarkably + from their fellows. + </p> + <p> + The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon + their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the curved + toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their first joint, + the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on this surface. + The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner edges serving as + the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in such a manner that + their foremost joints, especially those of the two innermost fingers, rest + upon the ground by their upper sides, while the point of the free and + straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum. + </p> + <p> + The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures, + representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it defends + itself with sticks, and the like. + </p> + <p> + The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the + gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his + weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute the + chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three feet long + were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to eat living + animals. + </p> + <p> + Although, when taken young, the Orang-Utan soon becomes domesticated, and + indeed seems to court human society, it is naturally a very wild and shy + animal, though apparently sluggish and melancholy. The Dyaks affirm, that + when the old males are wounded with arrows only, they will occasionally + leave the trees and rush raging upon their enemies, whose sole safety lies + in instant flight, as they are sure to be killed if caught.* ([Footnote] + *Sir James Brooke, in a letter to Mr. Waterhouse, published in the + proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1841, says:—"On the habits + of the Orangs, as far as I have been able to observe them, I may remark + that they are as dull and slothful as can well be conceived, and on no + occasion, when pursuing them, did they move so fast as to preclude my + keeping pace with them easily through a moderately clear forest; and even + when obstructions below (such as wading up to the neck) allowed them to + get away some distance, they were sure to stop and allow me to come up. I + never observed the slightest attempt at defence, and the wood which + sometimes rattled about our ears was broken by their weight, and not + thrown, as some persons represent. If pushed to extremity, however, the + 'Pappan' could not be otherwise than formidable, and one unfortunate man, + who, with a party, was trying to catch a large one alive, lost two of his + fingers, besides being severely bitten on the face, whilst the animal + finally beat off his pursuers and escaped." Mr. Wallace, on the other + hand, affirms that he has several times observed them throwing down + branches when pursued. "It is true he does not throw them 'at' a person, + but casts them down vertically; for it is evident that a bough cannot be + thrown to any distance from the top of a lofty tree. In one case a female + Mias, on a durian tree, kept up for at least ten minutes a continuous + shower of branches and of the heavy, spined fruits, as large as + 32-pounders, which most effectually kept us clear of the tree she was on. + She could be seen breaking them off and throwing them down with every + appearance of rage, uttering at intervals a loud pumping grunt, and + evidently meaning mischief."—"On the Habits of the Orang-Utan," + 'Annals of Nat. History, 1856. This statement, it will be observed, is + quite in accordance with that contained in the letter of the Resident Palm + quoted above (p. 210).) + </p> + <p> + But, though possessed of immense strength, it is rare for the Orang to + attempt to defend itself, especially when attacked with fire-arms. On such + occasions he endeavours to hide himself, or to escape along the topmost + branches of the trees, breaking off and throwing down the boughs as he + goes. When wounded he betakes himself to the highest attainable point of + the tree, and emits a singular cry, consisting at first of high notes, + which at length deepen into a low roar, not unlike that of a panther. + While giving out the high notes the Orang thrusts out his lips into a + funnel shape; but in uttering the low notes he holds his mouth wide open, + and at the same time the great throat bag, or laryngeal sac, becomes + distended. + </p> + <p> + According to the Dyaks, the only animal the Orang measures his strength + with is the crocodile, who occasionally seizes him on his visits to the + water side. But they say that the Orang is more than a match for his + enemy, and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by pulling the jaws + asunder! + </p> + <p> + Much of what has been here stated was probably derived by Dr. Muller from + the reports of his Dyak hunters; but a large male, four feet high, lived + in captivity, under his observation, for a month, and receives a very bad + character. + </p> + <p> + "He was a very wild beast," says Muller, "of prodigious strength, and + false and wicked to the last degree. If any one approached he rose up + slowly with a low growl, fixed his eyes in the direction in which he meant + to make his attack, slowly passed his hand between the bars of his cage, + and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip—usually at the + face." He never tried to bite (though Orangs will bite one another), his + great weapons of offence and defence being his hands. + </p> + <p> + His intelligence was very great; and Muller remarks, that though the + faculties of the Orang have been estimated too highly, yet Cuvier, had he + seen this specimen, would not have considered its intelligence to be only + a little higher than that of the dog. + </p> + <p> + His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision seemed to be less + perfect. The under lip was the great organ of touch, and played a very + important part in drinking, being thrust out like a trough, so as either + to catch the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half + cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was supplied, and + which, in drinking, he poured into the trough thus formed. + </p> + <p> + In Borneo the Orang-Utan of the Malays goes by the name of "Mias" among + the Dyaks, who distinguish several kinds as 'Mias Pappan', or 'Zimo', + 'Mias Kassu', and 'Mias Rambi'. Whether these are distinct species, + however, or whether they are mere races, and how far any of them are + identical with the Sumatran Orang, as Mr. Wallace thinks the Mias Pappan + to be, are problems which are at present undecided; and the variability of + these great apes is so extensive, that the settlement of the question is a + matter of great difficulty. Of the form called "Mias Pappan," Mr. Wallace* + observes, ([Footnote] *On the Orang-Utan, or Mias of Borneo, 'Annals of + Natural History', 1856.) "It is known by its large size, and by the + lateral expansion of the face into fatty protuberances, or ridges, over + the temporal muscles, which has been mis-termed 'callosities', as they are + perfectly soft, smooth, and flexible. Five of this form, measured by me, + varied only from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet 2 inches in height, from the heel + to the crown of the head, the girth of the body from 3 feet to 3 feet 7 + 1/2 inches, and the extent of the outstretched arms from 7 feet 2 inches + to 7 feet 6 inches; the width of the face from 10 to 13 1/4 inches. The + colour and length of the hair varied in different individuals, and in + different parts of the same individual; some possessed a rudimentary nail + on the great toe, others none at all; but they otherwise present no + external differences on which to establish even varieties of a species. + </p> + <p> + "Yet, when we examine the crania of these individuals, we find remarkable + differences of form, proportion, and dimension, no two being exactly + alike. The slope of the profile, and the projection of the muzzle, + together with the size of the cranium, offer differences as decided as + those existing between the most strongly marked forms of the Caucasian and + African crania in the human species. The orbits vary in width and height, + the cranial ridge is either single or double, either much or little + developed, and the zygomatic aperture varies considerably in size. This + variation in the proportions of the crania enables us satisfactorily to + explain the marked difference presented by the single-crested and + double-crested skulls, which have been thought to prove the existence of + two large species of Orang. The external surface of the skull varies + considerably in size, as do also the zygomatic aperture and the temporal + muscle; but they bear no necessary relation to each other, a small muscle + often existing with a large cranial surface, and 'vice versa'. Now, those + skulls which have the largest and strongest jaws and the widest zygomatic + aperture, have the muscles so large that they meet on the crown of the + skull, and deposit the bony ridge which supports them, and which is the + highest in that which has the smallest cranial surface. In those which + combine a large surface with comparatively weak jaws, and small zygomatic + aperture, the muscles, on each side, do not extend to the crown, a space + of from l to 2 inches remaining between them, and along their margins + small ridges are formed. Intermediate forms are found, in which the ridges + meet only in the hinder part of the skull. The form and size of the ridges + are therefore independent of age, being sometimes more strongly developed + in the less aged animal. Professor Temminck states that the series of + skulls in the Leyden Museum shows the same result." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks), + however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to be + specifically distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 8 1/2 inches and 3 + feet 9 1/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek excrescences, + but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has no crest, but two + bony ridges, 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches apart, as in the 'Simia morio' of + Professor Owen. The teeth, however; are immense, equalling or surpassing + those of the other species. The females of both these kinds, according to + Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and resemble the smaller males, + but are shorter by 1 1/2 to 3 inches, and their canine teeth are + comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated at the base, as in the + so-called 'Simia morio', which is, in all probability, the skull of a + female of the same species as the smaller males. Both males and females of + this smaller species are distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the + comparatively large size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw. + </p> + <p> + So far as I am aware, no one has attempted to dispute the accuracy of the + statements which I have just quoted regarding the habits of the two + Asiatic man-like Apes; and if true, they must be admitted as evidence, + that such an Ape— + </p> + <p> + Firstly, May readily move along the ground in the erect, or semi-erect, + position, and without direct support from its arms. + </p> + <p> + Secondly, That it may possess an extremely loud voice, so loud as to be + readily heard one or two miles. + </p> + <p> + Thirdly, That it may be capable of great viciousness and violence when + irritated: and this is especially true of adult males. + </p> + <p> + Fourthly, That it may build a nest to sleep in. + </p> + <p> + Such being well established facts respecting the Asiatic Anthropoids, + analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer + similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would + destroy the force of any attempted a priori argument against such direct + testimony as might be adduced in favour of their existence. And, if the + organization of any of the African Apes could be demonstrated to fit it + better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and for + efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting its + occasional adoption of the upright attitude or of aggressive proceedings. + </p> + <p> + From the time of Tyson and Tulpius downwards, the habits of the young + CHIMPANZEE in a state of captivity have been abundantly reported and + commented upon. But trustworthy evidence as to the manners and customs of + adult anthropoids of this species, in their native woods, was almost + wanting up to the time of the publication of the paper by Dr. Savage, to + which I have already referred; containing notes of the observations which + he made, and of the information which he collected from sources which he + considered trustworthy, while resident at Cape Palmas, at the + north-western limit of the Bight of Benin. + </p> + <p> + The adult Chimpanzees, measured by Dr. Savage, never exceeded, though the + males may almost attain, five feet in height. + </p> + <p> + "When at rest, the sitting posture is that generally assumed. They are + sometimes seen standing and walking, but when thus detected, they + immediately take to all fours, and flee from the presence of the observer. + Such is their organization that they cannot stand erect, but lean forward. + Hence they are seen, when standing, with the hands clasped over the + occiput, or the lumbar region, which would seem necessary to balance or + ease of posture. + </p> + <p> + "The toes of the adult are strongly flexed and turned inwards, and cannot + be perfectly straightened. In the attempt the skin gathers into thick + folds on the back, shewing that the full expansion of the foot, as is + necessary in walking, is unnatural. The natural position is on all fours, + the body anteriorly resting upon the knuckles. These are greatly enlarged, + with the skin protuberant and thickened like the sole of the foot. + </p> + <p> + "They are expert climbers, as one would suppose from their organization. + In their gambols they swing from limb to limb to a great distance, and + leap with astonishing agility. It is not unusual to see the 'old folks' + (in the language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling themselves + with fruit and friendly chat, while their 'children' are leaping around + them, and swinging from tree to tree with boisterous merriment. + </p> + <p> + "As seen here, they cannot be called 'gregarious', seldom more than five, + or ten at most, being found together. It has been said, on good authority, + that they occasionally assemble in large numbers, in gambols. My informant + asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged; hooting, + screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old logs, which is done in the + latter case with equal facility by the four extremities. They do not + appear ever to act on the offensive, and seldom, if ever really, on the + defensive. When about to be captured, they resist by throwing their arms + about their opponent, and attempting to draw him into contact with their + teeth." (Savage, l. c. p. 384.) + </p> + <p> + With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit in another + place: + </p> + <p> + "BITING is their principal art of defence. I have seen one man who had + been thus severely wounded in the feet. + </p> + <p> + "The strong development of the canine teeth in the adult would seem to + indicate a carnivorous propensity; but in no state save that of + domestication do they manifest it. At first they reject flesh, but easily + acquire a fondness for it. The canines are early developed, and evidently + designed to act the important part of weapons of defence. When in contact + with man almost the first effort of the animal is—TO BITE. + </p> + <p> + "They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habitations in trees. Their + construction is more that of NESTS than HUTS, as they have been + erroneously termed by some naturalists. They generally build not far above + the ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and crossed, and + the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch. Sometimes a nest + will be found near the END of a STRONG LEAFY BRANCH twenty or thirty feet + from the ground. One I have lately seen that could not be less than forty + feet, and more probably it was fifty. But this is an unusual height. + </p> + <p> + "Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in pursuit of food and + solitude, according to the force of circumstances. We more often see them + in elevated places; but this arises from the fact that the low grounds, + being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the oftener + cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in suitable trees for their + nests...It is seldom that more than one or two nests are seen upon the + same tree, or in the same neighbourhood: five have been found, but it was + an unusual circumstance."... + </p> + <p> + "They are very filthy in their habits...It is a tradition with the natives + generally here, that they were once members of their own tribe; that for + their depraved habits they were expelled from all human society, and, that + through an obstinate indulgence of their vile propensities, they have + degenerated into their present state and organization. They are, however, + eaten by them, and when cooked with the oil and pulp of the palm-nut + considered a highly palatable morsel. + </p> + <p> + "They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in their habits, and, on + the part of the mother, much affection for their young. The second female + described was upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate and two + young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was to descend with + great rapidity, and make off into the thicket, with her mate and female + offspring. The young male remaining behind, she soon returned to the + rescue. She ascended and took him in her arms, at which moment she was + shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the young one, on its way to + the heart of the mother.... + </p> + <p> + "In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, remained upon the tree + with her offspring, watching intently the movements of the hunter. As he + took aim, she motioned with her hand, precisely in the manner of a human + being, to have him desist and go away. When the wound has not proved + instantly fatal, they have been known to stop the flow of blood by + pressing with the hand upon the part, and when this did not succeed, to + apply leaves and grass...When shot, they give a sudden screech, not unlike + that of a human being in sudden and acute distress." + </p> + <p> + The ordinary voice of the Chimpanzee, however, is affirmed to be hoarse, + guttural, and not very loud, somewhat like "whoo-whoo." (l. c. p. 365). + </p> + <p> + The analogy of the Chimpanzee to the Orang, in its nest-building habit and + in the mode of forming its nest, is exceedingly interesting; while, on the + other hand, the activity of this ape, and its tendency to bite, are + particulars in which it rather resembles the Gibbons. In extent of + geographical range, again, the Chimpanzees—which are found from + Sierra Leone to Congo—remind one of the Gibbons, rather than of + either of the other man-like apes; and it seems not unlikely that, as is + the case with the Gibbons, there may be several species spread over the + geographical area of the genus. + </p> + <p> + The same excellent observer, from whom I have borrowed the preceding + account of the habits of the adult Chimpanzee, published fifteen years + ago,* an account of the GORILLA, which has, in its most essential points, + been confirmed by subsequent observers, and to which so very little has + really been added, that in justice to Dr. Savage I give it almost in full. + ([Footnote] *Notice of the external characters and habits of Troglodytes + Gorilla. 'Boston Journal of Natural History', 1847.) + </p> + <p> + "It should be borne in mind that my account is based upon the statements + of the aborigines of that region (the Gaboon). In this connection, it may + also be proper for me to remark, that having been a missionary resident + for several years, studying, from habitual intercourse, the African mind + and character, I felt myself prepared to discriminate and decide upon the + probability of their statements. Besides, being familiar with the history + and habits of its interesting congener ('Trog. niger', Geoff.), I was able + to separate their accounts of the two animals, which, having the same + locality and a similarity of habit, are confounded in the minds of the + mass, especially as but few—such as traders to the interior and + huntsmen—have ever seen the animal in question. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 10.—The Gorilla (after Wolff).) + </p> + <p> + "The tribe from which our knowledge of the animal is derived, and whose + territory forms its habitat, is the 'Mpongwe', occupying both banks of the + River Gaboon, from its mouth to some fifty or sixty miles upward.... + </p> + <p> + "If the word 'Pongo' be of African origin, it is probably a corruption of + the word 'Mpongwe', the name of the tribe on the banks of the Gaboon, and + hence applied to the region they inhabit. Their local name for the + Chimpanzee is 'Enche-eko', as near as it can be Anglicized, from which the + common term 'Jocko' probably comes. The Mpongwe appellation for its new + congener is 'Enge-ena', prolonging the sound of the first vowel, and + slightly sounding the second. + </p> + <p> + "The habitat of the 'Enge-ena' is the interior of lower Guinea, whilst + that of the 'Enche-eko' is nearer the sea-board. + </p> + <p> + "Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately broad across the + shoulders, thickly covered with coarse black hair, which is said to be + similar in its arrangement to that of the 'Enche-eko'; with age it becomes + grey, which fact has given rise to the report that both animals are seen + of different colours. + </p> + <p> + "HEAD.—The prominent features of the head are, the great width and + elongation of the face, the depth of the molar region, the branches of the + lower jaw being very deep and extending far backward, and the comparative + smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very large, and said to be + like those of the Enche-eko, a bright hazel; nose broad and flat, slightly + elevated towards the root; the muzzle broad, and prominent lips and chin, + with scattered gray hairs; the under lip highly mobile, and capable of + great elongation when the animal is enraged, then hanging over the chin; + skin of the face and ears naked, and of a dark brown, approaching to + black. + </p> + <p> + "The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge, or crest of + hair, in the course of the sagittal suture, which meets posteriorily with + a transverse ridge of the same, but less prominent, running round from the + back of one ear to the other. The animal has the power of moving the scalp + freely forward and back, and when enraged is said to contract it strongly + over the brow, thus bringing down the hairy ridge and pointing the hair + forward, so as to present an indescribably ferocious aspect. + </p> + <p> + "Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very broad, said to be + fully double the size of the Enche-ekos; arms very long, reaching some way + below the knee—the fore-arm much the shortest; hands very large, the + thumbs much larger than the fingers... + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 11.—Gorilla walking (after Wolff).) + </p> + <p> + "The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright as + in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side. The + arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in + walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms + forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a half + jumping half swinging motion between them. In this act it is said not to + flex the fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its knuckles, but to + extend them, making a fulcrum of the hand. When it assumes the walking + posture, to which it is said to be much inclined, it balances its huge + body by flexing its arms upward. + </p> + <p> + "They live in bands, but are not so numerous as the Chimpanzees: the + females generally exceed the other sex in number. My informants all agree + in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in a band; that when the + young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the strongest, + by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as the head of + the community." + </p> + <p> + Dr. Savage repudiates the stories about the Gorillas carrying off women + and vanquishing elephants and then adds: + </p> + <p> + "Their dwellings, if they may be so called, are similar to those of the + Chimpanzee, consisting simply of a few sticks and leafy branches, + supported by the crotches and limbs of trees: they afford no shelter, and + are occupied only at night. + </p> + <p> + "They are exceedingly ferocious, and always offensive in their habits, + never running from man, as does the Chimpanzee. They are objects of terror + to the natives, and are never encountered by them except on the defensive. + The few that have been captured were killed by elephant hunters and native + traders, as they came suddenly upon them while passing through the + forests. + </p> + <p> + "It is said that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell, + that resounds far and wide through the forest, something like kh-ah! + kh-ah! prolonged and shrill. His enormous jaws are widely opened at each + expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the hairy ridge and + scalp are contracted upon the brow, presenting an aspect of indescribable + ferocity. + </p> + <p> + "The females and young, at the first cry, quickly disappear. He then + approaches the enemy in great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in quick + succession. The hunter awaits his approach with his gun extended: if his + aim is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the barrel, and as he + carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he fires. Should the gun fail + to go off, the barrel (that of the ordinary musket, which is thin) is + crushed between his teeth, and the encounter soon proves fatal to the + hunter. + </p> + <p> + "In the wild state, their habits are in general like those of the + 'Troglodytes niger', building their nests loosely in trees, living on + similar fruits, and changing their place of resort from force of + circumstances." + </p> + <p> + Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supplemented by those of Mr. + Ford, who communicated an interesting paper on the Gorilla to the + Philadelphian Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the + geographical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like Apes, Mr. + Ford remarks: + </p> + <p> + "This animal inhabits the range of mountains that traverse the interior of + Guinea, from the Cameroon in the north, to Angola in the south, and about + 100 miles inland, and called by the geographers Crystal Mountains. The + limit to which this animal extends, either north or south, I am unable to + define. But that limit is doubtless some distance north of this river + (Gaboon). I was able to certify myself of this fact in a late excursion to + the head-waters of the Mooney (Danger) River, which comes into the sea + some sixty miles from this place. I was informed (credibly, I think) that + they were numerous among the mountains in which that river rises, and far + north of that. + </p> + <p> + "In the south, this species extends to the Congo River, as I am told by + native traders who have visited the coast between the Gaboon and that + river. Beyond that, I am not informed. This animal is only found at a + distance from the coast in most cases, and, according to my best + information, approaches it nowhere so nearly as on the south side of this + river, where they have been found within ten miles of the sea. This, + however, is only of late occurrence. I am informed by some of the oldest + Mpongwe men that formerly he was only found on the sources of the river, + but that at present he may be found within half-a-day's walk of its mouth. + Formerly he inhabited the mountainous ridge where Bushmen alone inhabited, + but now he boldly approaches the Mpongwe plantations. This is doubtless + the reason of the scarcity of information in years past, as the + opportunities for receiving a knowledge of the animal have not been + wanting; traders having for one hundred years frequented this river, and + specimens, such as have been brought here within a year, could not have + been exhibited without having attracted the attention of the most stupid." + </p> + <p> + One specimen Mr. Ford examined weighed 170 1bs., without the thoracic, or + pelvic, viscera, and measured four feet four inches round the chest. This + writer describes so minutely and graphically the onslaught of the Gorilla—though + he does not for a moment pretend to have witnessed the scene—that I + am tempted to give this part of his paper in full, for comparison with + other narratives: + </p> + <p> + "He always rises to his feet when making an attack, though he approaches + his antagonist in a stooping posture. + </p> + <p> + "Though he never lies in wait, yet, when he hears, sees, or scents a man, + he immediately utters his characteristic cry, prepares for an attack, and + always acts on the offensive. The cry he utters resembles a grunt more + than a growl, and is similar to the cry of the Chimpanzee, when irritated, + but vastly louder. It is said to be audible at a great distance. His + preparation consists in attending the females and young ones, by whom he + is usually accompanied, to a little distance. He, however, soon returns, + with his crest erect and projecting forward, his nostrils dilated, and his + under-lip thrown down; at the same time uttering his characteristic yell, + designed, it would seem, to terrify his antagonist. Instantly, unless he + is disabled by a well directed shot, he makes an onset, and, striking his + antagonist with the palm of his hands, or seizing him with a grasp from + which there is no escape, he dashes him upon the ground, and lacerates him + with his tusks. + </p> + <p> + "He is said to seize a musket, and instantly crush the barrel between his + teeth...This animal's savage nature is very well shown by the implacable + desperation of a young one that was brought here. It was taken very young, + and kept four months, and many means were used to tame it; but it was + incorrigible, so that it bit me an hour before it died." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ford discredits the house-building and elephant-driving stories, and + says that no well-informed natives believe them. They are tales told to + children. + </p> + <p> + I might quote other testimony to a similar effect, but, as it appears to + me, less carefully weighed and sifted, from the letters of MM. Franquet + and Gautier Laboullay, appended to the memoir of M. I. G. St. Hilaire, + which I have already cited. + </p> + <p> + Bearing in mind what is known regarding the Orang and the Gibbon, the + statements of Dr. Savage and Mr. Ford do not appear to me to be justly + open to criticism on 'a priori' grounds. The Gibbons, as we have seen, + readily assume the erect posture, but the Gorilla is far better fitted by + its organization for that attitude than are the Gibbons: if the laryngeal + pouches of the Gibbons, as is very likely, are important in giving volume + to a voice which can be heard for half a league, the Gorilla, which has + similar sacs, more largely developed, and whose bulk is fivefold that of a + Gibbon, may well be audible for twice that distance. If the Orang fights + with its hands, the Gibbons and Chimpanzees with their teeth, the Gorilla + may, probably enough, do either or both; nor is there anything to be said + against either Chimpanzee or Gorilla building a nest, when it is proved + that the Orang-Utan habitually performs that feat. + </p> + <p> + With all this evidence, now ten to fifteen years old, before the world it + is not a little surprising that the assertions of a recent traveller, who, + so far as the Gorilla is concerned, really does very little more than + repeat, on his own authority, the statements of Savage and of Ford, should + have met with so much and such bitter opposition. If subtraction be made + of what was known before, the sum and substance of what M. Du Chaillu has + affirmed as a matter of his own observation respecting the Gorilla, is, + that, in advancing to the attack, the great brute beats his chest with his + fists. I confess I see nothing very improbable, or very much worth + disputing about, in this statement. + </p> + <p> + With respect to the other man-like Apes of Africa, M. Du Chaillu tells us + absolutely nothing, of his own knowledge, regarding the common Chimpanzee; + but he informs us of a bald-headed species or variety, the 'nschiego + mbouve', which builds itself a shelter, and of another rare kind with a + comparatively small face, large facial angle, and peculiar note, + resembling "Kooloo." + </p> + <p> + As the Orang shelters itself with a rough coverlet of leaves, and the + common Chimpanzee, according to that eminently trustworthy observer Dr. + Savage, makes a sound like "Whoo-whoo,"—the grounds of the summary + repudiation with which M. Du Chaillu's statements on these matters have + been met are not obvious. + </p> + <p> + If I have abstained from quoting M. Du Chaillu's work, then, it is not + because I discern any inherent improbability in his assertions respecting + the man-like Apes; nor from any wish to throw suspicion on his veracity; + but because, in my opinion, so long as his narrative remains in its + present state of unexplained and apparently inexplicable confusion, it has + no claim to original authority respecting any subject whatsoever. + </p> + <p> + It may be truth, but it is not evidence. + </p> + <p> + End of Man-like apes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + </h2> + <p> + Multis videri poterit, majorem esso differentiam Simiae et Hominis, quam + diei et noctis; verum tamen hi, comparatione instituta inter summos + Europae Heroes et Hottentottos ad Caput bonae spei degentes, difficillime + sibi persuadebunt, has eosdem habere natales; vel si virginem nobilem + aulicam, maxime comtam et humanissimam, conferre vellent cum homine + sylvestri et sibi relicto, vix augurari possent, hunc et illam ejusdem + esse speciei.—'Linnaei Amoenitates Acad. "Anthropomorpha."' + </p> + <p> + The question of questions for mankind—the problem which underlies + all others, and is more deeply interesting than any other—is the + ascertainment of the place which Man occupies in nature and of his + relations to the universe of things. Whence our race has come; what are + the limits of our power over nature, and of nature's power over us; to + what goal we are tending; are the problems which present themselves anew + and with undiminished interest to every man born into the world. Most of + us, shrinking from the difficulties and dangers which beset the seeker + after original answers to these riddles, are contented to ignore them + altogether, or to smother the investigating spirit under the featherbed of + respected and respectable tradition. But, in every age, one or two + restless spirits, blessed with that constructive genius, which can only + build on a secure foundation, or cursed with the spirit of mere + scepticism, are unable to follow in the well-worn and comfortable track of + their forefathers and contemporaries, and unmindful of thorns and + stumbling-blocks, strike out into paths of their own. The sceptics end in + the infidelity which asserts the problem to be insoluble, or in the + atheism which denies the existence of any orderly progress and governance + of things: the men of genius propound solutions which grow into systems of + Theology or of Philosophy, or veiled in musical language which suggests + more than it asserts, take the shape of the Poetry of an epoch. + </p> + <p> + Each such answer to the great question, invariably asserted by the + followers of its propounder, if not by himself, to be complete and final, + remains in high authority and esteem, it may be for one century, or it may + be for twenty: but, as invariably, Time proves each reply to have been a + mere approximation to the truth—tolerable chiefly on account of the + ignorance of those by whom it was accepted, and wholly intolerable when + tested by the larger knowledge of their successors. + </p> + <p> + In a well-worn metaphor, a parallel is drawn between the life of man and + the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly; but the + comparison may be more just as well as more novel, if for its former term + we take the mental progress of the race. History shows that the human + mind, fed by constant accessions of knowledge, periodically grows too + large for its theoretical coverings, and bursts them asunder to appear in + new habiliments, as the feeding and growing grub, at intervals, casts its + too narrow skin and assumes another, itself but temporary. Truly the imago + state of Man seems to be terribly distant, but every moult is a step + gained, and of such there have been many. + </p> + <p> + Since the revival of learning, whereby the Western races of Europe were + enabled to enter upon that progress towards true knowledge, which was + commenced by the philosophers of Greece, but was almost arrested in + subsequent long ages of intellectual stagnation, or, at most, gyration, + the human larva has been feeding vigorously, and moulting in proportion. A + skin of some dimension was cast in the 16th century, and another towards + the end of the 18th, while, within the last fifty years, the extraordinary + growth of every department of physical science has spread among us mental + food of so nutritious and stimulating a character that a new ecdysis seems + imminent. But this is a process not unusually accompanied by many throes + and some sickness and debility, or, it may be, by graver disturbances; so + that every good citizen must feel bound to facilitate the process, and + even if he have nothing but a scalpel to work withal, to ease the cracking + integument to the best of his ability. + </p> + <p> + In this duty lies my excuse for the publication of these essays. For it + will be admitted that some knowledge of man's position in the animate + world is an indispensable preliminary to the proper understanding of his + relations to the universe—and this again resolves itself, in the + long run, into an inquiry into the nature and the closeness of the ties + which connect him with those singular creatures whose history* has been + sketched in the preceding pages. ([Footnote] * It will be understood that, + in the preceding Essay, I have selected for notice from the vast mass of + papers which have been written upon the man-like Apes, only those which + seem to me to be of special moment.) + </p> + <p> + The importance of such an inquiry is indeed intuitively manifest Brought + face to face with these blurred copies of himself, the least thoughtful of + men is conscious of a certain shock, due perhaps, not so much to disgust + at the aspect of what looks like an insulting caricature, as to the + awakening of a sudden and profound mistrust of time-honoured theories and + strongly-rooted prejudices regarding his own position in nature, and his + relations to the under-world of life; while that which remains a dim + suspicion for the unthinking, becomes a vast argument, fraught with the + deepest consequences, for all who are acquainted with the recent progress + of the anatomical and physiological sciences. + </p> + <p> + I now propose briefly to unfold that argument, and to set forth, in a form + intelligible to those who possess no special acquaintance with anatomical + science, the chief facts upon which all conclusions respecting the nature + and the extent of the bonds which connect man with the brute world must be + based: I shall then indicate the one immediate conclusion which, in my + judgment, is justified by those facts, and I shall finally discuss the + bearing of that conclusion upon the hypotheses which have been entertained + respecting the Origin of Man. + </p> + <p> + The facts to which I would first direct the reader's attention, though + ignored by many of the professed instructors of the public mind, are easy + of demonstration and are universally agreed to by men of science; while + their significance is so great, that whoso has duly pondered over them + will, I think, find little to startle him in the other revelations of + Biology. I refer to those facts which have been made known by the study of + Development. + </p> + <p> + It is a truth of very wide, if not of universal, application, that every + living creature commences its existence under a form different from, and + simpler than, that which it eventually attains. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 12.—A. Egg of the Dog, with the vitelline membrane burst, so + as to give exit to the yolk, the germinal vesicle (a), and its included + spot (b). B. C. D. E F. Successive changes of the yolk indicated in the + text. After Bischoff.) + </p> + <p> + The oak is a more complex thing than the little rudimentary plant + contained in the acorn; the caterpillar is more complex than the egg; the + butterfly than the caterpillar; and each of these beings, in passing from + its rudimentary to its perfect condition, runs through a series of + changes, the sum of which is called its Development. In the higher animals + these changes are extremely complicated; but, within the last half + century, the labours of such men as Von Baer, Rathke, Reichert, Bischoff, + and Remak, have almost completely unravelled them, so that the successive + stages of development which are exhibited by a Dog, for example, are now + as well known to the embryologist as are the steps of the metamorphosis of + the silkworm moth to the school-boy. It will be useful to consider with + attention the nature and the order of the stages of canine development, as + an example of the process in the higher animals generally. + </p> + <p> + The Dog, like all animals, save the very lowest (and further inquiries may + not improbably remove the apparent exception), commences its existence as + an egg: as a body which is, in every sense, as much an egg as that of a + hen, but is devoid of that accumulation of nutritive matter which confers + upon the bird's egg its exceptional size and domestic utility; and wants + the shell, which would not only be useless to an animal incubated within + the body of its parent, but would cut it off from access to the source of + that nutriment which the young creature requires, but which the minute egg + of the mammal does not contain within itself. + </p> + <p> + The Dog's egg is, in fact, a little spheroidal bag (Figure 12), formed of + a delicate transparent membrane called the 'vitelline membrane', and about + 1/130 to 1/120th of an inch in diameter. It contains a mass of viscid + nutritive matter—the 'yelk'—within which is inclosed a second + much more delicate spheroidal bag, called the 'germinal vesicle' (a). In + this, lastly, lies a more solid rounded body, termed the 'germinal spot' + (b). + </p> + <p> + The egg, or 'Ovum,' is originally formed within a gland, from which, in + due season, it becomes detached, and passes into the living chamber fitted + for its protection and maintenance during the protracted process of + gestation. Here, when subjected to the required conditions, this minute + and apparently insignificant particle of living matter becomes animated by + a new and mysterious activity. The germinal vesicle and spot cease to be + discernible (their precise fate being one of the yet unsolved problems of + embryology), but the yelk becomes circumferentially indented, as if an + invisible knife had been drawn round it, and thus appears divided into two + hemispheres (Figure 12, C). + </p> + <p> + By the repetition of this process in various planes, these hemispheres + become subdivided, so that four segments are produced (D); and these, in + like manner, divide and subdivide again, until the whole yelk is converted + into a mass of granules, each of which consists of a minute spheroid of + yelk-substance, inclosing a central particle, the so-called 'nucleus' (F). + Nature, by this process, has attained much the same result as that at + which a human artificer arrives by his operations in a brickfield. She + takes the rough plastic material of the yelk and breaks it up into + well-shaped tolerably even-sized masses, handy for building up into any + part of the living edifice. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 13.—Earliest rudiment of the Dog. B. Rudiment further + advanced, showing the foundations of the head, tail, and vertebral column. + C. The very young puppy, with attached ends of the yelk-sac and allantois, + and invested in the amnion.) + </p> + <p> + Next, the mass of organic bricks, or 'cells' as they are technically + called, thus formed, acquires an orderly arrangement, becoming converted + into a hollow spheroid with double walls. Then, upon one side of this + spheroid, appears a thickening, and, by and bye, in the centre of the area + of thickening, a straight shallow groove (Figure 13, A) marks the central + line of the edifice which is to be raised, or, in other words, indicates + the position of the middle line of the body of the future dog. The + substance bounding the groove on each side next rises up into a fold, the + rudiment of the side wall of that long cavity, which will eventually lodge + the spinal marrow and the brain; and in the floor of this chamber appears + a solid cellular cord, the so-called 'notochord.' One end of the inclosed + cavity dilates to form the head (Figure 13, B), the other remains narrow, + and eventually becomes the tail; the side walls of the body are fashioned + out of the downward continuation of the walls of the groove; and from + them, by and bye, grow out little buds which, by degrees, assume the shape + of limbs. Watching the fashioning process stage by stage, one is forcibly + reminded of the modeller in clay. Every part, every organ, is at first, as + it were, pinched up rudely, and sketched out in the rough; then shaped + more accurately; and only, at last, receives the touches which stamp its + final character. + </p> + <p> + Thus, at length, the young puppy assumes such a form as is shown in Figure + 13, C. In this condition it has a disproportionately large head, as + dissimilar to that of a dog as the bud-like limbs are unlike his legs. + </p> + <p> + The remains of the yelk, which have not yet been applied to the nutrition + and growth of the young animal, are contained in a sac attached to the + rudimentary intestine, and termed the yelk sac, or 'umbilical vesicle.' + Two membranous bags, intended to subserve respectively the protection and + nutrition of the young creature, have been developed from the skin and + from the under and hinder surface of the body; the former, the so-called + 'amnion,' is a sac filled with fluid, which invests the whole body of the + embryo, and plays the part of a sort of water-bed for it; the other, + termed the 'allantois,' grows out, loaded with blood-vessels, from the + ventral region, and eventually applying itself to the walls of the cavity, + in which the developing organism is contained, enables these vessels to + become the channel by which the stream of nutriment, required to supply + the wants of the offspring, is furnished to it by the parent. + </p> + <p> + The structure which is developed by the interlacement of the vessels of + the offspring with those of the parent, and by means of which the former + is enabled to receive nourishment and to get rid of effete matters, is + termed the 'Placenta.' + </p> + <p> + It would be tedious, and it is unnecessary for my present purpose, to + trace the process of development further; suffice it to say, that, by a + long and gradual series of changes, the rudiment here depicted and + described becomes a puppy, is born, and then, by still slower and less + perceptible steps, passes into the adult Dog. + </p> + <p> + There is not much apparent resemblance between a barndoor Fowl and the Dog + who protects the farm-yard. Nevertheless the student of development finds, + not only that the chick commences its existence as an egg, primarily + identical, in all essential respects, with that of the Dog, but that the + yelk of this egg undergoes division—that the primitive groove + arises, and that the contiguous parts of the germ are fashioned, by + precisely similar methods, into a young chick, which, at one stage of its + existence, is so like the nascent Dog, that ordinary inspection would + hardly distinguish the two. + </p> + <p> + The history of the development of any other vertebrate animal, Lizard, + Snake, Frog, or Fish, tells the same story. There is always, to begin + with, an egg having the same essential structure as that of the Dog:—the + yelk of that egg always undergoes division, or 'segmentation' as it is + often called: the ultimate products of that segmentation constitute the + building materials for the body of the young animal; and this is built up + round a primitive groove, in the floor of which a notochord is developed. + Furthermore, there is a period in which the young of all these animals + resemble one another, not merely in outward form, but in all essentials of + structure, so closely, that the differences between them are + inconsiderable, while, in their subsequent course, they diverge more and + more widely from one another. And it is a general law, that, the more + closely any animals resemble one another in adult structure, the longer + and the more intimately do their embryos resemble one another: so that, + for example, the embryos of a Snake and of a Lizard remain like one + another longer than do those of a Snake and of a Bird; and the embryo of a + Dog and of a Cat remain like one another for a far longer period than do + those of a Dog and a Bird; or of a Dog and an Opossum; or even than those + of a Dog and a Monkey. + </p> + <p> + Thus the study of development affords a clear test of closeness of + structural affinity, and one turns with impatience to inquire what results + are yielded by the study of the development of Man. Is he something apart? + Does he originate in a totally different way from Dog, Bird, Frog, and + Fish, thus justifying those who assert him to have no place in nature and + no real affinity with the lower world of animal life? Or does he originate + in a similar germ, pass through the same slow and gradually progressive + modifications,—depend on the same contrivances for protection and + nutrition, and finally enter the world by the help of the same mechanism? + The reply is not doubtful for a moment, and has not been doubtful any time + these thirty years. Without question, the mode of origin and the early + stages of the development of man are identical with those of the animals + immediately below him in the scale:—without a doubt, in these + respects, he is far nearer the Apes, than the Apes are to the Dog. + </p> + <p> + The Human ovum is about l/125 of an inch in diameter, and might be + described in the same terms as that of the Dog, so that I need only refer + to the figure illustrative (14 A) of its structure. It leaves the organ in + which it is formed in a similar fashion and enters the organic chamber + prepared for its reception in the same way, the conditions of its + development being in all respects the same. It has not yet been possible + (and only by some rare chance can it ever be possible) to study the human + ovum in so early a developmental stage as that of yelk division, but there + is every reason to conclude that the changes it undergoes are identical + with those exhibited by the ova of other vertebrated animals; for the + formative materials of which the rudimentary human body is composed, in + the earliest conditions in which it has been observed, are the same as + those of other animals. Some of these earliest stages are figured below, + and, as will be seen, they are strictly comparable to the very early + states of the Dog; the marvellous correspondence between the two which is + kept up, even for some time, as development advances, becoming apparent by + the simple comparison of the figures with those on page 249. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 14.—A. Human ovum (after Kolliker). a. germinal vesicle. b. + germinal spot. B. A very early condition of Man, with yelk-sac, allantois, + and amnion (original). C. A more advanced stage (after Kolliker), compare + Figure 13, C. + </p> + <p> + Indeed, it is very long before the body of the young human being can be + readily discriminated from that of the young puppy; but, at a tolerably + early period, the two become distinguishable by the different form of + their adjuncts, the yelk-sac and the allantois. The former, in the Dog, + becomes long and spindle-shaped, while in Man it remains spherical; the + latter, in the Dog, attains an extremely large size, and the vascular + processes which are developed from it and eventually give rise to the + formation of the placenta (taking root, as it were, in the parental + organism, so as to draw nourishment therefrom, as the root of a tree + extracts it from the soil) are arranged in an encircling zone, while in + Man, the allantois remains comparatively small, and its vascular rootlets + are eventually restricted to one disk-like spot. Hence, while the placenta + of the Dog is like a girdle, that of Man has the cake-like form, indicated + by the name of the organ. + </p> + <p> + But, exactly in those respects in which the developing Man differs from + the Dog, he resembles the ape, which, like man, has a spheroidal yelk-sac + and a discoidal—sometimes partially lobed—placenta. + </p> + <p> + So that it is only quite in the later stages of development that the young + human being presents marked differences from the young ape, while the + latter departs as much from the dog in its development, as the man does. + </p> + <p> + Startling as the last assertion may appear to be, it is demonstrably true, + and it alone appears to me sufficient to place beyond all doubt the + structural unity of man with the rest of the animal world, and more + particularly and closely with the apes. + </p> + <p> + Thus, identical in the physical processes by which he originates—identical + in the early stages of his formation—identical in the mode of his + nutrition before and after birth, with the animals which lie immediately + below him in the scale—Man, if his adult and perfect structure be + compared with theirs, exhibits, as might be expected, a marvellous + likeness of organization. He resembles them as they resemble one another—he + differs from them as they differ from one another.—And, though these + differences and resemblances cannot be weighed and measured, their value + may be readily estimated; the scale or standard of judgment, touching that + value, being afforded and expressed by the system of classification of + animals now current among zoologists. + </p> + <p> + A careful study of the resemblances and differences presented by animals + has, in fact, led naturalists to arrange them into groups, or assemblages, + all the members of each group presenting a certain amount of definable + resemblance, and the number of points of similarity being smaller as the + group is larger and 'vice versa'. Thus, all creatures which agree only in + presenting the few distinctive marks of animality form the 'Kingdom' + ANIMALIA. The numerous animals which agree only in possessing the special + characters of Vertebrates form one 'Sub-Kingdom' of this Kingdom. Then the + Sub-kingdom VERTEBRATA is subdivided into the five 'Classes,' Fishes, + Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals, and these into smaller groups + called 'Orders'; these into 'Families' and 'Genera'; while the last are + finally broken up into the smallest assemblages, which are distinguished + by the possession of constant, not-sexual, characters. These ultimate + groups are Species. + </p> + <p> + Every year tends to bring about a greater uniformity of opinion throughout + the zoological world as to the limits and characters of these groups, + great and small. At present, for example, no one has the least doubt + regarding the characters of the classes Mammalia, Aves, or Reptilia; nor + does the question arise whether any thoroughly well-known animal should be + placed in one class or the other. Again, there is a very general agreement + respecting the characters and limits of the orders of Mammals, and as to + the animals which are structurally necessitated to take a place in one or + another order. + </p> + <p> + No one doubts, for example, that the Sloth and the Ant-eater, the Kangaroo + and the Opossum, the Tiger and the Badger, the Tapir and the Rhinoceros, + are respectively members of the same orders. These successive pairs of + animals may, and some do, differ from one another immensely, in such + matters as the proportions and structure of their limbs; the number of + their dorsal and lumbar vertebrae; the adaptation of their frames to + climbing, leaping, or running; the number and form of their teeth; and the + characters of their skulls and of the contained brain. But, with all these + differences, they are so closely connected in all the more important and + fundamental characters of their organization, and so distinctly separated + by these same characters from other animals, that zoologists find it + necessary to group them together as members of one order. And if any new + animal were discovered, and were found to present no greater difference + from the Kangaroo and the Opossum, for example, than these animals do from + one another, the zoologist would not only be logically compelled to rank + it in the same order with these, but he would not think of doing + otherwise. + </p> + <p> + Bearing this obvious course of zoological reasoning in mind, let us + endeavour for a moment to disconnect our thinking selves from the mask of + humanity; let us imagine ourselves scientific Saturnians, if you will, + fairly acquainted with such animals as now inhabit the Earth, and employed + in discussing the relations they bear to a new and singular 'erect and + featherless biped,' which some enterprising traveller, overcoming the + difficulties of space and gravitation, has brought from that distant + planet for our inspection, well preserved, may be, in a cask of rum. We + should all, at once, agree upon placing him among the mammalian + vertebrates; and his lower jaw, his molars, and his brain, would leave no + room for doubting the systematic position of the new genus among those + mammals, whose young are nourished during gestation by means of a + placenta, or what are called the 'placental mammals.' + </p> + <p> + Further, the most superficial study would at once convince us that, among + the orders of placental mammals, neither the Whales, nor the hoofed + creatures, nor the Sloths and Ant-eaters, nor the carnivorous Cats, Dogs, + and Bears, still less the Rodent Rats and Rabbits, or the Insectivorous + Moles and Hedgehogs, or the Bats, could claim our 'Homo', as one of + themselves. + </p> + <p> + There would remain then, but one order for comparison, that of the Apes + (using that word in its broadest sense), and the question for discussion + would narrow itself to this—is Man so different from any of these + Apes that he must form an order by himself? Or does he differ less from + them than they differ from one another, and hence must take his place in + the same order with them? + </p> + <p> + Being happily free from all real, or imaginary, personal interest in the + results of the inquiry thus set afoot, we should proceed to weigh the + arguments on one side and on the other, with as much judicial calmness as + if the question related to a new Opossum. We should endeavour to + ascertain, without seeking either to magnify or diminish them, all the + characters by which our new Mammal differed from the Apes; and if we found + that these were of less structural value, than those which distinguish + certain members of the Ape order from others universally admitted to be of + the same order, we should undoubtedly place the newly discovered tellurian + genus with them. + </p> + <p> + I now proceed to detail the facts which seem to me to leave us no choice + but to adopt the last mentioned course. + </p> + <p> + It is quite certain that the Ape which most nearly approaches man, in the + totality of its organization, is either the Chimpanzee or the Gorilla; and + as it makes no practical difference, for the purposes of my present + argument, which is selected for comparison, on the one hand, with Man, and + on the other hand, with the rest of the Primates,* I shall select the + latter (so far as its organization is known)—as a brute now so + celebrated in prose and verse, that all must have heard of him, and have + formed some conception of his appearance. ([Footnote] *We are not at + present thoroughly acquainted with the brain of the Gorilla, and + therefore, in discussing cerebral characters, I shall take that of the + Chimpanzee as my highest term among the Apes.) I shall take up as many of + the most important points of difference between man and this remarkable + creature, as the space at my disposal will allow me to discuss, and the + necessities of the argument demand; and I shall inquire into the value and + magnitude of these differences, when placed side by side with those which + separate the Gorilla from other animals of the same order. + </p> + <p> + In the general proportions of the body and limbs there is a remarkable + difference between the Gorilla and Man, which at once strikes the eye. The + Gorilla's brain-case is smaller, its trunk larger, its lower limbs + shorter, its upper limbs longer in proportion than those of Man. + </p> + <p> + I find that the vertebral column of a full-grown Gorilla, in the Museum of + the Royal College of Surgeons, measures 27 inches along its anterior + curvature, from the upper edge of the atlas, or first vertebra of the + neck, to the lower extremity of the sacrum; that the arm, without the + hand, is 31-1/2 inches long; that the leg, without the foot, is 26-1/2 + inches long; that the hand is 9-3/4 inches long; the foot 11-1/4 inches + long. + </p> + <p> + In other words, taking the length of the spinal column as 100, the arm + equals 115, the leg 96, the hand 36, and the foot 41. + </p> + <p> + In the skeleton of a male Bosjesman, in the same collection, the + proportions, by the same measurement, to the spinal column, taken as 100, + are—the arm 78, the leg 110, the hand 26, and the foot 32. In a + woman of the same race the arm is 83, and the leg 120, the hand and foot + remaining the same. In a European skeleton I find the arm to be 80, the + leg 117, the hand 26, the foot 35. + </p> + <p> + Thus the leg is not so different as it looks at first sight, in its + proportion to the spine in the Gorilla and in the Man—being very + slightly shorter than the spine in the former, and between 1/10 and 1/5 + longer than the spine in the latter. The foot is longer and the hand much + longer in the Gorilla; but the great difference is caused by the arms, + which are very much longer than the spine in the Gorilla, very much + shorter than the spine in the Man. + </p> + <p> + The question now arises how are the other Apes related to the Gorilla in + these respects—taking the length of the spine, measured in the same + way, at 100. In an adult Chimpanzee, the arm is only 96, the leg 90, the + hand 43, the foot 39—so that the hand and the leg depart more from + the human proportion and the arm less, while the foot is about the same as + in the Gorilla. + </p> + <p> + In the Orang, the arms are very much longer than in the Gorilla (122), + while the legs are shorter (88); the foot is longer than the hand (52 and + 48), and both are much longer in proportion to the spine. + </p> + <p> + In the other man-like Apes again, the Gibbons, these proportions are still + further altered; the length of the arms being to that of the spinal column + as 19 to 11; while the legs are also a third longer than the spinal + column, so as to be longer than in Man, instead of shorter. The hand is + half as long as the spinal column, and the foot, shorter than the hand, is + about 5/11ths of the length of the spinal column. + </p> + <p> + Thus 'Hylobates' is as much longer in the arms than the Gorilla, as the + Gorilla is longer in the arms than Man; while, on the other hand, it is as + much longer in the legs than the Man, as the Man is longer in the legs + than the Gorilla, so that it contains within itself the extremest + deviations from the average length of both pairs of limbs (See the + illustration on page 196). + </p> + <p> + The Mandrill presents a middle condition, the arms and legs being nearly + equal in length, and both being shorter than the spinal column; while hand + and foot have nearly the same proportions to one another and to the spine, + as in Man. + </p> + <p> + In the Spider monkey ('Ateles') the leg is longer than the spine, and the + arm than the leg; and, finally, in that remarkable Lemurine form, the + Indri ('Lichanotus'), the leg is about as long as the spinal column, while + the arm is not more than 11/18 of its length; the hand having rather less + and the foot rather more, than one-third the length of the spinal column. + </p> + <p> + These examples might be greatly multiplied, but they suffice to show that, + in whatever proportion of its limbs the Gorilla differs from Man, the + other Apes depart still more widely from the Gorilla and that, + consequently, such differences of proportion can have no ordinal value. + </p> + <p> + We may next consider the differences presented by the trunk, consisting of + the vertebral column, or backbone, and the ribs and pelvis, or bony + hip-basin, which are connected with it, in Man and in the Gorilla + respectively. + </p> + <p> + In Man, in consequence partly of the disposition of the articular surfaces + of the vertebrae, and largely of the elastic tension of some of the + fibrous bands, or ligaments, which connect these vertebrae together, the + spinal column, as a whole, has an elegant S-like curvature, being convex + forwards in the neck, concave in the back, convex in the loins, or lumbar + region, and concave again in the sacral region; an arrangement which gives + much elasticity to the whole backbone, and diminishes the jar communicated + to the spine, and through it to the head, by locomotion in the erect + position. + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, under ordinary circumstances, Man has seven vertebrae in his + neck, which are called 'cervical'; twelve succeed these, bearing ribs and + forming the upper part of the back, whence they are termed 'dorsal'; five + lie in the loins, bearing no distinct, or free, ribs, and are called + 'lumbar'; five, united together into a great bone, excavated in front, + solidly wedged in between the hip bones, to form the back of the pelvis, + and known by the name of the 'sacrum', succeed these; and finally, three + or four little more or less movable bones, so small as to be + insignificant, constitute the 'coccyx' or rudimentary tail. + </p> + <p> + In the Gorilla, the vertebral column is similarly divided into cervical, + dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae, and the total number of + cervical and dorsal vertebrae, taken together, is the same as in Man; but + the development of a pair of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra, which is + an exceptional occurrence in Man, is the rule in the Gorilla; and hence, + as lumbar are distinguished from dorsal vertebrae only by the presence or + absence of free ribs, the seventeen "dorso-lumbar" vertebrae of the + Gorilla are divided into thirteen dorsal and four lumbar, while in Man + they are twelve dorsal and five lumbar. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 15.—Front and side views of the bony pelvis of Man, the + Gorilla and Gibbon: reduced from drawings made from nature, of the same + absolute length, by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins.) + </p> + <p> + Not only, however, does Man occasionally possess thirteen pair of ribs,* + but the Gorilla sometimes has fourteen pairs, while an Orang-Utan skeleton + in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons has twelve dorsal and five + lumbar vertebrae, as in Man. ([Footnote] *"More than once," says Peter + Camper, "have I met with more than six lumbar vertebrae in man...Once I + found thirteen ribs and four lumbar vertebrae." Fallopius noted thirteen + pair of ribs and only four lumbar vertebrae; and Eustachius once found + eleven dorsal vertebrae and six lumbar vertebrae.—'Oeuvres de Pierre + Camper', T. 1, p. 42. As Tyson states, his 'Pygmie' had thirteen pair of + ribs and five lumbar vertebrae. The question of the curves of the spinal + column in the Apes requires further investigation.) Cuvier notes the same + number in a 'Hylobates'. On the other hand, among the lower Apes, many + possess twelve dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebrae; the Douroucouli + has fourteen dorsal and eight lumbar, and a Lemur ('Stenops tardigradus') + has fifteen dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae. + </p> + <p> + The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, differs from that of Man + in the less marked character of its curves, especially in the slighter + convexity of the lumbar region. Nevertheless, the curves are present, and + are quite obvious in young skeletons of the Gorilla and Chimpanzee which + have been prepared without removal of the ligaments. In young Orangs + similarly preserved, on the other hand, the spinal column is either + straight, or even concave forwards, throughout the lumbar region. + </p> + <p> + Whether we take these characters then, or such minor ones as those which + are derivable from the proportional length of the spines of the cervical + vertebrae, and the like, there is no doubt whatsoever as to the marked + difference between Man and the Gorilla; but there is as little, that + equally marked differences, of the very same order, obtain between the + Gorilla and the lower Apes. + </p> + <p> + The Pelvis, or bony girdle of the hips, of Man is a strikingly human part + of his organization; the expanded haunch bones affording support for his + viscera during his habitually erect posture, and giving space for the + attachment of the great muscles which enable him to assume and to preserve + that attitude. In these respects the pelvis of the Gorilla differs very + considerably from his (Figure 15). But go no lower than the Gibbon, and + see how vastly more he differs from the Gorilla than the latter does from + Man, even in this structure. Look at the flat, narrow haunch bones—the + long and narrow passage—the coarse, outwardly curved, ischiatic + prominences on which the Gibbon habitually rests, and which are coated by + the so-called "callosities," dense patches of skin, wholly absent in the + Gorilla, in the Chimpanzee, and in the Orang, as in Man! + </p> + <p> + In the lower Monkeys and in the Lemurs the difference becomes more + striking still, the pelvis acquiring an altogether quadrupedal character. + </p> + <p> + But now let us turn to a nobler and more characteristic organ—that + by which the human frame seems to be, and indeed is, so strongly + distinguished from all others,—I mean the skull. The differences + between a Gorilla's skull and a Man's are truly immense (Figure 16). In + the former, the face, formed largely by the massive jaw-bones, + predominates over the brain case, or cranium proper: in the latter, the + proportions of the two are reversed. In the Man, the occipital foramen, + through which passes the great nervous cord connecting the brain with the + nerves of the body, is placed just behind the centre of the base of the + skull, which thus becomes evenly balanced in the erect posture; in the + Gorilla, it lies in the posterior third of that base. In the Man, the + surface of the skull is comparatively smooth, and the supraciliary ridges + or brow prominences usually project but little—while, in the + Gorilla, vast crests are developed upon the skull, and the brow ridges + overhang, the cavernous orbits, like great penthouses. + </p> + <p> + Sections of the skulls, however, show that some of the apparent defects of + the Gorilla's cranium arise, in fact, not so much from deficiency of brain + case as from excessive development of the parts of the face. The cranial + cavity is not ill-shaped, and the forehead is not truly flattened or very + retreating, its really well-formed curve being simply disguised by the + mass of bone which is built up against it (Figure 16). + </p> + <p> + But the roofs of the orbits rise more obliquely into the cranial cavity, + thus diminishing the space for the lower part of the anterior lobes of the + brain, and the absolute capacity of the cranium is far less than that of + Man. So far as I am aware, no human cranium belonging to an adult man has + yet been observed with a less cubical capacity than 62 cubic inches, the + smallest cranium observed in any race of men by Morton, measuring 63 cubic + inches; while, on the other hand, the most capacious Gorilla skull yet + measured has a content of not more than 34-1/2 cubic inches. Let us + assume, for simplicity's sake, that the lowest Man's skull has twice the + capacity of that of the highest Gorilla.* ([Footnote] *It has been + affirmed that Hindoo crania sometimes contain as little as 27 ounces of + water, which would give a capacity of about 46 cubic inches. The minimum + capacity which I have assumed above, however, is based upon the valuable + tables published by Professor R. Wagner in his "Vorstudien zu einer + wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns." + As the result of the careful weighing of more than 900 human brains, + Professor Wagner states that one-half weighed between 1200 and 1400 + grammes, and that about two-ninths, consisting for the most part of male + brains, exceed 1400 grammes. The lightest brain of an adult male, with + sound mental faculties, recorded by Wagner, weighed 1020 grammes. As a + gramme equals 15.4 grains, and a cubic inch of water contains 252.4 + grains, this is equivalent to 62 cubic inches of water; so that as brain + is heavier than water, we are perfectly safe against erring on the side of + diminution in taking this as the smallest capacity of any adult male human + brain. The only adult male brain, weighing as little as 970 grammes, is + that of an idiot; but the brain of an adult woman, against the soundness + of whose faculties nothing appears, weighed as little as 907 grammes (55.3 + cubic inches of water); and Reid gives an adult female brain of still + smaller capacity. The heaviest brain (1872 grammes, or about 115 cubic + inches) was, however, that of a woman; next to it comes the brain of + Cuvier (1861 grammes), then Byron (1807 grammes), and then an insane + person (1783 grammes). The lightest adult brain recorded (720 grammes) was + that of an idiotic female. The brains of five children, four years old, + weighed between 1275 and 992 grammes. So that it may be safely said, that + an average European child of four years old has a brain twice as large as + that of an adult Gorilla.) + </p> + <p> + No doubt, this is a very striking difference, but it loses much of its + apparent systematic value, when viewed by the light of certain other + equally indubitable facts respecting cranial capacities. + </p> + <p> + The first of these is, that the difference in the volume of the cranial + cavity of different races of mankind is far greater, absolutely, than that + between the lowest Man and the highest Ape, while, relatively, it is about + the same. For the largest human skull measured by Morton contained 114 + cubic inches, that is to say, had very nearly double the capacity of the + smallest; while its absolute preponderance, of 52 cubic inches—is + far greater than that by which the lowest adult male human cranium + surpasses the largest of the Gorillas (62 - 34 1/2 = 27 1/2). Secondly, + the adult crania of Gorillas which have as yet been measured differ among + themselves by nearly one-third, the maximum capacity being 34.5 cubic + inches, the minimum 24 cubic inches; and, thirdly, after making all due + allowance for difference of size, the cranial capacities of some of the + lower Apes fall nearly as much, relatively, below those of the higher Apes + as the latter fall below Man. + </p> + <p> + Thus, even in the important matter of cranial capacity, Men differ more + widely from one another than they do from the Apes; while the lowest Apes + differ as much, in proportion, from the highest, as the latter does from + Man. The last proposition is still better illustrated by the study of the + modifications which other parts of the cranium undergo in the Simian + series. + </p> + <p> + It is the large proportional size of the facial bones and the great + projection of the jaws which confers upon the Gorilla's skull its small + facial angle and brutal character. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 16.—Sections of the skulls of Man and various Apes + (Australian, Chrysothrix, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Mycetes, Lemur), drawn so + as to give the cerebral cavity the same length in each case, thereby + displaying the varying proportions of the facial bones. The line 'b' + indicates the plane of the tentorium, which separates the cerebrum from + the cerebellum; 'd', the axis of the occipital outlet of the skull. The + extent of cerebral cavity behind 'c', which is a perpendicular erected on + 'b' at the point where the tentorium is attached posteriorly, indicates + the degree to which the cerebrum overlaps the cerebellum—the space + occupied by which is roughly indicated by the dark shading. In comparing + these diagrams, it must be recollected, that figures on so small a scale + as these simply exemplify the statements in the text, the proof of which + is to be found in the objects themselves.) + </p> + <p> + But if we consider the proportional size of the facial bones to the skull + proper only, the little 'Chrysothrix' (Figure 16) differs very widely from + the Gorilla, and, in the same way, as Man does; while the Baboons + ('Cynocephalus', Figure 16) exaggerate the gross proportions of the muzzle + of the great Anthropoid, so that its visage looks mild and human by + comparison with theirs. The difference between the Gorilla and the Baboon + is even greater than it appears at first sight; for the great facial mass + of the former is largely due to a downward development of the jaws; an + essentially human character, superadded upon that almost purely forward, + essentially brutal, development of the same parts which characterizes the + Baboon, and yet more remarkably distinguishes the Lemur. + </p> + <p> + Similarly, the occipital foramen of 'Mycetes' (Figure 16), and still more + of the Lemurs, is situated completely in the posterior face of the skull, + or as much further back than that of the Gorilla, as that of the Gorilla + is further back than that of Man; while, as if to render patent the + futility of the attempt to base any broad classificatory distinction on + such a character, the same group of Platyrhine, or American monkeys, to + which the 'Mycetes' belongs, contains the 'Chrysothrix', whose occipital + foramen is situated far more forward than in any other ape, and nearly + approaches the position it holds in Man. + </p> + <p> + Again, the Orang's skull is as devoid of excessively developed + supraciliary prominences as a Man's, though some varieties exhibit great + crests elsewhere (See pp. 231, 232); and in some of the Cebine apes and in + the 'Chrysothrix', the cranium is as smooth and rounded as that of Man + himself. + </p> + <p> + What is true of these leading characteristics of the skull, holds good, as + may be imagined, of all minor features; so that for every constant + difference between the Gorilla's skull and the Man's, a similar constant + difference of the same order (that is to say, consisting in excess or + defect of the same quality) may be found between the Gorilla's skull and + that of some other ape. So that, for the skull, no less than for the + skeleton in general, the proposition holds good, that the differences + between Man and the Gorilla are of smaller value than those between the + Gorilla and some other Apes. + </p> + <p> + In connection with the skull, I may speak of the teeth—organs which + have a peculiar classificatory value, and whose resemblances and + differences of number, form, and succession, taken as a whole, are usually + regarded as more trustworthy indicators of affinity than any others. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 17.—Lateral views, of the same length, of the upper jaws of + various Primates (Man, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Cebus, Cheiromys). 'i', + incisors; 'c', canines' 'pm', premolars; 'm', molars. A line is drawn + through the first molar of Man, 'Gorilla', 'Cynocephalus', and 'Cebus', + and the grinding surface of the second molar is shown in each, its + anterior and internal angle being just above the 'm' of 'm2'.) + </p> + <p> + Man is provided with two sets of teeth—milk teeth and permanent + teeth. The former consist of four incisors, or cutting teeth; two canines, + or eyeteeth; and four molars, or grinders, in each jaw—making twenty + in all. The latter (Figure 17) comprise four incisors, two canines, four + small grinders, called premolars or false molars, and six large grinders, + or true molars, in each jaw—making thirty-two in all. The internal + incisors are larger than the external pair, in the upper jaw, smaller than + the external pair, in the lower jaw. The crowns of the upper molars + exhibit four cusps, or blunt-pointed elevations, and a ridge crosses the + crown obliquely, from the inner, anterior cusp to the outer, posterior + cusp (Figure 17 m2). The anterior lower molars have five cusps, three + external and two internal. The premolars have two cusps, one internal and + one external, of which the outer is the higher. + </p> + <p> + In all these respects the dentition of the Gorilla may be described in the + same terms as that of Man; but in other matters it exhibits many and + important differences (Figure 17). + </p> + <p> + Thus the teeth of man constitute a regular and even series—without + any break and without any marked projection of one tooth above the level + of the rest; a peculiarity which, as Cuvier long ago showed, is shared by + no other mammal save one—as different a creature from man as can + well be imagined—namely, the long extinct 'Anoplotherium'. The teeth + of the Gorilla, on the contrary, exhibit a break, or interval, termed the + 'diastema', in both jaws: in front of the eye-tooth, or between it and the + outer incisor, in the upper jaw; behind the eyetooth, or between it and + the front false molar, in the lower jaw. Into this break in the series, in + each jaw, fits the canine of the opposite jaw; the size of the eye-tooth + in the Gorilla being so great that it projects, like a tusk, far beyond + the general level of the other teeth. The roots of the false molar teeth + of the Gorilla, again, are more complex than in Man, and the proportional + size of the molars is different. The Gorilla has the crown of the hindmost + grinder of the lower jaw more complex, and the order of eruption of the + permanent teeth is different; the permanent canines making their + appearance before the second and third molars in Man, and after them in + the Gorilla. + </p> + <p> + Thus, while the teeth of the Gorilla closely resemble those of Man in + number, kind, and in the general pattern of their crowns, they exhibit + marked differences from those of Man in secondary respects, such as + relative size, number of fangs, and order of appearance. + </p> + <p> + But, if the teeth of the Gorilla be compared with those of an Ape, no + further removed from it than a 'Cynocephalus', or Baboon, it will be found + that differences and resemblances of the same order are easily observable; + but that many of the points in which the Gorilla resembles Man are those + in which it differs from the Baboon; while various respects in which it + differs from Man are exaggerated in the 'Cynocephalus'. The number and the + nature of the teeth remain the same in the Baboon as in the Gorilla and in + Man. But the pattern of the Baboon's upper molars is quite different from + that described above (Figure 17), the canines are proportionally longer + and more knife-like; the anterior premolar in the lower jaw is specially + modified; the posterior molar of the lower jaw is still larger and more + complex than in the Gorilla. + </p> + <p> + Passing from the old-world Apes to those of the new world, we meet with a + change of much greater importance than any of these. In such a genus as + 'Cebus', for example (Figure 17), it will be found that while in some + secondary points, such as the projection of the canines and the diastema, + the resemblance to the great ape is preserved; in other and most important + respects, the dentition is extremely different. Instead of 20 teeth in the + milk set, there are 24: instead of 32 teeth in the permanent set, there + are 36, the false molars being increased from eight to twelve. And in + form, the crowns of the molars are very unlike those of the Gorilla, and + differ far more widely from the human pattern. + </p> + <p> + The Marmosets, on the other hand, exhibit the same number of teeth as Man + and the Gorilla; but, notwithstanding this, their dentition is very + different, for they have four more false molars, like the other American + monkeys—but as they have four fewer true molars, the total remains + the same. And passing from the American apes to the Lemurs, the dentition + becomes still more completely and essentially different from that of the + Gorilla. The incisors begin to vary both in number and in form. The molars + acquire, more and more, a many-pointed, insectivorous character, and in + one Genus, the Aye-Aye ('Cheiromys'), the canines disappear, and the teeth + completely simulate those of a Rodent (Figure 17). + </p> + <p> + Hence it is obvious that, greatly as the dentition of the highest Ape + differs from that of Man, it differs far more widely from that of the + lower and lowest Apes. + </p> + <p> + Whatever part of the animal fabric—whatever series of muscles, + whatever viscera might be selected for comparison—the result would + be the same—the lower Apes and the Gorilla would differ more than + the Gorilla and the Man. I cannot attempt in this place to follow out all + these comparisons in detail, and indeed it is unnecessary I should do so. + But certain real, or supposed, structural distinctions between man and the + apes remain, upon which so much stress has been laid, that they require + careful consideration, in order that the true value may be assigned to + those which are real, and the emptiness of those which are fictitious may + be exposed. I refer to the characters of the hand, the foot, and the + brain. + </p> + <p> + Man has been defined as the only animal possessed of two hands terminating + his fore limbs, and of two feet ending his hind limbs, while it has been + said that all the apes possess four hands; and he has been affirmed to + differ fundamentally from all the apes in the characters of his brain, + which alone, it has been strangely asserted and re-asserted, exhibits the + structures known to anatomists as the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu + of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus minor. + </p> + <p> + That the former proposition should have gained general acceptance is not + surprising—indeed, at first sight, appearances are much in its + favour: but, as for the second, one can only admire the surpassing courage + of its enunciator, seeing that it is an innovation which is not only + opposed to generally and justly accepted doctrines, but which is directly + negatived by the testimony of all original inquirers, who have specially + investigated the matter: and that it neither has been, nor can be, + supported by a single anatomical preparation. It would, in fact, be + unworthy of serious refutation, except for the general and natural belief + that deliberate and reiterated assertions must have some foundation. + </p> + <p> + Before we can discuss the first point with advantage we must consider with + some attention, and compare together, the structure of the human hand and + that of the human foot, so that we may have distinct and clear ideas of + what constitutes a hand and what a foot. + </p> + <p> + The external form of the human hand is familiar enough to every one. It + consists of a stout wrist followed by a broad palm, formed of flesh, and + tendons, and skin, binding together four bones, and dividing into four + long and flexible digits, or fingers, each of which bears on the back of + its last joint a broad and flattened nail. The longest cleft between any + two digits is rather less than half as long as the hand. From the outer + side of the base of the palm a stout digit goes off, having only two + joints instead of three; so short, that it only reaches to a little beyond + the middle of the first joint of the finger next it; and further + remarkable by its great mobility, in consequence of which it can be + directed outwards, almost at a right angle to the rest. This digit is + called the 'pollex,' or thumb; and, like the others, it bears a flat nail + upon the back of its terminal joint. In consequence of the proportions and + mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed "opposable"; in other words, + its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be brought into contact with + the extremities of any of the fingers; a property upon which the + possibility of our carrying into effect the conceptions of the mind so + largely depends. + </p> + <p> + The external form of the foot differs widely from that of the hand; and + yet, when closely compared, the two present some singular resemblances. + Thus the ankle corresponds in a manner with the wrist; the sole with the + palm; the toes with the fingers; the great toe with the thumb. But the + toes, or digits of the foot, are far shorter in proportion than the digits + of the hand, and are less moveable, the want of mobility being most + striking in the great toe—which, again, is very much larger in + proportion to the other toes than the thumb to the fingers. In considering + this point, however, it must not be forgotten that the civilized great + toe, confined and cramped from childhood upwards, is seen to a great + disadvantage, and that in uncivilized and barefooted people it retains a + great amount of mobility, and even some sort of opposability. The Chinese + boatmen are said to be able to pull an oar; the artisans of Bengal to + weave, and the Carajas to steal fishhooks, by its help; though, after all, + it must be recollected that the structure of its joints and the + arrangement of its bones, necessarily render its prehensile action far + less perfect than that of the thumb. + </p> + <p> + But to gain a precise conception of the resemblances and differences of + the hand and foot, and of the distinctive characters of each, we must look + below the skin, and compare the bony framework and its motor apparatus in + each (Figure 18). + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 18.—The skeleton of the Hand and Foot of Man reduced from + Dr. Carter's drawings in Gray's 'Anatomy.' The hand is drawn to a larger + scale than the foot. The line 'a a' in the hand indicates the boundary + between the carpus and the metacarpus; 'b b' that between the latter and + the proximal phalanges; 'c c' marks the ends of the distal phalanges. The + line "a' a'" in the foot indicates the boundary between the tarsus and + metatarsus; "b' b'" marks that between the metatarsus and the proximal + phalanges; and "c' c'" bounds the ends of the distal phalanges; 'ca', the + calcaneum; 'as', the astragalus; 'sc', the scaphoid bone in the tarsus.) + </p> + <p> + The skeleton of the hand exhibits, in the region which we term the wrist, + and which is technically called the 'carpus'—two rows of closely + fitted polygonal bones, four in each row, which are tolerably equal in + size. The bones of the first row with the bones of the forearm, form the + wrist joint, and are arranged side by side, no one greatly exceeding or + overlapping the rest. + </p> + <p> + The four bones of the second row of the carpus bear the four long bones + which support the palm of the hand. The fifth bone of the same character + is articulated in a much more free and moveable manner than the others, + with its carpal bone, and forms the base of the thumb. These are called + 'metacarpal' bones, and they carry the 'phalanges', or bones of the + digits, of which there are two in the thumb, and three in each of the + fingers. + </p> + <p> + The skeleton of the foot is very like that of the hand in some respects. + Thus there are three phalanges in each of the lesser toes, and only two in + the great toe, which answers to the thumb. There is a long bone, termed + 'metatarsal', answering to the metacarpal, for each digit; and the + 'tarsus', which corresponds with the carpus, presents four short polygonal + bones in a row, which correspond very closely with the four carpal bones + of the second row of the hand. In other respects the foot differs very + widely from the hand. Thus the great toe is the longest digit but one; and + its metatarsal is far less moveably articulated with the tarsus, than the + metacarpal of the thumb with the carpus. But a far more important + distinction lies in the fact that, instead of four more tarsal bones there + are only three; and, that these three are not arranged side by side, or in + one row. One of them, the 'os calcis' or heel bone ('ca'), lies + externally, and sends back the large projecting heel; another, the + 'astragalus' ('as'), rests on this by one face, and by another, forms, + with the bones of the leg, the ankle joint; while a third face, directed + forwards, is separated from the three inner tarsal bones of the row next + the metatarsus by a bone called the 'scaphoid' ('sc'). + </p> + <p> + Thus there is a fundamental difference in the structure of the foot and + the hand, observable when the carpus and the tarsus are contrasted; and + there are differences of degree noticeable when the proportions and the + mobility of the metacarpals and metatarsals, with their respective digits, + are compared together. + </p> + <p> + The same two classes of differences become obvious when the muscles of the + hand are compared with those of the foot. + </p> + <p> + Three principal sets of muscles, called "flexors," bend the fingers and + thumb, as in clenching the fist, and three sets—the extensors—extend + them, as in straightening the fingers. These muscles are all "long + muscles"; that is to say, the fleshy part of each, lying in and being + fixed to the bones of the arm, is, at the other end, continued into + tendons, or rounded cords, which pass into the hand, and are ultimately + fixed to the bones which are to be moved. Thus, when the fingers are bent, + the fleshy parts of the flexors of the fingers, placed in the arm, + contract, in virtue of their peculiar endowment as muscles; and pulling + the tendinous cords, connected with their ends, cause them to pull down + the bones of the fingers towards the palm. + </p> + <p> + Not only are the principal flexors of the fingers and of the thumb long + muscles, but they remain quite distinct from one another through their + whole length. + </p> + <p> + In the foot, there are also three principal flexor muscles of the digits + or toes, and three principal extensors; but one extensor and one flexor + are short muscles; that is to say, their fleshy parts are not situated in + the leg (which corresponds with the arm), but in the back and in the sole + of the foot—regions which correspond with the back and the palm of + the hand. + </p> + <p> + Again, the tendons of the long flexor of the toes, and of the long flexor + of the great toe, when they reach the sole of the foot, do not remain + distinct from one another, as the flexors in the palm of the hand do, but + they become united and commingled in a very curious manner—while + their united tendons receive an accessory muscle connected with the + heel-bone. + </p> + <p> + But perhaps the most absolutely distinctive character about the muscles of + the foot is the existence of what is termed the 'peronaeus longus', a long + muscle fixed to the outer bone of the leg, and sending its tendon to the + outer ankle, behind and below which it passes, and then crosses the foot + obliquely to be attached to the base of the great toe. No muscle in the + hand exactly corresponds with this, which is eminently a foot muscle. + </p> + <p> + To resume—the foot of man is distinguished from his hand by the + following absolute anatomical differences:— + </p> + <p> + 1. By the arrangement of the tarsal bones. + </p> + <p> + 2. By having a short flexor and a short extensor muscle of the digits. + </p> + <p> + 3. By possessing the muscle termed 'peronaeus longus'. And if we desire to + ascertain whether the terminal division of a limb, in other Primates, is + to be called a foot or a hand, it is by the presence or absence of these + characters that we must be guided, and not by the mere proportions and + greater or lesser mobility of the great toe, which may vary indefinitely + without any fundamental alteration in the structure of the foot. + </p> + <p> + Keeping these considerations in mind, let us now turn to the limbs of the + Gorilla. The terminal division of the fore limb presents no difficulty—bone + for bone and muscle for muscle, are found to be arranged essentially as in + man, or with such minor differences as are found as varieties in man. The + Gorilla's hand is clumsier, heavier, and has a thumb somewhat shorter in + proportion than that of man; but no one has ever doubted its being a true + hand. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 19.—Foot of Man, Gorilla, and Orang-Utan of the same + absolute length, to show the differences in proportion of each. Letters as + in Figure 18. Reduced from original drawings by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins. + </p> + <p> + At first sight, the termination of the hind limb of the Gorilla looks very + hand-like, and as it is still more so in many of the lower apes, it is not + wonderful that the appellation "Quadrumana," or four-handed creatures, + adopted from the older anatomists* by Blumenbach, and unfortunately + rendered current by Cuvier, should have gained such wide acceptance as a + name for the Simian group. ([Footnote] *In speaking of the foot of his + "Pygmie," Tyson remarks, p. 13:—"But this part in the formation and + in its function too, being liker a Hand than a Foot: for the + distinguishing this sort of animals from others, I have thought whether it + might not be reckoned and called rather Quadru-manus than Quadrupes, + 'i.e.' a four-handed rather than a four-footed animal." As this passage + was published in 1699, M. I. G. St. Hilaire is clearly in error in + ascribing the invention of the term "quadrumanous" to Buffon, though + "himanous" may belong to him. Tyson uses "Quadrumanus" in several places, + as at p. 91... "Our 'Pygmie' is no Man, nor yet the 'common Ape', but a + sort of 'Animal' between both; and though a 'Biped', yet of the + 'Quadrumanus'-kind: though some 'Men' too have been observed to use their + 'Feet' like 'Hands', as I have seen several.") But the most cursory + anatomical investigation at once proves that the resemblance of the + so-called "hind hand" to a true hand, is only skin deep, and that, in all + essential respects, the hind limb of the Gorilla is as truly terminated by + a foot as that of man. The tarsal bones, in all important circumstances of + number, disposition, and form, resemble those of man (Figure 19). The + metatarsals and digits, on the other hand, are proportionally longer and + more slender, while the great toe is not only proportionally shorter and + weaker, but its metatarsal bone is united by a more moveable joint with + the tarsus. At the same time, the foot is set more obliquely upon the leg + than in man. + </p> + <p> + As to the muscles, there is a short flexor, a short extensor, and a + 'peronaeus longus', while the tendons of the long flexors of the great toe + and of the other toes are united together and with an accessory fleshy + bundle. + </p> + <p> + The hind limb of the Gorilla, therefore, ends in a true foot, with a very + moveable great toe. It is a prehensile foot, indeed, but is in no sense a + hand: it is a foot which differs from that of man not in any fundamental + character, but in mere proportions, in the degree of mobility, and in the + secondary arrangement of its parts. + </p> + <p> + It must not be supposed, however, because I speak of these differences as + not fundamental, that I wish to underrate their value. They are important + enough in their way, the structure of the foot being in strict correlation + with that of the rest of the organism in each case. Nor can it be doubted + that the greater division of physiological labour in Man, so that the + function of support is thrown wholly on the leg and foot, is an advance in + organization of very great moment to him; but, after all, regarded + anatomically, the resemblances between the foot of Man and the foot of the + Gorilla are far more striking and important than the differences. + </p> + <p> + I have dwelt upon this point at length, because it is one regarding which + much delusion prevails; but I might have passed it over without detriment + to my argument, which only requires me to show that, be the differences + between the hand and foot of Man and those of the Gorilla what they may—the + differences between those of the Gorilla, and those of the lower Apes are + much greater. + </p> + <p> + It is not necessary to descend lower in the scale than the Orang for + conclusive evidence on this head. + </p> + <p> + The thumb of the Orang differs more from that of the Gorilla than the + thumb of the Gorilla differs from that of Man, not only by its shortness, + but by the absence of any special long flexor muscle. The carpus of the + Orang, like that of most lower apes, contains nine bones, while in the + Gorilla, as in Man and the Chimpanzee, there are only eight. + </p> + <p> + The Orang's foot (Figure 19) is still more aberrant; its very long toes + and short tarsus, short great toe, short and raised heel, great obliquity + of articulation in the leg, and absence of a long flexor tendon to the + great toe, separating it far more widely from the foot of the Gorilla than + the latter is separated from that of Man. + </p> + <p> + But, in some of the lower apes, the hand and foot diverge still more from + those of the Gorilla, than they do in the Orang. The thumb ceases to be + opposable in the American monkeys; is reduced to a mere rudiment covered + by the skin in the Spider Monkey; and is directed forwards and armed with + a curved claw like the other digits, in the Marmosets—so that, in + all these cases, there can be no doubt but that the hand is more different + from that of the Gorilla than the Gorilla's hand is from Man's. + </p> + <p> + And as to the foot, the great toe of the Marmoset is still more + insignificant in proportion than that of the Orang—while in the + Lemurs it is very large, and as completely thumb-like and opposable as in + the Gorilla—but in these animals the second toe is often irregularly + modified, and in some species the two principal bones of the tarsus, the + 'astragalus' and the 'os calcis', are so immensely elongated as to render + the foot, so far, totally unlike that of any other mammal. + </p> + <p> + So with regard to the muscles. The short flexor of the toes of the Gorilla + differs from that of Man by the circumstance that one slip of the muscle + is attached, not to the heel bone, but to the tendons of the long flexors. + The lower Apes depart from the Gorilla by an exaggeration of the same + character, two, three, or more, slips becoming fixed to the long flexor + tendons—or by a multiplication of the slips.—Again, the + Gorilla differs slightly from Man in the mode of interlacing of the long + flexor tendons: and the lower apes differ from the Gorilla in exhibiting + yet other, sometimes very complex, arrangements of the same parts, and + occasionally in the absence of the accessory fleshy bundle. + </p> + <p> + Throughout all these modifications it must be recollected that the foot + loses no one of its essential characters. Every Monkey and Lemur exhibits + the characteristic arrangement of tarsal bones, possesses a short flexor + and short extensor muscle, and a 'peronaeus longus'. Varied as the + proportions and appearance of the organ may be, the terminal division of + the hind limb remains, in plan and principle of construction, a foot, and + never, in those respects, can be confounded with a hand. + </p> + <p> + Hardly any part of the bodily frame, then, could be found better + calculated to illustrate the truth that the structural differences between + Man and the highest Ape are of less value than those between the highest + and the lower Apes, than the hand or the foot, and yet, perhaps, there is + one organ the study of which enforces the same conclusion in a still more + striking manner—and that is the Brain. + </p> + <p> + But before entering upon the precise question of the amount of difference + between the Ape's brain and that of Man, it is necessary that we should + clearly understand what constitutes a great, and what a small difference + in cerebral structure; and we shall be best enabled to do this by a brief + study of the chief modifications which the brain exhibits in the series of + vertebrate animals. + </p> + <p> + The brain of a fish is very small, compared with the spinal cord into + which it is continued, and with the nerves which come off from it: of the + segments of which it is composed—the olfactory lobes, the cerebral + hemisphere, and the succeeding divisions—no one predominates so much + over the rest as to obscure or cover them; and the so-called optic lobes + are, frequently, the largest masses of all. In Reptiles, the mass of the + brain, relatively to the spinal cord, increases and the cerebral + hemispheres begin to predominate over the other parts; while in Birds this + predominance is still more marked. The brain of the lowest Mammals, such + as the duck-billed Platypus and the Opossums and Kangaroos, exhibits a + still more definite advance in the same direction. The cerebral + hemispheres have now so much increased in size as, more or less, to hide + the representatives of the optic lobes, which remain comparatively small, + so that the brain of a Marsupial is extremely different from that of a + Bird, Reptile, or Fish. A step higher in the scale, among the placental + Mammals, the structure of the brain acquires a vast modification—not + that it appears much altered externally, in a Rat or in a Rabbit, from + what it is in a Marsupial—nor that the proportions of its parts are + much changed, but an apparently new structure is found between the + cerebral hemispheres, connecting them together, as what is called the + 'great commissure' or 'corpus callosum.' The subject requires careful + re-investigation, but if the currently received statements are correct, + the appearance of the 'corpus callosum' in the placental mammals is the + greatest and most sudden modification exhibited by the brain in the whole + series of vertebrated animals—it is the greatest leap anywhere made + by Nature in her brain work. For the two halves of the brain being once + thus knit together, the progress of cerebral complexity is traceable + through a complete series of steps from the lowest Rodent, or Insectivore, + to Man; and that complexity consists, chiefly, in the disproportionate + development of the cerebral hemispheres and of the cerebellum, but + especially of the former, in respect to the other parts of the brain. + </p> + <p> + In the lower placental mammals, the cerebral hemispheres leave the proper + upper and posterior face of the cerebellum completely visible, when the + brain is viewed from above; but, in the higher forms, the hinder part of + each hemisphere, separated only by the tentorium (p. 281) from the + anterior face of the cerebellum, inclines backwards and downwards, and + grows out, as the so-called "posterior lobe," so as at length to overlap + and hide the cerebellum. In all Mammals, each cerebral hemisphere contains + a cavity which is termed the 'ventricle,' and as this ventricle is + prolonged, on the one hand, forwards, and on the other downwards, into the + substance of the hemisphere, it is said to have two horns or 'cornua', an + 'anterior cornu,' and a 'descending cornu.' When the posterior lobe is + well developed, a third prolongation of the ventricular cavity extends + into it, and is called the "posterior cornu." + </p> + <p> + In the lower and smaller forms of placental Mammals the surface of the + cerebral hemispheres is either smooth or evenly rounded, or exhibits a + very few grooves, which are technically termed 'sulci,' separating ridges + or 'convolutions' of the substance of the brain; and the smaller species + of all orders tend to a similar smoothness of brain. But, in the higher + orders, and especially the larger members of these orders, the grooves, or + sulci, become extremely numerous, and the intermediate convolutions + proportionately more complicated in their meanderings, until, in the + Elephant, the Porpoise, the higher Apes, and Man, the cerebral surface + appears a perfect labyrinth of tortuous foldings. + </p> + <p> + Where a posterior lobe exists and presents its customary cavity—the + posterior cornu—it commonly happens that a particular sulcus appears + upon the inner and under surface of the lobe, parallel with and beneath + the floor of the cornu—which is, as it were, arched over the roof of + the sulcus. It is as if the groove had been formed by indenting the floor + of the posterior horn from without with a blunt instrument, so that the + floor should rise as a convex eminence. Now this eminence is what has been + termed the 'Hippocampus minor;' the 'Hippocampus major' being a larger + eminence in the floor of the descending cornu. What may be the functional + importance of either of these structures we know not. + </p> + <p> + As if to demonstrate, by a striking example, the impossibility of erecting + any cerebral barrier between man and the apes, Nature has provided us, in + the latter animals, with an almost complete series of gradations from + brains little higher than that of a Rodent, to brains little lower than + that of Man. And it is a remarkable circumstance that though, so far as + our present knowledge extends, there 'is' one true structural break in the + series of forms of Simian brains, this hiatus does not lie between Man and + the man-like apes, but between the lower and the lowest Simians; or, in + other words, between the old and new world apes and monkeys, and the + Lemurs. Every Lemur which has yet been examined, in fact, has its + cerebellum partially visible from above, and its posterior lobe, with the + contained posterior cornu and hippocampus minor, more or less rudimentary. + Every Marmoset, American monkey, old-world monkey, Baboon, or Man-like + ape, on the contrary, has its cerebellum entirely hidden, posteriorly, by + the cerebral lobes, and possesses a large posterior cornu, with a + well-developed hippocampus minor. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 20.—Drawings of the internal casts of a Man's and of a + Chimpanzee's skull, of the same absolute length, and placed in + corresponding positions. 'A'. Cerebrum; 'B'. Cerebellum. The former + drawing is taken from a cast in the Museum of the Royal College of + Surgeons, the latter from the photograph of the cast of a Chimpanzee's + skull, which illustrates the paper by Mr. Marshall 'On the Brain of the + Chimpanzee' in the 'Natural History Review' for July, 1861. The sharper + definition of the lower edge of the cast of the cerebral chamber in the + Chimpanzee arises from the circumstance that the tentorium remained in + that skull and not in the Man's. The cast more accurately represents the + brain in Chimpanzee than in the Man; and the great backward projection of + the posterior lobes of the cerebrum of the former, beyond the cerebellum, + is conspicuous.) + </p> + <p> + In many of these creatures, such as the Saimiri ('Chrysothrix'), the + cerebral lobes overlap and extend much further behind the cerebellum, in + proportion, than they do in man (Figure 16)—and it is quite certain + that, in all, the cerebellum is completely covered behind, by + well-developed posterior lobes. The fact can be verified by every one who + possesses the skull of any old or new world monkey. For, inasmuch as the + brain in all mammals completely fills the cranial cavity, it is obvious + that a cast of the interior of the skull will reproduce the general form + of the brain, at any rate with such minute and, for the present purpose, + utterly unimportant differences as may result from the absence of the + enveloping membranes of the brain in the dry skull. But if such a cast be + made in plaster, and compared with a similar cast of the interior of a + human skull, it will be obvious that the cast of the cerebral chamber, + representing the cerebrum of the ape, as completely covers over and + overlaps the cast of the cerebellar chamber, representing the cerebellum, + as it does in the man (Figure 20). A careless observer, forgetting that a + soft structure like the brain loses its proper shape the moment it is + taken out of the skull, may indeed mistake the uncovered condition of the + cerebellum of an extracted and distorted brain for the natural relations + of the parts; but his error must become patent even to himself if he try + to replace the brain within the cranial chamber. To suppose that the + cerebellum of an ape is naturally uncovered behind is a miscomprehension + comparable only to that of one who should imagine that a man's lungs + always occupy but a small portion of the thoracic cavity—because + they do so when the chest is opened, and their elasticity is no longer + neutralized by the pressure of the air. + </p> + <p> + And the error is the less excusable, as it must become apparent to every + one who examines a section of the skull of any ape above a Lemur, without + taking the trouble to make a cast of it. For there is a very marked groove + in every such skull, as in the human skull—which indicates the line + of attachment of what is termed the 'tentorium'—a sort of + parchment-like shelf, or partition, which, in the recent state, is + interposed between the cerebrum and cerebellum, and prevents the former + from pressing upon the latter. (See Figure 16.) + </p> + <p> + This groove, therefore, indicates the line of separation between that part + of the cranial cavity which contains the cerebrum, and that which contains + the cerebellum; and as the brain exactly fills the cavity of the skull, it + is obvious that the relations of these two parts of the cranial cavity at + once informs us of the relations of their contents. Now in man, in all the + old-world, and in all the new-world Simiae, with one exception, when the + face is directed forwards, this line of attachment of the tentorium, or + impression for the lateral sinus, as it is technically called, is nearly + horizontal, and the cerebral chamber invariably overlaps or projects + behind the cerebellar chamber. In the Howler Monkey or 'Mycetes' (see + Figure 16), the line passes obliquely upwards and backwards, and the + cerebral overlap is almost nil; while in the Lemurs, as in the lower + mammals, the line is much more inclined in the same direction, and the + cerebellar chamber projects considerably beyond the cerebral. + </p> + <p> + When the gravest errors respecting points so easily settled as this + question respecting the posterior lobes can be authoritatively propounded, + it is no wonder that matters of observation, of no very complex character, + but still requiring a certain amount of care, should have fared worse. Any + one who cannot see the posterior lobe in an ape's brain is not likely to + give a very valuable opinion respecting the posterior cornu or the + hippocampus minor. If a man cannot see a church, it is preposterous to + take his opinion about its altar-piece or painted window—so that I + do not feel bound to enter upon any discussion of these points, but + content myself with assuring the reader that the posterior cornu and the + hippocampus minor, have now been seen—usually, at least as well + developed as in man, and often better—not only in the Chimpanzee, + the Orang, and the Gibbon, but in all the genera of the old world baboons + and monkeys, and in most of the new world forms, including the Marmosets.* + ([Footnote] *See the note at the end of this essay for a succinct history + of the controversy to which allusion is here made.) + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 21.—Drawings of the cerebral hemispheres of a Man and of a + Chimpanzee of the same length, in order to show the relative proportions + of the parts: the former taken from a specimen, which Mr. Flower, + Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, was good + enough to dissect for me; the latter, from the photograph of a similarly + dissected Chimpanzee's brain, given in Mr. Marshall's paper above referred + to. 'a', posterior lobe; 'b', lateral ventricle; 'c', posterior cornu; + 'x', the hippocampus minor.) + </p> + <p> + In fact, all the abundant and trustworthy evidence (consisting of the + results of careful investigations directed to the determination of these + very questions, by skilled anatomists) which we now possess, leads to the + conviction that, so far from the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and + the hippocampus minor, being structures peculiar to and characteristic of + man, as they have been over and over again asserted to be, even after the + publication of the clearest demonstration of the reverse, it is precisely + these structures which are the most marked cerebral characters common to + man with the apes. They are among the most distinctly Simian peculiarities + which the human organism exhibits. + </p> + <p> + As to the convolutions, the brains of the apes exhibit every stage of + progress, from the almost smooth brain of the Marmoset, to the Orang and + the Chimpanzee, which fall but little below Man. And it is most remarkable + that, as soon as all the principal sulci appear, the pattern according to + which they are arranged is identical with that of the corresponding sulci + of man. The surface of the brain of a monkey exhibits a sort of skeleton + map of man's, and in the man-like apes the details become more and more + filled in, until it is only in minor characters, such as the greater + excavation of the anterior lobes, the constant presence of fissures + usually absent in man, and the different disposition and proportions of + some convolutions, that the Chimpanzee's or the Orang's brain can be + structurally distinguished from Man's. + </p> + <p> + So far as cerebral structure goes, therefore, it is clear that Man differs + less from the Chimpanzee or the Orang, than these do even from the + Monkeys, and that the difference between the brains of the Chimpanzee and + of Man is almost insignificant, when compared with that between the + Chimpanzee brain and that of a Lemur. + </p> + <p> + It must not be overlooked, however, that there is a very striking + difference in absolute mass and weight between the lowest human brain and + that of the highest ape—a difference which is all the more + remarkable when we recollect that a full grown Gorilla is probably pretty + nearly twice as heavy as a Bosjes man, or as many an European woman. It + may be doubted whether a healthy human adult brain ever weighed less than + thirty-one or two ounces, or that the heaviest Gorilla brain has exceeded + twenty ounces. + </p> + <p> + This is a very noteworthy circumstance, and doubtless will one day help to + furnish an explanation of the great gulf which intervenes between the + lowest man and the highest ape in intellectual power;* but it has little + systematic value, for the simple reason that, as may be concluded from + what has been already said respecting cranial capacity, the difference in + weight of brain between the highest and the lowest men is far greater, + both relatively and absolutely, than that between the lowest man and the + highest ape. The latter, as has been seen, is represented by, say twelve + ounces of cerebral substance absolutely, or by 32:20 relatively; but as + the largest recorded human brain weighed between 65 and 66 ounces, the + former difference is represented by more than 33 ounces absolutely, or by + 65:32 relatively. Regarded systematically, the cerebral differences of man + and apes are not of more than generic value; his Family distinction + resting chiefly on his dentition, his pelvis, and his lower limbs. + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] * I say 'help' to furnish: for I by no means believe that it + was any original difference of cerebral quality, or quantity which caused + that divergence between the human and the pithecoid stirpes, which has + ended in the present enormous gulf between them. It is no doubt perfectly + true, in a certain sense, that all difference of function is a result of + difference of structure; or, in other words, of difference in the + combination of the primary molecular forces of living substance; and, + starting from this undeniable axiom, objectors occasionally, and with much + seeming plausibility, argue that the vast intellectual chasm between the + Ape and Man implies a corresponding structural chasm in the organs of the + intellectual functions; so that, it is said, the non-discovery of such + vast differences proves, not that they are absent, but that Science is + incompetent to detect them. A very little consideration, however, will, I + think, show the fallacy of this reasoning. Its validity hangs upon the + assumption, that intellectual power depends altogether on the brain—whereas + the brain is only one condition out of many on which intellectual + manifestations depend; the others being, chiefly, the organs of the senses + and the motor apparatuses, especially those which are concerned in + prehension and in the production of articulate speech. + </p> + <p> + A man born dumb, notwithstanding his great cerebral mass and his + inheritance of strong intellectual instincts, would be capable of few + higher intellectual manifestations than an Orang or a Chimpanzee, if he + were confined to the society of dumb associates. And yet there might not + be the slightest discernible difference between his brain and that of a + highly intelligent and cultivated person. The dumbness might be the result + of a defective structure of the mouth, or of the tongue, or a mere + defective innervation of these parts; or it might result from congenital + deafness, caused by some minute defect of the internal ear, which only a + careful anatomist could discover. + </p> + <p> + The argument, that because there is an immense difference between a Man's + intelligence and an Ape's, therefore, there must be an equally immense + difference between their brains, appears to me to be about as well based + as the reasoning by which one should endeavour to prove that, because + there is a "great gulf" between a watch that keeps accurate time and + another that will not go at all, there is therefore a great structural + hiatus between the two watches. A hair in the balance-wheel, a little rust + on a pinion, a bend in a tooth of the escapement, a something so slight + that only the practised eye of the watchmaker can discover it, may be the + source of all the difference. + </p> + <p> + And believing, as I do, with Cuvier, that the possession of articulate + speech is the grand distinctive character of man (whether it be absolutely + peculiar to him or not), I find it very easy to comprehend, that some + equally inconspicuous structural difference may have been the primary + cause of the immeasurable and practically infinite divergence of the Human + from the Simian Stirps.) + </p> + <p> + Thus, whatever system of organs be studied, the comparison of their + modifications in the ape series leads to one and the same result—that + the structural differences which separate Man from the Gorilla and the + Chimpanzee are not so great as those which separate the Gorilla from the + lower apes. + </p> + <p> + But in enunciating this important truth I must guard myself against a form + of misunderstanding, which is very prevalent. I find, in fact, that those + who endeavour to teach what nature so clearly shows us in this matter, are + liable to have their opinions misrepresented and their phraseology + garbled, until they seem to say that the structural differences between + man and even the highest apes are small and insignificant. Let me take + this opportunity then of distinctly asserting, on the contrary, that they + are great and significant; that every bone of a Gorilla bears marks by + which it might be distinguished from the corresponding bone of a Man; and + that, in the present creation, at any rate, no intermediate link bridges + over the gap between 'Homo' and 'Troglodytes'. + </p> + <p> + It would be no less wrong than absurd to deny the existence of this chasm; + but it is at least equally wrong and absurd to exaggerate its magnitude, + and, resting on the admitted fact of its existence, to refuse to inquire + whether it is wide or narrow. Remember, if you will, that there is no + existing link between Man and the Gorilla, but do not forget that there is + a no less sharp line of demarcation, a no less complete absence of any + transitional form, between the Gorilla and the Orang, or the Orang and the + Gibbon. I say, not less sharp, though it is somewhat narrower. The + structural differences between Man and the Man-like apes certainly justify + our regarding him as constituting a family apart from them; though, + inasmuch as he differs less from them than they do from other families of + the same order, there can be no justification for placing him in a + distinct order. + </p> + <p> + And thus the sagacious foresight of the great lawgiver of systematic + zoology, Linnaeus, becomes justified, and a century of anatomical research + brings us back to his conclusion, that man is a member of the same order + (for which the Linnaean term PRIMATES ought to be retained) as the Apes + and Lemurs. This order is now divisible into seven families, of about + equal systematic value: the first, the ANTHROPINI, contains Man alone; the + second, the CATARHINI, embraces the old-world apes; the third, the + PLATYRHINI, all new-world apes, except the Marmosets; the fourth, the + ARCTOPITHECINI, contains the Marmosets; the fifth, the LEMURINI, the + Lemurs—from which 'Cheiromys' should probably be excluded to form a + sixth distinct family, the CHEIROMYINI; while the seventh, the + GALEOPITHECINI, contains only the flying Lemur 'Galeopithecus',—a + strange form which almost touches on the Bats, as the 'Cheiromys' puts on + a rodent clothing, and the Lemurs simulate Insectivora. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of + gradations as this—leading us insensibly from the crown and summit + of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a step, + as it seems, to the lowest, smallest, and least intelligent of the + placental Mammalia. It is as if nature herself had foreseen the arrogance + of man, and with Roman severity had provided that his intellect, by its + very triumphs, should call into prominence the slaves, admonishing the + conqueror that he is but dust. + </p> + <p> + These are the chief facts, this the immediate conclusion from them to + which I adverted in the commencement of this Essay. The facts, I believe, + cannot be disputed; and if so, the conclusion appears to me to be + inevitable. + </p> + <p> + But if Man be separated by no greater structural barrier from the brutes + than they are from one another—then it seems to follow that if any + process of physical causation can be discovered by which the genera and + families of ordinary animals have been produced, that process of causation + is amply sufficient to account for the origin of Man. In other words, if + it could be shown that the Marmosets, for example, have arisen by gradual + modification of the ordinary Platyrhini, or that both Marmosets and + Platyrhini are modified ramifications of a primitive stock—then, + there would be no rational ground for doubting that man might have + originated, in the one case, by the gradual modification of a man-like + ape; or, in the other case, as a ramification of the same primitive stock + as those apes. + </p> + <p> + At the present moment, but one such process of physical causation has any + evidence in its favour; or, in other words, there is but one hypothesis + regarding the origin of species of animals in general which has any + scientific existence—that propounded by Mr. Darwin. For Lamarck, + sagacious as many of his views were, mingled them with so much that was + crude and even absurd, as to neutralize the benefit which his originality + might have effected, had he been a more sober and cautious thinker; and + though I have heard of the announcement of a formula touching "the + ordained continuous becoming of organic forms," it is obvious that it is + the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible, and that a + qua-qua-versal proposition of this kind, which may be read backwards, or + forwards, or sideways, with exactly the same amount of signification, does + not really exist, though it may seem to do so. + </p> + <p> + At the present moment, therefore, the question of the relation of man to + the lower animals resolves itself, in the end, into the larger question of + the tenability, or untenability of Mr. Darwin's views. But here we enter + upon difficult ground, and it behoves us to define our exact position with + the greatest care. + </p> + <p> + It cannot be doubted, I think, that Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily proved + that what he terms selection, or selective modification, must occur, and + does occur, in nature; and he has also proved to superfluity that such + selection is competent to produce forms as distinct, structurally, as some + genera even are. If the animated world presented us with none but + structural differences, I should have no hesitation in saying that Mr. + Darwin had demonstrated the existence of a true physical cause, amply + competent to account for the origin of living species, and of man among + the rest. + </p> + <p> + But, in addition to their structural distinctions, the species of animals + and plants, or at least a great number of them, exhibit physiological + characters—what are known as distinct species, structurally, being + for the most part either altogether incompetent to breed one with another; + or if they breed, the resulting mule, or hybrid, is unable to perpetuate + its race with another hybrid of the same kind. + </p> + <p> + A true physical cause is, however, admitted to be such only on one + condition—that it shall account for all the phenomena which come + within the range of its operation. If it is inconsistent with any one + phenomenon, it must be rejected; if it fails to explain any one + phenomenon, it is so far weak, so far to be suspected; though it may have + a perfect right to claim provisional acceptance. + </p> + <p> + Now, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis is not, so far as I am aware, inconsistent + with any known biological fact; on the contrary, if admitted, the facts of + Development, of Comparative Anatomy, of Geographical Distribution, and of + Palaeontology, become connected together, and exhibit a meaning such as + they never possessed before; and I, for one, am fully convinced, that if + not precisely true, that hypothesis is as near an approximation to the + truth as, for example, the Copernican hypothesis was to the true theory of + the planetary motions. + </p> + <p> + But, for all this, our acceptance of the Darwinian hypothesis must be + provisional so long as one link in the chain of evidence is wanting; and + so long as all the animals and plants certainly produced by selective + breeding from a common stock are fertile, and their progeny are fertile + with one another, that link will be wanting. For, so long, selective + breeding will not be proved to be competent to do all that is required of + it to produce natural species. + </p> + <p> + I have put this conclusion as strongly as possible before the reader, + because the last position in which I wish to find myself is that of an + advocate for Mr. Darwin's, or any other views—if by an advocate is + meant one whose business it is to smooth over real difficulties, and to + persuade where he cannot convince. + </p> + <p> + In justice to Mr. Darwin, however, it must be admitted that the conditions + of fertility and sterility are very ill understood, and that every day's + advance in knowledge leads us to regard the hiatus in his evidence as of + less and less importance, when set against the multitude of facts which + harmonize with, or receive an explanation from, his doctrines. + </p> + <p> + I adopt Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, therefore, subject to the production of + proof that physiological species may be produced by selective breeding; + just as a physical philosopher may accept the undulatory theory of light, + subject to the proof of the existence of the hypothetical ether; or as the + chemist adopts the atomic theory, subject to the proof of the existence of + atoms; and for exactly the same reasons, namely, that it has an immense + amount of prima facie probability: that it is the only means at present + within reach of reducing the chaos of observed facts to order; and lastly, + that it is the most powerful instrument of investigation which has been + presented to naturalists since the invention of the natural system of + classification, and the commencement of the systematic study of + embryology. + </p> + <p> + But even leaving Mr. Darwin's views aside, the whole analogy of natural + operations furnishes so complete and crushing an argument against the + intervention of any but what are termed secondary causes, in the + production of all the phenomena of the universe; that, in view of the + intimate relations between Man and the rest of the living world, and + between the forces exerted by the latter and all other forces, I can see + no excuse for doubting that all are co-ordinated terms of Nature's great + progression, from the formless to the formed—from the inorganic to + the organic—from blind force to conscious intellect and will. + </p> + <p> + Science has fulfilled her function when she has ascertained and enunciated + truth; and were these pages addressed to men of science only, I should now + close this essay, knowing that my colleagues have learned to respect + nothing but evidence, and to believe that their highest duty lies in + submitting to it, however it may jar against their inclinations. + </p> + <p> + But desiring, as I do, to reach the wider circle of the intelligent + public, it would be unworthy cowardice were I to ignore the repugnance + with which the majority of my readers are likely to meet the conclusions + to which the most careful and conscientious study I have been able to give + to this matter, has led me. + </p> + <p> + On all sides I shall hear the cry—"We are men and women, not a mere + better sort of apes, a little longer in the leg, more compact in the foot, + and bigger in brain than your brutal Chimpanzees and Gorillas. The power + of knowledge—the conscience of good and evil—the pitiful + tenderness of human affections, raise us out of all real fellowship with + the brutes, however closely they may seem to approximate us." + </p> + <p> + To this I can only reply that the exclamation would be most just and would + have my own entire sympathy, if it were only relevant. But, it is not I + who seek to base Man's dignity upon his great toe, or insinuate that we + are lost if an Ape has a hippocampus minor. On the contrary, I have done + my best to sweep away this vanity. I have endeavoured to show that no + absolute structural line of demarcation, wider than that between the + animals which immediately succeed us in the scale, can be drawn between + the animal world and ourselves; and I may add the expression of my belief + that the attempt to draw a psychical distinction is equally futile, and + that even the highest faculties of feeling and of intellect begin to + germinate in lower forms of life.* At the same time, no one is more + strongly convinced than I am of the vastness of the gulf between civilized + man and the brutes; or is more certain that whether FROM them or not, he + is assuredly not OF them. No one is less disposed to think lightly of the + present dignity, or despairingly of the future hopes, of the only + consciously intelligent denizen of this world. + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] * It is so rare a pleasure for me to find Professor Owen's + opinions in entire accordance with my own, that I cannot forbear from + quoting a paragraph which appeared in his Essay "On the Characters, etc., + of the Class Mammalia," in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean + Society of London' for 1857, but is unaccountably omitted in the "Reade + Lecture" delivered before the University of Cambridge two years later, + which is otherwise nearly a reprint of the paper in question. Prof. Owen + writes: + </p> + <p> + "Not being able to appreciate or conceive of the distinction between the + psychical phenomena of a Chimpanzee, and of a Boschisman or of an Aztec, + with arrested brain growth, as being of a nature so essential as to + preclude a comparison between them, or as being other than a difference of + degree, I cannot shut my eyes to the significance of that all-pervading + similitude of structure—every tooth, every bone, strictly homologous—which + makes the determination of the difference between 'Homo' and 'Pithecus' + the anatomist's difficulty." + </p> + <p> + Surely it is a little singular, that the 'anatomist,' who finds it + 'difficult' to 'determine the difference' between 'Homo' and 'Pithecus', + should yet range them on anatomical grounds, in distinct sub-classes!) + </p> + <p> + We are indeed told by those who assume authority in these matters, that + the two sets of opinions are incompatible, and that the belief in the + unity of origin of man and brutes involves the brutalization and + degradation of the former. But is this really so? Could not a sensible + child confute by obvious arguments, the shallow rhetoricians who would + force this conclusion upon us? Is it, indeed, true, that the Poet, or the + Philosopher, or the Artist whose genius is the glory of his age, is + degraded from his high estate by the undoubted historical probability, not + to say certainty, that he is the direct descendant of some naked and + bestial savage, whose intelligence was just sufficient to make him a + little more cunning than the Fox, and by so much more dangerous than the + Tiger? Or is he bound to howl and grovel on all fours because of the + wholly unquestionable fact, that he was once an egg, which no ordinary + power of discrimination could distinguish from that of a Dog? Or is the + philanthropist or the saint to give up his endeavours to lead a noble + life, because the simplest study of man's nature reveals, at its + foundations, all the selfish passions and fierce appetites of the merest + quadruped? Is mother-love vile because a hen shows it, or fidelity base + because dogs possess it? + </p> + <p> + The common sense of the mass of mankind will answer these questions + without a moment's hesitation. Healthy humanity, finding itself hard + pressed to escape from real sin and degradation, will leave the brooding + over speculative pollution to the cynics and the 'righteous overmuch' who, + disagreeing in everything else, unite in blind insensibility to the + nobleness of the visible world, and in inability to appreciate the + grandeur of the place Man occupies therein. + </p> + <p> + Nay more, thoughtful men, once escaped from the blinding influences of + traditional prejudice, will find in the lowly stock whence Man has sprung, + the best evidence of the splendour of his capacities; and will discern in + his long progress through the Past, a reasonable ground of faith in his + attainment of a nobler Future. + </p> + <p> + They will remember that in comparing civilised man with the animal world, + one is as the Alpine traveller, who sees the mountains soaring into the + sky and can hardly discern where the deep shadowed crags and roseate peaks + end, and where the clouds of heaven begin. Surely the awe-struck voyager + may be excused if, at first, he refuses to believe the geologist, who + tells him that these glorious masses are, after all, the hardened mud of + primeval seas, or the cooled slag of subterranean furnaces—of one + substance with the dullest clay, but raised by inward forces to that place + of proud and seemingly inaccessible glory. + </p> + <p> + But the geologist is right; and due reflection on his teachings, instead + of diminishing our reverence and our wonder, adds all the force of + intellectual sublimity to the mere aesthetic intuition of the uninstructed + beholder. + </p> + <p> + And after passion and prejudice have died away, the same result will + attend the teachings of the naturalist respecting that great Alps and + Andes of the living world—Man. Our reverence for the nobility of + manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that Man is, in substance + and in structure, one with the brutes; for, he alone possesses the + marvellous endowment of intelligible and rational speech, whereby, in the + secular period of his existence, he has slowly accumulated and organized + the experience which is almost wholly lost with the cessation of every + individual life in other animals; so that now he stands raised upon it as + on a mountain top, far above the level of his humble fellows, and + transfigured from his grosser nature by reflecting, here and there, a ray + from the infinite source of truth. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE CEREBRAL STRUCTURE OF + MAN AND THE APES. + </h2> + <p> + Up to the year 1857 all anatomists of authority, who had occupied + themselves with the cerebral structure of the Apes—Cuvier, + Tiedemann, Sandifort, Vrolik, Isidore G. St. Hilaire, Schroeder van der + Kolk, Gratiolet—were agreed that the brain of the Apes possesses a + POSTERIOR LOBE. + </p> + <p> + Tiedemann, in 1825, figured and acknowledged in the text of his 'Icones' + the existence of the POSTERIOR CORNU of the lateral ventricle in the Apes, + not only under the title of 'Scrobiculus parvus loco cornu posterioris'—a + fact which has been paraded—but as 'cornu posterius' ('Icones', p. + 54), a circumstance which has been, as sedulously, kept in the background. + </p> + <p> + Cuvier ('Lecons', T. iii. p. 103) says, "the anterior or lateral + ventricles possess a digital cavity (posterior cornu) only in Man and the + Apes...its presence depends on that of the posterior lobes." + </p> + <p> + Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, and Gratiolet, had also figured and + described the posterior cornu in various Apes. As to the HIPPOCAMPUS MINOR + Tiedemann had erroneously asserted its absence in the Apes; but Schroeder + van der Kolk and Vrolik had pointed out the existence of what they + considered a rudimentary one in the Chimpanzee, and Gratiolet had + expressly affirmed its existence in these animals. Such was the state of + our information on these subjects in the year 1856. + </p> + <p> + In the year 1857, however, Professor Owen, either in ignorance of these + well-known facts or else unjustifiably suppressing them, submitted to the + Linnaean Society a paper "On the Characters, Principles of Division, and + Primary Groups of the Class Mammalia," which was printed in the Society's + Journal, and contains the following passage:—"In Man, the brain + presents an ascensive step in development, higher and more strongly marked + than that by which the preceding sub-class was distinguished from the one + below it. Not only do the cerebral hemispheres overlap and the olfactory + lobes and cerebellum, but they extend in advance of the one and further + back than the other. The posterior development is so marked, that + anatomists have assigned to that part the character of a third lobe; 'it + is peculiar to the genus Homo, and equally peculiar is the posterior horn + of the lateral ventricle and the 'hippocampus minor,' which characterise + the hind lobe of each hemisphere'."—'Journal of the Proceedings of + the Linnaean Society, Vol. ii. p. 19. + </p> + <p> + As the essay in which this passage stands had no less ambitious an aim + than the remodelling of the classification of the Mammalia, its author + might be supposed to have written under a sense of peculiar + responsibility, and to have tested, with especial care, the statements he + ventured to promulgate. And even if this be expecting too much, hastiness, + or want of opportunity for due deliberation, cannot now be pleaded in + extenuation of any shortcomings; for the propositions cited were repeated + two years afterwards in the Reade Lecture, delivered before so grave a + body as the University of Cambridge, in 1859. + </p> + <p> + When the assertions, which I have italicised in the above extract, first + came under my notice, I was not a little astonished at so flat a + contradiction of the doctrines current among well-indormed anatomists; + but, not unnaturally imagining that the deliberate statements of a + responsible person must have some foundation in fact, I deemed it my duty + to investigate the subject anew before the time at which it would be my + business to lecture thereupon came round. The result of my inquiries was + to prove that Mr. Owen's three assertions, that "the third lobe, the + posterior horn of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus minor," are + "peculiar to the genus 'Homo'," are contrary to the plainest facts. I + communicated this conclusion to the students of my class; and then, having + no desire to embark in a controversy which could not redound to the honour + of British science, whatever its issue, I turned to more congenial + occupations. + </p> + <p> + The time speedily arrived, however, when a persistence in this reticence + would have involved me in an unworthy paltering with truth. + </p> + <p> + At the meeting of the British Association at Oxford, in 1860, Professor + Owen repeated these assertions in my presence, and, of course, I + immediately gave them a direct and unqualified contradiction, pledging + myself to justify that unusual procedure elsewhere. I redeemed that pledge + by publishing, in the January number of the 'Natural History Review' for + 1861, an article wherein the truth of the three following propositions was + fully demonstrated (l. c. p. 71):— + </p> + <p> + "1. That the third lobe is neither peculiar to, nor characteristic of, + man, seeing that it exists in all the higher quadrumana." + </p> + <p> + "2. That the posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle is neither peculiar + to, nor characteristic of, man, inasmuch as it also exists in the higher + quadrumana." + </p> + <p> + "3. That the 'hippocampus minor' is neither peculiar to, nor + characteristic of, man, as it is found in certain of the higher + quadrumana." + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, this paper contains the following paragraph (p. 76): + </p> + <p> + "And lastly, Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik (op. cit. p. 271), though + they particularly note that 'the lateral ventricle is distinguished from + that of Man by the very defective proportions of the posterior cornu, + wherein only a stripe is visible as an indication of the hippocampus + minor;' yet the Figure 4, in their second Plate, shows that this posterior + cornu is a perfectly distinct and unmistakeable structure, quite as large + as it often is in Man. It is the more remarkable that Professor Owen + should have overlooked the explicit statement and figure of these authors, + as it is quite obvious, on comparison of the figures, that his woodcut of + the brain of a Chimpanzee (l. c. p. 19) is a reduced copy of the second + figure of Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's first Plate. + </p> + <p> + "As M. Gratiolet (l. c. p. 18), however is careful to remark, + 'unfortunately the brain which they have taken as a model was greatly + altered (profondement affaisse), whence the general form of the brain is + given in these plates in a manner which is altogether incorrect.' Indeed, + it is perfectly obvious, from a comparison of a section of the skull of + the Chimpanzee with these figures, that such is the case; and it is + greatly to be regretted that so inadequate a figure should have been taken + as a typical representation of the Chimpanzee's brain." + </p> + <p> + From this time forth, the untenability of his position might have been as + apparent to Professor Owen as it was to every one else; but, so far from + retracting the grave errors into which he had fallen, Professor Owen has + persisted in and reiterated them; first, in a lecture delivered before the + Royal Institution on the 19th of March, 1861, which is admitted to have + been accurately reproduced in the 'Athenaeum' for the 23rd of the same + month, in a letter addressed by Professor Owen to that journal on the 30th + of March. The 'Athenaeum report was accompanied by a diagram purporting to + represent a Gorilla's brain, but in reality so extraordinary a + misrepresentation, that Professor Owen substantially, though not + explicitly, withdraws it in the letter in question. In amending this + error, however, Professor Owen fell into another of much graver import, as + his communication concludes with the following paragraph: "For the true + proportion in which the cerebrum covers the cerebellum in the highest + Apes, reference should be made to the figure of the undissected brain of + the Chimpanzee in my 'Reade's Lecture on the Classification, etc., of the + Mammalia', p. 25, Figure 7, 8 vo. 1859." + </p> + <p> + It would not be credible, if it were not unfortunately true, that this + figure, to which the trusting public is referred, without a word of + qualification, "for the true proportion in which the cerebrum covers the + cerebellum in the highest Apes," is exactly that unacknowledged copy of + Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's figure whose utter inaccuracy had been + pointed out years before by Gratiolet, and had been brought to Professor + Owen's knowledge by myself in the passage of my article in the 'Natural + History Review' above quoted. + </p> + <p> + I drew public attention to this circumstance again in my reply to + Professor Owen, published in the 'Athenaeum' for April 13th, 1861; but the + exploded figure was reproduced once more by Professor Owen, without the + slightest allusion to its inaccuracy, in the 'Annals of Natural History' + for June 1861! + </p> + <p> + This proved too much for the patience of the original authors of the + figure, Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, who, in a note + addressed to the Academy of Amsterdam, of which they were members, + declared themselves to be, though decided opponents of all forms of the + doctrine of progressive development, above all things, lovers of truth: + and that, therefore, at whatever risk of seeming to lend support to views + which they disliked, they felt it their duty to take the first opportunity + of publicly repudiating Professor Owen's misuse of their authority. + </p> + <p> + In this note they frankly admitted the justice of the criticisms of M. + Gratiolet, quoted above, and they illustrated, by new and careful figures, + the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus minor of the + Orang. Furthermore, having demonstrated the parts, at one of the sittings + of the Academy, they add, "la presence des parties contestees y a ete + universellement reconnue par les anatomistes presents a la seance. Le seul + doute qui soit reste se rapporte au pes Hippocampi minor...A l'etat frais + l'indice du petit pied d'Hippocampe etait plus prononce que maintenant." + </p> + <p> + Professor Owen repeated his erroneous assertions at the meeting of the + British Association in 1861, and again, without any obvious necessity, and + without adducing a single new fact or new argument, or being able in any + way to meet the crushing evidence from original dissections of numerous + Apes' brains, which had in the meanwhile been brought forward by Prof. + Rolleston,* ([Footnote] *On the Affinities of the Brain of the Orang. + 'Nat. Hist. Review', April, 1861.) F.R.S., Mr. Marshall,* ([Footnote] *On + the Brain of a young Chimpanzee. 'Ibid.', July, 1861.) F.R.S., Mr. + Flower,* ([Footnote] *On the Posterior lobes of the Cerebrum of the + Quadrumana. 'Philosophical Transactions', 1862.) Mr. Turner,* ([Footnote] + *On the anatomical Relations of the Surfaces of the Tentorium to the + Cerebrum and Cerebellum in Man and the lower Mammals. 'Proceedings of the + Royal Society of Edinburgh', March, 1862.) and myself,* ([Footnote] *On + the Brain of Ateles. 'Proceedings of Zoological Society', 1861.) revived + the subject at the Cambridge meeting of the same body in 1862. Not content + with the tolerably vigorous repudiation which these unprecedented + proceedings met with in Section D, Professor Owen sanctioned the + publication of a version of his own statements, accompanied by a strange + misrepresentation of mine (as may be seen by comparison of the 'Times' + report of the discussion), in the 'Medical Times' for October 11th, 1862. + I subjoin the conclusion of my reply in the same journal for October 25th. + </p> + <p> + "If this were a question of opinion, or a question of interpretation of + parts or of terms,—were it even a question of observation in which + the testimony of my own senses alone was pitted against that of another + person, I should adopt a very different tone in discussing this matter. I + should, in all humility, admit the likelihood of having myself erred in + judgment, failed in knowledge, or been blinded by prejudice. + </p> + <p> + "But no one pretends now, that the controversy is one of the terms or of + opinions. Novel and devoid of authority as some of Professor Owen's + proposed definitions may have been, they might be accepted without + changing the great features of the case. Hence though special + investigations into these matters have been undertaken during the last two + years by Dr. Allen Thomson, by Dr. Rolleston, by Mr. Marshall, and by Mr. + Flower, all, as you are aware, anatomists of repute in this country, and + by Professors Schroeder Van der Kolk, and Vrolik (whom Professor Owen + incautiously tried to press into his own service) on the Continent, all + these able and conscientious observers have with one accord testified to + the accuracy of my statements, and to the utter baselessness of the + assertions of Professor Owen. Even the venerable Rudolph Wagner, whom no + man will accuse of progressionist proclivities, has raised his voice on + the same side; while not a single anatomist, great or small, has supported + Professor Owen. + </p> + <p> + "Now, I do not mean to suggest that scientific differences should be + settled by universal suffrage, but I do conceive that solid proofs must be + met by something more than empty and unsupported assertions. Yet during + the two years through which this preposterous controversy has dragged its + weary length, Professor Owen has not ventured to bring forward a single + preparation in support of his often-repeated assertions. + </p> + <p> + "The case stands thus, therefore:—Not only are the statements made + by me in consonance with the doctrines of the best older authorities, and + with those of all recent investigators, but I am quite ready to + demonstrate them on the first monkey that comes to hand; while Professor + Owen's assertions are not only in diametrical opposition to both old and + new authorities, but he has not produced, and, I will add, cannot produce, + a single preparation which justifies them." + </p> + <p> + I now leave this subject, for the present.—For the credit of my + calling I should be glad to be, hereafter, for ever silent upon it. But, + unfortunately, this is a matter upon which, after all that has occurred, + no mistake or confusion of terms is possible—and in affirming that + the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus minor exist + in certain Apes, I am stating either that which is true, or that which I + must know to be false. The question has thus become one of personal + veracity. For myself, I will accept no other issue than this, grave as it + is, to the present controversy. + </p> + <p> + End of On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. + </h2> + <p> + I have endeavoured to show, in the preceding Essay, that the ANTHROPINI, + or Man Family, form a very well defined group of the Primates, between + which and the immediately following Family, the CATARHINI, there is, in + the existing world, the same entire absence of any transitional form or + connecting link, as between the CATARHINI and PLATYRHINI. + </p> + <p> + It is a commonly received doctrine, however, that the structural intervals + between the various existing modifications of organic beings may be + diminished, or even obliterated, if we take into account the long and + varied succession of animals and plants which have preceded those now + living and which are known to us only by their fossilized remains. How far + this doctrine is well based, how far, on the other hand, as our knowledge + at present stands, it is an overstatement of the real facts of the case, + and an exaggeration of the conclusions fairly deducible from them, are + points of grave importance, but into the discussion of which I do not, at + present, propose to enter. It is enough that such a view of the relations + of extinct to living beings has been propounded, to lead us to inquire, + with anxiety, how far the recent discoveries of human remains in a fossil + state bear out, or oppose, that view. + </p> + <p> + I shall confine myself, in discussing this question, to those fragmentary + Human skulls from the caves of Engis in the valley of the Meuse, in + Belgium, and of the Neanderthal near Dusseldorf, the geological relations + of which have been examined with so much care by Sir Charles Lyell; upon + whose high authority I shall take it for granted, that the Engis skull + belonged to a contemporary of the Mammoth ('Elephas primigenius') and of + the woolly Rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros tichorhinus'), with the bones of which + it was found associated; and that the Neanderthal skull is of great, + though uncertain, antiquity. Whatever be the geological age of the latter + skull, I conceive it is quite safe (on the ordinary principles of + paleontological reasoning) to assume that the former takes us to, at + least, the further side of the vague biological limit, which separates the + present geological epoch from that which immediately preceded it. And + there can be no doubt that the physical geography of Europe has changed + wonderfully, since the bones of Men and Mammoths, Hyaenas and Rhinoceroses + were washed pell-mell into the cave of Engis. + </p> + <p> + The skull from the cave of Engis was originally discovered by Professor + Schmerling, and was described by him, together with other human remains + disinterred at the same time, in his valuable work, 'Recherches sur les + ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de la Province de Liege', + published in 1833 (p. 59, et seq.), from which the following paragraphs + are extracted, the precise expressions of the author being, as far as + possible, preserved. + </p> + <p> + "In the first place, I must remark that these human remains, which are in + my possession, are characterized like thousands of bones which I have + lately been disinterring, by the extent of the decomposition which they + have undergone, which is precisely the same as that of the extinct + species: all, with a few exceptions, are broken; some few are rounded, as + is frequently found to be the case in fossil remains of other species. The + fractures are vertical or oblique; none of them are eroded; their colour + does not differ from that of other fossil bones, and varies from whitish + yellow to blackish. All are lighter than recent bones, with the exception + of those which have a calcareous incrustation, and the cavities of which + are filled with such matter. + </p> + <p> + "The cranium which I have caused to be figured, Plate I., Figs. 1, 2, is + that of an old person. The sutures are beginning to be effaced: all the + facial bones are wanting, and of the temporal bones only a fragment of + that of the right side is preserved. + </p> + <p> + "The face and the base of the cranium had been detached before the skull + was deposited in the cave, for we were unable to find those parts, though + the whole cavern was regularly searched. The cranium was met with at a + depth of a metre and a half (five feet nearly), hidden under an osseous + breccia, composed of the remains of small animals, and containing one + rhinoceros tusk, with several teeth of horses and of ruminants. This + breccia, which has been spoken of above (p. 30), was a metre (3 1/4 feet + about) wide, and rose to the height of a metre and a half above the floor + of the cavern, to the walls of which it adhered strongly. + </p> + <p> + "The earth which contained this human skull exhibited no trace of + disturbance: teeth of rhinoceros, horse, hyaena, and bear, surrounded it + on all sides. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 22.—The skull from the cave of Engis—viewed from the + right side. 'a' glabella, 'b' occipital protuberance, ('a' to 'b' + glabello-occipital line), 'c' auditory foramen.) + </p> + <p> + "The famous Blumenbach* has directed attention to the differences + presented by the form and the dimensions of human crania of different + races. This important work would have assisted us greatly, if the face, a + part essential for the determination of race, with more or less accuracy, + had not been wanting in our fossil cranium. + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] *Decas Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium + illustrata. Gottingae, 1790-1820. + </p> + <p> + "We are convinced that even if the skull had been complete, it would not + have been possible to pronounce, with certainty, upon a single specimen; + for individual variations are so numerous in the crania of one and the + same race, that one cannot, without laying oneself open to large chances + of error, draw any inference from a single fragment of a cranium to the + general form of the head to which it belonged. + </p> + <p> + "Nevertheless, in order to neglect no point respecting the form of this + fossil skull, we may observe that, from the first, the elongated and + narrow form of the forehead attracted our attention. + </p> + <p> + "In fact, the slight elevation of the frontal, its narrowness, and the + form of the orbit, approximate it more nearly to the cranium of an + Ethiopian than to that of an European: the elongated form and the produced + occiput are also characters which we believe to be observable in our + fossil cranium; but to remove all doubt upon that subject I have caused + the contours of the cranium of an European and of an Ethiopian to be drawn + and the foreheads represented. Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2, and, in the same + plate, Figs. 3 and 4, will render the differences easily distinguishable; + and a single glance at the figures will be more instructive than a long + and wearisome description. + </p> + <p> + "At whatever conclusion we may arrive as to the origin of the man from + whence this fossil skull proceeded, we may express an opinion without + exposing ourselves to a fruitless controversy. Each may adopt the + hypothesis which seems to him most probable: for my own part, I hold it to + be demonstrated that this cranium has belonged to a person of limited + intellectual faculties, and we conclude thence that it belonged to a man + of a low degree of civilization: a deduction which is borne out by + contrasting the capacity of the frontal with that of the occipital region. + </p> + <p> + "Another cranium of a young individual was discovered in the floor of the + cavern beside the tooth of an elephant; the skull was entire when found, + but the moment it was lifted it fell into pieces, which I have not, as + yet, been able to put together again. But I have represented the bones of + the upper jaw, Plate I., Figure 5. The state of the alveoli and the teeth, + shows that the molars had not yet pierced the gum. Detached milk molars + and some fragments of a human skull proceed from this same place. The + Figure 3 represents a human superior incisor tooth, the size of which is + truly remarkable.* ([Footnote] *In a subsequent passage, Schmerling + remarks upon the occurrence of an incisor tooth 'of enormous size' from + the caverns of Engihoul. The tooth figured is somewhat long, but its + dimensions do not appear to me to be otherwise remarkable.) + </p> + <p> + "Figure 4 is a fragment of a superior maxillary bone, the molar teeth of + which are worn down to the roots. + </p> + <p> + "I possess two vertebrae, a first and last dorsal. + </p> + <p> + "A clavicle of the left side (see Plate III., Figure 1); although it + belonged to a young individual, this bone shows that he must have been of + great stature.* ([Footnote] *The figure of this clavicle measures 5 inches + from end to end in a straight line—so that the bone is rather a + small than a large one.) + </p> + <p> + "Two fragments of the radius, badly preserved, do not indicate that the + height of the man, to whom they belonged, exceeded five feet and a half. + </p> + <p> + "As to the remains of the upper extremities, those which are in my + possession consist merely of a fragment of an ulna and of a radius (Plate + III., Figs. 5 and 6). + </p> + <p> + "Figure 2, Plate IV., represents a metacarpal bone, contained in the + breccia, of which we have spoken; it was found in the lower part above the + cranium: add to this some metacarpal bones, found at very different + distances, half-a-dozen metatarsals, three phalanges of the hand, and one + of the foot. + </p> + <p> + "This is a brief enumeration of the remains of human bones collected in + the cavern of Engis, which has preserved for us the remains of three + individuals, surrounded by those of the Elephant, of the Rhinoceros, and + of Carnivora of species unknown in the present creation." + </p> + <p> + From the cave of Engihoul, opposite that of Engis, on the right bank of + the Meuse, Schmerling obtained the remains of three other individuals of + Man, among which were only two fragments of parietal bones, but many bones + of the extremities. In one case a broken fragment of an ulna was soldered + to a like fragment of a radius by stalagmite, a condition frequently + observed among the bones of the Cave Bear ('Ursus spelaeus'), found in the + Belgian caverns. + </p> + <p> + It was in the cavern of Engis that Professor Schmerling found, incrusted + with stalagmite and joined to a stone, the pointed bone implement, which + he has figured in Figure 7 of his Plate XXXVI., and worked flints were + found by him in all those Belgian caves, which contained an abundance of + fossil bones. + </p> + <p> + A short letter from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, published in the 'Comptes + Rendus' of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, for July 2nd, 1838, speaks of + a visit (and apparently a very hasty one) paid to the collection of + Professor 'Schermidt' (which is presumably a misprint for Schmerling) at + Liege. The writer briefly criticises the drawings which illustrate + Schmerling's work, and affirms that the "human cranium is a little longer + than it is represented" in Schmerling's figure. The only other remark + worth quoting is this:—"The aspect of the human bones differs little + from that of the cave bones, with which we are familiar, and of which + there is a considerable collection in the same place. With respect to + their special forms, compared with those of the varieties of recent human + crania, few 'certain' conclusions can be put forward; for much greater + differences exist between the different specimens of well-characterized + varieties, than between the fossil cranium of Liege and that of one of + those varieties selected as a term of comparison." + </p> + <p> + Geoffroy St. Hilaire's remarks are, it will be observed, little but an + echo of the philosophic doubts of the describer and discoverer of the + remains. As to the critique upon Schmerling's figures, I find that the + side view given by the latter is really about 3/10ths of an inch shorter + than the original, and that the front view is diminished to about the same + extent. Otherwise the representation is not, in any way, inaccurate, but + corresponds very well with the cast which is in my possession. + </p> + <p> + A piece of the occipital bone, which Schmerling seems to have missed, has + since been fitted on to the rest of the cranium by an accomplished + anatomist, Dr. Spring, of Liege, under whose direction an excellent + plaster cast was made for Sir Charles Lyell. It is upon and from a + duplicate of that cast that my own observations and the accompanying + figures, the outlines of which are copied from very accurate Camera lucida + drawings, by my friend Mr. Busk, reduced to one-half of the natural size, + are made. + </p> + <p> + As Professor Schmerling observes, the base of the skull is destroyed, and + the facial bones are entirely absent; but the roof of the cranium, + consisting of the frontal, parietal, and the greater part of the occipital + bones, as far as the middle of the occipital foramen, is entire or nearly + so. The left temporal bone is wanting. Of the right temporal, the parts in + the immediate neighbourhood of the auditory foramen, the mastoid process, + and a considerable portion of the squamous element of the temporal are + well preserved (Figure 22). + </p> + <p> + The lines of fracture which remain between the coadjusted pieces of the + skull, and are faithfully displayed in Schmerling's figure, are readily + traceable in the cast. The sutures are also discernible, but the complex + disposition of their serrations, shown in the figure, is not obvious in + the cast. Though the ridges which give attachment to muscles are not + excessively prominent, they are well marked, and taken together with the + apparently well developed frontal sinuses, and the condition of the + sutures, leave no doubt on my mind that the skull is that of an adult, if + not middle-aged man. + </p> + <p> + The extreme length of the skull is 7.7 inches. Its extreme breadth, which + corresponds very nearly with the interval between the parietal + protuberances, is not more than 5.4 inches. The proportion of the length + to the breadth is therefore very nearly as 100 to 70. If a line be drawn + from the point at which the brow curves in towards the root of the nose, + and which is called the 'glabella' ('a') (Figure 22), to the occipital + protuberance ('b'), and the distance to the highest point of the arch of + the skull be measured perpendicularly from this line, it will be found to + be 4.75 inches. Viewed from above, Figure 23, A, the forehead presents an + evenly rounded curve, and passes into the contour of the sides and back of + the skull, which describes a tolerably regular elliptical curve. + </p> + <p> + The front view (Figure 23, B) shows that the roof of the skull was very + regularly and elegantly arched in the transverse direction, and that the + transverse diameter was a little less below the parietal protuberances, + than above them. The forehead cannot be called narrow in relation to the + rest of the skull, nor can it be called a retreating forehead; on the + contrary, the antero-posterior contour of the skull is well arched, so + that the distance along that contour, from the nasal depression to the + occipital protuberance, measures about 13.75 inches. The transverse arc of + the skull, measured from one auditory foramen to the other, across the + middle of the sagittal suture, is about 13 inches. The sagittal suture + itself is 5.5 inches long. + </p> + <p> + The supraciliary prominences or brow-ridges (on each side of 'a', Figure + 22) are well, but not excessively, developed, and are separated by a + median depression. Their principal elevation is disposed so obliquely that + I judge them to be due to large frontal sinuses. + </p> + <p> + If a line joining the glabella and the occipital protuberance ('a', 'b', + Figure 22) be made horizontal, no part of the occipital region projects + more than 1/10th of an inch behind the posterior extremity of that line, + and the upper edge of the auditory foramen ('c') is almost in contact with + a line drawn parallel with this upon the outer surface of the skull. + </p> + <p> + A transverse line drawn from one auditory foramen to the other traverses, + as usual, the forepart of the occipital foramen. The capacity of the + interior of this fragmentary skull has not been ascertained. + </p> + <p> + The history of the Human remains from the cavern in the Neanderthal may + best be given in the words of their original describer, Dr Schaaffhausen,* + as translated by Mr. Busk. ([Footnote] *ON THE CRANIA OF THE MOST ANCIENT + RACES OF MAN. By Professor D. Schaaffhausen, of Bonn. (From Muller's + 'Archiv.', 1858, pp. 453.) With Remarks, and original Figures, taken from + a Cast of the Neanderthal Cranium. By George Busk, F.R.S., etc. 'Natural + History Review'. April, 1861.) + </p> + <p> + "In the early part of the year 1857, a human skeleton was discovered in a + limestone cave in the Neanderthal, near Hochdal, between Dusseldorf and + Elberfeld. Of this, however, I was unable to procure more than a plaster + cast of the cranium, taken at Elberfeld, from which I drew up an account + of its remarkable conformation, which was, in the first instance, read on + the 4th of February, 1857, at the meeting of the Lower Rhine Medical and + Natural History Society, at Bonn.* ([Footnote] *'Verhandl. d. Naturhist.' + Vereins der Preuss. Rheinlande und Westphalens., xiv. Bonn, 1857.) + </p> + <p> + Subsequently Dr. Fuhlrott, to whom science is indebted for the + preservation of these bones, which were not at first regarded as human, + and into whose possession they afterwards came, brought the cranium from + Elberfeld to Bonn, and entrusted it to me for more accurate anatomical + examination. At the General Meeting of the Natural History Society of + Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia, at Bonn, on the 2nd of June, 1857,* Dr + Fuhlrott himself gave a full account of the locality, and of the + circumstances under which the discovery was made. ([Footnote] *'Ib. + Correspondenzblatt. No. 2.) + </p> + <p> + He was of opinion that the bones might be regarded as fossil; and in + coming to this conclusion, he laid especial stress upon the existence of + dendritic deposits, with which their surface was covered, and which were + first noticed upon them by Professor Meyer. To this communication I + appended a brief report on the results of my anatomical examination of the + bones. The conclusions at which I arrived were:—1st. That the + extraordinary form of the skull was due to a natural conformation hitherto + not known to exist, even in the most barbarous races. 2nd. That these + remarkable human remains belonged to a period antecedent to the time of + the Celts and Germans, and were in all probability derived from one of the + wild races of North-western Europe, spoken of by Latin writers; and which + were encountered as autochthones by the German immigrants. And 3rdly. That + it was beyond doubt that these human relics were traceable to a period at + which the latest animals of the diluvium still existed; but that no proof + of this assumption, nor consequently of their so-termed 'fossil' + condition, was afforded by the circumstances under which the bones were + discovered. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 23.—The Engis skull viewed from above (A) and in front (B).) + </p> + <p> + "As Dr. Fuhlrott has not yet published his description of these + circumstances, I borrow the following account of them from one of his + letters. 'A small cave or grotto, high enough to admit a man, and about 15 + feet deep from the entrance, which is 7 or 8 feet wide, exists in the + southern wall of the gorge of the Neanderthal, as it is termed, at a + distance of about 100 feet from the Dussel, and about 60 feet above the + bottom of the valley. In its earlier and uninjured condition, this cavern + opened upon a narrow plateau lying in front of it, and from which the + rocky wall descended almost perpendicularly into the river. It could be + reached, though with difficulty, from above. The uneven floor was covered + to a thickness of 4 or 5 feet with a deposit of mud, sparingly intermixed + with rounded fragments of chert. In the removing of this deposit, the + bones were discovered. The skull was first noticed, placed nearest to the + entrance of the cavern; and further in, the other bones, lying in the same + horizontal plane. Of this I was assured, in the most positive terms, by + two labourers who were employed to clear out the grotto, and who were + questioned by me on the spot. At first no idea was entertained of the + bones being human; and it was not till several weeks after their discovery + that they were recognised as such by me, and placed in security. But, as + the importance of the discovery was not at the time perceived, the + labourers were very careless in the collecting, and secured chiefly only + the larger bones; and to this circumstance it may be attributed that + fragments merely of the probably perfect skeleton came into my possession' + </p> + <p> + "My anatomical examination of these bones afforded the following results:— + </p> + <p> + "The cranium is of unusual size, and of a long elliptical form. A most + remarkable peculiarity is at once obvious in the extraordinary development + of the frontal sinuses, owing to which the superciliary ridges, which + coalesce completely in the middle, are rendered so prominent, that the + frontal bone exhibits a considerable hollow or depression above, or rather + behind them, whilst a deep depression is also formed in the situation of + the root of the nose. The forehead is narrow and low, though the middle + and hinder portions of the cranial arch are well developed. Unfortunately, + the fragment of the skull that has been preserved consists only of the + portion situated above the roof of the orbits and the superior occipital + ridges, which are greatly developed, and almost conjoined so as to form a + horizontal eminence. It includes almost the whole of the frontal bone, + both parietals, a small part of the squamous and the upper-third of the + occipital. The recently fractured surfaces show that the skull was broken + at the time of its disinterment. The cavity holds 16,876 grains of water, + whence its cubical contents may be estimated at 57.64 inches, or 1033.24 + cubic centimetres. In making this estimation, the water is supposed to + stand on a level with the orbital plate of the frontal, with the deepest + notch in the squamous margin of the parietal, and with the superior + semicircular ridges of the occipital. Estimated in dried millet-seed, the + contents equalled 31 ounces, Prussian Apothecaries' weight. The + semicircular line indicating the upper boundary of the attachment of the + temporal muscle, though not very strongly marked, ascends nevertheless to + more than half the height of the parietal bone. On the right superciliary + ridge is observable an oblique furrow or depression, indicative of an + injury received during life.* ([Footnote] *This, Mr. Busk has pointed out, + is probably the notch for the frontal nerve.) The coronal and sagittal + sutures are on the exterior nearly closed, and on the inside so completely + ossified as to have left no traces whatever, whilst the lambdoidal remains + quite open. The depressions for the Pacchionian glands are deep and + numerous; and there is an unusually deep vascular groove immediately + behind the coronal suture, which, as it terminates in the foramen, no + doubt transmitted a 'vena emissaria'. The course of the frontal suture is + indicated externally by a slight ridge; and where it joins the coronal, + this ridge rises into a small protuberance. The course of the sagittal + suture is grooved, and above the angle of the occipital bone the parietals + are depressed. + </p> + <p> + [Column 1: Anatomical Feature, Column 2: Measurement in] millimetres.* + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] *The numbers in brackets are those which I should assign to + the different measures, as taken from the plaster cast.—G. B.) + </p> + <p> + The length of the skull from the nasal process of the frontal over the + vertex to the superior semicircular lines of the occipital measures...303 + (300) = 12.0". + </p> + <p> + Circumference over the orbital ridges and the superior semicircular lines + of the occipital...590 (590) = 23.37" or 23". + </p> + <p> + Width of the frontal from the middle of the temporal line on one side to + the same point on the opposite...104 (114) = 4.1"—4.5". + </p> + <p> + Length of the frontal from the nasal. process to the coronal suture...133 + (125) = 5.25"—5". + </p> + <p> + Extreme width of the frontal sinuses...25 (23) = 1.0"—0.9". + </p> + <p> + Vertical height above a line joining the deepest notches in the squamous + border of the parietals...70 = 2.75". + </p> + <p> + Width of hinder part of skull from one parietal protuberance to the + other...138 (150) = 5.4"—5.9" + </p> + <p> + Distance from the upper angle of the occipital to the superior + semicircular lines...51 (60) = 1.9"—2.4". + </p> + <p> + Thickness of the bone at the parietal protuberance...8. + </p> + <p> + —at the angle of the occipital...9. + </p> + <p> + —at the superior semicircular line of the occipital...10 = 0.3" + </p> + <p> + "Besides the cranium, the following bones have been secured:— + </p> + <p> + "1. Both thigh-bones, perfect. These, like the skull, and all the other + bones, are characterized by their unusual thickness, and the great + development of all the elevations and depressions for the attachment of + muscles. In the Anatomical Museum at Bonn, under the designation of + 'Giant's-bones,' are some recent thigh-bones, with which in thickness the + foregoing pretty nearly correspond, although they are shorter. + </p> + <p> + [First value =] Giant's bones, [Second value =] Fossil bones in mm. + </p> + <p> + Length...542 = 21.4"...438 = 17.4". + </p> + <p> + Diameter of head of femur...54 = 2.14"...53 = 2.0". + </p> + <p> + Diameter of lower articular end, from one condyle to the other...89 = + 3.5"...87 = 3.4". + </p> + <p> + Diameter of femur in the middle...33 = 1.2"...30 = 1.1". + </p> + <p> + "2. A perfect right humerus, whose size shows that it belongs to the + thigh-bones. + </p> + <p> + mm. + </p> + <p> + Length...312 = 12.3". + </p> + <p> + Thickness in the middle...26 = 1.0". + </p> + <p> + Diameter of head...49 = 1.9". + </p> + <p> + "Also a perfect right radius of corresponding dimensions, and the + upper-third of a right ulna corresponding to the humerus and radius. + </p> + <p> + "3. A left humerus of which the upper-third is wanting, and which is so + much slenderer than the right as apparently to belong to a distinct + individual; a left 'ulna', which, though complete, is pathologically + deformed, the coronoid process being so much enlarged by bony growth, that + flexure of the elbow beyond a right angle must have been impossible; the + anterior fossa of the humerus for the reception of the coronoid process + being also filled up with a similar bony growth. At the same time, the + olecranon is curved strongly downwards. As the bone presents no sign of + rachitic degeneration, it may be supposed that an injury sustained during + life was the cause of the anchylosis. When the left ulna is compared with + the right radius, it might at first sight be concluded that the bones + respectively belonged to different individuals, the ulna being more than + half an inch too short for articulation with a corresponding radius. But + it is clear that this shortening, as well as the attenuation of the left + humerus, are both consequent upon the pathological condition above + described. + </p> + <p> + "4. A left 'ilium', almost perfect, and belonging to the femur: a fragment + of the right 'scapula'; the anterior extremity of a rib of the right side; + and the same part of a rib of the left side; the hinder part of a rib of + the right side; and lastly, two hinder portions and one middle portion of + ribs, which from their unusually rounded shape, and abrupt curvature, more + resemble the ribs of a carnivorous animal than those of a man. Dr. H. v. + Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer, will not venture to declare + them to be ribs of any animal; and it only remains to suppose that this + abnormal condition has arisen from an unusually powerful development of + the thoracic muscles. + </p> + <p> + "The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as proved by the use + of hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the cartilage is still retained + in them, which appears, however, to have undergone that transformation + into gelatine which has been observed by v. Bibra in fossil bones. The + surface of all the bones is in many spots covered with minute black + specks, which, more especially under a lens, are seen to be formed of very + delicate 'dendrites'. These deposits, which were first observed on the + bones by Dr. Meyer, are most distinct on the inner surface of the cranial + bones. They consist of a ferruginous compound, and, from their black + colour, may be supposed to contain manganese. Similar dendritic formations + also occur, not unfrequently, on laminated rocks, and are usually found in + minute fissures and cracks. At the meeting of the Lower Rhine Society at + Bonn, on the 1st April, 1857, Prof. Meyer stated that he had noticed in + the museum of Poppelsdorf similar dendritic crystallizations on several + fossil bones of animals, and particularly on those of 'Ursus spelaeus', + but still more abundantly and beautifully displayed on the fossil bones + and teeth of 'Equus adamiticus', 'Elephas primigenius', etc., from the + caves of Bolve and Sundwig. Faint indications of similar 'dendrites' were + visible in a Roman skull from Siegburg; whilst other ancient skulls, which + had lain for centuries in the earth, presented no trace of them.* + ([Footnote] *'Verh. des Naturhist'. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857.) + </p> + <p> + I am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following remarks on this subject:— + </p> + <p> + 'The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which were formerly + regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condition, is interesting. It has + even been supposed that in diluvial deposits the presence of 'dendrites' + might be regarded as affording a certain mark of distinction between bones + mixed with the diluvium at a somewhat later period and the true diluvial + relics, to which alone it was supposed that these deposits were confined. + But I have long been convinced that neither can the absence of 'dendrites' + be regarded as indicative of recent age, nor their presence as sufficient + to establish the great antiquity of the objects upon which they occur. I + have myself noticed upon paper, which could scarcely be more than a year + old, dendritic deposits, which could not be distinguished from those on + fossil bones. Thus I possess a dog's skull from the Roman colony of the + neighbouring Heddersheim, 'Castrum Hadrianum', which is in no way + distinguishable from the fossil bones from the Frankish caves; it presents + the same colour, and adheres to the tongue just as they do; so that this + character also, which, at a former meeting of German naturalists at Bonn, + gave rise to amusing scenes between Buckland and Schmerling, is no longer + of any value. In disputed cases, therefore, the condition of the bone can + scarcely afford the means for determining with certainty whether it be + fossil, that is to say, whether it belong to geological antiquity or to + the historical period.' + </p> + <p> + "As we cannot now look upon the primitive world as representing a wholly + different condition of things, from which no transition exists to the + organic life of the present time, the designation of 'fossil', as applied + to 'a bone', has no longer the sense it conveyed in the time of Cuvier. + Sufficient grounds exist for the assumption that man coexisted with the + animals found in the 'diluvium'; and many a barbarous race may, before all + historical time, have disappeared, together with the animals of the + ancient world, whilst the races whose organization is improved have + continued the genus. The bones which form the subject of this paper + present characters which, although not decisive as regards a geological + epoch, are, nevertheless, such as indicate a very high antiquity. It may + also be remarked that, common as is the occurrence of diluvial animal + bones in the muddy deposits of caverns, such remains have not hitherto + been met with in the caves of the Neanderthal; and that the bones, which + were covered by a deposit of mud not more than four or five feet thick, + and without any protective covering of stalagmite, have retained the + greatest part of their organic substance. + </p> + <p> + "These circumstances might be adduced against the probability of a + geological antiquity. Nor should we be justified in regarding the cranial + conformation as perhaps representing the most savage primitive type of the + human race, since crania exist among living savages, which, though not + exhibiting, such a remarkable conformation of the forehead, which gives + the skull somewhat the aspect of that of the large apes, still in other + respects, as for instance in the greater depth of the temporal fossae, the + crest-like, prominent temporal ridges, and a generally less capacious + cranial cavity, exhibit an equally low stage of development. There is no + reason for supposing that the deep frontal hollow is due to any artificial + flattening, such as is practised in various modes by barbarous nations in + the Old and New World. The skull is quite symmetrical, and shows no + indication of counter-pressure at the occiput, whilst, according to + Morton, in the Flat-heads of the Columbia, the frontal and parietal bones + are always unsymmetrical. Its conformation exhibits the sparing + development of the anterior part of the head which has been so often + observed in very ancient crania, and affords one of the most striking + proofs of the influence of culture and civilization on the form of the + human skull." + </p> + <p> + In a subsequent passage, Dr. Schaaffhausen remarks: + </p> + <p> + "There is no reason whatever for regarding the unusual development of the + frontal sinuses in the remarkable skull from the Neanderthal as an + individual or pathological deformity; it is unquestionably a typical + race-character, and is physiologically connected with the uncommon + thickness of the other bones of the skeleton, which exceeds by about + one-half the usual proportions. This expansion of the frontal sinuses, + which are appendages of the air-passages, also indicates an unusual force + and power of endurance in the movements of the body, as may be concluded + from the size of all the ridges and processes for the attachment of the + muscles or bones. That this conclusion may be drawn from the existence of + large frontal sinuses, and a prominence of the lower frontal region, is + confirmed in many ways by other observations. By the same characters, + according to Pallas, the wild horse is distinguished from the + domesticated, and, according to Cuvier, the fossil cave-bear from every + recent species of bear, whilst, according to Roulin, the pig, which has + become wild in America, and regained a resemblance to the wild boar, is + thus distinguished from the same animal in the domesticated state, as is + the chamois from the goat; and, lastly, the bull-dog, which is + characterised by its large bones and strongly-developed muscles from every + other kind of dog. The estimation of the facial angle, the determination + of which, according to Professor Owen, is also difficult in the great + apes, owing to the very prominent supra-orbital ridges, in the present + case is rendered still more difficult from the absence both of the + auditory opening and of the nasal spine. But if the proper horizontal + position of the skull be taken from the remaining portions of the orbital + plates, and the ascending line made to touch the surface of the frontal + bone behind the prominent supra-orbital ridges, the facial angle is not + found to exceed 56 degrees.* ([Footnote] *Estimating the facial angle in + the way suggested, on the cast I should place it at 64 degrees to 67 + degrees.—G. B.) Unfortunately, no portions of the facial bones, + whose conformation is so decisive as regards the form and expression of + the head, have been preserved. The cranial capacity, compared with the + uncommon strength of the corporeal frame, would seem to indicate a small + cerebral development. The skull, as it is, holds about 31 ounces of + millet-seed; and as, from the proportionate size of the wanting bones, the + whole cranial cavity should have about 6 ounces more added, the contents, + were it perfect, may be taken at 37 ounces. Tiedemann assigns, as the + cranial contents in the Negro, 40, 38, and 35 ounces. The cranium holds + rather more than 36 ounces of water, which corresponds to a capacity of + 1033.24 cubic centimetres. Huschke estimates the cranial contents of a + Negress at 1127 cubic centimetres; of an old Negro at 1146 cubic + centimetres. The capacity of the Malay skulls, estimated by water, + equalled 36, 33 ounces, whilst in the diminutive Hindoos it falls to as + little as 27 ounces." + </p> + <p> + After comparing the Neanderthal cranium with many others, ancient and + modern, Professor Schaaffhausen concludes thus:— + </p> + <p> + "But the human bones and cranium from the Neanderthal exceed all the rest + in those peculiarities of conformation which lead to the conclusion of + their belonging to a barbarous and savage race. Whether the cavern in + which they were found, unaccompanied with any trace of human art, were the + place of their interment, or whether, like the bones of extinct animals + elsewhere, they had been washed into it, they may still be regarded as the + most ancient memorial of the early inhabitants of Europe." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Busk, the translator of Dr. Schaaffhausen's paper, has enabled us to + form a very vivid conception of the degraded character of the Neanderthal + skull, by placing side by side with its outline, that of the skull of a + Chimpanzee, drawn to the same absolute size. + </p> + <p> + Some time after the publication of the translation of Professor + Schaaffhausen's Memoir, I was led to study the cast of the Neanderthal + cranium with more attention than I had previously bestowed upon it, in + consequence of wishing to supply Sir Charles Lyell with a diagram, + exhibiting the special peculiarities of this skull, as compared with other + human skulls. In order to do this it was necessary to identify, with + precision, those points in the skulls compared which corresponded + anatomically. Of these points, the glabella was obvious enough; but when I + had distinguished another, defined by the occipital protuberance and + superior semicircular line, and had placed the outline of the Neanderthal + skull against that of the Engis skull, in such a position that the + glabella and occipital protuberance of both were intersected by the same + straight line, the difference was so vast and the flattening of the + Neanderthal skull so prodigious (compare Figs. 22 and 24, A.), that I at + first imagined I must have fallen into some error. And I was the more + inclined to suspect this, as, in ordinary human skulls, the occipital + protuberance and superior semicircular curved line on the exterior of the + occiput correspond pretty closely with the 'lateral sinuses' and the line + of attachment of the tentorium internally. But on the tentorium rests, as + I have said in the preceding Essay, the posterior lobe of the brain; and + hence, the occipital protuberance, and the curved line in question, + indicate, approximately, the lower limits of that lobe. Was it possible + for a human being to have the brain thus flattened and depressed; or, on + the other hand, had the muscular ridges shifted their position? In order + to solve these doubts, and to decide the question whether the great + supraciliary projections did, or did not, arise from the development of + the frontal sinuses, I requested Sir Charles Lyell to be so good as to + obtain for me from Dr. Fuhlrott, the possessor of the skull, answers to + certain queries, and if possible a cast, or at any rate drawings, or + photographs, of the interior of the skull. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 24.—The skull from the Neanderthal cavern. A. side, B. + front, and C. top view. One-third the natural size, by Mr. Busk: the + details from the cast and from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs. 'a' glabella; + 'b' occipital protuberance; 'd' lambdoidal suture.) + </p> + <p> + Dr. Fuhlrott replied with a courtesy and readiness for which I am + infinitely indebted to him, to my inquiries, and furthermore sent three + excellent photographs. One of these gives a side view of the skull, and + from it Figure 24, A. has been shaded. The second (Figure 25, A.) exhibits + the wide openings of the frontal sinuses upon the inferior surface of the + frontal part of the skull, into which, Dr. Fuhlrott writes, "a probe may + be introduced to the depth of an inch," and demonstrates the great + extension of the thickened supraciliary ridges beyond the cerebral cavity. + The third, lastly (Figure 25, B.) exhibits the edge and the interior of + the posterior, or occipital, part of the skull, and shows very clearly the + two depressions for the lateral sinuses, sweeping inwards towards the + middle line of the roof of the skull, to form the longitudinal sinus. It + was clear, therefore, that I had not erred in my interpretation, and that + the posterior lobe of the brain of the Neanderthal man must have been as + much flattened as I suspected it to be. + </p> + <p> + In truth, the Neanderthal cranium has most extraordinary characters. It + has an extreme length of 8 inches, while its breadth is only 5.75 inches, + or, in other words, its length is to its breadth as 100:72. It is + exceedingly depressed, measuring only about 3.4 inches from the + glabello-occipital line to the vertex. The longitudinal arc, measured in + the same way as in the Engis skull, is 12 inches; the transverse arc + cannot be exactly ascertained, in consequence of the absence of the + temporal bones, but was probably about the same, and certainly exceeded 10 + 1/4 inches. The horizontal circumference is 23 inches. But this great + circumference arises largely from the vast development of the supraciliary + ridges, though the perimeter of the brain case itself is not small. The + large supraciliary ridges give the forehead a far more retreating + appearance than its internal contour would bear out. + </p> + <p> + To an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is even more striking + than the anterior. The occipital protuberance occupies the extreme + posterior end of the skull, when the glabello-occipital line is made + horizontal, and so far from any part of the occipital region extending + beyond it, this region of the skull slopes obliquely upward and forward, + so that the lambdoidal suture is situated well upon the upper surface of + the cranium. At the same time, notwithstanding the great length of the + skull, the sagittal suture is remarkably short (4 1/2 inches), and the + squamosal suture is very straight. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 25.—Drawings from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs of parts of the + interior of the Neanderthal cranium. A. view of the under and inner + surface of the frontal region, showing the inferior apertures of the + frontal sinuses ('a'). B. corresponding view of the occipital region of + the skull, showing the impressions of the lateral sinuses ('a a').) + </p> + <p> + In reply to my questions Dr. Fuhlrott writes that the occipital bone "is + in a state of perfect preservation as far as the upper semicircular line, + which is a very strong ridge, linear at its extremities, but enlarging + towards the middle, where it forms two ridges (bourrelets), united by a + linear continuation, which is slightly depressed in the middle." + </p> + <p> + "Below the left ridge the bone exhibits an obliquely inclined surface, six + lines (French) long, and twelve lines wide." + </p> + <p> + This last must be the surface, the contour of which is shown in Figure 24, + A., below 'b'. It is particularly interesting, as it suggests that, + notwithstanding the flattened condition of the occiput, the posterior + cerebral lobes must have projected considerably beyond the cerebellum, and + as it constitutes one among several points of similarity between the + Neanderthal cranium and certain Australian skulls. + </p> + <p> + Such are the two best known forms of human cranium, which have been found + in what may be fairly termed a fossil state. Can either be shown to fill + up or diminish, to any appreciable extent, the structural interval which + exists between Man and the man-like apes? Or, on the other hand, does + neither depart more widely from the average structure of the human + cranium, than normally formed skulls of men are known to do at the present + day? + </p> + <p> + It is impossible to form any opinion on these questions, without some + preliminary acquaintance with the range of variation exhibited by human + structure in general—a subject which has been but imperfectly + studied, while even of what is known, my limits will necessarily allow me + to give only a very imperfect sketch. + </p> + <p> + The student of anatomy is perfectly well aware that there is not a single + organ of the human body the structure of which does not vary, to a greater + or less extent, in different individuals. The skeleton varies in the + proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of its + constituent bones. The muscles which move the bones vary largely in their + attachments. The varieties in the mode of distribution of the arteries are + carefully classified, on account of the practical importance of a + knowledge of their shiftings to the surgeon. The characters of the brain + vary immensely, nothing being less constant than the form and size of the + cerebral hemispheres, and the richness of the convolutions upon their + surface, while the most changeable structures of all in the human brain, + are exactly those on which the unwise attempt has been made to base the + distinctive characters of humanity, viz. the posterior cornu of the + lateral ventricle, the hippocampus minor, and the degree of projection of + the posterior lobe beyond the cerebellum. Finally, as all the world knows, + the hair and skin of human beings may present the most extraordinary + diversities in colour and in texture. + </p> + <p> + So far as our present knowledge goes, the majority of the structural + varieties to which allusion is here made, are individual. The ape-like + arrangement of certain muscles which is occasionally met with* in the + white races of mankind, is not known to be more common among Negroes or + Australians: ([Footnote] *See an excellent Essay by Mr. Church on the + Myology of the Orang, in the 'Natural History Review', for 1861.) nor + because the brain of the Hottentot Venus was found to be smoother, to have + its convolutions more symmetrically disposed, and to be, so far, more + ape-like than that of ordinary Europeans, are we justified in concluding a + like condition of the brain to prevail universally among the lower races + of mankind, however probable that conclusion may be. + </p> + <p> + We are, in fact, sadly wanting in information respecting the disposition + of the soft and destructible organs of every Race of Mankind but our own; + and even of the skeleton, our Museums are lamentably deficient in every + part but the cranium. Skulls enough there are, and since the time when + Blumenbach and Camper first called attention to the marked and singular + differences which they exhibit, skull collecting and skull measuring has + been a zealously pursued branch of Natural History, and the results + obtained have been arranged and classified by various writers, among whom + the late active and able Retzius must always be the first named. + </p> + <p> + Human skulls have been found to differ from one another, not merely in + their absolute size and in the absolute capacity of the brain case, but in + the proportions which the diameters of the latter bear to one another; in + the relative size of the bones of the face (and more particularly of the + jaws and teeth) as compared with those of the skull; in the degree to + which the upper jaw (which is of course followed by the lower) is thrown + backwards and downwards under the fore-part of the brain case, or forwards + and upward in front of and beyond it. They differ further in the relations + of the transverse diameter of the face, taken through the cheek bones, to + the transverse diameter of the skull; in the more rounded or more + gable-like form of the roof of the skull, and in the degree to which the + hinder part of the skull is flattened or projects beyond the ridge, into + and below which, the muscles of the neck are inserted. + </p> + <p> + In some skulls the brain case may be said to be 'round,' the extreme + length not exceeding the extreme breadth by a greater proportion than 100 + to 80, while the difference may be much less.* ([Footnote] *In no normal + human skull does the breadth of the brain-case exceed its length.) Men + possessing such skulls were termed by Retzius 'brachycephalic,' and the + skull of a Calmuck, of which a front and side view (reduced outline copies + of which are given in Figure 26) are depicted by Von Baer in his + excellent, "Crania selecta," affords a very admirable example of that kind + of skull. Other skulls, such as that of a Negro copied in Figure 27 from + Mr. Busk's 'Crania typica,' have a very different, greatly elongated form, + and may be termed 'oblong.' In this skull the extreme length is to the + extreme breadth as 100 to not more than 67, and the transverse diameter of + the human skull may fall below even this proportion. People having such + skulls were called by Retzius 'dolichocephalic.' + </p> + <p> + The most cursory glance at the side views of these two skulls will suffice + to prove that they differ, in another respect, to a very striking extent. + The profile of the face of the Calmuck is almost vertical, the facial + bones being thrown downwards and under the forepart of the skull. The + profile of the face of the Negro, on the other hand, is singularly + inclined, the front part of the jaws projecting far forward beyond the + level of the fore part of the skull. In the former case the skull is said + to be 'orthognathous' or straight-jawed; in the latter, it is called + 'prognathous,' a term which has been rendered, with more force than + elegance, by the Saxon equivalent,—'snouty.' + </p> + <p> + Various methods have been devised in order to express with some accuracy + the degree of prognathism or orthognathism of any given skull; most of + these methods being essentially modifications of that devised by Peter + Camper, in order to attain what he called the 'facial angle.' + </p> + <p> + But a little consideration will show that any 'facial angle' that has been + devised, can be competent to express the structural modifications involved + in prognathism and orthognathism, only in a rough and general sort of way. + For the lines, the intersection of which forms the facial angle, are drawn + through points of the skull, the position of each of which is modified by + a number of circumstances, so that the angle obtained is a complex + resultant of all these circumstances, and is not the expression of any one + definite organic relation of the parts of the skull. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 26.—Side and front views of the round and orthognathous + skull of a Calmuck, after Von Baer. One-third the natural size.) + </p> + <p> + I have arrived at the conviction that no comparison of crania is worth + very much, that is not founded upon the establishment of a relatively + fixed base line, to which the measurements, in all cases, must be + referred. Nor do I think it is a very difficult matter to decide what that + base line should be. The parts of the skull, like those of the rest of the + animal framework, are developed in succession the base of the skull is + formed before its sides and roof; it is converted into cartilage earlier + and more completely than the sides and roof: and the cartilaginous base + ossifies, and becomes soldered into one piece long before the roof. I + conceive then that the base of the skull may be demonstrated + developmentally to be its relatively fixed part, the roof and sides being + relatively moveable. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 27.—Oblong and prognathous skull of a Negro; side and front + views. One-third of the natural size.) + </p> + <p> + The same truth is exemplified by the study of the modifications which the + skull undergoes in ascending from the lower animals up to man. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 28.—Beaver, Lemur and Baboon. Longitudinal and vertical + sections of the skulls of a Beaver ('Castor Canadensis'), a Lemur ('L. + Catia'), and a Baboon ('Cynocephalus Papio'), 'a b', the basicranial axis; + 'b c', the occipital plane; 'i T', the tentorial plane; 'a d', the + olfactory plane; 'f e', the basifacial axis; 'c b a', occipital angle; 'T + i a', tentorial angle; 'd a b', olfactory angle; 'e f b', cranio-facial + angle; 'g h', extreme length of the cavity which lodges the cerebral + hemispheres or 'cerebral length.' The length of the basicranial axis as to + this length, or, in other words, the proportional length of the line 'g h' + to that of 'a b' taken as 100, in the three skulls, is as follows:—Beaver + 70 to 100; Lemur 119 to 100; Baboon 144 to 100. In an adult male Gorilla + the cerebral length is as 170 to the basicranial axis taken as 100, in the + Negro (Figure 29) as 236 to 100. In the Constantinople skull (Figure 29) + as 266 to 100. The cranial difference between the highest Ape's skull and + the lowest Man's is therefore very strikingly brought out by these + measurements. In the diagram of the Baboon's skull the dotted lines 'd1 + d2', etc., give the angles of the Lemur's and Beaver's skull, as laid down + upon the basicranial axis of the Baboon. The line 'a b' has the same + length in each diagram.) + </p> + <p> + In such a mammal as a Beaver (Figure 28), a line ('a b'.) drawn through + the bones, termed basioccipital, basisphenoid, and presphenoid, is very + long in proportion to the extreme length of the cavity which contains the + cerebral hemispheres ('g h'.). The plane of the occipital foramen ('b c'.) + forms a slightly acute angle with this 'basicranial axis,' while the plane + of the tentorium ('i T'.) is inclined at rather more than 90 degrees to + the 'basicranial axis'; and so is the plane of the perforated plate ('a + d'.), by which the filaments of the olfactory nerve leave the skull. + Again, a line drawn through the axis of the face, between the bones called + ethmoid and vomer—the "basifacial axis" ('f e'.) forms an + exceedingly obtuse angle, where, when produced, it cuts the 'basicranial + axis.' + </p> + <p> + If the angle made by the line 'b c'. with 'a b'., be called the 'occipital + angle,' and the angle made by the line 'a d'. with 'a b'. be termed the + 'olfactory angle,' and that made by 'i T'. with 'a b'. the 'tentorial + angle,' then all these, in the mammal in question, are nearly right + angles, varying between 80 degrees and 110 degrees. The angle 'e f b'., or + that made by the cranial with the facial axis, and which may be termed the + 'cranio-facial angle,' is extremely obtuse, amounting, in the case of the + Beaver, to at least 150 degrees. + </p> + <p> + But if a series of sections of mammalian skulls, intermediate between a + Rodent and a Man (Figure 28), be examined, it will be found that in the + higher crania the basicranial axis becomes shorter relatively to the + cerebral length; that the 'olfactory angle' and 'occipital angle' become + more obtuse; and that the 'cranio-facial angle' becomes more acute by the + bending down, as it were, of the facial axis upon the cranial axis. At the + same time, the roof of the cranium becomes more and more arched, to allow + of the increasing height of the cerebral hemispheres, which is eminently + characteristic of man, as well as of that backward extension, beyond the + cerebellum, which reaches its maximum in the South America Monkeys. So + that, at last, in the human skull (Figure 29), the cerebral length is + between twice and thrice as great as the length of the basicranial axis; + the olfactory plane is 20 degrees or 30 degrees on the 'under' side of + that axis; the occipital angle, instead of being less than 90 degrees, is + as much as 150 degrees or 160 degrees; the cranio-facial angle may be 90 + degrees or less, and the vertical height of the skull may have a large + proportion to its length. + </p> + <p> + It will be obvious, from an inspection of the diagrams, that the + basicranial axis is, in the ascending series of Mammalia, a relatively + fixed line, on which the bones of the sides and roof of the cranial + cavity, and of the face, may be said to revolve downwards and forwards or + backwards, according to their position. The arc described by any one bone + or plane, however, is not by any means always in proportion to the arc + described by another. + </p> + <p> + Now comes the important question, can we discern, between the lowest and + the highest forms of the human cranium anything answering, in however + slight a degree, to this revolution of the side and roof bones of the + skull upon the basicranial axis observed upon so great a scale in the + mammalian series? Numerous observations lead me to believe that we must + answer this question in the affirmative. + </p> + <p> + The diagrams in Figure 29 are reduced from very carefully made diagrams of + sections of four skulls, two round and orthognathous, two long and + prognathous, taken longitudinally and vertically, through the middle. The + sectional diagrams have then been superimposed, in such a manner, that the + basal axes of the skulls coincide by their anterior ends, and in their + direction. The deviations of the rest of the contours (which represent the + interior of the skulls only) show the differences of the skulls from one + another, when these axes are regarded as relatively fixed lines. + </p> + <p> + The dark contours are those of an Australian and of a Negro skull: the + light contours are those of a Tartar skull, in the Museum of the Royal + College of Surgeons; and of a well developed round skull from a cemetery + in Constantinople, of uncertain race, in my own possession. + </p> + <p> + It appears, at once, from these views, that the prognathous skulls, so far + as their jaws are concerned, do really differ from the orthognathous in + much the same way as, though to a far less degree than, the skulls of the + lower mammals differ from those of Man. Furthermore, the plane of the + occipital foramen ('b c') forms a somewhat smaller angle with the axis in + these particular prognathous skulls than in the orthognathous; and the + like may be slightly true of the perforated plate of the ethmoid—though + this point is not so clear. But it is singular to remark that, in another + respect, the prognathous skulls are less ape-like than the orthognathous, + the cerebral cavity projecting decidedly more beyond the anterior end of + the axis in the prognathous, than in the orthognathous, skulls. + </p> + <p> + It will be observed that these diagrams reveal an immense range of + variation in the capacity and relative proportion to the cranial axis, of + the different regions of the cavity which contains the brain, in the + different skulls. Nor is the difference in the extent to which the + cerebral overlaps the cerebellar cavity less singular. A round skull + (Figure 29, 'Const'.) may have a greater posterior cerebral projection + than a long one (Figure 29, 'Negro'). + </p> + <p> + Until human crania have been largely worked out in a manner similar to + that here suggested—until it shall be an opprobrium to an + ethnological collection to possess a single skull which is not bisected + longitudinally—until the angles and measurements here mentioned, + together with a number of others of which I cannot speak in this place, + are determined, and tabulated with reference to the basicranial axis as + unity, for large numbers of skulls of the different races of Mankind, I do + not think we shall have any very safe basis for that ethnological + craniology which aspires to give the anatomical characters of the crania + of the different Races of Mankind. + </p> + <p> + At present, I believe that the general outlines of what may be safely said + upon that subject may be summed up in a very few words. Draw a line on a + globe from the Gold Coast in Western Africa to the steppes of Tartary. At + the southern and western end of that line there live the most + dolichocephalic, prognathous, curly-haired, dark-skinned of men—the + true Negroes. At the northern and eastern end of the same line there live + the most brachycephalic, orthognathous, straight-haired, yellow-skinned of + men—the Tartars and Calmucks. The two ends of this imaginary line + are indeed, so to speak, ethnological antipodes. A line drawn at right + angles, or nearly so, to this polar line through Europe and Southern Asia + to Hindostan, would give us a sort of equator, around which round-headed, + oval-headed, and oblong-headed, prognathous and orthognathous, fair and + dark races—but none possessing the excessively marked characters of + Calmuck or Negro—group themselves. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 29.—Sections of orthognathous (light contour) and + prognathous (dark contour) skulls, one-third of the natural size. 'a b', + Basicranial axis; 'b c, b1 c1', plane of the occipital foramen; 'd d1', + hinder end of the palatine bone; 'e e1', front end of the upper jaw; 'T + T1', insertion of the tentorium.) + </p> + <p> + It is worthy of notice that the regions of the antipodal races are + antipodal in climate, the greatest contrast the world affords, perhaps, + being that between the damp, hot, steaming, alluvial coast plains of the + West Coast of Africa and the arid, elevated steppes and plateaux of + Central Asia, bitterly cold in winter, and as far from the sea as any part + of the world can be. + </p> + <p> + From Central Asia eastward to the Pacific Islands and subcontinents on the + one hand, and to America on the other, brachycephaly and orthognathism + gradually diminish, and are replaced by dolichocephaly and prognathism, + less, however, on the American Continent (throughout the whole length of + which a rounded type of skull prevails largely, but not exclusively)* than + in the Pacific region, where, at length, on the Australian Continent and + in the adjacent islands, the oblong skull, the projecting jaws, and the + dark skin reappear; with so much departure, in other respects, from the + Negro type, that ethnologists assign to these people the special title of + 'Negritoes.' ([Footnote] *See Dr. D. Wilson's valuable paper "On the + supposed prevalence of one Cranial Type throughout the American + aborigines."—'Canadian Journal', vol. ii., 1857.) + </p> + <p> + The Australian skull is remarkable for its narrowness and for the + thickness of its walls, especially in the region of the supraciliary + ridge, which is frequently, though not by any means invariably, solid + throughout, the frontal sinuses remaining undeveloped. The nasal + depression, again, is extremely sudden, so that the brows overhang and + give the countenance a particularly lowering, threatening expression. The + occipital region of the skull, also, not unfrequently becomes less + prominent; so that it not only fails to project beyond a line drawn + perpendicular to the hinder extremity of the glabello-occipital line, but + even, in some cases, begins to shelve away from it, forwards, almost + immediately. In consequence of this circumstance, the parts of the + occipital bone which lie above and below the tuberosity make a much more + acute angle with one another than is usual, whereby the hinder part of the + base of the skull appears obliquely truncated. Many Australian skulls have + a considerable height, quite equal to that of the average of any other + race, but there are others in which the cranial roof becomes remarkably + depressed, the skull, at the same time, elongating so much that, probably, + its capacity is not diminished. The majority of skulls possessing these + characters, which I have seen, are from the neighbourhood of Port Adelaide + in South Australia, and have been used by the natives as water vessels; to + which end the face has been knocked away, and a string passed through the + vacuity and the occipital foramen, so that the skull was suspended by the + greater part of its basis. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 30.—An Australian skull from Western Port, in the Museum of + the Royal College of Surgeons, with the contour of the Neanderthal skull. + Both reduced to one-third the natural size.) + </p> + <p> + Figure 30 represents the contour of a skull of this kind from Western + Port, with the jaw attached, and of the Neanderthal skull, both reduced to + one-third of the size of nature. A small additional amount of flattening + and lengthening, with a corresponding increase of the supraciliary ridge, + would convert the Australian brain case into a form identical with that of + the aberrant fossil. + </p> + <p> + And now, to return to the fossil skulls, and to the rank which they occupy + among, or beyond, these existing varieties of cranial conformation. In the + first place, I must remark, that, as Professor Schmerling well observed + ('supra', p. 300) in commenting upon the Engis skull, the formation of a + safe judgment upon the question is greatly hindered by the absence of the + jaws from both the crania, so that there is no means of deciding with + certainty, whether they were more or less prognathous than the lower + existing races of mankind. And yet, as we have seen, it is more in this + respect than any other, that human skulls vary, towards and from, the + brutal type—the brain case of an average dolichocephalic European + differing far less from that of a Negro, for example, than his jaws do. In + the absence of the jaws, then, any judgment on the relations of the fossil + skulls to recent Races must be accepted with a certain reservation. + </p> + <p> + But taking the evidence as it stands, and turning first to the Engis + skull, I confess I can find no character in the remains of that cranium + which, if it were a recent skull, would give any trustworthy clue as to + the Race to which it might appertain. Its contours and measurements agree + very well with those of some Australian skulls which I have examined—and + especially has it a tendency towards that occipital flattening, to the + great extent of which, in some Australian skulls, I have alluded. But all + Australian skulls do not present this flattening, and the supraciliary + ridge of the Engis skull is quite unlike that of the typical Australians. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, its measurements agree equally well with those of some + European skulls. And assuredly, there is no mark of degradation about any + part of its structure. It is, in fact, a fair average human skull, which + might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have contained the + thoughtless brains of a savage. + </p> + <p> + The case of the Neanderthal skull is very different. Under whatever aspect + we view this cranium, whether we regard its vertical depression, the + enormous thickness of its supraciliary ridges, its sloped occiput, or its + long and straight squamosal suture, we meet with ape-like characters, + stamping it as the most pithecoid of human crania yet discovered. But + Professor Schaaffhausen states ('supra', p. 308), that the cranium, in its + present condition, holds 1033.24 cubic centimetres of water, or about 63 + cubic inches, and as the entire skull could hardly have held less than an + additional 12 cubic inches, its capacity may be estimated at about 75 + cubic inches, which is the average capacity given by Morton for Polynesian + and Hottentot skulls. + </p> + <p> + So large a mass of brain as this, would alone suggest that the pithecoid + tendencies, indicated by this skull, did not extend deep into the + organization; and this conclusion is borne out by the dimensions of the + other bones of the skeleton given by Professor Schaaffhausen, which show + that the absolute height and relative proportions of the limbs were quite + those of an European of middle stature. The bones are indeed stouter, but + this and the great development of the muscular ridges noted by Dr. + Schaaffhausen, are characters to be expected in savages. The Patagonians, + exposed without shelter or protection to a climate possibly not very + dissimilar from that of Europe at the time during which the Neanderthal + man lived, are remarkable for the stoutness of their limb bones. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 31.—Ancient Danish skull from a tumulus at Borreby: + one-third of the natural size. From a camera lucida drawing by Mr. Busk.) + </p> + <p> + In no sense, then, can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the remains of + a human being intermediate between Men and Apes. At most, they demonstrate + the existence of a man whose skull may be said to revert somewhat towards + the pithecoid type—just as a Carrier, or a Pouter, or a Tumbler, may + sometimes put on the plumage of its primitive stock, the 'Columba livia'. + And indeed, though truly the most pithecoid of known human skulls, the + Neanderthal cranium is by no means so isolated as it appears to be at + first, but forms, in reality, the extreme term of a series leading + gradually from it to the highest and best developed of human crania. On + the one hand, it is closely approached by the flattened Australian skulls, + of which I have spoken, from which other Australian forms lead us + gradually up to skulls having very much the type of the Engis cranium. + And, on the other hand, it is even more closely affined to the skulls of + certain ancient people who inhabited Denmark during the 'stone period,' + and were probably either contemporaneous with, or later than, the makers + of the 'refuse heaps,' or 'Kjokkenmoddings' of that country. + </p> + <p> + The correspondence between the longitudinal contour of the Neanderthal + skull and that of some of those skulls from the tumuli at Borreby, very + accurate drawings of which have been made by Mr. Busk, is very close. The + occiput is quite as retreating, the supraciliary ridges are nearly as + prominent, and the skull is as low. Furthermore, the Borreby skull + resembles the Neanderthal form more closely than any of the Australian + skulls do, by the much more rapid retrocession of the forehead. On the + other hand, the Borreby skulls are all somewhat broader, in proportion to + their length, than the Neanderthal skull, while some attain that + proportion of breadth to length (80:100) which constitutes brachycephaly. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, I may say, that the fossil remains of Man hitherto + discovered do not seem to me to take us appreciably nearer to that lower + pithecoid form, by the modification of which he has, probably, become what + he is. And considering what is now known of the most ancient races of men; + seeing that they fashioned flint axes and flint knives and bone-skewers, + of much the same pattern as those fabricated by the lowest savages at the + present day, and that we have every reason to believe the habits and modes + of living of such people to have remained the same from the time of the + Mammoth and the tichorhine Rhinoceros till now, I do not know that this + result is other than might be expected. + </p> + <p> + Where, then, must we look for primaeval Man? Was the oldest 'Homo sapiens' + pliocene or miocene, or yet more ancient? In still older strata do the + fossilized bones of an Ape more anthropoid, or a Man more pithecoid, than + any yet known await the researches of some unborn paleontologist? + </p> + <p> + Time will show. But, in the meanwhile, if any form of the doctrine of + progressive development is correct, we must extend by long epochs the most + liberal estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of Man. + </p> + <p> + End of On Some Fossil Remains of Man. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE.* + </h2> + <p> + ([Footnote] *A Lay Sermon delivered in St. Martin's Hall on Sunday, + January 7th, 1866, and subsequently published in the 'Fortnightly + Review'.) + </p> + <p> + This time two hundred years ago—in the beginning of January, 1666—those + of our forefathers who inhabited this great and ancient city, took breath + between the shocks of two fearful calamities: one not quite past, although + its fury had abated; the other to come. + </p> + <p> + Within a few yards of the very spot on which we are assembled, so the + tradition runs, that painful and deadly malady, the plague, appeared in + the latter months of 1664; and, though no new visitor, smote the people of + England, and especially of her capital, with a violence unknown before, in + the course of the following year. The hand of a master has pictured what + happened in those dismal months; and in that truest of fictions, 'The + History of the Plague Year', Defoe shows death, with every accompaniment + of pain and terror, stalking through the narrow streets of old London, and + changing their busy hum into a silence broken only by the wailing of the + mourners of fifty thousand dead; by the woful denunciations and mad + prayers of fanatics; and by the madder yells of despairing profligates. + </p> + <p> + But about this time in 1666, the death-rate had sunk to nearly its + ordinary amount; a case of plague occurred only here and there, and the + richer citizens who had flown from the pest had returned to their + dwellings. The remnant of the people began to toil at the accustomed round + of duty, or of pleasure; and the stream of city life bid fair to flow back + along its old bed, with renewed and uninterrupted vigour. + </p> + <p> + The newly kindled hope was deceitful. The great plague, indeed, returned + no more; but what it had done for the Londoners, the great fire, which + broke out in the autumn of 1666, did for London; and, in September of that + year, a heap of ashes and the indestructible energy of the people were all + that remained of the glory of five-sixths of the city within the walls. + </p> + <p> + Our forefathers had their own ways of accounting for each of these + calamities. They submitted to the plague in humility and in penitence, for + they believed it to be the judgment of God. But, towards the fire they + were furiously indignant, interpreting it as the effect of the malice of + man,—as the work of the Republicans, or of the Papists, according as + their prepossessions ran in favour of loyalty or of Puritanism. + </p> + <p> + It would, I fancy, have fared but ill with one who, standing where I now + stand, in what was then a thickly peopled and fashionable part of London, + should have broached to our ancestors the doctrine which I now propound to + you—that all their hypotheses were alike wrong; that the plague was + no more, in their sense, Divine judgment, than the fire was the work of + any political, or of any religious, sect; but that they were themselves + the authors of both plague and fire, and that they must look to themselves + to prevent the recurrence of calamities, to all appearance so peculiarly + beyond the reach of human control—so evidently the result of the + wrath of God, or of the craft and subtlety of an enemy. + </p> + <p> + And one may picture to one's self how harmoniously the holy cursing of the + Puritan of that day would have chimed in with the unholy cursing and the + crackling wit of the Rochesters and Sedleys, and with the revilings of the + political fanatics, if my imaginary plain dealer had gone on to say that, + if the return of such misfortunes were ever rendered impossible, it would + not be in virtue of the victory of the faith of Laud, or of that of + Milton; and, as little, by the triumph of republicanism, as by that of + monarchy. But that the one thing needful for compassing this end was, that + the people of England should second the effort of an insignificant + corporation, the establishment of which, a few years before the epoch of + the great plague and the great fire, had been as little noticed, as they + were conspicuous. + </p> + <p> + Some twenty years before the outbreak of the plague a few calm and + thoughtful students banded themselves together for the purpose, as they + phrased it, of "improving natural knowledge." The ends they proposed to + attain cannot be stated more clearly than in the words of one of the + founders of the organization:— + </p> + <p> + "Our business was (precluding matters of theology and state affairs) to + discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries, and such as related + thereunto:—as Physick, Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, + Staticks, Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and Natural Experiments; with + the state of these studies and their cultivation at home and abroad. We + then discoursed of the circulation of the blood, the valves in the veins, + the venae lacteae, the lymphatic vessels, the Copernican hypothesis, the + nature of comets and new stars, the satellites of Jupiter, the oval shape + (as it then appeared) of Saturn, the spots on the sun and its turning on + its own axis, the inequalities and selenography of the moon, the several + phases of Venus and Mercury, the improvement of telescopes and grinding of + glasses for that purpose, the weight of air, the possibility or + impossibility of vacuities and nature's abhorrence thereof, the + Torricellian experiment in quicksilver, the descent of heavy bodies and + the degree of acceleration therein, with divers other things of like + nature, some of which were then but new discoveries, and others not so + generally known and embraced as now they are; with other things + appertaining to what hath been called the New Philosophy, which from the + times of Galileo at Florence, and Sir Francis Bacon (Lord Verulam) in + England, hath been much cultivated in Italy, France, Germany, and other + parts abroad, as well as with us in England." + </p> + <p> + The learned Dr. Wallis, writing in 1696, narrates in these words, what + happened half a century before, or about 1645. The associates met at + Oxford, in the rooms of Dr. Wilkins, who was destined to become a bishop; + and subsequently coming together in London, they attracted the notice of + the king. And it is a strange evidence of the taste for knowledge which + the most obviously worthless of the Stuarts shared with his father and + grandfather, that Charles the Second was not content with saying witty + things about his philosophers, but did wise things with regard to them. + For he not only bestowed upon them such attention as he could spare from + his poodles and his mistresses, but being in his usual state of + impecuniosity, begged for them of the Duke of Ormond; and, that step being + without effect, gave them Chelsea College, a charter, and a mace: crowning + his favours in the best way they could be crowned, by burdening them no + further with royal patronage or state interference. + </p> + <p> + Thus it was that the half-dozen young men, studious of the "New + Philosophy," who met in one another's lodgings in Oxford or in London, in + the middle of the seventeenth century, grew in numerical and in real + strength, until, in the latter part, the "Royal Society for the + improvement of Natural Knowledge" had already become famous, and had + acquired a claim upon the veneration of Englishmen, which it has ever + since retained, as the principal focus of scientific activity in our + islands, and the chief champion of the cause it was formed to support. + </p> + <p> + It was by the aid of the Royal Society that Newton published his + 'Principia'. If all the books in the world, except the Philosophical + Transactions, were destroyed, it is safe to say that the foundations of + physical science would remain unshaken, and that the vast intellectual + progress of the last two centuries would be largely, though incompletely, + recorded. Nor have any signs of halting or of decrepitude manifested + themselves in our own times. As in Dr. Wallis's days, so in these, "our + business is, precluding theology and state affairs, to discourse and + consider of philosophical enquiries." But our "Mathematick" is one which + Newton would have to go to school to learn; our "Staticks, Mechanicks, + Magneticks, Chymicks, and Natural Experiments" constitute a mass of + physical and chemical knowledge, a glimpse at which would compensate + Galileo for the doings of a score of inquisitorial cardinals; our + "Physick" and "Anatomy" have embraced such infinite varieties of being, + have laid open such new worlds in time and space, have grappled, not + unsuccessfully, with such complex problems, that the eyes of Vesalius and + of Harvey might be dazzled by the sight of the tree that has grown out of + their grain of mustard seed. + </p> + <p> + The fact is perhaps rather too much, than too little, forced upon one's + notice, nowadays, that all this marvellous intellectual growth has a no + less wonderful expression in practical life; and that, in this respect, if + in no other, the movement symbolized by the progress of the Royal Society + stands without a parallel in the history of mankind. + </p> + <p> + A series of volumes as bulky as the 'Transactions of the Royal Society' + might possibly be filled with the subtle speculations of the Schoolmen; + not improbably, the obtaining a mastery over the products of mediaeval + thought might necessitate an even greater expenditure of time and of + energy than the acquirement of the "New Philosophy"; but though such work + engrossed the best intellects of Europe for a longer time than has elapsed + since the great fire, its effects were "writ in water," so far as our + social state is concerned. + </p> + <p> + On the other hand, if the noble first President of the Royal Society could + revisit the upper air and once more gladden his eyes with a sight of the + familiar mace, he would find himself in the midst of a material + civilization more different from that of his day, than that of the + seventeenth was from that of the first century. And if Lord Brouncker's + native sagacity had not deserted his ghost, he would need no long + reflection to discover that all these great ships, these railways, these + telegraphs, these factories, these printing-presses, without which the + whole fabric of modern English society would collapse into a mass of + stagnant and starving pauperism,—that all these pillars of our State + are but the ripples, and the bubbles upon the surface of that great + spiritual stream, the springs of which, only, he and his fellows were + privileged to see; and seeing, to recognise as that which it behoved them + above all things to keep pure and undefiled. + </p> + <p> + It may not be too great a flight of imagination to conceive our noble + 'revenant' not forgetful of the great troubles of his own day, and anxious + to know how often London had been burned down since his time, and how + often the plague had carried off its thousands. He would have to learn + that, although London contains tenfold the inflammable matter that it did + in 1666; though, not content with filling our rooms with woodwork and + light draperies, we must needs lead inflammable and explosive gases into + every corner of our streets and houses, we never allow even a street to + burn down. And if he asked how this had come about, we should have to + explain that the improvement of natural knowledge has furnished us with + dozens of machines for throwing water upon fires, any one of which would + have furnished the ingenious Mr. Hooke, the first "curator and + experimenter" of the Royal Society, with ample materials for discourse + before half a dozen meetings of that body; and that, to say truth, except + for the progress of natural knowledge, we should not have been able to + make even the tools by which these machines are constructed. And, further, + it would be necessary to add, that although severe fires sometimes occur + and inflict great damage, the loss is very generally compensated by + societies, the operations of which have been rendered possible only by the + progress of natural knowledge in the direction of mathematics, and the + accumulation of wealth in virtue of other natural knowledge. + </p> + <p> + But the plague? My Lord Brouncker's observation would not, I fear, lead + him to think that Englishmen of the nineteenth century are purer in life, + or more fervent in religious faith, than the generation which could + produce a Boyle, an Evelyn, and a Milton. He might find the mud of society + at the bottom, instead of at the top, but I fear that the sum total would + be a deserving of swift judgment as at the time of the Restoration. And it + would be our duty to explain once more, and this time not without shame, + that we have no reason to believe that it is the improvement of our faith, + nor that of our morals, which keeps the plague from our city; but, again, + that it is the improvement of our natural knowledge. + </p> + <p> + We have learned that pestilences will only take up their abode among those + who have prepared unswept and ungarnished residences for them. Their + cities must have narrow, unwatered streets, foul with accumulated garbage. + Their houses must be ill-drained, ill-lighted, ill-ventilated. Their + subjects must be ill-washed, ill-fed, ill-clothed. The London of 1665 was + such a city. The cities of the East, where plague has an enduring + dwelling, are such cities. We, in later times, have learned somewhat of + Nature, and partly obey her. Because of this partial improvement of our + natural knowledge and of that fractional obedience, we have no plague; + because that knowledge is still very imperfect and that obedience yet + incomplete, typhus is our companion and cholera our visitor. But it is not + presumptuous to express the belief that, when our knowledge is more + complete and our obedience the expression of our knowledge, London will + count her centuries of freedom from typhus and cholera, as she now + gratefully reckons her two hundred years of ignorance of that plague which + swooped upon her thrice in the first half of the seventeenth century. + </p> + <p> + Surely, there is nothing in these explanations which is not fully borne + out by the facts? Surely, the principles involved in them are now admitted + among the fixed beliefs of all thinking men? Surely, it is true that our + countrymen are less subject to fire, famine, pestilence, and all the evils + which result from a want of command over and due anticipation of the + course of Nature, than were the countrymen of Milton; and health, wealth, + and well-being are more abundant with us than with them? But no less + certainly is the difference due to the improvement of our knowledge of + Nature, and the extent to which that improved knowledge has been + incorporated with the household words of men, and has supplied the springs + of their daily actions. + </p> + <p> + Granting for a moment, then, the truth of that which the depreciators of + natural knowledge are so fond of urging, that its improvement can only add + to the resources of our material civilization; admitting it to be possible + that the founders of the Royal Society themselves looked for no other + reward than this, I cannot confess that I was guilty of exaggeration when + I hinted, that to him who had the gift of distinguishing between prominent + events and important events, the origin of a combined effort on the part + of mankind to improve natural knowledge might have loomed larger than the + Plague and have outshone the glare of the Fire; as a something fraught + with a wealth of beneficence to mankind, in comparison with which the + damage done by those ghastly evils would shrink into insignificance. + </p> + <p> + It is very certain that for every victim slain by the plague, hundreds of + mankind exist and find a fair share of happiness in the world by the aid + of the spinning jenny. And the great fire, at its worst, could not have + burned the supply of coal, the daily working of which, in the bowels of + the earth, made possible by the steam pump, gives rise to an amount of + wealth to which the millions lost in old London are but as an old song. + </p> + <p> + But spinning jenny and steam pump are, after all, but toys, possessing an + accidental value; and natural knowledge creates multitudes of more subtle + contrivances, the praises of which do not happen to be sung because they + are not directly convertible into instruments of creating wealth. When I + contemplate natural knowledge squandering such gifts among men, the only + appropriate comparison I can find for her is, to liken her to such a + peasant woman as one sees in the Alps, striding ever upward, heavily + burdened, and with mind bent only on her home; but yet, without effort and + without thought, knitting for her children. Now stockings are good and + comfortable things, and the children will undoubtedly be much the better + for them; but surely it would be short-sighted, to say the least of it, to + depreciate this toiling mother as a mere stocking-machine—a mere + provider of physical comforts? + </p> + <p> + However, there are blind leaders of the blind, and not a few of them, who + take this view of natural knowledge, and can see nothing in the bountiful + mother of humanity but a sort of comfort-grinding machine. According to + them, the improvement of natural knowledge always has been, and always + must be, synonymous with no more than the improvement of the material + resources and the increase of the gratification of men. + </p> + <p> + Natural knowledge is, in their eyes, no real mother of mankind, bringing + them up with kindness, and if need be, with sternness, in the way they + should go, and instructing them in all things needful for their welfare; + but a sort of fairy godmother, ready to furnish her pets with shoes of + swiftness, swords of sharpness, and omnipotent Aladdin's lamps, so that + they may have telegraphs to Saturn, and see the other side of the moon, + and thank God they are better than their benighted ancestors. + </p> + <p> + If this talk were true, I, for one, should not greatly care to toil in the + service of natural knowledge. I think I would just as soon be quietly + chipping my own flint axe, after the manner of my forefathers a few + thousand years back, as be troubled with the endless malady of thought + which now infests us all, for such reward. But I venture to say that such + views are contrary alike to reason and to fact. Those who discourse in + such fashion seem to me to be so intent upon trying to see what is above + Nature, or what is behind her, that they are blind to what stares them in + the face, in her. + </p> + <p> + I should not venture to speak thus strongly if my justification were not + to be found in the simplest and most obvious facts,—if it needed + more than an appeal to the most notorious truths to justify my assertion, + that the improvement of natural knowledge, whatever direction it has + taken, and however low the aims of those who may have commenced it—has + not only conferred practical benefits on men, but, in so doing, has + effected a revolution in their conceptions of the universe and of + themselves, and has profoundly altered their modes of thinking and their + views of right and wrong. I say that natural knowledge, seeking to satisfy + natural wants, has found the ideas which can alone still spiritual + cravings. I way that natural knowledge, in desiring to ascertain the laws + of comfort, has been driven to discover those of conduct, and to lay the + foundations of a new morality. + </p> + <p> + Let us take these points separately; and, first, what great ideas has + natural knowledge introduced into men's minds? + </p> + <p> + I cannot but think that the foundations of all natural knowledge were laid + when the reason of man first came face to face with the facts of Nature; + when the savage first learned that the fingers of one hand are fewer than + those of both; that it is shorter to cross a stream than to head it; that + a stone stops where it is unless it be moved, and that it drops from the + hand which lets it go; that light and heat come and go with the sun; that + sticks burn away to a fire; that plants and animals grow and die; that if + he struck his fellow-savage a blow he would make him angry, and perhaps + get a blow in return, while if he offered him a fruit he would please him, + and perhaps receive a fish in exchange. When men had acquired this much + knowledge, the outlines, rude though they were, of mathematics, of + physics, of chemistry, of biology, of moral, economical, and political + science, were sketched. Nor did the germ of religion fail when science + began to bud. Listen to words which though new, are yet three thousand + years old:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "...When in heaven the stars about the moon + Look beautiful, when all the winds are laid, + And every height comes out, and jutting peak + And valley, and the immeasurable heavens + Break open to their highest, and all the stars + Shine, and the shepherd gladdens in his heart."* +</pre> + <p> + ([Footnote] *Need it be said that this is Tennyson's English for Homer's + Greek?) + </p> + <p> + If the half-savage Greek could share our feelings thus far, it is + irrational to doubt that he went further, to find, as we do, that upon + that brief gladness there follows a certain sorrow,—the little light + of awakened human intelligence shines so mere a spark amidst the abyss of + the unknown and unknowable; seems so insufficient to do more than + illuminate the imperfections that cannot be remedied, the aspirations that + cannot be realized, of man's own nature. But in this sadness, this + consciousness of the limitation of man, this sense of an open secret which + he cannot penetrate, lies the essence of all religion; and the attempt to + embody it in the forms furnished by the intellect is the origin of the + higher theologies. + </p> + <p> + Thus it seems impossible to imagine but that the foundations of all + knowledge—secular or sacred—were laid when intelligence + dawned, though the superstructure remained for long ages so slight and + feeble as to be compatible with the existence of almost any general view + respecting the mode of governance of the universe. No doubt, from the + first, there were certain phenomena which, to the rudest mind, presented a + constancy of occurrence, and suggested that a fixed order ruled, at any + rate, among them. I doubt if the grossest of Fetish worshippers ever + imagined that a stone must have a god within it to make it fall, or that a + fruit had a god within it to make it taste sweet. With regard to such + matters as these, it is hardly questionable that mankind from the first + took strictly positive and scientific views. + </p> + <p> + But, with respect to all the less familiar occurrences which present + themselves, uncultured man, no doubt, has always taken himself as the + standard of comparison, as the centre and measure of the world; nor could + he well avoid doing so. And finding that his apparently uncaused will has + a powerful effect in giving rise to many occurrences, he naturally enough + ascribed other and greater events to other and greater volitions, and came + to look upon the world and all that therein is, as the product of the + volitions of persons like himself, but stronger, and capable of being + appeased or angered, as he himself might be soothed or irritated. Through + such conceptions of the plan and working of the universe all mankind have + passed, or are passing. And we may now consider, what has been the effect + of the improvement of natural knowledge on the views of men who have + reached this stage, and who have begun to cultivate natural knowledge with + no desire but that of "increasing God's honour and bettering man's + estate." + </p> + <p> + For example, what could seem wiser, from a mere material point of view, + more innocent, from a theological one, to an ancient people, than that + they should learn the exact succession of the seasons, as warnings for + their husbandmen; or the position of the stars, as guides to their rude + navigators? But what has grown out of this search for natural knowledge of + so merely useful a character? You all know the reply. Astronomy,—which + of all sciences has filled men's minds with general ideas of a character + most foreign to their daily experience, and has, more than any other, + rendered it impossible for them to accept the beliefs of their fathers. + Astronomy,—which tells them that this so vast and seemingly solid + earth is but an atom among atoms, whirling, no man knows whither, through + illimitable space; which demonstrates that what we call the peaceful + heaven above us, is but that space, filled by an infinitely subtle matter + whose particles are seething and surging, like the waves of an angry sea; + which opens up to us infinite regions where nothing is known, or ever + seems to have been known, but matter and force, operating according to + rigid rules; which leads us to contemplate phenomena the very nature of + which demonstrates that they must have had a beginning, and that they must + have an end, but the very nature of which also proves that the beginning + was, to our conceptions of time, infinitely remote, and that the end is as + immeasurably distant. + </p> + <p> + But it is not alone those who pursue astronomy who ask for bread and + receive ideas. What more harmless than the attempt to lift and distribute + water by pumping it; what more absolutely and grossly utilitarian? But out + of pumps grew the discussions about Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum; and + then it was discovered that Nature does not abhor a vacuum, but that air + has weight; and that notion paved the way for the doctrine that all matter + has weight, and that the force which produces weight is co-extensive with + the universe,—in short, to the theory of universal gravitation and + endless force. While learning how to handle gases led to the discovery of + oxygen, and to modern chemistry, and to the notion of the + indestructibility of matter. + </p> + <p> + Again, what simpler, or more absolutely practical, than the attempt to + keep the axle of a wheel from heating when the wheel turns round very + fast? How useful for carters and gig drivers to know something about this; + and how good were it, if any ingenious person would find out the cause of + such phenomena, and thence educe a general remedy for them. Such an + ingenious person was Count Rumford; and he and his successors have landed + us in the theory of the persistence, or indestructibility, of force. And + in the infinitely minute, as in the infinitely great, the seekers after + natural knowledge, of the kinds called physical and chemical, have + everywhere found a definite order and succession of events which seem + never to be infringed. + </p> + <p> + And how has it fared with "Physick" and Anatomy? Have the anatomist, the + physiologist, or the physician, whose business it has been to devote + themselves assiduously to that eminently practical and direct end, the + alleviation of the sufferings of mankind,—have they been able to + confine their vision more absolutely to the strictly useful? I fear they + are worst offenders of all. For if the astronomer has set before us the + infinite magnitude of space, and the practical eternity of the duration of + the universe; if the physical and chemical philosophers have demonstrated + the infinite minuteness of its constituent parts, and the practical + eternity of matter and of force; and if both have alike proclaimed the + universality of a definite and predicable order and succession of events, + the workers in biology have not only accepted all these, but have added + more startling theses of their own. For, as the astronomers discover in + the earth no centre of the universe, but an eccentric speck, so the + naturalists find man to be no centre of the living world, but one amidst + endless modifications of life; and as the astronomer observes the mark of + practically endless time set upon the arrangements of the solar system so + the student of life finds the records of ancient forms of existence + peopling the world for ages, which, in relation to human experience, are + infinite. + </p> + <p> + Furthermore, the physiologist finds life to be as dependent for its + manifestation on particular molecular arrangements as any physical or + chemical phenomenon; and, whenever he extends his researches, fixed order + and unchanging causation reveal themselves, as plainly as in the rest of + Nature. + </p> + <p> + Nor can I find that any other fate has awaited the germ of Religion. + Arising, like all other kinds of knowledge, and out of the action and + interaction of man's mind, with that which is not man's mind, it has taken + the intellectual coverings of Fetishism or Polytheism; of Theism or + Atheism; of Superstition or Rationalism. With these, and their relative + merits and demerits, I have nothing to do; but this it is needful for my + purpose to say, that if the religion of the present differs from that of + the past, it is because the theology of the present has become more + scientific than that of the past; because it has not only renounced idols + of wood and idols of stone, but begins to see the necessity of breaking in + pieces the idols built up of books and traditions and fine-spun + ecclesiastical cobwebs: and of cherishing the noblest and most human of + man's emotions, by worship "for the most part of the silent sort" at the + altar of the Unknown and Unknowable. + </p> + <p> + Such are a few of the new conceptions implanted in our minds by the + improvement of natural knowledge. Men have acquired the ideas of the + practically infinite extent of the universe and of its practical eternity; + they are familiar with the conception that our earth is but an + infinitesimal fragment of that part of the universe which can be seen; and + that, nevertheless, its duration is, as compared with our standards of + time, infinite. They have further acquired the idea that man is but one of + innumerable forms of life now existing in the globe, and that the present + existences are but the last of an immeasurable series of predecessors. + Moreover, every step they have made in natural knowledge has tended to + extend and rivet in their minds the conception of a definite order of the + universe—which is embodied in what are called, by an unhappy + metaphor, the laws of Nature—and to narrow the range and loosen the + force of men's belief in spontaneity, or in changes other than such as + arise out of that definite order itself. + </p> + <p> + Whether these ideas are well or ill founded is not the question. No one + can deny that they exist, and have been the inevitable outgrowth of the + improvement of natural knowledge. And if so, it cannot be doubted that + they are changing the form of men's most cherished and most important + convictions. + </p> + <p> + And as regards the second point—the extent to which the improvement + of natural knowledge has remodelled and altered what may be termed the + intellectual ethics of men,—what are among the moral convictions + most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people. + </p> + <p> + They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of belief; + that merit attaches to a readiness to believe; that the doubting + disposition is a bad one, and scepticism a sin; that when good authority + has pronounced what is to be believed, and faith has accepted it, reason + has no further duty. There are many excellent persons who yet hold by + these principles, and it is not my present business, or intention, to + discuss their views. All I wish to bring clearly before your minds is the + unquestionable fact, that the improvement of natural knowledge is effected + by methods which directly give the lie to all these convictions, and + assume the exact reverse of each to be true. + </p> + <p> + The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge + authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind + faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot be otherwise, for every + great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of + authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, the annihilation of + the spirit of blind faith; and the most ardent votary of science holds his + firmest convictions, not because the men he most venerates hold them; not + because their verity is testified by portents and wonders; but because his + experience teaches him that whenever he chooses to bring these convictions + into contact with their primary source, Nature—whenever he thinks + fit to test them by appealing to experiment and to observation—Nature + will confirm them. The man of science has learned to believe in + justification, not by faith, but by verification. + </p> + <p> + Thus, without for a moment pretending to despise the practical results of + the improvement of natural knowledge, and its beneficial influence on + material civilization, it must, I think, be admitted that the great ideas, + some of which I have indicated, and the ethical spirit which I have + endeavoured to sketch, in the few moments which remained at my disposal, + constitute the real and permanent significance of natural knowledge. + </p> + <p> + If these ideas be destined, as I believe they are, to be more and more + firmly established as the world grows older; if that spirit be fated, as I + believe it is, to extend itself into all departments of human thought, and + to become co-extensive with the range of knowledge; if, as our race + approaches its maturity, it discovers, as I believe it will, that there is + but one kind of knowledge and but one method of acquiring it; then we, who + are still children, may justly feel it our highest duty to recognise the + advisableness of improving natural knowledge, and so to aid ourselves and + our successors in their course towards the noble goal which lies before + mankind. + </p> + <p> + End of On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge. + </p> + <p> + *** <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY.* + </h2> + <p> + ([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered at the South Kensington Museum in 1861.) + </p> + <p> + Natural History is the name familiarly applied to the study of the + properties of such natural bodies as minerals, plants, and animals; the + sciences which embody the knowledge man has acquired upon these subjects + are commonly termed Natural Sciences, in contradistinction to other + so-called "physical" sciences; and those who devote themselves especially + to the pursuit of such sciences have been and are commonly termed + "Naturalists." + </p> + <p> + Linnaeus was a naturalist in this wide sense, and his 'Systema Naturae' + was a work upon natural history, in the broadest acceptation of the term; + in it, that great methodising spirit embodied all that was known in his + time of the distinctive characters of minerals, animals, and plants. But + the enormous stimulus which Linnaeus gave to the investigation of nature + soon rendered it impossible that any one man should write another 'Systema + Naturae,' and extremely difficult for any one to become even a naturalist + such as Linnaeus was. + </p> + <p> + Great as have been the advances made by all the three branches of science, + of old included under the title of natural history, there can be no doubt + that zoology and botany have grown in an enormously greater ratio than + mineralogy; and hence, as I suppose, the name of "natural history" has + gradually become more and more definitely attached to these prominent + divisions of the subject, and by "naturalist" people have meant more and + more distinctly to imply a student of the structure and function of living + beings. + </p> + <p> + However this may be, it is certain that the advance of knowledge has + gradually widened the distance between mineralogy and its old associates, + while it has drawn zoology and botany closer together; so that of late + years it has been found convenient (and indeed necessary) to associate the + sciences which deal with vitality and all its phenomena under the common + head of "biology"; and the biologists have come to repudiate any + blood-relationship with their foster-brothers, the mineralogists. + </p> + <p> + Certain broad laws have a general application throughout both the animal + and the vegetable worlds, but the ground common to these kingdoms of + nature is not of very wide extent, and the multiplicity of details is so + great, that the student of living beings finds himself obliged to devote + his attention exclusively either to the one or the other. If he elects to + study plants, under any aspect, we know at once what to call him. He is a + botanist, and his science is botany. But if the investigation of animal + life be his choice, the name generally applied to him will vary according + to the kind of animals he studies, or the particular phenomena of animal + life to which he confines his attention. If the study of man is his + object, he is called an anatomist, or a physiologist, or an ethnologist; + but if he dissects animals, or examines into the mode in which their + functions are performed, he is a comparative anatomist or comparative + physiologist. If he turns his attention to fossil animals, he is a + palaeontologist. If his mind is more particularly directed to the specific + description, discrimination, classification, and distribution of animals, + he is termed a zoologist. + </p> + <p> + For the purpose of the present discourse, however, I shall recognise none + of these titles save the last, which I shall employ as the equivalent of + botanist, and I shall use the term zoology as denoting the whole doctrine + of animal life, in contradistinction to botany, which signifies the whole + doctrine of vegetable life. + </p> + <p> + Employed in this sense, zoology, like botany, is divisible into three + great but subordinate sciences, morphology, physiology, and distribution, + each of which may, to a very great extent, be studied independently of the + other. + </p> + <p> + Zoological morphology is the doctrine of animal form or structure. Anatomy + is one of its branches; development is another; while classification is + the expression of the relations which different animals bear to one + another, in respect of their anatomy and their development. + </p> + <p> + Zoological distribution is the study of animals in relation to the + terrestrial conditions which obtain now, or have obtained at any previous + epoch of the earth's history. + </p> + <p> + Zoological physiology, lastly, is the doctrine of the functions or actions + of animals. It regards animal bodies as machines impelled by certain + forces, and performing an amount of work which can be expressed in terms + of the ordinary forces of nature. The final object of physiology is to + deduce the facts of morphology, on the one hand, and those of distribution + on the other, from the laws of the molecular forces of matter. + </p> + <p> + Such is the scope of zoology. But if I were to content myself with the + enunciation of these dry definitions, I should ill exemplify that method + of teaching this branch of physical science, which it is my chief business + to-night to recommend. Let us turn away then from abstract definitions. + Let us take some concrete living thing, some animal, the commoner the + better, and let us see how the application of common sense and common + logic to the obvious facts it presents, inevitably leads us into all these + branches of zoological science. + </p> + <p> + I have before me a lobster. When I examine it, what appears to be the most + striking character it presents? Why, I observe that this part which we + call the tail of the lobster, is made up of six distinct hard rings and a + seventh terminal piece. If I separate one of the middle rings, say the + third, I find it carries upon its under surface a pair of limbs or + appendages, each of which consists of a stalk and two terminal pieces. So + that I can represent a transverse section of the ring and its appendages + upon the diagram board in this way. + </p> + <p> + If I now take the fourth ring, I find it has the same structure, and so + have the fifth and the second; so that, in each of these divisions of the + tail, I find parts which correspond with one another, a ring and two + appendages; and in each appendage a stalk and two end pieces. These + corresponding parts are called, in the technical language of anatomy, + "homologous parts." The ring of the third division is the "homologue" of + the ring of the fifth, the appendage of the former is the homologue of the + appendage of the latter. And, as each division exhibits corresponding + parts in corresponding places, we say that all the divisions are + constructed upon the same plan. But now let us consider the sixth + division. It is similar to, and yet different from, the others. The ring + is essentially the same as in the other divisions; but the appendages look + at first as if they were very different; and yet when we regard them + closely, what do we find? A stalk and two terminal divisions, exactly as + in the others, but the stalk is very short and very thick, the terminal + divisions are very broad and flat, and one of them is divided into two + pieces. + </p> + <p> + I may say, therefore, that the sixth segment is like the others in plan, + but that it is modified in its details. + </p> + <p> + The first segment is like the others, so far as its ring is concerned, and + though its appendages differ from any of those yet examined in the + simplicity of their structure, parts corresponding with the stem and one + of the divisions of the appendages of the other segments can be readily + discerned in them. + </p> + <p> + Thus it appears that the lobster's tail is composed of a series of + segments which are fundamentally similar, though each presents peculiar + modifications of the plan common to all. But when I turn to the forepart + of the body I see, at first, nothing but a great shield-like shell, called + technically the "carapace," ending in front in a sharp spine, on either + side of which are the curious compound eyes, set upon the ends of stout + movable stalks. Behind these, on the under side of the body, are two pairs + of long feelers, or antennae, followed by six pairs of jaws folded against + one another over the mouth, and five pairs of legs, the foremost of these + being the great pinchers, or claws, of the lobster. + </p> + <p> + It looks, at first, a little hopeless to attempt to find in this complex + mass a series of rings, each with its pair of appendages, such as I have + shown you in the abdomen, and yet it is not difficult to demonstrate their + existence. Strip off the legs, and you will find that each pair is + attached to a very definite segment of the under wall of the body; but + these segments, instead of being the lower parts of free rings, as in the + tail, are such parts of rings which are all solidly united and bound + together; and the like is true of the jaws, the feelers, and the + eye-stalks, every pair of which is borne upon its own special segment. + Thus the conclusion is gradually forced upon us, that the body of the + lobster is composed of as many rings as there are pairs of appendages, + namely, twenty in all, but that the six hindmost rings remain free and + movable, while the fourteen front rings become firmly soldered together, + their backs forming one continuous shield—the carapace. + </p> + <p> + Unity of plan, diversity in execution, is the lesson taught by the study + of the rings of the body, and the same instruction is given still more + emphatically by the appendages. If I examine the outermost jaw I find it + consists of three distinct portions, an inner, a middle, and an outer, + mounted upon a common stem; and if I compare this jaw with the legs behind + it, or the jaws in front of it, I find it quite easy to see, that, in the + legs, it is the part of the appendage which corresponds with the inner + division, which becomes modified into what we know familiarly as the + "leg," while the middle division disappears, and the outer division is + hidden under the carapace. Nor is it more difficult to discern that, in + the appendages of the tail, the middle division appears again and the + outer vanishes; while, on the other hand, in the foremost jaw, the + so-called mandible, the inner division only is left; and, in the same way, + the parts of the feelers and of the eye-stalks can be identified with + those of the legs and jaws. + </p> + <p> + But whither does all this tend? To the very remarkable conclusion that a + unity of plan, of the same kind as that discoverable in the tail or + abdomen of the lobster, pervades the whole organization of its skeleton, + so that I can return to the diagram representing any one of the rings of + the tail, which I drew upon the board, and by adding a third division to + each appendage, I can use it as a sort of scheme or plan of any ring of + the body. I can give names to all the parts of that figure, and then if I + take any segment of the body of the lobster, I can point out to you + exactly, what modification the general plan has undergone in that + particular segment; what part has remained movable, and what has become + fixed to another; what has been excessively developed and metamorphosed + and what has been suppressed. + </p> + <p> + But I imagine I hear the question, How is all this to be tested? No doubt + it is a pretty and ingenious way of looking at the structure of any + animal; but is it anything more? Does Nature acknowledge, in any deeper + way, this unity of plan we seem to trace? + </p> + <p> + The objection suggested by these questions is a very valid and important + one, and morphology was in an unsound state so long as it rested upon the + mere perception of the analogies which obtain between fully formed parts. + The unchecked ingenuity of speculative anatomists proved itself fully + competent to spin any number of contradictory hypotheses out of the same + facts, and endless morphological dreams threatened to supplant scientific + theory. + </p> + <p> + Happily, however, there is a criterion of morphological truth, and a sure + test of all homologies. Our lobster has not always been what we see it; it + was once an egg, a semifluid mass of yolk, not so big as a pin's head, + contained in a transparent membrane, and exhibiting not the least trace of + any one of those organs, whose multiplicity and complexity, in the adult, + are so surprising. After a time a delicate patch of cellular membrane + appeared upon one face of this yolk, and that patch was the foundation of + the whole creature, the clay out of which it would be moulded. Gradually + investing the yolk, it became subdivided by transverse constrictions into + segments, the forerunners of the rings of the body. Upon the ventral + surface of each of the rings thus sketched out, a pair of bud-like + prominences made their appearance—the rudiments of the appendages of + the ring. At first, all the appendages were alike, but, as they grew, most + of them became distinguished into a stem and two terminal divisions, to + which in the middle part of the body, was added a third outer division; + and it was only at a later period, that by the modification, or + absorption, of certain of these primitive constituents, the limbs acquired + their perfect form. + </p> + <p> + Thus the study of development proves that the doctrine of unity of plan is + not merely a fancy, that it is not merely one way of looking at the + matter, but that it is the expression of deep-seated natural facts. The + legs and jaws of the lobster may not merely be regarded as modifications + of a common type,—in fact and in nature they are so,—the leg + and the jaw of the young animal being, at first, indistinguishable. + </p> + <p> + These are wonderful truths, the more so because the zoologist finds them + to be of universal application. The investigation of a polype, of a snail, + of a fish, of a horse, or of a man, would have led us, though by a less + easy path, perhaps, to exactly the same point. Unity of plan everywhere + lies hidden under the mask of diversity of structure—the complex is + everywhere evolved out of the simple. Every animal has at first the form + of an egg, and every animal and every organic part, in reaching its adult + state, passes through conditions common to other animals and other adult + parts; and this leads me to another point. I have hitherto spoken as if + the lobster were alone in the world, but, as I need hardly remind you, + there are myriads of other animal organisms. Of these, some, such as men, + horses, birds, fishes, snails, slugs, oysters, corals, and sponges, are + not in the least like the lobster. But other animals, though they may + differ a good deal from the lobster, are yet either very like it, or are + like something that is like it. The cray fish, the rock lobster, and the + prawn, and the shrimp, for example, however different, are yet so like + lobsters, that a child would group them as of the lobster kind, in + contradistinction to snails and slugs; and these last again would form a + kind by themselves, in contradistinction to cows, horses, and sheep, the + cattle kind. + </p> + <p> + But this spontaneous grouping into "kinds" is the first essay of the human + mind at classification, or the calling by a common name of those things + that are alike, and the arranging them in such a manner as best to suggest + the sum of their likenesses and unlikenesses to other things. + </p> + <p> + Those kinds which include no other subdivisions than the sexes, or various + breeds, are called, in technical language, species. The English lobster is + a species, our cray fish is another, our prawn is another. In other + countries, however, there are lobsters, cray fish, and prawns, very like + ours, and yet presenting sufficient differences to deserve distinction. + Naturalists, therefore, express this resemblance and this diversity by + grouping them as distinct species of the same "genus." But the lobster and + the cray fish, though belonging to distinct genera, have many features in + common, and hence are grouped together in an assemblage which is called a + family. More distant resemblances connect the lobster with the prawn and + the crab, which are expressed by putting all these into the same order. + Again, more remote, but still very definite, resemblances unite the + lobster with the woodlouse, the king crab, the water flea, and the + barnacle, and separate them from all other animals; whence they + collectively constitute the larger group, or class, 'Crustacea'. But the + 'Crustacea' exhibit many peculiar features in common with insects, + spiders, and centipedes, so that these are grouped into the still larger + assemblage or "province" 'Articulata'; and, finally, the relations which + these have to worms and other lower animals, are expressed by combining + the whole vast aggregate into the sub-kingdom of 'Annulosa'. + </p> + <p> + If I had worked my way from a sponge instead of a lobster, I should have + found it associated, by like ties, with a great number of other animals + into the sub-kingdom 'Protozoa'; if I had selected a fresh-water polype or + a coral, the members of what naturalists term the sub-kingdom + 'Coelenterata', would have grouped themselves around my type; had a snail + been chosen, the inhabitants of all univalve and bivalve, land and water, + shells, the lamp shells, the squids, and the sea-mat would have gradually + linked themselves on to it as members of the same sub-kingdom of + 'Mollusca'; and finally, starting from man, I should have been compelled + to admit first, the ape, the rat, the horse, the dog, into the same class; + and then the bird, the crocodile, the turtle, the frog, and the fish, into + the same sub-kingdom of 'Vertebrata'. + </p> + <p> + And if I had followed out all these various lines of classification fully, + I should discover in the end that there was no animal, either recent or + fossil, which did not at once fall into one or other of these + sub-kingdoms. In other words, every animal is organized upon one or other + of the five, or more, plans, whose existence renders our classification + possible. And so definitely and precisely marked is the structure of each + animal, that, in the present state of our knowledge, there is not the + least evidence to prove that a form, in the slightest degree transitional + between any of the two groups 'Vertebrata', 'Annulosa', 'Mollusca', and + 'Coelenterata', either exists, or has existed, during that period of the + earth's history which is recorded by the geologist. Nevertheless, you must + not for a moment suppose, because no such transitional forms are known, + that the members of the sub-kingdoms are disconnected from, or independent + of, one another. On the contrary, in their earliest condition they are all + alike, and the primordial germs of a man, a dog, a bird, a fish, a beetle, + a snail, and a polype are, in no essential structural respects, + distinguishable. + </p> + <p> + In this broad sense, it may with truth be said, that all living animals, + and all those dead creations which geology reveals, are bound together by + an all-pervading unity of organization, of the same character, though not + equal in degree, to that which enables us to discern one and the same plan + amidst the twenty different segments of a lobster's body. Truly it has + been said, that to a clear eye the smallest fact is a window through which + the Infinite may be seen. + </p> + <p> + Turning from these purely morphological considerations, let us now examine + into the manner in which the attentive study of the lobster impels us into + other lines of research. + </p> + <p> + Lobsters are found in all the European seas; but on the opposite shores of + the Atlantic and in the seas of the southern hemisphere they do not exist. + They are, however, represented in these regions by very closely allied, + but distinct forms—the 'Homarus Americanus' and the 'Homarus + Capensis': so that we may say that the European has one species of + 'Homarus'; the American, another; the African, another; and thus the + remarkable facts of geographical distribution begin to dawn upon us. + </p> + <p> + Again, if we examine the contents of the earth's crust, we shall find in + the latter of those deposits, which have served as the great burying + grounds of past ages, numberless lobster-like animals, but none so similar + to our living lobster as to make zoologists sure that they belonged even + to the same genus. If we go still further back in time, we discover, in + the oldest rocks of all, the remains of animals, constructed on the same + general plan as the lobster, and belonging to the same great group of + 'Crustacea'; but for the most part totally different from the lobster, and + indeed from any other living form of crustacean; and thus we gain a notion + of that successive change of the animal population of the globe, in past + ages, which is the most striking fact revealed by geology. + </p> + <p> + Consider, now, where our inquiries have led us. We studied our type + morphologically, when we determined its anatomy and its development, and + when comparing it, in these respects, with other animals, we made out its + place in a system of classification. If we were to examine every animal in + a similar manner, we should establish a complete body of zoological + morphology. + </p> + <p> + Again, we investigated the distribution of our type in space and in time, + and, if the like had been done with every animal, the sciences of + geographical and geological distribution would have attained their limit. + </p> + <p> + But you will observe one remarkable circumstance, that, up to this point, + the question of the life of these organisms has not come under + consideration. Morphology and distribution might be studied almost as + well, if animals and plants were a peculiar kind of crystals, and + possessed none of those functions which distinguish living beings so + remarkably. But the facts of morphology and distribution have to be + accounted for, and the science, whose aim it is to account for them, is + Physiology. + </p> + <p> + Let us return to our lobster once more. If we watched the creature in its + native element, we should see it climbing actively the submerged rocks, + among which it delights to live, by means of its strong legs; or swimming + by powerful strokes of its great tail, the appendages of whose sixth joint + are spread out into a broad fan-like propeller: seize it, and it will show + you that its great claws are no mean weapons of offence; suspend a piece + of carrion among its haunts, and it will greedily devour it, tearing and + crushing the flesh by means of its multitudinous jaws. + </p> + <p> + Suppose that we had known nothing of the lobster but as an inert mass, an + organic crystal, if I may use the phrase, and that we could suddenly see + it exerting all these powers, what wonderful new ideas and new questions + would arise in our minds! The great new question would be, "How does all + this take place?" the chief new idea would be, the idea of adaptation to + purpose,—the notion, that the constituents of animal bodies are not + mere unconnected parts, but organs working together to an end. Let us + consider the tail of the lobster again from this point of view. Morphology + has taught us that it is a series of segments composed of homologous + parts, which undergo various modifications—beneath and through which + a common plan of formation is discernible. But if I look at the same part + physiologically, I see that it is a most beautifully constructed organ of + locomotion, by means of which the animal can swiftly propel itself either + backwards or forwards. + </p> + <p> + But how is this remarkable propulsive machine made to perform its + functions? If I were suddenly to kill one of these animals and to take out + all the soft parts, I should find the shell to be perfectly inert, to have + no more power of moving itself than is possessed by the machinery of a + mill when disconnected from its steam-engine or water-wheel. But if I were + to open it, and take out the viscera only, leaving the white flesh, I + should perceive that the lobster could bend and extend its tail as well as + before. If I were to cut off the tail, I should cease to find any + spontaneous motion in it; but on pinching any portion of the flesh, I + should observe that it underwent a very curious change—each fibre + becoming shorter and thicker. By this act of contraction, as it is termed, + the parts to which the ends of the fibre are attached are, of course, + approximated; and according to the relations of their points of attachment + to the centres of motions of the different rings, the bending or the + extension of the tail results. Close observation of the newly-opened + lobster would soon show that all its movements are due to the same cause—the + shortening and thickening of these fleshy fibres, which are technically + called muscles. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, is a capital fact. The movements of the lobster are due to + muscular contractility. But why does a muscle contract at one time and not + at another? Why does one whole group of muscles contract when the lobster + wishes to extend his tail, and another group when he desires to bend it? + What is it originates, directs, and controls the motive power? + </p> + <p> + Experiment, the great instrument for the ascertainment of truth in + physical science, answers this question for us. In the head of the lobster + there lies a small mass of that peculiar tissue which is known as nervous + substance. Cords of similar matter connect this brain of the lobster, + directly or indirectly, with the muscles. Now, if these communicating + cords are cut, the brain remaining entire, the power of exerting what we + call voluntary motion in the parts below the section is destroyed; and on + the other hand, if, the cords remaining entire, the brain mass be + destroyed, the same voluntary mobility is equally lost. Whence the + inevitable conclusion is, that the power of originating these motions + resides in the brain, and is propagated along the nervous cords. + </p> + <p> + In the higher animals the phenomena which attend this transmission have + been investigated, and the exertion of the peculiar energy which resides + in the nerves has been found to be accompanied by a disturbance of the + electrical state of their molecules. + </p> + <p> + If we could exactly estimate the signification of this disturbance; if we + could obtain the value of a given exertion of nerve force by determining + the quantity of electricity, or of heat, of which it is the equivalent; if + we could ascertain upon what arrangement, or other condition of the + molecules of matter, the manifestation of the nervous and muscular + energies depends (and doubtless science will some day or other ascertain + these points), physiologists would have attained their ultimate goal in + this direction; they would have determined the relation of the motive + force of animals to the other forms of force found in nature; and if the + same process had been successfully performed for all the operations which + are carried on in, and by, the animal frame, physiology would be perfect, + and the facts of morphology and distribution would be deducible from the + laws which physiologists had established, combined with those determining + the condition of the surrounding universe. + </p> + <p> + There is not a fragment of the organism of this humble animal whose study + would not lead us into regions of thought as large as those which I have + briefly opened up to you; but what I have been saying, I trust, has not + only enabled you to form a conception of the scope and purport of zoology, + but has given you an imperfect example of the manner in which, in my + opinion, that science, or indeed any physical science, may be best taught. + The great matter is, to make teaching real and practical, by fixing the + attention of the student on particular facts; but at the same time it + should be rendered broad and comprehensive, by constant reference to the + generalizations of which all particular facts are illustrations. The + lobster has served as a type of the whole animal kingdom, and its anatomy + and physiology have illustrated for us some of the greatest truths of + biology. The student who has once seen for himself the facts which I have + described, has had their relations explained to him, and has clearly + comprehended them, has, so far, a knowledge of zoology, which is real and + genuine, however limited it may be, and which is worth more than all the + mere reading knowledge of the science he could ever acquire. His + zoological information is, so far, knowledge and not mere hear-say. + </p> + <p> + And if it were my business to fit you for the certificate in zoological + science granted by this department, I should pursue a course precisely + similar in principle to that which I have taken to-night. I should select + a fresh-water sponge, a fresh-water polype or a 'Cyanaea', a fresh-water + mussel, a lobster, a fowl, as types of the five primary divisions of the + animal kingdom. I should explain their structure very fully, and show how + each illustrated the great principles of zoology. Having gone very + carefully and fully over this ground, I should feel that you had a safe + foundation, and I should then take you in the same way, but less minutely, + over similarly selected illustrative types of the classes; and then I + should direct your attention to the special forms enumerated under the + head of types, in this syllabus, and to the other facts there mentioned. + </p> + <p> + That would, speaking generally, be my plan. But I have undertaken to + explain to you the best mode of acquiring and communicating a knowledge of + zoology, and you may therefore fairly ask me for a more detailed and + precise account of the manner in which I should propose to furnish you + with the information I refer to. + </p> + <p> + My own impression is, that the best model for all kinds of training in + physical science is that afforded by the method of teaching anatomy, in + use in the medical schools. This method consists of three elements—lectures, + demonstrations, and examinations. + </p> + <p> + The object of lectures is, in the first place, to awaken the attention and + excite the enthusiasm of the student; and this, I am sure, may be effected + to a far greater extent by the oral discourse and by the personal + influence of a respected teacher than in any other way. Secondly, lectures + have the double use of guiding the student to the salient points of a + subject, and at the same time forcing him to attend to the whole of it, + and not merely to that part which takes his fancy. And lastly, lectures + afford the student the opportunity of seeking explanations of those + difficulties which will, and indeed ought to, arise in the course of his + studies. + </p> + <p> + But for a student to derive the utmost possible value from lectures, + several precautions are needful. + </p> + <p> + I have a strong impression that the better a discourse is, as an oration, + the worse it is as a lecture. The flow of the discourse carries you on + without proper attention to its sense; you drop a word or a phrase, you + lose the exact meaning for a moment, and while you strive to recover + yourself, the speaker has passed on to something else. + </p> + <p> + The practice I have adopted of late years, in lecturing to students, is to + condense the substance of the hour's discourse into a few dry + propositions, which are read slowly and taken down from dictation; the + reading of each being followed by a free commentary expanding and + illustrating the proposition, explaining terms, and removing any + difficulties that may be attackable in that way, by diagrams made roughly, + and seen to grow under the lecturer's hand. In this manner you, at any + rate, insure the co-operation of the student to a certain extent. He + cannot leave the lecture-room entirely empty if the taking of notes is + enforced; and a student must be preternaturally dull and mechanical, if he + can take notes and hear them properly explained, and yet learn nothing. + </p> + <p> + What books shall I read? is a question constantly put by the student to + the teacher. My reply usually is, "None: write your notes out carefully + and fully; strive to understand them thoroughly; come to me for the + explanation of anything you cannot understand; and I would rather you did + not distract your mind by reading." A properly composed course of lectures + ought to contain fully as much matter as a student can assimilate in the + time occupied by its delivery; and the teacher should always recollect + that his business is to feed, and not to cram the intellect. Indeed, I + believe that a student who gains from a course of lectures the simple + habit of concentrating his attention upon a definitely limited series of + facts, until they are thoroughly mastered, has made a step of immeasurable + importance. + </p> + <p> + But, however good lectures may be, and however extensive the course of + reading by which they are followed up, they are but accessories to the + great instrument of scientific teaching—demonstration. If I insist + unweariedly, nay fanatically, upon the importance of physical science as + an educational agent, it is because the study of any branch of science, if + properly conducted, appears to me to fill up a void left by all other + means of education. I have the greatest respect and love for literature; + nothing would grieve me more than to see literary training other than a + very prominent branch of education: indeed, I wish that real literary + discipline were far more attended to than it is; but I cannot shut my eyes + to the fact, that there is a vast difference between men who have had a + purely literary, and those who have had a sound scientific, training. + </p> + <p> + Seeking for the cause of this difference, I imagine I can find it in the + fact that, in the world of letters, learning and knowledge are one, and + books are the source of both; whereas in science, as in life, learning and + knowledge are distinct, and the study of things, and not of books, is the + source of the latter. + </p> + <p> + All that literature has to bestow may be obtained by reading and by + practical exercise in writing and in speaking; but I do not exaggerate + when I say, that none of the best gifts of science are to be won by these + means. On the contrary, the great benefit which a scientific education + bestows, whether as training or as knowledge, is dependent upon the extent + to which the mind of the student is brought into immediate contact with + facts—upon the degree to which he learns the habit of appealing + directly to Nature, and of acquiring through his senses concrete images of + those properties of things, which are, and always will be, but + approximatively expressed in human language. Our way of looking at Nature, + and of speaking about her, varies from year to year; but a fact once seen, + a relation of cause and effect, once demonstratively apprehended, are + possessions which neither change nor pass away, but, on the contrary, form + fixed centres, about which other truths aggregate by natural affinity. + </p> + <p> + Therefore, the great business of the scientific teacher is, to imprint the + fundamental, irrefragable facts of his science, not only by words upon the + mind, but by sensible impressions upon the eye, and ear, and touch of the + student, in so complete a manner, that every term used, or law enunciated, + should afterwards call up vivid images of the particular structural, or + other, facts which furnished the demonstration of the law, or the + illustration of the term. + </p> + <p> + Now this important operation can only be achieved by constant + demonstration, which may take place to a certain imperfect extent during a + lecture, but which ought also to be carried on independently, and which + should be addressed to each individual student, the teacher endeavouring, + not so much to show a thing to the learner, as to make him see it for + himself. + </p> + <p> + I am well aware that there are great practical difficulties in the way of + effectual zoological demonstrations. The dissection of animals is not + altogether pleasant, and requires much time; nor is it easy to secure an + adequate supply of the needful specimens. The botanist has here a great + advantage; his specimens are easily obtained, are clean and wholesome, and + can be dissected in a private house as well as anywhere else; and hence, I + believe, the fact, that botany is so much more readily and better taught + than its sister science. But, be it difficult or be it easy, if zoological + science is to be properly studied, demonstration, and, consequently, + dissection, must be had. Without it, no man can have a really sound + knowledge of animal organization. + </p> + <p> + A good deal may be done, however, without actual dissection on the + student's part, by demonstration upon specimens and preparations; and in + all probability it would not be very difficult, were the demand + sufficient, to organize collections of such objects, sufficient for all + the purposes of elementary teaching, at a comparatively cheap rate. Even + without these, much might be effected, if the zoological collections, + which are open to the public, were arranged according to what has been + termed the "typical principle"; that is to say, if the specimens exposed + to public view were so selected that the public could learn something from + them, instead of being, as at present, merely confused by their + multiplicity. For example, the grand ornithological gallery at the British + Museum contains between two and three thousand species of birds, and + sometimes five or six specimens of a species. They are very pretty to look + at, and some of the cases are, indeed, splendid; but I will undertake to + say, that no man but a professed ornithologist has ever gathered much + information from the collection. Certainly, no one of the tens of + thousands of the general public who have walked through that gallery ever + knew more about the essential peculiarities of birds when he left the + gallery than when he entered it. But if, somewhere in that vast hall, + there were a few preparations, exemplifying the leading structural + peculiarities and the mode of development of a common fowl; if the types + of the genera, the leading modifications in the skeleton, in the plumage + at various ages, in the mode of nidification, and the like, among birds, + were displayed; and if the other specimens were put away in a place where + the men of science, to whom they are alone useful, could have free access + to them, I can conceive that this collection might become a great + instrument of scientific education. + </p> + <p> + The last implement of the teacher to which I have adverted is examination—a + means of education now so thoroughly understood that I need hardly enlarge + upon it. I hold that both written and oral examinations are indispensable, + and, by requiring the description of specimens, they may be made to + supplement demonstration. + </p> + <p> + Such is the fullest reply the time at my disposal will allow me to give to + the question—how may a knowledge of zoology be best acquired and + communicated? + </p> + <p> + But there is a previous question which may be moved, and which, in fact, I + know many are inclined to move. It is the question, why should training + masters be encouraged to acquire a knowledge of this, or any other branch + of physical science? What is the use, it is said, of attempting to make + physical science a branch of primary education? Is it not probable that + teachers, in pursuing such studies, will be led astray from the + acquirement of more important but less attractive knowledge? And, even if + they can learn something of science without prejudice to their usefulness, + what is the good of their attempting to instil that knowledge into boys + whose real business is the acquisition of reading, writing, and + arithmetic? + </p> + <p> + These questions are, and will be, very commonly asked, for they arise from + that profound ignorance of the value and true position of physical + science, which infests the minds of the most highly educated and + intelligent classes of the community. But if I did not feel well assured + that they are capable of being easily and satisfactorily answered; that + they have been answered over and over again; and that the time will come + when men of liberal education will blush to raise such questions,—I + should be ashamed of my position here to-night. Without doubt, it is your + great and very important function to carry out elementary education; + without question, anything that should interfere with the faithful + fulfilment of that duty on your part would be a great evil; and if I + thought that your acquirement of the elements of physical science, and + your communication of those elements to your pupils, involved any sort of + interference with your proper duties, I should be the first person to + protest against your being encouraged to do anything of the kind. + </p> + <p> + But is it true that the acquisition of such a knowledge of science as is + proposed, and the communication of that knowledge, are calculated to + weaken your usefulness? Or may I not rather ask, is it possible for you to + discharge your functions properly without these aids? + </p> + <p> + What is the purpose of primary intellectual education? I apprehend that + its first object is to train the young in the use of those tools wherewith + men extract knowledge from the ever-shifting succession of phenomena which + pass before their eyes; and that its second object is to inform them of + the fundamental laws which have been found by experience to govern the + course of things, so that they may not be turned out into the world naked, + defenceless, and a prey to the events they might control. + </p> + <p> + A boy is taught to read his own and other languages, in order that he may + have access to infinitely wider stores of knowledge than could ever be + opened to him by oral intercourse with his fellow men; he learns to write, + that his means of communication with the rest of mankind may be + indefinitely enlarged, and that he may record and store up the knowledge + he acquires. He is taught elementary mathematics, that he may understand + all those relations of number and form, upon which the transactions of + men, associated in complicated societies, are built, and that he may have + some practice in deductive reasoning. + </p> + <p> + All these operations of reading, writing, and ciphering, are intellectual + tools, whose use should, before all things, be learned, and learned + thoroughly; so that the youth may be enabled to make his life that which + it ought to be, a continual progress in learning and in wisdom. + </p> + <p> + But, in addition, primary education endeavours to fit a boy out with a + certain equipment of positive knowledge. He is taught the great laws of + morality; the religion of his sect; so much history and geography as will + tell him where the great countries of the world are, what they are, and + how they have become what they are. + </p> + <p> + Without doubt all these are most fitting and excellent things to teach a + boy; I should be very sorry to omit any of them from any scheme of primary + intellectual education. The system is excellent, so far as it goes. + </p> + <p> + But if I regard it closely, a curious reflection arises. I suppose that, + fifteen hundred years ago, the child of any well-to-do Roman citizen was + taught just these same things; reading and writing in his own, and, + perhaps, the Greek tongue; the elements of mathematics; and the religion, + morality, history, and geography current in his time. Furthermore, I do + not think I err in affirming, that, if such a Christian Roman boy, who had + finished his education, could be transplanted into one of our public + schools, and pass through its course of instruction, he would not meet + with a single unfamiliar line of thought; amidst all the new facts he + would have to learn, not one would suggest a different mode of regarding + the universe from that current in his own time. + </p> + <p> + And yet surely there is some great difference between the civilization of + the fourth century and that of the nineteenth, and still more between the + intellectual habits and tone of thought of that day and this? + </p> + <p> + And what has made this difference? I answer fearlessly—The + prodigious development of physical science within the last two centuries. + </p> + <p> + Modern civilization rests upon physical science; take away her gifts to + our own country, and our position among the leading nations of the world + is gone to-morrow; for it is physical science only, that makes + intelligence and moral energy stronger than brute force. + </p> + <p> + The whole of modern thought is steeped in science; it has made its way + into the works of our best poets, and even the mere man of letters, who + affects to ignore and despise science, is unconsciously impregnated with + her spirit, and indebted for his best products to her methods. I believe + that the greatest intellectual revolution mankind has yet seen is now + slowly taking place by her agency. She is teaching the world that the + ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment, and not authority; + she is teaching it to estimate the value of evidence; she is creating a + firm and living faith in the existence of immutable moral and physical + laws, perfect obedience to which is the highest possible aim of an + intelligent being. + </p> + <p> + But of all this your old stereotyped system of education takes no note. + Physical science, its methods, its problems, and its difficulties, will + meet the poorest boy at every turn, and yet we educate him in such a + manner that he shall enter the world as ignorant of the existence of the + methods and facts of science as the day he was born. The modern world is + full of artillery; and we turn out our children to do battle in it, + equipped with the shield and sword of an ancient gladiator. + </p> + <p> + Posterity will cry shame on us if we do not remedy this deplorable state + of things. Nay, if we live twenty years longer, our own consciences will + cry shame on us. + </p> + <p> + It is my firm conviction that the only way to remedy it is, to make the + elements of physical science an integral part of primary education. I have + endeavoured to show you how that may be done for that branch of science + which it is my business to pursue; and I can but add, that I should look + upon the day when every schoolmaster throughout this land was a centre of + genuine, however rudimentary, scientific knowledge, as an epoch in the + history of the country. + </p> + <p> + But let me entreat you to remember my last words. Addressing myself to + you, as teachers, I would say, mere book learning in physical science is a + sham and a delusion—what you teach, unless you wish to be impostors, + that you must first know; and real knowledge in science means personal + acquaintance with the facts, be they few or many.* ([Footnote] *It has + been suggested to me that these words may be taken to imply a + discouragement on my part of any sort of scientific instruction which does + not give an acquaintance with the facts at first hand. But this is not my + meaning. The ideal of scientific teaching is, no doubt, a system by which + the scholar sees every fact for himself, and the teacher supplies only the + explanations. Circumstances, however, do not often allow of the attainment + of that ideal, and we must put up with the next best system—one in + which the scholar takes a good deal on trust from a teacher, who, knowing + the facts by his own knowledge, can describe them with so much vividness + as to enable his audience to form competent ideas concerning them. The + system which I repudiate is that which allows teachers who have not come + into direct contact with the leading facts of a science to pass their + second-hand information on. The scientific virus, like vaccine lymph, if + passed through too long a succession of organisms, will lose all its + effect in protecting the young against the intellectual epidemics to which + they are exposed.) + </p> + <p> + End of On the Study of Zoology. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES OF LIFE.* + </h2> + <p> + ([Footnote] *The Anniversary Address to the Geological Society for 1862.) + </p> + <p> + Merchants occasionally go through a wholesome, though troublesome and not + always satisfactory, process which they term "taking stock." After all the + excitement of speculation, the pleasure of gain, and the pain of loss, the + trader makes up his mind to face facts and to learn the exact quantity and + quality of his solid and reliable possessions. + </p> + <p> + The man of science does well sometimes to imitate this procedure; and, + forgetting for the time the importance of his own small winnings, to + re-examine the common stock in trade, so that he may make sure how far the + stock of bullion in the cellar—on the faith of whose existence so + much paper has been circulating—is really the solid gold of truth. + </p> + <p> + The Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society seems to be an occasion + well suited for an undertaking of this kind—for an inquiry, in fact, + into the nature and value of the present results of paleontological + investigation; and the more so, as all those who have paid close attention + to the late multitudinous discussions in which paleontology is implicated, + must have felt the urgent necessity of some such scrutiny. + </p> + <p> + First in order, as the most definite and unquestionable of all the results + of paleontology, must be mentioned the immense extension and impulse given + to botany, zoology, and comparative anatomy, by the investigation of + fossil remains. Indeed, the mass of biological facts has been so greatly + increased, and the range of biological speculation has been so vastly + widened, by the researches of the geologist and paleontologist, that it is + to be feared there are naturalists in existence who look upon geology as + Brindley regarded rivers. "Rivers," said the great engineer, "were made to + feed canals"; and geology, some seem to think, was solely created to + advance comparative anatomy. + </p> + <p> + Were such a thought justifiable, it could hardly expect to be received + with favour by this assembly. But it is not justifiable. Your favourite + science has her own great aims independent of all others; and if, + notwithstanding her steady devotion to her own progress, she can scatter + such rich alms among her sisters, it should be remembered that her charity + is of the sort that does not impoverish, but "blesseth him that gives and + him that takes." + </p> + <p> + Regard the matter as we will, however, the facts remain. Nearly 40,000 + species of animals and plants have been added to the Systema Naturae by + paleontologic research. This is a living population equivalent to that of + a new continent in mere number; equivalent to that of a new hemisphere, if + we take into account the small population of insects as yet found fossil, + and the large proportion and peculiar organization of many of the + Vertebrata. + </p> + <p> + But, beyond this, it is perhaps not too much to say that, except for the + necessity of interpreting paleontologic facts, the laws of distribution + would have received less careful study; while few comparative anatomists + (and those not of the first order) would have been induced by mere love of + detail, as such, to study the minutiae of osteology, were it not that in + such minutiae lie the only keys to the most interesting riddles offered by + the extinct animal world. + </p> + <p> + These assuredly are great and solid gains. Surely it is matter for no + small congratulation that in half a century (for paleontology, though it + dawned earlier, came into full day only with Cuvier) a subordinate branch + of biology should have doubled the value and the interest of the whole + group of sciences to which it belongs. + </p> + <p> + But this is not all. Allied with geology, paleontology has established two + laws of inestimable importance: the first, that one and the same area of + the earth's surface has been successively occupied by very different kinds + of living beings; the second, that the order of succession established in + one locality holds good, approximately, in all. + </p> + <p> + The first of these laws is universal and irreversible; the second is an + induction from a vast number of observations, though it may possibly, and + even probably, have to admit of exceptions. As a consequence of the second + law, it follows that a peculiar relation frequently subsists between + series of strata, containing organic remains, in different localities. The + series resemble one another, not only in virtue of a general resemblance + of the organic remains in the two, but also in virtue of a resemblance in + the order and character of the serial succession in each. There is a + resemblance of arrangement; so that the separate terms of each series, as + well as the whole series, exhibit a correspondence. + </p> + <p> + Succession implies time; the lower members of a series of sedimentary + rocks are certainly older than the upper; and when the notion of age was + once introduced as the equivalent of succession, it was no wonder that + correspondence in succession came to be looked upon as a correspondence in + age, or "contemporaneity." And, indeed, so long as relative age only is + spoken of, correspondence in succession IS correspondence in age; it is + RELATIVE contemporaneity. + </p> + <p> + But it would have been very much better for geology if so loose and + ambiguous a word as "contemporaneous" had been excluded from her + terminology, and if, in its stead, some term expressing similarity of + serial relation, and excluding the notion of time altogether, had been + employed to denote correspondence in position in two or more series of + strata. + </p> + <p> + In anatomy, where such correspondence of position has constantly to be + spoken of, it is denoted by the word "homology" and its derivatives; and + for Geology (which after all is only the anatomy and physiology of the + earth) it might be well to invent some single word, such as "homotaxis" + (similarity of order), in order to express an essentially similar idea. + This, however, has not been done, and most probably the inquiry will at + once be made—To what end burden science with a new and strange term + in place of one old, familiar, and part of our common language? + </p> + <p> + The reply to this question will become obvious as the inquiry into the + results of paleontology is pushed further. + </p> + <p> + Those whose business it is to acquaint themselves specially with the works + of paleontologists, in fact, will be fully aware that very few, if any, + would rest satisfied with such a statement of the conclusions of their + branch of biology as that which has just been given. + </p> + <p> + Our standard repertories of paleontology profess to teach us far higher + things—to disclose the entire succession of living forms upon the + surface of the globe; to tell us of a wholly different distribution of + climatic conditions in ancient times; to reveal the character of the first + of all living existences; and to trace out the law of progress from them + to us. + </p> + <p> + It may not be unprofitable to bestow on these professions a somewhat more + critical examination than they have hitherto received, in order to + ascertain how far they rest on an irrefragable basis; or whether, after + all, it might not be well for paleontologists to learn a little more + carefully that scientific "ars artium," the art of saying "I don't know." + And to this end let us define somewhat more exactly the extent of these + pretensions of paleontology. + </p> + <p> + Every one is aware that Professor Bronn's 'Untersuchungen' and Professor + Pictet's 'Traite de Paleontologie' are works of standard authority, + familiarly consulted by every working paleontologist. It is desirable to + speak of these excellent books, and of their distinguished authors, with + the utmost respect, and in a tone as far as possible removed from carping + criticism; indeed, if they are specially cited in this place, it is merely + in justification of the assertion that the following propositions, which + may be found implicitly, or explicitly, in the works in question, are + regarded by the mass of paleontologists and geologists, not only on the + Continent but in this country, as expressing some of the best-established + results of paleontology. Thus:—Animals and plants began their + existence together, not long after the commencement of the deposition of + the sedimentary rocks; and then succeeded one another, in such a manner, + that totally distinct faunae and florae occupied the whole surface of the + earth, one after the other, and during distinct epochs of time. + </p> + <p> + A geological formation is the sum of all the strata deposited over the + whole surface of the earth during one of these epochs: a geological fauna + or flora is the sum of all the species of animals or plants which occupied + the whole surface of the globe, during one of these epochs. + </p> + <p> + The population of the earth's surface was at first very similar in all + parts, and only from the middle of the Tertiary epoch onwards, began to + show a distinct distribution in zones. + </p> + <p> + The constitution of the original population, as well as the numerical + proportions of its members, indicates a warmer and, on the whole, somewhat + tropical climate, which remained tolerably equable throughout the year. + The subsequent distribution of living beings in zones is the result of a + gradual lowering of the general temperature, which first began to be felt + at the poles. + </p> + <p> + It is not now proposed to inquire whether these doctrines are true or + false; but to direct your attention to a much simpler though very + essential preliminary question—What is their logical basis? what are + the fundamental assumptions upon which they all logically depend? and what + is the evidence on which those fundamental propositions demand our assent? + </p> + <p> + These assumptions are two: the first, that the commencement of the + geological record is coeval with the commencement of life on the globe; + the second, that geological contemporaneity is the same thing as + chronological synchrony. Without the first of these assumptions there + would of course be no ground for any statement respecting the commencement + of life; without the second, all the other statements cited, every one of + which implies a knowledge of the state of different parts of the earth at + one and the same time, will be no less devoid of demonstration. + </p> + <p> + The first assumption obviously rests entirely on negative evidence. This + is, of course, the only evidence that ever can be available to prove the + commencement of any series of phenomena; but, at the same time, it must be + recollected that the value of negative evidence depends entirely on the + amount of positive corroboration it receives. If A B wishes to prove an + 'alibi', it is of no use for him to get a thousand witnesses simply to + swear that they did not see him in such and such a place, unless the + witnesses are prepared to prove that they must have seen him had he been + there. But the evidence that animal life commenced with the Lingula-flags, + 'e.g.', would seem to be exactly of this unsatisfactory uncorroborated + sort. The Cambrian witnesses simply swear they "haven't seen anybody their + way"; upon which the counsel for the other side immediately puts in ten or + twelve thousand feet of Devonian sandstones to make oath they never saw a + fish or a mollusk, though all the world knows there were plenty in their + time. + </p> + <p> + But then it is urged that, though the Devonian rocks in one part of the + world exhibit no fossils, in another they do, while the lower Cambrian + rocks nowhere exhibit fossils, and hence no living being could have + existed in their epoch. + </p> + <p> + To this there are two replies: the first, that the observational basis of + the assertion that the lowest rocks are nowhere fossiliferous is an + amazingly small one, seeing how very small an area, in comparison to that + of the whole world, has yet been fully searched; the second, that the + argument is good for nothing unless the unfossiliferous rocks in question + were not only 'contemporaneous' in the geological sense, but 'synchronous' + in the chronological sense. To use the 'alibi' illustration again. If a + man wishes to prove he was in neither of two places, A and B, on a given + day, his witnesses for each place must be prepared to answer for the whole + day. If they can only prove that he was not at A in the morning, and not + at B in the afternoon, the evidence of his absence from both is 'nil', + because he might have been at B in the morning and at A in the afternoon. + </p> + <p> + Thus everything depends upon the validity of the second assumption. And we + must proceed to inquire what is the real meaning of the word + "contemporaneous" as employed by geologists. To this end a concrete + example may be taken. + </p> + <p> + The Lias of England and the Lias of Germany, the Cretaceous rocks of + Britain and the Cretaceous rocks of Southern India, are termed by + geologists "contemporaneous" formations; but whenever any thoughtful + geologist is asked whether he means to say that they were deposited + synchronously, he says, "No,—only within the same great epoch." And + if, in pursuing the inquiry, he is asked what may be the approximate value + in time of a "great epoch"—whether it means a hundred years, or a + thousand, or a million, or ten million years—his reply is, "I cannot + tell." + </p> + <p> + If the further question be put, whether physical geology is in possession + of any method by which the actual synchrony (or the reverse) of any two + distant deposits can be ascertained, no such method can be heard of; it + being admitted by all the best authorities that neither similarity of + mineral composition, nor of physical character, nor even direct continuity + of stratum, are 'absolute' proofs of the synchronism of even approximated + sedimentary strata: while, for distant deposits, there seems to be no kind + of physical evidence attainable of a nature competent to decide whether + such deposits were formed simultaneously, or whether they possess any + given difference of antiquity. To return to an example already given: All + competent authorities will probably assent to the proposition that + physical geology does not enable us in any way to reply to this question—Were + the British Cretaceous rocks deposited at the same time as those of India, + or are they a million of years younger or a million of years older? + </p> + <p> + Is paleontology able to succeed where physical geology fails? Standard + writers on paleontology, as has been seen, assume that she can. They take + it for granted, that deposits containing similar organic remains are + synchronous—at any rate in a broad sense; and yet, those who will + study the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Sir Henry De La Beche's + remarkable 'Researches in Theoretical Geology', published now nearly + thirty years ago, and will carry out the arguments there most luminously + stated, to their logical consequences, may very easily convince themselves + that even absolute identity of organic contents is no proof of the + synchrony of deposits, while absolute diversity is no proof of difference + of date. Sir Henry De La Beche goes even further, and adduces conclusive + evidence to show that the different parts of one and the same stratum, + having a similar composition throughout, containing the same organic + remains, and having similar beds above and below it, may yet differ to any + conceivable extent in age. + </p> + <p> + Edward Forbes was in the habit of asserting that the similarity of the + organic contents of distant formations was 'prima facie' evidence, not of + their similarity, but of their difference of age; and holding as he did + the doctrine of single specific centres, the conclusion was as legitimate + as any other; for the two districts must have been occupied by migration + from one of the two, or from an intermediate spot, and the chances against + exact coincidence of migration and of imbedding are infinite. + </p> + <p> + In point of fact, however, whether the hypothesis of single or of multiple + specific centres be adopted, similarity of organic contents cannot + possibly afford any proof of the synchrony of the deposits which contain + them; on the contrary, it is demonstrably compatible with the lapse of the + most prodigious intervals of time, and with the interposition of vast + changes in the organic and inorganic worlds, between the epochs in which + such deposits were formed. + </p> + <p> + On what amount of similarity of their faunae is the doctrine of the + contemporaneity of the European and of the North American Silurians based? + In the last edition of Sir Charles Lyell's 'Elementary Geology' it is + stated, on the authority of a former President of this Society, the late + Daniel Sharpe, that between 30 and 40 per cent. of the species of Silurian + Mollusca are common to both sides of the Atlantic. By way of due allowance + for further discovery, let us double the lesser number and suppose that 60 + per cent. of the species are common to the North American and the British + Silurians. Sixty per cent. of species in common is, then, proof of + contemporaneity. + </p> + <p> + Now suppose that, a million or two of years hence, when Britain has made + another dip beneath the sea and has come up again, some geologist applies + this doctrine, in comparing the strata laid bare by the upheaval of the + bottom, say, of St. George's Channel with what may then remain of the + Suffolk Crag. Reasoning in the same way, he will at once decide the + Suffolk Crag and the St. George's Channel beds to be contemporaneous; + although we happen to know that a vast period (even in the geological + sense) of time, and physical changes of almost unprecedented extent, + separate the two. + </p> + <p> + But if it be a demonstrable fact that strata containing more than 60 or 70 + per cent. of species of Mollusca in common, and comparatively close + together, may yet be separated by an amount of geological time sufficient + to allow of some of the greatest physical changes the world has seen, what + becomes of that sort of contemporaneity the sole evidence of which is a + similarity of facies, or the identity of half a dozen species, or of a + good many genera? + </p> + <p> + And yet there is no better evidence for the contemporaneity assumed by all + who adopt the hypothesis of universal faunae and florae, of a universally + uniform climate, and of a sensible cooling of the globe during geological + time. + </p> + <p> + There seems, then, no escape from the admission that neither physical + geology, nor paleontology, possesses any method by which the absolute + synchronism of two strata can be demonstrated. All that geology can prove + is local order of succession. It is mathematically certain that, in any + given vertical linear section of an undisturbed series of sedimentary + deposits, the bed which lies lowest is the oldest. In many other vertical + linear sections of the same series, of course, corresponding beds will + occur in a similar order; but, however great may be the probability, no + man can say with absolute certainty that the beds in the two sections were + synchronously deposited. For areas of moderate extent, it is doubtless + true that no practical evil is likely to result from assuming the + corresponding beds to be synchronous or strictly contemporaneous; and + there are multitudes of accessory circumstances which may fully justify + the assumption of such synchrony. But the moment the geologist has to deal + with large areas, or with completely separated deposits, the mischief of + confounding that "homotaxis" or "similarity of arrangement," which 'can' + be demonstrated, with "synchrony" or "identity of date," for which there + is not a shadow of proof, under the one common term of "contemporaneity" + becomes incalculable, and proves the constant source of gratuitous + speculations. + </p> + <p> + For anything that geology or paleontology are able to show to the + contrary, a Devonian fauna and flora in the British Islands may have been + contemporaneous with Silurian life in North America, and with a + Carboniferous fauna and flora in Africa. Geographical provinces and zones + may have been as distinctly marked in the Paleozoic epoch as at present, + and those seemingly sudden appearances of new genera and species, which we + ascribe to new creation, may be simple results of migration. + </p> + <p> + It may be so; it may be otherwise. In the present condition of our + knowledge and of our methods, one verdict—"not proven, and not + provable"—must be recorded against all the grand hypotheses of the + paleontologist respecting the general succession of life on the globe. The + order and nature of terrestrial life, as a whole, are open questions. + Geology at present provides us with most valuable topographical records, + but she has not the means of working them into a universal history. Is + such a universal history, then, to be regarded as unattainable? Are all + the grandest and most interesting problems which offer themselves to the + geological student essentially insoluble? Is he in the position of a + scientific Tantalus—doomed always to thirst for a knowledge which he + cannot obtain? The reverse is to be hoped; nay, it may not be impossible + to indicate the source whence help will come. + </p> + <p> + In commencing these remarks, mention was made of the great obligations + under which the naturalist lies to the geologist and paleontologist. + Assuredly the time will come when these obligations will be repaid + tenfold, and when the maze of the world's past history, through which the + pure geologist and the pure paleontologist find no guidance, will be + securely threaded by the clue furnished by the naturalist. + </p> + <p> + All who are competent to express an opinion on the subject are, at + present, agreed that the manifold varieties of animal and vegetable form + have not either come into existence by chance, nor result from capricious + exertions of creative power; but that they have taken place in a definite + order, the statement of which order is what men of science term a natural + law. Whether such a law is to be regarded as an expression of the mode of + operation of natural forces, or whether it is simply a statement of the + manner in which a supernatural power has thought fit to act, is a + secondary question, so long as the existence of the law and the + possibility of its discovery by the human intellect are granted. But he + must be a half-hearted philosopher who, believing in that possibility, and + having watched the gigantic strides of the biological sciences during the + last twenty years, doubts that science will sooner or later make this + further step, so as to become possessed of the law of evolution of organic + forms—of the unvarying order of that great chain of causes and + effects of which all organic forms, ancient and modern, are the links. And + then, if ever, we shall be able to begin to discuss, with profit, the + questions respecting the commencement of life, and the nature of the + successive populations of the globe, which so many seem to think are + already answered. + </p> + <p> + The preceding arguments make no particular claim to novelty; indeed they + have been floating more or less distinctly before the minds of geologists + for the last thirty years; and if, at the present time, it has seemed + desirable to give them more definite and systematic expression, it is + because paleontology is every day assuming a greater importance, and now + requires to rest on a basis the firmness of which is thoroughly well + assured. Among its fundamental conceptions, there must be no confusion + between what is certain and what is more or less probable.* ([Footnote] + *"le plus grand service qu'on puisse rendre a la science est d'y faire + place nette avant d'y rien construire."—CUVIER.) But, pending the + construction of a surer foundation than paleontology now possesses, it may + be instructive, assuming for the nonce the general correctness of the + ordinary hypothesis of geological contemporaneity, to consider whether the + deductions which are ordinarily drawn from the whole body of paleontologic + facts are justifiable. + </p> + <p> + The evidence on which such conclusions are based is of two kinds, negative + and positive. The value of negative evidence, in connection with this + inquiry, has been so fully and clearly discussed in an address from the + chair of this Society,* ([Footnote] *Anniversary Address for 1851, 'Quart. + Journ. Geol. Soc.' vol. vii.) which none of us have forgotten, that + nothing need at present be said about it; the more, as the considerations + which have been laid before you have certainly not tended to increase your + estimation of such evidence. It will be preferable to turn to the positive + facts of paleontology, and to inquire what they tell us. + </p> + <p> + We are all accustomed to speak of the number and the extent of the changes + in the living population of the globe during geological time as something + enormous: and indeed they are so, if we regard only the negative + differences which separate the older rocks from the more modern, and if we + look upon specific and generic changes as great changes, which from one + point of view, they truly are. But leaving the negative differences out of + consideration, and looking only at the positive data furnished by the + fossil world from a broader point of view—from that of the + comparative anatomist who has made the study of the greater modifications + of animal form his chief business—a surprise of another kind dawns + upon the mind; and under 'this' aspect the smallness of the total change + becomes as astonishing as was its greatness under the other. + </p> + <p> + There are two hundred known orders of plants; of these not one is + certainly known to exist exclusively in the fossil state. The whole lapse + of geological time has as yet yielded not a single new ordinal type of + vegetable structure.* ([Footnote] *See Hooker's 'Introductory Essay to the + Flora of Tasmania', p. xxiii.) + </p> + <p> + The positive change in passing from the recent to the ancient animal world + is greater, but still singularly small. No fossil animal is so distinct + from those now living as to require to be arranged even in a separate + class from those which contain existing forms. It is only when we come to + the orders, which may be roughly estimated at about a hundred and thirty, + that we meet with fossil animals so distinct from those now living as to + require orders for themselves; and these do not amount, on the most + liberal estimate, to more than about 10 per cent of the whole. + </p> + <p> + There is no certainly known extinct order of Protozoa; there is but one + among the Coelenterata—that of the rugose corals; there is none + among the Mollusca; there are three, the Cystidea, Blastoidea, and + Edrioasterida, among the Echinoderms; and two, the Trilobita and + Eurypterida, among the Crustacea; making altogether five for the great + sub-kingdom of Annulosa. Among Vertebrates there is no ordinally distinct + fossil fish: there is only one extinct order of Amphibia—the + Labyrinthodonts; but there are at least four distinct orders of Reptilia, + viz. the Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, Pterosauria, Dinosauria, and perhaps + another or two. There is no known extinct order of Birds, and no certainly + known extinct order of Mammals, the ordinal distinctness of the + "Toxodontia" being doubtful. + </p> + <p> + The objection that broad statements of this kind, after all, rest largely + on negative evidence is obvious, but it has less force than may at first + be supposed; for, as might be expected from the circumstances of the case, + we possess more abundant positive evidence regarding Fishes and marine + Mollusks than respecting any other forms of animal life; and yet these + offer us, through the whole range of geological time, no species ordinally + distinct from those now living; while the far less numerous class of + Echinoderms presents three; and the Crustacea two, such orders, though + none of these come down later than the Paleozoic age. Lastly, the Reptilia + present the extraordinary and exceptional phenomenon of as many extinct as + existing orders, if not more; the four mentioned maintaining their + existence from the Lias to the Chalk inclusive. + </p> + <p> + Some years ago one of your Secretaries pointed out another kind of + positive paleontologic evidence tending towards the same conclusion—afforded + by the existence of what he termed "persistent types" of vegetable and of + animal life.* ([Footnote] *See the abstract of a Lecture "On the + Persistent Types of Animal Life," in the 'Notices of the Meetings of the + Royal Institution of Great Britain'.—June 3, 1859, vol. iii. p. + 151.) He stated, on the authority of Dr. Hooker, that there are + Carboniferous plants which appear to be generically identical with some + now living; that the cone of the Oolitic 'Araucaria' is hardly + distinguishable from that of an existing species; that a true 'Pinus' + appears in the Purbecks, and a 'Juglans' in the Chalk; while, from the + Bagshot Sands, a 'Banksia', the wood of which is not distinguishable from + that of species now living in Australia, had been obtained. + </p> + <p> + Turning to the animal kingdom, he affirmed the tabulate corals of the + Silurian rocks to be wonderfully like those which now exist; while even + the families of the Aporosa were all represented in the older Mesozoic + rocks. + </p> + <p> + Among the Molluska similar facts were adduced. Let it be borne in mind + that 'Avicula', 'Mytalis', 'Chiton', 'Natica', 'Patella', 'Trochus', + 'Discina', 'Orbicula', 'Lingula', 'Rhynchonella', and 'Nautilus', all of + which are existing 'genera', are given without a doubt as Silurian in the + last edition of 'Siluria'; while the highest forms of the highest + Cephalopods are represented in the Lias by a genus, 'Belemnoteuthis', + which presents the closest relation to the existing 'Loligo'. + </p> + <p> + The two highest groups of the Annulosa, the Insecta and the Arachnida, are + represented in the Coal, either by existing genera, or by forms differing + from existing genera in quite minor peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + Turning to the Vertebrata, the only Paleozoic Elasmobranch Fish of which + we have any complete knowledge is the Devonian and Carboniferous + 'Pleuracanthus', which differs no more from existing Sharks than these do + from one another. + </p> + <p> + Again, vast as is the number of undoubtedly Ganoid fossil Fishes, and + great as is their range in time, a large mass of evidence has recently + been adduced to show that almost all those respecting which we possess + sufficient information, are referable to the same sub-ordinal groups as + the existing 'Lepidosteus', 'Polypterus', and Sturgeon; and that a + singular relation obtains between the older and the younger Fishes; the + former, the Devonian Ganoids, being almost all members of the same + sub-order as 'Polypterus', while the Mesozoic Ganoids are almost all + similarly allied to 'Lepidosteus'.* ([Footnote] *"Memoirs of the + Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.—Decade x. Preliminary Essay + upon the Systematic Arrangement of the Fishes of the Devonian Epoch.") + </p> + <p> + Again, what can be more remarkable than the singular constancy of + structure preserved throughout a vast period of time by the family of the + Pycnodonts and by that of the true Coelacanths; the former persisting, + with but insignificant modifications, from the Carboniferous to the + Tertiary rocks, inclusive; the latter existing, with still less change, + from the Carboniferous rocks to the Chalk, inclusive? + </p> + <p> + Among Reptiles, the highest living group, that of the Crocodilia, is + represented, at the early part of the Mesozoic epoch, by species identical + in the essential characters of their organization with those now living, + and differing from the latter only in such matters as the form of the + articular facets of the vertebral centra, in the extent to which the nasal + passages are separated from the cavity of the mouth by bone, and in the + proportions of the limbs. + </p> + <p> + And even as regards the Mammalia, the scanty remains of Triassic and + Oolitic species afford no foundation for the supposition that the + organization of the oldest forms differed nearly so much from some of + those which now live as these differ from one another. + </p> + <p> + It is needless to multiply these instances; enough has been said to + justify the statement that, in view of the immense diversity of known + animal and vegetable forms, and the enormous lapse of time indicated by + the accumulation of fossiliferous strata, the only circumstance to be + wondered at is, not that the changes of life, as exhibited by positive + evidence, have been so great, but that they have been so small. + </p> + <p> + Be they great or small, however, it is desirable to attempt to estimate + them. Let us, therefore, take each great division of the animal world in + succession, and, whenever an order or a family can be shown to have had a + prolonged existence, let us endeavour to ascertain how far the later + members of the group differ from the earlier ones. If these later members, + in all or in many cases, exhibit a certain amount of modification, the + fact is, so far, evidence in favour of a general law of change; and, in a + rough way, the rapidity of that change will be measured by the + demonstrable amount of modification. On the other hand, it must be + recollected that the absence of any modification, while it may leave the + doctrine of the existence of a law of change without positive support, + cannot possibly disprove all forms of that doctrine, though it may afford + a sufficient refutation of any of them. + </p> + <p> + The PROTOZOA.—The Protozoa are represented throughout the whole + range of geological series, from the Lower Silurian formation to the + present day. The most ancient forms recently made known by Ehrenberg are + exceedingly like those which now exist: no one has ever pretended that the + difference between any ancient and any modern Foraminifera is of more than + generic value, nor are the oldest Foraminifera either simpler, more + embryonic, or less differentiated, than the existing forms. + </p> + <p> + The COELENTERATA.—The Tabulate Corals have existed from the Silurian + epoch to the present day, but I am not aware that the ancient 'Heliolites' + possesses a single mark of a more embryonic or less differentiated + character, or less high organization, than the existing 'Heliopora'. As + for the Aporose Corals, in what respect is the Silurian 'Paleocyclus' less + highly organized or more embryonic than the modern 'Fungia', or the + Liassic Aporosa than the existing members of the same families? + </p> + <p> + The 'Mollusca'.—In what sense is the living 'Waldheimia' less + embryonic, or more specialized; than the paleozoic 'Spirifer'; or the + existing 'Rhynchonellae', 'Craniae', 'Discinae', 'Lingulae', than the + Silurian species of the same genera? In what sense can 'Loligo' or + 'Spirula' be said to be more specialized, or less embryonic, than + 'Belemnites'; or the modern species of Lamellibranch and Gasteropod + genera, than the Silurian species of the same genera? + </p> + <p> + The ANNULOSA.—The Carboniferous Insecta and Arachnida are neither + less specialized, nor more embryonic, than these that now live, nor are + the Liassic Cirripedia and Macrura; while several of the Brachyura, which + appear in the Chalk, belong to existing genera; and none exhibit either an + intermediate, or an embryonic, character. + </p> + <p> + The VERTEBRARA.—Among fishes I have referred to the Coelacanthini + (comprising the genera 'Coelacanthus', 'Holophagus', 'Undina', and + 'Macropoma') as affording an example of a persistent type; and it is most + remarkable to note the smallness of the differences between any of these + fishes (affecting at most the proportions of the body and fins, and the + character and sculpture of the scales), notwithstanding their enormous + range in time. In all the essentials of its very peculiar structure, the + 'Macropoma' of the Chalk is identical with the 'Coelacanthus' of the Coal. + Look at the genus 'Lepidotus', again, persisting without a modification of + importance from the Liassic to the Eocene formations inclusive. + </p> + <p> + Or among the Teleostei—in what respect is the 'Beryx' of the Chalk + more embryonic, or less differentiated, than 'Beryx lineatus' of King + George's Sound? + </p> + <p> + Or to turn to the higher Vertebrata—in what sense are the Liassic + Chelonia inferior to those which now exist? How are the Cretaceous + Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, or Pterosauria less embryonic, or more + differentiated, species than those of the Lias? + </p> + <p> + Or lastly, in what circumstance is the 'Phascolotherium' more embryonic, + or of a more generalized type, than the modern Opossum; or a 'Lophiodon', + or a 'Paleotherium', than a modern 'Tapirus' or 'Hyrax'? + </p> + <p> + These examples might be almost indefinitely multiplied, but surely they + are sufficient to prove that the only safe and unquestionable testimony we + can procure—positive evidence—fails to demonstrate any sort of + progressive modification towards a less embryonic, or less generalised, + type in a great many groups of animals of long-continued geological + existence. In these groups there is abundant evidence of variation—none + of what is ordinarily understood as progression; and, if the known + geological record is to be regarded as even any considerable fragment of + the whole, it is inconceivable that any theory of a necessarily + progressive development can stand, for the numerous orders and families + cited afford no trace of such a process. + </p> + <p> + But it is a most remarkable fact, that, while the groups which have been + mentioned, and many besides, exhibit no sign of progressive modification, + there are others, co-existing with them, under the same conditions, in + which more or less distinct indications of such a process seems to be + traceable. Among such indications I may remind you of the predominance of + Holostome Gasteropoda in the older rocks as compared with that of + Siphonostome Gasteropoda in the later. A case less open to the objection + of negative evidence, however, is that afforded by the Tetrabranchiate + Cephalopoda, the forms of the shells and of the septal sutures exhibiting + a certain increase of complexity in the newer genera. Here, however, one + is met at once with the occurrence of 'Orthoceras' and 'Baculites' at the + two ends of the series, and of the fact that one of the simplest Genera, + 'Nautilus', is that which now exists. + </p> + <p> + The Crinoidea, in the abundance of stalked forms in the ancient formations + as compared with their present rarity, seem to present us with a fair case + of modification from a more embryonic towards a less embryonic condition. + But then, on careful consideration of the facts, the objection arises that + the stalk, calyx, and arms of the paleozoic Crinoid are exceedingly + different from the corresponding organs of a larval 'Comatula'; and it + might with perfect justice be argued that 'Actinocrinus' and + 'Eucalyptocrinus', for example, depart to the full as widely, in one + direction, from the stalked embryo of 'Comatula', as 'Comatula' itself + does in the other. + </p> + <p> + The Echinidea, again, are frequently quoted as exhibiting a gradual + passage from a more generalized to a more specialized type, seeing that + the elongated, or oval, Spatangoids appear after the spheroidal Echinoids. + But here it might be argued, on the other hand, that the spheroidal + Echinoids, in reality, depart further from the general plan and from the + embryonic form than the elongated Spatangoids do; and that the peculiar + dental apparatus and the pedicellariae of the former are marks of at least + as great differentiation as the petaloid ambulacra and semitae of the + latter. + </p> + <p> + Once more, the prevalence of Macrurous before Brachyurous Podophthalmia + is, apparently, a fair piece of evidence in favour of progressive + modification in the same order of Crustacea; and yet the case will not + stand much sifting, seeing that the Macrurous Podophthalmia depart as far + in one direction from the common type of Podophthalmia, or from any + embryonic condition of the Brachyura, as the Brachyura do in the other; + and that the middle terms between Macrura and Brachyura—the Anomura—are + little better represented in the older Mesozoic rocks than the Brachyura + are. + </p> + <p> + None of the cases of progressive modification which are cited from among + the Invertebrata appear to me to have a foundation less open to criticism + than these; and if this be so, no careful reasoner would, I think, be + inclined to lay very great stress upon them. Among the Vertebrata, + however, there are a few examples which appear to be far less open to + objection. + </p> + <p> + It is, in fact, true of several groups of Vertebrata which have lived + through a considerable range of time, that the endoskeleton (more + particularly the spinal column) of the older genera presents a less + ossified, and, so far, less differentiated, condition than that of the + younger genera. Thus the Devonian Ganoids, though almost all members of + the same sub-order as 'Polypterus', and presenting numerous important + resemblances to the existing genus, which possesses biconcave vertebrae, + are, for the most part, wholly devoid of ossified vertebral centra. The + Mesozoic Lepidosteidae, again, have, at most, biconcave vertebrae, while + the existing 'Lepidosteus' has Salamandroid, opisthocoelous, vertebrae. + So, none of the Paleozoic Sharks have shown themselves to be possessed of + ossified vertebrae, while the majority of modern Sharks possess such + vertebrae. Again, the more ancient Crocodilia and Lacertilia have + vertebrae with the articular facets of their centra flattened or + biconcave, while the modern members of the same group have them + procoelous. But the most remarkable examples of progressive modification + of the vertebral column, in correspondence with geological age, are those + afforded by the Pycnodonts among fish, and the Labyrinthodonts among + Amphibia. + </p> + <p> + The late able ichthyologist Heckel pointed out the fact, that, while the + Pycnodonts never possess true vertebral centra, they differ in the degree + of expansion and extension of the ends of the bony arches of the vertebrae + upon the sheath of the notochord; the Carboniferous forms exhibiting + hardly any such expansion, while the Mesozoic genera present a greater and + greater development, until, in the Tertiary forms, the expanded ends + become suturally united so as to form a sort of false vertebra. Hermann + von Meyer, again, to whose luminous researches we are indebted for our + present large knowledge of the organization of the older Labyrinthodonts, + has proved that the Carboniferous 'Archegosaurus' had very imperfectly + developed vertebral centra, while the Triassic 'Mastodonsaurus' had the + same parts completely ossified.* ([Footnote] *As the Address is passing + through the press (March 7, 1862), evidence lies before me of the + existence of a new Labyrinthodont ('Pholidogaster'), from the Edinburgh + coal-field, with well-ossified vertebral centra.) + </p> + <p> + The regularity and evenness of the dentition of the 'Anoplotherium', as + contrasted with that of existing Artiodactyles, and the assumed nearer + approach of the dentition of certain ancient Carnivores to the typical + arrangement, have also been cited as exemplifications of a law of + progressive development, but I know of no other cases based on positive + evidence which are worthy of particular notice. + </p> + <p> + What then does an impartial survey of the positively ascertained truths of + paleontology testify in relation to the common doctrines of progressive + modification, which suppose that modification to have taken place by a + necessary progress from more to less embryonic forms, or from more to less + generalized types, within the limits of the period represented by the + fossiliferous rocks? + </p> + <p> + It negatives those doctrines; for it either shows us no evidence of any + such modification, or demonstrates it to have been very slight; and as to + the nature of that modification, it yields no evidence whatsoever that the + earlier members of any long-continued group were more generalized in + structure than the later ones. To a certain extent, indeed, it may be said + that imperfect ossification of the vertebral column is an embryonic + character; but, on the other hand, it would be extremely incorrect to + suppose that the vertebral columns of the older Vertebrata are in any + sense embryonic in their whole structure. + </p> + <p> + Obviously, if the earliest fossiliferous rocks now known are coeval with + the commencement of life, and if their contents give us any just + conception of the nature and the extent of the earliest fauna and flora, + the insignificant amount of modification which can be demonstrated to have + taken place in any one group of animals, or plants, is quite incompatible + with the hypothesis that all living forms are the results of a necessary + process of progressive development, entirely comprised within the time + represented by the fossiliferous rocks. + </p> + <p> + Contrariwise, any admissible hypothesis of progressive modification must + be compatible with persistence without progression, through indefinite + periods. And should such an hypothesis eventually be proved to be true, in + the only way in which it can be demonstrated, viz. by observation and + experiment upon the existing forms of life, the conclusion will inevitably + present itself, that the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic faunae and + florae, taken together, bear somewhat the same proportion to the whole + series of living beings which have occupied this globe, as the existing + fauna and flora do to them. + </p> + <p> + Such are the results of paleontology as they appear, and have for some + years appeared, to the mind of an inquirer who regards that study simply + as one of the applications of the great biological sciences, and who + desires to see it placed upon the same sound basis as other branches of + physical inquiry. If the arguments which have been brought forward are + valid, probably no one, in view of the present state of opinion, will be + inclined to think the time wasted which has been spent upon their + elaboration. + </p> + <p> + End of Geological Contemporaneity and Persistent Types of Life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CORAL AND CORAL REEFS.* + </h2> + <h3> + ([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in Manchester, November 4th, 1870.) + </h3> + <p> + The subject upon which I wish to address you to-night is the structure and + origin of Coral and Coral Reefs. Under the head of "coral" there are + included two very different things; one of them is that substance which I + imagine a great number of us have champed when we were very much younger + than we are now,—the common red coral, which is used so much, as you + know, for the edification and the delectation of children of tender years, + and is also employed for the purposes of ornament for those who are much + older, and as some think might know better. The other kind of coral is a + very different substance; it may for distinction's sake be called the + white coral; it is a material which most assuredly not the hardest-hearted + of baby farmers would give to a baby to chew, and it is a substance which + is to be seen only in the cabinets of curious persons, or in museums, or, + may be, over the mantelpieces of sea-faring men. But although the red + coral, as I have mentioned to you, has access to the very best society; + and although the white coral is comparatively a despised product, yet in + this, as in many other cases, the humbler thing is in reality the greater; + the amount of work which is done in the world by the white coral being + absolutely infinite compared with that effected by its delicate and + pampered namesake. Each of these substances, the white coral and the red, + however, has a relationship to the other. They are, in a zoological sense, + cousins, each of them being formed by the same kind of animals in what is + substantially the same way. Each of these bodies is, in fact, the hard + skeleton of a very curious and a very simple animal, more comparable to + the bones of such animals as ourselves than to the shells of oysters or + creatures of that kind; for it is the hardening of the internal tissue of + the creature, of its internal substance, by the deposit in the body of a + material which is exceedingly common, not only in fresh but in sea water, + and which is specially abundant in those waters which we know as "hard," + those waters, for example, which leave a "fur" upon the bottom of a + tea-kettle. This "fur" is carbonate of lime, the same sort of substance as + limestone and chalk. That material is contained in solution in sea water, + and it is out of the sea water in which these coral creatures live that + they get the lime which is needed for the forming of their hard skeleton. + </p> + <p> + But now what manner of creatures are these which form these hard + skeletons? I dare say that in these days of keeping aquaria, of locomotion + to the sea-side, most of those whom I am addressing may have seen one of + those creatures which used to be known as the "sea anemone," receiving + that name on account of its general resemblance, in a rough sort of way, + to the flower which is known as the "anemone"; but being a thing which + lives in the sea, it was qualified as the "sea anemone." Well, then, you + must suppose a body shaped like a short cylinder, the top cut off, and in + the top a hole rather oval than round. All round this aperture, which is + the mouth, imagine that there are placed a number of feelers forming a + circle. The cavity of the mouth leads into a sort of stomach, which is + very unlike those of the higher animals, in the circumstance that it opens + at the lower end into a cavity of the body, and all the digested matter, + converted into nourishment, is thus distributed through the rest of the + body. That is the general structure of one of these sea anemones. If you + touch it it contracts immediately into a heap. It looks at first quite + like a flower in the sea, but if you touch it you find that it exhibits + all the peculiarities of a living animal; and if anything which can serve + as its prey comes near its tentacles, it closes them round it and sucks + the material into its stomach and there digests it and turns it to the + account of its own body. + </p> + <p> + These creatures are very voracious, and not at all particular what they + seize; and sometimes it may be that they lay hold of a shellfish which is + far too big to be packed into that interior cavity, and, of course, in any + ordinary animal a proceeding of this kind would give rise to a very severe + fit of indigestion. But this is by no means the case in the sea anemone, + because when digestive difficulties of this kind arise he gets out of them + by splitting himself in two; and then each half builds itself up into a + fresh creature, and you have two polypes where there was previously one, + and the bone which stuck in the way lying between them! Not only can these + creatures multiply in this fashion, but they can multiply by buds. A bud + will grow out of the side of the body (I am not speaking of the common sea + anemone, but of allied creatures) just like the bud of a plant, and that + will fashion itself into a creature just like the parent. There are some + of them in which these buds remain connected together, and you will soon + see what would be the result of that. If I make a bud grow out here, and + another on the opposite side, and each fashions itself into a new polype, + the practical effect will be that before long you will see a single polype + converted into a sort of tree or bush of polypes. And these will all + remain associated together, like a kind of co-operative store, which is a + thing I believe you understand very well here,—each mouth will help + to feed the body and each part of the body help to support the + multifarious mouths. I think that is as good an example of a zoological + co-operative store as you can well have. Such are these wonderful + creatures. But they are capable not only of multiplying in this way, but + in other ways, by having a more ordinary and regular kind of offspring. + Little eggs are hatched and the young are passed out by the way of the + mouth, and they go swimming about as little oval bodies covered with a + very curious kind of hairlike processes. Each of these processes is + capable of striking water like an oar; and the consequence is that the + young creature is propelled through the water. So that you have the young + polype floating about in this fashion, covered by its 'vibratile cilia', + as these long filaments, which are capable of vibration are termed. And + thus, although the polype itself may be a fixed creature unable to move + about, it is able to spread its offspring over great areas. For these + creatures not only propel themselves, but while swimming about in the sea + for many hours, or perhaps days, it will be obvious that they must be + carried hither and thither by the currents of the sea, which not + unfrequently move at the rate of one or two miles an hour. Thus, in the + course of a few days, the offspring of this stationary creature may be + carried to a very great distance from its parent; and having been so + carried it loses these organs by which it is propelled, and settles down + upon the bottom of the sea and grows up again into the form and condition + of its parents. So that if you suppose a single polype of this kind + settled upon the bottom of the sea, it may by these various methods—that + is to say, by cutting itself in two, which we call "fission," or by + budding; or by sending out these swimming embryos,—multiply itself + to an enormous extent, and give rise to thousands, or millions, of progeny + in a comparatively short time; and these thousands, or millions, of + progeny may cover a very large surface of the sea bottom; in fact, you + will readily perceive that, give them time, and there is no limit to the + surface which they may cover. + </p> + <p> + Having understood thus far the general nature of these polypes, which are + the fabricators both of the red and white coral, let us consider a little + more particularly how the skeletons of the red coral and of the white + coral are formed. The red coral polype perches upon the sea bottom, it + then grows up into a sort of stem, and out of that stem there grow + branches, each of which has its own polypes; and thus you have a kind of + tree formed, every branch of the tree terminated by its polype. It is a + tree, but at the end of the branches there are open mouths of polypes + instead of flowers. Thus there is a common soft body connecting the whole, + and as it grows up the soft body deposits in its interior a quantity of + carbonate of lime, which acquires a beautiful red or flesh colour, and + forms a kind of stem running through the whole, and it is that stem which + is the red coral. The red coral grows principally at the bottom of the + Mediterranean Sea, at very great depths, and the coral fishers, who are + very adventurous seamen, take their drag nets, of a peculiar kind, roughly + made, but efficient for their purpose, and drag them along the bottom of + the sea to catch the branches of the red coral, which become entangled and + are thus brought up to the surface. They are then allowed to putrefy, in + order to get rid of the animal matter, and the red coral is the skeleton + that is left. + </p> + <p> + In the case of the white coral, the skeleton is more complete. In the red + coral, the skeleton belongs to the whole; in the white coral there is a + special skeleton for every one of these polypes in addition to that for + the whole body. There is a skeleton formed in the body of each of them, + like a cup divided by a number of radiating partitions towards the + outside; and that cup is formed of carbonate of lime, only not stained + red, as in the case of the red coral. And all these cups are joined + together into a common branch, the result of which is the formation of a + beautiful coral tree. This is a great mass of madrepore, and in the living + state every one of the ends of these branches was terminated by a + beautiful little polype, like a sea anemone, and all the skeleton was + covered by a soft body which united the polypes together. You must + understand that all this skeleton has been formed in the interior of the + body, to suit the branched body of the polype mass, and that it is as much + its skeleton as our own bones are our skeleton. In this next coral the + creature which has formed the skeleton has divided itself as it grew, and + consequently has formed a great expansion; but scattered all over this + surface there were polype bodies like those I previously described. Again, + when this great cup was alive, the whole surface was covered with a + beautiful body upon which were set innumerable small polype flowers, if we + may so call them, often brilliantly coloured; and the whole cup was built + up in the same fashion by the deposit of carbonate of lime in the interior + of the combined polype body, formed by budding and by fission in the way I + described. You will perceive that there is no necessary limit to this + process. There is no reason why we should not have coral three or four + times as big; and there are certain creatures of this kind that do + fabricate very large masses, or half spheres several feet in diameter. + Thus the activity of these animals in separating carbonate of lime from + the sea and building it up into definite shapes is very considerable + indeed. + </p> + <p> + Now I think I have said sufficient—as much as I can without taking + you into technical details, of the general nature of these creatures which + form coral. The animals which form coral are scattered over the seas of + all countries in the world. The red coral is comparatively limited, but + the polypes which form the white coral are widely scattered. There are + some of them which remain single, or which give rise to only small + accumulations; and the skeletons of these, as they die, accumulate upon + the bottom of the sea, but they do not come to much; they are washed about + and do not adhere together, but become mixed up with the mud of the sea. + But there are certain parts of the world in which the coral polypes which + live and grow are of a kind which remain, adhere together, and form great + masses. They differ from the ordinary polypes just in the same way as + those plants which form a peat-bog or meadow-turf differ from ordinary + plants. They have a habit of growing together in masses in the same place; + they are what we call "gregarious" things; and the consequence of this is, + that as they die and leave their skeletons, those skeletons form a + considerable solid aggregation at the bottom of the sea, and other polypes + perch upon them, and begin building upon them, and so by degrees a great + mass is formed. And just as we know there are some ancient cities in which + you have a British city, and over that the foundations of a Roman city; + and over that a Saxon city, and over that again a modern city, so in these + localities of which I am speaking, you have the accumulations of the + foundations of the houses, if I may use the term, of nation after nation + of these coral polypes; and these accumulations may cover a very + considerable space, and may rise in the course of time from the bottom to + the surface of the sea. + </p> + <p> + Mariners have a name which they apply to all sorts of obstacles consisting + of hard and rocky matter which comes in their way in the course of their + navigation; they call such obstacles "reefs," and they have long been in + the habit of calling the particular kind of reef, which is formed by the + accumulation of the skeletons of dead corals, by the name of "coral + reefs," therefore, those parts of the world in which these accumulations + occur have been termed by them "coral reef areas," or regions in which + coral reefs are found. There is a very notable example of a simple coral + reef about the island of Mauritius, which I dare say you all know, lies in + the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is a very considerable and beautiful + island, and is surrounded on all sides by a mass of coral, which has been + formed in the way I have described; so that if you could get upon the top + of one of the peaks of the island, and look down upon the Indian Ocean, + you would see that the beach round the Island was continued outward by a + kind of shallow terrace, which is covered by the sea, and where the sea is + quite shallow; and at a distance varying from three-quarters of a mile to + a mile and a half from the proper beach, you would see a line of foam or + surf which looks most beautiful in contrast with the bright green water in + the inside, and the deep blue of the sea beyond. That line of surf + indicates the point at which the waters of the ocean are breaking upon the + coral reef which surrounds the island. You see it sweep round the island + upon all sides, except where a river may chance to come down, and that + always makes a gap in the shore. + </p> + <p> + There are two or three points which I wish to bring clearly before your + notice about such a reef as this. In the first place, you perceive it + forms a kind of fringe round the island, and is therefore called a + "fringing reef." In the next place, if you go out in a boat, and take + soundings at the edge of the reef, you find that the depth of the water is + not more than from 20 to 25 fathoms—that is about 120 to 150 feet. + Outside that point you come to the natural sea bottom; but all inside that + depth is coral, built up from the bottom by the accumulation of the + skeletons of innumerable generations of coral polypes. So that you see the + coral forms a very considerable rampart round the island. What the exact + circumference may be I do not remember, but it cannot be less than 100 + miles, and the outward height of this wall of coral rock nowhere amounts + to less than about 100 or 150 feet. + </p> + <p> + When the outward face of the reef is examined, you find that the upper + edge, which is exposed to the wash of the sea, and all the seaward face, + is covered with those living plant-like flowers which I have described to + you. They are the coral polypes which grow, flourish, and add to the mass + of calcareous matter which already forms the reef. But towards the lower + part of the reef, at a depth of about 120 feet, these creatures are less + active, and fewer of them at work; and at greater depths than that you + find no living coral polype at all; and it may be laid down as a rule, + derived from very extensive observation, that these reef-building corals + cannot live in a greater depth of water than about 120 to 150 feet. I beg + you to recollect that fact, because it is one I shall have to come back to + by and by, and to show to what very curious consequences that rule leads. + Well then, coming back to the margin of the reef, you find that part of it + which lies just within the surf to be coated by a very curious plant, a + sort of seaweed, which contains in its substance a very great deal of + carbonate of lime, and looks almost like rock; this is what is called the + nullipore. More towards the land, we come to the shallow water upon the + inside of the reef, which has a particular name, derived from the Spanish + or the Portuguese—it is called a "lagoon," or lake. In this lagoon + there is comparatively little living coral; the bottom of it is formed of + coral mud. If we pounded this coral in water, it would be converted into + calcareous mud, and the waves during storms do for the coral skeletons + exactly what we might do for this coral in a mortar; the waves tear off + great fragments and crush them with prodigious force, until they are + ground into the merest powder, and that powder is washed into the interior + of the lagoon, and forms a muddy coating at the bottom. Beside that there + are a great many animals that prey upon the coral—fishes, worms, and + creatures of that kind, and all these, by their digestive processes, + reduce the coral to the same state, and contribute a very important + element to this fine mud. The living coral found in the lagoon, is not the + reef building coral; it does not give rise to the same massive skeletons. + As you go in a boat over these shallow pools, you see these beautiful + things, coloured red, blue, green, and all colours, building their houses; + but these are mere tenements, and not to be compared in magnitude and + importance to the masses which are built by the reef-builders themselves. + Now such a structure as this is what is termed a "fringing reef." You meet + with fringing reefs of this kind not only in the Mauritius, but in a + number of other parts of the world. If these were the only reefs to be + seen anywhere, the problem of the formation of coral reefs would never + have been a difficult one. Nothing can be easier than to understand how + there must have been a time when the coral polypes came and settled on the + shores of this island, everywhere within the 20 to 25 fathom line, and + how, having perched there, they gradually grew until they built up the + reef. + </p> + <p> + But these are by no means the only sort of coral reefs in the world; on + the contrary, there are very large areas, not only of the Indian ocean, + but of the Pacific, in which many many thousands of square miles are + covered either with a peculiar kind of reef, which is called the + "encircling reef," or by a still more curious reef which goes by the name + of the "atoll." There is a very good picture, which Professor Roscoe has + been kind enough to prepare for me, of one of these atolls, which will + enable you to form a notion of it as a landscape. You have in the + foreground the waters of the Pacific. You must fancy yourself in the + middle of the great ocean, and you will perceive that there is an almost + circular island, with a low beach, which is formed entirely of coral sand; + growing upon that beach you have vegetation, which takes, of course, the + shape of the circular land; and then, in the interior of the circle, there + is a pool of water, which is not very deep—probably in this case not + more than eight or nine fathoms—and which forms a strange and + beautiful contrast to the deep blue water outside. This circular island, + or atoll, with a lagoon in the middle, is not a complete circle; upon one + side of it there is a break, exactly like the entrance into a dock; and, + as a matter of course, these circular islets, or atolls, form most + efficient break-waters, for if you can only get inside your ship is in + perfect safety, with admirable anchorage in the interior. If the ship were + lying within a mile of that beach, the water would be one or two thousand + feet deep; therefore, a section of that atoll, with the soundings as deep + as this all round, would give you the notion of a great cone, cut off at + the top, and with a shallow cup in the middle of it. Now, what a very + singular fact this is, that we should have rising from the bottom of the + deep ocean a great pyramid, beside which all human pyramids sink into the + most utter insignificance! These singular coral limestone structures are + very beautiful, especially when crowned with cocoa-nut trees. There you + see the long line of land, covered with vegetation—cocoa-nut trees—and + you have the sea upon the inner and outer sides, with a vessel very + comfortably riding at anchor. That is one of the remarkable forms of reef + in the Pacific. Another is a sort of half-way house, between the atoll and + the fringing reef; it is what is called an "encircling reef." In this case + you see an Island rising out of the sea, and at two or three miles + distance, or more, and separated by a deep channel, which may be eight to + twelve fathoms deep, there is a reef, which encircles it like a great + girdle; and outside that again the water is one or two thousand feet deep. + I spent three or four years of my life in cruising about a modification of + one of these encircling reefs, called a "barrier reef," upon the east + coast of Australia—one of the most wonderful accumulations of coral + rock in the world. It is about 1,100 miles long, and varies in width from + one or two to many miles. It is separated from the coast of Australia by a + channel of about 25 fathoms deep; while outside, looking toward America, + the water is two or three thousand feet deep at a mile from the edge of + the reef. This is an accumulation of limestone rock, built up by corals, + to which we have no parallel anywhere else. Imagine to yourself a heap of + this material more than one thousand miles long, and several miles wide. + That is a barrier reef; but a barrier reef is merely as it were a fragment + of an encircling reef running parallel to the coast of a great continent. + </p> + <p> + I told you that the polypes which built these reefs were not able to live + at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms of water; and that is the reason + why the fringing reef goes no farther from the land than it does. And for + the same reason, if the Pacific could be laid bare we should have a most + singular spectacle. There would be a number of mountains with truncated + tops scattered over it, and those mountains would have an appearance just + the very reverse of that presented by the mountains we see on shore. You + know that the mountains on shore are covered with vegetation at their + bases, while their tops are barren or covered with snow; but these + mountains would be perfectly bare at their bases, and all round their tops + they would be covered with a beautiful vegetation of coral polypes. And + not only would this be the case, but we should find that for a + considerable distance down, all the material of these atoll and encircling + reefs was built up of precisely the same coral rock as the fringing reef. + That is to say, you have an enormous mass of coral rock at a depth below + the surface of the water where we know perfectly well that the coral + animals could not have lived to form it. When those two facts were first + put together, naturalists were quite as much puzzled as I daresay you are, + at present, to understand how these two seeming contradictions could be + reconciled; and all sorts of odd hypotheses were resorted to. It was + supposed that the coral did not extend so far down, but that there was a + great chain of submarine mountains stretching through the Pacific, and + that the coral had grown upon them. But only fancy what supposition that + was, for you would have to imagine that there was a chain of mountains a + thousand miles or more long, and that the top of every mountain came + within 20 fathoms of the surface of the sea, and neither rose above nor + sunk beneath that level. That is highly improbable: such a chain of + mountains was never known. Then how can you possibly account for the + curious circular form of the atolls by any supposition of this kind? I + believe there was some one who imagined that all these mountains were + volcanoes, and that the reefs had grown round the tops of the craters, so + we all stuck fast. I may say "we," though it was rather before my time. + And when we all stick fast, it is just the use of a man of genius that he + comes and shows us the meaning of the thing. He generally gives an + explanation which is so ridiculously simple that everybody is ashamed that + he did not find it out before; and the way such a discoverer is often + rewarded is by finding out that some one had made the discovery before + him! I do not mean to say that it was so in this particular instance, + because the great man who played the part of Columbus and the egg on this + occasion had, I believe, always had the full credit which he so well + deserves. The discoverer of the key to these problems was a man whose name + you know very well in connection with other matters, and I should not + wonder if some of you have heard it said that he was a superficial kind of + person who did not know much about the subject on which he writes. He was + Mr. Darwin, and this brilliant discovery of his was made public thirty + years ago, long before he became the celebrated man he now is; and it was + one of the most singular instances of that astonishing sagacity which he + possesses of drawing consequences by way of deduction from simple + principles of natural science—a power which has served him in good + stead on other occasions. Well, Mr. Darwin, looking at these curious + difficulties and having that sort of knowledge of natural phenomena in + general, without which he could not have made a step towards the solution + of the problem, said to himself—"It is perfectly clear that the + coral which forms the base of the atolls and fringing reefs could not + possibly have been formed there if the level of the sea has always been + exactly where it is now, for we know for certain that these polypes cannot + build at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms, and here we find them at + 50 to 100 fathoms." + </p> + <p> + That was the first point to make clear. The second point to deal with was—if + the polypes cannot have built there while the level of the sea has + remained stationary, then one of two things must have happened—either + the sea has gone up, or the land has gone down. + </p> + <p> + There is no escape from one of these two alternatives. Now the objections + to the notion of the sea having gone up are very considerable indeed; for + you will readily perceive that the sea could not possibly have risen a + thousand feet in the Pacific without rising pretty much the same distance + everywhere else; and if it had risen that height everywhere else since the + reefs began to be formed, the geography of the world in general must have + been very different indeed, at that time, from what it is now. And we have + very good means of knowing that any such rise as this certainly has not + taken place in the level of the sea since the time that the corals have + been building their houses. And so the only other alternative was to + suppose that the land had gone down, and at so slow a rate that the corals + were able to grow upward as fast as it went downward. You will see at once + that this is the solution of the mystery, and nothing can be simpler or + more obvious when you come to think about it. Suppose we start with a + coral sea and put in the middle of it an island such as the Mauritius. Now + let the coral polypes come and perch on the shore and build a fringing + reef, which will stop when they come to 20 or 25 fathoms, and you will + have a fringing reef like that round the island in the illustration. So + long as the land remains stationary, so long as it does not descend so + long will that reef be unable to get any further out, because the moment + the polype embryos try to get below they die. But now suppose that the + land sinks very gradually indeed. Let it subside by slow degrees, until + the mountain peak, which we have in the middle of it, alone projects + beyond the sea level. The fringing reef would be carried down also; but we + suppose that the sinking is so slow that the coral polypes are able to + grow up as fast as the land is carried down; consequently they will add + layer upon layer until they form a deep cup, because the inner part of the + reef grows much more slowly than the outer part. Thus you have the reef + forming a bed thicker upon the flanks of the island; but the edge of the + reef will be very much further out from the land, and the lagoon will be + many times deeper; in short, your fringing reef will be converted into an + encircling reef. And if, instead of this being an island, it were a great + continent like Australia, then you will have the phenomenon of a barrier + reef which I have described. The barrier reef of Australia was originally + a fringing reef; the land has gone slowly down; the consequence is the + lagoon has deepened until its depth is now 25 fathoms and the corals have + grown up at the outer edge until you have that prodigious accumulation + which forms the barrier reef at present. Now let this process go on + further still; let us take the land a further step down, so as to submerge + even the peak. The coral, still growing up, will cover the surface of the + land, and you will have an atoll reef; that is to say, a more or less + circular or oval ring of coral rock with a lagoon in the middle. Thus you + see that every peculiarity and phenomenon of these different forms of + coral reef was explained at once by the simplest of all possible + suppositions, namely, by supposing that the land has gone down at a rate + not greater than that at which the coral polypes have grown up. You + explain a Fringing Reef as a reef which is formed round land comparatively + stationary; an Encircling Reef as one which is formed round land going + down; and an Atoll as a reef formed upon land gone down; and the thing is + so simple that a child may understand it when it is once explained. + </p> + <p> + But this would by no means satisfy the conditions of a scientific + hypothesis. No man who is cautious would dream of trusting to an + explanation of this kind simply because it explained one particular set of + facts. Before you can possibly be safe in dealing with Nature—who is + very properly made of the feminine gender, on account of the astonishing + tricks which she plays upon her admirers!—I say before you can be + safe in dealing with Nature, you must get two or three kinds of cross + proofs, so as to make sure not only that your hypothesis fits that + particular set of facts, but that it is not contradicted by some other set + of facts which is just as clear and certain. And it so happens, that in + this case Mr. Darwin supplied the cross proofs as well as the immediate + evidence. You have all heard of volcanoes, those wonderful vents in the + surface of the earth out of which pour masses of lava, cinders and ashes, + and the like. Now, it is a matter of observation and experience that all + volcanoes are placed in areas in which the surface of the earth is + undergoing elevation, or at any rate is stationary; they are not placed in + parts of the world in which the level of the land is being lowered. They + are all indications of a great subterranean activity, of a something being + pushed up, and therefore naturally the land either gives way and lets it + come through, or else is raised up by its violence. And so Mr. Darwin, + being desirous not to merely put out a flashy hypothesis, but to get at + the truth of the matter, said to himself, "If my notion of this matter is + right, then atolls and encircling reefs, inasmuch as they are dependent + upon subsidence, ought not to be found in company with volcanoes; and, + 'vice versa', volcanoes ought not to be found in company with atolls, but + they ought to be found in company with fringing reefs." And if you turn to + Mr. Darwin's great work upon the coral reefs, you will see a very + beautiful chart of the world, which he prepared with great pains and + labour, showing the distribution on the one hand of the reefs, and on the + other of the volcanoes; you will find that in no case does the atoll + accompany the volcano, or the volcano burst up among the atolls. It is + most instructive to look at the great area of the Pacific on the map, and + see the great masses of atolls forming in one region of it a most enormous + belt, running from north-west to south-east; while the volcanoes, which + are very numerous in that region, go round the margin, so that we can + picture the Pacific to ourselves a section of a kind of very shallow basin—shallow + in proportion to its width, with the atolls rising from the bottom of it, + and at the margins the volcanoes. It is exactly as if you had taken a flat + mass and lifted up the edges of it; the subterranean force which lifted up + the edges shows itself in volcanoes, and as the edges have been raised, + the middle part of the mass has gone down. In other words, the facts of + physical geography precisely and exactly correspond with the hypothesis + which accounts for the infinite varieties of coral reefs. + </p> + <p> + One other point, before I conclude, about this matter. These reefs, as you + have just perceived, are in a most singular and unexpected manner + indications of physical changes of elevations and depressions going on + upon the surface of the globe. I dare say it may have surprised you to + hear me talk in this familiar sort of way of land going up and down; but + it is one of the universal lessons of geology that the land is going down + and going up, and has been going up and down, in all sorts of places and + to all sorts of distances, through all recorded time. Geologists would be + quite right in maintaining the seeming paradox that the stable thing in + the world is the fluid sea and the shifting thing is the solid land. That + may sound a very hard saying at first, but the more you look into geology, + the more you will see ground for believing that it is not a mere paradox. + </p> + <p> + In an unexpected manner, again, these reefs afford us not only an + indication of change of place, but they afford an indication of lapse of + time. The reef is a timekeeper of a very curious character; and you can + easily understand why. The coral polype, like everything else, takes a + certain time to grow to its full size; it does not do it in a minute; just + as a child takes a certain time to grow into a man so does the embryo + polype take time to grow into a perfect polype and form its skeleton. + Consequently every particle of coral limestone is an expression of time. + It must have taken a certain time to separate the lime from the sea water. + It is not possible to arrive at an accurate computation of the time it + must have taken to form these coral islands, because we lack the necessary + data; but we can form a rough calculation, which leads to very curious and + striking results. The computations of the rate at which corals grow are so + exceedingly variable, that we must allow the widest possible margin for + error; and it is better in this case to make the allowance upon the side + of excess. I think that anybody who knows anything about the matter will + tell you that I am making a computation far in excess of what is probable, + if I say that an inch of coral limestone may be added to one of these + reefs in the course of a year. I think most naturalists would be inclined + to laugh at me for making such an assumption, and would put the growth at + certainly not more than half that amount. But supposing it is so, what a + very curious notion of the antiquity of some of these great living + pyramids comes out by a very simple calculation. There is no doubt + whatever that the sea faces of some of them are fully a thousand feet + high, and if you take the reckoning of an inch a year, that will give you + 12,000 years for the age of that particular pyramid or cone of coral + limestone; 12,000 long years have these creatures been labouring in + conditions which must have been substantially the same as they are now, + otherwise the polypes could not have continued their work. But I believe I + very much understate both the height of some of these masses, and + overstate the amount which these animals can form in the course of a year; + so that you might very safely double the period as the time during which + the Pacific Ocean, the general state of the climate, and the sea, and the + temperature has been substantially what it is now; and yet that state of + things which now obtains in the Pacific Ocean is the yesterday of the + history of the life of the globe. Those pyramids of coral rock are built + upon a foundation which is itself formed by the deposits which the + geologist has to deal with. If we go back in time and search through the + series of the rocks, we find at every age of the world's history which has + yet been examined, accumulations of limestone, many of which have + certainly been built up in just the same way as those coral reefs which + are now forming the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And even if we turn to + the oldest periods of geologic history, although the nature of the + materials is changed, although we cannot apply to them the same reasonings + that we can to the existing corals, yet still there are vast masses of + limestone formed of nothing else than the accumulations of the skeletons + of similar animals, and testifying that even in those remote periods of + the world's history, as now, the order of things implies that the earth + had already endured for a period of which our ordinary standards of + chronology give us not the slightest conception. In other words, the + history of these coral reefs, traced out honestly and carefully, and with + the same sort of reasoning that you would use in the ordinary affairs of + life, testifies, like every fact that I know of, to the prodigious + antiquity of the earth since it existed in a condition in the main similar + to that in which it now is. + </p> + <p> + End of Coral and Coral Reefs. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + YEAST. + </h2> + <p> + I have selected to-night the particular subject of Yeast for two reasons—or, + rather, I should say for three. In the first place, because it is one of + the simplest and the most familiar objects with which we are acquainted. + In the second place, because the facts and phenomena which I have to + describe are so simple that it is possible to put them before you without + the help of any of those pictures or diagrams which are needed when + matters are more complicated, and which, if I had to refer to them here, + would involve the necessity of my turning away from you now and then, and + thereby increasing very largely my difficulty (already sufficiently great) + in making myself heard. And thirdly, I have chosen this subject because I + know of no familiar substance forming part of our every-day knowledge and + experience, the examination of which, with a little care, tends to open up + such very considerable issues as does this substance—yeast. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, I should like to call your attention to a fact with + which the whole of you are, to begin with, perfectly acquainted, I mean + the fact that any liquid containing sugar, any liquid which is formed by + pressing out the succulent parts of the fruits of plants, or a mixture of + honey and water, if left to itself for a short time, begins to undergo a + peculiar change. No matter how clear it might be at starting, yet after a + few hours, or at most a few days, if the temperature is high, this liquid + begins to be turbid, and by-and-by bubbles make their appearance in it, + and a sort of dirty-looking yellowish foam or scum collects at the + surface; while at the same time, by degrees, a similar kind of matter, + which we call the "lees," sinks to the bottom. + </p> + <p> + The quantity of this dirty-looking stuff, that we call the scum and the + lees, goes on increasing until it reaches a certain amount, and then it + stops; and by the time it stops, you find the liquid in which this matter + has been formed has become altered in its quality. To begin with it was a + mere sweetish substance, having the flavour of whatever might be the plant + from which it was expressed, or having merely the taste and the absence of + smell of a solution of sugar; but by the time that this change that I have + been briefly describing to you is accomplished the liquid has become + completely altered, it has acquired a peculiar smell, and, what is still + more remarkable, it has gained the property of intoxicating the person who + drinks it. Nothing can be more innocent than a solution of sugar; nothing + can be less innocent, if taken in excess, as you all know, than those + fermented matters which are produced from sugar. Well, again, if you + notice that bubbling, or, as it were, seething of the liquid, which has + accompanied the whole of this process, you will find that it is produced + by the evolution of little bubbles of air-like substance out of the + liquid; and I dare say you all know this air-like substance is not like + common air; it is not a substance which a man can breathe with impunity. + You often hear of accidents which take place in brewers' vats when men go + in carelessly, and get suffocated there without knowing that there was + anything evil awaiting them. And if you tried the experiment with this + liquid I am telling of while it was fermenting, you would find that any + small animal let down into the vessel would be similarly stifled; and you + would discover that a light lowered down into it would go out. Well, then, + lastly, if after this liquid has been thus altered you expose it to that + process which is called distillation; that is to say, if you put it into a + still, and collect the matters which are sent over, you obtain, when you + first heat it, a clear transparent liquid, which, however, is something + totally different from water; it is much lighter; it has a strong smell, + and it has an acrid taste; and it possesses the same intoxicating power as + the original liquid, but in a much more intense degree. If you put a light + to it, it burns with a bright flame, and it is that substance which we + know as spirits of wine. + </p> + <p> + Now these facts which I have just put before you—all but the last—have + been known from extremely remote antiquity. It is, I hope one of the best + evidences of the antiquity of the human race, that among the earliest + records of all kinds of men, you find a time recorded when they got drunk. + We may hope that that must have been a very late period in their history. + Not only have we the record of what happened to Noah, but if we turn to + the traditions of a different people, those forefathers of ours who lived + in the high lands of Northern India, we find that they were not less + addicted to intoxicating liquids; and I have no doubt that the knowledge + of this process extends far beyond the limits of historically recorded + time. And it is a very curious thing to observe that all the names we have + of this process, and all that belongs to it, are names that have their + roots not in our present language, but in those older languages which go + back to the times at which this country was peopled. That word + "fermentation" for example, which is the title we apply to the whole + process, is a Latin term; and a term which is evidently based upon the + fact of the effervescence of the liquid. Then the French, who are very + fond of calling themselves a Latin race, have a particular word for + ferment, which is 'levure'. And, in the same way, we have the word + "leaven," those two words having reference to the heaving up, or to the + raising of the substance which is fermented. Now those are words which we + get from what I may call the Latin side of our parentage; but if we turn + to the Saxon side, there are a number of names connected with this process + of fermentation. For example, the Germans call fermentation—and the + old Germans did so—"gahren;" and they call anything which is used as + a ferment by such names, such as "gheist" and "geest," and finally in low + German, "yest"; and that word you know is the word our Saxon forefathers + used, and is almost the same as the word which is commonly employed in + this country to denote the common ferment of which I have been speaking. + So they have another name, the word "hefe," which is derived from their + verb "heben," which signifies to raise up; and they have yet a third name, + which is also one common in this country (I do not know whether it is + common in Lancashire, but it is certainly very common in the Midland + countries), the word "barm," which is derived from a root which signifies + to raise or to bear up. Barm is a something borne up; and thus there is + much more real relation than is commonly supposed by those who make puns, + between the beer which a man takes down his throat and the bier upon which + that process, if carried to excess, generally lands him, for they are both + derived from the root signifying bearing up; the one thing is borne upon + men's shoulders, and the other is the fermented liquid which was borne up + by the fermentation taking place in itself. + </p> + <p> + Again, I spoke of the produce of fermentation as "spirit of wine." Now + what a very curious phrase that is, if you come to think of it. The old + alchemists talked of the finest essence of anything as if it had the same + sort of relation to the thing itself as a man's spirit is supposed to have + to his body; and so they spoke of this fine essence of the fermented + liquid as being the spirit of the liquid. Thus came about that + extraordinary ambiguity of language, in virtue of which you apply + precisely the same substantive name to the soul of man and to a glass of + gin! And then there is still yet one other most curious piece of + nomenclature connected with this matter, and that is the word "alcohol" + itself, which is now so familiar to everybody. Alcohol originally meant a + very fine powder. The women of the Arabs and other Eastern people are in + the habit of tingeing their eyelashes with a very fine black powder which + is made of antimony, and they call that "kohol;" and the "al" is simply + the article put in front of it, so as to say "the kohol." And up to the + 17th century in this country the word alcohol was employed to signify any + very fine powder; you find it in Robert Boyle's works that he uses + "alcohol" for a very fine subtle powder. But then this name of anything + very fine and very subtle came to be specially connected with the fine and + subtle spirit obtained from the fermentation of sugar; and I believe that + the first person who fairly fixed it as the proper name of what we now + commonly call spirits of wine, was the great French chemist Lavoisier, so + comparatively recent is the use of the word alcohol in this specialised + sense. + </p> + <p> + So much by way of general introduction to the subject on which I have to + speak to-night. What I have hitherto stated is simply what we may call + common knowledge, which everybody may acquaint himself with. And you know + that what we call scientific knowledge is not any kind of conjuration, as + people sometimes suppose, but it is simply the application of the same + principles of common sense that we apply to common knowledge, carried out, + if I may so speak, to knowledge which is uncommon. And all that we know + now of this substance, yeast, and all the very strange issues to which + that knowledge has led us, have simply come out of the inveterate habit, + and a very fortunate habit for the human race it is, which scientific men + have of not being content until they have routed out all the different + chains and connections of apparently simple phenomena, until they have + taken them to pieces and understood the conditions upon which they depend. + I will try to point out to you now what has happened in consequence of + endeavouring to apply this process of "analysis," as we call it, this + teazing out of an apparently simple fact into all the little facts of + which it is made up, to the ascertained facts relating to the barm or the + yeast; secondly, what has come of the attempt to ascertain distinctly what + is the nature of the products which are produced by fermentation; then + what has come of the attempt to understand the relation between the yeast + and the products; and lastly, what very curious side issues if I may so + call them—have branched out in the course of this inquiry, which has + now occupied somewhere about two centuries. + </p> + <p> + The first thing was to make out precisely and clearly what was the nature + of this substance, this apparently mere scum and mud that we call yeast. + And that was first commenced seriously by a wonderful old Dutchman of the + name of Leeuwenhoek, who lived some two hundred years ago, and who was the + first person to invent thoroughly trustworthy microscopes of high powers. + Now, Leeuwenhoek went to work upon this yeast mud, and by applying to it + high powers of the microscope, he discovered that it was no mere mud such + as you might at first suppose, but that it was a substance made up of an + enormous multitude of minute grains, each of which had just as definite a + form as if it were a grain of corn, although it was vastly smaller, the + largest of these not being more than the two-thousandth of an inch in + diameter; while, as you know, a grain of corn is a large thing, and the + very smallest of these particles were not more than the seven-thousandth + of an inch in diameter. Leeuwenhoek saw that this muddy stuff was in + reality a liquid, in which there were floating this immense number of + definitely shaped particles, all aggregated in heaps and lumps and some of + them separate. That discovery remained, so to speak, dormant for fully a + century, and then the question was taken up by a French discoverer, who, + paying great attention and having the advantage of better instruments than + Leeuwenhoek had, watched these things and made the astounding discovery + that they were bodies which were constantly being reproduced and growing; + than when one of these rounded bodies was once formed and had grown to its + full size, it immediately began to give off a little bud from one side, + and then that bud grew out until it had attained the full size of the + first, and that, in this way, the yeast particle was undergoing a process + of multiplication by budding, just as effectual and just as complete as + the process of multiplication of a plant by budding; and thus this + Frenchman, Cagniard de la Tour, arrived at the conclusion—very + creditable to his sagacity, and which has been confirmed by every + observation and reasoning since—that this apparently muddy refuse + was neither more nor less than a mass of plants, of minute living plants, + growing and multiplying in the sugary fluid in which the yeast is formed. + And from that time forth we have known this substance which forms the scum + and the lees as the yeast plant; and it has received a scientific name—which + I may use without thinking of it, and which I will therefore give you—namely, + "Torula." Well, this was a capital discovery. The next thing to do was to + make out how this torula was related to the other plants. I won't weary + you with the whole course of investigation, but I may sum up its results, + and they are these—that the torula is a particular kind of a fungus, + a particular state rather, of a fungus or mould. There are many moulds + which under certain conditions give rise to this torula condition, to a + substance which is not distinguishable from yeast, and which has the same + properties as yeast—that is to say, which is able to decompose sugar + in the curious way that we shall consider by-and-by. So that the yeast + plant is a plant belonging to a group of the Fungi, multiplying and + growing and living in this very remarkable manner in the sugary fluid + which is, so to speak, the nidus or home of the yeast. + </p> + <p> + That, in a few words, is, as far as investigation—by the help of + one's eye and by the help of the microscope—has taken us. But now + there is an observer whose methods of observation are more refined than + those of men who use their eye, even though it be aided by the microscope; + a man who sees indirectly further than we can see directly—that is, + the chemist; and the chemist took up this question, and his discovery was + not less remarkable than that of the microscopist. The chemist discovered + that the yeast plant being composed of a sort of bag, like a bladder, + inside which is a peculiar soft, semifluid material—the chemist + found that this outer bladder has the same composition as the substance of + wood, that material which is called "cellulose," and which consists of the + elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen, without any nitrogen. But then he + also found (the first person to discover it was an Italian chemist, named + Fabroni, in the end of the last century) that this inner matter which was + contained in the bag, which constitutes the yeast plant, was a substance + containing the elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen; that + it was what Fabroni called a vegeto-animal substance, and that it had the + peculiarities of what are commonly called "animal products." + </p> + <p> + This again was an exceedingly remarkable discovery. It lay neglected for a + time, until it was subsequently taken up by the great chemists of modern + times, and they, with their delicate methods of analysis, have finally + decided that, in all essential respects, the substance which forms the + chief part of the contents of the yeast plant is identical with the + material which forms the chief part of our own muscles, which forms the + chief part of our own blood, which forms the chief part of the white of + the egg; that, in fact, although this little organism is a plant, and + nothing but a plant, yet that its active living contents contain a + substance which is called "protein," which is of the same nature as the + substance which forms the foundation of every animal organism whatever. + </p> + <p> + Now we come next to the question of the analysis of the products, of that + which is produced during the process of fermentation. So far back as the + beginning of the 16th century, in the times of transition between the old + alchemy and the modern chemistry, there was a remarkable man, Von Helmont, + a Dutchman, who saw the difference between the air which comes out of a + vat where something is fermenting and common air. He was the man who + invented the term "gas," and he called this kind of gas "gas silvestre"—so + to speak gas that is wild, and lives in out of the way places—having + in his mind the identity of this particular kind of air with that which is + found in some caves and cellars. Then, the gradual process of + investigation going on, it was discovered that this substance, then called + "fixed air," was a poisonous gas, and it was finally identified with that + kind of gas which is obtained by burning charcoal in the air, which is + called "carbonic acid." Then the substance alcohol was subjected to + examination, and it was found to be a combination of carbon, and hydrogen, + and oxygen. Then the sugar which was contained in the fermenting liquid + was examined and that was found to contain the three elements carbon, + hydrogen, and oxygen. So that it was clear there were in sugar the + fundamental elements which are contained in the carbonic acid, and in the + alcohol. And then came that great chemist Lavoisier, and he examined into + the subject carefully, and possessed with that brilliant thought of his + which happens to be propounded exactly apropos to this matter of + fermentation—that no matter is ever lost, but that matter only + changes its form and changes its combinations—he endeavoured to make + out what became of the sugar which was subjected to fermentation. He + thought he discovered that the whole weight of the sugar was represented + by the carbonic acid produced; that in other words, supposing this tumbler + to represent the sugar, that the action of fermentation was as it were the + splitting of it, the one half going away in the shape of carbonic acid, + and the other half going away in the shape of alcohol. Subsequent inquiry, + careful research with the refinements of modern chemistry, have been + applied to this problem, and they have shown that Lavoisier was not quite + correct; that what he says is quite true for about 95 per cent. of the + sugar, but that the other 5 per cent., or nearly so, is converted into two + other things; one of them, matter which is called succinic acid, and the + other matter which is called glycerine, which you all know now as one of + the commonest of household matters. It may be that we have not got to the + end of this refined analysis yet, but at any rate, I suppose I may say—and + I speak with some little hesitation for fear my friend Professor Roscoe + here may pick me up for trespassing upon his province—but I believe + I may say that now we can account for 99 per cent. at least of the sugar, + and that 99 per cent. is split up into these four things, carbonic acid, + alcohol, succinic acid, and glycerine. So that it may be that none of the + sugar whatever disappears, and that only its parts, so to speak, are + re-arranged, and if any of it disappears, certainly it is a very small + portion. + </p> + <p> + Now these are the facts of the case. There is the fact of the growth of + the yeast plant; and there is the fact of the splitting up of the sugar. + What relation have these two facts to one another? + </p> + <p> + For a very long time that was a great matter of dispute. The early French + observers, to do them justice, discerned the real state of the case, + namely, that there was a very close connection between the actual life of + the yeast plant and this operation of the splitting up of the sugar; and + that one was in some way or other connected with the other. All + investigation subsequently has confirmed this original idea. It has been + shown that if you take any measures by which other plants of like kind to + the torula would be killed, and by which the yeast plant is killed, then + the yeast loses its efficiency. But a capital experiment upon this subject + was made by a very distinguished man, Helmholz, who performed an + experiment of this kind. He had two vessels—one of them we will + suppose full of yeast, but over the bottom of it, as this might be, was + tied a thin film of bladder; consequently, through that thin film of + bladder all the liquid parts of the yeast would go, but the solid parts + would be stopped behind; the torula would be stopped, the liquid parts of + the yeast would go. And then he took another vessel containing a + fermentable solution of sugar, and he put one inside the other; and in + this way you see the fluid parts of the yeast were able to pass through + with the utmost ease into the sugar, but the solid parts could not get + through at all. And he judged thus: if the fluid parts are those which + excite fermentation, then, inasmuch as these are stopped, the sugar will + not ferment; and the sugar did not ferment, showing quite clearly, that an + immediate contact with the solid, living torula was absolutely necessary + to excite this process of splitting up of the sugar. This experiment was + quite conclusive as to this particular point, and has had very great + fruits in other directions. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, the yeast plant being essential to the production of + fermentation, where does the yeast plant come from? Here, again, was + another great problem opened up, for, as I said at starting, you have, + under ordinary circumstances in warm weather, merely to expose some fluid + containing a solution of sugar, or any form of syrup or vegetable juice to + the air, in order, after a comparatively short time, to see all these + phenomena of fermentation. Of course the first obvious suggestion is, that + the torula has been generated within the fluid. In fact, it seems at first + quite absurd to entertain any other conviction; but that belief would most + assuredly be an erroneous one. + </p> + <p> + Towards the beginning of this century, in the vigorous times of the old + French wars, there was a Monsieur Appert, who had his attention directed + to the preservation of things that ordinarily perish, such as meats and + vegetables, and in fact he laid the foundation of our modern method of + preserving meats; and he found that if he boiled any of these substances + and then tied them so as to exclude the air, that they would be preserved + for any time. He tried these experiments, particularly with the must of + wine and with the wort of beer; and he found that if the wort of beer had + been carefully boiled and was stopped in such a way that the air could not + get at it, it would never ferment. What was the reason of this? That, + again, became the subject of a long string of experiments, with this + ultimate result, that if you take precautions to prevent any solid matters + from getting into the must of wine or the wort of beer, under these + circumstances—that is to say, if the fluid has been boiled and + placed in a bottle, and if you stuff the neck of the bottle full of cotton + wool, which allows the air to go through and stops anything of a solid + character however fine, then you may let it be for ten years and it will + not ferment. But if you take that plug out and give the air free access, + then, sooner or later fermentation will set up. And there is no doubt + whatever that fermentation is excited only by the presence of some torula + or other, and that that torula proceeds in our present experience, from + pre-existing torulae. These little bodies are excessively light. You can + easily imagine what must be the weight of little particles, but slightly + heavier than water, and not more than the two-thousandth or perhaps + seven-thousandth of an inch in diameter. They are capable of floating + about and dancing like motes in the sunbeam; they are carried about by all + sorts of currents of air; the great majority of them perish; but one or + two, which may chance to enter into a sugary solution, immediately enter + into active life, find there the conditions of their nourishment, increase + and multiply, and may give rise to any quantity whatever of this substance + yeast. And, whatever may be true or not be true about this "spontaneous + generation," as it is called in regard to all other kinds of living + things, it is perfectly certain, as regards yeast, that it always owes its + origin to this process of transportation or inoculation, if you like so to + call it, from some other living yeast organism; and so far as yeast is + concerned, the doctrine of spontaneous generation is absolutely out of + court. And not only so, but the yeast must be alive in order to exert + these peculiar properties. If it be crushed, if it be heated so far that + its life is destroyed, that peculiar power of fermentation is not excited. + Thus we have come to this conclusion, as the result of our inquiry, that + the fermentation of sugar, the splitting of the sugar into alcohol and + carbonic acid, glycerine, and succinic acid, is the result of nothing but + the vital activity of this little fungus, the torula. + </p> + <p> + And now comes the further exceedingly difficult inquiry—how is it + that this plant, the torula, produces this singular operation of the + splitting up of the sugar? Fabroni, to whom I referred some time ago, + imagined that the effervescence of fermentation was produced in just the + same way as the effervescence of a sedlitz powder, that the yeast was a + kind of acid, and that the sugar was a combination of carbonic acid and + some base to form the alcohol, and that the yeast combined with this + substance, and set free the carbonic acid; just as when you add carbonate + of soda to acid you turn out the carbonic acid. But of course the + discovery of Lavoisier that the carbonic acid and the alcohol taken + together are very nearly equal in weight to the sugar, completely upset + this hypothesis. Another view was therefore taken by the French chemist, + Thenard, and it is still held by a very eminent chemist, M. Pasteur, and + their view is this, that the yeast, so to speak, eats a little of the + sugar, turns a little of it to its own purposes, and by so doing gives + such a shape to the sugar that the rest of it breaks up into carbonic acid + and alcohol. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, there is a third hypothesis, which is maintained by another + very distinguished chemist, Liebig, which denies either of the other two, + and which declares that the particles of the sugar are, as it were, shaken + asunder by the forces at work in the yeast plant. Now I am not going to + take you into these refinements of chemical theory, I cannot for a moment + pretend to do so, but I may put the case before you by an analogy. Suppose + you compare the sugar to a card house, and suppose you compare the yeast + to a child coming near the card house, then Fabroni's hypothesis was that + the child took half the cards away; Thenard's and Pasteur's hypothesis is + that the child pulls out the bottom card and thus makes it tumble to + pieces; and Liebig's hypothesis is that the child comes by and shakes the + table and tumbles the house down. I appeal to my friend here (Professor + Roscoe) whether that is not a fair statement of the case. + </p> + <p> + Having thus, as far as I can, discussed the general state of the question, + it remains only that I should speak of some of those collateral results + which have come in a very remarkable way out of the investigation of + yeast. I told you that it was very early observed that the yeast plant + consisted of a bag made up of the same material as that which composes + wood, and of an interior semifluid mass which contains a substance, + identical in its composition, in a broad sense, with that which + constitutes the flesh of animals. Subsequently, after the structure of the + yeast plant had been carefully observed, it was discovered that all + plants, high and low, are made up of separate bags or "cells," as they are + called; these bags or cells having the composition of the pure matter of + wood; having the same composition, broadly speaking, as the sac of the + yeast plant, and having in their interior a more or less fluid substance + containing a matter of the same nature as the protein substance of the + yeast plant. And therefore this remarkable result came out—that + however much a plant may differ from an animal, yet that the essential + constituent of the contents of these various cells or sacs of which the + plant is made up, the nitrogenous protein matter, is the same in the + animal as in the plant. And not only was this gradually discovered, but it + was found that these semifluid contents of the plant cell had, in many + cases, a remarkable power of contractility quite like that of the + substance of animals. And about 24 or 25 years ago, namely, about the year + 1846, to the best of my recollection, a very eminent German botanist, Hugo + Von Mohl, conferred upon this substance which is found in the interior of + the plant cell, and which is identical with the matter found in the inside + of the yeast cell, and which again contains an animal substance similar to + that of which we ourselves are made up—he conferred upon this that + title of "protoplasm," which has brought other people a great deal of + trouble since! I beg particularly to say that, because I find many people + suppose that I was the inventor of that term, whereas it has been in + existence for at least twenty-five years. And then other observers, taking + the question up, came to this astonishing conclusion (working from this + basis of the yeast), that the differences between animals and plants are + not so much in the fundamental substances which compose them, not in the + protoplasm, but in the manner in which the cells of which their bodies are + built up have become modified. There is a sense in which it is true—and + the analogy was pointed out very many years ago by some French botanists + and chemists—there is a sense in which it is true that every plant + is substantially an enormous aggregation of bodies similar to yeast cells, + each having to a certain extent its own independent life. And there is a + sense in which it is also perfectly true—although it would be + impossible for me to give the statement to you with proper qualifications + and limitations on an occasion like this—but there is also a sense + in which it is true that every animal body is made up of an aggregation of + minute particles of protoplasm, comparable each of them to the individual + separate yeast plant. And those who are acquainted with the history of the + wonderful revolution which has been worked in our whole conception of + these matters in the last thirty years, will bear me out in saying that + the first germ of them, to a very great extent, was made to grow and + fructify by the study of the yeast plant, which presents us with living + matter in almost its simplest condition. + </p> + <p> + Then there is yet one last and most important bearing of this yeast + question. There is one direction probably in which the effects of the + careful study of the nature of fermentation will yield results more + practically valuable to mankind than any other. Let me recall to your + minds the fact which I stated at the beginning of this lecture. Suppose + that I had here a solution of pure sugar with a little mineral matter in + it; and suppose it were possible for me to take upon the point of a needle + one single, solitary yeast cell, measuring no more perhaps than the + three-thousandth of an inch in diameter—not bigger than one of those + little coloured specks of matter in my own blood at this moment, the + weight of which it would be difficult to express in the fraction of a + grain—and put it into this solution. From that single one, if the + solution were kept at a fair temperature in a warm summer's day, there + would be generated, in the course of a week, enough torulae to form a scum + at the top and to form lees at the bottom, and to change the perfectly + tasteless and entirely harmless fluid, syrup, into a solution impregnated + with the poisonous gas carbonic acid, impregnated with the poisonous + substance alcohol; and that, in virtue of the changes worked upon the + sugar by the vital activity of these infinitesimally small plants. Now you + see that this is a case of infection. And from the time that the + phenomenon of fermentation were first carefully studied, it has constantly + been suggested to the minds of thoughtful physicians that there was a + something astoundingly similar between this phenomena of the propagation + of fermentation by infection and contagion, and the phenomena of the + propagation of diseases by infection and contagion. Out of this suggestion + has grown that remarkable theory of many diseases which has been called + the "germ theory of disease," the idea, in fact, that we owe a great many + diseases to particles having a certain life of their own, and which are + capable of being transmitted from one living being to another, exactly as + the yeast plant is capable of being transmitted from one tumbler of + saccharine substance to another. And that is a perfectly tenable + hypothesis, one which in the present state of medicine ought to be + absolutely exhausted and shown not to be true, until we take to others + which have less analogy in their favour. And there are some diseases most + assuredly in which it turns out to be perfectly correct. There are some + forms of what are called malignant carbuncle which have been shown to be + actually effected by a sort of fermentation, if I may use the phrase, by a + sort of disturbance and destruction of the fluids of the animal body, set + up by minute organisms which are the cause of this destruction and of this + disturbance; and only recently the study of the phenomena which accompany + vaccination has thrown an immense light in this direction, tending to show + by experiments of the same general character as that to which I referred + as performed by Helmholz, that there is a most astonishing analogy between + the contagion of that healing disease and the contagion of destructive + diseases. For it has been made out quite clearly, by investigations + carried on in France and in this country, that the only part of the + vaccine matter which is contagious, which is capable of carrying on its + influence in the organism of the child who is vaccinated, is the solid + particles and not the fluid. By experiments of the most ingenious kind, + the solid parts have been separated from the fluid parts, and it has then + been discovered that you may vaccinate a child as much as you like with + the fluid parts, but no effect takes place, though an excessively small + portion of the solid particles, the most minute that can be separated, is + amply sufficient to give rise to all the phenomena of the cow pock, by a + process which we can compare to nothing but the transmission of + fermentation from one vessel into another, by the transport to the one of + the torula particles which exist in the other. And it has been shown to be + true of some of the most destructive diseases which infect animals, such + diseases as the sheep pox, such diseases as that most terrible and + destructive disorder of horses, glanders, that in these, also, the active + power is the living solid particle, and that the inert part is the fluid. + However, do not suppose that I am pushing the analogy too far. I do not + mean to say that the active, solid parts in these diseased matters are of + the same nature as living yeast plants; but, so far as it goes, there is a + most surprising analogy between the two; and the value of the analogy is + this, that by following it out we may some time or other come to + understand how these diseases are propagated, just as we understand, now, + about fermentation; and that, in this way, some of the greatest scourges + which afflict the human race may be, if not prevented, at least largely + alleviated. + </p> + <p> + This is the conclusion of the statements which I wished to put before you. + You see we have not been able to have any accessories. If you will come in + such numbers to hear a lecture of this kind, all I can say is, that + diagrams cannot be made big enough for you, and that it is not possible to + show any experiments illustrative of a lecture on such a subject as I have + to deal with. Of course my friends the chemists and physicists are very + much better off, because they can not only show you experiments, but you + can smell them and hear them! But in my case such aids are not attainable, + and therefore I have taken a simple subject and have dealt with it in such + a way that I hope you all understand it, at least so far as I have been + able to put it before you in words; and having once apprehended such of + the ideas and simple facts of the case as it was possible to put before + you, you can see for yourselves the great and wonderful issues of such an + apparently homely subject. + </p> + <p> + End of Yeast. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WILLIAM HARVEY AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. + </h2> + <p> + THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.* + </p> + <p> + ([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in the Free Trade Hall, November 2nd, + 1878.) + </p> + <p> + I desire this evening to give you some account of the life and labours of + a very noble Englishman—William Harvey. + </p> + <p> + William Harvey was born in the year 1578, and as he lived until the year + 1657, he very nearly attained the age of 80. He was the son of a small + landowner in Kent, who was sufficiently wealthy to send this, his eldest + son, to the University of Cambridge; while he embarked the others in + mercantile pursuits, in which they all, as time passed on, attained + riches. + </p> + <p> + William Harvey, after pursuing his education at Cambridge, and taking his + degree there, thought it was advisable—and justly thought so, in the + then state of University education—to proceed to Italy, which at + that time was one of the great centres of intellectual activity in Europe, + as all friends of freedom hope it will become again, sooner or later. In + those days the University of Padua had a great renown; and Harvey went + there and studied under a man who was then very famous—Fabricius of + Aquapendente. On his return to England, Harvey became a member of the + College of Physicians in London, and entered into practice; and, I + suppose, as an indispensable step thereto, proceeded to marry. He very + soon became one of the most eminent members of the profession in London; + and, about the year 1616, he was elected by the College of Physicians + their Professor of Anatomy. It was while Harvey held this office that he + made public that great discovery of the circulation of the blood and the + movements of the heart, the nature of which I shall endeavour by-and-by to + explain to you at length. Shortly afterwards, Charles the First having + succeeded to the throne in 1625, Harvey became one of the king's + physicians; and it is much to the credit of the unfortunate monarch—who, + whatever his faults may have been, was one of the few English monarchs who + have shown a taste for art and science—that Harvey became his + attached and devoted friend as well as servant; and that the king, on the + other hand, did all he could to advance Harvey's investigations. But, as + you know, evil times came on; and Harvey, after the fortunes of his royal + master were broken, being then a man of somewhat advanced years—over + 60 years of age, in fact—retired to the society of his brothers in + and near London, and among them pursued his studies until the day of his + death. Harvey's career is a life which offers no salient points of + interest to the biographer. It was a life devoted to study and + investigation; and it was a life the devotion of which was amply rewarded, + as I shall have occasion to point out to you, by its results. + </p> + <p> + Harvey, by the diversity, the variety, and the thoroughness of his + investigations, was enabled to give an entirely new direction to at least + two branches—and two of the most important branches—of what + now-a-days we call Biological Science. On the one hand, he founded all our + modern physiology by the discovery of the exact nature of the motions of + the heart, and of the course in which the blood is propelled through the + body; and, on the other, he laid the foundation of that study of + development which has been so much advanced of late years, and which + constitutes one of the great pillars of the doctrine of evolution. This + doctrine, I need hardly tell you, is now tending to revolutionise our + conceptions of the origin of living things, exactly in the same way as + Harvey's discovery of the circulation in the seventeeth century + revolutionised the conceptions which men had previously entertained with + regard to physiological processes. + </p> + <p> + It would, I regret, be quite impossible for me to attempt, in the course + of the time I can presume to hold you here, to unfold the history of more + than one of these great investigations of Harvey. I call them "great + investigations," as distinguished from "large publications." I have in my + hand a little book, which those of you who are at a great distance may + have some difficulty in seeing, and which I value very much. It is, I am + afraid, sadly thumbed and scratched with annotations by a very humble + successor and follower of Harvey. This little book is the edition of 1651 + of the 'Exercitationes de Generatione'; and if you were to add another + little book, printed in the same small type, and about one-seventh of the + thickness, you would have the sum total of the printed matter which Harvey + contributed to our literature. And yet in that sum total was contained, I + may say, the materials of two revolutions in as many of the main branches + of biological science. If Harvey's published labours can be condensed into + so small a compass, you must recollect that it is not because he did not + do a great deal more. We know very well that he did accumulate a very + considerable number of observations on the most varied topics of medicine, + surgery, and natural history. But, as I mentioned to you just now, Harvey, + for a time, took the royal side in the domestic quarrel of the Great + Rebellion, as it is called; and the Parliament, not unnaturally resenting + that action of his, sent soldiers to seize his papers. And while I imagine + they found nothing treasonable among those papers, yet, in the process of + rummaging through them, they destroyed all the materials which Harvey had + spent a laborious life in accumulating; and hence it is that the man's + work and labours are represented by so little in apparent bulk. + </p> + <p> + What I chiefly propose to do to-night is to lay before you an account of + the nature of the discovery which Harvey made, and which is termed the + Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. And I desire also, with some + particularity, to draw your attention to the methods by which that + discovery was achieved; for, in both these respects, I think, there will + be much matter for profitable reflection. + </p> + <p> + Let me point out to you, in the first place, with respect to this + important matter of the movements of the heart and the course of the blood + in the body, that there is a certain amount of knowledge which must have + been obtained without men taking the trouble to seek it—knowledge + which must have been taken in, in the course of time, by everybody who + followed the trade of a butcher, and still more so by those people who, in + ancient times, professed to divine the course of future events from the + entrails of animals. It is quite obvious to all, from ordinary accidents, + that the bodies of all the higher animals contain a hot red fluid—the + blood. Everybody can see upon the surface of some part of the skin, + underneath that skin, pulsating tubes, which we know as the arteries. + Everybody can see under the surface of the skin more delicate and softer + looking tubes, which do not pulsate, which are of a bluish colour, and are + termed the veins. And every person who has seen a recently killed animal + opened knows that these two kinds of tubes to which I have just referred, + are connected with an apparatus which is placed in the chest, which + apparatus, in recently killed animals, is still pulsating. And you know + that in yourselves you can feel the pulsation of this organ, the heart, + between the fifth and sixth ribs. I take it that this much of anatomy and + physiology has been known from the oldest times, not only as a matter of + curiosity, but because one of the great objects of men, from their + earliest recorded existence, has been to kill one another, and it was a + matter of considerable importance to know which was the best place for + hitting an enemy. I can refer you to very ancient records for most precise + and clear information that one of the best places is to smite him between + the fifth and sixth ribs. Now that is a very good piece of regional + anatomy, for that is the place where the heart strikes in its pulsations, + and the use of smiting there is that you go straight to the heart. Well, + all that must have been known from time immemorial—at least for + 4,000 or 5,000 years before the commencement of our era—because we + know that for as great a period as that the Egyptians, at any rate, + whatever may have been the case with other people, were in the enjoyment + of a highly developed civilisation. But of what knowledge they may have + possessed beyond this we know nothing; and in tracing back the springs of + the origin of everything that we call "modern science" (which is not + merely knowing, but knowing systematically, and with the intention and + endeavour to find out the causal connection of things)—I say that + when we trace back the different lines of all the modern sciences we come + at length to one epoch and to one country—the epoch being about the + fourth and fifth centuries before Christ, and the country being ancient + Greece. It is there that we find the commencement and the root of every + branch of physical science and of scientific method. If we go back to that + time we have in the works attributed to Aristotle, who flourished between + 300 and 400 years before Christ, a sort of encyclopaedia of the scientific + knowledge of that day—and a very marvellous collection of, in many + respects, accurate and precise knowledge it is. But, so far as regards + this particular topic, Aristotle, it must be confessed, has not got very + far beyond common knowledge. He knows a little about the structure of the + heart. I do not think that his knowledge is so inaccurate as many people + fancy, but it does not amount to much. A very few years after his time, + however, there was a Greek philosopher, Erasistratus, who lived about + three hundred years before Christ, and who must have pursued anatomy with + much care, for he made the important discovery that there are membranous + flaps, which are now called "valves," at the origins of the great vessels; + and that there are certain other valves in the interior of the heart + itself. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 1.—The apparatus of the circulation, as at present known. + The capillary vessels, which connect the arteries and veins, are omitted, + on account of their small size. The shading of the "venous system" is + given to all the vessels which contain venous blood; that of the "arterial + system" to all the vessels which contain arterial blood.) + </p> + <p> + I have here (Figure 1) a purposely rough, but, so far as it goes, + accurate, diagram of the structure of the heart and the course of the + blood. The heart is supposed to be divided into two portions. It would be + possible, by very careful dissection, to split the heart down the middle + of a partition, or so-called 'septum', which exists in it, and to divide + it into the two portions which you see here represented; in which case we + should have a left heart and a right heart, quite distinct from one + another. You will observe that there is a portion of each heart which is + what is called the ventricle. Now the ancients applied the term 'heart' + simply and solely to the ventricles. They did not count the rest of the + heart—what we now speak of as the 'auricles'—as any part of + the heart at all; but when they spoke of the heart they meant the left and + the right ventricles; and they described those great vessels, which we now + call the 'pulmonary veins' and the 'vena cava', as opening directly into + the heart itself. + </p> + <p> + What Erasistratus made out was that, at the roots of the aorta and the + pulmonary artery (Figure 1) there were valves, which opened in the + direction indicated by the arrows; and, on the other hand, that at the + junction of what he called the veins with the heart there were other + valves, which also opened again in the direction indicated by the arrows. + This was a very capital discovery, because it proved that if the heart was + full of fluid, and if there were any means of causing that fluid in the + ventricles to move, then the fluid could move only in one direction; for + you will observe that, as soon as the fluid is compressed, the two valves + between the ventricles and the veins will be shut, and the fluid will be + obliged to move into the arteries; and, if it tries to get back from them + into the heart, it is prevented from doing so by the valves at the origin + of the arteries, which we now call the semilunar valves (half-moon shaped + valves); so that it is impossible, if the fluid move at all, that it + should move in any other way than from the great veins into the arteries. + Now that was a very remarkable and striking discovery. + </p> + <p> + But it is not given to any man to be altogether right (that is a + reflection which it is very desirable for every man who has had the good + luck to be nearly right once, always to bear in mind); and Erasistratus, + while he made this capital and important discovery, made a very capital + and important error in another direction, although it was a very natural + error. If, in any animal which is recently killed, you open one of those + pulsating trunks which I referred to a short time ago, you will find, as a + general rule, that it either contains no blood at all or next to none; but + that, on the contrary, it is full of air. Very naturally, therefore, + Erasistratus came to the conclusion that this was the normal and natural + state of the arteries, and that they contained air. We are apt to think + this a very gross blunder; but, to anybody who is acquainted with the + facts of the case, it is, at first sight, an exceedingly natural + conclusion. Not only so, but Erasistratus might have very justly imagined + that he had seen his way to the meaning of the connection of the left side + of the heart with the lungs; for we find that what we now call the + pulmonary vein is connected with the lungs, and branches out in them + (Figure 1). Finding that the greater part of this system of vessels was + filled with air after death, this ancient thinker very shrewdly concluded + that its real business was to receive air from the lungs, and to + distribute that air all through the body, so as to get rid of the grosser + humours and purify the blood. That was a very natural and very obvious + suggestion, and a highly ingenious one, though it happened to be a great + error. You will observe that the only way of correcting it was to + experiment upon living animals, for there is no other way in which this + point could be settled. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 2. The Course of the Blood according to Galen (A.D. 170).) + </p> + <p> + And hence we are indebted, for the correction of the error of + Erasistratus, to one of the greatest experimenters of ancient or modern + times, Claudius Galenus, who lived in the second century after Christ. I + say it was to this man more than any one else, because he knew that the + only way of solving physiological problems was to examine into the facts + in the living animal. And because Galen was a skilful anatomist, and a + skilful experimenter, he was able to show in what particulars Erasistratus + had erred, and to build up a system of thought upon this subject which was + not improved upon for fully 1,300 years. I have endeavoured, in Figure 2, + to make clear to you exactly what it was he tried to establish. You will + observe that this diagram is practically the same as that given in Figure + 1, only simplified. The same facts may be looked upon by different people + from different points of view. Galen looked upon these facts from a very + different point of view from that which we ourselves occupy; but, so far + as the facts are concerned, they were the same for him as for us. Well + then, the first thing that Galen did was to make out experimentally that, + during life, the arteries are not full of air, but that they are full of + blood. And he describes a great variety of experiments which he made upon + living animals with the view of proving this point, which he did prove + effectually and for all time; and that you will observe was the only way + of settling the matter. Furthermore, he demonstrated that the cavities of + the left side of the heart—what we now call the left auricle and the + left ventricle—are, like the arteries, full of blood during life, + and that that blood was of the scarlet kind—arterialised, or as he + called it "pneumatised," blood. It was known before, that the pulmonary + artery, the right ventricle, and the veins, contain the darker kind of + blood, which was thence called venous. Having proved that the whole of the + left side of the heart, during life, is full of scarlet arterial blood, + Galen's next point was to inquire into the mode of communication between + the arteries and veins. It was known before his time that both arteries + and veins branched out. Galen maintained, though he could not prove the + fact, that the ultimate branches of the arteries and veins communicated + together somehow or other, by what he called 'anastomoses', and that these + 'anastomoses' existed not only in the body in general but also in the + lungs. In the next place, Galen maintained that all the veins of the body + arise from the liver; that they draw the blood thence and distribute it + over the body. People laugh at that notion now-a-days; but if anybody will + look at the facts he will see that it is a very probable supposition. + There is a great vein (hepatic vein—Figure 1) which rises out of the + liver, and that vein goes straight into the 'vena cava' (Figure 1) which + passes to the heart, being there joined by the other veins of the body. + The liver itself is fed by a very large vein (portal vein—Figure 1), + which comes from the alimentary canal. The way the ancients looked at this + matter was, that the food, after being received into the alimentary canal, + was then taken up by the branches of this great vein, which are called the + 'vena portae', just as the roots of a plant suck up nourishment from the + soil in which it lives; that then it was carried to the liver, there to be + what was called "concocted," which was their phrase for its conversion + into substances more fitted for nutrition than previously existed in it. + They then supposed that the next thing to be done was to distribute this + fluid through the body; and Galen like his predecessors, imagined that the + "concocted" blood, having entered the great 'vena cava', was distributed + by its ramifications all over the body. So that, in his view (Figure 2), + the course of the blood was from the intestine to the liver, and from the + liver into the great 'vena cava', including what we now call the right + auricle of the heart, whence it was distributed by the branches of the + veins. But the whole of the blood was not thus disposed of. Part of the + blood, it was supposed, went through what we now call the pulmonary + arteries (Figure 1), and, branching out there, gave exit to certain + "fuliginous" products, and at the same time took in from the air a + something which Galen calls the 'pneuma'. He does not know anything about + what we call oxygen; but it is astonishing how very easy it would be to + turn his language into the equivalent of modern chemical theory. The old + philosopher had so just a suspicion of the real state of affairs that you + could make use of his language in many cases, if you substituted the word + "oxygen," which we now-a-days use, for the word 'pneuma'. Then he imagined + that the blood, further concocted or altered by contact with the 'pneuma', + passed to a certain extent to the left side of the heart. So that Galen + believed that there was such a thing as what is now called the pulmonary + circulation. He believed, as much as we do, that the blood passed through + the right side of the heart, through the artery which goes to the lungs, + through the lungs themselves, and back by what we call the pulmonary veins + to the left side of the heart. But he thought it was only a very small + portion of the blood which passes to the right side of the heart in this + way; the rest of the blood, he thought, passed through the partition which + separates the two ventricles of the heart. He describes a number of small + pits, which really exist there, as holes, and he supposed that the greater + part of the blood passed through these holes from the right to the left + ventricle (Figure 2). + </p> + <p> + It is of great importance you should clearly understand these teachings of + Galen, because, as I said just now, they sum up all that anybody knew + until the revival of learning; and they come to this—that the blood + having passed from the stomach and intestines through the liver, and + having entered the great veins, was by them distributed to every part of + the body; that part of the blood, thus distributed, entered the arterial + system by the 'anastomoses', as Galen called them, in the lungs; that a + very small portion of it entered the arteries by the 'anastomoses' in the + body generally; but that the greater part of it passed through the septum + of the heart, and so entered the left side and mingled with the + pneumatised blood, which had been subjected to the air in the lungs, and + was then distributed by the arteries, and eventually mixed with the + currents of blood, coming the other way, through the veins. + </p> + <p> + Yet one other point about the views of Galen. He thought that both the + contractions and dilatations of the heart—what we call the 'systole' + or contraction of the heart, and the 'diastole' or dilatation—Galen + thought that these were both active movements; that the heart actively + dilated, so that it had a sort of sucking power upon the fluids which had + access to it. And again, with respect to the movements of the pulse, which + anybody can feel at the wrist and elsewhere, Galen was of opinion that the + walls of the arteries partook of that which he supposed to be the nature + of the walls of the heart, and that they had the power of alternately + actively contracting and actively dilating, so that he is careful to say + that the nature of the pulse is comparable, not to the movement of a bag, + which we fill by blowing into it, and which we empty by drawing the air + out of it, but to the action of a bellows, which is actively dilated and + actively compressed. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 3.—The course of the blood from the right to the left side + of the heart (Realdus Columbus, 1559).) + </p> + <p> + After Galen's time came the collapse of the Roman Empire, the extinction + of physical knowledge, and the repression of every kind of scientific + inquiry, by its powerful and consistent enemy, the Church; and that state + of things lasted until the latter part of the Middle Ages saw the revival + of learning. That revival of learning, so far as anatomy and physiology + are concerned, is due to the renewed influence of the philosophers of + ancient Greece, and indeed, of Galen. Arabic commentators had translated + Galen, and portions of his works had got into the language of the learned + in the Middle Ages, in that way; but, by the study of the classical + languages, the original text became accessible to the men who were then + endeavouring to learn for themselves something about the facts of nature. + It was a century or more before these men, finding themselves in the + presence of a master—finding that all their lives were occupied in + attempting to ascertain for themselves that which was familiar to him—I + say it took the best part of a hundred years before they could fairly see + that their business was not to follow him, but to follow his example—namely, + to look into the facts of nature for themselves, and to carry on, in his + spirit, the work he had begun. That was first done by Vesalius, one of the + greatest anatomists who ever lived; but his work does not specially bear + upon the question we are now concerned with. So far as regards the motions + of the heart and the course of the blood, the first man in the Middle + Ages, and indeed the only man who did anything which was of real + importance, was one Realdus Columbus, who was professor at Padua in the + year 1559, and published a great anatomical treatise. What Realdus + Columbus did was this; once more resorting to the method of Galen, turning + to the living animal, experimenting, he came upon new facts, and one of + these new facts was that there was not merely a subordinate communication + between the blood of the right side of the heart and that of the left side + of the heart, through the lungs, but that there was a constant steady + current of blood, setting through the pulmonary artery on the right side, + through the lungs, and back by the pulmonary veins to the left side of the + heart (Figure 3). Such was the capital discovery and demonstration of + Realdus Columbus. He is the man who discovered what is loosely called the + 'pulmonary circulation'; and it really is quite absurd, in the face of the + fact, that twenty years afterwards we find Ambrose Pare, the great French + surgeon, ascribing this discovery to him as a matter of common notoriety, + to find that attempts are made to give the credit of it to other people. + So far as I know, this discovery of the course of the blood through the + lungs, which is called the pulmonary circulation, is the one step in real + advance that was made between the time of Galen and the time of Harvey. + And I would beg you to note that the word "circulation" is improperly + employed when it is applied to the course of the blood through the lungs. + The blood from the right side of the heart, in getting to the left side of + the heart, only performs a half-circle—it does not perform a whole + circle—it does not return to the place from whence it started; and + hence the discovery of the so-called "pulmonary circulation" has nothing + whatever to do with that greater discovery which I shall point out to you + by-and-by was made by Harvey, and which is alone really entitled to the + name of the circulation of the blood. + </p> + <p> + If anybody wants to understand what Harvey's great desert really was, I + would suggest to him that he devote himself to a course of reading, which + I cannot promise shall be very entertaining, but which, in this respect at + any rate, will be highly instructive—namely, the works of the + anatomists of the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning of the + 17th century. If anybody will take the trouble to do that which I have + thought it my business to do, he will find that the doctrines respecting + the action of the heart and the motion of the blood which were taught in + every university in Europe, whether in Padua or in Paris, were essentially + those put forward by Galen, 'plus' the discovery of the pulmonary course + of the blood which had been made by Realdus Columbus. In every chair of + anatomy and physiology (which studies were not then separated) in Europe, + it was taught that the blood brought to the liver by the portal vein, and + carried out of the liver to the 'vena cava' by the hepatic vein, is + distributed from the right side of the heart, through the other veins, to + all parts of the body; that the blood of the arteries takes a like course + from the heart towards the periphery; and that it is there, by means of + the 'anastomoses', more or less mixed up with the venous blood. It so + happens, by a curious chance, that up to the year 1625 there was at Padua, + which was Harvey's own university, a very distinguished professor, + Spigelius, whose work is extant, and who teaches exactly what I am now + telling you. It is perfectly true that, some time before, Harvey's master, + Fabricius, had not only re-discovered, but had drawn much attention to + certain pouch-like structures, which are called the valves of the veins, + found in the muscular parts of the body, all of which are directed towards + the heart, and consequently impede the flow of the blood in the opposite + direction. And you will find it stated by people who have not thought much + about the matter, that it was this discovery of the valves of the veins + which led Harvey to imagine the course of the circulation of the blood. + Now it did not lead Harvey to imagine anything of the kind. He had heard + all about it from his master, Fabricius, who made a great point of these + valves in the veins, and he had heard the theories which Fabricius + entertained upon the subject, whose impression as to the use of the valves + was simply this—that they tended to take off any excess of pressure + of the blood in passing from the heart to the extremities; for Fabricius + believed, with the rest of the world, that the blood in the veins flowed + from the heart towards the extremities. This, under the circumstances, was + as good a theory as any other, because the action of the valves depends + altogether upon the form and nature of the walls of the structures in + which they are attached; and without accurate experiment, it was + impossible to say whether the theory of Fabricius was right or wrong. But + we not only have the evidence of the facts themselves that these could + tell Harvey nothing about the circulation, but we have his own distinct + declaration as to the considerations which led him to the true theory of + the circulation of the blood, and amongst these the valves of the veins + are not mentioned. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 4.—The circulation of the blood as demonstrated by Harvey + (A.D. 1628).) + </p> + <p> + Now then we may come to Harvey himself. When you read Harvey's treatise, + which is one of the most remarkable scientific monographs with which I am + acquainted—it occupies between 50 and 60 pages of a small quarto in + Latin, and is as terse and concise as it possibly can be—when you + come to look at Harvey's work, you will find that he had long struggled + with the difficulties of the accepted doctrine of the circulation. He had + received from Fabricius, and from all the great authorities of the day, + the current view of the circulation of the blood. But he was a man with + that rarest of all qualities—intellectual honesty; and by dint of + cultivating that great faculty, which is more moral than intellectual, it + had become impossible for him to say he believed anything which he did not + clearly believe. This is a most uncomfortable peculiarity—for it + gets you into all sorts of difficulties with all sorts of people—but, + for scientific purposes, it is absolutely invaluable. Harvey possessed + this peculiarity in the highest degree, and so it was impossible for him + to accept what all the authorities told him, and he looked into the matter + for himself. But he was not hasty. He worked at his new views, and he + lectured about them at the College of Physicians for nine years; he did + not print them until he was a man of fifty years of age; and when he did + print them he accompanied them with a demonstration which has never been + shaken, and which will stand till the end of time. What Harvey proved, in + short, was this (see Figure 4)—that everybody had made a mistake, + for want of sufficiently accurate experimentation as to the actual + existence of the fact which everybody assumed. To anybody who looks at the + blood-vessels with an unprejudiced eye it seems so natural that the blood + should all come out of the liver, and be distributed by the veins to the + different parts of the body, that nothing can seem simpler or more plain; + and consequently no one could make up his mind to dispute this apparently + obvious assumption. But Harvey did dispute it; and when he came to + investigate the matter he discovered that it was a profound mistake, and + that, all this time, the blood had been moving in just the opposite + direction, namely, from the small ramifications of the veins towards the + right side of the heart. Harvey further found that, in the arteries, the + blood, as had previously been known, was travelling from the greater + trunks towards the ramifications. Moreover, referring to the ideas of + Columbus and of Galen (for he was a great student of literature, and did + justice to all his predecessors), Harvey accepts and strengthens their + view of the course of the blood through the lungs, and he shows how it + fitted into his general scheme. If you will follow the course of the + arrows in Figure 4 you will see at once that—in accordance with the + views of Columbus—the blood passes from the right side of the heart, + through the lungs, to the left side. Then, adds Harvey, with abundant + proof, it passes through the arteries to all parts of the body; and then, + at the extremities of their branches in the different parts of the body, + it passes (in what way he could not tell, for his means of investigation + did not allow him to say) into the roots of the vents—then from the + roots of the veins it goes into the trunk and veins—then to the + right side of the heart—and then to the lungs, and so on. That, you + will observe, makes a complete circuit; and it was precisely here that the + originality of Harvey lay. There never yet has been produced, and I do not + believe there can be produced, a tittle of evidence to show that, before + his time, any one had the slightest suspicion that a single drop of blood, + starting in the left ventricle of the heart, passes through the whole + arterial system, comes back through the venous system, goes through the + lungs, and comes back to the place whence it started. But that is the + circulation of the blood, and it was exactly this which Harvey was the + first man to suspect, to discover, and to demonstrate. + </p> + <p> + But this was by no means the only thing Harvey did. He was the first who + discovered and who demonstrated the true mechanism of the heart's action. + No one, before his time, conceived that the movement of the blood was + entirely due to the mechanical action of the heart as a pump. There were + all sorts of speculations about the matter, but nobody had formed this + conception, and nobody understood that the so-called systole of the heart + is a state of active contraction, and the so-called diastole is a mere + passive dilatation. Even within our own age that matter had been + discussed. Harvey is as clear as possible about it. He says the movement + of the blood is entirely due to the contractions of the walls of the heart—that + it is the propelling apparatus—and all recent investigation tends to + show that he was perfectly right. And from this followed the true theory + of the pulse. Galen said, as I pointed out just now, that the arteries + dilate as bellows, which have an active power of dilatation and + contraction, and not as bags which are blown out and collapse. Harvey said + it was exactly the contrary—the arteries dilate as bags simply + because the stroke of the heart propels the blood into them; and, when + they relax again, they relax as bags which are no longer stretched, simply + because the force of the blow of the heart is spent. Harvey has been + demonstrated to be absolutely right in this statement of his; and yet, so + slow is the progress of truth, that, within my time, the question of the + active dilatation of the arteries has been discussed. + </p> + <p> + Thus Harvey's contributions to physiology may be summed up as follows: In + the first place, he was the first person who ever imagined, and still more + who demonstrated, the true course of the circulation of the blood in the + body; in the second place, he was the first person who ever understood the + mechanism of the heart, and comprehended that its contraction was the + cause of the motion of the blood; and thirdly, he was the first person who + took a just view of the nature of the pulse. These are the three great + contributions which he made to the science of physiology; and I shall not + err in saying—I speak in the presence of distinguished + physiologists, but I am perfectly certain that they will endorse what I + say—that upon that foundation the whole of our knowledge of the + human body, with the exception of the motor apparatus and the sense + organs, has been gradually built up, and that upon that foundation the + whole rests. And not only does scientific physiology rest upon it, but + everything like scientific medicine also rests upon it. As you know—I + hope it is now a matter of popular knowledge—it is the foundation of + all rational speculation about morbid processes; it is the only key to the + rational interpretation of that commonest of all indications of disease, + the state of the pulse; so that, both theoretically and practically, this + discovery, this demonstration of Harvey's, has had an effect which is + absolutely incalculable, and the consequences of which will accumulate + from age to age until they result in a complete body of physiological + science. + </p> + <p> + (FIGURE 5.—The junction of the arteries and veins by capillary + tubes, discovered by Malpighi (A.D. 1664).) + </p> + <p> + I regret that I am unable to pursue this subject much further; but there + is one point I should mention. In Harvey's time, the microscope was hardly + invented. It is quite true that in some of his embryological researches he + speaks of having made use of a hand glass; but that was the most that he + seems to have known anything about, or that was accessible to him at that + day. And so it came about, that, although he examined the course of the + blood in many of the lower animals—watched the pulsation of the + heart in shrimps, and animals of that kind—he never could put the + final coping-stone on his edifice. He did not know to the day of his + death, although quite clear about the fact that the arteries and the veins + do communicate, how it is that they communicate—how it was that the + blood of the arteries passed into the veins. One is grieved to think that + the grand old man should have gone down to his tomb without the vast + satisfaction it would have given to him to see what the Italian naturalist + Malpighi showed only seven years later, in 1664, when he demonstrated, in + a living frog, the actual passage of the blood from the ultimate + ramifications of the arteries into the veins. But that absolute ocular + demonstration of the truth of the views he had maintained throughout his + life it was not granted to Harvey to see. What he did experience was this: + that on the publication of his doctrines, they were met with the greatest + possible opposition; and I have no doubt savage things were uttered in + those old controversies, and that a great many people said that these + new-fangled doctrines, reducing living processes to mere mechanism, would + sap the foundations of religion and morality. I do not know for certain + that they did, but they said things very like it. The first point was to + show that Harvey's views were absolutely untrue; and not being able to + succeed in that, opponents said they were not new; and not being able to + succeed in that, that they didn't matter. That is the usual course with + all new discoveries. But Harvey troubled himself very little about these + things. He remained perfectly quiet; for although reputed a hot-tempered + man, he never would have anything to do with controversy if he could help + it; and he only replied to one of his antagonists after twenty years' + interval, and then in the most charming spirit of candour and moderation. + But he had the great satisfaction of living to see his doctrine accepted + upon all sides. At the time of his death, there was not an anatomical + school in Europe in which the doctrine of the circulation of the blood was + not taught in the way in which Harvey had laid it down. In that respect he + had a happiness which is granted to very few men. + </p> + <p> + I have said that the other great investigation of Harvey is not one which + can be dealt with to a general audience. It is very complex, and therefore + I must ask you to take my word for it that, although not so fortunate an + investigation, not so entirely accordant with later results as the + doctrine of the circulation; yet that still, this little treatise of + Harvey's has in many directions exerted an influence hardly less + remarkable than that exerted by the Essay upon the Circulation of the + Blood. + </p> + <p> + And now let me ask your attention to two or three closing remarks. + </p> + <p> + If you look back upon that period of about 100 years which commences with + Harvey's birth—I mean from the year 1578 to 1680 or thereabouts—I + think you will agree with me, that it constitutes one of the most + remarkable epochs in the whole of that thousand years which we may roughly + reckon as constituting the history of Britain. In the commencement of that + period, we may see, if not the setting, at any rate the declension of that + system of personal rule which had existed under previous sovereigns, and + which, after a brief and spasmodic revival in the time of George the + Third, has now sunk, let us hope, into the limbo of forgotten things. The + latter part of that 100 years saw the dawn of that system of free + government which has grown and flourished, and which, if the men of the + present day be the worthy descendants of Eliott and Pym, and Hampden and + Milton, will go on growing as long as this realm lasts. Within that time, + one of the strangest phenomena which I think I may say any nation has ever + manifested arose to its height and fell—I mean that strange and + altogether marvellous phenomenon, English Puritanism. Within that time, + England had to show statesmen like Burleigh, Strafford, and Cromwell—I + mean men who were real statesmen, and not intriguers, seeking to make a + reputation at the expense of the nation. In the course of that time, the + nation had begun to throw off those swarms of hardy colonists which, to + the benefit of the world—and as I fancy, in the long run, to the + benefit of England herself—have now become the United States of + America; and, during the same epoch, the first foundations were laid of + that Indian Empire which, it may be, future generations will not look upon + as so happy a product of English enterprise and ingenuity. In that time we + had poets such as Spenser, Shakespere, and Milton; we had a great + philosopher, in Hobbes; and we had a clever talker about philosophy, in + Bacon. In the beginning of the period, Harvey revolutionized the + biological sciences, and at the end of it, Newton was preparing the + revolution of the physical sciences. I know not any period of our history—I + doubt if there be any period of the history of any nation—which has + precisely such a record as this to show for a hundred years. But I do not + recall these facts to your recollection for a mere vainglorious purpose. I + myself am of opinion that the memory of the great men of a nation is one + of its most precious possessions—not because we have any right to + plume ourselves upon their having existed as a matter of national vanity, + but because we have a just and rational ground of expectation that the + race which has brought forth such products as these may, in good time and + under fortunate circumstances, produce the like again. I am one of those + people who do not believe in the natural decay of nations. I believe, to + speak frankly, though perhaps not quite so politely as I could wish—but + I am getting near the end of my lecture—that the whole theory is a + speculation invented by cowards to excuse knaves. My belief is, that so + far as this old English stock is concerned it has in it as much sap and + vitality and power as it had two centuries ago; and that, with due pruning + of rotten branches, and due hoeing up of weeds, which will grow about the + roots, the like products will be yielded again. The "weeds" to which I + refer are mainly three: the first of them is dishonesty, the second is + sentimentality, and the third is luxury. If William Harvey had been a + dishonest man—I mean in the high sense of the word—a man who + failed in the ideal of honesty—he would have believed what it was + easiest to believe—that which he received on the authority of his + predecessors. He would not have felt that his highest duty was to know of + his own knowledge that that which he said he believed was true, and we + should never have had those investigations, pursued through good report + and evil report, which ended in discoveries so fraught with magnificent + results for science and for man. If Harvey had been a sentimentalist—by + which I mean a person of false pity, a person who has not imagination + enough to see that great, distant evils may be much worse than those which + we can picture to ourselves, because they happen to be immediate and near + (for that, I take it, is the essence of sentimentalism)—if Harvey + had been a person of that kind, he, being one of the kindest men living, + would never have pursued those researches which, as he tells us over and + over again, he was obliged to pursue in order to the ascertainment of + those facts which have turned out to be of such inestimable value to the + human race; and I say, if on such grounds he had failed to do so, he would + have failed in his duty to the human race. The third point is that Harvey + was devoid of care either for wealth, or for riches, or for ambition. The + man found a higher ideal than any of these things in the pursuit of truth + and the benefit of his fellow-men. If we all go and do likewise, I think + there is no fear for the decadence of England. I think that our children + and our successors will find themselves in a commonwealth, different it + may be from that for which Eliott, and Pym, and Hampden struggled, but one + which will be identical in the substance of its aims—great, worthy, + and well to live in. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures and Essays, by T.H. 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Huxley + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6414] +Posting Date: June 9, 2009 +Last Updated: January 15, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LECTURES AND ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher + + + + + +LECTURES AND ESSAYS + +By T.H. Huxley + + +The People's Library + + +Cassell And Company, Ltd. + + +London, Paris, New York, Toronto & Melbourne. + + +MCMVIII. + + + + +EDITOR'S NOTE. + +Of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley, +son of an Ealing schoolmaster, was undoubtedly the most noteworthy. His +researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his +pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably +had greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And +yet he was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that +his father was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of +education. "I had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school +(between eight and ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any +intellectual direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a +craving for reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when +fifteen in Hamilton's "Logic." + +At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and +three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for +anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved to +be the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was gazetted to +the "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in Torres Straits. He +was attracted by the teeming surface life of tropical seas and his study +of it was the commencement of that revolution in scientific knowledge +ultimately brought about by his researches. + +Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at +Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE: + + THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST CONDITIONS OF + ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.--THE ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS. + + THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION AND + VARIATION. + + THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING + BEINGS. + + A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE + ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF + THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + +ESSAYS ON DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES": + + THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS. + + TIME AND LIFE. + + THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. + + CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES". + + +EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE: + + ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + + ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + + ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. + + +ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE. + + +ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY. + + +GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES OF LIFE. + + +CORAL AND CORAL REEFS. + + +YEAST. + + +THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. + + +***** + + + + +NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement +for their publication with Mr. J.A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append +the following note from Professor Huxley:-- + +"Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to +Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print +those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this +request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect +that I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations in +them, beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of fact." + + +***** + + + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE: + + + + +THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the +six lectures* ([Footnote] *To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical +Geology, 1863.) which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to +you, it occurred to me that I could not do better than endeavour to put +before you in a true light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty +call, that which I conceive myself to be the true light, the position +of a book which has been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any +book which has appeared for some years;--I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the +"Origin of Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; for +I know the inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, all +of you will have heard of it,--some by one kind of report and some by +another kind of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of all +have been probably more or less excited on the subject of that work. All +I can do, and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before you that kind +of judgment which has been formed by a man, who, of course, is liable +to judge erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose business and +profession it is to form judgments upon questions of this nature. + +And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive +subject, the greater part of my course--if, indeed, so small a number of +lectures can be properly called a course--must be devoted to preliminary +matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of those principles +which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or less directly +before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of you +are naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and +misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters +would make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to +take,--that I should start from the beginning,--that I should endeavour +to point out what is the existing state of the organic world,--that I +should point out its past condition,--that I should state what is the +precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; +that I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which +that undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you how +far the author of the work in question has satisfied those conditions, +how far he has not satisfied them, how far they are satisfiable by man, +and how far they are not satisfiable by man. + +To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall +endeavour to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of +the condition of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. I +might deal with it pictorially and graphically. Following the example of +Humboldt in his "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to point out the +infinite variety of organic life in every mode of its existence, with +reference to the variations of climate and the like; and such an attempt +would be fraught with interest to us all; but considering the subject +before us, such a course would not be that best calculated to assist us. +In an argument of this kind we must go further and dig deeper into the +matter; we must endeavour to look into the foundations of living Nature, +if I may so say, and discover the principles involved in some of her +most secret operations. I propose, therefore, in the first place, to +take some ordinary animal with which you are all familiar, and, by +easily comprehensible and obvious examples drawn from it, to show what +are the kind of problems which living beings in general lay before us; +and I shall then show you that the same problems are laid open to us by +all kinds of living beings. But first, let me say in what sense I have +used the words "organic nature." In speaking of the causes which lead +to our present knowledge of organic nature, I have used it almost as an +equivalent of the word "living," and for this reason,--that in almost +all living beings you can distinguish several distinct portions set +apart to do particular things and work in a particular way. These are +termed "organs," and the whole together is called "organic." And as it +is universally characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very +conveniently employed to denote the whole of living nature,--the whole +of the plant world, and the whole of the animal world. + +Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is +shown on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus +caballus" written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does +not make it any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we +wish to understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to +study the structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed +within a hide, a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be +taken off, we find a great mass of flesh, or what is technically called +muscle, being the substance which by its power of contraction enables +the animal to move. These muscles move the hard parts one upon the +other, and so give that strength and power of motion which renders the +Horse so useful to us in the performance of those services in which we +employ him. + +And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, +you have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with +ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + +(FIGURE 1. Section through a horse. + +FIGURE 2. Section through a cell.) + +In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The long +series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, is +called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there are +two pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what we +all know as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our researches +into the interior of this animal, we find within the framework of +the skeleton a great cavity, or rather, I should say, two great +cavities,--one cavity beginning in the skull and running through the +neck-bones, along the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the +brain and the spinal marrow, which are extremely important organs. The +second great cavity, commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, +the stomach, the long intestine, and all the rest of those internal +apparatus which are essential for digestion; and then in the same great +cavity, there are lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from +it; and, besides that, the organs of respiration--the lungs: and then +the kidneys, and the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now +endeavour to reduce this notion of a horse that we now have, to +some such kind of simple expression as can be at once, and without +difficulty, retained in the mind, apart from all minor details. If +I make a transverse section, that is, if I were to saw a dead horse +across, I should find that, if I left out the details, and supposing I +took my section through the anterior region, and through the fore-limbs, +I should have here this kind of section of the body (Figure 1). Here +would be the upper part of the animal--that great mass of bones that we +spoke of as the spine (a, Figure 1). Here I should have the alimentary +canal (b, Figure 1). Here I should have the heart (c, Figure 1); and +then you see, there would be a kind of double tube, the whole being +inclosed within the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed in the upper +tube (a, Figure 1), and in the lower tube (d d, Figure 1), there would +be the alimentary canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I shall have +the legs proceeding from each side. For simplicity's sake, I represent +them merely as stumps (e e, Figure 1). Now that is a horse--as +mathematicians would say--reduced to its most simple expression. Carry +that in your minds, if you please, as a simplified idea of the structure +of the Horse. The considerations which I have now put before you belong +to what we technically call the 'Anatomy' of the Horse. Now, suppose +we go to work upon these several parts,--flesh and hair, and skin and +bone,--and lay open these various organs with our scalpels, and examine +them by means of our magnifying-glasses, and see what we can make of +them. We shall find that the flesh is made up of bundles of strong +fibres. The brain and nerves, too, we shall find, are made up of fibres, +and these queer-looking things that are called ganglionic corpuscles. +If we take a slice of the bone and examine it, we shall find that it is +very like this diagram of a section of the bone of an ostrich, +though differing, of course, in some details; and if we take any part +whatsoever of the tissue, and examine it, we shall find it all has a +minute structure, visible only under the microscope. All these +parts constitute microscopic anatomy or 'Histology.' These parts are +constantly being changed; every part is constantly growing, decaying, +and being replaced during the life of the animal. The tissue is +constantly replaced by new material; and if you go back to the young +state of the tissue in the case of muscle, or in the case of skin, or +any of the organs I have mentioned, you will find that they all come +under the same condition. Every one of these microscopic filaments +and fibres (I now speak merely of the general character of the whole +process)--every one of these parts--could be traced down to some +modification of a tissue which can be readily divided into little +particles of fleshy matter, of that substance which is composed of the +chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, having such +a shape as this (Figure 2). These particles, into which all primitive +tissues break up, are called cells. If I were to make a section of a +piece of the skin of my hand, I should find that it was made up of these +cells. If I examine the fibres which form the various organs of all +living animals, I should find that all of them, at one time or other, +had been formed out of a substance consisting of similar elements; so +that you see, just as we reduced the whole body in the gross to that +sort of simple expression given in Figure 1, so we may reduce the +whole of the microscopic structural elements to a form of even greater +simplicity; just as the plan of the whole body may be so represented +in a sense (Figure 1), so the primary structure of every tissue may be +represented by a mass of cells (Figure 2). + +Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may +call, perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term +technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A horse +is not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working machine. +Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine with the +fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the living animal +is a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part has its different +work to do in the working of that machine, which is what we call +its life. The Horse, if you see him after his day's work is done, is +cropping the grass in the fields, as it may be, or munching the oats in +his stable. What is he doing? His jaws are working as a mill--and a very +complex mill too--grinding the corn, or crushing the grass to a pulp. As +soon as that operation has taken place, the food is passed down to +the stomach, and there it is mixed with the chemical fluid called the +gastric juice, a substance which has the peculiar property of making +soluble and dissolving out the nutritious matter in the grass, and +leaving behind those parts which are not nutritious; so that you have, +first, the mill, then a sort of chemical digester; and then the food, +thus partially dissolved, is carried back by the muscular contractions +of the intestines into the hinder parts of the body, while the soluble +portions are taken up into the blood. The blood is contained in a vast +system of pipes, spreading through the whole body, connected with a +force pump,--the heart,--which, by its position and by the contractions +of its valves, keeps the blood constantly circulating in one direction, +never allowing it to rest; and then, by means of this circulation of +the blood, laden as it is with the products of digestion, the skin, the +flesh, the hair, and every other part of the body, draws from it that +which it wants, and every one of these organs derives those materials +which are necessary to enable it to do its work. + +The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these +various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of +the matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant +formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and +conveyed by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have +allotted to them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid +of these waste products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and +repair of the whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But +not only is it a machine which feeds and appropriates to its own +support the nourishment necessary to its existence--it is an engine for +locomotive purposes. The Horse desires to go from one place to another; +and to enable it to do this, it has those strong contractile bundles of +muscles attached to the bones of its limbs, which are put in motion by +means of a sort of telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the +great spinal cord running through the spine or backbone; and to this +spinal cord are attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which proceed +to all parts of the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, +tongue, and skin--all the organs of perception--transmit impressions +or sensations to the brain, which acts as a sort of great central +telegraph-office, receiving impressions and sending messages to all +parts of the body, and putting in motion the muscles necessary to +accomplish any movement that may be desired. So that you have here an +extremely complex and beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its +parts working harmoniously together towards one common object--the +preservation of the life of the animal. + +Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food +is grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in the +long run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the vegetable +kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other plant, +obtain this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is a little +seed, which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the +surrounding air matters which in themselves contain no vital properties +whatever; it absorbs into its own substance water, an inorganic body; +it draws into its substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and +ammonia, another inorganic matter, found in the air; and then, by some +wonderful chemical process, the details of which chemists do not yet +understand, though they are near foreshadowing them, it combines +them into one substance, which is known to us as 'Protein,' a complex +compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which alone +possesses the property of manifesting vitality and of permanently +supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste products of the +animal economy, the effete materials which are continually being thrown +off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are constantly +replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding materials +drawn from the plants, which in their turn manufacture them, so to +speak, by a mysterious combination of those same inorganic materials. + +Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After +a certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of +accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal +dies. The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in +their performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing +through the curious series of changes comprised in its formation and +preservation, it finally decays, and ends its life by going back into +that inorganic world from which all but an inappreciable fraction of its +substance was derived. Its bones become mere carbonate and phosphate of +lime; the matter of its flesh, and of its other parts, becomes, in the +long run, converted into carbonic acid, into water, and into ammonia. +You will now, perhaps, understand the curious relation of the animal +with the plant, of the organic with the inorganic world, which is shown +in this diagram (Figure 3). + +(FIGURE 3. Diagram showing material relationship of the Vegetable, +Animal and Inorganic Worlds.) + +The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up +into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the +nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the +useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole +body is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is thus +a constant circulation from one to the other, a continual formation of +organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a return of the +matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that the materials +of which our bodies are composed are largely, in all probability, the +substances which constituted the matter of long extinct creations, but +which have in the interval constituted a part of the inorganic world. + +Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER +constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the +inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the +powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by living +beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those which exist +in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; I mean in +just the same sense as the researches of physical philosophers have +shown that heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is +convertible into magnetism, magnetism into mechanical force or chemical +force, and any one of them with the other, each being measurable in +terms of the other,--even so, I say, that great law is applicable to +the living world. Consider why is the skeleton of this horse capable of +supporting the masses of flesh and the various organs forming the living +body, unless it is because of the action of the same forces of cohesion +which combines together the particles of matter composing this piece of +chalk? What is there in the muscular contractile power of the animal +but the force which is expressible, and which is in a certain sense +convertible, into the force of gravity which it overcomes? Or, if you go +to more hidden processes, in what does the process of digestion differ +from those processes which are carried on in the laboratory of the +chemist? Even if we take the most recondite and most complex operations +of animal life--those of the nervous system, these of late years +have been shown to be--I do not say identical in any sense with the +electrical processes--but this has been shown, that they are in some +way or other associated with them; that is to say, that every amount +of nervous action is accompanied by a certain amount of electrical +disturbance in the particles of the nerves in which that nervous action +is carried on. In this way the nervous action is related to electricity +in the same way that heat is related to electricity; and the same sort +of argument which demonstrates the two latter to be related to one +another shows that the nervous forces are correlated to electricity; for +the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and others have shown that whenever +a nerve is in a state of excitement, sending a message to the muscles +or conveying an impression to the brain, there is a disturbance of the +electrical condition of that nerve which does not exist at other times; +and there are a number of other facts and phenomena of that sort; so +that we come to the broad conclusion that not only as to living matter +itself, but as to the forces that matter exerts, there is a close +relationship between the organic and the inorganic world--the difference +between them arising from the diverse combination and disposition of +identical forces, and not from any primary diversity, so far as we can +see. + +I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted +into the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable +fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual +wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the +soul fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the +one sex or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of +the organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of +the two sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that +conjunction, from that union which then takes place, there results the +formation of a new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular +part of the interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a minute +particle of matter comparable in all essential respects with that which +we called a cell a little while since, which cell contains a kind of +nucleus in its centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a viscid +mass of protein substance (Figure 2); and though it is different in +appearance from the eggs which we are mostly acquainted with, it is +really an egg. After a time this minute particle of matter, which may +only be a small fraction of a grain in weight, undergoes a series of +changes,--wonderful, complex changes. Finally, upon its surface there +is fashioned a little elevation, which afterwards becomes divided and +marked by a groove. The lateral boundaries of the groove extend upwards +and downwards, and at length give rise to a double tube. In the upper +smaller tube the spinal marrow and brain are fashioned; in the lower, +the alimentary canal and heart; and at length two pairs of buds shoot +out at the sides of the body, which are the rudiments of the limbs. In +fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo in this state would in +all essential respects resemble that diagram of a horse reduced to its +simplest expression, which I first placed before you (Figure 1). + +Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, +at first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place +metamorphosed into muscle,--in another place into gristle and bone,--in +another place into fibrous tissue,--and in another into hair; every part +becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an artificer +at work in each of these complex structures that we have mentioned. This +embryo, as it is called, then passes into other conditions. I should +tell you that there is a time when the embryos of neither dog, nor +horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be distinguished by any +essential feature one from the other; there is a time when they each and +all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But as development advances, +all the parts acquire their speciality, till at length you have the +embryo converted into the form of the parent from which it started. So +that you see, this living animal, this horse, begins its existence as +a minute particle of nitrogenous matter, which, being supplied with +nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from the inorganic world), grows up +according to the special type and construction of its parents, works +and undergoes a constant waste, and that waste is made good by nutriment +derived from the inorganic world; the waste given off in this way being +directly added to the inorganic world; and eventually the animal itself +dies, and, by the process of decomposition, its whole body is returned +to those conditions of inorganic matter in which its substance +originated. + +This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest +plant to the highest animal--to man himself. You might define the life +of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now used; +the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in the +complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural +forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted by +each. + +If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I should +find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a cell; +the acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to absorb +the inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, and +we can see it, year after year, extending itself upward and downward, +attracting and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, which it +vivifies, and eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own proper acorns, +which again run the same course. But I need not multiply examples,--from +the highest to the lowest the essential features of life are the same, +as I have described in each of these cases. + +So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, which +you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine yourself to +one sort of living being, and study that only. + +But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the world; +and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits--are +confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we +live,--and, as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. In its +wild state, and before the discovery of America, when the natural state +of things was interfered with by the Spaniards, the Horse was only to +be found in parts of the earth which are known to geographers as the Old +World; that is to say, you might meet with horses in Europe, Asia, or +Africa; but there were none in Australia, and there were none whatsoever +in the whole continent of America, from Labrador down to Cape Horn. This +is an empirical fact, and it is what is called, stated in the way I have +given it you, the 'Geographical Distribution' of the Horse. + +Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in +America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in +America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they +had not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the +invading Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these +countries for their own use, they were found to thrive well and multiply +very rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those countries, and +in a perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were to do for every +animal what we have here done for the Horse,--that is, to mark off and +distinguish the particular district or region to which each belonged; +and supposing we tabulated all these results, that would be called the +Geographical Distribution of animals, while a corresponding study of +plants would yield as a result the Geographical Distribution of plants. + +I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I +meant by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, +there is another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, +the relations of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a +very well-defined matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty +familiar with its structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that +it resembles very much no other member of the animal kingdom, except +perhaps the Zebra or the Ass. But let me ask you to look along these +diagrams. Here is the skeleton of the Horse, and here the skeleton of +the Dog. You will notice that we have in the Horse a skull, a backbone +and ribs, shoulder-blades and haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one upper +arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), and +middle hand-bones, ending in the three bones of a finger, the last of +which is sheathed in the horny hoof of the fore-foot: in the hind-limb, +one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, anklebones, and middle foot-bones, ending +in the three bones of a toe, the last of which is encased in the hoof of +the hind-foot. Now turn to the Dog's skeleton. We find identically the +same bones, but more of them, there being more toes in each foot, and +hence more toe-bones. + +Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the +Horse--when one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of +the skin--are found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. +And if I were to make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find the +same organs that I have already shown you as forming parts of the Horse. +Well, here is another skeleton--that of a kind of Lemur--you see he has +just the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse section of it, +it would be just the same again. In your mind's eye turn him round, +so as to put his backbone in a position inclined obliquely upwards +and forwards, just as in the next three diagrams, which represent the +skeletons of an Orang, a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and you find you have no +trouble in identifying the bones throughout; and lastly turn to the end +of the series, the diagram representing a man's skeleton, and still you +find no great structural feature essentially altered. There are the +same bones in the same relations. From the Horse we pass on and on, with +gradual steps, until we arrive at last at the highest known forms. On +the other hand, take the other line of diagrams, and pass from the Horse +downwards in the scale to this fish; and still, though the modifications +are vastly greater, the essential framework of the organization remains +unchanged. Here, for instance, is a Porpoise: here is its strong +backbone, with the cavity running through it, which contains the spinal +cord; here are the ribs, here the shoulder blade; here is the little +short upper-arm bone, here are the two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, +and the finger-bones. + +Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer-looking +affair--its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental elements as +the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; and here you +will notice a very curious thing,--the hinder limbs are absent. Now, +let us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: here you see is the +forearm, in this large pectoral fin--carrying your mind's eye onward +from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have the hinder limbs +restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I were to make a +transverse section of this, I should find just the same organs that +we have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out this strange +conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the Horse, when +examined and compared with other animals, is found by no means to +stand alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number of other +creatures which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other parts arranged +in the same general manner, and in all their formation exhibiting the +same broad peculiarities. + +I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely +elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without +seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you +that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of +plan, or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at +first sight to be extremely dissimilar. + +And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the animals +which have backbones, and which we technically call "Vertebrata". But +there are multitudes of other animals, such as crabs, lobsters, spiders, +and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In these I could not point out to +you the parts that correspond with those of the Horse,--the backbone, +for instance,--as they are constructed upon a very different principle, +which is also common to all of them; that is to say, the Lobster, the +Spider, and the Centipede, have a common plan running through their +whole arrangement, in just the same way that the Horse, the Dog, and the +Porpoise assimilate to each other. + +Yet other creatures--whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all +their tribe ("Mollusca")--resemble one another in the same way, but +differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of +the animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules +and sponges). + +Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at +the conviction that there are,--some think five, and some seven,--but +certainly not more than the latter number--and perhaps it is simpler to +assume five--distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the animal +world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures on +the surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, +seven, plans of organization. + +But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is +tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet +further and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial +unit. The anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the study +of development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct as those +plans are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any of those +other kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence with one +and the same primitive form,--that of the egg, consisting, as we have +seen, of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or nucleus +in the centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each are +substantially the same. And it is in this that lies that true "unity +of organization" of the animal kingdom which has been guessed at and +fancied for many years; but which it has been left to the present +time to be demonstrated by the careful study of development. But is it +possible to go another step further still, and to show that in the +same way the whole of the organic world is reducible to one primitive +condition of form? Is there among the plants the same primitive form of +organization, and is that identical with that of the animal kingdom? +The reply to that question, too, is not uncertain or doubtful. It is now +proved that every plant begins its existence under the same form; that +is to say, in that of a cell--a particle of nitrogenous matter having +substantially the same conditions. So that if you trace back the oak +to its first germ, or a man, or a horse, or lobster, or oyster, or any +other animal you choose to name, you shall find each and all of these +commencing their existence in forms essentially similar to each other: +and, furthermore, that the first processes of growth, and many of the +subsequent modifications, are essentially the same in principle in +almost all. + +In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which +I have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking +mere theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly +demonstrable as the commonest propositions of Euclid--of facts that must +form the basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological science. +We have gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other words, we +have analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until we found +that each species took its origin in a form similar to that under which +all the others commence their existence. We have found the whole of the +vast array of living forms, with which we are surrounded, constantly +growing, increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal constantly +attracting, modifying, and applying to its sustenance the matter of the +vegetable kingdom, which derived its support from the absorption and +conversion of inorganic matter. And so constant and universal is this +absorption, waste, and reproduction, that it may be said with perfect +certainty that there is left in no one of our bodies at the present +moment a millionth part of the matter of which they were originally +formed! We have seen, again, that not only is the living matter derived +from the inorganic world, but that the forces of that matter are all of +them correlative with and convertible into those of inorganic nature. + +This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present +condition of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you +the great outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your own +study. + +In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into +the past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in +epochs preceding our own. + +End of The Present Condition of Organic Nature. + + + + +THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +In the lecture which I delivered last Monday evening, I endeavoured to +sketch in a very brief manner, but as well as the time at my disposal +would permit, the present condition of organic nature, meaning by +that large title simply an indication of the great, broad, and general +principles which are to be discovered by those who look attentively at +the phenomena of organic nature as at present displayed. The general +result of our investigations might be summed up thus: we found that the +multiplicity of the forms of animal life, great as that may be, may be +reduced to a comparatively few primitive plans or types of construction; +that a further study of the development of those different forms +revealed to us that they were again reducible, until we at last brought +the infinite diversity of animal, and even vegetable life, down to the +primordial form of a single cell. + +We found that our analysis of the organic world, whether animals or +plants, showed, in the long run, that they might both be reduced into, +and were, in fact, composed of, the same constituents. And we saw +that the plant obtained the materials constituting its substance by +a peculiar combination of matters belonging entirely to the inorganic +world; that, then, the animal was constantly appropriating the +nitrogenous matters of the plant to its own nourishment, and returning +them back to the inorganic world, in what we spoke of as its waste; and +that finally, when the animal ceased to exist, the constituents of its +body were dissolved and transmitted to that inorganic world whence they +had been at first abstracted. Thus we saw in both the blade of grass and +the horse but the same elements differently combined and arranged. We +discovered a continual circulation going on,--the plant drawing in the +elements of inorganic nature and combining them into food for the animal +creation; the animal borrowing from the plant the matter for its own +support, giving off during its life products which returned immediately +to the inorganic world; and that, eventually, the constituent materials +of the whole structure of both animals and plants were thus returned to +their original source: there was a constant passage from one state of +existence to another, and a returning back again. + +Lastly, when we endeavoured to form some notion of the nature of the +forces exercised by living beings, we discovered that they--if +not capable of being subjected to the same minute analysis as the +constituents of those beings themselves--that they were correlative +with--that they were the equivalents of the forces of inorganic +nature--that they were, in the sense in which the term is now used, +convertible with them. That was our general result. + +And now, leaving the Present, I must endeavour in the same manner to put +before you the facts that are to be discovered in the Past history of +the living world, in the past conditions of organic nature. We have, +to-night, to deal with the facts of that history--a history involving +periods of time before which our mere human records sink into utter +insignificance--a history the variety and physical magnitude of whose +events cannot even be foreshadowed by the history of human life and +human phenomena--a history of the most varied and complex character. + +We must deal with the history, then, in the first place, as we should +deal with all other histories. The historical student knows that his +first business should be to inquire into the validity of his evidence, +and the nature of the record in which the evidence is contained, that +he may be able to form a proper estimate of the correctness of the +conclusions which have been drawn from that evidence. So, here, we must +pass, in the first place, to the consideration of a matter which may +seem foreign to the question under discussion. We must dwell upon the +nature of the records, and the credibility of the evidence they contain; +we must look to the completeness or incompleteness of those records +themselves, before we turn to that which they contain and reveal. The +question of the credibility of the history, happily for us, will not +require much consideration, for, in this history, unlike those of human +origin, there can be no cavilling, no differences as to the reality and +truth of the facts of which it is made up; the facts state themselves, +and are laid out clearly before us. + +But, although one of the greatest difficulties of the historical student +is cleared out of our path, there are other difficulties--difficulties +in rightly interpreting the facts as they are presented to us--which +may be compared with the greatest difficulties of any other kinds of +historical study. + +What is this record of the past history of the globe, and what are the +questions which are involved in an inquiry into its completeness or +incompleteness? That record is composed of mud; and the question which +we have to investigate this evening resolves itself into a question +of the formation of mud. You may think, perhaps, that this is a +vast step--of almost from the sublime to the ridiculous--from the +contemplation of the history of the past ages of the world's existence +to the consideration of the history of the formation of mud! But, +in nature, there is nothing mean and unworthy of attention; there +is nothing ridiculous or contemptible in any of her works; and this +inquiry, you will soon see, I hope, takes us to the very root and +foundations of our subject. + +How, then, is mud formed? Always, with some trifling exception, which +I need not consider now--always, as the result of the action of water, +wearing down and disintegrating the surface of the earth and rocks with +which it comes in contact--pounding and grinding it down, and carrying +the particles away to places where they cease to be disturbed by this +mechanical action, and where they can subside and rest. For the ocean, +urged by winds, washes, as we know, a long extent of coast, and every +wave, loaded as it is with particles of sand and gravel as it breaks +upon the shore, does something towards the disintegrating process. And +thus, slowly but surely, the hardest rocks are gradually ground down to +a powdery substance; and the mud thus formed, coarser or finer, as the +case may be, is carried by the rush of the tides, or currents, till it +reaches the comparatively deeper parts of the ocean, in which it can +sink to the bottom, that is, to parts where there is a depth of about +fourteen or fifteen fathoms, a depth at which the water is, usually, +nearly motionless, and in which, of course, the finer particles of this +detritus, or mud as we call it, sinks to the bottom. + +Or, again, if you take a river, rushing down from its mountain sources, +brawling over the stones and rocks that intersect its path, loosening, +removing, and carrying with it in its downward course the pebbles and +lighter matters from its banks, it crushes and pounds down the rocks and +earths in precisely the same way as the wearing action of the sea waves. +The matters forming the deposit are torn from the mountain-side and +whirled impetuously into the valley, more slowly over the plain, thence +into the estuary, and from the estuary they are swept into the sea. The +coarser and heavier fragments are obviously deposited first, that is, +as soon as the current begins to lose its force by becoming amalgamated +with the stiller depths of the ocean, but the finer and lighter +particles are carried further on, and eventually deposited in a deeper +and stiller portion of the ocean. + +It clearly follows from this that mud gives us a chronology; for it is +evident that supposing this, which I now sketch, to be the sea bottom, +and supposing this to be a coast-line; from the washing action of the +sea upon the rock, wearing and grinding it down into a sediment of mud, +the mud will be carried down, and at length, deposited in the deeper +parts of this sea bottom, where it will form a layer; and then, while +that first layer is hardening, other mud which is coming from the same +source will, of course, be carried to the same place; and, as it is +quite impossible for it to get beneath the layer already there, it +deposits itself above it, and forms another layer, and in that way you +gradually have layers of mud constantly forming and hardening one above +the other, and conveying a record of time. + +It is a necessary result of the operation of the law of gravitation that +the uppermost layer shall be the youngest and the lowest the oldest, and +that the different beds shall be older at any particular point or spot +in exactly the ratio of their depth from the surface. So that if they +were upheaved afterwards, and you had a series of these different layers +of mud, converted into sandstone, or limestone, as the case might be, +you might be sure that the bottom layer was deposited first, and that +the upper layers were formed afterwards. Here, you see, is the first +step in the history--these layers of mud give us an idea of time. + +The whole surface of the earth,--I speak broadly, and leave out minor +qualifications,--is made up of such layers of mud, so hard, the majority +of them, that we call them rock whether limestone or sandstone, or other +varieties of rock. And, seeing that every part of the crust of the earth +is made up in this way, you might think that the determination of the +chronology, the fixing of the time which it has taken to form this crust +is a comparatively simple matter. Take a broad average, ascertain how +fast the mud is deposited upon the bottom of the sea, or in the estuary +of rivers; take it to be an inch, or two, or three inches a year, or +whatever you may roughly estimate it at; then take the total thickness +of the whole series of stratified rocks, which geologists estimate at +twelve or thirteen miles, or about seventy thousand feet, make a sum +in short division, divide the total thickness by that of the quantity +deposited in one year, and the result will, of course, give you the +number of years which the crust has taken to form. + +Truly, that looks a very simple process! It would be so except for +certain difficulties, the very first of which is that of finding how +rapidly sediments are deposited; but the main difficulty--a difficulty +which renders any certain calculations of such a matter out of the +question--is this, the sea-bottom on which the deposit takes place is +continually shifting. + +Instead of the surface of the earth being that stable, fixed thing that +it is popularly believed to be, being, in common parlance, the very +emblem of fixity itself, it is incessantly moving, and is, in fact, +as unstable as the surface of the sea, except that its undulations are +infinitely slower and enormously higher and deeper. + +Now, what is the effect of this oscillation? Take the case to which +I have previously referred. The finer or coarser sediments that are +carried down by the current of the river, will only be carried out a +certain distance, and eventually, as we have already seen, on reaching +the stiller part of the ocean, will be deposited at the bottom. + +(FIGURE 4. Section through deposits on sea-bottom and shore.) + +Let C y (Figure 4) be the sea-bottom, y D the shore, x y the sea-level, +then the coarser deposit will subside over the region B, the finer over +A, while beyond A there will be no deposit at all; and, consequently, no +record will be kept, simply because no deposit is going on. Now, suppose +that the whole land, C, D, which we have regarded as stationary, goes +down, as it does so, both A and B go further out from the shore, which +will be at yl; x1, y1, being the new sea-level. The consequence will be +that the layer of mud (A), being now, for the most part, further than +the force of the current is strong enough to convey even the finest +'debris', will, of course, receive no more deposits, and having attained +a certain thickness will now grow no thicker. + +We should be misled in taking the thickness of that layer, whenever it +may be exposed to our view, as a record of time in the manner in which +we are now regarding this subject, as it would give us only an imperfect +and partial record: it would seem to represent too short a period of +time. + +Suppose, on the other hand, that the land (C D) had gone on rising +slowly and gradually--say an inch or two inches in the course of a +century,--what would be the practical effect of that movement? Why, that +the sediment A and B which has been already deposited, would eventually +be brought nearer to the shore-level, and again subjected to the wear +and tear of the sea; and directly the sea begins to act upon it, it +would of course soon cut up and carry it away, to a greater or less +extent, to be re-deposited further out. + +Well, as there is, in all probability, not one single spot on the whole +surface of the earth, which has not been up and down in this way a great +many times, it follows that the thickness of the deposits formed at any +particular spot cannot be taken (even supposing we had at first obtained +correct data as to the rate at which they took place) as affording +reliable information as to the period of time occupied in its deposit. +So that you see it is absolutely necessary from these facts, seeing that +our record entirely consists of accumulations of mud, superimposed one +on the other; seeing in the next place that any particular spots on +which accumulations have occurred, have been constantly moving up and +down, and sometimes out of the reach of a deposit, and at other times +its own deposit broken up and carried away, it follows that our record +must be in the highest degree imperfect, and we have hardly a trace +left of thick deposits, or any definite knowledge of the area that they +occupied, in a great many cases. And mark this! That supposing even +that the whole surface of the earth had been accessible to the +geologist,--that man had had access to every part of the earth, and had +made sections of the whole, and put them all together,--even then his +record must of necessity be imperfect. + +But to how much has man really access? If you will look at this Map you +will see that it represents the proportion of the sea to the earth: this +coloured part indicates all the dry land, and this other portion is the +water. You will notice at once that the water covers three-fifths of the +whole surface of the globe, and has covered it in the same manner ever +since man has kept any record of his own observations, to say nothing of +the minute period during which he has cultivated geological inquiry. +So that three-fifths of the surface of the earth is shut out from us +because it is under the sea. Let us look at the other two-fifths, +and see what are the countries in which anything that may be termed +searching geological inquiry has been carried out: a good deal of +France, Germany, and Great Britain and Ireland, bits of Spain, of +Italy, and of Russia, have been examined, but of the whole great mass of +Africa, except parts of the southern extremity, we know next to nothing; +little bits of India, but of the greater part of the Asiatic continent +nothing; bits of the Northern American States and of Canada, but of +the greater part of the continent of North America, and in still larger +proportion, of South America, nothing! + +Under these circumstances, it follows that even with reference to that +kind of imperfect information which we can possess, it is only of about +the ten-thousandth part of the accessible parts of the earth that has +been examined properly. Therefore, it is with justice that the most +thoughtful of those who are concerned in these inquiries insist +continually upon the imperfection of the geological record; for, I +repeat, it is absolutely necessary, from the nature of things, that +that record should be of the most fragmentary and imperfect character. +Unfortunately this circumstance has been constantly forgotten. Men of +science, like young colts in a fresh pasture, are apt to be exhilarated +on being turned into a new field of inquiry, to go off at a hand-gallop, +in total disregard of hedges and ditches, losing sight of the real +limitation of their inquiries, and to forget the extreme imperfection of +what is really known. Geologists have imagined that they could tell us +what was going on at all parts of the earth's surface during a given +epoch; they have talked of this deposit being contemporaneous with +that deposit, until, from our little local histories of the changes at +limited spots of the earth's surface, they have constructed a universal +history of the globe as full of wonders and portents as any other story +of antiquity. + +But what does this attempt to construct a universal history of the globe +imply? It implies that we shall not only have a precise knowledge of the +events which have occurred at any particular point, but that we shall +be able to say what events, at any one spot, took place at the same time +with those at other spots. + +(FIGURE 5. Section through two beds of mud.) + +Let us see how far that is in the nature of things practicable. Suppose +that here I make a section of the Lake of Killarney, and here the +section of another lake--that of Loch Lomond in Scotland for instance. +The rivers that flow into them are constantly carrying down deposits of +mud, and beds, or strata, are being as constantly formed, one above the +other, at the bottom of those lakes. Now, there is not a shadow of +doubt that in these two lakes the lower beds are all older than the +upper--there is no doubt about that; but what does 'this' tell us about +the age of any given bed in Loch Lomond, as compared with that of any +given bed in the Lake of Killarney? It is, indeed, obvious that if +any two sets of deposits are separated and discontinuous, there is +absolutely no means whatever given you by the nature of the deposit of +saying whether one is much younger or older than the other; but you may +say, as many have said and think, that the case is very much altered if +the beds which we are comparing are continuous. Suppose two beds of mud +hardened into rock,--A and B--are seen in section. (Figure 5.) + +Well, you say, it is admitted that the lowermost bed is always the +older. Very well; B, therefore, is older than A. No doubt, 'as a whole', +it is so; or if any parts of the two beds which are in the same vertical +line are compared, it is so. But suppose you take what seems a very +natural step further, and say that the part 'a' of the bed A is younger +than the part 'b' of the bed B. Is this sound reasoning? If you find any +record of changes taking place at 'b', did they occur before any events +which took place while 'a' was being deposited? It looks all very plain +sailing, indeed, to say that they did; and yet there is no proof of +anything of the kind. As the former Director of this Institution, Sir +H. De la Beche, long ago showed, this reasoning may involve an entire +fallacy. It is extremely possible that 'a' may have been deposited ages +before 'b'. It is very easy to understand how that can be. To return +to Figure 4; when A and B were deposited, they were 'substantially' +contemporaneous; A being simply the finer deposit, and B the coarser +of the same detritus or waste of land. Now suppose that that sea-bottom +goes down (as shown in Figure 4), so that the first deposit is carried +no farther than 'a', forming the bed Al, and the coarse no farther +than 'b', forming the bed B1, the result will be the formation of two +continuous beds, one of fine sediment (A A1) over-lapping another of +coarse sediment (B Bl). Now suppose the whole sea-bottom is raised up, +and a section exposed about the point Al; no doubt, AT THIS SPOT, the +upper bed is younger than the lower. But we should obviously greatly err +if we concluded that the mass of the upper bed at A was younger than +the lower bed at B; for we have just seen that they are contemporaneous +deposits. Still more should we be in error if we supposed the upper bed +at A to be younger than the continuation of the lower bed at Bl; for +A was deposited long before B1. In fine, if, instead of comparing +immediately adjacent parts of two beds, one of which lies upon another, +we compare distant parts, it is quite possible that the upper may be any +number of years older than the under, and the under any number of years +younger than the upper. + +Now you must not suppose that I put this before you for the purpose of +raising a paradoxical difficulty; the fact is, that the great mass of +deposits have taken place in sea-bottoms which are gradually sinking, +and have been formed under the very conditions I am here supposing. + +Do not run away with the notion that this subverts the principle I +laid down at first. The error lies in extending a principle which is +perfectly applicable to deposits in the same vertical line to deposits +which are not in that relation to one another. + +It is in consequence of circumstances of this kind, and of others that I +might mention to you, that our conclusions on and interpretations of +the record are really and strictly only valid so long as we confine +ourselves to one vertical section. I do not mean to tell you that there +are no qualifying circumstances, so that, even in very considerable +areas, we may safely speak of conformably superimposed beds being older +or younger than others at many different points. But we can never be +quite sure in coming to that conclusion, and especially we cannot +be sure if there is any break in their continuity, or any very great +distance between the points to be compared. + +Well now, so much for the record itself,--so much for its +imperfections,--so much for the conditions to be observed in +interpreting it, and its chronological indications, the moment we pass +beyond the limits of a vertical linear section. + +Now let us pass from the record to that which it contains,--from the +book itself to the writing and the figures on its pages. This writing +and these figures consist of remains of animals and plants which, in the +great majority of cases, have lived and died in the very spot in which +we now find them, or at least in the immediate vicinity. You must all of +you be aware--and I referred to the fact in my last lecture--that there +are vast numbers of creatures living at the bottom of the sea. These +creatures, like all others, sooner or later die, and their shells and +hard parts lie at the bottom; and then the fine mud which is being +constantly brought down by rivers and the action of the wear and tear of +the sea, covers them over and protects them from any further change +or alteration; and, of course, as in process of time the mud becomes +hardened and solidified, the shells of these animals are preserved +and firmly imbedded in the limestone or sandstone which is being thus +formed. You may see in the galleries of the Museum up stairs specimens +of limestones in which such fossil remains of existing animals are +imbedded. There are some specimens in which turtles' eggs have been +imbedded in calcareous sand, and before the sun had hatched the young +turtles, they became covered over with calcareous mud, and thus have +been preserved and fossilized. + +Not only does this process of imbedding and fossilization occur with +marine and other aquatic animals and plants, but it affects those land +animals and plants which are drifted away to sea, or become buried in +bogs or morasses; and the animals which have been trodden down by their +fellows and crushed in the mud at the river's bank, as the herd have +come to drink. In any of these cases, the organisms may be crushed or be +mutilated, before or after putrefaction, in such a manner that perhaps +only a part will be left in the form in which it reaches us. It is, +indeed, a most remarkable fact, that it is quite an exceptional case +to find a skeleton of any one of all the thousands of wild land animals +that we know are constantly being killed, or dying in the course of +nature: they are preyed on and devoured by other animals or die in +places where their bodies are not afterwards protected by mud. There are +other animals existing in the sea, the shells of which form exceedingly +large deposits. You are probably aware that before the attempt was made +to lay the Atlantic telegraphic cable, the Government employed vessels +in making a series of very careful observations and soundings of the +bottom of the Atlantic; and although, as we must all regret, up to the +present time that project has not succeeded, we have the satisfaction +of knowing that it yielded some most remarkable results to science. +The Atlantic Ocean had to be sounded right across, to depths of several +miles in some places, and the nature of its bottom was carefully +ascertained. Well, now, a space of about 1,000 miles wide from east to +west, and I do not exactly know how many from north to south, but at +any rate 600 or 700 miles, was carefully examined, and it was found that +over the whole of that immense area an excessively fine chalky mud is +being deposited; and this deposit is entirely made up of animals whose +hard parts are deposited in this part of the ocean, and are doubtless +gradually acquiring solidity and becoming metamorphosed into a chalky +limestone. Thus, you see, it is quite possible in this way to preserve +unmistakable records of animal and vegetable life. Whenever the +sea-bottom, by some of those undulations of the earth's crust that I +have referred to, becomes upheaved, and sections or borings are made, +or pits are dug, then we become able to examine the contents and +constituents of these ancient sea-bottoms, and find out what manner of +animals lived at that period. + +Now it is a very important consideration in its bearing on the +completeness of the record, to inquire how far the remains contained +in these fossiliferous limestones are able to convey anything like an +accurate or complete account of the animals which were in existence +at the time of its formation. Upon that point we can form a very clear +judgment, and one in which there is no possible room for any mistake. +There are of course a great number of animals--such as jelly-fishes, +and other animals--without any hard parts, of which we cannot reasonably +expect to find any traces whatever: there is nothing of them to +preserve. Within a very short time, you will have noticed, after they +are removed from the water, they dry up to a mere nothing; certainly +they are not of a nature to leave any very visible traces of their +existence on such bodies as chalk or mud. Then again, look at land +animals; it is, as I have said, a very uncommon thing to find a land +animal entire after death. Insects and other carnivorous animals very +speedily pull them to pieces, putrefaction takes place, and so, out of +the hundreds of thousands that are known to die every year, it is the +rarest thing in the world to see one imbedded in such a way that its +remains would be preserved for a lengthened period. Not only is this the +case, but even when animal remains have been safely imbedded, certain +natural agents may wholly destroy and remove them. + +Almost all the hard parts of animals--the bones and so on--are composed +chiefly of phosphate of lime and carbonate of lime. Some years ago, I +had to make an inquiry into the nature of some very curious fossils +sent to me from the North of Scotland. Fossils are usually hard bony +structures that have become imbedded in the way I have described, and +have gradually acquired the nature and solidity of the body with which +they are associated; but in this case I had a series of 'holes' in some +pieces of rock, and nothing else. Those holes, however, had a certain +definite shape about them, and when I got a skilful workman to make +castings of the interior of these holes, I found that they were the +impressions of the joints of a backbone and of the armour of a great +reptile, twelve or more feet long. This great beast had died and got +buried in the sand; the sand had gradually hardened over the bones, but +remained porous. Water had trickled through it, and that water being +probably charged with a superfluity of carbonic acid, had dissolved all +the phosphate and carbonate of lime, and the bones themselves had thus +decayed and entirely disappeared; but as the sandstone happened to have +consolidated by that time, the precise shape of the bones was retained. +If that sandstone had remained soft a little longer, we should have +known nothing whatsoever of the existence of the reptile whose bones it +had encased. + +How certain it is that a vast number of animals which have existed +at one period on this earth have entirely perished, and left no trace +whatever of their forms, may be proved to you by other considerations. +There are large tracts of sandstone in various parts of the world, in +which nobody has yet found anything but footsteps. Not a bone of any +description, but an enormous number of traces of footsteps. There is no +question about them. There is a whole valley in Connecticut covered with +these footsteps, and not a single fragment of the animals which made +them has yet been found. Let me mention another case while upon that +matter, which is even more surprising than those to which I have yet +referred. There is a limestone formation near Oxford, at a place called +Stonesfield, which has yielded the remains of certain very interesting +mammalian animals, and up to this time, if I recollect rightly, there +have been found seven specimens of its lower jaws, and not a bit of +anything else, neither limb-bones nor skull, or any part whatever; not +a fragment of the whole system! Of course, it would be preposterous +to imagine that the beasts had nothing else but a lower jaw! +The probability is, as Dr. Buckland showed, as the result of his +observations on dead dogs in the river Thames, that the lower jaw, not +being secured by very firm ligaments to the bones of the head, and being +a weighty affair, would easily be knocked off, or might drop away from +the body as it floated in water in a state of decomposition. The jaw +would thus be deposited immediately, while the rest of the body would +float and drift away altogether, ultimately reaching the sea, and +perhaps becoming destroyed. The jaw becomes covered up and preserved +in the river silt, and thus it comes that we have such a curious +circumstance as that of the lower jaws in the Stonesfield slates. So +that, you see, faulty as these layers of stone in the earth's crust +are, defective as they necessarily are as a record, the account of +contemporaneous vital phenomena presented by them is, by the necessity +of the case, infinitely more defective and fragmentary. + +It was necessary that I should put all this very strongly before you, +because, otherwise, you might have been led to think differently of the +completeness of our knowledge by the next facts I shall state to you. + +The researches of the last three-quarters of a century have, in truth, +revealed a wonderful richness of organic life in those rocks. Certainly +not fewer than thirty or forty thousand different species of fossils +have been discovered. You have no more ground for doubting that these +creatures really lived and died at or near the places in which we find +them than you have for like scepticism about a shell on the sea-shore. +The evidence is as good in the one case as in the other. + +Our next business is to look at the general character of these fossil +remains, and it is a subject which it will be requisite to consider +carefully; and the first point for us is to examine how much the +extinct 'Flora' and 'Fauna' as a 'whole'--disregarding altogether +the 'succession' of their constituents, of which I shall speak +afterwards--differ from the 'Flora' and 'Fauna' of the present day;--how +far they differ in what we 'do' know about them, leaving altogether out +of consideration speculations based upon what we 'do not' know. + +I strongly imagine that if it were not for the peculiar appearance that +fossilised animals have, any of you might readily walk through a museum +which contains fossil remains mixed up with those of the present forms +of life, and I doubt very much whether your uninstructed eyes would +lead you to see any vast or wonderful difference between the two. If +you looked closely, you would notice, in the first place, a great many +things very like animals with which you are acquainted now: you would +see differences of shape and proportion, but on the whole a close +similarity. + +I explained what I meant by ORDERS the other day, when I described the +animal kingdom as being divided in sub-kingdoms, classes and orders. If +you divide the animal kingdom into orders, you will find that there are +about one hundred and twenty. The number may vary on one side or the +other, but this is a fair estimate. That is the sum total of the orders +of all the animals which we know now, and which have been known in past +times, and left remains behind. + +Now, how many of those are absolutely extinct? That is to say, how many +of these orders of animals have lived at a former period of the world's +history, but have at present no representatives? That is the sense in +which I meant to use the word "extinct." I mean that those animals did +live on this earth at one time, but have left no one of their kind +with us at the present moment. So that estimating the number of extinct +animals is a sort of way of comparing the past creation as a whole with +the present as a whole. Among the mammalia and birds there are none +extinct; but when we come to the reptiles there is a most wonderful +thing: out of the eight orders, or thereabouts, which you can make among +reptiles, one-half are extinct. These diagrams of the plesiosaurus, +the ichthyosaurus, the pterodactyle, give you a notion of some of these +extinct reptiles. And here is a cast of the pterodactyle and bones of +the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, just as fresh as if it had been +recently dug up in a churchyard. Thus, in the reptile class, there are +no less than half of the orders which are absolutely extinct. If we turn +to the 'Amphibia', there was one extinct order, the Labyrinthodonts, +typified by the large salamander-like beast shown in this diagram. + +No order of fishes is known to be extinct. Every fish that we find in +the strata--to which I have been referring--can be identified and placed +in one of the orders which exist at the present day. There is not known +to be a single ordinal form of insect extinct. There are only two orders +extinct among the 'Crustacea'. There is not known to be an extinct order +of these creatures, the parasitic and other worms; but there are +two, not to say three, absolutely extinct orders of this class, the +'Echinodermata'; out of all the orders of the 'Coelenterata' and +'Protozoa' only one, the Rugose Corals. + +So that, you see, out of somewhere about 120 orders of animals, taking +them altogether, you will not, at the outside estimate, find above ten +or a dozen extinct. Summing up all the orders of animals which have left +remains behind them, you will not find above ten or a dozen which cannot +be arranged with those of the present day; that is to say, that the +difference does not amount to much more than ten per cent.: and the +proportion of extinct orders of plants is still smaller. I think that +that is a very astounding, a most astonishing fact, seeing the enormous +epochs of time which have elapsed during the constitution of the surface +of the earth as it at present exists; it is, indeed, a most astounding +thing that the proportion of extinct ordinal types should be so +exceedingly small. + +But now, there is another point of view in which we must look at this +past creation. Suppose that we were to sink a vertical pit through the +floor beneath us, and that I could succeed in making a section right +through in the direction of New Zealand, I should find in each of the +different beds through which I passed the remains of animals which I +should find in that stratum and not in the others. First, I should come +upon beds of gravel or drift containing the bones of large animals, such +as the elephant, rhinoceros, and cave tiger. Rather curious things to +fall across in Piccadilly! If I should dig lower still, I should come +upon a bed of what we call the London clay, and in this, as you will see +in our galleries upstairs, are found remains of strange cattle, remains +of turtles, palms, and large tropical fruits; with shell-fish such as +you see the like of now only in tropical regions. If I went below +that, I should come upon the chalk, and there I should find something +altogether different, the remains of ichthyosauri and pterodactyles, and +ammonites, and so forth. + +I do not know what Mr. Godwin Austin would say comes next, but probably +rocks containing more ammonites, and more ichthyosauri and plesiosauri, +with a vast number of other things; and under that I should meet with +yet older rocks, containing numbers of strange shells and fishes; and in +thus passing from the surface to the lowest depths of the earth's crust, +the forms of animal life and vegetable life which I should meet with +in the successive beds would, looking at them broadly, be the more +different the further that I went down. Or, in other words, inasmuch +as we started with the clear principle, that in a series of +naturally-disposed mud beds the lowest are the oldest, we should come +to this result, that the further we go back in time the more difference +exists between the animal and vegetable life of an epoch and that which +now exists. That was the conclusion to which I wished to bring you at +the end of this Lecture. + +End of The Past Condition of Organic Nature. + + + + +THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST CONDITIONS OF ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.--THE ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS. + +In the two preceding lectures I have endeavoured to indicate to you the +extent of the subject-matter of the inquiry upon which we are engaged; +and now, having thus acquired some conception of the Past and Present +phenomena of Organic Nature, I must now turn to that which constitutes +the great problem which we have set before ourselves;--I mean, the +question of what knowledge we have of the causes of these phenomena of +organic nature, and how such knowledge is obtainable. + +Here, on the threshold of the inquiry, an objection meets us. There are +in the world a number of extremely worthy, well-meaning persons, whose +judgments and opinions are entitled to the utmost respect on account of +their sincerity, who are of opinion that Vital Phenomena, and especially +all questions relating to the origin of vital phenomena, are questions +quite apart from the ordinary run of inquiry, and are, by their very +nature, placed out of our reach. They say that all these phenomena +originated miraculously, or in some way totally different from the +ordinary course of nature, and that therefore they conceive it to be +futile, not to say presumptuous, to attempt to inquire into them. + +To such sincere and earnest persons, I would only say, that a question +of this kind is not to be shelved upon theoretical or speculative +grounds. You may remember the story of the Sophist who demonstrated to +Diogenes in the most complete and satisfactory manner that he could not +walk; that, in fact, all motion was an impossibility; and that Diogenes +refuted him by simply getting up and walking round his tub. So, in the +same way, the man of science replies to objections of this kind, by +simply getting up and walking onward, and showing what science has done +and is doing--by pointing to that immense mass of facts which have been +ascertained and systematized under the forms of the great doctrines of +Morphology, of Development, of Distribution, and the like. He sees an +enormous mass of facts and laws relating to organic beings, which +stand on the same good sound foundation as every other natural law; and +therefore, with this mass of facts and laws before us, therefore, +seeing that, as far as organic matters have hitherto been accessible and +studied, they have shown themselves capable of yielding to scientific +investigation, we may accept this as proof that order and law reign +there as well as in the rest of nature; and the man of science says +nothing to objectors of this sort, but supposes that we can and shall +walk to a knowledge of the origin of organic nature, in the same way +that we have walked to a knowledge of the laws and principles of the +inorganic world. + +But there are objectors who say the same from ignorance and ill-will. To +such I would reply that the objection comes ill from them, and that the +real presumption, I may almost say the real blasphemy, in this matter, +is in the attempt to limit that inquiry into the causes of phenomena +which is the source of all human blessings, and from which has sprung +all human prosperity and progress; for, after all, we can accomplish +comparatively little; the limited range of our own faculties bounds us +on every side,--the field of our powers of observation is small enough, +and he who endeavours to narrow the sphere of our inquiries is only +pursuing a course that is likely to produce the greatest harm to his +fellow-men. + +But now, assuming, as we all do, I hope, that these phenomena are +properly accessible to inquiry, and setting out upon our search into the +causes of the phenomena of organic nature, or, at any rate, setting out +to discover how much we at present know upon these abstruse matters, the +question arises as to what is to be our course of proceeding, and what +method we must lay down for our guidance. I reply to that question, +that our method must be exactly the same as that which is pursued in any +other scientific inquiry, the method of scientific investigation being +the same for all orders of facts and phenomena whatsoever. + +I must dwell a little on this point, for I wish you to leave this room +with a very clear conviction that scientific investigation is not, as +many people seem to suppose, some kind of modern black art. I say that +you might easily gather this impression from the manner in which +many persons speak of scientific inquiry, or talk about inductive and +deductive philosophy, or the principles of the "Baconian philosophy." +I do protest that, of the vast number of cants in this world, there are +none, to my mind, so contemptible as the pseudoscientific cant which is +talked about the "Baconian philosophy." + +To hear people talk about the great Chancellor--and a very great man he +certainly was,--you would think that it was he who had invented science, +and that there was no such thing as sound reasoning before the time of +Queen Elizabeth. Of course you say, that cannot possibly be true; you +perceive, on a moment's reflection, that such an idea is absurdly wrong, +and yet, so firmly rooted is this sort of impression,--I cannot call it +an idea, or conception,--the thing is too absurd to be entertained,--but +so completely does it exist at the bottom of most men's minds, that this +has been a matter of observation with me for many years past. There +are many men who, though knowing absolutely nothing of the subject with +which they may be dealing, wish, nevertheless, to damage the author of +some view with which they think fit to disagree. What they do, then, +is not to go and learn something about the subject, which one would +naturally think the best way of fairly dealing with it; but they abuse +the originator of the view they question, in a general manner, and wind +up by saying that, "After all, you know, the principles and method +of this author are totally opposed to the canons of the Baconian +philosophy." Then everybody applauds, as a matter of course, and agrees +that it must be so. But if you were to stop them all in the middle of +their applause, you would probably find that neither the speaker nor his +applauders could tell you how or in what way it was so; neither the +one nor the other having the slightest idea of what they mean when they +speak of the "Baconian philosophy." + +You will understand, I hope, that I have not the slightest desire to +join in the outcry against either the morals, the intellect, or the +great genius of Lord Chancellor Bacon. He was undoubtedly a very great +man, let people say what they will of him; but notwithstanding all that +he did for philosophy, it would be entirely wrong to suppose that the +methods of modern scientific inquiry originated with him, or with his +age; they originated with the first man, whoever he was; and indeed +existed long before him, for many of the essential processes of +reasoning are exerted by the higher order of brutes as completely and +effectively as by ourselves. We see in many of the brute creation the +exercise of one, at least, of the same powers of reasoning as that which +we ourselves employ. + +The method of scientific investigation is nothing but the expression of +the necessary mode of working of the human mind. It is simply the mode +at which all phenomena are reasoned about, rendered precise and +exact. There is no more difference, but there is just the same kind of +difference, between the mental operations of a man of science and those +of an ordinary person, as there is between the operations and methods of +a baker or of a butcher weighing out his goods in common scales, and the +operations of a chemist in performing a difficult and complex analysis +by means of his balance and finely-graduated weights. It is not that +the action of the scales in the one case, and the balance in the other, +differ in the principles of their construction or manner of working; but +the beam of one is set on an infinitely finer axis than the other, and +of course turns by the addition of a much smaller weight. + +You will understand this better, perhaps, if I give you some familiar +example. You have all heard it repeated, I dare say, that men of science +work by means of Induction and Deduction, and that by the help of these +operations, they, in a sort of sense, wring from Nature certain other +things, which are called Natural Laws, and Causes, and that out of +these, by some cunning skill of their own, they build up Hypotheses and +Theories. And it is imagined by many, that the operations of the common +mind can be by no means compared with these processes, and that they +have to be acquired by a sort of special apprenticeship to the craft. +To hear all these large words, you would think that the mind of a man of +science must be constituted differently from that of his fellow men; but +if you will not be frightened by terms, you will discover that you are +quite wrong, and that all these terrible apparatus are being used by +yourselves every day and every hour of your lives. + +There is a well-known incident in one of Moliere's plays, where the +author makes the hero express unbounded delight on being told that he +had been talking prose during the whole of his life. In the same way, I +trust, that you will take comfort, and be delighted with yourselves, on +the discovery that you have been acting on the principles of inductive +and deductive philosophy during the same period. Probably there is not +one here who has not in the course of the day had occasion to set in +motion a complex train of reasoning, of the very same kind, though +differing of course in degree, as that which a scientific man goes +through in tracing the causes of natural phenomena. + +A very trivial circumstance will serve to exemplify this. Suppose you +go into a fruiterer's shop, wanting an apple,--you take up one, and, on +biting it, you find it is sour; you look at it, and see that it is hard +and green. You take up another one, and that too is hard, green, and +sour. The shopman offers you a third; but, before biting it, you examine +it, and find that it is hard and green, and you immediately say that you +will not have it, as it must be sour, like those that you have already +tried. + +Nothing can be more simple than that, you think; but if you will take +the trouble to analyze and trace out into its logical elements what +has been done by the mind, you will be greatly surprised. In the first +place, you have performed the operation of INDUCTION. You found that, +in two experiences, hardness and greenness in apples go together with +sourness. It was so in the first case, and it was confirmed by the +second. True, it is a very small basis, but still it is enough to make +an induction from; you generalize the facts, and you expect to find +sourness in apples where you get hardness and greenness. You found upon +that a general law, that all hard and green apples are sour; and that, +so far as it goes, is a perfect induction. Well, having got your natural +law in this way, when you are offered another apple which you find is +hard and green, you say, "All hard and green apples are sour; this +apple is hard and green, therefore this apple is sour." That train of +reasoning is what logicians call a syllogism, and has all its various +parts and terms,--its major premiss, its minor premiss, and its +conclusion. And, by the help of further reasoning, which, if drawn out, +would have to be exhibited in two or three other syllogisms, you arrive +at your final determination, "I will not have that apple." So that, you +see, you have, in the first place, established a law by Induction, and +upon that you have founded a Deduction, and reasoned out the special +conclusion of the particular case. Well now, suppose, having got your +law, that at some time afterwards, you are discussing the qualities +of apples with a friend: you will say to him, "It is a very curious +thing,--but I find that all hard and green apples are sour!" Your friend +says to you, "But how do you know that?" You at once reply, "Oh, because +I have tried it over and over again, and have always found them to be +so." Well, if we were talking science instead of common sense, we should +call that an Experimental Verification. And, if still opposed, you go +further, and say, "I have heard from the people in Somersetshire and +Devonshire, where a large number of apples are grown, that they have +observed the same thing. It is also found to be the case in Normandy, +and in North America. In short, I find it to be the universal experience +of mankind wherever attention has been directed to the subject." +Whereupon, your friend, unless he is a very unreasonable man, agrees +with you, and is convinced that you are quite right in the conclusion +you have drawn. He believes, although perhaps he does not know he +believes it, that the more extensive Verifications are,--that the more +frequently experiments have been made, and results of the same kind +arrived at,--that the more varied the conditions under which the same +results have been attained, the more certain is the ultimate conclusion, +and he disputes the question no further. He sees that the experiment has +been tried under all sorts of conditions, as to time, place, and people, +with the same result; and he says with you, therefore, that the law you +have laid down must be a good one, and he must believe it. + +In science we do the same thing;--the philosopher exercises precisely +the same faculties, though in a much more delicate manner. In scientific +inquiry it becomes a matter of duty to expose a supposed law to every +possible kind of verification, and to take care, moreover, that this is +done intentionally, and not left to a mere accident, as in the case of +the apples. And in science, as in common life, our confidence in a law +is in exact proportion to the absence of variation in the result of our +experimental verifications. For instance, if you let go your grasp of +an article you may have in your hand, it will immediately fall to +the ground. That is a very common verification of one of the best +established laws of nature--that of gravitation. The method by which men +of science establish the existence of that law is exactly the same as +that by which we have established the trivial proposition about +the sourness of hard and green apples. But we believe it in such an +extensive, thorough, and unhesitating manner because the universal +experience of mankind verifies it, and we can verify it ourselves at any +time; and that is the strongest possible foundation on which any natural +law can rest. + +So much by way of proof that the method of establishing laws in science +is exactly the same as that pursued in common life. Let us now turn +to another matter (though really it is but another phase of the same +question), and that is, the method by which, from the relations of +certain phenomena, we prove that some stand in the position of causes +towards the others. + +I want to put the case clearly before you, and I will therefore show you +what I mean by another familiar example. I will suppose that one of you, +on coming down in the morning to the parlour of your house, finds that a +tea-pot and some spoons which had been left in the room on the previous +evening are gone,--the window is open, and you observe the mark of a +dirty hand on the window-frame, and perhaps, in addition to that, you +notice the impress of a hob-nailed shoe on the gravel outside. All these +phenomena have struck your attention instantly, and before two minutes +have passed you say, "Oh, somebody has broken open the window, entered +the room, and run off with the spoons and the tea-pot!" That speech is +out of your mouth in a moment. And you will probably add, "I know there +has; I am quite sure of it!" You mean to say exactly what you know; but +in reality what you have said has been the expression of what is, in all +essential particulars, an Hypothesis. You do not 'know' it at all; it is +nothing but an hypothesis rapidly framed in your own mind! And it is an +hypothesis founded on a long train of inductions and deductions. + +What are those inductions and deductions, and how have you got at this +hypothesis? You have observed, in the first place, that the window +is open; but by a train of reasoning involving many Inductions and +Deductions, you have probably arrived long before at the General +Law--and a very good one it is--that windows do not open of themselves; +and you therefore conclude that something has opened the window. A +second general law that you have arrived at in the same way is, that +tea-pots and spoons do not go out of a window spontaneously, and you are +satisfied that, as they are not now where you left them, they have been +removed. In the third place, you look at the marks on the window-sill, +and the shoemarks outside, and you say that in all previous experience +the former kind of mark has never been produced by anything else but +the hand of a human being; and the same experience shows that no other +animal but man at present wears shoes with hob-nails on them such as +would produce the marks in the gravel. I do not know, even if we could +discover any of those "missing links" that are talked about, that they +would help us to any other conclusion! At any rate the law which states +our present experience is strong enough for my present purpose.--You +next reach the conclusion, that as these kinds of marks have not been +left by any other animals than men, or are liable to be formed in any +other way than by a man's hand and shoe, the marks in question have been +formed by a man in that way. You have, further, a general law, founded +on observation and experience, and that, too, is, I am sorry to say, a +very universal and unimpeachable one,--that some men are thieves; +and you assume at once from all these premisses--and that is what +constitutes your hypothesis--that the man who made the marks outside and +on the window-sill, opened the window, got into the room, and stole your +tea-pot and spoons. You have now arrived at a 'Vera Causa';--you have +assumed a Cause which it is plain is competent to produce all the +phenomena you have observed. You can explain all these phenomena only by +the hypothesis of a thief. But that is a hypothetical conclusion, of the +justice of which you have no absolute proof at all; it is only rendered +highly probable by a series of inductive and deductive reasonings. + +I suppose your first action, assuming that you are a man of ordinary +common sense, and that you have established this hypothesis to your own +satisfaction, will very likely be to go off for the police, and set +them on the track of the burglar, with the view to the recovery of your +property. But just as you are starting with this object, some person +comes in, and on learning what you are about, says, "My good friend, +you are going on a great deal too fast. How do you know that the man who +really made the marks took the spoons? It might have been a monkey that +took them, and the man may have merely looked in afterwards." You would +probably reply, "Well, that is all very well, but you see it is contrary +to all experience of the way tea-pots and spoons are abstracted; so +that, at any rate, your hypothesis is less probable than mine." While +you are talking the thing over in this way, another friend arrives, one +of that good kind of people that I was talking of a little while ago. +And he might say, "Oh, my dear sir, you are certainly going on a great +deal too fast. You are most presumptuous. You admit that all these +occurrences took place when you were fast asleep, at a time when you +could not possibly have known anything about what was taking place. How +do you know that the laws of Nature are not suspended during the night? +It may be that there has been some kind of supernatural interference in +this case." In point of fact, he declares that your hypothesis is one +of which you cannot at all demonstrate the truth, and that you are by no +means sure that the laws of Nature are the same when you are asleep as +when you are awake. + +Well, now, you cannot at the moment answer that kind of reasoning. You +feel that your worthy friend has you somewhat at a disadvantage. You +will feel perfectly convinced in your own mind, however, that you are +quite right, and you say to him, "My good friend, I can only be guided +by the natural probabilities of the case, and if you will be kind enough +to stand aside and permit me to pass, I will go and fetch the police." +Well, we will suppose that your journey is successful, and that by good +luck you meet with a policeman; that eventually the burglar is found +with your property on his person, and the marks correspond to his hand +and to his boots. Probably any jury would consider those facts a very +good experimental verification of your hypothesis, touching the cause +of the abnormal phenomena observed in your parlour, and would act +accordingly. + +Now, in this supposititious case, I have taken phenomena of a very +common kind, in order that you might see what are the different steps in +an ordinary process of reasoning, if you will only take the trouble to +analyse it carefully. All the operations I have described, you will +see, are involved in the mind of any man of sense in leading him to +a conclusion as to the course he should take in order to make good a +robbery and punish the offender. I say that you are led, in that case, +to your conclusion by exactly the same train of reasoning as that which +a man of science pursues when he is endeavouring to discover the origin +and laws of the most occult phenomena. The process is, and always must +be, the same; and precisely the same mode of reasoning was employed by +Newton and Laplace in their endeavours to discover and define the causes +of the movements of the heavenly bodies, as you, with your own common +sense, would employ to detect a burglar. The only difference is, that +the nature of the inquiry being more abstruse, every step has to be most +carefully watched, so that there may not be a single crack or flaw in +your hypothesis. A flaw or crack in many of the hypotheses of daily life +may be of little or no moment as affecting the general correctness of +the conclusions at which we may arrive; but, in a scientific inquiry, +a fallacy, great or small, is always of importance, and is sure to be +constantly productive of mischievous, if not fatal results. + +Do not allow yourselves to be misled by the common notion that an +hypothesis is untrustworthy simply because it is an hypothesis. It is +often urged, in respect to some scientific conclusion, that, after +all, it is only an hypothesis. But what more have we to guide us in +nine-tenths of the most important affairs of daily life than hypotheses, +and often very ill-based ones? So that in science, where the evidence of +an hypothesis is subjected to the most rigid examination, we may rightly +pursue the same course. You may have hypotheses and hypotheses. A man +may say, if he likes, that the moon is made of green cheese: that is an +hypothesis. But another man, who has devoted a great deal of time and +attention to the subject, and availed himself of the most powerful +telescopes and the results of the observations of others, declares that +in his opinion it is probably composed of materials very similar to +those of which our own earth is made up: and that is also only an +hypothesis. But I need not tell you that there is an enormous difference +in the value of the two hypotheses. That one which is based on sound +scientific knowledge is sure to have a corresponding value; and that +which is a mere hasty random guess is likely to have but little value. +Every great step in our progress in discovering causes has been made +in exactly the same way as that which I have detailed to you. A person +observing the occurrence of certain facts and phenomena asks, naturally +enough, what process, what kind of operation known to occur in nature +applied to the particular case, will unravel and explain the mystery? +Hence you have the scientific hypothesis; and its value will be +proportionate to the care and completeness with which its basis had been +tested and verified. It is in these matters as in the commonest affairs +of practical life: the guess of the fool will be folly, while the guess +of the wise man will contain wisdom. In all cases, you see that the +value of the result depends on the patience and faithfulness with +which the investigator applies to his hypothesis every possible kind of +verification. + +I dare say I may have to return to this point by-and-by; but having +dealt thus far with our logical methods, I must now turn to something +which, perhaps, you may consider more interesting, or, at any rate, +more tangible. But in reality there are but few things that can be more +important for you to understand than the mental processes and the means +by which we obtain scientific conclusions and theories.* ([Footnote] +*Those who wish to study fully the doctrines of which I have endeavoured +to give some rough and ready illustrations, must read Mr. John Stuart +Mill's 'System of Logic'.) Having granted that the inquiry is a proper +one, and having determined on the nature of the methods we are to pursue +and which only can lead to success, I must now turn to the consideration +of our knowledge of the nature of the processes which have resulted in +the present condition of organic nature. + +Here, let me say at once, lest some of you misunderstand me, that I have +extremely little to report. The question of how the present condition of +organic nature came about, resolves itself into two questions. The first +is: How has organic or living matter commenced its existence? And the +second is: How has it been perpetuated? On the second question I shall +have more to say hereafter. But on the first one, what I now have to say +will be for the most part of a negative character. + +If you consider what kind of evidence we can have upon this matter, it +will resolve itself into two kinds. We may have historical evidence and +we may have experimental evidence. It is, for example, conceivable, that +inasmuch as the hardened mud which forms a considerable portion of the +thickness of the earth's crust contains faithful records of the past +forms of life, and inasmuch as these differ more and more as we go +further down,--it is possible and conceivable that we might come to +some particular bed or stratum which should contain the remains of those +creatures with which organic life began upon the earth. And if we did +so, and if such forms of organic life were preservable, we should have +what I would call historical evidence of the mode in which organic life +began upon this planet. Many persons will tell you, and indeed you will +find it stated in many works on geology, that this has been done, and +that we really possess such a record; there are some who imagine that +the earliest forms of life of which we have as yet discovered any +record, are in truth the forms in which animal life began upon the +globe. The grounds on which they base that supposition are these:--That +if you go through the enormous thickness of the earth's crust and get +down to the older rocks, the higher vertebrate animals--the quadrupeds, +birds, and fishes--cease to be found; beneath them you find only the +invertebrate animals; and in the deepest and lowest rocks those remains +become scantier and scantier, not in any very gradual progression, +however, until, at length, in what are supposed to be the oldest rocks, +the animal remains which are found are almost always confined to four +forms--'Oldhamia', whose precise nature is not known, whether plant or +animal; 'Lingula', a kind of mollusc; 'Trilobites', a crustacean animal, +having the same essential plan of construction, though differing in +many details from a lobster or crab; and Hymenocaris, which is also a +crustacean. So that you have all the 'Fauna' reduced, at this period, +to four forms: one a kind of animal or plant that we know nothing about, +and three undoubted animals--two crustaceans and one mollusc. + +I think, considering the organization of these mollusca and crustacea, +and looking at their very complex nature, that it does indeed require a +very strong imagination to conceive that these were the first created of +all living things. And you must take into consideration the fact that +we have not the slightest proof that these which we call the oldest beds +are really so: I repeat, we have not the slightest proof of it. When you +find in some places that in an enormous thickness of rocks there are but +very scanty traces of life, or absolutely none at all; and that in other +parts of the world rocks of the very same formation are crowded with the +records of living forms, I think it is impossible to place any reliance +on the supposition, or to feel oneself justified in supposing that these +are the forms in which life first commenced. I have not time here +to enter upon the technical grounds upon which I am led to this +conclusion,--that could hardly be done properly in half a dozen lectures +on that part alone;--I must content myself with saying that I do not at +all believe that these are the oldest forms of life. + +I turn to the experimental side to see what evidence we have there. +To enable us to say that we know anything about the experimental +origination of organization and life, the investigator ought to be able +to take inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and +salines, in any sort of inorganic combination, and be able to build them +up into Protein matter, and that that Protein matter ought to begin to +live in an organic form. That, nobody has done as yet, and I suspect it +will be a long while before anybody does do it. But the thing is by no +means so impossible as it looks; for the researches of modern chemistry +have shown us--I won't say the road towards it, but, if I may so say, +they have shown the finger-post pointing to the road that may lead to +it. + +It is not many years ago--and you must recollect that Organic Chemistry +is a young science, not above a couple of generations old,--you must not +expect too much of it; it is not many years ago since it was said to be +perfectly impossible to fabricate any organic compound; that is to say, +any non-mineral compound which is to be found in an organized being. It +remained so for a very long period; but it is now a considerable number +of years since a distinguished foreign chemist contrived to fabricate +Urea, a substance of a very complex character, which forms one of the +waste products of animal structures. And of late years a number of other +compounds, such as Butyric Acid, and others, have been added to the +list. I need not tell you that chemistry is an enormous distance from +the goal I indicate; all I wish to point out to you is, that it is by no +means safe to say that that goal may not be reached one day. It may be +that it is impossible for us to produce the conditions requisite to the +origination of life; but we must speak modestly about the matter, and +recollect that Science has put her foot upon the bottom round of the +ladder. Truly he would be a bold man who would venture to predict where +she will be fifty years hence. + +There is another inquiry which bears indirectly upon this question, +and upon which I must say a few words. You are all of you aware of the +phenomena of what is called spontaneous generation. Our forefathers, +down to the seventeenth century, or thereabouts, all imagined, in +perfectly good faith, that certain vegetable and animal forms gave +birth, in the process of their decomposition, to insect life. Thus, +if you put a piece of meat in the sun, and allowed it to putrefy, they +conceived that the grubs which soon began to appear were the result +of the action of a power of spontaneous generation which the meat +contained. And they could give you receipts for making various animal +and vegetable preparations which would produce particular kinds of +animals. A very distinguished Italian naturalist, named Redi, took up +the question, at a time when everybody believed in it; among others our +own great Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. You +will constantly find his name quoted, however, as an opponent of the +doctrine of spontaneous generation; but the fact is, and you will see it +if you will take the trouble to look into his works, Harvey believed +it as profoundly as any man of his time; but he happened to enunciate a +very curious proposition--that every living thing came from an 'egg'; he +did not mean to use the word in the sense in which we now employ it, he +only meant to say that every living thing originated in a little rounded +particle of organized substance; and it is from this circumstance, +probably, that the notion of Harvey having opposed the doctrine +originated. Then came Redi, and he proceeded to upset the doctrine in a +very simple manner. He merely covered the piece of meat with some very +fine gauze, and then he exposed it to the same conditions. The result +of this was that no grubs or insects were produced; he proved that the +grubs originated from the insects who came and deposited their eggs in +the meat, and that they were hatched by the heat of the sun. By +this kind of inquiry he thoroughly upset the doctrine of spontaneous +generation, for his time at least. + +Then came the discovery and application of the microscope to scientific +inquiries, which showed to naturalists that besides the organisms which +they already knew as living beings and plants, there were an immense +number of minute things which could be obtained apparently almost at +will from decaying vegetable and animal forms. Thus, if you took some +ordinary black pepper or some hay, and steeped it in water, you would +find in the course of a few days that the water had become impregnated +with an immense number of animalcules swimming about in all directions. +From facts of this kind naturalists were led to revive the theory +of spontaneous generation. They were headed here by an English +naturalist,--Needham,--and afterwards in France by the learned Buffon. +They said that these things were absolutely begotten in the water of +the decaying substances out of which the infusion was made. It did not +matter whether you took animal or vegetable matter, you had only to +steep it in water and expose it, and you would soon have plenty of +animalcules. They made an hypothesis about this which was a very fair +one. They said, this matter of the animal world, or of the higher +plants, appears to be dead, but in reality it has a sort of dim life +about it, which, if it is placed under fair conditions, will cause it +to break up into the forms of these little animalcules, and they will go +through their lives in the same way as the animal or plant of which they +once formed a part. + +The question now became very hotly debated. Spallanzani, an Italian +naturalist, took up opposite views to those of Needham and Buffon, and +by means of certain experiments he showed that it was quite possible to +stop the process by boiling the water, and closing the vessel in which +it was contained. "Oh!" said his opponents; "but what do you know you +may be doing when you heat the air over the water in this way? You may +be destroying some property of the air requisite for the spontaneous +generation of the animalcules." + +However, Spallanzani's views were supposed to be upon the right side, +and those of the others fell into discredit; although the fact was +that Spallanzani had not made good his views. Well, then, the subject +continued to be revived from time to time, and experiments were made by +several persons; but these experiments were not altogether satisfactory. +It was found that if you put an infusion in which animalcules would +appear if it were exposed to the air into a vessel and boiled it, and +then sealed up the mouth of the vessel, so that no air, save such as +had been heated to 212 degrees, could reach its contents, that then no +animalcules would be found; but if you took the same vessel and exposed +the infusion to the air, then you would get animalcules. Furthermore, it +was found that if you connected the mouth of the vessel with a red-hot +tube in such a way that the air would have to pass through the tube +before reaching the infusion, that then you would get no animalcules. +Yet another thing was noticed: if you took two flasks containing the +same kind of infusion, and left one entirely exposed to the air, and +in the mouth of the other placed a ball of cotton wool, so that the air +would have to filter itself through it before reaching the infusion, +that then, although you might have plenty of animalcules in the first +flask, you would certainly obtain none from the second. + +These experiments, you see, all tended towards one conclusion--that the +infusoria were developed from little minute spores or eggs which +were constantly floating in the atmosphere, which lose their power of +germination if subjected to heat. But one observer now made another +experiment which seemed to go entirely the other way, and puzzled +him altogether. He took some of this boiled infusion that I have been +speaking of, and by the use of a mercurial bath--a kind of trough used +in laboratories--he deftly inverted a vessel containing the infusion +into the mercury, so that the latter reached a little beyond the level +of the mouth of the 'inverted' vessel. You see that he thus had a +quantity of the infusion shut off from any possible communication with +the outer air by being inverted upon a bed of mercury. + +He then prepared some pure oxygen and nitrogen gases, and passed them +by means of a tube going from the outside of the vessel, up through the +mercury into the infusion; so that he thus had it exposed to a perfectly +pure atmosphere of the same constituents as the external air. Of course, +he expected he would get no infusorial animalcules at all in that +infusion; but, to his great dismay and discomfiture, he found he almost +always did get them. + +Furthermore, it has been found that experiments made in the manner +described above answer well with most infusions; but that if you fill +the vessel with boiled milk, and then stop the neck with cotton-wool, +you 'will' have infusoria. So that you see there were two experiments +that brought you to one kind of conclusion, and three to another; which +was a most unsatisfactory state of things to arrive at in a scientific +inquiry. + +Some few years after this, the question began to be very hotly discussed +in France. There was M. Pouchet, a professor at Rouen, a very learned +man, but certainly not a very rigid experimentalist. He published a +number of experiments of his own, some of which were very ingenious, to +show that if you went to work in a proper way, there was a truth in +the doctrine of spontaneous generation. Well, it was one of the most +fortunate things in the world that M. Pouchet took up this question, +because it induced a distinguished French chemist, M. Pasteur, to take +up the question on the other side; and he has certainly worked it out +in the most perfect manner. I am glad to say, too, that he has published +his researches in time to enable me to give you an account of them. He +verified all the experiments which I have just mentioned to you--and +then finding those extraordinary anomalies, as in the case of the +mercury bath and the milk, he set himself to work to discover their +nature. In the case of milk he found it to be a question of temperature. +Milk in a fresh state is slightly alkaline; and it is a very curious +circumstance, but this very slight degree of alkalinity seems to have +the effect of preserving the organisms which fall into it from the +air from being destroyed at a temperature of 212 degrees, which is the +boiling point. But if you raise the temperature 10 degrees when you boil +it, the milk behaves like everything else; and if the air with which +it comes in contact, after being boiled at this temperature, is passed +through a red-hot tube, you will not get a trace of organisms. + +He then turned his attention to the mercury bath, and found on +examination that the surface of the mercury was almost always covered +with a very fine dust. He found that even the mercury itself was +positively full of organic matters; that from being constantly exposed +to the air, it had collected an immense number of these infusorial +organisms from the air. Well, under these circumstances he felt that the +case was quite clear, and that the mercury was not what it had appeared +to M. Schwann to be,--a bar to the admission of these organisms; but +that, in reality, it acted as a reservoir from which the infusion was +immediately supplied with the large quantity that had so puzzled him. + +But not content with explaining the experiments of others, M. Pasteur +went to work to satisfy himself completely. He said to himself: "If +my view is right, and if, in point of fact, all these appearances of +spontaneous generation are altogether due to the falling of minute germs +suspended in the atmosphere,--why, I ought not only to be able to show +the germs, but I ought to be able to catch and sow them, and produce +the resulting organisms." He, accordingly, constructed a very ingenious +apparatus to enable him to accomplish this trapping of this "germ dust" +in the air. He fixed in the window of his room a glass tube, in the +centre of which he had placed a ball of gun-cotton, which, as you all +know, is ordinary cotton-wool, which, from having been steeped in strong +acid, is converted into a substance of great explosive power. It is also +soluble in alcohol and ether. One end of the glass tube was, of course, +open to the external air; and at the other end of it he placed an +aspirator, a contrivance for causing a current of the external air to +pass through the tube. He kept this apparatus going for four-and-twenty +hours, and then removed the 'dusted' gun-cotton, and dissolved it in +alcohol and ether. He then allowed this to stand for a few hours, and +the result was, that a very fine dust was gradually deposited at +the bottom of it. That dust, on being transferred to the stage of a +microscope, was found to contain an enormous number of starch grains. +You know that the materials of our food and the greater portion of +plants are composed of starch, and we are constantly making use of it in +a variety of ways, so that there is always a quantity of it suspended +in the air. It is these starch grains which form many of those bright +specks that we see dancing in a ray of light sometimes. But besides +these, M. Pasteur found also an immense number of other organic +substances such as spores of fungi, which had been floating about in the +air and had got caged in this way. + +He went farther, and said to himself, "If these really are the things +that give rise to the appearance of spontaneous generation, I ought to +be able to take a ball of this 'dusted' gun-cotton and put it into one +of my vessels, containing that boiled infusion which has been kept away +from the air, and in which no infusoria are at present developed, and +then, if I am right, the introduction of this gun-cotton will give rise +to organisms." + +Accordingly, he took one of these vessels of infusion, which had been +kept eighteen months, without the least appearance of life, and by a +most ingenious contrivance, he managed to break it open and introduce +such a ball of gun-cotton, without allowing the infusion or the cotton +ball to come into contact with any air but that which had been subjected +to a red heat, and in twenty-four hours he had the satisfaction of +finding all the indications of what had been hitherto called spontaneous +generation. He had succeeded in catching the germs and developing +organisms in the way he had anticipated. + +It now struck him that the truth of his conclusions might be +demonstrated without all the apparatus he had employed. To do this, he +took some decaying animal or vegetable substance, such as urine, which +is an extremely decomposable substance, or the juice of yeast, or +perhaps some other artificial preparation, and filled a vessel having a +long tubular neck with it. He then boiled the liquid and bent that +long neck into an S shape or zig-zag, leaving it open at the end. The +infusion then gave no trace of any appearance of spontaneous generation, +however long it might be left, as all the germs in the air were +deposited in the beginning of the bent neck. He then cut the tube close +to the vessel, and allowed the ordinary air to have free and direct +access; and the result of that was the appearance of organisms in it, as +soon as the infusion had been allowed to stand long enough to allow +of the growth of those it received from the air, which was about +forty-eight hours. The result of M. Pasteur's experiments proved, +therefore, in the most conclusive manner, that all the appearances of +spontaneous generation arose from nothing more than the deposition of +the germs of organisms which were constantly floating in the air. + +To this conclusion, however, the objection was made, that if that were +the cause, then the air would contain such an enormous number of these +germs, that it would be a continual fog. But M. Pasteur replied that +they are not there in anything like the number we might suppose, and +that an exaggerated view has been held on that subject; he showed that +the chances of animal or vegetable life appearing in infusions, depend +entirely on the conditions under which they are exposed. If they are +exposed to the ordinary atmosphere around us, why, of course, you may +have organisms appearing early. But, on the other hand, if they are +exposed to air from a great height, or from some very quiet cellar, you +will often not find a single trace of life. + +So that M. Pasteur arrived at last at the clear and definite result, +that all these appearances are like the case of the worms in the piece +of meat, which was refuted by Redi, simply germs carried by the air and +deposited in the liquids in which they afterwards appear. For my own +part, I conceive that, with the particulars of M. Pasteur's experiments +before us, we cannot fail to arrive at his conclusions; and that the +doctrine of spontaneous generation has received a final 'coup de grace'. + +You, of course, understand that all this in no way interferes with the +POSSIBILITY of the fabrication of organic matters by the direct method +to which I have referred, remote as that possibility may be. + +End of The Origination of Living Beings. + + + + +THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION AND VARIATION. + +The inquiry which we undertook, at our last meeting, into the state of +our knowledge of the causes of the phenomena of organic nature,--of the +past and of the present,--resolved itself into two subsidiary inquiries: +the first was, whether we know anything, either historically or +experimentally, of the mode of origin of living beings; the second +subsidiary inquiry was, whether, granting the origin, we know anything +about the perpetuation and modifications of the forms of organic beings. +The reply which I had to give to the first question was altogether +negative, and the chief result of my last lecture was, that, neither +historically nor experimentally, do we at present know anything +whatsoever about the origin of living forms. We saw that, historically, +we are not likely to know anything about it, although we may perhaps +learn something experimentally; but that at present we are an enormous +distance from the goal I indicated. + +I now, then, take up the next question, What do we know of the +reproduction, the perpetuation, and the modifications of the forms +of living beings, supposing that we have put the question as to their +origination on one side, and have assumed that at present the causes of +their origination are beyond us, and that we know nothing about them? +Upon this question the state of our knowledge is extremely different; it +is exceedingly large, and, if not complete, our experience is certainly +most extensive. It would be impossible to lay it all before you, and the +most I can do, or need do to-night, is to take up the principal points +and put them before you with such prominence as may subserve the +purposes of our present argument. + +The method of the perpetuation of organic beings is of two kinds,--the +asexual and the sexual. In the first the perpetuation takes place from +and by a particular act of an individual organism, which sometimes may +not be classed as belonging to any sex at all. In the second case, it is +in consequence of the mutual action and interaction of certain portions +of the organisms of usually two distinct individuals,--the male and the +female. The cases of asexual perpetuation are by no means so common as +the cases of sexual perpetuation; and they are by no means so common in +the animal as in the vegetable world. You are all probably familiar with +the fact, as a matter of experience, that you can propagate plants +by means of what are called "cuttings;" for example, that by taking a +cutting from a geranium plant, and rearing it properly, by supplying it +with light and warmth and nourishment from the earth, it grows up +and takes the form of its parent, having all the properties and +peculiarities of the original plant. + +Sometimes this process, which the gardener performs artificially, takes +place naturally; that is to say, a little bulb, or portion of the plant, +detaches itself, drops off, and becomes capable of growing as a separate +thing. That is the case with many bulbous plants, which throw off in +this way secondary bulbs, which are lodged in the ground and become +developed into plants. This is an asexual process, and from it results +the repetition or reproduction of the form of the original being from +which the bulb proceeds. + +Among animals the same thing takes place. Among the lower forms of +animal life, the infusorial animalculae we have already spoken of throw +off certain portions, or break themselves up in various directions, +sometimes transversely or sometimes longitudinally; or they may give off +buds, which detach themselves and develop into their proper forms. There +is the common fresh-water Polype, for instance, which multiplies itself +in this way. Just in the same way as the gardener is able to multiply +and reproduce the peculiarities and characters of particular plants +by means of cuttings, so can the physiological experimentalist--as was +shown by the Abbe Trembley many years ago--so can he do the same thing +with many of the lower forms of animal life. M. de Trembley showed that +you could take a polype and cut it into two, or four, or many pieces, +mutilating it in all directions, and the pieces would still grow up +and reproduce completely the original form of the animal. These are +all cases of asexual multiplication, and there are other instances, +and still more extraordinary ones, in which this process takes place +naturally, in a more hidden, a more recondite kind of way. You are all +of you familiar with those little green insects, the 'Aphis' or blight, +as it is called. These little animals, during a very considerable part +of their existence, multiply themselves by means of a kind of internal +budding, the buds being developed into essentially asexual animals, +which are neither male nor female; they become converted into young +'Aphides', which repeat the process, and their offspring after them, +and so on again; you may go on for nine or ten, or even twenty or more +successions; and there is no very good reason to say how soon it might +terminate, or how long it might not go on if the proper conditions of +warmth and nourishment were kept up. + +Sexual reproduction is quite a distinct matter. Here, in all these +cases, what is required is the detachment of two portions of the +parental organisms, which portions we know as the egg and the +spermatozoon. In plants it is the ovule and the pollen-grain, as in +the flowering plants, or the ovule and the antherozooid, as in the +flowerless. Among all forms of animal life, the spermatozoa proceed from +the male sex, and the egg is the product of the female. Now, what is +remarkable about this mode of reproduction is this, that the egg by +itself, or the spermatozoa by themselves, are unable to assume the +parental form; but if they be brought into contact with one another, the +effect of the mixture of organic substances proceeding from two sources +appears to confer an altogether new vigour to the mixed product. This +process is brought about, as we all know, by the sexual intercourse of +the two sexes, and is called the act of impregnation. The result of this +act on the part of the male and female is, that the formation of a new +being is set up in the ovule or egg; this ovule or egg soon begins to +be divided and subdivided, and to be fashioned into various complex +organisms, and eventually to develop into the form of one of its +parents, as I explained in the first lecture. These are the processes by +which the perpetuation of organic beings is secured. Why there should be +the two modes--why this re-invigoration should be required on the part +of the female element we do not know; but it is most assuredly the +fact, and it is presumable, that, however long the process of asexual +multiplication could be continued, I say there is good reason to believe +that it would come to an end if a new commencement were not obtained by +a conjunction of the two sexual elements. + +That character which is common to these two distinct processes is +this, that, whether we consider the reproduction, or perpetuation, or +modification of organic beings as they take place asexually, or as they +may take place sexually,--in either case, I say, the offspring has a +constant tendency to assume, speaking generally, the character of the +parent. As I said just now, if you take a slip of a plant, and tend it +with care, it will eventually grow up and develop into a plant like +that from which it had sprung; and this tendency is so strong that, as +gardeners know, this mode of multiplying by means of cuttings is the +only secure mode of propagating very many varieties of plants; the +peculiarity of the primitive stock seems to be better preserved if you +propagate it by means of a slip than if you resort to the sexual mode. + +Again, in experiments upon the lower animals, such as the polype, to +which I have referred, it is most extraordinary that, although cut up +into various pieces, each particular piece will grow up into the form of +the primitive stock; the head, if separated, will reproduce the body +and the tail; and if you cut off the tail, you will find that that will +reproduce the body and all the rest of the members, without in any way +deviating from the plan of the organism from which these portions have +been detached. And so far does this go, that some experimentalists have +carefully examined the lower orders of animals,--among them the +Abbe Spallanzani, who made a number of experiments upon snails and +salamanders,--and have found that they might mutilate them to an +incredible extent; that you might cut off the jaw or the greater part +of the head, or the leg or the tail, and repeat the experiment several +times, perhaps, cutting off the same member again and again; and yet +each of those types would be reproduced according to the primitive type: +nature making no mistake, never putting on a fresh kind of leg, or head, +or tail, but always tending to repeat and to return to the primitive +type. + +It is the same in sexual reproduction: it is a matter of perfectly +common experience, that the tendency on the part of the offspring always +is, speaking broadly, to reproduce the form of the parents. The +proverb has it that the thistle does not bring forth grapes; so, among +ourselves, there is always a likeness, more or less marked and distinct, +between children and their parents. That is a matter of familiar and +ordinary observation. We notice the same thing occurring in the cases +of the domestic animals--dogs, for instance, and their offspring. In +all these cases of propagation and perpetuation, there seems to be +a tendency in the offspring to take the characters of the parental +organisms. To that tendency a special name is given--it is called +'Atavism', it expresses this tendency to revert to the ancestral type, +and comes from the Latin word 'atavus', ancestor. + +Well, this 'Atavism' which I shall speak of, is, as I said before, one +of the most marked and striking tendencies of organic beings; but, side +by side with this hereditary tendency there is an equally distinct and +remarkable tendency to variation. The tendency to reproduce the original +stock has, as it were, its limits, and side by side with it there is a +tendency to vary in certain directions, as if there were two opposing +powers working upon the organic being, one tending to take it in a +straight line, and the other tending to make it diverge from that +straight line, first to one side and then to the other. + +So that you see these two tendencies need not precisely contradict one +another, as the ultimate result may not always be very remote from what +would have been the case if the line had been quite straight. + +This tendency to variation is less marked in that mode of propagation +which takes place asexually; it is in that mode that the minor +characters of animal and vegetable structures are most completely +preserved. Still, it will happen sometimes, that the gardener, when he +has planted a cutting of some favourite plant, will find, contrary to +his expectation, that the slip grows up a little different from the +primitive stock--that it produces flowers of a different colour or make, +or some deviation in one way or another. This is what is called the +'sporting' of plants. + +In animals the phenomena of asexual propagation are so obscure, that +at present we cannot be said to know much about them; but if we turn to +that mode of perpetuation which results from the sexual process, then +we find variation a perfectly constant occurrence, to a certain extent; +and, indeed, I think that a certain amount of variation from the +primitive stock is the necessary result of the method of sexual +propagation itself; for, inasmuch as the thing propagated proceeds from +two organisms of different sexes and different makes and temperaments, +and as the offspring is to be either of one sex or the other, it is +quite clear that it cannot be an exact diagonal of the two, or it would +be of no sex at all; it cannot be an exact intermediate form between +that of each of its parents--it must deviate to one side or the other. +You do not find that the male follows the precise type of the male +parent, nor does the female always inherit the precise characteristics +of the mother,--there is always a proportion of the female character in +the male offspring, and of the male character in the female offspring. +That must be quite plain to all of you who have looked at all +attentively on your own children or those of your neighbours; you will +have noticed how very often it may happen that the son shall exhibit the +maternal type of character, or the daughter possess the characteristics +of the father's family. There are all sorts of intermixtures and +intermediate conditions between the two, where complexion, or beauty, +or fifty other different peculiarities belonging to either side of the +house, are reproduced in other members of the same family. Indeed, it +is sometimes to be remarked in this kind of variation, that the variety +belongs, strictly speaking, to neither of the immediate parents; you +will see a child in a family who is not like either its father or its +mother; but some old person who knew its grandfather or grandmother, or, +it may be, an uncle, or, perhaps, even a more distant relative, will see +a great similarity between the child and one of these. In this way it +constantly happens that the characteristic of some previous member +of the family comes out and is reproduced and recognised in the most +unexpected manner. + +But apart from that matter of general experience, there are some cases +which put that curious mixture in a very clear light. You are aware that +the offspring of the Ass and the Horse, or rather of the he-Ass and the +Mare, is what is called a Mule; and, on the other hand, the offspring +of the Stallion and the she-Ass is what is called a 'Hinny'. I never saw +one myself; but they have been very carefully studied. Now, the +curious thing is this, that although you have the same elements in +the experiment in each case, the offspring is entirely different in +character, according as the male influence comes from the Ass or the +Horse. Where the Ass is the male, as in the case of the Mule, you find +that the head is like that of the Ass, that the ears are long, the +tail is tufted at the end, the feet are small, and the voice is an +unmistakable bray; these are all points of similarity to the Ass; but, +on the other hand, the barrel of the body and the cut of the neck are +much more like those of the Mare. Then, if you look at the Hinny,--the +result of the union of the Stallion and the she-Ass, then you find it is +the Horse that has the predominance; that the head is more like that +of the Horse, the ears are shorter, the legs coarser, and the type is +altogether altered; while the voice, instead of being a bray, is the +ordinary neigh of the Horse. Here, you see, is a most curious thing: you +take exactly the same elements, Ass and Horse, but you combine the sexes +in a different manner, and the result is modified accordingly. You +have in this case, however, a result which is not general and +universal--there is usually an important preponderance, but not always +on the same side. + +Here, then, is one intelligible, and, perhaps, necessary cause of +variation: the fact, that there are two sexes sharing in the production +of the offspring, and that the share taken by each is different and +variable, not only for each combination, but also for different members +of the same family. + +Secondly, there is a variation, to a certain extent--though, in +all probability, the influence of this cause has been very much +exaggerated--but there is no doubt that variation is produced, to a +certain extent, by what are commonly known as external conditions,--such +as temperature, food, warmth, and moisture. In the long run, every +variation depends, in some sense, upon external conditions, seeing that +everything has a cause of its own. I use the term "external conditions" +now in the sense in which it is ordinarily employed: certain it is, that +external conditions have a definite effect. You may take a plant which +has single flowers, and by dealing with the soil, and nourishment, and +so on, you may by-and-by convert single flowers into double flowers, +and make thorns shoot out into branches. You may thicken or make various +modifications in the shape of the fruit. In animals, too, you may +produce analogous changes in this way, as in the case of that deep +bronze colour which persons rarely lose after having passed any length +of time in tropical countries. You may also alter the development of +the muscles very much, by dint of training; all the world knows that +exercise has a great effect in this way; we always expect to find the +arm of a blacksmith hard and wiry, and possessing a large development +of the brachial muscles. No doubt training, which is one of the forms +of external conditions, converts what are originally only instructions, +teachings, into habits, or, in other words, into organizations, to a +great extent; but this second cause of variation cannot be considered +to be by any means a large one. The third cause that I have to mention, +however, is a very extensive one. It is one that, for want of a better +name, has been called "spontaneous variation;" which means that when +we do not know anything about the cause of phenomena, we call it +spontaneous. In the orderly chain of causes and effects in this world, +there are very few things of which it can be said with truth that they +are spontaneous. Certainly not in these physical matters,--in +these there is nothing of the kind,--everything depends on previous +conditions. But when we cannot trace the cause of phenomena, we call +them spontaneous. + +Of these variations, multitudinous as they are, but little is known with +perfect accuracy. I will mention to you some two or three cases, because +they are very remarkable in themselves, and also because I shall want to +use them afterwards. Reaumur, a famous French naturalist, a great +many years ago, in an essay which he wrote upon the art of hatching +chickens,--which was indeed a very curious essay,--had occasion to speak +of variations and monstrosities. One very remarkable case had come under +his notice of a variation in the form of a human member, in the person +of a Maltese, of the name of Gratio Kelleia, who was born with six +fingers upon each hand, and the like number of toes to each of his feet. +That was a case of spontaneous variation. Nobody knows why he was born +with that number of fingers and toes, and as we don't know, we call it a +case of "spontaneous" variation. There is another remarkable case also. +I select these, because they happen to have been observed and noted very +carefully at the time. It frequently happens that a variation occurs, +but the persons who notice it do not take any care in noting down the +particulars, until at length, when inquiries come to be made, the exact +circumstances are forgotten; and hence, multitudinous as may be such +"spontaneous" variations, it is exceedingly difficult to get at the +origin of them. + +The second case is one of which you may find the whole details in the +"Philosophical Transactions" for the year 1813, in a paper communicated +by Colonel Humphrey to the President of the Royal Society,--"On a new +Variety in the Breed of Sheep," giving an account of a very remarkable +breed of sheep, which at one time was well known in the northern states +of America, and which went by the name of the Ancon or the Otter breed +of sheep. In the year 1791, there was a farmer of the name of Seth +Wright in Massachusetts, who had a flock of sheep, consisting of a ram +and, I think, of some twelve or thirteen ewes. Of this flock of ewes, +one at the breeding-time bore a lamb which was very singularly formed; +it had a very long body, very short legs, and those legs were bowed! +I will tell you by-and-by how this singular variation in the breed of +sheep came to be noted, and to have the prominence that it now has. For +the present, I mention only these two cases; but the extent of variation +in the breed of animals is perfectly obvious to any one who has studied +natural history with ordinary attention, or to any person who compares +animals with others of the same kind. It is strictly true that there are +never any two specimens which are exactly alike; however similar, they +will always differ in some certain particular. + +Now let us go back to Atavism,--to the hereditary tendency I spoke +of. What will come of a variation when you breed from it, when Atavism +comes, if I may say so, to intersect variation? The two cases of which +I have mentioned the history, give a most excellent illustration of +what occurs. Gratio Kelleia, the Maltese, married when he was twenty-two +years of age, and, as I suppose there were no six-fingered ladies in +Malta, he married an ordinary five-fingered person. The result of that +marriage was four children; the first, who was christened Salvator, had +six fingers and six toes, like his father; the second was George, who +had five fingers and toes, but one of them was deformed, showing a +tendency to variation; the third was Andre; he had five fingers and five +toes, quite perfect; the fourth was a girl, Marie; she had five fingers +and five toes, but her thumbs were deformed, showing a tendency toward +the sixth. + +These children grew up, and when they came to adult years, they all +married, and of course it happened that they all married five-fingered +and five-toed persons. Now let us see what were the results. Salvator +had four children; they were two boys, a girl, and another boy; the +first two boys and the girl were six-fingered and six-toed like their +grandfather; the fourth boy had only five fingers and five toes. George +had only four children; there were two girls with six fingers and six +toes; there was one girl with six fingers and five toes on the right +side, and five fingers and five toes on the left side, so that she was +half and half. The last, a boy, had five fingers and five toes. The +third, Andre, you will recollect, was perfectly well-formed, and he had +many children whose hands and feet were all regularly developed. Marie, +the last, who, of course, married a man who had only five fingers, had +four children; the first, a boy, was born with six toes, but the other +three were normal. + +Now observe what very extraordinary phenomena are presented here. +You have an accidental variation arising from what you may call a +monstrosity; you have that monstrosity tendency or variation diluted in +the first instance by an admixture with a female of normal construction, +and you would naturally expect that, in the results of such an union, +the monstrosity, if repeated, would be in equal proportion with the +normal type; that is to say, that the children would be half and half, +some taking the peculiarity of the father, and the others being of +the purely normal type of the mother; but you see we have a great +preponderance of the abnormal type. Well, this comes to be mixed once +more with the pure, the normal type, and the abnormal is again produced +in large proportion, notwithstanding the second dilution. Now what would +have happened if these abnormal types had intermarried with each other; +that is to say, suppose the two boys of Salvator had taken it into their +heads to marry their first cousins, the two first girls of George, their +uncle? You will remember that these are all of the abnormal type of +their grandfather. The result would probably have been, that their +offspring would have been in every case a further development of that +abnormal type. You see it is only in the fourth, in the person of +Marie, that the tendency, when it appears but slightly in the second +generation, is washed out in the third, while the progeny of Andre, who +escaped in the first instance, escape altogether. + +We have in this case a good example of nature's tendency to the +perpetuation of a variation. Here it is certainly a variation which +carried with it no use or benefit; and yet you see the tendency to +perpetuation may be so strong, that, notwithstanding a great admixture +of pure blood, the variety continues itself up to the third generation, +which is largely marked with it. In this case, as I have said, there +was no means of the second generation intermarrying with any but +five-fingered persons, and the question naturally suggests itself, What +would have been the result of such marriage? Reaumur narrates this case +only as far as the third generation. Certainly it would have been +an exceedingly curious thing if we could have traced this matter any +further; had the cousins intermarried, a six-fingered variety of the +human race might have been set up. + +To show you that this supposition is by no means an unreasonable one, +let me now point out what took place in the case of Seth Wright's sheep, +where it happened to be a matter of moment to him to obtain a breed +or raise a flock of sheep like that accidental variety that I have +described--and I will tell you why. In that part of Massachusetts where +Seth Wright was living, the fields were separated by fences, and the +sheep, which were very active and robust, would roam abroad, and without +much difficulty jump over these fences into other people's farms. As +a matter of course, this exuberant activity on the part of the +sheep constantly gave rise to all sorts of quarrels, bickerings, and +contentions among the farmers of the neighbourhood; so it occurred to +Seth Wright, who was, like his successors, more or less 'cute, that if +he could get a stock of sheep like those with the bandy legs, they would +not be able to jump over the fences so readily, and he acted upon that +idea. He killed his old ram, and as soon as the young one arrived at +maturity, he bred altogether from it. The result was even more striking +than in the human experiment which I mentioned just now. Colonel +Humphreys testifies that it always happened that the offspring were +either pure Ancons or pure ordinary sheep; that in no case was there +any mixing of the Ancons with the others. In consequence of this, in +the course of a very few years, the farmer was able to get a very +considerable flock of this variety, and a large number of them were +spread throughout Massachusetts. Most unfortunately, however--I suppose +it was because they were so common--nobody took enough notice of them to +preserve their skeletons; and although Colonel Humphreys states that he +sent a skeleton to the President of the Royal Society at the same time +that he forwarded his paper, I am afraid that the variety has entirely +disappeared; for a short time after these sheep had become prevalent in +that district, the Merino sheep were introduced; and as their wool was +much more valuable, and as they were a quiet race of sheep, and showed +no tendency to trespass or jump over fences, the Otter breed of sheep, +the wool of which was inferior to that of the Merino, was gradually +allowed to die out. + +You see that these facts illustrate perfectly well what may be done if +you take care to breed from stocks that are similar to each other. After +having got a variation, if, by crossing a variation with the original +stock, you multiply that variation, and then take care to keep that +variation distinct from the original stock, and make them breed +together,--then you may almost certainly produce a race whose tendency +to continue the variation is exceedingly strong. + +This is what is called "selection"; and it is by exactly the same +process as that by which Seth Wright bred his Ancon sheep, that +our breeds of cattle, dogs, and fowls, are obtained. There are some +possibilities of exception, but still, speaking broadly, I may say that +this is the way in which all our varied races of domestic animals have +arisen; and you must understand that it is not one peculiarity or one +characteristic alone in which animals may vary. There is not a single +peculiarity or characteristic of any kind, bodily or mental, in which +offspring may not vary to a certain extent from the parent and other +animals. + +Among ourselves this is well known. The simplest physical peculiarity is +mostly reproduced. I know a case of a man whose wife has the lobe of +one of her ears a little flattened. An ordinary observer might scarcely +notice it, and yet every one of her children has an approximation to the +same peculiarity to some extent. If you look at the other extreme, too, +the gravest diseases, such as gout, scrofula, and consumption, may be +handed down with just the same certainty and persistence as we noticed +in the perpetuation of the bandy legs of the Ancon sheep. + +However, these facts are best illustrated in animals, and the extent +of the variation, as is well known, is very remarkable in dogs. For +example, there are some dogs very much smaller than others; indeed, the +variation is so enormous that probably the smallest dog would be about +the size of the head of the largest; there are very great variations in +the structural forms not only of the skeleton but also in the shape of +the skull, and in the proportions of the face and the disposition of the +teeth. + +The Pointer, the Retriever, Bulldog, and the Terrier, differ very +greatly, and yet there is every reason to believe that every one +of these races has arisen from the same source,--that all the most +important races have arisen by this selective breeding from accidental +variation. + +A still more striking case of what may be done by selective breeding, +and it is a better case, because there is no chance of that partial +infusion of error to which I alluded, has been studied very carefully by +Mr. Darwin,--the case of the domestic pigeons. I dare say there may +be some among you who may be pigeon 'fanciers', and I wish you to +understand that in approaching the subject, I would speak with all +humility and hesitation, as I regret to say that I am not a pigeon +fancier. I know it is a great art and mystery, and a thing upon which +a man must not speak lightly; but I shall endeavour, as far as +my understanding goes, to give you a summary of the published and +unpublished information which I have gained from Mr. Darwin. + +Among the enormous variety,--I believe there are somewhere about a +hundred and fifty kinds of pigeons,--there are four kinds which may +be selected as representing the extremest divergences of one kind from +another. Their names are the Carrier, the Pouter, the Fantail, and +the Tumbler. In the large diagrams they are each represented in their +relative sizes to each other. This first one is the Carrier; you will +notice this large excrescence on its beak; it has a comparatively small +head; there is a bare space round the eyes; it has a long neck, a very +long beak, very strong legs, large feet, long wings, and so on. The +second one is the Pouter, a very large bird, with very long legs and +beak. It is called the Pouter because it is in the habit of causing its +gullet to swell up by inflating it with air. I should tell you that all +pigeons have a tendency to do this at times, but in the Pouter it is +carried to an enormous extent. The birds appear to be quite proud of +their power of swelling and puffing themselves out in this way; and I +think it is about as droll a sight as you can well see to look at a +cage full of these pigeons puffing and blowing themselves out in this +ridiculous manner. + +The third kind I mentioned--the Fantail--is a small bird, with +exceedingly small legs and a very small beak. It is most curiously +distinguished by the size and extent of its tail, which, instead of +containing twelve feathers, may have many more,--say thirty, or even +more--I believe there are some with as many as forty-two. This bird has +a curious habit of spreading out the feathers of its tail in such a +way that they reach forward, and touch its head; and if this can be +accomplished, I believe it is looked upon as a point of great beauty. + +But here is the last great variety,--the Tumbler; and of that great +variety, one of the principal kinds, and one most prized, is the +specimen represented here--the short-faced Tumbler. Its beak is reduced +to a mere nothing. Just compare the beak of this one and that of the +first one, the Carrier--I believe the orthodox comparison of the head +and beak of a thoroughly well-bred Tumbler is to stick an oat into a +cherry, and that will give you the proper relative proportions of the +head and beak. The feet and legs are exceedingly small, and the bird +appears to be quite a dwarf when placed side by side with this great +Carrier. + +These are differences enough in regard to their external appearance; but +these differences are by no means the whole or even the most important +of the differences which obtain between these birds. There is hardly +a single point of their structure which has not become more or less +altered; and to give you an idea of how extensive these alterations +are, I have here some very good skeletons, for which I am indebted to my +friend, Mr. Tegetmeier, a great authority in these matters; by means +of which, if you examine them by-and-by, you will be able to see the +enormous difference in their bony structures. + +I had the privilege, some time ago, of access to some important MSS. of +Mr. Darwin, who, I may tell you, has taken very great pains and +spent much valuable time and attention on the investigation of these +variations, and getting together all the facts that bear upon them. +I obtained from these MSS. the following summary of the differences +between the domestic breeds of pigeons; that is to say, a notification +of the various points in which their organization differs. In the first +place, the back of the skull may differ a good deal, and the development +of the bones of the face may vary a great deal; the back varies a good +deal; the shape of the lower jaw varies; the tongue varies very greatly, +not only in correlation to the length and size of the beak, but it seems +also to have a kind of independent variation of its own. Then the amount +of naked skin round the eyes, and at the base of the beak, may vary +enormously; so may the length of the eyelids, the shape of the nostrils, +and the length of the neck. I have already noticed the habit of blowing +out the gullet, so remarkable in the Pouter, and comparatively so in the +others. There are great differences, too, in the size of the female and +the male, the shape of the body, the number and width of the processes +of the ribs, the development of the ribs, and the size, shape, and +development of the breastbone. We may notice, too,--and I mention +the fact because it has been disputed by what is assumed to be high +authority,--the variation in the number of the sacral vertebrae. The +number of these varies from eleven to fourteen, and that without any +diminution in the number of the vertebrae of the back or of the tail. +Then the number and position of the tail-feathers may vary enormously, +and so may the number of the primary and secondary feathers of the +wings. Again, the length of the feet and of the beak,--although they +have no relation to each other, yet appear to go together,--that is, you +have a long beak wherever you have long feet. There are differences also +in the periods of the acquirement of the perfect plumage,--the size +and shape of the eggs,--the nature of flight, and the powers of +flight,--so-called "homing" birds having enormous flying powers;* +([Footnote] *The "Carrier," I learn from Mr. Tegetmeier, does not +'carry'; a high-bred bird of this breed being but a poor flier. The +birds which fly long distances, and come home,--"homing" birds,--and are +consequently used as carriers, are not "carriers" in the fancy sense.) +while, on the other hand, the little Tumbler is so called because of its +extraordinary faculty of turning head over heels in the air, instead of +pursuing a direct course. And, lastly, the dispositions and voices of +the birds may vary. Thus the case of the pigeons shows you that there +is hardly a single particular,--whether of instinct, or habit, or +bony structure, or of plumage,--of either the internal economy or the +external shape, in which some variation or change may not take place, +which, by selective breeding, may become perpetuated, and form the +foundation of, and give rise to, a new race. + +If you carry in your mind's eye these four varieties of pigeons, you +will bear with you as good a notion as you can have, perhaps, of the +enormous extent to which a deviation from a primitive type may be +carried by means of this process of selective breeding. + +End of The Perpetuation of Living Beings. + + + + +THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS. + +In the last Lecture I endeavoured to prove to you that, while, as a +general rule, organic beings tend to reproduce their kind, there is +in them, also, a constantly recurring tendency to vary--to vary to a +greater or to a less extent. Such a variety, I pointed out to you, might +arise from causes which we do not understand; we therefore called it +spontaneous; and it might come into existence as a definite and marked +thing, without any gradations between itself and the form which preceded +it. I further pointed out, that such a variety having once arisen, +might be perpetuated to some extent, and indeed to a very marked extent, +without any direct interference, or without any exercise of that process +which we called selection. And then I stated further, that by such +selection, when exercised artificially--if you took care to breed only +from those forms which presented the same peculiarities of any variety +which had arisen in this manner--the variation might be perpetuated, as +far as we can see, indefinitely. + +The next question, and it is an important one for us, is this: Is there +any limit to the amount of variation from the primitive stock which can +be produced by this process of selective breeding? In considering this +question, it will be useful to class the characteristics, in respect of +which organic beings vary, under two heads: we may consider structural +characteristics, and we may consider physiological characteristics. + +In the first place, as regards structural characteristics, I endeavoured +to show you, by the skeletons which I had upon the table, and by +reference to a great many well-ascertained facts, that the different +breeds of Pigeons, the Carriers, Pouters, and Tumblers, might vary in +any of their internal and important structural characters to a very +great degree; not only might there be changes in the proportions of the +skull, and the characters of the feet and beaks, and so on; but that +there might be an absolute difference in the number of the vertebrae of +the back, as in the sacral vertebrae of the Pouter; and so great is the +extent of the variation in these and similar characters that I pointed +out to you, by reference to the skeletons and the diagrams, that these +extreme varieties may absolutely differ more from one another in their +structural characters than do what naturalists call distinct SPECIES +of pigeons; that is to say, that they differ so much in structure that +there is a greater difference between the Pouter and the Tumbler than +there is between such wild and distinct forms as the Rock Pigeon or +the Ring Pigeon, or the Ring Pigeon and the Stock Dove; and indeed +the differences are of greater value than this, for the structural +differences between these domesticated pigeons are such as would be +admitted by a naturalist, supposing he knew nothing at all about their +origin, to entitle them to constitute even distinct genera. + +As I have used this term SPECIES, and shall probably use it a good deal, +I had better perhaps devote a word or two to explaining what I mean by +it. + +Animals and plants are divided into groups, which become gradually +smaller, beginning with a KINGDOM, which is divided into SUB-KINGDOMS; +then come the smaller divisions called PROVINCES; and so on from a +PROVINCE to a CLASS from a CLASS to an ORDER, from ORDERS to FAMILIES, +and from these to GENERA, until we come at length to the smallest +groups of animals which can be defined one from the other by constant +characters, which are not sexual; and these are what naturalists call +SPECIES in practice, whatever they may do in theory. + +If, in a state of nature, you find any two groups of living beings, +which are separated one from the other by some constantly-recurring +characteristic, I don't care how slight and trivial, so long as it is +defined and constant, and does not depend on sexual peculiarities, then +all naturalists agree in calling them two species; that is what is meant +by the use of the word species--that is to say, it is, for the practical +naturalist, a mere question of structural differences.* ([Footnote] * I +lay stress here on the PRACTICAL signification of "Species." Whether +a physiological test between species exist or not, it is hardly ever +applicable by the practical naturalist.) + +We have seen now--to repeat this point once more, and it is very +essential that we should rightly understand it--we have seen that +breeds, known to have been derived from a common stock by selection, may +be as different in their structure from the original stock as species +may be distinct from each other. + +But is the like true of the physiological characteristics of animals? +Do the physiological differences of varieties amount in degree to those +observed between forms which naturalists call distinct species? This is +a most important point for us to consider. + +As regards the great majority of physiological characteristics, there +is no doubt that they are capable of being developed, increased, and +modified by selection. + +There is no doubt that breeds may be made as different as species in +many physiological characters. I have already pointed out to you very +briefly the different habits of the breeds of Pigeons, all of which +depend upon their physiological peculiarities,--as the peculiar habit of +tumbling, in the Tumbler--the peculiarities of flight, in the "homing" +birds,--the strange habit of spreading out the tail, and walking in a +peculiar fashion, in the Fantail,--and, lastly, the habit of blowing +out the gullet, so characteristic of the Pouter. These are all due +to physiological modifications, and in all these respects these birds +differ as much from each other as any two ordinary species do. + +So with Dogs in their habits and instincts. It is a physiological +peculiarity which leads the Greyhound to chase its prey by sight,--that +enables the Beagle to track it by the scent,--that impels the Terrier to +its rat-hunting propensity,--and that leads the Retriever to its +habit of retrieving. These habits and instincts are all the results of +physiological differences and peculiarities, which have been developed +from a common stock, at least there is every reason to believe so. +But it is a most singular circumstance, that while you may run through +almost the whole series of physiological processes, without finding a +check to your argument, you come at last to a point where you do find +a check, and that is in the reproductive processes. For there is a most +singular circumstance in respect to natural species--at least about some +of them--and it would be sufficient for the purposes of this argument if +it were true of only one of them, but there is, in fact, a great number +of such cases--and that is, that, similar as they may appear to be +to mere races or breeds, they present a marked peculiarity in the +reproductive process. If you breed from the male and female of the same +race, you of course have offspring of the like kind, and if you make the +offspring breed together, you obtain the same result, and if you breed +from these again, you will still have the same kind of offspring; there +is no check. But if you take members of two distinct species, however +similar they may be to each other and make them breed together, you will +find a check, with some modifications and exceptions, however, which I +shall speak of presently. If you cross two such species with each other, +then,--although you may get offspring in the case of the first cross, +yet, if you attempt to breed from the products of that crossing, which +are what are called HYBRIDS--that is, if you couple a male and a female +hybrid--then the result is that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred +you will get no offspring at all; there will be no result whatsoever. + +The reason of this is quite obvious in some cases; the male hybrids, +although possessing all the external appearances and characteristics +of perfect animals, are physiologically imperfect and deficient in the +structural parts of the reproductive elements necessary to generation. +It is said to be invariably the case with the male mule, the cross +between the Ass and the Mare; and hence it is, that, although crossing +the Horse with the Ass is easy enough, and is constantly done, as far as +I am aware, if you take two mules, a male and a female, and endeavour to +breed from them, you get no offspring whatever; no generation will take +place. This is what is called the sterility of the hybrids between two +distinct species. + +You see that this is a very extraordinary circumstance; one does not see +why it should be. The common teleological explanation is, that it is +to prevent the impurity of the blood resulting from the crossing of one +species with another, but you see it does not in reality do anything of +the kind. There is nothing in this fact that hybrids cannot breed with +each other, to establish such a theory; there is nothing to prevent the +Horse breeding with the Ass, or the Ass with the Horse. So that this +explanation breaks down, as a great many explanations of this kind do, +that are only founded on mere assumptions. + +Thus you see that there is a great difference between "mongrels," which +are crosses between distinct races, and "hybrids," which are crosses +between distinct species. The mongrels are, so far as we know, fertile +with one another. But between species, in many cases, you cannot succeed +in obtaining even the first cross: at any rate it is quite certain that +the hybrids are often absolutely infertile one with another. + +Here is a feature, then, great or small as it may be, which +distinguishes natural species of animals. Can we find any approximation +to this in the different races known to be produced by selective +breeding from a common stock? Up to the present time the answer to that +question is absolutely a negative one. As far as we know at present, +there is nothing approximating to this check. In crossing the breeds +between the Fantail and the Pouter, the Carrier and the Tumbler, or any +other variety or race you may name--so far as we know at present--there +is no difficulty in breeding together the mongrels. Take the Carrier and +the Fantail, for instance, and let them represent the Horse and the Ass +in the case of distinct species; then you have, as the result of their +breeding, the Carrier-Fantail mongrel,--we will say the male and female +mongrel,--and, as far as we know, these two when crossed would not be +less fertile than the original cross, or than Carrier with Carrier. +Here, you see, is a physiological contrast between the races produced +by selective modification and natural species. I shall inquire into the +value of this fact, and of some modifying circumstances by and by; for +the present I merely put it broadly before you. + +But while considering this question of the limitations of species, a +word must be said about what is called RECURRENCE--the tendency of races +which have been developed by selective breeding from varieties to return +to their primitive type. This is supposed by many to put an absolute +limit to the extent of selective and all other variations. People say, +"It is all very well to talk about producing these different races, +but you know very well that if you turned all these birds wild, these +Pouters, and Carriers, and so on, they would all return to their +primitive stock." This is very commonly assumed to be a fact, and it is +an argument that is commonly brought forward as conclusive; but if you +will take the trouble to inquire into it rather closely, I think you +will find that it is not worth very much. The first question of course +is, Do they thus return to the primitive stock? And commonly as the +thing is assumed and accepted, it is extremely difficult to get anything +like good evidence of it. It is constantly said, for example, that if +domesticated Horses are turned wild, as they have been in some parts of +Asia Minor and South America, that they return at once to the primitive +stock from which they were bred. But the first answer that you make to +this assumption is, to ask who knows what the primitive stock was; and +the second answer is, that in that case the wild Horses of Asia Minor +ought to be exactly like the wild Horses of South America. If they are +both like the same thing, they ought manifestly to be like each other! +The best authorities, however, tell you that it is quite different. The +wild Horse of Asia is said to be of a dun colour, with a largish head, +and a great many other peculiarities; while the best authorities on +the wild Horses of South America tell you that there is no similarity +between their wild Horses and those of Asia Minor; the cut of their +heads is very different, and they are commonly chestnut or bay-coloured. +It is quite clear, therefore, that as by these facts there ought to +have been two primitive stocks, they go for nothing in support of the +assumption that races recur to one primitive stock, and so far as this +evidence is concerned, it falls to the ground. + +Suppose for a moment that it were so, and that domesticated races, when +turned wild, did return to some common condition, I cannot see that this +would prove much more than that similar conditions are likely to produce +similar results; and that when you take back domesticated animals into +what we call natural conditions, you do exactly the same thing as if you +carefully undid all the work you had gone through, for the purpose of +bringing the animal from its wild to its domesticated state. I do not +see anything very wonderful in the fact, if it took all that trouble to +get it from a wild state, that it should go back into its original state +as soon as you removed the conditions which produced the variation to +the domesticated form. There is an important fact, however, forcibly +brought forward by Mr. Darwin, which has been noticed in connection with +the breeding of domesticated pigeons; and it is, that however different +these breeds of pigeons may be from each other, and we have already +noticed the great differences in these breeds, that if, among any of +those variations, you chance to have a blue pigeon turn up, it will be +sure to have the black bars across the wings, which are characteristic +of the original wild stock, the Rock Pigeon. + +Now, this is certainly a very remarkable circumstance; but I do not see +myself how it tells very strongly either one way or the other. I think, +in fact, that this argument in favour of recurrence to the primitive +type might prove a great deal too much for those who so constantly +bring it forward. For example, Mr. Darwin has very forcibly urged, +that nothing is commoner than if you examine a dun horse--and I had an +opportunity of verifying this illustration lately, while in the islands +of the West Highlands, where there are a great many dun horses--to find +that horse exhibit a long black stripe down his back, very often stripes +on his shoulder, and very often stripes on his legs. I, myself, saw +a pony of this description a short time ago, in a baker's cart, near +Rothesay, in Bute: it had the long stripe down the back, and stripes on +the shoulders and legs, just like those of the Ass, the Quagga, and the +Zebra. Now, if we interpret the theory of recurrence as applied to +this case, might it not be said that here was a case of a variation +exhibiting the characters and conditions of an animal occupying +something like an intermediate position between the Horse, the Ass, the +Quagga, and the Zebra, and from which these had been developed? In the +same way with regard even to Man. Every anatomist will tell you that +there is nothing commoner, in dissecting the human body, than to meet +with what are called muscular variations--that is, if you dissect +two bodies very carefully, you will probably find that the modes of +attachment and insertion of the muscles are not exactly the same in +both, there being great peculiarities in the mode in which the muscles +are arranged; and it is very singular, that in some dissections of the +human body you will come upon arrangements of the muscles very similar +indeed to the same parts in the Apes. Is the conclusion in that case to +be, that this is like the black bars in the case of the Pigeon, and that +it indicates a recurrence to the primitive type from which the animals +have been probably developed? Truly, I think that the opponents of +modification and variation had better leave the argument of recurrence +alone, or it may prove altogether too strong for them. + +To sum up--the evidence as far as we have gone is against the argument +as to any limit to divergences, so far as structure is concerned; and +in favour of a physiological limitation. By selective breeding we can +produce structural divergences as great as those of species, but we +cannot produce equal physiological divergences. For the present I leave +the question there. + +Now, the next problem that lies before us--and it is an extremely +important one--is this: Does this selective breeding occur in nature? +Because, if there is no proof of it, all that I have been telling you +goes for nothing in accounting for the origin of species. Are natural +causes competent to play the part of selection in perpetuating +varieties? Here we labour under very great difficulties. In the last +lecture I had occasion to point out to you the extreme difficulty of +obtaining evidence even of the first origin of those varieties which we +know to have occurred in domesticated animals. I told you, that almost +always the origin of these varieties is overlooked, so that I could only +produce two of three cases, as that of Gratio Kelleia and of the Ancon +sheep. People forget, or do not take notice of them until they come to +have a prominence; and if that is true of artificial cases, under our +own eyes, and in animals in our own care, how much more difficult it +must be to have at first hand good evidence of the origin of varieties +in nature! Indeed, I do not know that it is possible by direct evidence +to prove the origin of a variety in nature, or to prove selective +breeding; but I will tell you what we can prove--and this comes to the +same thing--that varieties exist in nature within the limits of species, +and, what is more, that when a variety has come into existence in +nature, there are natural causes and conditions, which are amply +competent to play the part of a selective breeder; and although that +is not quite the evidence that one would like to have--though it is +not direct testimony--yet it is exceeding good and exceedingly powerful +evidence in its way. + +As to the first point, of varieties existing among natural species, I +might appeal to the universal experience of every naturalist, and of any +person who has ever turned any attention at all to the characteristics +of plants and animals in a state of nature; but I may as well take a few +definite cases, and I will begin with Man himself. + +I am one of those who believe that, at present, there is no evidence +whatever for saying, that mankind sprang originally from any more than a +single pair; I must say, that I cannot see any good ground whatever, or +even any tenable sort of evidence, for believing that there is more than +one species of Man. Nevertheless, as you know, just as there are numbers +of varieties in animals, so there are remarkable varieties of men. I +speak not merely of those broad and distinct variations which you see at +a glance. Everybody, of course, knows the difference between a Negro and +a white man, and can tell a Chinaman from an Englishman. They each +have peculiar characteristics of colour and physiognomy; but you must +recollect that the characters of these races go very far deeper--they +extend to the bony structure, and to the characters of that most +important of all organs to us--the brain; so that, among men belonging +to different races, or even within the same race, one man shall have a +brain a third, or half, or even seventy per cent. bigger than another; +and if you take the whole range of human brains, you will find a +variation in some cases of a hundred per cent. Apart from these +variations in the size of the brain, the characters of the skull vary. +Thus if I draw the figures of a Mongul and of a Negro head on the +blackboard, in the case of the last the breadth would be about +seven-tenths, and in the other it would be nine-tenths of the total +length. So that you see there is abundant evidence of variation among +men in their natural condition. And if you turn to other animals there +is just the same thing. The fox, for example, which has a very large +geographical distribution all over Europe, and parts of Asia, and on the +American Continent, varies greatly. There are mostly large foxes in the +North, and smaller ones in the South. In Germany alone, the foresters +reckon some eight different sorts. + +Of the tiger, no one supposes that there is more than one species; they +extend from the hottest parts of Bengal, into the dry, cold, bitter +steppes of Siberia, into a latitude of 50 degrees,--so that they may +even prey upon the reindeer. These tigers have exceedingly different +characteristics, but still they all keep their general features, so that +there is no doubt as to their being tigers. The Siberian tiger has a +thick fur, a small mane, and a longitudinal stripe down the back, while +the tigers of Java and Sumatra differ in many important respects from +the tigers of Northern Asia. So lions vary; so birds vary; and so, if +you go further back and lower down in creation, you find that fishes +vary. In different streams, in the same country even, you will find the +trout to be quite different to each other and easily recognisable by +those who fish in the particular streams. There is the same differences +in leeches; leech collectors can easily point out to you the differences +and the peculiarities which you yourself would probably pass by; so with +fresh-water mussels; so, in fact, with every animal you can mention. + +In plants there is the same kind of variation. Take such a case even as +the common bramble. The botanists are all at war about it; some of +them wanting to make out that there are many species of it, and others +maintaining that they are but many varieties of one species; and they +cannot settle to this day which is a species and which is a variety! + +So that there can be no doubt whatsoever that any plant and any +animal may vary in nature; that varieties may arise in the way I have +described,--as spontaneous varieties,--and that those varieties may be +perpetuated in the same way that I have shown you spontaneous varieties +are perpetuated; I say, therefore, that there can be no doubt as to the +origin and perpetuation of varieties in nature. + +But the question now is:--Does selection take place in nature? is there +anything like the operation of man in exercising selective breeding, +taking place in nature? You will observe that, at present, I say nothing +about species; I wish to confine myself to the consideration of the +production of those natural races which everybody admits to exist. The +question is, whether in nature there are causes competent to produce +races, just in the same way as man is able to produce by selection, such +races of animals as we have already noticed. + +When a variety has arisen, the CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE are such as to +exercise an influence which is exactly comparable to that of artificial +selection. By Conditions of Existence I mean two things,--there are +conditions which are furnished by the physical, the inorganic world, +and there are conditions of existence which are furnished by the organic +world. There is, in the first place, CLIMATE; under that head I include +only temperature and the varied amount of moisture of particular places. +In the next place there is what is technically called STATION, which +means--given the climate, the particular kind of place in which an +animal or a plant lives or grows; for example, the station of a fish +is in the water, of a fresh-water fish in fresh water; the station of a +marine fish is in the sea, and a marine animal may have a station higher +or deeper. So again with land animals: the differences in their stations +are those of different soils and neighbourhoods; some being best adapted +to a calcareous, and others to an arenaceous soil. The third condition +of existence is FOOD, by which I mean food in the broadest sense, the +supply of the materials necessary to the existence of an organic being; +in the case of a plant the inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, +water, ammonia, and the earthy salts or salines; in the case of the +animal the inorganic and organic matters, which we have seen they +require; then these are all, at least the two first, what we may +call the inorganic or physical conditions of existence. Food takes a +mid-place, and then come the organic conditions; by which I mean the +conditions which depend upon the state of the rest of the organic +creation, upon the number and kind of living beings, with which an +animal is surrounded. You may class these under two heads: there are +organic beings, which operate as 'opponents', and there are organic +beings which operate as 'helpers' to any given organic creature. The +opponents may be of two kinds: there are the 'indirect opponents', which +are what we may call 'rivals'; and there are the 'direct opponents', +those which strive to destroy the creature; and these we call 'enemies'. +By rivals I mean, of course, in the case of plants, those which require +for their support the same kind of soil and station, and, among animals, +those which require the same kind of station, or food, or climate; those +are the indirect opponents; the direct opponents are, of course, those +which prey upon an animal or vegetable. The 'helpers' may also be +regarded as direct and indirect: in the case of a carnivorous animal, +for example, a particular herbaceous plant may in multiplying be an +indirect helper, by enabling the herbivora on which the carnivore preys +to get more food, and thus to nourish the carnivore more abundantly; +the direct helper may be best illustrated by reference to some parasitic +creature, such as the tape-worm. The tape-worm exists in the human +intestines, so that the fewer there are of men the fewer there will be +of tape-worms, other things being alike. It is a humiliating reflection, +perhaps, that we may be classed as direct helpers to the tape-worm, but +the fact is so: we can all see that if there were no men there would be +no tape-worms. + +It is extremely difficult to estimate, in a proper way, the importance +and the working of the Conditions of Existence. I do not think there +were any of us who had the remotest notion of properly estimating them +until the publication of Mr. Darwin's work, which has placed them before +us with remarkable clearness; and I must endeavour, as far as I can in +my own fashion, to give you some notion of how they work. We shall find +it easiest to take a simple case, and one as free as possible from every +kind of complication. + +I will suppose, therefore, that all the habitable part of this +globe--the dry land, amounting to about 51,000,000 square miles,--I will +suppose that the whole of that dry land has the same climate, and that +it is composed of the same kind of rock or soil, so that there will be +the same station everywhere; we thus get rid of the peculiar influence +of different climates and stations. I will then imagine that there shall +be but one organic being in the world, and that shall be a plant. In +this we start fair. Its food is to be carbonic acid, water and ammonia, +and the saline matters in the soil, which are, by the supposition, +everywhere alike. We take one single plant, with no opponents, no +helpers, and no rivals; it is to be a "fair field, and no favour". Now, +I will ask you to imagine further that it shall be a plant which shall +produce every year fifty seeds, which is a very moderate number for a +plant to produce; and that, by the action of the winds and currents, +these seeds shall be equally and gradually distributed over the whole +surface of the land. I want you now to trace out what will occur, and +you will observe that I am not talking fallaciously any more than a +mathematician does when he expounds his problem. If you show that the +conditions of your problem are such as may actually occur in nature and +do not transgress any of the known laws of nature in working out your +proposition, then you are as safe in the conclusion you arrive at as +is the mathematician in arriving at the solution of his problem. In +science, the only way of getting rid of the complications with which a +subject of this kind is environed, is to work in this deductive method. +What will be the result, then? I will suppose that every plant requires +one square foot of ground to live upon; and the result will be that, +in the course of nine years, the plant will have occupied every single +available spot in the whole globe! I have chalked upon the blackboard +the figures by which I arrive at the result:-- + + + Plants. Plants + 1 x 50 in 1st year = 50 + 50 x 50 " 2nd " = 2,500 + 2,500 x 50 " 3rd " = 125,000 + 125,000 x 50 " 4th " = 6,250,000 + 6,250,000 x 50 " 5th " = 312,500,000 + 312,500,000 x 50 " 6th " = 15,625,000,000 + 15,625,000,000 x 50 " 7th " = 781,250,000,000 + 781,250,000,000 x 50 " 8th " = 39,062,500,000,000 + 39,062,500,000,000 x 50 " 9th " = 1,953,125,000,000,000 + + +51,000,000 sq. miles--the dry surface of the earth x 27,878,400--the +number of sq. ft. in 1 sq. mile = sq. ft. 1,421,798,400,000,000 being +531,326,600,000,000 square feet less than would be required at the end +of the ninth year. + +You will see from this that, at the end of the first year the single +plant will have produced fifty more of its kind; by the end of the +second year these will have increased to 2,500; and so on, in succeeding +years, you get beyond even trillions; and I am not at all sure that I +could tell you what the proper arithmetical denomination of the total +number really is; but, at any rate, you will understand the meaning of +all those noughts. Then you see that, at the bottom, I have taken the +51,000,000 of square miles, constituting the surface of the dry land; +and as the number of square feet are placed under and subtracted from +the number of seeds that would be produced in the ninth year, you can +see at once that there would be an immense number more of plants than +there would be square feet of ground for their accommodation. This is +certainly quite enough to prove my point; that between the eighth and +ninth year after being planted the single plant would have stocked the +whole available surface of the earth. + +This is a thing which is hardly conceivable--it seems hardly +imaginable--yet it is so. It is indeed simply the law of Malthus +exemplified. Mr. Malthus was a clergyman, who worked out this +subject most minutely and truthfully some years ago; he showed quite +clearly,--and although he was much abused for his conclusions at the +time, they have never yet been disproved and never will be--he showed +that in consequence of the increase in the number of organic beings in +a geometrical ratio, while the means of existence cannot be made to +increase in the same ratio, that there must come a time when the number +of organic beings will be in excess of the power of production of +nutriment, and that thus some check must arise to the further increase +of those organic beings. At the end of the ninth year we have seen that +each plant would not be able to get its full square foot of ground, and +at the end of another year it would have to share that space with fifty +others the produce of the seeds which it would give off. + +What, then, takes place? Every plant grows up, flourishes, occupies its +square foot of ground, and gives off its fifty seeds; but notice this, +that out of this number only one can come to anything; there is thus, +as it were, forty-nine chances to one against its growing up; it depends +upon the most fortuitous circumstances whether any one of these fifty +seeds shall grow up and flourish, or whether it shall die and perish. +This is what Mr. Darwin has drawn attention to, and called the "STRUGGLE +FOR EXISTENCE"; and I have taken this simple case of a plant because +some people imagine that the phrase seems to imply a sort of fight. + +I have taken this plant and shown you that this is the result of the +ratio of the increase, the necessary result of the arrival of a time +coming for every species when exactly as many members must be destroyed +as are born; that is the inevitable ultimate result of the rate of +production. Now, what is the result of all this? I have said that there +are forty-nine struggling against every one; and it amounts to this, +that the smallest possible start given to any one seed may give it an +advantage which will enable it to get ahead of all the others; anything +that will enable any one of these seeds to germinate six hours before +any of the others will, other things being alike, enable it to choke +them out altogether. I have shown you that there is no particular in +which plants will not vary from each other; it is quite possible +that one of our imaginary plants may vary in such a character as the +thickness of the integument of its seeds; it might happen that one of +the plants might produce seeds having a thinner integument, and that +would enable the seeds of that plant to germinate a little quicker +than those of any of the others, and those seeds would most inevitably +extinguish the forty-nine times as many that were struggling with them. + +I have put it in this way, but you see the practical result of the +process is the same as if some person had nurtured the one and destroyed +the other seeds. It does not matter how the variation is produced, so +long as it is once allowed to occur. The variation in the plant once +fairly started tends to become hereditary and reproduce itself; the +seeds would spread themselves in the same way and take part in the +struggle with the forty-nine hundred, or forty-nine thousand, with which +they might be exposed. Thus, by degrees, this variety, with some slight +organic change or modification, must spread itself over the whole +surface of the habitable globe, and extirpate or replace the other +kinds. That is what is meant by NATURAL SELECTION; that is the kind of +argument by which it is perfectly demonstrable that the conditions of +existence may play exactly the same part for natural varieties as man +does for domesticated varieties. No one doubts at all that particular +circumstances may be more favourable for one plant and less so for +another, and the moment you admit that, you admit the selective power of +nature. Now, although I have been putting a hypothetical case, you must +not suppose that I have been reasoning hypothetically. There are plenty +of direct experiments which bear out what we may call the theory of +natural selection; there is extremely good authority for the statement +that if you take the seed of mixed varieties of wheat and sow it, +collecting the seed next year and sowing it again, at length you will +find that out of all your varieties only two or three have lived, or +perhaps even only one. There were one or two varieties which were best +fitted to get on, and they have killed out the other kinds in just +the same way and with just the same certainty as if you had taken the +trouble to remove them. As I have already said, the operation of nature +is exactly the same as the artificial operation of man. + +But if this be true of that simple case, which I put before you, where +there is nothing but the rivalry of one member of a species with others, +what must be the operation of selective conditions, when you recollect +as a matter of fact, that for every species of animal or plant there +are fifty or a hundred species which might all, more or less, be +comprehended in the same climate, food, and station;--that every plant +has multitudinous animals which prey upon it, and which are its direct +opponents; and that these have other animals preying upon them,--that +every plant has its indirect helpers in the birds that scatter abroad +its seed, and the animals that manure it with their dung;--I say, when +these things are considered, it seems impossible that any variation +which may arise in a species in nature should not tend in some way or +other either to be a little better or worse than the previous stock; +if it is a little better it will have an advantage over and tend to +extirpate the latter in this crush and struggle; and if it is a little +worse it will itself be extirpated. + +I know nothing that more appropriately expresses this, than the phrase, +"the struggle for existence"; because it brings before your minds, in a +vivid sort of way, some of the simplest possible circumstances connected +with it. When a struggle is intense there must be some who are sure to +be trodden down, crushed, and overpowered by others; and there will be +some who just manage to get through only by the help of the slightest +accident. I recollect reading an account of the famous retreat of +the French troops, under Napoleon, from Moscow. Worn out, tired, and +dejected, they at length came to a great river over which there was +but one bridge for the passage of the vast army. Disorganised and +demoralised as that army was, the struggle must certainly have been a +terrible one--every one heeding only himself, and crushing through the +ranks and treading down his fellows. The writer of the narrative, who +was himself one of those who were fortunate enough to succeed in getting +over, and not among the thousands who were left behind or forced into +the river, ascribed his escape to the fact that he saw striding onward +through the mass a great strong fellow,--one of the French Cuirassiers, +who had on a large blue cloak--and he had enough presence of mind to +catch and retain a hold of this strong man's cloak. He says, "I caught +hold of his cloak, and although he swore at me and cut at and struck me +by turns, and at last, when he found he could not shake me off, fell to +entreating me to leave go or I should prevent him from escaping, besides +not assisting myself, I still kept tight hold of him, and would not quit +my grasp until he had at last dragged me through." Here you see was +a case of selective saving--if we may so term it--depending for its +success on the strength of the cloth of the Cuirassier's cloak. It is +the same in nature; every species has its bridge of Beresina; it has +to fight its way through and struggle with other species; and when well +nigh overpowered, it may be that the smallest chance, something in its +colour, perhaps--the minutest circumstance--will turn the scale one way +or the other. + +Suppose that by a variation of the black race it had produced the white +man at any time--you know that the Negroes are said to believe this to +have been the case, and to imagine that Cain was the first white man, +and that we are his descendants--suppose that this had ever happened, +and that the first residence of this human being was on the West Coast +of Africa. There is no great structural difference between the white man +and the Negro, and yet there is something so singularly different in the +constitution of the two, that the malarias of that country, which do not +hurt the black at all, cut off and destroy the white. Then you see there +would have been a selective operation performed; if the white man had +risen in that way, he would have been selected out and removed by means +of the malaria. Now there really is a very curious case of selection of +this sort among pigs, and it is a case of selection of colour too. +In the woods of Florida there are a great many pigs, and it is a very +curious thing that they are all black, every one of them. Professor +Wyman was there some years ago, and on noticing no pigs but these black +ones, he asked some of the people how it was that they had no white +pigs, and the reply was that in the woods of Florida there was a root +which they called the Paint Root, and that if the white pigs were to eat +any of it, it had the effect of making their hoofs crack, and they died, +but if the black pigs eat any of it, it did not hurt them at all. Here +was a very simple case of natural selection. A skilful breeder could not +more carefully develope the black breed of pigs, and weed out all the +white pigs, than the Paint Root does. + +To show you how remarkably indirect may be such natural selective +agencies as I have referred to, I will conclude by noticing a case +mentioned by Mr. Darwin, and which is certainly one of the most curious +of its kind. It is that of the Humble Bee. It has been noticed that +there are a great many more humble bees in the neighbourhood of towns, +than out in the open country; and the explanation of the matter is this: +the humble bees build nests, in which they store their honey and deposit +the larvae and eggs. The field mice are amazingly fond of the honey and +larvae; therefore, wherever there are plenty of field mice, as in the +country, the humble bees are kept down; but in the neighbourhood of +towns, the number of cats which prowl about the fields eat up the field +mice, and of course the more mice they eat up the less there are to prey +upon the larvae of the bees--the cats are therefore the INDIRECT HELPERS +of the bees!* Coming back a step farther we may say that the old maids +are also indirect friends of the humble bees, and indirect enemies of +the field mice, as they keep the cats which eat up the latter! This is +an illustration somewhat beneath the dignity of the subject, perhaps, +but it occurs to me in passing, and with it I will conclude this +lecture. ([Footnote] *The humble bees, on the other hand, are direct +helpers of some plants, such as the heartsease and red clover, which are +fertilized by the visits of the bees; and they are indirect helpers of +the numerous insects which are more or less completely supported by the +heartsease and red clover.) + +End of The Conditions of Existence. + + + + +A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +In the preceding five lectures I have endeavoured to give you an account +of those facts, and of those reasonings from facts, which form the data +upon which all theories regarding the causes of the phenomena of organic +nature must be based. And, although I have had frequent occasion to +quote Mr. Darwin--as all persons hereafter, in speaking upon these +subjects, will have occasion to quote his famous book on the "Origin of +Species,"--you must yet remember that, wherever I have quoted him, +it has not been upon theoretical points, or for statements in any way +connected with his particular speculations, but on matters of fact, +brought forward by himself, or collected by himself, and which appear +incidentally in his book. If a man WILL make a book, professing to +discuss a single question, an encyclopaedia, I cannot help it. + +Now, having had an opportunity of considering in this sort of way the +different statements bearing upon all theories whatsoever, I have to lay +before you, as fairly as I can, what is Mr. Darwin's view of the matter +and what position his theories hold, when judged by the principles which +I have previously laid down, as deciding our judgments upon all theories +and hypotheses. + +I have already stated to you that the inquiry respecting the causes of +the phenomena of organic nature resolves itself into two problems--the +first being the question of the origination of living or organic beings; +and the second being the totally distinct problem of the modification +and perpetuation of organic beings when they have already come into +existence. The first question Mr. Darwin does not touch; he does +not deal with it at all; but he says--given the origin of organic +matter--supposing its creation to have already taken place, my object is +to show in consequence of what laws and what demonstrable properties of +organic matter, and of its environments, such states of organic nature +as those with which we are acquainted must have come about. This, you +will observe, is a perfectly legitimate proposition; every person has a +right to define the limits of the inquiry which he sets before himself; +and yet it is a most singular thing that in all the multifarious, and, +not unfrequently, ignorant attacks which have been made upon the 'Origin +of Species', there is nothing which has been more speciously criticised +than this particular limitation. If people have nothing else to urge +against the book, they say--"Well, after all, you see, Mr. Darwin's +explanation of the 'Origin of Species' is not good for much, because, in +the long run, he admits that he does not know how organic matter began +to exist. But if you admit any special creation for the first particle +of organic matter you may just as well admit it for all the rest; five +hundred or five thousand distinct creations are just as intelligible, +and just as little difficult to understand, as one." The answer to these +cavils is two-fold. In the first place, all human inquiry must stop +somewhere; all our knowledge and all our investigation cannot take us +beyond the limits set by the finite and restricted character of our +faculties, or destroy the endless unknown, which accompanies, like its +shadow, the endless procession of phenomena. So far as I can venture +to offer an opinion on such a matter, the purpose of our being +in existence, the highest object that human beings can set before +themselves, is not the pursuit of any such chimera as the annihilation +of the unknown; but it is simply the unwearied endeavour to remove its +boundaries a little further from our little sphere of action. + +I wonder if any historian would for a moment admit the objection, that +it is preposterous to trouble ourselves about the history of the Roman +Empire, because we do not know anything positive about the origin and +first building of the city of Rome! Would it be a fair objection to +urge, respecting the sublime discoveries of a Newton, or a Kepler, +those great philosophers, whose discoveries have been of the profoundest +benefit and service to all men,--to say to them--"After all that you +have told us as to how the planets revolve, and how they are maintained +in their orbits, you cannot tell us what is the cause of the origin of +the sun, moon, and stars. So what is the use of what you have done?" +Yet these objections would not be one whit more preposterous than the +objections which have been made to the 'Origin of Species.' Mr. Darwin, +then, had a perfect right to limit his inquiry as he pleased, and the +only question for us--the inquiry being so limited--is to ascertain +whether the method of his inquiry is sound or unsound; whether he has +obeyed the canons which must guide and govern all investigation, or +whether he has broken them; and it was because our inquiry this evening +is essentially limited to that question, that I spent a good deal of +time in a former lecture (which, perhaps, some of you thought might +have been better employed), in endeavouring to illustrate the method +and nature of scientific inquiry in general. We shall now have to put in +practice the principles that I then laid down. + +I stated to you in substance, if not in words, that wherever there +are complex masses of phenomena to be inquired into, whether they be +phenomena of the affairs of daily life, or whether they belong to the +more abstruse and difficult problems laid before the philosopher, our +course of proceeding in unravelling that complex chain of phenomena with +a view to get at its cause, is always the same; in all cases we must +invent an hypothesis; we must place before ourselves some more or less +likely supposition respecting that cause; and then, having assumed an +hypothesis, having supposed cause for the phenomena in question, we must +endeavour, on the one hand, to demonstrate our hypothesis, or, on the +other, to upset and reject it altogether, by testing it in three ways. +We must, in the first place, be prepared to prove that the supposed +causes of the phenomena exist in nature; that they are what the +logicians call 'vera causae'--true causes;--in the next place, we +should be prepared to show that the assumed causes of the phenomena are +competent to produce such phenomena as those which we wish to explain by +them; and in the last place, we ought to be able to show that no other +known causes are competent to produce those phenomena. If we can succeed +in satisfying these three conditions we shall have demonstrated our +hypothesis; or rather I ought to say we shall have proved it as far as +certainty is possible for us; for, after all, there is no one of our +surest convictions which may not be upset, or at any rate modified by +a further accession of knowledge. It was because it satisfied these +conditions that we accepted the hypothesis as to the disappearance of +the tea-pot and spoons in the case I supposed in a previous lecture; we +found that our hypothesis on that subject was tenable and valid, because +the supposed cause existed in nature, because it was competent to +account for the phenomena, and because no other known cause was +competent to account for them; and it is upon similar grounds that any +hypothesis you choose to name is accepted in science as tenable and +valid. + +What is Mr. Darwin's hypothesis? As I apprehend it--for I have put +it into a shape more convenient for common purposes than I could find +'verbatim' in his book--as I apprehend it, I say, it is, that all the +phenomena of organic nature, past and present, result from, or are +caused by, the inter-action of those properties of organic matter, +which we have called ATAVISM and VARIABILITY, with the CONDITIONS OF +EXISTENCE; or, in other words,--given the existence of organic matter, +its tendency to transmit its properties, and its tendency occasionally +to vary; and, lastly, given the conditions of existence by which organic +matter is surrounded--that these put together are the causes of the +Present and of the Past conditions of ORGANIC NATURE. + +Such is the hypothesis as I understand it. Now let us see how it will +stand the various tests which I laid down just now. In the first place, +do these supposed causes of the phenomena exist in nature? Is it the +fact that in nature these properties of organic matter--atavism and +variability--and those phenomena which we have called the conditions of +existence,--is it true that they exist? Well, of course, if they do not +exist, all that I have told you in the last three or four lectures +must be incorrect, because I have been attempting to prove that they do +exist, and I take it that there is abundant evidence that they do exist; +so far, therefore, the hypothesis does not break down. + +But in the next place comes a much more difficult inquiry:--Are the +causes indicated competent to give rise to the phenomena of organic +nature? I suspect that this is indubitable to a certain extent. It is +demonstrable, I think, as I have endeavoured to show you, that they +are perfectly competent to give rise to all the phenomena which are +exhibited by RACES in nature. Furthermore, I believe that they are +quite competent to account for all that we may call purely structural +phenomena which are exhibited by SPECIES in nature. On that point also +I have already enlarged somewhat. Again, I think that the causes assumed +are competent to account for most of the physiological characteristics +of species, and I not only think that they are competent to account +for them, but I think that they account for many things which +otherwise remain wholly unaccountable and inexplicable, and I may say +incomprehensible. For a full exposition of the grounds on which this +conviction is based, I must refer you to Mr. Darwin's work; all that I +can do now is to illustrate what I have said by two or three cases taken +almost at random. + +I drew your attention, on a previous evening, to the facts which are +embodied in our systems of Classification, which are the results of +the examination and comparison of the different members of the animal +kingdom one with another. I mentioned that the whole of the animal +kingdom is divisible into five sub-kingdoms; that each of these +sub-kingdoms is again divisible into provinces; that each province may +be divided into classes, and the classes into the successively smaller +groups, orders, families, genera, and species. + +Now, in each of these groups, the resemblance in structure among the +members of the group is closer in proportion as the group is smaller. +Thus, a man and a worm are members of the animal kingdom in virtue of +certain apparently slight though really fundamental resemblances which +they present. But a man and a fish are members of the same sub-kingdom +'Vertebrata', because they are much more like one another than either of +them is to a worm, or a snail, or any member of the other sub-kingdoms. +For similar reasons men and horses are arranged as members of the +same Class, 'Mammalia'; men and apes as members of the same Order, +'Primates'; and if there were any animals more like men than they +were like any of the apes, and yet different from men in important +and constant particulars of their organization, we should rank them as +members of the same Family, or of the same Genus, but as of distinct +Species. + +That it is possible to arrange all the varied forms of animals into +groups, having this sort of singular subordination one to the other, is +a very remarkable circumstance; but, as Mr. Darwin remarks, this is a +result which is quite to be expected, if the principles which he lays +down be correct. Take the case of the races which are known to be +produced by the operation of atavism and variability, and the conditions +of existence which check and modify these tendencies. Take the case +of the pigeons that I brought before you; there it was shown that +they might be all classed as belonging to some one of five principal +divisions, and that within these divisions other subordinate groups +might be formed. The members of these groups are related to one +another in just the same way as the genera of a family, and the groups +themselves as the families of an order, or the orders of a class; +while all have the same sort of structural relations with the wild +rock-pigeon, as the members of any great natural group have with a real +or imaginary typical form. Now, we know that all varieties of pigeons of +every kind have arisen by a process of selective breeding from a common +stock, the rock-pigeon; hence, you see, that if all species of animals +have proceeded from some common stock, the general character of their +structural relations, and of our systems of classification, which +express those relations, would be just what we find them to be. In other +words, the hypothetical cause is, so far, competent to produce effects +similar to those of the real cause. + +Take, again, another set of very remarkable facts,--the existence of +what are called rudimentary organs, organs for which we can find no +obvious use, in the particular animal economy in which they are found, +and yet which are there. + +Such are the splint-like bones in the leg of the horse, which I here +show you, and which correspond with bones which belong to certain toes +and fingers in the human hand and foot. In the horse you see they are +quite rudimentary, and bear neither toes nor fingers; so that the horse +has only one "finger" in his fore-foot and one "toe" in his hind foot. +But it is a very curious thing that the animals closely allied to the +horse show more toes than he; as the rhinoceros, for instance: he has +these extra toes well formed, and anatomical facts show very clearly +that he is very closely related to the horse indeed. So we may say that +animals, in an anatomical sense nearly related to the horse, have those +parts which are rudimentary in him, fully developed. + +Again, the sheep and the cow have no cutting-teeth, but only a hard +pad in the upper jaw. That is the common characteristic of ruminants in +general. But the calf has in its upper jaw some rudiments of teeth which +never are developed, and never play the part of teeth at all. Well, if +you go back in time, you find some of the older, now extinct, allies of +the ruminants have well-developed teeth in their upper jaws; and at +the present day the pig (which is in structure closely connected with +ruminants) has well-developed teeth in its upper jaw; so that here +is another instance of organs well-developed and very useful, in one +animal, represented by rudimentary organs, for which we can discover +no purpose whatsoever, in another closely allied animal. The whalebone +whale, again, has horny "whalebone" plates in its mouth, and no teeth; +but the young foetal whale, before it is born, has teeth in its jaws; +they, however, are never used, and they never come to anything. +But other members of the group to which the whale belongs have +well-developed teeth in both jaws. + +Upon any hypothesis of special creation, facts of this kind appear to me +to be entirely unaccountable and inexplicable, but they cease to be so +if you accept Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, and see reason for believing that +the whalebone whale and the whale with teeth in its mouth both sprang +from a whale that had teeth, and that the teeth of the foetal whale are +merely remnants--recollections, if we may so say--of the extinct whale. +So in the case of the horse and the rhinoceros: suppose that both have +descended by modification from some earlier form which had the normal +number of toes, and the persistence of the rudimentary bones which no +longer support toes in the horse becomes comprehensible. + +In the language that we speak in England, and in the language of the +Greeks, there are identical verbal roots, or elements entering into the +composition of words. That fact remains unintelligible so long as we +suppose English and Greek to be independently created tongues; but when +it is shown that both languages are descended from one original, the +Sanscrit, we give an explanation of that resemblance. In the same way +the existence of identical structural roots, if I may so term them, +entering into the composition of widely different animals, is striking +evidence in favour of the descent of those animals from a common +original. + +To turn to another kind of illustration:--If you regard the whole +series of stratified rocks--that enormous thickness of sixty or seventy +thousand feet that I have mentioned before, constituting the only record +we have of a most prodigious lapse of time, that time being, in all +probability, but a fraction of that of which we have no record;--if you +observe in these successive strata of rocks successive groups of animals +arising and dying out, a constant succession, giving you the same kind +of impression, as you travel from one group of strata to another, as +you would have in travelling from one country to another;--when you find +this constant succession of forms, their traces obliterated except to +the man of science,--when you look at this wonderful history, and ask +what it means, it is only a paltering with words if you are offered the +reply,--'They were so created.' + +But if, on the other hand, you look on all forms of organized beings as +the results of the gradual modification of a primitive type, the facts +receive a meaning, and you see that these older conditions are the +necessary predecessors of the present. Viewed in this light the facts of +palaeontology receive a meaning--upon any other hypothesis, I am unable +to see, in the slightest degree, what knowledge or signification we are +to draw out of them. Again, note as bearing upon the same point, the +singular likeness which obtains between the successive Faunae and +Florae, whose remains are preserved on the rocks: you never find any +great and enormous difference between the immediately successive Faunae +and Florae, unless you have reason to believe there has also been a +great lapse of time or a great change of conditions. The animals, for +instance, of the newest tertiary rocks, in any part of the world, are +always, and without exception, found to be closely allied with those +which now live in that part of the world. For example, in Europe, +Asia, and Africa, the large mammals are at present rhinoceroses, +hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, tigers, oxen, horses, etc.; and if +you examine the newest tertiary deposits, which contain the animals +and plants which immediately preceded those which now exist in the same +country, you do not find gigantic specimens of ant-eaters and kangaroos, +but you find rhinoceroses, elephants, lions, tigers, etc.,--of different +species to those now living,--but still their close allies. If you turn +to South America, where, at the present day, we have great sloths and +armadilloes and creatures of that kind, what do you find in the newest +tertiaries? You find the great sloth-like creature, the 'Megatherium', +and the great armadillo, the 'Glyptodon', and so on. And if you go to +Australia you find the same law holds good, namely, that that condition +of organic nature which has preceded the one which now exists, presents +differences perhaps of species, and of genera, but that the great types +of organic structure are the same as those which now flourish. + +What meaning has this fact upon any other hypothesis or supposition than +one of successive modification? But if the population of the world, in +any age, is the result of the gradual modification of the forms which +peopled it in the preceding age,--if that has been the case, it is +intelligible enough; because we may expect that the creature that +results from the modification of an elephantine mammal shall be +something like an elephant, and the creature which is produced by the +modification of an armadillo-like mammal shall be like an armadillo. +Upon that supposition, I say, the facts are intelligible; upon any +other, that I am aware of, they are not. + +So far, the facts of palaeontology are consistent with almost any +form of the doctrine of progressive modification; they would not be +absolutely inconsistent with the wild speculations of De Maillet, or +with the less objectionable hypothesis of Lamarck. But Mr. Darwin's +views have one peculiar merit; and that is, that they are perfectly +consistent with an array of facts which are utterly inconsistent with +and fatal to, any other hypothesis of progressive modification which +has yet been advanced. It is one remarkable peculiarity of Mr. Darwin's +hypothesis that it involves no necessary progression or incessant +modification, and that it is perfectly consistent with the persistence +for any length of time of a given primitive stock, contemporaneously +with its modifications. To return to the case of the domestic breeds +of pigeons, for example; you have the Dove-cot pigeon, which closely +resembles the Rock pigeon, from which they all started, existing at the +same time with the others. And if species are developed in the same way +in nature, a primitive stock and its modifications may, occasionally, +all find the conditions fitted for their existence; and though they come +into competition, to a certain extent, with one another, the derivative +species may not necessarily extirpate the primitive one, or 'vice +versa'. + +Now palaeontology shows us many facts which are perfectly harmonious +with these observed effects of the process by which Mr. Darwin supposes +species to have originated, but which appear to me to be totally +inconsistent with any other hypothesis which has been proposed. There +are some groups of animals and plants, in the fossil world, which have +been said to belong to "persistent types," because they have persisted, +with very little change indeed, through a very great range of time, +while everything about them has changed largely. There are families of +fishes whose type of construction has persisted all the way from the +carboniferous rock right up to the cretaceous; and others which have +lasted through almost the whole range of the secondary rocks, and from +the lias to the older tertiaries. It is something stupendous this--to +consider a genus lasting without essential modifications through all +this enormous lapse of time while almost everything else was changed and +modified. + +Thus I have no doubt that Mr. Darwin's hypothesis will be found +competent to explain the majority of the phenomena exhibited by species +in nature; but in an earlier lecture I spoke cautiously with respect to +its power of explaining all the physiological peculiarities of species. + +There is, in fact, one set of these peculiarities which the theory of +selective modification, as it stands at present, is not wholly competent +to explain, and that is the group of phenomena which I mentioned to you +under the name of Hybridism, and which I explained to consist in the +sterility of the offspring of certain species when crossed one with +another. It matters not one whit whether this sterility is universal, +or whether it exists only in a single case. Every hypothesis is bound +to explain, or, at any rate, not be inconsistent with, the whole of the +facts which it professes to account for; and if there is a single one of +these facts which can be shown to be inconsistent with (I do not merely +mean inexplicable by, but contrary to) the hypothesis, the hypothesis +falls to the ground,--it is worth nothing. One fact with which it is +positively inconsistent is worth as much, and as powerful in negativing +the hypothesis, as five hundred. If I am right in thus defining the +obligations of an hypothesis, Mr. Darwin, in order to place his +views beyond the reach of all possible assault, ought to be able to +demonstrate the possibility of developing from a particular stock by +selective breeding, two forms, which should either be unable to cross +one with another, or whose cross-bred offspring should be infertile with +one another. + +For, you see, if you have not done that you have not strictly fulfilled +all the conditions of the problem; you have not shown that you can +produce, by the cause assumed, all the phenomena which you have in +nature. Here are the phenomena of Hybridism staring you in the face, and +you cannot say, 'I can, by selective modification, produce these same +results.' Now, it is admitted on all hands that, at present, so far as +experiments have gone, it has not been found possible to produce this +complete physiological divergence by selective breeding. I stated this +very clearly before, and I now refer to the point, because, if it could +be proved, not only that this HAS not been done, but that it CANNOT +be done; if it could be demonstrated that it is impossible to breed +selectively, from any stock, a form which shall not breed with another, +produced from the same stock; and if we were shown that this must be +the necessary and inevitable results of all experiments, I hold that Mr. +Darwin's hypothesis would be utterly shattered. + +But has this been done? or what is really the state of the case? It is +simply that, so far as we have gone yet with our breeding, we have +not produced from a common stock two breeds which are not more or less +fertile with one another. + +I do not know that there is a single fact which would justify any one +in saying that any degree of sterility has been observed between breeds +absolutely known to have been produced by selective breeding from a +common stock. On the other hand, I do not know that there is a single +fact which can justify any one in asserting that such sterility cannot +be produced by proper experimentation. For my own part, I see every +reason to believe that it may, and will be so produced. For, as Mr. +Darwin has very properly urged, when we consider the phenomena of +sterility, we find they are most capricious; we do not know what it is +that the sterility depends on. There are some animals which will not +breed in captivity; whether it arises from the simple fact of their +being shut up and deprived of their liberty, or not, we do not know, but +they certainly will not breed. What an astounding thing this is, to +find one of the most important of all functions annihilated by mere +imprisonment! + +So, again, there are cases known of animals which have been thought +by naturalists to be undoubted species, which have yielded perfectly +fertile hybrids; while there are other species which present what +everybody believes to be varieties* which are more or less infertile +with one another. ([Footnote] *And as I conceive with very good reason; +but if any objector urges that we cannot prove that they have been +produced by artificial or natural selection, the objection must be +admitted--ultrasceptical as it is. But in science, scepticism is a +duty.) There are other cases which are truly extraordinary; there is +one, for example, which has been carefully examined,--of two kinds of +sea-weed, of which the male element of the one, which we may call A, +fertilizes the female element of the other, B; while the male element of +B will not fertilize the female element of A; so that, while the former +experiment seems to show us that they are 'varieties', the latter leads +to the conviction that they are 'species'. + +When we see how capricious and uncertain this sterility is, how unknown +the conditions on which it depends, I say that we have no right to +affirm that those conditions will not be better understood by and +by, and we have no ground for supposing that we may not be able to +experiment so as to obtain that crucial result which I mentioned +just now. So that though Mr. Darwin's hypothesis does not completely +extricate us from this difficulty at present, we have not the least +right to say it will not do so. + +There is a wide gulf between the thing you cannot explain and the thing +that upsets you altogether. There is hardly any hypothesis in this +world which has not some fact in connection with it which has not been +explained, but that is a very different affair to a fact that entirely +opposes your hypothesis; in this case all you can say is, that your +hypothesis is in the same position as a good many others. + +Now, as to the third test, that there are no other causes competent to +explain the phenomena, I explained to you that one should be able to say +of an hypothesis, that no other known causes than those supposed by it +are competent to give rise to the phenomena. Here, I think, Mr. Darwin's +view is pretty strong. I really believe that the alternative is either +Darwinism or nothing, for I do not know of any rational conception or +theory of the organic universe which has any scientific position at all +beside Mr. Darwin's. I do not know of any proposition that has been +put before us with the intention of explaining the phenomena of organic +nature, which has in its favour a thousandth part of the evidence which +may be adduced in favour of Mr. Darwin's views. Whatever may be the +objections to his views, certainly all others are absolutely out of +court. + +Take the Lamarckian hypothesis, for example. Lamarck was a great +naturalist, and to a certain extent went the right way to work; he +argued from what was undoubtedly a true cause of some of the phenomena +of organic nature. He said it is a matter of experience that an +animal may be modified more or less in consequence of its desires and +consequent actions. Thus, if a man exercise himself as a blacksmith, +his arms will become strong and muscular; such organic modification is a +result of this particular action and exercise. Lamarck thought that by a +very simple supposition based on this truth he could explain the +origin of the various animal species: he said, for example, that the +short-legged birds which live on fish had been converted into the +long-legged waders by desiring to get the fish without wetting their +bodies, and so stretching their legs more and more through successive +generations. If Lamarck could have shown experimentally, that even races +of animals could be produced in this way, there might have been some +ground for his speculations. But he could show nothing of the kind, and +his hypothesis has pretty well dropped into oblivion, as it deserved +to do. I said in an earlier lecture that there are hypotheses and +hypotheses, and when people tell you that Mr. Darwin's strongly-based +hypothesis is nothing but a mere modification of Lamarck's, you will +know what to think of their capacity for forming a judgment on this +subject. + +But you must recollect that when I say I think it is either Mr. Darwin's +hypothesis or nothing; that either we must take his view, or look upon +the whole of organic nature as an enigma, the meaning of which is +wholly hidden from us; you must understand that I mean that I accept it +provisionally, in exactly the same way as I accept any other hypothesis. +Men of science do not pledge themselves to creeds; they are bound by +articles of no sort; there is not a single belief that it is not a +bounden duty with them to hold with a light hand and to part with it +cheerfully, the moment it is really proved to be contrary to any fact, +great or small. And if, in course of time I see good reasons for such +a proceeding, I shall have no hesitation in coming before you, and +pointing out any change in my opinion without finding the slightest +occasion to blush for so doing. So I say that we accept this view as +we accept any other, so long as it will help us, and we feel bound +to retain it only so long as it will serve our great purpose--the +improvement of Man's estate and the widening of his knowledge. The +moment this, or any other conception, ceases to be useful for these +purposes, away with it to the four winds; we care not what becomes of +it! + +But to say truth, although it has been my business to attend closely +to the controversies roused by the publication of Mr. Darwin's book, +I think that not one of the enormous mass of objections and obstacles +which have been raised is of any very great value, except that +sterility case which I brought before you just now. All the rest are +misunderstandings of some sort, arising either from prejudice, or want +of knowledge, or still more from want of patience and care in reading +the work. + +For you must recollect that it is not a book to be read with as much +ease as its pleasant style may lead you to imagine. You spin through it +as if it were a novel the first time you read it, and think you know +all about it; the second time you read it you think you know rather less +about it; and the third time, you are amazed to find how little you have +really apprehended its vast scope and objects. I can positively say that +I never take it up without finding in it some new view, or light, +or suggestion that I have not noticed before. That is the best +characteristic of a thorough and profound book; and I believe this +feature of the 'Origin of Species' explains why so many persons have +ventured to pass judgment and criticisms upon it which are by no means +worth the paper they are written on. + +Before concluding these lectures there is one point to which I must +advert,--though, as Mr. Darwin has said nothing about man in his book, +it concerns myself rather than him;--for I have strongly maintained on +sundry occasions that if Mr. Darwin's views are sound, they apply +as much to man as to the lower mammals, seeing that it is perfectly +demonstrable that the structural differences which separate man from the +apes are not greater than those which separate some apes from others. +There cannot be the slightest doubt in the world that the argument which +applies to the improvement of the horse from an earlier stock, or of ape +from ape, applies to the improvement of man from some simpler and lower +stock than man. There is not a single faculty--functional or structural, +moral, intellectual, or instinctive,--there is no faculty whatever that +is not capable of improvement; there is no faculty whatsoever which does +not depend upon structure, and as structure tends to vary, it is capable +of being improved. + +Well, I have taken a good deal of pains at various times to prove this, +and I have endeavoured to meet the objections of those who maintain, +that the structural differences between man and the lower animals are of +so vast a character and enormous extent, that even if Mr. Darwin's views +are correct, you cannot imagine this particular modification to take +place. It is, in fact, easy matter to prove that, so far as structure is +concerned, man differs to no greater extent from the animals which +are immediately below him than these do from other members of the same +order. Upon the other hand, there is no one who estimates more highly +than I do the dignity of human nature, and the width of the gulf in +intellectual and moral matters, which lies between man and the whole of +the lower creation. + +But I find this very argument brought forward vehemently by some. "You +say that man has proceeded from a modification of some lower animal, and +you take pains to prove that the structural differences which are +said to exist in his brain do not exist at all, and you teach that all +functions, intellectual, moral, and others, are the expression or the +result, in the long run, of structures, and of the molecular forces +which they exert." It is quite true that I do so. + +"Well, but," I am told at once, somewhat triumphantly, "you say in the +same breath that there is a great moral and intellectual chasm between +man and the lower animals. How is this possible when you declare that +moral and intellectual characteristics depend on structure, and yet tell +us that there is no such gulf between the structure of man and that of +the lower animals?" + +I think that objection is based upon a misconception of the real +relations which exist between structure and function, between +mechanism and work. Function is the expression of molecular forces and +arrangements no doubt; but, does it follow from this, that variation +in function so depends upon variation in structure that the former is +always exactly proportioned to the latter? If there is no such relation, +if the variation in function which follows on a variation in structure, +may be enormously greater than the variation of the structure, then, you +see, the objection falls to the ground. + +Take a couple of watches--made by the same maker, and as completely +alike as possible; set them upon the table, and the function of +each--which is its rate of going--will be performed in the same manner, +and you shall be able to distinguish no difference between them; but let +me take a pair of pincers, and if my hand is steady enough to do it, +let me just lightly crush together the bearings of the balance-wheel, or +force to a slightly different angle the teeth of the escapement of one +of them, and of course you know the immediate result will be that +the watch, so treated, from that moment will cease to go. But what +proportion is there between the structural alteration and the functional +result? Is it not perfectly obvious that the alteration is of the +minutest kind, yet that slight as it is, it has produced an infinite +difference in the performance of the functions of these two instruments? + +Well, now, apply that to the present question. What is it that +constitutes and makes man what he is? What is it but his power +of language--that language giving him the means of recording +his experience--making every generation somewhat wiser than its +predecessor,--more in accordance with the established order of the +universe? + +What is it but this power of speech, of recording experience, which +enables men to be men--looking before and after and, in some dim +sense, understanding the working of this wondrous universe--and which +distinguishes man from the whole of the brute world? I say that this +functional difference is vast, unfathomable, and truly infinite in +its consequences; and I say at the same time, that it may depend upon +structural differences which shall be absolutely inappreciable to us +with our present means of investigation. What is this very speech that +we are talking about? I am speaking to you at this moment, but if you +were to alter, in the minutest degree, the proportion of the nervous +forces now active in the two nerves which supply the muscles of my +glottis, I should become suddenly dumb. The voice is produced only so +long as the vocal chords are parallel; and these are parallel only so +long as certain muscles contract with exact equality; and that again +depends on the equality of action of those two nerves I spoke of. So +that a change of the minutest kind in the structure of one of these +nerves, or in the structure of the part in which it originates, or of +the supply of blood to that part, or of one of the muscles to which it +is distributed, might render all of us dumb. But a race of dumb men, +deprived of all communication with those who could speak, would be +little indeed removed from the brutes. And the moral and intellectual +difference between them and ourselves would be practically infinite, +though the naturalist should not be able to find a single shadow of even +specific structural difference. + +But let me dismiss this question now, and, in conclusion, let me say +that you may go away with it as my mature conviction, that Mr. Darwin's +work is the greatest contribution which has been made to biological +science since the publication of the 'Regne Animal' of Cuvier, and since +that of the 'History of Development' of Von Baer. I believe that if you +strip it of its theoretical part it still remains one of the greatest +encyclopaedias of biological doctrine that any one man ever brought +forth; and I believe that, if you take it as the embodiment of +an hypothesis, it is destined to be the guide of biological and +psychological speculation for the next three or four generations. + +End of A Critical Examination of "On The Origin of Species". + + + + +THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS.* + +([Footnote] *'Times', December 26th, 1850.) + + + + +DARWIN ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. + +There is a growing immensity in the speculations of science to which no +human thing or thought at this day is comparable. Apart from the +results which science brings us home and securely harvests, there is an +expansive force and latitude in its tentative efforts, which lifts +us out of ourselves and transfigures our mortality. We may have a +preference for moral themes, like the Homeric sage, who had seen and +known much:-- + + "Cities of men + And manners, climates, councils, governments"; + +yet we must end by confession that + + "The windy ways of men + Are but dust which rises up + And is lightly laid again," + +in comparison with the work of nature, to which science testifies, +but which has no boundaries in time or space to which science can +approximate. + +There is something altogether out of the reach of science, and yet the +compass of science is practically illimitable. Hence it is that from +time to time we are startled and perplexed by theories which have no +parallel in the contracted moral world; for the generalizations of +science sweep on in ever-widening circles, and more aspiring flights, +through a limitless creation. While astronomy, with its telescope, +ranges beyond the known stars, and physiology, with its microscope, is +subdividing infinite minutiae, we may expect that our historic centuries +may be treated as inadequate counters in the history of the planet on +which we are placed. We must expect new conceptions of the nature and +relations of its denizens, as science acquires the materials for fresh +generalizations; nor have we occasion for alarms if a highly advanced +knowledge, like that of the eminent Naturalist before us, confronts us +with an hypothesis as vast as it is novel. This hypothesis may or may +not be sustainable hereafter; it may give way to something else, and +higher science may reverse what science has here built up with so much +skill and patience, but its sufficiency must be tried by the tests of +science alone, if we are to maintain our position as the heirs of Bacon +and the acquitters of Galileo. We must weigh this hypothesis strictly +in the controversy which is coming, by the only tests which are +appropriate, and by no others whatsoever. + +The hypothesis to which we point, and of which the present work of Mr. +Darwin is but the preliminary outline, may be stated in his own language +as follows:--"Species originated by means of natural selection, or +through the preservation of the favoured races in the struggle for +life." To render this thesis intelligible, it is necessary to interpret +its terms. In the first place, what is a species? The question is a +simple one, but the right answer to it is hard to find, even if we +appeal to those who should know most about it. It is all those animals +or plants which have descended from a single pair of parents; it is +the smallest distinctly definable group of living organisms; it is an +eternal and immutable entity; it is a mere abstraction of the human +intellect having no existence in nature. Such are a few of the +significations attached to this simple word which may be culled from +authoritative sources; and if, leaving terms and theoretical subtleties +aside, we turn to facts and endeavour to gather a meaning for ourselves, +by studying the things to which, in practice, the name of species is +applied, it profits us little. For practice varies as much as theory. +Let the botanist or the zoologist examine and describe the productions +of a country, and one will pretty certainly disagree with the other +as to the number, limits, and definitions of the species into which he +groups the very same things. In these islands, we are in the habit of +regarding mankind as of one species, but a fortnight's steam will land +us in a country where divines and savants, for once in agreement, vie +with one another in loudness of assertion, if not in cogency of proof, +that men are of different species; and, more particularly, that the +species negro is so distinct from our own that the Ten Commandments have +actually no reference to him. Even in the calm region of entomology, +where, if anywhere in this sinful world, passion and prejudice should +fail to stir the mind, one learned coleopterist will fill ten attractive +volumes with descriptions of species of beetles, nine-tenths of which +are immediately declared by his brother beetle-mongers to be no species +at all. + +The truth is that the number of distinguishable living creatures almost +surpasses imagination. At least a hundred thousand such kinds of insects +alone have been described and may be identified in collections, and the +number of separable kinds of living things is under estimated at half a +million. Seeing that most of these obvious kinds have their accidental +varieties, and that they often shade into others by imperceptible +degrees, it may well be imagined that the task of distinguishing between +what is permanent and what fleeting, what is a species and what a mere +variety, is sufficiently formidable. + +But is it not possible to apply a test whereby a true species may be +known from a mere variety? Is there no criterion of species? Great +authorities affirm that there is--that the unions of members of the same +species are always fertile, while those of distinct species are either +sterile, or their offspring, called hybrids, are so. It is affirmed not +only that this is an experimental fact, but that it is a provision for +the preservation of the purity of species. Such a criterion as this +would be invaluable; but, unfortunately, not only is it not obvious how +to apply it in the great majority of cases in which its aid is needed, +but its general validity is stoutly denied. The Hon. and Rev. Mr. +Herbert, a most trustworthy authority, not only asserts as the result +of his own observations and experiments that many hybrids are quite as +fertile as the parent species, but he goes so far as to assert that the +particular plant 'Crinum capense' is much more fertile when crossed by a +distinct species than when fertilised by its proper pollen! On the other +hand, the famous Gaertner, though he took the greatest pains to cross +the primrose and the cowslip, succeeded only once or twice in several +years; and yet it is a well-established fact that the primrose and the +cowslip are only varieties of the same kind of plant. Again, such cases +as the following are well established. The female of species A, if +crossed with the male of species B, is fertile; but, if the female of +B is crossed with the male of A, she remains barren. Facts of this kind +destroy the value of the supposed criterion. + +If, weary of the endless difficulties involved in the determination of +species, the investigator, contenting himself with the rough practical +distinction of separable kinds, endeavours to study them as they occur +in nature--to ascertain their relations to the conditions which surround +them, their mutual harmonies and discordances of structure, the bond of +union of their parts and their past history, he finds himself, according +to the received notions, in a mighty maze, and with, at most, the +dimmest adumbration of a plan. If he starts with any one clear +conviction, it is that every part of a living creature is cunningly +adapted to some special use in its life. Has not his Paley told him that +that seemingly useless organ, the spleen, is beautifully adjusted as +so much packing between the other organs? And yet, at the outset of his +studies, he finds that no adaptive reason whatsoever can be given for +one-half of the peculiarities of vegetable structure; he also discovers +rudimentary teeth, which are never used, in the gums of the young +calf and in those of the foetal whale; insects which never bite have +rudimental jaws, and others which never fly have rudimental wings; +naturally blind creatures have rudimental eyes; and the halt have +rudimentary limbs. So, again, no animal or plant puts on its perfect +form at once, but all have to start from the same point, however various +the course which each has to pursue. Not only men and horses, and cats +and dogs, lobsters and beetles, periwinkles and mussels, but even the +very sponges and animalcules commence their existence under forms which +are essentially undistinguishable; and this is true of all the infinite +variety of plants. Nay, more, all living beings march side by side along +the high road of development, and separate the later the more like they +are; like people leaving church, who all go down the aisle, but having +reached the door some turn into the parsonage, others go down the +village, and others part only in the next parish. A man in his +development runs for a little while parallel with, though never passing +through, the form of the meanest worm, then travels for a space beside +the fish, then journeys along with the bird and the reptile for his +fellow travellers; and only at last, after a brief companionship with +the highest of the four-footed and four-handed world, rises into the +dignity of pure manhood. No competent thinker of the present day dreams +of explaining these indubitable facts by the notion of the existence of +unknown and undiscoverable adaptations to purpose. And we would remind +those who, ignorant of the facts, must be moved by authority, that no +one has asserted the incompetence of the doctrine of final causes, in +its application to physiology and anatomy, more strongly than our own +eminent anatomist, Professor Owen, who, speaking of such cases, says +('On the Nature of Limbs', pp. 39, 40): "I think it will be obvious that +the principle of final adaptations fails to satisfy all the conditions +of the problem." + +But, if the doctrine of final causes will not help us to comprehend the +anomalies of living structure, the principle of adaptation must surely +lead us to understand why certain living beings are found in certain +regions of the world and not in others. The palm, as we know, will not +grow in our climate, nor the oak in Greenland. The white bear cannot +live where the tiger thrives, nor 'vice versa', and the more the natural +habits of animal and vegetable species are examined, the more do they +seem, on the whole, limited to particular provinces. But when we look +into the facts established by the study of the geographical distribution +of animals and plants it seems utterly hopeless to attempt to understand +the strange and apparently capricious relations which they exhibit. +One would be inclined to suppose 'a priori' that every country must be +naturally peopled by those animals that are fittest to live and thrive +in it. And yet how, on this hypothesis, are we to account for the +absence of cattle in the Pampas of South America, when those parts +of the New World were discovered? It is not that they were unfit for +cattle, for millions of cattle now run wild there; and the like holds +good of Australia and New Zealand. It is a curious circumstance, in +fact, that the animals and plants of the Northern Hemisphere are not +only as well adapted to live in the Southern Hemisphere as its own +autochthones, but are in many cases absolutely better adapted, and so +overrun and extirpate the aborigines. Clearly, therefore, the species +which naturally inhabit a country are not necessarily the best adapted +to its climate and other conditions. The inhabitants of islands are +often distinct from any other known species of animal or plants (witness +our recent examples from the work of Sir Emerson Tennent, on Ceylon), +and yet they have almost always a sort of general family resemblance to +the animals and plants of the nearest mainland. On the other hand, there +is hardly a species of fish, shell, or crab common to the opposite sides +of the narrow isthmus of Panama. Wherever we look, then, living nature +offers us riddles of difficult solution, if we suppose that what we see +is all that can be known of it. + +But our knowledge of life is not confined to the existing world. +Whatever their minor differences, geologists are agreed as to the vast +thickness of the accumulated strata which compose the visible part of +our earth, and the inconceivable immensity of the time of whose +lapse they are the imperfect, but the only accessible witnesses. Now, +throughout the greater part of this long series of stratified rocks are +scattered, sometimes very abundantly, multitudes of organic remains, the +fossilized exuviae of animals and plants which lived and died while the +mud of which the rocks are formed was yet soft ooze, and could receive +and bury them. It would be a great error to suppose that these organic +remains were fragmentary relics. Our museums exhibit fossil shells of +immeasurable antiquity, as perfect as the day they were formed, +whole skeletons without a limb disturbed--nay, the changed flesh, the +developing embryos, and even the very footsteps of primeval organisms. +Thus the naturalist finds in the bowels of the earth species as well +defined as, and in some groups of animals more numerous than, those that +breathe the upper air. But, singularly enough, the majority of these +entombed species are wholly distinct from those that now live. Nor is +this unlikeness without its rule and order. As a broad fact, the further +we go back in time the less the buried species are like existing forms; +and the further apart the sets of extinct creatures are the less +they are like one another. In other words, there has been a regular +succession of living beings, each younger set being in a very broad and +general sense somewhat more like those which now live. + +It was once supposed that this succession had been the result of vast +successive catastrophes, destructions, and re-creations en masse; but +catastrophes are now almost eliminated from geological, or at least +palaeontological speculation; and it is admitted on all hands that the +seeming breaks in the chain of being are not absolute, but only relative +to our imperfect knowledge; that species have replaced species, not in +assemblages, but one by one; and that, if it were possible to have all +the phenomena of the past presented to us, the convenient epochs and +formations of the geologist, though having a certain distinctness, +would fade into one another with limits as undefinable as those of the +distinct and yet separable colours of the solar spectrum. + +Such is a brief summary of the main truths which have been established +concerning species. Are these truths ultimate and irresolvable facts, or +are their complexities and perplexities the mere expressions of a higher +law? + +A large number of persons practically assume the former position to be +correct. They believe that the writer of the Pentateuch was empowered +and commissioned to teach us scientific as well as other truth, that +the account we find there of the creation of living things is simply and +literally correct, and that anything which seems to contradict it is, +by the nature of the case, false. All the phenomena which have been +detailed are, on this view, the immediate product of a creative fiat and +consequently are out of the domain of science altogether. + +Whether this view prove ultimately to be true or false, it is, at any +rate, not at present supported by what is commonly regarded as logical +proof, even if it be capable of discussion by reason; and hence we +consider ourselves at liberty to pass it by, and to turn to those views +which profess to rest on a scientific basis only, and therefore admit +of being argued to their consequences. And we do this with the less +hesitation as it so happens that those persons who are practically +conversant with the facts of the case (plainly a considerable advantage) +have always thought fit to range themselves under the latter category. + +The majority of these competent persons have up to the present time +maintained two positions,--the first, that every species is, +within certain defined or definable limits, fixed and incapable of +modification; the second, that every species was originally produced by +a distinct creative act. The second position is obviously incapable +of proof or disproof, the direct operations of the Creator not being +subjects of science; and it must therefore be regarded as a corollary +from the first, the truth or falsehood of which is a matter of +evidence. Most persons imagine that the arguments in favour of it are +overwhelming; but to some few minds, and these, it must be confessed, +intellects of no small power and grasp of knowledge, they have not +brought conviction. Among these minds, that of the famous naturalist +Lamarck, who possessed a greater acquaintance with the lower forms +of life than any man of his day, Cuvier not excepted, and was a good +botanist to boot, occupies a prominent place. + +Two facts appear to have strongly affected the course of thought of +this remarkable man--the one, that finer or stronger links of affinity +connect all living beings with one another, and that thus the highest +creature grades by multitudinous steps into the lowest; the other, that +an organ may be developed in particular directions by exerting itself in +particular ways, and that modifications once induced may be transmitted +and become hereditary. Putting these facts together, Lamarck endeavoured +to account for the first by the operation of the second. Place an animal +in new circumstances, says he, and its needs will be altered; the new +needs will create new desires, and the attempt to gratify such desires +will result in an appropriate modification of the organs exerted. Make +a man a blacksmith, and his brachial muscles will develop in accordance +with the demands made upon them, and in like manner, says Lamarck, "the +efforts of some short-necked bird to catch fish without wetting himself +have, with time and perseverance, given rise to all our herons and +long-necked waders." + +The Lamarckian hypothesis has long since been justly condemned, and it +is the established practice for every tyro to raise his heel against the +carcass of the dead lion. But it is rarely either wise or instructive to +treat even the errors of a really great man with mere ridicule, and +in the present case the logical form of the doctrine stands on a very +different footing from its substance. + +If species have really arisen by the operation of natural conditions, +we ought to be able to find those conditions now at work; we ought to be +able to discover in nature some power adequate to modify any given kind +of animal or plant in such a manner as to give rise to another kind, +which would be admitted by naturalists as a distinct species. Lamarck +imagined that he had discovered this 'vera causa' in the admitted facts +that some organs may be modified by exercise; and that modifications, +once produced, are capable of hereditary transmission. It does not +seem to have occurred to him to inquire whether there is any reason +to believe that there are any limits to the amount of modification +producible, or to ask how long an animal is likely to endeavour to +gratify an impossible desire. The bird, in our example, would surely +have renounced fish dinners long before it had produced the least effect +on leg or neck. + +Since Lamarck's time, almost all competent naturalists have left +speculations on the origin of species to such dreamers as the author of +the 'Vestiges', by whose well-intentioned efforts the Lamarckian theory +received its final condemnation in the minds of all sound thinkers. +Notwithstanding this silence, however, the transmutation theory, as it +has been called, has been a "skeleton in the closet" to many an honest +zoologist and botanist who had a soul above the mere naming of dried +plants and skins. Surely, has such an one thought, nature is a mighty +and consistent whole, and the providential order established in the +world of life must, if we could only see it rightly, be consistent with +that dominant over the multiform shapes of brute matter. But what is the +history of astronomy, of all the branches of physics, of chemistry, of +medicine, but a narration of the steps by which the human mind has been +compelled, often sorely against its will, to recognize the operation +of secondary causes in events where ignorance beheld an immediate +intervention of a higher power? And when we know that living things are +formed of the same elements as the inorganic world, that they act +and react upon it, bound by a thousand ties of natural piety, is it +probable, nay is it possible, that they, and they alone, should have no +order in their seeming disorder, no unity in their seeming multiplicity, +should suffer no explanation by the discovery of some central and +sublime law of mutual connexion? + +Questions of this kind have assuredly often arisen, but it might have +been long before they received such expression as would have commanded +the respect and attention of the scientific world, had it not been for +the publication of the work which prompted this article. Its author, Mr. +Darwin, inheritor of a once celebrated name, won his spurs in science +when most of those now distinguished were young men, and has for the +last 20 years held a place in the front ranks of British philosophers. +After a circumnavigatory voyage, undertaken solely for the love of +his science, Mr. Darwin published a series of researches which at +once arrested the attention of naturalists and geologists; his +generalizations have since received ample confirmation, and now command +universal assent, nor is it questionable that they have had the most +important influence on the progress of science. More recently Mr. +Darwin, with a versatility which is among the rarest of gifts, turned +his attention to a most difficult question of zoology and minute +anatomy; and no living naturalist and anatomist has published a better +monograph than that which resulted from his labours. Such a man, at all +events, has not entered the sanctuary with unwashed hands, and when he +lays before us the results of 20 years' investigation and reflection we +must listen even though we be disposed to strike. But, in reading his +work it must be confessed that the attention which might at first be +dutifully, soon becomes willingly, given, so clear is the author's +thought, so outspoken his conviction, so honest and fair the candid +expression of his doubts. Those who would judge the book must read +it; we shall endeavour only to make its line of argument and its +philosophical position intelligible to the general reader in our own +way. + +The Baker-street Bazaar has just been exhibiting its familiar annual +spectacle. Straight-backed, small-headed, big-barrelled oxen, as +dissimilar from any wild species as can well be imagined, contended for +attention and praise with sheep of half-a-dozen different breeds and +styes of bloated preposterous pigs, no more like a wild boar or sow than +a city alderman is like an ourang-outang. The cattle show has been, and +perhaps may again be, succeeded by a poultry show, of whose crowing and +clucking prodigies it can only be certainly predicated that they will +be very unlike the aboriginal 'Phasianus gallus'. If the seeker after +animal anomalies is not satisfied, a turn or two in Seven Dials will +convince him that the breeds of pigeons are quite as extraordinary +and unlike one another and their parent stock, while the Horticultural +Society will provide him with any number of corresponding vegetable +aberrations from nature's types. He will learn with no little surprise, +too, in the course of his travels, that the proprietors and producers +of these animal and vegetable anomalies regard them as distinct species, +with a firm belief, the strength of which is exactly proportioned to +their ignorance of scientific biology, and which is the more remarkable +as they are all proud of their skill in ORIGINATING such "species." + +On careful inquiry it is found that all these, and the many other +artificial breeds or races of animals and plants, have been produced +by one method. The breeder--and a skilful one must be a person of much +sagacity and natural or acquired perceptive faculty--notes some slight +difference, arising he knows not how, in some individuals of his stock. +If he wish to perpetuate the difference, to form a breed with the +peculiarity in question strongly marked, he selects such male and female +individuals as exhibit the desired character, and breeds from them. +Their offspring are then carefully examined, and those which exhibit +the peculiarity the most distinctly are selected for breeding, and this +operation is repeated until the desired amount of divergence from the +primitive stock is reached. It is then found that by continuing the +process of selection--always breeding, that is, from well-marked forms, +and allowing no impure crosses to interfere,--a race may be formed, the +tendency of which to reproduce itself is exceedingly strong; nor is the +limit to the amount of divergence which may be thus produced known, but +one thing is certain, that, if certain breeds of dogs, or of pigeons, +or of horses, were known only in a fossil state, no naturalist would +hesitate in regarding them as distinct species. + +But, in all these cases we have HUMAN INTERFERENCE. Without the breeder +there would be no selection, and without the selection no race. Before +admitting the possibility of natural species having originated in any +similar way, it must be proved that there is in nature some power which +takes the place of man, and performs a selection sua sponte. It is the +claim of Mr. Darwin that he professes to have discovered the existence +and the modus operandi of this natural selection, as he terms it; and, +if he be right, the process is perfectly simple and comprehensible, and +irresistibly deducible from very familiar but well nigh forgotten facts. + +Who, for instance, has duly reflected upon all the consequences of the +marvellous struggle for existence which is daily and hourly going on +among living beings? Not only does every animal live at the expense of +some other animal or plant, but the very plants are at war. The ground +is full of seeds that cannot rise into seedlings; the seedlings rob one +another of air, light and water, the strongest robber winning the day, +and extinguishing his competitors. Year after year, the wild animals +with which man never interferes are, on the average, neither more nor +less numerous than they were; and yet we know that the annual produce +of every pair is from one to perhaps a million young,--so that it is +mathematically certain that, on the average, as many are killed by +natural causes as are born every year, and those only escape which +happen to be a little better fitted to resist destruction than those +which die. The individuals of a species are like the crew of a foundered +ship, and none but good swimmers have a chance of reaching the land. + +Such being unquestionably the necessary conditions under which living +creatures exist, Mr. Darwin discovers in them the instrument of natural +selection. Suppose that in the midst of this incessant competition some +individuals of a species (A) present accidental variations which happen +to fit them a little better than their fellows for the struggle in which +they are engaged, then the chances are in favour, not only of these +individuals being better nourished than the others, but of their +predominating over their fellows in other ways, and of having a better +chance of leaving offspring, which will of course tend to reproduce the +peculiarities of their parents. Their offspring will, by a parity of +reasoning, tend to predominate over their contemporaries, and there +being (suppose) no room for more than one species such as A, the weaker +variety will eventually be destroyed by the new destructive influence +which is thrown into the scale, and the stronger will take its place. +Surrounding conditions remaining unchanged, the new variety (which we +may call B)--supposed, for argument's sake, to be the best adapted for +these conditions which can be got out of the original stock--will remain +unchanged, all accidental deviations from the type becoming at once +extinguished, as less fit for their post than B itself. The tendency +of B to persist will grow with its persistence through successive +generations, and it will acquire all the characters of a new species. + +But, on the other hand, if the conditions of life change in any degree, +however slight, B may no longer be that form which is best adapted to +withstand their destructive, and profit by their sustaining, influence; +in which case if it should give rise to a more competent variety (C), +this will take its place and become a new species; and thus, by 'natural +selection', the species B and C will be successively derived from A. + +That this most ingenious hypothesis enables us to give a reason for +many apparent anomalies in the distribution of living beings in time and +space, and that it is not contradicted by the main phenomena of life and +organization appear to us to be unquestionable; and so far it must be +admitted to have an immense advantage over any of its predecessors. +But it is quite another matter to affirm absolutely either the truth +or falsehood of Mr. Darwin's views at the present stage of the inquiry. +Goethe has an excellent aphorism defining that state of mind which he +calls 'Thatige Skepsis'--active doubt. It is doubt which so loves +truth that it neither dares rest in doubting, nor extinguish itself by +unjustified belief; and we commend this state of mind to students of +species, with respect to Mr. Darwin's or any other hypothesis, as to +their origin. The combined investigations of another 20 years may, +perhaps, enable naturalists to say whether the modifying causes and the +selective power, which Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily shown to exist in +nature, are competent to produce all the effects he ascribes to them, or +whether, on the other hand, he has been led to over-estimate the +value of his principle of natural selection, as greatly as Lamarck +overestimated his vera causa of modification by exercise. + +But there is, at all events, one advantage possessed by the more recent +writer over his predecessor. Mr. Darwin abhors mere speculation as +nature abhors a vacuum. He is as greedy of cases and precedents as any +constitutional lawyer, and all the principles he lays down are capable +of being brought to the test of observation and experiment. The path +he bids us follow professes to be, not a mere airy track, fabricated of +ideal cobwebs, but a solid and broad bridge of facts. If it be so, it +will carry us safely over many a chasm in our knowledge, and lead us to +a region free from the snares of those fascinating but barren Virgins, +the Final Causes, against whom a high authority has so justly warned us. +"My sons, dig in the vineyard," were the last words of the old man +in the fable; and, though the sons found no treasure, they made their +fortunes by the grapes. + +End of The Darwinian Hypothesis. + + + + +TIME AND LIFE.* + +([Footnote] *"Macmillan's Magazine", December 1859.) + + + + +MR. DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES". + +Everyone knows that that superficial film of the earth's substance, +hardly ten miles thick, which is accessible to human investigation, is +composed for the most part of beds or strata of stone, the consolidated +muds and sands of former seas and lakes, which have been deposited +one upon the other, and hence are the older the deeper they lie. These +multitudinous strata present such resemblances and differences among +themselves that they are capable of classification into groups or +formations, and these formations again are brigaded together into still +larger assemblages, called by the older geologists, primary, secondary, +and tertiary; by the moderns, palaeozoic, mesozoic, and cainozoic: the +basis of the former nomenclature being the relative age of the groups of +strata; that of the latter, the kinds of living forms contained in them. + +Though but a film if compared with the total diameter of our planet, +the total series of formations is vast indeed when measured by any human +standard, and, as all action implies time, so are we compelled to regard +these mineral masses as a measure of the time which has elapsed during +their accumulation. The amount of the time which they represent is, of +course, in the inverse proportion of the intensity of the forces +which have been in operation. If, in the ancient world, mud and sand +accumulated on sea-bottoms at tenfold their present rate, it is clear +that a bed of mud or sand ten feet thick would have been formed then in +the same time as a stratum of similar materials one foot thick would be +formed now, and 'vice versa'. + +At the outset of his studies, therefore, the physical geologist had to +choose between two hypotheses; either, throughout the ages which are +represented by the accumulated strata, and which we may call 'geologic +time', the forces of nature have operated with much same average +intensity as at present, and hence the lapse of time which they +represent must be something prodigious and inconceivable, or, in the +primeval epochs, the natural powers were infinitely more intense than +now, and hence the time through which they acted to produce the effects +we see was comparatively short. + +The earlier geologists adopted the latter view almost with one consent. +For they had little knowledge of the present workings of nature, and +they read the records of geologic time as a child reads the history of +Rome or Greece, and fancies that antiquity was grand, heroic, and unlike +the present because it is unlike his little experience of the present. + +Even so the earlier observers were moved with wonder at the seeming +contrast between the ancient and the present order of nature. The +elemental forces seemed to have been grander and more energetic in +primeval times. Upheaved and contorted, rifted and fissured, pierced by +dykes of molten matter or worn away over vast areas by aqueous action, +the older rocks appeared to bear witness to a state of things far +different from that exhibited by the peaceful epoch on which the lot of +man has fallen. + +But by degrees thoughtful students of geology have been led to perceive +that the earliest efforts of nature have been by no means the grandest. +Alps and Andes are children of yesterday when compared with Snowdon and +the Cumberland hills; and the so-called glacial epoch--that in which +perhaps the most extensive physical changes of which any record +remaining occurred--is the last and the newest of the revolutions of the +globe. And in proportion as physical geography--which is the geology of +our own epoch--has grown into a science, and the present order of nature +has been ransacked to find what, hibernice, we may call precedents for +the phenomena of the past, so the apparent necessity of supposing the +past to be widely different from the present has diminished. + +The transporting power of the greatest deluge which can be imagined +sinks into insignificance beside that of the slowly floating, slowly +melting iceberg, or the glacier creeping along at its snail's pace of +a yard a day. The study of the deltas of the Nile, the Ganges, and the +Mississippi has taught us how slow is the wearing action of water, how +vast its effects when time is allowed for its operation. The reefs of +the Pacific, the deep-sea soundings of the Atlantic, show that it is to +the slow-growing coral and to the imperceptible animalcule, which lives +its brief space and then adds its tiny shell to the muddy cairn left +by its brethren and ancestors, that we must look as the agents in +the formation of limestone and chalk, and not to hypothetical oceans +saturated with calcareous salts and suddenly depositing them. + +And while the inquirer has thus learnt that existing forces--GIVE THEM +TIME--are competent to produce all the physical phenomena we meet with +in the rocks, so, on the other side, the study of the marks left in the +ancient strata by past physical actions shows that these were similar to +those which now obtain. Ancient beaches are met with whose pebbles are +like those found on modern shores; the hardened sea-sands of the oldest +epochs show ripple-marks, such as may now be found on every sandy coast; +nay, more, the pits left by ancient rain-drops prove that even in +the very earliest ages, the "bow in the clouds" must have adorned the +palaeozoic firmament. So that if we could reverse the legend of the +Seven Sleepers,--if we could sleep back through the past, and awake a +million ages before our own epoch, in the midst of the earliest geologic +times,--there is no reason to believe that sea, or sky, or the aspect of +the land would warn us of the marvellous retrospection. + +Such are the beliefs which modern physical geologists hold, or, at any +rate, tend towards holding. But, in so doing, it is obvious that they by +no means prejudge the question, as to what the physical condition of the +globe may have been before our chapters of its history begin, in what +may be called (with that licence which is implied in the often-used term +"prehistoric epoch") "pre-geologic time." The views indicated, in fact, +are not only quite consistent with the hypothesis, that, in the +still earlier period referred to, the condition of our world was very +different; but they may be held by some to necessitate that hypothesis. +The physical philosopher who is accurately acquainted with the velocity +of a cannon-ball, and the precise character of the line which it +traverses for a yard of its course, is necessitated by what he knows of +the laws of nature to conclude that it came from a certain spot, whence +it was impelled by a certain force, and that it has followed a certain +trajectory. In like manner, the student of physical geology, who fully +believes in the uniformity of the general condition of the earth through +geologic time, may feel compelled by what he knows of causation, and by +the general analogy of nature, to suppose that our solar system was once +a nebulous mass; that it gradually condensed, that it broke up into +that wonderful group of harmoniously rolling balls we call planets +and satellites, and that then each of these underwent its appointed +metamorphosis, until at last our own share of the cosmic vapour passed +into that condition in which we first meet with definite records of +its state, and in which it has since, with comparatively little change, +remained. + +The doctrine of uniformity and the doctrine of progression are, +therefore, perfectly consistent; perhaps, indeed, they might be shown to +be necessarily connected with one another. + +If, however, the condition of the world, which has obtained throughout +geologic time, is but the sequel to a vast series of changes which took +place in pre-geologic time, then it seems not unlikely that the duration +of this latter is to that of the former as the vast extent of geologic +time is to the length of the brief epoch we call the historical period; +and that even the oldest rocks are records of an epoch almost infinitely +remote from that which could have witnessed the first shaping of our +globe. + +It is probable that no modern geologist would hesitate to admit the +general validity of these reasonings when applied to the physics of his +subject, whence it is the more remarkable that the moment the question +changes from one of physics and chemistry to one of natural history, +scientific opinions and the popular prejudices, which reflect them in +a distorted form, undergo a sudden metamorphosis. Geologists +and palaeontologists write about the "beginning of life" and the +"first-created forms of living beings," as if they were the most +familiar things in the world; and even cautious writers seem to be on +quite friendly terms with the "archetype" whereby the Creator was guided +"amidst the crash of falling worlds." Just as it used to be imagined +that the ancient world was physically opposed to the present, so it is +still widely assumed that the living population of our globe, whether +animal or vegetable, in the older epochs, exhibited forms so strikingly +contrasted with those which we see around us, that there is hardly +anything in common between the two. It is constantly tacitly assumed +that we have before us all the forms of life which have ever existed; +and though the progress of knowledge, yearly and almost monthly, +drives the defenders of that position from their ground, they entrench +themselves in the new line of defences as if nothing had happened, and +proclaim that the NEW beginning is the REAL beginning. + +Without for an instant denying or endeavouring to soften down the +considerable positive differences (the negative ones are met by another +line of argument) which undoubtedly obtain between the ancient and the +modern worlds of life, we believe they have been vastly overstated and +exaggerated, and this belief is based upon certain facts whose value +does not seem to have been fully appreciated, though they have long been +more or less completely known. + +The multitudinous kinds of animals and plants, both recent and fossil, +are, as is well known, arranged by zoologists and botanists, in +accordance with their natural relations, into groups which receive the +names of sub-kingdoms, classes, orders, families, genera and species. +Now it is a most remarkable circumstance that, viewed on the great +scale, living beings have differed so little throughout all geologic +time that there is no sub-kingdom and no class wholly extinct or without +living representatives. + +If we descend to the smaller groups, we find that the number of orders +of plants is about two hundred; and I have it on the best authority that +not one of these is exclusively fossil; so that there is absolutely not +a single extinct ordinal type of vegetable life; and it is not until we +descend to the next group, or the families, that we find types which are +wholly extinct. The number of orders of animals, on the other hand, may +be reckoned at a hundred and twenty, or thereabouts, and of these, +eight or nine have no living representatives. The proportion of extinct +ordinal types of animals to the existing types, therefore, does not +exceed seven per cent--a marvellously small proportion when we consider +the vastness of geologic time. + +Another class of considerations--of a different kind, it is true, but +tending in the same direction--seems to have been overlooked. Not only +is it true that the general plan of construction of animals and plants +has been the same in all recorded time as at present, but there are +particular kinds of animals and plants which have existed throughout +vast epochs, sometimes through the whole range of recorded time, with +very little change. By reason of this persistency, the typical form of +such a kind might be called a "persistent type," in contradistinction +to those types which have appeared for but a short time in the course +of the world's history. Examples of these persistent types are abundant +enough in both the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. The oldest group +of plants with which we are well acquainted is that of whose remains +coal is constituted; and as far as they can be identified, the +carboniferous plants are ferns, or club-mosses, or Coniferae, in many +cases generically identical with those now living! + +Among animals, instances of the same kind may be found in every +sub-kingdom. The 'Globigerina' of the Atlantic soundings is identical +with that which occurs in the chalk; and the casts of lower silurian +'Foraminifera', which Ehrenberg has recently described, seem to indicate +the existence at that remote period of forms singularly like those which +now exist. Among the corals, the palaeozoic 'Tabulata' are constructed +on precisely the same type as the modern millepores; and if we turn to +molluscs, the most competent malacologists fail to discover any generic +distinction between the 'Craniae', 'Lingulae' and 'Discinae' of the +silurian rocks and those which now live. Our existing 'Nautilus' has its +representative species in every great formation, from the oldest to the +newest; and 'Loligo', the squid of modern seas, appears in the lias, or +at the bottom of the mesozoic series, in a form, at most, specifically +different from its living congeners. In the great assemblage of annulose +animals, the two highest classes, the insects and spider tribe, exhibit +a wonderful persistency of type. The cockroaches of the carboniferous +epoch are exceedingly similar to those which now run about our +coal-cellars; and its locusts, termites and dragon-flies are closely +allied to the members of the same groups which now chirrup about our +fields, undermine our houses, or sail with swift grace about the banks +of our sedgy pools. And, in like manner, the palaeozoic scorpions can +only be distinguished by the eye of a naturalist from the modern ones. + +Finally, with respect to the 'Vertebrata', the same law holds good: +certain types, such as those of the ganoid and placoid fishes, having +persisted from the palaeozoic epoch to the present time without a +greater amount of deviation from the normal standard than that which +is seen within the limits of the group as it now exists. Even among the +'Reptilia'--the class which exhibits the largest proportion of entirely +extinct forms of any one type,--that of the 'Crocodilia', has persisted +from at least the commencement of the Mesozoic epoch up to the present +time with so much constancy, that the amount of change which it exhibits +may fairly, in relation to the time which has elapsed, be called +insignificant. And the imperfect knowledge we have of the ancient +mammalian population of our earth leads to the belief that certain +of its types, such as that of the 'Marsupialia', have persisted with +correspondingly little change through a similar range of time. + +Thus it would appear to be demonstrable, that, notwithstanding the great +change which is exhibited by the animal population of the world as a +whole, certain types have persisted comparatively without alteration, +and the question arises, What bearing have such facts as these on our +notions of the history of life through geological time? The answer to +this question would seem to depend on the view we take respecting the +origin of species in general. If we assume that every species of animal +and of plant was formed by a distinct act of creative power, and if the +species which have incessantly succeeded one another were placed upon +the globe by these separate acts, then the existence of persistent types +is simply an unintelligible irregularity. Such assumption, however, is +as unsupported by tradition or by Revelation as it is opposed by the +analogy of the rest of the operations of nature; and those who imagine +that, by adopting any such hypothesis, they are strengthening the +hands of the advocates of the letter of the Mosaic account, are simply +mistaken. If, on the other hand, we adopt that hypothesis to which alone +the study of physiology lends any support--that hypothesis which, having +struggled beyond the reach of those fatal supporters, the Telliameds +and Vestigiarians, who so nearly caused its suffocation by wind in early +infancy, is now winning at least the provisional assent of all the best +thinkers of the day--the hypothesis that the forms or species of living +beings, as we know them, have been produced by the gradual modification +of pre-existing species--then the existence of persistent types seems +to teach us much. Just as a small portion of a great curve appears +straight, the apparent absence of change in direction of the line being +the exponent of the vast extent of the whole, in proportion to the part +we see; so, if it be true that all living species are the result of the +modification of other and simpler forms, the existence of these little +altered persistent types, ranging through all geological time, must +indicate that they are but the final terms of an enormous series of +modifications, which had their being in the great lapse of pregeologic +time, and are now perhaps for ever lost. + +In other words, when rightly studied, the teachings of palaeontology are +at one with those of physical geology. Our farthest explorations carry +us back but a little way above the mouth of the great river of Life: +where it arose, and by what channels the noble tide has reached the +point when it first breaks upon our view, is hidden from us. + +The foregoing pages contain the substance of a lecture delivered before +the Royal Institution of Great Britain many months ago, and of course +long before the appearance of the remarkable work on the "Origin of +Species" just published by Mr. Darwin, who arrives at very similar +conclusions. Although, in one sense, I might fairly say that my own +views have been arrived at independently, I do not know that I can +claim any equitable right to property in them; for it has long been +my privilege to enjoy Mr. Darwin's friendship, and to profit by +corresponding with him, and by, to some extent, becoming acquainted with +the workings of his singularly original and well-stored mind. It was in +consequence of my knowledge of the general tenor of the researches +in which Mr. Darwin had been so long engaged; because I had the most +complete confidence in his perseverance, his knowledge, and, above all +things, his high-minded love of truth; and, moreover, because I found +that the better I became acquainted with the opinions of the best +naturalists regarding the vexed question of species, the less fixed +they seemed to be, and the more inclined they were to the hypothesis +of gradual modification, that I ventured to speak as strongly as I have +done in the final paragraphs of my discourse. + +Thus, my daw having so many borrowed plumes, I see no impropriety in +making a tail to this brief paper by taking another handful of feathers +from Mr. Darwin; endeavouring to point out in a few words, in fact, +what, as I gather from the perusal of his book, his doctrines really +are, and on what sort of basis they rest. And I do this the more +willingly, as I observe that already the hastier sort of critics have +begun, not to review my friend's book, but to howl over it in a manner +which must tend greatly to distract the public mind. + +No one will be better satisfied than I to see Mr. Darwin's book refuted, +if any person be competent to perform that feat; but I would +suggest that refutation is retarded, not aided, by mere sarcastic +misrepresentation. Every one who has studied cattle-breeding, or turned +pigeon-fancier, or "pomologist," must have been struck by the extreme +modifiability or plasticity of those kinds of animals and plants which +have been subjected to such artificial conditions as are imposed by +domestication. Breeds of dogs are more different from one another than +are the dog and the wolf; and the purely artificial races of pigeons, +if their origin were unknown, would most assuredly be reckoned by +naturalists as distinct species and even genera. + +These breeds are always produced in the same way. The breeder selects +a pair, one or other, or both, of which present an indication of the +peculiarity he wishes to perpetuate, and then selects from the offspring +of them those which are most characteristic, rejecting the others. From +the selected offspring he breeds again, and, taking the same precautions +as before, repeats the process until he has obtained the precise degree +of divergence from the primitive type at which he aimed. + +If he now breeds from the variety thus established for some generations, +taking care always to keep the stock pure, the tendency to produce this +particular variety becomes more and more strongly hereditary; and it +does not appear that there is any limit to the persistency of the race +thus developed. + +Men like Lamarck, apprehending these facts, and knowing that varieties +comparable to those produced by the breeder are abundantly found in +nature, and finding it impossible to discriminate in some cases between +varieties and true species, could hardly fail to divine the possibility +that species even the most distinct were, after all, only exceedingly +persistent varieties, and that they had arisen by the modification +of some common stock, just as it is with good reason believed that +turnspits and greyhounds, carrier and tumbler pigeons, have arisen. + +But there was a link wanting to complete the parallel. Where in nature +was the analogue of the breeder to be found? How could that operation +of selection, which is his essential function, be carried out by mere +natural agencies? Lamarck did not value this problem; neither did +he admit his impotence to solve it; but he guessed a solution. Now, +guessing in science is a very hazardous proceeding, and Lamarck's +reputation has suffered woefully for the absurdities into which his +baseless suppositions led him. + +Lamarck's conjectures, equipped with a new hat and stick, as Sir Walter +Scott was wont to say of an old story renovated, formed the foundation +of the biological speculations of the 'Vestiges', a work which has done +more harm to the progress of sound thought on these matters than any +that could be named; and, indeed, I mention it here simply for the +purpose of denying that it has anything in common with what essentially +characterises Mr. Darwin's work. + +The peculiar feature of the latter is, in fact, that it professes to +tell us what in nature takes the place of the breeder; what it is that +favours the development of one variety into which a species may run, and +checks that of another; and, finally, shows how this natural selection, +as it is termed, may be the physical cause of the production of species +by modification. + +That which takes the place of the breeder and selector in nature is +Death. In a most remarkable chapter, 'On the Struggle for Existence', +Mr. Darwin draws attention to the marvellous destruction of life which +is constantly going on in nature. For every species of living thing, +as for man, "Eine Bresche ist ein jeder Tag."--Every species has its +enemies; every species has to compete with others for the necessaries +of existence; the weakest goes to the wall, and death is the penalty +inflicted on all laggards and stragglers. Every variety to which a +species may give rise is either worse or better adapted to surrounding +circumstances than its parent. If worse, it cannot maintain itself +against death, and speedily vanishes again. But if better adapted, it +must, sooner or later, "improve" its progenitor from the face of the +earth, and take its place. If circumstances change, the victor will be +similarly supplanted by its own progeny; and thus, by the operation of +natural causes, unlimited modification may in the lapse of long ages +occur. + +For an explanation of what I have here called vaguely "surrounding +circumstances," and of why they continually change--for ample proof +that the "struggle for existence" is a very great reality, and assuredly +'tends' to exert the influence ascribed to it--I must refer to Mr. +Darwin's book. I believe I have stated fairly the position upon which +his whole theory must stand or fall; and it is not my purpose to +anticipate a full review of his work. If it can be proved that the +process of natural selection, operating upon any species, can give rise +to varieties of species so different from one another that none of our +tests will distinguish them from true species, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis +of the origin of species will take its place among the established +theories of science, be its consequences whatever they may. If, on the +other hand, Mr. Darwin has erred, either in fact or in reasoning, his +fellow-workers will soon find out the weak points in his doctrines, +and their extinction by some nearer approximation to the truth will +exemplify his own principle of natural selection. + +In either case the question is one to be settled only by the +painstaking, truth-loving investigation of skilled naturalists. It is +the duty of the general public to await the result in patience; and, +above all things, to discourage, as they would any other crimes, +the attempt to enlist the prejudices of the ignorant, or the +uncharitableness of the bigoted, on either side of the controversy. + +End of Time and Life. + + + + +THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.* + +([Footnote] *'The Westminster Review', April 1860.) + +Mr. Darwin's long-standing and well-earned scientific eminence probably +renders him indifferent to that social notoriety which passes by the +name of success; but if the calm spirit of the philosopher have not yet +wholly superseded the ambition and the vanity of the carnal man within +him, he must be well satisfied with the results of his venture in +publishing the 'Origin of Species'. Overflowing the narrow bounds of +purely scientific circles, the "species question" divides with Italy and +the Volunteers the attention of general society. Everybody has read Mr. +Darwin's book, or, at least, has given an opinion upon its merits or +demerits; pietists, whether lay or ecclesiastic, decry it with the mild +railing which sounds so charitable; bigots denounce it with ignorant +invective; old ladies of both sexes consider it a decidedly dangerous +book, and even savants, who have no better mud to throw, quote +antiquated writers to show that its author is no better than an ape +himself; while every philosophical thinker hails it as a veritable +Whitworth gun in the armoury of liberalism; and all competent +naturalists and physiologists, whatever their opinions as to the +ultimate fate of the doctrines put forth, acknowledge that the work +in which they are embodied is a solid contribution to knowledge and +inaugurates a new epoch in natural history. + +Nor has the discussion of the subject been restrained within the limits +of conversation. When the public is eager and interested, reviewers must +minister to its wants; and the genuine litterateur is too much in +the habit of acquiring his knowledge from the book he judges--as the +Abyssinian is said to provide himself with steaks from the ox which +carries him--to be withheld from criticism of a profound scientific work +by the mere want of the requisite preliminary scientific acquirement; +while, on the other hand, the men of science who wish well to the new +views, no less than those who dispute their validity, have naturally +sought opportunities of expressing their opinions. Hence it is not +surprising that almost all the critical journals have noticed Mr. +Darwin's work at greater or less length; and so many disquisitions, +of every degree of excellence, from the poor product of ignorance, too +often stimulated by prejudice, to the fair and thoughtful essay of +the candid student of Nature, have appeared, that it seems an almost +hopeless task to attempt to say anything new upon the question. + +But it may be doubted if the knowledge and acumen of prejudged +scientific opponents, or the subtlety of orthodox special pleaders, have +yet exerted their full force in mystifying the real issues of the great +controversy which has been set afoot, and whose end is hardly likely +to be seen by this generation; so that, at this eleventh hour, and even +failing anything new, it may be useful to state afresh that which is +true, and to put the fundamental positions advocated by Mr. Darwin in +such a form that they may be grasped by those whose special studies lie +in other directions. And the adoption of this course may be the more +advisable, because, notwithstanding its great deserts, and indeed partly +on account of them, the 'Origin of Species' is by no means an easy book +to read--if by reading is implied the full comprehension of an author's +meaning. + +We do not speak jestingly in saying that it is Mr. Darwin's misfortune +to know more about the question he has taken up than any man living. +Personally and practically exercised in zoology, in minute anatomy, +in geology; a student of geographical distribution, not on maps and +in museums only, but by long voyages and laborious collection; having +largely advanced each of these branches of science, and having spent +many years in gathering and sifting materials for his present work, +the store of accurately registered facts upon which the author of the +'Origin of Species' is able to draw at will is prodigious. + +But this very superabundance of matter must have been embarrassing to +a writer who, for the present, can only put forward an abstract of his +views; and thence it arises, perhaps, that notwithstanding the clearness +of the style, those who attempt fairly to digest the book find much of +it a sort of intellectual pemmican--a mass of facts crushed and pounded +into shape, rather than held together by the ordinary medium of an +obvious logical bond; due attention will, without doubt, discover this +bond, but it is often hard to find. + +Again, from sheer want of room, much has to be taken for granted which +might readily enough be proved; and hence, while the adept, who can +supply the missing links in the evidence from his own knowledge, +discovers fresh proof of the singular thoroughness with which all +difficulties have been considered and all unjustifiable suppositions +avoided, at every reperusal of Mr. Darwin's pregnant paragraphs, the +novice in biology is apt to complain of the frequency of what he fancies +is gratuitous assumption. + +Thus while it may be doubted if, for some years, any one is likely to be +competent to pronounce judgment on all the issues raised by Mr. Darwin, +there is assuredly abundant room for him, who, assuming the humbler, +though perhaps as useful, office of an interpreter between the 'Origin +of Species' and the public, contents himself with endeavouring to +point out the nature of the problems which it discusses; to distinguish +between the ascertained facts and the theoretical views which it +contains; and finally, to show the extent to which the explanation it +offers satisfies the requirements of scientific logic. At any rate, it +is this office which we purpose to undertake in the following pages. + +It may be safely assumed that our readers have a general conception of +the nature of the objects to which the word "species" is applied; but +it has, perhaps, occurred to a few, even to those who are naturalists ex +professo, to reflect, that, as commonly employed, the term has a double +sense and denotes two very different orders of relations. When we call a +group of animals, or of plants, a species, we may imply thereby, either +that all these animals or plants have some common peculiarity of form +or structure; or, we may mean that they possess some common functional +character. That part of biological science which deals with form +and structure is called Morphology--that which concerns itself with +function, Physiology--so that we may conveniently speak of these two +senses, or aspects, of "species"--the one as morphological, the other +as physiological. Regarded from the former point of view, a species +is nothing more than a kind of animal or plant, which is distinctly +definable from all others, by certain constant, and not merely sexual, +morphological peculiarities. Thus horses form a species, because the +group of animals to which that name is applied is distinguished from all +others in the world by the following constantly associated characters. +They have--1, A vertebral column; 2, Mammae; 3, A placental embryo; 4, +Four legs; 5, A single well-developed toe in each foot provided with a +hoof; 6, A bushy tail; and 7, Callosities on the inner sides of both +the fore and the hind legs. The asses, again, form a distinct species, +because, with the same characters, as far as the fifth in the above +list, all asses have tufted tails, and have callosities only on the +inner side of the fore-legs. If animals were discovered having the +general characters of the horse, but sometimes with callosities only +on the fore-legs, and more or less tufted tails; or animals having the +general characters of the ass, but with more or less bushy tails, +and sometimes with callosities on both pairs of legs, besides being +intermediate in other respects--the two species would have to be merged +into one. They could no longer be regarded as morphologically distinct +species, for they would not be distinctly definable one from the other. + +However bare and simple this definition of species may appear to be, +we confidently appeal to all practical naturalists, whether zoologists, +botanists, or palaeontologists, to say if, in the vast majority of +cases, they know, or mean to affirm anything more of the group of +animals or plants they so denominate than what has just been stated. +Even the most decided advocates of the received doctrines respecting +species admit this. + +"I apprehend," says Professor Owen,* "that few naturalists nowadays, in +describing and proposing a name for what they call 'a new species,' use +that term to signify what was meant by it twenty or thirty years ago; +that is, an originally distinct creation, maintaining its primitive +distinction by obstructive generative peculiarities. The proposer of the +new species now intends to state no more than he actually knows; as, for +example, that the differences on which he founds the specific character +are constant in individuals of both sexes, so far as observation has +reached; and that they are not due to domestication or to artificially +superinduced external circumstances, or to any outward influence within +his cognizance; that the species is wild, or is such as it appears by +Nature." ([Footnote] *On the Osteology of the Chimpanzees and Orangs: +Transactions of the Zoological Society, 1858.) + +If we consider, in fact, that by far the largest proportion of recorded +existing species are known only by the study of their skins, or bones, +or other lifeless exuvia; that we are acquainted with none, or next to +none, of their physiological peculiarities, beyond those which can be +deduced from their structure, or are open to cursory observation; and +that we cannot hope to learn more of any of those extinct forms of life +which now constitute no inconsiderable proportion of the known Flora and +Fauna of the world: it is obvious that the definitions of these species +can be only of a purely structural, or morphological, character. It is +probable that naturalists would have avoided much confusion of ideas +if they had more frequently borne the necessary limitations of our +knowledge in mind. But while it may safely be admitted that we are +acquainted with only the morphological characters of the vast majority +of species--the functional or physiological, peculiarities of a few have +been carefully investigated, and the result of that study forms a large +and most interesting portion of the physiology of reproduction. + +The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the +more conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the perennial +miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most worthy of +admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal from its +embryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal, such as a +salamander or newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the best microscope +will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing a glairy fluid, +holding granules in suspension. But strange possibilities lie dormant +in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth reach its +watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, yet +so steady and purposelike in their succession, that one can only compare +them to those operated by a skilled modeller upon a formless lump of +clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided +into smaller and smaller portions, until it is reduced to an aggregation +of granules not too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the +nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out +the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and moulded the contour +of the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other, +and fashioning flank and limb into due salamandrine proportions, in so +artistic a way, that, after watching the process hour by hour, one is +almost involuntarily possessed by the notion, that some more subtle aid +to vision than an achromatic, would show the hidden artist, with his +plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work. + +As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror +of his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles +supplied by its prey, by the addition of which to its frame, growth +takes place, laid down, each in its proper spot, and in such due +proportion to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the colour, and the +size, characteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful +powers of reproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are +controlled by the same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, +the jaws, separately or all together, and, as Spallanzani showed long +ago, these parts not only grow again, but the reintegrated limb is +formed on the same type as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, +is a newt's, and never by any accident more like that of a frog. What is +true of the newt is true of every animal and of every plant; the acorn +tends to build itself up again into a woodland giant such as that from +whose twig it fell; the spore of the humblest lichen reproduces the +green or brown incrustation which gave it birth; and at the other end of +the scale of life, the child that resembled neither the paternal nor the +maternal side of the house would be regarded as a kind of monster. + +So that the one end to which, in all living beings, the formative +impulse is tending--the one scheme which the Archaeus of the old +speculators strives to carry out, seems to be to mould the offspring +into the likeness of the parent. It is the first great law of +reproduction, that the offspring tends to resemble its parent or +parents, more closely than anything else. + +Science will some day show us how this law is a necessary consequence +of the more general laws which govern matter; but, for the present, more +can hardly be said than that it appears to be in harmony with them. We +know that the phenomena of vitality are not something apart from other +physical phenomena, but one with them; and matter and force are the two +names of the one artist who fashions the living as well as the +lifeless. Hence living bodies should obey the same great laws as other +matter--nor, throughout Nature, is there a law of wider application than +this, that a body impelled by two forces takes the direction of their +resultant. But living bodies may be regarded as nothing but extremely +complex bundles of forces held in a mass of matter, as the complex +forces of a magnet are held in the steel by its coercive force; and, +since the differences of sex are comparatively slight, or, in other +words, the sum of the forces in each has a very similar tendency, their +resultant, the offspring, may reasonably be expected to deviate but +little from a course parallel to either, or to both. + +Represent the reason of the law to ourselves by what physical metaphor +or analogy we will, however, the great matter is to apprehend its +existence and the importance of the consequences deducible from it. For +things which are like to the same are like to one another; and if; in +a great series of generations, every offspring is like its parent, it +follows that all the offspring and all the parents must be like +one another; and that, given an original parental stock, with the +opportunity of undisturbed multiplication, the law in question +necessitates the production, in course of time, of an indefinitely large +group, the whole of whose members are at once very similar and are blood +relations, having descended from the same parent, or pair of parents. +The proof that all the members of any given group of animals, or plants, +had thus descended, would be ordinarily considered sufficient to entitle +them to the rank of physiological species, for most physiologists +consider species to be definable as "the offspring of a single primitive +stock." + +But though it is quite true that all those groups we call species MAY, +according to the known laws of reproduction, have descended from a +single stock, and though it is very likely they really have done so, +yet this conclusion rests on deduction and can hardly hope to establish +itself upon a basis of observation. And the primitiveness of the +supposed single stock, which, after all, is the essential part of the +matter, is not only a hypothesis, but one which has not a shadow of +foundation, if by "primitive" be meant "independent of any other living +being." A scientific definition, of which an unwarrantable hypothesis +forms an essential part, carries its condemnation within itself; +but, even supposing such a definition were, in form, tenable, the +physiologist who should attempt to apply it in Nature would soon find +himself involved in great, if not inextricable, difficulties. As we have +said, it is indubitable that offspring TEND to resemble the parental +organism, but it is equally true that the similarity attained never +amounts to identity, either in form or in structure. There is always a +certain amount of deviation, not only from the precise characters of a +single parent, but when, as in most animals and many plants, the sexes +are lodged in distinct individuals, from an exact mean between the two +parents. And indeed, on general principles, this slight deviation seems +as intelligible as the general similarity, if we reflect how complex the +co-operating "bundles of forces" are, and how improbable it is that, in +any case, their true resultant shall coincide with any mean between +the more obvious characters of the two parents. Whatever be its cause, +however, the co-existence of this tendency to minor variation with the +tendency to general similarity, is of vast importance in its bearing on +the question of the origin of species. + +As a general rule, the extent to which an offspring differs from its +parent is slight enough; but, occasionally, the amount of difference is +much more strongly marked, and then the divergent offspring receives the +name of a Variety. Multitudes, of what there is every reason to believe +are such varieties, are known, but the origin of very few has been +accurately recorded, and of these we will select two as more especially +illustrative of the main features of variation. The first of them is +that of the "Ancon," or "Otter" sheep, of which a careful account is +given by Colonel David Humphreys, F.R.S., in a letter to Sir Joseph +Banks, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813. It appears +that one Seth Wright, the proprietor of a farm on the banks of the +Charles River, in Massachusetts, possessed a flock of fifteen ewes and +a ram of the ordinary kind. In the year 1791, one of the ewes presented +her owner with a male lamb, differing, for no assignable reason, from +its parents by a proportionally long body and short bandy legs, whence +it was unable to emulate its relatives in those sportive leaps over the +neighbours' fences, in which they were in the habit of indulging, much +to the good farmer's vexation. + +The second case is that detailed by a no less unexceptionable authority +than Reaumur, in his 'Art de faire eclore les Poulets'. A Maltese +couple, named Kelleia, whose hands and feet were constructed upon the +ordinary human model, had born to them a son, Gratio, who possessed six +perfectly movable fingers on each hand, and six toes, not quite so well +formed, on each foot. No cause could be assigned for the appearance of +this unusual variety of the human species. + +Two circumstances are well worthy of remark in both these cases. In +each, the variety appears to have arisen in full force, and, as it were, +per saltum; a wide and definite difference appearing, at once, between +the Ancon ram and the ordinary sheep; between the six-fingered and +six-toed Gratio Kelleia and ordinary men. In neither case is it possible +to point out any obvious reason for the appearance of the variety. +Doubtless there were determining causes for these as for all other +phenomena; but they do not appear, and we can be tolerably certain that +what are ordinarily understood as changes in physical conditions, as in +climate, in food, or the like, did not take place and had nothing to do +with the matter. It was no case of what is commonly called adaptation +to circumstances; but, to use a conveniently erroneous phrase, the +variations arose spontaneously. The fruitless search after final causes +leads their pursuers a long way; but even those hardy teleologists, who +are ready to break through all the laws of physics in chase of their +favourite will-o'-the-wisp, may be puzzled to discover what purpose +could be attained by the stunted legs of Seth Wright's ram or the +hexadactyle members of Gratio Kelleia. + +Varieties then arise we know not why; and it is more than probable that +the majority of varieties have arisen in this "spontaneous" manner, +though we are, of course, far from denying that they may be traced, +in some cases, to distinct external influences; which are assuredly +competent to alter the character of the tegumentary covering, to +change colour, to increase or diminish the size of muscles, to modify +constitution, and, among plants, to give rise to the metamorphosis of +stamens into petals, and so forth. But however they may have arisen, +what especially interests us at present is, to remark that, once in +existence, varieties obey the fundamental law of reproduction that like +tends to produce like; and their offspring exemplify it by tending +to exhibit the same deviation from the parental stock as themselves. +Indeed, there seems to be, in many instances, a pre-potent influence +about a newly-arisen variety which gives it what one may call an unfair +advantage over the normal descendants from the same stock. This is +strikingly exemplified by the case of Gratio Kelleia, who married a +woman with the ordinary pentadactyle extremities, and had by her +four children, Salvator, George, Andre, and Marie. Of these children +Salvator, the eldest boy, had six fingers and six toes, like his father; +the second and third, also boys, had five fingers and five toes, +like their mother, though the hands and feet of George were slightly +deformed. The last, a girl, had five fingers and five toes, but the +thumbs were slightly deformed. The variety thus reproduced itself purely +in the eldest, while the normal type reproduced itself purely in the +third, and almost purely in the second and last: so that it would seem, +at first, as if the normal type were more powerful than the variety. +But all these children grew up and intermarried with normal wives and +husband, and then, note what took place: Salvator had four children, +three of whom exhibited the hexadactyle members of their grandfather and +father, while the youngest had the pentadactyle limbs of the mother +and grandmother; so that here, notwithstanding a double pentadactyle +dilution of the blood, the hexadactyle variety had the best of it. The +same pre-potency of the variety was still more markedly exemplified in +the progeny of two of the other children, Marie and George. Marie (whose +thumbs only were deformed) gave birth to a boy with six toes, and three +other normally formed children; but George, who was not quite so pure a +pentadactyle, begot, first, two girls, each of whom had six fingers +and toes; then a girl with six fingers on each hand and six toes on the +right foot, but only five toes on the left; and lastly, a boy with only +five fingers and toes. In these instances, therefore, the variety, as +it were, leaped over one generation to reproduce itself in full force in +the next. Finally, the purely pentadactyle Andre was the father of many +children, not one of whom departed from the normal parental type. + +If a variation which approaches the nature of a monstrosity can strive +thus forcibly to reproduce itself, it is not wonderful that less +aberrant modifications should tend to be preserved even more strongly; +and the history of the Ancon sheep is, in this respect, particularly +instructive. With the "'cuteness" characteristic of their nation, the +neighbours of the Massachusetts farmer imagined it would be an excellent +thing if all his sheep were imbued with the stay-at-home tendencies +enforced by Nature upon the newly-arrived ram; and they advised Wright +to kill the old patriarch of his fold, and install the Ancon ram in his +place. The result justified their sagacious anticipations, and coincided +very nearly with what occurred to the progeny of Gratio Kelleia. The +young lambs were almost always either pure Ancons, or pure ordinary +sheep.* ([Footnote] *Colonel Humphreys' statements are exceedingly +explicit on this point:--"When an Ancon ewe is impregnated by a common +ram, the increase resembles wholly either the ewe or the ram. The +increase of the common ewe impregnated by an Ancon ram follows entirely +the one or the other, without blending any of the distinguishing and +essential peculiarities of both. Frequent instances have happened +where common ewes have had twins by Ancon rams, when one exhibited +the complete marks and features of the ewe, the other of the ram. The +contrast has been rendered singularly striking, when one short-legged +and one long-legged lamb, produced at a birth, have been seen sucking +the dam at the same time."--'Philosophical Transactions', 1813, Pt. I. +pp. 89, 90.) But when sufficient Ancon sheep were obtained to interbreed +with one another, it was found that the offspring was always pure Ancon. +Colonel Humphreys, in fact, states that he was acquainted with only "one +questionable case of a contrary nature." Here, then, is a remarkable +and well-established instance, not only of a very distinct race being +established per saltum, but of that race breeding "true" at once, and +showing no mixed forms, even when crossed with another breed. + +By taking care to select Ancons of both sexes, for breeding from, it +thus became easy to establish an extremely well-marked race; so peculiar +that, even when herded with other sheep, it was noted that the Ancons +kept together. And there is every reason to believe that the existence +of this breed might have been indefinitely protracted; but the +introduction of the Merino sheep, which were not only very superior to +the Ancons in wool and meat, but quite as quiet and orderly, led to the +complete neglect of the new breed, so that, in 1813, Colonel Humphreys +found it difficult to obtain the specimen, whose skeleton was presented +to Sir Joseph Banks. We believe that, for many years, no remnant of it +has existed in the United States. + +Gratio Kelleia was not the progenitor of a race of six-fingered men, as +Seth Wright's ram became a nation of Ancon sheep, though the tendency of +the variety to perpetuate itself appears to have been fully as strong +in the one case as in the other. And the reason of the difference is +not far to seek. Seth Wright took care not to weaken the Ancon blood by +matching his Ancon ewes with any but males of the same variety, while +Gratio Kelleia's sons were too far removed from the patriarchal times +to intermarry with their sisters; and his grandchildren seem not to have +been attracted by their six-fingered cousins. In other words, in the one +example a race was produced, because, for several generations, care +was taken to 'select' both parents of the breeding stock from animals +exhibiting a tendency to vary in the same condition; while, in the +other, no race was evolved, because no such selection was exercised. +A race is a propagated variety; and as, by the laws of reproduction, +offspring tend to assume the parental forms, they will be more likely to +propagate a variation exhibited by both parents than that possessed by +only one. + +There is no organ of the body of an animal which may not, and does not, +occasionally, vary more or less from the normal type; and there is +no variation which may not be transmitted and which, if selectively +transmitted, may not become the foundation of a race. This great truth, +sometimes forgotten by philosophers, has long been familiar to practical +agriculturists and breeders; and upon it rest all the methods of +improving the breeds of domestic animals, which, for the last century, +have been followed with so much success in England. Colour, form, size, +texture of hair or wool, proportions of various parts, strength or +weakness of constitution, tendency to fatten or to remain lean, to give +much or little milk, speed, strength, temper, intelligence, special +instincts; there is not one of these characters whose transmission is +not an every-day occurrence within the experience of cattle-breeders, +stock-farmers, horse-dealers, and dog and poultry fanciers. Nay, it +is only the other day that an eminent physiologist, Dr. Brown-Sequard, +communicated to the Royal Society his discovery that epilepsy, +artificially produced in guinea-pigs, by a means which he has +discovered, is transmitted to their offspring. + +But a race, once produced, is no more a fixed and immutable entity than +the stock whence it sprang; variations arise among its members, and +as these variations are transmitted like any others, new races may be +developed out of the pre-existing one ad infinitum, or, at least, within +any limit at present determined. Given sufficient time and sufficiently +careful selection, and the multitude of races which may arise from a +common stock is as astonishing as are the extreme structural differences +which they may present. A remarkable example of this is to be found in +the rock-pigeon, which Dr. Darwin has, in our opinion, satisfactorily +demonstrated to be the progenitor of all our domestic pigeons, of which +there are certainly more than a hundred well-marked races. The most +noteworthy of these races are, the four great stocks known to the +"fancy" as tumblers, pouters, carriers, and fantails; birds which not +only differ most singularly in size, colour, and habits, but in the +form of the beak and of the skull: in the proportions of the beak to the +skull; in the number of tail-feathers; in the absolute and relative size +of the feet; in the presence or absence of the uropygial gland; in the +number of vertebrae in the back; in short, in precisely those characters +in which the genera and species of birds differ from one another. + +And it is most remarkable and instructive to observe, that none of these +races can be shown to have been originated by the action of changes +in what are commonly called external circumstances, upon the wild +rock-pigeon. On the contrary, from time immemorial, pigeon-fanciers have +had essentially similar methods of treating their pets, which have +been housed, fed, protected and cared for in much the same way in all +pigeonries. In fact, there is no case better adapted than that of +the pigeons to refute the doctrine which one sees put forth on +high authority, that "no other characters than those founded on the +development of bone for the attachment of muscles" are capable of +variation. In precise contradiction of this hasty assertion, Mr. +Darwin's researches prove that the skeleton of the wings in domestic +pigeons has hardly varied at all from that of the wild type; while, on +the other hand, it is in exactly those respects, such as the relative +length of the beak and skull, the number of the vertebrae, and the +number of the tail-feathers, in which muscular exertion can have no +important influence, that the utmost amount of variation has taken +place. + +We have said that the following out of the properties exhibited by +physiological species would lead us into difficulties, and at this point +they begin to be obvious; for if, as the result of spontaneous variation +and of selective breeding, the progeny of a common stock may become +separated into groups distinguished from one another by constant, not +sexual, morphological characters, it is clear that the physiological +definition of species is likely to clash with the morphological +definition. No one would hesitate to describe the pouter and the tumbler +as distinct species, if they were found fossil, or if their skins and +skeletons were imported, as those of exotic wild birds commonly +are--and without doubt, if considered alone, they are good and distinct +morphological species. On the other hand, they are not physiological +species, for they are descended from a common stock, the rock-pigeon. + +Under these circumstances, as it is admitted on all sides that races +occur in Nature, how are we to know whether any apparently distinct +animals are really of different physiological species, or not, seeing +that the amount of morphological difference is no safe guide? Is there +any test of a physiological species? The usual answer of physiologists +is in the affirmative. It is said that such a test is to be found in +the phenomena of hybridization--in the results of crossing races, as +compared with the results of crossing species. + +So far as the evidence goes at present, individuals, of what are +certainly known to be mere races produced by selection, however distinct +they may appear to be, not only breed freely together, but the offspring +of such crossed races are only perfectly fertile with one another. Thus, +the spaniel and the greyhound, the dray-horse and the Arab, the +pouter and the tumbler, breed together with perfect freedom, and their +mongrels, if matched with other mongrels of the same kind, are equally +fertile. + +On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the individuals of +many natural species are either absolutely infertile if crossed with +individuals of other species, or, if they give rise to hybrid offspring, +the hybrids so produced are infertile when paired together. The horse +and the ass, for instance, if so crossed, give rise to the mule, and +there is no certain evidence of offspring ever having been produced by a +male and female mule. The unions of the rock-pigeon and the +ring-pigeon appear to be equally barren of result. Here, then, says the +physiologist, we have a means of distinguishing any two true species +from any two varieties. If a male and a female, selected from each +group, produce offspring, and that offspring is fertile with others +produced in the same way, the groups are races and not species. If, on +the other hand, no result ensues, or if the offspring are infertile with +others produced in the same way, they are true physiological species. +The test would be an admirable one, if, in the first place, it were +always practicable to apply it, and if, in the second, it always yielded +results susceptible of a definite interpretation. Unfortunately, in +the great majority of cases, this touchstone for species is wholly +inapplicable. + +The constitution of many wild animals is so altered by confinement that +they will not breed even with their own females, so that the negative +results obtained from crosses are of no value; and the antipathy of wild +animals of the same species for one another, or even of wild and tame +members of the same species, is ordinarily so great, that it is hopeless +to look for such unions in Nature. The hermaphrodism of most plants, +the difficulty in the way of insuring the absence of their own, or the +proper working of other pollen, are obstacles of no less magnitude +in applying the test to them. And, in both animals and plants, is +superadded the further difficulty, that experiments must be continued +over a long time for the purpose of ascertaining the fertility of the +mongrel or hybrid progeny, as well as of the first crosses from which +they spring. + +Not only do these great practical difficulties lie in the way of +applying the hybridization test, but even when this oracle can be +questioned, its replies are sometimes as doubtful as those of Delphi. +For example, cases are cited by Mr. Darwin, of plants which are more +fertile with the pollen of another species than with their own; +and there are others, such as certain fuci, whose male element will +fertilize the ovule of a plant of distinct species, while the males of +the latter species are ineffective with the females of the first. So +that, in the last-named instance, a physiologist, who should cross the +two species in one way, would decide that they were true species; while +another, who should cross them in the reverse way, would, with equal +justice, according to the rule, pronounce them to be mere races. Several +plants, which there is great reason to believe are mere varieties, are +almost sterile when crossed; while both animals and plants, which have +always been regarded by naturalists as of distinct species, turn out, +when the test is applied, to be perfectly fertile. Again, the sterility +or fertility of crosses seems to bear no relation to the structural +resemblances or differences of the members of any two groups. + +Mr. Darwin has discussed this question with singular ability and +circumspection, and his conclusions are summed up as follows, at page +276 of his work:-- + +"First crosses between forms sufficiently distinct to be ranked as +species, and their hybrids, are very generally, but not universally, +sterile. The sterility is of all degrees, and is often so slight that +the two most careful experimentalists who have ever lived have come to +diametrically opposite conclusions in ranking forms by this test. The +sterility is innately variable in individuals of the same species, and +is eminently susceptible of favourable and unfavourable conditions. The +degree of sterility does not strictly follow systematic affinity, but is +governed by several curious and complex laws. It is generally different +and sometimes widely different, in reciprocal crosses between the same +two species. It is not always equal in degree in a first cross, and in +the hybrid produced from this cross. + +"In the same manner as in grafting trees, the capacity of one species +or variety to take on another is incidental on generally unknown +differences in their vegetative systems; so in crossing, the greater +or less facility of one species to unite with another is incidental +on unknown differences in their reproductive systems. There is no more +reason to think that species have been specially endowed with various +degrees of sterility to prevent them crossing and breeding in Nature, +than to think that trees have been specially endowed with various and +somewhat analogous degrees of difficulty in being grafted together, in +order to prevent them becoming inarched in our forests. + +"The sterility of first crosses between pure species, which have their +reproductive systems perfect, seems to depend on several circumstances; +in some cases largely on the early death of the embryo. The sterility of +hybrids which have their reproductive systems imperfect, and which +have had this system and their whole organization disturbed by being +compounded of two distinct species, seems closely allied to that +sterility which so frequently affects pure species when their natural +conditions of life have been disturbed. This view is supported by a +parallelism of another kind: namely, that the crossing of forms, only +slightly different, is favourable to the vigour and fertility of +the offspring; and that slight changes in the conditions of life are +apparently favourable to the vigour and fertility of all organic beings. +It is not surprising that the degree of difficulty in uniting two +species, and the degree of sterility of their hybrid offspring, should +generally correspond, though due to distinct causes; for both depend +on the amount of difference of some kind between the species which are +crossed. Nor is it surprising that the facility of effecting a first +cross, the fertility of hybrids produced from it, and the capacity of +being grafted together--though this latter capacity evidently depends +on widely different circumstances--should all run to a certain extent +parallel with the systematic affinity of the forms which are subjected +to experiment; for systematic affinity attempts to express all kinds of +resemblance between all species. + +"First crosses between forms known to be varieties, or sufficiently +alike to be considered as varieties, and their mongrel offspring, are +very generally, but not quite universally, fertile. Nor is this nearly +general and perfect fertility surprising, when we remember how liable we +are to argue in a circle with respect to varieties in a state of Nature; +and when we remember that the greater number of varieties have +been produced under domestication by the selection of mere external +differences, and not of differences in the reproductive system. In +all other respects, excluding fertility, there is a close general +resemblance between hybrids and mongrels."--Pp. 276-8. + +We fully agree with the general tenor of this weighty passage; but +forcible as are these arguments, and little as the value of fertility or +infertility as a test of species may be, it must not be forgotten that +the really important fact, so far as the inquiry into the origin of +species goes, is, that there are such things in Nature as groups of +animals and of plants, whose members are incapable of fertile union with +those of other groups; and that there are such things as hybrids, which +are absolutely sterile when crossed with other hybrids. For, if such +phenomena as these were exhibited by only two of those assemblages of +living objects, to which the name of species (whether it be used in its +physiological or in its morphological sense) is given, it would have +to be accounted for by any theory of the origin of species, and every +theory which could not account for it would be, so far, imperfect. + +Up to this point, we have been dealing with matters of fact, and the +statements which we have laid before the reader would, to the best of +our knowledge, be admitted to contain a fair exposition of what is at +present known respecting the essential properties of species, by all who +have studied the question. And whatever may be his theoretical views, no +naturalist will probably be disposed to demur to the following summary +of that exposition:-- + +Living beings, whether animals or plants, are divisible into multitudes +of distinctly definable kinds, which are morphological species. They are +also divisible into groups of individuals, which breed freely together, +tending to reproduce their like, and are physiological species. Normally +resembling their parents, the offspring of members of these species are +still liable to vary; and the variation may be perpetuated by selection, +as a race, which race, in many cases, presents all the characteristics +of a morphological species. But it is not as yet proved that a race +ever exhibits, when crossed with another race of the same species, those +phenomena of hybridization which are exhibited by many species when +crossed with other species. On the other hand, not only is it not proved +that all species give rise to hybrids infertile inter se, but there +is much reason to believe that, in crossing, species exhibit every +gradation from perfect sterility to perfect fertility. + +Such are the most essential characteristics of species. Even were man +not one of them--a member of the same system and subject to the same +laws--the question of their origin, their causal connexion, that is, +with the other phenomena of the universe, must have attracted his +attention, as soon as his intelligence had raised itself above the level +of his daily wants. + +Indeed history relates that such was the case, and has embalmed for us +the speculations upon the origin of living beings, which were among the +earliest products of the dawning intellectual activity of man. In those +early days positive knowledge was not to be had, but the craving +after it needed, at all hazards, to be satisfied, and according to the +country, or the turn of thought, of the speculator, the suggestion that +all living things arose from the mud of the Nile, from a primeval +egg, or from some more anthropomorphic agency, afforded a sufficient +resting-place for his curiosity. The myths of Paganism are as dead as +Osiris or Zeus, and the man who should revive them, in opposition to the +knowledge of our time, would be justly laughed to scorn; but the coeval +imaginations current among the rude inhabitants of Palestine, recorded +by writers whose very name and age are admitted by every scholar to be +unknown, have unfortunately not yet shared their fate, but, even at +this day, are regarded by nine-tenths of the civilized world as the +authoritative standard of fact and the criterion of the justice of +scientific conclusions, in all that relates to the origin of things, +and, among them, of species. In this nineteenth century, as at the dawn +of modern physical science, the cosmogony of the semi-barbarous Hebrew +is the incubus of the philosopher and the opprobrium of the orthodox. +Who shall number the patient and earnest seekers after truth, from the +days of Galileo until now, whose lives have been embittered and their +good name blasted by the mistaken zeal of Bibliolaters? Who shall count +the host of weaker men whose sense of truth has been destroyed in the +effort to harmonize impossibilities--whose life has been wasted in the +attempt to force the generous new wine of Science into the old bottles +of Judaism, compelled by the outcry of the same strong party? + +It is true that if philosophers have suffered, their cause has been +amply avenged. Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every +science as the strangled snakes beside that of Hercules; and history +records that whenever science and orthodoxy have been fairly opposed, +the latter has been forced to retire from the lists, bleeding and +crushed if not annihilated; scotched, if not slain. But orthodoxy is the +Bourbon of the world of thought. It learns not, neither can it forget; +and though, at present, bewildered and afraid to move, it is as willing +as ever to insist that the first chapter of Genesis contains the +beginning and the end of sound science; and to visit, with such petty +thunderbolts as its half-paralysed hands can hurl, those who refuse to +degrade Nature to the level of primitive Judaism. + +Philosophers, on the other hand, have no such aggressive tendencies. +With eyes fixed on the noble goal to which "per aspera et ardua" they +tend, they may, now and then, be stirred to momentary wrath by the +unnecessary obstacles with which the ignorant, or the malicious, +encumber, if they cannot bar, the difficult path; but why should their +souls be deeply vexed? The majesty of Fact is on their side, and the +elemental forces of Nature are working for them. Not a star comes to the +meridian at its calculated time but testifies to the justice of their +methods--their beliefs are "one with falling rain and with the growing +corn." By doubt they are established, and open inquiry is their bosom +friend. Such men have no fear of traditions however venerable, and no +respect for them when they become mischievous and obstructive; but they +have better than mere antiquarian business in hand, and if dogmas, which +ought to be fossil but are not, are not forced upon their notice, they +are too happy to treat them as non-existent. + +The hypotheses respecting the origin of species which profess to stand +upon a scientific basis, and, as such, alone demand serious attention, +are of two kinds. The one, the "special creation" hypothesis, presumes +every species to have originated from one or more stocks, these not +being the result of the modification of any other form of living +matter--or arising by natural agencies--but being produced, as such, by +a supernatural creative act. + +The other, the so-called "transmutation" hypothesis, considers that +all existing species are the result of the modification of pre-existing +species, and those of their predecessors, by agencies similar to those +which at the present day produce varieties and races, and therefore in +an altogether natural way; and it is a probable, though not a necessary +consequence of this hypothesis, that all living beings have arisen from +a single stock. With respect to the origin of this primitive stock, +or stocks, the doctrine of the origin of species is obviously not +necessarily concerned. The transmutation hypothesis, for example, is +perfectly consistent either with the conception of a special creation of +the primitive germ, or with the supposition of its having arisen, as a +modification of inorganic matter, by natural causes. + +The doctrine of special creation owes its existence very largely to the +supposed necessity of making science accord with the Hebrew cosmogony; +but it is curious to observe that, as the doctrine is at present +maintained by men of science, it is as hopelessly inconsistent with the +Hebrew view as any other hypothesis. + +If there be any result which has come more clearly out of geological +investigation than another, it is, that the vast series of extinct +animals and plants is not divisible, as it was once supposed to be, into +distinct groups, separated by sharply-marked boundaries. There are no +great gulfs between epochs and formations--no successive periods marked +by the appearance of plants, of water animals, and of land animals, +en masse. Every year adds to the list of links between what the older +geologists supposed to be widely separated epochs: witness the crags +linking the drift with older tertiaries; the Maestricht beds linking the +tertiaries with the chalk; the St. Cassian beds exhibiting an abundant +fauna of mixed mesozoic and palaeozoic types, in rocks of an epoch once +supposed to be eminently poor in life; witness, lastly, the incessant +disputes as to whether a given stratum shall be reckoned devonian or +carboniferous, silurian or devonian, cambrian or silurian. + +This truth is further illustrated in a most interesting manner by +the impartial and highly competent testimony of M. Pictet, from whose +calculations of what percentage of the genera of animals, existing in +any formation, lived during the preceding formation, it results that in +no case is the proportion less than 'one-third', or 33 per cent. It is +the triassic formation, or the commencement of the mesozoic epoch, which +has received the smallest inheritance from preceding ages. The other +formations not uncommonly exhibit 60, 80, or even 94 per cent. of genera +in common with those whose remains are imbedded in their predecessor. +Not only is this true, but the subdivisions of each formation exhibit +new species characteristic of, and found only in, them; and, in +many cases, as in the lias for example, the separate beds of these +subdivisions are distinguished by well-marked and peculiar forms of +life. A section, a hundred feet thick, will exhibit, at different +heights, a dozen species of ammonite, none of which passes beyond its +particular zone of limestone, or clay, into the zone below it or into +that above it; so that those who adopt the doctrine of special creation +must be prepared to admit, that at intervals of time, corresponding with +the thickness of these beds, the Creator thought fit to interfere with +the natural course of events for the purpose of making a new ammonite. +It is not easy to transplant oneself into the frame of mind of those who +can accept such a conclusion as this, on any evidence short of absolute +demonstration; and it is difficult to see what is to be gained by so +doing, since, as we have said, it is obvious that such a view of the +origin of living beings is utterly opposed to the Hebrew cosmogony. +Deserving no aid from the powerful arm of Bibliolatry, then, does the +received form of the hypothesis of special creation derive any support +from science or sound logic? Assuredly not much. The arguments +brought forward in its favour all take one form: If species were not +supernaturally created, we cannot understand the facts 'x' or 'y', or +'z'; we cannot understand the structure of animals or plants, unless we +suppose they were contrived for special ends; we cannot understand the +structure of the eye, except by supposing it to have been made to see +with; we cannot understand instincts, unless we suppose animals to have +been miraculously endowed with them. + +As a question of dialectics, it must be admitted that this sort of +reasoning is not very formidable to those who are not to be frightened +by consequences. It is an argumentum ad ignorantiam--take this +explanation or be ignorant. + +But suppose we prefer to admit our ignorance rather than adopt a +hypothesis at variance with all the teachings of Nature? Or, suppose for +a moment we admit the explanation, and then seriously ask ourselves how +much the wiser are we; what does the explanation explain? Is it any more +than a grandiloquent way of announcing the fact, that we really know +nothing about the matter? A phenomenon is explained when it is shown +to be a case of some general law of Nature; but the supernatural +interposition of the Creator can, by the nature of the case, exemplify +no law, and if species have really arisen in this way, it is absurd to +attempt to discuss their origin. + +Or, lastly, let us ask ourselves whether any amount of evidence which +the nature of our faculties permits us to attain, can justify us in +asserting that any phenomenon is out of the reach of natural causation. +To this end it is obviously necessary that we should know all the +consequences to which all possible combinations, continued through +unlimited time, can give rise. If we knew these, and found none +competent to originate species, we should have good ground for denying +their origin by natural causation. Till we know them, any hypothesis is +better than one which involves us in such miserable presumption. + +But the hypothesis of special creation is not only a mere specious +mask for our ignorance; its existence in Biology marks the youth and +imperfection of the science. For what is the history of every science +but the history of the elimination of the notion of creative, or other +interferences, with the natural order of the phenomena which are the +subject-matter of that science? When Astronomy was young "the morning +stars sang together for joy," and the planets were guided in their +courses by celestial hands. Now, the harmony of the stars has resolved +itself into gravitation according to the inverse squares of the +distances, and the orbits of the planets are deducible from the laws +of the forces which allow a schoolboy's stone to break a window. The +lightning was the angel of the Lord; but it has pleased Providence, in +these modern times, that science should make it the humble messenger of +man, and we know that every flash that shimmers about the horizon on a +summer's evening is determined by ascertainable conditions, and that +its direction and brightness might, if our knowledge of these were great +enough, have been calculated. + +The solvency of great mercantile companies rests on the validity of the +laws which have been ascertained to govern the seeming irregularity +of that human life which the moralist bewails as the most uncertain of +things; plague, pestilence, and famine are admitted, by all but fools, +to be the natural result of causes for the most part fully within +human control, and not the unavoidable tortures inflicted by wrathful +Omnipotence upon His helpless handiwork. + +Harmonious order governing eternally continuous progress--the web and +woof of matter and force interweaving by slow degrees, without a broken +thread, that veil which lies between us and the Infinite--that universe +which alone we know or can know; such is the picture which science draws +of the world, and in proportion as any part of that picture is in unison +with the rest, so may we feel sure that it is rightly painted. Shall +Biology alone remain out of harmony with her sister sciences? + +Such arguments against the hypothesis of the direct creation of species +as these are plainly enough deducible from general considerations; but +there are, in addition, phenomena exhibited by species themselves, and +yet not so much a part of their very essence as to have required earlier +mention, which are in the highest degree perplexing, if we adopt the +popularly accepted hypothesis. Such are the facts of distribution in +space and in time; the singular phenomena brought to light by the study +of development; the structural relations of species upon which +our systems of classification are founded; the great doctrines of +philosophical anatomy, such as that of homology, or of the community +of structural plan exhibited by large groups of species differing very +widely in their habits and functions. + +The species of animals which inhabit the sea on opposite sides of the +isthmus of Panama are wholly distinct;* the animals and plants which +inhabit islands are commonly distinct from those of the neighbouring +mainlands, and yet have a similarity of aspect. ([Footnote] *Recent +investigations tend to show that this statement is not strictly +accurate.--1870.) The mammals of the latest tertiary epoch in the Old +and New Worlds belong to the same genera, or family groups, as those +which now inhabit the same great geographical area. The crocodilian +reptiles which existed in the earliest secondary epoch were similar in +general structure to those now living, but exhibit slight differences +in their vertebrae, nasal passages, and one or two other points. The +guinea-pig has teeth which are shed before it is born, and hence can +never subserve the masticatory purpose for which they seem contrived, +and, in like manner, the female dugong has tusks which never cut +the gum. All the members of the same great group run through similar +conditions in their development, and all their parts, in the adult +state, are arranged according to the same plan. Man is more like a +gorilla than a gorilla is like a lemur. Such are a few, taken at +random, among the multitudes of similar facts which modern research has +established; but when the student seeks for an explanation of them from +the supporters of the received hypothesis of the origin of species, +the reply he receives is, in substance, of Oriental simplicity and +brevity--"Mashallah! it so pleases God!" There are different species +on opposite sides of the isthmus of Panama, because they were created +different on the two sides. The pliocene mammals are like the existing +ones, because such was the plan of creation; and we find rudimental +organs and similarity of plan, because it has pleased the Creator to set +before Himself a "divine exemplar or archetype," and to copy it in His +works; and somewhat ill, those who hold this view imply, in some of +them. That such verbal hocus-pocus should be received as science will +one day be regarded as evidence of the low state of intelligence in +the nineteenth century, just as we amuse ourselves with the phraseology +about Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum, wherewith Torricelli's +compatriots were satisfied to explain the rise of water in a pump. And +be it recollected that this sort of satisfaction works not only negative +but positive ill, by discouraging inquiry, and so depriving man of +the usufruct of one of the most fertile fields of his great patrimony, +Nature. + +The objections to the doctrine of the origin of species by special +creation which have been detailed, must have occurred, with more or +less force, to the mind of every one who has seriously and independently +considered the subject. It is therefore no wonder that, from time to +time, this hypothesis should have been met by counter hypotheses, all as +well, and some better founded than itself; and it is curious to remark +that the inventors of the opposing views seem to have been led into them +as much by their knowledge of geology, as by their acquaintance with +biology. In fact, when the mind has once admitted the conception of +the gradual production of the present physical state of our globe, by +natural causes operating through long ages of time, it will be little +disposed to allow that living beings have made their appearance in +another way, and the speculations of De Maillet and his successors are +the natural complement of Scilla's demonstration of the true nature of +fossils. + +A contemporary of Newton and of Leibnitz, sharing therefore in the +intellectual activity of the remarkable age which witnessed the birth +of modern physical science, Benoit de Maillet spent a long life as a +consular agent of the French Government in various Mediterranean ports. +For sixteen years, in fact, he held the office of Consul-General in +Egypt, and the wonderful phenomena offered by the valley of the Nile +appear to have strongly impressed his mind, to have directed his +attention to all facts of a similar order which came within his +observation, and to have led him to speculate on the origin of the +present condition of our globe and of its inhabitants. But, with all his +ardour for science, De Maillet seems to have hesitated to publish views +which, notwithstanding the ingenious attempts to reconcile them with the +Hebrew hypothesis contained in the preface to "Telliamed," were hardly +likely to be received with favour by his contemporaries. + +But a short time had elapsed since more than one of the great anatomists +and physicists of the Italian school had paid dearly for their +endeavours to dissipate some of the prevalent errors; and their +illustrious pupil, Harvey, the founder of modern physiology, had not +fared so well, in a country less oppressed by the benumbing influences +of theology, as to tempt any man to follow his example. Probably +not uninfluenced by these considerations, his Catholic majesty's +Consul-General for Egypt kept his theories to himself throughout a long +life, for 'Telliamed,' the only scientific work which is known to have +proceeded from his pen, was not printed till 1735, when its author had +reached the ripe age of seventy-nine; and though De Maillet lived three +years longer, his book was not given to the world before 1748. Even then +it was anonymous to those who were not in the secret of the anagrammatic +character of its title; and the preface and dedication are so worded as, +in case of necessity, to give the printer a fair chance of falling back +on the excuse that the work was intended for a mere jeu d'esprit. + +The speculations of the supposititious Indian sage, though quite as +sound as those of many a "Mosaic Geology," which sells exceedingly well, +have no great value if we consider them by the light of modern science. +The waters are supposed to have originally covered the whole globe; to +have deposited the rocky masses which compose its mountains by processes +comparable to those which are now forming mud, sand, and shingle; and +then to have gradually lowered their level, leaving the spoils of their +animal and vegetable inhabitants embedded in the strata. As the dry land +appeared, certain of the aquatic animals are supposed to have taken to +it, and to have become gradually adapted to terrestrial and aerial +modes of existence. But if we regard the general tenor and style of +the reasoning in relation to the state of knowledge of the day, two +circumstances appear very well worthy of remark. The first, that De +Maillet had a notion of the modifiability of living forms (though +without any precise information on the subject), and how such +modifiability might account for the origin of species; the second, that +he very clearly apprehended the great modern geological doctrine, +so strongly insisted upon by Hutton, and so ably and comprehensively +expounded by Lyell, that we must look to existing causes for the +explanation of past geological events. Indeed, the following passage +of the preface, in which De Maillet is supposed to speak of the Indian +philosopher Telliamed, his 'alter ego', might have been written by the +most philosophical uniformitarian of the present day:-- + +"Ce qu'il y a d'etonnant, est que pour arriver a ces connoissances il +semble avoir perverti l'ordre naturel, puisqu'au lieu de s'attacher +d'abord a rechercher l'origine de notre globe il a commence par +travailler a s'instruire de la nature. Mais a l'entendre, ce +renversement de l'ordre a ete pour lui l'effet d'un genie favorable +qui l'a conduit pas a pas et comme par la main aux decouvertes les plus +sublimes. C'est en decomposant la substance de ce globe par une anatomie +exacte de toutes ses parties qu'il a premierement appris de quelles +matieres il etait compose et quels arrangemens ces memes matieres +observaient entre elles. Ces lumieres jointes a l'esprit de comparaison +toujours necessaire a quiconque entreprend de percer les voiles dont +la nature aime a se cacher, ont servi de guide a notre philosophe pour +parvenir a des connoissances plus interessantes. Par la matiere et +l'arrangement de ces compositions il pretend avoir reconnu quelle est la +veritable origine de ce globe que nous habitons, comment et par qui il a +ete forme."--Pp. xix. xx. + +But De Maillet was before his age, and as could hardly fail to happen +to one who speculated on a zoological and botanical question before +Linnaeus, and on a physiological problem before Haller, he fell into +great errors here and there; and hence, perhaps, the general neglect of +his work. Robinet's speculations are rather behind, than in advance +of, those of De Maillet; and though Linnaeus may have played with +the hypothesis of transmutation, it obtained no serious support +until Lamarck adopted it, and advocated it with great ability in his +'Philosophie Zoologique.' + +Impelled towards the hypothesis of the transmutation of species, +partly by his general cosmological and geological views; partly by the +conception of a graduated, though irregularly branching, scale of being, +which had arisen out of his profound study of plants and of the lower +forms of animal life, Lamarck, whose general line of thought often +closely resembles that of De Maillet, made a great advance upon the +crude and merely speculative manner in which that writer deals with +the question of the origin of living beings, by endeavouring to find +physical causes competent to effect that change of one species into +another, which De Maillet had only supposed to occur. And Lamarck +conceived that he had found in Nature such causes, amply sufficient for +the purpose in view. It is a physiological fact, he says, that organs +are increased in size by action, atrophied by inaction; it is another +physiological fact that modifications produced are transmissible to +offspring. Change the actions of an animal, therefore, and you will +change its structure, by increasing the development of the parts newly +brought into use and by the diminution of those less used; but by +altering the circumstances which surround it you will alter its actions, +and hence, in the long run, change of circumstance must produce +change of organization. All the species of animals, therefore, are, +in Lamarck's view, the result of the indirect action of changes of +circumstance, upon those primitive germs which he considered to have +originally arisen, by spontaneous generation, within the waters of the +globe. It is curious, however, that Lamarck should insist so strongly* +as he has done, that circumstances never in any degree directly modify +the form or the organization of animals, but only operate by changing +their wants and consequently their actions; for he thereby brings upon +himself the obvious question, how, then, do plants, which cannot be said +to have wants or actions, become modified? To this he replies, that +they are modified by the changes in their nutritive processes, which +are effected by changing circumstances; and it does not seem to have +occurred to him that such changes might be as well supposed to take +place among animals. ([Footnote] *See 'Phil. Zoologique,' vol. i. p. +222, et seq.) + +When we have said that Lamarck felt that mere speculation was not the +way to arrive at the origin of species, but that it was necessary, +in order to the establishment of any sound theory on the subject, to +discover by observation or otherwise, some 'vera causa', competent to +give rise to them; that he affirmed the true order of classification to +coincide with the order of their development one from another; that he +insisted on the necessity of allowing sufficient time, very strongly; +and that all the varieties of instinct and reason were traced back by +him to the same cause as that which has given rise to species, we have +enumerated his chief contributions to the advance of the question. On +the other hand, from his ignorance of any power in Nature competent to +modify the structure of animals, except the development of parts, or +atrophy of them, in consequence of a change of needs, Lamarck was led +to attach infinitely greater weight than it deserves to this agency, +and the absurdities into which he was led have met with deserved +condemnation. Of the struggle for existence, on which, as we shall see, +Mr. Darwin lays such great stress, he had no conception; indeed, he +doubts whether there really are such things as extinct species, unless +they be such large animals as may have met their death at the hands of +man; and so little does he dream of there being any other destructive +causes at work, that, in discussing the possible existence of fossil +shells, he asks, "Pourquoi d'ailleurs seroient-ils perdues des que +l'homme n'a pu operer leur destruction?" ('Phil. Zool.,' vol. i. p. 77.) +Of the influence of selection Lamarck has as little notion, and he makes +no use of the wonderful phenomena which are exhibited by domesticated +animals, and illustrate its powers. The vast influence of Cuvier was +employed against the Lamarckian views, and, as the untenability of +some of his conclusions was easily shown, his doctrines sank under the +opprobrium of scientific, as well as of theological, heterodoxy. +Nor have the efforts made of late years to revive them tended to +re-establish their credit in the minds of sound thinkers acquainted with +the facts of the case; indeed it may be doubted whether Lamarck has not +suffered more from his friends than from his foes. + +Two years ago, in fact, though we venture to question if even the +strongest supporters of the special creation hypothesis had not, now +and then, an uneasy consciousness that all was not right, their position +seemed more impregnable than ever, if not by its own inherent strength, +at any rate by the obvious failure of all the attempts which had been +made to carry it. On the other hand, however much the few, who thought +deeply on the question of species, might be repelled by the generally +received dogmas, they saw no way of escaping from them save by the +adoption of suppositions so little justified by experiment or by +observation as to be at least equally distasteful. + +The choice lay between two absurdities and a middle condition of uneasy +scepticism; which last, however unpleasant and unsatisfactory, was +obviously the only justifiable state of mind under the circumstances. + +Such being the general ferment in the minds of naturalists, it is no +wonder that they mustered strong in the rooms of the Linnaean Society, +on the 1st of July of the year 1858, to hear two papers by authors +living on opposite sides of the globe, working out their results +independently, and yet professing to have discovered one and the same +solution of all the problems connected with species. The one of these +authors was an able naturalist, Mr. Wallace, who had been employed for +some years in studying the productions of the islands of the Indian +Archipelago, and who had forwarded a memoir embodying his views to +Mr. Darwin, for communication to the Linnaean Society. On perusing the +essay, Mr. Darwin was not a little surprised to find that it embodied +some of the leading ideas of a great work which he had been preparing +for twenty years, and parts of which, containing a development of the +very same views, had been perused by his private friends fifteen or +sixteen years before. Perplexed in what manner to do full justice both +to his friend and to himself, Mr. Darwin placed the matter in the hands +of Dr. Hooker and Sir Charles Lyell, by whose advice he communicated +a brief abstract of his own views to the Linnaean Society, at the same +time that Mr. Wallace's paper was read. Of that abstract, the work on +the 'Origin of Species' is an enlargement; but a complete statement of +Mr. Darwin's doctrine is looked for in the large and well-illustrated +work which he is said to be preparing for publication. + +The Darwinian hypothesis has the merit of being eminently simple and +comprehensible in principle, and its essential positions may be stated +in a very few words: all species have been produced by the development +of varieties from common stocks; by the conversion of these, first into +permanent races and then into new species, by the process of NATURAL +SELECTION, which process is essentially identical with that artificial +selection by which man has originated the races of domestic animals--the +STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE taking the place of man, and exerting, in the +case of natural selection, that selective action which he performs in +artificial selection. + +The evidence brought forward by Mr. Darwin in support of his hypothesis +is of three kinds. First, he endeavours to prove that species may be +originated by selection; secondly, he attempts to show that natural +causes are competent to exert selection; and thirdly, he tries to prove +that the most remarkable and apparently anomalous phenomena exhibited by +the distribution, development, and mutual relations of species, can be +shown to be deducible from the general doctrine of their origin, which +he propounds, combined with the known facts of geological change; and +that, even if all these phenomena are not at present explicable by it, +none are necessarily inconsistent with it. + +There cannot be a doubt that the method of inquiry which Mr. Darwin +has adopted is not only rigorously in accordance with the canons of +scientific logic, but that it is the only adequate method. Critics +exclusively trained in classics or in mathematics, who have never +determined a scientific fact in their lives by induction from experiment +or observation, prate learnedly about Mr. Darwin's method, which is not +inductive enough, not Baconian enough, forsooth, for them. But even if +practical acquaintance with the process of scientific investigation +is denied them, they may learn, by the perusal of Mr. Mill's admirable +chapter "On the Deductive Method," that there are multitudes of +scientific inquiries in which the method of pure induction helps the +investigator but a very little way. + +"The mode of investigation," says Mr. Mill, "which, from the proved +inapplicability of direct methods of observation and experiment, remains +to us as the main source of the knowledge we possess, or can acquire, +respecting the conditions and laws of recurrence of the more complex +phenomena, is called, in its most general expression, the deductive +method, and consists of three operations: the first, one of +direct induction; the second, of ratiocination; and the third, of +verification." + +Now, the conditions which have determined the existence of species are +not only exceedingly complex, but, so far as the great majority of +them are concerned, are necessarily beyond our cognizance. But what Mr. +Darwin has attempted to do is in exact accordance with the rule laid +down by Mr. Mill; he has endeavoured to determine certain great facts +inductively, by observation and experiment; he has then reasoned from +the data thus furnished; and lastly, he has tested the validity of his +ratiocination by comparing his deductions with the observed facts of +Nature. Inductively, Mr. Darwin endeavours to prove that species arise +in a given way. Deductively, he desires to show that, if they arise in +that way, the facts of distribution, development, classification, etc., +may be accounted for, i.e. may be deduced from their mode of origin, +combined with admitted changes in physical geography and climate, during +an indefinite period. And this explanation, or coincidence of observed +with deduced facts, is, so far as it extends, a verification of the +Darwinian view. + +There is no fault to be found with Mr. Darwin's method, then; but it is +another question whether he has fulfilled all the conditions imposed by +that method. Is it satisfactorily proved, in fact, that species may +be originated by selection? that there is such a thing as natural +selection? that none of the phenomena exhibited by species are +inconsistent with the origin of species in this way? If these questions +can be answered in the affirmative, Mr. Darwin's view steps out of the +rank of hypotheses into those of proved theories; but, so long as the +evidence at present adduced falls short of enforcing that affirmation, +so long, to our minds, must the new doctrine be content to remain among +the former--an extremely valuable, and in the highest degree probable, +doctrine, indeed the only extant hypothesis which is worth anything in a +scientific point of view; but still a hypothesis, and not yet the theory +of species. + +After much consideration, and with assuredly no bias against Mr. +Darwin's views, it is our clear conviction that, as the evidence stands, +it is not absolutely proven that a group of animals, having all the +characters exhibited by species in Nature, has ever been originate +by selection, whether artificial or natural. Groups having the +morphological character of species, distinct and permanent races +in fact, have been so produced over and over again; but there is +no positive evidence, at present, that any group of animals has, by +variation and selective breeding, given rise to another group which +was, even in the least degree, infertile with the first. Mr. Darwin is +perfectly aware of this weak point, and brings forward a multitude +of ingenious and important arguments to diminish the force of the +objection. We admit the value of these arguments to their fullest +extent; nay, we will go so far as to express our belief that +experiments, conducted by a skilful physiologist, would very probably +obtain the desired production of mutually more or less infertile breeds +from a common stock, in a comparatively few years; but still, as the +case stands at present, this "little rift within the lute" is not to be +disguised nor overlooked. + +In the remainder of Mr. Darwin's argument our own private ingenuity +has not hitherto enabled us to pick holes of any great importance; and +judging by what we hear and read, other adventurers in the same field +do not seem to have been much more fortunate. It has been urged, for +instance, that in his chapters on the struggle for existence and on +natural selection, Mr. Darwin does not so much prove that natural +selection does occur, as that it must occur; but, in fact, no other sort +of demonstration is attainable. A race does not attract our attention +in Nature until it has, in all probability, existed for a considerable +time, and then it is too late to inquire into the conditions of its +origin. Again, it is said that there is no real analogy between the +selection which takes place under domestication, by human influence, +and any operation which can be effected by Nature, for man interferes +intelligently. Reduced to its elements, this argument implies that an +effect produced with trouble by an intelligent agent must, a fortiori, +be more troublesome, if not impossible, to an unintelligent agent. Even +putting aside the question whether Nature, acting as she does according +to definite and invariable laws, can be rightly called an unintelligent +agent, such a position as this is wholly untenable. Mix salt and sand, +and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, +to separate all the grains of sand from all the grains of salt; but a +shower of rain will effect the same object in ten minutes. And so, while +man may find it tax all his intelligence to separate any variety which +arises, and to breed selectively from it, the destructive agencies +incessantly at work in Nature, if they find one variety to be more +soluble in circumstances than the other, will inevitably, in the long +run, eliminate it. + +A frequent and a just objection to the Lamarckian hypothesis of the +transmutation of species is based upon the absence of transitional forms +between many species. But against the Darwinian hypothesis this argument +has no force. Indeed, one of the most valuable and suggestive parts of +Mr. Darwin's work is that in which he proves, that the frequent absence +of transitions is a necessary consequence of his doctrine, and that +the stock whence two or more species have sprung, need in no respect be +intermediate between these species. If any two species have arisen from +a common stock in the same way as the carrier and the pouter, say, have +arisen from the rock-pigeon, then the common stock of these two species +need be no more intermediate between the two than the rock-pigeon is +between the carrier and pouter. Clearly appreciate the force of +this analogy, and all the arguments against the origin of species by +selection, based on the absence of transitional forms, fall to the +ground. And Mr. Darwin's position might, we think, have been even +stronger than it is if he had not embarrassed himself with the aphorism, +"Natura non facit saltum," which turns up so often in his pages. We +believe, as we have said above, that Nature does make jumps now and +then, and a recognition of the fact is of no small importance in +disposing of many minor objections to the doctrine of transmutation. + +But we must pause. The discussion of Mr. Darwin's arguments in detail +would lead us far beyond the limits within which we proposed, at +starting, to confine this article. Our object has been attained if we +have given an intelligible, however brief, account of the established +facts connected with species, and of the relation of the explanation of +those facts offered by Mr. Darwin to the theoretical views held by his +predecessors and his contemporaries, and, above all, to the requirements +of scientific logic. We have ventured to point out that it does not, as +yet, satisfy all those requirements; but we do not hesitate to assert +that it is as superior to any preceding or contemporary hypothesis, in +the extent of observational and experimental basis on which it rests, +in its rigorously scientific method, and in its power of explaining +biological phenomena, as was the hypothesis of Copernicus to the +speculations of Ptolemy. But the planetary orbits turned out to be +not quite circular after all, and, grand as was the service Copernicus +rendered to science, Kepler and Newton had to come after him. What if +the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular? What if species +should offer residual phenomena, here and there, not explicable by +natural selection? Twenty years hence naturalists may be in a position +to say whether this is, or is not, the case; but in either event they +will owe the author of 'The Origin of Species' an immense debt of +gratitude. We should leave a very wrong impression on the reader's +mind if we permitted him to suppose that the value of that work depends +wholly on the ultimate justification of the theoretical views which it +contains. On the contrary, if they were disproved to-morrow, the book +would still be the best of its kind--the most compendious statement +of well-sifted facts bearing on the doctrine of species that has ever +appeared. The chapters on Variation, on the Struggle for Existence, on +Instinct, on Hybridism, on the Imperfection of the Geological Record, on +Geographical Distribution, have not only no equals, but, so far as +our knowledge goes, no competitors, within the range of biological +literature. And viewed as a whole, we do not believe that, since the +publication of Von Baer's Researches on Development, thirty years ago, +any work has appeared calculated to exert so large an influence, not +only on the future of Biology, but in extending the domination of +Science over regions of thought into which she has, as yet, hardly +penetrated. + +End of The Origin of Species. + + + + +CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES".* + +([Footnote] *'The Natural History Review', 1864.) + +1. UEBER DIE DARWIN'SCHE SCHOPFUNGSTHEORIE; EIN VORTRAG, VON A. +KOLLIKER. Leipzig, 1864. + +2. EXAMINATION DU LIVRE DE M. DARWIN SUR L'ORIGINE DES ESPECES. PAR P. +FLOURENS. Paris, 1864. + +In the course of the present year several foreign commentaries upon Mr. +Darwin's great work have made their appearance. Those who have perused +that remarkable chapter of the 'Antiquity of Man,' in which Sir Charles +Lyell draws a parallel between the development of species and that of +languages, will be glad to hear that one of the most eminent philologers +of Germany, Professor Schleicher, has, independently, published a most +instructive and philosophical pamphlet (an excellent notice of which is +to be found in the 'Reader', for February 27th of this year) supporting +similar views with all the weight of his special knowledge and +established authority as a linguist. Professor Haeckel, to whom +Schleicher addresses himself, previously took occasion, in his splendid +monograph on the 'Radiolaria',* to express his high appreciation of, +and general concordance with, Mr. Darwin's views. ([Footnote] *'Die +Radiolarien: eine Monographie', p. 231.) + +But the most elaborate criticisms of the 'Origin of Species' which +have appeared are two works of very widely different merit, the one +by Professor Kolliker, the well-known anatomist and histologist of +Wurzburg; the other by M. Flourens, Perpetual Secretary of the French +Academy of Sciences. + +Professor Kolliker's critical essay 'Upon the Darwinian Theory' is, +like all that proceeds from the pen of that thoughtful and accomplished +writer, worthy of the most careful consideration. It comprises a brief +but clear sketch of Darwin's views, followed by an enumeration of the +leading difficulties in the way of their acceptance; difficulties which +would appear to be insurmountable to Professor Kolliker, inasmuch as +he proposes to replace Mr. Darwin's Theory by one which he terms the +'Theory of Heterogeneous Generation.' We shall proceed to consider first +the destructive, and secondly, the constructive portion of the essay. + +We regret to find ourselves compelled to dissent very widely from many +of Professor Kolliker's remarks; and from none more thoroughly than from +those in which he seeks to define what we may term the philosophical +position of Darwinism. + +"Darwin," says Professor Kolliker, "is, in the fullest sense of the +word, a Teleologist. He says quite distinctly (First Edition, pp. +199, 200) that every particular in the structure of an animal has been +created for its benefit, and he regards the whole series of animal forms +only from this point of view." + +And again: + +"7. The teleological general conception adopted by Darwin is a mistaken +one. + +"Varieties arise irrespectively of the notion of purpose, or of utility, +according to general laws of Nature, and may be either useful, or +hurtful, or indifferent. + +"The assumption that an organism exists only on account of some definite +end in view, and represents something more than the incorporation of a +general idea, or law, implies a one-sided conception of the universe. +Assuredly, every organ has, and every organism fulfils, its end, but its +purpose is not the condition of its existence. Every organism is also +sufficiently perfect for the purpose it serves, and in that, at least, +it is useless to seek for a cause of its improvement." + +It is singular how differently one and the same book will impress +different minds. That which struck the present writer most forcibly on +his first perusal of the 'Origin of Species' was the conviction that +Teleology, as commonly understood, had received its deathblow at Mr. +Darwin's hands. For the teleological argument runs thus: an organ or +organism (A) is precisely fitted to perform a function or purpose (B); +therefore it was specially constructed to perform that function. In +Paley's famous illustration, the adaptation of all the parts of the +watch to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held to be +evidence that the watch was specially contrived to that end; on the +ground, that the only cause we know of, competent to produce such an +effect as a watch which shall keep time, is a contriving intelligence +adapting the means directly to that end. + +Suppose, however, that any one had been able to show that the watch had +not been made directly by any person, but that it was the result of the +modification of another watch which kept time but poorly; and that this +again had proceeded from a structure which could hardly be called a +watch at all--seeing that it had no figures on the dial and the hands +were rudimentary; and that going back and back in time we came at last +to a revolving barrel as the earliest traceable rudiment of the whole +fabric. And imagine that it had been possible to show that all these +changes had resulted, first, from a tendency of the structure to vary +indefinitely; and secondly, from something in the surrounding world +which helped all variations in the direction of an accurate time-keeper, +and checked all those in other directions; then it is obvious that the +force of Paley's argument would be gone. For it would be demonstrated +that an apparatus thoroughly well adapted to a particular purpose might +be the result of a method of trial and error worked by unintelligent +agents, as well as of the direct application of the means appropriate to +that end, by an intelligent agent. + +Now it appears to us that what we have here, for illustration's sake, +supposed to be done with the watch, is exactly what the establishment of +Darwin's Theory will do for the organic world. For the notion that every +organism has been created as it is and launched straight at a purpose, +Mr. Darwin substitutes the conception of something which may fairly be +termed a method of trial and error. Organisms vary incessantly; of these +variations the few meet with surrounding conditions which suit them and +thrive; the many are unsuited and become extinguished. + +According to Teleology, each organism is like a rifle bullet fired +straight at a mark; according to Darwin, organisms are like grapeshot of +which one hits something and the rest fall wide. + +For the teleologist an organism exists because it was made for the +conditions in which it is found; for the Darwinian an organism exists +because, out of many of its kind, it is the only one which has been able +to persist in the conditions in which it is found. + +Teleology implies that the organs of every organism are perfect and +cannot be improved; the Darwinian theory simply affirms that they +work well enough to enable the organism to hold its own against such +competitors as it has met with, but admits the possibility of indefinite +improvement. But an example may bring into clearer light the profound +opposition between the ordinary teleological, and the Darwinian, +conception. + +Cats catch mice, small birds and the like, very well. Teleology tells +us that they do so because they were expressly constructed for so +doing--that they are perfect mousing apparatuses, so perfect and so +delicately adjusted that no one of their organs could be altered, +without the change involving the alteration of all the rest. Darwinism +affirms on the contrary, that there was no express construction +concerned in the matter; but that among the multitudinous variations of +the Feline stock, many of which died out from want of power to resist +opposing influences, some, the cats, were better fitted to catch mice +than others, whence they throve and persisted, in proportion to the +advantage over their fellows thus offered to them. + +Far from imagining that cats exist IN ORDER to catch mice well, +Darwinism supposes that cats exist BECAUSE they catch mice well--mousing +being not the end, but the condition, of their existence. And if the cat +type has long persisted as we know it, the interpretation of the fact +upon Darwinian principles would be, not that the cats have remained +invariable, but that such varieties as have incessantly occurred have +been, on the whole, less fitted to get on in the world than the existing +stock. + +If we apprehend the spirit of the 'Origin of Species' rightly, then, +nothing can be more entirely and absolutely opposed to Teleology, as it +is commonly understood, than the Darwinian Theory. So far from being a +"Teleologist in the fullest sense of the word," we would deny that he +is a Teleologist in the ordinary sense at all; and we should say that, +apart from his merits as a naturalist, he has rendered a most remarkable +service to philosophical thought by enabling the student of Nature to +recognise, to their fullest extent, those adaptations to purpose which +are so striking in the organic world, and which Teleology has done +good service in keeping before our minds, without being false to the +fundamental principles of a scientific conception of the universe. +The apparently diverging teachings of the Teleologist and of the +Morphologist are reconciled by the Darwinian hypothesis. + +But leaving our own impressions of the 'Origin of Species,' and turning +to those passages especially cited by Professor Kolliker, we cannot +admit that they bear the interpretation he puts upon them. Darwin, if we +read him rightly, does 'not' affirm that every detail in the structure +of an animal has been created for its benefit. His words are (p. 199):-- + +"The foregoing remarks lead me to say a few words on the protest lately +made by some naturalists against the utilitarian doctrine that every +detail of structure has been produced for the good of its possessor. +They believe that very many structures have been created for beauty in +the eyes of man, or for mere variety. This doctrine, if true, would be +absolutely fatal to my theory--yet I fully admit that many structures +are of no direct use to their possessor." + +And after sundry illustrations and qualifications, he concludes (p. +200):-- + +"Hence every detail of structure in every living creature (making some +little allowance for the direct action of physical conditions) may be +viewed either as having been of special use to some ancestral form, +or as being now of special use to the descendants of this form--either +directly, or indirectly, through the complex laws of growth." + +But it is one thing to say, Darwinically, that every detail observed +in an animal's structure is of use to it, or has been of use to its +ancestors; and quite another to affirm, teleologically, that every +detail of an animal's structure has been created for its benefit. On the +former hypothesis, for example, the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena' have +a meaning; on the latter, none. So far as we are aware, there is not +a phrase in the 'Origin of Species', inconsistent with Professor +Kolliker's position, that "varieties arise irrespectively of the notion +of purpose, or of utility, according to general laws of Nature, and may +be either useful, or hurtful, or indifferent." + +On the contrary, Mr. Darwin writes (Summary of Chap. V.):-- + +"Our ignorance of the laws of variation is profound. Not in one case out +of a hundred can we pretend to assign any reason why this or that part +varies more or less from the same part in the parents...The external +conditions of life, as climate and food, etc., seem to have induced some +slight modifications. Habit, in producing constitutional differences, +and use, in strengthening, and disuse, in weakening and diminishing +organs, seem to have been more potent in their effects." + +And finally, as if to prevent all possible misconception, Mr. Darwin +concludes his Chapter on Variation with these pregnant words:-- + +"Whatever the cause may be of each slight difference in the offspring +from their parents--and a cause for each must exist--it is the steady +accumulation, through natural selection of such differences, when +beneficial to the individual, that gives rise to all the more important +modifications of structure which the innumerable beings on the face of +the earth are enabled to struggle with each other, and the best adapted +to survive." + +We have dwelt at length upon this subject, because of its great general +importance, and because we believe that Professor Kolliker's criticisms +on this head are based upon a misapprehension of Mr. Darwin's +views--substantially they appear to us to coincide with his own. The +other objections which Professor Kolliker enumerates and discusses are +the following*:--([Footnote] *Space will not allow us to give Professor +Kolliker's arguments in detail; our readers will find a full and +accurate version of them in the 'Reader' for August 13th and 20th, +1864.) + +"1. No transitional forms between existing species are known; and +known varieties, whether selected or spontaneous, never go so far as to +establish new species." + +To this Professor Kolliker appears to attach some weight. He makes the +suggestion that the short-faced tumbler pigeon may be a pathological +product. + +"2. No transitional forms of animals are met with among the organic +remains of earlier epochs." + +Upon this, Professor Kolliker remarks that the absence of transitional +forms in the fossil world, though not necessarily fatal to Darwin's +views, weakens his case. + +"3. The struggle for existence does not take place." + +To this objection, urged by Pelzeln, Kolliker, very justly, attaches no +weight. + +"4. A tendency of organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and a +natural selection, do not exist. + +"The varieties which are found arise in consequence of manifold external +influences, and it is not obvious why they all, or partially, should be +particularly useful. Each animal suffices for its own ends, is perfect +of its kind, and needs no further development. Should, however, a +variety be useful and even maintain itself, there is no obvious +reason why it should change any further. The whole conception of the +imperfection of organisms and the necessity of their becoming perfected +is plainly the weakest side of Darwin's Theory, and a pis aller +(Nothbehelf) because Darwin could think of no other principle by which +to explain the metamorphoses which, as I also believe, have occurred." + +Here again we must venture to dissent completely from Professor +Kolliker's conception of Mr. Darwin's hypothesis. It appears to us to be +one of the many peculiar merits of that hypothesis that it involves no +belief in a necessary and continual progress of organisms. + +Again, Mr. Darwin, if we read him aright, assumes no special tendency of +organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and knows nothing of +needs of development, or necessity of perfection. What he says is, in +substance: All organisms vary. It is in the highest degree improbable +that any given variety should have exactly the same relations to +surrounding conditions as the parent stock. In that case it is either +better fitted (when the variation may be called useful), or worse +fitted, to cope with them. If better, it will tend to supplant the +parent stock; if worse, it will tend to be extinguished by the parent +stock. + +If (as is hardly conceivable) the new variety is so perfectly adapted +to the conditions that no improvement upon it is possible,--it will +persist, because, though it does not cease to vary, the varieties will +be inferior to itself. + +If, as is more probable, the new variety is by no means perfectly +adapted to its conditions, but only fairly well adapted to them, it will +persist, so long as none of the varieties which it throws off are better +adapted than itself. + +On the other hand, as soon as it varies in a useful way, i.e. when the +variation is such as to adapt it more perfectly to its conditions, the +fresh variety will tend to supplant the former. + +So far from a gradual progress towards perfection forming any necessary +part of the Darwinian creed, it appears to us that it is perfectly +consistent with indefinite persistence in one estate, or with a gradual +retrogression. Suppose, for example, a return of the glacial epoch and a +spread of polar climatal conditions over the whole globe. The operation +of natural selection under these circumstances would tend, on the whole, +to the weeding out of the higher organisms and the cherishing of the +lower forms of life. Cryptogamic vegetation would have the advantage +over Phanerogamic; Hydrozoa over Corals; Crustacea over Insecta, and +Amphipoda and Isopoda over the higher Crustacea; Cetaceans and Seals +over the Primates; the civilization of the Esquimaux over that of the +European. + +"5. Pelzeln has also objected that if the later organisms have proceeded +from the earlier, the whole developmental series, from the simplest to +the highest, could not now exist; in such a case the simpler organisms +must have disappeared." + +To this Professor Kolliker replies, with perfect justice, that the +conclusion drawn by Pelzeln does not really follow from Darwin's +premisses, and that, if we take the facts of Palaeontology as they +stand, they rather support than oppose Darwin's theory. + +"6. Great weight must be attached to the objection brought forward by +Huxley, otherwise a warm supporter of Darwin's hypothesis, that we know +of no varieties which are sterile with one another, as is the rule among +sharply distinguished animal forms. + +"If Darwin is right, it must be demonstrated that forms may be produced +by selection, which, like the present sharply distinguished animal +forms, are infertile, when coupled with one another, and this has not +been done." + +The weight of this objection is obvious; but our ignorance of the +conditions of fertility and sterility, the want of carefully conducted +experiments extending over long series of years, and the strange +anomalies presented by the results of the cross-fertilization of many +plants, should all, as Mr. Darwin has urged, be taken into account in +considering it. + +The seventh objection is that we have already discussed (supra). + +The eighth and last stands as follows:-- + +"8. The developmental theory of Darwin is not needed to enable us to +understand the regular harmonious progress of the complete series of +organic forms from the simpler to the more perfect. + +"The existence of general laws of Nature explains this harmony, even if +we assume that all beings have arisen separately and independent of one +another. Darwin forgets that inorganic nature, in which there can be no +thought of genetic connexion of forms, exhibits the same regular plan, +the same harmony, as the organic world; and that, to cite only one +example, there is as much a natural system of minerals as of plants and +animals." + +We do not feel quite sure that we seize Professor Kolliker's meaning +here, but he appears to suggest that the observation of the general +order and harmony which pervade inorganic nature, would lead us to +anticipate a similar order and harmony in the organic world. And this is +no doubt true, but it by no means follows that the particular order +and harmony observed among them should be that which we see. Surely the +stripes of dun horses, and the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena', are not +explained by the "existence of general laws of Nature." Mr. Darwin +endeavours to explain the exact order of organic nature which exists; +not the mere fact that there is some order. + +And with regard to the existence of a natural system of minerals; the +obvious reply is that there may be a natural classification of any +objects--of stones on a sea-beach, or of works of art; a natural +classification being simply an assemblage of objects in groups, so as +to express their most important and fundamental resemblances and +differences. No doubt Mr. Darwin believes that those resemblances and +differences upon which our natural systems or classifications of animals +and plants are based, are resemblances and differences which have been +produced genetically, but we can discover no reason for supposing that +he denies the existence of natural classifications of other kinds. + +And, after all, is it quite so certain that a genetic relation may not +underlie the classification of minerals? The inorganic world has not +always been what we see it. It has certainly had its metamorphoses, +and, very probably, a long "Entwickelungsgeschichte" out of a nebular +blastema. Who knows how far that amount of likeness among sets of +minerals, in virtue of which they are now grouped into families and +orders, may not be the expression of the common conditions to which that +particular patch of nebulous fog, which may have been constituted by +their atoms, and of which they may be, in the strictest sense, the +descendants, was subjected? + +It will be obvious from what has preceded, that we do not agree with +Professor Kolliker in thinking the objections which he brings forward +so weighty as to be fatal to Darwin's view. But even if the case were +otherwise, we should be unable to accept the "Theory of Heterogeneous +Generation" which is offered as a substitute. That theory is thus +stated:-- + +"The fundamental conception of this hypothesis is, that, under the +influence of a general law of development, the germs of organisms +produce others different from themselves. This might happen (1) by +the fecundated ova passing, in the course of their development, under +particular circumstances, into higher forms; (2) by the primitive and +later organisms producing other organisms without fecundation, out of +germs or eggs (Parthenogenesis)." + +In favour of this hypothesis, Professor Kolliker adduces the well-known +facts of Agamogenesis, or "alternate generation"; the extreme +dissimilarity of the males and females of many animals; and of the +males, females, and neuters of those insects which live in colonies: +and he defines its relations to the Darwinian theory as follows:--"It +is obvious that my hypothesis is apparently very similar to Darwin's, +inasmuch as I also consider that the various forms of animals have +proceeded directly from one another. My hypothesis of the creation of +organisms by heterogeneous generation, however, is distinguished very +essentially from Darwin's by the entire absence of the principle of +useful variations and their natural selection: and my fundamental +conception is this, that a great plan of development lies at the +foundation of the origin of the whole organic world, impelling the +simpler forms to more and more complex developments. How this law +operates, what influences determine the development of the eggs and +germs, and impel them to assume constantly new forms, I naturally cannot +pretend to say; but I can at least adduce the great analogy of the +alternation of generations. If a 'Bipinnaria', a 'Brachialaria', a +'Pluteus', is competent to produce the Echinoderm, which is so widely +different from it; if a hydroid polype can produce the higher Medusa; +if the vermiform Trematode 'nurse' can develop within itself the very +unlike 'Cercaria', it will not appear impossible that the egg, or +ciliated embryo, of a sponge, for once, under special conditions, might +become a hydroid polype, or the embryo of a Medusa, an Echinoderm." + +It is obvious, from these extracts, that Professor Kolliker's hypothesis +is based upon the supposed existence of a close analogy between the +phenomena of Agamogenesis and the production of new species from +pre-existing ones. But is the analogy a real one? We think that it is +not, and, by the hypothesis, cannot be. + +For what are the phenomena of Agamogenesis, stated generally? An +impregnated egg develops into an asexual form, A; this gives rise, +asexually, to a second form or forms, B, more or less different from A. +B may multiply asexually again; in the simpler cases, however, it does +not, but, acquiring sexual characters, produces impregnated eggs from +whence A, once more, arises. + +No case of Agamogenesis is known in which, WHEN A DIFFERS WIDELY FROM B, +it is itself capable of sexual propagation. No case whatever is known +in which the progeny of B, by sexual generation, is other than a +reproduction of A. + +But if this be a true statement of the nature of the process of +Agamogenesis, how can it enable us to comprehend the production of +new species from already existing ones? Let us suppose Hyaenas to have +preceded Dogs, and to have produced the latter in this way. Then the +Hyena will represent A, and the Dog, B. The first difficulty that +presents itself is that the Hyena must be asexual, or the process will +be wholly without analogy in the world of Agamogenesis. But passing over +this difficulty, and supposing a male and female Dog to be produced at +the same time from the Hyaena stock, the progeny of the pair, if the +analogy of the simpler kinds of Agamogenesis* is to be followed, should +be a litter, not of puppies, but of young Hyenas. ([Footnote] * If, +on the contrary, we follow the analogy of the more complex forms of +Agamogenesis, such as that exhibited by some 'Trematoda' and by the +'Aphides', the Hyaena must produce, asexually, a brood of asexual Dogs, +from which other sexless Dogs must proceed. At the end of a certain +number of terms of the series, the Dogs would acquire sexes and generate +young; but these young would be, not Dogs, but Hyaenas. In fact, we have +DEMONSTRATED, in Agamogenetic phenomena, that inevitable recurrence +to the original type, which is ASSERTED to be true of variations in +general, by Mr. Darwin's opponents; and which, if the assertion could +be changed into a demonstration would, in fact, be fatal to his +hypothesis.) For the Agamogenetic series is always, as we have seen, A: +B: A: B, etc.; whereas, for the production of a new species, the series +must be A: B: B: B, etc. The production of new species, or genera, is +the extreme permanent divergence from the primitive stock. All known +Agamogenetic processes, on the other hand, end in a complete return to +the primitive stock. How then is the production of new species to be +rendered intelligible by the analogy of Agamogenesis? + +The other alternative put by Professor Kolliker--the passage of +fecundated ova in the course of their development into higher +forms--would, if it occurred, be merely an extreme case of variation in +the Darwinian sense, greater in degree than, but perfectly similar in +kind to, that which occurred when the well-known Ancon Ram was developed +from an ordinary Ewe's ovum. Indeed we have always thought that Mr. +Darwin has unnecessarily hampered himself by adhering so strictly to his +favourite "Natura non facit saltum." We greatly suspect that she does +make considerable jumps in the way of variation now and then, and that +these saltations give rise to some of the gaps which appear to exist in +the series of known forms. + +Strongly and freely as we have ventured to disagree with Professor +Kolliker, we have always done so with regret, and we trust without +violating that respect which is due, not only to his scientific eminence +and to the careful study which he has devoted to the subject, but to the +perfect fairness of his argumentation, and the generous appreciation of +the worth of Mr. Darwin's labours which he always displays. It would be +satisfactory to be able to say as much for M. Flourens. + +But the Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences deals with +Mr. Darwin as the first Napoleon would have treated an "ideologue;" +and while displaying a painful weakness of logic and shallowness of +information, assumes a tone of authority, which always touches upon the +ludicrous, and sometimes passes the limits of good breeding. + +For example (p. 56):-- + +"M. Darwin continue: 'Aucune distinction absolue n'a ete et ne pout etre +etablie entre les especes et les varietes.' Je vous ai deja dit que vous +vous trompiez; une distinction absolue separe les varietes d'avec les +especes." + +"JE VOUS AI DEJA DIT; moi, M. le Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie des +Sciences: et vous + + "'Qui n'etes rien, + Pas meme Academicien;' + +what do you mean by asserting the contrary?" Being devoid of the +blessings of an Academy in England, we are unaccustomed to see our +ablest men treated in this fashion, even by a "Perpetual Secretary." + +Or again, considering that if there is any one quality of Mr. Darwin's +work to which friends and foes have alike borne witness, it is his +candour and fairness in admitting and discussing objections, what is to +be thought of M. Flourens' assertion, that + +"M. Darwin ne cite que les auteurs qui partagent ses opinions." (P. 40.) + +Once more (p. 65):-- + +"Enfin l'ouvrage de M. Darwin a paru. On ne peut qu'etre frappe du +talent de l'auteur. Mais que d'idees obscures, que d'idees fausses! Quel +jargon metaphysique jete mal a propos dans l'histoire naturelle, qui +tombe dans le galimatias des qu'elle sort des idees claires, des idees +justes! Quel langage pretentieux et vide! Quelles personifications +pueriles et surannees! O lucidite! O solidite de l'esprit Francais, que +devenez-vous?" + +"Obscure ideas," "metaphysical jargon," "pretentious and empty +language," "puerile and superannuated personifications." Mr. Darwin has +many and hot opponents on this side of the Channel and in Germany, +but we do not recollect to have found precisely these sins in the long +catalogue of those hitherto laid to his charge. It is worth while, +therefore, to examine into these discoveries effected solely by the aid +of the "lucidity and solidity" of the mind of M. Flourens. + +According to M. Flourens, Mr. Darwin's great error is that he has +personified Nature (p. 10), and further that he has + +"imagined a natural selection: he imagines afterwards that this power of +selection (pouvoir d'elire) which he gives to Nature is similar to the +power of man. These two suppositions admitted, nothing stops him: he +plays with Nature as he likes, and makes her do all he pleases." (P. 6.) + +And this is the way M. Flourens extinguishes natural selection: + +"Voyons donc encore une fois, ce qu'il peut y avoir de fonde dans ce +qu'on nomme 'election naturelle'. + +"'L'election naturelle' n'est sous un autre nom que la nature. Pour un +etre organise, la nature n'est que l'organisation, ni plus ni moins. + +"Il faudra donc aussi personnifier 'l'organisation', et dire que +'l'organisation choisit l'organisation'. 'L'election naturelle' est +cette 'forme substantielle' dont on jouait autrefois avec tant de +facilite. Aristote disait que 'Si l'art de batir etait dans le bois, cet +art agirait comme la nature.' A la place de 'l'art de batir' M. Darwin +met 'l'election naturelle', et c'est tout un: l'un n'est pas plus +chimerique que l'autre." (P.31.) + +And this is really all that M. Flourens can make of Natural Selection. +We have given the original, in fear lest a translation should be +regarded as a travesty; but with the original before the reader, we +may try to analyse the passage. "For an organized being, Nature is only +organization, neither more nor less." + +Organized beings then have absolutely no relation to inorganic nature: a +plant does not, depend on soil or sunshine, climate, depth in the +ocean, height above it; the quantity of saline matters in water have no +influence upon animal life; the substitution of carbonic acid for oxygen +in our atmosphere would hurt nobody! That these are absurdities no one +should know better than M. Flourens; but they are logical deductions +from the assertion just quoted, and from the further statement that +natural selection means only that "organization chooses and selects +organization." + +For if it be once admitted (what no sane man denies) that the chances of +life of any given organism are increased by certain conditions (A) and +diminished by their opposites (B), then it is mathematically certain +that any change of conditions in the direction of (A) will exercise a +selective influence in favour of that organism, tending to its increase +and multiplication, while any change in the direction of (B) will +exercise a selective influence against that organism, tending to its +decrease and extinction. + +Or, on the other hand, conditions remaining the same, let a given +organism vary (and no one doubts that they do vary) in two directions: +into one form (a) better fitted to cope with these conditions than the +original stock, and a second (b) less well adapted to them. Then it +is no less certain that the conditions in question must exercise a +selective influence in favour of (a) and against ( b), so that (a) will +tend to predominance, and (b) to extirpation. + +That M. Flourens should be unable to perceive the logical necessity of +these simple arguments, which lie at the foundation of all Mr. Darwin's +reasoning; that he should confound an irrefragable deduction from the +observed relations of organisms to the conditions which lie around +them, with a metaphysical "forme substantielle," or a chimerical +personification of the powers of Nature, would be incredible, were it +not that other passages of his work leave no room for doubt upon the +subject. + +"On imagine une 'election naturelle' que, pour plus de menagement, on me +dit etre 'inconsciente', sans s'apercevoir que le contre-sens litteral +est precisement la: 'election inconsciente'." (P. 52.) + +"J'ai deja dit ce qu'il faut penser de 'l'election naturelle'. Ou +'l'election naturelle' n'est rien, ou c'est la nature: mais la nature +douee 'd'election', mais la nature personnifiee: derniere erreur du +dernier siecle: Le xixe fait plus de personnifications." (P. 53.) + +M. Flourens cannot imagine an unconscious selection--it is for him a +contradiction in terms. Did M. Flourens ever visit one of the prettiest +watering-places of "la belle France," the Baie d'Arcachon? If so, he +will probably have passed through the district of the Landes, and will +have had an opportunity of observing the formation of "dunes" on a grand +scale. What are these "dunes"? The winds and waves of the Bay of +Biscay have not much consciousness, and yet they have with great care +"selected," from among an infinity of masses of silex of all shapes and +sizes, which have been submitted to their action, all the grains of sand +below a certain size, and have heaped them by themselves over a great +area. This sand has been "unconsciously selected" from amidst the gravel +in which it first lay with as much precision as if man had "consciously +selected" it by the aid of a sieve. Physical Geology is full of such +selections--of the picking out of the soft from the hard, of the soluble +from the insoluble, of the fusible from the infusible, by natural +agencies to which we are certainly not in the habit of ascribing +consciousness. + +But that which wind and sea are to a sandy beach, the sum of influences, +which we term the "conditions of existence," is to living organisms. The +weak are sifted out from the strong. A frosty night "selects" the hardy +plants in a plantation from among the tender ones as effectually as if +it were the wind, and they, the sand and pebbles, of our illustration; +or, on the other hand, as if the intelligence of a gardener had been +operative in cutting the weaker organisms down. The thistle, which has +spread over the Pampas, to the destruction of native plants, has been +more effectually "selected" by the unconscious operation of natural +conditions than if a thousand agriculturists had spent their time in +sowing it. + +It is one of Mr. Darwin's many great services to Biological science +that he has demonstrated the significance of these facts. He has shown +that--given variation and given change of conditions--the inevitable +result is the exercise of such an influence upon organisms that one +is helped and another is impeded; one tends to predominate, another +to disappear; and thus the living world bears within itself, and is +surrounded by, impulses towards incessant change. + +But the truths just stated are as certain as any other physical laws, +quite independently of the truth, or falsehood, of the hypothesis +which Mr. Darwin has based upon them; and that M. Flourens, missing the +substance and grasping at a shadow, should be blind to the admirable +exposition of them, which Mr. Darwin has given, and see nothing +there but a "derniere erreur du dernier siecle"--a personification of +Nature--leads us indeed to cry with him: "O lucidite! O solidite de +l'esprit Francais, que devenez-vous?" + +M. Flourens has, in fact, utterly failed to comprehend the first +principles of the doctrine which he assails so rudely. His objections to +details are of the old sort, so battered and hackneyed on this side of +the Channel, that not even a Quarterly Reviewer could be induced to pick +them up for the purpose of pelting Mr. Darwin over again. We have Cuvier +and the mummies; M. Roulin and the domesticated animals of America; the +difficulties presented by hybridism and by Palaeontology; Darwinism a +'rifacciamento' of De Maillet and Lamarck; Darwinism a system without a +commencement, and its author bound to believe in M. Pouchet, etc. etc. +How one knows it all by heart, and with what relief one reads at p. 65-- + +"Je laisse M. Darwin!" + +But we cannot leave M. Flourens without calling our readers' attention +to his wonderful tenth chapter, "De la Preexistence des Germes et de +l'Epigenese," which opens thus:-- + +"Spontaneous generation is only a chimera. This point established, two +hypotheses remain: that of 'pre-existence' and that of 'epigenesis'. +The one of these hypotheses has as little foundation as the other." (P. +163.) + +"The doctrine of 'epigenesis' is derived from Harvey: following by +ocular inspection the development of the new being in the Windsor +does, he saw each part appear successively, and taking the moment of +'appearance' for the moment of 'formation' he imagined 'epigenesis'." +(P. 165.) + +On the contrary, says M. Flourens (p. 167), + +"The new being is formed at a stroke (tout d'un coup) as a whole, +instantaneously; it is not formed part by part, and at different times. +It is formed at once at the single 'individual' moment at which the +conjunction of the male and female elements takes place." + +It will be observed that M. Flourens uses language which cannot be +mistaken. For him, the labours of von Baer, of Rathke, of Coste, and +their contemporaries and successors in Germany, France, and England, +are non-existent: and, as Darwin "imagina" natural selection, so Harvey +"imagina" that doctrine which gives him an even greater claim to +the veneration of posterity than his better known discovery of the +circulation of the blood. + +Language such as that we have quoted is, in fact, so preposterous, so +utterly incompatible with anything but absolute ignorance of some of the +best established facts, that we should have passed it over in silence +had it not appeared to afford some clue to M. Flourens' unhesitating, +a priori, repudiation of all forms of the doctrine of progressive +modification of living beings. He whose mind remains uninfluenced by an +acquaintance with the phenomena of development, must indeed lack one +of the chief motives towards the endeavour to trace a genetic relation +between the different existing forms of life. Those who are ignorant of +Geology, find no difficulty in believing that the world was made as it +is; and the shepherd, untutored in history, sees no reason to regard the +green mounds which indicate the site of a Roman camp, as aught but part +and parcel of the primeval hill-side. So M. Flourens, who believes that +embryos are formed "tout d'un coup," naturally finds no difficulty in +conceiving that species came into existence in the same way. + +End of Criticisms on "The Origin of Species". + + + + +EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE + +1863. + +(entire page is illustration with caption as follows:) + +Skeletons of the GIBBON. ORANG. CHIMPANZEE. GORILLA. MAN. +Photographically reduced from Diagrams of the natural size (except +that of the Gibbon, which was twice as large as nature), drawn by Mr. +Waterhouse Hawkins from specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of +Surgeons. + + + + +ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + +Ancient traditions, when tested by the severe processes of modern +investigation, commonly enough fade away into mere dreams: but it is +singular how often the dream turns out to have been a half-waking one, +presaging a reality. Ovid foreshadowed the discoveries of the geologist: +the Atlantis was an imagination, but Columbus found a western world: and +though the quaint forms of Centaurs and Satyrs have an existence only +in the realms of art, creatures approaching man more nearly than they +in essential structure, and yet as thoroughly brutal as the goat's +or horse's half of the mythical compound, are now not only known, but +notorious. + +I have not met with any notice of one of these MAN-LIKE APES of earlier +date than that contained in Pigafetta's 'Description of the Kingdom of +Congo,'* drawn up from the notes of a Portuguese sailor, Eduardo Lopez, +and published in 1598. The tenth chapter of this work is entitled "De +Animalibus quae in hac provincia reperiuntur," and contains a brief +passage to the effect that "in the Songan country, on the banks of the +Zaire, there are multitudes of apes, which afford great delight to the +nobles by imitating human gestures." As this might apply to almost any +kind of apes, I should have thought little of it, had not the brothers +De Bry, whose engravings illustrate the work, thought fit, in their +eleventh 'Argumentum,' to figure two of these "Simiae magnatum +deliciae." So much of the plate as contains these apes is faithfully +copied in the woodcut (Figure 1), and it will be observed that they +are tail-less, long-armed, and large-eared; and about the size of +Chimpanzees. It may be that these apes are as much figments of the +imagination of the ingenious brothers as the winged, two-legged, +crocodile-headed dragon which adorns the same plate; or, on the other +hand, it may be that the artists have constructed their drawings from +some essentially faithful description of a Gorilla or a Chimpanzee. And, +in either case, though these figures are worth a passing notice, the +oldest trustworthy and definite accounts of any animal of this kind +date from the 17th century, and are due to an Englishman. ([Footnote] * +REGNUM CONGO: hoc est VERA DESCRIPTIO REGNI AFRICANI QUOD TAM AB INCOLIS +QUAM LUSITANIS CONGUS APPELLATUR, per Philippum Pigafettam, olim ex +Edoardo Lopez acroamatis lingua Italica excerpta, num Latio sermone +donata ab August. Cassiod. Reinio. Iconibus et imaginibus rerum +memorabilium quasi vivis, opera et industria Joan. Theodori et Joan. +Israelis de Bry, fratrum exornata. Francofurti, MDXCVIII.) + +(FIGURE 1.--SIMIAE MAGNATUM DELICIAE.--De Bry, 1598.) + +The first edition of that most amusing old book, 'Purchas his +Pilgrimage,' was published in 1613, and therein are to be found many +references to the statements of one whom Purchas terms "Andrew Battell +(my neere neighbour, dwelling at Leigh in Essex) who served under Manuel +Silvera Perera, Governor under the King of Spaine, at his city of Saint +Paul, and with him went farre into the countrey of Angola"; and again, +"my friend, Andrew Battle, who lived in the kingdom of Congo many +yeares," and who, "upon some quarell betwixt the Portugals (among whom +he was a sergeant of a band) and him, lived eight or nine moneths in +the woodes." From this weather-beaten old soldier, Purchas was amazed +to hear "of a kinde of Great Apes, if they might so bee termed, of the +height of a man, but twice as bigge in feature of their limmes, with +strength proportionable, hairie all over, otherwise altogether like men +and women in their whole bodily shape.* They lived on such wilde fruits +as the trees and woods yielded, and in the night time lodged on +the trees." ([Footnote] *"Except this that their legges had no +calves."--[Ed. 1626.] And in a marginal note, "These great apes are +called Pongo's.") + +This extract is, however, less detailed and clear in its statements +than a passage in the third chapter of the second part of another +work--'Purchas his Pilgrimes,' published in 1625, by the same +author--which has been often, though hardly ever quite rightly, cited. +The chapter is entitled, "The strange adventures of Andrew Battell, +of Leigh in Essex, sent by the Portugals prisoner to Angola, who lived +there and in the adjoining regions neere eighteene yeeres." And the +sixth section of this chapter is headed--"Of the Provinces of Bongo, +Calongo, Mayombe, Manikesocke, Motimbas: of the Ape Monster Pongo, their +hunting: Idolatries; and divers other observations." + +"This province (Calongo) toward the east bordereth upon Bongo, and +toward the north upon Mayombe, which is nineteen leagues from Longo +along the coast. + +"This province of Mayombe is all woods and groves, so over-growne that +a man may travaile twentie days in the shadow without any sunne or heat. +Here is no kind of corne nor graine, so that the people liveth onely +upon plantanes and roots of sundrie sorts, very good; and nuts; nor any +kinde of tame cattell, nor hens. + +"But they have great store of elephant's flesh, which they greatly +esteeme, and many kinds of wild beasts; and great store of fish. Here is +a great sandy bay, two leagues to the northward of Cape Negro,* which +is the port of Mayombe. ([Footnote] *Purchas' note.--Cape Negro is in 16 +degrees south of the line.) Sometimes the Portugals lade logwood in +this bay. Here is a great river, called Banna: in the winter it hath no +barre, because the generall winds cause a great sea. But when the sunne +hath his south declination, then a boat may goe in; for then it is +smooth because of the raine. This river is very great, and hath many +ilands and people dwelling in them. The woods are so covered with +baboones, monkies, apes and parrots, that it will feare any man to +travaile in them alone. Here are also two kinds of monsters, which are +common in these woods, and very dangerous. + +"The greatest of these two monsters is called Pongo in their language, +and the lesser is called Engeco. This Pongo is in all proportion like a +man; but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man; for he is +very tall, and hath a man's face, hollow-eyed, with long haire upon his +browes. His face and eares are without haire, and his hands also. His +bodie is full of haire, but not very thicke; and it is of a dunnish +colour. + +"He differeth not from a man but in his legs; for they have no calfe. +Hee goeth alwaies upon his legs, and carrieth his hands clasped in the +nape of his necke when he goeth upon the ground. They sleepe in the +trees, and build shelters for the raine. They feed upon fruit that they +find in the woods, and upon nuts, for they eate no kind of flesh. They +cannot speake, and have no understanding more than a beast. The people +of the countrie, when they travaile in the woods make fires where they +sleepe in the night; and in the morning when they are gone, the Pongoes +will come and sit about the fire till it goeth out; for they have no +understanding to lay the wood together. They goe many together and kill +many negroes that travaile in the woods. Many times they fall upon the +elephants which come to feed where they be, and so beate them with their +clubbed fists, and pieces of wood, that they will runne roaring away +from them. Those Pongoes are never taken alive because they are so +strong, that ten men cannot hold one of them; but yet they take many of +their young ones with poisoned arrowes. + +"The young Pongo hangeth on his mother's belly with his hands fast +clasped about her, so that when the countrie people kill any of the +females they take the young one, which hangeth fast upon his mother. + +"When they die among themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps +of boughs and wood, which is commonly found in the forest."* ([Footnote] +*Purchas' marginal note, p. 982:--"The Pongo a giant ape. He told me in +conference with him, that one of these pongoes tooke a negro boy of +his which lived a moneth with them. For they hurt not those which they +surprise at unawares, except they look on them; which he avoyded. He +said their highth was like a man's, but their bignesse twice as great. I +saw the negro boy. What the other monster should be he hath forgotten +to relate; and these papers came to my hand since his death, which, +otherwise, in my often conferences, I might have learned. Perhaps he +meaneth the Pigmy Pongo killers mentioned.") + +It does not appear difficult to identify the exact region of which +Battell speaks. Longo is doubtless the name of the place usually spelled +Loango on our maps. Mayombe still lies some nineteen leagues northward +from Loango, along the coast; and Cilongo or Kilonga, Manikesocke, and +Motimbas are yet registered by geographers. The Cape Negro of Battell, +however, cannot be the modern Cape Negro in 16 degrees S., since Loango +itself is in 4 degrees S. latitude. On the other hand, the "great river +called Banna" corresponds very well with the "Camma" and "Fernand Vas," +of modern geographers, which form a great delta on this part of the +African coast. + +Now this "Camma" country is situated about a degree and a-half south of +the Equator, while a few miles to the north of the line lies the Gaboon, +and a degree or so north of that, the Money River--both well known to +modern naturalists as localities where the largest of man-like Apes +has been obtained. Moreover, at the present day, the word Engeco, or +N'schego, is applied by the natives of these regions to the smaller of +the two great Apes which inhabit them; so that there can be no rational +doubt that Andrew Battell spoke of that which he knew of his own +knowledge, or, at any rate, by immediate report from the natives of +Western Africa. The "Engeco," however, is that "other monster" whose +nature Battell "forgot to relate," while the name "Pongo"--applied +to the animal whose characters and habits are so fully and carefully +described--seems to have died out, at least in its primitive form and +signification. Indeed, there is evidence that not only in Battell's +time, but up to a very recent date, it was used in a totally different +sense from that in which he employs it. + +For example, the second chapter of Purchas' work, which I have just +quoted, contains "A Description and Historicall Declaration of the +Golden Kingdom of Guinea, etc. etc. Translated from the Dutch, and +compared also with the Latin," wherein it is stated (p. 986) that--"The +River Gaboon lyeth about fifteen miles northward from Rio de Angra, and +eight miles northward from Cape de Lope Gonsalves (Cape Lopez), and is +right under the Equinoctial line, about fifteene miles from St. Thomas, +and is a great land, well and easily to be knowne. At the mouth of +the river there lieth a sand, three or foure fathoms deepe, whereon it +beateth mightily with the streame which runneth out of the river into +the sea. This river, in the mouth thereof, is at least four miles broad; +but when you are about the Iland called 'Pongo', it is not above two +miles broad...On both sides the river there standeth many trees...The +Iland called 'Pongo', which hath a monstrous high hill." + +(FIGURE 2.--"Homo Sylvestris. Orang Outang." The Orang of Tulpius, +1641.) + +The French naval officers, whose letters are appended to the late +M. Isidore Geoff. Saint Hilaire's excellent essay on the Gorilla,* +([Footnote] *'Archives du Museum', tome x.) note in similar terms the +width of the Gaboon, the trees that line its banks down to the water's +edge, and the strong current that sets out of it. They describe two +islands in its estuary;--one low, called Perroquet; the other high, +presenting three conical hills, called Coniquet; and one of them, M. +Franquet, expressly states that, formerly, the Chief of Coniquet was +called 'Meni-Pongo', meaning thereby Lord of 'Pongo'; and that the +'N'Pongues' (as, in agreement with Dr. Savage, he affirms the natives +call themselves) term the estuary of the Gaboon itself 'N'Pongo'. + +It is so easy, in dealing with savages, to misunderstand their +applications of words to things, that one is at first inclined to +suspect Battell of having confounded the name of this region, where his +"greater monster" still abounds, with the name of the animal itself. But +he is so right about other matters (including the name of the "lesser +monster") that one is loth to suspect the old traveller of error; and, +on the other hand, we shall find that a voyager of a hundred years' +later date speaks of the name "Boggoe," as applied to a great Ape, by +the inhabitants of quite another part of Africa--Sierra Leone. + +But I must leave this question to be settled by philologers and +travellers; and I should hardly have dwelt so long upon it except for +the curious part played by this word 'Pongo' in the later history of the +man-like Apes. + +The generation which succeeded Battell saw the first of the man-like +Apes which was ever brought to Europe, or, at any rate, whose visit +found a historian. In the third book of Tulpius' 'Observationes +Medicae', published in 1641, the 56th chapter or section is devoted to +what he calls 'Satyrus indicus', "called by the Indians Orang-autang or +Man-of-the-Woods, and by the Africans Quoias Morrou." He gives a very +good figure, evidently from the life, of the specimen of this animal, +"nostra memoria ex Angola delatum," presented to Frederick Henry Prince +of Orange. Tulpius says it was as big as a child of three years old, and +as stout as one of six years: and that its back was covered with black +hair. It is plainly a young Chimpanzee. + +In the meanwhile, the existence of other, Asiatic, man-like Apes became +known, but at first in a very mythical fashion. Thus Bontius (1658) +gives an altogether fabulous and ridiculous account and figure of an +animal which he calls "Orang-outang"; and though he says "vidi Ego cujus +effigiem hic exhibeo," the said effigies (see Figure 6 for Hoppius' copy +of it) is nothing but a very hairy woman of rather comely aspect, and +with proportions and feet wholly human. The judicious English anatomist, +Tyson, was justified in saying of this description by Bontius, "I +confess I do mistrust the whole representation." + +It is to the last mentioned writer, and his coadjutor Cowper, that we +owe the first account of a man-like ape which has any pretensions +to scientific accuracy and completeness. The treatise entitled, +"'Orang-outang, sive Homo Sylvestris'; or the Anatomy of a Pygmie +compared with that of a 'Monkey', an 'Ape', and a 'Man'," published by +the Royal Society in 1699, is, indeed, a work of remarkable merit, and +has, in some respects, served as a model to subsequent inquirers. This +"Pygmie," Tyson tells us "was brought from Angola, in Africa; but was +first taken a great deal higher up the country"; its hair "was of a +coal-black colour and strait," and "when it went as a quadruped on all +four, 'twas awkwardly; not placing the palm of the hand flat to the +ground, but it walk'd upon its knuckles, as I observed it to do when +weak and had not strength enough to support its body."--"From the top +of the head to the heel of the foot, in a strait line, it measured +twenty-six inches." + +(FIGURES 3 AND 4.--The 'Pygmie' reduced from Tyson's figures 1 and 2, +1699.) + +These characters, even without Tyson's good figures (Figs. 3 and +4), would have been sufficient to prove his "Pygmie" to be a young +Chimpanzee. But the opportunity of examining the skeleton of the very +animal Tyson anatomised having most unexpectedly presented itself to +me, I am able to bear independent testimony to its being a veritable +'Troglodytes niger',* though still very young. Although fully +appreciating the resemblances between his Pygmie and Man, Tyson by no +means overlooked the differences between the two, and he concludes his +memoir by summing up first, the points in which "the Ourang-outang or +Pygmie more resembled a Man than Apes and Monkeys do," under forty-seven +distinct heads; and then giving, in thirty-four similar brief +paragraphs, the respects in which "the Ourang-outang or Pygmie differ'd +from a Man and resembled more the Ape and Monkey kind." + +([Footnote] * I am indebted to Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, whose +paleontological labours are so well known, for bringing this interesting +relic to my knowledge. Tyson's granddaughter, it appears, married Dr. +Allardyce, a physician of repute in Cheltenham, and brought, as part of +her dowry, the skeleton of the 'Pygmie.' Dr. Allardyce presented it to +the Cheltenham Museum, and, through the good offices of my friend Dr. +Wright, the authorities of the Museum have permitted me to borrow, what +is, perhaps its most remarkable ornament. + +After a careful survey of the literature of the subject extant in +his time, our author arrives at the conclusion that his "Pygmie" is +identical neither with the Orangs of Tulpius and Bontius, nor with the +Quoias Morrou of Dapper (or rather of Tulpius), the Barris of d'Arcos, +nor with the Pongo of Battell; but that it is a species of ape probably +identical with the Pygmies of the Ancients, and, says Tyson, though it +"does so much resemble a 'Man' in many of its parts, more than any of +the ape kind, or any other 'animal' in the world, that I know of: yet by +no means do I look upon it as the product of a 'mixt' generation--'tis a +'Brute-Animal sui generis', and a particular 'species of Ape'." + +The name of "Chimpanzee," by which one of the African Apes is now so +well known, appears to have come into use in the first half of the +eighteenth century, but the only important addition made, in that +period, to our acquaintance with the man-like apes of Africa is +contained in 'A New Voyage to Guinea', by William Smith, which bears the +date 1744. + +In describing the animals of Sierra Leone, p. 51, this writer says:-- + +"I shall next describe a strange sort of animal, called by the white men +in this country Mandrill,* but why it is so called I know not, nor did +I ever hear the name before, neither can those who call them so tell, +except it be for their near resemblance of a human creature, though +nothing at all like an Ape. ([Footnote] *"Mandrill" seems to signify +a "man-like ape," the word "Drill" or "Dril" having been anciently +employed in England to denote an Ape or Baboon. Thus in the fifth +edition of Blount's "Glossographia, or a Dictionary interpreting the +hard words of whatsoever language now used in our refined English +tongue...very useful for all such as desire to understand what they +read," published in 1681, I find, "Dril--a stone-cutter's tool wherewith +he bores little holes in marble, etc. Also a large overgrown Ape and +Baboon, so called." "Drill" is used in the same sense in Charleton's +"Onomasticon Zoicon," 1668. The singular etymology of the word given by +Buffon seems hardly a probable one.) Their bodies, when full grown, +are as big in circumference as a middle-sized man's--their legs much +shorter, and their feet larger; their arms and hands in proportion. The +head is monstrously big, and the face broad and flat, without any other +hair but the eyebrows; the nose very small, the mouth wide, and the lips +thin. The face, which is covered by a white skin, is monstrously ugly, +being all over wrinkled as with old age; the teeth broad and yellow; the +hands have no more hair than the face, but the same white skin, though +all the rest of the body is covered with long black hair, like a bear. +They never go upon all fours, like apes; but cry, when vexed or teased, +just like children...." + +(FIGURE 5.--"A Mandrill". Facsimile of William Smith's figure of the +"Mandrill," 1744.) + +"When I was at Sherbro, one Mr. Cummerbus, whom I shall have occasion +hereafter to mention, made me a present of one of these strange animals, +which are called by the natives Boggoe: it was a she-cub, of six months' +age, but even then larger than a Baboon. I gave it in charge to one of +the slaves, who knew how to feed and nurse it, being a very tender sort +of animal; but whenever I went off the deck the sailors began to teaze +it--some loved to see its tears and hear it cry; others hated its snotty +nose; one who hurt it, being checked by the negro that took care of it, +told the slave he was very fond of his country-woman, and asked him +if he should not like her for a wife? To which the slave very readily +replied, 'No, this no my wife; this a white woman--this fit wife for +you.' This unlucky wit of the negro's, I fancy, hastened its death, for +next morning it was found dead under the windlass." + +William Smith's 'Mandrill,' or 'Boggoe,' as his description and figure +testify, was, without doubt, a Chimpanzee. + +(FIGURE 6.--The Anthropomorpha of Linnaeus.) + +Linnaeus knew nothing, of his own observation, of the man-like Apes of +either Africa or Asia, but a dissertation by his pupil Hoppius in the +'Amoenitates Academicae' (VI. 'Anthropomorpha') may be regarded as +embodying his views respecting these animals. + +The dissertation is illustrated by a plate, of which the accompanying +woodcut, Fig, 6, is a reduced copy, The figures are entitled (from left +to right) 1. 'Troglodyta Bontii'; 2. 'Lucifer Aldrovandi'; 3. 'Satyrus +Tulpii'; 4. 'Pygmaeus Edwardi'. The first is a bad copy of Bontius' +fictitious 'Ourang-outang,' in whose existence, however, Linnaeus +appears to have fully believed; for in the standard edition of the +'Systema Naturae', it is enumerated as a second species of Homo; "H. +nocturnus." 'Lucifer Aldrovandi' is a copy of a figure in Aldrovandus, +'De Quadrupedibus digitatis viviparis', Lib. 2, p. 249 (1645), entitled +"Cercopithecus formae rarae 'Barbilius' vocatus et originem a china +ducebat." Hoppius is of opinion that this may be one of that cat-tailed +people, of whom Nicolaus Koping affirms that they eat a boat's crew, +"gubernator navis" and all! In the 'Systema Naturae' Linnaeus calls it +in a note, 'Homo caudatus', and seems inclined to regard it as a third +species of man. According to Temminck, 'Satyrus Tulpii' is a copy of +the figure of a Chimpanzee published by Scotin in 1738, which I have +not seen. It is the 'Satyrus indicus' of the 'Systema Naturae', and +is regarded by Linnaeus as possibly a distinct species from 'Satyrus +sylvestris'. The last, named 'Pygmaeus Edwardi', is copied from the +figure of a young "Man of the Woods," or true Orang-Utan, given in +Edwards' 'Gleanings of Natural History' (1758). + +Buffon was more fortunate than his great rival. Not only had he the rare +opportunity of examining a young Chimpanzee in the living state, but +he became possessed of an adult Asiatic man-like Ape--the first and the +last adult specimen of any of these animals brought to Europe for +many years. With the valuable assistance of Daubenton, Buffon gave +an excellent description of this creature, which, from its singular +proportions, he termed the long-armed Ape, or Gibbon. It is the modern +'Hylobates lar'. + +Thus when, in 1766, Buffon wrote the fourteenth volume of his great +work, he was personally familiar with the young of one kind of African +man-like Ape, and with the adult of an Asiatic species--while the +Orang-Utan and the Mandrill of Smith were known to him by report. +Furthermore, the Abbe Prevost had translated a good deal of Purchas' +Pilgrims into French, in his 'Histoire generale des Voyages' (1748), and +there Buffon found a version of Andrew Battell's account of the Pongo +and the Engeco. All these data Buffon attempts to weld together into +harmony in his chapter entitled "Les Orang-outangs ou le Pongo et le +Jocko." To this title the following note is appended:-- + +"Orang-outang nom de cet animal aux Indes orientales: Pongo nom de cet +animal a Lowando Province de Congo. + +"Jocko, Enjocko, nom de cet animal a Congo que nous avons adopte. 'En' +est l'article que nous avons retranche." + +Thus it was that Andrew Battell's "Engeco" became metamorphosed into +"Jocko," and, in the latter shape, was spread all over the world, in +consequence of the extensive popularity of Buffon's works. The +Abbe Prevost and Buffon between them, however, did a good deal more +disfigurement to Battell's sober account than 'cutting off an article.' +Thus Battell's statement that the Pongos "cannot speake, and have no +understanding more than a beast," is rendered by Buffon "qu'il ne peut +parler 'quoiqu'il ait plus d'entendement que les autres animaux'"; and +again, Purchas' affirmation, "He told me in conference with him, that +one of these Pongos tooke a negro boy of his which lived a moneth with +them," stands in the French version, "un pongo lui enleva un petit negre +qui passa un 'an' entier dans la societe de ces animaux." + +After quoting the account of the great Pongo, Buffon justly remarks, +that all the 'Jockos' and 'Orangs' hitherto brought to Europe were +young; and he suggests that, in their adult condition, they might be as +big as the Pongo or 'great Orang'; so that, provisionally, he regarded +the Jockos, Orangs, and Pongos as all of one species. And perhaps this +was as much as the state of knowledge at the time warranted. But how +it came about that Buffon failed to perceive the similarity of Smith's +'Mandrill' to his own 'Jocko,' and confounded the former with so +totally different a creature as the blue-faced Baboon, is not so easily +intelligible. + +Twenty years later Buffon changed his opinion,* and expressed his belief +that the Orangs constituted a genus with two species,--a large one, the +Pongo of Battell, and a small one, the Jocko: that the small one (Jocko) +is the East Indian Orang; and that the young animals from Africa, +observed by himself and Tulpius, are simply young Pongos. ([Footnote] +*'Histoire Naturelle', Suppl. tome 7eme, 1789.) + +In the meanwhile, the Dutch naturalist, Vosmaer, gave, in 1778, a very +good account and figure of a young Orang, brought alive to Holland, and +his countryman, the famous anatomist, Peter Camper, published (1779) +an essay on the Orang-Utan of similar value to that of Tyson on the +Chimpanzee. He dissected several females and a male, all of which, from +the state of their skeleton and their dentition, he justly supposes to +have been young. However, judging by the analogy of man, he concludes +that they could not have exceeded four feet in height in the adult +condition. Furthermore, he is very clear as to the specific distinctness +of the true East Indian Orang. + +"The Orang," says he, "differs not only from the Pigmy of Tyson and from +the Orang of Tulpius by its peculiar colour and its long toes, but +also by its whole external form. Its arms, its hands, and its feet are +longer, while the thumbs, on the contrary, are much shorter, and the +great toes much smaller in proportion."* ([Footnote] *Camper, 'Oeuvres', +i. p. 56.) And again, "The true Orang, that is to say, that of Asia, +that of Borneo, is consequently not the Pithecus, or tailless Ape, which +the Greeks, and especially Galen, have described. It is neither +the Pongo nor the Jocko, nor the Orang of Tulpius, nor the Pigmy of +Tyson,--IT IS AN ANIMAL OF A PECULIAR SPECIES, as I shall prove in the +clearest manner by the organs of voice and the skeleton in the following +chapters" (l. c. p. 64). + +A few years later, M. Radermacher, who held a high office in the +Government of the Dutch dominions in India, and was an active member of +the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, published, in the second part +of the Transactions of that Society,* a Description of the Island of +Borneo, which was written between the years 1779 and 1781, and, among +much other interesting matter, contains some notes upon the Orang. +([Footnote] *Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap. Tweede +Deel. Derde Druk. 1826. The small sort of Orang-Utan, viz. that of +Vosmaer and of Edwards, he says, is found only in Borneo, and chiefly +about Banjermassing, Mampauwa, and Landak. Of these he had seen some +fifty during his residence in the Indies; but none exceeded 2 1/2 feet +in length. The larger sort, often regarded as a chimera, continues +Radermacher, would perhaps long have remained so, had it not been for +the exertions of the Resident at Rembang, M. Palm, who, on returning +from Landak towards Pontiana, shot one, and forwarded it to Batavia in +spirit, for transmission to Europe. + +Palm's letter describing the capture runs thus:--"Herewith I send your +Excellency, contrary to all expectation (since long ago I offered more +than a hundred ducats to the natives for an Orang-Utan of four or five +feet high) an Orang which I heard of this morning about eight o'clock. +For a long time we did our best to take the frightful beast alive in the +dense forest about half way to Landak. We forgot even to eat, so anxious +were we not to let him escape; but it was necessary to take care that +he did not revenge himself, as he kept continually breaking off heavy +pieces of wood and green branches, and dashing them at us. This game +lasted till four o'clock in the afternoon, when we determined to shoot +him; in which I succeeded very well, and indeed better than I ever shot +from a boat before; for the bullet went just into the side of his chest, +so that he was not much damaged. We got him into the prow still living, +and bound him fast, and next morning he died of his wounds. All Pontiana +came on board to see him when we arrived." Palm gives his height from +the head to the heel as 49 inches. + +(FIGURE 7.--The Pongo Skull, sent by Radermacher to Camper, after +Camper's original sketches, as reproduced by Lucae.) + +A very intelligent German officer, Baron Von Wurmb, who at this time +held a post in the Dutch East India service, and was Secretary of the +Batavian Society, studied this animal, and his careful description of +it, entitled "Beschrijving van der Groote Borneosche Orang-outang of de +Oost-Indische Pongo," is contained in the same volume of the Batavian +Society's Transactions. After Von Wurmb had drawn up his description he +states, in a letter dated Batavia, Feb. 18, 1781,* ([Footnote] *"Briefe +des Herrn v. Wurmb und des H. Baron von Wollzogen. Gotha, 1794." that +the specimen was sent to Europe in brandy to be placed in the collection +of the Prince of Orange; "unfortunately," he continues, "we hear that +the ship has been wrecked." Von Wurmb died in the course of the year +1781, the letter in which this passage occurs being the last he wrote; +but in his posthumous papers, published in the fourth part of the +Transactions of the Batavian Society, there is a brief description, with +measurements, of a female Pongo four feet high. + +Did either of these original specimens, on which Von Wurmb's +descriptions are based, ever reach Europe? It is commonly supposed +that they did; but I doubt the fact. For, appended to the memoir 'De +l'Ourang-outang,' in the collected edition of Camper's works, tome i., +pp. 64-66, is a note by Camper himself, referring to Von Wurmb's papers, +and continuing thus:--"Heretofore, this kind of ape had never been known +in Europe. Radermacher has had the kindness to send me the skull of one +of these animals, which measured fifty-three inches, or four feet five +inches, in height. I have sent some sketches of it to M. Soemmering at +Mayence, which are better calculated, however, to give an idea of the +form than of the real size of the parts." + +These sketches have been reproduced by Fischer and by Lucae, and bear +date 1783, Soemmering having received them in 1784. Had either of Von +Wurmb's specimens reached Holland, they would hardly have been unknown +at this time to Camper, who, however, goes on to say--"It appears that +since this, some more of these monsters have been captured, for an +entire skeleton, very badly set up, which had been sent to the Museum +of the Prince of Orange, and which I saw only on the 27th of June, 1784, +was more than four feet high. I examined this skeleton again on the +19th December, 1785, after it had been excellently put to rights by the +ingenious Onymus." + +It appears evident, then, that this skeleton, which is doubtless that +which has always gone by the name of Wurmb's Pongo, is not that of the +animal described by him, though unquestionably similar in all essential +points. + +Camper proceeds to note some of the most important features of this +skeleton; promises to describe it in detail by-and-bye; and is evidently +in doubt as to the relation of this great 'Pongo' to his "petit Orang." + +The promised further investigations were never carried out; and so it +happened that the Pongo of Von Wurmb took its place by the side of +the Chimpanzee, Gibbon, and Orang as a fourth and colossal species +of man-like Ape. And indeed nothing could look much less like the +Chimpanzees or the Orangs, then known, than the Pongo; for all the +specimens of Chimpanzee and Orang which had been observed were small of +stature, singularly human in aspect, gentle and docile; while Wurmb's +Pongo was a monster almost twice their size, of vast strength and +fierceness, and very brutal in expression; its great projecting muzzle, +armed with strong teeth, being further disfigured by the outgrowth of +the cheeks into fleshy lobes. + +Eventually, in accordance with the usual marauding habits of the +Revolutionary armies, the 'Pongo' skeleton was carried away from Holland +into France, and notices of it, expressly intended to demonstrate its +entire distinctness from the Orang and its affinity with the baboons, +were given, in 1798, by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Cuvier. + +Even in Cuvier's 'Tableau Elementaire', and in the first edition of his +great work, the 'Regne Animal', the 'Pongo' is classed as a species of +Baboon. However, so early as 1818, it appears that Cuvier saw reason to +alter this opinion, and to adopt the view suggested several years before +by Blumenbach,* and after him by Tilesius, that the Bornean Pongo +is simply an adult Orang. ([Footnote] *See Blumenbach, 'Abbildungen +Naturhistorichen Gegenstande', No. 12, 1810; and Tilesius, +'Naturhistoriche Fruchte der ersten Kaiserlich-Russischen +Erdumsegelung', p. 115, 1813.) In 1824, Rudolphi demonstrated, by the +condition of the dentition, more fully and completely than had been done +by his predecessors, that the Orangs described up to that time were all +young animals, and that the skull and teeth of the adult would probably +be such as those seen in the Pongo of Wurmb. In the second edition of +the 'Regne Animal' (1829), Cuvier infers, from the 'proportions of all +the parts' and 'the arrangements of the foramina and sutures of the +head,' that the Pongo is the adult of the Orang-Utan, 'at least of a +very closely allied species,' and this conclusion was eventually placed +beyond all doubt by Professor Owen's Memoir published in the 'Zoological +Transactions' for 1835, and by Temminck in his 'Monographies de +Mammalogie'. Temminck's memoir is remarkable for the completeness of the +evidence which it affords as to the modification which the form of the +Orang undergoes according to age and sex. Tiedemann first published an +account of the brain of the young Orang, while Sandifort, Muller and +Schlegel, described the muscles and the viscera of the adult, and gave +the earliest detailed and trustworthy history of the habits of the great +Indian Ape in a state of nature; and as important additions have been +made by later observers, we are at this moment better acquainted with +the adult of the Orang-Utan, than with that of any of the other greater +man-like Apes. + +It is certainly the Pongo of Wurmb;* and it is as certainly not the +Pongo of Battell, seeing that the Orang-Utan is entirely confined to +the great Asiatic islands of Borneo and Sumatra. ([Footnote] *Speaking +broadly and without prejudice to the question, whether there be more +than one species of Orang.) + +And while the progress of discovery thus cleared up the history of the +Orang, it also became established that the only other man-like Apes in +the eastern world were the various species of Gibbon--Apes of smaller +stature, and therefore attracting less attention than the Orangs, though +they are spread over a much wider range of country, and are hence more +accessible to observation. + +Although the geographical area inhabited by the 'Pongo' and Engeco of +Battell is so much nearer to Europe than that in which the Orang and +Gibbon are found, our acquaintance with the African Apes has been of +slower growth; indeed, it is only within the last few years that the +truthful story of the old English adventurer has been rendered fully +intelligible. It was not until 1835 that the skeleton of the adult +Chimpanzee became known, by the publication of Professor Owen's +above-mentioned very excellent memoir 'On the osteology of the +Chimpanzee and Orang', in the 'Zoological Transactions'--a memoir which, +by the accuracy of its descriptions, the carefulness of its comparisons, +and the excellence of its figures, made an epoch in the history of our +knowledge of the bony framework, not only of the Chimpanzee, but of all +the anthropoid Apes. + +By the investigations herein detailed, it became evident that the old +Chimpanzee acquired a size and aspect as different from those of the +young known to Tyson, to Buffon, and to Traill, as those of the old +Orang from the young Orang; and the subsequent very important researches +of Messrs. Savage and Wyman, the American missionary and anatomist, have +not only confirmed this conclusion, but have added many new details.* +([Footnote] *See "Observations on the external characters and habits +of the Troglodytes niger, by Thomas N. Savage, M.D., and on its +organization by Jeffries Wyman, M.D.," 'Boston Journal of Natural +History', vol. iv., 1843-4; and "External characters, habits, and +osteology of Troglodytes Gorilla," by the same authors, 'ibid'., vol. +v., 1847.) + +One of the most interesting among the many valuable discoveries made by +Dr. Thomas Savage is the fact, that the natives in the Gaboon country at +the present day, apply to the Chimpanzee a name--"Enche-eko"--which is +obviously identical with the "Engeko" of Battell; a discovery which has +been confirmed by all later inquirers. Battell's "lesser monster" being +thus proved to be a veritable existence, of course a strong presumption +arose that his "greater monster," the 'Pongo,' would sooner or later +be discovered. And, indeed, a modern traveller, Bowdich, had, in 1819, +found strong evidence, among the natives, of the existence of a second +great Ape, called the 'Ingena,' "five feet high, and four across the +shoulders," the builder of a rude house, on the outside of which it +slept. + +In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make another and most +important addition to our knowledge of the man-like Apes; for, being +unexpectedly detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house of the +Rev. Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident there, "a skull represented +by the natives to be a monkey-like animal, remarkable for its +size, ferocity, and habits." From the contour of the skull, and the +information derived from several intelligent natives, "I was induced," +says Dr. Savage (using the term Orang in its old general sense) "to +believe that it belonged to a new species of Orang. I expressed this +opinion to Mr. Wilson, with a desire for further investigation; and, if +possible, to decide the point by the inspection of a specimen alive or +dead." The result of the combined exertions of Messrs. Savage and Wilson +was not only the obtaining of a very full account of the habits of +this new creature, but a still more important service to science, the +enabling the excellent American anatomist already mentioned, Professor +Wyman, to describe, from ample materials, the distinctive osteological +characters of the new form. This animal was called by the natives of +the Gaboon "Enge-ena," a name obviously identical with the "Ingena" +of Bowdich; and Dr. Savage arrived at the conviction that this last +discovered of all the great Apes was the long-sought "Pongo" of Battell. + +The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond doubt--for not only +does the 'Enge-ena' agree with Battell's "greater monster" in its hollow +eyes, its great stature, and its dun or iron-grey colour, but the only +other man-like Ape which inhabits these latitudes--the Chimpanzee--is +at once identified, by its smaller size, as the "lesser monster," and is +excluded from any possibility of being the 'Pongo,' by the fact that +it is black and not dun, to say nothing of the important circumstance +already mentioned that it still retains the name of 'Engeko,' or +"Enche-eko," by which Battell knew it. + +In seeking for a specific name for the "Enge-ena," however, Dr. Savage +wisely avoided the much misused 'Pongo'; but finding in the ancient +Periplus of Hanno the word "Gorilla" applied to certain hairy savage +people, discovered by the Carthaginian voyager in an island on the +African coast, he attached the specific name "Gorilla" to his new ape, +whence arises its present well-known appellation. But Dr. Savage, more +cautious than some of his successors, by no means identifies his ape +with Hanno's "wild men." He merely says that the latter were "probably +one of the species of the Orang;" and I quite agree with M. Brulle, that +there is no ground for identifying the modern 'Gorilla' with that of the +Carthaginian admiral. + +Since the memoir of Savage and Wyman was published, the skeleton of +the Gorilla has been investigated by Professor Owen and by the late +Professor Duvernoy, of the Jardin des Plantes, the latter having further +supplied a valuable account of the muscular system and of many of +the other soft parts; while African missionaries and travellers have +confirmed and expanded the account originally given of the habits of +this great man-like Ape, which has had the singular fortune of being +the first to be made known to the general world and the last to be +scientifically investigated. + +Two centuries and a half have passed away since Battell told his stories +about the 'greater' and the 'lesser monsters' to Purchas, and it has +taken nearly that time to arrive at the clear result that there are +four distinct kinds of Anthropoids--in Eastern Asia, the Gibbons and the +Orangs; in Western Africa, the Chimpanzees and the Gorilla. + +The man-like Apes, the history of whose discovery has just been +detailed, have certain characters of structure and of distribution in +common. Thus they all have the same number of teeth as man--possessing +four incisors, two canines, four false molars, and six true molars in +each jaw, or 32 teeth in all, in the adult condition; while the milk +dentition consists of 20 teeth--or four incisors, two canines, and four +molars in each jaw. They are what are called catarrhine Apes--that +is, their nostrils have a narrow partition and look downwards; +and, furthermore, their arms are always longer than their legs, the +difference being sometimes greater and sometimes less; so that if +the four were arranged in the order of the length of their arms in +proportion to that of their legs, we should have this series--Orang (1 +4/9: 1), Gibbon (1 1/4: 1), Gorilla (1 1/5: 1), Chimpanzee (1 1/16: 1). +In all, the fore limbs are terminated by hands, provided with longer or +shorter thumbs; while the great toe of the foot, always smaller than in +Man, is far more movable than in him and can be opposed, like a thumb, +to the rest of the foot. None of these apes have tails, and none of them +possess the cheek pouches common among monkeys. Finally, they are all +inhabitants of the old world. + +The Gibbons are the smallest, slenderest, and longest-limbed of the +man-like apes: their arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than +those of any of the other man-like Apes, so that they can touch the +ground when erect; their hands are longer than their feet, and they are +the only Anthropoids which possess callosities like the lower monkeys. +They are variously coloured. The Orangs have arms which reach to the +ankles in the erect position of the animal; their thumbs and great toes +are very short, and their feet are longer than their hands. They are +covered with reddish brown hair, and the sides of the face, in adult +males, are commonly produced into two crescentic, flexible excrescences, +like fatty tumours. The Chimpanzees have arms which reach below the +knees; they have large thumbs and great toes, their hands are longer +than their feet; and their hair is black, while the skin of the face +is pale. The Gorilla, lastly, has arms which reach to the middle of the +leg, large thumbs and great toes, feet longer than the hands, a black +face, and dark-grey or dun hair. + +For the purpose which I have at present in view, it is unnecessary that +I should enter into any further minutiae respecting the distinctive +characters of the genera and species into which these man-like Apes +are divided by naturalists. Suffice it to say, that the Orangs and the +Gibbons constitute the distinct genera, 'Simia' and 'Hylobates'; while +the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some regarded simply as +distinct species of one genus, 'Troglodytes'; by others as distinct +genera--'Troglodytes' being reserved for the Chimpanzees, and 'Gorilla' +for the Enge-ena or Pongo. + +Sound knowledge respecting the habits and mode of life of the man-like +Apes has been even more difficult of attainment than correct information +regarding their structure. + +Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physically, mentally, and +morally qualified to wander unscathed through the tropical wilds of +America and of Asia; to form magnificent collections as he wanders; +and withal to think out sagaciously the conclusions suggested by his +collections: but, to the ordinary explorer or collector, the dense +forests of equatorial Asia and Africa, which constitute the favourite +habitation of the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla, present +difficulties of no ordinary magnitude: and the man who risks his life by +even a short visit to the malarious shores of those regions may well +be excused if he shrinks from facing the dangers of the interior; if he +contents himself with stimulating the industry of the better seasoned +natives, and collecting and collating the more or less mythical reports +and traditions with which they are too ready to supply him. + +In such a manner most of the earlier accounts of the habits of the +man-like Apes originated; and even now a good deal of what passes +current must be admitted to have no very safe foundation. The best +information we possess is that, based almost wholly on direct European +testimony respecting the Gibbons; the next best evidence relates to +the Orangs; while our knowledge of the habits of the Chimpanzee and the +Gorilla stands much in need of support and enlargement by additional +testimony from instructed European eye-witnesses. + +It will therefore be convenient in endeavouring to form a notion of what +we are justified in believing about these animals, to commence with the +best known man-like Apes, the Gibbons and Orangs; and to make use of the +perfectly reliable information respecting them as a sort of criterion of +the probable truth or falsehood of assertions respecting the others. + +Of the GIBBONS, half a dozen species are found scattered over the +Asiatic islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and through Malacca, Siam, +Arracan, and an uncertain extent of Hindostan, on the main land of Asia. +The largest attain a few inches above three feet in height, from the +crown to the heel, so that they are shorter than the other man-like +Apes; while the slenderness of their bodies renders their mass far +smaller in proportion even to this diminished height. + +Dr. Salomon Muller, an accomplished Dutch naturalist, who lived for many +years in the Eastern Archipelago, and to the results of whose personal +experience I shall frequently have occasion to refer, states that the +Gibbons are true mountaineers, loving the slopes and edges of the hills, +though they rarely ascend beyond the limit of the fig-trees. All day +long they haunt the tops of the tall trees; and though, towards evening, +they descend in small troops to the open ground, no sooner do they spy +a man than they dart up the hill-sides, and disappear in the darker +valleys. + +All observers testify to the prodigious volume of voice possessed by +these animals. According to the writer whom I have just cited, in one of +them, the Siamang, "the voice is grave and penetrating, resembling the +sounds goek, goek, goek, goek, goek ha ha ha ha haaaaa, and may easily +be heard at a distance of half a league." While the cry is being +uttered, the great membranous bag under the throat which communicates +with the organ of voice, the so-called "laryngeal sac," becomes greatly +distended, diminishing again when the creature relapses into silence. + +M. Duvaucel, likewise, affirms that the cry of the Siamang may be heard +for miles--making the woods ring again. So Mr. Martin* describes the cry +of the agile Gibbon as "overpowering and deafening" in a room, and "from +its strength, well calculated for resounding through the vast forests." +([Footnote] *'Man and Monkies', p. 423.) Mr. Waterhouse, an accomplished +musician as well as zoologist, says, "The Gibbon's voice is certainly +much more powerful than that of any singer I have ever heard." And yet +it is to be recollected that this animal is not half the height of, and +far less bulky in proportion than, a man. + +There is good testimony that various species of Gibbon readily take to +the erect posture. Mr. George Bennett,* a very excellent observer, in +describing the habits of a male 'Hylobates syndactylus' which remained +for some time in his possession, says: "He invariably walks in the erect +posture when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down, +enabling him to assist himself with his knuckles; or what is more usual, +he keeps his arms uplifted in nearly an erect position, with the hands +pendent ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger +or on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect +posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst +pursued, he has no opportunity of escaping by climbing...When he walks +in the erect posture he turns the leg and foot outwards, which occasions +him to have a waddling gait and to seem bow-legged." ([Footnote] +*'Wanderings in New South Wales', vol. ii. chap. viii., 1834.) + +Dr. Burrough states of another Gibbon, the Horlack or Hooluk: "They +walk erect; and when placed on the floor, or in an open field, balance +themselves very prettily, by raising their hands over their head and +slightly bending the arm at the wrist and elbow, and then run tolerably +fast, rocking from side to side; and, if urged to greater speed, they +let fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward, +rather jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly +erect." + +Somewhat different evidence, however, is given by Dr. Winslow Lewis:* +([Footnote] *'Boston Journal of Natural History', vol. i., 1834.) + +"Their only manner of walking was on their posterior or inferior +extremities, the others being raised upwards to preserve their +equilibrium, as rope-dancers are assisted by long poles at fairs. +Their progression was not by placing one foot before the other, but +by simultaneously using both, as in jumping." Dr. Salomon Muller also +states that the Gibbons progress along the ground by a short series of +tottering jumps, effected only by the hind limbs, the body being held +altogether upright. + +But Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 418), who also speaks from direct observation, +says of the Gibbons generally: + +"Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and displaying among the +branches amazing activity, the Gibbons are not so awkward or embarrassed +on a level surface as might be imagined. They walk erect, with a +waddling or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the equilibrium of the +body requiring to be kept up, either by touching the ground with the +knuckles, first on one side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms +so as to poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the narrow, long +sole of the foot is placed upon the ground at once and raised at once, +without any elasticity of step." + +(FIGURE 8.--Gibbon ('H. pileatus'), after Wolf.) + +After this mass of concurrent and independent testimony, it cannot +reasonably be doubted that the Gibbons commonly and habitually assume +the erect attitude. + +But level ground is not the place where these animals can display their +very remarkable and peculiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious +activity which almost tempts one to rank them among flying, rather than +among ordinary climbing mammals. + +Mr. Martin (l.c. p. 430) has given so excellent and graphic an account +of the movements of a 'Hylobates agilis', living in the Zoological +Gardens, in 1840, that I will quote it in full: + +"It is almost impossible to convey in words an idea of the quickness and +graceful address of her movements: they may indeed be termed aerial, as +she seems merely to touch in her progress the branches among which she +exhibits her evolutions. In these feats her hands and arms are the +sole organs of locomotion; her body hanging as if suspended by a rope, +sustained by one hand (the right for example) she launches herself, by +an energetic movement, to a distant branch, which she catches with the +left hand; but her hold is less than momentary: the impulse for the next +launch is acquired: the branch then aimed at is attained by the right +hand again, and quitted instantaneously, and so on, in alternate +succession. In this manner spaces of twelve and eighteen feet are +cleared, with the greatest ease and uninterruptedly, for hours together, +without the slightest appearance of fatigue being manifested; and it +is evident that, if more space could be allowed, distances very greatly +exceeding eighteen feet would be as easily cleared; so that Duvaucel's +assertion that he has seen these animals launch themselves from one +branch to another, forty feet asunder, startling as it is, may be well +credited. Sometimes, on seizing a branch in her progress, she will throw +herself, by the power of one arm only, completely round it, making a +revolution with such rapidity as almost to deceive the eye, and continue +her progress with undiminished velocity. It is singular to observe how +suddenly this Gibbon can stop, when the impetus given by the rapidity +and distance of her swinging leaps would seem to require a gradual +abatement of her movements. In the very midst of her flight a branch is +seized, the body raised, and she is seen, as if by magic, quietly seated +on it, grasping it with her feet. As suddenly she again throws herself +into action. + +"The following facts will convey some notion of her dexterity and +quickness. A live bird was let loose in her apartment; she marked its +flight, made a long swing to a distant branch, caught the bird with one +hand in her passage, and attained the branch with her other hand; her +aim, both at the bird and at the branch, being as successful as if +one object only had engaged her attention. It may be added that she +instantly bit off the head of the bird, picked its feathers, and then +threw it down without attempting to eat it. + +"On another occasion this animal swung herself from a perch, across a +passage at least twelve feet wide, against a window which it was thought +would be immediately broken: but not so; to the surprise of all, she +caught the narrow framework between the panes with her hand, in an +instant attained the proper impetus, and sprang back again to the cage +she had left--a feat requiring not only great strength, but the nicest +precision." + +The Gibbons appear to be naturally very gentle, but there is very +good evidence that they will bite severely when irritated--a female +'Hylobates agilis' having so severely lacerated one man with her long +canines, that he died; while she had injured others so much that, by +way of precaution, these formidable teeth had been filed down; but, if +threatened, she would still turn on her keeper. The Gibbons eat insects, +but appear generally to avoid animal food. A Siamang, however, was seen +by Mr. Bennett to seize and devour greedily a live lizard. They commonly +drink by dipping their fingers in the liquid and then licking them. It +is asserted that they sleep in a sitting posture. + +Duvaucel affirms that he has seen the females carry their young to the +waterside and there wash their faces, in spite of resistance and cries. +They are gentle and affectionate in captivity--full of tricks and +pettishness, like spoiled children, and yet not devoid of a certain +conscience, as an anecdote, told by Mr. Bennett (l. c. p. 156), will +show. It would appear that his Gibbon had a peculiar inclination for +disarranging things in the cabin. Among these articles, a piece of soap +would especially attract his notice, and for the removal of this he +had been once or twice scolded. "One morning," says Mr. Bennett, "I +was writing, the ape being present in the cabin, when casting my eyes +towards him, I saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched him +without his perceiving that I did so: and he occasionally would cast a +furtive glance towards the place where I sat. I pretended to write; he, +seeing me busily occupied, took the soap, and moved away with it in his +paw. When he had walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke quietly, +without frightening him. The instant he found I saw him, he walked back +again, and deposited the soap nearly in the same place from whence he +had taken it. There was certainly something more than instinct in that +action: he evidently betrayed a consciousness of having done wrong both +by his first and last actions--and what is reason if that is not an +exercise of it?" + +The most elaborate account of the natural history of the ORANG-UTAN +extant, is that given in the "Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke +Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen (1839-45)," by +Dr. Salomon Muller and Dr. Schlegel, and I shall base what I have to +say, upon this subject almost entirely on their statements, adding, here +and there, particulars of interest from the writings of Brooke, Wallace, +and others. + +The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but +the body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in +circumference.* ([Footnote] *The largest Orang-Utan, cited by Temminck, +measured, when standing upright, 4 ft.; but he mentions having just +received news of the capture of an Orang 5 ft. 3 in. high. Schlegel +and Muller say that their largest old male measured, upright, 1.25 +Netherlands "el"; and from the crown to the end of the toes, 1.5 el; the +circumference of the body being about 1 el. The largest old female +was 1.09 el high, when standing. The adult skeleton in the College of +Surgeons' Museum, if set upright, would stand 3 ft. 6-8 in. from crown +to sole. Dr. Humphry gives 3 ft. 8 in. as the mean height of two Orangs. +Of seventeen Orangs examined by Mr. Wallace, the largest was 4 ft. 2 +in. high, from the heel to the crown of the head. Mr. Spencer St. John, +however, in his 'Life in the Forests of the Far East', tells us of an +Orang of "5 ft. 2 in., measuring fairly from the head to the heel," 15 +in. across the face, and 12 in. round the wrist. It does not appear, +however, that Mr. St. John measured this Orang himself.) + +The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in +neither of these islands--in both of which it occurs always in low, flat +plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of +the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found +only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur, +though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side. + +On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in +the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places, +the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day. + +(FIGURE 9.--An adult male Orang-utan, after Muller and Schlegel.) + +Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves. +The old females, and the immature males, on the other hand, are often +met with in twos and threes; and the former occasionally have young +with them, though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and +sometimes remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring. +The young Orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother's +protection, probably in consequence of their slow growth. While +climbing, the mother always carries her young against her bosom, the +young holding on by his mother's hair.* ([Footnote] *See Mr. Wallace's +account of an infant "Orang-utan," in the 'Annals of Natural History' +for 1856. Mr. Wallace provided his interesting charge with an artificial +mother of buffalo-skin, but the cheat was too successful. The infant's +entire experience led it to associate teats with hair, and feeling +the latter, it spent its existence in vain endeavours to discover +the former.) At what time of life the Orang-Utan becomes capable of +propagation, and how long the females go with young, is unknown, but it +is probable that they are not adult until they arrive at ten or fifteen +years of age. A female which lived for five years at Batavia, had not +attained one-third the height of the wild females. It is probable that, +after reaching adult years, they go on growing, though slowly, and that +they live to forty or fifty years. The Dyaks tell of old Orangs, which +have not only lost all their teeth, but which find it so troublesome to +climb, that they maintain themselves on windfalls and juicy herbage. + +The Orang is sluggish, exhibiting none of that marvellous activity +characteristic of the Gibbons. Hunger alone seems to stir him to +exertion, and when it is stilled, he relapses into repose. When the +animal sits, it curves its back and bows its head, so as to look +straight down on the ground; sometimes it holds on with its hands by +a higher branch, sometimes lets them hang phlegmatically down by its +side--and in these positions the Orang will remain, for hours together, +in the same spot, almost without stirring, and only now and then giving +utterance to its deep, growling voice. By day, he usually climbs from +one tree-top to another, and only at night descends to the ground, and +if then threatened with danger, he seeks refuge among the underwood. +When not hunted, he remains a long time in the same locality, and +sometimes stops for many days on the same tree--a firm place among its +branches serving him for a bed. It is rare for the Orang to pass the +night in the summit of a large tree, probably because it is too windy +and cold there for him; but, as soon as night draws on, he descends from +the height and seeks out a fit bed in the lower and darker part, or +in the leafy top of a small tree, among which he prefers Nibong Palms, +Pandani, or one of those parasitic Orchids which give the primeval +forests of Borneo so characteristic and striking an appearance. But +wherever he determines to sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of +nest: little boughs and leaves are drawn together round the selected +spot, and bent crosswise over one another; while to make the bed soft, +great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of 'Pandanus fascicularis', 'Nipa +fruticans', etc., are laid over them. Those which Muller saw, many of +them being very fresh, were situated at a height of ten to twenty-five +feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on the average, of +two or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with 'Pandanus' +leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which, united +in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude 'hut'," says +Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the trees, would be +more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or cover of any +sort. The facility with which they form this nest is curious, and I had +an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the branches together +and seat herself, within a minute." + +According to the Dyaks, the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun +is well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about +nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in +the twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change, turns +on one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and resting +his head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy, he +usually covers his body with a heap of 'Pandanus', 'Nipa', or Fern +leaves, like those of which his bed is made, and he is especially +careful to wrap up his head in them. It is this habit of covering +himself up which has probably led to the fable that the Orang builds +huts in the trees. + +Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during +the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch, +as other apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the +contrary, confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he +is seen right at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely +related to the constitution of his hinder limbs, and especially to +that of his seat. For this is provided with no callosities, such as are +possessed by many of the lower apes, and even by the Gibbons; and those +bones of the pelvis, which are termed the ischia, and which form the +solid framework of the surface on which the body rests in the sitting +posture, are not expanded like those of the apes which possess +callosities, but are more like those of man. + +An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously,* as, in this act, to resemble +a man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury of +them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. ([Footnote] +* "They are the slowest and least active of all the monkey tribe, and +their motions are surprisingly awkward and uncouth."--Sir James Brooke, +in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society', 1841.) Unlike the +Gibbons, whose forearms do the greater part of the work, as they swing +from branch to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest jump. In +climbing, he moves alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having +laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both feet together. In +passing from one tree to another, he always seeks out a place where +the twigs of both come close together, or interlace. Even when closely +pursued, his circumspection is amazing: he shakes the branches to see +if they will bear him, and then bending an overhanging bough down by +throwing his weight gradually along it, he makes a bridge from the tree +he wishes to quit to the next.* ([Footnote] *Mr. Wallace's account of +the progression of the Orang almost exactly corresponds with this.) + +On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all +fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon be +overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little bent, +raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much the +posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way along by +the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed straight +forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less obliquely; +except the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other respects, depart +remarkably from their fellows. + +The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon +their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the curved +toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their first joint, +the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on this surface. +The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner edges serving as +the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in such a manner that +their foremost joints, especially those of the two innermost fingers, +rest upon the ground by their upper sides, while the point of the free +and straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum. + +The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures, +representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it +defends itself with sticks, and the like. + +The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the +gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his +weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute +the chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three +feet long were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to eat +living animals. + +Although, when taken young, the Orang-Utan soon becomes domesticated, +and indeed seems to court human society, it is naturally a very wild and +shy animal, though apparently sluggish and melancholy. The Dyaks +affirm, that when the old males are wounded with arrows only, they will +occasionally leave the trees and rush raging upon their enemies, whose +sole safety lies in instant flight, as they are sure to be killed if +caught.* ([Footnote] *Sir James Brooke, in a letter to Mr. Waterhouse, +published in the proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1841, +says:--"On the habits of the Orangs, as far as I have been able to +observe them, I may remark that they are as dull and slothful as can +well be conceived, and on no occasion, when pursuing them, did they +move so fast as to preclude my keeping pace with them easily through +a moderately clear forest; and even when obstructions below (such as +wading up to the neck) allowed them to get away some distance, they were +sure to stop and allow me to come up. I never observed the slightest +attempt at defence, and the wood which sometimes rattled about our ears +was broken by their weight, and not thrown, as some persons represent. +If pushed to extremity, however, the 'Pappan' could not be otherwise +than formidable, and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying +to catch a large one alive, lost two of his fingers, besides being +severely bitten on the face, whilst the animal finally beat off his +pursuers and escaped." Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, affirms that he +has several times observed them throwing down branches when pursued. +"It is true he does not throw them 'at' a person, but casts them down +vertically; for it is evident that a bough cannot be thrown to any +distance from the top of a lofty tree. In one case a female Mias, on +a durian tree, kept up for at least ten minutes a continuous shower of +branches and of the heavy, spined fruits, as large as 32-pounders, which +most effectually kept us clear of the tree she was on. She could be seen +breaking them off and throwing them down with every appearance of +rage, uttering at intervals a loud pumping grunt, and evidently meaning +mischief."--"On the Habits of the Orang-Utan," 'Annals of Nat. History, +1856. This statement, it will be observed, is quite in accordance with +that contained in the letter of the Resident Palm quoted above (p. +210).) + +But, though possessed of immense strength, it is rare for the Orang to +attempt to defend itself, especially when attacked with fire-arms. On +such occasions he endeavours to hide himself, or to escape along the +topmost branches of the trees, breaking off and throwing down the boughs +as he goes. When wounded he betakes himself to the highest attainable +point of the tree, and emits a singular cry, consisting at first of +high notes, which at length deepen into a low roar, not unlike that of a +panther. While giving out the high notes the Orang thrusts out his lips +into a funnel shape; but in uttering the low notes he holds his mouth +wide open, and at the same time the great throat bag, or laryngeal sac, +becomes distended. + +According to the Dyaks, the only animal the Orang measures his strength +with is the crocodile, who occasionally seizes him on his visits to the +water side. But they say that the Orang is more than a match for his +enemy, and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by pulling the jaws +asunder! + +Much of what has been here stated was probably derived by Dr. Muller +from the reports of his Dyak hunters; but a large male, four feet high, +lived in captivity, under his observation, for a month, and receives a +very bad character. + +"He was a very wild beast," says Muller, "of prodigious strength, and +false and wicked to the last degree. If any one approached he rose up +slowly with a low growl, fixed his eyes in the direction in which he +meant to make his attack, slowly passed his hand between the bars of his +cage, and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip--usually at +the face." He never tried to bite (though Orangs will bite one another), +his great weapons of offence and defence being his hands. + +His intelligence was very great; and Muller remarks, that though the +faculties of the Orang have been estimated too highly, yet Cuvier, had +he seen this specimen, would not have considered its intelligence to be +only a little higher than that of the dog. + +His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision seemed to be less +perfect. The under lip was the great organ of touch, and played a very +important part in drinking, being thrust out like a trough, so as +either to catch the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half +cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was supplied, and +which, in drinking, he poured into the trough thus formed. + +In Borneo the Orang-Utan of the Malays goes by the name of "Mias" among +the Dyaks, who distinguish several kinds as 'Mias Pappan', or 'Zimo', +'Mias Kassu', and 'Mias Rambi'. Whether these are distinct species, +however, or whether they are mere races, and how far any of them are +identical with the Sumatran Orang, as Mr. Wallace thinks the Mias Pappan +to be, are problems which are at present undecided; and the variability +of these great apes is so extensive, that the settlement of the question +is a matter of great difficulty. Of the form called "Mias Pappan," Mr. +Wallace* observes, ([Footnote] *On the Orang-Utan, or Mias of Borneo, +'Annals of Natural History', 1856.) "It is known by its large size, +and by the lateral expansion of the face into fatty protuberances, +or ridges, over the temporal muscles, which has been mis-termed +'callosities', as they are perfectly soft, smooth, and flexible. Five +of this form, measured by me, varied only from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet +2 inches in height, from the heel to the crown of the head, the girth +of the body from 3 feet to 3 feet 7 1/2 inches, and the extent of the +outstretched arms from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 6 inches; the width +of the face from 10 to 13 1/4 inches. The colour and length of the hair +varied in different individuals, and in different parts of the same +individual; some possessed a rudimentary nail on the great toe, others +none at all; but they otherwise present no external differences on which +to establish even varieties of a species. + +"Yet, when we examine the crania of these individuals, we find +remarkable differences of form, proportion, and dimension, no two being +exactly alike. The slope of the profile, and the projection of the +muzzle, together with the size of the cranium, offer differences as +decided as those existing between the most strongly marked forms of the +Caucasian and African crania in the human species. The orbits vary in +width and height, the cranial ridge is either single or double, either +much or little developed, and the zygomatic aperture varies considerably +in size. This variation in the proportions of the crania enables +us satisfactorily to explain the marked difference presented by the +single-crested and double-crested skulls, which have been thought to +prove the existence of two large species of Orang. The external surface +of the skull varies considerably in size, as do also the zygomatic +aperture and the temporal muscle; but they bear no necessary relation to +each other, a small muscle often existing with a large cranial surface, +and 'vice versa'. Now, those skulls which have the largest and strongest +jaws and the widest zygomatic aperture, have the muscles so large that +they meet on the crown of the skull, and deposit the bony ridge which +supports them, and which is the highest in that which has the +smallest cranial surface. In those which combine a large surface with +comparatively weak jaws, and small zygomatic aperture, the muscles, on +each side, do not extend to the crown, a space of from l to 2 inches +remaining between them, and along their margins small ridges are formed. +Intermediate forms are found, in which the ridges meet only in the +hinder part of the skull. The form and size of the ridges are therefore +independent of age, being sometimes more strongly developed in the less +aged animal. Professor Temminck states that the series of skulls in the +Leyden Museum shows the same result." + +Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks), +however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to +be specifically distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 8 1/2 inches +and 3 feet 9 1/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek +excrescences, but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has +no crest, but two bony ridges, 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches apart, as in +the 'Simia morio' of Professor Owen. The teeth, however; are immense, +equalling or surpassing those of the other species. The females of both +these kinds, according to Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and +resemble the smaller males, but are shorter by 1 1/2 to 3 inches, and +their canine teeth are comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated +at the base, as in the so-called 'Simia morio', which is, in all +probability, the skull of a female of the same species as the +smaller males. Both males and females of this smaller species are +distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the comparatively large +size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw. + +So far as I am aware, no one has attempted to dispute the accuracy of +the statements which I have just quoted regarding the habits of the two +Asiatic man-like Apes; and if true, they must be admitted as evidence, +that such an Ape-- + +Firstly, May readily move along the ground in the erect, or semi-erect, +position, and without direct support from its arms. + +Secondly, That it may possess an extremely loud voice, so loud as to be +readily heard one or two miles. + +Thirdly, That it may be capable of great viciousness and violence when +irritated: and this is especially true of adult males. + +Fourthly, That it may build a nest to sleep in. + +Such being well established facts respecting the Asiatic Anthropoids, +analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer +similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would +destroy the force of any attempted a priori argument against such direct +testimony as might be adduced in favour of their existence. And, if the +organization of any of the African Apes could be demonstrated to fit it +better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and +for efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting +its occasional adoption of the upright attitude or of aggressive +proceedings. + +From the time of Tyson and Tulpius downwards, the habits of the young +CHIMPANZEE in a state of captivity have been abundantly reported and +commented upon. But trustworthy evidence as to the manners and customs +of adult anthropoids of this species, in their native woods, was almost +wanting up to the time of the publication of the paper by Dr. Savage, +to which I have already referred; containing notes of the observations +which he made, and of the information which he collected from sources +which he considered trustworthy, while resident at Cape Palmas, at the +north-western limit of the Bight of Benin. + +The adult Chimpanzees, measured by Dr. Savage, never exceeded, though +the males may almost attain, five feet in height. + +"When at rest, the sitting posture is that generally assumed. They +are sometimes seen standing and walking, but when thus detected, +they immediately take to all fours, and flee from the presence of the +observer. Such is their organization that they cannot stand erect, but +lean forward. Hence they are seen, when standing, with the hands clasped +over the occiput, or the lumbar region, which would seem necessary to +balance or ease of posture. + +"The toes of the adult are strongly flexed and turned inwards, and +cannot be perfectly straightened. In the attempt the skin gathers into +thick folds on the back, shewing that the full expansion of the foot, +as is necessary in walking, is unnatural. The natural position is on all +fours, the body anteriorly resting upon the knuckles. These are greatly +enlarged, with the skin protuberant and thickened like the sole of the +foot. + +"They are expert climbers, as one would suppose from their organization. +In their gambols they swing from limb to limb to a great distance, and +leap with astonishing agility. It is not unusual to see the 'old +folks' (in the language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling +themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while their 'children' are +leaping around them, and swinging from tree to tree with boisterous +merriment. + +"As seen here, they cannot be called 'gregarious', seldom more than +five, or ten at most, being found together. It has been said, on good +authority, that they occasionally assemble in large numbers, in gambols. +My informant asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged; +hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old logs, which is +done in the latter case with equal facility by the four extremities. +They do not appear ever to act on the offensive, and seldom, if ever +really, on the defensive. When about to be captured, they resist by +throwing their arms about their opponent, and attempting to draw him +into contact with their teeth." (Savage, l. c. p. 384.) + +With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit in another +place: + +"BITING is their principal art of defence. I have seen one man who had +been thus severely wounded in the feet. + +"The strong development of the canine teeth in the adult would seem +to indicate a carnivorous propensity; but in no state save that of +domestication do they manifest it. At first they reject flesh, but +easily acquire a fondness for it. The canines are early developed, and +evidently designed to act the important part of weapons of defence. When +in contact with man almost the first effort of the animal is--TO BITE. + +"They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habitations in trees. +Their construction is more that of NESTS than HUTS, as they have been +erroneously termed by some naturalists. They generally build not far +above the ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and +crossed, and the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch. +Sometimes a nest will be found near the END of a STRONG LEAFY BRANCH +twenty or thirty feet from the ground. One I have lately seen that could +not be less than forty feet, and more probably it was fifty. But this is +an unusual height. + +"Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in pursuit of food +and solitude, according to the force of circumstances. We more often +see them in elevated places; but this arises from the fact that the +low grounds, being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the +oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in suitable trees +for their nests...It is seldom that more than one or two nests are seen +upon the same tree, or in the same neighbourhood: five have been found, +but it was an unusual circumstance."... + +"They are very filthy in their habits...It is a tradition with the +natives generally here, that they were once members of their own +tribe; that for their depraved habits they were expelled from all +human society, and, that through an obstinate indulgence of their +vile propensities, they have degenerated into their present state and +organization. They are, however, eaten by them, and when cooked with the +oil and pulp of the palm-nut considered a highly palatable morsel. + +"They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in their habits, and, +on the part of the mother, much affection for their young. The second +female described was upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate +and two young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was to +descend with great rapidity, and make off into the thicket, with her +mate and female offspring. The young male remaining behind, she soon +returned to the rescue. She ascended and took him in her arms, at which +moment she was shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the young +one, on its way to the heart of the mother.... + +"In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, remained upon the tree +with her offspring, watching intently the movements of the hunter. As he +took aim, she motioned with her hand, precisely in the manner of a human +being, to have him desist and go away. When the wound has not proved +instantly fatal, they have been known to stop the flow of blood by +pressing with the hand upon the part, and when this did not succeed, +to apply leaves and grass...When shot, they give a sudden screech, not +unlike that of a human being in sudden and acute distress." + +The ordinary voice of the Chimpanzee, however, is affirmed to be hoarse, +guttural, and not very loud, somewhat like "whoo-whoo." (l. c. p. 365). + +The analogy of the Chimpanzee to the Orang, in its nest-building habit +and in the mode of forming its nest, is exceedingly interesting; while, +on the other hand, the activity of this ape, and its tendency to bite, +are particulars in which it rather resembles the Gibbons. In extent of +geographical range, again, the Chimpanzees--which are found from Sierra +Leone to Congo--remind one of the Gibbons, rather than of either of the +other man-like apes; and it seems not unlikely that, as is the case with +the Gibbons, there may be several species spread over the geographical +area of the genus. + +The same excellent observer, from whom I have borrowed the preceding +account of the habits of the adult Chimpanzee, published fifteen years +ago,* an account of the GORILLA, which has, in its most essential +points, been confirmed by subsequent observers, and to which so very +little has really been added, that in justice to Dr. Savage I give +it almost in full. ([Footnote] *Notice of the external characters and +habits of Troglodytes Gorilla. 'Boston Journal of Natural History', +1847.) + +"It should be borne in mind that my account is based upon the statements +of the aborigines of that region (the Gaboon). In this connection, +it may also be proper for me to remark, that having been a missionary +resident for several years, studying, from habitual intercourse, the +African mind and character, I felt myself prepared to discriminate and +decide upon the probability of their statements. Besides, being familiar +with the history and habits of its interesting congener ('Trog. niger', +Geoff.), I was able to separate their accounts of the two animals, +which, having the same locality and a similarity of habit, are +confounded in the minds of the mass, especially as but few--such as +traders to the interior and huntsmen--have ever seen the animal in +question. + +(FIGURE 10.--The Gorilla (after Wolff).) + +"The tribe from which our knowledge of the animal is derived, and whose +territory forms its habitat, is the 'Mpongwe', occupying both banks of +the River Gaboon, from its mouth to some fifty or sixty miles upward.... + +"If the word 'Pongo' be of African origin, it is probably a corruption +of the word 'Mpongwe', the name of the tribe on the banks of the Gaboon, +and hence applied to the region they inhabit. Their local name for the +Chimpanzee is 'Enche-eko', as near as it can be Anglicized, from which +the common term 'Jocko' probably comes. The Mpongwe appellation for its +new congener is 'Enge-ena', prolonging the sound of the first vowel, and +slightly sounding the second. + +"The habitat of the 'Enge-ena' is the interior of lower Guinea, whilst +that of the 'Enche-eko' is nearer the sea-board. + +"Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately broad across +the shoulders, thickly covered with coarse black hair, which is said to +be similar in its arrangement to that of the 'Enche-eko'; with age it +becomes grey, which fact has given rise to the report that both animals +are seen of different colours. + +"HEAD.--The prominent features of the head are, the great width and +elongation of the face, the depth of the molar region, the branches +of the lower jaw being very deep and extending far backward, and the +comparative smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very large, +and said to be like those of the Enche-eko, a bright hazel; nose broad +and flat, slightly elevated towards the root; the muzzle broad, and +prominent lips and chin, with scattered gray hairs; the under lip highly +mobile, and capable of great elongation when the animal is enraged, then +hanging over the chin; skin of the face and ears naked, and of a dark +brown, approaching to black. + +"The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge, or crest of +hair, in the course of the sagittal suture, which meets posteriorily +with a transverse ridge of the same, but less prominent, running round +from the back of one ear to the other. The animal has the power of +moving the scalp freely forward and back, and when enraged is said to +contract it strongly over the brow, thus bringing down the hairy +ridge and pointing the hair forward, so as to present an indescribably +ferocious aspect. + +"Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very broad, said to +be fully double the size of the Enche-ekos; arms very long, reaching +some way below the knee--the fore-arm much the shortest; hands very +large, the thumbs much larger than the fingers... + +(FIGURE 11.--Gorilla walking (after Wolff).) + +"The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright +as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side. +The arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in +walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms +forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a +half jumping half swinging motion between them. In this act it is +said not to flex the fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its +knuckles, but to extend them, making a fulcrum of the hand. When it +assumes the walking posture, to which it is said to be much inclined, it +balances its huge body by flexing its arms upward. + +"They live in bands, but are not so numerous as the Chimpanzees: the +females generally exceed the other sex in number. My informants all +agree in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in a band; that +when the young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the +strongest, by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as +the head of the community." + +Dr. Savage repudiates the stories about the Gorillas carrying off women +and vanquishing elephants and then adds: + +"Their dwellings, if they may be so called, are similar to those of +the Chimpanzee, consisting simply of a few sticks and leafy branches, +supported by the crotches and limbs of trees: they afford no shelter, +and are occupied only at night. + +"They are exceedingly ferocious, and always offensive in their habits, +never running from man, as does the Chimpanzee. They are objects of +terror to the natives, and are never encountered by them except on +the defensive. The few that have been captured were killed by elephant +hunters and native traders, as they came suddenly upon them while +passing through the forests. + +"It is said that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell, +that resounds far and wide through the forest, something like kh-ah! +kh-ah! prolonged and shrill. His enormous jaws are widely opened at each +expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the hairy ridge +and scalp are contracted upon the brow, presenting an aspect of +indescribable ferocity. + +"The females and young, at the first cry, quickly disappear. He then +approaches the enemy in great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in +quick succession. The hunter awaits his approach with his gun extended: +if his aim is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the barrel, and +as he carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he fires. Should the +gun fail to go off, the barrel (that of the ordinary musket, which is +thin) is crushed between his teeth, and the encounter soon proves fatal +to the hunter. + +"In the wild state, their habits are in general like those of the +'Troglodytes niger', building their nests loosely in trees, living +on similar fruits, and changing their place of resort from force of +circumstances." + +Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supplemented by those of +Mr. Ford, who communicated an interesting paper on the Gorilla to +the Philadelphian Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the +geographical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like Apes, Mr. +Ford remarks: + +"This animal inhabits the range of mountains that traverse the interior +of Guinea, from the Cameroon in the north, to Angola in the south, and +about 100 miles inland, and called by the geographers Crystal Mountains. +The limit to which this animal extends, either north or south, I am +unable to define. But that limit is doubtless some distance north of +this river (Gaboon). I was able to certify myself of this fact in a late +excursion to the head-waters of the Mooney (Danger) River, which comes +into the sea some sixty miles from this place. I was informed (credibly, +I think) that they were numerous among the mountains in which that river +rises, and far north of that. + +"In the south, this species extends to the Congo River, as I am told by +native traders who have visited the coast between the Gaboon and that +river. Beyond that, I am not informed. This animal is only found at +a distance from the coast in most cases, and, according to my best +information, approaches it nowhere so nearly as on the south side of +this river, where they have been found within ten miles of the sea. +This, however, is only of late occurrence. I am informed by some of the +oldest Mpongwe men that formerly he was only found on the sources of the +river, but that at present he may be found within half-a-day's walk of +its mouth. Formerly he inhabited the mountainous ridge where Bushmen +alone inhabited, but now he boldly approaches the Mpongwe plantations. +This is doubtless the reason of the scarcity of information in years +past, as the opportunities for receiving a knowledge of the animal have +not been wanting; traders having for one hundred years frequented this +river, and specimens, such as have been brought here within a year, +could not have been exhibited without having attracted the attention of +the most stupid." + +One specimen Mr. Ford examined weighed 170 1bs., without the thoracic, +or pelvic, viscera, and measured four feet four inches round the chest. +This writer describes so minutely and graphically the onslaught of the +Gorilla--though he does not for a moment pretend to have witnessed the +scene--that I am tempted to give this part of his paper in full, for +comparison with other narratives: + +"He always rises to his feet when making an attack, though he approaches +his antagonist in a stooping posture. + +"Though he never lies in wait, yet, when he hears, sees, or scents +a man, he immediately utters his characteristic cry, prepares for an +attack, and always acts on the offensive. The cry he utters resembles +a grunt more than a growl, and is similar to the cry of the Chimpanzee, +when irritated, but vastly louder. It is said to be audible at a great +distance. His preparation consists in attending the females and young +ones, by whom he is usually accompanied, to a little distance. He, +however, soon returns, with his crest erect and projecting forward, +his nostrils dilated, and his under-lip thrown down; at the same time +uttering his characteristic yell, designed, it would seem, to terrify +his antagonist. Instantly, unless he is disabled by a well directed +shot, he makes an onset, and, striking his antagonist with the palm of +his hands, or seizing him with a grasp from which there is no escape, he +dashes him upon the ground, and lacerates him with his tusks. + +"He is said to seize a musket, and instantly crush the barrel between +his teeth...This animal's savage nature is very well shown by the +implacable desperation of a young one that was brought here. It was +taken very young, and kept four months, and many means were used to tame +it; but it was incorrigible, so that it bit me an hour before it died." + +Mr. Ford discredits the house-building and elephant-driving stories, and +says that no well-informed natives believe them. They are tales told to +children. + +I might quote other testimony to a similar effect, but, as it appears to +me, less carefully weighed and sifted, from the letters of MM. Franquet +and Gautier Laboullay, appended to the memoir of M. I. G. St. Hilaire, +which I have already cited. + +Bearing in mind what is known regarding the Orang and the Gibbon, the +statements of Dr. Savage and Mr. Ford do not appear to me to be justly +open to criticism on 'a priori' grounds. The Gibbons, as we have seen, +readily assume the erect posture, but the Gorilla is far better fitted +by its organization for that attitude than are the Gibbons: if the +laryngeal pouches of the Gibbons, as is very likely, are important +in giving volume to a voice which can be heard for half a league, the +Gorilla, which has similar sacs, more largely developed, and whose +bulk is fivefold that of a Gibbon, may well be audible for twice +that distance. If the Orang fights with its hands, the Gibbons and +Chimpanzees with their teeth, the Gorilla may, probably enough, +do either or both; nor is there anything to be said against either +Chimpanzee or Gorilla building a nest, when it is proved that the +Orang-Utan habitually performs that feat. + +With all this evidence, now ten to fifteen years old, before the world +it is not a little surprising that the assertions of a recent traveller, +who, so far as the Gorilla is concerned, really does very little more +than repeat, on his own authority, the statements of Savage and of Ford, +should have met with so much and such bitter opposition. If subtraction +be made of what was known before, the sum and substance of what M. Du +Chaillu has affirmed as a matter of his own observation respecting the +Gorilla, is, that, in advancing to the attack, the great brute beats his +chest with his fists. I confess I see nothing very improbable, or very +much worth disputing about, in this statement. + +With respect to the other man-like Apes of Africa, M. Du Chaillu tells +us absolutely nothing, of his own knowledge, regarding the common +Chimpanzee; but he informs us of a bald-headed species or variety, the +'nschiego mbouve', which builds itself a shelter, and of another rare +kind with a comparatively small face, large facial angle, and peculiar +note, resembling "Kooloo." + +As the Orang shelters itself with a rough coverlet of leaves, and the +common Chimpanzee, according to that eminently trustworthy observer +Dr. Savage, makes a sound like "Whoo-whoo,"--the grounds of the summary +repudiation with which M. Du Chaillu's statements on these matters have +been met are not obvious. + +If I have abstained from quoting M. Du Chaillu's work, then, it is +not because I discern any inherent improbability in his assertions +respecting the man-like Apes; nor from any wish to throw suspicion +on his veracity; but because, in my opinion, so long as his narrative +remains in its present state of unexplained and apparently inexplicable +confusion, it has no claim to original authority respecting any subject +whatsoever. + +It may be truth, but it is not evidence. + +End of Man-like apes. + + + + +ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + +Multis videri poterit, majorem esso differentiam Simiae et Hominis, +quam diei et noctis; verum tamen hi, comparatione instituta inter +summos Europae Heroes et Hottentottos ad Caput bonae spei degentes, +difficillime sibi persuadebunt, has eosdem habere natales; vel si +virginem nobilem aulicam, maxime comtam et humanissimam, conferre +vellent cum homine sylvestri et sibi relicto, vix augurari possent, +hunc et illam ejusdem esse speciei.--'Linnaei Amoenitates Acad. +"Anthropomorpha."' + +The question of questions for mankind--the problem which underlies +all others, and is more deeply interesting than any other--is the +ascertainment of the place which Man occupies in nature and of his +relations to the universe of things. Whence our race has come; what are +the limits of our power over nature, and of nature's power over us; to +what goal we are tending; are the problems which present themselves anew +and with undiminished interest to every man born into the world. Most of +us, shrinking from the difficulties and dangers which beset the seeker +after original answers to these riddles, are contented to ignore them +altogether, or to smother the investigating spirit under the featherbed +of respected and respectable tradition. But, in every age, one or two +restless spirits, blessed with that constructive genius, which can +only build on a secure foundation, or cursed with the spirit of mere +scepticism, are unable to follow in the well-worn and comfortable track +of their forefathers and contemporaries, and unmindful of thorns and +stumbling-blocks, strike out into paths of their own. The sceptics end +in the infidelity which asserts the problem to be insoluble, or in +the atheism which denies the existence of any orderly progress and +governance of things: the men of genius propound solutions which grow +into systems of Theology or of Philosophy, or veiled in musical language +which suggests more than it asserts, take the shape of the Poetry of an +epoch. + +Each such answer to the great question, invariably asserted by the +followers of its propounder, if not by himself, to be complete and +final, remains in high authority and esteem, it may be for one century, +or it may be for twenty: but, as invariably, Time proves each reply +to have been a mere approximation to the truth--tolerable chiefly on +account of the ignorance of those by whom it was accepted, and wholly +intolerable when tested by the larger knowledge of their successors. + +In a well-worn metaphor, a parallel is drawn between the life of man +and the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly; but the +comparison may be more just as well as more novel, if for its former +term we take the mental progress of the race. History shows that the +human mind, fed by constant accessions of knowledge, periodically grows +too large for its theoretical coverings, and bursts them asunder +to appear in new habiliments, as the feeding and growing grub, at +intervals, casts its too narrow skin and assumes another, itself but +temporary. Truly the imago state of Man seems to be terribly distant, +but every moult is a step gained, and of such there have been many. + +Since the revival of learning, whereby the Western races of Europe were +enabled to enter upon that progress towards true knowledge, which was +commenced by the philosophers of Greece, but was almost arrested in +subsequent long ages of intellectual stagnation, or, at most, gyration, +the human larva has been feeding vigorously, and moulting in proportion. +A skin of some dimension was cast in the 16th century, and another +towards the end of the 18th, while, within the last fifty years, the +extraordinary growth of every department of physical science has spread +among us mental food of so nutritious and stimulating a character that +a new ecdysis seems imminent. But this is a process not unusually +accompanied by many throes and some sickness and debility, or, it may +be, by graver disturbances; so that every good citizen must feel bound +to facilitate the process, and even if he have nothing but a scalpel to +work withal, to ease the cracking integument to the best of his ability. + +In this duty lies my excuse for the publication of these essays. For it +will be admitted that some knowledge of man's position in the animate +world is an indispensable preliminary to the proper understanding of his +relations to the universe--and this again resolves itself, in the long +run, into an inquiry into the nature and the closeness of the ties +which connect him with those singular creatures whose history* has been +sketched in the preceding pages. ([Footnote] * It will be understood +that, in the preceding Essay, I have selected for notice from the vast +mass of papers which have been written upon the man-like Apes, only +those which seem to me to be of special moment.) + +The importance of such an inquiry is indeed intuitively manifest Brought +face to face with these blurred copies of himself, the least thoughtful +of men is conscious of a certain shock, due perhaps, not so much to +disgust at the aspect of what looks like an insulting caricature, as +to the awakening of a sudden and profound mistrust of time-honoured +theories and strongly-rooted prejudices regarding his own position in +nature, and his relations to the under-world of life; while that which +remains a dim suspicion for the unthinking, becomes a vast argument, +fraught with the deepest consequences, for all who are acquainted with +the recent progress of the anatomical and physiological sciences. + +I now propose briefly to unfold that argument, and to set forth, in +a form intelligible to those who possess no special acquaintance +with anatomical science, the chief facts upon which all conclusions +respecting the nature and the extent of the bonds which connect man with +the brute world must be based: I shall then indicate the one immediate +conclusion which, in my judgment, is justified by those facts, and I +shall finally discuss the bearing of that conclusion upon the hypotheses +which have been entertained respecting the Origin of Man. + +The facts to which I would first direct the reader's attention, though +ignored by many of the professed instructors of the public mind, are +easy of demonstration and are universally agreed to by men of science; +while their significance is so great, that whoso has duly pondered over +them will, I think, find little to startle him in the other revelations +of Biology. I refer to those facts which have been made known by the +study of Development. + +It is a truth of very wide, if not of universal, application, that every +living creature commences its existence under a form different from, and +simpler than, that which it eventually attains. + +(FIGURE 12.--A. Egg of the Dog, with the vitelline membrane burst, so +as to give exit to the yolk, the germinal vesicle (a), and its included +spot (b). B. C. D. E F. Successive changes of the yolk indicated in the +text. After Bischoff.) + +The oak is a more complex thing than the little rudimentary plant +contained in the acorn; the caterpillar is more complex than the egg; +the butterfly than the caterpillar; and each of these beings, in passing +from its rudimentary to its perfect condition, runs through a series +of changes, the sum of which is called its Development. In the higher +animals these changes are extremely complicated; but, within the last +half century, the labours of such men as Von Baer, Rathke, Reichert, +Bischoff, and Remak, have almost completely unravelled them, so that +the successive stages of development which are exhibited by a Dog, for +example, are now as well known to the embryologist as are the steps of +the metamorphosis of the silkworm moth to the school-boy. It will be +useful to consider with attention the nature and the order of the +stages of canine development, as an example of the process in the higher +animals generally. + +The Dog, like all animals, save the very lowest (and further inquiries +may not improbably remove the apparent exception), commences its +existence as an egg: as a body which is, in every sense, as much an egg +as that of a hen, but is devoid of that accumulation of nutritive matter +which confers upon the bird's egg its exceptional size and domestic +utility; and wants the shell, which would not only be useless to an +animal incubated within the body of its parent, but would cut it off +from access to the source of that nutriment which the young creature +requires, but which the minute egg of the mammal does not contain within +itself. + +The Dog's egg is, in fact, a little spheroidal bag (Figure 12), formed +of a delicate transparent membrane called the 'vitelline membrane', and +about 1/130 to 1/120th of an inch in diameter. It contains a mass of +viscid nutritive matter--the 'yelk'--within which is inclosed a second +much more delicate spheroidal bag, called the 'germinal vesicle' (a). In +this, lastly, lies a more solid rounded body, termed the 'germinal spot' +(b). + +The egg, or 'Ovum,' is originally formed within a gland, from which, +in due season, it becomes detached, and passes into the living chamber +fitted for its protection and maintenance during the protracted process +of gestation. Here, when subjected to the required conditions, this +minute and apparently insignificant particle of living matter becomes +animated by a new and mysterious activity. The germinal vesicle and +spot cease to be discernible (their precise fate being one of the yet +unsolved problems of embryology), but the yelk becomes circumferentially +indented, as if an invisible knife had been drawn round it, and thus +appears divided into two hemispheres (Figure 12, C). + +By the repetition of this process in various planes, these hemispheres +become subdivided, so that four segments are produced (D); and these, +in like manner, divide and subdivide again, until the whole yelk is +converted into a mass of granules, each of which consists of a minute +spheroid of yelk-substance, inclosing a central particle, the so-called +'nucleus' (F). Nature, by this process, has attained much the same +result as that at which a human artificer arrives by his operations in a +brickfield. She takes the rough plastic material of the yelk and breaks +it up into well-shaped tolerably even-sized masses, handy for building +up into any part of the living edifice. + +(FIGURE 13.--Earliest rudiment of the Dog. B. Rudiment further advanced, +showing the foundations of the head, tail, and vertebral column. C. The +very young puppy, with attached ends of the yelk-sac and allantois, and +invested in the amnion.) + +Next, the mass of organic bricks, or 'cells' as they are technically +called, thus formed, acquires an orderly arrangement, becoming converted +into a hollow spheroid with double walls. Then, upon one side of this +spheroid, appears a thickening, and, by and bye, in the centre of the +area of thickening, a straight shallow groove (Figure 13, A) marks the +central line of the edifice which is to be raised, or, in other words, +indicates the position of the middle line of the body of the future +dog. The substance bounding the groove on each side next rises up into +a fold, the rudiment of the side wall of that long cavity, which will +eventually lodge the spinal marrow and the brain; and in the floor of +this chamber appears a solid cellular cord, the so-called 'notochord.' +One end of the inclosed cavity dilates to form the head (Figure 13, +B), the other remains narrow, and eventually becomes the tail; the side +walls of the body are fashioned out of the downward continuation of the +walls of the groove; and from them, by and bye, grow out little buds +which, by degrees, assume the shape of limbs. Watching the fashioning +process stage by stage, one is forcibly reminded of the modeller in +clay. Every part, every organ, is at first, as it were, pinched up +rudely, and sketched out in the rough; then shaped more accurately; and +only, at last, receives the touches which stamp its final character. + +Thus, at length, the young puppy assumes such a form as is shown in +Figure 13, C. In this condition it has a disproportionately large head, +as dissimilar to that of a dog as the bud-like limbs are unlike his +legs. + +The remains of the yelk, which have not yet been applied to the +nutrition and growth of the young animal, are contained in a sac +attached to the rudimentary intestine, and termed the yelk sac, +or 'umbilical vesicle.' Two membranous bags, intended to subserve +respectively the protection and nutrition of the young creature, have +been developed from the skin and from the under and hinder surface +of the body; the former, the so-called 'amnion,' is a sac filled with +fluid, which invests the whole body of the embryo, and plays the part +of a sort of water-bed for it; the other, termed the 'allantois,' grows +out, loaded with blood-vessels, from the ventral region, and eventually +applying itself to the walls of the cavity, in which the developing +organism is contained, enables these vessels to become the channel +by which the stream of nutriment, required to supply the wants of the +offspring, is furnished to it by the parent. + +The structure which is developed by the interlacement of the vessels of +the offspring with those of the parent, and by means of which the former +is enabled to receive nourishment and to get rid of effete matters, is +termed the 'Placenta.' + +It would be tedious, and it is unnecessary for my present purpose, to +trace the process of development further; suffice it to say, that, by +a long and gradual series of changes, the rudiment here depicted and +described becomes a puppy, is born, and then, by still slower and less +perceptible steps, passes into the adult Dog. + +There is not much apparent resemblance between a barndoor Fowl and the +Dog who protects the farm-yard. Nevertheless the student of development +finds, not only that the chick commences its existence as an egg, +primarily identical, in all essential respects, with that of the Dog, +but that the yelk of this egg undergoes division--that the primitive +groove arises, and that the contiguous parts of the germ are fashioned, +by precisely similar methods, into a young chick, which, at one stage +of its existence, is so like the nascent Dog, that ordinary inspection +would hardly distinguish the two. + +The history of the development of any other vertebrate animal, Lizard, +Snake, Frog, or Fish, tells the same story. There is always, to +begin with, an egg having the same essential structure as that of the +Dog:--the yelk of that egg always undergoes division, or 'segmentation' +as it is often called: the ultimate products of that segmentation +constitute the building materials for the body of the young animal; +and this is built up round a primitive groove, in the floor of which +a notochord is developed. Furthermore, there is a period in which the +young of all these animals resemble one another, not merely in +outward form, but in all essentials of structure, so closely, that the +differences between them are inconsiderable, while, in their subsequent +course, they diverge more and more widely from one another. And it is a +general law, that, the more closely any animals resemble one another +in adult structure, the longer and the more intimately do their embryos +resemble one another: so that, for example, the embryos of a Snake and +of a Lizard remain like one another longer than do those of a Snake and +of a Bird; and the embryo of a Dog and of a Cat remain like one another +for a far longer period than do those of a Dog and a Bird; or of a Dog +and an Opossum; or even than those of a Dog and a Monkey. + +Thus the study of development affords a clear test of closeness of +structural affinity, and one turns with impatience to inquire what +results are yielded by the study of the development of Man. Is he +something apart? Does he originate in a totally different way from Dog, +Bird, Frog, and Fish, thus justifying those who assert him to have no +place in nature and no real affinity with the lower world of animal +life? Or does he originate in a similar germ, pass through the same +slow and gradually progressive modifications,--depend on the same +contrivances for protection and nutrition, and finally enter the world +by the help of the same mechanism? The reply is not doubtful for a +moment, and has not been doubtful any time these thirty years. Without +question, the mode of origin and the early stages of the development of +man are identical with those of the animals immediately below him in the +scale:--without a doubt, in these respects, he is far nearer the Apes, +than the Apes are to the Dog. + +The Human ovum is about l/125 of an inch in diameter, and might be +described in the same terms as that of the Dog, so that I need only +refer to the figure illustrative (14 A) of its structure. It leaves the +organ in which it is formed in a similar fashion and enters the organic +chamber prepared for its reception in the same way, the conditions of +its development being in all respects the same. It has not yet been +possible (and only by some rare chance can it ever be possible) to +study the human ovum in so early a developmental stage as that of yelk +division, but there is every reason to conclude that the changes +it undergoes are identical with those exhibited by the ova of +other vertebrated animals; for the formative materials of which the +rudimentary human body is composed, in the earliest conditions in which +it has been observed, are the same as those of other animals. Some of +these earliest stages are figured below, and, as will be seen, they are +strictly comparable to the very early states of the Dog; the marvellous +correspondence between the two which is kept up, even for some time, as +development advances, becoming apparent by the simple comparison of the +figures with those on page 249. + +(FIGURE 14.--A. Human ovum (after Kolliker). a. germinal vesicle. +b. germinal spot. B. A very early condition of Man, with yelk-sac, +allantois, and amnion (original). C. A more advanced stage (after +Kolliker), compare Figure 13, C. + +Indeed, it is very long before the body of the young human being can be +readily discriminated from that of the young puppy; but, at a tolerably +early period, the two become distinguishable by the different form of +their adjuncts, the yelk-sac and the allantois. The former, in the Dog, +becomes long and spindle-shaped, while in Man it remains spherical; the +latter, in the Dog, attains an extremely large size, and the vascular +processes which are developed from it and eventually give rise to the +formation of the placenta (taking root, as it were, in the parental +organism, so as to draw nourishment therefrom, as the root of a tree +extracts it from the soil) are arranged in an encircling zone, while +in Man, the allantois remains comparatively small, and its vascular +rootlets are eventually restricted to one disk-like spot. Hence, while +the placenta of the Dog is like a girdle, that of Man has the cake-like +form, indicated by the name of the organ. + +But, exactly in those respects in which the developing Man differs +from the Dog, he resembles the ape, which, like man, has a spheroidal +yelk-sac and a discoidal--sometimes partially lobed--placenta. + +So that it is only quite in the later stages of development that the +young human being presents marked differences from the young ape, while +the latter departs as much from the dog in its development, as the man +does. + +Startling as the last assertion may appear to be, it is demonstrably +true, and it alone appears to me sufficient to place beyond all doubt +the structural unity of man with the rest of the animal world, and more +particularly and closely with the apes. + +Thus, identical in the physical processes by which he +originates--identical in the early stages of his formation--identical in +the mode of his nutrition before and after birth, with the animals which +lie immediately below him in the scale--Man, if his adult and perfect +structure be compared with theirs, exhibits, as might be expected, a +marvellous likeness of organization. He resembles them as they resemble +one another--he differs from them as they differ from one another.--And, +though these differences and resemblances cannot be weighed and +measured, their value may be readily estimated; the scale or standard +of judgment, touching that value, being afforded and expressed by the +system of classification of animals now current among zoologists. + +A careful study of the resemblances and differences presented by +animals has, in fact, led naturalists to arrange them into groups, or +assemblages, all the members of each group presenting a certain amount +of definable resemblance, and the number of points of similarity being +smaller as the group is larger and 'vice versa'. Thus, all creatures +which agree only in presenting the few distinctive marks of animality +form the 'Kingdom' ANIMALIA. The numerous animals which agree only in +possessing the special characters of Vertebrates form one 'Sub-Kingdom' +of this Kingdom. Then the Sub-kingdom VERTEBRATA is subdivided into the +five 'Classes,' Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals, and +these into smaller groups called 'Orders'; these into 'Families' +and 'Genera'; while the last are finally broken up into the smallest +assemblages, which are distinguished by the possession of constant, +not-sexual, characters. These ultimate groups are Species. + +Every year tends to bring about a greater uniformity of opinion +throughout the zoological world as to the limits and characters of these +groups, great and small. At present, for example, no one has the +least doubt regarding the characters of the classes Mammalia, Aves, or +Reptilia; nor does the question arise whether any thoroughly well-known +animal should be placed in one class or the other. Again, there is +a very general agreement respecting the characters and limits of +the orders of Mammals, and as to the animals which are structurally +necessitated to take a place in one or another order. + +No one doubts, for example, that the Sloth and the Ant-eater, the +Kangaroo and the Opossum, the Tiger and the Badger, the Tapir and +the Rhinoceros, are respectively members of the same orders. These +successive pairs of animals may, and some do, differ from one another +immensely, in such matters as the proportions and structure of their +limbs; the number of their dorsal and lumbar vertebrae; the adaptation +of their frames to climbing, leaping, or running; the number and form +of their teeth; and the characters of their skulls and of the contained +brain. But, with all these differences, they are so closely connected in +all the more important and fundamental characters of their organization, +and so distinctly separated by these same characters from other animals, +that zoologists find it necessary to group them together as members +of one order. And if any new animal were discovered, and were found to +present no greater difference from the Kangaroo and the Opossum, for +example, than these animals do from one another, the zoologist would not +only be logically compelled to rank it in the same order with these, but +he would not think of doing otherwise. + +Bearing this obvious course of zoological reasoning in mind, let us +endeavour for a moment to disconnect our thinking selves from the mask +of humanity; let us imagine ourselves scientific Saturnians, if you +will, fairly acquainted with such animals as now inhabit the Earth, and +employed in discussing the relations they bear to a new and singular +'erect and featherless biped,' which some enterprising traveller, +overcoming the difficulties of space and gravitation, has brought from +that distant planet for our inspection, well preserved, may be, in a +cask of rum. We should all, at once, agree upon placing him among the +mammalian vertebrates; and his lower jaw, his molars, and his brain, +would leave no room for doubting the systematic position of the new +genus among those mammals, whose young are nourished during gestation by +means of a placenta, or what are called the 'placental mammals.' + +Further, the most superficial study would at once convince us that, +among the orders of placental mammals, neither the Whales, nor the +hoofed creatures, nor the Sloths and Ant-eaters, nor the carnivorous +Cats, Dogs, and Bears, still less the Rodent Rats and Rabbits, or the +Insectivorous Moles and Hedgehogs, or the Bats, could claim our 'Homo', +as one of themselves. + +There would remain then, but one order for comparison, that of the Apes +(using that word in its broadest sense), and the question for discussion +would narrow itself to this--is Man so different from any of these Apes +that he must form an order by himself? Or does he differ less from them +than they differ from one another, and hence must take his place in the +same order with them? + +Being happily free from all real, or imaginary, personal interest in the +results of the inquiry thus set afoot, we should proceed to weigh the +arguments on one side and on the other, with as much judicial calmness +as if the question related to a new Opossum. We should endeavour to +ascertain, without seeking either to magnify or diminish them, all the +characters by which our new Mammal differed from the Apes; and if +we found that these were of less structural value, than those which +distinguish certain members of the Ape order from others universally +admitted to be of the same order, we should undoubtedly place the newly +discovered tellurian genus with them. + +I now proceed to detail the facts which seem to me to leave us no choice +but to adopt the last mentioned course. + +It is quite certain that the Ape which most nearly approaches man, +in the totality of its organization, is either the Chimpanzee or the +Gorilla; and as it makes no practical difference, for the purposes of +my present argument, which is selected for comparison, on the one hand, +with Man, and on the other hand, with the rest of the Primates,* I shall +select the latter (so far as its organization is known)--as a brute now +so celebrated in prose and verse, that all must have heard of him, and +have formed some conception of his appearance. ([Footnote] *We are not +at present thoroughly acquainted with the brain of the Gorilla, and +therefore, in discussing cerebral characters, I shall take that of the +Chimpanzee as my highest term among the Apes.) I shall take up as +many of the most important points of difference between man and this +remarkable creature, as the space at my disposal will allow me to +discuss, and the necessities of the argument demand; and I shall inquire +into the value and magnitude of these differences, when placed side by +side with those which separate the Gorilla from other animals of the +same order. + +In the general proportions of the body and limbs there is a remarkable +difference between the Gorilla and Man, which at once strikes the eye. +The Gorilla's brain-case is smaller, its trunk larger, its lower limbs +shorter, its upper limbs longer in proportion than those of Man. + +I find that the vertebral column of a full-grown Gorilla, in the Museum +of the Royal College of Surgeons, measures 27 inches along its anterior +curvature, from the upper edge of the atlas, or first vertebra of the +neck, to the lower extremity of the sacrum; that the arm, without the +hand, is 31-1/2 inches long; that the leg, without the foot, is 26-1/2 +inches long; that the hand is 9-3/4 inches long; the foot 11-1/4 inches +long. + +In other words, taking the length of the spinal column as 100, the arm +equals 115, the leg 96, the hand 36, and the foot 41. + +In the skeleton of a male Bosjesman, in the same collection, the +proportions, by the same measurement, to the spinal column, taken as +100, are--the arm 78, the leg 110, the hand 26, and the foot 32. In a +woman of the same race the arm is 83, and the leg 120, the hand and foot +remaining the same. In a European skeleton I find the arm to be 80, the +leg 117, the hand 26, the foot 35. + +Thus the leg is not so different as it looks at first sight, in its +proportion to the spine in the Gorilla and in the Man--being very +slightly shorter than the spine in the former, and between 1/10 and 1/5 +longer than the spine in the latter. The foot is longer and the hand +much longer in the Gorilla; but the great difference is caused by the +arms, which are very much longer than the spine in the Gorilla, very +much shorter than the spine in the Man. + +The question now arises how are the other Apes related to the Gorilla +in these respects--taking the length of the spine, measured in the same +way, at 100. In an adult Chimpanzee, the arm is only 96, the leg 90, the +hand 43, the foot 39--so that the hand and the leg depart more from the +human proportion and the arm less, while the foot is about the same as +in the Gorilla. + +In the Orang, the arms are very much longer than in the Gorilla (122), +while the legs are shorter (88); the foot is longer than the hand (52 +and 48), and both are much longer in proportion to the spine. + +In the other man-like Apes again, the Gibbons, these proportions are +still further altered; the length of the arms being to that of the +spinal column as 19 to 11; while the legs are also a third longer than +the spinal column, so as to be longer than in Man, instead of shorter. +The hand is half as long as the spinal column, and the foot, shorter +than the hand, is about 5/11ths of the length of the spinal column. + +Thus 'Hylobates' is as much longer in the arms than the Gorilla, as the +Gorilla is longer in the arms than Man; while, on the other hand, it +is as much longer in the legs than the Man, as the Man is longer in the +legs than the Gorilla, so that it contains within itself the extremest +deviations from the average length of both pairs of limbs (See the +illustration on page 196). + +The Mandrill presents a middle condition, the arms and legs being nearly +equal in length, and both being shorter than the spinal column; while +hand and foot have nearly the same proportions to one another and to the +spine, as in Man. + +In the Spider monkey ('Ateles') the leg is longer than the spine, and +the arm than the leg; and, finally, in that remarkable Lemurine form, +the Indri ('Lichanotus'), the leg is about as long as the spinal column, +while the arm is not more than 11/18 of its length; the hand having +rather less and the foot rather more, than one-third the length of the +spinal column. + +These examples might be greatly multiplied, but they suffice to show +that, in whatever proportion of its limbs the Gorilla differs from +Man, the other Apes depart still more widely from the Gorilla and that, +consequently, such differences of proportion can have no ordinal value. + +We may next consider the differences presented by the trunk, consisting +of the vertebral column, or backbone, and the ribs and pelvis, or +bony hip-basin, which are connected with it, in Man and in the Gorilla +respectively. + +In Man, in consequence partly of the disposition of the articular +surfaces of the vertebrae, and largely of the elastic tension of some of +the fibrous bands, or ligaments, which connect these vertebrae together, +the spinal column, as a whole, has an elegant S-like curvature, being +convex forwards in the neck, concave in the back, convex in the loins, +or lumbar region, and concave again in the sacral region; an arrangement +which gives much elasticity to the whole backbone, and diminishes the +jar communicated to the spine, and through it to the head, by locomotion +in the erect position. + +Furthermore, under ordinary circumstances, Man has seven vertebrae in +his neck, which are called 'cervical'; twelve succeed these, bearing +ribs and forming the upper part of the back, whence they are termed +'dorsal'; five lie in the loins, bearing no distinct, or free, ribs, and +are called 'lumbar'; five, united together into a great bone, excavated +in front, solidly wedged in between the hip bones, to form the back of +the pelvis, and known by the name of the 'sacrum', succeed these; and +finally, three or four little more or less movable bones, so small as to +be insignificant, constitute the 'coccyx' or rudimentary tail. + +In the Gorilla, the vertebral column is similarly divided into cervical, +dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae, and the total number +of cervical and dorsal vertebrae, taken together, is the same as in +Man; but the development of a pair of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra, +which is an exceptional occurrence in Man, is the rule in the Gorilla; +and hence, as lumbar are distinguished from dorsal vertebrae only by the +presence or absence of free ribs, the seventeen "dorso-lumbar" vertebrae +of the Gorilla are divided into thirteen dorsal and four lumbar, while +in Man they are twelve dorsal and five lumbar. + +(FIGURE 15.--Front and side views of the bony pelvis of Man, the Gorilla +and Gibbon: reduced from drawings made from nature, of the same absolute +length, by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins.) + +Not only, however, does Man occasionally possess thirteen pair of +ribs,* but the Gorilla sometimes has fourteen pairs, while an Orang-Utan +skeleton in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons has twelve +dorsal and five lumbar vertebrae, as in Man. ([Footnote] *"More +than once," says Peter Camper, "have I met with more than six +lumbar vertebrae in man...Once I found thirteen ribs and four lumbar +vertebrae." Fallopius noted thirteen pair of ribs and only four lumbar +vertebrae; and Eustachius once found eleven dorsal vertebrae and six +lumbar vertebrae.--'Oeuvres de Pierre Camper', T. 1, p. 42. As +Tyson states, his 'Pygmie' had thirteen pair of ribs and five lumbar +vertebrae. The question of the curves of the spinal column in the Apes +requires further investigation.) Cuvier notes the same number in a +'Hylobates'. On the other hand, among the lower Apes, many possess +twelve dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebrae; the Douroucouli has +fourteen dorsal and eight lumbar, and a Lemur ('Stenops tardigradus') +has fifteen dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae. + +The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, differs from that +of Man in the less marked character of its curves, especially in the +slighter convexity of the lumbar region. Nevertheless, the curves are +present, and are quite obvious in young skeletons of the Gorilla and +Chimpanzee which have been prepared without removal of the ligaments. In +young Orangs similarly preserved, on the other hand, the spinal column +is either straight, or even concave forwards, throughout the lumbar +region. + +Whether we take these characters then, or such minor ones as those which +are derivable from the proportional length of the spines of the cervical +vertebrae, and the like, there is no doubt whatsoever as to the marked +difference between Man and the Gorilla; but there is as little, that +equally marked differences, of the very same order, obtain between the +Gorilla and the lower Apes. + +The Pelvis, or bony girdle of the hips, of Man is a strikingly human +part of his organization; the expanded haunch bones affording support +for his viscera during his habitually erect posture, and giving space +for the attachment of the great muscles which enable him to assume and +to preserve that attitude. In these respects the pelvis of the Gorilla +differs very considerably from his (Figure 15). But go no lower than +the Gibbon, and see how vastly more he differs from the Gorilla than the +latter does from Man, even in this structure. Look at the flat, narrow +haunch bones--the long and narrow passage--the coarse, outwardly curved, +ischiatic prominences on which the Gibbon habitually rests, and which +are coated by the so-called "callosities," dense patches of skin, wholly +absent in the Gorilla, in the Chimpanzee, and in the Orang, as in Man! + +In the lower Monkeys and in the Lemurs the difference becomes more +striking still, the pelvis acquiring an altogether quadrupedal +character. + +But now let us turn to a nobler and more characteristic organ--that +by which the human frame seems to be, and indeed is, so strongly +distinguished from all others,--I mean the skull. The differences +between a Gorilla's skull and a Man's are truly immense (Figure 16). +In the former, the face, formed largely by the massive jaw-bones, +predominates over the brain case, or cranium proper: in the latter, the +proportions of the two are reversed. In the Man, the occipital foramen, +through which passes the great nervous cord connecting the brain with +the nerves of the body, is placed just behind the centre of the base of +the skull, which thus becomes evenly balanced in the erect posture; in +the Gorilla, it lies in the posterior third of that base. In the Man, +the surface of the skull is comparatively smooth, and the supraciliary +ridges or brow prominences usually project but little--while, in the +Gorilla, vast crests are developed upon the skull, and the brow ridges +overhang, the cavernous orbits, like great penthouses. + +Sections of the skulls, however, show that some of the apparent defects +of the Gorilla's cranium arise, in fact, not so much from deficiency of +brain case as from excessive development of the parts of the face. +The cranial cavity is not ill-shaped, and the forehead is not truly +flattened or very retreating, its really well-formed curve being simply +disguised by the mass of bone which is built up against it (Figure 16). + +But the roofs of the orbits rise more obliquely into the cranial cavity, +thus diminishing the space for the lower part of the anterior lobes of +the brain, and the absolute capacity of the cranium is far less than +that of Man. So far as I am aware, no human cranium belonging to an +adult man has yet been observed with a less cubical capacity than +62 cubic inches, the smallest cranium observed in any race of men by +Morton, measuring 63 cubic inches; while, on the other hand, the most +capacious Gorilla skull yet measured has a content of not more than +34-1/2 cubic inches. Let us assume, for simplicity's sake, that the +lowest Man's skull has twice the capacity of that of the highest +Gorilla.* ([Footnote] *It has been affirmed that Hindoo crania sometimes +contain as little as 27 ounces of water, which would give a capacity of +about 46 cubic inches. The minimum capacity which I have assumed above, +however, is based upon the valuable tables published by Professor R. +Wagner in his "Vorstudien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und +Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns." As the result of the careful +weighing of more than 900 human brains, Professor Wagner states +that one-half weighed between 1200 and 1400 grammes, and that about +two-ninths, consisting for the most part of male brains, exceed +1400 grammes. The lightest brain of an adult male, with sound mental +faculties, recorded by Wagner, weighed 1020 grammes. As a gramme equals +15.4 grains, and a cubic inch of water contains 252.4 grains, this is +equivalent to 62 cubic inches of water; so that as brain is heavier than +water, we are perfectly safe against erring on the side of diminution in +taking this as the smallest capacity of any adult male human brain. The +only adult male brain, weighing as little as 970 grammes, is that of an +idiot; but the brain of an adult woman, against the soundness of whose +faculties nothing appears, weighed as little as 907 grammes (55.3 cubic +inches of water); and Reid gives an adult female brain of still smaller +capacity. The heaviest brain (1872 grammes, or about 115 cubic inches) +was, however, that of a woman; next to it comes the brain of Cuvier +(1861 grammes), then Byron (1807 grammes), and then an insane person +(1783 grammes). The lightest adult brain recorded (720 grammes) was +that of an idiotic female. The brains of five children, four years old, +weighed between 1275 and 992 grammes. So that it may be safely said, +that an average European child of four years old has a brain twice as +large as that of an adult Gorilla.) + +No doubt, this is a very striking difference, but it loses much of its +apparent systematic value, when viewed by the light of certain other +equally indubitable facts respecting cranial capacities. + +The first of these is, that the difference in the volume of the cranial +cavity of different races of mankind is far greater, absolutely, than +that between the lowest Man and the highest Ape, while, relatively, +it is about the same. For the largest human skull measured by Morton +contained 114 cubic inches, that is to say, had very nearly double the +capacity of the smallest; while its absolute preponderance, of 52 cubic +inches--is far greater than that by which the lowest adult male human +cranium surpasses the largest of the Gorillas (62 - 34 1/2 = 27 1/2). +Secondly, the adult crania of Gorillas which have as yet been measured +differ among themselves by nearly one-third, the maximum capacity being +34.5 cubic inches, the minimum 24 cubic inches; and, thirdly, after +making all due allowance for difference of size, the cranial capacities +of some of the lower Apes fall nearly as much, relatively, below those +of the higher Apes as the latter fall below Man. + +Thus, even in the important matter of cranial capacity, Men differ more +widely from one another than they do from the Apes; while the lowest +Apes differ as much, in proportion, from the highest, as the latter does +from Man. The last proposition is still better illustrated by the study +of the modifications which other parts of the cranium undergo in the +Simian series. + +It is the large proportional size of the facial bones and the great +projection of the jaws which confers upon the Gorilla's skull its small +facial angle and brutal character. + +(FIGURE 16.--Sections of the skulls of Man and various Apes (Australian, +Chrysothrix, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Mycetes, Lemur), drawn so as to give +the cerebral cavity the same length in each case, thereby displaying +the varying proportions of the facial bones. The line 'b' indicates +the plane of the tentorium, which separates the cerebrum from the +cerebellum; 'd', the axis of the occipital outlet of the skull. The +extent of cerebral cavity behind 'c', which is a perpendicular erected +on 'b' at the point where the tentorium is attached posteriorly, +indicates the degree to which the cerebrum overlaps the cerebellum--the +space occupied by which is roughly indicated by the dark shading. In +comparing these diagrams, it must be recollected, that figures on so +small a scale as these simply exemplify the statements in the text, the +proof of which is to be found in the objects themselves.) + +But if we consider the proportional size of the facial bones to the +skull proper only, the little 'Chrysothrix' (Figure 16) differs very +widely from the Gorilla, and, in the same way, as Man does; while the +Baboons ('Cynocephalus', Figure 16) exaggerate the gross proportions of +the muzzle of the great Anthropoid, so that its visage looks mild and +human by comparison with theirs. The difference between the Gorilla and +the Baboon is even greater than it appears at first sight; for the great +facial mass of the former is largely due to a downward development of +the jaws; an essentially human character, superadded upon that almost +purely forward, essentially brutal, development of the same parts which +characterizes the Baboon, and yet more remarkably distinguishes the +Lemur. + +Similarly, the occipital foramen of 'Mycetes' (Figure 16), and still +more of the Lemurs, is situated completely in the posterior face of the +skull, or as much further back than that of the Gorilla, as that of the +Gorilla is further back than that of Man; while, as if to render patent +the futility of the attempt to base any broad classificatory distinction +on such a character, the same group of Platyrhine, or American monkeys, +to which the 'Mycetes' belongs, contains the 'Chrysothrix', whose +occipital foramen is situated far more forward than in any other ape, +and nearly approaches the position it holds in Man. + +Again, the Orang's skull is as devoid of excessively developed +supraciliary prominences as a Man's, though some varieties exhibit great +crests elsewhere (See pp. 231, 232); and in some of the Cebine apes and +in the 'Chrysothrix', the cranium is as smooth and rounded as that of +Man himself. + +What is true of these leading characteristics of the skull, holds good, +as may be imagined, of all minor features; so that for every constant +difference between the Gorilla's skull and the Man's, a similar constant +difference of the same order (that is to say, consisting in excess or +defect of the same quality) may be found between the Gorilla's skull +and that of some other ape. So that, for the skull, no less than for the +skeleton in general, the proposition holds good, that the differences +between Man and the Gorilla are of smaller value than those between the +Gorilla and some other Apes. + +In connection with the skull, I may speak of the teeth--organs which +have a peculiar classificatory value, and whose resemblances and +differences of number, form, and succession, taken as a whole, are +usually regarded as more trustworthy indicators of affinity than any +others. + +(FIGURE 17.--Lateral views, of the same length, of the upper jaws of +various Primates (Man, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Cebus, Cheiromys). 'i', +incisors; 'c', canines' 'pm', premolars; 'm', molars. A line is drawn +through the first molar of Man, 'Gorilla', 'Cynocephalus', and 'Cebus', +and the grinding surface of the second molar is shown in each, its +anterior and internal angle being just above the 'm' of 'm2'.) + +Man is provided with two sets of teeth--milk teeth and permanent teeth. +The former consist of four incisors, or cutting teeth; two canines, or +eyeteeth; and four molars, or grinders, in each jaw--making twenty in +all. The latter (Figure 17) comprise four incisors, two canines, +four small grinders, called premolars or false molars, and six large +grinders, or true molars, in each jaw--making thirty-two in all. The +internal incisors are larger than the external pair, in the upper jaw, +smaller than the external pair, in the lower jaw. The crowns of the +upper molars exhibit four cusps, or blunt-pointed elevations, and a +ridge crosses the crown obliquely, from the inner, anterior cusp to the +outer, posterior cusp (Figure 17 m2). The anterior lower molars have +five cusps, three external and two internal. The premolars have two +cusps, one internal and one external, of which the outer is the higher. + +In all these respects the dentition of the Gorilla may be described in +the same terms as that of Man; but in other matters it exhibits many and +important differences (Figure 17). + +Thus the teeth of man constitute a regular and even series--without any +break and without any marked projection of one tooth above the level of +the rest; a peculiarity which, as Cuvier long ago showed, is shared by +no other mammal save one--as different a creature from man as can well +be imagined--namely, the long extinct 'Anoplotherium'. The teeth of +the Gorilla, on the contrary, exhibit a break, or interval, termed the +'diastema', in both jaws: in front of the eye-tooth, or between it and +the outer incisor, in the upper jaw; behind the eyetooth, or between +it and the front false molar, in the lower jaw. Into this break in the +series, in each jaw, fits the canine of the opposite jaw; the size of +the eye-tooth in the Gorilla being so great that it projects, like a +tusk, far beyond the general level of the other teeth. The roots of the +false molar teeth of the Gorilla, again, are more complex than in Man, +and the proportional size of the molars is different. The Gorilla has +the crown of the hindmost grinder of the lower jaw more complex, and +the order of eruption of the permanent teeth is different; the permanent +canines making their appearance before the second and third molars in +Man, and after them in the Gorilla. + +Thus, while the teeth of the Gorilla closely resemble those of Man in +number, kind, and in the general pattern of their crowns, they exhibit +marked differences from those of Man in secondary respects, such as +relative size, number of fangs, and order of appearance. + +But, if the teeth of the Gorilla be compared with those of an Ape, no +further removed from it than a 'Cynocephalus', or Baboon, it will be +found that differences and resemblances of the same order are easily +observable; but that many of the points in which the Gorilla resembles +Man are those in which it differs from the Baboon; while various +respects in which it differs from Man are exaggerated in the +'Cynocephalus'. The number and the nature of the teeth remain the same +in the Baboon as in the Gorilla and in Man. But the pattern of the +Baboon's upper molars is quite different from that described above +(Figure 17), the canines are proportionally longer and more knife-like; +the anterior premolar in the lower jaw is specially modified; the +posterior molar of the lower jaw is still larger and more complex than +in the Gorilla. + +Passing from the old-world Apes to those of the new world, we meet with +a change of much greater importance than any of these. In such a genus +as 'Cebus', for example (Figure 17), it will be found that while in +some secondary points, such as the projection of the canines and the +diastema, the resemblance to the great ape is preserved; in other and +most important respects, the dentition is extremely different. Instead +of 20 teeth in the milk set, there are 24: instead of 32 teeth in the +permanent set, there are 36, the false molars being increased from eight +to twelve. And in form, the crowns of the molars are very unlike those +of the Gorilla, and differ far more widely from the human pattern. + +The Marmosets, on the other hand, exhibit the same number of teeth as +Man and the Gorilla; but, notwithstanding this, their dentition is very +different, for they have four more false molars, like the other American +monkeys--but as they have four fewer true molars, the total remains the +same. And passing from the American apes to the Lemurs, the dentition +becomes still more completely and essentially different from that of +the Gorilla. The incisors begin to vary both in number and in form. The +molars acquire, more and more, a many-pointed, insectivorous character, +and in one Genus, the Aye-Aye ('Cheiromys'), the canines disappear, and +the teeth completely simulate those of a Rodent (Figure 17). + +Hence it is obvious that, greatly as the dentition of the highest Ape +differs from that of Man, it differs far more widely from that of the +lower and lowest Apes. + +Whatever part of the animal fabric--whatever series of muscles, whatever +viscera might be selected for comparison--the result would be the +same--the lower Apes and the Gorilla would differ more than the Gorilla +and the Man. I cannot attempt in this place to follow out all these +comparisons in detail, and indeed it is unnecessary I should do so. But +certain real, or supposed, structural distinctions between man and the +apes remain, upon which so much stress has been laid, that they require +careful consideration, in order that the true value may be assigned to +those which are real, and the emptiness of those which are fictitious +may be exposed. I refer to the characters of the hand, the foot, and the +brain. + +Man has been defined as the only animal possessed of two hands +terminating his fore limbs, and of two feet ending his hind limbs, while +it has been said that all the apes possess four hands; and he has been +affirmed to differ fundamentally from all the apes in the characters of +his brain, which alone, it has been strangely asserted and re-asserted, +exhibits the structures known to anatomists as the posterior lobe, the +posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus minor. + +That the former proposition should have gained general acceptance is not +surprising--indeed, at first sight, appearances are much in its favour: +but, as for the second, one can only admire the surpassing courage +of its enunciator, seeing that it is an innovation which is not only +opposed to generally and justly accepted doctrines, but which is +directly negatived by the testimony of all original inquirers, who have +specially investigated the matter: and that it neither has been, nor can +be, supported by a single anatomical preparation. It would, in fact, +be unworthy of serious refutation, except for the general and natural +belief that deliberate and reiterated assertions must have some +foundation. + +Before we can discuss the first point with advantage we must consider +with some attention, and compare together, the structure of the human +hand and that of the human foot, so that we may have distinct and clear +ideas of what constitutes a hand and what a foot. + +The external form of the human hand is familiar enough to every one. It +consists of a stout wrist followed by a broad palm, formed of flesh, and +tendons, and skin, binding together four bones, and dividing into four +long and flexible digits, or fingers, each of which bears on the back of +its last joint a broad and flattened nail. The longest cleft between any +two digits is rather less than half as long as the hand. From the outer +side of the base of the palm a stout digit goes off, having only two +joints instead of three; so short, that it only reaches to a little +beyond the middle of the first joint of the finger next it; and further +remarkable by its great mobility, in consequence of which it can be +directed outwards, almost at a right angle to the rest. This digit is +called the 'pollex,' or thumb; and, like the others, it bears a +flat nail upon the back of its terminal joint. In consequence of the +proportions and mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed "opposable"; +in other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be brought +into contact with the extremities of any of the fingers; a property upon +which the possibility of our carrying into effect the conceptions of the +mind so largely depends. + +The external form of the foot differs widely from that of the hand; and +yet, when closely compared, the two present some singular resemblances. +Thus the ankle corresponds in a manner with the wrist; the sole with the +palm; the toes with the fingers; the great toe with the thumb. But the +toes, or digits of the foot, are far shorter in proportion than the +digits of the hand, and are less moveable, the want of mobility being +most striking in the great toe--which, again, is very much larger +in proportion to the other toes than the thumb to the fingers. In +considering this point, however, it must not be forgotten that the +civilized great toe, confined and cramped from childhood upwards, is +seen to a great disadvantage, and that in uncivilized and barefooted +people it retains a great amount of mobility, and even some sort of +opposability. The Chinese boatmen are said to be able to pull an oar; +the artisans of Bengal to weave, and the Carajas to steal fishhooks, by +its help; though, after all, it must be recollected that the structure +of its joints and the arrangement of its bones, necessarily render its +prehensile action far less perfect than that of the thumb. + +But to gain a precise conception of the resemblances and differences of +the hand and foot, and of the distinctive characters of each, we must +look below the skin, and compare the bony framework and its motor +apparatus in each (Figure 18). + +(FIGURE 18.--The skeleton of the Hand and Foot of Man reduced from Dr. +Carter's drawings in Gray's 'Anatomy.' The hand is drawn to a larger +scale than the foot. The line 'a a' in the hand indicates the boundary +between the carpus and the metacarpus; 'b b' that between the latter and +the proximal phalanges; 'c c' marks the ends of the distal phalanges. +The line "a' a'" in the foot indicates the boundary between the tarsus +and metatarsus; "b' b'" marks that between the metatarsus and the +proximal phalanges; and "c' c'" bounds the ends of the distal phalanges; +'ca', the calcaneum; 'as', the astragalus; 'sc', the scaphoid bone in +the tarsus.) + +The skeleton of the hand exhibits, in the region which we term the +wrist, and which is technically called the 'carpus'--two rows of closely +fitted polygonal bones, four in each row, which are tolerably equal in +size. The bones of the first row with the bones of the forearm, form the +wrist joint, and are arranged side by side, no one greatly exceeding or +overlapping the rest. + +The four bones of the second row of the carpus bear the four long bones +which support the palm of the hand. The fifth bone of the same character +is articulated in a much more free and moveable manner than the others, +with its carpal bone, and forms the base of the thumb. These are called +'metacarpal' bones, and they carry the 'phalanges', or bones of the +digits, of which there are two in the thumb, and three in each of the +fingers. + +The skeleton of the foot is very like that of the hand in some respects. +Thus there are three phalanges in each of the lesser toes, and only +two in the great toe, which answers to the thumb. There is a long bone, +termed 'metatarsal', answering to the metacarpal, for each digit; and +the 'tarsus', which corresponds with the carpus, presents four short +polygonal bones in a row, which correspond very closely with the four +carpal bones of the second row of the hand. In other respects the foot +differs very widely from the hand. Thus the great toe is the longest +digit but one; and its metatarsal is far less moveably articulated with +the tarsus, than the metacarpal of the thumb with the carpus. But a far +more important distinction lies in the fact that, instead of four +more tarsal bones there are only three; and, that these three are not +arranged side by side, or in one row. One of them, the 'os calcis' or +heel bone ('ca'), lies externally, and sends back the large projecting +heel; another, the 'astragalus' ('as'), rests on this by one face, and +by another, forms, with the bones of the leg, the ankle joint; while a +third face, directed forwards, is separated from the three inner tarsal +bones of the row next the metatarsus by a bone called the 'scaphoid' +('sc'). + +Thus there is a fundamental difference in the structure of the foot and +the hand, observable when the carpus and the tarsus are contrasted; and +there are differences of degree noticeable when the proportions and +the mobility of the metacarpals and metatarsals, with their respective +digits, are compared together. + +The same two classes of differences become obvious when the muscles of +the hand are compared with those of the foot. + +Three principal sets of muscles, called "flexors," bend the fingers and +thumb, as in clenching the fist, and three sets--the extensors--extend +them, as in straightening the fingers. These muscles are all "long +muscles"; that is to say, the fleshy part of each, lying in and being +fixed to the bones of the arm, is, at the other end, continued into +tendons, or rounded cords, which pass into the hand, and are ultimately +fixed to the bones which are to be moved. Thus, when the fingers are +bent, the fleshy parts of the flexors of the fingers, placed in the arm, +contract, in virtue of their peculiar endowment as muscles; and pulling +the tendinous cords, connected with their ends, cause them to pull down +the bones of the fingers towards the palm. + +Not only are the principal flexors of the fingers and of the thumb long +muscles, but they remain quite distinct from one another through their +whole length. + +In the foot, there are also three principal flexor muscles of the digits +or toes, and three principal extensors; but one extensor and one flexor +are short muscles; that is to say, their fleshy parts are not situated +in the leg (which corresponds with the arm), but in the back and in the +sole of the foot--regions which correspond with the back and the palm of +the hand. + +Again, the tendons of the long flexor of the toes, and of the long +flexor of the great toe, when they reach the sole of the foot, do not +remain distinct from one another, as the flexors in the palm of the +hand do, but they become united and commingled in a very curious +manner--while their united tendons receive an accessory muscle connected +with the heel-bone. + +But perhaps the most absolutely distinctive character about the muscles +of the foot is the existence of what is termed the 'peronaeus longus', +a long muscle fixed to the outer bone of the leg, and sending its tendon +to the outer ankle, behind and below which it passes, and then crosses +the foot obliquely to be attached to the base of the great toe. No +muscle in the hand exactly corresponds with this, which is eminently a +foot muscle. + +To resume--the foot of man is distinguished from his hand by the +following absolute anatomical differences:-- + +1. By the arrangement of the tarsal bones. + +2. By having a short flexor and a short extensor muscle of the digits. + +3. By possessing the muscle termed 'peronaeus longus'. And if we desire +to ascertain whether the terminal division of a limb, in other Primates, +is to be called a foot or a hand, it is by the presence or absence of +these characters that we must be guided, and not by the mere proportions +and greater or lesser mobility of the great toe, which may vary +indefinitely without any fundamental alteration in the structure of the +foot. + +Keeping these considerations in mind, let us now turn to the limbs +of the Gorilla. The terminal division of the fore limb presents no +difficulty--bone for bone and muscle for muscle, are found to be +arranged essentially as in man, or with such minor differences as are +found as varieties in man. The Gorilla's hand is clumsier, heavier, and +has a thumb somewhat shorter in proportion than that of man; but no one +has ever doubted its being a true hand. + +(FIGURE 19.--Foot of Man, Gorilla, and Orang-Utan of the same absolute +length, to show the differences in proportion of each. Letters as in +Figure 18. Reduced from original drawings by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins. + +At first sight, the termination of the hind limb of the Gorilla looks +very hand-like, and as it is still more so in many of the lower apes, +it is not wonderful that the appellation "Quadrumana," or four-handed +creatures, adopted from the older anatomists* by Blumenbach, and +unfortunately rendered current by Cuvier, should have gained such wide +acceptance as a name for the Simian group. ([Footnote] *In speaking of +the foot of his "Pygmie," Tyson remarks, p. 13:--"But this part in the +formation and in its function too, being liker a Hand than a Foot: for +the distinguishing this sort of animals from others, I have thought +whether it might not be reckoned and called rather Quadru-manus than +Quadrupes, 'i.e.' a four-handed rather than a four-footed animal." As +this passage was published in 1699, M. I. G. St. Hilaire is clearly in +error in ascribing the invention of the term "quadrumanous" to Buffon, +though "himanous" may belong to him. Tyson uses "Quadrumanus" in several +places, as at p. 91... "Our 'Pygmie' is no Man, nor yet the 'common +Ape', but a sort of 'Animal' between both; and though a 'Biped', yet of +the 'Quadrumanus'-kind: though some 'Men' too have been observed to +use their 'Feet' like 'Hands', as I have seen several.") But the most +cursory anatomical investigation at once proves that the resemblance of +the so-called "hind hand" to a true hand, is only skin deep, and that, +in all essential respects, the hind limb of the Gorilla is as truly +terminated by a foot as that of man. The tarsal bones, in all important +circumstances of number, disposition, and form, resemble those of +man (Figure 19). The metatarsals and digits, on the other hand, are +proportionally longer and more slender, while the great toe is not only +proportionally shorter and weaker, but its metatarsal bone is united by +a more moveable joint with the tarsus. At the same time, the foot is set +more obliquely upon the leg than in man. + +As to the muscles, there is a short flexor, a short extensor, and a +'peronaeus longus', while the tendons of the long flexors of the great +toe and of the other toes are united together and with an accessory +fleshy bundle. + +The hind limb of the Gorilla, therefore, ends in a true foot, with a +very moveable great toe. It is a prehensile foot, indeed, but is in no +sense a hand: it is a foot which differs from that of man not in +any fundamental character, but in mere proportions, in the degree of +mobility, and in the secondary arrangement of its parts. + +It must not be supposed, however, because I speak of these differences +as not fundamental, that I wish to underrate their value. They are +important enough in their way, the structure of the foot being in strict +correlation with that of the rest of the organism in each case. Nor can +it be doubted that the greater division of physiological labour in Man, +so that the function of support is thrown wholly on the leg and foot, is +an advance in organization of very great moment to him; but, after all, +regarded anatomically, the resemblances between the foot of Man and +the foot of the Gorilla are far more striking and important than the +differences. + +I have dwelt upon this point at length, because it is one regarding +which much delusion prevails; but I might have passed it over without +detriment to my argument, which only requires me to show that, be the +differences between the hand and foot of Man and those of the Gorilla +what they may--the differences between those of the Gorilla, and those +of the lower Apes are much greater. + +It is not necessary to descend lower in the scale than the Orang for +conclusive evidence on this head. + +The thumb of the Orang differs more from that of the Gorilla than +the thumb of the Gorilla differs from that of Man, not only by its +shortness, but by the absence of any special long flexor muscle. The +carpus of the Orang, like that of most lower apes, contains nine bones, +while in the Gorilla, as in Man and the Chimpanzee, there are only +eight. + +The Orang's foot (Figure 19) is still more aberrant; its very long +toes and short tarsus, short great toe, short and raised heel, great +obliquity of articulation in the leg, and absence of a long flexor +tendon to the great toe, separating it far more widely from the foot of +the Gorilla than the latter is separated from that of Man. + +But, in some of the lower apes, the hand and foot diverge still more +from those of the Gorilla, than they do in the Orang. The thumb ceases +to be opposable in the American monkeys; is reduced to a mere rudiment +covered by the skin in the Spider Monkey; and is directed forwards and +armed with a curved claw like the other digits, in the Marmosets--so +that, in all these cases, there can be no doubt but that the hand is +more different from that of the Gorilla than the Gorilla's hand is from +Man's. + +And as to the foot, the great toe of the Marmoset is still more +insignificant in proportion than that of the Orang--while in the Lemurs +it is very large, and as completely thumb-like and opposable as in +the Gorilla--but in these animals the second toe is often irregularly +modified, and in some species the two principal bones of the tarsus, +the 'astragalus' and the 'os calcis', are so immensely elongated as to +render the foot, so far, totally unlike that of any other mammal. + +So with regard to the muscles. The short flexor of the toes of the +Gorilla differs from that of Man by the circumstance that one slip of +the muscle is attached, not to the heel bone, but to the tendons of the +long flexors. The lower Apes depart from the Gorilla by an exaggeration +of the same character, two, three, or more, slips becoming fixed to the +long flexor tendons--or by a multiplication of the slips.--Again, the +Gorilla differs slightly from Man in the mode of interlacing of the long +flexor tendons: and the lower apes differ from the Gorilla in exhibiting +yet other, sometimes very complex, arrangements of the same parts, and +occasionally in the absence of the accessory fleshy bundle. + +Throughout all these modifications it must be recollected that the +foot loses no one of its essential characters. Every Monkey and Lemur +exhibits the characteristic arrangement of tarsal bones, possesses a +short flexor and short extensor muscle, and a 'peronaeus longus'. Varied +as the proportions and appearance of the organ may be, the terminal +division of the hind limb remains, in plan and principle of +construction, a foot, and never, in those respects, can be confounded +with a hand. + +Hardly any part of the bodily frame, then, could be found better +calculated to illustrate the truth that the structural differences +between Man and the highest Ape are of less value than those between the +highest and the lower Apes, than the hand or the foot, and yet, perhaps, +there is one organ the study of which enforces the same conclusion in a +still more striking manner--and that is the Brain. + +But before entering upon the precise question of the amount of +difference between the Ape's brain and that of Man, it is necessary that +we should clearly understand what constitutes a great, and what a small +difference in cerebral structure; and we shall be best enabled to +do this by a brief study of the chief modifications which the brain +exhibits in the series of vertebrate animals. + +The brain of a fish is very small, compared with the spinal cord into +which it is continued, and with the nerves which come off from it: of +the segments of which it is composed--the olfactory lobes, the cerebral +hemisphere, and the succeeding divisions--no one predominates so much +over the rest as to obscure or cover them; and the so-called optic lobes +are, frequently, the largest masses of all. In Reptiles, the mass of +the brain, relatively to the spinal cord, increases and the cerebral +hemispheres begin to predominate over the other parts; while in Birds +this predominance is still more marked. The brain of the lowest Mammals, +such as the duck-billed Platypus and the Opossums and Kangaroos, +exhibits a still more definite advance in the same direction. The +cerebral hemispheres have now so much increased in size as, more or +less, to hide the representatives of the optic lobes, which remain +comparatively small, so that the brain of a Marsupial is extremely +different from that of a Bird, Reptile, or Fish. A step higher in the +scale, among the placental Mammals, the structure of the brain acquires +a vast modification--not that it appears much altered externally, in +a Rat or in a Rabbit, from what it is in a Marsupial--nor that the +proportions of its parts are much changed, but an apparently new +structure is found between the cerebral hemispheres, connecting them +together, as what is called the 'great commissure' or 'corpus callosum.' +The subject requires careful re-investigation, but if the currently +received statements are correct, the appearance of the 'corpus callosum' +in the placental mammals is the greatest and most sudden modification +exhibited by the brain in the whole series of vertebrated animals--it is +the greatest leap anywhere made by Nature in her brain work. For the +two halves of the brain being once thus knit together, the progress of +cerebral complexity is traceable through a complete series of steps from +the lowest Rodent, or Insectivore, to Man; and that complexity consists, +chiefly, in the disproportionate development of the cerebral hemispheres +and of the cerebellum, but especially of the former, in respect to the +other parts of the brain. + +In the lower placental mammals, the cerebral hemispheres leave the +proper upper and posterior face of the cerebellum completely visible, +when the brain is viewed from above; but, in the higher forms, the +hinder part of each hemisphere, separated only by the tentorium (p. +281) from the anterior face of the cerebellum, inclines backwards and +downwards, and grows out, as the so-called "posterior lobe," so as at +length to overlap and hide the cerebellum. In all Mammals, each cerebral +hemisphere contains a cavity which is termed the 'ventricle,' and as +this ventricle is prolonged, on the one hand, forwards, and on the other +downwards, into the substance of the hemisphere, it is said to have two +horns or 'cornua', an 'anterior cornu,' and a 'descending cornu.' +When the posterior lobe is well developed, a third prolongation of the +ventricular cavity extends into it, and is called the "posterior cornu." + +In the lower and smaller forms of placental Mammals the surface of the +cerebral hemispheres is either smooth or evenly rounded, or exhibits +a very few grooves, which are technically termed 'sulci,' separating +ridges or 'convolutions' of the substance of the brain; and the smaller +species of all orders tend to a similar smoothness of brain. But, in the +higher orders, and especially the larger members of these orders, the +grooves, or sulci, become extremely numerous, and the intermediate +convolutions proportionately more complicated in their meanderings, +until, in the Elephant, the Porpoise, the higher Apes, and Man, the +cerebral surface appears a perfect labyrinth of tortuous foldings. + +Where a posterior lobe exists and presents its customary cavity--the +posterior cornu--it commonly happens that a particular sulcus appears +upon the inner and under surface of the lobe, parallel with and beneath +the floor of the cornu--which is, as it were, arched over the roof of +the sulcus. It is as if the groove had been formed by indenting the +floor of the posterior horn from without with a blunt instrument, so +that the floor should rise as a convex eminence. Now this eminence is +what has been termed the 'Hippocampus minor;' the 'Hippocampus major' +being a larger eminence in the floor of the descending cornu. What may +be the functional importance of either of these structures we know not. + +As if to demonstrate, by a striking example, the impossibility of +erecting any cerebral barrier between man and the apes, Nature has +provided us, in the latter animals, with an almost complete series of +gradations from brains little higher than that of a Rodent, to brains +little lower than that of Man. And it is a remarkable circumstance that +though, so far as our present knowledge extends, there 'is' one true +structural break in the series of forms of Simian brains, this hiatus +does not lie between Man and the man-like apes, but between the lower +and the lowest Simians; or, in other words, between the old and new +world apes and monkeys, and the Lemurs. Every Lemur which has yet been +examined, in fact, has its cerebellum partially visible from above, and +its posterior lobe, with the contained posterior cornu and hippocampus +minor, more or less rudimentary. Every Marmoset, American monkey, +old-world monkey, Baboon, or Man-like ape, on the contrary, has its +cerebellum entirely hidden, posteriorly, by the cerebral lobes, and +possesses a large posterior cornu, with a well-developed hippocampus +minor. + +(FIGURE 20.--Drawings of the internal casts of a Man's and of a +Chimpanzee's skull, of the same absolute length, and placed in +corresponding positions. 'A'. Cerebrum; 'B'. Cerebellum. The former +drawing is taken from a cast in the Museum of the Royal College of +Surgeons, the latter from the photograph of the cast of a Chimpanzee's +skull, which illustrates the paper by Mr. Marshall 'On the Brain of the +Chimpanzee' in the 'Natural History Review' for July, 1861. The sharper +definition of the lower edge of the cast of the cerebral chamber in the +Chimpanzee arises from the circumstance that the tentorium remained in +that skull and not in the Man's. The cast more accurately represents the +brain in Chimpanzee than in the Man; and the great backward projection +of the posterior lobes of the cerebrum of the former, beyond the +cerebellum, is conspicuous.) + +In many of these creatures, such as the Saimiri ('Chrysothrix'), the +cerebral lobes overlap and extend much further behind the cerebellum, +in proportion, than they do in man (Figure 16)--and it is quite +certain that, in all, the cerebellum is completely covered behind, by +well-developed posterior lobes. The fact can be verified by every one +who possesses the skull of any old or new world monkey. For, inasmuch +as the brain in all mammals completely fills the cranial cavity, it +is obvious that a cast of the interior of the skull will reproduce the +general form of the brain, at any rate with such minute and, for the +present purpose, utterly unimportant differences as may result from the +absence of the enveloping membranes of the brain in the dry skull. But +if such a cast be made in plaster, and compared with a similar cast of +the interior of a human skull, it will be obvious that the cast of the +cerebral chamber, representing the cerebrum of the ape, as completely +covers over and overlaps the cast of the cerebellar chamber, +representing the cerebellum, as it does in the man (Figure 20). A +careless observer, forgetting that a soft structure like the brain loses +its proper shape the moment it is taken out of the skull, may indeed +mistake the uncovered condition of the cerebellum of an extracted and +distorted brain for the natural relations of the parts; but his error +must become patent even to himself if he try to replace the brain +within the cranial chamber. To suppose that the cerebellum of an ape is +naturally uncovered behind is a miscomprehension comparable only to that +of one who should imagine that a man's lungs always occupy but a small +portion of the thoracic cavity--because they do so when the chest is +opened, and their elasticity is no longer neutralized by the pressure of +the air. + +And the error is the less excusable, as it must become apparent to +every one who examines a section of the skull of any ape above a Lemur, +without taking the trouble to make a cast of it. For there is a +very marked groove in every such skull, as in the human skull--which +indicates the line of attachment of what is termed the 'tentorium'--a +sort of parchment-like shelf, or partition, which, in the recent state, +is interposed between the cerebrum and cerebellum, and prevents the +former from pressing upon the latter. (See Figure 16.) + +This groove, therefore, indicates the line of separation between that +part of the cranial cavity which contains the cerebrum, and that which +contains the cerebellum; and as the brain exactly fills the cavity of +the skull, it is obvious that the relations of these two parts of the +cranial cavity at once informs us of the relations of their contents. +Now in man, in all the old-world, and in all the new-world Simiae, +with one exception, when the face is directed forwards, this line of +attachment of the tentorium, or impression for the lateral sinus, as it +is technically called, is nearly horizontal, and the cerebral chamber +invariably overlaps or projects behind the cerebellar chamber. In the +Howler Monkey or 'Mycetes' (see Figure 16), the line passes obliquely +upwards and backwards, and the cerebral overlap is almost nil; while in +the Lemurs, as in the lower mammals, the line is much more inclined in +the same direction, and the cerebellar chamber projects considerably +beyond the cerebral. + +When the gravest errors respecting points so easily settled as +this question respecting the posterior lobes can be authoritatively +propounded, it is no wonder that matters of observation, of no very +complex character, but still requiring a certain amount of care, should +have fared worse. Any one who cannot see the posterior lobe in an ape's +brain is not likely to give a very valuable opinion respecting the +posterior cornu or the hippocampus minor. If a man cannot see a church, +it is preposterous to take his opinion about its altar-piece or painted +window--so that I do not feel bound to enter upon any discussion of +these points, but content myself with assuring the reader that the +posterior cornu and the hippocampus minor, have now been seen--usually, +at least as well developed as in man, and often better--not only in the +Chimpanzee, the Orang, and the Gibbon, but in all the genera of the old +world baboons and monkeys, and in most of the new world forms, including +the Marmosets.* ([Footnote] *See the note at the end of this essay for a +succinct history of the controversy to which allusion is here made.) + +(FIGURE 21.--Drawings of the cerebral hemispheres of a Man and of a +Chimpanzee of the same length, in order to show the relative proportions +of the parts: the former taken from a specimen, which Mr. Flower, +Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, was good +enough to dissect for me; the latter, from the photograph of a similarly +dissected Chimpanzee's brain, given in Mr. Marshall's paper above +referred to. 'a', posterior lobe; 'b', lateral ventricle; 'c', posterior +cornu; 'x', the hippocampus minor.) + +In fact, all the abundant and trustworthy evidence (consisting of the +results of careful investigations directed to the determination of these +very questions, by skilled anatomists) which we now possess, leads +to the conviction that, so far from the posterior lobe, the posterior +cornu, and the hippocampus minor, being structures peculiar to and +characteristic of man, as they have been over and over again asserted +to be, even after the publication of the clearest demonstration of the +reverse, it is precisely these structures which are the most marked +cerebral characters common to man with the apes. They are among the most +distinctly Simian peculiarities which the human organism exhibits. + +As to the convolutions, the brains of the apes exhibit every stage of +progress, from the almost smooth brain of the Marmoset, to the Orang +and the Chimpanzee, which fall but little below Man. And it is most +remarkable that, as soon as all the principal sulci appear, the pattern +according to which they are arranged is identical with that of the +corresponding sulci of man. The surface of the brain of a monkey +exhibits a sort of skeleton map of man's, and in the man-like apes +the details become more and more filled in, until it is only in minor +characters, such as the greater excavation of the anterior lobes, the +constant presence of fissures usually absent in man, and the different +disposition and proportions of some convolutions, that the Chimpanzee's +or the Orang's brain can be structurally distinguished from Man's. + +So far as cerebral structure goes, therefore, it is clear that Man +differs less from the Chimpanzee or the Orang, than these do even +from the Monkeys, and that the difference between the brains of the +Chimpanzee and of Man is almost insignificant, when compared with that +between the Chimpanzee brain and that of a Lemur. + +It must not be overlooked, however, that there is a very striking +difference in absolute mass and weight between the lowest human +brain and that of the highest ape--a difference which is all the more +remarkable when we recollect that a full grown Gorilla is probably +pretty nearly twice as heavy as a Bosjes man, or as many an European +woman. It may be doubted whether a healthy human adult brain ever +weighed less than thirty-one or two ounces, or that the heaviest Gorilla +brain has exceeded twenty ounces. + +This is a very noteworthy circumstance, and doubtless will one day help +to furnish an explanation of the great gulf which intervenes between the +lowest man and the highest ape in intellectual power;* but it has little +systematic value, for the simple reason that, as may be concluded from +what has been already said respecting cranial capacity, the difference +in weight of brain between the highest and the lowest men is far +greater, both relatively and absolutely, than that between the lowest +man and the highest ape. The latter, as has been seen, is represented +by, say twelve ounces of cerebral substance absolutely, or by 32:20 +relatively; but as the largest recorded human brain weighed between +65 and 66 ounces, the former difference is represented by more than 33 +ounces absolutely, or by 65:32 relatively. Regarded systematically, the +cerebral differences of man and apes are not of more than generic value; +his Family distinction resting chiefly on his dentition, his pelvis, and +his lower limbs. + +([Footnote] * I say 'help' to furnish: for I by no means believe that +it was any original difference of cerebral quality, or quantity which +caused that divergence between the human and the pithecoid stirpes, +which has ended in the present enormous gulf between them. It is +no doubt perfectly true, in a certain sense, that all difference of +function is a result of difference of structure; or, in other words, of +difference in the combination of the primary molecular forces of +living substance; and, starting from this undeniable axiom, objectors +occasionally, and with much seeming plausibility, argue that the vast +intellectual chasm between the Ape and Man implies a corresponding +structural chasm in the organs of the intellectual functions; so that, +it is said, the non-discovery of such vast differences proves, not that +they are absent, but that Science is incompetent to detect them. A very +little consideration, however, will, I think, show the fallacy of this +reasoning. Its validity hangs upon the assumption, that intellectual +power depends altogether on the brain--whereas the brain is only one +condition out of many on which intellectual manifestations depend; +the others being, chiefly, the organs of the senses and the motor +apparatuses, especially those which are concerned in prehension and in +the production of articulate speech. + +A man born dumb, notwithstanding his great cerebral mass and his +inheritance of strong intellectual instincts, would be capable of few +higher intellectual manifestations than an Orang or a Chimpanzee, if he +were confined to the society of dumb associates. And yet there might not +be the slightest discernible difference between his brain and that of +a highly intelligent and cultivated person. The dumbness might be the +result of a defective structure of the mouth, or of the tongue, or +a mere defective innervation of these parts; or it might result from +congenital deafness, caused by some minute defect of the internal ear, +which only a careful anatomist could discover. + +The argument, that because there is an immense difference between a +Man's intelligence and an Ape's, therefore, there must be an equally +immense difference between their brains, appears to me to be about as +well based as the reasoning by which one should endeavour to prove that, +because there is a "great gulf" between a watch that keeps accurate +time and another that will not go at all, there is therefore a great +structural hiatus between the two watches. A hair in the balance-wheel, +a little rust on a pinion, a bend in a tooth of the escapement, a +something so slight that only the practised eye of the watchmaker can +discover it, may be the source of all the difference. + +And believing, as I do, with Cuvier, that the possession of articulate +speech is the grand distinctive character of man (whether it be +absolutely peculiar to him or not), I find it very easy to comprehend, +that some equally inconspicuous structural difference may have been the +primary cause of the immeasurable and practically infinite divergence of +the Human from the Simian Stirps.) + +Thus, whatever system of organs be studied, the comparison of their +modifications in the ape series leads to one and the same result--that +the structural differences which separate Man from the Gorilla and the +Chimpanzee are not so great as those which separate the Gorilla from the +lower apes. + +But in enunciating this important truth I must guard myself against a +form of misunderstanding, which is very prevalent. I find, in fact, that +those who endeavour to teach what nature so clearly shows us in this +matter, are liable to have their opinions misrepresented and their +phraseology garbled, until they seem to say that the structural +differences between man and even the highest apes are small and +insignificant. Let me take this opportunity then of distinctly +asserting, on the contrary, that they are great and significant; that +every bone of a Gorilla bears marks by which it might be distinguished +from the corresponding bone of a Man; and that, in the present creation, +at any rate, no intermediate link bridges over the gap between 'Homo' +and 'Troglodytes'. + +It would be no less wrong than absurd to deny the existence of this +chasm; but it is at least equally wrong and absurd to exaggerate its +magnitude, and, resting on the admitted fact of its existence, to refuse +to inquire whether it is wide or narrow. Remember, if you will, that +there is no existing link between Man and the Gorilla, but do not forget +that there is a no less sharp line of demarcation, a no less complete +absence of any transitional form, between the Gorilla and the Orang, or +the Orang and the Gibbon. I say, not less sharp, though it is somewhat +narrower. The structural differences between Man and the Man-like apes +certainly justify our regarding him as constituting a family apart from +them; though, inasmuch as he differs less from them than they do from +other families of the same order, there can be no justification for +placing him in a distinct order. + +And thus the sagacious foresight of the great lawgiver of systematic +zoology, Linnaeus, becomes justified, and a century of anatomical +research brings us back to his conclusion, that man is a member of the +same order (for which the Linnaean term PRIMATES ought to be retained) +as the Apes and Lemurs. This order is now divisible into seven families, +of about equal systematic value: the first, the ANTHROPINI, contains +Man alone; the second, the CATARHINI, embraces the old-world apes; the +third, the PLATYRHINI, all new-world apes, except the Marmosets; the +fourth, the ARCTOPITHECINI, contains the Marmosets; the fifth, the +LEMURINI, the Lemurs--from which 'Cheiromys' should probably be excluded +to form a sixth distinct family, the CHEIROMYINI; while the seventh, +the GALEOPITHECINI, contains only the flying Lemur 'Galeopithecus',--a +strange form which almost touches on the Bats, as the 'Cheiromys' puts +on a rodent clothing, and the Lemurs simulate Insectivora. + +Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series +of gradations as this--leading us insensibly from the crown and summit +of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a +step, as it seems, to the lowest, smallest, and least intelligent of +the placental Mammalia. It is as if nature herself had foreseen +the arrogance of man, and with Roman severity had provided that his +intellect, by its very triumphs, should call into prominence the slaves, +admonishing the conqueror that he is but dust. + +These are the chief facts, this the immediate conclusion from them +to which I adverted in the commencement of this Essay. The facts, I +believe, cannot be disputed; and if so, the conclusion appears to me to +be inevitable. + +But if Man be separated by no greater structural barrier from the brutes +than they are from one another--then it seems to follow that if any +process of physical causation can be discovered by which the genera +and families of ordinary animals have been produced, that process of +causation is amply sufficient to account for the origin of Man. In other +words, if it could be shown that the Marmosets, for example, have +arisen by gradual modification of the ordinary Platyrhini, or that +both Marmosets and Platyrhini are modified ramifications of a primitive +stock--then, there would be no rational ground for doubting that man +might have originated, in the one case, by the gradual modification of +a man-like ape; or, in the other case, as a ramification of the same +primitive stock as those apes. + +At the present moment, but one such process of physical causation +has any evidence in its favour; or, in other words, there is but one +hypothesis regarding the origin of species of animals in general +which has any scientific existence--that propounded by Mr. Darwin. For +Lamarck, sagacious as many of his views were, mingled them with so much +that was crude and even absurd, as to neutralize the benefit which his +originality might have effected, had he been a more sober and cautious +thinker; and though I have heard of the announcement of a formula +touching "the ordained continuous becoming of organic forms," it is +obvious that it is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible, +and that a qua-qua-versal proposition of this kind, which may be read +backwards, or forwards, or sideways, with exactly the same amount of +signification, does not really exist, though it may seem to do so. + +At the present moment, therefore, the question of the relation of man to +the lower animals resolves itself, in the end, into the larger question +of the tenability, or untenability of Mr. Darwin's views. But here +we enter upon difficult ground, and it behoves us to define our exact +position with the greatest care. + +It cannot be doubted, I think, that Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily proved +that what he terms selection, or selective modification, must occur, and +does occur, in nature; and he has also proved to superfluity that such +selection is competent to produce forms as distinct, structurally, as +some genera even are. If the animated world presented us with none but +structural differences, I should have no hesitation in saying that Mr. +Darwin had demonstrated the existence of a true physical cause, amply +competent to account for the origin of living species, and of man among +the rest. + +But, in addition to their structural distinctions, the species of +animals and plants, or at least a great number of them, exhibit +physiological characters--what are known as distinct species, +structurally, being for the most part either altogether incompetent to +breed one with another; or if they breed, the resulting mule, or hybrid, +is unable to perpetuate its race with another hybrid of the same kind. + +A true physical cause is, however, admitted to be such only on one +condition--that it shall account for all the phenomena which come +within the range of its operation. If it is inconsistent with any +one phenomenon, it must be rejected; if it fails to explain any one +phenomenon, it is so far weak, so far to be suspected; though it may +have a perfect right to claim provisional acceptance. + +Now, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis is not, so far as I am aware, inconsistent +with any known biological fact; on the contrary, if admitted, the facts +of Development, of Comparative Anatomy, of Geographical Distribution, +and of Palaeontology, become connected together, and exhibit a meaning +such as they never possessed before; and I, for one, am fully convinced, +that if not precisely true, that hypothesis is as near an approximation +to the truth as, for example, the Copernican hypothesis was to the true +theory of the planetary motions. + +But, for all this, our acceptance of the Darwinian hypothesis must be +provisional so long as one link in the chain of evidence is wanting; and +so long as all the animals and plants certainly produced by selective +breeding from a common stock are fertile, and their progeny are fertile +with one another, that link will be wanting. For, so long, selective +breeding will not be proved to be competent to do all that is required +of it to produce natural species. + +I have put this conclusion as strongly as possible before the reader, +because the last position in which I wish to find myself is that of +an advocate for Mr. Darwin's, or any other views--if by an advocate is +meant one whose business it is to smooth over real difficulties, and to +persuade where he cannot convince. + +In justice to Mr. Darwin, however, it must be admitted that the +conditions of fertility and sterility are very ill understood, and that +every day's advance in knowledge leads us to regard the hiatus in his +evidence as of less and less importance, when set against the multitude +of facts which harmonize with, or receive an explanation from, his +doctrines. + +I adopt Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, therefore, subject to the production of +proof that physiological species may be produced by selective breeding; +just as a physical philosopher may accept the undulatory theory of +light, subject to the proof of the existence of the hypothetical ether; +or as the chemist adopts the atomic theory, subject to the proof of the +existence of atoms; and for exactly the same reasons, namely, that it +has an immense amount of prima facie probability: that it is the only +means at present within reach of reducing the chaos of observed facts +to order; and lastly, that it is the most powerful instrument of +investigation which has been presented to naturalists since the +invention of the natural system of classification, and the commencement +of the systematic study of embryology. + +But even leaving Mr. Darwin's views aside, the whole analogy of natural +operations furnishes so complete and crushing an argument against +the intervention of any but what are termed secondary causes, in the +production of all the phenomena of the universe; that, in view of the +intimate relations between Man and the rest of the living world, and +between the forces exerted by the latter and all other forces, I can see +no excuse for doubting that all are co-ordinated terms of Nature's great +progression, from the formless to the formed--from the inorganic to the +organic--from blind force to conscious intellect and will. + +Science has fulfilled her function when she has ascertained and +enunciated truth; and were these pages addressed to men of science only, +I should now close this essay, knowing that my colleagues have learned +to respect nothing but evidence, and to believe that their highest duty +lies in submitting to it, however it may jar against their inclinations. + +But desiring, as I do, to reach the wider circle of the intelligent +public, it would be unworthy cowardice were I to ignore the repugnance +with which the majority of my readers are likely to meet the conclusions +to which the most careful and conscientious study I have been able to +give to this matter, has led me. + +On all sides I shall hear the cry--"We are men and women, not a mere +better sort of apes, a little longer in the leg, more compact in the +foot, and bigger in brain than your brutal Chimpanzees and Gorillas. +The power of knowledge--the conscience of good and evil--the pitiful +tenderness of human affections, raise us out of all real fellowship with +the brutes, however closely they may seem to approximate us." + +To this I can only reply that the exclamation would be most just and +would have my own entire sympathy, if it were only relevant. But, it is +not I who seek to base Man's dignity upon his great toe, or insinuate +that we are lost if an Ape has a hippocampus minor. On the contrary, I +have done my best to sweep away this vanity. I have endeavoured to show +that no absolute structural line of demarcation, wider than that between +the animals which immediately succeed us in the scale, can be drawn +between the animal world and ourselves; and I may add the expression of +my belief that the attempt to draw a psychical distinction is equally +futile, and that even the highest faculties of feeling and of intellect +begin to germinate in lower forms of life.* At the same time, no one is +more strongly convinced than I am of the vastness of the gulf between +civilized man and the brutes; or is more certain that whether FROM them +or not, he is assuredly not OF them. No one is less disposed to think +lightly of the present dignity, or despairingly of the future hopes, of +the only consciously intelligent denizen of this world. + +([Footnote] * It is so rare a pleasure for me to find Professor Owen's +opinions in entire accordance with my own, that I cannot forbear from +quoting a paragraph which appeared in his Essay "On the Characters, +etc., of the Class Mammalia," in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the +Linnean Society of London' for 1857, but is unaccountably omitted in the +"Reade Lecture" delivered before the University of Cambridge two years +later, which is otherwise nearly a reprint of the paper in question. +Prof. Owen writes: + +"Not being able to appreciate or conceive of the distinction between the +psychical phenomena of a Chimpanzee, and of a Boschisman or of an Aztec, +with arrested brain growth, as being of a nature so essential as to +preclude a comparison between them, or as being other than a +difference of degree, I cannot shut my eyes to the significance of that +all-pervading similitude of structure--every tooth, every bone, strictly +homologous--which makes the determination of the difference between +'Homo' and 'Pithecus' the anatomist's difficulty." + +Surely it is a little singular, that the 'anatomist,' who finds it +'difficult' to 'determine the difference' between 'Homo' and 'Pithecus', +should yet range them on anatomical grounds, in distinct sub-classes!) + +We are indeed told by those who assume authority in these matters, that +the two sets of opinions are incompatible, and that the belief in +the unity of origin of man and brutes involves the brutalization and +degradation of the former. But is this really so? Could not a sensible +child confute by obvious arguments, the shallow rhetoricians who would +force this conclusion upon us? Is it, indeed, true, that the Poet, or +the Philosopher, or the Artist whose genius is the glory of his age, is +degraded from his high estate by the undoubted historical probability, +not to say certainty, that he is the direct descendant of some naked +and bestial savage, whose intelligence was just sufficient to make him a +little more cunning than the Fox, and by so much more dangerous than +the Tiger? Or is he bound to howl and grovel on all fours because of the +wholly unquestionable fact, that he was once an egg, which no ordinary +power of discrimination could distinguish from that of a Dog? Or is the +philanthropist or the saint to give up his endeavours to lead a noble +life, because the simplest study of man's nature reveals, at its +foundations, all the selfish passions and fierce appetites of the merest +quadruped? Is mother-love vile because a hen shows it, or fidelity base +because dogs possess it? + +The common sense of the mass of mankind will answer these questions +without a moment's hesitation. Healthy humanity, finding itself hard +pressed to escape from real sin and degradation, will leave the brooding +over speculative pollution to the cynics and the 'righteous overmuch' +who, disagreeing in everything else, unite in blind insensibility to +the nobleness of the visible world, and in inability to appreciate the +grandeur of the place Man occupies therein. + +Nay more, thoughtful men, once escaped from the blinding influences +of traditional prejudice, will find in the lowly stock whence Man has +sprung, the best evidence of the splendour of his capacities; and will +discern in his long progress through the Past, a reasonable ground of +faith in his attainment of a nobler Future. + +They will remember that in comparing civilised man with the animal +world, one is as the Alpine traveller, who sees the mountains soaring +into the sky and can hardly discern where the deep shadowed crags and +roseate peaks end, and where the clouds of heaven begin. Surely the +awe-struck voyager may be excused if, at first, he refuses to believe +the geologist, who tells him that these glorious masses are, after all, +the hardened mud of primeval seas, or the cooled slag of subterranean +furnaces--of one substance with the dullest clay, but raised by inward +forces to that place of proud and seemingly inaccessible glory. + +But the geologist is right; and due reflection on his teachings, instead +of diminishing our reverence and our wonder, adds all the force +of intellectual sublimity to the mere aesthetic intuition of the +uninstructed beholder. + +And after passion and prejudice have died away, the same result will +attend the teachings of the naturalist respecting that great Alps +and Andes of the living world--Man. Our reverence for the nobility of +manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that Man is, in substance +and in structure, one with the brutes; for, he alone possesses the +marvellous endowment of intelligible and rational speech, whereby, +in the secular period of his existence, he has slowly accumulated and +organized the experience which is almost wholly lost with the cessation +of every individual life in other animals; so that now he stands raised +upon it as on a mountain top, far above the level of his humble fellows, +and transfigured from his grosser nature by reflecting, here and there, +a ray from the infinite source of truth. + + + + +A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE CEREBRAL STRUCTURE OF MAN AND THE APES. + +Up to the year 1857 all anatomists of authority, who had occupied +themselves with the cerebral structure of the Apes--Cuvier, Tiedemann, +Sandifort, Vrolik, Isidore G. St. Hilaire, Schroeder van der Kolk, +Gratiolet--were agreed that the brain of the Apes possesses a POSTERIOR +LOBE. + +Tiedemann, in 1825, figured and acknowledged in the text of his 'Icones' +the existence of the POSTERIOR CORNU of the lateral ventricle in +the Apes, not only under the title of 'Scrobiculus parvus loco cornu +posterioris'--a fact which has been paraded--but as 'cornu posterius' +('Icones', p. 54), a circumstance which has been, as sedulously, kept in +the background. + +Cuvier ('Lecons', T. iii. p. 103) says, "the anterior or lateral +ventricles possess a digital cavity (posterior cornu) only in Man and +the Apes...its presence depends on that of the posterior lobes." + +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, and Gratiolet, had also figured and +described the posterior cornu in various Apes. As to the HIPPOCAMPUS +MINOR Tiedemann had erroneously asserted its absence in the Apes; but +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik had pointed out the existence of what +they considered a rudimentary one in the Chimpanzee, and Gratiolet had +expressly affirmed its existence in these animals. Such was the state of +our information on these subjects in the year 1856. + +In the year 1857, however, Professor Owen, either in ignorance of these +well-known facts or else unjustifiably suppressing them, submitted to +the Linnaean Society a paper "On the Characters, Principles of Division, +and Primary Groups of the Class Mammalia," which was printed in the +Society's Journal, and contains the following passage:--"In Man, +the brain presents an ascensive step in development, higher and +more strongly marked than that by which the preceding sub-class +was distinguished from the one below it. Not only do the cerebral +hemispheres overlap and the olfactory lobes and cerebellum, but they +extend in advance of the one and further back than the other. The +posterior development is so marked, that anatomists have assigned to +that part the character of a third lobe; 'it is peculiar to the +genus Homo, and equally peculiar is the posterior horn of the lateral +ventricle and the 'hippocampus minor,' which characterise the hind +lobe of each hemisphere'."--'Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnaean +Society, Vol. ii. p. 19. + +As the essay in which this passage stands had no less ambitious an aim +than the remodelling of the classification of the Mammalia, its +author might be supposed to have written under a sense of peculiar +responsibility, and to have tested, with especial care, the statements +he ventured to promulgate. And even if this be expecting too much, +hastiness, or want of opportunity for due deliberation, cannot now be +pleaded in extenuation of any shortcomings; for the propositions cited +were repeated two years afterwards in the Reade Lecture, delivered +before so grave a body as the University of Cambridge, in 1859. + +When the assertions, which I have italicised in the above extract, +first came under my notice, I was not a little astonished at so flat a +contradiction of the doctrines current among well-indormed anatomists; +but, not unnaturally imagining that the deliberate statements of a +responsible person must have some foundation in fact, I deemed it my +duty to investigate the subject anew before the time at which it +would be my business to lecture thereupon came round. The result of my +inquiries was to prove that Mr. Owen's three assertions, that "the third +lobe, the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus +minor," are "peculiar to the genus 'Homo'," are contrary to the plainest +facts. I communicated this conclusion to the students of my class; +and then, having no desire to embark in a controversy which could not +redound to the honour of British science, whatever its issue, I turned +to more congenial occupations. + +The time speedily arrived, however, when a persistence in this reticence +would have involved me in an unworthy paltering with truth. + +At the meeting of the British Association at Oxford, in 1860, Professor +Owen repeated these assertions in my presence, and, of course, I +immediately gave them a direct and unqualified contradiction, pledging +myself to justify that unusual procedure elsewhere. I redeemed that +pledge by publishing, in the January number of the 'Natural History +Review' for 1861, an article wherein the truth of the three following +propositions was fully demonstrated (l. c. p. 71):-- + +"1. That the third lobe is neither peculiar to, nor characteristic of, +man, seeing that it exists in all the higher quadrumana." + +"2. That the posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle is neither +peculiar to, nor characteristic of, man, inasmuch as it also exists in +the higher quadrumana." + +"3. That the 'hippocampus minor' is neither peculiar to, nor +characteristic of, man, as it is found in certain of the higher +quadrumana." + +Furthermore, this paper contains the following paragraph (p. 76): + +"And lastly, Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik (op. cit. p. 271), though +they particularly note that 'the lateral ventricle is distinguished from +that of Man by the very defective proportions of the posterior cornu, +wherein only a stripe is visible as an indication of the hippocampus +minor;' yet the Figure 4, in their second Plate, shows that this +posterior cornu is a perfectly distinct and unmistakeable structure, +quite as large as it often is in Man. It is the more remarkable that +Professor Owen should have overlooked the explicit statement and figure +of these authors, as it is quite obvious, on comparison of the figures, +that his woodcut of the brain of a Chimpanzee (l. c. p. 19) is a reduced +copy of the second figure of Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's +first Plate. + +"As M. Gratiolet (l. c. p. 18), however is careful to remark, +'unfortunately the brain which they have taken as a model was greatly +altered (profondement affaisse), whence the general form of the brain +is given in these plates in a manner which is altogether incorrect.' +Indeed, it is perfectly obvious, from a comparison of a section of the +skull of the Chimpanzee with these figures, that such is the case; and +it is greatly to be regretted that so inadequate a figure should have +been taken as a typical representation of the Chimpanzee's brain." + +From this time forth, the untenability of his position might have been +as apparent to Professor Owen as it was to every one else; but, so far +from retracting the grave errors into which he had fallen, Professor +Owen has persisted in and reiterated them; first, in a lecture delivered +before the Royal Institution on the 19th of March, 1861, which is +admitted to have been accurately reproduced in the 'Athenaeum' for the +23rd of the same month, in a letter addressed by Professor Owen to that +journal on the 30th of March. The 'Athenaeum report was accompanied by +a diagram purporting to represent a Gorilla's brain, but in reality so +extraordinary a misrepresentation, that Professor Owen substantially, +though not explicitly, withdraws it in the letter in question. In +amending this error, however, Professor Owen fell into another of +much graver import, as his communication concludes with the following +paragraph: "For the true proportion in which the cerebrum covers the +cerebellum in the highest Apes, reference should be made to the figure +of the undissected brain of the Chimpanzee in my 'Reade's Lecture on the +Classification, etc., of the Mammalia', p. 25, Figure 7, 8 vo. 1859." + +It would not be credible, if it were not unfortunately true, that this +figure, to which the trusting public is referred, without a word of +qualification, "for the true proportion in which the cerebrum covers the +cerebellum in the highest Apes," is exactly that unacknowledged copy of +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's figure whose utter inaccuracy had +been pointed out years before by Gratiolet, and had been brought to +Professor Owen's knowledge by myself in the passage of my article in the +'Natural History Review' above quoted. + +I drew public attention to this circumstance again in my reply to +Professor Owen, published in the 'Athenaeum' for April 13th, 1861; but +the exploded figure was reproduced once more by Professor Owen, without +the slightest allusion to its inaccuracy, in the 'Annals of Natural +History' for June 1861! + +This proved too much for the patience of the original authors of the +figure, Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, who, in a note +addressed to the Academy of Amsterdam, of which they were members, +declared themselves to be, though decided opponents of all forms of the +doctrine of progressive development, above all things, lovers of truth: +and that, therefore, at whatever risk of seeming to lend support to +views which they disliked, they felt it their duty to take the first +opportunity of publicly repudiating Professor Owen's misuse of their +authority. + +In this note they frankly admitted the justice of the criticisms of +M. Gratiolet, quoted above, and they illustrated, by new and careful +figures, the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus +minor of the Orang. Furthermore, having demonstrated the parts, at +one of the sittings of the Academy, they add, "la presence des parties +contestees y a ete universellement reconnue par les anatomistes presents +a la seance. Le seul doute qui soit reste se rapporte au pes Hippocampi +minor...A l'etat frais l'indice du petit pied d'Hippocampe etait plus +prononce que maintenant." + +Professor Owen repeated his erroneous assertions at the meeting of the +British Association in 1861, and again, without any obvious necessity, +and without adducing a single new fact or new argument, or being able +in any way to meet the crushing evidence from original dissections of +numerous Apes' brains, which had in the meanwhile been brought forward +by Prof. Rolleston,* ([Footnote] *On the Affinities of the Brain of +the Orang. 'Nat. Hist. Review', April, 1861.) F.R.S., Mr. Marshall,* +([Footnote] *On the Brain of a young Chimpanzee. 'Ibid.', July, 1861.) +F.R.S., Mr. Flower,* ([Footnote] *On the Posterior lobes of the Cerebrum +of the Quadrumana. 'Philosophical Transactions', 1862.) Mr. Turner,* +([Footnote] *On the anatomical Relations of the Surfaces of the +Tentorium to the Cerebrum and Cerebellum in Man and the lower Mammals. +'Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh', March, 1862.) and +myself,* ([Footnote] *On the Brain of Ateles. 'Proceedings of Zoological +Society', 1861.) revived the subject at the Cambridge meeting of the +same body in 1862. Not content with the tolerably vigorous repudiation +which these unprecedented proceedings met with in Section D, Professor +Owen sanctioned the publication of a version of his own statements, +accompanied by a strange misrepresentation of mine (as may be seen by +comparison of the 'Times' report of the discussion), in the 'Medical +Times' for October 11th, 1862. I subjoin the conclusion of my reply in +the same journal for October 25th. + +"If this were a question of opinion, or a question of interpretation of +parts or of terms,--were it even a question of observation in which +the testimony of my own senses alone was pitted against that of another +person, I should adopt a very different tone in discussing this matter. +I should, in all humility, admit the likelihood of having myself erred +in judgment, failed in knowledge, or been blinded by prejudice. + +"But no one pretends now, that the controversy is one of the terms or +of opinions. Novel and devoid of authority as some of Professor Owen's +proposed definitions may have been, they might be accepted without +changing the great features of the case. Hence though special +investigations into these matters have been undertaken during the last +two years by Dr. Allen Thomson, by Dr. Rolleston, by Mr. Marshall, +and by Mr. Flower, all, as you are aware, anatomists of repute in this +country, and by Professors Schroeder Van der Kolk, and Vrolik (whom +Professor Owen incautiously tried to press into his own service) on +the Continent, all these able and conscientious observers have with +one accord testified to the accuracy of my statements, and to the utter +baselessness of the assertions of Professor Owen. Even the venerable +Rudolph Wagner, whom no man will accuse of progressionist proclivities, +has raised his voice on the same side; while not a single anatomist, +great or small, has supported Professor Owen. + +"Now, I do not mean to suggest that scientific differences should be +settled by universal suffrage, but I do conceive that solid proofs must +be met by something more than empty and unsupported assertions. Yet +during the two years through which this preposterous controversy has +dragged its weary length, Professor Owen has not ventured to bring +forward a single preparation in support of his often-repeated +assertions. + +"The case stands thus, therefore:--Not only are the statements made by +me in consonance with the doctrines of the best older authorities, +and with those of all recent investigators, but I am quite ready to +demonstrate them on the first monkey that comes to hand; while Professor +Owen's assertions are not only in diametrical opposition to both old +and new authorities, but he has not produced, and, I will add, cannot +produce, a single preparation which justifies them." + +I now leave this subject, for the present.--For the credit of my +calling I should be glad to be, hereafter, for ever silent upon it. But, +unfortunately, this is a matter upon which, after all that has occurred, +no mistake or confusion of terms is possible--and in affirming that the +posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus minor exist in +certain Apes, I am stating either that which is true, or that which +I must know to be false. The question has thus become one of personal +veracity. For myself, I will accept no other issue than this, grave as +it is, to the present controversy. + +End of On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals. + + + + +ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. + +I have endeavoured to show, in the preceding Essay, that the ANTHROPINI, +or Man Family, form a very well defined group of the Primates, between +which and the immediately following Family, the CATARHINI, there is, in +the existing world, the same entire absence of any transitional form or +connecting link, as between the CATARHINI and PLATYRHINI. + +It is a commonly received doctrine, however, that the structural +intervals between the various existing modifications of organic beings +may be diminished, or even obliterated, if we take into account the long +and varied succession of animals and plants which have preceded those +now living and which are known to us only by their fossilized remains. +How far this doctrine is well based, how far, on the other hand, as our +knowledge at present stands, it is an overstatement of the real facts of +the case, and an exaggeration of the conclusions fairly deducible from +them, are points of grave importance, but into the discussion of which +I do not, at present, propose to enter. It is enough that such a view of +the relations of extinct to living beings has been propounded, to lead +us to inquire, with anxiety, how far the recent discoveries of human +remains in a fossil state bear out, or oppose, that view. + +I shall confine myself, in discussing this question, to those +fragmentary Human skulls from the caves of Engis in the valley of +the Meuse, in Belgium, and of the Neanderthal near Dusseldorf, the +geological relations of which have been examined with so much care +by Sir Charles Lyell; upon whose high authority I shall take it for +granted, that the Engis skull belonged to a contemporary of the Mammoth +('Elephas primigenius') and of the woolly Rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros +tichorhinus'), with the bones of which it was found associated; and that +the Neanderthal skull is of great, though uncertain, antiquity. Whatever +be the geological age of the latter skull, I conceive it is quite safe +(on the ordinary principles of paleontological reasoning) to assume +that the former takes us to, at least, the further side of the vague +biological limit, which separates the present geological epoch from +that which immediately preceded it. And there can be no doubt that the +physical geography of Europe has changed wonderfully, since the bones +of Men and Mammoths, Hyaenas and Rhinoceroses were washed pell-mell into +the cave of Engis. + +The skull from the cave of Engis was originally discovered by Professor +Schmerling, and was described by him, together with other human remains +disinterred at the same time, in his valuable work, 'Recherches sur les +ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de la Province de Liege', +published in 1833 (p. 59, et seq.), from which the following paragraphs +are extracted, the precise expressions of the author being, as far as +possible, preserved. + +"In the first place, I must remark that these human remains, which are +in my possession, are characterized like thousands of bones which I have +lately been disinterring, by the extent of the decomposition which +they have undergone, which is precisely the same as that of the extinct +species: all, with a few exceptions, are broken; some few are rounded, +as is frequently found to be the case in fossil remains of other +species. The fractures are vertical or oblique; none of them are eroded; +their colour does not differ from that of other fossil bones, and varies +from whitish yellow to blackish. All are lighter than recent bones, with +the exception of those which have a calcareous incrustation, and the +cavities of which are filled with such matter. + +"The cranium which I have caused to be figured, Plate I., Figs. 1, 2, is +that of an old person. The sutures are beginning to be effaced: all the +facial bones are wanting, and of the temporal bones only a fragment of +that of the right side is preserved. + +"The face and the base of the cranium had been detached before the +skull was deposited in the cave, for we were unable to find those parts, +though the whole cavern was regularly searched. The cranium was met with +at a depth of a metre and a half (five feet nearly), hidden under +an osseous breccia, composed of the remains of small animals, and +containing one rhinoceros tusk, with several teeth of horses and of +ruminants. This breccia, which has been spoken of above (p. 30), was a +metre (3 1/4 feet about) wide, and rose to the height of a metre and +a half above the floor of the cavern, to the walls of which it adhered +strongly. + +"The earth which contained this human skull exhibited no trace of +disturbance: teeth of rhinoceros, horse, hyaena, and bear, surrounded it +on all sides. + +(FIGURE 22.--The skull from the cave of Engis--viewed from the +right side. 'a' glabella, 'b' occipital protuberance, ('a' to 'b' +glabello-occipital line), 'c' auditory foramen.) + +"The famous Blumenbach* has directed attention to the differences +presented by the form and the dimensions of human crania of different +races. This important work would have assisted us greatly, if the +face, a part essential for the determination of race, with more or less +accuracy, had not been wanting in our fossil cranium. + +([Footnote] *Decas Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium +illustrata. Gottingae, 1790-1820. + +"We are convinced that even if the skull had been complete, it would not +have been possible to pronounce, with certainty, upon a single specimen; +for individual variations are so numerous in the crania of one and the +same race, that one cannot, without laying oneself open to large chances +of error, draw any inference from a single fragment of a cranium to the +general form of the head to which it belonged. + +"Nevertheless, in order to neglect no point respecting the form of this +fossil skull, we may observe that, from the first, the elongated and +narrow form of the forehead attracted our attention. + +"In fact, the slight elevation of the frontal, its narrowness, and +the form of the orbit, approximate it more nearly to the cranium of +an Ethiopian than to that of an European: the elongated form and the +produced occiput are also characters which we believe to be observable +in our fossil cranium; but to remove all doubt upon that subject I have +caused the contours of the cranium of an European and of an Ethiopian to +be drawn and the foreheads represented. Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2, and, +in the same plate, Figs. 3 and 4, will render the differences easily +distinguishable; and a single glance at the figures will be more +instructive than a long and wearisome description. + +"At whatever conclusion we may arrive as to the origin of the man from +whence this fossil skull proceeded, we may express an opinion without +exposing ourselves to a fruitless controversy. Each may adopt the +hypothesis which seems to him most probable: for my own part, I hold it +to be demonstrated that this cranium has belonged to a person of limited +intellectual faculties, and we conclude thence that it belonged to a +man of a low degree of civilization: a deduction which is borne out +by contrasting the capacity of the frontal with that of the occipital +region. + +"Another cranium of a young individual was discovered in the floor of +the cavern beside the tooth of an elephant; the skull was entire when +found, but the moment it was lifted it fell into pieces, which I have +not, as yet, been able to put together again. But I have represented the +bones of the upper jaw, Plate I., Figure 5. The state of the alveoli and +the teeth, shows that the molars had not yet pierced the gum. Detached +milk molars and some fragments of a human skull proceed from this same +place. The Figure 3 represents a human superior incisor tooth, the size +of which is truly remarkable.* ([Footnote] *In a subsequent passage, +Schmerling remarks upon the occurrence of an incisor tooth 'of enormous +size' from the caverns of Engihoul. The tooth figured is somewhat long, +but its dimensions do not appear to me to be otherwise remarkable.) + +"Figure 4 is a fragment of a superior maxillary bone, the molar teeth of +which are worn down to the roots. + +"I possess two vertebrae, a first and last dorsal. + +"A clavicle of the left side (see Plate III., Figure 1); although it +belonged to a young individual, this bone shows that he must have been +of great stature.* ([Footnote] *The figure of this clavicle measures 5 +inches from end to end in a straight line--so that the bone is rather a +small than a large one.) + +"Two fragments of the radius, badly preserved, do not indicate that the +height of the man, to whom they belonged, exceeded five feet and a half. + +"As to the remains of the upper extremities, those which are in my +possession consist merely of a fragment of an ulna and of a radius +(Plate III., Figs. 5 and 6). + +"Figure 2, Plate IV., represents a metacarpal bone, contained in the +breccia, of which we have spoken; it was found in the lower part above +the cranium: add to this some metacarpal bones, found at very different +distances, half-a-dozen metatarsals, three phalanges of the hand, and +one of the foot. + +"This is a brief enumeration of the remains of human bones collected +in the cavern of Engis, which has preserved for us the remains of three +individuals, surrounded by those of the Elephant, of the Rhinoceros, and +of Carnivora of species unknown in the present creation." + +From the cave of Engihoul, opposite that of Engis, on the right bank of +the Meuse, Schmerling obtained the remains of three other individuals +of Man, among which were only two fragments of parietal bones, but many +bones of the extremities. In one case a broken fragment of an ulna +was soldered to a like fragment of a radius by stalagmite, a condition +frequently observed among the bones of the Cave Bear ('Ursus spelaeus'), +found in the Belgian caverns. + +It was in the cavern of Engis that Professor Schmerling found, incrusted +with stalagmite and joined to a stone, the pointed bone implement, which +he has figured in Figure 7 of his Plate XXXVI., and worked flints were +found by him in all those Belgian caves, which contained an abundance of +fossil bones. + +A short letter from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, published in the 'Comptes +Rendus' of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, for July 2nd, 1838, speaks +of a visit (and apparently a very hasty one) paid to the collection of +Professor 'Schermidt' (which is presumably a misprint for Schmerling) +at Liege. The writer briefly criticises the drawings which illustrate +Schmerling's work, and affirms that the "human cranium is a little +longer than it is represented" in Schmerling's figure. The only other +remark worth quoting is this:--"The aspect of the human bones differs +little from that of the cave bones, with which we are familiar, and of +which there is a considerable collection in the same place. With respect +to their special forms, compared with those of the varieties of recent +human crania, few 'certain' conclusions can be put forward; for +much greater differences exist between the different specimens of +well-characterized varieties, than between the fossil cranium of Liege +and that of one of those varieties selected as a term of comparison." + +Geoffroy St. Hilaire's remarks are, it will be observed, little but an +echo of the philosophic doubts of the describer and discoverer of the +remains. As to the critique upon Schmerling's figures, I find that the +side view given by the latter is really about 3/10ths of an inch shorter +than the original, and that the front view is diminished to about +the same extent. Otherwise the representation is not, in any way, +inaccurate, but corresponds very well with the cast which is in my +possession. + +A piece of the occipital bone, which Schmerling seems to have missed, +has since been fitted on to the rest of the cranium by an accomplished +anatomist, Dr. Spring, of Liege, under whose direction an excellent +plaster cast was made for Sir Charles Lyell. It is upon and from a +duplicate of that cast that my own observations and the accompanying +figures, the outlines of which are copied from very accurate Camera +lucida drawings, by my friend Mr. Busk, reduced to one-half of the +natural size, are made. + +As Professor Schmerling observes, the base of the skull is destroyed, +and the facial bones are entirely absent; but the roof of the cranium, +consisting of the frontal, parietal, and the greater part of the +occipital bones, as far as the middle of the occipital foramen, is +entire or nearly so. The left temporal bone is wanting. Of the right +temporal, the parts in the immediate neighbourhood of the auditory +foramen, the mastoid process, and a considerable portion of the squamous +element of the temporal are well preserved (Figure 22). + +The lines of fracture which remain between the coadjusted pieces of the +skull, and are faithfully displayed in Schmerling's figure, are readily +traceable in the cast. The sutures are also discernible, but the complex +disposition of their serrations, shown in the figure, is not obvious +in the cast. Though the ridges which give attachment to muscles are not +excessively prominent, they are well marked, and taken together with +the apparently well developed frontal sinuses, and the condition of the +sutures, leave no doubt on my mind that the skull is that of an adult, +if not middle-aged man. + +The extreme length of the skull is 7.7 inches. Its extreme breadth, +which corresponds very nearly with the interval between the parietal +protuberances, is not more than 5.4 inches. The proportion of the length +to the breadth is therefore very nearly as 100 to 70. If a line be drawn +from the point at which the brow curves in towards the root of the nose, +and which is called the 'glabella' ('a') (Figure 22), to the occipital +protuberance ('b'), and the distance to the highest point of the arch of +the skull be measured perpendicularly from this line, it will be +found to be 4.75 inches. Viewed from above, Figure 23, A, the forehead +presents an evenly rounded curve, and passes into the contour of +the sides and back of the skull, which describes a tolerably regular +elliptical curve. + +The front view (Figure 23, B) shows that the roof of the skull was very +regularly and elegantly arched in the transverse direction, and that the +transverse diameter was a little less below the parietal protuberances, +than above them. The forehead cannot be called narrow in relation to the +rest of the skull, nor can it be called a retreating forehead; on the +contrary, the antero-posterior contour of the skull is well arched, so +that the distance along that contour, from the nasal depression to the +occipital protuberance, measures about 13.75 inches. The transverse arc +of the skull, measured from one auditory foramen to the other, across +the middle of the sagittal suture, is about 13 inches. The sagittal +suture itself is 5.5 inches long. + +The supraciliary prominences or brow-ridges (on each side of 'a', Figure +22) are well, but not excessively, developed, and are separated by a +median depression. Their principal elevation is disposed so obliquely +that I judge them to be due to large frontal sinuses. + +If a line joining the glabella and the occipital protuberance ('a', 'b', +Figure 22) be made horizontal, no part of the occipital region projects +more than 1/10th of an inch behind the posterior extremity of that line, +and the upper edge of the auditory foramen ('c') is almost in contact +with a line drawn parallel with this upon the outer surface of the +skull. + +A transverse line drawn from one auditory foramen to the other +traverses, as usual, the forepart of the occipital foramen. The capacity +of the interior of this fragmentary skull has not been ascertained. + +The history of the Human remains from the cavern in the Neanderthal +may best be given in the words of their original describer, Dr +Schaaffhausen,* as translated by Mr. Busk. ([Footnote] *ON THE CRANIA OF +THE MOST ANCIENT RACES OF MAN. By Professor D. Schaaffhausen, of Bonn. +(From Muller's 'Archiv.', 1858, pp. 453.) With Remarks, and original +Figures, taken from a Cast of the Neanderthal Cranium. By George Busk, +F.R.S., etc. 'Natural History Review'. April, 1861.) + +"In the early part of the year 1857, a human skeleton was discovered in +a limestone cave in the Neanderthal, near Hochdal, between Dusseldorf +and Elberfeld. Of this, however, I was unable to procure more than a +plaster cast of the cranium, taken at Elberfeld, from which I drew up +an account of its remarkable conformation, which was, in the first +instance, read on the 4th of February, 1857, at the meeting of the +Lower Rhine Medical and Natural History Society, at Bonn.* ([Footnote] +*'Verhandl. d. Naturhist.' Vereins der Preuss. Rheinlande und +Westphalens., xiv. Bonn, 1857.) + +Subsequently Dr. Fuhlrott, to whom science is indebted for the +preservation of these bones, which were not at first regarded as human, +and into whose possession they afterwards came, brought the cranium from +Elberfeld to Bonn, and entrusted it to me for more accurate anatomical +examination. At the General Meeting of the Natural History Society of +Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia, at Bonn, on the 2nd of June, 1857,* +Dr Fuhlrott himself gave a full account of the locality, and of the +circumstances under which the discovery was made. ([Footnote] *'Ib. +Correspondenzblatt. No. 2.) + +He was of opinion that the bones might be regarded as fossil; and in +coming to this conclusion, he laid especial stress upon the existence of +dendritic deposits, with which their surface was covered, and which +were first noticed upon them by Professor Meyer. To this communication +I appended a brief report on the results of my anatomical examination +of the bones. The conclusions at which I arrived were:--1st. That +the extraordinary form of the skull was due to a natural conformation +hitherto not known to exist, even in the most barbarous races. 2nd. That +these remarkable human remains belonged to a period antecedent to the +time of the Celts and Germans, and were in all probability derived +from one of the wild races of North-western Europe, spoken of by Latin +writers; and which were encountered as autochthones by the German +immigrants. And 3rdly. That it was beyond doubt that these human relics +were traceable to a period at which the latest animals of the diluvium +still existed; but that no proof of this assumption, nor consequently +of their so-termed 'fossil' condition, was afforded by the circumstances +under which the bones were discovered. + +(FIGURE 23.--The Engis skull viewed from above (A) and in front (B).) + +"As Dr. Fuhlrott has not yet published his description of these +circumstances, I borrow the following account of them from one of his +letters. 'A small cave or grotto, high enough to admit a man, and about +15 feet deep from the entrance, which is 7 or 8 feet wide, exists in +the southern wall of the gorge of the Neanderthal, as it is termed, at a +distance of about 100 feet from the Dussel, and about 60 feet above +the bottom of the valley. In its earlier and uninjured condition, this +cavern opened upon a narrow plateau lying in front of it, and from which +the rocky wall descended almost perpendicularly into the river. It could +be reached, though with difficulty, from above. The uneven floor was +covered to a thickness of 4 or 5 feet with a deposit of mud, sparingly +intermixed with rounded fragments of chert. In the removing of this +deposit, the bones were discovered. The skull was first noticed, placed +nearest to the entrance of the cavern; and further in, the other bones, +lying in the same horizontal plane. Of this I was assured, in the most +positive terms, by two labourers who were employed to clear out the +grotto, and who were questioned by me on the spot. At first no idea was +entertained of the bones being human; and it was not till several weeks +after their discovery that they were recognised as such by me, and +placed in security. But, as the importance of the discovery was not at +the time perceived, the labourers were very careless in the collecting, +and secured chiefly only the larger bones; and to this circumstance it +may be attributed that fragments merely of the probably perfect skeleton +came into my possession' + +"My anatomical examination of these bones afforded the following +results:-- + +"The cranium is of unusual size, and of a long elliptical form. A +most remarkable peculiarity is at once obvious in the extraordinary +development of the frontal sinuses, owing to which the superciliary +ridges, which coalesce completely in the middle, are rendered so +prominent, that the frontal bone exhibits a considerable hollow or +depression above, or rather behind them, whilst a deep depression is +also formed in the situation of the root of the nose. The forehead is +narrow and low, though the middle and hinder portions of the cranial +arch are well developed. Unfortunately, the fragment of the skull that +has been preserved consists only of the portion situated above the +roof of the orbits and the superior occipital ridges, which are greatly +developed, and almost conjoined so as to form a horizontal eminence. It +includes almost the whole of the frontal bone, both parietals, a small +part of the squamous and the upper-third of the occipital. The recently +fractured surfaces show that the skull was broken at the time of its +disinterment. The cavity holds 16,876 grains of water, whence its +cubical contents may be estimated at 57.64 inches, or 1033.24 cubic +centimetres. In making this estimation, the water is supposed to stand +on a level with the orbital plate of the frontal, with the deepest +notch in the squamous margin of the parietal, and with the superior +semicircular ridges of the occipital. Estimated in dried millet-seed, +the contents equalled 31 ounces, Prussian Apothecaries' weight. The +semicircular line indicating the upper boundary of the attachment of the +temporal muscle, though not very strongly marked, ascends nevertheless +to more than half the height of the parietal bone. On the right +superciliary ridge is observable an oblique furrow or depression, +indicative of an injury received during life.* ([Footnote] *This, Mr. +Busk has pointed out, is probably the notch for the frontal nerve.) The +coronal and sagittal sutures are on the exterior nearly closed, and on +the inside so completely ossified as to have left no traces whatever, +whilst the lambdoidal remains quite open. The depressions for the +Pacchionian glands are deep and numerous; and there is an unusually +deep vascular groove immediately behind the coronal suture, which, as it +terminates in the foramen, no doubt transmitted a 'vena emissaria'. The +course of the frontal suture is indicated externally by a slight +ridge; and where it joins the coronal, this ridge rises into a small +protuberance. The course of the sagittal suture is grooved, and above +the angle of the occipital bone the parietals are depressed. + +[Column 1: Anatomical Feature, Column 2: Measurement in] millimetres.* + +([Footnote] *The numbers in brackets are those which I should assign to +the different measures, as taken from the plaster cast.--G. B.) + +The length of the skull from the nasal process of the frontal over +the vertex to the superior semicircular lines of the occipital +measures...303 (300) = 12.0". + +Circumference over the orbital ridges and the superior semicircular +lines of the occipital...590 (590) = 23.37" or 23". + +Width of the frontal from the middle of the temporal line on one side to +the same point on the opposite...104 (114) = 4.1"--4.5". + +Length of the frontal from the nasal. process to the coronal +suture...133 (125) = 5.25"--5". + +Extreme width of the frontal sinuses...25 (23) = 1.0"--0.9". + +Vertical height above a line joining the deepest notches in the squamous +border of the parietals...70 = 2.75". + +Width of hinder part of skull from one parietal protuberance to the +other...138 (150) = 5.4"--5.9" + +Distance from the upper angle of the occipital to the superior +semicircular lines...51 (60) = 1.9"--2.4". + +Thickness of the bone at the parietal protuberance...8. + +--at the angle of the occipital...9. + +--at the superior semicircular line of the occipital...10 = 0.3" + +"Besides the cranium, the following bones have been secured:-- + +"1. Both thigh-bones, perfect. These, like the skull, and all the other +bones, are characterized by their unusual thickness, and the great +development of all the elevations and depressions for the attachment +of muscles. In the Anatomical Museum at Bonn, under the designation of +'Giant's-bones,' are some recent thigh-bones, with which in thickness +the foregoing pretty nearly correspond, although they are shorter. + +[First value =] Giant's bones, [Second value =] Fossil bones in mm. + +Length...542 = 21.4"...438 = 17.4". + +Diameter of head of femur...54 = 2.14"...53 = 2.0". + +Diameter of lower articular end, from one condyle to the other...89 = +3.5"...87 = 3.4". + +Diameter of femur in the middle...33 = 1.2"...30 = 1.1". + +"2. A perfect right humerus, whose size shows that it belongs to the +thigh-bones. + +mm. + +Length...312 = 12.3". + +Thickness in the middle...26 = 1.0". + +Diameter of head...49 = 1.9". + +"Also a perfect right radius of corresponding dimensions, and the +upper-third of a right ulna corresponding to the humerus and radius. + +"3. A left humerus of which the upper-third is wanting, and which is +so much slenderer than the right as apparently to belong to a distinct +individual; a left 'ulna', which, though complete, is pathologically +deformed, the coronoid process being so much enlarged by bony +growth, that flexure of the elbow beyond a right angle must have been +impossible; the anterior fossa of the humerus for the reception of the +coronoid process being also filled up with a similar bony growth. At +the same time, the olecranon is curved strongly downwards. As the bone +presents no sign of rachitic degeneration, it may be supposed that an +injury sustained during life was the cause of the anchylosis. When the +left ulna is compared with the right radius, it might at first sight be +concluded that the bones respectively belonged to different individuals, +the ulna being more than half an inch too short for articulation with a +corresponding radius. But it is clear that this shortening, as well +as the attenuation of the left humerus, are both consequent upon the +pathological condition above described. + +"4. A left 'ilium', almost perfect, and belonging to the femur: a +fragment of the right 'scapula'; the anterior extremity of a rib of the +right side; and the same part of a rib of the left side; the hinder +part of a rib of the right side; and lastly, two hinder portions and one +middle portion of ribs, which from their unusually rounded shape, and +abrupt curvature, more resemble the ribs of a carnivorous animal than +those of a man. Dr. H. v. Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer, +will not venture to declare them to be ribs of any animal; and it only +remains to suppose that this abnormal condition has arisen from an +unusually powerful development of the thoracic muscles. + +"The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as proved by the +use of hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the cartilage is still +retained in them, which appears, however, to have undergone that +transformation into gelatine which has been observed by v. Bibra in +fossil bones. The surface of all the bones is in many spots covered with +minute black specks, which, more especially under a lens, are seen to +be formed of very delicate 'dendrites'. These deposits, which were +first observed on the bones by Dr. Meyer, are most distinct on the inner +surface of the cranial bones. They consist of a ferruginous compound, +and, from their black colour, may be supposed to contain manganese. +Similar dendritic formations also occur, not unfrequently, on laminated +rocks, and are usually found in minute fissures and cracks. At the +meeting of the Lower Rhine Society at Bonn, on the 1st April, 1857, +Prof. Meyer stated that he had noticed in the museum of Poppelsdorf +similar dendritic crystallizations on several fossil bones of animals, +and particularly on those of 'Ursus spelaeus', but still more abundantly +and beautifully displayed on the fossil bones and teeth of 'Equus +adamiticus', 'Elephas primigenius', etc., from the caves of Bolve and +Sundwig. Faint indications of similar 'dendrites' were visible in a +Roman skull from Siegburg; whilst other ancient skulls, which had lain +for centuries in the earth, presented no trace of them.* ([Footnote] +*'Verh. des Naturhist'. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857.) + +I am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following remarks on this +subject:-- + +'The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which were formerly +regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condition, is interesting. It has +even been supposed that in diluvial deposits the presence of 'dendrites' +might be regarded as affording a certain mark of distinction between +bones mixed with the diluvium at a somewhat later period and the true +diluvial relics, to which alone it was supposed that these deposits were +confined. But I have long been convinced that neither can the absence of +'dendrites' be regarded as indicative of recent age, nor their presence +as sufficient to establish the great antiquity of the objects upon which +they occur. I have myself noticed upon paper, which could scarcely +be more than a year old, dendritic deposits, which could not be +distinguished from those on fossil bones. Thus I possess a dog's +skull from the Roman colony of the neighbouring Heddersheim, 'Castrum +Hadrianum', which is in no way distinguishable from the fossil bones +from the Frankish caves; it presents the same colour, and adheres to the +tongue just as they do; so that this character also, which, at a former +meeting of German naturalists at Bonn, gave rise to amusing scenes +between Buckland and Schmerling, is no longer of any value. In disputed +cases, therefore, the condition of the bone can scarcely afford the +means for determining with certainty whether it be fossil, that is to +say, whether it belong to geological antiquity or to the historical +period.' + +"As we cannot now look upon the primitive world as representing a wholly +different condition of things, from which no transition exists to +the organic life of the present time, the designation of 'fossil', as +applied to 'a bone', has no longer the sense it conveyed in the time of +Cuvier. Sufficient grounds exist for the assumption that man coexisted +with the animals found in the 'diluvium'; and many a barbarous race may, +before all historical time, have disappeared, together with the animals +of the ancient world, whilst the races whose organization is improved +have continued the genus. The bones which form the subject of this paper +present characters which, although not decisive as regards a geological +epoch, are, nevertheless, such as indicate a very high antiquity. It may +also be remarked that, common as is the occurrence of diluvial animal +bones in the muddy deposits of caverns, such remains have not hitherto +been met with in the caves of the Neanderthal; and that the bones, which +were covered by a deposit of mud not more than four or five feet thick, +and without any protective covering of stalagmite, have retained the +greatest part of their organic substance. + +"These circumstances might be adduced against the probability of a +geological antiquity. Nor should we be justified in regarding the +cranial conformation as perhaps representing the most savage primitive +type of the human race, since crania exist among living savages, which, +though not exhibiting, such a remarkable conformation of the forehead, +which gives the skull somewhat the aspect of that of the large apes, +still in other respects, as for instance in the greater depth of the +temporal fossae, the crest-like, prominent temporal ridges, and a +generally less capacious cranial cavity, exhibit an equally low stage +of development. There is no reason for supposing that the deep frontal +hollow is due to any artificial flattening, such as is practised in +various modes by barbarous nations in the Old and New World. The skull +is quite symmetrical, and shows no indication of counter-pressure at the +occiput, whilst, according to Morton, in the Flat-heads of the +Columbia, the frontal and parietal bones are always unsymmetrical. Its +conformation exhibits the sparing development of the anterior part of +the head which has been so often observed in very ancient crania, and +affords one of the most striking proofs of the influence of culture and +civilization on the form of the human skull." + +In a subsequent passage, Dr. Schaaffhausen remarks: + +"There is no reason whatever for regarding the unusual development of +the frontal sinuses in the remarkable skull from the Neanderthal as an +individual or pathological deformity; it is unquestionably a typical +race-character, and is physiologically connected with the uncommon +thickness of the other bones of the skeleton, which exceeds by about +one-half the usual proportions. This expansion of the frontal sinuses, +which are appendages of the air-passages, also indicates an unusual +force and power of endurance in the movements of the body, as may +be concluded from the size of all the ridges and processes for the +attachment of the muscles or bones. That this conclusion may be drawn +from the existence of large frontal sinuses, and a prominence of the +lower frontal region, is confirmed in many ways by other observations. +By the same characters, according to Pallas, the wild horse is +distinguished from the domesticated, and, according to Cuvier, the +fossil cave-bear from every recent species of bear, whilst, according +to Roulin, the pig, which has become wild in America, and regained a +resemblance to the wild boar, is thus distinguished from the same animal +in the domesticated state, as is the chamois from the goat; and, +lastly, the bull-dog, which is characterised by its large bones and +strongly-developed muscles from every other kind of dog. The estimation +of the facial angle, the determination of which, according to Professor +Owen, is also difficult in the great apes, owing to the very prominent +supra-orbital ridges, in the present case is rendered still more +difficult from the absence both of the auditory opening and of the nasal +spine. But if the proper horizontal position of the skull be taken from +the remaining portions of the orbital plates, and the ascending line +made to touch the surface of the frontal bone behind the prominent +supra-orbital ridges, the facial angle is not found to exceed 56 +degrees.* ([Footnote] *Estimating the facial angle in the way suggested, +on the cast I should place it at 64 degrees to 67 degrees.--G. B.) +Unfortunately, no portions of the facial bones, whose conformation is +so decisive as regards the form and expression of the head, have been +preserved. The cranial capacity, compared with the uncommon strength +of the corporeal frame, would seem to indicate a small cerebral +development. The skull, as it is, holds about 31 ounces of millet-seed; +and as, from the proportionate size of the wanting bones, the whole +cranial cavity should have about 6 ounces more added, the contents, were +it perfect, may be taken at 37 ounces. Tiedemann assigns, as the cranial +contents in the Negro, 40, 38, and 35 ounces. The cranium holds rather +more than 36 ounces of water, which corresponds to a capacity of 1033.24 +cubic centimetres. Huschke estimates the cranial contents of a Negress +at 1127 cubic centimetres; of an old Negro at 1146 cubic centimetres. +The capacity of the Malay skulls, estimated by water, equalled 36, 33 +ounces, whilst in the diminutive Hindoos it falls to as little as 27 +ounces." + +After comparing the Neanderthal cranium with many others, ancient and +modern, Professor Schaaffhausen concludes thus:-- + +"But the human bones and cranium from the Neanderthal exceed all the +rest in those peculiarities of conformation which lead to the conclusion +of their belonging to a barbarous and savage race. Whether the cavern in +which they were found, unaccompanied with any trace of human art, were +the place of their interment, or whether, like the bones of extinct +animals elsewhere, they had been washed into it, they may still be +regarded as the most ancient memorial of the early inhabitants of +Europe." + +Mr. Busk, the translator of Dr. Schaaffhausen's paper, has enabled us +to form a very vivid conception of the degraded character of the +Neanderthal skull, by placing side by side with its outline, that of the +skull of a Chimpanzee, drawn to the same absolute size. + +Some time after the publication of the translation of Professor +Schaaffhausen's Memoir, I was led to study the cast of the Neanderthal +cranium with more attention than I had previously bestowed upon it, +in consequence of wishing to supply Sir Charles Lyell with a diagram, +exhibiting the special peculiarities of this skull, as compared with +other human skulls. In order to do this it was necessary to identify, +with precision, those points in the skulls compared which corresponded +anatomically. Of these points, the glabella was obvious enough; but when +I had distinguished another, defined by the occipital protuberance +and superior semicircular line, and had placed the outline of the +Neanderthal skull against that of the Engis skull, in such a position +that the glabella and occipital protuberance of both were intersected by +the same straight line, the difference was so vast and the flattening of +the Neanderthal skull so prodigious (compare Figs. 22 and 24, A.), that +I at first imagined I must have fallen into some error. And I was +the more inclined to suspect this, as, in ordinary human skulls, the +occipital protuberance and superior semicircular curved line on the +exterior of the occiput correspond pretty closely with the 'lateral +sinuses' and the line of attachment of the tentorium internally. But +on the tentorium rests, as I have said in the preceding Essay, the +posterior lobe of the brain; and hence, the occipital protuberance, and +the curved line in question, indicate, approximately, the lower limits +of that lobe. Was it possible for a human being to have the brain thus +flattened and depressed; or, on the other hand, had the muscular ridges +shifted their position? In order to solve these doubts, and to decide +the question whether the great supraciliary projections did, or did +not, arise from the development of the frontal sinuses, I requested Sir +Charles Lyell to be so good as to obtain for me from Dr. Fuhlrott, the +possessor of the skull, answers to certain queries, and if possible a +cast, or at any rate drawings, or photographs, of the interior of the +skull. + +(FIGURE 24.--The skull from the Neanderthal cavern. A. side, B. front, +and C. top view. One-third the natural size, by Mr. Busk: the details +from the cast and from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs. 'a' glabella; 'b' +occipital protuberance; 'd' lambdoidal suture.) + +Dr. Fuhlrott replied with a courtesy and readiness for which I am +infinitely indebted to him, to my inquiries, and furthermore sent three +excellent photographs. One of these gives a side view of the skull, +and from it Figure 24, A. has been shaded. The second (Figure 25, A.) +exhibits the wide openings of the frontal sinuses upon the inferior +surface of the frontal part of the skull, into which, Dr. Fuhlrott +writes, "a probe may be introduced to the depth of an inch," and +demonstrates the great extension of the thickened supraciliary ridges +beyond the cerebral cavity. The third, lastly (Figure 25, B.) exhibits +the edge and the interior of the posterior, or occipital, part of +the skull, and shows very clearly the two depressions for the lateral +sinuses, sweeping inwards towards the middle line of the roof of the +skull, to form the longitudinal sinus. It was clear, therefore, that I +had not erred in my interpretation, and that the posterior lobe of +the brain of the Neanderthal man must have been as much flattened as I +suspected it to be. + +In truth, the Neanderthal cranium has most extraordinary characters. +It has an extreme length of 8 inches, while its breadth is only 5.75 +inches, or, in other words, its length is to its breadth as 100:72. +It is exceedingly depressed, measuring only about 3.4 inches from the +glabello-occipital line to the vertex. The longitudinal arc, measured +in the same way as in the Engis skull, is 12 inches; the transverse +arc cannot be exactly ascertained, in consequence of the absence of the +temporal bones, but was probably about the same, and certainly exceeded +10 1/4 inches. The horizontal circumference is 23 inches. But this +great circumference arises largely from the vast development of the +supraciliary ridges, though the perimeter of the brain case itself is +not small. The large supraciliary ridges give the forehead a far more +retreating appearance than its internal contour would bear out. + +To an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is even more +striking than the anterior. The occipital protuberance occupies the +extreme posterior end of the skull, when the glabello-occipital line +is made horizontal, and so far from any part of the occipital region +extending beyond it, this region of the skull slopes obliquely upward +and forward, so that the lambdoidal suture is situated well upon the +upper surface of the cranium. At the same time, notwithstanding the +great length of the skull, the sagittal suture is remarkably short (4 +1/2 inches), and the squamosal suture is very straight. + +(FIGURE 25.--Drawings from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs of parts of the +interior of the Neanderthal cranium. A. view of the under and inner +surface of the frontal region, showing the inferior apertures of the +frontal sinuses ('a'). B. corresponding view of the occipital region of +the skull, showing the impressions of the lateral sinuses ('a a').) + +In reply to my questions Dr. Fuhlrott writes that the occipital bone +"is in a state of perfect preservation as far as the upper semicircular +line, which is a very strong ridge, linear at its extremities, but +enlarging towards the middle, where it forms two ridges (bourrelets), +united by a linear continuation, which is slightly depressed in the +middle." + +"Below the left ridge the bone exhibits an obliquely inclined surface, +six lines (French) long, and twelve lines wide." + +This last must be the surface, the contour of which is shown in Figure +24, A., below 'b'. It is particularly interesting, as it suggests that, +notwithstanding the flattened condition of the occiput, the posterior +cerebral lobes must have projected considerably beyond the cerebellum, +and as it constitutes one among several points of similarity between the +Neanderthal cranium and certain Australian skulls. + +Such are the two best known forms of human cranium, which have been +found in what may be fairly termed a fossil state. Can either be shown +to fill up or diminish, to any appreciable extent, the structural +interval which exists between Man and the man-like apes? Or, on the +other hand, does neither depart more widely from the average structure +of the human cranium, than normally formed skulls of men are known to do +at the present day? + +It is impossible to form any opinion on these questions, without some +preliminary acquaintance with the range of variation exhibited by human +structure in general--a subject which has been but imperfectly studied, +while even of what is known, my limits will necessarily allow me to give +only a very imperfect sketch. + +The student of anatomy is perfectly well aware that there is not a +single organ of the human body the structure of which does not vary, to +a greater or less extent, in different individuals. The skeleton varies +in the proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of +its constituent bones. The muscles which move the bones vary largely +in their attachments. The varieties in the mode of distribution of +the arteries are carefully classified, on account of the practical +importance of a knowledge of their shiftings to the surgeon. The +characters of the brain vary immensely, nothing being less constant than +the form and size of the cerebral hemispheres, and the richness of the +convolutions upon their surface, while the most changeable structures +of all in the human brain, are exactly those on which the unwise attempt +has been made to base the distinctive characters of humanity, viz. the +posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle, the hippocampus minor, and +the degree of projection of the posterior lobe beyond the cerebellum. +Finally, as all the world knows, the hair and skin of human beings may +present the most extraordinary diversities in colour and in texture. + +So far as our present knowledge goes, the majority of the structural +varieties to which allusion is here made, are individual. The ape-like +arrangement of certain muscles which is occasionally met with* in the +white races of mankind, is not known to be more common among Negroes or +Australians: ([Footnote] *See an excellent Essay by Mr. Church on the +Myology of the Orang, in the 'Natural History Review', for 1861.) nor +because the brain of the Hottentot Venus was found to be smoother, to +have its convolutions more symmetrically disposed, and to be, so far, +more ape-like than that of ordinary Europeans, are we justified in +concluding a like condition of the brain to prevail universally among +the lower races of mankind, however probable that conclusion may be. + +We are, in fact, sadly wanting in information respecting the disposition +of the soft and destructible organs of every Race of Mankind but our +own; and even of the skeleton, our Museums are lamentably deficient in +every part but the cranium. Skulls enough there are, and since the time +when Blumenbach and Camper first called attention to the marked and +singular differences which they exhibit, skull collecting and skull +measuring has been a zealously pursued branch of Natural History, +and the results obtained have been arranged and classified by various +writers, among whom the late active and able Retzius must always be the +first named. + +Human skulls have been found to differ from one another, not merely in +their absolute size and in the absolute capacity of the brain case, +but in the proportions which the diameters of the latter bear to +one another; in the relative size of the bones of the face (and more +particularly of the jaws and teeth) as compared with those of the skull; +in the degree to which the upper jaw (which is of course followed by +the lower) is thrown backwards and downwards under the fore-part of +the brain case, or forwards and upward in front of and beyond it. They +differ further in the relations of the transverse diameter of the face, +taken through the cheek bones, to the transverse diameter of the skull; +in the more rounded or more gable-like form of the roof of the skull, +and in the degree to which the hinder part of the skull is flattened or +projects beyond the ridge, into and below which, the muscles of the neck +are inserted. + +In some skulls the brain case may be said to be 'round,' the extreme +length not exceeding the extreme breadth by a greater proportion than +100 to 80, while the difference may be much less.* ([Footnote] *In +no normal human skull does the breadth of the brain-case exceed +its length.) Men possessing such skulls were termed by Retzius +'brachycephalic,' and the skull of a Calmuck, of which a front and +side view (reduced outline copies of which are given in Figure 26) are +depicted by Von Baer in his excellent, "Crania selecta," affords a very +admirable example of that kind of skull. Other skulls, such as that of +a Negro copied in Figure 27 from Mr. Busk's 'Crania typica,' have a very +different, greatly elongated form, and may be termed 'oblong.' In this +skull the extreme length is to the extreme breadth as 100 to not more +than 67, and the transverse diameter of the human skull may fall below +even this proportion. People having such skulls were called by Retzius +'dolichocephalic.' + +The most cursory glance at the side views of these two skulls will +suffice to prove that they differ, in another respect, to a very +striking extent. The profile of the face of the Calmuck is almost +vertical, the facial bones being thrown downwards and under the forepart +of the skull. The profile of the face of the Negro, on the other hand, +is singularly inclined, the front part of the jaws projecting far +forward beyond the level of the fore part of the skull. In the former +case the skull is said to be 'orthognathous' or straight-jawed; in the +latter, it is called 'prognathous,' a term which has been rendered, with +more force than elegance, by the Saxon equivalent,--'snouty.' + +Various methods have been devised in order to express with some accuracy +the degree of prognathism or orthognathism of any given skull; most of +these methods being essentially modifications of that devised by Peter +Camper, in order to attain what he called the 'facial angle.' + +But a little consideration will show that any 'facial angle' that has +been devised, can be competent to express the structural modifications +involved in prognathism and orthognathism, only in a rough and general +sort of way. For the lines, the intersection of which forms the facial +angle, are drawn through points of the skull, the position of each +of which is modified by a number of circumstances, so that the angle +obtained is a complex resultant of all these circumstances, and is not +the expression of any one definite organic relation of the parts of the +skull. + +(FIGURE 26.--Side and front views of the round and orthognathous skull +of a Calmuck, after Von Baer. One-third the natural size.) + +I have arrived at the conviction that no comparison of crania is worth +very much, that is not founded upon the establishment of a relatively +fixed base line, to which the measurements, in all cases, must be +referred. Nor do I think it is a very difficult matter to decide what +that base line should be. The parts of the skull, like those of the rest +of the animal framework, are developed in succession the base of +the skull is formed before its sides and roof; it is converted into +cartilage earlier and more completely than the sides and roof: and the +cartilaginous base ossifies, and becomes soldered into one piece long +before the roof. I conceive then that the base of the skull may be +demonstrated developmentally to be its relatively fixed part, the roof +and sides being relatively moveable. + +(FIGURE 27.--Oblong and prognathous skull of a Negro; side and front +views. One-third of the natural size.) + +The same truth is exemplified by the study of the modifications which +the skull undergoes in ascending from the lower animals up to man. + +(FIGURE 28.--Beaver, Lemur and Baboon. Longitudinal and vertical +sections of the skulls of a Beaver ('Castor Canadensis'), a Lemur ('L. +Catia'), and a Baboon ('Cynocephalus Papio'), 'a b', the basicranial +axis; 'b c', the occipital plane; 'i T', the tentorial plane; 'a d', the +olfactory plane; 'f e', the basifacial axis; 'c b a', occipital +angle; 'T i a', tentorial angle; 'd a b', olfactory angle; 'e f b', +cranio-facial angle; 'g h', extreme length of the cavity which lodges +the cerebral hemispheres or 'cerebral length.' The length of the +basicranial axis as to this length, or, in other words, the proportional +length of the line 'g h' to that of 'a b' taken as 100, in the three +skulls, is as follows:--Beaver 70 to 100; Lemur 119 to 100; Baboon 144 +to 100. In an adult male Gorilla the cerebral length is as 170 to the +basicranial axis taken as 100, in the Negro (Figure 29) as 236 to 100. +In the Constantinople skull (Figure 29) as 266 to 100. The cranial +difference between the highest Ape's skull and the lowest Man's is +therefore very strikingly brought out by these measurements. In the +diagram of the Baboon's skull the dotted lines 'd1 d2', etc., give +the angles of the Lemur's and Beaver's skull, as laid down upon the +basicranial axis of the Baboon. The line 'a b' has the same length in +each diagram.) + +In such a mammal as a Beaver (Figure 28), a line ('a b'.) drawn through +the bones, termed basioccipital, basisphenoid, and presphenoid, is very +long in proportion to the extreme length of the cavity which contains +the cerebral hemispheres ('g h'.). The plane of the occipital foramen +('b c'.) forms a slightly acute angle with this 'basicranial axis,' +while the plane of the tentorium ('i T'.) is inclined at rather more +than 90 degrees to the 'basicranial axis'; and so is the plane of the +perforated plate ('a d'.), by which the filaments of the olfactory +nerve leave the skull. Again, a line drawn through the axis of the face, +between the bones called ethmoid and vomer--the "basifacial axis" ('f +e'.) forms an exceedingly obtuse angle, where, when produced, it cuts +the 'basicranial axis.' + +If the angle made by the line 'b c'. with 'a b'., be called the +'occipital angle,' and the angle made by the line 'a d'. with 'a b'. be +termed the 'olfactory angle,' and that made by 'i T'. with 'a b'. the +'tentorial angle,' then all these, in the mammal in question, are nearly +right angles, varying between 80 degrees and 110 degrees. The angle 'e f +b'., or that made by the cranial with the facial axis, and which may be +termed the 'cranio-facial angle,' is extremely obtuse, amounting, in the +case of the Beaver, to at least 150 degrees. + +But if a series of sections of mammalian skulls, intermediate between a +Rodent and a Man (Figure 28), be examined, it will be found that in the +higher crania the basicranial axis becomes shorter relatively to the +cerebral length; that the 'olfactory angle' and 'occipital angle' become +more obtuse; and that the 'cranio-facial angle' becomes more acute by +the bending down, as it were, of the facial axis upon the cranial axis. +At the same time, the roof of the cranium becomes more and more arched, +to allow of the increasing height of the cerebral hemispheres, which is +eminently characteristic of man, as well as of that backward extension, +beyond the cerebellum, which reaches its maximum in the South America +Monkeys. So that, at last, in the human skull (Figure 29), the cerebral +length is between twice and thrice as great as the length of the +basicranial axis; the olfactory plane is 20 degrees or 30 degrees on the +'under' side of that axis; the occipital angle, instead of being +less than 90 degrees, is as much as 150 degrees or 160 degrees; the +cranio-facial angle may be 90 degrees or less, and the vertical height +of the skull may have a large proportion to its length. + +It will be obvious, from an inspection of the diagrams, that the +basicranial axis is, in the ascending series of Mammalia, a relatively +fixed line, on which the bones of the sides and roof of the cranial +cavity, and of the face, may be said to revolve downwards and forwards +or backwards, according to their position. The arc described by any one +bone or plane, however, is not by any means always in proportion to the +arc described by another. + +Now comes the important question, can we discern, between the lowest and +the highest forms of the human cranium anything answering, in however +slight a degree, to this revolution of the side and roof bones of the +skull upon the basicranial axis observed upon so great a scale in the +mammalian series? Numerous observations lead me to believe that we must +answer this question in the affirmative. + +The diagrams in Figure 29 are reduced from very carefully made diagrams +of sections of four skulls, two round and orthognathous, two long and +prognathous, taken longitudinally and vertically, through the middle. +The sectional diagrams have then been superimposed, in such a manner, +that the basal axes of the skulls coincide by their anterior ends, and +in their direction. The deviations of the rest of the contours (which +represent the interior of the skulls only) show the differences of the +skulls from one another, when these axes are regarded as relatively +fixed lines. + +The dark contours are those of an Australian and of a Negro skull: the +light contours are those of a Tartar skull, in the Museum of the Royal +College of Surgeons; and of a well developed round skull from a cemetery +in Constantinople, of uncertain race, in my own possession. + +It appears, at once, from these views, that the prognathous skulls, so +far as their jaws are concerned, do really differ from the orthognathous +in much the same way as, though to a far less degree than, the skulls +of the lower mammals differ from those of Man. Furthermore, the plane +of the occipital foramen ('b c') forms a somewhat smaller angle with the +axis in these particular prognathous skulls than in the orthognathous; +and the like may be slightly true of the perforated plate of the +ethmoid--though this point is not so clear. But it is singular to remark +that, in another respect, the prognathous skulls are less ape-like than +the orthognathous, the cerebral cavity projecting decidedly more +beyond the anterior end of the axis in the prognathous, than in the +orthognathous, skulls. + +It will be observed that these diagrams reveal an immense range of +variation in the capacity and relative proportion to the cranial axis, +of the different regions of the cavity which contains the brain, in +the different skulls. Nor is the difference in the extent to which the +cerebral overlaps the cerebellar cavity less singular. A round skull +(Figure 29, 'Const'.) may have a greater posterior cerebral projection +than a long one (Figure 29, 'Negro'). + +Until human crania have been largely worked out in a manner similar to +that here suggested--until it shall be an opprobrium to an +ethnological collection to possess a single skull which is not bisected +longitudinally--until the angles and measurements here mentioned, +together with a number of others of which I cannot speak in this place, +are determined, and tabulated with reference to the basicranial axis as +unity, for large numbers of skulls of the different races of Mankind, +I do not think we shall have any very safe basis for that ethnological +craniology which aspires to give the anatomical characters of the crania +of the different Races of Mankind. + +At present, I believe that the general outlines of what may be safely +said upon that subject may be summed up in a very few words. Draw a +line on a globe from the Gold Coast in Western Africa to the steppes +of Tartary. At the southern and western end of that line there live +the most dolichocephalic, prognathous, curly-haired, dark-skinned of +men--the true Negroes. At the northern and eastern end of the same line +there live the most brachycephalic, orthognathous, straight-haired, +yellow-skinned of men--the Tartars and Calmucks. The two ends of this +imaginary line are indeed, so to speak, ethnological antipodes. A line +drawn at right angles, or nearly so, to this polar line through Europe +and Southern Asia to Hindostan, would give us a sort of equator, around +which round-headed, oval-headed, and oblong-headed, prognathous and +orthognathous, fair and dark races--but none possessing the excessively +marked characters of Calmuck or Negro--group themselves. + +(FIGURE 29.--Sections of orthognathous (light contour) and prognathous +(dark contour) skulls, one-third of the natural size. 'a b', Basicranial +axis; 'b c, b1 c1', plane of the occipital foramen; 'd d1', hinder +end of the palatine bone; 'e e1', front end of the upper jaw; 'T T1', +insertion of the tentorium.) + +It is worthy of notice that the regions of the antipodal races are +antipodal in climate, the greatest contrast the world affords, perhaps, +being that between the damp, hot, steaming, alluvial coast plains of +the West Coast of Africa and the arid, elevated steppes and plateaux of +Central Asia, bitterly cold in winter, and as far from the sea as any +part of the world can be. + +From Central Asia eastward to the Pacific Islands and subcontinents +on the one hand, and to America on the other, brachycephaly and +orthognathism gradually diminish, and are replaced by dolichocephaly and +prognathism, less, however, on the American Continent (throughout the +whole length of which a rounded type of skull prevails largely, but +not exclusively)* than in the Pacific region, where, at length, on the +Australian Continent and in the adjacent islands, the oblong skull, the +projecting jaws, and the dark skin reappear; with so much departure, in +other respects, from the Negro type, that ethnologists assign to +these people the special title of 'Negritoes.' ([Footnote] *See Dr. D. +Wilson's valuable paper "On the supposed prevalence of one Cranial Type +throughout the American aborigines."--'Canadian Journal', vol. ii., +1857.) + +The Australian skull is remarkable for its narrowness and for the +thickness of its walls, especially in the region of the supraciliary +ridge, which is frequently, though not by any means invariably, solid +throughout, the frontal sinuses remaining undeveloped. The nasal +depression, again, is extremely sudden, so that the brows overhang and +give the countenance a particularly lowering, threatening expression. +The occipital region of the skull, also, not unfrequently becomes less +prominent; so that it not only fails to project beyond a line drawn +perpendicular to the hinder extremity of the glabello-occipital line, +but even, in some cases, begins to shelve away from it, forwards, almost +immediately. In consequence of this circumstance, the parts of the +occipital bone which lie above and below the tuberosity make a much more +acute angle with one another than is usual, whereby the hinder part +of the base of the skull appears obliquely truncated. Many Australian +skulls have a considerable height, quite equal to that of the average of +any other race, but there are others in which the cranial roof becomes +remarkably depressed, the skull, at the same time, elongating so much +that, probably, its capacity is not diminished. The majority of +skulls possessing these characters, which I have seen, are from the +neighbourhood of Port Adelaide in South Australia, and have been used +by the natives as water vessels; to which end the face has been knocked +away, and a string passed through the vacuity and the occipital foramen, +so that the skull was suspended by the greater part of its basis. + +(FIGURE 30.--An Australian skull from Western Port, in the Museum of the +Royal College of Surgeons, with the contour of the Neanderthal skull. +Both reduced to one-third the natural size.) + +Figure 30 represents the contour of a skull of this kind from Western +Port, with the jaw attached, and of the Neanderthal skull, both reduced +to one-third of the size of nature. A small additional amount of +flattening and lengthening, with a corresponding increase of the +supraciliary ridge, would convert the Australian brain case into a form +identical with that of the aberrant fossil. + +And now, to return to the fossil skulls, and to the rank which +they occupy among, or beyond, these existing varieties of cranial +conformation. In the first place, I must remark, that, as Professor +Schmerling well observed ('supra', p. 300) in commenting upon the Engis +skull, the formation of a safe judgment upon the question is greatly +hindered by the absence of the jaws from both the crania, so that there +is no means of deciding with certainty, whether they were more or less +prognathous than the lower existing races of mankind. And yet, as we +have seen, it is more in this respect than any other, that human skulls +vary, towards and from, the brutal type--the brain case of an average +dolichocephalic European differing far less from that of a Negro, +for example, than his jaws do. In the absence of the jaws, then, any +judgment on the relations of the fossil skulls to recent Races must be +accepted with a certain reservation. + +But taking the evidence as it stands, and turning first to the Engis +skull, I confess I can find no character in the remains of that cranium +which, if it were a recent skull, would give any trustworthy clue as +to the Race to which it might appertain. Its contours and measurements +agree very well with those of some Australian skulls which I have +examined--and especially has it a tendency towards that occipital +flattening, to the great extent of which, in some Australian skulls, I +have alluded. But all Australian skulls do not present this flattening, +and the supraciliary ridge of the Engis skull is quite unlike that of +the typical Australians. + +On the other hand, its measurements agree equally well with those of +some European skulls. And assuredly, there is no mark of degradation +about any part of its structure. It is, in fact, a fair average human +skull, which might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have +contained the thoughtless brains of a savage. + +The case of the Neanderthal skull is very different. Under whatever +aspect we view this cranium, whether we regard its vertical depression, +the enormous thickness of its supraciliary ridges, its sloped occiput, +or its long and straight squamosal suture, we meet with ape-like +characters, stamping it as the most pithecoid of human crania yet +discovered. But Professor Schaaffhausen states ('supra', p. 308), that +the cranium, in its present condition, holds 1033.24 cubic centimetres +of water, or about 63 cubic inches, and as the entire skull could hardly +have held less than an additional 12 cubic inches, its capacity may be +estimated at about 75 cubic inches, which is the average capacity given +by Morton for Polynesian and Hottentot skulls. + +So large a mass of brain as this, would alone suggest that the pithecoid +tendencies, indicated by this skull, did not extend deep into the +organization; and this conclusion is borne out by the dimensions of the +other bones of the skeleton given by Professor Schaaffhausen, which +show that the absolute height and relative proportions of the limbs +were quite those of an European of middle stature. The bones are indeed +stouter, but this and the great development of the muscular ridges noted +by Dr. Schaaffhausen, are characters to be expected in savages. The +Patagonians, exposed without shelter or protection to a climate possibly +not very dissimilar from that of Europe at the time during which the +Neanderthal man lived, are remarkable for the stoutness of their limb +bones. + +(FIGURE 31.--Ancient Danish skull from a tumulus at Borreby: one-third +of the natural size. From a camera lucida drawing by Mr. Busk.) + +In no sense, then, can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the remains +of a human being intermediate between Men and Apes. At most, they +demonstrate the existence of a man whose skull may be said to revert +somewhat towards the pithecoid type--just as a Carrier, or a Pouter, or +a Tumbler, may sometimes put on the plumage of its primitive stock, the +'Columba livia'. And indeed, though truly the most pithecoid of known +human skulls, the Neanderthal cranium is by no means so isolated as it +appears to be at first, but forms, in reality, the extreme term of a +series leading gradually from it to the highest and best developed of +human crania. On the one hand, it is closely approached by the flattened +Australian skulls, of which I have spoken, from which other Australian +forms lead us gradually up to skulls having very much the type of the +Engis cranium. And, on the other hand, it is even more closely affined +to the skulls of certain ancient people who inhabited Denmark during the +'stone period,' and were probably either contemporaneous with, or later +than, the makers of the 'refuse heaps,' or 'Kjokkenmoddings' of that +country. + +The correspondence between the longitudinal contour of the Neanderthal +skull and that of some of those skulls from the tumuli at Borreby, very +accurate drawings of which have been made by Mr. Busk, is very close. +The occiput is quite as retreating, the supraciliary ridges are nearly +as prominent, and the skull is as low. Furthermore, the Borreby skull +resembles the Neanderthal form more closely than any of the Australian +skulls do, by the much more rapid retrocession of the forehead. On the +other hand, the Borreby skulls are all somewhat broader, in proportion +to their length, than the Neanderthal skull, while some attain +that proportion of breadth to length (80:100) which constitutes +brachycephaly. + +In conclusion, I may say, that the fossil remains of Man hitherto +discovered do not seem to me to take us appreciably nearer to that lower +pithecoid form, by the modification of which he has, probably, become +what he is. And considering what is now known of the most ancient races +of men; seeing that they fashioned flint axes and flint knives and +bone-skewers, of much the same pattern as those fabricated by the lowest +savages at the present day, and that we have every reason to believe the +habits and modes of living of such people to have remained the same from +the time of the Mammoth and the tichorhine Rhinoceros till now, I do not +know that this result is other than might be expected. + +Where, then, must we look for primaeval Man? Was the oldest 'Homo +sapiens' pliocene or miocene, or yet more ancient? In still older +strata do the fossilized bones of an Ape more anthropoid, or a Man +more pithecoid, than any yet known await the researches of some unborn +paleontologist? + +Time will show. But, in the meanwhile, if any form of the doctrine of +progressive development is correct, we must extend by long epochs the +most liberal estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of Man. + +End of On Some Fossil Remains of Man. + + + + +ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE.* + +([Footnote] *A Lay Sermon delivered in St. Martin's Hall on Sunday, +January 7th, 1866, and subsequently published in the 'Fortnightly +Review'.) + +This time two hundred years ago--in the beginning of January, +1666--those of our forefathers who inhabited this great and ancient +city, took breath between the shocks of two fearful calamities: one not +quite past, although its fury had abated; the other to come. + +Within a few yards of the very spot on which we are assembled, so the +tradition runs, that painful and deadly malady, the plague, appeared in +the latter months of 1664; and, though no new visitor, smote the people +of England, and especially of her capital, with a violence unknown +before, in the course of the following year. The hand of a master has +pictured what happened in those dismal months; and in that truest of +fictions, 'The History of the Plague Year', Defoe shows death, with +every accompaniment of pain and terror, stalking through the narrow +streets of old London, and changing their busy hum into a silence broken +only by the wailing of the mourners of fifty thousand dead; by the woful +denunciations and mad prayers of fanatics; and by the madder yells of +despairing profligates. + +But about this time in 1666, the death-rate had sunk to nearly its +ordinary amount; a case of plague occurred only here and there, and +the richer citizens who had flown from the pest had returned to their +dwellings. The remnant of the people began to toil at the accustomed +round of duty, or of pleasure; and the stream of city life bid fair to +flow back along its old bed, with renewed and uninterrupted vigour. + +The newly kindled hope was deceitful. The great plague, indeed, returned +no more; but what it had done for the Londoners, the great fire, which +broke out in the autumn of 1666, did for London; and, in September of +that year, a heap of ashes and the indestructible energy of the people +were all that remained of the glory of five-sixths of the city within +the walls. + +Our forefathers had their own ways of accounting for each of these +calamities. They submitted to the plague in humility and in penitence, +for they believed it to be the judgment of God. But, towards the fire +they were furiously indignant, interpreting it as the effect of the +malice of man,--as the work of the Republicans, or of the Papists, +according as their prepossessions ran in favour of loyalty or of +Puritanism. + +It would, I fancy, have fared but ill with one who, standing where I +now stand, in what was then a thickly peopled and fashionable part of +London, should have broached to our ancestors the doctrine which I now +propound to you--that all their hypotheses were alike wrong; that the +plague was no more, in their sense, Divine judgment, than the fire was +the work of any political, or of any religious, sect; but that they were +themselves the authors of both plague and fire, and that they must look +to themselves to prevent the recurrence of calamities, to all appearance +so peculiarly beyond the reach of human control--so evidently the result +of the wrath of God, or of the craft and subtlety of an enemy. + +And one may picture to one's self how harmoniously the holy cursing of +the Puritan of that day would have chimed in with the unholy cursing and +the crackling wit of the Rochesters and Sedleys, and with the revilings +of the political fanatics, if my imaginary plain dealer had gone on +to say that, if the return of such misfortunes were ever rendered +impossible, it would not be in virtue of the victory of the faith +of Laud, or of that of Milton; and, as little, by the triumph of +republicanism, as by that of monarchy. But that the one thing needful +for compassing this end was, that the people of England should second +the effort of an insignificant corporation, the establishment of which, +a few years before the epoch of the great plague and the great fire, had +been as little noticed, as they were conspicuous. + +Some twenty years before the outbreak of the plague a few calm and +thoughtful students banded themselves together for the purpose, as they +phrased it, of "improving natural knowledge." The ends they proposed +to attain cannot be stated more clearly than in the words of one of the +founders of the organization:-- + +"Our business was (precluding matters of theology and state affairs) to +discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries, and such as related +thereunto:--as Physick, Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, +Staticks, Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and Natural Experiments; +with the state of these studies and their cultivation at home and +abroad. We then discoursed of the circulation of the blood, the valves +in the veins, the venae lacteae, the lymphatic vessels, the Copernican +hypothesis, the nature of comets and new stars, the satellites of +Jupiter, the oval shape (as it then appeared) of Saturn, the spots +on the sun and its turning on its own axis, the inequalities and +selenography of the moon, the several phases of Venus and Mercury, the +improvement of telescopes and grinding of glasses for that purpose, +the weight of air, the possibility or impossibility of vacuities and +nature's abhorrence thereof, the Torricellian experiment in quicksilver, +the descent of heavy bodies and the degree of acceleration therein, +with divers other things of like nature, some of which were then but new +discoveries, and others not so generally known and embraced as now they +are; with other things appertaining to what hath been called the New +Philosophy, which from the times of Galileo at Florence, and Sir Francis +Bacon (Lord Verulam) in England, hath been much cultivated in Italy, +France, Germany, and other parts abroad, as well as with us in England." + +The learned Dr. Wallis, writing in 1696, narrates in these words, what +happened half a century before, or about 1645. The associates met +at Oxford, in the rooms of Dr. Wilkins, who was destined to become a +bishop; and subsequently coming together in London, they attracted +the notice of the king. And it is a strange evidence of the taste for +knowledge which the most obviously worthless of the Stuarts shared with +his father and grandfather, that Charles the Second was not content with +saying witty things about his philosophers, but did wise things with +regard to them. For he not only bestowed upon them such attention as he +could spare from his poodles and his mistresses, but being in his usual +state of impecuniosity, begged for them of the Duke of Ormond; and, that +step being without effect, gave them Chelsea College, a charter, and +a mace: crowning his favours in the best way they could be crowned, by +burdening them no further with royal patronage or state interference. + +Thus it was that the half-dozen young men, studious of the "New +Philosophy," who met in one another's lodgings in Oxford or in London, +in the middle of the seventeenth century, grew in numerical and in +real strength, until, in the latter part, the "Royal Society for the +improvement of Natural Knowledge" had already become famous, and had +acquired a claim upon the veneration of Englishmen, which it has ever +since retained, as the principal focus of scientific activity in our +islands, and the chief champion of the cause it was formed to support. + +It was by the aid of the Royal Society that Newton published his +'Principia'. If all the books in the world, except the Philosophical +Transactions, were destroyed, it is safe to say that the foundations of +physical science would remain unshaken, and that the vast intellectual +progress of the last two centuries would be largely, though +incompletely, recorded. Nor have any signs of halting or of decrepitude +manifested themselves in our own times. As in Dr. Wallis's days, so +in these, "our business is, precluding theology and state affairs, +to discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries." But our +"Mathematick" is one which Newton would have to go to school to +learn; our "Staticks, Mechanicks, Magneticks, Chymicks, and Natural +Experiments" constitute a mass of physical and chemical knowledge, a +glimpse at which would compensate Galileo for the doings of a score of +inquisitorial cardinals; our "Physick" and "Anatomy" have embraced such +infinite varieties of being, have laid open such new worlds in time and +space, have grappled, not unsuccessfully, with such complex problems, +that the eyes of Vesalius and of Harvey might be dazzled by the sight of +the tree that has grown out of their grain of mustard seed. + +The fact is perhaps rather too much, than too little, forced upon one's +notice, nowadays, that all this marvellous intellectual growth has a no +less wonderful expression in practical life; and that, in this respect, +if in no other, the movement symbolized by the progress of the Royal +Society stands without a parallel in the history of mankind. + +A series of volumes as bulky as the 'Transactions of the Royal Society' +might possibly be filled with the subtle speculations of the Schoolmen; +not improbably, the obtaining a mastery over the products of mediaeval +thought might necessitate an even greater expenditure of time and of +energy than the acquirement of the "New Philosophy"; but though such +work engrossed the best intellects of Europe for a longer time than has +elapsed since the great fire, its effects were "writ in water," so far +as our social state is concerned. + +On the other hand, if the noble first President of the Royal Society +could revisit the upper air and once more gladden his eyes with a sight +of the familiar mace, he would find himself in the midst of a material +civilization more different from that of his day, than that of the +seventeenth was from that of the first century. And if Lord Brouncker's +native sagacity had not deserted his ghost, he would need no long +reflection to discover that all these great ships, these railways, these +telegraphs, these factories, these printing-presses, without which the +whole fabric of modern English society would collapse into a mass of +stagnant and starving pauperism,--that all these pillars of our State +are but the ripples, and the bubbles upon the surface of that great +spiritual stream, the springs of which, only, he and his fellows were +privileged to see; and seeing, to recognise as that which it behoved +them above all things to keep pure and undefiled. + +It may not be too great a flight of imagination to conceive our noble +'revenant' not forgetful of the great troubles of his own day, and +anxious to know how often London had been burned down since his time, +and how often the plague had carried off its thousands. He would have to +learn that, although London contains tenfold the inflammable matter that +it did in 1666; though, not content with filling our rooms with woodwork +and light draperies, we must needs lead inflammable and explosive gases +into every corner of our streets and houses, we never allow even a +street to burn down. And if he asked how this had come about, we should +have to explain that the improvement of natural knowledge has furnished +us with dozens of machines for throwing water upon fires, any one of +which would have furnished the ingenious Mr. Hooke, the first "curator +and experimenter" of the Royal Society, with ample materials for +discourse before half a dozen meetings of that body; and that, to say +truth, except for the progress of natural knowledge, we should not +have been able to make even the tools by which these machines are +constructed. And, further, it would be necessary to add, that although +severe fires sometimes occur and inflict great damage, the loss is very +generally compensated by societies, the operations of which have been +rendered possible only by the progress of natural knowledge in the +direction of mathematics, and the accumulation of wealth in virtue of +other natural knowledge. + +But the plague? My Lord Brouncker's observation would not, I fear, lead +him to think that Englishmen of the nineteenth century are purer in +life, or more fervent in religious faith, than the generation which +could produce a Boyle, an Evelyn, and a Milton. He might find the mud +of society at the bottom, instead of at the top, but I fear that the +sum total would be a deserving of swift judgment as at the time of the +Restoration. And it would be our duty to explain once more, and this +time not without shame, that we have no reason to believe that it is the +improvement of our faith, nor that of our morals, which keeps the plague +from our city; but, again, that it is the improvement of our natural +knowledge. + +We have learned that pestilences will only take up their abode among +those who have prepared unswept and ungarnished residences for them. +Their cities must have narrow, unwatered streets, foul with accumulated +garbage. Their houses must be ill-drained, ill-lighted, ill-ventilated. +Their subjects must be ill-washed, ill-fed, ill-clothed. The London +of 1665 was such a city. The cities of the East, where plague has an +enduring dwelling, are such cities. We, in later times, have learned +somewhat of Nature, and partly obey her. Because of this partial +improvement of our natural knowledge and of that fractional obedience, +we have no plague; because that knowledge is still very imperfect and +that obedience yet incomplete, typhus is our companion and cholera our +visitor. But it is not presumptuous to express the belief that, when +our knowledge is more complete and our obedience the expression of our +knowledge, London will count her centuries of freedom from typhus +and cholera, as she now gratefully reckons her two hundred years of +ignorance of that plague which swooped upon her thrice in the first half +of the seventeenth century. + +Surely, there is nothing in these explanations which is not fully +borne out by the facts? Surely, the principles involved in them are now +admitted among the fixed beliefs of all thinking men? Surely, it is true +that our countrymen are less subject to fire, famine, pestilence, +and all the evils which result from a want of command over and due +anticipation of the course of Nature, than were the countrymen of +Milton; and health, wealth, and well-being are more abundant with us +than with them? But no less certainly is the difference due to the +improvement of our knowledge of Nature, and the extent to which that +improved knowledge has been incorporated with the household words of +men, and has supplied the springs of their daily actions. + +Granting for a moment, then, the truth of that which the depreciators of +natural knowledge are so fond of urging, that its improvement can only +add to the resources of our material civilization; admitting it to be +possible that the founders of the Royal Society themselves looked for +no other reward than this, I cannot confess that I was guilty +of exaggeration when I hinted, that to him who had the gift of +distinguishing between prominent events and important events, the origin +of a combined effort on the part of mankind to improve natural knowledge +might have loomed larger than the Plague and have outshone the glare +of the Fire; as a something fraught with a wealth of beneficence to +mankind, in comparison with which the damage done by those ghastly evils +would shrink into insignificance. + +It is very certain that for every victim slain by the plague, hundreds +of mankind exist and find a fair share of happiness in the world by the +aid of the spinning jenny. And the great fire, at its worst, could +not have burned the supply of coal, the daily working of which, in the +bowels of the earth, made possible by the steam pump, gives rise to an +amount of wealth to which the millions lost in old London are but as an +old song. + +But spinning jenny and steam pump are, after all, but toys, possessing +an accidental value; and natural knowledge creates multitudes of more +subtle contrivances, the praises of which do not happen to be sung +because they are not directly convertible into instruments of creating +wealth. When I contemplate natural knowledge squandering such gifts +among men, the only appropriate comparison I can find for her is, to +liken her to such a peasant woman as one sees in the Alps, striding ever +upward, heavily burdened, and with mind bent only on her home; but +yet, without effort and without thought, knitting for her children. +Now stockings are good and comfortable things, and the children +will undoubtedly be much the better for them; but surely it would be +short-sighted, to say the least of it, to depreciate this toiling mother +as a mere stocking-machine--a mere provider of physical comforts? + +However, there are blind leaders of the blind, and not a few of them, +who take this view of natural knowledge, and can see nothing in the +bountiful mother of humanity but a sort of comfort-grinding machine. +According to them, the improvement of natural knowledge always has been, +and always must be, synonymous with no more than the improvement of the +material resources and the increase of the gratification of men. + +Natural knowledge is, in their eyes, no real mother of mankind, bringing +them up with kindness, and if need be, with sternness, in the way they +should go, and instructing them in all things needful for their welfare; +but a sort of fairy godmother, ready to furnish her pets with shoes of +swiftness, swords of sharpness, and omnipotent Aladdin's lamps, so that +they may have telegraphs to Saturn, and see the other side of the moon, +and thank God they are better than their benighted ancestors. + +If this talk were true, I, for one, should not greatly care to toil +in the service of natural knowledge. I think I would just as soon be +quietly chipping my own flint axe, after the manner of my forefathers +a few thousand years back, as be troubled with the endless malady of +thought which now infests us all, for such reward. But I venture to +say that such views are contrary alike to reason and to fact. Those who +discourse in such fashion seem to me to be so intent upon trying to see +what is above Nature, or what is behind her, that they are blind to what +stares them in the face, in her. + +I should not venture to speak thus strongly if my justification were not +to be found in the simplest and most obvious facts,--if it needed more +than an appeal to the most notorious truths to justify my assertion, +that the improvement of natural knowledge, whatever direction it has +taken, and however low the aims of those who may have commenced it--has +not only conferred practical benefits on men, but, in so doing, has +effected a revolution in their conceptions of the universe and of +themselves, and has profoundly altered their modes of thinking and +their views of right and wrong. I say that natural knowledge, seeking +to satisfy natural wants, has found the ideas which can alone still +spiritual cravings. I way that natural knowledge, in desiring to +ascertain the laws of comfort, has been driven to discover those of +conduct, and to lay the foundations of a new morality. + +Let us take these points separately; and, first, what great ideas has +natural knowledge introduced into men's minds? + +I cannot but think that the foundations of all natural knowledge were +laid when the reason of man first came face to face with the facts of +Nature; when the savage first learned that the fingers of one hand are +fewer than those of both; that it is shorter to cross a stream than to +head it; that a stone stops where it is unless it be moved, and that it +drops from the hand which lets it go; that light and heat come and go +with the sun; that sticks burn away to a fire; that plants and animals +grow and die; that if he struck his fellow-savage a blow he would make +him angry, and perhaps get a blow in return, while if he offered him a +fruit he would please him, and perhaps receive a fish in exchange. When +men had acquired this much knowledge, the outlines, rude though they +were, of mathematics, of physics, of chemistry, of biology, of moral, +economical, and political science, were sketched. Nor did the germ of +religion fail when science began to bud. Listen to words which though +new, are yet three thousand years old:-- + + "...When in heaven the stars about the moon + Look beautiful, when all the winds are laid, + And every height comes out, and jutting peak + And valley, and the immeasurable heavens + Break open to their highest, and all the stars + Shine, and the shepherd gladdens in his heart."* + +([Footnote] *Need it be said that this is Tennyson's English for Homer's +Greek?) + +If the half-savage Greek could share our feelings thus far, it is +irrational to doubt that he went further, to find, as we do, that upon +that brief gladness there follows a certain sorrow,--the little light of +awakened human intelligence shines so mere a spark amidst the abyss +of the unknown and unknowable; seems so insufficient to do more than +illuminate the imperfections that cannot be remedied, the aspirations +that cannot be realized, of man's own nature. But in this sadness, this +consciousness of the limitation of man, this sense of an open secret +which he cannot penetrate, lies the essence of all religion; and the +attempt to embody it in the forms furnished by the intellect is the +origin of the higher theologies. + +Thus it seems impossible to imagine but that the foundations of all +knowledge--secular or sacred--were laid when intelligence dawned, though +the superstructure remained for long ages so slight and feeble as to be +compatible with the existence of almost any general view respecting the +mode of governance of the universe. No doubt, from the first, there were +certain phenomena which, to the rudest mind, presented a constancy of +occurrence, and suggested that a fixed order ruled, at any rate, among +them. I doubt if the grossest of Fetish worshippers ever imagined that +a stone must have a god within it to make it fall, or that a fruit had +a god within it to make it taste sweet. With regard to such matters +as these, it is hardly questionable that mankind from the first took +strictly positive and scientific views. + +But, with respect to all the less familiar occurrences which present +themselves, uncultured man, no doubt, has always taken himself as the +standard of comparison, as the centre and measure of the world; nor +could he well avoid doing so. And finding that his apparently uncaused +will has a powerful effect in giving rise to many occurrences, he +naturally enough ascribed other and greater events to other and greater +volitions, and came to look upon the world and all that therein is, as +the product of the volitions of persons like himself, but stronger, and +capable of being appeased or angered, as he himself might be soothed +or irritated. Through such conceptions of the plan and working of +the universe all mankind have passed, or are passing. And we may +now consider, what has been the effect of the improvement of natural +knowledge on the views of men who have reached this stage, and who +have begun to cultivate natural knowledge with no desire but that of +"increasing God's honour and bettering man's estate." + +For example, what could seem wiser, from a mere material point of view, +more innocent, from a theological one, to an ancient people, than that +they should learn the exact succession of the seasons, as warnings for +their husbandmen; or the position of the stars, as guides to their rude +navigators? But what has grown out of this search for natural +knowledge of so merely useful a character? You all know the reply. +Astronomy,--which of all sciences has filled men's minds with general +ideas of a character most foreign to their daily experience, and has, +more than any other, rendered it impossible for them to accept the +beliefs of their fathers. Astronomy,--which tells them that this so vast +and seemingly solid earth is but an atom among atoms, whirling, no man +knows whither, through illimitable space; which demonstrates that what +we call the peaceful heaven above us, is but that space, filled by an +infinitely subtle matter whose particles are seething and surging, like +the waves of an angry sea; which opens up to us infinite regions where +nothing is known, or ever seems to have been known, but matter and +force, operating according to rigid rules; which leads us to contemplate +phenomena the very nature of which demonstrates that they must have +had a beginning, and that they must have an end, but the very nature of +which also proves that the beginning was, to our conceptions of time, +infinitely remote, and that the end is as immeasurably distant. + +But it is not alone those who pursue astronomy who ask for bread +and receive ideas. What more harmless than the attempt to lift and +distribute water by pumping it; what more absolutely and grossly +utilitarian? But out of pumps grew the discussions about Nature's +abhorrence of a vacuum; and then it was discovered that Nature does not +abhor a vacuum, but that air has weight; and that notion paved the way +for the doctrine that all matter has weight, and that the force which +produces weight is co-extensive with the universe,--in short, to the +theory of universal gravitation and endless force. While learning how +to handle gases led to the discovery of oxygen, and to modern chemistry, +and to the notion of the indestructibility of matter. + +Again, what simpler, or more absolutely practical, than the attempt to +keep the axle of a wheel from heating when the wheel turns round very +fast? How useful for carters and gig drivers to know something about +this; and how good were it, if any ingenious person would find out the +cause of such phenomena, and thence educe a general remedy for them. +Such an ingenious person was Count Rumford; and he and his successors +have landed us in the theory of the persistence, or indestructibility, +of force. And in the infinitely minute, as in the infinitely great, +the seekers after natural knowledge, of the kinds called physical and +chemical, have everywhere found a definite order and succession of +events which seem never to be infringed. + +And how has it fared with "Physick" and Anatomy? Have the anatomist, +the physiologist, or the physician, whose business it has been to devote +themselves assiduously to that eminently practical and direct end, +the alleviation of the sufferings of mankind,--have they been able to +confine their vision more absolutely to the strictly useful? I fear they +are worst offenders of all. For if the astronomer has set before us the +infinite magnitude of space, and the practical eternity of the duration +of the universe; if the physical and chemical philosophers have +demonstrated the infinite minuteness of its constituent parts, and +the practical eternity of matter and of force; and if both have alike +proclaimed the universality of a definite and predicable order and +succession of events, the workers in biology have not only accepted all +these, but have added more startling theses of their own. For, as the +astronomers discover in the earth no centre of the universe, but an +eccentric speck, so the naturalists find man to be no centre of the +living world, but one amidst endless modifications of life; and as the +astronomer observes the mark of practically endless time set upon +the arrangements of the solar system so the student of life finds the +records of ancient forms of existence peopling the world for ages, +which, in relation to human experience, are infinite. + +Furthermore, the physiologist finds life to be as dependent for its +manifestation on particular molecular arrangements as any physical or +chemical phenomenon; and, whenever he extends his researches, fixed +order and unchanging causation reveal themselves, as plainly as in the +rest of Nature. + +Nor can I find that any other fate has awaited the germ of Religion. +Arising, like all other kinds of knowledge, and out of the action and +interaction of man's mind, with that which is not man's mind, it has +taken the intellectual coverings of Fetishism or Polytheism; of Theism +or Atheism; of Superstition or Rationalism. With these, and their +relative merits and demerits, I have nothing to do; but this it is +needful for my purpose to say, that if the religion of the present +differs from that of the past, it is because the theology of the present +has become more scientific than that of the past; because it has not +only renounced idols of wood and idols of stone, but begins to see +the necessity of breaking in pieces the idols built up of books and +traditions and fine-spun ecclesiastical cobwebs: and of cherishing the +noblest and most human of man's emotions, by worship "for the most part +of the silent sort" at the altar of the Unknown and Unknowable. + +Such are a few of the new conceptions implanted in our minds by the +improvement of natural knowledge. Men have acquired the ideas of +the practically infinite extent of the universe and of its practical +eternity; they are familiar with the conception that our earth is but an +infinitesimal fragment of that part of the universe which can be seen; +and that, nevertheless, its duration is, as compared with our standards +of time, infinite. They have further acquired the idea that man is but +one of innumerable forms of life now existing in the globe, and that +the present existences are but the last of an immeasurable series of +predecessors. Moreover, every step they have made in natural knowledge +has tended to extend and rivet in their minds the conception of a +definite order of the universe--which is embodied in what are called, +by an unhappy metaphor, the laws of Nature--and to narrow the range and +loosen the force of men's belief in spontaneity, or in changes other +than such as arise out of that definite order itself. + +Whether these ideas are well or ill founded is not the question. No one +can deny that they exist, and have been the inevitable outgrowth of the +improvement of natural knowledge. And if so, it cannot be doubted that +they are changing the form of men's most cherished and most important +convictions. + +And as regards the second point--the extent to which the improvement +of natural knowledge has remodelled and altered what may be termed the +intellectual ethics of men,--what are among the moral convictions most +fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people. + +They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of +belief; that merit attaches to a readiness to believe; that the doubting +disposition is a bad one, and scepticism a sin; that when good authority +has pronounced what is to be believed, and faith has accepted it, reason +has no further duty. There are many excellent persons who yet hold by +these principles, and it is not my present business, or intention, to +discuss their views. All I wish to bring clearly before your minds is +the unquestionable fact, that the improvement of natural knowledge +is effected by methods which directly give the lie to all these +convictions, and assume the exact reverse of each to be true. + +The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge +authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind +faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot be otherwise, for every +great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection +of authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, the annihilation +of the spirit of blind faith; and the most ardent votary of science +holds his firmest convictions, not because the men he most venerates +hold them; not because their verity is testified by portents and +wonders; but because his experience teaches him that whenever he chooses +to bring these convictions into contact with their primary source, +Nature--whenever he thinks fit to test them by appealing to experiment +and to observation--Nature will confirm them. The man of science has +learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification. + +Thus, without for a moment pretending to despise the practical results +of the improvement of natural knowledge, and its beneficial influence +on material civilization, it must, I think, be admitted that the great +ideas, some of which I have indicated, and the ethical spirit which +I have endeavoured to sketch, in the few moments which remained at my +disposal, constitute the real and permanent significance of natural +knowledge. + +If these ideas be destined, as I believe they are, to be more and more +firmly established as the world grows older; if that spirit be fated, as +I believe it is, to extend itself into all departments of human thought, +and to become co-extensive with the range of knowledge; if, as our race +approaches its maturity, it discovers, as I believe it will, that there +is but one kind of knowledge and but one method of acquiring it; then +we, who are still children, may justly feel it our highest duty to +recognise the advisableness of improving natural knowledge, and so to +aid ourselves and our successors in their course towards the noble goal +which lies before mankind. + +End of On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge. + +*** + + + + +ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered at the South Kensington Museum in +1861.) + +Natural History is the name familiarly applied to the study of the +properties of such natural bodies as minerals, plants, and animals; the +sciences which embody the knowledge man has acquired upon these subjects +are commonly termed Natural Sciences, in contradistinction to other +so-called "physical" sciences; and those who devote themselves +especially to the pursuit of such sciences have been and are commonly +termed "Naturalists." + +Linnaeus was a naturalist in this wide sense, and his 'Systema Naturae' +was a work upon natural history, in the broadest acceptation of the +term; in it, that great methodising spirit embodied all that was known +in his time of the distinctive characters of minerals, animals, +and plants. But the enormous stimulus which Linnaeus gave to the +investigation of nature soon rendered it impossible that any one man +should write another 'Systema Naturae,' and extremely difficult for any +one to become even a naturalist such as Linnaeus was. + +Great as have been the advances made by all the three branches of +science, of old included under the title of natural history, there can +be no doubt that zoology and botany have grown in an enormously greater +ratio than mineralogy; and hence, as I suppose, the name of "natural +history" has gradually become more and more definitely attached to these +prominent divisions of the subject, and by "naturalist" people have +meant more and more distinctly to imply a student of the structure and +function of living beings. + +However this may be, it is certain that the advance of knowledge +has gradually widened the distance between mineralogy and its old +associates, while it has drawn zoology and botany closer together; so +that of late years it has been found convenient (and indeed necessary) +to associate the sciences which deal with vitality and all its phenomena +under the common head of "biology"; and the biologists have come +to repudiate any blood-relationship with their foster-brothers, the +mineralogists. + +Certain broad laws have a general application throughout both the animal +and the vegetable worlds, but the ground common to these kingdoms of +nature is not of very wide extent, and the multiplicity of details is so +great, that the student of living beings finds himself obliged to devote +his attention exclusively either to the one or the other. If he elects +to study plants, under any aspect, we know at once what to call him. He +is a botanist, and his science is botany. But if the investigation of +animal life be his choice, the name generally applied to him will vary +according to the kind of animals he studies, or the particular phenomena +of animal life to which he confines his attention. If the study of +man is his object, he is called an anatomist, or a physiologist, or an +ethnologist; but if he dissects animals, or examines into the mode in +which their functions are performed, he is a comparative anatomist or +comparative physiologist. If he turns his attention to fossil animals, +he is a palaeontologist. If his mind is more particularly directed +to the specific description, discrimination, classification, and +distribution of animals, he is termed a zoologist. + +For the purpose of the present discourse, however, I shall recognise +none of these titles save the last, which I shall employ as the +equivalent of botanist, and I shall use the term zoology as denoting +the whole doctrine of animal life, in contradistinction to botany, which +signifies the whole doctrine of vegetable life. + +Employed in this sense, zoology, like botany, is divisible into +three great but subordinate sciences, morphology, physiology, and +distribution, each of which may, to a very great extent, be studied +independently of the other. + +Zoological morphology is the doctrine of animal form or structure. +Anatomy is one of its branches; development is another; while +classification is the expression of the relations which different +animals bear to one another, in respect of their anatomy and their +development. + +Zoological distribution is the study of animals in relation to the +terrestrial conditions which obtain now, or have obtained at any +previous epoch of the earth's history. + +Zoological physiology, lastly, is the doctrine of the functions or +actions of animals. It regards animal bodies as machines impelled by +certain forces, and performing an amount of work which can be expressed +in terms of the ordinary forces of nature. The final object of +physiology is to deduce the facts of morphology, on the one hand, and +those of distribution on the other, from the laws of the molecular +forces of matter. + +Such is the scope of zoology. But if I were to content myself with the +enunciation of these dry definitions, I should ill exemplify that +method of teaching this branch of physical science, which it is my chief +business to-night to recommend. Let us turn away then from abstract +definitions. Let us take some concrete living thing, some animal, the +commoner the better, and let us see how the application of common sense +and common logic to the obvious facts it presents, inevitably leads us +into all these branches of zoological science. + +I have before me a lobster. When I examine it, what appears to be the +most striking character it presents? Why, I observe that this part which +we call the tail of the lobster, is made up of six distinct hard rings +and a seventh terminal piece. If I separate one of the middle rings, say +the third, I find it carries upon its under surface a pair of limbs or +appendages, each of which consists of a stalk and two terminal pieces. +So that I can represent a transverse section of the ring and its +appendages upon the diagram board in this way. + +If I now take the fourth ring, I find it has the same structure, and so +have the fifth and the second; so that, in each of these divisions of +the tail, I find parts which correspond with one another, a ring and +two appendages; and in each appendage a stalk and two end pieces. These +corresponding parts are called, in the technical language of anatomy, +"homologous parts." The ring of the third division is the "homologue" of +the ring of the fifth, the appendage of the former is the homologue +of the appendage of the latter. And, as each division exhibits +corresponding parts in corresponding places, we say that all the +divisions are constructed upon the same plan. But now let us consider +the sixth division. It is similar to, and yet different from, the +others. The ring is essentially the same as in the other divisions; but +the appendages look at first as if they were very different; and yet +when we regard them closely, what do we find? A stalk and two terminal +divisions, exactly as in the others, but the stalk is very short and +very thick, the terminal divisions are very broad and flat, and one of +them is divided into two pieces. + +I may say, therefore, that the sixth segment is like the others in plan, +but that it is modified in its details. + +The first segment is like the others, so far as its ring is concerned, +and though its appendages differ from any of those yet examined in the +simplicity of their structure, parts corresponding with the stem and one +of the divisions of the appendages of the other segments can be readily +discerned in them. + +Thus it appears that the lobster's tail is composed of a series of +segments which are fundamentally similar, though each presents peculiar +modifications of the plan common to all. But when I turn to the forepart +of the body I see, at first, nothing but a great shield-like shell, +called technically the "carapace," ending in front in a sharp spine, on +either side of which are the curious compound eyes, set upon the ends of +stout movable stalks. Behind these, on the under side of the body, are +two pairs of long feelers, or antennae, followed by six pairs of jaws +folded against one another over the mouth, and five pairs of legs, the +foremost of these being the great pinchers, or claws, of the lobster. + +It looks, at first, a little hopeless to attempt to find in this complex +mass a series of rings, each with its pair of appendages, such as I have +shown you in the abdomen, and yet it is not difficult to demonstrate +their existence. Strip off the legs, and you will find that each pair is +attached to a very definite segment of the under wall of the body; but +these segments, instead of being the lower parts of free rings, as in +the tail, are such parts of rings which are all solidly united and +bound together; and the like is true of the jaws, the feelers, and the +eye-stalks, every pair of which is borne upon its own special segment. +Thus the conclusion is gradually forced upon us, that the body of the +lobster is composed of as many rings as there are pairs of appendages, +namely, twenty in all, but that the six hindmost rings remain free and +movable, while the fourteen front rings become firmly soldered together, +their backs forming one continuous shield--the carapace. + +Unity of plan, diversity in execution, is the lesson taught by the study +of the rings of the body, and the same instruction is given still more +emphatically by the appendages. If I examine the outermost jaw I find it +consists of three distinct portions, an inner, a middle, and an outer, +mounted upon a common stem; and if I compare this jaw with the legs +behind it, or the jaws in front of it, I find it quite easy to see, +that, in the legs, it is the part of the appendage which corresponds +with the inner division, which becomes modified into what we know +familiarly as the "leg," while the middle division disappears, and the +outer division is hidden under the carapace. Nor is it more difficult to +discern that, in the appendages of the tail, the middle division appears +again and the outer vanishes; while, on the other hand, in the foremost +jaw, the so-called mandible, the inner division only is left; and, in +the same way, the parts of the feelers and of the eye-stalks can be +identified with those of the legs and jaws. + +But whither does all this tend? To the very remarkable conclusion that +a unity of plan, of the same kind as that discoverable in the tail or +abdomen of the lobster, pervades the whole organization of its skeleton, +so that I can return to the diagram representing any one of the rings of +the tail, which I drew upon the board, and by adding a third division to +each appendage, I can use it as a sort of scheme or plan of any ring of +the body. I can give names to all the parts of that figure, and then if +I take any segment of the body of the lobster, I can point out to +you exactly, what modification the general plan has undergone in that +particular segment; what part has remained movable, and what has become +fixed to another; what has been excessively developed and metamorphosed +and what has been suppressed. + +But I imagine I hear the question, How is all this to be tested? No +doubt it is a pretty and ingenious way of looking at the structure of +any animal; but is it anything more? Does Nature acknowledge, in any +deeper way, this unity of plan we seem to trace? + +The objection suggested by these questions is a very valid and important +one, and morphology was in an unsound state so long as it rested upon +the mere perception of the analogies which obtain between fully formed +parts. The unchecked ingenuity of speculative anatomists proved itself +fully competent to spin any number of contradictory hypotheses out of +the same facts, and endless morphological dreams threatened to supplant +scientific theory. + +Happily, however, there is a criterion of morphological truth, and a +sure test of all homologies. Our lobster has not always been what we see +it; it was once an egg, a semifluid mass of yolk, not so big as a pin's +head, contained in a transparent membrane, and exhibiting not the least +trace of any one of those organs, whose multiplicity and complexity, in +the adult, are so surprising. After a time a delicate patch of cellular +membrane appeared upon one face of this yolk, and that patch was the +foundation of the whole creature, the clay out of which it would +be moulded. Gradually investing the yolk, it became subdivided by +transverse constrictions into segments, the forerunners of the rings of +the body. Upon the ventral surface of each of the rings thus sketched +out, a pair of bud-like prominences made their appearance--the rudiments +of the appendages of the ring. At first, all the appendages were alike, +but, as they grew, most of them became distinguished into a stem and two +terminal divisions, to which in the middle part of the body, was added +a third outer division; and it was only at a later period, that by the +modification, or absorption, of certain of these primitive constituents, +the limbs acquired their perfect form. + +Thus the study of development proves that the doctrine of unity of plan +is not merely a fancy, that it is not merely one way of looking at the +matter, but that it is the expression of deep-seated natural facts. The +legs and jaws of the lobster may not merely be regarded as modifications +of a common type,--in fact and in nature they are so,--the leg and the +jaw of the young animal being, at first, indistinguishable. + +These are wonderful truths, the more so because the zoologist finds +them to be of universal application. The investigation of a polype, of a +snail, of a fish, of a horse, or of a man, would have led us, though +by a less easy path, perhaps, to exactly the same point. Unity of plan +everywhere lies hidden under the mask of diversity of structure--the +complex is everywhere evolved out of the simple. Every animal has at +first the form of an egg, and every animal and every organic part, in +reaching its adult state, passes through conditions common to other +animals and other adult parts; and this leads me to another point. I +have hitherto spoken as if the lobster were alone in the world, but, as +I need hardly remind you, there are myriads of other animal organisms. +Of these, some, such as men, horses, birds, fishes, snails, slugs, +oysters, corals, and sponges, are not in the least like the lobster. But +other animals, though they may differ a good deal from the lobster, are +yet either very like it, or are like something that is like it. The +cray fish, the rock lobster, and the prawn, and the shrimp, for example, +however different, are yet so like lobsters, that a child would group +them as of the lobster kind, in contradistinction to snails and +slugs; and these last again would form a kind by themselves, in +contradistinction to cows, horses, and sheep, the cattle kind. + +But this spontaneous grouping into "kinds" is the first essay of the +human mind at classification, or the calling by a common name of those +things that are alike, and the arranging them in such a manner as best +to suggest the sum of their likenesses and unlikenesses to other things. + +Those kinds which include no other subdivisions than the sexes, or +various breeds, are called, in technical language, species. The English +lobster is a species, our cray fish is another, our prawn is another. +In other countries, however, there are lobsters, cray fish, and prawns, +very like ours, and yet presenting sufficient differences to deserve +distinction. Naturalists, therefore, express this resemblance and this +diversity by grouping them as distinct species of the same "genus." But +the lobster and the cray fish, though belonging to distinct genera, have +many features in common, and hence are grouped together in an assemblage +which is called a family. More distant resemblances connect the lobster +with the prawn and the crab, which are expressed by putting all these +into the same order. Again, more remote, but still very definite, +resemblances unite the lobster with the woodlouse, the king crab, the +water flea, and the barnacle, and separate them from all other animals; +whence they collectively constitute the larger group, or class, +'Crustacea'. But the 'Crustacea' exhibit many peculiar features in +common with insects, spiders, and centipedes, so that these are grouped +into the still larger assemblage or "province" 'Articulata'; and, +finally, the relations which these have to worms and other lower +animals, are expressed by combining the whole vast aggregate into the +sub-kingdom of 'Annulosa'. + +If I had worked my way from a sponge instead of a lobster, I should have +found it associated, by like ties, with a great number of other animals +into the sub-kingdom 'Protozoa'; if I had selected a fresh-water +polype or a coral, the members of what naturalists term the sub-kingdom +'Coelenterata', would have grouped themselves around my type; had a +snail been chosen, the inhabitants of all univalve and bivalve, land and +water, shells, the lamp shells, the squids, and the sea-mat would have +gradually linked themselves on to it as members of the same sub-kingdom +of 'Mollusca'; and finally, starting from man, I should have been +compelled to admit first, the ape, the rat, the horse, the dog, into the +same class; and then the bird, the crocodile, the turtle, the frog, and +the fish, into the same sub-kingdom of 'Vertebrata'. + +And if I had followed out all these various lines of classification +fully, I should discover in the end that there was no animal, either +recent or fossil, which did not at once fall into one or other of these +sub-kingdoms. In other words, every animal is organized upon one +or other of the five, or more, plans, whose existence renders our +classification possible. And so definitely and precisely marked is the +structure of each animal, that, in the present state of our knowledge, +there is not the least evidence to prove that a form, in the slightest +degree transitional between any of the two groups 'Vertebrata', +'Annulosa', 'Mollusca', and 'Coelenterata', either exists, or has +existed, during that period of the earth's history which is recorded by +the geologist. Nevertheless, you must not for a moment suppose, +because no such transitional forms are known, that the members of the +sub-kingdoms are disconnected from, or independent of, one another. On +the contrary, in their earliest condition they are all alike, and the +primordial germs of a man, a dog, a bird, a fish, a beetle, a snail, and +a polype are, in no essential structural respects, distinguishable. + +In this broad sense, it may with truth be said, that all living animals, +and all those dead creations which geology reveals, are bound together +by an all-pervading unity of organization, of the same character, though +not equal in degree, to that which enables us to discern one and the +same plan amidst the twenty different segments of a lobster's body. +Truly it has been said, that to a clear eye the smallest fact is a +window through which the Infinite may be seen. + +Turning from these purely morphological considerations, let us now +examine into the manner in which the attentive study of the lobster +impels us into other lines of research. + +Lobsters are found in all the European seas; but on the opposite shores +of the Atlantic and in the seas of the southern hemisphere they do not +exist. They are, however, represented in these regions by very closely +allied, but distinct forms--the 'Homarus Americanus' and the 'Homarus +Capensis': so that we may say that the European has one species of +'Homarus'; the American, another; the African, another; and thus the +remarkable facts of geographical distribution begin to dawn upon us. + +Again, if we examine the contents of the earth's crust, we shall find +in the latter of those deposits, which have served as the great burying +grounds of past ages, numberless lobster-like animals, but none so +similar to our living lobster as to make zoologists sure that they +belonged even to the same genus. If we go still further back in time, +we discover, in the oldest rocks of all, the remains of animals, +constructed on the same general plan as the lobster, and belonging +to the same great group of 'Crustacea'; but for the most part totally +different from the lobster, and indeed from any other living form of +crustacean; and thus we gain a notion of that successive change of the +animal population of the globe, in past ages, which is the most striking +fact revealed by geology. + +Consider, now, where our inquiries have led us. We studied our type +morphologically, when we determined its anatomy and its development, and +when comparing it, in these respects, with other animals, we made out +its place in a system of classification. If we were to examine every +animal in a similar manner, we should establish a complete body of +zoological morphology. + +Again, we investigated the distribution of our type in space and in +time, and, if the like had been done with every animal, the sciences +of geographical and geological distribution would have attained their +limit. + +But you will observe one remarkable circumstance, that, up to this +point, the question of the life of these organisms has not come under +consideration. Morphology and distribution might be studied almost +as well, if animals and plants were a peculiar kind of crystals, and +possessed none of those functions which distinguish living beings so +remarkably. But the facts of morphology and distribution have to be +accounted for, and the science, whose aim it is to account for them, is +Physiology. + +Let us return to our lobster once more. If we watched the creature in +its native element, we should see it climbing actively the submerged +rocks, among which it delights to live, by means of its strong legs; or +swimming by powerful strokes of its great tail, the appendages of whose +sixth joint are spread out into a broad fan-like propeller: seize +it, and it will show you that its great claws are no mean weapons +of offence; suspend a piece of carrion among its haunts, and it will +greedily devour it, tearing and crushing the flesh by means of its +multitudinous jaws. + +Suppose that we had known nothing of the lobster but as an inert mass, +an organic crystal, if I may use the phrase, and that we could suddenly +see it exerting all these powers, what wonderful new ideas and new +questions would arise in our minds! The great new question would be, +"How does all this take place?" the chief new idea would be, the idea +of adaptation to purpose,--the notion, that the constituents of animal +bodies are not mere unconnected parts, but organs working together to +an end. Let us consider the tail of the lobster again from this point of +view. Morphology has taught us that it is a series of segments composed +of homologous parts, which undergo various modifications--beneath and +through which a common plan of formation is discernible. But if I look +at the same part physiologically, I see that it is a most beautifully +constructed organ of locomotion, by means of which the animal can +swiftly propel itself either backwards or forwards. + +But how is this remarkable propulsive machine made to perform its +functions? If I were suddenly to kill one of these animals and to take +out all the soft parts, I should find the shell to be perfectly +inert, to have no more power of moving itself than is possessed by +the machinery of a mill when disconnected from its steam-engine or +water-wheel. But if I were to open it, and take out the viscera only, +leaving the white flesh, I should perceive that the lobster could bend +and extend its tail as well as before. If I were to cut off the tail, I +should cease to find any spontaneous motion in it; but on pinching any +portion of the flesh, I should observe that it underwent a very +curious change--each fibre becoming shorter and thicker. By this act of +contraction, as it is termed, the parts to which the ends of the +fibre are attached are, of course, approximated; and according to the +relations of their points of attachment to the centres of motions of the +different rings, the bending or the extension of the tail results. Close +observation of the newly-opened lobster would soon show that all its +movements are due to the same cause--the shortening and thickening of +these fleshy fibres, which are technically called muscles. + +Here, then, is a capital fact. The movements of the lobster are due to +muscular contractility. But why does a muscle contract at one time and +not at another? Why does one whole group of muscles contract when the +lobster wishes to extend his tail, and another group when he desires to +bend it? What is it originates, directs, and controls the motive power? + +Experiment, the great instrument for the ascertainment of truth in +physical science, answers this question for us. In the head of the +lobster there lies a small mass of that peculiar tissue which is known +as nervous substance. Cords of similar matter connect this brain of +the lobster, directly or indirectly, with the muscles. Now, if these +communicating cords are cut, the brain remaining entire, the power of +exerting what we call voluntary motion in the parts below the section +is destroyed; and on the other hand, if, the cords remaining entire, the +brain mass be destroyed, the same voluntary mobility is equally lost. +Whence the inevitable conclusion is, that the power of originating these +motions resides in the brain, and is propagated along the nervous cords. + +In the higher animals the phenomena which attend this transmission have +been investigated, and the exertion of the peculiar energy which resides +in the nerves has been found to be accompanied by a disturbance of the +electrical state of their molecules. + +If we could exactly estimate the signification of this disturbance; +if we could obtain the value of a given exertion of nerve force by +determining the quantity of electricity, or of heat, of which it is +the equivalent; if we could ascertain upon what arrangement, or other +condition of the molecules of matter, the manifestation of the nervous +and muscular energies depends (and doubtless science will some day or +other ascertain these points), physiologists would have attained their +ultimate goal in this direction; they would have determined the relation +of the motive force of animals to the other forms of force found in +nature; and if the same process had been successfully performed for +all the operations which are carried on in, and by, the animal +frame, physiology would be perfect, and the facts of morphology and +distribution would be deducible from the laws which physiologists +had established, combined with those determining the condition of the +surrounding universe. + +There is not a fragment of the organism of this humble animal whose +study would not lead us into regions of thought as large as those which +I have briefly opened up to you; but what I have been saying, I trust, +has not only enabled you to form a conception of the scope and purport +of zoology, but has given you an imperfect example of the manner in +which, in my opinion, that science, or indeed any physical science, +may be best taught. The great matter is, to make teaching real and +practical, by fixing the attention of the student on particular facts; +but at the same time it should be rendered broad and comprehensive, by +constant reference to the generalizations of which all particular facts +are illustrations. The lobster has served as a type of the whole animal +kingdom, and its anatomy and physiology have illustrated for us some +of the greatest truths of biology. The student who has once seen for +himself the facts which I have described, has had their relations +explained to him, and has clearly comprehended them, has, so far, a +knowledge of zoology, which is real and genuine, however limited it may +be, and which is worth more than all the mere reading knowledge of the +science he could ever acquire. His zoological information is, so far, +knowledge and not mere hear-say. + +And if it were my business to fit you for the certificate in zoological +science granted by this department, I should pursue a course precisely +similar in principle to that which I have taken to-night. I should +select a fresh-water sponge, a fresh-water polype or a 'Cyanaea', a +fresh-water mussel, a lobster, a fowl, as types of the five primary +divisions of the animal kingdom. I should explain their structure very +fully, and show how each illustrated the great principles of zoology. +Having gone very carefully and fully over this ground, I should feel +that you had a safe foundation, and I should then take you in the same +way, but less minutely, over similarly selected illustrative types of +the classes; and then I should direct your attention to the special +forms enumerated under the head of types, in this syllabus, and to the +other facts there mentioned. + +That would, speaking generally, be my plan. But I have undertaken to +explain to you the best mode of acquiring and communicating a knowledge +of zoology, and you may therefore fairly ask me for a more detailed and +precise account of the manner in which I should propose to furnish you +with the information I refer to. + +My own impression is, that the best model for all kinds of training in +physical science is that afforded by the method of teaching anatomy, +in use in the medical schools. This method consists of three +elements--lectures, demonstrations, and examinations. + +The object of lectures is, in the first place, to awaken the attention +and excite the enthusiasm of the student; and this, I am sure, may +be effected to a far greater extent by the oral discourse and by +the personal influence of a respected teacher than in any other way. +Secondly, lectures have the double use of guiding the student to the +salient points of a subject, and at the same time forcing him to attend +to the whole of it, and not merely to that part which takes his fancy. +And lastly, lectures afford the student the opportunity of seeking +explanations of those difficulties which will, and indeed ought to, +arise in the course of his studies. + +But for a student to derive the utmost possible value from lectures, +several precautions are needful. + +I have a strong impression that the better a discourse is, as an +oration, the worse it is as a lecture. The flow of the discourse carries +you on without proper attention to its sense; you drop a word or a +phrase, you lose the exact meaning for a moment, and while you strive to +recover yourself, the speaker has passed on to something else. + +The practice I have adopted of late years, in lecturing to students, +is to condense the substance of the hour's discourse into a few dry +propositions, which are read slowly and taken down from dictation; +the reading of each being followed by a free commentary expanding +and illustrating the proposition, explaining terms, and removing any +difficulties that may be attackable in that way, by diagrams made +roughly, and seen to grow under the lecturer's hand. In this manner you, +at any rate, insure the co-operation of the student to a certain extent. +He cannot leave the lecture-room entirely empty if the taking of notes +is enforced; and a student must be preternaturally dull and mechanical, +if he can take notes and hear them properly explained, and yet learn +nothing. + +What books shall I read? is a question constantly put by the student to +the teacher. My reply usually is, "None: write your notes out carefully +and fully; strive to understand them thoroughly; come to me for the +explanation of anything you cannot understand; and I would rather you +did not distract your mind by reading." A properly composed course +of lectures ought to contain fully as much matter as a student can +assimilate in the time occupied by its delivery; and the teacher should +always recollect that his business is to feed, and not to cram the +intellect. Indeed, I believe that a student who gains from a course +of lectures the simple habit of concentrating his attention upon a +definitely limited series of facts, until they are thoroughly mastered, +has made a step of immeasurable importance. + +But, however good lectures may be, and however extensive the course of +reading by which they are followed up, they are but accessories to the +great instrument of scientific teaching--demonstration. If I insist +unweariedly, nay fanatically, upon the importance of physical science as +an educational agent, it is because the study of any branch of science, +if properly conducted, appears to me to fill up a void left by all other +means of education. I have the greatest respect and love for literature; +nothing would grieve me more than to see literary training other than +a very prominent branch of education: indeed, I wish that real literary +discipline were far more attended to than it is; but I cannot shut my +eyes to the fact, that there is a vast difference between men who +have had a purely literary, and those who have had a sound scientific, +training. + +Seeking for the cause of this difference, I imagine I can find it in the +fact that, in the world of letters, learning and knowledge are one, and +books are the source of both; whereas in science, as in life, learning +and knowledge are distinct, and the study of things, and not of books, +is the source of the latter. + +All that literature has to bestow may be obtained by reading and by +practical exercise in writing and in speaking; but I do not exaggerate +when I say, that none of the best gifts of science are to be won by +these means. On the contrary, the great benefit which a scientific +education bestows, whether as training or as knowledge, is dependent +upon the extent to which the mind of the student is brought into +immediate contact with facts--upon the degree to which he learns the +habit of appealing directly to Nature, and of acquiring through his +senses concrete images of those properties of things, which are, and +always will be, but approximatively expressed in human language. Our +way of looking at Nature, and of speaking about her, varies from year +to year; but a fact once seen, a relation of cause and effect, once +demonstratively apprehended, are possessions which neither change nor +pass away, but, on the contrary, form fixed centres, about which other +truths aggregate by natural affinity. + +Therefore, the great business of the scientific teacher is, to imprint +the fundamental, irrefragable facts of his science, not only by words +upon the mind, but by sensible impressions upon the eye, and ear, and +touch of the student, in so complete a manner, that every term used, or +law enunciated, should afterwards call up vivid images of the particular +structural, or other, facts which furnished the demonstration of the +law, or the illustration of the term. + +Now this important operation can only be achieved by constant +demonstration, which may take place to a certain imperfect extent during +a lecture, but which ought also to be carried on independently, and +which should be addressed to each individual student, the teacher +endeavouring, not so much to show a thing to the learner, as to make him +see it for himself. + +I am well aware that there are great practical difficulties in the way +of effectual zoological demonstrations. The dissection of animals is not +altogether pleasant, and requires much time; nor is it easy to secure an +adequate supply of the needful specimens. The botanist has here a great +advantage; his specimens are easily obtained, are clean and wholesome, +and can be dissected in a private house as well as anywhere else; and +hence, I believe, the fact, that botany is so much more readily and +better taught than its sister science. But, be it difficult or be it +easy, if zoological science is to be properly studied, demonstration, +and, consequently, dissection, must be had. Without it, no man can have +a really sound knowledge of animal organization. + +A good deal may be done, however, without actual dissection on the +student's part, by demonstration upon specimens and preparations; and +in all probability it would not be very difficult, were the demand +sufficient, to organize collections of such objects, sufficient for all +the purposes of elementary teaching, at a comparatively cheap rate. Even +without these, much might be effected, if the zoological collections, +which are open to the public, were arranged according to what has been +termed the "typical principle"; that is to say, if the specimens exposed +to public view were so selected that the public could learn something +from them, instead of being, as at present, merely confused by their +multiplicity. For example, the grand ornithological gallery at the +British Museum contains between two and three thousand species of birds, +and sometimes five or six specimens of a species. They are very pretty +to look at, and some of the cases are, indeed, splendid; but I will +undertake to say, that no man but a professed ornithologist has ever +gathered much information from the collection. Certainly, no one of the +tens of thousands of the general public who have walked through that +gallery ever knew more about the essential peculiarities of birds when +he left the gallery than when he entered it. But if, somewhere in that +vast hall, there were a few preparations, exemplifying the leading +structural peculiarities and the mode of development of a common fowl; +if the types of the genera, the leading modifications in the skeleton, +in the plumage at various ages, in the mode of nidification, and the +like, among birds, were displayed; and if the other specimens were put +away in a place where the men of science, to whom they are alone useful, +could have free access to them, I can conceive that this collection +might become a great instrument of scientific education. + +The last implement of the teacher to which I have adverted is +examination--a means of education now so thoroughly understood that +I need hardly enlarge upon it. I hold that both written and oral +examinations are indispensable, and, by requiring the description of +specimens, they may be made to supplement demonstration. + +Such is the fullest reply the time at my disposal will allow me to give +to the question--how may a knowledge of zoology be best acquired and +communicated? + +But there is a previous question which may be moved, and which, in +fact, I know many are inclined to move. It is the question, why should +training masters be encouraged to acquire a knowledge of this, or +any other branch of physical science? What is the use, it is said, of +attempting to make physical science a branch of primary education? Is it +not probable that teachers, in pursuing such studies, will be led astray +from the acquirement of more important but less attractive knowledge? +And, even if they can learn something of science without prejudice to +their usefulness, what is the good of their attempting to instil that +knowledge into boys whose real business is the acquisition of reading, +writing, and arithmetic? + +These questions are, and will be, very commonly asked, for they arise +from that profound ignorance of the value and true position of physical +science, which infests the minds of the most highly educated and +intelligent classes of the community. But if I did not feel well assured +that they are capable of being easily and satisfactorily answered; that +they have been answered over and over again; and that the time will come +when men of liberal education will blush to raise such questions,--I +should be ashamed of my position here to-night. Without doubt, it +is your great and very important function to carry out elementary +education; without question, anything that should interfere with the +faithful fulfilment of that duty on your part would be a great evil; and +if I thought that your acquirement of the elements of physical science, +and your communication of those elements to your pupils, involved any +sort of interference with your proper duties, I should be the first +person to protest against your being encouraged to do anything of the +kind. + +But is it true that the acquisition of such a knowledge of science as +is proposed, and the communication of that knowledge, are calculated to +weaken your usefulness? Or may I not rather ask, is it possible for you +to discharge your functions properly without these aids? + +What is the purpose of primary intellectual education? I apprehend +that its first object is to train the young in the use of those tools +wherewith men extract knowledge from the ever-shifting succession of +phenomena which pass before their eyes; and that its second object is to +inform them of the fundamental laws which have been found by experience +to govern the course of things, so that they may not be turned out +into the world naked, defenceless, and a prey to the events they might +control. + +A boy is taught to read his own and other languages, in order that he +may have access to infinitely wider stores of knowledge than could ever +be opened to him by oral intercourse with his fellow men; he learns to +write, that his means of communication with the rest of mankind may be +indefinitely enlarged, and that he may record and store up the knowledge +he acquires. He is taught elementary mathematics, that he may understand +all those relations of number and form, upon which the transactions of +men, associated in complicated societies, are built, and that he may +have some practice in deductive reasoning. + +All these operations of reading, writing, and ciphering, are +intellectual tools, whose use should, before all things, be learned, and +learned thoroughly; so that the youth may be enabled to make his life +that which it ought to be, a continual progress in learning and in +wisdom. + +But, in addition, primary education endeavours to fit a boy out with a +certain equipment of positive knowledge. He is taught the great laws +of morality; the religion of his sect; so much history and geography as +will tell him where the great countries of the world are, what they are, +and how they have become what they are. + +Without doubt all these are most fitting and excellent things to teach +a boy; I should be very sorry to omit any of them from any scheme of +primary intellectual education. The system is excellent, so far as it +goes. + +But if I regard it closely, a curious reflection arises. I suppose that, +fifteen hundred years ago, the child of any well-to-do Roman citizen +was taught just these same things; reading and writing in his own, +and, perhaps, the Greek tongue; the elements of mathematics; and +the religion, morality, history, and geography current in his time. +Furthermore, I do not think I err in affirming, that, if such +a Christian Roman boy, who had finished his education, could be +transplanted into one of our public schools, and pass through its course +of instruction, he would not meet with a single unfamiliar line of +thought; amidst all the new facts he would have to learn, not one would +suggest a different mode of regarding the universe from that current in +his own time. + +And yet surely there is some great difference between the civilization +of the fourth century and that of the nineteenth, and still more between +the intellectual habits and tone of thought of that day and this? + +And what has made this difference? I answer fearlessly--The prodigious +development of physical science within the last two centuries. + +Modern civilization rests upon physical science; take away her gifts to +our own country, and our position among the leading nations of the +world is gone to-morrow; for it is physical science only, that makes +intelligence and moral energy stronger than brute force. + +The whole of modern thought is steeped in science; it has made its way +into the works of our best poets, and even the mere man of letters, who +affects to ignore and despise science, is unconsciously impregnated with +her spirit, and indebted for his best products to her methods. I believe +that the greatest intellectual revolution mankind has yet seen is now +slowly taking place by her agency. She is teaching the world that +the ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment, and not +authority; she is teaching it to estimate the value of evidence; she is +creating a firm and living faith in the existence of immutable moral and +physical laws, perfect obedience to which is the highest possible aim of +an intelligent being. + +But of all this your old stereotyped system of education takes no note. +Physical science, its methods, its problems, and its difficulties, will +meet the poorest boy at every turn, and yet we educate him in such a +manner that he shall enter the world as ignorant of the existence of the +methods and facts of science as the day he was born. The modern world +is full of artillery; and we turn out our children to do battle in it, +equipped with the shield and sword of an ancient gladiator. + +Posterity will cry shame on us if we do not remedy this deplorable state +of things. Nay, if we live twenty years longer, our own consciences will +cry shame on us. + +It is my firm conviction that the only way to remedy it is, to make the +elements of physical science an integral part of primary education. I +have endeavoured to show you how that may be done for that branch of +science which it is my business to pursue; and I can but add, that I +should look upon the day when every schoolmaster throughout this land +was a centre of genuine, however rudimentary, scientific knowledge, as +an epoch in the history of the country. + +But let me entreat you to remember my last words. Addressing myself to +you, as teachers, I would say, mere book learning in physical science is +a sham and a delusion--what you teach, unless you wish to be impostors, +that you must first know; and real knowledge in science means personal +acquaintance with the facts, be they few or many.* ([Footnote] *It +has been suggested to me that these words may be taken to imply a +discouragement on my part of any sort of scientific instruction which +does not give an acquaintance with the facts at first hand. But this is +not my meaning. The ideal of scientific teaching is, no doubt, a system +by which the scholar sees every fact for himself, and the teacher +supplies only the explanations. Circumstances, however, do not often +allow of the attainment of that ideal, and we must put up with the next +best system--one in which the scholar takes a good deal on trust from a +teacher, who, knowing the facts by his own knowledge, can describe them +with so much vividness as to enable his audience to form competent +ideas concerning them. The system which I repudiate is that which allows +teachers who have not come into direct contact with the leading facts +of a science to pass their second-hand information on. The scientific +virus, like vaccine lymph, if passed through too long a succession of +organisms, will lose all its effect in protecting the young against the +intellectual epidemics to which they are exposed.) + +End of On the Study of Zoology. + + + + +GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES OF LIFE.* + +([Footnote] *The Anniversary Address to the Geological Society for +1862.) + +Merchants occasionally go through a wholesome, though troublesome and +not always satisfactory, process which they term "taking stock." After +all the excitement of speculation, the pleasure of gain, and the pain of +loss, the trader makes up his mind to face facts and to learn the exact +quantity and quality of his solid and reliable possessions. + +The man of science does well sometimes to imitate this procedure; and, +forgetting for the time the importance of his own small winnings, to +re-examine the common stock in trade, so that he may make sure how far +the stock of bullion in the cellar--on the faith of whose existence so +much paper has been circulating--is really the solid gold of truth. + +The Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society seems to be an +occasion well suited for an undertaking of this kind--for an inquiry, +in fact, into the nature and value of the present results of +paleontological investigation; and the more so, as all those who have +paid close attention to the late multitudinous discussions in which +paleontology is implicated, must have felt the urgent necessity of some +such scrutiny. + +First in order, as the most definite and unquestionable of all the +results of paleontology, must be mentioned the immense extension and +impulse given to botany, zoology, and comparative anatomy, by the +investigation of fossil remains. Indeed, the mass of biological facts +has been so greatly increased, and the range of biological speculation +has been so vastly widened, by the researches of the geologist and +paleontologist, that it is to be feared there are naturalists in +existence who look upon geology as Brindley regarded rivers. "Rivers," +said the great engineer, "were made to feed canals"; and geology, some +seem to think, was solely created to advance comparative anatomy. + +Were such a thought justifiable, it could hardly expect to be received +with favour by this assembly. But it is not justifiable. Your favourite +science has her own great aims independent of all others; and if, +notwithstanding her steady devotion to her own progress, she can scatter +such rich alms among her sisters, it should be remembered that her +charity is of the sort that does not impoverish, but "blesseth him that +gives and him that takes." + +Regard the matter as we will, however, the facts remain. Nearly 40,000 +species of animals and plants have been added to the Systema Naturae by +paleontologic research. This is a living population equivalent to +that of a new continent in mere number; equivalent to that of a new +hemisphere, if we take into account the small population of insects as +yet found fossil, and the large proportion and peculiar organization of +many of the Vertebrata. + +But, beyond this, it is perhaps not too much to say that, except for the +necessity of interpreting paleontologic facts, the laws of distribution +would have received less careful study; while few comparative anatomists +(and those not of the first order) would have been induced by mere love +of detail, as such, to study the minutiae of osteology, were it not +that in such minutiae lie the only keys to the most interesting riddles +offered by the extinct animal world. + +These assuredly are great and solid gains. Surely it is matter for no +small congratulation that in half a century (for paleontology, though +it dawned earlier, came into full day only with Cuvier) a subordinate +branch of biology should have doubled the value and the interest of the +whole group of sciences to which it belongs. + +But this is not all. Allied with geology, paleontology has established +two laws of inestimable importance: the first, that one and the same +area of the earth's surface has been successively occupied by very +different kinds of living beings; the second, that the order of +succession established in one locality holds good, approximately, in +all. + +The first of these laws is universal and irreversible; the second is an +induction from a vast number of observations, though it may possibly, +and even probably, have to admit of exceptions. As a consequence of +the second law, it follows that a peculiar relation frequently subsists +between series of strata, containing organic remains, in different +localities. The series resemble one another, not only in virtue of +a general resemblance of the organic remains in the two, but also +in virtue of a resemblance in the order and character of the serial +succession in each. There is a resemblance of arrangement; so that the +separate terms of each series, as well as the whole series, exhibit a +correspondence. + +Succession implies time; the lower members of a series of sedimentary +rocks are certainly older than the upper; and when the notion of age was +once introduced as the equivalent of succession, it was no wonder that +correspondence in succession came to be looked upon as a correspondence +in age, or "contemporaneity." And, indeed, so long as relative age only +is spoken of, correspondence in succession IS correspondence in age; it +is RELATIVE contemporaneity. + +But it would have been very much better for geology if so loose and +ambiguous a word as "contemporaneous" had been excluded from her +terminology, and if, in its stead, some term expressing similarity of +serial relation, and excluding the notion of time altogether, had been +employed to denote correspondence in position in two or more series of +strata. + +In anatomy, where such correspondence of position has constantly to be +spoken of, it is denoted by the word "homology" and its derivatives; and +for Geology (which after all is only the anatomy and physiology of the +earth) it might be well to invent some single word, such as "homotaxis" +(similarity of order), in order to express an essentially similar idea. +This, however, has not been done, and most probably the inquiry will at +once be made--To what end burden science with a new and strange term in +place of one old, familiar, and part of our common language? + +The reply to this question will become obvious as the inquiry into the +results of paleontology is pushed further. + +Those whose business it is to acquaint themselves specially with the +works of paleontologists, in fact, will be fully aware that very few, +if any, would rest satisfied with such a statement of the conclusions of +their branch of biology as that which has just been given. + +Our standard repertories of paleontology profess to teach us far higher +things--to disclose the entire succession of living forms upon the +surface of the globe; to tell us of a wholly different distribution of +climatic conditions in ancient times; to reveal the character of the +first of all living existences; and to trace out the law of progress +from them to us. + +It may not be unprofitable to bestow on these professions a somewhat +more critical examination than they have hitherto received, in order to +ascertain how far they rest on an irrefragable basis; or whether, after +all, it might not be well for paleontologists to learn a little more +carefully that scientific "ars artium," the art of saying "I don't +know." And to this end let us define somewhat more exactly the extent of +these pretensions of paleontology. + +Every one is aware that Professor Bronn's 'Untersuchungen' and Professor +Pictet's 'Traite de Paleontologie' are works of standard authority, +familiarly consulted by every working paleontologist. It is desirable to +speak of these excellent books, and of their distinguished authors, +with the utmost respect, and in a tone as far as possible removed from +carping criticism; indeed, if they are specially cited in this place, +it is merely in justification of the assertion that the following +propositions, which may be found implicitly, or explicitly, in the works +in question, are regarded by the mass of paleontologists and geologists, +not only on the Continent but in this country, as expressing some of +the best-established results of paleontology. Thus:--Animals and plants +began their existence together, not long after the commencement of the +deposition of the sedimentary rocks; and then succeeded one another, +in such a manner, that totally distinct faunae and florae occupied the +whole surface of the earth, one after the other, and during distinct +epochs of time. + +A geological formation is the sum of all the strata deposited over the +whole surface of the earth during one of these epochs: a geological +fauna or flora is the sum of all the species of animals or plants which +occupied the whole surface of the globe, during one of these epochs. + +The population of the earth's surface was at first very similar in all +parts, and only from the middle of the Tertiary epoch onwards, began to +show a distinct distribution in zones. + +The constitution of the original population, as well as the numerical +proportions of its members, indicates a warmer and, on the whole, +somewhat tropical climate, which remained tolerably equable throughout +the year. The subsequent distribution of living beings in zones is the +result of a gradual lowering of the general temperature, which first +began to be felt at the poles. + +It is not now proposed to inquire whether these doctrines are true +or false; but to direct your attention to a much simpler though very +essential preliminary question--What is their logical basis? what are +the fundamental assumptions upon which they all logically depend? and +what is the evidence on which those fundamental propositions demand our +assent? + +These assumptions are two: the first, that the commencement of the +geological record is coeval with the commencement of life on the +globe; the second, that geological contemporaneity is the same thing as +chronological synchrony. Without the first of these assumptions +there would of course be no ground for any statement respecting the +commencement of life; without the second, all the other statements +cited, every one of which implies a knowledge of the state of different +parts of the earth at one and the same time, will be no less devoid of +demonstration. + +The first assumption obviously rests entirely on negative evidence. This +is, of course, the only evidence that ever can be available to prove the +commencement of any series of phenomena; but, at the same time, it must +be recollected that the value of negative evidence depends entirely on +the amount of positive corroboration it receives. If A B wishes to prove +an 'alibi', it is of no use for him to get a thousand witnesses simply +to swear that they did not see him in such and such a place, unless the +witnesses are prepared to prove that they must have seen him had he +been there. But the evidence that animal life commenced with the +Lingula-flags, 'e.g.', would seem to be exactly of this unsatisfactory +uncorroborated sort. The Cambrian witnesses simply swear they "haven't +seen anybody their way"; upon which the counsel for the other side +immediately puts in ten or twelve thousand feet of Devonian sandstones +to make oath they never saw a fish or a mollusk, though all the world +knows there were plenty in their time. + +But then it is urged that, though the Devonian rocks in one part of the +world exhibit no fossils, in another they do, while the lower Cambrian +rocks nowhere exhibit fossils, and hence no living being could have +existed in their epoch. + +To this there are two replies: the first, that the observational basis +of the assertion that the lowest rocks are nowhere fossiliferous is an +amazingly small one, seeing how very small an area, in comparison to +that of the whole world, has yet been fully searched; the second, that +the argument is good for nothing unless the unfossiliferous rocks in +question were not only 'contemporaneous' in the geological sense, +but 'synchronous' in the chronological sense. To use the 'alibi' +illustration again. If a man wishes to prove he was in neither of two +places, A and B, on a given day, his witnesses for each place must be +prepared to answer for the whole day. If they can only prove that he was +not at A in the morning, and not at B in the afternoon, the evidence of +his absence from both is 'nil', because he might have been at B in the +morning and at A in the afternoon. + +Thus everything depends upon the validity of the second assumption. +And we must proceed to inquire what is the real meaning of the word +"contemporaneous" as employed by geologists. To this end a concrete +example may be taken. + +The Lias of England and the Lias of Germany, the Cretaceous rocks +of Britain and the Cretaceous rocks of Southern India, are termed by +geologists "contemporaneous" formations; but whenever any thoughtful +geologist is asked whether he means to say that they were deposited +synchronously, he says, "No,--only within the same great epoch." And if, +in pursuing the inquiry, he is asked what may be the approximate value +in time of a "great epoch"--whether it means a hundred years, or a +thousand, or a million, or ten million years--his reply is, "I cannot +tell." + +If the further question be put, whether physical geology is in +possession of any method by which the actual synchrony (or the reverse) +of any two distant deposits can be ascertained, no such method can be +heard of; it being admitted by all the best authorities that neither +similarity of mineral composition, nor of physical character, nor even +direct continuity of stratum, are 'absolute' proofs of the synchronism +of even approximated sedimentary strata: while, for distant deposits, +there seems to be no kind of physical evidence attainable of a nature +competent to decide whether such deposits were formed simultaneously, or +whether they possess any given difference of antiquity. To return to an +example already given: All competent authorities will probably assent to +the proposition that physical geology does not enable us in any way to +reply to this question--Were the British Cretaceous rocks deposited at +the same time as those of India, or are they a million of years younger +or a million of years older? + +Is paleontology able to succeed where physical geology fails? Standard +writers on paleontology, as has been seen, assume that she can. They +take it for granted, that deposits containing similar organic remains +are synchronous--at any rate in a broad sense; and yet, those who will +study the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Sir Henry De La Beche's +remarkable 'Researches in Theoretical Geology', published now nearly +thirty years ago, and will carry out the arguments there most luminously +stated, to their logical consequences, may very easily convince +themselves that even absolute identity of organic contents is no proof +of the synchrony of deposits, while absolute diversity is no proof of +difference of date. Sir Henry De La Beche goes even further, and adduces +conclusive evidence to show that the different parts of one and the same +stratum, having a similar composition throughout, containing the same +organic remains, and having similar beds above and below it, may yet +differ to any conceivable extent in age. + +Edward Forbes was in the habit of asserting that the similarity of the +organic contents of distant formations was 'prima facie' evidence, not +of their similarity, but of their difference of age; and holding as +he did the doctrine of single specific centres, the conclusion was as +legitimate as any other; for the two districts must have been occupied +by migration from one of the two, or from an intermediate spot, and +the chances against exact coincidence of migration and of imbedding are +infinite. + +In point of fact, however, whether the hypothesis of single or of +multiple specific centres be adopted, similarity of organic contents +cannot possibly afford any proof of the synchrony of the deposits which +contain them; on the contrary, it is demonstrably compatible with +the lapse of the most prodigious intervals of time, and with the +interposition of vast changes in the organic and inorganic worlds, +between the epochs in which such deposits were formed. + +On what amount of similarity of their faunae is the doctrine of the +contemporaneity of the European and of the North American Silurians +based? In the last edition of Sir Charles Lyell's 'Elementary Geology' +it is stated, on the authority of a former President of this Society, +the late Daniel Sharpe, that between 30 and 40 per cent. of the species +of Silurian Mollusca are common to both sides of the Atlantic. By way of +due allowance for further discovery, let us double the lesser number +and suppose that 60 per cent. of the species are common to the North +American and the British Silurians. Sixty per cent. of species in common +is, then, proof of contemporaneity. + +Now suppose that, a million or two of years hence, when Britain has +made another dip beneath the sea and has come up again, some geologist +applies this doctrine, in comparing the strata laid bare by the upheaval +of the bottom, say, of St. George's Channel with what may then remain of +the Suffolk Crag. Reasoning in the same way, he will at once decide the +Suffolk Crag and the St. George's Channel beds to be contemporaneous; +although we happen to know that a vast period (even in the geological +sense) of time, and physical changes of almost unprecedented extent, +separate the two. + +But if it be a demonstrable fact that strata containing more than 60 or +70 per cent. of species of Mollusca in common, and comparatively +close together, may yet be separated by an amount of geological time +sufficient to allow of some of the greatest physical changes the world +has seen, what becomes of that sort of contemporaneity the sole evidence +of which is a similarity of facies, or the identity of half a dozen +species, or of a good many genera? + +And yet there is no better evidence for the contemporaneity assumed +by all who adopt the hypothesis of universal faunae and florae, of a +universally uniform climate, and of a sensible cooling of the globe +during geological time. + +There seems, then, no escape from the admission that neither physical +geology, nor paleontology, possesses any method by which the absolute +synchronism of two strata can be demonstrated. All that geology can +prove is local order of succession. It is mathematically certain +that, in any given vertical linear section of an undisturbed series of +sedimentary deposits, the bed which lies lowest is the oldest. In +many other vertical linear sections of the same series, of course, +corresponding beds will occur in a similar order; but, however great may +be the probability, no man can say with absolute certainty that the beds +in the two sections were synchronously deposited. For areas of moderate +extent, it is doubtless true that no practical evil is likely to result +from assuming the corresponding beds to be synchronous or strictly +contemporaneous; and there are multitudes of accessory circumstances +which may fully justify the assumption of such synchrony. But the moment +the geologist has to deal with large areas, or with completely separated +deposits, the mischief of confounding that "homotaxis" or "similarity of +arrangement," which 'can' be demonstrated, with "synchrony" or "identity +of date," for which there is not a shadow of proof, under the one common +term of "contemporaneity" becomes incalculable, and proves the constant +source of gratuitous speculations. + +For anything that geology or paleontology are able to show to the +contrary, a Devonian fauna and flora in the British Islands may have +been contemporaneous with Silurian life in North America, and with a +Carboniferous fauna and flora in Africa. Geographical provinces and +zones may have been as distinctly marked in the Paleozoic epoch as +at present, and those seemingly sudden appearances of new genera and +species, which we ascribe to new creation, may be simple results of +migration. + +It may be so; it may be otherwise. In the present condition of our +knowledge and of our methods, one verdict--"not proven, and not +provable"--must be recorded against all the grand hypotheses of the +paleontologist respecting the general succession of life on the +globe. The order and nature of terrestrial life, as a whole, are +open questions. Geology at present provides us with most valuable +topographical records, but she has not the means of working them into a +universal history. Is such a universal history, then, to be regarded as +unattainable? Are all the grandest and most interesting problems which +offer themselves to the geological student essentially insoluble? Is he +in the position of a scientific Tantalus--doomed always to thirst for +a knowledge which he cannot obtain? The reverse is to be hoped; nay, it +may not be impossible to indicate the source whence help will come. + +In commencing these remarks, mention was made of the great obligations +under which the naturalist lies to the geologist and paleontologist. +Assuredly the time will come when these obligations will be repaid +tenfold, and when the maze of the world's past history, through which +the pure geologist and the pure paleontologist find no guidance, will be +securely threaded by the clue furnished by the naturalist. + +All who are competent to express an opinion on the subject are, at +present, agreed that the manifold varieties of animal and vegetable +form have not either come into existence by chance, nor result from +capricious exertions of creative power; but that they have taken place +in a definite order, the statement of which order is what men of +science term a natural law. Whether such a law is to be regarded as an +expression of the mode of operation of natural forces, or whether it +is simply a statement of the manner in which a supernatural power has +thought fit to act, is a secondary question, so long as the existence of +the law and the possibility of its discovery by the human intellect are +granted. But he must be a half-hearted philosopher who, believing +in that possibility, and having watched the gigantic strides of the +biological sciences during the last twenty years, doubts that science +will sooner or later make this further step, so as to become possessed +of the law of evolution of organic forms--of the unvarying order of that +great chain of causes and effects of which all organic forms, ancient +and modern, are the links. And then, if ever, we shall be able to begin +to discuss, with profit, the questions respecting the commencement of +life, and the nature of the successive populations of the globe, which +so many seem to think are already answered. + +The preceding arguments make no particular claim to novelty; indeed +they have been floating more or less distinctly before the minds of +geologists for the last thirty years; and if, at the present time, +it has seemed desirable to give them more definite and systematic +expression, it is because paleontology is every day assuming a greater +importance, and now requires to rest on a basis the firmness of which is +thoroughly well assured. Among its fundamental conceptions, there +must be no confusion between what is certain and what is more or less +probable.* ([Footnote] *"le plus grand service qu'on puisse rendre a la +science est d'y faire place nette avant d'y rien construire."--CUVIER.) +But, pending the construction of a surer foundation than paleontology +now possesses, it may be instructive, assuming for the nonce the general +correctness of the ordinary hypothesis of geological contemporaneity, +to consider whether the deductions which are ordinarily drawn from the +whole body of paleontologic facts are justifiable. + +The evidence on which such conclusions are based is of two kinds, +negative and positive. The value of negative evidence, in connection +with this inquiry, has been so fully and clearly discussed in an address +from the chair of this Society,* ([Footnote] *Anniversary Address +for 1851, 'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.' vol. vii.) which none of us have +forgotten, that nothing need at present be said about it; the more, as +the considerations which have been laid before you have certainly +not tended to increase your estimation of such evidence. It will be +preferable to turn to the positive facts of paleontology, and to inquire +what they tell us. + +We are all accustomed to speak of the number and the extent of the +changes in the living population of the globe during geological time +as something enormous: and indeed they are so, if we regard only the +negative differences which separate the older rocks from the more +modern, and if we look upon specific and generic changes as great +changes, which from one point of view, they truly are. But leaving +the negative differences out of consideration, and looking only at the +positive data furnished by the fossil world from a broader point of +view--from that of the comparative anatomist who has made the study of +the greater modifications of animal form his chief business--a surprise +of another kind dawns upon the mind; and under 'this' aspect the +smallness of the total change becomes as astonishing as was its +greatness under the other. + +There are two hundred known orders of plants; of these not one is +certainly known to exist exclusively in the fossil state. The whole +lapse of geological time has as yet yielded not a single new ordinal +type of vegetable structure.* ([Footnote] *See Hooker's 'Introductory +Essay to the Flora of Tasmania', p. xxiii.) + +The positive change in passing from the recent to the ancient animal +world is greater, but still singularly small. No fossil animal is so +distinct from those now living as to require to be arranged even in a +separate class from those which contain existing forms. It is only when +we come to the orders, which may be roughly estimated at about a hundred +and thirty, that we meet with fossil animals so distinct from those now +living as to require orders for themselves; and these do not amount, on +the most liberal estimate, to more than about 10 per cent of the whole. + +There is no certainly known extinct order of Protozoa; there is but one +among the Coelenterata--that of the rugose corals; there is none +among the Mollusca; there are three, the Cystidea, Blastoidea, and +Edrioasterida, among the Echinoderms; and two, the Trilobita and +Eurypterida, among the Crustacea; making altogether five for the +great sub-kingdom of Annulosa. Among Vertebrates there is no ordinally +distinct fossil fish: there is only one extinct order of Amphibia--the +Labyrinthodonts; but there are at least four distinct orders of +Reptilia, viz. the Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, Pterosauria, Dinosauria, +and perhaps another or two. There is no known extinct order of +Birds, and no certainly known extinct order of Mammals, the ordinal +distinctness of the "Toxodontia" being doubtful. + +The objection that broad statements of this kind, after all, rest +largely on negative evidence is obvious, but it has less force than may +at first be supposed; for, as might be expected from the circumstances +of the case, we possess more abundant positive evidence regarding Fishes +and marine Mollusks than respecting any other forms of animal life; +and yet these offer us, through the whole range of geological time, no +species ordinally distinct from those now living; while the far less +numerous class of Echinoderms presents three; and the Crustacea two, +such orders, though none of these come down later than the Paleozoic +age. Lastly, the Reptilia present the extraordinary and exceptional +phenomenon of as many extinct as existing orders, if not more; the +four mentioned maintaining their existence from the Lias to the Chalk +inclusive. + +Some years ago one of your Secretaries pointed out another kind +of positive paleontologic evidence tending towards the same +conclusion--afforded by the existence of what he termed "persistent +types" of vegetable and of animal life.* ([Footnote] *See the abstract +of a Lecture "On the Persistent Types of Animal Life," in the 'Notices +of the Meetings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain'.--June 3, +1859, vol. iii. p. 151.) He stated, on the authority of Dr. Hooker, that +there are Carboniferous plants which appear to be generically identical +with some now living; that the cone of the Oolitic 'Araucaria' is hardly +distinguishable from that of an existing species; that a true 'Pinus' +appears in the Purbecks, and a 'Juglans' in the Chalk; while, from the +Bagshot Sands, a 'Banksia', the wood of which is not distinguishable +from that of species now living in Australia, had been obtained. + +Turning to the animal kingdom, he affirmed the tabulate corals of the +Silurian rocks to be wonderfully like those which now exist; while even +the families of the Aporosa were all represented in the older Mesozoic +rocks. + +Among the Molluska similar facts were adduced. Let it be borne in mind +that 'Avicula', 'Mytalis', 'Chiton', 'Natica', 'Patella', 'Trochus', +'Discina', 'Orbicula', 'Lingula', 'Rhynchonella', and 'Nautilus', all +of which are existing 'genera', are given without a doubt as Silurian +in the last edition of 'Siluria'; while the highest forms of the highest +Cephalopods are represented in the Lias by a genus, 'Belemnoteuthis', +which presents the closest relation to the existing 'Loligo'. + +The two highest groups of the Annulosa, the Insecta and the Arachnida, +are represented in the Coal, either by existing genera, or by forms +differing from existing genera in quite minor peculiarities. + +Turning to the Vertebrata, the only Paleozoic Elasmobranch Fish of +which we have any complete knowledge is the Devonian and Carboniferous +'Pleuracanthus', which differs no more from existing Sharks than these +do from one another. + +Again, vast as is the number of undoubtedly Ganoid fossil Fishes, and +great as is their range in time, a large mass of evidence has recently +been adduced to show that almost all those respecting which we possess +sufficient information, are referable to the same sub-ordinal groups +as the existing 'Lepidosteus', 'Polypterus', and Sturgeon; and that a +singular relation obtains between the older and the younger Fishes; +the former, the Devonian Ganoids, being almost all members of the same +sub-order as 'Polypterus', while the Mesozoic Ganoids are almost +all similarly allied to 'Lepidosteus'.* ([Footnote] *"Memoirs of the +Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.--Decade x. Preliminary Essay +upon the Systematic Arrangement of the Fishes of the Devonian Epoch.") + +Again, what can be more remarkable than the singular constancy of +structure preserved throughout a vast period of time by the family +of the Pycnodonts and by that of the true Coelacanths; the former +persisting, with but insignificant modifications, from the Carboniferous +to the Tertiary rocks, inclusive; the latter existing, with still less +change, from the Carboniferous rocks to the Chalk, inclusive? + +Among Reptiles, the highest living group, that of the Crocodilia, +is represented, at the early part of the Mesozoic epoch, by species +identical in the essential characters of their organization with those +now living, and differing from the latter only in such matters as the +form of the articular facets of the vertebral centra, in the extent to +which the nasal passages are separated from the cavity of the mouth by +bone, and in the proportions of the limbs. + +And even as regards the Mammalia, the scanty remains of Triassic and +Oolitic species afford no foundation for the supposition that the +organization of the oldest forms differed nearly so much from some of +those which now live as these differ from one another. + +It is needless to multiply these instances; enough has been said to +justify the statement that, in view of the immense diversity of known +animal and vegetable forms, and the enormous lapse of time indicated by +the accumulation of fossiliferous strata, the only circumstance to be +wondered at is, not that the changes of life, as exhibited by positive +evidence, have been so great, but that they have been so small. + +Be they great or small, however, it is desirable to attempt to estimate +them. Let us, therefore, take each great division of the animal world in +succession, and, whenever an order or a family can be shown to have had +a prolonged existence, let us endeavour to ascertain how far the later +members of the group differ from the earlier ones. If these later +members, in all or in many cases, exhibit a certain amount of +modification, the fact is, so far, evidence in favour of a general law +of change; and, in a rough way, the rapidity of that change will be +measured by the demonstrable amount of modification. On the other hand, +it must be recollected that the absence of any modification, while +it may leave the doctrine of the existence of a law of change without +positive support, cannot possibly disprove all forms of that doctrine, +though it may afford a sufficient refutation of any of them. + +The PROTOZOA.--The Protozoa are represented throughout the whole range +of geological series, from the Lower Silurian formation to the present +day. The most ancient forms recently made known by Ehrenberg are +exceedingly like those which now exist: no one has ever pretended that +the difference between any ancient and any modern Foraminifera is of +more than generic value, nor are the oldest Foraminifera either simpler, +more embryonic, or less differentiated, than the existing forms. + +The COELENTERATA.--The Tabulate Corals have existed from the Silurian +epoch to the present day, but I am not aware that the ancient +'Heliolites' possesses a single mark of a more embryonic or less +differentiated character, or less high organization, than the existing +'Heliopora'. As for the Aporose Corals, in what respect is the Silurian +'Paleocyclus' less highly organized or more embryonic than the modern +'Fungia', or the Liassic Aporosa than the existing members of the same +families? + +The 'Mollusca'.--In what sense is the living 'Waldheimia' less +embryonic, or more specialized; than the paleozoic 'Spirifer'; or the +existing 'Rhynchonellae', 'Craniae', 'Discinae', 'Lingulae', than the +Silurian species of the same genera? In what sense can 'Loligo' or +'Spirula' be said to be more specialized, or less embryonic, than +'Belemnites'; or the modern species of Lamellibranch and Gasteropod +genera, than the Silurian species of the same genera? + +The ANNULOSA.--The Carboniferous Insecta and Arachnida are neither less +specialized, nor more embryonic, than these that now live, nor are the +Liassic Cirripedia and Macrura; while several of the Brachyura, which +appear in the Chalk, belong to existing genera; and none exhibit either +an intermediate, or an embryonic, character. + +The VERTEBRARA.--Among fishes I have referred to the Coelacanthini +(comprising the genera 'Coelacanthus', 'Holophagus', 'Undina', and +'Macropoma') as affording an example of a persistent type; and it is +most remarkable to note the smallness of the differences between any of +these fishes (affecting at most the proportions of the body and fins, +and the character and sculpture of the scales), notwithstanding their +enormous range in time. In all the essentials of its very peculiar +structure, the 'Macropoma' of the Chalk is identical with the +'Coelacanthus' of the Coal. Look at the genus 'Lepidotus', again, +persisting without a modification of importance from the Liassic to the +Eocene formations inclusive. + +Or among the Teleostei--in what respect is the 'Beryx' of the Chalk +more embryonic, or less differentiated, than 'Beryx lineatus' of King +George's Sound? + +Or to turn to the higher Vertebrata--in what sense are the Liassic +Chelonia inferior to those which now exist? How are the Cretaceous +Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, or Pterosauria less embryonic, or more +differentiated, species than those of the Lias? + +Or lastly, in what circumstance is the 'Phascolotherium' more +embryonic, or of a more generalized type, than the modern Opossum; or a +'Lophiodon', or a 'Paleotherium', than a modern 'Tapirus' or 'Hyrax'? + +These examples might be almost indefinitely multiplied, but surely they +are sufficient to prove that the only safe and unquestionable testimony +we can procure--positive evidence--fails to demonstrate any sort of +progressive modification towards a less embryonic, or less generalised, +type in a great many groups of animals of long-continued geological +existence. In these groups there is abundant evidence of variation--none +of what is ordinarily understood as progression; and, if the known +geological record is to be regarded as even any considerable fragment +of the whole, it is inconceivable that any theory of a necessarily +progressive development can stand, for the numerous orders and families +cited afford no trace of such a process. + +But it is a most remarkable fact, that, while the groups which have +been mentioned, and many besides, exhibit no sign of progressive +modification, there are others, co-existing with them, under the same +conditions, in which more or less distinct indications of such a process +seems to be traceable. Among such indications I may remind you of the +predominance of Holostome Gasteropoda in the older rocks as compared +with that of Siphonostome Gasteropoda in the later. A case less open +to the objection of negative evidence, however, is that afforded by the +Tetrabranchiate Cephalopoda, the forms of the shells and of the septal +sutures exhibiting a certain increase of complexity in the newer genera. +Here, however, one is met at once with the occurrence of 'Orthoceras' +and 'Baculites' at the two ends of the series, and of the fact that one +of the simplest Genera, 'Nautilus', is that which now exists. + +The Crinoidea, in the abundance of stalked forms in the ancient +formations as compared with their present rarity, seem to present us +with a fair case of modification from a more embryonic towards a less +embryonic condition. But then, on careful consideration of the facts, +the objection arises that the stalk, calyx, and arms of the paleozoic +Crinoid are exceedingly different from the corresponding organs of a +larval 'Comatula'; and it might with perfect justice be argued that +'Actinocrinus' and 'Eucalyptocrinus', for example, depart to the full +as widely, in one direction, from the stalked embryo of 'Comatula', as +'Comatula' itself does in the other. + +The Echinidea, again, are frequently quoted as exhibiting a gradual +passage from a more generalized to a more specialized type, seeing +that the elongated, or oval, Spatangoids appear after the spheroidal +Echinoids. But here it might be argued, on the other hand, that the +spheroidal Echinoids, in reality, depart further from the general plan +and from the embryonic form than the elongated Spatangoids do; and that +the peculiar dental apparatus and the pedicellariae of the former are +marks of at least as great differentiation as the petaloid ambulacra and +semitae of the latter. + +Once more, the prevalence of Macrurous before Brachyurous Podophthalmia +is, apparently, a fair piece of evidence in favour of progressive +modification in the same order of Crustacea; and yet the case will not +stand much sifting, seeing that the Macrurous Podophthalmia depart as +far in one direction from the common type of Podophthalmia, or from any +embryonic condition of the Brachyura, as the Brachyura do in the +other; and that the middle terms between Macrura and Brachyura--the +Anomura--are little better represented in the older Mesozoic rocks than +the Brachyura are. + +None of the cases of progressive modification which are cited from +among the Invertebrata appear to me to have a foundation less open to +criticism than these; and if this be so, no careful reasoner would, +I think, be inclined to lay very great stress upon them. Among the +Vertebrata, however, there are a few examples which appear to be far +less open to objection. + +It is, in fact, true of several groups of Vertebrata which have lived +through a considerable range of time, that the endoskeleton (more +particularly the spinal column) of the older genera presents a less +ossified, and, so far, less differentiated, condition than that of the +younger genera. Thus the Devonian Ganoids, though almost all members of +the same sub-order as 'Polypterus', and presenting numerous important +resemblances to the existing genus, which possesses biconcave vertebrae, +are, for the most part, wholly devoid of ossified vertebral centra. The +Mesozoic Lepidosteidae, again, have, at most, biconcave vertebrae, while +the existing 'Lepidosteus' has Salamandroid, opisthocoelous, vertebrae. +So, none of the Paleozoic Sharks have shown themselves to be possessed +of ossified vertebrae, while the majority of modern Sharks possess +such vertebrae. Again, the more ancient Crocodilia and Lacertilia +have vertebrae with the articular facets of their centra flattened +or biconcave, while the modern members of the same group have them +procoelous. But the most remarkable examples of progressive modification +of the vertebral column, in correspondence with geological age, are +those afforded by the Pycnodonts among fish, and the Labyrinthodonts +among Amphibia. + +The late able ichthyologist Heckel pointed out the fact, that, while +the Pycnodonts never possess true vertebral centra, they differ in the +degree of expansion and extension of the ends of the bony arches of +the vertebrae upon the sheath of the notochord; the Carboniferous forms +exhibiting hardly any such expansion, while the Mesozoic genera present +a greater and greater development, until, in the Tertiary forms, the +expanded ends become suturally united so as to form a sort of false +vertebra. Hermann von Meyer, again, to whose luminous researches we +are indebted for our present large knowledge of the organization of the +older Labyrinthodonts, has proved that the Carboniferous 'Archegosaurus' +had very imperfectly developed vertebral centra, while the Triassic +'Mastodonsaurus' had the same parts completely ossified.* ([Footnote] +*As the Address is passing through the press (March 7, 1862), +evidence lies before me of the existence of a new Labyrinthodont +('Pholidogaster'), from the Edinburgh coal-field, with well-ossified +vertebral centra.) + +The regularity and evenness of the dentition of the 'Anoplotherium', as +contrasted with that of existing Artiodactyles, and the assumed nearer +approach of the dentition of certain ancient Carnivores to the typical +arrangement, have also been cited as exemplifications of a law of +progressive development, but I know of no other cases based on positive +evidence which are worthy of particular notice. + +What then does an impartial survey of the positively ascertained +truths of paleontology testify in relation to the common doctrines of +progressive modification, which suppose that modification to have taken +place by a necessary progress from more to less embryonic forms, or +from more to less generalized types, within the limits of the period +represented by the fossiliferous rocks? + +It negatives those doctrines; for it either shows us no evidence of any +such modification, or demonstrates it to have been very slight; and as +to the nature of that modification, it yields no evidence whatsoever +that the earlier members of any long-continued group were more +generalized in structure than the later ones. To a certain extent, +indeed, it may be said that imperfect ossification of the vertebral +column is an embryonic character; but, on the other hand, it would be +extremely incorrect to suppose that the vertebral columns of the older +Vertebrata are in any sense embryonic in their whole structure. + +Obviously, if the earliest fossiliferous rocks now known are coeval +with the commencement of life, and if their contents give us any just +conception of the nature and the extent of the earliest fauna and flora, +the insignificant amount of modification which can be demonstrated +to have taken place in any one group of animals, or plants, is quite +incompatible with the hypothesis that all living forms are the results +of a necessary process of progressive development, entirely comprised +within the time represented by the fossiliferous rocks. + +Contrariwise, any admissible hypothesis of progressive modification must +be compatible with persistence without progression, through indefinite +periods. And should such an hypothesis eventually be proved to be true, +in the only way in which it can be demonstrated, viz. by observation +and experiment upon the existing forms of life, the conclusion will +inevitably present itself, that the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic +faunae and florae, taken together, bear somewhat the same proportion to +the whole series of living beings which have occupied this globe, as the +existing fauna and flora do to them. + +Such are the results of paleontology as they appear, and have for some +years appeared, to the mind of an inquirer who regards that study simply +as one of the applications of the great biological sciences, and who +desires to see it placed upon the same sound basis as other branches of +physical inquiry. If the arguments which have been brought forward are +valid, probably no one, in view of the present state of opinion, will +be inclined to think the time wasted which has been spent upon their +elaboration. + +End of Geological Contemporaneity and Persistent Types of Life. + + + + +CORAL AND CORAL REEFS.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in Manchester, November 4th, 1870.) + +The subject upon which I wish to address you to-night is the structure +and origin of Coral and Coral Reefs. Under the head of "coral" there are +included two very different things; one of them is that substance which +I imagine a great number of us have champed when we were very much +younger than we are now,--the common red coral, which is used so much, +as you know, for the edification and the delectation of children of +tender years, and is also employed for the purposes of ornament for +those who are much older, and as some think might know better. The other +kind of coral is a very different substance; it may for distinction's +sake be called the white coral; it is a material which most assuredly +not the hardest-hearted of baby farmers would give to a baby to chew, +and it is a substance which is to be seen only in the cabinets of +curious persons, or in museums, or, may be, over the mantelpieces of +sea-faring men. But although the red coral, as I have mentioned to you, +has access to the very best society; and although the white coral is +comparatively a despised product, yet in this, as in many other cases, +the humbler thing is in reality the greater; the amount of work which is +done in the world by the white coral being absolutely infinite compared +with that effected by its delicate and pampered namesake. Each of these +substances, the white coral and the red, however, has a relationship to +the other. They are, in a zoological sense, cousins, each of them being +formed by the same kind of animals in what is substantially the same +way. Each of these bodies is, in fact, the hard skeleton of a very +curious and a very simple animal, more comparable to the bones of such +animals as ourselves than to the shells of oysters or creatures of that +kind; for it is the hardening of the internal tissue of the creature, of +its internal substance, by the deposit in the body of a material which +is exceedingly common, not only in fresh but in sea water, and which +is specially abundant in those waters which we know as "hard," +those waters, for example, which leave a "fur" upon the bottom of a +tea-kettle. This "fur" is carbonate of lime, the same sort of substance +as limestone and chalk. That material is contained in solution in sea +water, and it is out of the sea water in which these coral creatures +live that they get the lime which is needed for the forming of their +hard skeleton. + +But now what manner of creatures are these which form these hard +skeletons? I dare say that in these days of keeping aquaria, of +locomotion to the sea-side, most of those whom I am addressing may have +seen one of those creatures which used to be known as the "sea anemone," +receiving that name on account of its general resemblance, in a rough +sort of way, to the flower which is known as the "anemone"; but being +a thing which lives in the sea, it was qualified as the "sea anemone." +Well, then, you must suppose a body shaped like a short cylinder, the +top cut off, and in the top a hole rather oval than round. All round +this aperture, which is the mouth, imagine that there are placed a +number of feelers forming a circle. The cavity of the mouth leads into +a sort of stomach, which is very unlike those of the higher animals, +in the circumstance that it opens at the lower end into a cavity of the +body, and all the digested matter, converted into nourishment, is thus +distributed through the rest of the body. That is the general structure +of one of these sea anemones. If you touch it it contracts immediately +into a heap. It looks at first quite like a flower in the sea, but if +you touch it you find that it exhibits all the peculiarities of a living +animal; and if anything which can serve as its prey comes near its +tentacles, it closes them round it and sucks the material into its +stomach and there digests it and turns it to the account of its own +body. + +These creatures are very voracious, and not at all particular what they +seize; and sometimes it may be that they lay hold of a shellfish which +is far too big to be packed into that interior cavity, and, of course, +in any ordinary animal a proceeding of this kind would give rise to a +very severe fit of indigestion. But this is by no means the case in the +sea anemone, because when digestive difficulties of this kind arise he +gets out of them by splitting himself in two; and then each half builds +itself up into a fresh creature, and you have two polypes where there +was previously one, and the bone which stuck in the way lying between +them! Not only can these creatures multiply in this fashion, but they +can multiply by buds. A bud will grow out of the side of the body (I am +not speaking of the common sea anemone, but of allied creatures) just +like the bud of a plant, and that will fashion itself into a creature +just like the parent. There are some of them in which these buds remain +connected together, and you will soon see what would be the result of +that. If I make a bud grow out here, and another on the opposite side, +and each fashions itself into a new polype, the practical effect will be +that before long you will see a single polype converted into a sort of +tree or bush of polypes. And these will all remain associated together, +like a kind of co-operative store, which is a thing I believe you +understand very well here,--each mouth will help to feed the body and +each part of the body help to support the multifarious mouths. I think +that is as good an example of a zoological co-operative store as you can +well have. Such are these wonderful creatures. But they are capable not +only of multiplying in this way, but in other ways, by having a more +ordinary and regular kind of offspring. Little eggs are hatched and the +young are passed out by the way of the mouth, and they go swimming +about as little oval bodies covered with a very curious kind of hairlike +processes. Each of these processes is capable of striking water like an +oar; and the consequence is that the young creature is propelled through +the water. So that you have the young polype floating about in this +fashion, covered by its 'vibratile cilia', as these long filaments, +which are capable of vibration are termed. And thus, although the polype +itself may be a fixed creature unable to move about, it is able to +spread its offspring over great areas. For these creatures not only +propel themselves, but while swimming about in the sea for many hours, +or perhaps days, it will be obvious that they must be carried hither and +thither by the currents of the sea, which not unfrequently move at the +rate of one or two miles an hour. Thus, in the course of a few days, +the offspring of this stationary creature may be carried to a very great +distance from its parent; and having been so carried it loses these +organs by which it is propelled, and settles down upon the bottom of the +sea and grows up again into the form and condition of its parents. So +that if you suppose a single polype of this kind settled upon the bottom +of the sea, it may by these various methods--that is to say, by cutting +itself in two, which we call "fission," or by budding; or by sending out +these swimming embryos,--multiply itself to an enormous extent, and +give rise to thousands, or millions, of progeny in a comparatively short +time; and these thousands, or millions, of progeny may cover a very +large surface of the sea bottom; in fact, you will readily perceive +that, give them time, and there is no limit to the surface which they +may cover. + +Having understood thus far the general nature of these polypes, which +are the fabricators both of the red and white coral, let us consider a +little more particularly how the skeletons of the red coral and of +the white coral are formed. The red coral polype perches upon the sea +bottom, it then grows up into a sort of stem, and out of that stem there +grow branches, each of which has its own polypes; and thus you have a +kind of tree formed, every branch of the tree terminated by its polype. +It is a tree, but at the end of the branches there are open mouths of +polypes instead of flowers. Thus there is a common soft body connecting +the whole, and as it grows up the soft body deposits in its interior a +quantity of carbonate of lime, which acquires a beautiful red or flesh +colour, and forms a kind of stem running through the whole, and it is +that stem which is the red coral. The red coral grows principally at +the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, at very great depths, and the coral +fishers, who are very adventurous seamen, take their drag nets, of a +peculiar kind, roughly made, but efficient for their purpose, and drag +them along the bottom of the sea to catch the branches of the red coral, +which become entangled and are thus brought up to the surface. They are +then allowed to putrefy, in order to get rid of the animal matter, and +the red coral is the skeleton that is left. + +In the case of the white coral, the skeleton is more complete. In the +red coral, the skeleton belongs to the whole; in the white coral there +is a special skeleton for every one of these polypes in addition to that +for the whole body. There is a skeleton formed in the body of each of +them, like a cup divided by a number of radiating partitions towards the +outside; and that cup is formed of carbonate of lime, only not stained +red, as in the case of the red coral. And all these cups are joined +together into a common branch, the result of which is the formation of +a beautiful coral tree. This is a great mass of madrepore, and in the +living state every one of the ends of these branches was terminated by +a beautiful little polype, like a sea anemone, and all the skeleton +was covered by a soft body which united the polypes together. You must +understand that all this skeleton has been formed in the interior of the +body, to suit the branched body of the polype mass, and that it is as +much its skeleton as our own bones are our skeleton. In this next coral +the creature which has formed the skeleton has divided itself as it +grew, and consequently has formed a great expansion; but scattered +all over this surface there were polype bodies like those I previously +described. Again, when this great cup was alive, the whole surface was +covered with a beautiful body upon which were set innumerable small +polype flowers, if we may so call them, often brilliantly coloured; +and the whole cup was built up in the same fashion by the deposit of +carbonate of lime in the interior of the combined polype body, formed +by budding and by fission in the way I described. You will perceive that +there is no necessary limit to this process. There is no reason why we +should not have coral three or four times as big; and there are certain +creatures of this kind that do fabricate very large masses, or half +spheres several feet in diameter. Thus the activity of these animals +in separating carbonate of lime from the sea and building it up into +definite shapes is very considerable indeed. + +Now I think I have said sufficient--as much as I can without taking you +into technical details, of the general nature of these creatures which +form coral. The animals which form coral are scattered over the seas of +all countries in the world. The red coral is comparatively limited, but +the polypes which form the white coral are widely scattered. There +are some of them which remain single, or which give rise to only small +accumulations; and the skeletons of these, as they die, accumulate upon +the bottom of the sea, but they do not come to much; they are washed +about and do not adhere together, but become mixed up with the mud of +the sea. But there are certain parts of the world in which the coral +polypes which live and grow are of a kind which remain, adhere together, +and form great masses. They differ from the ordinary polypes just in +the same way as those plants which form a peat-bog or meadow-turf differ +from ordinary plants. They have a habit of growing together in masses +in the same place; they are what we call "gregarious" things; and the +consequence of this is, that as they die and leave their skeletons, +those skeletons form a considerable solid aggregation at the bottom +of the sea, and other polypes perch upon them, and begin building upon +them, and so by degrees a great mass is formed. And just as we know +there are some ancient cities in which you have a British city, and over +that the foundations of a Roman city; and over that a Saxon city, and +over that again a modern city, so in these localities of which I am +speaking, you have the accumulations of the foundations of the houses, +if I may use the term, of nation after nation of these coral polypes; +and these accumulations may cover a very considerable space, and may +rise in the course of time from the bottom to the surface of the sea. + +Mariners have a name which they apply to all sorts of obstacles +consisting of hard and rocky matter which comes in their way in the +course of their navigation; they call such obstacles "reefs," and they +have long been in the habit of calling the particular kind of reef, +which is formed by the accumulation of the skeletons of dead corals, by +the name of "coral reefs," therefore, those parts of the world in which +these accumulations occur have been termed by them "coral reef areas," +or regions in which coral reefs are found. There is a very notable +example of a simple coral reef about the island of Mauritius, which I +dare say you all know, lies in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is a +very considerable and beautiful island, and is surrounded on all sides +by a mass of coral, which has been formed in the way I have described; +so that if you could get upon the top of one of the peaks of the island, +and look down upon the Indian Ocean, you would see that the beach round +the Island was continued outward by a kind of shallow terrace, which +is covered by the sea, and where the sea is quite shallow; and at a +distance varying from three-quarters of a mile to a mile and a half from +the proper beach, you would see a line of foam or surf which looks most +beautiful in contrast with the bright green water in the inside, and the +deep blue of the sea beyond. That line of surf indicates the point at +which the waters of the ocean are breaking upon the coral reef which +surrounds the island. You see it sweep round the island upon all sides, +except where a river may chance to come down, and that always makes a +gap in the shore. + +There are two or three points which I wish to bring clearly before your +notice about such a reef as this. In the first place, you perceive +it forms a kind of fringe round the island, and is therefore called a +"fringing reef." In the next place, if you go out in a boat, and take +soundings at the edge of the reef, you find that the depth of the water +is not more than from 20 to 25 fathoms--that is about 120 to 150 feet. +Outside that point you come to the natural sea bottom; but all inside +that depth is coral, built up from the bottom by the accumulation of the +skeletons of innumerable generations of coral polypes. So that you see +the coral forms a very considerable rampart round the island. What the +exact circumference may be I do not remember, but it cannot be less than +100 miles, and the outward height of this wall of coral rock nowhere +amounts to less than about 100 or 150 feet. + +When the outward face of the reef is examined, you find that the upper +edge, which is exposed to the wash of the sea, and all the seaward face, +is covered with those living plant-like flowers which I have described +to you. They are the coral polypes which grow, flourish, and add to the +mass of calcareous matter which already forms the reef. But towards the +lower part of the reef, at a depth of about 120 feet, these creatures +are less active, and fewer of them at work; and at greater depths than +that you find no living coral polype at all; and it may be laid down +as a rule, derived from very extensive observation, that these +reef-building corals cannot live in a greater depth of water than about +120 to 150 feet. I beg you to recollect that fact, because it is one I +shall have to come back to by and by, and to show to what very curious +consequences that rule leads. Well then, coming back to the margin of +the reef, you find that part of it which lies just within the surf to be +coated by a very curious plant, a sort of seaweed, which contains in its +substance a very great deal of carbonate of lime, and looks almost like +rock; this is what is called the nullipore. More towards the land, +we come to the shallow water upon the inside of the reef, which has +a particular name, derived from the Spanish or the Portuguese--it is +called a "lagoon," or lake. In this lagoon there is comparatively little +living coral; the bottom of it is formed of coral mud. If we pounded +this coral in water, it would be converted into calcareous mud, and the +waves during storms do for the coral skeletons exactly what we might do +for this coral in a mortar; the waves tear off great fragments and +crush them with prodigious force, until they are ground into the merest +powder, and that powder is washed into the interior of the lagoon, and +forms a muddy coating at the bottom. Beside that there are a great many +animals that prey upon the coral--fishes, worms, and creatures of that +kind, and all these, by their digestive processes, reduce the coral to +the same state, and contribute a very important element to this fine +mud. The living coral found in the lagoon, is not the reef building +coral; it does not give rise to the same massive skeletons. As you go +in a boat over these shallow pools, you see these beautiful things, +coloured red, blue, green, and all colours, building their houses; +but these are mere tenements, and not to be compared in magnitude +and importance to the masses which are built by the reef-builders +themselves. Now such a structure as this is what is termed a "fringing +reef." You meet with fringing reefs of this kind not only in the +Mauritius, but in a number of other parts of the world. If these were +the only reefs to be seen anywhere, the problem of the formation of +coral reefs would never have been a difficult one. Nothing can be +easier than to understand how there must have been a time when the coral +polypes came and settled on the shores of this island, everywhere within +the 20 to 25 fathom line, and how, having perched there, they gradually +grew until they built up the reef. + +But these are by no means the only sort of coral reefs in the world; on +the contrary, there are very large areas, not only of the Indian ocean, +but of the Pacific, in which many many thousands of square miles +are covered either with a peculiar kind of reef, which is called the +"encircling reef," or by a still more curious reef which goes by the +name of the "atoll." There is a very good picture, which Professor +Roscoe has been kind enough to prepare for me, of one of these atolls, +which will enable you to form a notion of it as a landscape. You have in +the foreground the waters of the Pacific. You must fancy yourself in the +middle of the great ocean, and you will perceive that there is an almost +circular island, with a low beach, which is formed entirely of coral +sand; growing upon that beach you have vegetation, which takes, of +course, the shape of the circular land; and then, in the interior of the +circle, there is a pool of water, which is not very deep--probably in +this case not more than eight or nine fathoms--and which forms a strange +and beautiful contrast to the deep blue water outside. This circular +island, or atoll, with a lagoon in the middle, is not a complete circle; +upon one side of it there is a break, exactly like the entrance into a +dock; and, as a matter of course, these circular islets, or atolls, form +most efficient break-waters, for if you can only get inside your ship is +in perfect safety, with admirable anchorage in the interior. If the ship +were lying within a mile of that beach, the water would be one or +two thousand feet deep; therefore, a section of that atoll, with the +soundings as deep as this all round, would give you the notion of a +great cone, cut off at the top, and with a shallow cup in the middle of +it. Now, what a very singular fact this is, that we should have rising +from the bottom of the deep ocean a great pyramid, beside which all +human pyramids sink into the most utter insignificance! These singular +coral limestone structures are very beautiful, especially when crowned +with cocoa-nut trees. There you see the long line of land, covered with +vegetation--cocoa-nut trees--and you have the sea upon the inner and +outer sides, with a vessel very comfortably riding at anchor. That is +one of the remarkable forms of reef in the Pacific. Another is a sort of +half-way house, between the atoll and the fringing reef; it is what is +called an "encircling reef." In this case you see an Island rising out +of the sea, and at two or three miles distance, or more, and separated +by a deep channel, which may be eight to twelve fathoms deep, there is a +reef, which encircles it like a great girdle; and outside that again the +water is one or two thousand feet deep. I spent three or four years +of my life in cruising about a modification of one of these encircling +reefs, called a "barrier reef," upon the east coast of Australia--one of +the most wonderful accumulations of coral rock in the world. It is about +1,100 miles long, and varies in width from one or two to many miles. +It is separated from the coast of Australia by a channel of about 25 +fathoms deep; while outside, looking toward America, the water is two or +three thousand feet deep at a mile from the edge of the reef. This is an +accumulation of limestone rock, built up by corals, to which we have no +parallel anywhere else. Imagine to yourself a heap of this material more +than one thousand miles long, and several miles wide. That is a +barrier reef; but a barrier reef is merely as it were a fragment of an +encircling reef running parallel to the coast of a great continent. + +I told you that the polypes which built these reefs were not able to +live at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms of water; and that is the +reason why the fringing reef goes no farther from the land than it does. +And for the same reason, if the Pacific could be laid bare we should +have a most singular spectacle. There would be a number of mountains +with truncated tops scattered over it, and those mountains would have an +appearance just the very reverse of that presented by the mountains +we see on shore. You know that the mountains on shore are covered with +vegetation at their bases, while their tops are barren or covered with +snow; but these mountains would be perfectly bare at their bases, and +all round their tops they would be covered with a beautiful vegetation +of coral polypes. And not only would this be the case, but we should +find that for a considerable distance down, all the material of these +atoll and encircling reefs was built up of precisely the same coral rock +as the fringing reef. That is to say, you have an enormous mass of coral +rock at a depth below the surface of the water where we know perfectly +well that the coral animals could not have lived to form it. When +those two facts were first put together, naturalists were quite as much +puzzled as I daresay you are, at present, to understand how these +two seeming contradictions could be reconciled; and all sorts of odd +hypotheses were resorted to. It was supposed that the coral did not +extend so far down, but that there was a great chain of submarine +mountains stretching through the Pacific, and that the coral had grown +upon them. But only fancy what supposition that was, for you would have +to imagine that there was a chain of mountains a thousand miles or more +long, and that the top of every mountain came within 20 fathoms of the +surface of the sea, and neither rose above nor sunk beneath that level. +That is highly improbable: such a chain of mountains was never known. +Then how can you possibly account for the curious circular form of the +atolls by any supposition of this kind? I believe there was some one who +imagined that all these mountains were volcanoes, and that the reefs +had grown round the tops of the craters, so we all stuck fast. I may say +"we," though it was rather before my time. And when we all stick fast, +it is just the use of a man of genius that he comes and shows us the +meaning of the thing. He generally gives an explanation which is so +ridiculously simple that everybody is ashamed that he did not find +it out before; and the way such a discoverer is often rewarded is by +finding out that some one had made the discovery before him! I do not +mean to say that it was so in this particular instance, because the +great man who played the part of Columbus and the egg on this occasion +had, I believe, always had the full credit which he so well deserves. +The discoverer of the key to these problems was a man whose name you +know very well in connection with other matters, and I should not wonder +if some of you have heard it said that he was a superficial kind of +person who did not know much about the subject on which he writes. He +was Mr. Darwin, and this brilliant discovery of his was made public +thirty years ago, long before he became the celebrated man he now +is; and it was one of the most singular instances of that astonishing +sagacity which he possesses of drawing consequences by way of deduction +from simple principles of natural science--a power which has served him +in good stead on other occasions. Well, Mr. Darwin, looking at these +curious difficulties and having that sort of knowledge of natural +phenomena in general, without which he could not have made a step +towards the solution of the problem, said to himself--"It is perfectly +clear that the coral which forms the base of the atolls and fringing +reefs could not possibly have been formed there if the level of the sea +has always been exactly where it is now, for we know for certain that +these polypes cannot build at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms, and +here we find them at 50 to 100 fathoms." + +That was the first point to make clear. The second point to deal with +was--if the polypes cannot have built there while the level of the +sea has remained stationary, then one of two things must have +happened--either the sea has gone up, or the land has gone down. + +There is no escape from one of these two alternatives. Now the +objections to the notion of the sea having gone up are very considerable +indeed; for you will readily perceive that the sea could not possibly +have risen a thousand feet in the Pacific without rising pretty much +the same distance everywhere else; and if it had risen that height +everywhere else since the reefs began to be formed, the geography of +the world in general must have been very different indeed, at that time, +from what it is now. And we have very good means of knowing that any +such rise as this certainly has not taken place in the level of the sea +since the time that the corals have been building their houses. And so +the only other alternative was to suppose that the land had gone down, +and at so slow a rate that the corals were able to grow upward as fast +as it went downward. You will see at once that this is the solution of +the mystery, and nothing can be simpler or more obvious when you come to +think about it. Suppose we start with a coral sea and put in the middle +of it an island such as the Mauritius. Now let the coral polypes come +and perch on the shore and build a fringing reef, which will stop when +they come to 20 or 25 fathoms, and you will have a fringing reef like +that round the island in the illustration. So long as the land remains +stationary, so long as it does not descend so long will that reef be +unable to get any further out, because the moment the polype embryos +try to get below they die. But now suppose that the land sinks very +gradually indeed. Let it subside by slow degrees, until the mountain +peak, which we have in the middle of it, alone projects beyond the sea +level. The fringing reef would be carried down also; but we suppose that +the sinking is so slow that the coral polypes are able to grow up as +fast as the land is carried down; consequently they will add layer upon +layer until they form a deep cup, because the inner part of the reef +grows much more slowly than the outer part. Thus you have the reef +forming a bed thicker upon the flanks of the island; but the edge of the +reef will be very much further out from the land, and the lagoon will be +many times deeper; in short, your fringing reef will be converted into +an encircling reef. And if, instead of this being an island, it were a +great continent like Australia, then you will have the phenomenon of a +barrier reef which I have described. The barrier reef of Australia +was originally a fringing reef; the land has gone slowly down; the +consequence is the lagoon has deepened until its depth is now 25 fathoms +and the corals have grown up at the outer edge until you have that +prodigious accumulation which forms the barrier reef at present. Now let +this process go on further still; let us take the land a further step +down, so as to submerge even the peak. The coral, still growing up, will +cover the surface of the land, and you will have an atoll reef; that is +to say, a more or less circular or oval ring of coral rock with a lagoon +in the middle. Thus you see that every peculiarity and phenomenon +of these different forms of coral reef was explained at once by the +simplest of all possible suppositions, namely, by supposing that the +land has gone down at a rate not greater than that at which the coral +polypes have grown up. You explain a Fringing Reef as a reef which is +formed round land comparatively stationary; an Encircling Reef as one +which is formed round land going down; and an Atoll as a reef formed +upon land gone down; and the thing is so simple that a child may +understand it when it is once explained. + +But this would by no means satisfy the conditions of a scientific +hypothesis. No man who is cautious would dream of trusting to an +explanation of this kind simply because it explained one particular set +of facts. Before you can possibly be safe in dealing with Nature--who is +very properly made of the feminine gender, on account of the astonishing +tricks which she plays upon her admirers!--I say before you can be safe +in dealing with Nature, you must get two or three kinds of cross proofs, +so as to make sure not only that your hypothesis fits that particular +set of facts, but that it is not contradicted by some other set of facts +which is just as clear and certain. And it so happens, that in this case +Mr. Darwin supplied the cross proofs as well as the immediate evidence. +You have all heard of volcanoes, those wonderful vents in the surface of +the earth out of which pour masses of lava, cinders and ashes, and +the like. Now, it is a matter of observation and experience that all +volcanoes are placed in areas in which the surface of the earth is +undergoing elevation, or at any rate is stationary; they are not placed +in parts of the world in which the level of the land is being lowered. +They are all indications of a great subterranean activity, of a +something being pushed up, and therefore naturally the land either gives +way and lets it come through, or else is raised up by its violence. And +so Mr. Darwin, being desirous not to merely put out a flashy hypothesis, +but to get at the truth of the matter, said to himself, "If my notion of +this matter is right, then atolls and encircling reefs, inasmuch as they +are dependent upon subsidence, ought not to be found in company with +volcanoes; and, 'vice versa', volcanoes ought not to be found in company +with atolls, but they ought to be found in company with fringing reefs." +And if you turn to Mr. Darwin's great work upon the coral reefs, you +will see a very beautiful chart of the world, which he prepared with +great pains and labour, showing the distribution on the one hand of the +reefs, and on the other of the volcanoes; you will find that in no case +does the atoll accompany the volcano, or the volcano burst up among the +atolls. It is most instructive to look at the great area of the Pacific +on the map, and see the great masses of atolls forming in one region of +it a most enormous belt, running from north-west to south-east; while +the volcanoes, which are very numerous in that region, go round the +margin, so that we can picture the Pacific to ourselves a section of a +kind of very shallow basin--shallow in proportion to its width, with the +atolls rising from the bottom of it, and at the margins the volcanoes. +It is exactly as if you had taken a flat mass and lifted up the edges +of it; the subterranean force which lifted up the edges shows itself +in volcanoes, and as the edges have been raised, the middle part of +the mass has gone down. In other words, the facts of physical geography +precisely and exactly correspond with the hypothesis which accounts for +the infinite varieties of coral reefs. + +One other point, before I conclude, about this matter. These reefs, as +you have just perceived, are in a most singular and unexpected manner +indications of physical changes of elevations and depressions going on +upon the surface of the globe. I dare say it may have surprised you to +hear me talk in this familiar sort of way of land going up and down; +but it is one of the universal lessons of geology that the land is +going down and going up, and has been going up and down, in all sorts +of places and to all sorts of distances, through all recorded time. +Geologists would be quite right in maintaining the seeming paradox that +the stable thing in the world is the fluid sea and the shifting thing is +the solid land. That may sound a very hard saying at first, but the more +you look into geology, the more you will see ground for believing that +it is not a mere paradox. + +In an unexpected manner, again, these reefs afford us not only an +indication of change of place, but they afford an indication of lapse of +time. The reef is a timekeeper of a very curious character; and you can +easily understand why. The coral polype, like everything else, takes a +certain time to grow to its full size; it does not do it in a minute; +just as a child takes a certain time to grow into a man so does the +embryo polype take time to grow into a perfect polype and form +its skeleton. Consequently every particle of coral limestone is an +expression of time. It must have taken a certain time to separate the +lime from the sea water. It is not possible to arrive at an accurate +computation of the time it must have taken to form these coral islands, +because we lack the necessary data; but we can form a rough calculation, +which leads to very curious and striking results. The computations of +the rate at which corals grow are so exceedingly variable, that we must +allow the widest possible margin for error; and it is better in this +case to make the allowance upon the side of excess. I think that anybody +who knows anything about the matter will tell you that I am making a +computation far in excess of what is probable, if I say that an inch of +coral limestone may be added to one of these reefs in the course of +a year. I think most naturalists would be inclined to laugh at me for +making such an assumption, and would put the growth at certainly not +more than half that amount. But supposing it is so, what a very curious +notion of the antiquity of some of these great living pyramids comes out +by a very simple calculation. There is no doubt whatever that the sea +faces of some of them are fully a thousand feet high, and if you take +the reckoning of an inch a year, that will give you 12,000 years for the +age of that particular pyramid or cone of coral limestone; 12,000 long +years have these creatures been labouring in conditions which must have +been substantially the same as they are now, otherwise the polypes could +not have continued their work. But I believe I very much understate both +the height of some of these masses, and overstate the amount which these +animals can form in the course of a year; so that you might very safely +double the period as the time during which the Pacific Ocean, the +general state of the climate, and the sea, and the temperature has been +substantially what it is now; and yet that state of things which now +obtains in the Pacific Ocean is the yesterday of the history of the life +of the globe. Those pyramids of coral rock are built upon a foundation +which is itself formed by the deposits which the geologist has to deal +with. If we go back in time and search through the series of the rocks, +we find at every age of the world's history which has yet been examined, +accumulations of limestone, many of which have certainly been built +up in just the same way as those coral reefs which are now forming the +bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And even if we turn to the oldest periods +of geologic history, although the nature of the materials is changed, +although we cannot apply to them the same reasonings that we can to the +existing corals, yet still there are vast masses of limestone formed of +nothing else than the accumulations of the skeletons of similar animals, +and testifying that even in those remote periods of the world's history, +as now, the order of things implies that the earth had already endured +for a period of which our ordinary standards of chronology give us not +the slightest conception. In other words, the history of these coral +reefs, traced out honestly and carefully, and with the same sort of +reasoning that you would use in the ordinary affairs of life, testifies, +like every fact that I know of, to the prodigious antiquity of the earth +since it existed in a condition in the main similar to that in which it +now is. + +End of Coral and Coral Reefs. + + + + +YEAST. + + +I have selected to-night the particular subject of Yeast for two +reasons--or, rather, I should say for three. In the first place, because +it is one of the simplest and the most familiar objects with which we +are acquainted. In the second place, because the facts and phenomena +which I have to describe are so simple that it is possible to put them +before you without the help of any of those pictures or diagrams which +are needed when matters are more complicated, and which, if I had to +refer to them here, would involve the necessity of my turning away from +you now and then, and thereby increasing very largely my difficulty +(already sufficiently great) in making myself heard. And thirdly, I have +chosen this subject because I know of no familiar substance forming part +of our every-day knowledge and experience, the examination of which, +with a little care, tends to open up such very considerable issues as +does this substance--yeast. + +In the first place, I should like to call your attention to a fact with +which the whole of you are, to begin with, perfectly acquainted, I mean +the fact that any liquid containing sugar, any liquid which is formed by +pressing out the succulent parts of the fruits of plants, or a mixture +of honey and water, if left to itself for a short time, begins to +undergo a peculiar change. No matter how clear it might be at starting, +yet after a few hours, or at most a few days, if the temperature is +high, this liquid begins to be turbid, and by-and-by bubbles make their +appearance in it, and a sort of dirty-looking yellowish foam or scum +collects at the surface; while at the same time, by degrees, a similar +kind of matter, which we call the "lees," sinks to the bottom. + +The quantity of this dirty-looking stuff, that we call the scum and the +lees, goes on increasing until it reaches a certain amount, and then +it stops; and by the time it stops, you find the liquid in which this +matter has been formed has become altered in its quality. To begin with +it was a mere sweetish substance, having the flavour of whatever might +be the plant from which it was expressed, or having merely the taste and +the absence of smell of a solution of sugar; but by the time that this +change that I have been briefly describing to you is accomplished the +liquid has become completely altered, it has acquired a peculiar smell, +and, what is still more remarkable, it has gained the property of +intoxicating the person who drinks it. Nothing can be more innocent than +a solution of sugar; nothing can be less innocent, if taken in excess, +as you all know, than those fermented matters which are produced +from sugar. Well, again, if you notice that bubbling, or, as it were, +seething of the liquid, which has accompanied the whole of this process, +you will find that it is produced by the evolution of little bubbles of +air-like substance out of the liquid; and I dare say you all know this +air-like substance is not like common air; it is not a substance which +a man can breathe with impunity. You often hear of accidents which take +place in brewers' vats when men go in carelessly, and get suffocated +there without knowing that there was anything evil awaiting them. And if +you tried the experiment with this liquid I am telling of while it +was fermenting, you would find that any small animal let down into the +vessel would be similarly stifled; and you would discover that a light +lowered down into it would go out. Well, then, lastly, if after this +liquid has been thus altered you expose it to that process which is +called distillation; that is to say, if you put it into a still, and +collect the matters which are sent over, you obtain, when you first heat +it, a clear transparent liquid, which, however, is something totally +different from water; it is much lighter; it has a strong smell, and it +has an acrid taste; and it possesses the same intoxicating power as the +original liquid, but in a much more intense degree. If you put a light +to it, it burns with a bright flame, and it is that substance which we +know as spirits of wine. + +Now these facts which I have just put before you--all but the last--have +been known from extremely remote antiquity. It is, I hope one of the +best evidences of the antiquity of the human race, that among the +earliest records of all kinds of men, you find a time recorded when they +got drunk. We may hope that that must have been a very late period in +their history. Not only have we the record of what happened to Noah, but +if we turn to the traditions of a different people, those forefathers +of ours who lived in the high lands of Northern India, we find that they +were not less addicted to intoxicating liquids; and I have no doubt +that the knowledge of this process extends far beyond the limits of +historically recorded time. And it is a very curious thing to observe +that all the names we have of this process, and all that belongs to +it, are names that have their roots not in our present language, but in +those older languages which go back to the times at which this country +was peopled. That word "fermentation" for example, which is the title +we apply to the whole process, is a Latin term; and a term which is +evidently based upon the fact of the effervescence of the liquid. Then +the French, who are very fond of calling themselves a Latin race, have a +particular word for ferment, which is 'levure'. And, in the same way, we +have the word "leaven," those two words having reference to the heaving +up, or to the raising of the substance which is fermented. Now those are +words which we get from what I may call the Latin side of our parentage; +but if we turn to the Saxon side, there are a number of names connected +with this process of fermentation. For example, the Germans call +fermentation--and the old Germans did so--"gahren;" and they call +anything which is used as a ferment by such names, such as "gheist" and +"geest," and finally in low German, "yest"; and that word you know is +the word our Saxon forefathers used, and is almost the same as the word +which is commonly employed in this country to denote the common ferment +of which I have been speaking. So they have another name, the word +"hefe," which is derived from their verb "heben," which signifies to +raise up; and they have yet a third name, which is also one common in +this country (I do not know whether it is common in Lancashire, but it +is certainly very common in the Midland countries), the word "barm," +which is derived from a root which signifies to raise or to bear up. +Barm is a something borne up; and thus there is much more real relation +than is commonly supposed by those who make puns, between the beer which +a man takes down his throat and the bier upon which that process, if +carried to excess, generally lands him, for they are both derived +from the root signifying bearing up; the one thing is borne upon men's +shoulders, and the other is the fermented liquid which was borne up by +the fermentation taking place in itself. + +Again, I spoke of the produce of fermentation as "spirit of wine." Now +what a very curious phrase that is, if you come to think of it. The old +alchemists talked of the finest essence of anything as if it had the +same sort of relation to the thing itself as a man's spirit is supposed +to have to his body; and so they spoke of this fine essence of the +fermented liquid as being the spirit of the liquid. Thus came about +that extraordinary ambiguity of language, in virtue of which you apply +precisely the same substantive name to the soul of man and to a glass +of gin! And then there is still yet one other most curious piece of +nomenclature connected with this matter, and that is the word "alcohol" +itself, which is now so familiar to everybody. Alcohol originally meant +a very fine powder. The women of the Arabs and other Eastern people are +in the habit of tingeing their eyelashes with a very fine black powder +which is made of antimony, and they call that "kohol;" and the "al" is +simply the article put in front of it, so as to say "the kohol." And +up to the 17th century in this country the word alcohol was employed to +signify any very fine powder; you find it in Robert Boyle's works that +he uses "alcohol" for a very fine subtle powder. But then this name of +anything very fine and very subtle came to be specially connected with +the fine and subtle spirit obtained from the fermentation of sugar; and +I believe that the first person who fairly fixed it as the proper name +of what we now commonly call spirits of wine, was the great French +chemist Lavoisier, so comparatively recent is the use of the word +alcohol in this specialised sense. + +So much by way of general introduction to the subject on which I have to +speak to-night. What I have hitherto stated is simply what we may call +common knowledge, which everybody may acquaint himself with. And +you know that what we call scientific knowledge is not any kind +of conjuration, as people sometimes suppose, but it is simply the +application of the same principles of common sense that we apply to +common knowledge, carried out, if I may so speak, to knowledge which is +uncommon. And all that we know now of this substance, yeast, and all the +very strange issues to which that knowledge has led us, have simply come +out of the inveterate habit, and a very fortunate habit for the human +race it is, which scientific men have of not being content until they +have routed out all the different chains and connections of apparently +simple phenomena, until they have taken them to pieces and understood +the conditions upon which they depend. I will try to point out to you +now what has happened in consequence of endeavouring to apply this +process of "analysis," as we call it, this teazing out of an apparently +simple fact into all the little facts of which it is made up, to the +ascertained facts relating to the barm or the yeast; secondly, what has +come of the attempt to ascertain distinctly what is the nature of the +products which are produced by fermentation; then what has come of the +attempt to understand the relation between the yeast and the products; +and lastly, what very curious side issues if I may so call them--have +branched out in the course of this inquiry, which has now occupied +somewhere about two centuries. + +The first thing was to make out precisely and clearly what was the +nature of this substance, this apparently mere scum and mud that we +call yeast. And that was first commenced seriously by a wonderful old +Dutchman of the name of Leeuwenhoek, who lived some two hundred years +ago, and who was the first person to invent thoroughly trustworthy +microscopes of high powers. Now, Leeuwenhoek went to work upon this +yeast mud, and by applying to it high powers of the microscope, he +discovered that it was no mere mud such as you might at first suppose, +but that it was a substance made up of an enormous multitude of minute +grains, each of which had just as definite a form as if it were a grain +of corn, although it was vastly smaller, the largest of these not being +more than the two-thousandth of an inch in diameter; while, as you +know, a grain of corn is a large thing, and the very smallest of +these particles were not more than the seven-thousandth of an inch in +diameter. Leeuwenhoek saw that this muddy stuff was in reality a liquid, +in which there were floating this immense number of definitely shaped +particles, all aggregated in heaps and lumps and some of them separate. +That discovery remained, so to speak, dormant for fully a century, and +then the question was taken up by a French discoverer, who, paying +great attention and having the advantage of better instruments than +Leeuwenhoek had, watched these things and made the astounding discovery +that they were bodies which were constantly being reproduced and +growing; than when one of these rounded bodies was once formed and had +grown to its full size, it immediately began to give off a little bud +from one side, and then that bud grew out until it had attained the +full size of the first, and that, in this way, the yeast particle was +undergoing a process of multiplication by budding, just as effectual and +just as complete as the process of multiplication of a plant by +budding; and thus this Frenchman, Cagniard de la Tour, arrived at +the conclusion--very creditable to his sagacity, and which has been +confirmed by every observation and reasoning since--that this apparently +muddy refuse was neither more nor less than a mass of plants, of minute +living plants, growing and multiplying in the sugary fluid in which the +yeast is formed. And from that time forth we have known this substance +which forms the scum and the lees as the yeast plant; and it has +received a scientific name--which I may use without thinking of it, +and which I will therefore give you--namely, "Torula." Well, this was a +capital discovery. The next thing to do was to make out how this torula +was related to the other plants. I won't weary you with the whole course +of investigation, but I may sum up its results, and they are these--that +the torula is a particular kind of a fungus, a particular state +rather, of a fungus or mould. There are many moulds which under certain +conditions give rise to this torula condition, to a substance which is +not distinguishable from yeast, and which has the same properties as +yeast--that is to say, which is able to decompose sugar in the curious +way that we shall consider by-and-by. So that the yeast plant is a plant +belonging to a group of the Fungi, multiplying and growing and living in +this very remarkable manner in the sugary fluid which is, so to speak, +the nidus or home of the yeast. + +That, in a few words, is, as far as investigation--by the help of one's +eye and by the help of the microscope--has taken us. But now there is an +observer whose methods of observation are more refined than those of men +who use their eye, even though it be aided by the microscope; a man who +sees indirectly further than we can see directly--that is, the chemist; +and the chemist took up this question, and his discovery was not less +remarkable than that of the microscopist. The chemist discovered that +the yeast plant being composed of a sort of bag, like a bladder, inside +which is a peculiar soft, semifluid material--the chemist found that +this outer bladder has the same composition as the substance of wood, +that material which is called "cellulose," and which consists of the +elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen, without any nitrogen. But then +he also found (the first person to discover it was an Italian chemist, +named Fabroni, in the end of the last century) that this inner matter +which was contained in the bag, which constitutes the yeast plant, was +a substance containing the elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen and +nitrogen; that it was what Fabroni called a vegeto-animal substance, +and that it had the peculiarities of what are commonly called "animal +products." + +This again was an exceedingly remarkable discovery. It lay neglected +for a time, until it was subsequently taken up by the great chemists of +modern times, and they, with their delicate methods of analysis, have +finally decided that, in all essential respects, the substance which +forms the chief part of the contents of the yeast plant is identical +with the material which forms the chief part of our own muscles, which +forms the chief part of our own blood, which forms the chief part of +the white of the egg; that, in fact, although this little organism is +a plant, and nothing but a plant, yet that its active living contents +contain a substance which is called "protein," which is of the same +nature as the substance which forms the foundation of every animal +organism whatever. + +Now we come next to the question of the analysis of the products, of +that which is produced during the process of fermentation. So far back +as the beginning of the 16th century, in the times of transition between +the old alchemy and the modern chemistry, there was a remarkable man, +Von Helmont, a Dutchman, who saw the difference between the air which +comes out of a vat where something is fermenting and common air. He was +the man who invented the term "gas," and he called this kind of gas "gas +silvestre"--so to speak gas that is wild, and lives in out of the way +places--having in his mind the identity of this particular kind of air +with that which is found in some caves and cellars. Then, the gradual +process of investigation going on, it was discovered that this +substance, then called "fixed air," was a poisonous gas, and it was +finally identified with that kind of gas which is obtained by burning +charcoal in the air, which is called "carbonic acid." Then the +substance alcohol was subjected to examination, and it was found to be +a combination of carbon, and hydrogen, and oxygen. Then the sugar which +was contained in the fermenting liquid was examined and that was found +to contain the three elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. So that +it was clear there were in sugar the fundamental elements which are +contained in the carbonic acid, and in the alcohol. And then came that +great chemist Lavoisier, and he examined into the subject carefully, +and possessed with that brilliant thought of his which happens to be +propounded exactly apropos to this matter of fermentation--that no +matter is ever lost, but that matter only changes its form and changes +its combinations--he endeavoured to make out what became of the sugar +which was subjected to fermentation. He thought he discovered that the +whole weight of the sugar was represented by the carbonic acid produced; +that in other words, supposing this tumbler to represent the sugar, that +the action of fermentation was as it were the splitting of it, the one +half going away in the shape of carbonic acid, and the other half going +away in the shape of alcohol. Subsequent inquiry, careful research with +the refinements of modern chemistry, have been applied to this problem, +and they have shown that Lavoisier was not quite correct; that what he +says is quite true for about 95 per cent. of the sugar, but that the +other 5 per cent., or nearly so, is converted into two other things; +one of them, matter which is called succinic acid, and the other +matter which is called glycerine, which you all know now as one of the +commonest of household matters. It may be that we have not got to the +end of this refined analysis yet, but at any rate, I suppose I may +say--and I speak with some little hesitation for fear my friend +Professor Roscoe here may pick me up for trespassing upon his +province--but I believe I may say that now we can account for 99 per +cent. at least of the sugar, and that 99 per cent. is split up into +these four things, carbonic acid, alcohol, succinic acid, and glycerine. +So that it may be that none of the sugar whatever disappears, and +that only its parts, so to speak, are re-arranged, and if any of it +disappears, certainly it is a very small portion. + +Now these are the facts of the case. There is the fact of the growth of +the yeast plant; and there is the fact of the splitting up of the sugar. +What relation have these two facts to one another? + +For a very long time that was a great matter of dispute. The early +French observers, to do them justice, discerned the real state of the +case, namely, that there was a very close connection between the actual +life of the yeast plant and this operation of the splitting up of the +sugar; and that one was in some way or other connected with the other. +All investigation subsequently has confirmed this original idea. It has +been shown that if you take any measures by which other plants of like +kind to the torula would be killed, and by which the yeast plant is +killed, then the yeast loses its efficiency. But a capital experiment +upon this subject was made by a very distinguished man, Helmholz, who +performed an experiment of this kind. He had two vessels--one of them we +will suppose full of yeast, but over the bottom of it, as this might be, +was tied a thin film of bladder; consequently, through that thin film of +bladder all the liquid parts of the yeast would go, but the solid parts +would be stopped behind; the torula would be stopped, the liquid parts +of the yeast would go. And then he took another vessel containing a +fermentable solution of sugar, and he put one inside the other; and in +this way you see the fluid parts of the yeast were able to pass through +with the utmost ease into the sugar, but the solid parts could not get +through at all. And he judged thus: if the fluid parts are those which +excite fermentation, then, inasmuch as these are stopped, the sugar will +not ferment; and the sugar did not ferment, showing quite clearly, +that an immediate contact with the solid, living torula was absolutely +necessary to excite this process of splitting up of the sugar. This +experiment was quite conclusive as to this particular point, and has had +very great fruits in other directions. + +Well, then, the yeast plant being essential to the production of +fermentation, where does the yeast plant come from? Here, again, was +another great problem opened up, for, as I said at starting, you have, +under ordinary circumstances in warm weather, merely to expose some +fluid containing a solution of sugar, or any form of syrup or vegetable +juice to the air, in order, after a comparatively short time, to see all +these phenomena of fermentation. Of course the first obvious suggestion +is, that the torula has been generated within the fluid. In fact, it +seems at first quite absurd to entertain any other conviction; but that +belief would most assuredly be an erroneous one. + +Towards the beginning of this century, in the vigorous times of the old +French wars, there was a Monsieur Appert, who had his attention directed +to the preservation of things that ordinarily perish, such as meats and +vegetables, and in fact he laid the foundation of our modern method of +preserving meats; and he found that if he boiled any of these substances +and then tied them so as to exclude the air, that they would be +preserved for any time. He tried these experiments, particularly with +the must of wine and with the wort of beer; and he found that if the +wort of beer had been carefully boiled and was stopped in such a way +that the air could not get at it, it would never ferment. What was the +reason of this? That, again, became the subject of a long string of +experiments, with this ultimate result, that if you take precautions to +prevent any solid matters from getting into the must of wine or the wort +of beer, under these circumstances--that is to say, if the fluid has +been boiled and placed in a bottle, and if you stuff the neck of the +bottle full of cotton wool, which allows the air to go through and stops +anything of a solid character however fine, then you may let it be for +ten years and it will not ferment. But if you take that plug out and +give the air free access, then, sooner or later fermentation will set +up. And there is no doubt whatever that fermentation is excited only by +the presence of some torula or other, and that that torula proceeds in +our present experience, from pre-existing torulae. These little bodies +are excessively light. You can easily imagine what must be the weight of +little particles, but slightly heavier than water, and not more than the +two-thousandth or perhaps seven-thousandth of an inch in diameter. They +are capable of floating about and dancing like motes in the sunbeam; +they are carried about by all sorts of currents of air; the great +majority of them perish; but one or two, which may chance to enter into +a sugary solution, immediately enter into active life, find there the +conditions of their nourishment, increase and multiply, and may give +rise to any quantity whatever of this substance yeast. And, whatever +may be true or not be true about this "spontaneous generation," as it +is called in regard to all other kinds of living things, it is perfectly +certain, as regards yeast, that it always owes its origin to this +process of transportation or inoculation, if you like so to call it, +from some other living yeast organism; and so far as yeast is concerned, +the doctrine of spontaneous generation is absolutely out of court. +And not only so, but the yeast must be alive in order to exert these +peculiar properties. If it be crushed, if it be heated so far that its +life is destroyed, that peculiar power of fermentation is not excited. +Thus we have come to this conclusion, as the result of our inquiry, that +the fermentation of sugar, the splitting of the sugar into alcohol and +carbonic acid, glycerine, and succinic acid, is the result of nothing +but the vital activity of this little fungus, the torula. + +And now comes the further exceedingly difficult inquiry--how is it +that this plant, the torula, produces this singular operation of the +splitting up of the sugar? Fabroni, to whom I referred some time ago, +imagined that the effervescence of fermentation was produced in just the +same way as the effervescence of a sedlitz powder, that the yeast was a +kind of acid, and that the sugar was a combination of carbonic acid and +some base to form the alcohol, and that the yeast combined with +this substance, and set free the carbonic acid; just as when you add +carbonate of soda to acid you turn out the carbonic acid. But of course +the discovery of Lavoisier that the carbonic acid and the alcohol taken +together are very nearly equal in weight to the sugar, completely upset +this hypothesis. Another view was therefore taken by the French chemist, +Thenard, and it is still held by a very eminent chemist, M. Pasteur, and +their view is this, that the yeast, so to speak, eats a little of the +sugar, turns a little of it to its own purposes, and by so doing gives +such a shape to the sugar that the rest of it breaks up into carbonic +acid and alcohol. + +Well, then, there is a third hypothesis, which is maintained by another +very distinguished chemist, Liebig, which denies either of the other +two, and which declares that the particles of the sugar are, as it were, +shaken asunder by the forces at work in the yeast plant. Now I am not +going to take you into these refinements of chemical theory, I cannot +for a moment pretend to do so, but I may put the case before you by an +analogy. Suppose you compare the sugar to a card house, and suppose you +compare the yeast to a child coming near the card house, then Fabroni's +hypothesis was that the child took half the cards away; Thenard's and +Pasteur's hypothesis is that the child pulls out the bottom card and +thus makes it tumble to pieces; and Liebig's hypothesis is that the +child comes by and shakes the table and tumbles the house down. I +appeal to my friend here (Professor Roscoe) whether that is not a fair +statement of the case. + +Having thus, as far as I can, discussed the general state of the +question, it remains only that I should speak of some of those +collateral results which have come in a very remarkable way out of the +investigation of yeast. I told you that it was very early observed that +the yeast plant consisted of a bag made up of the same material as that +which composes wood, and of an interior semifluid mass which contains +a substance, identical in its composition, in a broad sense, with +that which constitutes the flesh of animals. Subsequently, after +the structure of the yeast plant had been carefully observed, it was +discovered that all plants, high and low, are made up of separate +bags or "cells," as they are called; these bags or cells having the +composition of the pure matter of wood; having the same composition, +broadly speaking, as the sac of the yeast plant, and having in their +interior a more or less fluid substance containing a matter of the same +nature as the protein substance of the yeast plant. And therefore this +remarkable result came out--that however much a plant may differ from +an animal, yet that the essential constituent of the contents of these +various cells or sacs of which the plant is made up, the nitrogenous +protein matter, is the same in the animal as in the plant. And not only +was this gradually discovered, but it was found that these semifluid +contents of the plant cell had, in many cases, a remarkable power of +contractility quite like that of the substance of animals. And about +24 or 25 years ago, namely, about the year 1846, to the best of my +recollection, a very eminent German botanist, Hugo Von Mohl, conferred +upon this substance which is found in the interior of the plant cell, +and which is identical with the matter found in the inside of the yeast +cell, and which again contains an animal substance similar to that of +which we ourselves are made up--he conferred upon this that title of +"protoplasm," which has brought other people a great deal of trouble +since! I beg particularly to say that, because I find many people +suppose that I was the inventor of that term, whereas it has been in +existence for at least twenty-five years. And then other observers, +taking the question up, came to this astonishing conclusion (working +from this basis of the yeast), that the differences between animals and +plants are not so much in the fundamental substances which compose them, +not in the protoplasm, but in the manner in which the cells of which +their bodies are built up have become modified. There is a sense in +which it is true--and the analogy was pointed out very many years ago by +some French botanists and chemists--there is a sense in which it is +true that every plant is substantially an enormous aggregation of +bodies similar to yeast cells, each having to a certain extent its own +independent life. And there is a sense in which it is also perfectly +true--although it would be impossible for me to give the statement +to you with proper qualifications and limitations on an occasion like +this--but there is also a sense in which it is true that every animal +body is made up of an aggregation of minute particles of protoplasm, +comparable each of them to the individual separate yeast plant. And +those who are acquainted with the history of the wonderful revolution +which has been worked in our whole conception of these matters in the +last thirty years, will bear me out in saying that the first germ of +them, to a very great extent, was made to grow and fructify by the study +of the yeast plant, which presents us with living matter in almost its +simplest condition. + +Then there is yet one last and most important bearing of this yeast +question. There is one direction probably in which the effects of the +careful study of the nature of fermentation will yield results more +practically valuable to mankind than any other. Let me recall to your +minds the fact which I stated at the beginning of this lecture. Suppose +that I had here a solution of pure sugar with a little mineral matter +in it; and suppose it were possible for me to take upon the point of a +needle one single, solitary yeast cell, measuring no more perhaps than +the three-thousandth of an inch in diameter--not bigger than one of +those little coloured specks of matter in my own blood at this moment, +the weight of which it would be difficult to express in the fraction +of a grain--and put it into this solution. From that single one, if the +solution were kept at a fair temperature in a warm summer's day, there +would be generated, in the course of a week, enough torulae to form +a scum at the top and to form lees at the bottom, and to change the +perfectly tasteless and entirely harmless fluid, syrup, into a solution +impregnated with the poisonous gas carbonic acid, impregnated with the +poisonous substance alcohol; and that, in virtue of the changes worked +upon the sugar by the vital activity of these infinitesimally small +plants. Now you see that this is a case of infection. And from the time +that the phenomenon of fermentation were first carefully studied, it +has constantly been suggested to the minds of thoughtful physicians that +there was a something astoundingly similar between this phenomena of +the propagation of fermentation by infection and contagion, and the +phenomena of the propagation of diseases by infection and contagion. +Out of this suggestion has grown that remarkable theory of many diseases +which has been called the "germ theory of disease," the idea, in fact, +that we owe a great many diseases to particles having a certain life of +their own, and which are capable of being transmitted from one living +being to another, exactly as the yeast plant is capable of being +transmitted from one tumbler of saccharine substance to another. And +that is a perfectly tenable hypothesis, one which in the present state +of medicine ought to be absolutely exhausted and shown not to be true, +until we take to others which have less analogy in their favour. And +there are some diseases most assuredly in which it turns out to be +perfectly correct. There are some forms of what are called malignant +carbuncle which have been shown to be actually effected by a sort of +fermentation, if I may use the phrase, by a sort of disturbance and +destruction of the fluids of the animal body, set up by minute organisms +which are the cause of this destruction and of this disturbance; and +only recently the study of the phenomena which accompany vaccination +has thrown an immense light in this direction, tending to show by +experiments of the same general character as that to which I referred as +performed by Helmholz, that there is a most astonishing analogy between +the contagion of that healing disease and the contagion of destructive +diseases. For it has been made out quite clearly, by investigations +carried on in France and in this country, that the only part of the +vaccine matter which is contagious, which is capable of carrying on its +influence in the organism of the child who is vaccinated, is the solid +particles and not the fluid. By experiments of the most ingenious kind, +the solid parts have been separated from the fluid parts, and it has +then been discovered that you may vaccinate a child as much as you like +with the fluid parts, but no effect takes place, though an excessively +small portion of the solid particles, the most minute that can be +separated, is amply sufficient to give rise to all the phenomena of +the cow pock, by a process which we can compare to nothing but the +transmission of fermentation from one vessel into another, by the +transport to the one of the torula particles which exist in the other. +And it has been shown to be true of some of the most destructive +diseases which infect animals, such diseases as the sheep pox, such +diseases as that most terrible and destructive disorder of horses, +glanders, that in these, also, the active power is the living solid +particle, and that the inert part is the fluid. However, do not suppose +that I am pushing the analogy too far. I do not mean to say that the +active, solid parts in these diseased matters are of the same nature as +living yeast plants; but, so far as it goes, there is a most surprising +analogy between the two; and the value of the analogy is this, that by +following it out we may some time or other come to understand how these +diseases are propagated, just as we understand, now, about fermentation; +and that, in this way, some of the greatest scourges which afflict the +human race may be, if not prevented, at least largely alleviated. + +This is the conclusion of the statements which I wished to put before +you. You see we have not been able to have any accessories. If you will +come in such numbers to hear a lecture of this kind, all I can say is, +that diagrams cannot be made big enough for you, and that it is not +possible to show any experiments illustrative of a lecture on such a +subject as I have to deal with. Of course my friends the chemists and +physicists are very much better off, because they can not only show you +experiments, but you can smell them and hear them! But in my case such +aids are not attainable, and therefore I have taken a simple subject and +have dealt with it in such a way that I hope you all understand it, +at least so far as I have been able to put it before you in words; and +having once apprehended such of the ideas and simple facts of the case +as it was possible to put before you, you can see for yourselves the +great and wonderful issues of such an apparently homely subject. + +End of Yeast. + + + + +WILLIAM HARVEY AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. + + +THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in the Free Trade Hall, November 2nd, +1878.) + +I desire this evening to give you some account of the life and labours +of a very noble Englishman--William Harvey. + +William Harvey was born in the year 1578, and as he lived until the year +1657, he very nearly attained the age of 80. He was the son of a small +landowner in Kent, who was sufficiently wealthy to send this, his eldest +son, to the University of Cambridge; while he embarked the others in +mercantile pursuits, in which they all, as time passed on, attained +riches. + +William Harvey, after pursuing his education at Cambridge, and taking +his degree there, thought it was advisable--and justly thought so, in +the then state of University education--to proceed to Italy, which +at that time was one of the great centres of intellectual activity in +Europe, as all friends of freedom hope it will become again, sooner or +later. In those days the University of Padua had a great renown; +and Harvey went there and studied under a man who was then very +famous--Fabricius of Aquapendente. On his return to England, Harvey +became a member of the College of Physicians in London, and entered into +practice; and, I suppose, as an indispensable step thereto, proceeded +to marry. He very soon became one of the most eminent members of the +profession in London; and, about the year 1616, he was elected by the +College of Physicians their Professor of Anatomy. It was while Harvey +held this office that he made public that great discovery of the +circulation of the blood and the movements of the heart, the nature of +which I shall endeavour by-and-by to explain to you at length. Shortly +afterwards, Charles the First having succeeded to the throne in 1625, +Harvey became one of the king's physicians; and it is much to the credit +of the unfortunate monarch--who, whatever his faults may have been, +was one of the few English monarchs who have shown a taste for art and +science--that Harvey became his attached and devoted friend as well +as servant; and that the king, on the other hand, did all he could to +advance Harvey's investigations. But, as you know, evil times came on; +and Harvey, after the fortunes of his royal master were broken, +being then a man of somewhat advanced years--over 60 years of age, in +fact--retired to the society of his brothers in and near London, and +among them pursued his studies until the day of his death. Harvey's +career is a life which offers no salient points of interest to the +biographer. It was a life devoted to study and investigation; and it +was a life the devotion of which was amply rewarded, as I shall have +occasion to point out to you, by its results. + +Harvey, by the diversity, the variety, and the thoroughness of his +investigations, was enabled to give an entirely new direction to at +least two branches--and two of the most important branches--of what +now-a-days we call Biological Science. On the one hand, he founded +all our modern physiology by the discovery of the exact nature of the +motions of the heart, and of the course in which the blood is propelled +through the body; and, on the other, he laid the foundation of that +study of development which has been so much advanced of late years, and +which constitutes one of the great pillars of the doctrine of evolution. +This doctrine, I need hardly tell you, is now tending to revolutionise +our conceptions of the origin of living things, exactly in the same +way as Harvey's discovery of the circulation in the seventeeth century +revolutionised the conceptions which men had previously entertained with +regard to physiological processes. + +It would, I regret, be quite impossible for me to attempt, in the course +of the time I can presume to hold you here, to unfold the history of +more than one of these great investigations of Harvey. I call them +"great investigations," as distinguished from "large publications." I +have in my hand a little book, which those of you who are at a great +distance may have some difficulty in seeing, and which I value very +much. It is, I am afraid, sadly thumbed and scratched with annotations +by a very humble successor and follower of Harvey. This little book is +the edition of 1651 of the 'Exercitationes de Generatione'; and if you +were to add another little book, printed in the same small type, and +about one-seventh of the thickness, you would have the sum total of the +printed matter which Harvey contributed to our literature. And yet +in that sum total was contained, I may say, the materials of two +revolutions in as many of the main branches of biological science. If +Harvey's published labours can be condensed into so small a compass, you +must recollect that it is not because he did not do a great deal more. +We know very well that he did accumulate a very considerable number of +observations on the most varied topics of medicine, surgery, and natural +history. But, as I mentioned to you just now, Harvey, for a time, took +the royal side in the domestic quarrel of the Great Rebellion, as it +is called; and the Parliament, not unnaturally resenting that action of +his, sent soldiers to seize his papers. And while I imagine they found +nothing treasonable among those papers, yet, in the process of rummaging +through them, they destroyed all the materials which Harvey had spent a +laborious life in accumulating; and hence it is that the man's work and +labours are represented by so little in apparent bulk. + +What I chiefly propose to do to-night is to lay before you an account of +the nature of the discovery which Harvey made, and which is termed the +Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. And I desire also, with +some particularity, to draw your attention to the methods by which that +discovery was achieved; for, in both these respects, I think, there will +be much matter for profitable reflection. + +Let me point out to you, in the first place, with respect to this +important matter of the movements of the heart and the course of the +blood in the body, that there is a certain amount of knowledge +which must have been obtained without men taking the trouble to seek +it--knowledge which must have been taken in, in the course of time, +by everybody who followed the trade of a butcher, and still more so by +those people who, in ancient times, professed to divine the course of +future events from the entrails of animals. It is quite obvious to +all, from ordinary accidents, that the bodies of all the higher animals +contain a hot red fluid--the blood. Everybody can see upon the surface +of some part of the skin, underneath that skin, pulsating tubes, which +we know as the arteries. Everybody can see under the surface of the skin +more delicate and softer looking tubes, which do not pulsate, which are +of a bluish colour, and are termed the veins. And every person who has +seen a recently killed animal opened knows that these two kinds of tubes +to which I have just referred, are connected with an apparatus which +is placed in the chest, which apparatus, in recently killed animals, +is still pulsating. And you know that in yourselves you can feel the +pulsation of this organ, the heart, between the fifth and sixth ribs. I +take it that this much of anatomy and physiology has been known from the +oldest times, not only as a matter of curiosity, but because one of the +great objects of men, from their earliest recorded existence, has been +to kill one another, and it was a matter of considerable importance to +know which was the best place for hitting an enemy. I can refer you to +very ancient records for most precise and clear information that one of +the best places is to smite him between the fifth and sixth ribs. Now +that is a very good piece of regional anatomy, for that is the place +where the heart strikes in its pulsations, and the use of smiting there +is that you go straight to the heart. Well, all that must have been +known from time immemorial--at least for 4,000 or 5,000 years before the +commencement of our era--because we know that for as great a period as +that the Egyptians, at any rate, whatever may have been the case with +other people, were in the enjoyment of a highly developed civilisation. +But of what knowledge they may have possessed beyond this we know +nothing; and in tracing back the springs of the origin of everything +that we call "modern science" (which is not merely knowing, but knowing +systematically, and with the intention and endeavour to find out +the causal connection of things)--I say that when we trace back the +different lines of all the modern sciences we come at length to one +epoch and to one country--the epoch being about the fourth and fifth +centuries before Christ, and the country being ancient Greece. It is +there that we find the commencement and the root of every branch of +physical science and of scientific method. If we go back to that time +we have in the works attributed to Aristotle, who flourished between 300 +and 400 years before Christ, a sort of encyclopaedia of the scientific +knowledge of that day--and a very marvellous collection of, in many +respects, accurate and precise knowledge it is. But, so far as regards +this particular topic, Aristotle, it must be confessed, has not got very +far beyond common knowledge. He knows a little about the structure of +the heart. I do not think that his knowledge is so inaccurate as many +people fancy, but it does not amount to much. A very few years after his +time, however, there was a Greek philosopher, Erasistratus, who lived +about three hundred years before Christ, and who must have pursued +anatomy with much care, for he made the important discovery that there +are membranous flaps, which are now called "valves," at the origins +of the great vessels; and that there are certain other valves in the +interior of the heart itself. + +(FIGURE 1.--The apparatus of the circulation, as at present known. The +capillary vessels, which connect the arteries and veins, are omitted, on +account of their small size. The shading of the "venous system" is given +to all the vessels which contain venous blood; that of the "arterial +system" to all the vessels which contain arterial blood.) + +I have here (Figure 1) a purposely rough, but, so far as it goes, +accurate, diagram of the structure of the heart and the course of the +blood. The heart is supposed to be divided into two portions. It would +be possible, by very careful dissection, to split the heart down the +middle of a partition, or so-called 'septum', which exists in it, and to +divide it into the two portions which you see here represented; in which +case we should have a left heart and a right heart, quite distinct from +one another. You will observe that there is a portion of each heart +which is what is called the ventricle. Now the ancients applied the term +'heart' simply and solely to the ventricles. They did not count the rest +of the heart--what we now speak of as the 'auricles'--as any part of the +heart at all; but when they spoke of the heart they meant the left and +the right ventricles; and they described those great vessels, which we +now call the 'pulmonary veins' and the 'vena cava', as opening directly +into the heart itself. + +What Erasistratus made out was that, at the roots of the aorta and +the pulmonary artery (Figure 1) there were valves, which opened in the +direction indicated by the arrows; and, on the other hand, that at the +junction of what he called the veins with the heart there were other +valves, which also opened again in the direction indicated by the +arrows. This was a very capital discovery, because it proved that if +the heart was full of fluid, and if there were any means of causing that +fluid in the ventricles to move, then the fluid could move only in +one direction; for you will observe that, as soon as the fluid is +compressed, the two valves between the ventricles and the veins will be +shut, and the fluid will be obliged to move into the arteries; and, +if it tries to get back from them into the heart, it is prevented from +doing so by the valves at the origin of the arteries, which we now +call the semilunar valves (half-moon shaped valves); so that it is +impossible, if the fluid move at all, that it should move in any other +way than from the great veins into the arteries. Now that was a very +remarkable and striking discovery. + +But it is not given to any man to be altogether right (that is a +reflection which it is very desirable for every man who has had the good +luck to be nearly right once, always to bear in mind); and Erasistratus, +while he made this capital and important discovery, made a very capital +and important error in another direction, although it was a very natural +error. If, in any animal which is recently killed, you open one of those +pulsating trunks which I referred to a short time ago, you will find, as +a general rule, that it either contains no blood at all or next to none; +but that, on the contrary, it is full of air. Very naturally, therefore, +Erasistratus came to the conclusion that this was the normal and natural +state of the arteries, and that they contained air. We are apt to think +this a very gross blunder; but, to anybody who is acquainted with +the facts of the case, it is, at first sight, an exceedingly natural +conclusion. Not only so, but Erasistratus might have very justly +imagined that he had seen his way to the meaning of the connection of +the left side of the heart with the lungs; for we find that what we now +call the pulmonary vein is connected with the lungs, and branches out in +them (Figure 1). Finding that the greater part of this system of vessels +was filled with air after death, this ancient thinker very shrewdly +concluded that its real business was to receive air from the lungs, and +to distribute that air all through the body, so as to get rid of the +grosser humours and purify the blood. That was a very natural and very +obvious suggestion, and a highly ingenious one, though it happened to be +a great error. You will observe that the only way of correcting it was +to experiment upon living animals, for there is no other way in which +this point could be settled. + +(FIGURE 2. The Course of the Blood according to Galen (A.D. 170).) + +And hence we are indebted, for the correction of the error of +Erasistratus, to one of the greatest experimenters of ancient or modern +times, Claudius Galenus, who lived in the second century after Christ. I +say it was to this man more than any one else, because he knew that the +only way of solving physiological problems was to examine into the facts +in the living animal. And because Galen was a skilful anatomist, and +a skilful experimenter, he was able to show in what particulars +Erasistratus had erred, and to build up a system of thought upon this +subject which was not improved upon for fully 1,300 years. I have +endeavoured, in Figure 2, to make clear to you exactly what it was he +tried to establish. You will observe that this diagram is practically +the same as that given in Figure 1, only simplified. The same facts may +be looked upon by different people from different points of view. Galen +looked upon these facts from a very different point of view from that +which we ourselves occupy; but, so far as the facts are concerned, they +were the same for him as for us. Well then, the first thing that Galen +did was to make out experimentally that, during life, the arteries are +not full of air, but that they are full of blood. And he describes a +great variety of experiments which he made upon living animals with the +view of proving this point, which he did prove effectually and for all +time; and that you will observe was the only way of settling the matter. +Furthermore, he demonstrated that the cavities of the left side of the +heart--what we now call the left auricle and the left ventricle--are, +like the arteries, full of blood during life, and that that blood was of +the scarlet kind--arterialised, or as he called it "pneumatised," blood. +It was known before, that the pulmonary artery, the right ventricle, +and the veins, contain the darker kind of blood, which was thence called +venous. Having proved that the whole of the left side of the heart, +during life, is full of scarlet arterial blood, Galen's next point +was to inquire into the mode of communication between the arteries +and veins. It was known before his time that both arteries and veins +branched out. Galen maintained, though he could not prove the fact, that +the ultimate branches of the arteries and veins communicated together +somehow or other, by what he called 'anastomoses', and that these +'anastomoses' existed not only in the body in general but also in the +lungs. In the next place, Galen maintained that all the veins of +the body arise from the liver; that they draw the blood thence and +distribute it over the body. People laugh at that notion now-a-days; but +if anybody will look at the facts he will see that it is a very probable +supposition. There is a great vein (hepatic vein--Figure 1) which rises +out of the liver, and that vein goes straight into the 'vena cava' +(Figure 1) which passes to the heart, being there joined by the other +veins of the body. The liver itself is fed by a very large vein (portal +vein--Figure 1), which comes from the alimentary canal. The way the +ancients looked at this matter was, that the food, after being received +into the alimentary canal, was then taken up by the branches of this +great vein, which are called the 'vena portae', just as the roots of a +plant suck up nourishment from the soil in which it lives; that then it +was carried to the liver, there to be what was called "concocted," which +was their phrase for its conversion into substances more fitted for +nutrition than previously existed in it. They then supposed that the +next thing to be done was to distribute this fluid through the body; and +Galen like his predecessors, imagined that the "concocted" blood, having +entered the great 'vena cava', was distributed by its ramifications all +over the body. So that, in his view (Figure 2), the course of the blood +was from the intestine to the liver, and from the liver into the great +'vena cava', including what we now call the right auricle of the heart, +whence it was distributed by the branches of the veins. But the whole of +the blood was not thus disposed of. Part of the blood, it was supposed, +went through what we now call the pulmonary arteries (Figure 1), and, +branching out there, gave exit to certain "fuliginous" products, and +at the same time took in from the air a something which Galen calls the +'pneuma'. He does not know anything about what we call oxygen; but it +is astonishing how very easy it would be to turn his language into the +equivalent of modern chemical theory. The old philosopher had so just +a suspicion of the real state of affairs that you could make use of his +language in many cases, if you substituted the word "oxygen," which we +now-a-days use, for the word 'pneuma'. Then he imagined that the blood, +further concocted or altered by contact with the 'pneuma', passed to +a certain extent to the left side of the heart. So that Galen believed +that there was such a thing as what is now called the pulmonary +circulation. He believed, as much as we do, that the blood passed +through the right side of the heart, through the artery which goes to +the lungs, through the lungs themselves, and back by what we call the +pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart. But he thought it was +only a very small portion of the blood which passes to the right side of +the heart in this way; the rest of the blood, he thought, passed through +the partition which separates the two ventricles of the heart. He +describes a number of small pits, which really exist there, as holes, +and he supposed that the greater part of the blood passed through these +holes from the right to the left ventricle (Figure 2). + +It is of great importance you should clearly understand these teachings +of Galen, because, as I said just now, they sum up all that anybody knew +until the revival of learning; and they come to this--that the blood +having passed from the stomach and intestines through the liver, and +having entered the great veins, was by them distributed to every part of +the body; that part of the blood, thus distributed, entered the arterial +system by the 'anastomoses', as Galen called them, in the lungs; that +a very small portion of it entered the arteries by the 'anastomoses' in +the body generally; but that the greater part of it passed through the +septum of the heart, and so entered the left side and mingled with the +pneumatised blood, which had been subjected to the air in the lungs, +and was then distributed by the arteries, and eventually mixed with the +currents of blood, coming the other way, through the veins. + +Yet one other point about the views of Galen. He thought that both the +contractions and dilatations of the heart--what we call the 'systole' +or contraction of the heart, and the 'diastole' or dilatation--Galen +thought that these were both active movements; that the heart actively +dilated, so that it had a sort of sucking power upon the fluids which +had access to it. And again, with respect to the movements of the pulse, +which anybody can feel at the wrist and elsewhere, Galen was of opinion +that the walls of the arteries partook of that which he supposed to be +the nature of the walls of the heart, and that they had the power of +alternately actively contracting and actively dilating, so that he is +careful to say that the nature of the pulse is comparable, not to the +movement of a bag, which we fill by blowing into it, and which we empty +by drawing the air out of it, but to the action of a bellows, which is +actively dilated and actively compressed. + +(FIGURE 3.--The course of the blood from the right to the left side of +the heart (Realdus Columbus, 1559).) + +After Galen's time came the collapse of the Roman Empire, the extinction +of physical knowledge, and the repression of every kind of scientific +inquiry, by its powerful and consistent enemy, the Church; and that +state of things lasted until the latter part of the Middle Ages saw the +revival of learning. That revival of learning, so far as anatomy +and physiology are concerned, is due to the renewed influence of +the philosophers of ancient Greece, and indeed, of Galen. Arabic +commentators had translated Galen, and portions of his works had got +into the language of the learned in the Middle Ages, in that way; +but, by the study of the classical languages, the original text became +accessible to the men who were then endeavouring to learn for themselves +something about the facts of nature. It was a century or more before +these men, finding themselves in the presence of a master--finding that +all their lives were occupied in attempting to ascertain for themselves +that which was familiar to him--I say it took the best part of a hundred +years before they could fairly see that their business was not to follow +him, but to follow his example--namely, to look into the facts of nature +for themselves, and to carry on, in his spirit, the work he had begun. +That was first done by Vesalius, one of the greatest anatomists who ever +lived; but his work does not specially bear upon the question we are +now concerned with. So far as regards the motions of the heart and the +course of the blood, the first man in the Middle Ages, and indeed the +only man who did anything which was of real importance, was one Realdus +Columbus, who was professor at Padua in the year 1559, and published a +great anatomical treatise. What Realdus Columbus did was this; once +more resorting to the method of Galen, turning to the living animal, +experimenting, he came upon new facts, and one of these new facts was +that there was not merely a subordinate communication between the blood +of the right side of the heart and that of the left side of the heart, +through the lungs, but that there was a constant steady current of +blood, setting through the pulmonary artery on the right side, through +the lungs, and back by the pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart +(Figure 3). Such was the capital discovery and demonstration of Realdus +Columbus. He is the man who discovered what is loosely called the +'pulmonary circulation'; and it really is quite absurd, in the face of +the fact, that twenty years afterwards we find Ambrose Pare, the great +French surgeon, ascribing this discovery to him as a matter of common +notoriety, to find that attempts are made to give the credit of it to +other people. So far as I know, this discovery of the course of the +blood through the lungs, which is called the pulmonary circulation, is +the one step in real advance that was made between the time of Galen +and the time of Harvey. And I would beg you to note that the word +"circulation" is improperly employed when it is applied to the course of +the blood through the lungs. The blood from the right side of the +heart, in getting to the left side of the heart, only performs a +half-circle--it does not perform a whole circle--it does not return +to the place from whence it started; and hence the discovery of the +so-called "pulmonary circulation" has nothing whatever to do with that +greater discovery which I shall point out to you by-and-by was made +by Harvey, and which is alone really entitled to the name of the +circulation of the blood. + +If anybody wants to understand what Harvey's great desert really was, +I would suggest to him that he devote himself to a course of reading, +which I cannot promise shall be very entertaining, but which, in this +respect at any rate, will be highly instructive--namely, the works of +the anatomists of the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning +of the 17th century. If anybody will take the trouble to do that which +I have thought it my business to do, he will find that the doctrines +respecting the action of the heart and the motion of the blood which +were taught in every university in Europe, whether in Padua or in Paris, +were essentially those put forward by Galen, 'plus' the discovery of the +pulmonary course of the blood which had been made by Realdus Columbus. +In every chair of anatomy and physiology (which studies were not then +separated) in Europe, it was taught that the blood brought to the liver +by the portal vein, and carried out of the liver to the 'vena cava' +by the hepatic vein, is distributed from the right side of the heart, +through the other veins, to all parts of the body; that the blood of the +arteries takes a like course from the heart towards the periphery; and +that it is there, by means of the 'anastomoses', more or less mixed up +with the venous blood. It so happens, by a curious chance, that up to +the year 1625 there was at Padua, which was Harvey's own university, a +very distinguished professor, Spigelius, whose work is extant, and who +teaches exactly what I am now telling you. It is perfectly true +that, some time before, Harvey's master, Fabricius, had not only +re-discovered, but had drawn much attention to certain pouch-like +structures, which are called the valves of the veins, found in the +muscular parts of the body, all of which are directed towards the heart, +and consequently impede the flow of the blood in the opposite direction. +And you will find it stated by people who have not thought much about +the matter, that it was this discovery of the valves of the veins which +led Harvey to imagine the course of the circulation of the blood. Now +it did not lead Harvey to imagine anything of the kind. He had heard +all about it from his master, Fabricius, who made a great point of +these valves in the veins, and he had heard the theories which Fabricius +entertained upon the subject, whose impression as to the use of the +valves was simply this--that they tended to take off any excess of +pressure of the blood in passing from the heart to the extremities; for +Fabricius believed, with the rest of the world, that the blood in the +veins flowed from the heart towards the extremities. This, under the +circumstances, was as good a theory as any other, because the action of +the valves depends altogether upon the form and nature of the walls +of the structures in which they are attached; and without accurate +experiment, it was impossible to say whether the theory of Fabricius +was right or wrong. But we not only have the evidence of the facts +themselves that these could tell Harvey nothing about the circulation, +but we have his own distinct declaration as to the considerations which +led him to the true theory of the circulation of the blood, and amongst +these the valves of the veins are not mentioned. + +(FIGURE 4.--The circulation of the blood as demonstrated by Harvey (A.D. +1628).) + +Now then we may come to Harvey himself. When you read Harvey's treatise, +which is one of the most remarkable scientific monographs with which I +am acquainted--it occupies between 50 and 60 pages of a small quarto in +Latin, and is as terse and concise as it possibly can be--when you come +to look at Harvey's work, you will find that he had long struggled with +the difficulties of the accepted doctrine of the circulation. He had +received from Fabricius, and from all the great authorities of the day, +the current view of the circulation of the blood. But he was a man +with that rarest of all qualities--intellectual honesty; and by dint of +cultivating that great faculty, which is more moral than intellectual, +it had become impossible for him to say he believed anything which he +did not clearly believe. This is a most uncomfortable peculiarity--for +it gets you into all sorts of difficulties with all sorts of +people--but, for scientific purposes, it is absolutely invaluable. +Harvey possessed this peculiarity in the highest degree, and so it was +impossible for him to accept what all the authorities told him, and he +looked into the matter for himself. But he was not hasty. He worked at +his new views, and he lectured about them at the College of Physicians +for nine years; he did not print them until he was a man of fifty +years of age; and when he did print them he accompanied them with a +demonstration which has never been shaken, and which will stand till the +end of time. What Harvey proved, in short, was this (see Figure +4)--that everybody had made a mistake, for want of sufficiently accurate +experimentation as to the actual existence of the fact which everybody +assumed. To anybody who looks at the blood-vessels with an unprejudiced +eye it seems so natural that the blood should all come out of the liver, +and be distributed by the veins to the different parts of the body, that +nothing can seem simpler or more plain; and consequently no one could +make up his mind to dispute this apparently obvious assumption. But +Harvey did dispute it; and when he came to investigate the matter he +discovered that it was a profound mistake, and that, all this time, the +blood had been moving in just the opposite direction, namely, from the +small ramifications of the veins towards the right side of the heart. +Harvey further found that, in the arteries, the blood, as had previously +been known, was travelling from the greater trunks towards the +ramifications. Moreover, referring to the ideas of Columbus and of Galen +(for he was a great student of literature, and did justice to all his +predecessors), Harvey accepts and strengthens their view of the course +of the blood through the lungs, and he shows how it fitted into his +general scheme. If you will follow the course of the arrows in Figure 4 +you will see at once that--in accordance with the views of Columbus--the +blood passes from the right side of the heart, through the lungs, to the +left side. Then, adds Harvey, with abundant proof, it passes through the +arteries to all parts of the body; and then, at the extremities of their +branches in the different parts of the body, it passes (in what way he +could not tell, for his means of investigation did not allow him to say) +into the roots of the vents--then from the roots of the veins it goes +into the trunk and veins--then to the right side of the heart--and +then to the lungs, and so on. That, you will observe, makes a complete +circuit; and it was precisely here that the originality of Harvey lay. +There never yet has been produced, and I do not believe there can be +produced, a tittle of evidence to show that, before his time, any one +had the slightest suspicion that a single drop of blood, starting in the +left ventricle of the heart, passes through the whole arterial system, +comes back through the venous system, goes through the lungs, and comes +back to the place whence it started. But that is the circulation of +the blood, and it was exactly this which Harvey was the first man to +suspect, to discover, and to demonstrate. + +But this was by no means the only thing Harvey did. He was the first +who discovered and who demonstrated the true mechanism of the heart's +action. No one, before his time, conceived that the movement of the +blood was entirely due to the mechanical action of the heart as a pump. +There were all sorts of speculations about the matter, but nobody had +formed this conception, and nobody understood that the so-called +systole of the heart is a state of active contraction, and the so-called +diastole is a mere passive dilatation. Even within our own age that +matter had been discussed. Harvey is as clear as possible about it. He +says the movement of the blood is entirely due to the contractions of +the walls of the heart--that it is the propelling apparatus--and all +recent investigation tends to show that he was perfectly right. And from +this followed the true theory of the pulse. Galen said, as I pointed +out just now, that the arteries dilate as bellows, which have an active +power of dilatation and contraction, and not as bags which are blown +out and collapse. Harvey said it was exactly the contrary--the arteries +dilate as bags simply because the stroke of the heart propels the blood +into them; and, when they relax again, they relax as bags which are no +longer stretched, simply because the force of the blow of the heart +is spent. Harvey has been demonstrated to be absolutely right in this +statement of his; and yet, so slow is the progress of truth, that, +within my time, the question of the active dilatation of the arteries +has been discussed. + +Thus Harvey's contributions to physiology may be summed up as follows: +In the first place, he was the first person who ever imagined, and still +more who demonstrated, the true course of the circulation of the blood +in the body; in the second place, he was the first person who ever +understood the mechanism of the heart, and comprehended that its +contraction was the cause of the motion of the blood; and thirdly, he +was the first person who took a just view of the nature of the pulse. +These are the three great contributions which he made to the science of +physiology; and I shall not err in saying--I speak in the presence of +distinguished physiologists, but I am perfectly certain that they will +endorse what I say--that upon that foundation the whole of our knowledge +of the human body, with the exception of the motor apparatus and the +sense organs, has been gradually built up, and that upon that foundation +the whole rests. And not only does scientific physiology rest upon +it, but everything like scientific medicine also rests upon it. As +you know--I hope it is now a matter of popular knowledge--it is the +foundation of all rational speculation about morbid processes; it is +the only key to the rational interpretation of that commonest of +all indications of disease, the state of the pulse; so that, both +theoretically and practically, this discovery, this demonstration of +Harvey's, has had an effect which is absolutely incalculable, and the +consequences of which will accumulate from age to age until they result +in a complete body of physiological science. + +(FIGURE 5.--The junction of the arteries and veins by capillary tubes, +discovered by Malpighi (A.D. 1664).) + +I regret that I am unable to pursue this subject much further; but there +is one point I should mention. In Harvey's time, the microscope was +hardly invented. It is quite true that in some of his embryological +researches he speaks of having made use of a hand glass; but that +was the most that he seems to have known anything about, or that was +accessible to him at that day. And so it came about, that, although he +examined the course of the blood in many of the lower animals--watched +the pulsation of the heart in shrimps, and animals of that kind--he +never could put the final coping-stone on his edifice. He did not know +to the day of his death, although quite clear about the fact that +the arteries and the veins do communicate, how it is that they +communicate--how it was that the blood of the arteries passed into the +veins. One is grieved to think that the grand old man should have gone +down to his tomb without the vast satisfaction it would have given to +him to see what the Italian naturalist Malpighi showed only seven years +later, in 1664, when he demonstrated, in a living frog, the actual +passage of the blood from the ultimate ramifications of the arteries +into the veins. But that absolute ocular demonstration of the truth of +the views he had maintained throughout his life it was not granted to +Harvey to see. What he did experience was this: that on the publication +of his doctrines, they were met with the greatest possible opposition; +and I have no doubt savage things were uttered in those old +controversies, and that a great many people said that these new-fangled +doctrines, reducing living processes to mere mechanism, would sap the +foundations of religion and morality. I do not know for certain that +they did, but they said things very like it. The first point was to +show that Harvey's views were absolutely untrue; and not being able to +succeed in that, opponents said they were not new; and not being able to +succeed in that, that they didn't matter. That is the usual course with +all new discoveries. But Harvey troubled himself very little about these +things. He remained perfectly quiet; for although reputed a hot-tempered +man, he never would have anything to do with controversy if he could +help it; and he only replied to one of his antagonists after twenty +years' interval, and then in the most charming spirit of candour and +moderation. But he had the great satisfaction of living to see his +doctrine accepted upon all sides. At the time of his death, there +was not an anatomical school in Europe in which the doctrine of the +circulation of the blood was not taught in the way in which Harvey had +laid it down. In that respect he had a happiness which is granted to +very few men. + +I have said that the other great investigation of Harvey is not one +which can be dealt with to a general audience. It is very complex, and +therefore I must ask you to take my word for it that, although not so +fortunate an investigation, not so entirely accordant with later results +as the doctrine of the circulation; yet that still, this little treatise +of Harvey's has in many directions exerted an influence hardly less +remarkable than that exerted by the Essay upon the Circulation of the +Blood. + +And now let me ask your attention to two or three closing remarks. + +If you look back upon that period of about 100 years which commences +with Harvey's birth--I mean from the year 1578 to 1680 or thereabouts--I +think you will agree with me, that it constitutes one of the most +remarkable epochs in the whole of that thousand years which we +may roughly reckon as constituting the history of Britain. In the +commencement of that period, we may see, if not the setting, at any rate +the declension of that system of personal rule which had existed under +previous sovereigns, and which, after a brief and spasmodic revival in +the time of George the Third, has now sunk, let us hope, into the limbo +of forgotten things. The latter part of that 100 years saw the dawn +of that system of free government which has grown and flourished, and +which, if the men of the present day be the worthy descendants of Eliott +and Pym, and Hampden and Milton, will go on growing as long as this +realm lasts. Within that time, one of the strangest phenomena which I +think I may say any nation has ever manifested arose to its height and +fell--I mean that strange and altogether marvellous phenomenon, English +Puritanism. Within that time, England had to show statesmen like +Burleigh, Strafford, and Cromwell--I mean men who were real statesmen, +and not intriguers, seeking to make a reputation at the expense of the +nation. In the course of that time, the nation had begun to throw off +those swarms of hardy colonists which, to the benefit of the world--and +as I fancy, in the long run, to the benefit of England herself--have +now become the United States of America; and, during the same epoch, +the first foundations were laid of that Indian Empire which, it may be, +future generations will not look upon as so happy a product of English +enterprise and ingenuity. In that time we had poets such as Spenser, +Shakespere, and Milton; we had a great philosopher, in Hobbes; and we +had a clever talker about philosophy, in Bacon. In the beginning of the +period, Harvey revolutionized the biological sciences, and at the end of +it, Newton was preparing the revolution of the physical sciences. I know +not any period of our history--I doubt if there be any period of the +history of any nation--which has precisely such a record as this to +show for a hundred years. But I do not recall these facts to your +recollection for a mere vainglorious purpose. I myself am of opinion +that the memory of the great men of a nation is one of its most precious +possessions--not because we have any right to plume ourselves upon their +having existed as a matter of national vanity, but because we have a +just and rational ground of expectation that the race which has brought +forth such products as these may, in good time and under fortunate +circumstances, produce the like again. I am one of those people who +do not believe in the natural decay of nations. I believe, to speak +frankly, though perhaps not quite so politely as I could wish--but I +am getting near the end of my lecture--that the whole theory is a +speculation invented by cowards to excuse knaves. My belief is, that so +far as this old English stock is concerned it has in it as much sap +and vitality and power as it had two centuries ago; and that, with due +pruning of rotten branches, and due hoeing up of weeds, which will grow +about the roots, the like products will be yielded again. The "weeds" +to which I refer are mainly three: the first of them is dishonesty, the +second is sentimentality, and the third is luxury. If William Harvey had +been a dishonest man--I mean in the high sense of the word--a man who +failed in the ideal of honesty--he would have believed what it was +easiest to believe--that which he received on the authority of his +predecessors. He would not have felt that his highest duty was to know +of his own knowledge that that which he said he believed was true, and +we should never have had those investigations, pursued through good +report and evil report, which ended in discoveries so fraught with +magnificent results for science and for man. If Harvey had been a +sentimentalist--by which I mean a person of false pity, a person who +has not imagination enough to see that great, distant evils may be much +worse than those which we can picture to ourselves, because they +happen to be immediate and near (for that, I take it, is the essence of +sentimentalism)--if Harvey had been a person of that kind, he, being +one of the kindest men living, would never have pursued those researches +which, as he tells us over and over again, he was obliged to pursue in +order to the ascertainment of those facts which have turned out to be of +such inestimable value to the human race; and I say, if on such grounds +he had failed to do so, he would have failed in his duty to the human +race. The third point is that Harvey was devoid of care either for +wealth, or for riches, or for ambition. The man found a higher ideal +than any of these things in the pursuit of truth and the benefit of his +fellow-men. If we all go and do likewise, I think there is no fear for +the decadence of England. I think that our children and our successors +will find themselves in a commonwealth, different it may be from that +for which Eliott, and Pym, and Hampden struggled, but one which will be +identical in the substance of its aims--great, worthy, and well to live +in. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures and Essays, by T.H. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Lectures and Essays + +Author: T.H. Huxley + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6414] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 8, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LECTURES AND ESSAYS *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher asschers@bigpond.com + + + + +Lectures and Essays + +by T.H. Huxley + + +*** + + + +THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. + + + + +LECTURES AND ESSAYS. + + + + +THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY. + + + + +EDITOR'S NOTE. + +Of the great thinkers of the nineteenth century, Thomas Henry Huxley, +son of an Ealing schoolmaster, was undoubtedly the most noteworthy. His +researches in biology, his contributions to scientific controversy, his +pungent criticisms of conventional beliefs and thoughts have probably +had greater influence than the work of any other English scientist. And +yet he was a "self-made" intellectualist. In spite of the fact that his +father was a schoolmaster he passed through no regular course of +education. "I had," he said, "two years of a pandemonium of a school +(between eight and ten) and after that neither help nor sympathy in any +intellectual direction till I reached manhood." When he was twelve a +craving for reading found satisfaction in Hutton's "Geology," and when +fifteen in Hamilton's "Logic." + +At seventeen Huxley entered as a student at Charing Cross Hospital, and +three years later he was M.B. and the possessor of the gold medal for +anatomy and physiology. An appointment as surgeon in the navy proved to +be the entry to Huxley's great scientific career, for he was gazetted to +the "Rattlesnake", commissioned for surveying work in Torres Straits. He +was attracted by the teeming surface life of tropical seas and his study +of it was the commencement of that revolution in scientific knowledge +ultimately brought about by his researches. + +Thomas Henry Huxley was born at Ealing on May 4, 1825, and died at +Eastbourne June 29, 1895. + +*** + + + +LECTURES + +AND + +ESSAYS + +BY + +T.H. HUXLEY. + + + + CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD. + LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK, TORONTO & MELBOURNE. + MCMVIII. + + +*** + + + +CONTENTS. + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE: + + THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST CONDITIONS OF + ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.--THE ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS. + + THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION AND + VARIATION. + + THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING + BEINGS. + + A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE + ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF + THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. + + +ESSAYS ON DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES": + + THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS. + + TIME AND LIFE. + + THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. + + CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES". + + +EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE: + + ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + + ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + + ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. + + +ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE. + + +ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY. + + +GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES OF LIFE. + + +CORAL AND CORAL REEFS. + + +YEAST. + + +THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. + + +*** + + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE + +OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA + +OF + +ORGANIC NATURE. + + + +NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +The Publisher of these interesting Lectures, having made an arrangement +for their publication with Mr. J.A. Mays, the Reporter, begs to append +the following note from Professor Huxley:-- + +"Mr. J. Aldous Mays, who is taking shorthand notes of my 'Lectures to +Working Men,' has asked me to allow him, on his own account, to print +those Notes for the use of my audience. I willingly accede to this +request, on the understanding that a notice is prefixed to the effect +that I have no leisure to revise the Lectures, or to make alterations in +them, beyond the correction of any important error in a matter of fact." + +*** + + +ON OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE: + + +THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +When it was my duty to consider what subject I would select for the six +lectures* ([Footnote] *To Working Men, at the Museum of Practical +Geology, 1863.) which I shall now have the pleasure of delivering to +you, it occurred to me that I could not do better than endeavour to put +before you in a true light, or in what I might perhaps with more modesty +call, that which I conceive myself to be the true light, the position of +a book which has been more praised and more abused, perhaps, than any +book which has appeared for some years;--I mean Mr. Darwin's work on the +"Origin of Species". That work, I doubt not, many of you have read; for +I know the inquiring spirit which is rife among you. At any rate, all of +you will have heard of it,--some by one kind of report and some by +another kind of report; the attention of all and the curiosity of all +have been probably more or less excited on the subject of that work. All +I can do, and all I shall attempt to do, is to put before you that kind +of judgment which has been formed by a man, who, of course, is liable to +judge erroneously; but, at any rate, of one whose business and +profession it is to form judgments upon questions of this nature. + +And here, as it will always happen when dealing with an extensive +subject, the greater part of my course--if, indeed, so small a number of +lectures can be properly called a course--must be devoted to preliminary +matters, or rather to a statement of those facts and of those principles +which the work itself dwells upon, and brings more or less directly +before us. I have no right to suppose that all or any of you are +naturalists; and even if you were, the misconceptions and +misunderstandings prevalent even among naturalists on these matters +would make it desirable that I should take the course I now propose to +take,--that I should start from the beginning,--that I should endeavour +to point out what is the existing state of the organic world,--that I +should point out its past condition,--that I should state what is the +precise nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has taken in hand; +that I should endeavour to show you what are the only methods by which +that undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to point out to you how +far the author of the work in question has satisfied those conditions, +how far he has not satisfied them, how far they are satisfiable by man, +and how far they are not satisfiable by man. + +To-night, in taking up the first part of this question, I shall +endeavour to put before you a sort of broad notion of our knowledge of +the condition of the living world. There are many ways of doing this. I +might deal with it pictorially and graphically. Following the example of +Humboldt in his "Aspects of Nature", I might endeavour to point out the +infinite variety of organic life in every mode of its existence, with +reference to the variations of climate and the like; and such an attempt +would be fraught with interest to us all; but considering the subject +before us, such a course would not be that best calculated to assist us. +In an argument of this kind we must go further and dig deeper into the +matter; we must endeavour to look into the foundations of living Nature, +if I may so say, and discover the principles involved in some of her +most secret operations. I propose, therefore, in the first place, to +take some ordinary animal with which you are all familiar, and, by +easily comprehensible and obvious examples drawn from it, to show what +are the kind of problems which living beings in general lay before us; +and I shall then show you that the same problems are laid open to us by +all kinds of living beings. But first, let me say in what sense I have +used the words "organic nature." In speaking of the causes which lead to +our present knowledge of organic nature, I have used it almost as an +equivalent of the word "living," and for this reason,--that in almost +all living beings you can distinguish several distinct portions set +apart to do particular things and work in a particular way. These are +termed "organs," and the whole together is called "organic." And as it +is universally characteristic of them, this term "organic" has been very +conveniently employed to denote the whole of living nature,--the whole +of the plant world, and the whole of the animal world. + +Few animals can be more familiar to you than that whose skeleton is +shown on our diagram. You need not bother yourselves with this "Equus +caballus" written under it; that is only the Latin name of it, and does +not make it any better. It simply means the common Horse. Suppose we +wish to understand all about the Horse. Our first object must be to +study the structure of the animal. The whole of his body is inclosed +within a hide, a skin covered with hair; and if that hide or skin be +taken off, we find a great mass of flesh, or what is technically called +muscle, being the substance which by its power of contraction enables +the animal to move. These muscles move the hard parts one upon the +other, and so give that strength and power of motion which renders the +Horse so useful to us in the performance of those services in which we +employ him. + +And then, on separating and removing the whole of this skin and flesh, +you have a great series of bones, hard structures, bound together with +ligaments, and forming the skeleton which is represented here. + +(FIGURE 1. Section through a horse. + +FIGURE 2. Section through a cell.) + +In that skeleton there are a number of parts to be recognized. The long +series of bones, beginning from the skull and ending in the tail, is +called the spine, and those in front are the ribs; and then there are +two pairs of limbs, one before and one behind; and there are what we all +know as the fore-legs and the hind-legs. If we pursue our researches +into the interior of this animal, we find within the framework of the +skeleton a great cavity, or rather, I should say, two great +cavities,--one cavity beginning in the skull and running through the +neck-bones, along the spine, and ending in the tail, containing the +brain and the spinal marrow, which are extremely important organs. The +second great cavity, commencing with the mouth, contains the gullet, the +stomach, the long intestine, and all the rest of those internal +apparatus which are essential for digestion; and then in the same great +cavity, there are lodged the heart and all the great vessels going from +it; and, besides that, the organs of respiration--the lungs: and then +the kidneys, and the organs of reproduction, and so on. Let us now +endeavour to reduce this notion of a horse that we now have, to some +such kind of simple expression as can be at once, and without +difficulty, retained in the mind, apart from all minor details. If I +make a transverse section, that is, if I were to saw a dead horse +across, I should find that, if I left out the details, and supposing I +took my section through the anterior region, and through the fore-limbs, +I should have here this kind of section of the body (Figure 1). Here +would be the upper part of the animal--that great mass of bones that we +spoke of as the spine (a, Figure 1). Here I should have the alimentary +canal (b, Figure 1). Here I should have the heart (c, Figure 1); and +then you see, there would be a kind of double tube, the whole being +inclosed within the hide; the spinal marrow would be placed in the upper +tube (a, Figure 1), and in the lower tube (d d, Figure 1), there would +be the alimentary canal (b), and the heart (c); and here I shall have +the legs proceeding from each side. For simplicity's sake, I represent +them merely as stumps (e e, Figure 1). Now that is a horse--as +mathematicians would say--reduced to its most simple expression. Carry +that in your minds, if you please, as a simplified idea of the structure +of the Horse. The considerations which I have now put before you belong +to what we technically call the 'Anatomy' of the Horse. Now, suppose we +go to work upon these several parts,--flesh and hair, and skin and +bone,--and lay open these various organs with our scalpels, and examine +them by means of our magnifying-glasses, and see what we can make of +them. We shall find that the flesh is made up of bundles of strong +fibres. The brain and nerves, too, we shall find, are made up of fibres, +and these queer-looking things that are called ganglionic corpuscles. If +we take a slice of the bone and examine it, we shall find that it is +very like this diagram of a section of the bone of an ostrich, though +differing, of course, in some details; and if we take any part +whatsoever of the tissue, and examine it, we shall find it all has a +minute structure, visible only under the microscope. All these parts +constitute microscopic anatomy or 'Histology.' These parts are +constantly being changed; every part is constantly growing, decaying, +and being replaced during the life of the animal. The tissue is +constantly replaced by new material; and if you go back to the young +state of the tissue in the case of muscle, or in the case of skin, or +any of the organs I have mentioned, you will find that they all come +under the same condition. Every one of these microscopic filaments and +fibres (I now speak merely of the general character of the whole +process)--every one of these parts--could be traced down to some +modification of a tissue which can be readily divided into little +particles of fleshy matter, of that substance which is composed of the +chemical elements, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, having such a +shape as this (Figure 2). These particles, into which all primitive +tissues break up, are called cells. If I were to make a section of a +piece of the skin of my hand, I should find that it was made up of these +cells. If I examine the fibres which form the various organs of all +living animals, I should find that all of them, at one time or other, +had been formed out of a substance consisting of similar elements; so +that you see, just as we reduced the whole body in the gross to that +sort of simple expression given in Figure 1, so we may reduce the whole +of the microscopic structural elements to a form of even greater +simplicity; just as the plan of the whole body may be so represented in +a sense (Figure 1), so the primary structure of every tissue may be +represented by a mass of cells (Figure 2). + +Having thus, in this sort of general way, sketched to you what I may +call, perhaps, the architecture of the body of the Horse (what we term +technically its Morphology), I must now turn to another aspect. A horse +is not a mere dead structure: it is an active, living, working machine. +Hitherto we have, as it were, been looking at a steam-engine with the +fires out, and nothing in the boiler; but the body of the living animal +is a beautifully-formed active machine, and every part has its different +work to do in the working of that machine, which is what we call its +life. The Horse, if you see him after his day's work is done, is +cropping the grass in the fields, as it may be, or munching the oats in +his stable. What is he doing? His jaws are working as a mill--and a very +complex mill too--grinding the corn, or crushing the grass to a pulp. As +soon as that operation has taken place, the food is passed down to the +stomach, and there it is mixed with the chemical fluid called the +gastric juice, a substance which has the peculiar property of making +soluble and dissolving out the nutritious matter in the grass, and +leaving behind those parts which are not nutritious; so that you have, +first, the mill, then a sort of chemical digester; and then the food, +thus partially dissolved, is carried back by the muscular contractions +of the intestines into the hinder parts of the body, while the soluble +portions are taken up into the blood. The blood is contained in a vast +system of pipes, spreading through the whole body, connected with a +force pump,--the heart,--which, by its position and by the contractions +of its valves, keeps the blood constantly circulating in one direction, +never allowing it to rest; and then, by means of this circulation of the +blood, laden as it is with the products of digestion, the skin, the +flesh, the hair, and every other part of the body, draws from it that +which it wants, and every one of these organs derives those materials +which are necessary to enable it to do its work. + +The action of each of these organs, the performance of each of these +various duties, involve in their operation a continual absorption of the +matters necessary for their support, from the blood, and a constant +formation of waste products, which are returned to the blood, and +conveyed by it to the lungs and the kidneys, which are organs that have +allotted to them the office of extracting, separating, and getting rid +of these waste products; and thus the general nourishment, labour, and +repair of the whole machine is kept up with order and regularity. But +not only is it a machine which feeds and appropriates to its own support +the nourishment necessary to its existence--it is an engine for +locomotive purposes. The Horse desires to go from one place to another; +and to enable it to do this, it has those strong contractile bundles of +muscles attached to the bones of its limbs, which are put in motion by +means of a sort of telegraphic apparatus formed by the brain and the +great spinal cord running through the spine or backbone; and to this +spinal cord are attached a number of fibres termed nerves, which proceed +to all parts of the structure. By means of these the eyes, nose, tongue, +and skin--all the organs of perception--transmit impressions or +sensations to the brain, which acts as a sort of great central +telegraph-office, receiving impressions and sending messages to all +parts of the body, and putting in motion the muscles necessary to +accomplish any movement that may be desired. So that you have here an +extremely complex and beautifully-proportioned machine, with all its +parts working harmoniously together towards one common object--the +preservation of the life of the animal. + +Now, note this: the Horse makes up its waste by feeding, and its food is +grass or oats, or perhaps other vegetable products; therefore, in the +long run, the source of all this complex machinery lies in the vegetable +kingdom. But where does the grass, or the oat, or any other plant, +obtain this nourishing food-producing material? At first it is a little +seed, which soon begins to draw into itself from the earth and the +surrounding air matters which in themselves contain no vital properties +whatever; it absorbs into its own substance water, an inorganic body; it +draws into its substance carbonic acid, an inorganic matter; and +ammonia, another inorganic matter, found in the air; and then, by some +wonderful chemical process, the details of which chemists do not yet +understand, though they are near foreshadowing them, it combines them +into one substance, which is known to us as 'Protein,' a complex +compound of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which alone +possesses the property of manifesting vitality and of permanently +supporting animal life. So that, you see, the waste products of the +animal economy, the effete materials which are continually being thrown +off by all living beings, in the form of organic matters, are constantly +replaced by supplies of the necessary repairing and rebuilding materials +drawn from the plants, which in their turn manufacture them, so to +speak, by a mysterious combination of those same inorganic materials. + +Let us trace out the history of the Horse in another direction. After a +certain time, as the result of sickness or disease, the effect of +accident, or the consequence of old age, sooner or later, the animal +dies. The multitudinous operations of this beautiful mechanism flag in +their performance, the Horse loses its vigour, and after passing through +the curious series of changes comprised in its formation and +preservation, it finally decays, and ends its life by going back into +that inorganic world from which all but an inappreciable fraction of its +substance was derived. Its bones become mere carbonate and phosphate of +lime; the matter of its flesh, and of its other parts, becomes, in the +long run, converted into carbonic acid, into water, and into ammonia. +You will now, perhaps, understand the curious relation of the animal +with the plant, of the organic with the inorganic world, which is shown +in this diagram (Figure 3). + +(FIGURE 3. Diagram showing material relationship of the Vegetable, +Animal and Inorganic Worlds.) + +The plant gathers these inorganic materials together and makes them up +into its own substance. The animal eats the plant and appropriates the +nutritious portions to its own sustenance, rejects and gets rid of the +useless matters; and, finally, the animal itself dies, and its whole +body is decomposed and returned into the inorganic world. There is thus +a constant circulation from one to the other, a continual formation of +organic life from inorganic matters, and as constant a return of the +matter of living bodies to the inorganic world; so that the materials of +which our bodies are composed are largely, in all probability, the +substances which constituted the matter of long extinct creations, but +which have in the interval constituted a part of the inorganic world. + +Thus we come to the conclusion, strange at first sight, that the MATTER +constituting the living world is identical with that which forms the +inorganic world. And not less true is it that, remarkable as are the +powers or, in other words, as are the FORCES which are exerted by living +beings, yet all these forces are either identical with those which exist +in the inorganic world, or they are convertible into them; I mean in +just the same sense as the researches of physical philosophers have +shown that heat is convertible into electricity, that electricity is +convertible into magnetism, magnetism into mechanical force or chemical +force, and any one of them with the other, each being measurable in +terms of the other,--even so, I say, that great law is applicable to the +living world. Consider why is the skeleton of this horse capable of +supporting the masses of flesh and the various organs forming the living +body, unless it is because of the action of the same forces of cohesion +which combines together the particles of matter composing this piece of +chalk? What is there in the muscular contractile power of the animal but +the force which is expressible, and which is in a certain sense +convertible, into the force of gravity which it overcomes? Or, if you go +to more hidden processes, in what does the process of digestion differ +from those processes which are carried on in the laboratory of the +chemist? Even if we take the most recondite and most complex operations +of animal life--those of the nervous system, these of late years have +been shown to be--I do not say identical in any sense with the +electrical processes--but this has been shown, that they are in some way +or other associated with them; that is to say, that every amount of +nervous action is accompanied by a certain amount of electrical +disturbance in the particles of the nerves in which that nervous action +is carried on. In this way the nervous action is related to electricity +in the same way that heat is related to electricity; and the same sort +of argument which demonstrates the two latter to be related to one +another shows that the nervous forces are correlated to electricity; for +the experiments of M. Dubois Reymond and others have shown that whenever +a nerve is in a state of excitement, sending a message to the muscles or +conveying an impression to the brain, there is a disturbance of the +electrical condition of that nerve which does not exist at other times; +and there are a number of other facts and phenomena of that sort; so +that we come to the broad conclusion that not only as to living matter +itself, but as to the forces that matter exerts, there is a close +relationship between the organic and the inorganic world--the difference +between them arising from the diverse combination and disposition of +identical forces, and not from any primary diversity, so far as we can +see. + +I said just now that the Horse eventually died and became converted into +the same inorganic substances from whence all but an inappreciable +fraction of its substance demonstrably originated, so that the actual +wanderings of matter are as remarkable as the transmigrations of the +soul fabled by Indian tradition. But before death has occurred, in the +one sex or the other, and in fact in both, certain products or parts of +the organism have been set free, certain parts of the organisms of the +two sexes have come into contact with one another, and from that +conjunction, from that union which then takes place, there results the +formation of a new being. At stated times the mare, from a particular +part of the interior of her body, called the ovary, gets rid of a minute +particle of matter comparable in all essential respects with that which +we called a cell a little while since, which cell contains a kind of +nucleus in its centre, surrounded by a clear space and by a viscid mass +of protein substance (Figure 2); and though it is different in +appearance from the eggs which we are mostly acquainted with, it is +really an egg. After a time this minute particle of matter, which may +only be a small fraction of a grain in weight, undergoes a series of +changes,--wonderful, complex changes. Finally, upon its surface there is +fashioned a little elevation, which afterwards becomes divided and +marked by a groove. The lateral boundaries of the groove extend upwards +and downwards, and at length give rise to a double tube. In the upper +smaller tube the spinal marrow and brain are fashioned; in the lower, +the alimentary canal and heart; and at length two pairs of buds shoot +out at the sides of the body, which are the rudiments of the limbs. In +fact a true drawing of a section of the embryo in this state would in +all essential respects resemble that diagram of a horse reduced to its +simplest expression, which I first placed before you (Figure 1). + +Slowly and gradually these changes take place. The whole of the body, at +first, can be broken up into "cells," which become in one place +metamorphosed into muscle,--in another place into gristle and bone,--in +another place into fibrous tissue,--and in another into hair; every part +becoming gradually and slowly fashioned, as if there were an artificer +at work in each of these complex structures that we have mentioned. This +embryo, as it is called, then passes into other conditions. I should +tell you that there is a time when the embryos of neither dog, nor +horse, nor porpoise, nor monkey, nor man, can be distinguished by any +essential feature one from the other; there is a time when they each and +all of them resemble this one of the Dog. But as development advances, +all the parts acquire their speciality, till at length you have the +embryo converted into the form of the parent from which it started. So +that you see, this living animal, this horse, begins its existence as a +minute particle of nitrogenous matter, which, being supplied with +nutriment (derived, as I have shown, from the inorganic world), grows up +according to the special type and construction of its parents, works and +undergoes a constant waste, and that waste is made good by nutriment +derived from the inorganic world; the waste given off in this way being +directly added to the inorganic world; and eventually the animal itself +dies, and, by the process of decomposition, its whole body is returned +to those conditions of inorganic matter in which its substance +originated. + +This, then, is that which is true of every living form, from the lowest +plant to the highest animal--to man himself. You might define the life +of every one in exactly the same terms as those which I have now used; +the difference between the highest and the lowest being simply in the +complexity of the developmental changes, the variety of the structural +forms, the diversity of the physiological functions which are exerted by +each. + +If I were to take an oak tree as a specimen of the plant world, I should +find that it originated in an acorn, which, too, commenced in a cell; +the acorn is placed in the ground, and it very speedily begins to absorb +the inorganic matters I have named, adds enormously to its bulk, and we +can see it, year after year, extending itself upward and downward, +attracting and appropriating to itself inorganic materials, which it +vivifies, and eventually, as it ripens, gives off its own proper acorns, +which again run the same course. But I need not multiply examples,--from +the highest to the lowest the essential features of life are the same, +as I have described in each of these cases. + +So much, then, for these particular features of the organic world, which +you can understand and comprehend, so long as you confine yourself to +one sort of living being, and study that only. + +But, as you know, horses are not the only living creatures in the world; +and again, horses, like all other animals, have certain limits--are +confined to a certain area on the surface of the earth on which we +live,--and, as that is the simpler matter, I may take that first. In its +wild state, and before the discovery of America, when the natural state +of things was interfered with by the Spaniards, the Horse was only to be +found in parts of the earth which are known to geographers as the Old +World; that is to say, you might meet with horses in Europe, Asia, or +Africa; but there were none in Australia, and there were none whatsoever +in the whole continent of America, from Labrador down to Cape Horn. This +is an empirical fact, and it is what is called, stated in the way I have +given it you, the 'Geographical Distribution' of the Horse. + +Why horses should be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and not in +America, is not obvious; the explanation that the conditions of life in +America are unfavourable to their existence, and that, therefore, they +had not been created there, evidently does not apply; for when the +invading Spaniards, or our own yeomen farmers, conveyed horses to these +countries for their own use, they were found to thrive well and multiply +very rapidly; and many are even now running wild in those countries, and +in a perfectly natural condition. Now, suppose we were to do for every +animal what we have here done for the Horse,--that is, to mark off and +distinguish the particular district or region to which each belonged; +and supposing we tabulated all these results, that would be called the +Geographical Distribution of animals, while a corresponding study of +plants would yield as a result the Geographical Distribution of plants. + +I pass on from that now, as I merely wished to explain to you what I +meant by the use of the term 'Geographical Distribution.' As I said, +there is another aspect, and a much more important one, and that is, the +relations of the various animals to one another. The Horse is a very +well-defined matter-of-fact sort of animal, and we are all pretty +familiar with its structure. I dare say it may have struck you, that it +resembles very much no other member of the animal kingdom, except +perhaps the Zebra or the Ass. But let me ask you to look along these +diagrams. Here is the skeleton of the Horse, and here the skeleton of +the Dog. You will notice that we have in the Horse a skull, a backbone +and ribs, shoulder-blades and haunch-bones. In the fore-limb, one upper +arm-bone, two fore arm-bones, wrist-bones (wrongly called knee), and +middle hand-bones, ending in the three bones of a finger, the last of +which is sheathed in the horny hoof of the fore-foot: in the hind-limb, +one thigh-bone, two leg-bones, anklebones, and middle foot-bones, ending +in the three bones of a toe, the last of which is encased in the hoof of +the hind-foot. Now turn to the Dog's skeleton. We find identically the +same bones, but more of them, there being more toes in each foot, and +hence more toe-bones. + +Well, that is a very curious thing! The fact is that the Dog and the +Horse--when one gets a look at them without the outward impediments of +the skin--are found to be made in very much the same sort of fashion. +And if I were to make a transverse section of the Dog, I should find the +same organs that I have already shown you as forming parts of the Horse. +Well, here is another skeleton--that of a kind of Lemur--you see he has +just the same bones; and if I were to make a transverse section of it, +it would be just the same again. In your mind's eye turn him round, so +as to put his backbone in a position inclined obliquely upwards and +forwards, just as in the next three diagrams, which represent the +skeletons of an Orang, a Chimpanzee, a Gorilla, and you find you have no +trouble in identifying the bones throughout; and lastly turn to the end +of the series, the diagram representing a man's skeleton, and still you +find no great structural feature essentially altered. There are the same +bones in the same relations. From the Horse we pass on and on, with +gradual steps, until we arrive at last at the highest known forms. On +the other hand, take the other line of diagrams, and pass from the Horse +downwards in the scale to this fish; and still, though the modifications +are vastly greater, the essential framework of the organization remains +unchanged. Here, for instance, is a Porpoise: here is its strong +backbone, with the cavity running through it, which contains the spinal +cord; here are the ribs, here the shoulder blade; here is the little +short upper-arm bone, here are the two forearm bones, the wrist-bone, +and the finger-bones. + +Strange, is it not, that the Porpoise should have in this queer-looking +affair--its flapper (as it is called), the same fundamental elements as +the fore-leg of the Horse or the Dog, or the Ape or Man; and here you +will notice a very curious thing,--the hinder limbs are absent. Now, let +us make another jump. Let us go to the Codfish: here you see is the +forearm, in this large pectoral fin--carrying your mind's eye onward +from the flapper of the Porpoise. And here you have the hinder limbs +restored in the shape of these ventral fins. If I were to make a +transverse section of this, I should find just the same organs that we +have before noticed. So that, you see, there comes out this strange +conclusion as the result of our investigations, that the Horse, when +examined and compared with other animals, is found by no means to stand +alone in nature; but that there are an enormous number of other +creatures which have backbones, ribs, and legs, and other parts arranged +in the same general manner, and in all their formation exhibiting the +same broad peculiarities. + +I am sure that you cannot have followed me even in this extremely +elementary exposition of the structural relations of animals, without +seeing what I have been driving at all through, which is, to show you +that, step by step, naturalists have come to the idea of a unity of +plan, or conformity of construction, among animals which appeared at +first sight to be extremely dissimilar. + +And here you have evidence of such a unity of plan among all the animals +which have backbones, and which we technically call "Vertebrata". But +there are multitudes of other animals, such as crabs, lobsters, spiders, +and so on, which we term "Annulosa". In these I could not point out to +you the parts that correspond with those of the Horse,--the backbone, +for instance,--as they are constructed upon a very different principle, +which is also common to all of them; that is to say, the Lobster, the +Spider, and the Centipede, have a common plan running through their +whole arrangement, in just the same way that the Horse, the Dog, and the +Porpoise assimilate to each other. + +Yet other creatures--whelks, cuttlefishes, oysters, snails, and all +their tribe ("Mollusca")--resemble one another in the same way, but +differ from both "Vertebrata" and "Annulosa"; and the like is true of +the animals called "Coelenterata" (Polypes) and "Protozoa" (animalcules +and sponges). + +Now, by pursuing this sort of comparison, naturalists have arrived at +the conviction that there are,--some think five, and some seven,--but +certainly not more than the latter number--and perhaps it is simpler to +assume five--distinct plans or constructions in the whole of the animal +world; and that the hundreds of thousands of species of creatures on the +surface of the earth, are all reducible to those five, or, at most, +seven, plans of organization. + +But can we go no further than that? When one has got so far, one is +tempted to go on a step and inquire whether we cannot go back yet +further and bring down the whole to modifications of one primordial +unit. The anatomist cannot do this; but if he call to his aid the study +of development, he can do it. For we shall find that, distinct as those +plans are, whether it be a porpoise or man, or lobster, or any of those +other kinds I have mentioned, every one begins its existence with one +and the same primitive form,--that of the egg, consisting, as we have +seen, of a nitrogenous substance, having a small particle or nucleus in +the centre of it. Furthermore, the earlier changes of each are +substantially the same. And it is in this that lies that true "unity of +organization" of the animal kingdom which has been guessed at and +fancied for many years; but which it has been left to the present time +to be demonstrated by the careful study of development. But is it +possible to go another step further still, and to show that in the same +way the whole of the organic world is reducible to one primitive +condition of form? Is there among the plants the same primitive form of +organization, and is that identical with that of the animal kingdom? The +reply to that question, too, is not uncertain or doubtful. It is now +proved that every plant begins its existence under the same form; that +is to say, in that of a cell--a particle of nitrogenous matter having +substantially the same conditions. So that if you trace back the oak to +its first germ, or a man, or a horse, or lobster, or oyster, or any +other animal you choose to name, you shall find each and all of these +commencing their existence in forms essentially similar to each other: +and, furthermore, that the first processes of growth, and many of the +subsequent modifications, are essentially the same in principle in +almost all. + +In conclusion, let me, in a few words, recapitulate the positions which +I have laid down. And you must understand that I have not been talking +mere theory; I have been speaking of matters which are as plainly +demonstrable as the commonest propositions of Euclid--of facts that must +form the basis of all speculations and beliefs in Biological science. We +have gradually traced down all organic forms, or, in other words, we +have analyzed the present condition of animated nature, until we found +that each species took its origin in a form similar to that under which +all the others commence their existence. We have found the whole of the +vast array of living forms, with which we are surrounded, constantly +growing, increasing, decaying and disappearing; the animal constantly +attracting, modifying, and applying to its sustenance the matter of the +vegetable kingdom, which derived its support from the absorption and +conversion of inorganic matter. And so constant and universal is this +absorption, waste, and reproduction, that it may be said with perfect +certainty that there is left in no one of our bodies at the present +moment a millionth part of the matter of which they were originally +formed! We have seen, again, that not only is the living matter derived +from the inorganic world, but that the forces of that matter are all of +them correlative with and convertible into those of inorganic nature. + +This, for our present purposes, is the best view of the present +condition of organic nature which I can lay before you: it gives you the +great outlines of a vast picture, which you must fill up by your own +study. + +In the next lecture I shall endeavour in the same way to go back into +the past, and to sketch in the same broad manner the history of life in +epochs preceding our own. + +End of The Present Condition of Organic Nature. + +*** + + +THE PAST CONDITION OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +In the lecture which I delivered last Monday evening, I endeavoured to +sketch in a very brief manner, but as well as the time at my disposal +would permit, the present condition of organic nature, meaning by that +large title simply an indication of the great, broad, and general +principles which are to be discovered by those who look attentively at +the phenomena of organic nature as at present displayed. The general +result of our investigations might be summed up thus: we found that the +multiplicity of the forms of animal life, great as that may be, may be +reduced to a comparatively few primitive plans or types of construction; +that a further study of the development of those different forms +revealed to us that they were again reducible, until we at last brought +the infinite diversity of animal, and even vegetable life, down to the +primordial form of a single cell. + +We found that our analysis of the organic world, whether animals or +plants, showed, in the long run, that they might both be reduced into, +and were, in fact, composed of, the same constituents. And we saw that +the plant obtained the materials constituting its substance by a +peculiar combination of matters belonging entirely to the inorganic +world; that, then, the animal was constantly appropriating the +nitrogenous matters of the plant to its own nourishment, and returning +them back to the inorganic world, in what we spoke of as its waste; and +that finally, when the animal ceased to exist, the constituents of its +body were dissolved and transmitted to that inorganic world whence they +had been at first abstracted. Thus we saw in both the blade of grass and +the horse but the same elements differently combined and arranged. We +discovered a continual circulation going on,--the plant drawing in the +elements of inorganic nature and combining them into food for the animal +creation; the animal borrowing from the plant the matter for its own +support, giving off during its life products which returned immediately +to the inorganic world; and that, eventually, the constituent materials +of the whole structure of both animals and plants were thus returned to +their original source: there was a constant passage from one state of +existence to another, and a returning back again. + +Lastly, when we endeavoured to form some notion of the nature of the +forces exercised by living beings, we discovered that they--if not +capable of being subjected to the same minute analysis as the +constituents of those beings themselves--that they were correlative +with--that they were the equivalents of the forces of inorganic +nature--that they were, in the sense in which the term is now used, +convertible with them. That was our general result. + +And now, leaving the Present, I must endeavour in the same manner to put +before you the facts that are to be discovered in the Past history of +the living world, in the past conditions of organic nature. We have, +to-night, to deal with the facts of that history--a history involving +periods of time before which our mere human records sink into utter +insignificance--a history the variety and physical magnitude of whose +events cannot even be foreshadowed by the history of human life and +human phenomena--a history of the most varied and complex character. + +We must deal with the history, then, in the first place, as we should +deal with all other histories. The historical student knows that his +first business should be to inquire into the validity of his evidence, +and the nature of the record in which the evidence is contained, that he +may be able to form a proper estimate of the correctness of the +conclusions which have been drawn from that evidence. So, here, we must +pass, in the first place, to the consideration of a matter which may +seem foreign to the question under discussion. We must dwell upon the +nature of the records, and the credibility of the evidence they contain; +we must look to the completeness or incompleteness of those records +themselves, before we turn to that which they contain and reveal. The +question of the credibility of the history, happily for us, will not +require much consideration, for, in this history, unlike those of human +origin, there can be no cavilling, no differences as to the reality and +truth of the facts of which it is made up; the facts state themselves, +and are laid out clearly before us. + +But, although one of the greatest difficulties of the historical student +is cleared out of our path, there are other difficulties--difficulties +in rightly interpreting the facts as they are presented to us--which may +be compared with the greatest difficulties of any other kinds of +historical study. + +What is this record of the past history of the globe, and what are the +questions which are involved in an inquiry into its completeness or +incompleteness? That record is composed of mud; and the question which +we have to investigate this evening resolves itself into a question of +the formation of mud. You may think, perhaps, that this is a vast +step--of almost from the sublime to the ridiculous--from the +contemplation of the history of the past ages of the world's existence +to the consideration of the history of the formation of mud! But, in +nature, there is nothing mean and unworthy of attention; there is +nothing ridiculous or contemptible in any of her works; and this +inquiry, you will soon see, I hope, takes us to the very root and +foundations of our subject. + +How, then, is mud formed? Always, with some trifling exception, which I +need not consider now--always, as the result of the action of water, +wearing down and disintegrating the surface of the earth and rocks with +which it comes in contact--pounding and grinding it down, and carrying +the particles away to places where they cease to be disturbed by this +mechanical action, and where they can subside and rest. For the ocean, +urged by winds, washes, as we know, a long extent of coast, and every +wave, loaded as it is with particles of sand and gravel as it breaks +upon the shore, does something towards the disintegrating process. And +thus, slowly but surely, the hardest rocks are gradually ground down to +a powdery substance; and the mud thus formed, coarser or finer, as the +case may be, is carried by the rush of the tides, or currents, till it +reaches the comparatively deeper parts of the ocean, in which it can +sink to the bottom, that is, to parts where there is a depth of about +fourteen or fifteen fathoms, a depth at which the water is, usually, +nearly motionless, and in which, of course, the finer particles of this +detritus, or mud as we call it, sinks to the bottom. + +Or, again, if you take a river, rushing down from its mountain sources, +brawling over the stones and rocks that intersect its path, loosening, +removing, and carrying with it in its downward course the pebbles and +lighter matters from its banks, it crushes and pounds down the rocks and +earths in precisely the same way as the wearing action of the sea waves. +The matters forming the deposit are torn from the mountain-side and +whirled impetuously into the valley, more slowly over the plain, thence +into the estuary, and from the estuary they are swept into the sea. The +coarser and heavier fragments are obviously deposited first, that is, as +soon as the current begins to lose its force by becoming amalgamated +with the stiller depths of the ocean, but the finer and lighter +particles are carried further on, and eventually deposited in a deeper +and stiller portion of the ocean. + +It clearly follows from this that mud gives us a chronology; for it is +evident that supposing this, which I now sketch, to be the sea bottom, +and supposing this to be a coast-line; from the washing action of the +sea upon the rock, wearing and grinding it down into a sediment of mud, +the mud will be carried down, and at length, deposited in the deeper +parts of this sea bottom, where it will form a layer; and then, while +that first layer is hardening, other mud which is coming from the same +source will, of course, be carried to the same place; and, as it is +quite impossible for it to get beneath the layer already there, it +deposits itself above it, and forms another layer, and in that way you +gradually have layers of mud constantly forming and hardening one above +the other, and conveying a record of time. + +It is a necessary result of the operation of the law of gravitation that +the uppermost layer shall be the youngest and the lowest the oldest, and +that the different beds shall be older at any particular point or spot +in exactly the ratio of their depth from the surface. So that if they +were upheaved afterwards, and you had a series of these different layers +of mud, converted into sandstone, or limestone, as the case might be, +you might be sure that the bottom layer was deposited first, and that +the upper layers were formed afterwards. Here, you see, is the first +step in the history--these layers of mud give us an idea of time. + +The whole surface of the earth,--I speak broadly, and leave out minor +qualifications,--is made up of such layers of mud, so hard, the majority +of them, that we call them rock whether limestone or sandstone, or other +varieties of rock. And, seeing that every part of the crust of the earth +is made up in this way, you might think that the determination of the +chronology, the fixing of the time which it has taken to form this crust +is a comparatively simple matter. Take a broad average, ascertain how +fast the mud is deposited upon the bottom of the sea, or in the estuary +of rivers; take it to be an inch, or two, or three inches a year, or +whatever you may roughly estimate it at; then take the total thickness +of the whole series of stratified rocks, which geologists estimate at +twelve or thirteen miles, or about seventy thousand feet, make a sum in +short division, divide the total thickness by that of the quantity +deposited in one year, and the result will, of course, give you the +number of years which the crust has taken to form. + +Truly, that looks a very simple process! It would be so except for +certain difficulties, the very first of which is that of finding how +rapidly sediments are deposited; but the main difficulty--a difficulty +which renders any certain calculations of such a matter out of the +question--is this, the sea-bottom on which the deposit takes place is +continually shifting. + +Instead of the surface of the earth being that stable, fixed thing that +it is popularly believed to be, being, in common parlance, the very +emblem of fixity itself, it is incessantly moving, and is, in fact, as +unstable as the surface of the sea, except that its undulations are +infinitely slower and enormously higher and deeper. + +Now, what is the effect of this oscillation? Take the case to which I +have previously referred. The finer or coarser sediments that are +carried down by the current of the river, will only be carried out a +certain distance, and eventually, as we have already seen, on reaching +the stiller part of the ocean, will be deposited at the bottom. + +(FIGURE 4. Section through deposits on sea-bottom and shore.) + +Let C y (Figure 4) be the sea-bottom, y D the shore, x y the sea-level, +then the coarser deposit will subside over the region B, the finer over +A, while beyond A there will be no deposit at all; and, consequently, no +record will be kept, simply because no deposit is going on. Now, suppose +that the whole land, C, D, which we have regarded as stationary, goes +down, as it does so, both A and B go further out from the shore, which +will be at yl; x1, y1, being the new sea-level. The consequence will be +that the layer of mud (A), being now, for the most part, further than +the force of the current is strong enough to convey even the finest +'debris', will, of course, receive no more deposits, and having attained +a certain thickness will now grow no thicker. + +We should be misled in taking the thickness of that layer, whenever it +may be exposed to our view, as a record of time in the manner in which +we are now regarding this subject, as it would give us only an imperfect +and partial record: it would seem to represent too short a period of +time. + +Suppose, on the other hand, that the land (C D) had gone on rising +slowly and gradually--say an inch or two inches in the course of a +century,--what would be the practical effect of that movement? Why, that +the sediment A and B which has been already deposited, would eventually +be brought nearer to the shore-level, and again subjected to the wear +and tear of the sea; and directly the sea begins to act upon it, it +would of course soon cut up and carry it away, to a greater or less +extent, to be re-deposited further out. + +Well, as there is, in all probability, not one single spot on the whole +surface of the earth, which has not been up and down in this way a great +many times, it follows that the thickness of the deposits formed at any +particular spot cannot be taken (even supposing we had at first obtained +correct data as to the rate at which they took place) as affording +reliable information as to the period of time occupied in its deposit. +So that you see it is absolutely necessary from these facts, seeing that +our record entirely consists of accumulations of mud, superimposed one +on the other; seeing in the next place that any particular spots on +which accumulations have occurred, have been constantly moving up and +down, and sometimes out of the reach of a deposit, and at other times +its own deposit broken up and carried away, it follows that our record +must be in the highest degree imperfect, and we have hardly a trace left +of thick deposits, or any definite knowledge of the area that they +occupied, in a great many cases. And mark this! That supposing even that +the whole surface of the earth had been accessible to the +geologist,--that man had had access to every part of the earth, and had +made sections of the whole, and put them all together,--even then his +record must of necessity be imperfect. + +But to how much has man really access? If you will look at this Map you +will see that it represents the proportion of the sea to the earth: this +coloured part indicates all the dry land, and this other portion is the +water. You will notice at once that the water covers three-fifths of the +whole surface of the globe, and has covered it in the same manner ever +since man has kept any record of his own observations, to say nothing of +the minute period during which he has cultivated geological inquiry. So +that three-fifths of the surface of the earth is shut out from us +because it is under the sea. Let us look at the other two-fifths, and +see what are the countries in which anything that may be termed +searching geological inquiry has been carried out: a good deal of +France, Germany, and Great Britain and Ireland, bits of Spain, of Italy, +and of Russia, have been examined, but of the whole great mass of +Africa, except parts of the southern extremity, we know next to nothing; +little bits of India, but of the greater part of the Asiatic continent +nothing; bits of the Northern American States and of Canada, but of the +greater part of the continent of North America, and in still larger +proportion, of South America, nothing! + +Under these circumstances, it follows that even with reference to that +kind of imperfect information which we can possess, it is only of about +the ten-thousandth part of the accessible parts of the earth that has +been examined properly. Therefore, it is with justice that the most +thoughtful of those who are concerned in these inquiries insist +continually upon the imperfection of the geological record; for, I +repeat, it is absolutely necessary, from the nature of things, that that +record should be of the most fragmentary and imperfect character. +Unfortunately this circumstance has been constantly forgotten. Men of +science, like young colts in a fresh pasture, are apt to be exhilarated +on being turned into a new field of inquiry, to go off at a hand-gallop, +in total disregard of hedges and ditches, losing sight of the real +limitation of their inquiries, and to forget the extreme imperfection of +what is really known. Geologists have imagined that they could tell us +what was going on at all parts of the earth's surface during a given +epoch; they have talked of this deposit being contemporaneous with that +deposit, until, from our little local histories of the changes at +limited spots of the earth's surface, they have constructed a universal +history of the globe as full of wonders and portents as any other story +of antiquity. + +But what does this attempt to construct a universal history of the globe +imply? It implies that we shall not only have a precise knowledge of the +events which have occurred at any particular point, but that we shall be +able to say what events, at any one spot, took place at the same time +with those at other spots. + +(FIGURE 5. Section through two beds of mud.) + +Let us see how far that is in the nature of things practicable. Suppose +that here I make a section of the Lake of Killarney, and here the +section of another lake--that of Loch Lomond in Scotland for instance. +The rivers that flow into them are constantly carrying down deposits of +mud, and beds, or strata, are being as constantly formed, one above the +other, at the bottom of those lakes. Now, there is not a shadow of doubt +that in these two lakes the lower beds are all older than the +upper--there is no doubt about that; but what does 'this' tell us about +the age of any given bed in Loch Lomond, as compared with that of any +given bed in the Lake of Killarney? It is, indeed, obvious that if any +two sets of deposits are separated and discontinuous, there is +absolutely no means whatever given you by the nature of the deposit of +saying whether one is much younger or older than the other; but you may +say, as many have said and think, that the case is very much altered if +the beds which we are comparing are continuous. Suppose two beds of mud +hardened into rock,--A and B--are seen in section. (Figure 5.) + +Well, you say, it is admitted that the lowermost bed is always the +older. Very well; B, therefore, is older than A. No doubt, 'as a whole', +it is so; or if any parts of the two beds which are in the same vertical +line are compared, it is so. But suppose you take what seems a very +natural step further, and say that the part 'a' of the bed A is younger +than the part 'b' of the bed B. Is this sound reasoning? If you find any +record of changes taking place at 'b', did they occur before any events +which took place while 'a' was being deposited? It looks all very plain +sailing, indeed, to say that they did; and yet there is no proof of +anything of the kind. As the former Director of this Institution, Sir H. +De la Beche, long ago showed, this reasoning may involve an entire +fallacy. It is extremely possible that 'a' may have been deposited ages +before 'b'. It is very easy to understand how that can be. To return to +Figure 4; when A and B were deposited, they were 'substantially' +contemporaneous; A being simply the finer deposit, and B the coarser of +the same detritus or waste of land. Now suppose that that sea-bottom +goes down (as shown in Figure 4), so that the first deposit is carried +no farther than 'a', forming the bed Al, and the coarse no farther than +'b', forming the bed B1, the result will be the formation of two +continuous beds, one of fine sediment (A A1) over-lapping another of +coarse sediment (B Bl). Now suppose the whole sea-bottom is raised up, +and a section exposed about the point Al; no doubt, AT THIS SPOT, the +upper bed is younger than the lower. But we should obviously greatly err +if we concluded that the mass of the upper bed at A was younger than the +lower bed at B; for we have just seen that they are contemporaneous +deposits. Still more should we be in error if we supposed the upper bed +at A to be younger than the continuation of the lower bed at Bl; for A +was deposited long before B1. In fine, if, instead of comparing +immediately adjacent parts of two beds, one of which lies upon another, +we compare distant parts, it is quite possible that the upper may be any +number of years older than the under, and the under any number of years +younger than the upper. + +Now you must not suppose that I put this before you for the purpose of +raising a paradoxical difficulty; the fact is, that the great mass of +deposits have taken place in sea-bottoms which are gradually sinking, +and have been formed under the very conditions I am here supposing. + +Do not run away with the notion that this subverts the principle I laid +down at first. The error lies in extending a principle which is +perfectly applicable to deposits in the same vertical line to deposits +which are not in that relation to one another. + +It is in consequence of circumstances of this kind, and of others that I +might mention to you, that our conclusions on and interpretations of the +record are really and strictly only valid so long as we confine +ourselves to one vertical section. I do not mean to tell you that there +are no qualifying circumstances, so that, even in very considerable +areas, we may safely speak of conformably superimposed beds being older +or younger than others at many different points. But we can never be +quite sure in coming to that conclusion, and especially we cannot he +sure if there is any break in their continuity, or any very great +distance between the points to be compared. + +Well now, so much for the record itself,--so much for its +imperfections,--so much for the conditions to be observed in +interpreting it, and its chronological indications, the moment we pass +beyond the limits of a vertical linear section. + +Now let us pass from the record to that which it contains,--from the +book itself to the writing and the figures on its pages. This writing +and these figures consist of remains of animals and plants which, in the +great majority of cases, have lived and died in the very spot in which +we now find them, or at least in the immediate vicinity. You must all of +you be aware--and I referred to the fact in my last lecture--that there +are vast numbers of creatures living at the bottom of the sea. These +creatures, like all others, sooner or later die, and their shells and +hard parts lie at the bottom; and then the fine mud which is being +constantly brought down by rivers and the action of the wear and tear of +the sea, covers them over and protects them from any further change or +alteration; and, of course, as in process of time the mud becomes +hardened and solidified, the shells of these animals are preserved and +firmly imbedded in the limestone or sandstone which is being thus +formed. You may see in the galleries of the Museum up stairs specimens +of limestones in which such fossil remains of existing animals are +imbedded. There are some specimens in which turtles' eggs have been +imbedded in calcareous sand, and before the sun had hatched the young +turtles, they became covered over with calcareous mud, and thus have +been preserved and fossilized. + +Not only does this process of imbedding and fossilization occur with +marine and other aquatic animals and plants, but it affects those land +animals and plants which are drifted away to sea, or become buried in +bogs or morasses; and the animals which have been trodden down by their +fellows and crushed in the mud at the river's bank, as the herd have +come to drink. In any of these cases, the organisms may be crushed or be +mutilated, before or after putrefaction, in such a manner that perhaps +only a part will be left in the form in which it reaches us. It is, +indeed, a most remarkable fact, that it is quite an exceptional case to +find a skeleton of any one of all the thousands of wild land animals +that we know are constantly being killed, or dying in the course of +nature: they are preyed on and devoured by other animals or die in +places where their bodies are not afterwards protected by mud. There are +other animals existing in the sea, the shells of which form exceedingly +large deposits. You are probably aware that before the attempt was made +to lay the Atlantic telegraphic cable, the Government employed vessels +in making a series of very careful observations and soundings of the +bottom of the Atlantic; and although, as we must all regret, up to the +present time that project has not succeeded, we have the satisfaction of +knowing that it yielded some most remarkable results to science. The +Atlantic Ocean had to be sounded right across, to depths of several +miles in some places, and the nature of its bottom was carefully +ascertained. Well, now, a space of about 1,000 miles wide from east to +west, and I do not exactly know how many from north to south, but at any +rate 600 or 700 miles, was carefully examined, and it was found that +over the whole of that immense area an excessively fine chalky mud is +being deposited; and this deposit is entirely made up of animals whose +hard parts are deposited in this part of the ocean, and are doubtless +gradually acquiring solidity and becoming metamorphosed into a chalky +limestone. Thus, you see, it is quite possible in this way to preserve +unmistakable records of animal and vegetable life. Whenever the +sea-bottom, by some of those undulations of the earth's crust that I +have referred to, becomes upheaved, and sections or borings are made, or +pits are dug, then we become able to examine the contents and +constituents of these ancient sea-bottoms, and find out what manner of +animals lived at that period. + +Now it is a very important consideration in its bearing on the +completeness of the record, to inquire how far the remains contained in +these fossiliferous limestones are able to convey anything like an +accurate or complete account of the animals which were in existence at +the time of its formation. Upon that point we can form a very clear +judgment, and one in which there is no possible room for any mistake. +There are of course a great number of animals--such as jelly-fishes, and +other animals--without any hard parts, of which we cannot reasonably +expect to find any traces whatever: there is nothing of them to +preserve. Within a very short time, you will have noticed, after they +are removed from the water, they dry up to a mere nothing; certainly +they are not of a nature to leave any very visible traces of their +existence on such bodies as chalk or mud. Then again, look at land +animals; it is, as I have said, a very uncommon thing to find a land +animal entire after death. Insects and other carnivorous animals very +speedily pull them to pieces, putrefaction takes place, and so, out of +the hundreds of thousands that are known to die every year, it is the +rarest thing in the world to see one imbedded in such a way that its +remains would be preserved for a lengthened period. Not only is this the +case, but even when animal remains have been safely imbedded, certain +natural agents may wholly destroy and remove them. + +Almost all the hard parts of animals--the bones and so on--are composed +chiefly of phosphate of lime and carbonate of lime. Some years ago, I +had to make an inquiry into the nature of some very curious fossils sent +to me from the North of Scotland. Fossils are usually hard bony +structures that have become imbedded in the way I have described, and +have gradually acquired the nature and solidity of the body with which +they are associated; but in this case I had a series of 'holes' in some +pieces of rock, and nothing else. Those holes, however, had a certain +definite shape about them, and when I got a skilful workman to make +castings of the interior of these holes, I found that they were the +impressions of the joints of a backbone and of the armour of a great +reptile, twelve or more feet long. This great beast had died and got +buried in the sand; the sand had gradually hardened over the bones, but +remained porous. Water had trickled through it, and that water being +probably charged with a superfluity of carbonic acid, had dissolved all +the phosphate and carbonate of lime, and the bones themselves had thus +decayed and entirely disappeared; but as the sandstone happened to have +consolidated by that time, the precise shape of the bones was retained. +If that sandstone had remained soft a little longer, we should have +known nothing whatsoever of the existence of the reptile whose bones it +had encased. + +How certain it is that a vast number of animals which have existed at +one period on this earth have entirely perished, and left no trace +whatever of their forms, may be proved to you by other considerations. +There are large tracts of sandstone in various parts of the world, in +which nobody has yet found anything but footsteps. Not a bone of any +description, but an enormous number of traces of footsteps. There is no +question about them. There is a whole valley in Connecticut covered with +these footsteps, and not a single fragment of the animals which made +them has yet been found. Let me mention another case while upon that +matter, which is even more surprising than those to which I have yet +referred. There is a limestone formation near Oxford, at a place called +Stonesfield, which has yielded the remains of certain very interesting +mammalian animals, and up to this time, if I recollect rightly, there +have been found seven specimens of its lower jaws, and not a bit of +anything else, neither limb-bones nor skull, or any part whatever; not a +fragment of the whole system! Of course, it would be preposterous to +imagine that the beasts had nothing else but a lower jaw! The +probability is, as Dr. Buckland showed, as the result of his +observations on dead dogs in the river Thames, that the lower jaw, not +being secured by very firm ligaments to the bones of the head, and being +a weighty affair, would easily be knocked off, or might drop away from +the body as it floated in water in a state of decomposition. The jaw +would thus be deposited immediately, while the rest of the body would +float and drift away altogether, ultimately reaching the sea, and +perhaps becoming destroyed. The jaw becomes covered up and preserved in +the river silt, and thus it comes that we have such a curious +circumstance as that of the lower jaws in the Stonesfield slates. So +that, you see, faulty as these layers of stone in the earth's crust are, +defective as they necessarily are as a record, the account of +contemporaneous vital phenomena presented by them is, by the necessity +of the case, infinitely more defective and fragmentary. + +It was necessary that I should put all this very strongly before you, +because, otherwise, you might have been led to think differently of the +completeness of our knowledge by the next facts I shall state to you. + +The researches of the last three-quarters of a century have, in truth, +revealed a wonderful richness of organic life in those rocks. Certainly +not fewer than thirty or forty thousand different species of fossils +have been discovered. You have no more ground for doubting that these +creatures really lived and died at or near the places in which we find +them than you have for like scepticism about a shell on the sea-shore. +The evidence is as good in the one case as in the other. + +Our next business is to look at the general character of these fossil +remains, and it is a subject which it will be requisite to consider +carefully; and the first point for us is to examine how much the extinct +'Flora' and 'Fauna' as a 'whole'--disregarding altogether the +'succession' of their constituents, of which I shall speak +afterwards--differ from the 'Flora' and 'Fauna' of the present day;--how +far they differ in what we 'do' know about them, leaving altogether out +of consideration speculations based upon what we 'do not' know. + +I strongly imagine that if it were not for the peculiar appearance that +fossilised animals have, any of you might readily walk through a museum +which contains fossil remains mixed up with those of the present forms +of life, and I doubt very much whether your uninstructed eyes would lead +you to see any vast or wonderful difference between the two. If you +looked closely, you would notice, in the first place, a great many +things very like animals with which you are acquainted now: you would +see differences of shape and proportion, but on the whole a close +similarity. + +I explained what I meant by ORDERS the other day, when I described the +animal kingdom as being divided in sub-kingdoms, classes and orders. If +you divide the animal kingdom into orders, you will find that there are +about one hundred and twenty. The number may vary on one side or the +other, but this is a fair estimate. That is the sum total of the orders +of all the animals which we know now, and which have been known in past +times, and left remains behind. + +Now, how many of those are absolutely extinct? That is to say, how many +of these orders of animals have lived at a former period of the world's +history, but have at present no representatives? That is the sense in +which I meant to use the word "extinct." I mean that those animals did +live on this earth at one time, but have left no one of their kind with +us at the present moment. So that estimating the number of extinct +animals is a sort of way of comparing the past creation as a whole with +the present as a whole. Among the mammalia and birds there are none +extinct; but when we come to the reptiles there is a most wonderful +thing: out of the eight orders, or thereabouts, which you can make among +reptiles, one-half are extinct. These diagrams of the plesiosaurus, the +ichthyosaurus, the pterodactyle, give you a notion of some of these +extinct reptiles. And here is a cast of the pterodactyle and bones of +the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus, just as fresh as if it had been +recently dug up in a churchyard. Thus, in the reptile class, there are +no less than half of the orders which are absolutely extinct. If we turn +to the 'Amphibia', there was one extinct order, the Labyrinthodonts, +typified by the large salamander-like beast shown in this diagram. + +No order of fishes is known to be extinct. Every fish that we find in +the strata--to which I have been referring--can be identified and placed +in one of the orders which exist at the present day. There is not known +to be a single ordinal form of insect extinct. There are only two orders +extinct among the 'Crustacea'. There is not known to be an extinct order +of these creatures, the parasitic and other worms; but there are two, +not to say three, absolutely extinct orders of this class, the +'Echinodermata'; out of all the orders of the 'Coelenterata' and +'Protozoa' only one, the Rugose Corals. + +So that, you see, out of somewhere about 120 orders of animals, taking +them altogether, you will not, at the outside estimate, find above ten +or a dozen extinct. Summing up all the orders of animals which have left +remains behind them, you will not find above ten or a dozen which cannot +be arranged with those of the present day; that is to say, that the +difference does not amount to much more than ten per cent.: and the +proportion of extinct orders of plants is still smaller. I think that +that is a very astounding, a most astonishing fact, seeing the enormous +epochs of time which have elapsed during the constitution of the surface +of the earth as it at present exists; it is, indeed, a most astounding +thing that the proportion of extinct ordinal types should be so +exceedingly small. + +But now, there is another point of view in which we must look at this +past creation. Suppose that we were to sink a vertical pit through the +floor beneath us, and that I could succeed in making a section right +through in the direction of New Zealand, I should find in each of the +different beds through which I passed the remains of animals which I +should find in that stratum and not in the others. First, I should come +upon beds of gravel or drift containing the bones of large animals, such +as the elephant, rhinoceros, and cave tiger. Rather curious things to +fall across in Piccadilly! If I should dig lower still, I should come +upon a bed of what we call the London clay, and in this, as you will see +in our galleries upstairs, are found remains of strange cattle, remains +of turtles, palms, and large tropical fruits; with shell-fish such as +you see the like of now only in tropical regions. If I went below that, +I should come upon the chalk, and there I should find something +altogether different, the remains of ichthyosauri and pterodactyles, and +ammonites, and so forth. + +I do not know what Mr. Godwin Austin would say comes next, but probably +rocks containing more ammonites, and more ichthyosauri and plesiosauri, +with a vast number of other things; and under that I should meet with +yet older rocks, containing numbers of strange shells and fishes; and in +thus passing from the surface to the lowest depths of the earth's crust, +the forms of animal life and vegetable life which I should meet with in +the successive beds would, looking at them broadly, be the more +different the further that I went down. Or, in other words, inasmuch as +we started with the clear principle, that in a series of +naturally-disposed mud beds the lowest are the oldest, we should come to +this result, that the further we go back in time the more difference +exists between the animal and vegetable life of an epoch and that which +now exists. That was the conclusion to which I wished to bring you at +the end of this Lecture. + +End of The Past Condition of Organic Nature. + +*** + + +THE METHOD BY WHICH THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST CONDITIONS OF +ORGANIC NATURE ARE TO BE DISCOVERED.--THE ORIGINATION OF LIVING BEINGS. + +In the two preceding lectures I have endeavoured to indicate to you the +extent of the subject-matter of the inquiry upon which we are engaged; +and now, having thus acquired some conception of the Past and Present +phenomena of Organic Nature, I must now turn to that which constitutes +the great problem which we have set before ourselves;--I mean, the +question of what knowledge we have of the causes of these phenomena of +organic nature, and how such knowledge is obtainable. + +Here, on the threshold of the inquiry, an objection meets us. There are +in the world a number of extremely worthy, well-meaning persons, whose +judgments and opinions are entitled to the utmost respect on account of +their sincerity, who are of opinion that Vital Phenomena, and especially +all questions relating to the origin of vital phenomena, are questions +quite apart from the ordinary run of inquiry, and are, by their very +nature, placed out of our reach. They say that all these phenomena +originated miraculously, or in some way totally different from the +ordinary course of nature, and that therefore they conceive it to be +futile, not to say presumptuous, to attempt to inquire into them. + +To such sincere and earnest persons, I would only say, that a question +of this kind is not to be shelved upon theoretical or speculative +grounds. You may remember the story of the Sophist who demonstrated to +Diogenes in the most complete and satisfactory manner that he could not +walk; that, in fact, all motion was an impossibility; and that Diogenes +refuted him by simply getting up and walking round his tub. So, in the +same way, the man of science replies to objections of this kind, by +simply getting up and walking onward, and showing what science has done +and is doing--by pointing to that immense mass of facts which have been +ascertained and systematized under the forms of the great doctrines of +Morphology, of Development, of Distribution, and the like. He sees an +enormous mass of facts and laws relating to organic beings, which stand +on the same good sound foundation as every other natural law; and +therefore, with this mass of facts and laws before us, therefore, seeing +that, as far as organic matters have hitherto been accessible and +studied, they have shown themselves capable of yielding to scientific +investigation, we may accept this as proof that order and law reign +there as well as in the rest of nature; and the man of science says +nothing to objectors of this sort, but supposes that we can and shall +walk to a knowledge of the origin of organic nature, in the same way +that we have walked to a knowledge of the laws and principles of the +inorganic world. + +But there are objectors who say the same from ignorance and ill-will. To +such I would reply that the objection comes ill from them, and that the +real presumption, I may almost say the real blasphemy, in this matter, +is in the attempt to limit that inquiry into the causes of phenomena +which is the source of all human blessings, and from which has sprung +all human prosperity and progress; for, after all, we can accomplish +comparatively little; the limited range of our own faculties bounds us +on every side,--the field of our powers of observation is small enough, +and he who endeavours to narrow the sphere of our inquiries is only +pursuing a course that is likely to produce the greatest harm to his +fellow-men. + +But now, assuming, as we all do, I hope, that these phenomena are +properly accessible to inquiry, and setting out upon our search into the +causes of the phenomena of organic nature, or, at any rate, setting out +to discover how much we at present know upon these abstruse matters, the +question arises as to what is to be our course of proceeding, and what +method we must lay down for our guidance. I reply to that question, that +our method must be exactly the same as that which is pursued in any +other scientific inquiry, the method of scientific investigation being +the same for all orders of facts and phenomena whatsoever. + +I must dwell a little on this point, for I wish you to leave this room +with a very clear conviction that scientific investigation is not, as +many people seem to suppose, some kind of modern black art. I say that +you might easily gather this impression from the manner in which many +persons speak of scientific inquiry, or talk about inductive and +deductive philosophy, or the principles of the "Baconian philosophy." I +do protest that, of the vast number of cants in this world, there are +none, to my mind, so contemptible as the pseudoscientific cant which is +talked about the "Baconian philosophy." + +To hear people talk about the great Chancellor--and a very great man he +certainly was,--you would think that it was he who had invented science, +and that there was no such thing as sound reasoning before the time of +Queen Elizabeth. Of course you say, that cannot possibly be true; you +perceive, on a moment's reflection, that such an idea is absurdly wrong, +and yet, so firmly rooted is this sort of impression,--I cannot call it +an idea, or conception,--the thing is too absurd to be entertained,--but +so completely does it exist at the bottom of most men's minds, that this +has been a matter of observation with me for many years past. There are +many men who, though knowing absolutely nothing of the subject with +which they may be dealing, wish, nevertheless, to damage the author of +some view with which they think fit to disagree. What they do, then, is +not to go and learn something about the subject, which one would +naturally think the best way of fairly dealing with it; but they abuse +the originator of the view they question, in a general manner, and wind +up by saying that, "After all, you know, the principles and method of +this author are totally opposed to the canons of the Baconian +philosophy." Then everybody applauds, as a matter of course, and agrees +that it must be so. But if you were to stop them all in the middle of +their applause, you would probably find that neither the speaker nor his +applauders could tell you how or in what way it was so; neither the one +nor the other having the slightest idea of what they mean when they +speak of the "Baconian philosophy." + +You will understand, I hope, that I have not the slightest desire to +join in the outcry against either the morals, the intellect, or the +great genius of Lord Chancellor Bacon. He was undoubtedly a very great +man, let people say what they will of him; but notwithstanding all that +he did for philosophy, it would be entirely wrong to suppose that the +methods of modern scientific inquiry originated with him, or with his +age; they originated with the first man, whoever he was; and indeed +existed long before him, for many of the essential processes of +reasoning are exerted by the higher order of brutes as completely and +effectively as by ourselves. We see in many of the brute creation the +exercise of one, at least, of the same powers of reasoning as that which +we ourselves employ. + +The method of scientific investigation is nothing but the expression of +the necessary mode of working of the human mind. It is simply the mode +at which all phenomena are reasoned about, rendered precise and exact. +There is no more difference, but there is just the same kind of +difference, between the mental operations of a man of science and those +of an ordinary person, as there is between the operations and methods of +a baker or of a butcher weighing out his goods in common scales, and the +operations of a chemist in performing a difficult and complex analysis +by means of his balance and finely-graduated weights. It is not that the +action of the scales in the one case, and the balance in the other, +differ in the principles of their construction or manner of working; but +the beam of one is set on an infinitely finer axis than the other, and +of course turns by the addition of a much smaller weight. + +You will understand this better, perhaps, if I give you some familiar +example. You have all heard it repeated, I dare say, that men of science +work by means of Induction and Deduction, and that by the help of these +operations, they, in a sort of sense, wring from Nature certain other +things, which are called Natural Laws, and Causes, and that out of +these, by some cunning skill of their own, they build up Hypotheses and +Theories. And it is imagined by many, that the operations of the common +mind can be by no means compared with these processes, and that they +have to be acquired by a sort of special apprenticeship to the craft. To +hear all these large words, you would think that the mind of a man of +science must be constituted differently from that of his fellow men; but +if you will not be frightened by terms, you will discover that you are +quite wrong, and that all these terrible apparatus are being used by +yourselves every day and every hour of your lives. + +There is a well-known incident in one of Moliere's plays, where the +author makes the hero express unbounded delight on being told that he +had been talking prose during the whole of his life. In the same way, I +trust, that you will take comfort, and be delighted with yourselves, on +the discovery that you have been acting on the principles of inductive +and deductive philosophy during the same period. Probably there is not +one here who has not in the course of the day had occasion to set in +motion a complex train of reasoning, of the very same kind, though +differing of course in degree, as that which a scientific man goes +through in tracing the causes of natural phenomena. + +A very trivial circumstance will serve to exemplify this. Suppose you go +into a fruiterer's shop, wanting an apple,--you take up one, and, on +biting it, you find it is sour; you look at it, and see that it is hard +and green. You take up another one, and that too is hard, green, and +sour. The shopman offers you a third; but, before biting it, you examine +it, and find that it is hard and green, and you immediately say that you +will not have it, as it must be sour, like those that you have already +tried. + +Nothing can be more simple than that, you think; but if you will take +the trouble to analyze and trace out into its logical elements what has +been done by the mind, you will be greatly surprised. In the first +place, you have performed the operation of INDUCTION. You found that, in +two experiences, hardness and greenness in apples go together with +sourness. It was so in the first case, and it was confirmed by the +second. True, it is a very small basis, but still it is enough to make +an induction from; you generalize the facts, and you expect to find +sourness in apples where you get hardness and greenness. You found upon +that a general law, that all hard and green apples are sour; and that, +so far as it goes, is a perfect induction. Well, having got your natural +law in this way, when you are offered another apple which you find is +hard and green, you say, "All hard and green apples are sour; this apple +is hard and green, therefore this apple is sour." That train of +reasoning is what logicians call a syllogism, and has all its various +parts and terms,--its major premiss, its minor premiss, and its +conclusion. And, by the help of further reasoning, which, if drawn out, +would have to be exhibited in two or three other syllogisms, you arrive +at your final determination, "I will not have that apple." So that, you +see, you have, in the first place, established a law by Induction, and +upon that you have founded a Deduction, and reasoned out the special +conclusion of the particular case. Well now, suppose, having got your +law, that at some time afterwards, you are discussing the qualities of +apples with a friend: you will say to him, "It is a very curious +thing,--but I find that all hard and green apples are sour!" Your friend +says to you, "But how do you know that?" You at once reply, "Oh, because +I have tried it over and over again, and have always found them to be +so." Well. if we were talking science instead of common sense, we should +call that an Experimental Verification. And, if still opposed, you go +further, and say, "I have heard from the people in Somersetshire and +Devonshire, where a large number of apples are grown, that they have +observed the same thing. It is also found to be the case in Normandy, +and in North America. In short, I find it to be the universal experience +of mankind wherever attention has been directed to the subject." +Whereupon, your friend, unless he is a very unreasonable man, agrees +with you, and is convinced that you are quite right in the conclusion +you have drawn. He believes, although perhaps he does not know he +believes it, that the more extensive Verifications are,--that the more +frequently experiments have been made, and results of the same kind +arrived at,--that the more varied the conditions under which the same +results have been attained, the more certain is the ultimate conclusion, +and he disputes the question no further. He sees that the experiment has +been tried under all sorts of conditions, as to time, place, and people, +with the same result; and he says with you, therefore, that the law you +have laid down must be a good one, and he must believe it. + +In science we do the same thing;--the philosopher exercises precisely +the same faculties, though in a much more delicate manner. In scientific +inquiry it becomes a matter of duty to expose a supposed law to every +possible kind of verification, and to take care, moreover, that this is +done intentionally, and not left to a mere accident, as in the case of +the apples. And in science, as in common life, our confidence in a law +is in exact proportion to the absence of variation in the result of our +experimental verifications. For instance, if you let go your grasp of an +article you may have in your hand, it will immediately fall to the +ground. That is a very common verification of one of the best +established laws of nature--that of gravitation. The method by which men +of science establish the existence of that law is exactly the same as +that by which we have established the trivial proposition about the +sourness of hard and green apples. But we believe it in such an +extensive, thorough, and unhesitating manner because the universal +experience of mankind verifies it, and we can verify it ourselves at any +time; and that is the strongest possible foundation on which any natural +law can rest. + +So much by way of proof that the method of establishing laws in science +is exactly the same as that pursued in common life. Let us now turn to +another matter (though really it is but another phase of the same +question), and that is, the method by which, from the relations of +certain phenomena, we prove that some stand in the position of causes +towards the others. + +I want to put the case clearly before you, and I will therefore show you +what I mean by another familiar example. I will suppose that one of you, +on coming down in the morning to the parlour of your house, finds that a +tea-pot and some spoons which had been left in the room on the previous +evening are gone,--the window is open, and you observe the mark of a +dirty hand on the window-frame, and perhaps, in addition to that, you +notice the impress of a hob-nailed shoe on the gravel outside. All these +phenomena have struck your attention instantly, and before two minutes +have passed you say, "Oh, somebody has broken open the window, entered +the room, and run off with the spoons and the tea-pot!" That speech is +out of your mouth in a moment. And you will probably add, "I know there +has; I am quite sure of it!" You mean to say exactly what you know; but +in reality what you have said has been the expression of what is, in all +essential particulars, an Hypothesis. You do not 'know' it at all; it is +nothing but an hypothesis rapidly framed in your own mind! And it is an +hypothesis founded on a long train of inductions and deductions. + +What are those inductions and deductions, and how have you got at this +hypothesis? You have observed, in the first place, that the window is +open; but by a train of reasoning involving many Inductions and +Deductions, you have probably arrived long before at the General +Law--and a very good one it is--that windows do not open of themselves; +and you therefore conclude that something has opened the window. A +second general law that you have arrived at in the same way is, that +tea-pots and spoons do not go out of a window spontaneously, and you are +satisfied that, as they are not now where you left them, they have been +removed. In the third place, you look at the marks on the window-sill, +and the shoemarks outside, and you say that in all previous experience +the former kind of mark has never been produced by anything else but the +hand of a human being; and the same experience shows that no other +animal but man at present wears shoes with hob-nails on them such as +would produce the marks in the gravel. I do not know, even if we could +discover any of those "missing links" that are talked about, that they +would help us to any other conclusion! At any rate the law which states +our present experience is strong enough for my present purpose.--You +next reach the conclusion, that as these kinds of marks have not been +left by any other animals than men, or are liable to be formed in any +other way than by a man's hand and shoe, the marks in question have been +formed by a man in that way. You have, further, a general law, founded +on observation and experience, and that, too, is, I am sorry to say, a +very universal and unimpeachable one,--that some men are thieves; and +you assume at once from all these premisses--and that is what +constitutes your hypothesis--that the man who made the marks outside and +on the window-sill, opened the window, got into the room, and stole your +tea-pot and spoons. You have now arrived at a 'Vera Causa';--you have +assumed a Cause which it is plain is competent to produce all the +phenomena you have observed. You can explain all these phenomena only by +the hypothesis of a thief. But that is a hypothetical conclusion, of the +justice of which you have no absolute proof at all; it is only rendered +highly probable by a series of inductive and deductive reasonings. + +I suppose your first action, assuming that you are a man of ordinary +common sense, and that you have established this hypothesis to your own +satisfaction, will very likely be to go off for the police, and set them +on the track of the burglar, with the view to the recovery of your +property. But just as you are starting with this object, some person +comes in, and on learning what you are about, says, "My good friend, you +are going on a great deal too fast. How do you know that the man who +really made the marks took the spoons? It might have been a monkey that +took them, and the man may have merely looked in afterwards." You would +probably reply, "Well, that is all very well, but you see it is contrary +to all experience of the way tea-pots and spoons are abstracted; so +that, at any rate, your hypothesis is less probable than mine." While +you are talking the thing over in this way, another friend arrives, one +of that good kind of people that I was talking of a little while ago. +And he might say, "Oh, my dear sir, you are certainly going on a great +deal too fast. You are most presumptuous. You admit that all these +occurrences took place when you were fast asleep, at a time when you +could not possibly have known anything about what was taking place. How +do you know that the laws of Nature are not suspended during the night? +It may be that there has been some kind of supernatural interference in +this case." In point of fact, he declares that your hypothesis is one of +which you cannot at all demonstrate the truth, and that you are by no +means sure that the laws of Nature are the same when you are asleep as +when you are awake. + +Well, now, you cannot at the moment answer that kind of reasoning. You +feel that your worthy friend has you somewhat at a disadvantage. You +will feel perfectly convinced in your own mind, however, that you are +quite right, and you say to him, "My good friend, I can only be guided +by the natural probabilities of the case, and if you will be kind enough +to stand aside and permit me to pass, I will go and fetch the police." +Well, we will suppose that your journey is successful, and that by good +luck you meet with a policeman; that eventually the burglar is found +with your property on his person, and the marks correspond to his hand +and to his boots. Probably any jury would consider those facts a very +good experimental verification of your hypothesis, touching the cause of +the abnormal phenomena observed in your parlour, and would act +accordingly. + +Now, in this supposititious case, I have taken phenomena of a very +common kind, in order that you might see what are the different steps in +an ordinary process of reasoning, if you will only take the trouble to +analyse it carefully. All the operations I have described, you will see, +are involved in the mind of any man of sense in leading him to a +conclusion as to the course he should take in order to make good a +robbery and punish the offender. I say that you are led, in that case, +to your conclusion by exactly the same train of reasoning as that which +a man of science pursues when he is endeavouring to discover the origin +and laws of the most occult phenomena. The process is, and always must +be, the same; and precisely the same mode of reasoning was employed by +Newton and Laplace in their endeavours to discover and define the causes +of the movements of the heavenly bodies, as you, with your own common +sense, would employ to detect a burglar. The only difference is, that +the nature of the inquiry being more abstruse, every step has to be most +carefully watched, so that there may not be a single crack or flaw in +your hypothesis. A flaw or crack in many of the hypotheses of daily life +may be of little or no moment as affecting the general correctness of +the conclusions at which we may arrive; but, in a scientific inquiry, a +fallacy, great or small, is always of importance, and is sure to be +constantly productive of mischievous, if not fatal results. + +Do not allow yourselves to be misled by the common notion that an +hypothesis is untrustworthy simply because it is an hypothesis. It is +often urged, in respect to some scientific conclusion, that, after all, +it is only an hypothesis. But what more have we to guide us in +nine-tenths of the most important affairs of daily life than hypotheses, +and often very ill-based ones? So that in science, where the evidence of +an hypothesis is subjected to the most rigid examination, we may rightly +pursue the same course. You may have hypotheses and hypotheses. A man +may say, if he likes, that the moon is made of green cheese: that is an +hypothesis. But another man, who has devoted a great deal of time and +attention to the subject, and availed himself of the most powerful +telescopes and the results of the observations of others, declares that +in his opinion it is probably composed of materials very similar to +those of which our own earth is made up: and that is also only an +hypothesis. But I need not tell you that there is an enormous difference +in the value of the two hypotheses. That one which is based on sound +scientific knowledge is sure to have a corresponding value; and that +which is a mere hasty random guess is likely to have but little value. +Every great step in our progress in discovering causes has been made in +exactly the same way as that which I have detailed to you. A person +observing the occurrence of certain facts and phenomena asks, naturally +enough, what process, what kind of operation known to occur in nature +applied to the particular case, will unravel and explain the mystery? +Hence you have the scientific hypothesis; and its value will be +proportionate to the care and completeness with which its basis had been +tested and verified. It is in these matters as in the commonest affairs +of practical life: the guess of the fool will be folly, while the guess +of the wise man will contain wisdom. In all cases, you see that the +value of the result depends on the patience and faithfulness with which +the investigator applies to his hypothesis every possible kind of +verification. + +I dare say I may have to return to this point by-and-by; but having +dealt thus far with our logical methods, I must now turn to something +which, perhaps, you may consider more interesting, or, at any rate, more +tangible. But in reality there are but few things that can be more +important for you to understand than the mental processes and the means +by which we obtain scientific conclusions and theories.* ([Footnote] +*Those who wish to study fully the doctrines of which I have endeavoured +to give some rough and ready illustrations, must read Mr. John Stuart +Mill's 'System of Logic'.) Having granted that the inquiry is a proper +one, and having determined on the nature of the methods we are to pursue +and which only can lead to success, I must now turn to the consideration +of our knowledge of the nature of the processes which have resulted in +the present condition of organic nature. + +Here, let me say at once, lest some of you misunderstand me, that I have +extremely little to report. The question of how the present condition of +organic nature came about, resolves itself into two questions. The first +is: How has organic or living matter commenced its existence? And the +second is: How has it been perpetuated? On the second question I shall +have more to say hereafter. But on the first one, what I now have to say +will be for the most part of a negative character. + +If you consider what kind of evidence we can have upon this matter, it +will resolve itself into two kinds. We may have historical evidence and +we may have experimental evidence. It is, for example, conceivable, that +inasmuch as the hardened mud which forms a considerable portion of the +thickness of the earth's crust contains faithful records of the past +forms of life, and inasmuch as these differ more and more as we go +further down,--it is possible and conceivable that we might come to some +particular bed or stratum which should contain the remains of those +creatures with which organic life began upon the earth. And if we did +so, and if such forms of organic life were preservable, we should have +what I would call historical evidence of the mode in which organic life +began upon this planet. Many persons will tell you, and indeed you will +find it stated in many works on geology, that this has been done, and +that we really possess such a record; there are some who imagine that +the earliest forms of life of which we have as yet discovered any +record, are in truth the forms in which animal life began upon the +globe. The grounds on which they base that supposition are these:--That +if you go through the enormous thickness of the earth's crust and get +down to the older rocks, the higher vertebrate animals--the quadrupeds, +birds, and fishes--cease to be found; beneath them you find only the +invertebrate animals; and in the deepest and lowest rocks those remains +become scantier and scantier, not in any very gradual progression, +however, until, at length, in what are supposed to be the oldest rocks, +the animal remains which are found are almost always confined to four +forms--'Oldhamia', whose precise nature is not known, whether plant or +animal; 'Lingula', a kind of mollusc; 'Trilobites', a crustacean animal, +having the same essential plan of construction, though differing in many +details from a lobster or crab; and Hymenocaris, which is also a +crustacean. So that you have all the 'Fauna' reduced, at this period, to +four forms: one a kind of animal or plant that we know nothing about, +and three undoubted animals--two crustaceans and one mollusc. + +I think, considering the organization of these mollusca and crustacea, +and looking at their very complex nature, that it does indeed require a +very strong imagination to conceive that these were the first created of +all living things. And you must take into consideration the fact that we +have not the slightest proof that these which we call the oldest beds +are really so: I repeat, we have not the slightest proof of it. When you +find in some places that in an enormous thickness of rocks there are but +very scanty traces of life, or absolutely none at all; and that in other +parts of the world rocks of the very same formation are crowded with the +records of living forms, I think it is impossible to place any reliance +on the supposition, or to feel oneself justified in supposing that these +are the forms in which life first commenced. I have not time here to +enter upon the technical grounds upon which I am led to this +conclusion,--that could hardly be done properly in half a dozen lectures +on that part alone;--I must content myself with saying that I do not at +all believe that these are the oldest forms of life. + +I turn to the experimental side to see what evidence we have there. To +enable us to say that we know anything about the experimental +origination of organization and life, the investigator ought to be able +to take inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and +salines, in any sort of inorganic combination, and be able to build them +up into Protein matter, and that that Protein matter ought to begin to +live in an organic form. That, nobody has done as yet, and I suspect it +will be a long while before anybody does do it. But the thing is by no +means so impossible as it looks; for the researches of modern chemistry +have shown us--I won't say the road towards it, but, if I may so say, +they have shown the finger-post pointing to the road that may lead to +it. + +It is not many years ago--and you must recollect that Organic Chemistry +is a young science, not above a couple of generations old,--you must not +expect too much of it; it is not many years ago since it was said to be +perfectly impossible to fabricate any organic compound; that is to say, +any non-mineral compound which is to be found in an organized being. It +remained so for a very long period; but it is now a considerable number +of years since a distinguished foreign chemist contrived to fabricate +Urea, a substance of a very complex character, which forms one of the +waste products of animal structures. And of late years a number of other +compounds, such as Butyric Acid, and others, have been added to the +list. I need not tell you that chemistry is an enormous distance from +the goal I indicate; all I wish to point out to you is, that it is by no +means safe to say that that goal may not be reached one day. It may be +that it is impossible for us to produce the conditions requisite to the +origination of life; but we must speak modestly about the matter, and +recollect that Science has put her foot upon the bottom round of the +ladder. Truly he would be a bold man who would venture to predict where +she will be fifty years hence. + +There is another inquiry which bears indirectly upon this question, and +upon which I must say a few words. You are all of you aware of the +phenomena of what is called spontaneous generation. Our forefathers, +down to the seventeenth century, or thereabouts, all imagined, in +perfectly good faith, that certain vegetable and animal forms gave +birth, in the process of their decomposition, to insect life. Thus, if +you put a piece of meat in the sun, and allowed it to putrefy, they +conceived that the grubs which soon began to appear were the result of +the action of a power of spontaneous generation which the meat +contained. And they could give you receipts for making various animal +and vegetable preparations which would produce particular kinds of +animals. A very distinguished Italian naturalist, named Redi, took up +the question, at a time when everybody believed in it; among others our +own great Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. You +will constantly find his name quoted, however, as an opponent of the +doctrine of spontaneous generation; but the fact is, and you will see it +if you will take the trouble to look into his works, Harvey believed it +as profoundly as any man of his time; but he happened to enunciate a +very curious proposition--that every living thing came from an 'egg'; he +did not mean to use the word in the sense in which we now employ it, he +only meant to say that every living thing originated in a little rounded +particle of organized substance; and it is from this circumstance, +probably, that the notion of Harvey having opposed the doctrine +originated. Then came Redi, and he proceeded to upset the doctrine in a +very simple manner. He merely covered the piece of meat with some very +fine gauze, and then he exposed it to the same conditions. The result of +this was that no grubs or insects were produced; he proved that the +grubs originated from the insects who came and deposited their eggs in +the meat, and that they were hatched by the heat of the sun. By this +kind of inquiry he thoroughly upset the doctrine of spontaneous +generation, for his time at least. + +Then came the discovery and application of the microscope to scientific +inquiries, which showed to naturalists that besides the organisms which +they already knew as living beings and plants, there were an immense +number of minute things which could be obtained apparently almost at +will from decaying vegetable and animal forms. Thus, if you took some +ordinary black pepper or some hay, and steeped it in water, you would +find in the course of a few days that the water had become impregnated +with an immense number of animalcules swimming about in all directions. +From facts of this kind naturalists were led to revive the theory of +spontaneous generation. They were headed here by an English +naturalist,--Needham,--and afterwards in France by the learned Buffon. +They said that these things were absolutely begotten in the water of the +decaying substances out of which the infusion was made. It did not +matter whether you took animal or vegetable matter, you had only to +steep it in water and expose it, and you would soon have plenty of +animalcules. They made an hypothesis about this which was a very fair +one. They said, this matter of the animal world, or of the higher +plants, appears to be dead, but in reality it has a sort of dim life +about it, which, if it is placed under fair conditions, will cause it to +break up into the forms of these little animalcules, and they will go +through their lives in the same way as the animal or plant of which they +once formed a part. + +The question now became very hotly debated. Spallanzani, an Italian +naturalist, took up opposite views to those of Needham and Buffon, and +by means of certain experiments he showed that it was quite possible to +stop the process by boiling the water, and closing the vessel in which +it was contained. "Oh!" said his opponents; "but what do you know you +may be doing when you heat the air over the water in this way? You may +be destroying some property of the air requisite for the spontaneous +generation of the animalcules." + +However, Spallanzani's views were supposed to be upon the right side, +and those of the others fell into discredit; although the fact was that +Spallanzani had not made good his views. Well, then, the subject +continued to be revived from time to time, and experiments were made by +several persons; but these experiments were not altogether satisfactory. +It was found that if you put an infusion in which animalcules would +appear if it were exposed to the air into a vessel and boiled it, and +then sealed up the mouth of the vessel, so that no air, save such as had +been heated to 212 degrees, could reach its contents, that then no +animalcules would be found; but if you took the same vessel and exposed +the infusion to the air, then you would get animalcules. Furthermore, it +was found that if you connected the mouth of the vessel with a red-hot +tube in such a way that the air would have to pass through the tube +before reaching the infusion, that then you would get no animalcules. +Yet another thing was noticed: if you took two flasks containing the +same kind of infusion, and left one entirely exposed to the air, and in +the mouth of the other placed a ball of cotton wool, so that the air +would have to filter itself through it before reaching the infusion, +that then, although you might have plenty of animalcules in the first +flask, you would certainly obtain none from the second. + +These experiments, you see, all tended towards one conclusion--that the +infusoria were developed from little minute spores or eggs which were +constantly floating in the atmosphere, which lose their power of +germination if subjected to heat. But one observer now made another +experiment which seemed to go entirely the other way, and puzzled him +altogether. He took some of this boiled infusion that I have been +speaking of, and by the use of a mercurial bath--a kind of trough used +in laboratories--he deftly inverted a vessel containing the infusion +into the mercury, so that the latter reached a little beyond the level +of the mouth of the 'inverted' vessel. You see that he thus had a +quantity of the infusion shut off from any possible communication with +the outer air by being inverted upon a bed of mercury. + +He then prepared some pure oxygen and nitrogen gases, and passed them by +means of a tube going from the outside of the vessel, up through the +mercury into the infusion; so that he thus had it exposed to a perfectly +pure atmosphere of the same constituents as the external air. Of course, +he expected he would get no infusorial animalcules at all in that +infusion; but, to his great dismay and discomfiture, he found he almost +always did get them. + +Furthermore, it has been found that experiments made in the manner +described above answer well with most infusions; but that if you fill +the vessel with boiled milk, and then stop the neck with cotton-wool, +you 'will' have infusoria. So that you see there were two experiments +that brought you to one kind of conclusion, and three to another; which +was a most unsatisfactory state of things to arrive at in a scientific +inquiry. + +Some few years after this, the question began to be very hotly discussed +in France. There was M. Pouchet, a professor at Rouen, a very learned +man, but certainly not a very rigid experimentalist. He published a +number of experiments of his own, some of which were very ingenious, to +show that if you went to work in a proper way, there was a truth in the +doctrine of spontaneous generation. Well, it was one of the most +fortunate things in the world that M. Pouchet took up this question, +because it induced a distinguished French chemist, M. Pasteur, to take +up the question on the other side; and he has certainly worked it out in +the most perfect manner. I am glad to say, too, that he has published +his researches in time to enable me to give you an account of them. He +verified all the experiments which I have just mentioned to you--and +then finding those extraordinary anomalies, as in the case of the +mercury bath and the milk, he set himself to work to discover their +nature. In the case of milk he found it to be a question of temperature. +Milk in a fresh state is slightly alkaline; and it is a very curious +circumstance, but this very slight degree of alkalinity seems to have +the effect of preserving the organisms which fall into it from the air +from being destroyed at a temperature of 212 degrees, which is the +boiling point. But if you raise the temperature 10 degrees when you boil +it, the milk behaves like everything else; and if the air with which it +comes in contact, after being boiled at this temperature, is passed +through a red-hot tube, you will not get a trace of organisms. + +He then turned his attention to the mercury bath, and found on +examination that the surface of the mercury was almost always covered +with a very fine dust. He found that even the mercury itself was +positively full of organic matters; that from being constantly exposed +to the air, it had collected an immense number of these infusorial +organisms from the air. Well, under these circumstances he felt that the +case was quite clear, and that the mercury was not what it had appeared +to M. Schwann to be,--a bar to the admission of these organisms; but +that, in reality, it acted as a reservoir from which the infusion was +immediately supplied with the large quantity that had so puzzled him. + +But not content with explaining the experiments of others, M. Pasteur +went to work to satisfy himself completely. He said to himself: "If my +view is right, and if, in point of fact, all these appearances of +spontaneous generation are altogether due to the falling of minute germs +suspended in the atmosphere,--why, I ought not only to be able to show +the germs, but I ought to be able to catch and sow them, and produce the +resulting organisms." He, accordingly, constructed a very ingenious +apparatus to enable him to accomplish this trapping of this "germ dust" +in the air. He fixed in the window of his room a glass tube, in the +centre of which he had placed a ball of gun-cotton, which, as you all +know, is ordinary cotton-wool, which, from having been steeped in strong +acid, is converted into a substance of great explosive power. It is also +soluble in alcohol and ether. One end of the glass tube was, of course, +open to the external air; and at the other end of it he placed an +aspirator, a contrivance for causing a current of the external air to +pass through the tube. He kept this apparatus going for four-and-twenty +hours, and then removed the 'dusted' gun-cotton, and dissolved it in +alcohol and ether. He then allowed this to stand for a few hours, and +the result was, that a very fine dust was gradually deposited at the +bottom of it. That dust, on being transferred to the stage of a +microscope, was found to contain an enormous number of starch grains. +You know that the materials of our food and the greater portion of +plants are composed of starch, and we are constantly making use of it in +a variety of ways, so that there is always a quantity of it suspended in +the air. It is these starch grains which form many of those bright +specks that we see dancing in a ray of light sometimes. But besides +these, M. Pasteur found also an immense number of other organic +substances such as spores of fungi, which had been floating about in the +air and had got caged in this way. + +He went farther, and said to himself, "If these really are the things +that give rise to the appearance of spontaneous generation, I ought to +be able to take a ball of this 'dusted' gun-cotton and put it into one +of my vessels, containing that boiled infusion which has been kept away +from the air, and in which no infusoria are at present developed, and +then, if I am right, the introduction of this gun-cotton will give rise +to organisms." + +Accordingly, he took one of these vessels of infusion, which had been +kept eighteen months, without the least appearance of life, and by a +most ingenious contrivance, he managed to break it open and introduce +such a ball of gun-cotton, without allowing the infusion or the cotton +ball to come into contact with any air but that which had been subjected +to a red heat, and in twenty-four hours he had the satisfaction of +finding all the indications of what had been hitherto called spontaneous +generation. He had succeeded in catching the germs and developing +organisms in the way he had anticipated. + +It now struck him that the truth of his conclusions might be +demonstrated without all the apparatus he had employed. To do this, he +took some decaying animal or vegetable substance, such as urine, which +is an extremely decomposable substance, or the juice of yeast, or +perhaps some other artificial preparation, and filled a vessel having a +long tubular neck with it. He then boiled the liquid and bent that long +neck into an S shape or zig-zag, leaving it open at the end. The +infusion then gave no trace of any appearance of spontaneous generation, +however long it might be left, as all the germs in the air were +deposited in the beginning of the bent neck. He then cut the tube close +to the vessel, and allowed the ordinary air to have free and direct +access; and the result of that was the appearance of organisms in it, as +soon as the infusion had been allowed to stand long enough to allow of +the growth of those it received from the air, which was about +forty-eight hours. The result of M. Pasteur's experiments proved, +therefore, in the most conclusive manner, that all the appearances of +spontaneous generation arose from nothing more than the deposition of +the germs of organisms which were constantly floating in the air. + +To this conclusion, however, the objection was made, that if that were +the cause, then the air would contain such an enormous number of these +germs, that it would be a continual fog. But M. Pasteur replied that +they are not there in anything like the number we might suppose, and +that an exaggerated view has been held on that subject; he showed that +the chances of animal or vegetable life appearing in infusions, depend +entirely on the conditions under which they are exposed. If they are +exposed to the ordinary atmosphere around us, why, of course, you may +have organisms appearing early. But, on the other hand, if they are +exposed to air from a great height, or from some very quiet cellar, you +will often not find a single trace of life. + +So that M. Pasteur arrived at last at the clear and definite result, +that all these appearances are like the case of the worms in the piece +of meat, which was refuted by Redi, simply germs carried by the air and +deposited in the liquids in which they afterwards appear. For my own +part, I conceive that, with the particulars of M. Pasteur's experiments +before us, we cannot fail to arrive at his conclusions; and that the +doctrine of spontaneous generation has received a final 'coup de grace'. + +You, of course, understand that all this in no way interferes with the +POSSIBILITY of the fabrication of organic matters by the direct method +to which I have referred, remote as that possibility may be. + + +End of The Origination of Living Beings. + +*** + + +THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING BEINGS, HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION AND +VARIATION. + +The inquiry which we undertook, at our last meeting, into the state of +our knowledge of the causes of the phenomena of organic nature,--of the +past and of the present,--resolved itself into two subsidiary inquiries: +the first was, whether we know anything, either historically or +experimentally, of the mode of origin of living beings; the second +subsidiary inquiry was, whether, granting the origin, we know anything +about the perpetuation and modifications of the forms of organic beings. +The reply which I had to give to the first question was altogether +negative, and the chief result of my last lecture was, that, neither +historically nor experimentally, do we at present know anything +whatsoever about the origin of living forms. We saw that, historically, +we are not likely to know anything about it, although we may perhaps +learn something experimentally; but that at present we are an enormous +distance from the goal I indicated. + +I now, then, take up the next question, What do we know of the +reproduction, the perpetuation, and the modifications of the forms of +living beings, supposing that we have put the question as to their +origination on one side, and have assumed that at present the causes of +their origination are beyond us, and that we know nothing about them? +Upon this question the state of our knowledge is extremely different; it +is exceedingly large, and, if not complete, our experience is certainly +most extensive. It would be impossible to lay it all before you, and the +most I can do, or need do to-night, is to take up the principal points +and put them before you with such prominence as may subserve the +purposes of our present argument. + +The method of the perpetuation of organic beings is of two kinds,--the +asexual and the sexual. In the first the perpetuation takes place from +and by a particular act of an individual organism, which sometimes may +not be classed as belonging to any sex at all. In the second case, it is +in consequence of the mutual action and interaction of certain portions +of the organisms of usually two distinct individuals,--the male and the +female. The cases of asexual perpetuation are by no means so common as +the cases of sexual perpetuation; and they are by no means so common in +the animal as in the vegetable world. You are all probably familiar with +the fact, as a matter of experience, that you can propagate plants by +means of what are called "cuttings;" for example, that by taking a +cutting from a geranium plant, and rearing it properly, by supplying it +with light and warmth and nourishment from the earth, it grows up and +takes the form of its parent, having all the properties and +peculiarities of the original plant. + +Sometimes this process, which the gardener performs artificially, takes +place naturally; that is to say, a little bulb, or portion of the plant, +detaches itself, drops off, and becomes capable of growing as a separate +thing. That is the case with many bulbous plants, which throw off in +this way secondary bulbs, which are lodged in the ground and become +developed into plants. This is an asexual process, and from it results +the repetition or reproduction of the form of the original being from +which the bulb proceeds. + +Among animals the same thing takes place. Among the lower forms of +animal life, the infusorial animalculae we have already spoken of throw +off certain portions, or break themselves up in various directions, +sometimes transversely or sometimes longitudinally; or they may give off +buds, which detach themselves and develop into their proper forms. There +is the common fresh-water Polype, for instance, which multiplies itself +in this way. Just in the same way as the gardener is able to multiply +and reproduce the peculiarities and characters of particular plants by +means of cuttings, so can the physiological experimentalist--as was +shown by the Abbe Trembley many years ago--so can he do the same thing +with many of the lower forms of animal life. M. de Trembley showed that +you could take a polype and cut it into two, or four, or many pieces, +mutilating it in all directions, and the pieces would still grow up and +reproduce completely the original form of the animal. These are all +cases of asexual multiplication, and there are other instances, and +still more extraordinary ones, in which this process takes place +naturally, in a more hidden, a more recondite kind of way. You are all +of you familiar with those little green insects, the 'Aphis' or blight, +as it is called. These little animals, during a very considerable part +of their existence, multiply themselves by means of a kind of internal +budding, the buds being developed into essentially asexual animals, +which are neither male nor female; they become converted into young +'Aphides', which repeat the process, and their offspring after them, and +so on again; you may go on for nine or ten, or even twenty or more +successions; and there is no very good reason to say how soon it might +terminate, or how long it might not go on if the proper conditions of +warmth and nourishment were kept up. + +Sexual reproduction is quite a distinct matter. Here, in all these +cases, what is required is the detachment of two portions of the +parental organisms, which portions we know as the egg and the +spermatozoon. In plants it is the ovule and the pollen-grain, as in the +flowering plants, or the ovule and the antherozooid, as in the +flowerless. Among all forms of animal life, the spermatozoa proceed from +the male sex, and the egg is the product of the female. Now, what is +remarkable about this mode of reproduction is this, that the egg by +itself, or the spermatozoa by themselves, are unable to assume the +parental form; but if they be brought into contact with one another, the +effect of the mixture of organic substances proceeding from two sources +appears to confer an altogether new vigour to the mixed product. This +process is brought about, as we all know, by the sexual intercourse of +the two sexes, and is called the act of impregnation. The result of this +act on the part of the male and female is, that the formation of a new +being is set up in the ovule or egg; this ovule or egg soon begins to be +divided and subdivided, and to be fashioned into various complex +organisms, and eventually to develop into the form of one of its +parents, as I explained in the first lecture. These are the processes by +which the perpetuation of organic beings is secured. Why there should be +the two modes--why this re-invigoration should be required on the part +of the female element we do not know; but it is most assuredly the fact, +and it is presumable, that, however long the process of asexual +multiplication could be continued, I say there is good reason to believe +that it would come to an end if a new commencement were not obtained by +a conjunction of the two sexual elements. + +That character which is common to these two distinct processes is this, +that, whether we consider the reproduction, or perpetuation, or +modification of organic beings as they take place asexually, or as they +may take place sexually,--in either case, I say, the offspring has a +constant tendency to assume, speaking generally, the character of the +parent. As I said just now, if you take a slip of a plant, and tend it +with care, it will eventually grow up and develop into a plant like that +from which it had sprung; and this tendency is so strong that, as +gardeners know, this mode of multiplying by means of cuttings is the +only secure mode of propagating very many varieties of plants; the +peculiarity of the primitive stock seems to be better preserved if you +propagate it by means of a slip than if you resort to the sexual mode. + +Again, in experiments upon the lower animals, such as the polype, to +which I have referred, it is most extraordinary that, although cut up +into various pieces, each particular piece will grow up into the form of +the primitive stock; the head, if separated, will reproduce the body and +the tail; and if you cut off the tail, you will find that that will +reproduce the body and all the rest of the members, without in any way +deviating from the plan of the organism from which these portions have +been detached. And so far does this go, that some experimentalists have +carefully examined the lower orders of animals,--among them the Abbe +Spallanzani, who made a number of experiments upon snails and +salamanders,--and have found that they might mutilate them to an +incredible extent; that you might cut off the jaw or the greater part of +the head, or the leg or the tail, and repeat the experiment several +times, perhaps, cutting off the same member again and again; and yet +each of those types would be reproduced according to the primitive type: +nature making no mistake, never putting on a fresh kind of leg, or head, +or tail, but always tending to repeat and to return to the primitive +type. + +It is the same in sexual reproduction: it is a matter of perfectly +common experience, that the tendency on the part of the offspring always +is, speaking broadly, to reproduce the form of the parents. The proverb +has it that the thistle does not bring forth grapes; so, among +ourselves, there is always a likeness, more or less marked and distinct, +between children and their parents. That is a matter of familiar and +ordinary observation. We notice the same thing occurring in the cases of +the domestic animals--dogs, for instance, and their offspring. In all +these cases of propagation and perpetuation, there seems to be a +tendency in the offspring to take the characters of the parental +organisms. To that tendency a special name is given--it is called +'Atavism', it expresses this tendency to revert to the ancestral type, +and comes from the Latin word 'atavus', ancestor. + +Well, this 'Atavism' which I shall speak of, is, as I said before, one +of the most marked and striking tendencies of organic beings; but, side +by side with this hereditary tendency there is an equally distinct and +remarkable tendency to variation. The tendency to reproduce the original +stock has, as it were, its limits, and side by side with it there is a +tendency to vary in certain directions, as if there were two opposing +powers working upon the organic being, one tending to take it in a +straight line, and the other tending to make it diverge from that +straight line, first to one side and then to the other. + +So that you see these two tendencies need not precisely contradict one +another, as the ultimate result may not always be very remote from what +would have been the case if the line had been quite straight. + +This tendency to variation is less marked in that mode of propagation +which takes place asexually; it is in that mode that the minor +characters of animal and vegetable structures are most completely +preserved. Still, it will happen sometimes, that the gardener, when he +has planted a cutting of some favourite plant, will find, contrary to +his expectation, that the slip grows up a little different from the +primitive stock--that it produces flowers of a different colour or make, +or some deviation in one way or another. This is what is called the +'sporting' of plants. + +In animals the phenomena of asexual propagation are so obscure, that at +present we cannot be said to know much about them; but if we turn to +that mode of perpetuation which results from the sexual process, then we +find variation a perfectly constant occurrence, to a certain extent; +and, indeed, I think that a certain amount of variation from the +primitive stock is the necessary result of the method of sexual +propagation itself; for, inasmuch as the thing propagated proceeds from +two organisms of different sexes and different makes and temperaments, +and as the offspring is to be either of one sex or the other, it is +quite clear that it cannot be an exact diagonal of the two, or it would +be of no sex at all; it cannot be an exact intermediate form between +that of each of its parents--it must deviate to one side or the other. +You do not find that the male follows the precise type of the male +parent, nor does the female always inherit the precise characteristics +of the mother,--there is always a proportion of the female character in +the male offspring, and of the male character in the female offspring. +That must be quite plain to all of you who have looked at all +attentively on your own children or those of your neighbours; you will +have noticed how very often it may happen that the son shall exhibit the +maternal type of character, or the daughter possess the characteristics +of the father's family. There are all sorts of intermixtures and +intermediate conditions between the two, where complexion, or beauty, or +fifty other different peculiarities belonging to either side of the +house, are reproduced in other members of the same family. Indeed, it is +sometimes to be remarked in this kind of variation, that the variety +belongs, strictly speaking, to neither of the immediate parents; you +will see a child in a family who is not like either its father or its +mother; but some old person who knew its grandfather or grandmother, or, +it may be, an uncle, or, perhaps, even a more distant relative, will see +a great similarity between the child and one of these. In this way it +constantly happens that the characteristic of some previous member of +the family comes out and is reproduced and recognised in the most +unexpected manner. + +But apart from that matter of general experience, there are some cases +which put that curious mixture in a very clear light. You are aware that +the offspring of the Ass and the Horse, or rather of the he-Ass and the +Mare, is what is called a Mule; and, on the other hand, the offspring of +the Stallion and the she-Ass is what is called a 'Hinny'. I never saw +one myself; but they have been very carefully studied. Now, the curious +thing is this, that although you have the same elements in the +experiment in each case, the offspring is entirely different in +character, according as the male influence comes from the Ass or the +Horse. Where the Ass is the male, as in the case of the Mule, you find +that the head is like that of the Ass, that the ears are long, the tail +is tufted at the end, the feet are small, and the voice is an +unmistakable bray; these are all points of similarity to the Ass; but, +on the other hand, the barrel of the body and the cut of the neck are +much more like those of the Mare. Then, if you look at the Hinny,--the +result of the union of the Stallion and the she-Ass, then you find it is +the Horse that has the predominance; that the head is more like that of +the Horse, the ears are shorter, the legs coarser, and the type is +altogether altered; while the voice, instead of being a bray, is the +ordinary neigh of the Horse. Here, you see, is a most curious thing: you +take exactly the same elements, Ass and Horse, but you combine the sexes +in a different manner, and the result is modified accordingly. You have +in this case, however, a result which is not general and +universal--there is usually an important preponderance, but not always +on the same side. + +Here, then, is one intelligible, and, perhaps, necessary cause of +variation: the fact, that there are two sexes sharing in the production +of the offspring, and that the share taken by each is different and +variable, not only for each combination, but also for different members +of the same family. + +Secondly, there is a variation, to a certain extent--though, in all +probability, the influence of this cause has been very much +exaggerated--but there is no doubt that variation is produced, to a +certain extent, by what are commonly known as external conditions,--such +as temperature, food, warmth, and moisture. In the long run, every +variation depends, in some sense, upon external conditions, seeing that +everything has a cause of its own. I use the term "external conditions" +now in the sense in which it is ordinarily employed: certain it is, that +external conditions have a definite effect. You may take a plant which +has single flowers, and by dealing with the soil, and nourishment, and +so on, you may by-and-by convert single flowers into double flowers, and +make thorns shoot out into branches. You may thicken or make various +modifications in the shape of the fruit. In animals, too, you may +produce analogous changes in this way, as in the case of that deep +bronze colour which persons rarely lose after having passed any length +of time in tropical countries. You may also alter the development of the +muscles very much, by dint of training; all the world knows that +exercise has a great effect in this way; we always expect to find the +arm of a blacksmith hard and wiry, and possessing a large development of +the brachial muscles. No doubt training, which is one of the forms of +external conditions, converts what are originally only instructions, +teachings, into habits, or, in other words, into organizations, to a +great extent; but this second cause of variation cannot be considered to +be by any means a large one. The third cause that I have to mention, +however, is a very extensive one. It is one that, for want of a better +name, has been called "spontaneous variation;" which means that when we +do not know anything about the cause of phenomena, we call it +spontaneous. In the orderly chain of causes and effects in this world, +there are very few things of which it can be said with truth that they +are spontaneous. Certainly not in these physical matters,--in these +there is nothing of the kind,--everything depends on previous +conditions. But when we cannot trace the cause of phenomena, we call +them spontaneous. + +Of these variations, multitudinous as they are, but little is known with +perfect accuracy. I will mention to you some two or three cases, because +they are very remarkable in themselves, and also because I shall want to +use them afterwards. Reaumur, a famous French naturalist, a great many +years ago, in an essay which he wrote upon the art of hatching +chickens,--which was indeed a very curious essay,--had occasion to speak +of variations and monstrosities. One very remarkable case had come under +his notice of a variation in the form of a human member, in the person +of a Maltese, of the name of Gratio Kelleia, who was born with six +fingers upon each hand, and the like number of toes to each of his feet. +That was a case of spontaneous variation. Nobody knows why he was born +with that number of fingers and toes, and as we don't know, we call it a +case of "spontaneous" variation. There is another remarkable case also. +I select these, because they happen to have been observed and noted very +carefully at the time. It frequently happens that a variation occurs, +but the persons who notice it do not take any care in noting down the +particulars, until at length, when inquiries come to be made, the exact +circumstances are forgotten; and hence, multitudinous as may be such +"spontaneous" variations, it is exceedingly difficult to get at the +origin of them. + +The second case is one of which you may find the whole details in the +"Philosophical Transactions" for the year 1813, in a paper communicated +by Colonel Humphrey to the President of the Royal Society,--"On a new +Variety in the Breed of Sheep," giving an account of a very remarkable +breed of sheep, which at one time was well known in the northern states +of America, and which went by the name of the Ancon or the Otter breed +of sheep. In the year 1791, there was a farmer of the name of Seth +Wright in Massachusetts, who had a flock of sheep, consisting of a ram +and, I think, of some twelve or thirteen ewes. Of this flock of ewes, +one at the breeding-time bore a lamb which was very singularly formed; +it had a very long body, very short legs, and those legs were bowed! I +will tell you by-and-by how this singular variation in the breed of +sheep came to be noted, and to have the prominence that it now has. For +the present, I mention only these two cases; but the extent of variation +in the breed of animals is perfectly obvious to any one who has studied +natural history with ordinary attention, or to any person who compares +animals with others of the same kind. It is strictly true that there are +never any two specimens which are exactly alike; however similar, they +will always differ in some certain particular. + +Now let us go back to Atavism,--to the hereditary tendency I spoke of. +What will come of a variation when you breed from it, when Atavism +comes, if I may say so, to intersect variation? The two cases of which I +have mentioned the history, give a most excellent illustration of what +occurs. Gratio Kelleia, the Maltese, married when he was twenty-two +years of age, and, as I suppose there were no six-fingered ladies in +Malta, he married an ordinary five-fingered person. The result of that +marriage was four children; the first, who was christened Salvator, had +six fingers and six toes, like his father; the second was George, who +had five fingers and toes, but one of them was deformed, showing a +tendency to variation; the third was Andre; he had five fingers and five +toes, quite perfect; the fourth was a girl, Marie; she had five fingers +and five toes, but her thumbs were deformed, showing a tendency toward +the sixth. + +These children grew up, and when they came to adult years, they all +married, and of course it happened that they all married five-fingered +and five-toed persons. Now let us see what were the results. Salvator +had four children; they were two boys, a girl, and another boy; the +first two boys and the girl were six-fingered and six-toed like their +grandfather; the fourth boy had only five fingers and five toes. George +had only four children; there were two girls with six fingers and six +toes; there was one girl with six fingers and five toes on the right +side, and five fingers and five toes on the left side, so that she was +half and half. The last, a boy, had five fingers and five toes. The +third, Andre, you will recollect, was perfectly well-formed, and he had +many children whose hands and feet were all regularly developed. Marie, +the last, who, of course, married a man who had only five fingers, had +four children; the first, a boy, was born with six toes, but the other +three were normal. + +Now observe what very extraordinary phenomena are presented here. You +have an accidental variation arising from what you may call a +monstrosity; you have that monstrosity tendency or variation diluted in +the first instance by an admixture with a female of normal construction, +and you would naturally expect that, in the results of such an union, +the monstrosity, if repeated, would be in equal proportion with the +normal type; that is to say, that the children would be half and half, +some taking the peculiarity of the father, and the others being of the +purely normal type of the mother; but you see we have a great +preponderance of the abnormal type. Well, this comes to be mixed once +more with the pure, the normal type, and the abnormal is again produced +in large proportion, notwithstanding the second dilution. Now what would +have happened if these abnormal types had intermarried with each other; +that is to say, suppose the two boys of Salvator had taken it into their +heads to marry their first cousins, the two first girls of George, their +uncle? You will remember that these are all of the abnormal type of +their grandfather. The result would probably have been, that their +offspring would have been in every case a further development of that +abnormal type. You see it is only in the fourth, in the person of Marie, +that the tendency, when it appears but slightly in the second +generation, is washed out in the third, while the progeny of Andre, who +escaped in the first instance, escape altogether. + +We have in this case a good example of nature's tendency to the +perpetuation of a variation. Here it is certainly a variation which +carried with it no use or benefit; and yet you see the tendency to +perpetuation may be so strong, that, notwithstanding a great admixture +of pure blood, the variety continues itself up to the third generation, +which is largely marked with it. In this case, as I have said, there was +no means of the second generation intermarrying with any but +five-fingered persons, and the question naturally suggests itself, What +would have been the result of such marriage? Reaumur narrates this case +only as far as the third generation. Certainly it would have been an +exceedingly curious thing if we could have traced this matter any +further; had the cousins intermarried, a six-fingered variety of the +human race might have been set up. + +To show you that this supposition is by no means an unreasonable one, +let me now point out what took place in the case of Seth Wright's sheep, +where it happened to be a matter of moment to him to obtain a breed or +raise a flock of sheep like that accidental variety that I have +described--and I will tell you why. In that part of Massachusetts where +Seth Wright was living, the fields were separated by fences, and the +sheep, which were very active and robust, would roam abroad, and without +much difficulty jump over these fences into other people's farms. As a +matter of course, this exuberant activity on the part of the sheep +constantly gave rise to all sorts of quarrels, bickerings, and +contentions among the farmers of the neighbourhood; so it occurred to +Seth Wright, who was, like his successors, more or less 'cute, that if +he could get a stock of sheep like those with the bandy legs, they would +not be able to jump over the fences so readily, and he acted upon that +idea. He killed his old ram, and as soon as the young one arrived at +maturity, he bred altogether from it. The result was even more striking +than in the human experiment which I mentioned just now. Colonel +Humphreys testifies that it always happened that the offspring were +either pure Ancons or pure ordinary sheep; that in no case was there any +mixing of the Ancons with the others. In consequence of this, in the +course of a very few years, the farmer was able to get a very +considerable flock of this variety, and a large number of them were +spread throughout Massachusetts. Most unfortunately, however--I suppose +it was because they were so common--nobody took enough notice of them to +preserve their skeletons; and although Colonel Humphreys states that he +sent a skeleton to the President of the Royal Society at the same time +that he forwarded his paper, I am afraid that the variety has entirely +disappeared; for a short time after these sheep had become prevalent in +that district, the Merino sheep were introduced; and as their wool was +much more valuable, and as they were a quiet race of sheep, and showed +no tendency to trespass or jump over fences, the Otter breed of sheep, +the wool of which was inferior to that of the Merino, was gradually +allowed to die out. + +You see that these facts illustrate perfectly well what may be done if +you take care to breed from stocks that are similar to each other. After +having got a variation, if, by crossing a variation with the original +stock, you multiply that variation, and then take care to keep that +variation distinct from the original stock, and make them breed +together,--then you may almost certainly produce a race whose tendency +to continue the variation is exceedingly strong. + +This is what is called "selection"; and it is by exactly the same +process as that by which Seth Wright bred his Ancon sheep, that our +breeds of cattle, dogs, and fowls, are obtained. There are some +possibilities of exception, but still, speaking broadly, I may say that +this is the way in which all our varied races of domestic animals have +arisen; and you must understand that it is not one peculiarity or one +characteristic alone in which animals may vary. There is not a single +peculiarity or characteristic of any kind, bodily or mental, in which +offspring may not vary to a certain extent from the parent and other +animals. + +Among ourselves this is well known. The simplest physical peculiarity is +mostly reproduced. I know a case of a man whose wife has the lobe of one +of her ears a little flattened. An ordinary observer might scarcely +notice it, and yet every one of her children has an approximation to the +same peculiarity to some extent. If you look at the other extreme, too, +the gravest diseases, such as gout, scrofula, and consumption, may be +handed down with just the same certainty and persistence as we noticed +in the perpetuation of the bandy legs of the Ancon sheep. + +However, these facts are best illustrated in animals, and the extent of +the variation, as is well known, is very remarkable in dogs. For +example, there are some dogs very much smaller than others; indeed, the +variation is so enormous that probably the smallest dog would be about +the size of the head of the largest; there are very great variations in +the structural forms not only of the skeleton but also in the shape of +the skull, and in the proportions of the face and the disposition of the +teeth. + +The Pointer, the Retriever, Bulldog, and the Terrier, differ very +greatly, and yet there is every reason to believe that every one of +these races has arisen from the same source,--that all the most +important races have arisen by this selective breeding from accidental +variation. + +A still more striking case of what may be done by selective breeding, +and it is a better case, because there is no chance of that partial +infusion of error to which I alluded, has been studied very carefully by +Mr. Darwin,--the case of the domestic pigeons. I dare say there may be +some among you who may be pigeon 'fanciers', and I wish you to +understand that in approaching the subject, I would speak with all +humility and hesitation, as I regret to say that I am not a pigeon +fancier. I know it is a great art and mystery, and a thing upon which a +man must not speak lightly; but I shall endeavour, as far as my +understanding goes, to give you a summary of the published and +unpublished information which I have gained from Mr. Darwin. + +Among the enormous variety,--I believe there are somewhere about a +hundred and fifty kinds of pigeons,--there are four kinds which may be +selected as representing the extremest divergences of one kind from +another. Their names are the Carrier, the Pouter, the Fantail, and the +Tumbler. In the large diagrams they are each represented in their +relative sizes to each other. This first one is the Carrier; you will +notice this large excrescence on its beak; it has a comparatively small +head; there is a bare space round the eyes; it has a long neck, a very +long beak, very strong legs, large feet, long wings, and so on. The +second one is the Pouter, a very large bird, with very long legs and +beak. It is called the Pouter because it is in the habit of causing its +gullet to swell up by inflating it with air. I should tell you that all +pigeons have a tendency to do this at times, but in the Pouter it is +carried to an enormous extent. The birds appear to be quite proud of +their power of swelling and puffing themselves out in this way; and I +think it is about as droll a sight as you can well see to look at a cage +full of these pigeons puffing and blowing themselves out in this +ridiculous manner. + +The third kind I mentioned--the Fantail--is a small bird, with +exceedingly small legs and a very small beak. It is most curiously +distinguished by the size and extent of its tail, which, instead of +containing twelve feathers, may have many more,--say thirty, or even +more--I believe there are some with as many as forty-two. This bird has +a curious habit of spreading out the feathers of its tail in such a way +that they reach forward, and touch its head; and if this can be +accomplished, I believe it is looked upon as a point of great beauty. + +But here is the last great variety,--the Tumbler; and of that great +variety, one of the principal kinds, and one most prized, is the +specimen represented here--the short-faced Tumbler. Its beak is reduced +to a mere nothing. Just compare the beak of this one and that of the +first one, the Carrier--I believe the orthodox comparison of the head +and beak of a thoroughly well-bred Tumbler is to stick an oat into a +cherry, and that will give you the proper relative proportions of the +head and beak. The feet and legs are exceedingly small, and the bird +appears to be quite a dwarf when placed side by side with this great +Carrier. + +These are differences enough in regard to their external appearance; but +these differences are by no means the whole or even the most important +of the differences which obtain between these birds. There is hardly a +single point of their structure which has not become more or less +altered; and to give you an idea of how extensive these alterations are, +I have here some very good skeletons, for which I am indebted to my +friend, Mr. Tegetmeier, a great authority in these matters; by means of +which, if you examine them by-and-by, you will be able to see the +enormous difference in their bony structures. + +I had the privilege, some time ago, of access to some important MSS. of +Mr. Darwin, who, I may tell you, has taken very great pains and spent +much valuable time and attention on the investigation of these +variations, and getting together all the facts that bear upon them. I +obtained from these MSS. the following summary of the differences +between the domestic breeds of pigeons; that is to say, a notification +of the various points in which their organization differs. In the first +place, the back of the skull may differ a good deal, and the development +of the bones of the face may vary a great deal; the back varies a good +deal; the shape of the lower jaw varies; the tongue varies very greatly, +not only in correlation to the length and size of the beak, but it seems +also to have a kind of independent variation of its own. Then the amount +of naked skin round the eyes, and at the base of the beak, may vary +enormously; so may the length of the eyelids, the shape of the nostrils, +and the length of the neck. I have already noticed the habit of blowing +out the gullet, so remarkable in the Pouter, and comparatively so in the +others. There are great differences, too, in the size of the female and +the male, the shape of the body, the number and width of the processes +of the ribs, the development of the ribs, and the size, shape, and +development of the breastbone. We may notice, too,--and I mention the +fact because it has been disputed by what is assumed to be high +authority,--the variation in the number of the sacral vertebrae. The +number of these varies from eleven to fourteen, and that without any +diminution in the number of the vertebrae of the back or of the tail. +Then the number and position of the tail-feathers may vary enormously, +and so may the number of the primary and secondary feathers of the +wings. Again, the length of the feet and of the beak,--although they +have no relation to each other, yet appear to go together,--that is, you +have a long beak wherever you have long feet. There are differences also +in the periods of the acquirement of the perfect plumage,--the size and +shape of the eggs,--the nature of flight, and the powers of +flight,--so-called "homing" birds having enormous flying powers;* +([Footnote] *The "Carrier," I learn from Mr. Tegetmeier, does not +'carry'; a high-bred bird of this breed being but a poor flier. The +birds which fly long distances, and come home,--"homing" birds,--and are +consequently used as carriers, are not "carriers" in the fancy sense.) +while, on the other hand, the little Tumbler is so called because of its +extraordinary faculty of turning head over heels in the air, instead of +pursuing a direct course. And, lastly, the dispositions and voices of +the birds may vary. Thus the case of the pigeons shows you that there is +hardly a single particular,--whether of instinct, or habit, or bony +structure, or of plumage,--of either the internal economy or the +external shape, in which some variation or change may not take place, +which, by selective breeding, may become perpetuated, and form the +foundation of, and give rise to, a new race. + +If you carry in your mind's eye these four varieties of pigeons, you +will bear with you as good a notion as you can have, perhaps, of the +enormous extent to which a deviation from a primitive type may be +carried by means of this process of selective breeding. + +End of The Perpetuation of Living Beings. + +*** + + +THE CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AS AFFECTING THE PERPETUATION OF LIVING +BEINGS. + +In the last Lecture I endeavoured to prove to you that, while, as a +general rule, organic beings tend to reproduce their kind, there is in +them, also, a constantly recurring tendency to vary--to vary to a +greater or to a less extent. Such a variety, I pointed out to you, +might arise from causes which we do not understand; we therefore called +it spontaneous; and it might come into existence as a definite and +marked thing, without any gradations between itself and the form which +preceded it. I further pointed out, that such a variety having once +arisen, might be perpetuated to some extent, and indeed to a very +marked extent, without any direct interference, or without any exercise +of that process which we called selection. And then I stated further, +that by such selection, when exercised artificially--if you took care to +breed only from those forms which presented the same peculiarities of +any variety which had arisen in this manner--the variation might be +perpetuated, as far as we can see, indefinitely. + +The next question, and it is an important one for us, is this: Is there +any limit to the amount of variation from the primitive stock which can +be produced by this process of selective breeding? In considering this +question, it will be useful to class the characteristics, in respect of +which organic beings vary, under two heads: we may consider structural +characteristics, and we may consider physiological characteristics. + +In the first place, as regards structural characteristics, I endeavoured +to show you, by the skeletons which I had upon the table, and by +reference to a great many well-ascertained facts, that the different +breeds of Pigeons, the Carriers, Pouters, and Tumblers, might vary in +any of their internal and important structural characters to a very +great degree; not only might there be changes in the proportions of the +skull, and the characters of the feet and beaks, and so on; but that +there might be an absolute difference in the number of the vertebrae of +the back, as in the sacral vertebrae of the Pouter; and so great is the +extent of the variation in these and similar characters that I pointed +out to you, by reference to the skeletons and the diagrams, that these +extreme varieties may absolutely differ more from one another in their +structural characters than do what naturalists call distinct SPECIES of +pigeons; that is to say, that they differ so much in structure that +there is a greater difference between the Pouter and the Tumbler than +there is between such wild and distinct forms as the Rock Pigeon or the +Ring Pigeon, or the Ring Pigeon and the Stock Dove; and indeed the +differences are of greater value than this, for the structural +differences between these domesticated pigeons are such as would be +admitted by a naturalist, supposing he knew nothing at all about their +origin, to entitle them to constitute even distinct genera. + +As I have used this term SPECIES, and shall probably use it a good deal, +I had better perhaps devote a word or two to explaining what I mean by +it. + +Animals and plants are divided into groups, which become gradually +smaller, beginning with a KINGDOM, which is divided into SUB-KINGDOMS; +then come the smaller divisions called PROVINCES; and so on from a +PROVINCE to a CLASS from a CLASS to an ORDER, from ORDERS to FAMILIES, +and from these to GENERA, until we come at length to the smallest +groups of animals which can be defined one from the other by constant +characters, which are not sexual; and these are what naturalists call +SPECIES in practice, whatever they may do in theory. + +If, in a state of nature, you find any two groups of living beings, +which are separated one from the other by some constantly-recurring +characteristic, I don't care how slight and trivial, so long as it is +defined and constant, and does not depend on sexual peculiarities, then +all naturalists agree in calling them two species; that is what is +meant by the use of the word species--that is to say, it is, for the +practical naturalist, a mere question of structural differences.* +([Footnote] * I lay stress here on the PRACTICAL signification of +"Species." Whether a physiological test between species exist or not, +it is hardly ever applicable by the practical naturalist.) + +We have seen now--to repeat this point once more, and it is very +essential that we should rightly understand it--we have seen that +breeds, known to have been derived from a common stock by selection, +may be as different in their structure from the original stock as +species may be distinct from each other. + +But is the like true of the physiological characteristics of animals? +Do the physiological differences of varieties amount in degree to those +observed between forms which naturalists call distinct species? This +is a most important point for us to consider. + +As regards the great majority of physiological characteristics, there is +no doubt that they are capable of being developed, increased, and +modified by selection. + +There is no doubt that breeds may be made as different as species in +many physiological characters. I have already pointed out to you very +briefly the different habits of the breeds of Pigeons, all of which +depend upon their physiological peculiarities,--as the peculiar habit +of tumbling, in the Tumbler--the peculiarities of flight, in the +"homing" birds,--the strange habit of spreading out the tail, and +walking in a peculiar fashion, in the Fantail,--and, lastly, the habit +of blowing out the gullet, so characteristic of the Pouter. These are +all due to physiological modifications, and in all these respects these +birds differ as much from each other as any two ordinary species do. + +So with Dogs in their habits and instincts. It is a physiological +peculiarity which leads the Greyhound to chase its prey by sight,--that +enables the Beagle to track it by the scent,--that impels the Terrier +to its rat-hunting propensity,--and that leads the Retriever to its +habit of retrieving. These habits and instincts are all the results of +physiological differences and peculiarities, which have been developed +from a common stock, at least there is every reason to believe so. But +it is a most singular circumstance, that while you may run through +almost the whole series of physiological processes, without finding a +check to your argument, you come at last to a point where you do find a +check, and that is in the reproductive processes. For there is a most +singular circumstance in respect to natural species--at least about some +of them--and it would be sufficient for the purposes of this argument +if it were true of only one of them, but there is, in fact, a great +number of such cases--and that is, that, similar as they may appear to +be to mere races or breeds, they present a marked peculiarity in the +reproductive process. If you breed from the male and female of the same +race, you of course have offspring of the like kind, and if you make +the offspring breed together, you obtain the same result, and if you +breed from these again, you will still have the same kind of offspring; +there is no check. But if you take members of two distinct species, +however similar they may be to each other and make them breed together, +you will find a check, with some modifications and exceptions, however, +which I shall speak of presently. If you cross two such species with +each other, then,--although you may get offspring in the case of the +first cross, yet, if you attempt to breed from the products of that +crossing, which are what are called HYBRIDS--that is, if you couple a +male and a female hybrid--then the result is that in ninety-nine cases +out of a hundred you will get no offspring at all; there will be no +result whatsoever. + +The reason of this is quite obvious in some cases; the male hybrids, +although possessing all the external appearances and characteristics of +perfect animals, are physiologically imperfect and deficient in the +structural parts of the reproductive elements necessary to generation. +It is said to be invariably the case with the male mule, the cross +between the Ass and the Mare; and hence it is, that, although crossing +the Horse with the Ass is easy enough, and is constantly done, as far +as I am aware, if you take two mules, a male and a female, and endeavour +to breed from them, you get no offspring whatever; no generation will +take place. This is what is called the sterility of the hybrids +between two distinct species. + +You see that this is a very extraordinary circumstance; one does not see +why it should be. The common teleological explanation is, that it is +to prevent the impurity of the blood resulting from the crossing of one +species with another, but you see it does not in reality do anything of +the kind. There is nothing in this fact that hybrids cannot breed with +each other, to establish such a theory; there is nothing to prevent the +Horse breeding with the Ass, or the Ass with the Horse. So that this +explanation breaks down, as a great many explanations of this kind do, +that are only founded on mere assumptions. + +Thus you see that there is a great difference between "mongrels," which +are crosses between distinct races, and "hybrids," which are crosses +between distinct species. The mongrels are, so far as we know, fertile +with one another. But between species, in many cases, you cannot +succeed in obtaining even the first cross: at any rate it is quite +certain that the hybrids are often absolutely infertile one with +another. + +Here is a feature, then, great or small as it may be, which +distinguishes natural species of animals. Can we find any +approximation to this in the different races known to be produced by +selective breeding from a common stock? Up to the present time the +answer to that question is absolutely a negative one. As far as we +know at present, there is nothing approximating to this check. In +crossing the breeds between the Fantail and the Pouter, the Carrier and +the Tumbler, or any other variety or race you may name--so far as we +know at present--there is no difficulty in breeding together the +mongrels. Take the Carrier and the Fantail, for instance, and let them +represent the Horse and the Ass in the case of distinct species; then +you have, as the result of their breeding, the Carrier-Fantail +mongrel,--we will say the male and female mongrel,--and, as far as we +know, these two when crossed would not be less fertile than the +original cross, or than Carrier with Carrier. Here, you see, is a +physiological contrast between the races produced by selective +modification and natural species. I shall inquire into the value of +this fact, and of some modifying circumstances by and by; for the +present I merely put it broadly before you. + +But while considering this question of the limitations of species, a +word must be said about what is called RECURRENCE--the tendency of +races which have been developed by selective breeding from varieties to +return to their primitive type. This is supposed by many to put an +absolute limit to the extent of selective and all other variations. +People say, "It is all very well to talk about producing these +different races, but you know very well that if you turned all these +birds wild, these Pouters, and Carriers, and so on, they would all +return to their primitive stock." This is very commonly assumed to be +a fact, and it is an argument that is commonly brought forward as +conclusive; but if you will take the trouble to inquire into it rather +closely, I think you will find that it is not worth very much. The +first question of course is, Do they thus return to the primitive +stock? And commonly as the thing is assumed and accepted, it is +extremely difficult to get anything like good evidence of it. It is +constantly said, for example, that if domesticated Horses are turned +wild, as they have been in some parts of Asia Minor and South America, +that they return at once to the primitive stock from which they were +bred. But the first answer that you make to this assumption is, to ask +who knows what the primitive stock was; and the second answer is, that +in that case the wild Horses of Asia Minor ought to be exactly like the +wild Horses of South America. If they are both like the same thing, +they ought manifestly to be like each other! The best authorities, +however, tell you that it is quite different. The wild Horse of Asia +is said to be of a dun colour, with a largish head, and a great many +other peculiarities; while the best authorities on the wild Horses of +South America tell you that there is no similarity between their wild +Horses and those of Asia Minor; the cut of their heads is very +different, and they are commonly chestnut or bay-coloured. It is quite +clear, therefore, that as by these facts there ought to have been two +primitive stocks, they go for nothing in support of the assumption that +races recur to one primitive stock, and so far as this evidence is +concerned, it falls to the ground. + +Suppose for a moment that it were so, and that domesticated races, when +turned wild, did return to some common condition, I cannot see that +this would prove much more than that similar conditions are likely to +produce similar results; and that when you take back domesticated +animals into what we call natural conditions, you do exactly the same +thing as if you carefully undid all the work you had gone through, for +the purpose of bringing the animal from its wild to its domesticated +state. I do not see anything very wonderful in the fact, if it took +all that trouble to get it from a wild state, that it should go back +into its original state as soon as you removed the conditions which +produced the variation to the domesticated form. There is an important +fact, however, forcibly brought forward by Mr. Darwin, which has been +noticed in connection with the breeding of domesticated pigeons; and it +is, that however different these breeds of pigeons may be from each +other, and we have already noticed the great differences in these +breeds, that if, among any of those variations, you chance to have a +blue pigeon turn up, it will be sure to have the black bars across the +wings, which are characteristic of the original wild stock, the Rock +Pigeon. + +Now, this is certainly a very remarkable circumstance; but I do not see +myself how it tells very strongly either one way or the other. I +think, in fact, that this argument in favour of recurrence to the +primitive type might prove a great deal too much for those who so +constantly bring it forward. For example, Mr. Darwin has very forcibly +urged, that nothing is commoner than if you examine a dun horse--and I +had an opportunity of verifying this illustration lately, while in the +islands of the West Highlands, where there are a great many dun +horses--to find that horse exhibit a long black stripe down his back, +very often stripes on his shoulder, and very often stripes on his +legs. I, myself, saw a pony of this description a short time ago, in a +baker's cart, near Rothesay, in Bute: it had the long stripe down the +back, and stripes on the shoulders and legs, just like those of the +Ass, the Quagga, and the Zebra. Now, if we interpret the theory of +recurrence as applied to this case, might it not be said that here was +a case of a variation exhibiting the characters and conditions of an +animal occupying something like an intermediate position between the +Horse, the Ass, the Quagga, and the Zebra, and from which these had +been developed? In the same way with regard even to Man. Every +anatomist will tell you that there is nothing commoner, in dissecting +the human body, than to meet with what are called muscular +variations--that is, if you dissect two bodies very carefully, you will +probably find that the modes of attachment and insertion of the muscles +are not exactly the same in both, there being great peculiarities in +the mode in which the muscles are arranged; and it is very singular, +that in some dissections of the human body you will come upon +arrangements of the muscles very similar indeed to the same parts in the +Apes. Is the conclusion in that case to be, that this is like the +black bars in the case of the Pigeon, and that it indicates a +recurrence to the primitive type from which the animals have been +probably developed? Truly, I think that the opponents of modification +and variation had better leave the argument of recurrence alone, or it +may prove altogether too strong for them. + +To sum up--the evidence as far as we have gone is against the argument +as to any limit to divergences, so far as structure is concerned; and +in favour of a physiological limitation. By selective breeding we can +produce structural divergences as great as those of species, but we +cannot produce equal physiological divergences. For the present I leave +the question there. + +Now, the next problem that lies before us--and it is an extremely +important one--is this: Does this selective breeding occur in nature? +Because, if there is no proof of it, all that I have been telling you +goes for nothing in accounting for the origin of species. Are natural +causes competent to play the part of selection in perpetuating +varieties? Here we labour under very great difficulties. In the last +lecture I had occasion to point out to you the extreme difficulty of +obtaining evidence even of the first origin of those varieties which we +know to have occurred in domesticated animals. I told you, that almost +always the origin of these varieties is overlooked, so that I could +only produce two of three cases, as that of Gratio Kelleia and of the +Ancon sheep. People forget, or do not take notice of them until they +come to have a prominence; and if that is true of artificial cases, +under our own eyes, and in animals in our own care, how much more +difficult it must be to have at first hand good evidence of the origin +of varieties in nature! Indeed, I do not know that it is possible by +direct evidence to prove the origin of a variety in nature, or to prove +selective breeding; but I will tell you what we can prove--and this +comes to the same thing--that varieties exist in nature within the +limits of species, and, what is more, that when a variety has come into +existence in nature, there are natural causes and conditions, which are +amply competent to play the part of a selective breeder; and although +that is not quite the evidence that one would like to have--though it +is not direct testimony--yet it is exceeding good and exceedingly +powerful evidence in its way. + +As to the first point, of varieties existing among natural species, I +might appeal to the universal experience of every naturalist, and of +any person who has ever turned any attention at all to the +characteristics of plants and animals in a state of nature; but I may as +well take a few definite cases, and I will begin with Man himself. + +I am one of those who believe that, at present, there is no evidence +whatever for saying, that mankind sprang originally from any more than +a single pair; I must say, that I cannot see any good ground whatever, +or even any tenable sort of evidence, for believing that there is more +than one species of Man. Nevertheless, as you know, just as there are +numbers of varieties in animals, so there are remarkable varieties of +men. I speak not merely of those broad and distinct variations which +you see at a glance. Everybody, of course, knows the difference +between a Negro and a white man, and can tell a Chinaman from an +Englishman. They each have peculiar characteristics of colour and +physiognomy; but you must recollect that the characters of these races +go very far deeper--they extend to the bony structure, and to the +characters of that most important of all organs to us--the brain; so +that, among men belonging to different races, or even within the same +race, one man shall have a brain a third, or half, or even seventy per +cent. bigger than another; and if you take the whole range of human +brains, you will find a variation in some cases of a hundred per cent. +Apart from these variations in the size of the brain, the characters of +the skull vary. Thus if I draw the figures of a Mongul and of a Negro +head on the blackboard, in the case of the last the breadth would be +about seven-tenths, and in the other it would be nine-tenths of the +total length. So that you see there is abundant evidence of variation +among men in their natural condition. And if you turn to other animals +there is just the same thing. The fox, for example, which has a very +large geographical distribution all over Europe, and parts of Asia, and +on the American Continent, varies greatly. There are mostly large +foxes in the North, and smaller ones in the South. In Germany alone, +the foresters reckon some eight different sorts. + +Of the tiger, no one supposes that there is more than one species; they +extend from the hottest parts of Bengal, into the dry, cold, bitter +steppes of Siberia, into a latitude of 50 degrees,--so that they may +even prey upon the reindeer. These tigers have exceedingly different +characteristics, but still they all keep their general features, so that +there is no doubt as to their being tigers. The Siberian tiger has a +thick fur, a small mane, and a longitudinal stripe down the back, while +the tigers of Java and Sumatra differ in many important respects from +the tigers of Northern Asia. So lions vary; so birds vary; and so, if +you go further back and lower down in creation, you find that fishes +vary. In different streams, in the same country even, you will find +the trout to be quite different to each other and easily recognisable by +those who fish in the particular streams. There is the same +differences in leeches; leech collectors can easily point out to you +the differences and the peculiarities which you yourself would probably +pass by; so with fresh-water mussels; so, in fact, with every animal +you can mention. + +In plants there is the same kind of variation. Take such a case even as +the common bramble. The botanists are all at war about it; some of them +wanting to make out that there are many species of it, and others +maintaining that they are but many varieties of one species; and they +cannot settle to this day which is a species and which is a variety! + +So that there can be no doubt whatsoever that any plant and any animal +may vary in nature; that varieties may arise in the way I have +described,--as spontaneous varieties,--and that those varieties may be +perpetuated in the same way that I have shown you spontaneous varieties +are perpetuated; I say, therefore, that there can be no doubt as to the +origin and perpetuation of varieties in nature. + +But the question now is:--Does selection take place in nature? is there +anything like the operation of man in exercising selective breeding, +taking place in nature? You will observe that, at present, I say +nothing about species; I wish to confine myself to the consideration of +the production of those natural races which everybody admits to exist. +The question is, whether in nature there are causes competent to +produce races, just in the same way as man is able to produce by +selection, such races of animals as we have already noticed. + +When a variety has arisen, the CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE are such as to +exercise an influence which is exactly comparable to that of artificial +selection. By Conditions of Existence I mean two things,--there are +conditions which are furnished by the physical, the inorganic world, +and there are conditions of existence which are furnished by the +organic world. There is, in the first place, CLIMATE; under that head +I include only temperature and the varied amount of moisture of +particular places. In the next place there is what is technically +called STATION, which means--given the climate, the particular kind of +place in which an animal or a plant lives or grows; for example, the +station of a fish is in the water, of a fresh-water fish in fresh +water; the station of a marine fish is in the sea, and a marine animal +may have a station higher or deeper. So again with land animals: the +differences in their stations are those of different soils and +neighbourhoods; some being best adapted to a calcareous, and others to +an arenaceous soil. The third condition of existence is FOOD, by which +I mean food in the broadest sense, the supply of the materials necessary +to the existence of an organic being; in the case of a plant the +inorganic matters, such as carbonic acid, water, ammonia, and the +earthy salts or salines; in the case of the animal the inorganic and +organic matters, which we have seen they require; then these are all, +at least the two first, what we may call the inorganic or physical +conditions of existence. Food takes a mid-place, and then come the +organic conditions; by which I mean the conditions which depend upon the +state of the rest of the organic creation, upon the number and kind of +living beings, with which an animal is surrounded. You may class these +under two heads: there are organic beings, which operate as +'opponents', and there are organic beings which operate as 'helpers' to +any given organic creature. The opponents may be of two kinds: there +are the 'indirect opponents', which are what we may call 'rivals'; and +there are the 'direct opponents', those which strive to destroy the +creature; and these we call 'enemies'. By rivals I mean, of course, in +the case of plants, those which require for their support the same kind +of soil and station, and, among animals, those which require the same +kind of station, or food, or climate; those are the indirect opponents; +the direct opponents are, of course, those which prey upon an animal or +vegetable. The 'helpers' may also be regarded as direct and indirect: +in the case of a carnivorous animal, for example, a particular +herbaceous plant may in multiplying be an indirect helper, by enabling +the herbivora on which the carnivore preys to get more food, and thus +to nourish the carnivore more abundantly; the direct helper may be best +illustrated by reference to some parasitic creature, such as the +tape-worm. The tape-worm exists in the human intestines, so that the +fewer there are of men the fewer there will be of tape-worms, other +things being alike. It is a humiliating reflection, perhaps, that we +may be classed as direct helpers to the tape-worm, but the fact is so: +we can all see that if there were no men there would be no tape-worms. + +It is extremely difficult to estimate, in a proper way, the importance +and the working of the Conditions of Existence. I do not think there +were any of us who had the remotest notion of properly estimating them +until the publication of Mr. Darwin's work, which has placed them +before us with remarkable clearness; and I must endeavour, as far as I +can in my own fashion, to give you some notion of how they work. We +shall find it easiest to take a simple case, and one as free as +possible from every kind of complication. + +I will suppose, therefore, that all the habitable part of this +globe--the dry land, amounting to about 51,000,000 square miles,--I +will suppose that the whole of that dry land has the same climate, and +that it is composed of the same kind of rock or soil, so that there will +be the same station everywhere; we thus get rid of the peculiar +influence of different climates and stations. I will then imagine that +there shall be but one organic being in the world, and that shall be a +plant. In this we start fair. Its food is to be carbonic acid, water +and ammonia, and the saline matters in the soil, which are, by the +supposition, everywhere alike. We take one single plant, with no +opponents, no helpers, and no rivals; it is to be a "fair field, and no +favour". Now, I will ask you to imagine further that it shall be a +plant which shall produce every year fifty seeds, which is a very +moderate number for a plant to produce; and that, by the action of the +winds and currents, these seeds shall be equally and gradually +distributed over the whole surface of the land. I want you now to +trace out what will occur, and you will observe that I am not talking +fallaciously any more than a mathematician does when he expounds his +problem. If you show that the conditions of your problem are such as +may actually occur in nature and do not transgress any of the known +laws of nature in working out your proposition, then you are as safe in +the conclusion you arrive at as is the mathematician in arriving at the +solution of his problem. In science, the only way of getting rid of the +complications with which a subject of this kind is environed, is to +work in this deductive method. What will be the result, then? I will +suppose that every plant requires one square foot of ground to live +upon; and the result will be that, in the course of nine years, the +plant will have occupied every single available spot in the whole +globe! I have chalked upon the blackboard the figures by which I +arrive at the result:-- + + Plants. Plants + 1 x 50 in 1st year = 50 + 50 x 50 " 2nd " = 2,500 + 2,500 x 50 " 3rd " = 125,000 + 125,000 x 50 " 4th " = 6,250,000 + 6,250,000 x 50 " 5th " = 312,500,000 + 312,500,000 x 50 " 6th " = 15,625,000,000 + 15,625,000,000 x 50 " 7th " = 781,250,000,000 + 781,250,000,000 x 50 " 8th " = 39,062,500,000,000 + 39,062,500,000,000 x 50 " 9th " = 1,953,125,000,000,000 + +51,000,000 sq. miles--the dry surface of the earth x 27,878,400--the +number of sq. ft. in 1 sq. mile = sq. ft. 1,421,798,400,000,000 being +531,326,600,000,000 square feet less than would be required at the end +of the ninth year. + +You will see from this that, at the end of the first year the single +plant will have produced fifty more of its kind; by the end of the +second year these will have increased to 2,500; and so on, in +succeeding years, you get beyond even trillions; and I am not at all +sure that I could tell you what the proper arithmetical denomination of +the total number really is; but, at any rate, you will understand the +meaning of all those noughts. Then you see that, at the bottom, I have +taken the 51,000,000 of square miles, constituting the surface of the +dry land; and as the number of square feet are placed under and +subtracted from the number of seeds that would be produced in the ninth +year, you can see at once that there would be an immense number more of +plants than there would be square feet of ground for their +accommodation. This is certainly quite enough to prove my point; that +between the eighth and ninth year after being planted the single plant +would have stocked the whole available surface of the earth. + +This is a thing which is hardly conceivable--it seems hardly +imaginable--yet it is so. It is indeed simply the law of Malthus +exemplified. Mr. Malthus was a clergyman, who worked out this subject +most minutely and truthfully some years ago; he showed quite +clearly,--and although he was much abused for his conclusions at the +time, they have never yet been disproved and never will be--he showed +that in consequence of the increase in the number of organic beings in +a geometrical ratio, while the means of existence cannot be made to +increase in the same ratio, that there must come a time when the number +of organic beings will be in excess of the power of production of +nutriment, and that thus some check must arise to the further increase +of those organic beings. At the end of the ninth year we have seen that +each plant would not be able to get its full square foot of ground, and +at the end of another year it would have to share that space with fifty +others the produce of the seeds which it would give off. + +What, then, takes place? Every plant grows up, flourishes, occupies its +square foot of ground, and gives off its fifty seeds; but notice this, +that out of this number only one can come to anything; there is thus, +as it were, forty-nine chances to one against its growing up; it +depends upon the most fortuitous circumstances whether any one of these +fifty seeds shall grow up and flourish, or whether it shall die and +perish. This is what Mr. Darwin has drawn attention to, and called the +"STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE"; and I have taken this simple case of a plant +because some people imagine that the phrase seems to imply a sort of +fight. + +I have taken this plant and shown you that this is the result of the +ratio of the increase, the necessary result of the arrival of a time +coming for every species when exactly as many members must be destroyed +as are born; that is the inevitable ultimate result of the rate of +production. Now, what is the result of all this? I have said that +there are forty-nine struggling against every one; and it amounts to +this, that the smallest possible start given to any one seed may give +it an advantage which will enable it to get ahead of all the others; +anything that will enable any one of these seeds to germinate six hours +before any of the others will, other things being alike, enable it to +choke them out altogether. I have shown you that there is no +particular in which plants will not vary from each other; it is quite +possible that one of our imaginary plants may vary in such a character +as the thickness of the integument of its seeds; it might happen that +one of the plants might produce seeds having a thinner integument, and +that would enable the seeds of that plant to germinate a little quicker +than those of any of the others, and those seeds would most inevitably +extinguish the forty-nine times as many that were struggling with them. + +I have put it in this way, but you see the practical result of the +process is the same as if some person had nurtured the one and +destroyed the other seeds. It does not matter how the variation is +produced, so long as it is once allowed to occur. The variation in the +plant once fairly started tends to become hereditary and reproduce +itself; the seeds would spread themselves in the same way and take part +in the struggle with the forty-nine hundred, or forty-nine thousand, +with which they might be exposed. Thus, by degrees, this variety, with +some slight organic change or modification, must spread itself over the +whole surface of the habitable globe, and extirpate or replace the +other kinds. That is what is meant by NATURAL SELECTION; that is the +kind of argument by which it is perfectly demonstrable that the +conditions of existence may play exactly the same part for natural +varieties as man does for domesticated varieties. No one doubts at all +that particular circumstances may be more favourable for one plant and +less so for another, and the moment you admit that, you admit the +selective power of nature. Now, although I have been putting a +hypothetical case, you must not suppose that I have been reasoning +hypothetically. There are plenty of direct experiments which bear out +what we may call the theory of natural selection; there is extremely +good authority for the statement that if you take the seed of mixed +varieties of wheat and sow it, collecting the seed next year and sowing +it again, at length you will find that out of all your varieties only +two or three have lived, or perhaps even only one. There were one or +two varieties which were best fitted to get on, and they have killed +out the other kinds in just the same way and with just the same +certainty as if you had taken the trouble to remove them. As I have +already said, the operation of nature is exactly the same as the +artificial operation of man. + +But if this be true of that simple case, which I put before you, where +there is nothing but the rivalry of one member of a species with +others, what must be the operation of selective conditions, when you +recollect as a matter of fact, that for every species of animal or +plant there are fifty or a hundred species which might all, more or +less, be comprehended in the same climate, food, and station;--that +every plant has multitudinous animals which prey upon it, and which are +its direct opponents; and that these have other animals preying upon +them,--that every plant has its indirect helpers in the birds that +scatter abroad its seed, and the animals that manure it with their +dung;--I say, when these things are considered, it seems impossible +that any variation which may arise in a species in nature should not +tend in some way or other either to be a little better or worse than +the previous stock; if it is a little better it will have an advantage +over and tend to extirpate the latter in this crush and struggle; and if +it is a little worse it will itself be extirpated. + +I know nothing that more appropriately expresses this, than the phrase, +"the struggle for existence"; because it brings before your minds, in a +vivid sort of way, some of the simplest possible circumstances +connected with it. When a struggle is intense there must be some who +are sure to be trodden down, crushed, and overpowered by others; and +there will be some who just manage to get through only by the help of +the slightest accident. I recollect reading an account of the famous +retreat of the French troops, under Napoleon, from Moscow. Worn out, +tired, and dejected, they at length came to a great river over which +there was but one bridge for the passage of the vast army. Disorganised +and demoralised as that army was, the struggle must certainly have been +a terrible one--every one heeding only himself, and crushing through +the ranks and treading down his fellows. The writer of the narrative, +who was himself one of those who were fortunate enough to succeed in +getting over, and not among the thousands who were left behind or +forced into the river, ascribed his escape to the fact that he saw +striding onward through the mass a great strong fellow,--one of the +French Cuirassiers, who had on a large blue cloak--and he had enough +presence of mind to catch and retain a hold of this strong man's +cloak. He says, "I caught hold of his cloak, and although he swore at +me and cut at and struck me by turns, and at last, when he found he +could not shake me off, fell to entreating me to leave go or I should +prevent him from escaping, besides not assisting myself, I still kept +tight hold of him, and would not quit my grasp until he had at last +dragged me through." Here you see was a case of selective saving--if +we may so term it--depending for its success on the strength of the +cloth of the Cuirassier's cloak. It is the same in nature; every +species has its bridge of Beresina; it has to fight its way through and +struggle with other species; and when well nigh overpowered, it may be +that the smallest chance, something in its colour, perhaps--the +minutest circumstance--will turn the scale one way or the other. + +Suppose that by a variation of the black race it had produced the white +man at any time--you know that the Negroes are said to believe this to +have been the case, and to imagine that Cain was the first white man, +and that we are his descendants--suppose that this had ever happened, +and that the first residence of this human being was on the West Coast +of Africa. There is no great structural difference between the white +man and the Negro, and yet there is something so singularly different +in the constitution of the two, that the malarias of that country, which +do not hurt the black at all, cut off and destroy the white. Then you +see there would have been a selective operation performed; if the white +man had risen in that way, he would have been selected out and removed +by means of the malaria. Now there really is a very curious case of +selection of this sort among pigs, and it is a case of selection of +colour too. In the woods of Florida there are a great many pigs, and +it is a very curious thing that they are all black, every one of them. +Professor Wyman was there some years ago, and on noticing no pigs but +these black ones, he asked some of the people how it was that they had +no white pigs, and the reply was that in the woods of Florida there was +a root which they called the Paint Root, and that if the white pigs +were to eat any of it, it had the effect of making their hoofs crack, +and they died, but if the black pigs eat any of it, it did not hurt +them at all. Here was a very simple case of natural selection. A +skilful breeder could not more carefully develope the black breed of +pigs, and weed out all the white pigs, than the Paint Root does. + +To show you how remarkably indirect may be such natural selective +agencies as I have referred to, I will conclude by noticing a case +mentioned by Mr. Darwin, and which is certainly one of the most curious +of its kind. It is that of the Humble Bee. It has been noticed that +there are a great many more humble bees in the neighbourhood of towns, +than out in the open country; and the explanation of the matter is +this: the humble bees build nests, in which they store their honey and +deposit the larvae and eggs. The field mice are amazingly fond of the +honey and larvae; therefore, wherever there are plenty of field mice, as +in the country, the humble bees are kept down; but in the neighbourhood +of towns, the number of cats which prowl about the fields eat up the +field mice, and of course the more mice they eat up the less there are +to prey upon the larvae of the bees--the cats are therefore the INDIRECT +HELPERS of the bees!* Coming back a step farther we may say that the +old maids are also indirect friends of the humble bees, and indirect +enemies of the field mice, as they keep the cats which eat up the +latter! This is an illustration somewhat beneath the dignity of the +subject, perhaps, but it occurs to me in passing, and with it I will +conclude this lecture. ([Footnote] *The humble bees, on the other hand, +are direct helpers of some plants, such as the heartsease and red clover, +which are fertilized by the visits of the bees; and they are indirect +helpers of the numerous insects which are more or less completely +supported by the heartsease and red clover. + +End of The Conditions of Existence. + +*** + + +A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITION OF MR. DARWIN'S WORK, "ON THE +ORIGIN OF SPECIES," IN RELATION TO THE COMPLETE THEORY OF THE CAUSES OF +THE PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE. + +In the preceding five lectures I have endeavoured to give you an account +of those facts, and of those reasonings from facts, which form the data +upon which all theories regarding the causes of the phenomena of organic +nature must be based. And, although I have had frequent occasion to +quote Mr. Darwin--as all persons hereafter, in speaking upon these +subjects, will have occasion to quote his famous book on the "Origin of +Species,"--you must yet remember that, wherever I have quoted him, it +has not been upon theoretical points, or for statements in any way +connected with his particular speculations, but on matters of fact, +brought forward by himself, or collected by himself, and which appear +incidentally in his book. If a man WILL make a book, professing to +discuss a single question, an encyclopaedia, I cannot help it. + +Now, having had an opportunity of considering in this sort of way the +different statements bearing upon all theories whatsoever, I have to lay +before you, as fairly as I can, what is Mr. Darwin's view of the matter +and what position his theories hold, when judged by the principles which +I have previously laid down, as deciding our judgments upon all theories +and hypotheses. + +I have already stated to you that the inquiry respecting the causes of +the phenomena of organic nature resolves itself into two problems--the +first being the question of the origination of living or organic beings; +and the second being the totally distinct problem of the modification +and perpetuation of organic beings when they have already come into +existence. The first question Mr. Darwin does not touch; he does not +deal with it at all; but he says--given the origin of organic +matter--supposing its creation to have already taken place, my object is +to show in consequence of what laws and what demonstrable properties of +organic matter, and of its environments, such states of organic nature +as those with which we are acquainted must have come about. This, you +will observe, is a perfectly legitimate proposition; every person has a +right to define the limits of the inquiry which he sets before himself; +and yet it is a most singular thing that in all the multifarious, and, +not unfrequently, ignorant attacks which have been made upon the 'Origin +of Species', there is nothing which has been more speciously criticised +than this particular limitation. If people have nothing else to urge +against the book, they say--"Well, after all, you see, Mr. Darwin's +explanation of the 'Origin of Species' is not good for much, because, in +the long run, he admits that he does not know how organic matter began +to exist. But if you admit any special creation for the first particle +of organic matter you may just as well admit it for all the rest; five +hundred or five thousand distinct creations are just as intelligible, +and just as little difficult to understand, as one." The answer to these +cavils is two-fold. In the first place, all human inquiry must stop +somewhere; all our knowledge and all our investigation cannot take us +beyond the limits set by the finite and restricted character of our +faculties, or destroy the endless unknown, which accompanies, like its +shadow, the endless procession of phenomena. So far as I can venture to +offer an opinion on such a matter, the purpose of our being in +existence, the highest object that human beings can set before +themselves, is not the pursuit of any such chimera as the annihilation +of the unknown; but it is simply the unwearied endeavour to remove its +boundaries a little further from our little sphere of action. + +I wonder if any historian would for a moment admit the objection, that +it is preposterous to trouble ourselves about the history of the Roman +Empire, because we do not know anything positive about the origin and +first building of the city of Rome! Would it be a fair objection to +urge, respecting the sublime discoveries of a Newton, or a Kepler, those +great philosophers, whose discoveries have been of the profoundest +benefit and service to all men,--to say to them--"After all that you +have told us as to how the planets revolve, and how they are maintained +in their orbits, you cannot tell us what is the cause of the origin of +the sun, moon, and stars. So what is the use of what you have done?" Yet +these objections would not be one whit more preposterous than the +objections which have been made to the 'Origin of Species.' Mr. Darwin, +then, had a perfect right to limit his inquiry as he pleased, and the +only question for us--the inquiry being so limited--is to ascertain +whether the method of his inquiry is sound or unsound; whether he has +obeyed the canons which must guide and govern all investigation, or +whether he has broken them; and it was because our inquiry this evening +is essentially limited to that question, that I spent a good deal of +time in a former lecture (which, perhaps, some of you thought might have +been better employed), in endeavouring to illustrate the method and +nature of scientific inquiry in general. We shall now have to put in +practice the principles that I then laid down. + +I stated to you in substance, if not in words, that wherever there are +complex masses of phenomena to be inquired into, whether they be +phenomena of the affairs of daily life, or whether they belong to the +more abstruse and difficult problems laid before the philosopher, our +course of proceeding in unravelling that complex chain of phenomena with +a view to get at its cause, is always the same; in all cases we must +invent an hypothesis; we must place before ourselves some more or less +likely supposition respecting that cause; and then, having assumed an +hypothesis, having supposed cause for the phenomena in question, we must +endeavour, on the one hand, to demonstrate our hypothesis, or, on the +other, to upset and reject it altogether, by testing it in three ways. +We must, in the first place, be prepared to prove that the supposed +causes of the phenomena exist in nature; that they are what the +logicians call 'vera causae'--true causes;--in the next place, we should +be prepared to show that the assumed causes of the phenomena are +competent to produce such phenomena as those which we wish to explain by +them; and in the last place, we ought to be able to show that no other +known causes are competent to produce those phenomena. If we can succeed +in satisfying these three conditions we shall have demonstrated our +hypothesis; or rather I ought to say we shall have proved it as far as +certainty is possible for us; for, after all, there is no one of our +surest convictions which may not be upset, or at any rate modified by a +further accession of knowledge. It was because it satisfied these +conditions that we accepted the hypothesis as to the disappearance of +the tea-pot and spoons in the case I supposed in a previous lecture; we +found that our hypothesis on that subject was tenable and valid, because +the supposed cause existed in nature, because it was competent to +account for the phenomena, and because no other known cause was +competent to account for them; and it is upon similar grounds that any +hypothesis you choose to name is accepted in science as tenable and +valid. + +What is Mr. Darwin's hypothesis? As I apprehend it--for I have put it +into a shape more convenient for common purposes than I could find +'verbatim' in his book--as I apprehend it, I say, it is, that all the +phenomena of organic nature, past and present, result from, or are +caused by, the inter-action of those properties of organic matter, which +we have called ATAVISM and VARIABILITY, with the CONDITIONS OF +EXISTENCE; or, in other words,--given the existence of organic matter, +its tendency to transmit its properties, and its tendency occasionally +to vary; and, lastly, given the conditions of existence by which organic +matter is surrounded--that these put together are the causes of the +Present and of the Past conditions of ORGANIC NATURE. + +Such is the hypothesis as I understand it. Now let us see how it will +stand the various tests which I laid down just now. In the first place, +do these supposed causes of the phenomena exist in nature? Is it the +fact that in nature these properties of organic matter--atavism and +variability--and those phenomena which we have called the conditions of +existence,--is it true that they exist? Well, of course, if they do not +exist, all that I have told you in the last three or four lectures must +be incorrect, because I have been attempting to prove that they do +exist, and I take it that there is abundant evidence that they do exist; +so far, therefore, the hypothesis does not break down. + +But in the next place comes a much more difficult inquiry:--Are the +causes indicated competent to give rise to the phenomena of organic +nature? I suspect that this is indubitable to a certain extent. It is +demonstrable, I think, as I have endeavoured to show you, that they are +perfectly competent to give rise to all the phenomena which are +exhibited by RACES in nature. Furthermore, I believe that they are quite +competent to account for all that we may call purely structural +phenomena which are exhibited by SPECIES in nature. On that point also I +have already enlarged somewhat. Again, I think that the causes assumed +are competent to account for most of the physiological characteristics +of species, and I not only think that they are competent to account for +them, but I think that they account for many things which otherwise +remain wholly unaccountable and inexplicable, and I may say +incomprehensible. For a full exposition of the grounds on which this +conviction is based, I must refer you to Mr. Darwin's work; all that I +can do now is to illustrate what I have said by two or three cases taken +almost at random. + +I drew your attention, on a previous evening, to the facts which are +embodied in our systems of Classification, which are the results of the +examination and comparison of the different members of the animal +kingdom one with another. I mentioned that the whole of the animal +kingdom is divisible into five sub-kingdoms; that each of these +sub-kingdoms is again divisible into provinces; that each province may +be divided into classes, and the classes into the successively smaller +groups, orders, families, genera, and species. + +Now, in each of these groups, the resemblance in structure among the +members of the group is closer in proportion as the group is smaller. +Thus, a man and a worm are members of the animal kingdom in virtue of +certain apparently slight though really fundamental resemblances which +they present. But a man and a fish are members of the same sub-kingdom +'Vertebrata', because they are much more like one another than either of +them is to a worm, or a snail, or any member of the other sub-kingdoms. +For similar reasons men and horses are arranged as members of the same +Class, 'Mammalia'; men and apes as members of the same Order, +'Primates'; and if there were any animals more like men than they were +like any of the apes, and yet different from men in important and +constant particulars of their organization, we should rank them as +members of the same Family, or of the same Genus, but as of distinct +Species. + +That it is possible to arrange all the varied forms of animals into +groups, having this sort of singular subordination one to the other, is +a very remarkable circumstance; but, as Mr. Darwin remarks, this is a +result which is quite to be expected, if the principles which he lays +down be correct. Take the case of the races which are known to be +produced by the operation of atavism and variability, and the conditions +of existence which check and modify these tendencies. Take the case of +the pigeons that I brought before you; there it was shown that they +might be all classed as belonging to some one of five principal +divisions, and that within these divisions other subordinate groups +might be formed. The members of these groups are related to one another +in just the same way as the genera of a family, and the groups +themselves as the families of an order, or the orders of a class; while +all have the same sort of structural relations with the wild +rock-pigeon, as the members of any great natural group have with a real +or imaginary typical form. Now, we know that all varieties of pigeons of +every kind have arisen by a process of selective breeding from a common +stock, the rock-pigeon; hence, you see, that if all species of animals +have proceeded from some common stock, the general character of their +structural relations, and of our systems of classification, which +express those relations, would be just what we find them to be. In other +words, the hypothetical cause is, so far, competent to produce effects +similar to those of the real cause. + +Take, again, another set of very remarkable facts,--the existence of +what are called rudimentary organs, organs for which we can find no +obvious use, in the particular animal economy in which they are found, +and yet which are there. + +Such are the splint-like bones in the leg of the horse, which I here +show you, and which correspond with bones which belong to certain toes +and fingers in the human hand and foot. In the horse you see they are +quite rudimentary, and bear neither toes nor fingers; so that the horse +has only one "finger" in his fore-foot and one "toe" in his hind foot. +But it is a very curious thing that the animals closely allied to the +horse show more toes than he; as the rhinoceros, for instance: he has +these extra toes well formed, and anatomical facts show very clearly +that he is very closely related to the horse indeed. So we may say that +animals, in an anatomical sense nearly related to the horse, have those +parts which are rudimentary in him, fully developed. + +Again, the sheep and the cow have no cutting-teeth, but only a hard pad +in the upper jaw. That is the common characteristic of ruminants in +general. But the calf has in its upper jaw some rudiments of teeth which +never are developed, and never play the part of teeth at all. Well, if +you go back in time, you find some of the older, now extinct, allies of +the ruminants have well-developed teeth in their upper jaws; and at the +present day the pig (which is in structure closely connected with +ruminants) has well-developed teeth in its upper jaw; so that here is +another instance of organs well-developed and very useful, in one +animal, represented by rudimentary organs, for which we can discover no +purpose whatsoever, in another closely allied animal. The whalebone +whale, again, has horny "whalebone" plates in its mouth, and no teeth; +but the young foetal whale, before it is born, has teeth in its jaws; +they, however, are never used, and they never come to anything. But +other members of the group to which the whale belongs have +well-developed teeth in both jaws. + +Upon any hypothesis of special creation, facts of this kind appear to me +to be entirely unaccountable and inexplicable, but they cease to be so +if you accept Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, and see reason for believing that +the whalebone whale and the whale with teeth in its mouth both sprang +from a whale that had teeth, and that the teeth of the foetal whale are +merely remnants--recollections, if we may so say--of the extinct whale. +So in the case of the horse and the rhinoceros: suppose that both have +descended by modification from some earlier form which had the normal +number of toes, and the persistence of the rudimentary bones which no +longer support toes in the horse becomes comprehensible. + +In the language that we speak in England, and in the language of the +Greeks, there are identical verbal roots, or elements entering into the +composition of words. That fact remains unintelligible so long as we +suppose English and Greek to be independently created tongues; but when +it is shown that both languages are descended from one original, the +Sanscrit, we give an explanation of that resemblance. In the same way +the existence of identical structural roots, if I may so term them, +entering into the composition of widely different animals, is striking +evidence in favour of the descent of those animals from a common +original. + +To turn to another kind of illustration:--If you regard the whole series +of stratified rocks--that enormous thickness of sixty or seventy +thousand feet that I have mentioned before, constituting the only record +we have of a most prodigious lapse of time, that time being, in all +probability, but a fraction of that of which we have no record;--if you +observe in these successive strata of rocks successive groups of animals +arising and dying out, a constant succession, giving you the same kind +of impression, as you travel from one group of strata to another, as you +would have in travelling from one country to another;--when you find +this constant succession of forms, their traces obliterated except to +the man of science,--when you look at this wonderful history, and ask +what it means, it is only a paltering with words if you are offered the +reply,--'They were so created.' + +But if, on the other hand, you look on all forms of organized beings as +the results of the gradual modification of a primitive type, the facts +receive a meaning, and you see that these older conditions are the +necessary predecessors of the present. Viewed in this light the facts of +palaeontology receive a meaning--upon any other hypothesis, I am unable +to see, in the slightest degree, what knowledge or signification we are +to draw out of them. Again, note as bearing upon the same point, the +singular likeness which obtains between the successive Faunae and +Florae, whose remains are preserved on the rocks: you never find any +great and enormous difference between the immediately successive Faunae +and Florae, unless you have reason to believe there has also been a +great lapse of time or a great change of conditions. The animals, for +instance, of the newest tertiary rocks, in any part of the world, are +always, and without exception, found to be closely allied with those +which now live in that part of the world. For example, in Europe, Asia, +and Africa, the large mammals are at present rhinoceroses, +hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, tigers, oxen, horses, etc.; and if you +examine the newest tertiary deposits, which contain the animals and +plants which immediately preceded those which now exist in the same +country, you do not find gigantic specimens of ant-eaters and kangaroos, +but you find rhinoceroses, elephants, lions, tigers, etc.,--of different +species to those now living,--but still their close allies. If you turn +to South America, where, at the present day, we have great sloths and +armadilloes and creatures of that kind, what do you find in the newest +tertiaries? You find the great sloth-like creature, the 'Megatherium', +and the great armadillo, the 'Glyptodon', and so on. And if you go to +Australia you find the same law holds good, namely, that that condition +of organic nature which has preceded the one which now exists, presents +differences perhaps of species, and of genera, but that the great types +of organic structure are the same as those which now flourish. + +What meaning has this fact upon any other hypothesis or supposition than +one of successive modification? But if the population of the world, in +any age, is the result of the gradual modification of the forms which +peopled it in the preceding age,--if that has been the case, it is +intelligible enough; because we may expect that the creature that +results from the modification of an elephantine mammal shall be +something like an elephant, and the creature which is produced by the +modification of an armadillo-like mammal shall be like an armadillo. +Upon that supposition, I say, the facts are intelligible; upon any +other, that I am aware of, they are not. + +So far, the facts of palaeontology are consistent with almost any form +of the doctrine of progressive modification; they would not be +absolutely inconsistent with the wild speculations of De Maillet, or +with the less objectionable hypothesis of Lamarck. But Mr. Darwin's +views have one peculiar merit; and that is, that they are perfectly +consistent with an array of facts which are utterly inconsistent with +and fatal to, any other hypothesis of progressive modification which has +yet been advanced. It is one remarkable peculiarity of Mr. Darwin's +hypothesis that it involves no necessary progression or incessant +modification, and that it is perfectly consistent with the persistence +for any length of time of a given primitive stock, contemporaneously +with its modifications. To return to the case of the domestic breeds of +pigeons, for example; you have the Dove-cot pigeon, which closely +resembles the Rock pigeon, from which they all started, existing at the +same time with the others. And if species are developed in the same way +in nature, a primitive stock and its modifications may, occasionally, +all find the conditions fitted for their existence; and though they come +into competition, to a certain extent, with one another, the derivative +species may not necessarily extirpate the primitive one, or 'vice +versa'. + +Now palaeontology shows us many facts which are perfectly harmonious +with these observed effects of the process by which Mr. Darwin supposes +species to have originated, but which appear to me to be totally +inconsistent with any other hypothesis which has been proposed. There +are some groups of animals and plants, in the fossil world, which have +been said to belong to "persistent types," because they have persisted, +with very little change indeed, through a very great range of time, +while everything about them has changed largely. There are families of +fishes whose type of construction has persisted all the way from the +carboniferous rock right up to the cretaceous; and others which have +lasted through almost the whole range of the secondary rocks, and from +the lias to the older tertiaries. It is something stupendous this--to +consider a genus lasting without essential modifications through all +this enormous lapse of time while almost everything else was changed and +modified. + +Thus I have no doubt that Mr. Darwin's hypothesis will be found +competent to explain the majority of the phenomena exhibited by species +in nature; but in an earlier lecture I spoke cautiously with respect to +its power of explaining all the physiological peculiarities of species. + +There is, in fact, one set of these peculiarities which the theory of +selective modification, as it stands at present, is not wholly competent +to explain, and that is the group of phenomena which I mentioned to you +under the name of Hybridism, and which I explained to consist in the +sterility of the offspring of certain species when crossed one with +another. It matters not one whit whether this sterility is universal, or +whether it exists only in a single case. Every hypothesis is bound to +explain, or, at any rate, not be inconsistent with, the whole of the +facts which it professes to account for; and if there is a single one of +these facts which can be shown to be inconsistent with (I do not merely +mean inexplicable by, but contrary to) the hypothesis, the hypothesis +falls to the ground,--it is worth nothing. One fact with which it is +positively inconsistent is worth as much, and as powerful in negativing +the hypothesis, as five hundred. If I am right in thus defining the +obligations of an hypothesis, Mr. Darwin, in order to place his views +beyond the reach of all possible assault, ought to be able to +demonstrate the possibility of developing from a particular stock by +selective breeding, two forms, which should either be unable to cross +one with another, or whose cross-bred offspring should be infertile with +one another. + +For, you see, if you have not done that you have not strictly fulfilled +all the conditions of the problem; you have not shown that you can +produce, by the cause assumed, all the phenomena which you have in +nature. Here are the phenomena of Hybridism staring you in the face, and +you cannot say, 'I can, by selective modification, produce these same +results.' Now, it is admitted on all hands that, at present, so far as +experiments have gone, it has not been found possible to produce this +complete physiological divergence by selective breeding. I stated this +very clearly before, and I now refer to the point, because, if it could +be proved, not only that this HAS not been done, but that it CANNOT be +done; if it could be demonstrated that it is impossible to breed +selectively, from any stock, a form which shall not breed with another, +produced from the same stock; and if we were shown that this must be the +necessary and inevitable results of all experiments, I hold that Mr. +Darwin's hypothesis would be utterly shattered. + +But has this been done? or what is really the state of the case? It is +simply that, so far as we have gone yet with our breeding, we have not +produced from a common stock two breeds which are not more or less +fertile with one another. + +I do not know that there is a single fact which would justify any one in +saying that any degree of sterility has been observed between breeds +absolutely known to have been produced by selective breeding from a +common stock. On the other hand, I do not know that there is a single +fact which can justify any one in asserting that such sterility cannot +be produced by proper experimentation. For my own part, I see every +reason to believe that it may, and will be so produced. For, as Mr. +Darwin has very properly urged, when we consider the phenomena of +sterility, we find they are most capricious; we do not know what it is +that the sterility depends on. There are some animals which will not +breed in captivity; whether it arises from the simple fact of their +being shut up and deprived of their liberty, or not, we do not know, but +they certainly will not breed. What an astounding thing this is, to find +one of the most important of all functions annihilated by mere +imprisonment! + +So, again, there are cases known of animals which have been thought by +naturalists to be undoubted species, which have yielded perfectly +fertile hybrids; while there are other species which present what +everybody believes to be varieties* which are more or less infertile +with one another. ([Footnote] *And as I conceive with very good reason; +but if any objector urges that we cannot prove that they have been +produced by artificial or natural selection, the objection must be +admitted--ultrasceptical as it is. But in science, scepticism is a +duty.) There are other cases which are truly extraordinary; there is +one, for example, which has been carefully examined,--of two kinds of +sea-weed, of which the male element of the one, which we may call A, +fertilizes the female element of the other, B; while the male element of +B will not fertilize the female element of A; so that, while the former +experiment seems to show us that they are 'varieties', the latter leads +to the conviction that they are 'species'. + +When we see how capricious and uncertain this sterility is, how unknown +the conditions on which it depends, I say that we have no right to +affirm that those conditions will not be better understood by and by, +and we have no ground for supposing that we may not be able to +experiment so as to obtain that crucial result which I mentioned just +now. So that though Mr. Darwin's hypothesis does not completely +extricate us from this difficulty at present, we have not the least +right to say it will not do so. + +There is a wide gulf between the thing you cannot explain and the thing +that upsets you altogether. There is hardly any hypothesis in this world +which has not some fact in connection with it which has not been +explained, but that is a very different affair to a fact that entirely +opposes your hypothesis; in this case all you can say is, that your +hypothesis is in the same position as a good many others. + +Now, as to the third test, that there are no other causes competent to +explain the phenomena, I explained to you that one should be able to say +of an hypothesis, that no other known causes than those supposed by it +are competent to give rise to the phenomena. Here, I think, Mr. Darwin's +view is pretty strong. I really believe that the alternative is either +Darwinism or nothing, for I do not know of any rational conception or +theory of the organic universe which has any scientific position at all +beside Mr. Darwin's. I do not know of any proposition that has been put +before us with the intention of explaining the phenomena of organic +nature, which has in its favour a thousandth part of the evidence which +may be adduced in favour of Mr. Darwin's views. Whatever may be the +objections to his views, certainly all others are absolutely out of +court. + +Take the Lamarckian hypothesis, for example. Lamarck was a great +naturalist, and to a certain extent went the right way to work; he +argued from what was undoubtedly a true cause of some of the phenomena +of organic nature. He said it is a matter of experience that an animal +may be modified more or less in consequence of its desires and +consequent actions. Thus, if a man exercise himself as a blacksmith, his +arms will become strong and muscular; such organic modification is a +result of this particular action and exercise. Lamarck thought that by a +very simple supposition based on this truth he could explain the origin +of the various animal species: he said, for example, that the +short-legged birds which live on fish had been converted into the +long-legged waders by desiring to get the fish without wetting their +bodies, and so stretching their legs more and more through successive +generations. If Lamarck could have shown experimentally, that even races +of animals could be produced in this way, there might have been some +ground for his speculations. But he could show nothing of the kind, and +his hypothesis has pretty well dropped into oblivion, as it deserved to +do. I said in an earlier lecture that there are hypotheses and +hypotheses, and when people tell you that Mr. Darwin's strongly-based +hypothesis is nothing but a mere modification of Lamarck's, you will +know what to think of their capacity for forming a judgment on this +subject. + +But you must recollect that when I say I think it is either Mr. Darwin's +hypothesis or nothing; that either we must take his view, or look upon +the whole of organic nature as an enigma, the meaning of which is wholly +hidden from us; you must understand that I mean that I accept it +provisionally, in exactly the same way as I accept any other hypothesis. +Men of science do not pledge themselves to creeds; they are bound by +articles of no sort; there is not a single belief that it is not a +bounden duty with them to hold with a light hand and to part with it +cheerfully, the moment it is really proved to be contrary to any fact, +great or small. And if, in course of time I see good reasons for such a +proceeding, I shall have no hesitation in coming before you, and +pointing out any change in my opinion without finding the slightest +occasion to blush for so doing. So I say that we accept this view as we +accept any other, so long as it will help us, and we feel bound to +retain it only so long as it will serve our great purpose--the +improvement of Man's estate and the widening of his knowledge. The +moment this, or any other conception, ceases to be useful for these +purposes, away with it to the four winds; we care not what becomes of +it! + +But to say truth, although it has been my business to attend closely to +the controversies roused by the publication of Mr. Darwin's book, I +think that not one of the enormous mass of objections and obstacles +which have been raised is of any very great value, except that sterility +case which I brought before you just now. All the rest are +misunderstandings of some sort, arising either from prejudice, or want +of knowledge, or still more from want of patience and care in reading +the work. + +For you must recollect that it is not a book to be read with as much +ease as its pleasant style may lead you to imagine. You spin through it +as if it were a novel the first time you read it, and think you know all +about it; the second time you read it you think you know rather less +about it; and the third time, you are amazed to find how little you have +really apprehended its vast scope and objects. I can positively say that +I never take it up without finding in it some new view, or light, or +suggestion that I have not noticed before. That is the best +characteristic of a thorough and profound book; and I believe this +feature of the 'Origin of Species' explains why so many persons have +ventured to pass judgment and criticisms upon it which are by no means +worth the paper they are written on. + +Before concluding these lectures there is one point to which I must +advert,--though, as Mr. Darwin has said nothing about man in his book, +it concerns myself rather than him;--for I have strongly maintained on +sundry occasions that if Mr. Darwin's views are sound, they apply as +much to man as to the lower mammals, seeing that it is perfectly +demonstrable that the structural differences which separate man from the +apes are not greater than those which separate some apes from others. +There cannot be the slightest doubt in the world that the argument which +applies to the improvement of the horse from an earlier stock, or of ape +from ape, applies to the improvement of man from some simpler and lower +stock than man. There is not a single faculty--functional or structural, +moral, intellectual, or instinctive,--there is no faculty whatever that +is not capable of improvement; there is no faculty whatsoever which does +not depend upon structure, and as structure tends to vary, it is capable +of being improved. + +Well, I have taken a good deal of pains at various times to prove this, +and I have endeavoured to meet the objections of those who maintain, +that the structural differences between man and the lower animals are of +so vast a character and enormous extent, that even if Mr. Darwin's views +are correct, you cannot imagine this particular modification to take +place. It is, in fact, easy matter to prove that, so far as structure is +concerned, man differs to no greater extent from the animals which are +immediately below him than these do from other members of the same +order. Upon the other hand, there is no one who estimates more highly +than I do the dignity of human nature, and the width of the gulf in +intellectual and moral matters, which lies between man and the whole of +the lower creation. + +But I find this very argument brought forward vehemently by some. "You +say that man has proceeded from a modification of some lower animal, and +you take pains to prove that the structural differences which are said +to exist in his brain do not exist at all, and you teach that all +functions, intellectual, moral, and others, are the expression or the +result, in the long run, of structures, and of the molecular forces +which they exert." It is quite true that I do so. + +"Well, but," I am told at once, somewhat triumphantly, "you say in the +same breath that there is a great moral and intellectual chasm between +man and the lower animals. How is this possible when you declare that +moral and intellectual characteristics depend on structure, and yet tell +us that there is no such gulf between the structure of man and that of +the lower animals?" + +I think that objection is based upon a misconception of the real +relations which exist between structure and function, between mechanism +and work. Function is the expression of molecular forces and +arrangements no doubt; but, does it follow from this, that variation in +function so depends upon variation in structure that the former is +always exactly proportioned to the latter? If there is no such relation, +if the variation in function which follows on a variation in structure, +may be enormously greater than the variation of the structure, then, you +see, the objection falls to the ground. + +Take a couple of watches--made by the same maker, and as completely +alike as possible; set them upon the table, and the function of +each--which is its rate of going--will be performed in the same manner, +and you shall be able to distinguish no difference between them; but let +me take a pair of pincers, and if my hand is steady enough to do it, let +me just lightly crush together the bearings of the balance-wheel, or +force to a slightly different angle the teeth of the escapement of one +of them, and of course you know the immediate result will be that the +watch, so treated, from that moment will cease to go. But what +proportion is there between the structural alteration and the functional +result? Is it not perfectly obvious that the alteration is of the +minutest kind, yet that slight as it is, it has produced an infinite +difference in the performance of the functions of these two instruments? + +Well, now, apply that to the present question. What is it that +constitutes and makes man what he is? What is it but his power of +language--that language giving him the means of recording his +experience--making every generation somewhat wiser than its +predecessor,--more in accordance with the established order of the +universe? + +What is it but this power of speech, of recording experience, which +enables men to be men--looking before and after and, in some dim sense, +understanding the working of this wondrous universe--and which +distinguishes man from the whole of the brute world? I say that this +functional difference is vast, unfathomable, and truly infinite in its +consequences; and I say at the same time, that it may depend upon +structural differences which shall be absolutely inappreciable to us +with our present means of investigation. What is this very speech that +we are talking about? I am speaking to you at this moment, but if you +were to alter, in the minutest degree, the proportion of the nervous +forces now active in the two nerves which supply the muscles of my +glottis, I should become suddenly dumb. The voice is produced only so +long as the vocal chords are parallel; and these are parallel only so +long as certain muscles contract with exact equality; and that again +depends on the equality of action of those two nerves I spoke of. So +that a change of the minutest kind in the structure of one of these +nerves, or in the structure of the part in which it originates, or of +the supply of blood to that part, or of one of the muscles to which it +is distributed, might render all of us dumb. But a race of dumb men, +deprived of all communication with those who could speak, would be +little indeed removed from the brutes. And the moral and intellectual +difference between them and ourselves would be practically infinite, +though the naturalist should not be able to find a single shadow of even +specific structural difference. + +But let me dismiss this question now, and, in conclusion, let me say +that you may go away with it as my mature conviction, that Mr. Darwin's +work is the greatest contribution which has been made to biological +science since the publication of the 'Regne Animal' of Cuvier, and since +that of the 'History of Development' of Von Baer. I believe that if you +strip it of its theoretical part it still remains one of the greatest +encyclopaedias of biological doctrine that any one man ever brought +forth; and I believe that, if you take it as the embodiment of an +hypothesis, it is destined to be the guide of biological and +psychological speculation for the next three or four generations. + +End of A Critical Examination of "On The Origin of Species". + +*** + + +THE DARWINIAN HYPOTHESIS.* + +([Footnote] *'Times', December 26th, 1850.) + +DARWIN ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. + +There is a growing immensity in the speculations of science to which no +human thing or thought at this day is comparable. Apart from the results +which science brings us home and securely harvests, there is an +expansive force and latitude in its tentative efforts, which lifts us +out of ourselves and transfigures our mortality. We may have a +preference for moral themes, like the Homeric sage, who had seen and +known much:-- + + "Cities of men + And manners, climates, councils, governments"; + +yet we must end by confession that + + "The windy ways of men + Are but dust which rises up + And is lightly laid again," + +in comparison with the work of nature, to which science testifies, but +which has no boundaries in time or space to which science can +approximate. + +There is something altogether out of the reach of science, and yet the +compass of science is practically illimitable. Hence it is that from +time to time we are startled and perplexed by theories which have no +parallel in the contracted moral world; for the generalizations of +science sweep on in ever-widening circles, and more aspiring flights, +through a limitless creation. While astronomy, with its telescope, +ranges beyond the known stars, and physiology, with its microscope, is +subdividing infinite minutiae, we may expect that our historic centuries +may be treated as inadequate counters in the history of the planet on +which we are placed. We must expect new conceptions of the nature and +relations of its denizens, as science acquires the materials for fresh +generalizations; nor have we occasion for alarms if a highly advanced +knowledge, like that of the eminent Naturalist before us, confronts us +with an hypothesis as vast as it is novel. This hypothesis may or may +not be sustainable hereafter; it may give way to something else, and +higher science may reverse what science has here built up with so much +skill and patience, but its sufficiency must be tried by the tests of +science alone, if we are to maintain our position as the heirs of Bacon +and the acquitters of Galileo. We must weigh this hypothesis strictly in +the controversy which is coming, by the only tests which are +appropriate, and by no others whatsoever. + +The hypothesis to which we point, and of which the present work of Mr. +Darwin is but the preliminary outline, may be stated in his own language +as follows:--"Species originated by means of natural selection, or +through the preservation of the favoured races in the struggle for +life." To render this thesis intelligible, it is necessary to interpret +its terms. In the first place, what is a species? The question is a +simple one, but the right answer to it is hard to find, even if we +appeal to those who should know most about it. It is all those animals +or plants which have descended from a single pair of parents; it is the +smallest distinctly definable group of living organisms; it is an +eternal and immutable entity; it is a mere abstraction of the human +intellect having no existence in nature. Such are a few of the +significations attached to this simple word which may be culled from +authoritative sources; and if, leaving terms and theoretical subtleties +aside, we turn to facts and endeavour to gather a meaning for ourselves, +by studying the things to which, in practice, the name of species is +applied, it profits us little. For practice varies as much as theory. +Let the botanist or the zoologist examine and describe the productions +of a country, and one will pretty certainly disagree with the other as +to the number, limits, and definitions of the species into which he +groups the very same things. In these islands, we are in the habit of +regarding mankind as of one species, but a fortnight's steam will land +us in a country where divines and savants, for once in agreement, vie +with one another in loudness of assertion, if not in cogency of proof, +that men are of different species; and, more particularly, that the +species negro is so distinct from our own that the Ten Commandments have +actually no reference to him. Even in the calm region of entomology, +where, if anywhere in this sinful world, passion and prejudice should +fail to stir the mind, one learned coleopterist will fill ten attractive +volumes with descriptions of species of beetles, nine-tenths of which +are immediately declared by his brother beetle-mongers to be no species +at all. + +The truth is that the number of distinguishable living creatures almost +surpasses imagination. At least a hundred thousand such kinds of insects +alone have been described and may be identified in collections, and the +number of separable kinds of living things is under estimated at half a +million. Seeing that most of these obvious kinds have their accidental +varieties, and that they often shade into others by imperceptible +degrees, it may well be imagined that the task of distinguishing between +what is permanent and what fleeting, what is a species and what a mere +variety, is sufficiently formidable. + +But is it not possible to apply a test whereby a true species may be +known from a mere variety? Is there no criterion of species? Great +authorities affirm that there is--that the unions of members of the same +species are always fertile, while those of distinct species are either +sterile, or their offspring, called hybrids, are so. It is affirmed not +only that this is an experimental fact, but that it is a provision for +the preservation of the purity of species. Such a criterion as this +would be invaluable; but, unfortunately, not only is it not obvious how +to apply it in the great majority of cases in which its aid is needed, +but its general validity is stoutly denied. The Hon. and Rev. Mr. +Herbert, a most trustworthy authority, not only asserts as the result of +his own observations and experiments that many hybrids are quite as +fertile as the parent species, but he goes so far as to assert that the +particular plant 'Crinum capense' is much more fertile when crossed by a +distinct species than when fertilised by its proper pollen! On the other +hand, the famous Gaertner, though he took the greatest pains to cross +the primrose and the cowslip, succeeded only once or twice in several +years; and yet it is a well-established fact that the primrose and the +cowslip are only varieties of the same kind of plant. Again, such cases +as the following are well established. The female of species A, if +crossed with the male of species B, is fertile; but, if the female of B +is crossed with the male of A, she remains barren. Facts of this kind +destroy the value of the supposed criterion. + +If, weary of the endless difficulties involved in the determination of +species, the investigator, contenting himself with the rough practical +distinction of separable kinds, endeavours to study them as they occur +in nature--to ascertain their relations to the conditions which surround +them, their mutual harmonies and discordances of structure, the bond of +union of their parts and their past history, he finds himself, according +to the received notions, in a mighty maze, and with, at most, the +dimmest adumbration of a plan. If he starts with any one clear +conviction, it is that every part of a living creature is cunningly +adapted to some special use in its life. Has not his Paley told him that +that seemingly useless organ, the spleen, is beautifully adjusted as so +much packing between the other organs? And yet, at the outset of his +studies, he finds that no adaptive reason whatsoever can be given for +one-half of the peculiarities of vegetable structure; he also discovers +rudimentary teeth, which are never used, in the gums of the young calf +and in those of the foetal whale; insects which never bite have +rudimental jaws, and others which never fly have rudimental wings; +naturally blind creatures have rudimental eyes; and the halt have +rudimentary limbs. So, again, no animal or plant puts on its perfect +form at once, but all have to start from the same point, however various +the course which each has to pursue. Not only men and horses, and cats +and dogs, lobsters and beetles, periwinkles and mussels, but even the +very sponges and animalcules commence their existence under forms which +are essentially undistinguishable; and this is true of all the infinite +variety of plants. Nay, more, all living beings march side by side along +the high road of development, and separate the later the more like they +are; like people leaving church, who all go down the aisle, but having +reached the door some turn into the parsonage, others go down the +village, and others part only in the next parish. A man in his +development runs for a little while parallel with, though never passing +through, the form of the meanest worm, then travels for a space beside +the fish, then journeys along with the bird and the reptile for his +fellow travellers; and only at last, after a brief companionship with +the highest of the four-footed and four-handed world, rises into the +dignity of pure manhood. No competent thinker of the present day dreams +of explaining these indubitable facts by the notion of the existence of +unknown and undiscoverable adaptations to purpose. And we would remind +those who, ignorant of the facts, must be moved by authority, that no +one has asserted the incompetence of the doctrine of final causes, in +its application to physiology and anatomy, more strongly than our own +eminent anatomist, Professor Owen, who, speaking of such cases, says +('On the Nature of Limbs', pp. 39, 40): "I think it will be obvious that +the principle of final adaptations fails to satisfy all the conditions +of the problem." + +But, if the doctrine of final causes will not help us to comprehend the +anomalies of living structure, the principle of adaptation must surely +lead us to understand why certain living beings are found in certain +regions of the world and not in others. The palm, as we know, will not +grow in our climate, nor the oak in Greenland. The white bear cannot +live where the tiger thrives, nor 'vice versa', and the more the natural +habits of animal and vegetable species are examined, the more do they +seem, on the whole, limited to particular provinces. But when we look +into the facts established by the study of the geographical distribution +of animals and plants it seems utterly hopeless to attempt to understand +the strange and apparently capricious relations which they exhibit. One +would be inclined to suppose 'a priori' that every country must be +naturally peopled by those animals that are fittest to live and thrive +in it. And yet how, on this hypothesis, are we to account for the +absence of cattle in the Pampas of South America, when those parts of +the New World were discovered? It is not that they were unfit for +cattle, for millions of cattle now run wild there; and the like holds +good of Australia and New Zealand. It is a curious circumstance, in +fact, that the animals and plants of the Northern Hemisphere are not +only as well adapted to live in the Southern Hemisphere as its own +autochthones, but are in many cases absolutely better adapted, and so +overrun and extirpate the aborigines. Clearly, therefore, the species +which naturally inhabit a country are not necessarily the best adapted +to its climate and other conditions. The inhabitants of islands are +often distinct from any other known species of animal or plants (witness +our recent examples from the work of Sir Emerson Tennent, on Ceylon), +and yet they have almost always a sort of general family resemblance to +the animals and plants of the nearest mainland. On the other hand, there +is hardly a species of fish, shell, or crab common to the opposite sides +of the narrow isthmus of Panama. Wherever we look, then, living nature +offers us riddles of difficult solution, if we suppose that what we see +is all that can be known of it. + +But our knowledge of life is not confined to the existing world. +Whatever their minor differences, geologists are agreed as to the vast +thickness of the accumulated strata which compose the visible part of +our earth, and the inconceivable immensity of the time of whose lapse +they are the imperfect, but the only accessible witnesses. Now, +throughout the greater part of this long series of stratified rocks are +scattered, sometimes very abundantly, multitudes of organic remains, the +fossilized exuviae of animals and plants which lived and died while the +mud of which the rocks are formed was yet soft ooze, and could receive +and bury them. It would be a great error to suppose that these organic +remains were fragmentary relics. Our museums exhibit fossil shells of +immeasurable antiquity, as perfect as the day they were formed, whole +skeletons without a limb disturbed--nay, the changed flesh, the +developing embryos, and even the very footsteps of primeval organisms. +Thus the naturalist finds in the bowels of the earth species as well +defined as, and in some groups of animals more numerous than, those that +breathe the upper air. But, singularly enough, the majority of these +entombed species are wholly distinct from those that now live. Nor is +this unlikeness without its rule and order. As a broad fact, the further +we go back in time the less the buried species are like existing forms; +and the further apart the sets of extinct creatures are the less they +are like one another. In other words, there has been a regular +succession of living beings, each younger set being in a very broad and +general sense somewhat more like those which now live. + +It was once supposed that this succession had been the result of vast +successive catastrophes, destructions, and re-creations en masse; but +catastrophes are now almost eliminated from geological, or at least +palaeontological speculation; and it is admitted on all hands that the +seeming breaks in the chain of being are not absolute, but only relative +to our imperfect knowledge; that species have replaced species, not in +assemblages, but one by one; and that, if it were possible to have all +the phenomena of the past presented to us, the convenient epochs and +formations of the geologist, though having a certain distinctness, would +fade into one another with limits as undefinable as those of the +distinct and yet separable colours of the solar spectrum. + +Such is a brief summary of the main truths which have been established +concerning species. Are these truths ultimate and irresolvable facts, or +are their complexities and perplexities the mere expressions of a higher +law? + +A large number of persons practically assume the former position to be +correct. They believe that the writer of the Pentateuch was empowered +and commissioned to teach us scientific as well as other truth, that the +account we find there of the creation of living things is simply and +literally correct, and that anything which seems to contradict it is, by +the nature of the case, false. All the phenomena which have been +detailed are, on this view, the immediate product of a creative fiat and +consequently are out of the domain of science altogether. + +Whether this view prove ultimately to be true or false, it is, at any +rate, not at present supported by what is commonly regarded as logical +proof, even if it be capable of discussion by reason; and hence we +consider ourselves at liberty to pass it by, and to turn to those views +which profess to rest on a scientific basis only, and therefore admit of +being argued to their consequences. And we do this with the less +hesitation as it so happens that those persons who are practically +conversant with the facts of the case (plainly a considerable advantage) +have always thought fit to range themselves under the latter category. + +The majority of these competent persons have up to the present time +maintained two positions,--the first, that every species is, within +certain defined or definable limits, fixed and incapable of +modification; the second, that every species was originally produced by +a distinct creative act. The second position is obviously incapable of +proof or disproof, the direct operations of the Creator not being +subjects of science; and it must therefore be regarded as a corollary +from the first, the truth or falsehood of which is a matter of evidence. +Most persons imagine that the arguments in favour of it are +overwhelming; but to some few minds, and these, it must be confessed, +intellects of no small power and grasp of knowledge, they have not +brought conviction. Among these minds, that of the famous naturalist +Lamarck, who possessed a greater acquaintance with the lower forms of +life than any man of his day, Cuvier not excepted, and was a good +botanist to boot, occupies a prominent place. + +Two facts appear to have strongly affected the course of thought of this +remarkable man--the one, that finer or stronger links of affinity +connect all living beings with one another, and that thus the highest +creature grades by multitudinous steps into the lowest; the other, that +an organ may be developed in particular directions by exerting itself in +particular ways, and that modifications once induced may be transmitted +and become hereditary. Putting these facts together, Lamarck endeavoured +to account for the first by the operation of the second. Place an animal +in new circumstances, says he, and its needs will be altered; the new +needs will create new desires, and the attempt to gratify such desires +will result in an appropriate modification of the organs exerted. Make a +man a blacksmith, and his brachial muscles will develop in accordance +with the demands made upon them, and in like manner, says Lamarck, "the +efforts of some short-necked bird to catch fish without wetting himself +have, with time and perseverance, given rise to all our herons and +long-necked waders." + +The Lamarckian hypothesis has long since been justly condemned, and it +is the established practice for every tyro to raise his heel against the +carcass of the dead lion. But it is rarely either wise or instructive to +treat even the errors of a really great man with mere ridicule, and in +the present case the logical form of the doctrine stands on a very +different footing from its substance. + +If species have really arisen by the operation of natural conditions, we +ought to be able to find those conditions now at work; we ought to be +able to discover in nature some power adequate to modify any given kind +of animal or plant in such a manner as to give rise to another kind, +which would be admitted by naturalists as a distinct species. Lamarck +imagined that he had discovered this 'vera causa' in the admitted facts +that some organs may be modified by exercise; and that modifications, +once produced, are capable of hereditary transmission. It does not seem +to have occurred to him to inquire whether there is any reason to +believe that there are any limits to the amount of modification +producible, or to ask how long an animal is likely to endeavour to +gratify an impossible desire. The bird, in our example, would surely +have renounced fish dinners long before it had produced the least effect +on leg or neck. + +Since Lamarck's time, almost all competent naturalists have left +speculations on the origin of species to such dreamers as the author of +the 'Vestiges', by whose well-intentioned efforts the Lamarckian theory +received its final condemnation in the minds of all sound thinkers. +Notwithstanding this silence, however, the transmutation theory, as it +has been called, has been a "skeleton in the closet" to many an honest +zoologist and botanist who had a soul above the mere naming of dried +plants and skins. Surely, has such an one thought, nature is a mighty +and consistent whole, and the providential order established in the +world of life must, if we could only see it rightly, be consistent with +that dominant over the multiform shapes of brute matter. But what is the +history of astronomy, of all the branches of physics, of chemistry, of +medicine, but a narration of the steps by which the human mind has been +compelled, often sorely against its will, to recognize the operation of +secondary causes in events where ignorance beheld an immediate +intervention of a higher power? And when we know that living things are +formed of the same elements as the inorganic world, that they act and +react upon it, bound by a thousand ties of natural piety, is it +probable, nay is it possible, that they, and they alone, should have no +order in their seeming disorder, no unity in their seeming multiplicity, +should suffer no explanation by the discovery of some central and +sublime law of mutual connexion? + +Questions of this kind have assuredly often arisen, but it might have +been long before they received such expression as would have commanded +the respect and attention of the scientific world, had it not been for +the publication of the work which prompted this article. Its author, Mr. +Darwin, inheritor of a once celebrated name, won his spurs in science +when most of those now distinguished were young men, and has for the +last 20 years held a place in the front ranks of British philosophers. +After a circumnavigatory voyage, undertaken solely for the love of his +science, Mr. Darwin published a series of researches which at once +arrested the attention of naturalists and geologists; his +generalizations have since received ample confirmation, and now command +universal assent, nor is it questionable that they have had the most +important influence on the progress of science. More recently Mr. +Darwin, with a versatility which is among the rarest of gifts, turned +his attention to a most difficult question of zoology and minute +anatomy; and no living naturalist and anatomist has published a better +monograph than that which resulted from his labours. Such a man, at all +events, has not entered the sanctuary with unwashed hands, and when he +lays before us the results of 20 years' investigation and reflection we +must listen even though we be disposed to strike. But, in reading his +work it must be confessed that the attention which might at first be +dutifully, soon becomes willingly, given, so clear is the author's +thought, so outspoken his conviction, so honest and fair the candid +expression of his doubts. Those who would judge the book must read it; +we shall endeavour only to make its line of argument and its +philosophical position intelligible to the general reader in our own +way. + +The Baker-street Bazaar has just been exhibiting its familiar annual +spectacle. Straight-backed, small-headed, big-barrelled oxen, as +dissimilar from any wild species as can well be imagined, contended for +attention and praise with sheep of half-a-dozen different breeds and +styes of bloated preposterous pigs, no more like a wild boar or sow than +a city alderman is like an ourang-outang. The cattle show has been, and +perhaps may again be, succeeded by a poultry show, of whose crowing and +clucking prodigies it can only be certainly predicated that they will be +very unlike the aboriginal 'Phasianus gallus'. If the seeker after +animal anomalies is not satisfied, a turn or two in Seven Dials will +convince him that the breeds of pigeons are quite as extraordinary and +unlike one another and their parent stock, while the Horticultural +Society will provide him with any number of corresponding vegetable +aberrations from nature's types. He will learn with no little surprise, +too, in the course of his travels, that the proprietors and producers of +these animal and vegetable anomalies regard them as distinct species, +with a firm belief, the strength of which is exactly proportioned to +their ignorance of scientific biology, and which is the more remarkable +as they are all proud of their skill in ORIGINATING such "species." + +On careful inquiry it is found that all these, and the many other +artificial breeds or races of animals and plants, have been produced by +one method. The breeder--and a skilful one must be a person of much +sagacity and natural or acquired perceptive faculty--notes some slight +difference, arising he knows not how, in some individuals of his stock. +If he wish to perpetuate the difference, to form a breed with the +peculiarity in question strongly marked, he selects such male and female +individuals as exhibit the desired character, and breeds from them. +Their offspring are then carefully examined, and those which exhibit the +peculiarity the most distinctly are selected for breeding, and this +operation is repeated until the desired amount of divergence from the +primitive stock is reached. It is then found that by continuing the +process of selection--always breeding, that is, from well-marked forms, +and allowing no impure crosses to interfere,--a race may be formed, the +tendency of which to reproduce itself is exceedingly strong; nor is the +limit to the amount of divergence which may be thus produced known, but +one thing is certain, that, if certain breeds of dogs, or of pigeons, or +of horses, were known only in a fossil state, no naturalist would +hesitate in regarding them as distinct species. + +But, in all these cases we have HUMAN INTERFERENCE. Without the breeder +there would be no selection, and without the selection no race. Before +admitting the possibility of natural species having originated in any +similar way, it must be proved that there is in nature some power which +takes the place of man, and performs a selection sua sponte. It is the +claim of Mr. Darwin that he professes to have discovered the existence +and the modus operandi of this natural selection, as he terms it; and, +if he be right, the process is perfectly simple and comprehensible, and +irresistibly deducible from very familiar but well nigh forgotten facts. + +Who, for instance, has duly reflected upon all the consequences of the +marvellous struggle for existence which is daily and hourly going on +among living beings? Not only does every animal live at the expense of +some other animal or plant, but the very plants are at war. The ground +is full of seeds that cannot rise into seedlings; the seedlings rob one +another of air, light and water, the strongest robber winning the day, +and extinguishing his competitors. Year after year, the wild animals +with which man never interferes are, on the average, neither more nor +less numerous than they were; and yet we know that the annual produce of +every pair is from one to perhaps a million young,--so that it is +mathematically certain that, on the average, as many are killed by +natural causes as are born every year, and those only escape which +happen to be a little better fitted to resist destruction than those +which die. The individuals of a species are like the crew of a foundered +ship, and none but good swimmers have a chance of reaching the land. + +Such being unquestionably the necessary conditions under which living +creatures exist, Mr. Darwin discovers in them the instrument of natural +selection. Suppose that in the midst of this incessant competition some +individuals of a species (A) present accidental variations which happen +to fit them a little better than their fellows for the struggle in which +they are engaged, then the chances are in favour, not only of these +individuals being better nourished than the others, but of their +predominating over their fellows in other ways, and of having a better +chance of leaving offspring, which will of course tend to reproduce the +peculiarities of their parents. Their offspring will, by a parity of +reasoning, tend to predominate over their contemporaries, and there +being (suppose) no room for more than one species such as A, the weaker +variety will eventually be destroyed by the new destructive influence +which is thrown into the scale, and the stronger will take its place. +Surrounding conditions remaining unchanged, the new variety (which we +may call B)--supposed, for argument's sake, to be the best adapted for +these conditions which can be got out of the original stock--will remain +unchanged, all accidental deviations from the type becoming at once +extinguished, as less fit for their post than B itself. The tendency of +B to persist will grow with its persistence through successive +generations, and it will acquire all the characters of a new species. + +But, on the other hand, if the conditions of life change in any degree, +however slight, B may no longer be that form which is best adapted to +withstand their destructive, and profit by their sustaining, influence; +in which case if it should give rise to a more competent variety (C), +this will take its place and become a new species; and thus, by 'natural +selection', the species B and C will be successively derived from A. + +That this most ingenious hypothesis enables us to give a reason for many +apparent anomalies in the distribution of living beings in time and +space, and that it is not contradicted by the main phenomena of life and +organization appear to us to be unquestionable; and so far it must be +admitted to have an immense advantage over any of its predecessors. But +it is quite another matter to affirm absolutely either the truth or +falsehood of Mr. Darwin's views at the present stage of the inquiry. +Goethe has an excellent aphorism defining that state of mind which he +calls 'Thatige Skepsis'--active doubt. It is doubt which so loves truth +that it neither dares rest in doubting, nor extinguish itself by +unjustified belief; and we commend this state of mind to students of +species, with respect to Mr. Darwin's or any other hypothesis, as to +their origin. The combined investigations of another 20 years may, +perhaps, enable naturalists to say whether the modifying causes and the +selective power, which Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily shown to exist in +nature, are competent to produce all the effects he ascribes to them, or +whether, on the other hand, he has been led to over-estimate the value +of his principle of natural selection, as greatly as Lamarck +overestimated his vera causa of modification by exercise. + +But there is, at all events, one advantage possessed by the more recent +writer over his predecessor. Mr. Darwin abhors mere speculation as +nature abhors a vacuum. He is as greedy of cases and precedents as any +constitutional lawyer, and all the principles he lays down are capable +of being brought to the test of observation and experiment. The path he +bids us follow professes to be, not a mere airy track, fabricated of +ideal cobwebs, but a solid and broad bridge of facts. If it be so, it +will carry us safely over many a chasm in our knowledge, and lead us to +a region free from the snares of those fascinating but barren Virgins, +the Final Causes, against whom a high authority has so justly warned us. +"My sons, dig in the vineyard," were the last words of the old man in +the fable; and, though the sons found no treasure, they made their +fortunes by the grapes. + +End of The Darwinian Hypothesis. + +*** + + +TIME AND LIFE.* + +([Footnote] *"Macmillan's Magazine", December 1859.) + +MR. DARWIN'S "ORIGIN OF SPECIES". + +Everyone knows that that superficial film of the earth's substance, +hardly ten miles thick, which is accessible to human investigation, is +composed for the most part of beds or strata of stone, the consolidated +muds and sands of former seas and lakes, which have been deposited one +upon the other, and hence are the older the deeper they lie. These +multitudinous strata present such resemblances and differences among +themselves that they are capable of classification into groups or +formations, and these formations again are brigaded together into still +larger assemblages, called by the older geologists, primary, secondary, +and tertiary; by the moderns, palaeozoic, mesozoic, and cainozoic: the +basis of the former nomenclature being the relative age of the groups of +strata; that of the latter, the kinds of living forms contained in them. + +Though but a film if compared with the total diameter of our planet, the +total series of formations is vast indeed when measured by any human +standard, and, as all action implies time, so are we compelled to regard +these mineral masses as a measure of the time which has elapsed during +their accumulation. The amount of the time which they represent is, of +course, in the inverse proportion of the intensity of the forces which +have been in operation. If, in the ancient world, mud and sand +accumulated on sea-bottoms at tenfold their present rate, it is clear +that a bed of mud or sand ten feet thick would have been formed then in +the same time as a stratum of similar materials one foot thick would be +formed now, and 'vice versa'. + +At the outset of his studies, therefore, the physical geologist had to +choose between two hypotheses; either, throughout the ages which are +represented by the accumulated strata, and which we may call 'geologic +time', the forces of nature have operated with much same average +intensity as at present, and hence the lapse of time which they +represent must be something prodigious and inconceivable, or, in the +primeval epochs, the natural powers were infinitely more intense than +now, and hence the time through which they acted to produce the effects +we see was comparatively short. + +The earlier geologists adopted the latter view almost with one consent. +For they had little knowledge of the present workings of nature, and +they read the records of geologic time as a child reads the history of +Rome or Greece, and fancies that antiquity was grand, heroic, and unlike +the present because it is unlike his little experience of the present. + +Even so the earlier observers were moved with wonder at the seeming +contrast between the ancient and the present order of nature. The +elemental forces seemed to have been grander and more energetic in +primeval times. Upheaved and contorted, rifted and fissured, pierced by +dykes of molten matter or worn away over vast areas by aqueous action, +the older rocks appeared to bear witness to a state of things far +different from that exhibited by the peaceful epoch on which the lot of +man has fallen. + +But by degrees thoughtful students of geology have been led to perceive +that the earliest efforts of nature have been by no means the grandest. +Alps and Andes are children of yesterday when compared with Snowdon and +the Cumberland hills; and the so-called glacial epoch--that in which +perhaps the most extensive physical changes of which any record +remaining occurred--is the last and the newest of the revolutions of the +globe. And in proportion as physical geography--which is the geology of +our own epoch--has grown into a science, and the present order of nature +has been ransacked to find what, hibernice, we may call precedents for +the phenomena of the past, so the apparent necessity of supposing the +past to be widely different from the present has diminished. + +The transporting power of the greatest deluge which can be imagined +sinks into insignificance beside that of the slowly floating, slowly +melting iceberg, or the glacier creeping along at its snail's pace of a +yard a day. The study of the deltas of the Nile, the Ganges, and the +Mississippi has taught us how slow is the wearing action of water, how +vast its effects when time is allowed for its operation. The reefs of +the Pacific, the deep-sea soundings of the Atlantic, show that it is to +the slow-growing coral and to the imperceptible animalcule, which lives +its brief space and then adds its tiny shell to the muddy cairn left by +its brethren and ancestors, that we must look as the agents in the +formation of limestone and chalk, and not to hypothetical oceans +saturated with calcareous salts and suddenly depositing them. + +And while the inquirer has thus learnt that existing forces--GIVE THEM +TIME--are competent to produce all the physical phenomena we meet with +in the rocks, so, on the other side, the study of the marks left in the +ancient strata by past physical actions shows that these were similar to +those which now obtain. Ancient beaches are met with whose pebbles are +like those found on modern shores; the hardened sea-sands of the oldest +epochs show ripple-marks, such as may now be found on every sandy coast; +nay, more, the pits left by ancient rain-drops prove that even in the +very earliest ages, the "bow in the clouds" must have adorned the +palaeozoic firmament. So that if we could reverse the legend of the +Seven Sleepers,--if we could sleep back through the past, and awake a +million ages before our own epoch, in the midst of the earliest geologic +times,--there is no reason to believe that sea, or sky, or the aspect of +the land would warn us of the marvellous retrospection. + +Such are the beliefs which modern physical geologists hold, or, at any +rate, tend towards holding. But, in so doing, it is obvious that they by +no means prejudge the question, as to what the physical condition of the +globe may have been before our chapters of its history begin, in what +may be called (with that licence which is implied in the often-used term +"prehistoric epoch") "pre-geologic time." The views indicated, in fact, +are not only quite consistent with the hypothesis, that, in the still +earlier period referred to, the condition of our world was very +different; but they may be held by some to necessitate that hypothesis. +The physical philosopher who is accurately acquainted with the velocity +of a cannon-ball, and the precise character of the line which it +traverses for a yard of its course, is necessitated by what he knows of +the laws of nature to conclude that it came from a certain spot, whence +it was impelled by a certain force, and that it has followed a certain +trajectory. In like manner, the student of physical geology, who fully +believes in the uniformity of the general condition of the earth through +geologic time, may feel compelled by what he knows of causation, and by +the general analogy of nature, to suppose that our solar system was once +a nebulous mass; that it gradually condensed, that it broke up into that +wonderful group of harmoniously rolling balls we call planets and +satellites, and that then each of these underwent its appointed +metamorphosis, until at last our own share of the cosmic vapour passed +into that condition in which we first meet with definite records of its +state, and in which it has since, with comparatively little change, +remained. + +The doctrine of uniformity and the doctrine of progression are, +therefore, perfectly consistent; perhaps, indeed, they might be shown to +be necessarily connected with one another. + +If, however, the condition of the world, which has obtained throughout +geologic time, is but the sequel to a vast series of changes which took +place in pre-geologic time, then it seems not unlikely that the duration +of this latter is to that of the former as the vast extent of geologic +time is to the length of the brief epoch we call the historical period; +and that even the oldest rocks are records of an epoch almost infinitely +remote from that which could have witnessed the first shaping of our +globe. + +It is probable that no modern geologist would hesitate to admit the +general validity of these reasonings when applied to the physics of his +subject, whence it is the more remarkable that the moment the question +changes from one of physics and chemistry to one of natural history, +scientific opinions and the popular prejudices, which reflect them in a +distorted form, undergo a sudden metamorphosis. Geologists and +palaeontologists write about the "beginning of life" and the +"first-created forms of living beings," as if they were the most +familiar things in the world; and even cautious writers seem to be on +quite friendly terms with the "archetype" whereby the Creator was guided +"amidst the crash of falling worlds." Just as it used to be imagined +that the ancient world was physically opposed to the present, so it is +still widely assumed that the living population of our globe, whether +animal or vegetable, in the older epochs, exhibited forms so strikingly +contrasted with those which we see around us, that there is hardly +anything in common between the two. It is constantly tacitly assumed +that we have before us all the forms of life which have ever existed; +and though the progress of knowledge, yearly and almost monthly, drives +the defenders of that position from their ground, they entrench +themselves in the new line of defences as if nothing had happened, and +proclaim that the NEW beginning is the REAL beginning. + +Without for an instant denying or endeavouring to soften down the +considerable positive differences (the negative ones are met by another +line of argument) which undoubtedly obtain between the ancient and the +modern worlds of life, we believe they have been vastly overstated and +exaggerated, and this belief is based upon certain facts whose value +does not seem to have been fully appreciated, though they have long been +more or less completely known. + +The multitudinous kinds of animals and plants, both recent and fossil, +are, as is well known, arranged by zoologists and botanists, in +accordance with their natural relations, into groups which receive the +names of sub-kingdoms, classes, orders, families, genera and species. +Now it is a most remarkable circumstance that, viewed on the great +scale, living beings have differed so little throughout all geologic +time that there is no sub-kingdom and no class wholly extinct or without +living representatives. + +If we descend to the smaller groups, we find that the number of orders +of plants is about two hundred; and I have it on the best authority that +not one of these is exclusively fossil; so that there is absolutely not +a single extinct ordinal type of vegetable life; and it is not until we +descend to the next group, or the families, that we find types which are +wholly extinct. The number of orders of animals, on the other hand, may +be reckoned at a hundred and twenty, or thereabouts, and of these, eight +or nine have no living representatives. The proportion of extinct +ordinal types of animals to the existing types, therefore, does not +exceed seven per cent--a marvellously small proportion when we consider +the vastness of geologic time. + +Another class of considerations--of a different kind, it is true, but +tending in the same direction--seems to have been overlooked. Not only +is it true that the general plan of construction of animals and plants +has been the same in all recorded time as at present, but there are +particular kinds of animals and plants which have existed throughout +vast epochs, sometimes through the whole range of recorded time, with +very little change. By reason of this persistency, the typical form of +such a kind might be called a "persistent type," in contradistinction to +those types which have appeared for but a short time in the course of +the world's history. Examples of these persistent types are abundant +enough in both the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. The oldest group +of plants with which we are well acquainted is that of whose remains +coal is constituted; and as far as they can be identified, the +carboniferous plants are ferns, or club-mosses, or Coniferae, in many +cases generically identical with those now living! + +Among animals, instances of the same kind may be found in every +sub-kingdom. The 'Globigerina' of the Atlantic soundings is identical +with that which occurs in the chalk; and the casts of lower silurian +'Foraminifera', which Ehrenberg has recently described, seem to indicate +the existence at that remote period of forms singularly like those which +now exist. Among the corals, the palaeozoic 'Tabulata' are constructed +on precisely the same type as the modern millepores; and if we turn to +molluscs, the most competent malacologists fail to discover any generic +distinction between the 'Craniae', 'Lingulae' and 'Discinae' of the +silurian rocks and those which now live. Our existing 'Nautilus' has its +representative species in every great formation, from the oldest to the +newest; and 'Loligo', the squid of modern seas, appears in the lias, or +at the bottom of the mesozoic series, in a form, at most, specifically +different from its living congeners. In the great assemblage of annulose +animals, the two highest classes, the insects and spider tribe, exhibit +a wonderful persistency of type. The cockroaches of the carboniferous +epoch are exceedingly similar to those which now run about our +coal-cellars; and its locusts, termites and dragon-flies are closely +allied to the members of the same groups which now chirrup about our +fields, undermine our houses, or sail with swift grace about the banks +of our sedgy pools. And, in like manner, the palaeozoic scorpions can +only be distinguished by the eye of a naturalist from the modern ones. + +Finally, with respect to the 'Vertebrata', the same law holds good: +certain types, such as those of the ganoid and placoid fishes, having +persisted from the palaeozoic epoch to the present time without a +greater amount of deviation from the normal standard than that which is +seen within the limits of the group as it now exists. Even among the +'Reptilia'--the class which exhibits the largest proportion of entirely +extinct forms of any one type,--that of the 'Crocodilia', has persisted +from at least the commencement of the Mesozoic epoch up to the present +time with so much constancy, that the amount of change which it exhibits +may fairly, in relation to the time which has elapsed, be called +insignificant. And the imperfect knowledge we have of the ancient +mammalian population of our earth leads to the belief that certain of +its types, such as that of the 'Marsupialia', have persisted with +correspondingly little change through a similar range of time. + +Thus it would appear to be demonstrable, that, notwithstanding the great +change which is exhibited by the animal population of the world as a +whole, certain types have persisted comparatively without alteration, +and the question arises, What bearing have such facts as these on our +notions of the history of life through geological time? The answer to +this question would seem to depend on the view we take respecting the +origin of species in general. If we assume that every species of animal +and of plant was formed by a distinct act of creative power, and if the +species which have incessantly succeeded one another were placed upon +the globe by these separate acts, then the existence of persistent types +is simply an unintelligible irregularity. Such assumption, however, is +as unsupported by tradition or by Revelation as it is opposed by the +analogy of the rest of the operations of nature; and those who imagine +that, by adopting any such hypothesis, they are strengthening the hands +of the advocates of the letter of the Mosaic account, are simply +mistaken. If, on the other hand, we adopt that hypothesis to which alone +the study of physiology lends any support--that hypothesis which, having +struggled beyond the reach of those fatal supporters, the Telliameds and +Vestigiarians, who so nearly caused its suffocation by wind in early +infancy, is now winning at least the provisional assent of all the best +thinkers of the day--the hypothesis that the forms or species of living +beings, as we know them, have been produced by the gradual modification +of pre-existing species--then the existence of persistent types seems to +teach us much. Just as a small portion of a great curve appears +straight, the apparent absence of change in direction of the line being +the exponent of the vast extent of the whole, in proportion to the part +we see; so, if it be true that all living species are the result of the +modification of other and simpler forms, the existence of these little +altered persistent types, ranging through all geological time, must +indicate that they are but the final terms of an enormous series of +modifications, which had their being in the great lapse of pregeologic +time, and are now perhaps for ever lost. + +In other words, when rightly studied, the teachings of palaeontology are +at one with those of physical geology. Our farthest explorations carry +us back but a little way above the mouth of the great river of Life: +where it arose, and by what channels the noble tide has reached the +point when it first breaks upon our view, is hidden from us. + +The foregoing pages contain the substance of a lecture delivered before +the Royal Institution of Great Britain many months ago, and of course +long before the appearance of the remarkable work on the "Origin of +Species" just published by Mr. Darwin, who arrives at very similar +conclusions. Although, in one sense, I might fairly say that my own +views have been arrived at independently, I do not know that I can claim +any equitable right to property in them; for it has long been my +privilege to enjoy Mr. Darwin's friendship, and to profit by +corresponding with him, and by, to some extent, becoming acquainted with +the workings of his singularly original and well-stored mind. It was in +consequence of my knowledge of the general tenor of the researches in +which Mr. Darwin had been so long engaged; because I had the most +complete confidence in his perseverance, his knowledge, and, above all +things, his high-minded love of truth; and, moreover, because I found +that the better I became acquainted with the opinions of the best +naturalists regarding the vexed question of species, the less fixed they +seemed to be, and the more inclined they were to the hypothesis of +gradual modification, that I ventured to speak as strongly as I have +done in the final paragraphs of my discourse. + +Thus, my daw having so many borrowed plumes, I see no impropriety in +making a tail to this brief paper by taking another handful of feathers +from Mr. Darwin; endeavouring to point out in a few words, in fact, +what, as I gather from the perusal of his book, his doctrines really +are, and on what sort of basis they rest. And I do this the more +willingly, as I observe that already the hastier sort of critics have +begun, not to review my friend's book, but to howl over it in a manner +which must tend greatly to distract the public mind. + +No one will be better satisfied than I to see Mr. Darwin's book refuted, +if any person be competent to perform that feat; but I would suggest +that refutation is retarded, not aided, by mere sarcastic +misrepresentation. Every one who has studied cattle-breeding, or turned +pigeon-fancier, or "pomologist," must have been struck by the extreme +modifiability or plasticity of those kinds of animals and plants which +have been subjected to such artificial conditions as are imposed by +domestication. Breeds of dogs are more different from one another than +are the dog and the wolf; and the purely artificial races of pigeons, if +their origin were unknown, would most assuredly be reckoned by +naturalists as distinct species and even genera. + +These breeds are always produced in the same way. The breeder selects a +pair, one or other, or both, of which present an indication of the +peculiarity he wishes to perpetuate, and then selects from the offspring +of them those which are most characteristic, rejecting the others. From +the selected offspring he breeds again, and, taking the same precautions +as before, repeats the process until he has obtained the precise degree +of divergence from the primitive type at which he aimed. + +If he now breeds from the variety thus established for some generations, +taking care always to keep the stock pure, the tendency to produce this +particular variety becomes more and more strongly hereditary; and it +does not appear that there is any limit to the persistency of the race +thus developed. + +Men like Lamarck, apprehending these facts, and knowing that varieties +comparable to those produced by the breeder are abundantly found in +nature, and finding it impossible to discriminate in some cases between +varieties and true species, could hardly fail to divine the possibility +that species even the most distinct were, after all, only exceedingly +persistent varieties, and that they had arisen by the modification of +some common stock, just as it is with good reason believed that +turnspits and greyhounds, carrier and tumbler pigeons, have arisen. + +But there was a link wanting to complete the parallel. Where in nature +was the analogue of the breeder to be found? How could that operation of +selection, which is his essential function, be carried out by mere +natural agencies? Lamarck did not value this problem; neither did he +admit his impotence to solve it; but he guessed a solution. Now, +guessing in science is a very hazardous proceeding, and Lamarck's +reputation has suffered woefully for the absurdities into which his +baseless suppositions led him. + +Lamarck's conjectures, equipped with a new hat and stick, as Sir Walter +Scott was wont to say of an old story renovated, formed the foundation +of the biological speculations of the 'Vestiges', a work which has done +more harm to the progress of sound thought on these matters than any +that could be named; and, indeed, I mention it here simply for the +purpose of denying that it has anything in common with what essentially +characterises Mr. Darwin's work. + +The peculiar feature of the latter is, in fact, that it professes to +tell us what in nature takes the place of the breeder; what it is that +favours the development of one variety into which a species may run, and +checks that of another; and, finally, shows how this natural selection, +as it is termed, may be the physical cause of the production of species +by modification. + +That which takes the place of the breeder and selector in nature is +Death. In a most remarkable chapter, 'On the Struggle for Existence', +Mr. Darwin draws attention to the marvellous destruction of life which +is constantly going on in nature. For every species of living thing, as +for man, "Eine Bresche ist ein jeder Tag."--Every species has its +enemies; every species has to compete with others for the necessaries of +existence; the weakest goes to the wall, and death is the penalty +inflicted on all laggards and stragglers. Every variety to which a +species may give rise is either worse or better adapted to surrounding +circumstances than its parent. If worse, it cannot maintain itself +against death, and speedily vanishes again. But if better adapted, it +must, sooner or later, "improve" its progenitor from the face of the +earth, and take its place. If circumstances change, the victor will be +similarly supplanted by its own progeny; and thus, by the operation of +natural causes, unlimited modification may in the lapse of long ages +occur. + +For an explanation of what I have here called vaguely "surrounding +circumstances," and of why they continually change--for ample proof that +the "struggle for existence" is a very great reality, and assuredly +'tends' to exert the influence ascribed to it--I must refer to Mr. +Darwin's book. I believe I have stated fairly the position upon which +his whole theory must stand or fall; and it is not my purpose to +anticipate a full review of his work. If it can be proved that the +process of natural selection, operating upon any species, can give rise +to varieties of species so different from one another that none of our +tests will distinguish them from true species, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis +of the origin of species will take its place among the established +theories of science, be its consequences whatever they may. If, on the +other hand, Mr. Darwin has erred, either in fact or in reasoning, his +fellow-workers will soon find out the weak points in his doctrines, and +their extinction by some nearer approximation to the truth will +exemplify his own principle of natural selection. + +In either case the question is one to be settled only by the +painstaking, truth-loving investigation of skilled naturalists. It is +the duty of the general public to await the result in patience; and, +above all things, to discourage, as they would any other crimes, the +attempt to enlist the prejudices of the ignorant, or the +uncharitableness of the bigoted, on either side of the controversy. + +End of Time and Life. + + +*** + +THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.* + +([Footnote] *'The Westminster Review', April 1860.) + +Mr. Darwin's long-standing and well-earned scientific eminence probably +renders him indifferent to that social notoriety which passes by the +name of success; but if the calm spirit of the philosopher have not yet +wholly superseded the ambition and the vanity of the carnal man within +him, he must be well satisfied with the results of his venture in +publishing the 'Origin of Species'. Overflowing the narrow bounds of +purely scientific circles, the "species question" divides with Italy and +the Volunteers the attention of general society. Everybody has read Mr. +Darwin's book, or, at least, has given an opinion upon its merits or +demerits; pietists, whether lay or ecclesiastic, decry it with the mild +railing which sounds so charitable; bigots denounce it with ignorant +invective; old ladies of both sexes consider it a decidedly dangerous +book, and even savants, who have no better mud to throw, quote +antiquated writers to show that its author is no better than an ape +himself; while every philosophical thinker hails it as a veritable +Whitworth gun in the armoury of liberalism; and all competent +naturalists and physiologists, whatever their opinions as to the +ultimate fate of the doctrines put forth, acknowledge that the work in +which they are embodied is a solid contribution to knowledge and +inaugurates a new epoch in natural history. + +Nor has the discussion of the subject been restrained within the limits +of conversation. When the public is eager and interested, reviewers must +minister to its wants; and the genuine litterateur is too much in the +habit of acquiring his knowledge from the book he judges--as the +Abyssinian is said to provide himself with steaks from the ox which +carries him--to be withheld from criticism of a profound scientific work +by the mere want of the requisite preliminary scientific acquirement; +while, on the other hand, the men of science who wish well to the new +views, no less than those who dispute their validity, have naturally +sought opportunities of expressing their opinions. Hence it is not +surprising that almost all the critical journals have noticed Mr. +Darwin's work at greater or less length; and so many disquisitions, of +every degree of excellence, from the poor product of ignorance, too +often stimulated by prejudice, to the fair and thoughtful essay of the +candid student of Nature, have appeared, that it seems an almost +hopeless task to attempt to say anything new upon the question. + +But it may be doubted if the knowledge and acumen of prejudged +scientific opponents, or the subtlety of orthodox special pleaders, have +yet exerted their full force in mystifying the real issues of the great +controversy which has been set afoot, and whose end is hardly likely to +be seen by this generation; so that, at this eleventh hour, and even +failing anything new, it may be useful to state afresh that which is +true, and to put the fundamental positions advocated by Mr. Darwin in +such a form that they may be grasped by those whose special studies lie +in other directions. And the adoption of this course may be the more +advisable, because, notwithstanding its great deserts, and indeed partly +on account of them, the 'Origin of Species' is by no means an easy book +to read--if by reading is implied the full comprehension of an author's +meaning. + +We do not speak jestingly in saying that it is Mr. Darwin's misfortune +to know more about the question he has taken up than any man living. +Personally and practically exercised in zoology, in minute anatomy, in +geology; a student of geographical distribution, not on maps and in +museums only, but by long voyages and laborious collection; having +largely advanced each of these branches of science, and having spent +many years in gathering and sifting materials for his present work, the +store of accurately registered facts upon which the author of the +'Origin of Species' is able to draw at will is prodigious. + +But this very superabundance of matter must have been embarrassing to a +writer who, for the present, can only put forward an abstract of his +views; and thence it arises, perhaps, that notwithstanding the clearness +of the style, those who attempt fairly to digest the book find much of +it a sort of intellectual pemmican--a mass of facts crushed and pounded +into shape, rather than held together by the ordinary medium of an +obvious logical bond; due attention will, without doubt, discover this +bond, but it is often hard to find. + +Again, from sheer want of room, much has to be taken for granted which +might readily enough be proved; and hence, while the adept, who can +supply the missing links in the evidence from his own knowledge, +discovers fresh proof of the singular thoroughness with which all +difficulties have been considered and all unjustifiable suppositions +avoided, at every reperusal of Mr. Darwin's pregnant paragraphs, the +novice in biology is apt to complain of the frequency of what he fancies +is gratuitous assumption. + +Thus while it may be doubted if, for some years, any one is likely to be +competent to pronounce judgment on all the issues raised by Mr. Darwin, +there is assuredly abundant room for him, who, assuming the humbler, +though perhaps as useful, office of an interpreter between the 'Origin +of Species' and the public, contents himself with endeavouring to point +out the nature of the problems which it discusses; to distinguish +between the ascertained facts and the theoretical views which it +contains; and finally, to show the extent to which the explanation it +offers satisfies the requirements of scientific logic. At any rate, it +is this office which we purpose to undertake in the following pages. + +It may be safely assumed that our readers have a general conception of +the nature of the objects to which the word "species" is applied; but it +has, perhaps, occurred to a few, even to those who are naturalists ex +professo, to reflect, that, as commonly employed, the term has a double +sense and denotes two very different orders of relations. When we call a +group of animals, or of plants, a species, we may imply thereby, either +that all these animals or plants have some common peculiarity of form or +structure; or, we may mean that they possess some common functional +character. That part of biological science which deals with form and +structure is called Morphology--that which concerns itself with +function, Physiology--so that we may conveniently speak of these two +senses, or aspects, of "species"--the one as morphological, the other as +physiological. Regarded from the former point of view, a species is +nothing more than a kind of animal or plant, which is distinctly +definable from all others, by certain constant, and not merely sexual, +morphological peculiarities. Thus horses form a species, because the +group of animals to which that name is applied is distinguished from all +others in the world by the following constantly associated characters. +They have--1, A vertebral column; 2, Mammae; 3, A placental embryo; 4, +Four legs; 5, A single well-developed toe in each foot provided with a +hoof; 6, A bushy tail; and 7, Callosities on the inner sides of both the +fore and the hind legs. The asses, again, form a distinct species, +because, with the same characters, as far as the fifth in the above +list, all asses have tufted tails, and have callosities only on the +inner side of the fore-legs. If animals were discovered having the +general characters of the horse, but sometimes with callosities only on +the fore-legs, and more or less tufted tails; or animals having the +general characters of the ass, but with more or less bushy tails, and +sometimes with callosities on both pairs of legs, besides being +intermediate in other respects--the two species would have to be merged +into one. They could no longer be regarded as morphologically distinct +species, for they would not be distinctly definable one from the other. + +However bare and simple this definition of species may appear to be, we +confidently appeal to all practical naturalists, whether zoologists, +botanists, or palaeontologists, to say if, in the vast majority of +cases, they know, or mean to affirm anything more of the group of +animals or plants they so denominate than what has just been stated. +Even the most decided advocates of the received doctrines respecting +species admit this. + +"I apprehend," says Professor Owen,* "that few naturalists nowadays, in +describing and proposing a name for what they call 'a new species,' use +that term to signify what was meant by it twenty or thirty years ago; +that is, an originally distinct creation, maintaining its primitive +distinction by obstructive generative peculiarities. The proposer of the +new species now intends to state no more than he actually knows; as, for +example, that the differences on which he founds the specific character +are constant in individuals of both sexes, so far as observation has +reached; and that they are not due to domestication or to artificially +superinduced external circumstances, or to any outward influence within +his cognizance; that the species is wild, or is such as it appears by +Nature." ([Footnote] *On the Osteology of the Chimpanzees and Orangs: +Transactions of the Zoological Society, 1858.) + +If we consider, in fact, that by far the largest proportion of recorded +existing species are known only by the study of their skins, or bones, +or other lifeless exuvia; that we are acquainted with none, or next to +none, of their physiological peculiarities, beyond those which can be +deduced from their structure, or are open to cursory observation; and +that we cannot hope to learn more of any of those extinct forms of life +which now constitute no inconsiderable proportion of the known Flora and +Fauna of the world: it is obvious that the definitions of these species +can be only of a purely structural, or morphological, character. It is +probable that naturalists would have avoided much confusion of ideas if +they had more frequently borne the necessary limitations of our +knowledge in mind. But while it may safely be admitted that we are +acquainted with only the morphological characters of the vast majority +of species--the functional or physiological, peculiarities of a few have +been carefully investigated, and the result of that study forms a large +and most interesting portion of the physiology of reproduction. + +The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the +more conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the perennial +miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most worthy of +admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal from its +embryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal, such as a +salamander or newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the best microscope +will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing a glairy fluid, +holding granules in suspension. But strange possibilities lie dormant in +that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth reach its +watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, yet so +steady and purposelike in their succession, that one can only compare +them to those operated by a skilled modeller upon a formless lump of +clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided +into smaller and smaller portions, until it is reduced to an aggregation +of granules not too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the +nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out +the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and moulded the contour of +the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other, and +fashioning flank and limb into due salamandrine proportions, in so +artistic a way, that, after watching the process hour by hour, one is +almost involuntarily possessed by the notion, that some more subtle aid +to vision than an achromatic, would show the hidden artist, with his +plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work. + +As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror +of his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles +supplied by its prey, by the addition of which to its frame, growth +takes place, laid down, each in its proper spot, and in such due +proportion to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the colour, and the +size, characteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful +powers of reproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are +controlled by the same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, +the jaws, separately or all together, and, as Spallanzani showed long +ago, these parts not only grow again, but the reintegrated limb is +formed on the same type as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, +is a newt's, and never by any accident more like that of a frog. What is +true of the newt is true of every animal and of every plant; the acorn +tends to build itself up again into a woodland giant such as that from +whose twig it fell; the spore of the humblest lichen reproduces the +green or brown incrustation which gave it birth; and at the other end of +the scale of life, the child that resembled neither the paternal nor the +maternal side of the house would be regarded as a kind of monster. + +So that the one end to which, in all living beings, the formative +impulse is tending--the one scheme which the Archaeus of the old +speculators strives to carry out, seems to be to mould the offspring +into the likeness of the parent. It is the first great law of +reproduction, that the offspring tends to resemble its parent or +parents, more closely than anything else. + +Science will some day show us how this law is a necessary consequence of +the more general laws which govern matter; but, for the present, more +can hardly be said than that it appears to be in harmony with them. We +know that the phenomena of vitality are not something apart from other +physical phenomena, but one with them; and matter and force are the two +names of the one artist who fashions the living as well as the lifeless. +Hence living bodies should obey the same great laws as other +matter--nor, throughout Nature, is there a law of wider application than +this, that a body impelled by two forces takes the direction of their +resultant. But living bodies may be regarded as nothing but extremely +complex bundles of forces held in a mass of matter, as the complex +forces of a magnet are held in the steel by its coercive force; and, +since the differences of sex are comparatively slight, or, in other +words, the sum of the forces in each has a very similar tendency, their +resultant, the offspring, may reasonably be expected to deviate but +little from a course parallel to either, or to both. + +Represent the reason of the law to ourselves by what physical metaphor +or analogy we will, however, the great matter is to apprehend its +existence and the importance of the consequences deducible from it. For +things which are like to the same are like to one another; and if; in a +great series of generations, every offspring is like its parent, it +follows that all the offspring and all the parents must be like one +another; and that, given an original parental stock, with the +opportunity of undisturbed multiplication, the law in question +necessitates the production, in course of time, of an indefinitely large +group, the whole of whose members are at once very similar and are blood +relations, having descended from the same parent, or pair of parents. +The proof that all the members of any given group of animals, or plants, +had thus descended, would be ordinarily considered sufficient to entitle +them to the rank of physiological species, for most physiologists +consider species to be definable as "the offspring of a single primitive +stock." + +But though it is quite true that all those groups we call species MAY, +according to the known laws of reproduction, have descended from a +single stock, and though it is very likely they really have done so, yet +this conclusion rests on deduction and can hardly hope to establish +itself upon a basis of observation. And the primitiveness of the +supposed single stock, which, after all, is the essential part of the +matter, is not only a hypothesis, but one which has not a shadow of +foundation, if by "primitive" be meant "independent of any other living +being." A scientific definition, of which an unwarrantable hypothesis +forms an essential part, carries its condemnation within itself; but, +even supposing such a definition were, in form, tenable, the +physiologist who should attempt to apply it in Nature would soon find +himself involved in great, if not inextricable, difficulties. As we have +said, it is indubitable that offspring TEND to resemble the parental +organism, but it is equally true that the similarity attained never +amounts to identity, either in form or in structure. There is always a +certain amount of deviation, not only from the precise characters of a +single parent, but when, as in most animals and many plants, the sexes +are lodged in distinct individuals, from an exact mean between the two +parents. And indeed, on general principles, this slight deviation seems +as intelligible as the general similarity, if we reflect how complex the +co-operating "bundles of forces" are, and how improbable it is that, in +any case, their true resultant shall coincide with any mean between the +more obvious characters of the two parents. Whatever be its cause, +however, the co-existence of this tendency to minor variation with the +tendency to general similarity, is of vast importance in its bearing on +the question of the origin of species. + +As a general rule, the extent to which an offspring differs from its +parent is slight enough; but, occasionally, the amount of difference is +much more strongly marked, and then the divergent offspring receives the +name of a Variety. Multitudes, of what there is every reason to believe +are such varieties, are known, but the origin of very few has been +accurately recorded, and of these we will select two as more especially +illustrative of the main features of variation. The first of them is +that of the "Ancon," or "Otter" sheep, of which a careful account is +given by Colonel David Humphreys, F.R.S., in a letter to Sir Joseph +Banks, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813. It appears +that one Seth Wright, the proprietor of a farm on the banks of the +Charles River, in Massachusetts, possessed a flock of fifteen ewes and a +ram of the ordinary kind. In the year 1791, one of the ewes presented +her owner with a male lamb, differing, for no assignable reason, from +its parents by a proportionally long body and short bandy legs, whence +it was unable to emulate its relatives in those sportive leaps over the +neighbours' fences, in which they were in the habit of indulging, much +to the good farmer's vexation. + +The second case is that detailed by a no less unexceptionable authority +than Reaumur, in his 'Art de faire eclore les Poulets'. A Maltese +couple, named Kelleia, whose hands and feet were constructed upon the +ordinary human model, had born to them a son, Gratio, who possessed six +perfectly movable fingers on each hand, and six toes, not quite so well +formed, on each foot. No cause could be assigned for the appearance of +this unusual variety of the human species. + +Two circumstances are well worthy of remark in both these cases. In +each, the variety appears to have arisen in full force, and, as it were, +per saltum; a wide and definite difference appearing, at once, between +the Ancon ram and the ordinary sheep; between the six-fingered and +six-toed Gratio Kelleia and ordinary men. In neither case is it possible +to point out any obvious reason for the appearance of the variety. +Doubtless there were determining causes for these as for all other +phenomena; but they do not appear, and we can be tolerably certain that +what are ordinarily understood as changes in physical conditions, as in +climate, in food, or the like, did not take place and had nothing to do +with the matter. It was no case of what is commonly called adaptation to +circumstances; but, to use a conveniently erroneous phrase, the +variations arose spontaneously. The fruitless search after final causes +leads their pursuers a long way; but even those hardy teleologists, who +are ready to break through all the laws of physics in chase of their +favourite will-o'-the-wisp, may be puzzled to discover what purpose +could be attained by the stunted legs of Seth Wright's ram or the +hexadactyle members of Gratio Kelleia. + +Varieties then arise we know not why; and it is more than probable that +the majority of varieties have arisen in this "spontaneous" manner, +though we are, of course, far from denying that they may be traced, in +some cases, to distinct external influences; which are assuredly +competent to alter the character of the tegumentary covering, to change +colour, to increase or diminish the size of muscles, to modify +constitution, and, among plants, to give rise to the metamorphosis of +stamens into petals, and so forth. But however they may have arisen, +what especially interests us at present is, to remark that, once in +existence, varieties obey the fundamental law of reproduction that like +tends to produce like; and their offspring exemplify it by tending to +exhibit the same deviation from the parental stock as themselves. +Indeed, there seems to be, in many instances, a pre-potent influence +about a newly-arisen variety which gives it what one may call an unfair +advantage over the normal descendants from the same stock. This is +strikingly exemplified by the case of Gratio Kelleia, who married a +woman with the ordinary pentadactyle extremities, and had by her four +children, Salvator, George, Andre, and Marie. Of these children +Salvator, the eldest boy, had six fingers and six toes, like his father; +the second and third, also boys, had five fingers and five toes, like +their mother, though the hands and feet of George were slightly +deformed. The last, a girl, had five fingers and five toes, but the +thumbs were slightly deformed. The variety thus reproduced itself purely +in the eldest, while the normal type reproduced itself purely in the +third, and almost purely in the second and last: so that it would seem, +at first, as if the normal type were more powerful than the variety. But +all these children grew up and intermarried with normal wives and +husband, and then, note what took place: Salvator had four children, +three of whom exhibited the hexadactyle members of their grandfather and +father, while the youngest had the pentadactyle limbs of the mother and +grandmother; so that here, notwithstanding a double pentadactyle +dilution of the blood, the hexadactyle variety had the best of it. The +same pre-potency of the variety was still more markedly exemplified in +the progeny of two of the other children, Marie and George. Marie (whose +thumbs only were deformed) gave birth to a boy with six toes, and three +other normally formed children; but George, who was not quite so pure a +pentadactyle, begot, first, two girls, each of whom had six fingers and +toes; then a girl with six fingers on each hand and six toes on the +right foot, but only five toes on the left; and lastly, a boy with only +five fingers and toes. In these instances, therefore, the variety, as it +were, leaped over one generation to reproduce itself in full force in +the next. Finally, the purely pentadactyle Andre was the father of many +children, not one of whom departed from the normal parental type. + +If a variation which approaches the nature of a monstrosity can strive +thus forcibly to reproduce itself, it is not wonderful that less +aberrant modifications should tend to be preserved even more strongly; +and the history of the Ancon sheep is, in this respect, particularly +instructive. With the "'cuteness" characteristic of their nation, the +neighbours of the Massachusetts farmer imagined it would be an excellent +thing if all his sheep were imbued with the stay-at-home tendencies +enforced by Nature upon the newly-arrived ram; and they advised Wright +to kill the old patriarch of his fold, and install the Ancon ram in his +place. The result justified their sagacious anticipations, and coincided +very nearly with what occurred to the progeny of Gratio Kelleia. The +young lambs were almost always either pure Ancons, or pure ordinary +sheep.* ([Footnote] *Colonel Humphreys' statements are exceedingly +explicit on this point:--"When an Ancon ewe is impregnated by a common +ram, the increase resembles wholly either the ewe or the ram. The +increase of the common ewe impregnated by an Ancon ram follows entirely +the one or the other, without blending any of the distinguishing and +essential peculiarities of both. Frequent instances have happened where +common ewes have had twins by Ancon rams, when one exhibited the +complete marks and features of the ewe, the other of the ram. The +contrast has been rendered singularly striking, when one short-legged +and one long-legged lamb, produced at a birth, have been seen sucking +the dam at the same time."--'Philosophical Transactions', 1813, Pt. I. +pp. 89, 90.) But when sufficient Ancon sheep were obtained to interbreed +with one another, it was found that the offspring was always pure Ancon. +Colonel Humphreys, in fact, states that he was acquainted with only "one +questionable case of a contrary nature." Here, then, is a remarkable and +well-established instance, not only of a very distinct race being +established per saltum, but of that race breeding "true" at once, and +showing no mixed forms, even when crossed with another breed. + +By taking care to select Ancons of both sexes, for breeding from, it +thus became easy to establish an extremely well-marked race; so peculiar +that, even when herded with other sheep, it was noted that the Ancons +kept together. And there is every reason to believe that the existence +of this breed might have been indefinitely protracted; but the +introduction of the Merino sheep, which were not only very superior to +the Ancons in wool and meat, but quite as quiet and orderly, led to the +complete neglect of the new breed, so that, in 1813, Colonel Humphreys +found it difficult to obtain the specimen, whose skeleton was presented +to Sir Joseph Banks. We believe that, for many years, no remnant of it +has existed in the United States. + +Gratio Kelleia was not the progenitor of a race of six-fingered men, as +Seth Wright's ram became a nation of Ancon sheep, though the tendency of +the variety to perpetuate itself appears to have been fully as strong in +the one case as in the other. And the reason of the difference is not +far to seek. Seth Wright took care not to weaken the Ancon blood by +matching his Ancon ewes with any but males of the same variety, while +Gratio Kelleia's sons were too far removed from the patriarchal times to +intermarry with their sisters; and his grandchildren seem not to have +been attracted by their six-fingered cousins. In other words, in the one +example a race was produced, because, for several generations, care was +taken to 'select' both parents of the breeding stock from animals +exhibiting a tendency to vary in the same condition; while, in the +other, no race was evolved, because no such selection was exercised. A +race is a propagated variety; and as, by the laws of reproduction, +offspring tend to assume the parental forms, they will be more likely to +propagate a variation exhibited by both parents than that possessed by +only one. + +There is no organ of the body of an animal which may not, and does not, +occasionally, vary more or less from the normal type; and there is no +variation which may not be transmitted and which, if selectively +transmitted, may not become the foundation of a race. This great truth, +sometimes forgotten by philosophers, has long been familiar to practical +agriculturists and breeders; and upon it rest all the methods of +improving the breeds of domestic animals, which, for the last century, +have been followed with so much success in England. Colour, form, size, +texture of hair or wool, proportions of various parts, strength or +weakness of constitution, tendency to fatten or to remain lean, to give +much or little milk, speed, strength, temper, intelligence, special +instincts; there is not one of these characters whose transmission is +not an every-day occurrence within the experience of cattle-breeders, +stock-farmers, horse-dealers, and dog and poultry fanciers. Nay, it is +only the other day that an eminent physiologist, Dr. Brown-Sequard, +communicated to the Royal Society his discovery that epilepsy, +artificially produced in guinea-pigs, by a means which he has +discovered, is transmitted to their offspring. + +But a race, once produced, is no more a fixed and immutable entity than +the stock whence it sprang; variations arise among its members, and as +these variations are transmitted like any others, new races may be +developed out of the pre-existing one ad infinitum, or, at least, within +any limit at present determined. Given sufficient time and sufficiently +careful selection, and the multitude of races which may arise from a +common stock is as astonishing as are the extreme structural differences +which they may present. A remarkable example of this is to be found in +the rock-pigeon, which Dr. Darwin has, in our opinion, satisfactorily +demonstrated to be the progenitor of all our domestic pigeons, of which +there are certainly more than a hundred well-marked races. The most +noteworthy of these races are, the four great stocks known to the +"fancy" as tumblers, pouters, carriers, and fantails; birds which not +only differ most singularly in size, colour, and habits, but in the form +of the beak and of the skull: in the proportions of the beak to the +skull; in the number of tail-feathers; in the absolute and relative size +of the feet; in the presence or absence of the uropygial gland; in the +number of vertebrae in the back; in short, in precisely those characters +in which the genera and species of birds differ from one another. + +And it is most remarkable and instructive to observe, that none of these +races can be shown to have been originated by the action of changes in +what are commonly called external circumstances, upon the wild +rock-pigeon. On the contrary, from time immemorial, pigeon-fanciers have +had essentially similar methods of treating their pets, which have been +housed, fed, protected and cared for in much the same way in all +pigeonries. In fact, there is no case better adapted than that of the +pigeons to refute the doctrine which one sees put forth on high +authority, that "no other characters than those founded on the +development of bone for the attachment of muscles" are capable of +variation. In precise contradiction of this hasty assertion, Mr. +Darwin's researches prove that the skeleton of the wings in domestic +pigeons has hardly varied at all from that of the wild type; while, on +the other hand, it is in exactly those respects, such as the relative +length of the beak and skull, the number of the vertebrae, and the +number of the tail-feathers, in which muscular exertion can have no +important influence, that the utmost amount of variation has taken +place. + +We have said that the following out of the properties exhibited by +physiological species would lead us into difficulties, and at this point +they begin to be obvious; for if, as the result of spontaneous variation +and of selective breeding, the progeny of a common stock may become +separated into groups distinguished from one another by constant, not +sexual, morphological characters, it is clear that the physiological +definition of species is likely to clash with the morphological +definition. No one would hesitate to describe the pouter and the tumbler +as distinct species, if they were found fossil, or if their skins and +skeletons were imported, as those of exotic wild birds commonly are--and +without doubt, if considered alone, they are good and distinct +morphological species. On the other hand, they are not physiological +species, for they are descended from a common stock, the rock-pigeon. + +Under these circumstances, as it is admitted on all sides that races +occur in Nature, how are we to know whether any apparently distinct +animals are really of different physiological species, or not, seeing +that the amount of morphological difference is no safe guide? Is there +any test of a physiological species? The usual answer of physiologists +is in the affirmative. It is said that such a test is to be found in the +phenomena of hybridization--in the results of crossing races, as +compared with the results of crossing species. + +So far as the evidence goes at present, individuals, of what are +certainly known to be mere races produced by selection, however distinct +they may appear to be, not only breed freely together, but the offspring +of such crossed races are only perfectly fertile with one another. Thus, +the spaniel and the greyhound, the dray-horse and the Arab, the pouter +and the tumbler, breed together with perfect freedom, and their +mongrels, if matched with other mongrels of the same kind, are equally +fertile. + +On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the individuals of many +natural species are either absolutely infertile if crossed with +individuals of other species, or, if they give rise to hybrid offspring, +the hybrids so produced are infertile when paired together. The horse +and the ass, for instance, if so crossed, give rise to the mule, and +there is no certain evidence of offspring ever having been produced by a +male and female mule. The unions of the rock-pigeon and the ring-pigeon +appear to be equally barren of result. Here, then, says the +physiologist, we have a means of distinguishing any two true species +from any two varieties. If a male and a female, selected from each +group, produce offspring, and that offspring is fertile with others +produced in the same way, the groups are races and not species. If, on +the other hand, no result ensues, or if the offspring are infertile with +others produced in the same way, they are true physiological species. +The test would be an admirable one, if, in the first place, it were +always practicable to apply it, and if, in the second, it always yielded +results susceptible of a definite interpretation. Unfortunately, in the +great majority of cases, this touchstone for species is wholly +inapplicable. + +The constitution of many wild animals is so altered by confinement that +they will not breed even with their own females, so that the negative +results obtained from crosses are of no value; and the antipathy of wild +animals of the same species for one another, or even of wild and tame +members of the same species, is ordinarily so great, that it is hopeless +to look for such unions in Nature. The hermaphrodism of most plants, the +difficulty in the way of insuring the absence of their own, or the +proper working of other pollen, are obstacles of no less magnitude in +applying the test to them. And, in both animals and plants, is +superadded the further difficulty, that experiments must be continued +over a long time for the purpose of ascertaining the fertility of the +mongrel or hybrid progeny, as well as of the first crosses from which +they spring. + +Not only do these great practical difficulties lie in the way of +applying the hybridization test, but even when this oracle can be +questioned, its replies are sometimes as doubtful as those of Delphi. +For example, cases are cited by Mr. Darwin, of plants which are more +fertile with the pollen of another species than with their own; and +there are others, such as certain fuci, whose male element will +fertilize the ovule of a plant of distinct species, while the males of +the latter species are ineffective with the females of the first. So +that, in the last-named instance, a physiologist, who should cross the +two species in one way, would decide that they were true species; while +another, who should cross them in the reverse way, would, with equal +justice, according to the rule, pronounce them to be mere races. Several +plants, which there is great reason to believe are mere varieties, are +almost sterile when crossed; while both animals and plants, which have +always been regarded by naturalists as of distinct species, turn out, +when the test is applied, to be perfectly fertile. Again, the sterility +or fertility of crosses seems to bear no relation to the structural +resemblances or differences of the members of any two groups. + +Mr. Darwin has discussed this question with singular ability and +circumspection, and his conclusions are summed up as follows, at page +276 of his work:-- + +"First crosses between forms sufficiently distinct to be ranked as +species, and their hybrids, are very generally, but not universally, +sterile. The sterility is of all degrees, and is often so slight that +the two most careful experimentalists who have ever lived have come to +diametrically opposite conclusions in ranking forms by this test. The +sterility is innately variable in individuals of the same species, and +is eminently susceptible of favourable and unfavourable conditions. The +degree of sterility does not strictly follow systematic affinity, but is +governed by several curious and complex laws. It is generally different +and sometimes widely different, in reciprocal crosses between the same +two species. It is not always equal in degree in a first cross, and in +the hybrid produced from this cross. + +"In the same manner as in grafting trees, the capacity of one species or +variety to take on another is incidental on generally unknown +differences in their vegetative systems; so in crossing, the greater or +less facility of one species to unite with another is incidental on +unknown differences in their reproductive systems. There is no more +reason to think that species have been specially endowed with various +degrees of sterility to prevent them crossing and breeding in Nature, +than to think that trees have been specially endowed with various and +somewhat analogous degrees of difficulty in being grafted together, in +order to prevent them becoming inarched in our forests. + +"The sterility of first crosses between pure species, which have their +reproductive systems perfect, seems to depend on several circumstances; +in some cases largely on the early death of the embryo. The sterility of +hybrids which have their reproductive systems imperfect, and which have +had this system and their whole organization disturbed by being +compounded of two distinct species, seems closely allied to that +sterility which so frequently affects pure species when their natural +conditions of life have been disturbed. This view is supported by a +parallelism of another kind: namely, that the crossing of forms, only +slightly different, is favourable to the vigour and fertility of the +offspring; and that slight changes in the conditions of life are +apparently favourable to the vigour and fertility of all organic beings. +It is not surprising that the degree of difficulty in uniting two +species, and the degree of sterility of their hybrid offspring, should +generally correspond, though due to distinct causes; for both depend on +the amount of difference of some kind between the species which are +crossed. Nor is it surprising that the facility of effecting a first +cross, the fertility of hybrids produced from it, and the capacity of +being grafted together--though this latter capacity evidently depends on +widely different circumstances--should all run to a certain extent +parallel with the systematic affinity of the forms which are subjected +to experiment; for systematic affinity attempts to express all kinds of +resemblance between all species. + +"First crosses between forms known to be varieties, or sufficiently +alike to be considered as varieties, and their mongrel offspring, are +very generally, but not quite universally, fertile. Nor is this nearly +general and perfect fertility surprising, when we remember how liable we +are to argue in a circle with respect to varieties in a state of Nature; +and when we remember that the greater number of varieties have been +produced under domestication by the selection of mere external +differences, and not of differences in the reproductive system. In all +other respects, excluding fertility, there is a close general +resemblance between hybrids and mongrels."--Pp. 276-8. + +We fully agree with the general tenor of this weighty passage; but +forcible as are these arguments, and little as the value of fertility or +infertility as a test of species may be, it must not be forgotten that +the really important fact, so far as the inquiry into the origin of +species goes, is, that there are such things in Nature as groups of +animals and of plants, whose members are incapable of fertile union with +those of other groups; and that there are such things as hybrids, which +are absolutely sterile when crossed with other hybrids. For, if such +phenomena as these were exhibited by only two of those assemblages of +living objects, to which the name of species (whether it be used in its +physiological or in its morphological sense) is given, it would have to +be accounted for by any theory of the origin of species, and every +theory which could not account for it would be, so far, imperfect. + +Up to this point, we have been dealing with matters of fact, and the +statements which we have laid before the reader would, to the best of +our knowledge, be admitted to contain a fair exposition of what is at +present known respecting the essential properties of species, by all who +have studied the question. And whatever may be his theoretical views, no +naturalist will probably be disposed to demur to the following summary +of that exposition:-- + +Living beings, whether animals or plants, are divisible into multitudes +of distinctly definable kinds, which are morphological species. They are +also divisible into groups of individuals, which breed freely together, +tending to reproduce their like, and are physiological species. Normally +resembling their parents, the offspring of members of these species are +still liable to vary; and the variation may be perpetuated by selection, +as a race, which race, in many cases, presents all the characteristics +of a morphological species. But it is not as yet proved that a race ever +exhibits, when crossed with another race of the same species, those +phenomena of hybridization which are exhibited by many species when +crossed with other species. On the other hand, not only is it not proved +that all species give rise to hybrids infertile inter se, but there is +much reason to believe that, in crossing, species exhibit every +gradation from perfect sterility to perfect fertility. + +Such are the most essential characteristics of species. Even were man +not one of them--a member of the same system and subject to the same +laws--the question of their origin, their causal connexion, that is, +with the other phenomena of the universe, must have attracted his +attention, as soon as his intelligence had raised itself above the level +of his daily wants. + +Indeed history relates that such was the case, and has embalmed for us +the speculations upon the origin of living beings, which were among the +earliest products of the dawning intellectual activity of man. In those +early days positive knowledge was not to be had, but the craving after +it needed, at all hazards, to be satisfied, and according to the +country, or the turn of thought, of the speculator, the suggestion that +all living things arose from the mud of the Nile, from a primeval egg, +or from some more anthropomorphic agency, afforded a sufficient +resting-place for his curiosity. The myths of Paganism are as dead as +Osiris or Zeus, and the man who should revive them, in opposition to the +knowledge of our time, would be justly laughed to scorn; but the coeval +imaginations current among the rude inhabitants of Palestine, recorded +by writers whose very name and age are admitted by every scholar to be +unknown, have unfortunately not yet shared their fate, but, even at this +day, are regarded by nine-tenths of the civilized world as the +authoritative standard of fact and the criterion of the justice of +scientific conclusions, in all that relates to the origin of things, +and, among them, of species. In this nineteenth century, as at the dawn +of modern physical science, the cosmogony of the semi-barbarous Hebrew +is the incubus of the philosopher and the opprobrium of the orthodox. +Who shall number the patient and earnest seekers after truth, from the +days of Galileo until now, whose lives have been embittered and their +good name blasted by the mistaken zeal of Bibliolaters? Who shall count +the host of weaker men whose sense of truth has been destroyed in the +effort to harmonize impossibilities--whose life has been wasted in the +attempt to force the generous new wine of Science into the old bottles +of Judaism, compelled by the outcry of the same strong party? + +It is true that if philosophers have suffered, their cause has been +amply avenged. Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every +science as the strangled snakes beside that of Hercules; and history +records that whenever science and orthodoxy have been fairly opposed, +the latter has been forced to retire from the lists, bleeding and +crushed if not annihilated; scotched, if not slain. But orthodoxy is the +Bourbon of the world of thought. It learns not, neither can it forget; +and though, at present, bewildered and afraid to move, it is as willing +as ever to insist that the first chapter of Genesis contains the +beginning and the end of sound science; and to visit, with such petty +thunderbolts as its half-paralysed hands can hurl, those who refuse to +degrade Nature to the level of primitive Judaism. + +Philosophers, on the other hand, have no such aggressive tendencies. +With eyes fixed on the noble goal to which "per aspera et ardua" they +tend, they may, now and then, be stirred to momentary wrath by the +unnecessary obstacles with which the ignorant, or the malicious, +encumber, if they cannot bar, the difficult path; but why should their +souls be deeply vexed? The majesty of Fact is on their side, and the +elemental forces of Nature are working for them. Not a star comes to the +meridian at its calculated time but testifies to the justice of their +methods--their beliefs are "one with falling rain and with the growing +corn." By doubt they are established, and open inquiry is their bosom +friend. Such men have no fear of traditions however venerable, and no +respect for them when they become mischievous and obstructive; but they +have better than mere antiquarian business in hand, and if dogmas, which +ought to be fossil but are not, are not forced upon their notice, they +are too happy to treat them as non-existent. + +The hypotheses respecting the origin of species which profess to stand +upon a scientific basis, and, as such, alone demand serious attention, +are of two kinds. The one, the "special creation" hypothesis, presumes +every species to have originated from one or more stocks, these not +being the result of the modification of any other form of living +matter--or arising by natural agencies--but being produced, as such, by +a supernatural creative act. + +The other, the so-called "transmutation" hypothesis, considers that all +existing species are the result of the modification of pre-existing +species, and those of their predecessors, by agencies similar to those +which at the present day produce varieties and races, and therefore in +an altogether natural way; and it is a probable, though not a necessary +consequence of this hypothesis, that all living beings have arisen from +a single stock. With respect to the origin of this primitive stock, or +stocks, the doctrine of the origin of species is obviously not +necessarily concerned. The transmutation hypothesis, for example, is +perfectly consistent either with the conception of a special creation of +the primitive germ, or with the supposition of its having arisen, as a +modification of inorganic matter, by natural causes. + +The doctrine of special creation owes its existence very largely to the +supposed necessity of making science accord with the Hebrew cosmogony; +but it is curious to observe that, as the doctrine is at present +maintained by men of science, it is as hopelessly inconsistent with the +Hebrew view as any other hypothesis. + +If there be any result which has come more clearly out of geological +investigation than another, it is, that the vast series of extinct +animals and plants is not divisible, as it was once supposed to be, into +distinct groups, separated by sharply-marked boundaries. There are no +great gulfs between epochs and formations--no successive periods marked +by the appearance of plants, of water animals, and of land animals, en +masse. Every year adds to the list of links between what the older +geologists supposed to be widely separated epochs: witness the crags +linking the drift with older tertiaries; the Maestricht beds linking the +tertiaries with the chalk; the St. Cassian beds exhibiting an abundant +fauna of mixed mesozoic and palaeozoic types, in rocks of an epoch once +supposed to be eminently poor in life; witness, lastly, the incessant +disputes as to whether a given stratum shall be reckoned devonian or +carboniferous, silurian or devonian, cambrian or silurian. + +This truth is further illustrated in a most interesting manner by the +impartial and highly competent testimony of M. Pictet, from whose +calculations of what percentage of the genera of animals, existing in +any formation, lived during the preceding formation, it results that in +no case is the proportion less than 'one-third', or 33 per cent. It is +the triassic formation, or the commencement of the mesozoic epoch, which +has received the smallest inheritance from preceding ages. The other +formations not uncommonly exhibit 60, 80, or even 94 per cent. of genera +in common with those whose remains are imbedded in their predecessor. +Not only is this true, but the subdivisions of each formation exhibit +new species characteristic of, and found only in, them; and, in many +cases, as in the lias for example, the separate beds of these +subdivisions are distinguished by well-marked and peculiar forms of +life. A section, a hundred feet thick, will exhibit, at different +heights, a dozen species of ammonite, none of which passes beyond its +particular zone of limestone, or clay, into the zone below it or into +that above it; so that those who adopt the doctrine of special creation +must be prepared to admit, that at intervals of time, corresponding with +the thickness of these beds, the Creator thought fit to interfere with +the natural course of events for the purpose of making a new ammonite. +It is not easy to transplant oneself into the frame of mind of those who +can accept such a conclusion as this, on any evidence short of absolute +demonstration; and it is difficult to see what is to be gained by so +doing, since, as we have said, it is obvious that such a view of the +origin of living beings is utterly opposed to the Hebrew cosmogony. +Deserving no aid from the powerful arm of Bibliolatry, then, does the +received form of the hypothesis of special creation derive any support +from science or sound logic? Assuredly not much. The arguments brought +forward in its favour all take one form: If species were not +supernaturally created, we cannot understand the facts 'x' or 'y', or +'z'; we cannot understand the structure of animals or plants, unless we +suppose they were contrived for special ends; we cannot understand the +structure of the eye, except by supposing it to have been made to see +with; we cannot understand instincts, unless we suppose animals to have +been miraculously endowed with them. + +As a question of dialectics, it must be admitted that this sort of +reasoning is not very formidable to those who are not to be frightened +by consequences. It is an argumentum ad ignorantiam--take this +explanation or be ignorant. + +But suppose we prefer to admit our ignorance rather than adopt a +hypothesis at variance with all the teachings of Nature? Or, suppose for +a moment we admit the explanation, and then seriously ask ourselves how +much the wiser are we; what does the explanation explain? Is it any more +than a grandiloquent way of announcing the fact, that we really know +nothing about the matter? A phenomenon is explained when it is shown to +be a case of some general law of Nature; but the supernatural +interposition of the Creator can, by the nature of the case, exemplify +no law, and if species have really arisen in this way, it is absurd to +attempt to discuss their origin. + +Or, lastly, let us ask ourselves whether any amount of evidence which +the nature of our faculties permits us to attain, can justify us in +asserting that any phenomenon is out of the reach of natural causation. +To this end it is obviously necessary that we should know all the +consequences to which all possible combinations, continued through +unlimited time, can give rise. If we knew these, and found none +competent to originate species, we should have good ground for denying +their origin by natural causation. Till we know them, any hypothesis is +better than one which involves us in such miserable presumption. + +But the hypothesis of special creation is not only a mere specious mask +for our ignorance; its existence in Biology marks the youth and +imperfection of the science. For what is the history of every science +but the history of the elimination of the notion of creative, or other +interferences, with the natural order of the phenomena which are the +subject-matter of that science? When Astronomy was young "the morning +stars sang together for joy," and the planets were guided in their +courses by celestial hands. Now, the harmony of the stars has resolved +itself into gravitation according to the inverse squares of the +distances, and the orbits of the planets are deducible from the laws of +the forces which allow a schoolboy's stone to break a window. The +lightning was the angel of the Lord; but it has pleased Providence, in +these modern times, that science should make it the humble messenger of +man, and we know that every flash that shimmers about the horizon on a +summer's evening is determined by ascertainable conditions, and that its +direction and brightness might, if our knowledge of these were great +enough, have been calculated. + +The solvency of great mercantile companies rests on the validity of the +laws which have been ascertained to govern the seeming irregularity of +that human life which the moralist bewails as the most uncertain of +things; plague, pestilence, and famine are admitted, by all but fools, +to be the natural result of causes for the most part fully within human +control, and not the unavoidable tortures inflicted by wrathful +Omnipotence upon His helpless handiwork. + +Harmonious order governing eternally continuous progress--the web and +woof of matter and force interweaving by slow degrees, without a broken +thread, that veil which lies between us and the Infinite--that universe +which alone we know or can know; such is the picture which science draws +of the world, and in proportion as any part of that picture is in unison +with the rest, so may we feel sure that it is rightly painted. Shall +Biology alone remain out of harmony with her sister sciences? + +Such arguments against the hypothesis of the direct creation of species +as these are plainly enough deducible from general considerations; but +there are, in addition, phenomena exhibited by species themselves, and +yet not so much a part of their very essence as to have required earlier +mention, which are in the highest degree perplexing, if we adopt the +popularly accepted hypothesis. Such are the facts of distribution in +space and in time; the singular phenomena brought to light by the study +of development; the structural relations of species upon which our +systems of classification are founded; the great doctrines of +philosophical anatomy, such as that of homology, or of the community of +structural plan exhibited by large groups of species differing very +widely in their habits and functions. + +The species of animals which inhabit the sea on opposite sides of the +isthmus of Panama are wholly distinct;* the animals and plants which +inhabit islands are commonly distinct from those of the neighbouring +mainlands, and yet have a similarity of aspect. ([Footnote] *Recent +investigations tend to show that this statement is not strictly +accurate.--1870.) The mammals of the latest tertiary epoch in the Old +and New Worlds belong to the same genera, or family groups, as those +which now inhabit the same great geographical area. The crocodilian +reptiles which existed in the earliest secondary epoch were similar in +general structure to those now living, but exhibit slight differences in +their vertebrae, nasal passages, and one or two other points. The +guinea-pig has teeth which are shed before it is born, and hence can +never subserve the masticatory purpose for which they seem contrived, +and, in like manner, the female dugong has tusks which never cut the +gum. All the members of the same great group run through similar +conditions in their development, and all their parts, in the adult +state, are arranged according to the same plan. Man is more like a +gorilla than a gorilla is like a lemur. Such are a few, taken at random, +among the multitudes of similar facts which modern research has +established; but when the student seeks for an explanation of them from +the supporters of the received hypothesis of the origin of species, the +reply he receives is, in substance, of Oriental simplicity and +brevity--"Mashallah! it so pleases God!" There are different species on +opposite sides of the isthmus of Panama, because they were created +different on the two sides. The pliocene mammals are like the existing +ones, because such was the plan of creation; and we find rudimental +organs and similarity of plan, because it has pleased the Creator to set +before Himself a "divine exemplar or archetype," and to copy it in His +works; and somewhat ill, those who hold this view imply, in some of +them. That such verbal hocus-pocus should be received as science will +one day be regarded as evidence of the low state of intelligence in the +nineteenth century, just as we amuse ourselves with the phraseology +about Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum, wherewith Torricelli's +compatriots were satisfied to explain the rise of water in a pump. And +be it recollected that this sort of satisfaction works not only negative +but positive ill, by discouraging inquiry, and so depriving man of the +usufruct of one of the most fertile fields of his great patrimony, +Nature. + +The objections to the doctrine of the origin of species by special +creation which have been detailed, must have occurred, with more or less +force, to the mind of every one who has seriously and independently +considered the subject. It is therefore no wonder that, from time to +time, this hypothesis should have been met by counter hypotheses, all as +well, and some better founded than itself; and it is curious to remark +that the inventors of the opposing views seem to have been led into them +as much by their knowledge of geology, as by their acquaintance with +biology. In fact, when the mind has once admitted the conception of the +gradual production of the present physical state of our globe, by +natural causes operating through long ages of time, it will be little +disposed to allow that living beings have made their appearance in +another way, and the speculations of De Maillet and his successors are +the natural complement of Scilla's demonstration of the true nature of +fossils. + +A contemporary of Newton and of Leibnitz, sharing therefore in the +intellectual activity of the remarkable age which witnessed the birth of +modern physical science, Benoit de Maillet spent a long life as a +consular agent of the French Government in various Mediterranean ports. +For sixteen years, in fact, he held the office of Consul-General in +Egypt, and the wonderful phenomena offered by the valley of the Nile +appear to have strongly impressed his mind, to have directed his +attention to all facts of a similar order which came within his +observation, and to have led him to speculate on the origin of the +present condition of our globe and of its inhabitants. But, with all his +ardour for science, De Maillet seems to have hesitated to publish views +which, notwithstanding the ingenious attempts to reconcile them with the +Hebrew hypothesis contained in the preface to "Telliamed," were hardly +likely to be received with favour by his contemporaries. + +But a short time had elapsed since more than one of the great anatomists +and physicists of the Italian school had paid dearly for their +endeavours to dissipate some of the prevalent errors; and their +illustrious pupil, Harvey, the founder of modern physiology, had not +fared so well, in a country less oppressed by the benumbing influences +of theology, as to tempt any man to follow his example. Probably not +uninfluenced by these considerations, his Catholic majesty's +Consul-General for Egypt kept his theories to himself throughout a long +life, for 'Telliamed,' the only scientific work which is known to have +proceeded from his pen, was not printed till 1735, when its author had +reached the ripe age of seventy-nine; and though De Maillet lived three +years longer, his book was not given to the world before 1748. Even then +it was anonymous to those who were not in the secret of the anagrammatic +character of its title; and the preface and dedication are so worded as, +in case of necessity, to give the printer a fair chance of falling back +on the excuse that the work was intended for a mere jeu d'esprit. + +The speculations of the supposititious Indian sage, though quite as +sound as those of many a "Mosaic Geology," which sells exceedingly well, +have no great value if we consider them by the light of modern science. +The waters are supposed to have originally covered the whole globe; to +have deposited the rocky masses which compose its mountains by processes +comparable to those which are now forming mud, sand, and shingle; and +then to have gradually lowered their level, leaving the spoils of their +animal and vegetable inhabitants embedded in the strata. As the dry land +appeared, certain of the aquatic animals are supposed to have taken to +it, and to have become gradually adapted to terrestrial and aerial modes +of existence. But if we regard the general tenor and style of the +reasoning in relation to the state of knowledge of the day, two +circumstances appear very well worthy of remark. The first, that De +Maillet had a notion of the modifiability of living forms (though +without any precise information on the subject), and how such +modifiability might account for the origin of species; the second, that +he very clearly apprehended the great modern geological doctrine, so +strongly insisted upon by Hutton, and so ably and comprehensively +expounded by Lyell, that we must look to existing causes for the +explanation of past geological events. Indeed, the following passage of +the preface, in which De Maillet is supposed to speak of the Indian +philosopher Telliamed, his 'alter ego', might have been written by the +most philosophical uniformitarian of the present day:-- + +"Ce qu'il y a d'etonnant, est que pour arriver a ces connoissances il +semble avoir perverti l'ordre naturel, puisqu'au lieu de s'attacher +d'abord a rechercher l'origine de notre globe il a commence par +travailler a s'instruire de la nature. Mais a l'entendre, ce +renversement de l'ordre a ete pour lui l'effet d'un genie favorable qui +l'a conduit pas a pas et comme par la main aux decouvertes les plus +sublimes. C'est en decomposant la substance de ce globe par une anatomie +exacte de toutes ses parties qu'il a premierement appris de quelles +matieres il etait compose et quels arrangemens ces memes matieres +observaient entre elles. Ces lumieres jointes a l'esprit de comparaison +toujours necessaire a quiconque entreprend de percer les voiles dont la +nature aime a se cacher, ont servi de guide a notre philosophe pour +parvenir a des connoissances plus interessantes. Par la matiere et +l'arrangement de ces compositions il pretend avoir reconnu quelle est la +veritable origine de ce globe que nous habitons, comment et par qui il a +ete forme."--Pp. xix. xx. + +But De Maillet was before his age, and as could hardly fail to happen to +one who speculated on a zoological and botanical question before +Linnaeus, and on a physiological problem before Haller, he fell into +great errors here and there; and hence, perhaps, the general neglect of +his work. Robinet's speculations are rather behind, than in advance of, +those of De Maillet; and though Linnaeus may have played with the +hypothesis of transmutation, it obtained no serious support until +Lamarck adopted it, and advocated it with great ability in his +'Philosophie Zoologique.' + +Impelled towards the hypothesis of the transmutation of species, partly +by his general cosmological and geological views; partly by the +conception of a graduated, though irregularly branching, scale of being, +which had arisen out of his profound study of plants and of the lower +forms of animal life, Lamarck, whose general line of thought often +closely resembles that of De Maillet, made a great advance upon the +crude and merely speculative manner in which that writer deals with the +question of the origin of living beings, by endeavouring to find +physical causes competent to effect that change of one species into +another, which De Maillet had only supposed to occur. And Lamarck +conceived that he had found in Nature such causes, amply sufficient for +the purpose in view. It is a physiological fact, he says, that organs +are increased in size by action, atrophied by inaction; it is another +physiological fact that modifications produced are transmissible to +offspring. Change the actions of an animal, therefore, and you will +change its structure, by increasing the development of the parts newly +brought into use and by the diminution of those less used; but by +altering the circumstances which surround it you will alter its actions, +and hence, in the long run, change of circumstance must produce change +of organization. All the species of animals, therefore, are, in +Lamarck's view, the result of the indirect action of changes of +circumstance, upon those primitive germs which he considered to have +originally arisen, by spontaneous generation, within the waters of the +globe. It is curious, however, that Lamarck should insist so strongly* +as he has done, that circumstances never in any degree directly modify +the form or the organization of animals, but only operate by changing +their wants and consequently their actions; for he thereby brings upon +himself the obvious question, how, then, do plants, which cannot be said +to have wants or actions, become modified? To this he replies, that they +are modified by the changes in their nutritive processes, which are +effected by changing circumstances; and it does not seem to have +occurred to him that such changes might be as well supposed to take +place among animals. ([Footnote] *See 'Phil. Zoologique,' vol. i. p. +222, et seq.) + +When we have said that Lamarck felt that mere speculation was not the +way to arrive at the origin of species, but that it was necessary, in +order to the establishment of any sound theory on the subject, to +discover by observation or otherwise, some 'vera causa', competent to +give rise to them; that he affirmed the true order of classification to +coincide with the order of their development one from another; that he +insisted on the necessity of allowing sufficient time, very strongly; +and that all the varieties of instinct and reason were traced back by +him to the same cause as that which has given rise to species, we have +enumerated his chief contributions to the advance of the question. On +the other hand, from his ignorance of any power in Nature competent to +modify the structure of animals, except the development of parts, or +atrophy of them, in consequence of a change of needs, Lamarck was led to +attach infinitely greater weight than it deserves to this agency, and +the absurdities into which he was led have met with deserved +condemnation. Of the struggle for existence, on which, as we shall see, +Mr. Darwin lays such great stress, he had no conception; indeed, he +doubts whether there really are such things as extinct species, unless +they be such large animals as may have met their death at the hands of +man; and so little does he dream of there being any other destructive +causes at work, that, in discussing the possible existence of fossil +shells, he asks, "Pourquoi d'ailleurs seroient-ils perdues des que +l'homme n'a pu operer leur destruction?" ('Phil. Zool.,' vol. i. p. 77.) +Of the influence of selection Lamarck has as little notion, and he makes +no use of the wonderful phenomena which are exhibited by domesticated +animals, and illustrate its powers. The vast influence of Cuvier was +employed against the Lamarckian views, and, as the untenability of some +of his conclusions was easily shown, his doctrines sank under the +opprobrium of scientific, as well as of theological, heterodoxy. Nor +have the efforts made of late years to revive them tended to +re-establish their credit in the minds of sound thinkers acquainted with +the facts of the case; indeed it may be doubted whether Lamarck has not +suffered more from his friends than from his foes. + +Two years ago, in fact, though we venture to question if even the +strongest supporters of the special creation hypothesis had not, now and +then, an uneasy consciousness that all was not right, their position +seemed more impregnable than ever, if not by its own inherent strength, +at any rate by the obvious failure of all the attempts which had been +made to carry it. On the other hand, however much the few, who thought +deeply on the question of species, might be repelled by the generally +received dogmas, they saw no way of escaping from them save by the +adoption of suppositions so little justified by experiment or by +observation as to be at least equally distasteful. + +The choice lay between two absurdities and a middle condition of uneasy +scepticism; which last, however unpleasant and unsatisfactory, was +obviously the only justifiable state of mind under the circumstances. + +Such being the general ferment in the minds of naturalists, it is no +wonder that they mustered strong in the rooms of the Linnaean Society, +on the 1st of July of the year 1858, to hear two papers by authors +living on opposite sides of the globe, working out their results +independently, and yet professing to have discovered one and the same +solution of all the problems connected with species. The one of these +authors was an able naturalist, Mr. Wallace, who had been employed for +some years in studying the productions of the islands of the Indian +Archipelago, and who had forwarded a memoir embodying his views to Mr. +Darwin, for communication to the Linnaean Society. On perusing the +essay, Mr. Darwin was not a little surprised to find that it embodied +some of the leading ideas of a great work which he had been preparing +for twenty years, and parts of which, containing a development of the +very same views, had been perused by his private friends fifteen or +sixteen years before. Perplexed in what manner to do full justice both +to his friend and to himself, Mr. Darwin placed the matter in the hands +of Dr. Hooker and Sir Charles Lyell, by whose advice he communicated a +brief abstract of his own views to the Linnaean Society, at the same +time that Mr. Wallace's paper was read. Of that abstract, the work on +the 'Origin of Species' is an enlargement; but a complete statement of +Mr. Darwin's doctrine is looked for in the large and well-illustrated +work which he is said to be preparing for publication. + +The Darwinian hypothesis has the merit of being eminently simple and +comprehensible in principle, and its essential positions may be stated +in a very few words: all species have been produced by the development +of varieties from common stocks; by the conversion of these, first into +permanent races and then into new species, by the process of NATURAL +SELECTION, which process is essentially identical with that artificial +selection by which man has originated the races of domestic animals--the +STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE taking the place of man, and exerting, in the +case of natural selection, that selective action which he performs in +artificial selection. + +The evidence brought forward by Mr. Darwin in support of his hypothesis +is of three kinds. First, he endeavours to prove that species may be +originated by selection; secondly, he attempts to show that natural +causes are competent to exert selection; and thirdly, he tries to prove +that the most remarkable and apparently anomalous phenomena exhibited by +the distribution, development, and mutual relations of species, can be +shown to be deducible from the general doctrine of their origin, which +he propounds, combined with the known facts of geological change; and +that, even if all these phenomena are not at present explicable by it, +none are necessarily inconsistent with it. + +There cannot be a doubt that the method of inquiry which Mr. Darwin has +adopted is not only rigorously in accordance with the canons of +scientific logic, but that it is the only adequate method. Critics +exclusively trained in classics or in mathematics, who have never +determined a scientific fact in their lives by induction from experiment +or observation, prate learnedly about Mr. Darwin's method, which is not +inductive enough, not Baconian enough, forsooth, for them. But even if +practical acquaintance with the process of scientific investigation is +denied them, they may learn, by the perusal of Mr. Mill's admirable +chapter "On the Deductive Method," that there are multitudes of +scientific inquiries in which the method of pure induction helps the +investigator but a very little way. + +"The mode of investigation," says Mr. Mill, "which, from the proved +inapplicability of direct methods of observation and experiment, remains +to us as the main source of the knowledge we possess, or can acquire, +respecting the conditions and laws of recurrence of the more complex +phenomena, is called, in its most general expression, the deductive +method, and consists of three operations: the first, one of direct +induction; the second, of ratiocination; and the third, of +verification." + +Now, the conditions which have determined the existence of species are +not only exceedingly complex, but, so far as the great majority of them +are concerned, are necessarily beyond our cognizance. But what Mr. +Darwin has attempted to do is in exact accordance with the rule laid +down by Mr. Mill; he has endeavoured to determine certain great facts +inductively, by observation and experiment; he has then reasoned from +the data thus furnished; and lastly, he has tested the validity of his +ratiocination by comparing his deductions with the observed facts of +Nature. Inductively, Mr. Darwin endeavours to prove that species arise +in a given way. Deductively, he desires to show that, if they arise in +that way, the facts of distribution, development, classification, etc., +may be accounted for, i.e. may be deduced from their mode of origin, +combined with admitted changes in physical geography and climate, during +an indefinite period. And this explanation, or coincidence of observed +with deduced facts, is, so far as it extends, a verification of the +Darwinian view. + +There is no fault to be found with Mr. Darwin's method, then; but it is +another question whether he has fulfilled all the conditions imposed by +that method. Is it satisfactorily proved, in fact, that species may be +originated by selection? that there is such a thing as natural +selection? that none of the phenomena exhibited by species are +inconsistent with the origin of species in this way? If these questions +can be answered in the affirmative, Mr. Darwin's view steps out of the +rank of hypotheses into those of proved theories; but, so long as the +evidence at present adduced falls short of enforcing that affirmation, +so long, to our minds, must the new doctrine be content to remain among +the former--an extremely valuable, and in the highest degree probable, +doctrine, indeed the only extant hypothesis which is worth anything in a +scientific point of view; but still a hypothesis, and not yet the theory +of species. + +After much consideration, and with assuredly no bias against Mr. +Darwin's views, it is our clear conviction that, as the evidence stands, +it is not absolutely proven that a group of animals, having all the +characters exhibited by species in Nature, has ever been originate by +selection, whether artificial or natural. Groups having the +morphological character of species, distinct and permanent races in +fact, have been so produced over and over again; but there is no +positive evidence, at present, that any group of animals has, by +variation and selective breeding, given rise to another group which was, +even in the least degree, infertile with the first. Mr. Darwin is +perfectly aware of this weak point, and brings forward a multitude of +ingenious and important arguments to diminish the force of the +objection. We admit the value of these arguments to their fullest +extent; nay, we will go so far as to express our belief that +experiments, conducted by a skilful physiologist, would very probably +obtain the desired production of mutually more or less infertile breeds +from a common stock, in a comparatively few years; but still, as the +case stands at present, this "little rift within the lute" is not to be +disguised nor overlooked. + +In the remainder of Mr. Darwin's argument our own private ingenuity has +not hitherto enabled us to pick holes of any great importance; and +judging by what we hear and read, other adventurers in the same field do +not seem to have been much more fortunate. It has been urged, for +instance, that in his chapters on the struggle for existence and on +natural selection, Mr. Darwin does not so much prove that natural +selection does occur, as that it must occur; but, in fact, no other sort +of demonstration is attainable. A race does not attract our attention in +Nature until it has, in all probability, existed for a considerable +time, and then it is too late to inquire into the conditions of its +origin. Again, it is said that there is no real analogy between the +selection which takes place under domestication, by human influence, and +any operation which can be effected by Nature, for man interferes +intelligently. Reduced to its elements, this argument implies that an +effect produced with trouble by an intelligent agent must, a fortiori, +be more troublesome, if not impossible, to an unintelligent agent. Even +putting aside the question whether Nature, acting as she does according +to definite and invariable laws, can be rightly called an unintelligent +agent, such a position as this is wholly untenable. Mix salt and sand, +and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, +to separate all the grains of sand from all the grains of salt; but a +shower of rain will effect the same object in ten minutes. And so, while +man may find it tax all his intelligence to separate any variety which +arises, and to breed selectively from it, the destructive agencies +incessantly at work in Nature, if they find one variety to be more +soluble in circumstances than the other, will inevitably, in the long +run, eliminate it. + +A frequent and a just objection to the Lamarckian hypothesis of the +transmutation of species is based upon the absence of transitional forms +between many species. But against the Darwinian hypothesis this argument +has no force. Indeed, one of the most valuable and suggestive parts of +Mr. Darwin's work is that in which he proves, that the frequent absence +of transitions is a necessary consequence of his doctrine, and that the +stock whence two or more species have sprung, need in no respect be +intermediate between these species. If any two species have arisen from +a common stock in the same way as the carrier and the pouter, say, have +arisen from the rock-pigeon, then the common stock of these two species +need be no more intermediate between the two than the rock-pigeon is +between the carrier and pouter. Clearly appreciate the force of this +analogy, and all the arguments against the origin of species by +selection, based on the absence of transitional forms, fall to the +ground. And Mr. Darwin's position might, we think, have been even +stronger than it is if he had not embarrassed himself with the aphorism, +"Natura non facit saltum," which turns up so often in his pages. We +believe, as we have said above, that Nature does make jumps now and +then, and a recognition of the fact is of no small importance in +disposing of many minor objections to the doctrine of transmutation. + +But we must pause. The discussion of Mr. Darwin's arguments in detail +would lead us far beyond the limits within which we proposed, at +starting, to confine this article. Our object has been attained if we +have given an intelligible, however brief, account of the established +facts connected with species, and of the relation of the explanation of +those facts offered by Mr. Darwin to the theoretical views held by his +predecessors and his contemporaries, and, above all, to the requirements +of scientific logic. We have ventured to point out that it does not, as +yet, satisfy all those requirements; but we do not hesitate to assert +that it is as superior to any preceding or contemporary hypothesis, in +the extent of observational and experimental basis on which it rests, in +its rigorously scientific method, and in its power of explaining +biological phenomena, as was the hypothesis of Copernicus to the +speculations of Ptolemy. But the planetary orbits turned out to be not +quite circular after all, and, grand as was the service Copernicus +rendered to science, Kepler and Newton had to come after him. What if +the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular? What if species +should offer residual phenomena, here and there, not explicable by +natural selection? Twenty years hence naturalists may be in a position +to say whether this is, or is not, the case; but in either event they +will owe the author of 'The Origin of Species' an immense debt of +gratitude. We should leave a very wrong impression on the reader's mind +if we permitted him to suppose that the value of that work depends +wholly on the ultimate justification of the theoretical views which it +contains. On the contrary, if they were disproved to-morrow, the book +would still be the best of its kind--the most compendious statement of +well-sifted facts bearing on the doctrine of species that has ever +appeared. The chapters on Variation, on the Struggle for Existence, on +Instinct, on Hybridism, on the Imperfection of the Geological Record, on +Geographical Distribution, have not only no equals, but, so far as our +knowledge goes, no competitors, within the range of biological +literature. And viewed as a whole, we do not believe that, since the +publication of Von Baer's Researches on Development, thirty years ago, +any work has appeared calculated to exert so large an influence, not +only on the future of Biology, but in extending the domination of +Science over regions of thought into which she has, as yet, hardly +penetrated. + +End of The Origin of Species. + +*** + + +CRITICISMS ON "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES".* + +([Footnote] *'The Natural History Review', 1864.) + +1. UEBER DIE DARWIN'SCHE SCHOPFUNGSTHEORIE; EIN VORTRAG, VON A. +KOLLIKER. Leipzig, 1864. + +2. EXAMINATION DU LIVRE DE M. DARWIN SUR L'ORIGINE DES ESPECES. PAR P. +FLOURENS. Paris, 1864. + +In the course of the present year several foreign commentaries upon Mr. +Darwin's great work have made their appearance. Those who have perused +that remarkable chapter of the 'Antiquity of Man,' in which Sir Charles +Lyell draws a parallel between the development of species and that of +languages, will be glad to hear that one of the most eminent philologers +of Germany, Professor Schleicher, has, independently, published a most +instructive and philosophical pamphlet (an excellent notice of which is +to be found in the 'Reader', for February 27th of this year) supporting +similar views with all the weight of his special knowledge and +established authority as a linguist. Professor Haeckel, to whom +Schleicher addresses himself, previously took occasion, in his splendid +monograph on the 'Radiolaria',* to express his high appreciation of, and +general concordance with, Mr. Darwin's views. ([Footnote] *'Die +Radiolarien: eine Monographie', p. 231.) + +But the most elaborate criticisms of the 'Origin of Species' which have +appeared are two works of very widely different merit, the one by +Professor Kolliker, the well-known anatomist and histologist of +Wurzburg; the other by M. Flourens, Perpetual Secretary of the French +Academy of Sciences. + +Professor Kolliker's critical essay 'Upon the Darwinian Theory' is, like +all that proceeds from the pen of that thoughtful and accomplished +writer, worthy of the most careful consideration. It comprises a brief +but clear sketch of Darwin's views, followed by an enumeration of the +leading difficulties in the way of their acceptance; difficulties which +would appear to be insurmountable to Professor Kolliker, inasmuch as he +proposes to replace Mr. Darwin's Theory by one which he terms the +'Theory of Heterogeneous Generation.' We shall proceed to consider first +the destructive, and secondly, the constructive portion of the essay. + +We regret to find ourselves compelled to dissent very widely from many +of Professor Kolliker's remarks; and from none more thoroughly than from +those in which he seeks to define what we may term the philosophical +position of Darwinism. + +"Darwin," says Professor Kolliker, "is, in the fullest sense of the +word, a Teleologist. He says quite distinctly (First Edition, pp. 199, +200) that every particular in the structure of an animal has been +created for its benefit, and he regards the whole series of animal forms +only from this point of view." + +And again: + +"7. The teleological general conception adopted by Darwin is a mistaken +one. + +"Varieties arise irrespectively of the notion of purpose, or of utility, +according to general laws of Nature, and may be either useful, or +hurtful, or indifferent. + +"The assumption that an organism exists only on account of some definite +end in view, and represents something more than the incorporation of a +general idea, or law, implies a one-sided conception of the universe. +Assuredly, every organ has, and every organism fulfils, its end, but its +purpose is not the condition of its existence. Every organism is also +sufficiently perfect for the purpose it serves, and in that, at least, +it is useless to seek for a cause of its improvement." + +It is singular how differently one and the same book will impress +different minds. That which struck the present writer most forcibly on +his first perusal of the 'Origin of Species' was the conviction that +Teleology, as commonly understood, had received its deathblow at Mr. +Darwin's hands. For the teleological argument runs thus: an organ or +organism (A) is precisely fitted to perform a function or purpose (B); +therefore it was specially constructed to perform that function. In +Paley's famous illustration, the adaptation of all the parts of the +watch to the function, or purpose, of showing the time, is held to be +evidence that the watch was specially contrived to that end; on the +ground, that the only cause we know of, competent to produce such an +effect as a watch which shall keep time, is a contriving intelligence +adapting the means directly to that end. + +Suppose, however, that any one had been able to show that the watch had +not been made directly by any person, but that it was the result of the +modification of another watch which kept time but poorly; and that this +again had proceeded from a structure which could hardly be called a +watch at all--seeing that it had no figures on the dial and the hands +were rudimentary; and that going back and back in time we came at last +to a revolving barrel as the earliest traceable rudiment of the whole +fabric. And imagine that it had been possible to show that all these +changes had resulted, first, from a tendency of the structure to vary +indefinitely; and secondly, from something in the surrounding world +which helped all variations in the direction of an accurate time-keeper, +and checked all those in other directions; then it is obvious that the +force of Paley's argument would be gone. For it would be demonstrated +that an apparatus thoroughly well adapted to a particular purpose might +be the result of a method of trial and error worked by unintelligent +agents, as well as of the direct application of the means appropriate to +that end, by an intelligent agent. + +Now it appears to us that what we have here, for illustration's sake, +supposed to be done with the watch, is exactly what the establishment of +Darwin's Theory will do for the organic world. For the notion that every +organism has been created as it is and launched straight at a purpose, +Mr. Darwin substitutes the conception of something which may fairly be +termed a method of trial and error. Organisms vary incessantly; of these +variations the few meet with surrounding conditions which suit them and +thrive; the many are unsuited and become extinguished. + +According to Teleology, each organism is like a rifle bullet fired +straight at a mark; according to Darwin, organisms are like grapeshot of +which one hits something and the rest fall wide. + +For the teleologist an organism exists because it was made for the +conditions in which it is found; for the Darwinian an organism exists +because, out of many of its kind, it is the only one which has been able +to persist in the conditions in which it is found. + +Teleology implies that the organs of every organism are perfect and +cannot be improved; the Darwinian theory simply affirms that they work +well enough to enable the organism to hold its own against such +competitors as it has met with, but admits the possibility of indefinite +improvement. But an example may bring into clearer light the profound +opposition between the ordinary teleological, and the Darwinian, +conception. + +Cats catch mice, small birds and the like, very well. Teleology tells us +that they do so because they were expressly constructed for so +doing--that they are perfect mousing apparatuses, so perfect and so +delicately adjusted that no one of their organs could be altered, +without the change involving the alteration of all the rest. Darwinism +affirms on the contrary, that there was no express construction +concerned in the matter; but that among the multitudinous variations of +the Feline stock, many of which died out from want of power to resist +opposing influences, some, the cats, were better fitted to catch mice +than others, whence they throve and persisted, in proportion to the +advantage over their fellows thus offered to them. + +Far from imagining that cats exist IN ORDER to catch mice well, +Darwinism supposes that cats exist BECAUSE they catch mice well--mousing +being not the end, but the condition, of their existence. And if the cat +type has long persisted as we know it, the interpretation of the fact +upon Darwinian principles would be, not that the cats have remained +invariable, but that such varieties as have incessantly occurred have +been, on the whole, less fitted to get on in the world than the existing +stock. + +If we apprehend the spirit of the 'Origin of Species' rightly, then, +nothing can be more entirely and absolutely opposed to Teleology, as it +is commonly understood, than the Darwinian Theory. So far from being a +"Teleologist in the fullest sense of the word," we would deny that he is +a Teleologist in the ordinary sense at all; and we should say that, +apart from his merits as a naturalist, he has rendered a most remarkable +service to philosophical thought by enabling the student of Nature to +recognise, to their fullest extent, those adaptations to purpose which +are so striking in the organic world, and which Teleology has done good +service in keeping before our minds, without being false to the +fundamental principles of a scientific conception of the universe. The +apparently diverging teachings of the Teleologist and of the +Morphologist are reconciled by the Darwinian hypothesis. + +But leaving our own impressions of the 'Origin of Species,' and turning +to those passages especially cited by Professor Kolliker, we cannot +admit that they bear the interpretation he puts upon them. Darwin, if we +read him rightly, does 'not' affirm that every detail in the structure +of an animal has been created for its benefit. His words are (p. 199):-- + +"The foregoing remarks lead me to say a few words on the protest lately +made by some naturalists against the utilitarian doctrine that every +detail of structure has been produced for the good of its possessor. +They believe that very many structures have been created for beauty in +the eyes of man, or for mere variety. This doctrine, if true, would be +absolutely fatal to my theory--yet I fully admit that many structures +are of no direct use to their possessor." + +And after sundry illustrations and qualifications, he concludes (p. +200):-- + +"Hence every detail of structure in every living creature (making some +little allowance for the direct action of physical conditions) may be +viewed either as having been of special use to some ancestral form, or +as being now of special use to the descendants of this form--either +directly, or indirectly, through the complex laws of growth." + +But it is one thing to say, Darwinically, that every detail observed in +an animal's structure is of use to it, or has been of use to its +ancestors; and quite another to affirm, teleologically, that every +detail of an animal's structure has been created for its benefit. On the +former hypothesis, for example, the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena' have a +meaning; on the latter, none. So far as we are aware, there is not a +phrase in the 'Origin of Species', inconsistent with Professor +Kolliker's position, that "varieties arise irrespectively of the notion +of purpose, or of utility, according to general laws of Nature, and may +be either useful, or hurtful, or indifferent." + +On the contrary, Mr. Darwin writes (Summary of Chap. V.):-- + +"Our ignorance of the laws of variation is profound. Not in one case out +of a hundred can we pretend to assign any reason why this or that part +varies more or less from the same part in the parents...The external +conditions of life, as climate and food, etc., seem to have induced some +slight modifications. Habit, in producing constitutional differences, +and use, in strengthening, and disuse, in weakening and diminishing +organs, seem to have been more potent in their effects." + +And finally, as if to prevent all possible misconception, Mr. Darwin +concludes his Chapter on Variation with these pregnant words:-- + +"Whatever the cause may be of each slight difference in the offspring +from their parents--and a cause for each must exist--it is the steady +accumulation, through natural selection of such differences, when +beneficial to the individual, that gives rise to all the more important +modifications of structure which the innumerable beings on the face of +the earth are enabled to struggle with each other, and the best adapted +to survive." + +We have dwelt at length upon this subject, because of its great general +importance, and because we believe that Professor Kolliker's criticisms +on this head are based upon a misapprehension of Mr. Darwin's +views--substantially they appear to us to coincide with his own. The +other objections which Professor Kolliker enumerates and discusses are +the following*:--([Footnote] *Space will not allow us to give Professor +Kolliker's arguments in detail; our readers will find a full and +accurate version of them in the 'Reader' for August 13th and 20th, +1864.) + +"1. No transitional forms between existing species are known; and known +varieties, whether selected or spontaneous, never go so far as to +establish new species." + +To this Professor Kolliker appears to attach some weight. He makes the +suggestion that the short-faced tumbler pigeon may be a pathological +product. + +"2. No transitional forms of animals are met with among the organic +remains of earlier epochs." + +Upon this, Professor Kolliker remarks that the absence of transitional +forms in the fossil world, though not necessarily fatal to Darwin's +views, weakens his case. + +"3. The struggle for existence does not take place." + +To this objection, urged by Pelzeln, Kolliker, very justly, attaches no +weight. + +"4. A tendency of organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and a +natural selection, do not exist. + +"The varieties which are found arise in consequence of manifold external +influences, and it is not obvious why they all, or partially, should be +particularly useful. Each animal suffices for its own ends, is perfect +of its kind, and needs no further development. Should, however, a +variety be useful and even maintain itself, there is no obvious reason +why it should change any further. The whole conception of the +imperfection of organisms and the necessity of their becoming perfected +is plainly the weakest side of Darwin's Theory, and a pis aller +(Nothbehelf) because Darwin could think of no other principle by which +to explain the metamorphoses which, as I also believe, have occurred." + +Here again we must venture to dissent completely from Professor +Kolliker's conception of Mr. Darwin's hypothesis. It appears to us to be +one of the many peculiar merits of that hypothesis that it involves no +belief in a necessary and continual progress of organisms. + +Again, Mr. Darwin, if we read him aright, assumes no special tendency of +organisms to give rise to useful varieties, and knows nothing of needs +of development, or necessity of perfection. What he says is, in +substance: All organisms vary. It is in the highest degree improbable +that any given variety should have exactly the same relations to +surrounding conditions as the parent stock. In that case it is either +better fitted (when the variation may be called useful), or worse +fitted, to cope with them. If better, it will tend to supplant the +parent stock; if worse, it will tend to be extinguished by the parent +stock. + +If (as is hardly conceivable) the new variety is so perfectly adapted to +the conditions that no improvement upon it is possible,--it will +persist, because, though it does not cease to vary, the varieties will +be inferior to itself. + +If, as is more probable, the new variety is by no means perfectly +adapted to its conditions, but only fairly well adapted to them, it will +persist, so long as none of the varieties which it throws off are better +adapted than itself. + +On the other hand, as soon as it varies in a useful way, i.e. when the +variation is such as to adapt it more perfectly to its conditions, the +fresh variety will tend to supplant the former. + +So far from a gradual progress towards perfection forming any necessary +part of the Darwinian creed, it appears to us that it is perfectly +consistent with indefinite persistence in one estate, or with a gradual +retrogression. Suppose, for example, a return of the glacial epoch and a +spread of polar climatal conditions over the whole globe. The operation +of natural selection under these circumstances would tend, on the whole, +to the weeding out of the higher organisms and the cherishing of the +lower forms of life. Cryptogamic vegetation would have the advantage +over Phanerogamic; Hydrozoa over Corals; Crustacea over Insecta, and +Amphipoda and Isopoda over the higher Crustacea; Cetaceans and Seals +over the Primates; the civilization of the Esquimaux over that of the +European. + +"5. Pelzeln has also objected that if the later organisms have proceeded +from the earlier, the whole developmental series, from the simplest to +the highest, could not now exist; in such a case the simpler organisms +must have disappeared." + +To this Professor Kolliker replies, with perfect justice, that the +conclusion drawn by Pelzeln does not really follow from Darwin's +premisses, and that, if we take the facts of Palaeontology as they +stand, they rather support than oppose Darwin's theory. + +"6. Great weight must be attached to the objection brought forward by +Huxley, otherwise a warm supporter of Darwin's hypothesis, that we know +of no varieties which are sterile with one another, as is the rule among +sharply distinguished animal forms. + +"If Darwin is right, it must be demonstrated that forms may be produced +by selection, which, like the present sharply distinguished animal +forms, are infertile, when coupled with one another, and this has not +been done." + +The weight of this objection is obvious; but our ignorance of the +conditions of fertility and sterility, the want of carefully conducted +experiments extending over long series of years, and the strange +anomalies presented by the results of the cross-fertilization of many +plants, should all, as Mr. Darwin has urged, be taken into account in +considering it. + +The seventh objection is that we have already discussed (supra). + +The eighth and last stands as follows:-- + +"8. The developmental theory of Darwin is not needed to enable us to +understand the regular harmonious progress of the complete series of +organic forms from the simpler to the more perfect. + +"The existence of general laws of Nature explains this harmony, even if +we assume that all beings have arisen separately and independent of one +another. Darwin forgets that inorganic nature, in which there can be no +thought of genetic connexion of forms, exhibits the same regular plan, +the same harmony, as the organic world; and that, to cite only one +example, there is as much a natural system of minerals as of plants and +animals." + +We do not feel quite sure that we seize Professor Kolliker's meaning +here, but he appears to suggest that the observation of the general +order and harmony which pervade inorganic nature, would lead us to +anticipate a similar order and harmony in the organic world. And this is +no doubt true, but it by no means follows that the particular order and +harmony observed among them should be that which we see. Surely the +stripes of dun horses, and the teeth of the foetal 'Balaena', are not +explained by the "existence of general laws of Nature." Mr. Darwin +endeavours to explain the exact order of organic nature which exists; +not the mere fact that there is some order. + +And with regard to the existence of a natural system of minerals; the +obvious reply is that there may be a natural classification of any +objects--of stones on a sea-beach, or of works of art; a natural +classification being simply an assemblage of objects in groups, so as to +express their most important and fundamental resemblances and +differences. No doubt Mr. Darwin believes that those resemblances and +differences upon which our natural systems or classifications of animals +and plants are based, are resemblances and differences which have been +produced genetically, but we can discover no reason for supposing that +he denies the existence of natural classifications of other kinds. + +And, after all, is it quite so certain that a genetic relation may not +underlie the classification of minerals? The inorganic world has not +always been what we see it. It has certainly had its metamorphoses, and, +very probably, a long "Entwickelungsgeschichte" out of a nebular +blastema. Who knows how far that amount of likeness among sets of +minerals, in virtue of which they are now grouped into families and +orders, may not be the expression of the common conditions to which that +particular patch of nebulous fog, which may have been constituted by +their atoms, and of which they may be, in the strictest sense, the +descendants, was subjected? + +It will be obvious from what has preceded, that we do not agree with +Professor Kolliker in thinking the objections which he brings forward so +weighty as to be fatal to Darwin's view. But even if the case were +otherwise, we should be unable to accept the "Theory of Heterogeneous +Generation" which is offered as a substitute. That theory is thus +stated:-- + +"The fundamental conception of this hypothesis is, that, under the +influence of a general law of development, the germs of organisms +produce others different from themselves. This might happen (1) by the +fecundated ova passing, in the course of their development, under +particular circumstances, into higher forms; (2) by the primitive and +later organisms producing other organisms without fecundation, out of +germs or eggs (Parthenogenesis)." + +In favour of this hypothesis, Professor Kolliker adduces the well-known +facts of Agamogenesis, or "alternate generation"; the extreme +dissimilarity of the males and females of many animals; and of the +males, females, and neuters of those insects which live in colonies: and +he defines its relations to the Darwinian theory as follows:--"It is +obvious that my hypothesis is apparently very similar to Darwin's, +inasmuch as I also consider that the various forms of animals have +proceeded directly from one another. My hypothesis of the creation of +organisms by heterogeneous generation, however, is distinguished very +essentially from Darwin's by the entire absence of the principle of +useful variations and their natural selection: and my fundamental +conception is this, that a great plan of development lies at the +foundation of the origin of the whole organic world, impelling the +simpler forms to more and more complex developments. How this law +operates, what influences determine the development of the eggs and +germs, and impel them to assume constantly new forms, I naturally cannot +pretend to say; but I can at least adduce the great analogy of the +alternation of generations. If a 'Bipinnaria', a 'Brachialaria', a +'Pluteus', is competent to produce the Echinoderm, which is so widely +different from it; if a hydroid polype can produce the higher Medusa; if +the vermiform Trematode 'nurse' can develop within itself the very +unlike 'Cercaria', it will not appear impossible that the egg, or +ciliated embryo, of a sponge, for once, under special conditions, might +become a hydroid polype, or the embryo of a Medusa, an Echinoderm." + +It is obvious, from these extracts, that Professor Kolliker's hypothesis +is based upon the supposed existence of a close analogy between the +phenomena of Agamogenesis and the production of new species from +pre-existing ones. But is the analogy a real one? We think that it is +not, and, by the hypothesis, cannot be. + +For what are the phenomena of Agamogenesis, stated generally? An +impregnated egg develops into an asexual form, A; this gives rise, +asexually, to a second form or forms, B, more or less different from A. +B may multiply asexually again; in the simpler cases, however, it does +not, but, acquiring sexual characters, produces impregnated eggs from +whence A, once more, arises. + +No case of Agamogenesis is known in which, WHEN A DIFFERS WIDELY FROM B, +it is itself capable of sexual propagation. No case whatever is known in +which the progeny of B, by sexual generation, is other than a +reproduction of A. + +But if this be a true statement of the nature of the process of +Agamogenesis, how can it enable us to comprehend the production of new +species from already existing ones? Let us suppose Hyaenas to have +preceded Dogs, and to have produced the latter in this way. Then the +Hyena will represent A, and the Dog, B. The first difficulty that +presents itself is that the Hyena must be asexual, or the process will +be wholly without analogy in the world of Agamogenesis. But passing over +this difficulty, and supposing a male and female Dog to be produced at +the same time from the Hyaena stock, the progeny of the pair, if the +analogy of the simpler kinds of Agamogenesis* is to be followed, should +be a litter, not of puppies, but of young Hyenas. ([Footnote] * If, on +the contrary, we follow the analogy of the more complex forms of +Agamogenesis, such as that exhibited by some 'Trematoda' and by the +'Aphides', the Hyaena must produce, asexually, a brood of asexual Dogs, +from which other sexless Dogs must proceed. At the end of a certain +number of terms of the series, the Dogs would acquire sexes and generate +young; but these young would be, not Dogs, but Hyaenas. In fact, we have +DEMONSTRATED, in Agamogenetic phenomena, that inevitable recurrence to +the original type, which is ASSERTED to be true of variations in +general, by Mr. Darwin's opponents; and which, if the assertion could be +changed into a demonstration would, in fact, be fatal to his +hypothesis.) For the Agamogenetic series is always, as we have seen, A: +B: A: B, etc.; whereas, for the production of a new species, the series +must be A: B: B: B, etc. The production of new species, or genera, is +the extreme permanent divergence from the primitive stock. All known +Agamogenetic processes, on the other hand, end in a complete return to +the primitive stock. How then is the production of new species to be +rendered intelligible by the analogy of Agamogenesis? + +The other alternative put by Professor Kolliker--the passage of +fecundated ova in the course of their development into higher +forms--would, if it occurred, be merely an extreme case of variation in +the Darwinian sense, greater in degree than, but perfectly similar in +kind to, that which occurred when the well-known Ancon Ram was developed +from an ordinary Ewe's ovum. Indeed we have always thought that Mr. +Darwin has unnecessarily hampered himself by adhering so strictly to his +favourite "Natura non facit saltum." We greatly suspect that she does +make considerable jumps in the way of variation now and then, and that +these saltations give rise to some of the gaps which appear to exist in +the series of known forms. + +Strongly and freely as we have ventured to disagree with Professor +Kolliker, we have always done so with regret, and we trust without +violating that respect which is due, not only to his scientific eminence +and to the careful study which he has devoted to the subject, but to the +perfect fairness of his argumentation, and the generous appreciation of +the worth of Mr. Darwin's labours which he always displays. It would be +satisfactory to be able to say as much for M. Flourens. + +But the Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy of Sciences deals with +Mr. Darwin as the first Napoleon would have treated an "ideologue;" and +while displaying a painful weakness of logic and shallowness of +information, assumes a tone of authority, which always touches upon the +ludicrous, and sometimes passes the limits of good breeding. + +For example (p. 56):-- + +"M. Darwin continue: 'Aucune distinction absolue n'a ete et ne pout etre +etablie entre les especes et les varietes.' Je vous ai deja dit que vous +vous trompiez; une distinction absolue separe les varietes d'avec les +especes." + +"JE VOUS AI DEJA DIT; moi, M. le Secretaire perpetuel de l'Academie des +Sciences: et vous + + "'Qui n'etes rien, + Pas meme Academicien;' + +what do you mean by asserting the contrary?" Being devoid of the +blessings of an Academy in England, we are unaccustomed to see our +ablest men treated in this fashion, even by a "Perpetual Secretary." + +Or again, considering that if there is any one quality of Mr. Darwin's +work to which friends and foes have alike borne witness, it is his +candour and fairness in admitting and discussing objections, what is to +be thought of M. Flourens' assertion, that + +"M. Darwin ne cite que les auteurs qui partagent ses opinions." (P. 40.) + +Once more (p. 65):-- + +"Enfin l'ouvrage de M. Darwin a paru. On ne peut qu'etre frappe du +talent de l'auteur. Mais que d'idees obscures, que d'idees fausses! Quel +jargon metaphysique jete mal a propos dans l'histoire naturelle, qui +tombe dans le galimatias des qu'elle sort des idees claires, des idees +justes! Quel langage pretentieux et vide! Quelles personifications +pueriles et surannees! O lucidite! O solidite de l'esprit Francais, que +devenez-vous?" + +"Obscure ideas," "metaphysical jargon," "pretentious and empty +language," "puerile and superannuated personifications." Mr. Darwin has +many and hot opponents on this side of the Channel and in Germany, but +we do not recollect to have found precisely these sins in the long +catalogue of those hitherto laid to his charge. It is worth while, +therefore, to examine into these discoveries effected solely by the aid +of the "lucidity and solidity" of the mind of M. Flourens. + +According to M. Flourens, Mr. Darwin's great error is that he has +personified Nature (p. 10), and further that he has + +"imagined a natural selection: he imagines afterwards that this power of +selection (pouvoir d'elire) which he gives to Nature is similar to the +power of man. These two suppositions admitted, nothing stops him: he +plays with Nature as he likes, and makes her do all he pleases." (P. 6.) + +And this is the way M. Flourens extinguishes natural selection: + +"Voyons donc encore une fois, ce qu'il peut y avoir de fonde dans ce +qu'on nomme 'election naturelle'. + +"'L'election naturelle' n'est sous un autre nom que la nature. Pour un +etre organise, la nature n'est que l'organisation, ni plus ni moins. + +"Il faudra donc aussi personnifier 'l'organisation', et dire que +'l'organisation choisit l'organisation'. 'L'election naturelle' est +cette 'forme substantielle' dont on jouait autrefois avec tant de +facilite. Aristote disait que 'Si l'art de batir etait dans le bois, cet +art agirait comme la nature.' A la place de 'l'art de batir' M. Darwin +met 'l'election naturelle', et c'est tout un: l'un n'est pas plus +chimerique que l'autre." (P.31.) + +And this is really all that M. Flourens can make of Natural Selection. +We have given the original, in fear lest a translation should be +regarded as a travesty; but with the original before the reader, we may +try to analyse the passage. "For an organized being, Nature is only +organization, neither more nor less." + +Organized beings then have absolutely no relation to inorganic nature: a +plant does not, depend on soil or sunshine, climate, depth in the ocean, +height above it; the quantity of saline matters in water have no +influence upon animal life; the substitution of carbonic acid for oxygen +in our atmosphere would hurt nobody! That these are absurdities no one +should know better than M. Flourens; but they are logical deductions +from the assertion just quoted, and from the further statement that +natural selection means only that "organization chooses and selects +organization." + +For if it be once admitted (what no sane man denies) that the chances of +life of any given organism are increased by certain conditions (A) and +diminished by their opposites (B), then it is mathematically certain +that any change of conditions in the direction of (A) will exercise a +selective influence in favour of that organism, tending to its increase +and multiplication, while any change in the direction of (B) will +exercise a selective influence against that organism, tending to its +decrease and extinction. + +Or, on the other hand, conditions remaining the same, let a given +organism vary (and no one doubts that they do vary) in two directions: +into one form (a) better fitted to cope with these conditions than the +original stock, and a second (b) less well adapted to them. Then it is +no less certain that the conditions in question must exercise a +selective influence in favour of (a) and against ( b), so that (a) will +tend to predominance, and (b) to extirpation. + +That M. Flourens should be unable to perceive the logical necessity of +these simple arguments, which lie at the foundation of all Mr. Darwin's +reasoning; that he should confound an irrefragable deduction from the +observed relations of organisms to the conditions which lie around them, +with a metaphysical "forme substantielle," or a chimerical +personification of the powers of Nature, would be incredible, were it +not that other passages of his work leave no room for doubt upon the +subject. + +"On imagine une 'election naturelle' que, pour plus de menagement, on me +dit etre 'inconsciente', sans s'apercevoir que le contre-sens litteral +est precisement la: 'election inconsciente'." (P. 52.) + +"J'ai deja dit ce qu'il faut penser de 'l'election naturelle'. Ou +'l'election naturelle' n'est rien, ou c'est la nature: mais la nature +douee 'd'election', mais la nature personnifiee: derniere erreur du +dernier siecle: Le xixe fait plus de personnifications." (P. 53.) + +M. Flourens cannot imagine an unconscious selection--it is for him a +contradiction in terms. Did M. Flourens ever visit one of the prettiest +watering-places of "la belle France," the Baie d'Arcachon? If so, he +will probably have passed through the district of the Landes, and will +have had an opportunity of observing the formation of "dunes" on a grand +scale. What are these "dunes"? The winds and waves of the Bay of Biscay +have not much consciousness, and yet they have with great care +"selected," from among an infinity of masses of silex of all shapes and +sizes, which have been submitted to their action, all the grains of sand +below a certain size, and have heaped them by themselves over a great +area. This sand has been "unconsciously selected" from amidst the gravel +in which it first lay with as much precision as if man had "consciously +selected" it by the aid of a sieve. Physical Geology is full of such +selections--of the picking out of the soft from the hard, of the soluble +from the insoluble, of the fusible from the infusible, by natural +agencies to which we are certainly not in the habit of ascribing +consciousness. + +But that which wind and sea are to a sandy beach, the sum of influences, +which we term the "conditions of existence," is to living organisms. The +weak are sifted out from the strong. A frosty night "selects" the hardy +plants in a plantation from among the tender ones as effectually as if +it were the wind, and they, the sand and pebbles, of our illustration; +or, on the other hand, as if the intelligence of a gardener had been +operative in cutting the weaker organisms down. The thistle, which has +spread over the Pampas, to the destruction of native plants, has been +more effectually "selected" by the unconscious operation of natural +conditions than if a thousand agriculturists had spent their time in +sowing it. + +It is one of Mr. Darwin's many great services to Biological science that +he has demonstrated the significance of these facts. He has shown +that--given variation and given change of conditions--the inevitable +result is the exercise of such an influence upon organisms that one is +helped and another is impeded; one tends to predominate, another to +disappear; and thus the living world bears within itself, and is +surrounded by, impulses towards incessant change. + +But the truths just stated are as certain as any other physical laws, +quite independently of the truth, or falsehood, of the hypothesis which +Mr. Darwin has based upon them; and that M. Flourens, missing the +substance and grasping at a shadow, should be blind to the admirable +exposition of them, which Mr. Darwin has given, and see nothing there +but a "derniere erreur du dernier siecle"--a personification of +Nature--leads us indeed to cry with him: "O lucidite! O solidite de +l'esprit Francais, que devenez-vous?" + +M. Flourens has, in fact, utterly failed to comprehend the first +principles of the doctrine which he assails so rudely. His objections to +details are of the old sort, so battered and hackneyed on this side of +the Channel, that not even a Quarterly Reviewer could be induced to pick +them up for the purpose of pelting Mr. Darwin over again. We have Cuvier +and the mummies; M. Roulin and the domesticated animals of America; the +difficulties presented by hybridism and by Palaeontology; Darwinism a +'rifacciamento' of De Maillet and Lamarck; Darwinism a system without a +commencement, and its author bound to believe in M. Pouchet, etc. etc. +How one knows it all by heart, and with what relief one reads at p. 65-- + +"Je laisse M. Darwin!" + +But we cannot leave M. Flourens without calling our readers' attention +to his wonderful tenth chapter, "De la Preexistence des Germes et de +l'Epigenese," which opens thus:-- + +"Spontaneous generation is only a chimera. This point established, two +hypotheses remain: that of 'pre-existence' and that of 'epigenesis'. The +one of these hypotheses has as little foundation as the other." (P. +163.) + +"The doctrine of 'epigenesis' is derived from Harvey: following by +ocular inspection the development of the new being in the Windsor does, +he saw each part appear successively, and taking the moment of +'appearance' for the moment of 'formation' he imagined 'epigenesis'." +(P. 165.) + +On the contrary, says M. Flourens (p. 167), + +"The new being is formed at a stroke (tout d'un coup) as a whole, +instantaneously; it is not formed part by part, and at different times. +It is formed at once at the single 'individual' moment at which the +conjunction of the male and female elements takes place." + +It will be observed that M. Flourens uses language which cannot be +mistaken. For him, the labours of von Baer, of Rathke, of Coste, and +their contemporaries and successors in Germany, France, and England, are +non-existent: and, as Darwin "imagina" natural selection, so Harvey +"imagina" that doctrine which gives him an even greater claim to the +veneration of posterity than his better known discovery of the +circulation of the blood. + +Language such as that we have quoted is, in fact, so preposterous, so +utterly incompatible with anything but absolute ignorance of some of the +best established facts, that we should have passed it over in silence +had it not appeared to afford some clue to M. Flourens' unhesitating, a +priori, repudiation of all forms of the doctrine of progressive +modification of living beings. He whose mind remains uninfluenced by an +acquaintance with the phenomena of development, must indeed lack one of +the chief motives towards the endeavour to trace a genetic relation +between the different existing forms of life. Those who are ignorant of +Geology, find no difficulty in believing that the world was made as it +is; and the shepherd, untutored in history, sees no reason to regard the +green mounds which indicate the site of a Roman camp, as aught but part +and parcel of the primeval hill-side. So M. Flourens, who believes that +embryos are formed "tout d'un coup," naturally finds no difficulty in +conceiving that species came into existence in the same way. + +End of Criticisms on "The Origin of Species". + +*** + + +EVIDENCE AS TO MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE + +1863. + +(entire page is illustration with caption as follows:) + +Skeletons of the GIBBON. ORANG. CHIMPANZEE. GORILLA. MAN. +Photographically reduced from Diagrams of the natural size (except that +of the Gibbon, which was twice as large as nature), drawn by Mr. +Waterhouse Hawkins from specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of +Surgeons. + + +ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAN-LIKE APES. + +Ancient traditions, when tested by the severe processes of modern +investigation, commonly enough fade away into mere dreams: but it is +singular how often the dream turns out to have been a half-waking one, +presaging a reality. Ovid foreshadowed the discoveries of the geologist: +the Atlantis was an imagination, but Columbus found a western world: and +though the quaint forms of Centaurs and Satyrs have an existence only in +the realms of art, creatures approaching man more nearly than they in +essential structure, and yet as thoroughly brutal as the goat's or +horse's half of the mythical compound, are now not only known, but +notorious. + +I have not met with any notice of one of these MAN-LIKE APES of earlier +date than that contained in Pigafetta's 'Description of the Kingdom of +Congo,'* drawn up from the notes of a Portuguese sailor, Eduardo Lopez, +and published in 1598. The tenth chapter of this work is entitled "De +Animalibus quae in hac provincia reperiuntur," and contains a brief +passage to the effect that "in the Songan country, on the banks of the +Zaire, there are multitudes of apes, which afford great delight to the +nobles by imitating human gestures." As this might apply to almost any +kind of apes, I should have thought little of it, had not the brothers +De Bry, whose engravings illustrate the work, thought fit, in their +eleventh 'Argumentum,' to figure two of these "Simiae magnatum +deliciae." So much of the plate as contains these apes is faithfully +copied in the woodcut (Figure 1), and it will be observed that they are +tail-less, long-armed, and large-eared; and about the size of +Chimpanzees. It may be that these apes are as much figments of the +imagination of the ingenious brothers as the winged, two-legged, +crocodile-headed dragon which adorns the same plate; or, on the other +hand, it may be that the artists have constructed their drawings from +some essentially faithful description of a Gorilla or a Chimpanzee. And, +in either case, though these figures are worth a passing notice, the +oldest trustworthy and definite accounts of any animal of this kind date +from the 17th century, and are due to an Englishman. ([Footnote] * +REGNUM CONGO: hoc est VERA DESCRIPTIO REGNI AFRICANI QUOD TAM AB INCOLIS +QUAM LUSITANIS CONGUS APPELLATUR, per Philippum Pigafettam, olim ex +Edoardo Lopez acroamatis lingua Italica excerpta, num Latio sermone +donata ab August. Cassiod. Reinio. Iconibus et imaginibus rerum +memorabilium quasi vivis, opera et industria Joan. Theodori et Joan. +Israelis de Bry, fratrum exornata. Francofurti, MDXCVIII.) + +(FIGURE 1.--SIMIAE MAGNATUM DELICIAE.--De Bry, 1598.) + +The first edition of that most amusing old book, 'Purchas his +Pilgrimage,' was published in 1613, and therein are to be found many +references to the statements of one whom Purchas terms "Andrew Battell +(my neere neighbour, dwelling at Leigh in Essex) who served under Manuel +Silvera Perera, Governor under the King of Spaine, at his city of Saint +Paul, and with him went farre into the countrey of Angola"; and again, +"my friend, Andrew Battle, who lived in the kingdom of Congo many +yeares," and who, "upon some quarell betwixt the Portugals (among whom +he was a sergeant of a band) and him, lived eight or nine moneths in the +woodes." From this weather-beaten old soldier, Purchas was amazed to +hear "of a kinde of Great Apes, if they might so bee termed, of the +height of a man, but twice as bigge in feature of their limmes, with +strength proportionable, hairie all over, otherwise altogether like men +and women in their whole bodily shape.* They lived on such wilde fruits +as the trees and woods yielded, and in the night time lodged on the +trees." ([Footnote] *"Except this that their legges had no +calves."--[Ed. 1626.] And in a marginal note, "These great apes are +called Pongo's.") + +This extract is, however, less detailed and clear in its statements than +a passage in the third chapter of the second part of another +work--'Purchas his Pilgrimes,' published in 1625, by the same +author--which has been often, though hardly ever quite rightly, cited. +The chapter is entitled, "The strange adventures of Andrew Battell, of +Leigh in Essex, sent by the Portugals prisoner to Angola, who lived +there and in the adjoining regions neere eighteene yeeres." And the +sixth section of this chapter is headed--"Of the Provinces of Bongo, +Calongo, Mayombe, Manikesocke, Motimbas: of the Ape Monster Pongo, their +hunting: Idolatries; and divers other observations." + +"This province (Calongo) toward the east bordereth upon Bongo, and +toward the north upon Mayombe, which is nineteen leagues from Longo +along the coast. + +"This province of Mayombe is all woods and groves, so over-growne that a +man may travaile twentie days in the shadow without any sunne or heat. +Here is no kind of corne nor graine, so that the people liveth onely +upon plantanes and roots of sundrie sorts, very good; and nuts; nor any +kinde of tame cattell, nor hens. + +"But they have great store of elephant's flesh, which they greatly +esteeme, and many kinds of wild beasts; and great store of fish. Here is +a great sandy bay, two leagues to the northward of Cape Negro,* which is +the port of Mayombe. ([Footnote] *Purchas' note.--Cape Negro is in 16 +degrees south of the line.) Sometimes the Portugals lade logwood in this +bay. Here is a great river, called Banna: in the winter it hath no +barre, because the generall winds cause a great sea. But when the sunne +hath his south declination, then a boat may goe in; for then it is +smooth because of the raine. This river is very great, and hath many +ilands and people dwelling in them. The woods are so covered with +baboones, monkies, apes and parrots, that it will feare any man to +travaile in them alone. Here are also two kinds of monsters, which are +common in these woods, and very dangerous. + +"The greatest of these two monsters is called Pongo in their language, +and the lesser is called Engeco. This Pongo is in all proportion like a +man; but that he is more like a giant in stature than a man; for he is +very tall, and hath a man's face, hollow-eyed, with long haire upon his +browes. His face and eares are without haire, and his hands also. His +bodie is full of haire, but not very thicke; and it is of a dunnish +colour. + +"He differeth not from a man but in his legs; for they have no calfe. +Hee goeth alwaies upon his legs, and carrieth his hands clasped in the +nape of his necke when he goeth upon the ground. They sleepe in the +trees, and build shelters for the raine. They feed upon fruit that they +find in the woods, and upon nuts, for they eate no kind of flesh. They +cannot speake, and have no understanding more than a beast. The people +of the countrie, when they travaile in the woods make fires where they +sleepe in the night; and in the morning when they are gone, the Pongoes +will come and sit about the fire till it goeth out; for they have no +understanding to lay the wood together. They goe many together and kill +many negroes that travaile in the woods. Many times they fall upon the +elephants which come to feed where they be, and so beate them with their +clubbed fists, and pieces of wood, that they will runne roaring away +from them. Those Pongoes are never taken alive because they are so +strong, that ten men cannot hold one of them; but yet they take many of +their young ones with poisoned arrowes. + +"The young Pongo hangeth on his mother's belly with his hands fast +clasped about her, so that when the countrie people kill any of the +females they take the young one, which hangeth fast upon his mother. + +"When they die among themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps of +boughs and wood, which is commonly found in the forest."* ([Footnote] +*Purchas' marginal note, p. 982:--"The Pongo a giant ape. He told me in +conference with him, that one of these pongoes tooke a negro boy of his +which lived a moneth with them. For they hurt not those which they +surprise at unawares, except they look on them; which he avoyded. He +said their highth was like a man's, but their bignesse twice as great. I +saw the negro boy. What the other monster should be he hath forgotten to +relate; and these papers came to my hand since his death, which, +otherwise, in my often conferences, I might have learned. Perhaps he +meaneth the Pigmy Pongo killers mentioned.") + +It does not appear difficult to identify the exact region of which +Battell speaks. Longo is doubtless the name of the place usually spelled +Loango on our maps. Mayombe still lies some nineteen leagues northward +from Loango, along the coast; and Cilongo or Kilonga, Manikesocke, and +Motimbas are yet registered by geographers. The Cape Negro of Battell, +however, cannot be the modern Cape Negro in 16 degrees S., since Loango +itself is in 4 degrees S. latitude. On the other hand, the "great river +called Banna" corresponds very well with the "Camma" and "Fernand Vas," +of modern geographers, which form a great delta on this part of the +African coast. + +Now this "Camma" country is situated about a degree and a-half south of +the Equator, while a few miles to the north of the line lies the Gaboon, +and a degree or so north of that, the Money River--both well known to +modern naturalists as localities where the largest of man-like Apes has +been obtained. Moreover, at the present day, the word Engeco, or +N'schego, is applied by the natives of these regions to the smaller of +the two great Apes which inhabit them; so that there can be no rational +doubt that Andrew Battell spoke of that which he knew of his own +knowledge, or, at any rate, by immediate report from the natives of +Western Africa. The "Engeco," however, is that "other monster" whose +nature Battell "forgot to relate," while the name "Pongo"--applied to +the animal whose characters and habits are so fully and carefully +described--seems to have died out, at least in its primitive form and +signification. Indeed, there is evidence that not only in Battell's +time, but up to a very recent date, it was used in a totally different +sense from that in which he employs it. + +For example, the second chapter of Purchas' work, which I have just +quoted, contains "A Description and Historicall Declaration of the +Golden Kingdom of Guinea, etc. etc. Translated from the Dutch, and +compared also with the Latin," wherein it is stated (p. 986) that--"The +River Gaboon lyeth about fifteen miles northward from Rio de Angra, and +eight miles northward from Cape de Lope Gonsalves (Cape Lopez), and is +right under the Equinoctial line, about fifteene miles from St. Thomas, +and is a great land, well and easily to be knowne. At the mouth of the +river there lieth a sand, three or foure fathoms deepe, whereon it +beateth mightily with the streame which runneth out of the river into +the sea. This river, in the mouth thereof, is at least four miles broad; +but when you are about the Iland called 'Pongo', it is not above two +miles broad...On both sides the river there standeth many trees...The +Iland called 'Pongo', which hath a monstrous high hill." + +(FIGURE 2.--"Homo Sylvestris. Orang Outang." The Orang of Tulpius, +1641.) + +The French naval officers, whose letters are appended to the late M. +Isidore Geoff. Saint Hilaire's excellent essay on the Gorilla,* +([Footnote] *'Archives du Museum', tome x.) note in similar terms the +width of the Gaboon, the trees that line its banks down to the water's +edge, and the strong current that sets out of it. They describe two +islands in its estuary;--one low, called Perroquet; the other high, +presenting three conical hills, called Coniquet; and one of them, M. +Franquet, expressly states that, formerly, the Chief of Coniquet was +called 'Meni-Pongo', meaning thereby Lord of 'Pongo'; and that the +'N'Pongues' (as, in agreement with Dr. Savage, he affirms the natives +call themselves) term the estuary of the Gaboon itself 'N'Pongo'. + +It is so easy, in dealing with savages, to misunderstand their +applications of words to things, that one is at first inclined to +suspect Battell of having confounded the name of this region, where his +"greater monster" still abounds, with the name of the animal itself. But +he is so right about other matters (including the name of the "lesser +monster") that one is loth to suspect the old traveller of error; and, +on the other hand, we shall find that a voyager of a hundred years' +later date speaks of the name "Boggoe," as applied to a great Ape, by +the inhabitants of quite another part of Africa--Sierra Leone. + +But I must leave this question to be settled by philologers and +travellers; and I should hardly have dwelt so long upon it except for +the curious part played by this word 'Pongo' in the later history of the +man-like Apes. + +The generation which succeeded Battell saw the first of the man-like +Apes which was ever brought to Europe, or, at any rate, whose visit +found a historian. In the third book of Tulpius' 'Observationes +Medicae', published in 1641, the 56th chapter or section is devoted to +what he calls 'Satyrus indicus', "called by the Indians Orang-autang or +Man-of-the-Woods, and by the Africans Quoias Morrou." He gives a very +good figure, evidently from the life, of the specimen of this animal, +"nostra memoria ex Angola delatum," presented to Frederick Henry Prince +of Orange. Tulpius says it was as big as a child of three years old, and +as stout as one of six years: and that its back was covered with black +hair. It is plainly a young Chimpanzee. + +In the meanwhile, the existence of other, Asiatic, man-like Apes became +known, but at first in a very mythical fashion. Thus Bontius (1658) +gives an altogether fabulous and ridiculous account and figure of an +animal which he calls "Orang-outang"; and though he says "vidi Ego cujus +effigiem hic exhibeo," the said effigies (see Figure 6 for Hoppius' copy +of it) is nothing but a very hairy woman of rather comely aspect, and +with proportions and feet wholly human. The judicious English anatomist, +Tyson, was justified in saying of this description by Bontius, "I +confess I do mistrust the whole representation." + +It is to the last mentioned writer, and his coadjutor Cowper, that we +owe the first account of a man-like ape which has any pretensions to +scientific accuracy and completeness. The treatise entitled, +"'Orang-outang, sive Homo Sylvestris'; or the Anatomy of a Pygmie +compared with that of a 'Monkey', an 'Ape', and a 'Man'," published by +the Royal Society in 1699, is, indeed, a work of remarkable merit, and +has, in some respects, served as a model to subsequent inquirers. This +"Pygmie," Tyson tells us "was brought from Angola, in Africa; but was +first taken a great deal higher up the country"; its hair "was of a +coal-black colour and strait," and "when it went as a quadruped on all +four, 'twas awkwardly; not placing the palm of the hand flat to the +ground, but it walk'd upon its knuckles, as I observed it to do when +weak and had not strength enough to support its body."--"From the top of +the head to the heel of the foot, in a strait line, it measured +twenty-six inches." + +(FIGURES 3 AND 4.--The 'Pygmie' reduced from Tyson's figures 1 and 2, +1699.) + +These characters, even without Tyson's good figures (Figs. 3 and 4), +would have been sufficient to prove his "Pygmie" to be a young +Chimpanzee. But the opportunity of examining the skeleton of the very +animal Tyson anatomised having most unexpectedly presented itself to me, +I am able to bear independent testimony to its being a veritable +'Troglodytes niger',* though still very young. Although fully +appreciating the resemblances between his Pygmie and Man, Tyson by no +means overlooked the differences between the two, and he concludes his +memoir by summing up first, the points in which "the Ourang-outang or +Pygmie more resembled a Man than Apes and Monkeys do," under forty-seven +distinct heads; and then giving, in thirty-four similar brief +paragraphs, the respects in which "the Ourang-outang or Pygmie differ'd +from a Man and resembled more the Ape and Monkey kind." + +([Footnote] * I am indebted to Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, whose +paleontological labours are so well known, for bringing this interesting +relic to my knowledge. Tyson's granddaughter, it appears, married Dr. +Allardyce, a physician of repute in Cheltenham, and brought, as part of +her dowry, the skeleton of the 'Pygmie.' Dr. Allardyce presented it to +the Cheltenham Museum, and, through the good offices of my friend Dr. +Wright, the authorities of the Museum have permitted me to borrow, what +is, perhaps its most remarkable ornament. + +After a careful survey of the literature of the subject extant in his +time, our author arrives at the conclusion that his "Pygmie" is +identical neither with the Orangs of Tulpius and Bontius, nor with the +Quoias Morrou of Dapper (or rather of Tulpius), the Barris of d'Arcos, +nor with the Pongo of Battell; but that it is a species of ape probably +identical with the Pygmies of the Ancients, and, says Tyson, though it +"does so much resemble a 'Man' in many of its parts, more than any of +the ape kind, or any other 'animal' in the world, that I know of: yet by +no means do I look upon it as the product of a 'mixt' generation--'tis a +'Brute-Animal sui generis', and a particular 'species of Ape'." + +The name of "Chimpanzee," by which one of the African Apes is now so +well known, appears to have come into use in the first half of the +eighteenth century, but the only important addition made, in that +period, to our acquaintance with the man-like apes of Africa is +contained in 'A New Voyage to Guinea', by William Smith, which bears the +date 1744. + +In describing the animals of Sierra Leone, p. 51, this writer says:-- + +"I shall next describe a strange sort of animal, called by the white men +in this country Mandrill,* but why it is so called I know not, nor did I +ever hear the name before, neither can those who call them so tell, +except it be for their near resemblance of a human creature, though +nothing at all like an Ape. ([Footnote] *"Mandrill" seems to signify a +"man-like ape," the word "Drill" or "Dril" having been anciently +employed in England to denote an Ape or Baboon. Thus in the fifth +edition of Blount's "Glossographia, or a Dictionary interpreting the +hard words of whatsoever language now used in our refined English +tongue...very useful for all such as desire to understand what they +read," published in 1681, I find, "Dril--a stone-cutter's tool wherewith +he bores little holes in marble, etc. Also a large overgrown Ape and +Baboon, so called." "Drill" is used in the same sense in Charleton's +"Onomasticon Zoicon," 1668. The singular etymology of the word given by +Buffon seems hardly a probable one.) Their bodies, when full grown, are +as big in circumference as a middle-sized man's--their legs much +shorter, and their feet larger; their arms and hands in proportion. The +head is monstrously big, and the face broad and flat, without any other +hair but the eyebrows; the nose very small, the mouth wide, and the lips +thin. The face, which is covered by a white skin, is monstrously ugly, +being all over wrinkled as with old age; the teeth broad and yellow; the +hands have no more hair than the face, but the same white skin, though +all the rest of the body is covered with long black hair, like a bear. +They never go upon all fours, like apes; but cry, when vexed or teased, +just like children...." + +(FIGURE 5.--"A Mandrill". Facsimile of William Smith's figure of the +"Mandrill," 1744.) + +"When I was at Sherbro, one Mr. Cummerbus, whom I shall have occasion +hereafter to mention, made me a present of one of these strange animals, +which are called by the natives Boggoe: it was a she-cub, of six months' +age, but even then larger than a Baboon. I gave it in charge to one of +the slaves, who knew how to feed and nurse it, being a very tender sort +of animal; but whenever I went off the deck the sailors began to teaze +it--some loved to see its tears and hear it cry; others hated its snotty +nose; one who hurt it, being checked by the negro that took care of it, +told the slave he was very fond of his country-woman, and asked him if +he should not like her for a wife? To which the slave very readily +replied, 'No, this no my wife; this a white woman--this fit wife for +you.' This unlucky wit of the negro's, I fancy, hastened its death, for +next morning it was found dead under the windlass." + +William Smith's 'Mandrill,' or 'Boggoe,' as his description and figure +testify, was, without doubt, a Chimpanzee. + +(FIGURE 6.--The Anthropomorpha of Linnaeus.) + +Linnaeus knew nothing, of his own observation, of the man-like Apes of +either Africa or Asia, but a dissertation by his pupil Hoppius in the +'Amoenitates Academicae' (VI. 'Anthropomorpha') may be regarded as +embodying his views respecting these animals. + +The dissertation is illustrated by a plate, of which the accompanying +woodcut, Fig, 6, is a reduced copy, The figures are entitled (from left +to right) 1. 'Troglodyta Bontii'; 2. 'Lucifer Aldrovandi'; 3. 'Satyrus +Tulpii'; 4. 'Pygmaeus Edwardi'. The first is a bad copy of Bontius' +fictitious 'Ourang-outang,' in whose existence, however, Linnaeus +appears to have fully believed; for in the standard edition of the +'Systema Naturae', it is enumerated as a second species of Homo; "H. +nocturnus." 'Lucifer Aldrovandi' is a copy of a figure in Aldrovandus, +'De Quadrupedibus digitatis viviparis', Lib. 2, p. 249 (1645), entitled +"Cercopithecus formae rarae 'Barbilius' vocatus et originem a china +ducebat." Hoppius is of opinion that this may be one of that cat-tailed +people, of whom Nicolaus Koping affirms that they eat a boat's crew, +"gubernator navis" and all! In the 'Systema Naturae' Linnaeus calls it +in a note, 'Homo caudatus', and seems inclined to regard it as a third +species of man. According to Temminck, 'Satyrus Tulpii' is a copy of the +figure of a Chimpanzee published by Scotin in 1738, which I have not +seen. It is the 'Satyrus indicus' of the 'Systema Naturae', and is +regarded by Linnaeus as possibly a distinct species from 'Satyrus +sylvestris'. The last, named 'Pygmaeus Edwardi', is copied from the +figure of a young "Man of the Woods," or true Orang-Utan, given in +Edwards' 'Gleanings of Natural History' (1758). + +Buffon was more fortunate than his great rival. Not only had he the rare +opportunity of examining a young Chimpanzee in the living state, but he +became possessed of an adult Asiatic man-like Ape--the first and the +last adult specimen of any of these animals brought to Europe for many +years. With the valuable assistance of Daubenton, Buffon gave an +excellent description of this creature, which, from its singular +proportions, he termed the long-armed Ape, or Gibbon. It is the modern +'Hylobates lar'. + +Thus when, in 1766, Buffon wrote the fourteenth volume of his great +work, he was personally familiar with the young of one kind of African +man-like Ape, and with the adult of an Asiatic species--while the +Orang-Utan and the Mandrill of Smith were known to him by report. +Furthermore, the Abbe Prevost had translated a good deal of Purchas' +Pilgrims into French, in his 'Histoire generale des Voyages' (1748), and +there Buffon found a version of Andrew Battell's account of the Pongo +and the Engeco. All these data Buffon attempts to weld together into +harmony in his chapter entitled "Les Orang-outangs ou le Pongo et le +Jocko." To this title the following note is appended:-- + +"Orang-outang nom de cet animal aux Indes orientales: Pongo nom de cet +animal a Lowando Province de Congo. + +"Jocko, Enjocko, nom de cet animal a Congo que nous avons adopte. 'En' +est l'article que nous avons retranche." + +Thus it was that Andrew Battell's "Engeco" became metamorphosed into +"Jocko," and, in the latter shape, was spread all over the world, in +consequence of the extensive popularity of Buffon's works. The Abbe +Prevost and Buffon between them, however, did a good deal more +disfigurement to Battell's sober account than 'cutting off an article.' +Thus Battell's statement that the Pongos "cannot speake, and have no +understanding more than a beast," is rendered by Buffon "qu'il ne peut +parler 'quoiqu'il ait plus d'entendement que les autres animaux'"; and +again, Purchas' affirmation, "He told me in conference with him, that +one of these Pongos tooke a negro boy of his which lived a moneth with +them," stands in the French version, "un pongo lui enleva un petit negre +qui passa un 'an' entier dans la societe de ces animaux." + +After quoting the account of the great Pongo, Buffon justly remarks, +that all the 'Jockos' and 'Orangs' hitherto brought to Europe were +young; and he suggests that, in their adult condition, they might be as +big as the Pongo or 'great Orang'; so that, provisionally, he regarded +the Jockos, Orangs, and Pongos as all of one species. And perhaps this +was as much as the state of knowledge at the time warranted. But how it +came about that Buffon failed to perceive the similarity of Smith's +'Mandrill' to his own 'Jocko,' and confounded the former with so totally +different a creature as the blue-faced Baboon, is not so easily +intelligible. + +Twenty years later Buffon changed his opinion,* and expressed his belief +that the Orangs constituted a genus with two species,--a large one, the +Pongo of Battell, and a small one, the Jocko: that the small one (Jocko) +is the East Indian Orang; and that the young animals from Africa, +observed by himself and Tulpius, are simply young Pongos. ([Footnote] +*'Histoire Naturelle', Suppl. tome 7eme, 1789.) + +In the meanwhile, the Dutch naturalist, Vosmaer, gave, in 1778, a very +good account and figure of a young Orang, brought alive to Holland, and +his countryman, the famous anatomist, Peter Camper, published (1779) an +essay on the Orang-Utan of similar value to that of Tyson on the +Chimpanzee. He dissected several females and a male, all of which, from +the state of their skeleton and their dentition, he justly supposes to +have been young. However, judging by the analogy of man, he concludes +that they could not have exceeded four feet in height in the adult +condition. Furthermore, he is very clear as to the specific distinctness +of the true East Indian Orang. + +"The Orang," says he, "differs not only from the Pigmy of Tyson and from +the Orang of Tulpius by its peculiar colour and its long toes, but also +by its whole external form. Its arms, its hands, and its feet are +longer, while the thumbs, on the contrary, are much shorter, and the +great toes much smaller in proportion."* ([Footnote] *Camper, 'Oeuvres', +i. p. 56.) And again, "The true Orang, that is to say, that of Asia, +that of Borneo, is consequently not the Pithecus, or tailless Ape, which +the Greeks, and especially Galen, have described. It is neither the +Pongo nor the Jocko, nor the Orang of Tulpius, nor the Pigmy of +Tyson,--IT IS AN ANIMAL OF A PECULIAR SPECIES, as I shall prove in the +clearest manner by the organs of voice and the skeleton in the following +chapters" (l. c. p. 64). + +A few years later, M. Radermacher, who held a high office in the +Government of the Dutch dominions in India, and was an active member of +the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, published, in the second part +of the Transactions of that Society,* a Description of the Island of +Borneo, which was written between the years 1779 and 1781, and, among +much other interesting matter, contains some notes upon the Orang. +([Footnote] *Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap. Tweede +Deel. Derde Druk. 1826. The small sort of Orang-Utan, viz. that of +Vosmaer and of Edwards, he says, is found only in Borneo, and chiefly +about Banjermassing, Mampauwa, and Landak. Of these he had seen some +fifty during his residence in the Indies; but none exceeded 2 1/2 feet +in length. The larger sort, often regarded as a chimera, continues +Radermacher, would perhaps long have remained so, had it not been for +the exertions of the Resident at Rembang, M. Palm, who, on returning +from Landak towards Pontiana, shot one, and forwarded it to Batavia in +spirit, for transmission to Europe. + +Palm's letter describing the capture runs thus:--"Herewith I send your +Excellency, contrary to all expectation (since long ago I offered more +than a hundred ducats to the natives for an Orang-Utan of four or five +feet high) an Orang which I heard of this morning about eight o'clock. +For a long time we did our best to take the frightful beast alive in the +dense forest about half way to Landak. We forgot even to eat, so anxious +were we not to let him escape; but it was necessary to take care that he +did not revenge himself, as he kept continually breaking off heavy +pieces of wood and green branches, and dashing them at us. This game +lasted till four o'clock in the afternoon, when we determined to shoot +him; in which I succeeded very well, and indeed better than I ever shot +from a boat before; for the bullet went just into the side of his chest, +so that he was not much damaged. We got him into the prow still living, +and bound him fast, and next morning he died of his wounds. All Pontiana +came on board to see him when we arrived." Palm gives his height from +the head to the heel as 49 inches. + +(FIGURE 7.--The Pongo Skull, sent by Radermacher to Camper, after +Camper's original sketches, as reproduced by Lucae.) + +A very intelligent German officer, Baron Von Wurmb, who at this time +held a post in the Dutch East India service, and was Secretary of the +Batavian Society, studied this animal, and his careful description of +it, entitled "Beschrijving van der Groote Borneosche Orang-outang of de +Oost-Indische Pongo," is contained in the same volume of the Batavian +Society's Transactions. After Von Wurmb had drawn up his description he +states, in a letter dated Batavia, Feb. 18, 1781,* ([Footnote] *"Briefe +des Herrn v. Wurmb und des H. Baron von Wollzogen. Gotha, 1794." that +the specimen was sent to Europe in brandy to be placed in the collection +of the Prince of Orange; "unfortunately," he continues, "we hear that +the ship has been wrecked." Von Wurmb died in the course of the year +1781, the letter in which this passage occurs being the last he wrote; +but in his posthumous papers, published in the fourth part of the +Transactions of the Batavian Society, there is a brief description, with +measurements, of a female Pongo four feet high. + +Did either of these original specimens, on which Von Wurmb's +descriptions are based, ever reach Europe? It is commonly supposed that +they did; but I doubt the fact. For, appended to the memoir 'De +l'Ourang-outang,' in the collected edition of Camper's works, tome i., +pp. 64-66, is a note by Camper himself, referring to Von Wurmb's papers, +and continuing thus:--"Heretofore, this kind of ape had never been known +in Europe. Radermacher has had the kindness to send me the skull of one +of these animals, which measured fifty-three inches, or four feet five +inches, in height. I have sent some sketches of it to M. Soemmering at +Mayence, which are better calculated, however, to give an idea of the +form than of the real size of the parts." + +These sketches have been reproduced by Fischer and by Lucae, and bear +date 1783, Soemmering having received them in 1784. Had either of Von +Wurmb's specimens reached Holland, they would hardly have been unknown +at this time to Camper, who, however, goes on to say--"It appears that +since this, some more of these monsters have been captured, for an +entire skeleton, very badly set up, which had been sent to the Museum of +the Prince of Orange, and which I saw only on the 27th of June, 1784, +was more than four feet high. I examined this skeleton again on the 19th +December, 1785, after it had been excellently put to rights by the +ingenious Onymus." + +It appears evident, then, that this skeleton, which is doubtless that +which has always gone by the name of Wurmb's Pongo, is not that of the +animal described by him, though unquestionably similar in all essential +points. + +Camper proceeds to note some of the most important features of this +skeleton; promises to describe it in detail by-and-bye; and is evidently +in doubt as to the relation of this great 'Pongo' to his "petit Orang." + +The promised further investigations were never carried out; and so it +happened that the Pongo of Von Wurmb took its place by the side of the +Chimpanzee, Gibbon, and Orang as a fourth and colossal species of +man-like Ape. And indeed nothing could look much less like the +Chimpanzees or the Orangs, then known, than the Pongo; for all the +specimens of Chimpanzee and Orang which had been observed were small of +stature, singularly human in aspect, gentle and docile; while Wurmb's +Pongo was a monster almost twice their size, of vast strength and +fierceness, and very brutal in expression; its great projecting muzzle, +armed with strong teeth, being further disfigured by the outgrowth of +the cheeks into fleshy lobes. + +Eventually, in accordance with the usual marauding habits of the +Revolutionary armies, the 'Pongo' skeleton was carried away from Holland +into France, and notices of it, expressly intended to demonstrate its +entire distinctness from the Orang and its affinity with the baboons, +were given, in 1798, by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Cuvier. + +Even in Cuvier's 'Tableau Elementaire', and in the first edition of his +great work, the 'Regne Animal', the 'Pongo' is classed as a species of +Baboon. However, so early as 1818, it appears that Cuvier saw reason to +alter this opinion, and to adopt the view suggested several years before +by Blumenbach,* and after him by Tilesius, that the Bornean Pongo is +simply an adult Orang. ([Footnote] *See Blumenbach, 'Abbildungen +Naturhistorichen Gegenstande', No. 12, 1810; and Tilesius, +'Naturhistoriche Fruchte der ersten Kaiserlich-Russischen +Erdumsegelung', p. 115, 1813.) In 1824, Rudolphi demonstrated, by the +condition of the dentition, more fully and completely than had been done +by his predecessors, that the Orangs described up to that time were all +young animals, and that the skull and teeth of the adult would probably +be such as those seen in the Pongo of Wurmb. In the second edition of +the 'Regne Animal' (1829), Cuvier infers, from the 'proportions of all +the parts' and 'the arrangements of the foramina and sutures of the +head,' that the Pongo is the adult of the Orang-Utan, 'at least of a +very closely allied species,' and this conclusion was eventually placed +beyond all doubt by Professor Owen's Memoir published in the 'Zoological +Transactions' for 1835, and by Temminck in his 'Monographies de +Mammalogie'. Temminck's memoir is remarkable for the completeness of the +evidence which it affords as to the modification which the form of the +Orang undergoes according to age and sex. Tiedemann first published an +account of the brain of the young Orang, while Sandifort, Muller and +Schlegel, described the muscles and the viscera of the adult, and gave +the earliest detailed and trustworthy history of the habits of the great +Indian Ape in a state of nature; and as important additions have been +made by later observers, we are at this moment better acquainted with +the adult of the Orang-Utan, than with that of any of the other greater +man-like Apes. + +It is certainly the Pongo of Wurmb;* and it is as certainly not the +Pongo of Battell, seeing that the Orang-Utan is entirely confined to the +great Asiatic islands of Borneo and Sumatra. ([Footnote] *Speaking +broadly and without prejudice to the question, whether there be more +than one species of Orang.) + +And while the progress of discovery thus cleared up the history of the +Orang, it also became established that the only other man-like Apes in +the eastern world were the various species of Gibbon--Apes of smaller +stature, and therefore attracting less attention than the Orangs, though +they are spread over a much wider range of country, and are hence more +accessible to observation. + +Although the geographical area inhabited by the 'Pongo' and Engeco of +Battell is so much nearer to Europe than that in which the Orang and +Gibbon are found, our acquaintance with the African Apes has been of +slower growth; indeed, it is only within the last few years that the +truthful story of the old English adventurer has been rendered fully +intelligible. It was not until 1835 that the skeleton of the adult +Chimpanzee became known, by the publication of Professor Owen's +above-mentioned very excellent memoir 'On the osteology of the +Chimpanzee and Orang', in the 'Zoological Transactions'--a memoir which, +by the accuracy of its descriptions, the carefulness of its comparisons, +and the excellence of its figures, made an epoch in the history of our +knowledge of the bony framework, not only of the Chimpanzee, but of all +the anthropoid Apes. + +By the investigations herein detailed, it became evident that the old +Chimpanzee acquired a size and aspect as different from those of the +young known to Tyson, to Buffon, and to Traill, as those of the old +Orang from the young Orang; and the subsequent very important researches +of Messrs. Savage and Wyman, the American missionary and anatomist, have +not only confirmed this conclusion, but have added many new details.* +([Footnote] *See "Observations on the external characters and habits of +the Troglodytes niger, by Thomas N. Savage, M.D., and on its +organization by Jeffries Wyman, M.D.," 'Boston Journal of Natural +History', vol. iv., 1843-4; and "External characters, habits, and +osteology of Troglodytes Gorilla," by the same authors, 'ibid'., vol. +v., 1847.) + +One of the most interesting among the many valuable discoveries made by +Dr. Thomas Savage is the fact, that the natives in the Gaboon country at +the present day, apply to the Chimpanzee a name--"Enche-eko"--which is +obviously identical with the "Engeko" of Battell; a discovery which has +been confirmed by all later inquirers. Battell's "lesser monster" being +thus proved to be a veritable existence, of course a strong presumption +arose that his "greater monster," the 'Pongo,' would sooner or later be +discovered. And, indeed, a modern traveller, Bowdich, had, in 1819, +found strong evidence, among the natives, of the existence of a second +great Ape, called the 'Ingena,' "five feet high, and four across the +shoulders," the builder of a rude house, on the outside of which it +slept. + +In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make another and most +important addition to our knowledge of the man-like Apes; for, being +unexpectedly detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house of the +Rev. Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident there, "a skull represented by +the natives to be a monkey-like animal, remarkable for its size, +ferocity, and habits." From the contour of the skull, and the +information derived from several intelligent natives, "I was induced," +says Dr. Savage (using the term Orang in its old general sense) "to +believe that it belonged to a new species of Orang. I expressed this +opinion to Mr. Wilson, with a desire for further investigation; and, if +possible, to decide the point by the inspection of a specimen alive or +dead." The result of the combined exertions of Messrs. Savage and Wilson +was not only the obtaining of a very full account of the habits of this +new creature, but a still more important service to science, the +enabling the excellent American anatomist already mentioned, Professor +Wyman, to describe, from ample materials, the distinctive osteological +characters of the new form. This animal was called by the natives of the +Gaboon "Enge-ena," a name obviously identical with the "Ingena" of +Bowdich; and Dr. Savage arrived at the conviction that this last +discovered of all the great Apes was the long-sought "Pongo" of Battell. + +The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond doubt--for not only +does the 'Enge-ena' agree with Battell's "greater monster" in its hollow +eyes, its great stature, and its dun or iron-grey colour, but the only +other man-like Ape which inhabits these latitudes--the Chimpanzee--is at +once identified, by its smaller size, as the "lesser monster," and is +excluded from any possibility of being the 'Pongo,' by the fact that it +is black and not dun, to say nothing of the important circumstance +already mentioned that it still retains the name of 'Engeko,' or +"Enche-eko," by which Battell knew it. + +In seeking for a specific name for the "Enge-ena," however, Dr. Savage +wisely avoided the much misused 'Pongo'; but finding in the ancient +Periplus of Hanno the word "Gorilla" applied to certain hairy savage +people, discovered by the Carthaginian voyager in an island on the +African coast, he attached the specific name "Gorilla" to his new ape, +whence arises its present well-known appellation. But Dr. Savage, more +cautious than some of his successors, by no means identifies his ape +with Hanno's "wild men." He merely says that the latter were "probably +one of the species of the Orang;" and I quite agree with M. Brulle, that +there is no ground for identifying the modern 'Gorilla' with that of the +Carthaginian admiral. + +Since the memoir of Savage and Wyman was published, the skeleton of the +Gorilla has been investigated by Professor Owen and by the late +Professor Duvernoy, of the Jardin des Plantes, the latter having further +supplied a valuable account of the muscular system and of many of the +other soft parts; while African missionaries and travellers have +confirmed and expanded the account originally given of the habits of +this great man-like Ape, which has had the singular fortune of being the +first to be made known to the general world and the last to be +scientifically investigated. + +Two centuries and a half have passed away since Battell told his stories +about the 'greater' and the 'lesser monsters' to Purchas, and it has +taken nearly that time to arrive at the clear result that there are four +distinct kinds of Anthropoids--in Eastern Asia, the Gibbons and the +Orangs; in Western Africa, the Chimpanzees and the Gorilla. + +The man-like Apes, the history of whose discovery has just been +detailed, have certain characters of structure and of distribution in +common. Thus they all have the same number of teeth as man--possessing +four incisors, two canines, four false molars, and six true molars in +each jaw, or 32 teeth in all, in the adult condition; while the milk +dentition consists of 20 teeth--or four incisors, two canines, and four +molars in each jaw. They are what are called catarrhine Apes--that is, +their nostrils have a narrow partition and look downwards; and, +furthermore, their arms are always longer than their legs, the +difference being sometimes greater and sometimes less; so that if the +four were arranged in the order of the length of their arms in +proportion to that of their legs, we should have this series--Orang (1 +4/9 : 1), Gibbon (1 1/4 : 1), Gorilla (1 1/5 : 1), Chimpanzee (1 1/16 : +1). In all, the fore limbs are terminated by hands, provided with longer +or shorter thumbs; while the great toe of the foot, always smaller than +in Man, is far more movable than in him and can be opposed, like a +thumb, to the rest of the foot. None of these apes have tails, and none +of them possess the cheek pouches common among monkeys. Finally, they +are all inhabitants of the old world. + +The Gibbons are the smallest, slenderest, and longest-limbed of the +man-like apes: their arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than +those of any of the other man-like Apes, so that they can touch the +ground when erect; their hands are longer than their feet, and they are +the only Anthropoids which possess callosities like the lower monkeys. +They are variously coloured. The Orangs have arms which reach to the +ankles in the erect position of the animal; their thumbs and great toes +are very short, and their feet are longer than their hands. They are +covered with reddish brown hair, and the sides of the face, in adult +males, are commonly produced into two crescentic, flexible excrescences, +like fatty tumours. The Chimpanzees have arms which reach below the +knees; they have large thumbs and great toes, their hands are longer +than their feet; and their hair is black, while the skin of the face is +pale. The Gorilla, lastly, has arms which reach to the middle of the +leg, large thumbs and great toes, feet longer than the hands, a black +face, and dark-grey or dun hair. + +For the purpose which I have at present in view, it is unnecessary that +I should enter into any further minutiae respecting the distinctive +characters of the genera and species into which these man-like Apes are +divided by naturalists. Suffice it to say, that the Orangs and the +Gibbons constitute the distinct genera, 'Simia' and 'Hylobates'; while +the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some regarded simply as distinct +species of one genus, 'Troglodytes'; by others as distinct +genera--'Troglodytes' being reserved for the Chimpanzees, and 'Gorilla' +for the Enge-ena or Pongo. + +Sound knowledge respecting the habits and mode of life of the man-like +Apes has been even more difficult of attainment than correct information +regarding their structure. + +Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physically, mentally, and +morally qualified to wander unscathed through the tropical wilds of +America and of Asia; to form magnificent collections as he wanders; and +withal to think out sagaciously the conclusions suggested by his +collections: but, to the ordinary explorer or collector, the dense +forests of equatorial Asia and Africa, which constitute the favourite +habitation of the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla, present +difficulties of no ordinary magnitude: and the man who risks his life by +even a short visit to the malarious shores of those regions may well be +excused if he shrinks from facing the dangers of the interior; if he +contents himself with stimulating the industry of the better seasoned +natives, and collecting and collating the more or less mythical reports +and traditions with which they are too ready to supply him. + +In such a manner most of the earlier accounts of the habits of the +man-like Apes originated; and even now a good deal of what passes +current must be admitted to have no very safe foundation. The best +information we possess is that, based almost wholly on direct European +testimony respecting the Gibbons; the next best evidence relates to the +Orangs; while our knowledge of the habits of the Chimpanzee and the +Gorilla stands much in need of support and enlargement by additional +testimony from instructed European eye-witnesses. + +It will therefore be convenient in endeavouring to form a notion of what +we are justified in believing about these animals, to commence with the +best known man-like Apes, the Gibbons and Orangs; and to make use of the +perfectly reliable information respecting them as a sort of criterion of +the probable truth or falsehood of assertions respecting the others. + +Of the GIBBONS, half a dozen species are found scattered over the +Asiatic islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and through Malacca, Siam, +Arracan, and an uncertain extent of Hindostan, on the main land of Asia. +The largest attain a few inches above three feet in height, from the +crown to the heel, so that they are shorter than the other man-like +Apes; while the slenderness of their bodies renders their mass far +smaller in proportion even to this diminished height. + +Dr. Salomon Muller, an accomplished Dutch naturalist, who lived for many +years in the Eastern Archipelago, and to the results of whose personal +experience I shall frequently have occasion to refer, states that the +Gibbons are true mountaineers, loving the slopes and edges of the hills, +though they rarely ascend beyond the limit of the fig-trees. All day +long they haunt the tops of the tall trees; and though, towards evening, +they descend in small troops to the open ground, no sooner do they spy a +man than they dart up the hill-sides, and disappear in the darker +valleys. + +All observers testify to the prodigious volume of voice possessed by +these animals. According to the writer whom I have just cited, in one of +them, the Siamang, "the voice is grave and penetrating, resembling the +sounds goek, goek, goek, goek, goek ha ha ha ha haaaaa, and may easily +be heard at a distance of half a league." While the cry is being +uttered, the great membranous bag under the throat which communicates +with the organ of voice, the so-called "laryngeal sac," becomes greatly +distended, diminishing again when the creature relapses into silence. + +M. Duvaucel, likewise, affirms that the cry of the Siamang may be heard +for miles--making the woods ring again. So Mr. Martin* describes the cry +of the agile Gibbon as "overpowering and deafening" in a room, and "from +its strength, well calculated for resounding through the vast forests." +([Footnote] *'Man and Monkies', p. 423.) Mr. Waterhouse, an accomplished +musician as well as zoologist, says, "The Gibbon's voice is certainly +much more powerful than that of any singer I have ever heard." And yet +it is to be recollected that this animal is not half the height of, and +far less bulky in proportion than, a man. + +There is good testimony that various species of Gibbon readily take to +the erect posture. Mr. George Bennett,* a very excellent observer, in +describing the habits of a male 'Hylobates syndactylus' which remained +for some time in his possession, says: "He invariably walks in the erect +posture when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down, +enabling him to assist himself with his knuckles; or what is more usual, +he keeps his arms uplifted in nearly an erect position, with the hands +pendent ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger or +on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect +posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst +pursued, he has no opportunity of escaping by climbing...When he walks +in the erect posture he turns the leg and foot outwards, which occasions +him to have a waddling gait and to seem bow-legged." ([Footnote] +*'Wanderings in New South Wales', vol. ii. chap. viii., 1834.) + +Dr. Burrough states of another Gibbon, the Horlack or Hooluk: "They walk +erect; and when placed on the floor, or in an open field, balance +themselves very prettily, by raising their hands over their head and +slightly bending the arm at the wrist and elbow, and then run tolerably +fast, rocking from side to side; and, if urged to greater speed, they +let fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward, +rather jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly +erect." + +Somewhat different evidence, however, is given by Dr. Winslow Lewis:* +([Footnote] *'Boston Journal of Natural History', vol. i., 1834.) + +"Their only manner of walking was on their posterior or inferior +extremities, the others being raised upwards to preserve their +equilibrium, as rope-dancers are assisted by long poles at fairs. Their +progression was not by placing one foot before the other, but by +simultaneously using both, as in jumping." Dr. Salomon Muller also +states that the Gibbons progress along the ground by a short series of +tottering jumps, effected only by the hind limbs, the body being held +altogether upright. + +But Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 418), who also speaks from direct observation, +says of the Gibbons generally: + +"Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and displaying among the +branches amazing activity, the Gibbons are not so awkward or embarrassed +on a level surface as might be imagined. They walk erect, with a +waddling or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the equilibrium of the +body requiring to be kept up, either by touching the ground with the +knuckles, first on one side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms +so as to poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the narrow, long +sole of the foot is placed upon the ground at once and raised at once, +without any elasticity of step." + +(FIGURE 8.--Gibbon ('H. pileatus'), after Wolf.) + +After this mass of concurrent and independent testimony, it cannot +reasonably be doubted that the Gibbons commonly and habitually assume +the erect attitude. + +But level ground is not the place where these animals can display their +very remarkable and peculiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious +activity which almost tempts one to rank them among flying, rather than +among ordinary climbing mammals. + +Mr. Martin (l.c. p. 430) has given so excellent and graphic an account +of the movements of a 'Hylobates agilis', living in the Zoological +Gardens, in 1840, that I will quote it in full: + +"It is almost impossible to convey in words an idea of the quickness and +graceful address of her movements: they may indeed be termed aerial, as +she seems merely to touch in her progress the branches among which she +exhibits her evolutions. In these feats her hands and arms are the sole +organs of locomotion; her body hanging as if suspended by a rope, +sustained by one hand (the right for example) she launches herself, by +an energetic movement, to a distant branch, which she catches with the +left hand; but her hold is less than momentary: the impulse for the next +launch is acquired: the branch then aimed at is attained by the right +hand again, and quitted instantaneously, and so on, in alternate +succession. In this manner spaces of twelve and eighteen feet are +cleared, with the greatest ease and uninterruptedly, for hours together, +without the slightest appearance of fatigue being manifested; and it is +evident that, if more space could be allowed, distances very greatly +exceeding eighteen feet would be as easily cleared; so that Duvaucel's +assertion that he has seen these animals launch themselves from one +branch to another, forty feet asunder, startling as it is, may be well +credited. Sometimes, on seizing a branch in her progress, she will throw +herself, by the power of one arm only, completely round it, making a +revolution with such rapidity as almost to deceive the eye, and continue +her progress with undiminished velocity. It is singular to observe how +suddenly this Gibbon can stop, when the impetus given by the rapidity +and distance of her swinging leaps would seem to require a gradual +abatement of her movements. In the very midst of her flight a branch is +seized, the body raised, and she is seen, as if by magic, quietly seated +on it, grasping it with her feet. As suddenly she again throws herself +into action. + +"The following facts will convey some notion of her dexterity and +quickness. A live bird was let loose in her apartment; she marked its +flight, made a long swing to a distant branch, caught the bird with one +hand in her passage, and attained the branch with her other hand; her +aim, both at the bird and at the branch, being as successful as if one +object only had engaged her attention. It may be added that she +instantly bit off the head of the bird, picked its feathers, and then +threw it down without attempting to eat it. + +"On another occasion this animal swung herself from a perch, across a +passage at least twelve feet wide, against a window which it was thought +would be immediately broken: but not so; to the surprise of all, she +caught the narrow framework between the panes with her hand, in an +instant attained the proper impetus, and sprang back again to the cage +she had left--a feat requiring not only great strength, but the nicest +precision." + +The Gibbons appear to be naturally very gentle, but there is very good +evidence that they will bite severely when irritated--a female +'Hylobates agilis' having so severely lacerated one man with her long +canines, that he died; while she had injured others so much that, by way +of precaution, these formidable teeth had been filed down; but, if +threatened, she would still turn on her keeper. The Gibbons eat insects, +but appear generally to avoid animal food. A Siamang, however, was seen +by Mr. Bennett to seize and devour greedily a live lizard. They commonly +drink by dipping their fingers in the liquid and then licking them. It +is asserted that they sleep in a sitting posture. + +Duvaucel affirms that he has seen the females carry their young to the +waterside and there wash their faces, in spite of resistance and cries. +They are gentle and affectionate in captivity--full of tricks and +pettishness, like spoiled children, and yet not devoid of a certain +conscience, as an anecdote, told by Mr. Bennett (l. c. p. 156), will +show. It would appear that his Gibbon had a peculiar inclination for +disarranging things in the cabin. Among these articles, a piece of soap +would especially attract his notice, and for the removal of this he had +been once or twice scolded. "One morning," says Mr. Bennett, "I was +writing, the ape being present in the cabin, when casting my eyes +towards him, I saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched him +without his perceiving that I did so: and he occasionally would cast a +furtive glance towards the place where I sat. I pretended to write; he, +seeing me busily occupied, took the soap, and moved away with it in his +paw. When he had walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke quietly, +without frightening him. The instant he found I saw him, he walked back +again, and deposited the soap nearly in the same place from whence he +had taken it. There was certainly something more than instinct in that +action: he evidently betrayed a consciousness of having done wrong both +by his first and last actions--and what is reason if that is not an +exercise of it?" + +The most elaborate account of the natural history of the ORANG-UTAN +extant, is that given in the "Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke +Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen (1839-45)," by +Dr. Salomon Muller and Dr. Schlegel, and I shall base what I have to +say, upon this subject almost entirely on their statements, adding, here +and there, particulars of interest from the writings of Brooke, Wallace, +and others. + +The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but the +body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in +circumference.* ([Footnote] *The largest Orang-Utan, cited by Temminck, +measured, when standing upright, 4 ft.; but he mentions having just +received news of the capture of an Orang 5 ft. 3 in. high. Schlegel and +Muller say that their largest old male measured, upright, 1.25 +Netherlands "el"; and from the crown to the end of the toes, 1.5 el; the +circumference of the body being about 1 el. The largest old female was +1.09 el high, when standing. The adult skeleton in the College of +Surgeons' Museum, if set upright, would stand 3 ft. 6-8 in. from crown +to sole. Dr. Humphry gives 3 ft. 8 in. as the mean height of two Orangs. +Of seventeen Orangs examined by Mr. Wallace, the largest was 4 ft. 2 in. +high, from the heel to the crown of the head. Mr. Spencer St. John, +however, in his 'Life in the Forests of the Far East', tells us of an +Orang of "5 ft. 2 in., measuring fairly from the head to the heel," 15 +in. across the face, and 12 in. round the wrist. It does not appear, +however, that Mr. St. John measured this Orang himself.) + +The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in +neither of these islands--in both of which it occurs always in low, flat +plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of +the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found +only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur, +though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side. + +On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in +the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places, +the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day. + +(FIGURE 9.--An adult male Orang-utan, after Muller and Schlegel.) + +Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves. +The old females, and the immature males, on the other hand, are often +met with in twos and threes; and the former occasionally have young with +them, though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and +sometimes remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring. +The young Orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother's +protection, probably in consequence of their slow growth. While +climbing, the mother always carries her young against her bosom, the +young holding on by his mother's hair.* ([Footnote] *See Mr. Wallace's +account of an infant "Orang-utan," in the 'Annals of Natural History' +for 1856. Mr. Wallace provided his interesting charge with an artificial +mother of buffalo-skin, but the cheat was too successful. The infant's +entire experience led it to associate teats with hair, and feeling the +latter, it spent its existence in vain endeavours to discover the +former.) At what time of life the Orang-Utan becomes capable of +propagation, and how long the females go with young, is unknown, but it +is probable that they are not adult until they arrive at ten or fifteen +years of age. A female which lived for five years at Batavia, had not +attained one-third the height of the wild females. It is probable that, +after reaching adult years, they go on growing, though slowly, and that +they live to forty or fifty years. The Dyaks tell of old Orangs, which +have not only lost all their teeth, but which find it so troublesome to +climb, that they maintain themselves on windfalls and juicy herbage. + +The Orang is sluggish, exhibiting none of that marvellous activity +characteristic of the Gibbons. Hunger alone seems to stir him to +exertion, and when it is stilled, he relapses into repose. When the +animal sits, it curves its back and bows its head, so as to look +straight down on the ground; sometimes it holds on with its hands by a +higher branch, sometimes lets them hang phlegmatically down by its +side--and in these positions the Orang will remain, for hours together, +in the same spot, almost without stirring, and only now and then giving +utterance to its deep, growling voice. By day, he usually climbs from +one tree-top to another, and only at night descends to the ground, and +if then threatened with danger, he seeks refuge among the underwood. +When not hunted, he remains a long time in the same locality, and +sometimes stops for many days on the same tree--a firm place among its +branches serving him for a bed. It is rare for the Orang to pass the +night in the summit of a large tree, probably because it is too windy +and cold there for him; but, as soon as night draws on, he descends from +the height and seeks out a fit bed in the lower and darker part, or in +the leafy top of a small tree, among which he prefers Nibong Palms, +Pandani, or one of those parasitic Orchids which give the primeval +forests of Borneo so characteristic and striking an appearance. But +wherever he determines to sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of +nest: little boughs and leaves are drawn together round the selected +spot, and bent crosswise over one another; while to make the bed soft, +great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of 'Pandanus fascicularis', 'Nipa +fruticans', etc., are laid over them. Those which Muller saw, many of +them being very fresh, were situated at a height of ten to twenty-five +feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on the average, of two +or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with 'Pandanus' +leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which, united +in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude 'hut'," says +Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the trees, would be +more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or cover of any +sort. The facility with which they form this nest is curious, and I had +an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the branches together +and seat herself, within a minute." + +According to the Dyaks, the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun +is well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about +nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in +the twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change, turns +on one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and resting +his head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy, he +usually covers his body with a heap of 'Pandanus', 'Nipa', or Fern +leaves, like those of which his bed is made, and he is especially +careful to wrap up his head in them. It is this habit of covering +himself up which has probably led to the fable that the Orang builds +huts in the trees. + +Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during +the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch, as +other apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the +contrary, confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he is +seen right at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely +related to the constitution of his hinder limbs, and especially to that +of his seat. For this is provided with no callosities, such as are +possessed by many of the lower apes, and even by the Gibbons; and those +bones of the pelvis, which are termed the ischia, and which form the +solid framework of the surface on which the body rests in the sitting +posture, are not expanded like those of the apes which possess +callosities, but are more like those of man. + +An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously,* as, in this act, to resemble +a man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury of +them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. ([Footnote] * +"They are the slowest and least active of all the monkey tribe, and +their motions are surprisingly awkward and uncouth."--Sir James Brooke, +in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society', 1841.) Unlike the +Gibbons, whose forearms do the greater part of the work, as they swing +from branch to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest jump. In +climbing, he moves alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having +laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both feet together. In +passing from one tree to another, he always seeks out a place where the +twigs of both come close together, or interlace. Even when closely +pursued, his circumspection is amazing: he shakes the branches to see if +they will bear him, and then bending an overhanging bough down by +throwing his weight gradually along it, he makes a bridge from the tree +he wishes to quit to the next.* ([Footnote] *Mr. Wallace's account of +the progression of the Orang almost exactly corresponds with this.) + +On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all +fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon be +overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little bent, +raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much the +posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way along by +the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed straight +forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less obliquely; except +the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other respects, depart +remarkably from their fellows. + +The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon +their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the curved +toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their first joint, +the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on this surface. +The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner edges serving as +the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in such a manner that +their foremost joints, especially those of the two innermost fingers, +rest upon the ground by their upper sides, while the point of the free +and straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum. + +The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures, +representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it +defends itself with sticks, and the like. + +The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the +gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his +weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute +the chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three feet +long were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to eat +living animals. + +Although, when taken young, the Orang-Utan soon becomes domesticated, +and indeed seems to court human society, it is naturally a very wild and +shy animal, though apparently sluggish and melancholy. The Dyaks affirm, +that when the old males are wounded with arrows only, they will +occasionally leave the trees and rush raging upon their enemies, whose +sole safety lies in instant flight, as they are sure to be killed if +caught.* ([Footnote] *Sir James Brooke, in a letter to Mr. Waterhouse, +published in the proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1841, +says:--"On the habits of the Orangs, as far as I have been able to +observe them, I may remark that they are as dull and slothful as can +well be conceived, and on no occasion, when pursuing them, did they move +so fast as to preclude my keeping pace with them easily through a +moderately clear forest; and even when obstructions below (such as +wading up to the neck) allowed them to get away some distance, they were +sure to stop and allow me to come up. I never observed the slightest +attempt at defence, and the wood which sometimes rattled about our ears +was broken by their weight, and not thrown, as some persons represent. +If pushed to extremity, however, the 'Pappan' could not be otherwise +than formidable, and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying +to catch a large one alive, lost two of his fingers, besides being +severely bitten on the face, whilst the animal finally beat off his +pursuers and escaped." Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, affirms that he +has several times observed them throwing down branches when pursued. "It +is true he does not throw them 'at' a person, but casts them down +vertically; for it is evident that a bough cannot be thrown to any +distance from the top of a lofty tree. In one case a female Mias, on a +durian tree, kept up for at least ten minutes a continuous shower of +branches and of the heavy, spined fruits, as large as 32-pounders, which +most effectually kept us clear of the tree she was on. She could be seen +breaking them off and throwing them down with every appearance of rage, +uttering at intervals a loud pumping grunt, and evidently meaning +mischief."--"On the Habits of the Orang-Utan," 'Annals of Nat. History, +1856. This statement, it will be observed, is quite in accordance with +that contained in the letter of the Resident Palm quoted above (p. +210).) + +But, though possessed of immense strength, it is rare for the Orang to +attempt to defend itself, especially when attacked with fire-arms. On +such occasions he endeavours to hide himself, or to escape along the +topmost branches of the trees, breaking off and throwing down the boughs +as he goes. When wounded he betakes himself to the highest attainable +point of the tree, and emits a singular cry, consisting at first of high +notes, which at length deepen into a low roar, not unlike that of a +panther. While giving out the high notes the Orang thrusts out his lips +into a funnel shape; but in uttering the low notes he holds his mouth +wide open, and at the same time the great throat bag, or laryngeal sac, +becomes distended. + +According to the Dyaks, the only animal the Orang measures his strength +with is the crocodile, who occasionally seizes him on his visits to the +water side. But they say that the Orang is more than a match for his +enemy, and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by pulling the jaws +asunder! + +Much of what has been here stated was probably derived by Dr. Muller +from the reports of his Dyak hunters; but a large male, four feet high, +lived in captivity, under his observation, for a month, and receives a +very bad character. + +"He was a very wild beast," says Muller, "of prodigious strength, and +false and wicked to the last degree. If any one approached he rose up +slowly with a low growl, fixed his eyes in the direction in which he +meant to make his attack, slowly passed his hand between the bars of his +cage, and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip--usually at +the face." He never tried to bite (though Orangs will bite one another), +his great weapons of offence and defence being his hands. + +His intelligence was very great; and Muller remarks, that though the +faculties of the Orang have been estimated too highly, yet Cuvier, had +he seen this specimen, would not have considered its intelligence to be +only a little higher than that of the dog. + +His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision seemed to be less +perfect. The under lip was the great organ of touch, and played a very +important part in drinking, being thrust out like a trough, so as either +to catch the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half +cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was supplied, and +which, in drinking, he poured into the trough thus formed. + +In Borneo the Orang-Utan of the Malays goes by the name of "Mias" among +the Dyaks, who distinguish several kinds as 'Mias Pappan', or 'Zimo', +'Mias Kassu', and 'Mias Rambi'. Whether these are distinct species, +however, or whether they are mere races, and how far any of them are +identical with the Sumatran Orang, as Mr. Wallace thinks the Mias Pappan +to be, are problems which are at present undecided; and the variability +of these great apes is so extensive, that the settlement of the question +is a matter of great difficulty. Of the form called "Mias Pappan," Mr. +Wallace* observes, ([Footnote] *On the Orang-Utan, or Mias of Borneo, +'Annals of Natural History', 1856.) "It is known by its large size, and +by the lateral expansion of the face into fatty protuberances, or +ridges, over the temporal muscles, which has been mis-termed +'callosities', as they are perfectly soft, smooth, and flexible. Five of +this form, measured by me, varied only from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet 2 +inches in height, from the heel to the crown of the head, the girth of +the body from 3 feet to 3 feet 7 1/2 inches, and the extent of the +outstretched arms from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 6 inches; the width of +the face from 10 to 13 1/4 inches. The colour and length of the hair +varied in different individuals, and in different parts of the same +individual; some possessed a rudimentary nail on the great toe, others +none at all; but they otherwise present no external differences on which +to establish even varieties of a species. + +"Yet, when we examine the crania of these individuals, we find +remarkable differences of form, proportion, and dimension, no two being +exactly alike. The slope of the profile, and the projection of the +muzzle, together with the size of the cranium, offer differences as +decided as those existing between the most strongly marked forms of the +Caucasian and African crania in the human species. The orbits vary in +width and height, the cranial ridge is either single or double, either +much or little developed, and the zygomatic aperture varies considerably +in size. This variation in the proportions of the crania enables us +satisfactorily to explain the marked difference presented by the +single-crested and double-crested skulls, which have been thought to +prove the existence of two large species of Orang. The external surface +of the skull varies considerably in size, as do also the zygomatic +aperture and the temporal muscle; but they bear no necessary relation to +each other, a small muscle often existing with a large cranial surface, +and 'vice versa'. Now, those skulls which have the largest and strongest +jaws and the widest zygomatic aperture, have the muscles so large that +they meet on the crown of the skull, and deposit the bony ridge which +supports them, and which is the highest in that which has the smallest +cranial surface. In those which combine a large surface with +comparatively weak jaws, and small zygomatic aperture, the muscles, on +each side, do not extend to the crown, a space of from l to 2 inches +remaining between them, and along their margins small ridges are formed. +Intermediate forms are found, in which the ridges meet only in the +hinder part of the skull. The form and size of the ridges are therefore +independent of age, being sometimes more strongly developed in the less +aged animal. Professor Temminck states that the series of skulls in the +Leyden Museum shows the same result." + +Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks), +however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to +be specifically distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 8 1/2 inches and +3 feet 9 1/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek +excrescences, but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has no +crest, but two bony ridges, 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches apart, as in the +'Simia morio' of Professor Owen. The teeth, however; are immense, +equalling or surpassing those of the other species. The females of both +these kinds, according to Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and +resemble the smaller males, but are shorter by 1 1/2 to 3 inches, and +their canine teeth are comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated at +the base, as in the so-called 'Simia morio', which is, in all +probability, the skull of a female of the same species as the smaller +males. Both males and females of this smaller species are +distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the comparatively large +size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw. + +So far as I am aware, no one has attempted to dispute the accuracy of +the statements which I have just quoted regarding the habits of the two +Asiatic man-like Apes; and if true, they must be admitted as evidence, +that such an Ape-- + +Firstly, May readily move along the ground in the erect, or semi-erect, +position, and without direct support from its arms. + +Secondly, That it may possess an extremely loud voice, so loud as to be +readily heard one or two miles. + +Thirdly, That it may be capable of great viciousness and violence when +irritated: and this is especially true of adult males. + +Fourthly, That it may build a nest to sleep in. + +Such being well established facts respecting the Asiatic Anthropoids, +analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer +similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would +destroy the force of any attempted a priori argument against such direct +testimony as might be adduced in favour of their existence. And, if the +organization of any of the African Apes could be demonstrated to fit it +better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and for +efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting its +occasional adoption of the upright attitude or of aggressive +proceedings. + +From the time of Tyson and Tulpius downwards, the habits of the young +CHIMPANZEE in a state of captivity have been abundantly reported and +commented upon. But trustworthy evidence as to the manners and customs +of adult anthropoids of this species, in their native woods, was almost +wanting up to the time of the publication of the paper by Dr. Savage, to +which I have already referred; containing notes of the observations +which he made, and of the information which he collected from sources +which he considered trustworthy, while resident at Cape Palmas, at the +north-western limit of the Bight of Benin. + +The adult Chimpanzees, measured by Dr. Savage, never exceeded, though +the males may almost attain, five feet in height. + +"When at rest, the sitting posture is that generally assumed. They are +sometimes seen standing and walking, but when thus detected, they +immediately take to all fours, and flee from the presence of the +observer. Such is their organization that they cannot stand erect, but +lean forward. Hence they are seen, when standing, with the hands clasped +over the occiput, or the lumbar region, which would seem necessary to +balance or ease of posture. + +"The toes of the adult are strongly flexed and turned inwards, and +cannot be perfectly straightened. In the attempt the skin gathers into +thick folds on the back, shewing that the full expansion of the foot, as +is necessary in walking, is unnatural. The natural position is on all +fours, the body anteriorly resting upon the knuckles. These are greatly +enlarged, with the skin protuberant and thickened like the sole of the +foot. + +"They are expert climbers, as one would suppose from their organization. +In their gambols they swing from limb to limb to a great distance, and +leap with astonishing agility. It is not unusual to see the 'old folks' +(in the language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling +themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while their 'children' are +leaping around them, and swinging from tree to tree with boisterous +merriment. + +"As seen here, they cannot be called 'gregarious', seldom more than +five, or ten at most, being found together. It has been said, on good +authority, that they occasionally assemble in large numbers, in gambols. +My informant asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged; +hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old logs, which is +done in the latter case with equal facility by the four extremities. +They do not appear ever to act on the offensive, and seldom, if ever +really, on the defensive. When about to be captured, they resist by +throwing their arms about their opponent, and attempting to draw him +into contact with their teeth." (Savage, l. c. p. 384.) + +With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit in another +place: + +"BITING is their principal art of defence. I have seen one man who had +been thus severely wounded in the feet. + +"The strong development of the canine teeth in the adult would seem to +indicate a carnivorous propensity; but in no state save that of +domestication do they manifest it. At first they reject flesh, but +easily acquire a fondness for it. The canines are early developed, and +evidently designed to act the important part of weapons of defence. When +in contact with man almost the first effort of the animal is--TO BITE. + +"They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habitations in trees. +Their construction is more that of NESTS than HUTS, as they have been +erroneously termed by some naturalists. They generally build not far +above the ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and +crossed, and the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch. +Sometimes a nest will be found near the END of a STRONG LEAFY BRANCH +twenty or thirty feet from the ground. One I have lately seen that could +not be less than forty feet, and more probably it was fifty. But this is +an unusual height. + +"Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in pursuit of food +and solitude, according to the force of circumstances. We more often see +them in elevated places; but this arises from the fact that the low +grounds, being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the +oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in suitable trees +for their nests...It is seldom that more than one or two nests are seen +upon the same tree, or in the same neighbourhood: five have been found, +but it was an unusual circumstance."... + +"They are very filthy in their habits...It is a tradition with the +natives generally here, that they were once members of their own tribe; +that for their depraved habits they were expelled from all human +society, and, that through an obstinate indulgence of their vile +propensities, they have degenerated into their present state and +organization. They are, however, eaten by them, and when cooked with the +oil and pulp of the palm-nut considered a highly palatable morsel. + +"They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in their habits, and, +on the part of the mother, much affection for their young. The second +female described was upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate +and two young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was to +descend with great rapidity, and make off into the thicket, with her +mate and female offspring. The young male remaining behind, she soon +returned to the rescue. She ascended and took him in her arms, at which +moment she was shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the young +one, on its way to the heart of the mother.... + +"In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, remained upon the tree +with her offspring, watching intently the movements of the hunter. As he +took aim, she motioned with her hand, precisely in the manner of a human +being, to have him desist and go away. When the wound has not proved +instantly fatal, they have been known to stop the flow of blood by +pressing with the hand upon the part, and when this did not succeed, to +apply leaves and grass...When shot, they give a sudden screech, not +unlike that of a human being in sudden and acute distress." + +The ordinary voice of the Chimpanzee, however, is affirmed to be hoarse, +guttural, and not very loud, somewhat like "whoo-whoo." (l. c. p. 365). + +The analogy of the Chimpanzee to the Orang, in its nest-building habit +and in the mode of forming its nest, is exceedingly interesting; while, +on the other hand, the activity of this ape, and its tendency to bite, +are particulars in which it rather resembles the Gibbons. In extent of +geographical range, again, the Chimpanzees--which are found from Sierra +Leone to Congo--remind one of the Gibbons, rather than of either of the +other man-like apes; and it seems not unlikely that, as is the case with +the Gibbons, there may be several species spread over the geographical +area of the genus. + +The same excellent observer, from whom I have borrowed the preceding +account of the habits of the adult Chimpanzee, published fifteen years +ago,* an account of the GORILLA, which has, in its most essential +points, been confirmed by subsequent observers, and to which so very +little has really been added, that in justice to Dr. Savage I give it +almost in full. ([Footnote] *Notice of the external characters and +habits of Troglodytes Gorilla. 'Boston Journal of Natural History', +1847.) + +"It should be borne in mind that my account is based upon the statements +of the aborigines of that region (the Gaboon). In this connection, it +may also be proper for me to remark, that having been a missionary +resident for several years, studying, from habitual intercourse, the +African mind and character, I felt myself prepared to discriminate and +decide upon the probability of their statements. Besides, being familiar +with the history and habits of its interesting congener ('Trog. niger', +Geoff.), I was able to separate their accounts of the two animals, +which, having the same locality and a similarity of habit, are +confounded in the minds of the mass, especially as but few--such as +traders to the interior and huntsmen--have ever seen the animal in +question. + +(FIGURE 10.--The Gorilla (after Wolff).) + +"The tribe from which our knowledge of the animal is derived, and whose +territory forms its habitat, is the 'Mpongwe', occupying both banks of +the River Gaboon, from its mouth to some fifty or sixty miles upward.... + +"If the word 'Pongo' be of African origin, it is probably a corruption +of the word 'Mpongwe', the name of the tribe on the banks of the Gaboon, +and hence applied to the region they inhabit. Their local name for the +Chimpanzee is 'Enche-eko', as near as it can be Anglicized, from which +the common term 'Jocko' probably comes. The Mpongwe appellation for its +new congener is 'Enge-ena', prolonging the sound of the first vowel, and +slightly sounding the second. + +"The habitat of the 'Enge-ena' is the interior of lower Guinea, whilst +that of the 'Enche-eko' is nearer the sea-board. + +"Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately broad across +the shoulders, thickly covered with coarse black hair, which is said to +be similar in its arrangement to that of the 'Enche-eko'; with age it +becomes grey, which fact has given rise to the report that both animals +are seen of different colours. + +"HEAD.--The prominent features of the head are, the great width and +elongation of the face, the depth of the molar region, the branches of +the lower jaw being very deep and extending far backward, and the +comparative smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very large, +and said to be like those of the Enche-eko, a bright hazel; nose broad +and flat, slightly elevated towards the root; the muzzle broad, and +prominent lips and chin, with scattered gray hairs; the under lip highly +mobile, and capable of great elongation when the animal is enraged, then +hanging over the chin; skin of the face and ears naked, and of a dark +brown, approaching to black. + +"The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge, or crest of +hair, in the course of the sagittal suture, which meets posteriorily +with a transverse ridge of the same, but less prominent, running round +from the back of one ear to the other. The animal has the power of +moving the scalp freely forward and back, and when enraged is said to +contract it strongly over the brow, thus bringing down the hairy ridge +and pointing the hair forward, so as to present an indescribably +ferocious aspect. + +"Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very broad, said to +be fully double the size of the Enche-ekos; arms very long, reaching +some way below the knee--the fore-arm much the shortest; hands very +large, the thumbs much larger than the fingers... + +(FIGURE 11.--Gorilla walking (after Wolff).) + +"The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright +as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side. +The arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in +walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms +forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a +half jumping half swinging motion between them. In this act it is said +not to flex the fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its +knuckles, but to extend them, making a fulcrum of the hand. When it +assumes the walking posture, to which it is said to be much inclined, it +balances its huge body by flexing its arms upward. + +"They live in bands, but are not so numerous as the Chimpanzees: the +females generally exceed the other sex in number. My informants all +agree in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in a band; that +when the young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the +strongest, by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as +the head of the community." + +Dr. Savage repudiates the stories about the Gorillas carrying off women +and vanquishing elephants and then adds: + +"Their dwellings, if they may be so called, are similar to those of the +Chimpanzee, consisting simply of a few sticks and leafy branches, +supported by the crotches and limbs of trees: they afford no shelter, +and are occupied only at night. + +"They are exceedingly ferocious, and always offensive in their habits, +never running from man, as does the Chimpanzee. They are objects of +terror to the natives, and are never encountered by them except on the +defensive. The few that have been captured were killed by elephant +hunters and native traders, as they came suddenly upon them while +passing through the forests. + +"It is said that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell, +that resounds far and wide through the forest, something like kh-ah! +kh-ah! prolonged and shrill. His enormous jaws are widely opened at each +expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the hairy ridge and +scalp are contracted upon the brow, presenting an aspect of +indescribable ferocity. + +"The females and young, at the first cry, quickly disappear. He then +approaches the enemy in great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in +quick succession. The hunter awaits his approach with his gun extended: +if his aim is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the barrel, and +as he carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he fires. Should the +gun fail to go off, the barrel (that of the ordinary musket, which is +thin) is crushed between his teeth, and the encounter soon proves fatal +to the hunter. + +"In the wild state, their habits are in general like those of the +'Troglodytes niger', building their nests loosely in trees, living on +similar fruits, and changing their place of resort from force of +circumstances." + +Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supplemented by those of +Mr. Ford, who communicated an interesting paper on the Gorilla to the +Philadelphian Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the +geographical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like Apes, Mr. +Ford remarks: + +"This animal inhabits the range of mountains that traverse the interior +of Guinea, from the Cameroon in the north, to Angola in the south, and +about 100 miles inland, and called by the geographers Crystal Mountains. +The limit to which this animal extends, either north or south, I am +unable to define. But that limit is doubtless some distance north of +this river (Gaboon). I was able to certify myself of this fact in a late +excursion to the head-waters of the Mooney (Danger) River, which comes +into the sea some sixty miles from this place. I was informed (credibly, +I think) that they were numerous among the mountains in which that river +rises, and far north of that. + +"In the south, this species extends to the Congo River, as I am told by +native traders who have visited the coast between the Gaboon and that +river. Beyond that, I am not informed. This animal is only found at a +distance from the coast in most cases, and, according to my best +information, approaches it nowhere so nearly as on the south side of +this river, where they have been found within ten miles of the sea. +This, however, is only of late occurrence. I am informed by some of the +oldest Mpongwe men that formerly he was only found on the sources of the +river, but that at present he may be found within half-a-day's walk of +its mouth. Formerly he inhabited the mountainous ridge where Bushmen +alone inhabited, but now he boldly approaches the Mpongwe plantations. +This is doubtless the reason of the scarcity of information in years +past, as the opportunities for receiving a knowledge of the animal have +not been wanting; traders having for one hundred years frequented this +river, and specimens, such as have been brought here within a year, +could not have been exhibited without having attracted the attention of +the most stupid." + +One specimen Mr. Ford examined weighed 170 1bs., without the thoracic, +or pelvic, viscera, and measured four feet four inches round the chest. +This writer describes so minutely and graphically the onslaught of the +Gorilla--though he does not for a moment pretend to have witnessed the +scene--that I am tempted to give this part of his paper in full, for +comparison with other narratives: + +"He always rises to his feet when making an attack, though he approaches +his antagonist in a stooping posture. + +"Though he never lies in wait, yet, when he hears, sees, or scents a +man, he immediately utters his characteristic cry, prepares for an +attack, and always acts on the offensive. The cry he utters resembles a +grunt more than a growl, and is similar to the cry of the Chimpanzee, +when irritated, but vastly louder. It is said to be audible at a great +distance. His preparation consists in attending the females and young +ones, by whom he is usually accompanied, to a little distance. He, +however, soon returns, with his crest erect and projecting forward, his +nostrils dilated, and his under-lip thrown down; at the same time +uttering his characteristic yell, designed, it would seem, to terrify +his antagonist. Instantly, unless he is disabled by a well directed +shot, he makes an onset, and, striking his antagonist with the palm of +his hands, or seizing him with a grasp from which there is no escape, he +dashes him upon the ground, and lacerates him with his tusks. + +"He is said to seize a musket, and instantly crush the barrel between +his teeth...This animal's savage nature is very well shown by the +implacable desperation of a young one that was brought here. It was +taken very young, and kept four months, and many means were used to tame +it; but it was incorrigible, so that it bit me an hour before it died." + +Mr. Ford discredits the house-building and elephant-driving stories, and +says that no well-informed natives believe them. They are tales told to +children. + +I might quote other testimony to a similar effect, but, as it appears to +me, less carefully weighed and sifted, from the letters of MM. Franquet +and Gautier Laboullay, appended to the memoir of M. I. G. St. Hilaire, +which I have already cited. + +Bearing in mind what is known regarding the Orang and the Gibbon, the +statements of Dr. Savage and Mr. Ford do not appear to me to be justly +open to criticism on 'a priori' grounds. The Gibbons, as we have seen, +readily assume the erect posture, but the Gorilla is far better fitted +by its organization for that attitude than are the Gibbons: if the +laryngeal pouches of the Gibbons, as is very likely, are important in +giving volume to a voice which can be heard for half a league, the +Gorilla, which has similar sacs, more largely developed, and whose bulk +is fivefold that of a Gibbon, may well be audible for twice that +distance. If the Orang fights with its hands, the Gibbons and +Chimpanzees with their teeth, the Gorilla may, probably enough, do +either or both; nor is there anything to be said against either +Chimpanzee or Gorilla building a nest, when it is proved that the +Orang-Utan habitually performs that feat. + +With all this evidence, now ten to fifteen years old, before the world +it is not a little surprising that the assertions of a recent traveller, +who, so far as the Gorilla is concerned, really does very little more +than repeat, on his own authority, the statements of Savage and of Ford, +should have met with so much and such bitter opposition. If subtraction +be made of what was known before, the sum and substance of what M. Du +Chaillu has affirmed as a matter of his own observation respecting the +Gorilla, is, that, in advancing to the attack, the great brute beats his +chest with his fists. I confess I see nothing very improbable, or very +much worth disputing about, in this statement. + +With respect to the other man-like Apes of Africa, M. Du Chaillu tells +us absolutely nothing, of his own knowledge, regarding the common +Chimpanzee; but he informs us of a bald-headed species or variety, the +'nschiego mbouve', which builds itself a shelter, and of another rare +kind with a comparatively small face, large facial angle, and peculiar +note, resembling "Kooloo." + +As the Orang shelters itself with a rough coverlet of leaves, and the +common Chimpanzee, according to that eminently trustworthy observer Dr. +Savage, makes a sound like "Whoo-whoo,"--the grounds of the summary +repudiation with which M. Du Chaillu's statements on these matters have +been met are not obvious. + +If I have abstained from quoting M. Du Chaillu's work, then, it is not +because I discern any inherent improbability in his assertions +respecting the man-like Apes; nor from any wish to throw suspicion on +his veracity; but because, in my opinion, so long as his narrative +remains in its present state of unexplained and apparently inexplicable +confusion, it has no claim to original authority respecting any subject +whatsoever. + +It may be truth, but it is not evidence. + +End of Man-like apes. + +*** + + +ON THE RELATIONS OF MAN TO THE LOWER ANIMALS. + +Multis videri poterit, majorem esso differentiam Simiae et Hominis, quam +diei et noctis; verum tamen hi, comparatione instituta inter summos +Europae Heroes et Hottentottos ad Caput bonae spei degentes, +difficillime sibi persuadebunt, has eosdem habere natales; vel si +virginem nobilem aulicam, maxime comtam et humanissimam, conferre +vellent cum homine sylvestri et sibi relicto, vix augurari possent, hunc +et illam ejusdem esse speciei.--'Linnaei Amoenitates Acad. +"Anthropomorpha."' + +The question of questions for mankind--the problem which underlies all +others, and is more deeply interesting than any other--is the +ascertainment of the place which Man occupies in nature and of his +relations to the universe of things. Whence our race has come; what are +the limits of our power over nature, and of nature's power over us; to +what goal we are tending; are the problems which present themselves anew +and with undiminished interest to every man born into the world. Most of +us, shrinking from the difficulties and dangers which beset the seeker +after original answers to these riddles, are contented to ignore them +altogether, or to smother the investigating spirit under the featherbed +of respected and respectable tradition. But, in every age, one or two +restless spirits, blessed with that constructive genius, which can only +build on a secure foundation, or cursed with the spirit of mere +scepticism, are unable to follow in the well-worn and comfortable track +of their forefathers and contemporaries, and unmindful of thorns and +stumbling-blocks, strike out into paths of their own. The sceptics end +in the infidelity which asserts the problem to be insoluble, or in the +atheism which denies the existence of any orderly progress and +governance of things: the men of genius propound solutions which grow +into systems of Theology or of Philosophy, or veiled in musical language +which suggests more than it asserts, take the shape of the Poetry of an +epoch. + +Each such answer to the great question, invariably asserted by the +followers of its propounder, if not by himself, to be complete and +final, remains in high authority and esteem, it may be for one century, +or it may be for twenty: but, as invariably, Time proves each reply to +have been a mere approximation to the truth--tolerable chiefly on +account of the ignorance of those by whom it was accepted, and wholly +intolerable when tested by the larger knowledge of their successors. + +In a well-worn metaphor, a parallel is drawn between the life of man and +the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into the butterfly; but the +comparison may be more just as well as more novel, if for its former +term we take the mental progress of the race. History shows that the +human mind, fed by constant accessions of knowledge, periodically grows +too large for its theoretical coverings, and bursts them asunder to +appear in new habiliments, as the feeding and growing grub, at +intervals, casts its too narrow skin and assumes another, itself but +temporary. Truly the imago state of Man seems to be terribly distant, +but every moult is a step gained, and of such there have been many. + +Since the revival of learning, whereby the Western races of Europe were +enabled to enter upon that progress towards true knowledge, which was +commenced by the philosophers of Greece, but was almost arrested in +subsequent long ages of intellectual stagnation, or, at most, gyration, +the human larva has been feeding vigorously, and moulting in proportion. +A skin of some dimension was cast in the 16th century, and another +towards the end of the 18th, while, within the last fifty years, the +extraordinary growth of every department of physical science has spread +among us mental food of so nutritious and stimulating a character that a +new ecdysis seems imminent. But this is a process not unusually +accompanied by many throes and some sickness and debility, or, it may +be, by graver disturbances; so that every good citizen must feel bound +to facilitate the process, and even if he have nothing but a scalpel to +work withal, to ease the cracking integument to the best of his ability. + +In this duty lies my excuse for the publication of these essays. For it +will be admitted that some knowledge of man's position in the animate +world is an indispensable preliminary to the proper understanding of his +relations to the universe--and this again resolves itself, in the long +run, into an inquiry into the nature and the closeness of the ties which +connect him with those singular creatures whose history* has been +sketched in the preceding pages. ([Footnote] * It will be understood +that, in the preceding Essay, I have selected for notice from the vast +mass of papers which have been written upon the man-like Apes, only +those which seem to me to be of special moment.) + +The importance of such an inquiry is indeed intuitively manifest Brought +face to face with these blurred copies of himself, the least thoughtful +of men is conscious of a certain shock, due perhaps, not so much to +disgust at the aspect of what looks like an insulting caricature, as to +the awakening of a sudden and profound mistrust of time-honoured +theories and strongly-rooted prejudices regarding his own position in +nature, and his relations to the under-world of life; while that which +remains a dim suspicion for the unthinking, becomes a vast argument, +fraught with the deepest consequences, for all who are acquainted with +the recent progress of the anatomical and physiological sciences. + +I now propose briefly to unfold that argument, and to set forth, in a +form intelligible to those who possess no special acquaintance with +anatomical science, the chief facts upon which all conclusions +respecting the nature and the extent of the bonds which connect man with +the brute world must be based: I shall then indicate the one immediate +conclusion which, in my judgment, is justified by those facts, and I +shall finally discuss the bearing of that conclusion upon the hypotheses +which have been entertained respecting the Origin of Man. + +The facts to which I would first direct the reader's attention, though +ignored by many of the professed instructors of the public mind, are +easy of demonstration and are universally agreed to by men of science; +while their significance is so great, that whoso has duly pondered over +them will, I think, find little to startle him in the other revelations +of Biology. I refer to those facts which have been made known by the +study of Development. + +It is a truth of very wide, if not of universal, application, that every +living creature commences its existence under a form different from, and +simpler than, that which it eventually attains. + +(FIGURE 12.--A. Egg of the Dog, with the vitelline membrane burst, so as +to give exit to the yolk, the germinal vesicle (a), and its included +spot (b). B. C. D. E F. Successive changes of the yolk indicated in the +text. After Bischoff.) + +The oak is a more complex thing than the little rudimentary plant +contained in the acorn; the caterpillar is more complex than the egg; +the butterfly than the caterpillar; and each of these beings, in passing +from its rudimentary to its perfect condition, runs through a series of +changes, the sum of which is called its Development. In the higher +animals these changes are extremely complicated; but, within the last +half century, the labours of such men as Von Baer, Rathke, Reichert, +Bischoff, and Remak, have almost completely unravelled them, so that the +successive stages of development which are exhibited by a Dog, for +example, are now as well known to the embryologist as are the steps of +the metamorphosis of the silkworm moth to the school-boy. It will be +useful to consider with attention the nature and the order of the stages +of canine development, as an example of the process in the higher +animals generally. + +The Dog, like all animals, save the very lowest (and further inquiries +may not improbably remove the apparent exception), commences its +existence as an egg: as a body which is, in every sense, as much an egg +as that of a hen, but is devoid of that accumulation of nutritive matter +which confers upon the bird's egg its exceptional size and domestic +utility; and wants the shell, which would not only be useless to an +animal incubated within the body of its parent, but would cut it off +from access to the source of that nutriment which the young creature +requires, but which the minute egg of the mammal does not contain within +itself. + +The Dog's egg is, in fact, a little spheroidal bag (Figure 12), formed +of a delicate transparent membrane called the 'vitelline membrane', and +about 1/130 to 1/120th of an inch in diameter. It contains a mass of +viscid nutritive matter--the 'yelk'--within which is inclosed a second +much more delicate spheroidal bag, called the 'germinal vesicle' (a). In +this, lastly, lies a more solid rounded body, termed the 'germinal spot' +(b). + +The egg, or 'Ovum,' is originally formed within a gland, from which, in +due season, it becomes detached, and passes into the living chamber +fitted for its protection and maintenance during the protracted process +of gestation. Here, when subjected to the required conditions, this +minute and apparently insignificant particle of living matter becomes +animated by a new and mysterious activity. The germinal vesicle and spot +cease to be discernible (their precise fate being one of the yet +unsolved problems of embryology), but the yelk becomes circumferentially +indented, as if an invisible knife had been drawn round it, and thus +appears divided into two hemispheres (Figure 12, C). + +By the repetition of this process in various planes, these hemispheres +become subdivided, so that four segments are produced (D); and these, in +like manner, divide and subdivide again, until the whole yelk is +converted into a mass of granules, each of which consists of a minute +spheroid of yelk-substance, inclosing a central particle, the so-called +'nucleus' (F). Nature, by this process, has attained much the same +result as that at which a human artificer arrives by his operations in a +brickfield. She takes the rough plastic material of the yelk and breaks +it up into well-shaped tolerably even-sized masses, handy for building +up into any part of the living edifice. + +(FIGURE 13.--Earliest rudiment of the Dog. B. Rudiment further advanced, +showing the foundations of the head, tail, and vertebral column. C. The +very young puppy, with attached ends of the yelk-sac and allantois, and +invested in the amnion.) + +Next, the mass of organic bricks, or 'cells' as they are technically +called, thus formed, acquires an orderly arrangement, becoming converted +into a hollow spheroid with double walls. Then, upon one side of this +spheroid, appears a thickening, and, by and bye, in the centre of the +area of thickening, a straight shallow groove (Figure 13, A) marks the +central line of the edifice which is to be raised, or, in other words, +indicates the position of the middle line of the body of the future dog. +The substance bounding the groove on each side next rises up into a +fold, the rudiment of the side wall of that long cavity, which will +eventually lodge the spinal marrow and the brain; and in the floor of +this chamber appears a solid cellular cord, the so-called 'notochord.' +One end of the inclosed cavity dilates to form the head (Figure 13, B), +the other remains narrow, and eventually becomes the tail; the side +walls of the body are fashioned out of the downward continuation of the +walls of the groove; and from them, by and bye, grow out little buds +which, by degrees, assume the shape of limbs. Watching the fashioning +process stage by stage, one is forcibly reminded of the modeller in +clay. Every part, every organ, is at first, as it were, pinched up +rudely, and sketched out in the rough; then shaped more accurately; and +only, at last, receives the touches which stamp its final character. + +Thus, at length, the young puppy assumes such a form as is shown in +Figure 13, C. In this condition it has a disproportionately large head, +as dissimilar to that of a dog as the bud-like limbs are unlike his +legs. + +The remains of the yelk, which have not yet been applied to the +nutrition and growth of the young animal, are contained in a sac +attached to the rudimentary intestine, and termed the yelk sac, or +'umbilical vesicle.' Two membranous bags, intended to subserve +respectively the protection and nutrition of the young creature, have +been developed from the skin and from the under and hinder surface of +the body; the former, the so-called 'amnion,' is a sac filled with +fluid, which invests the whole body of the embryo, and plays the part of +a sort of water-bed for it; the other, termed the 'allantois,' grows +out, loaded with blood-vessels, from the ventral region, and eventually +applying itself to the walls of the cavity, in which the developing +organism is contained, enables these vessels to become the channel by +which the stream of nutriment, required to supply the wants of the +offspring, is furnished to it by the parent. + +The structure which is developed by the interlacement of the vessels of +the offspring with those of the parent, and by means of which the former +is enabled to receive nourishment and to get rid of effete matters, is +termed the 'Placenta.' + +It would be tedious, and it is unnecessary for my present purpose, to +trace the process of development further; suffice it to say, that, by a +long and gradual series of changes, the rudiment here depicted and +described becomes a puppy, is born, and then, by still slower and less +perceptible steps, passes into the adult Dog. + +There is not much apparent resemblance between a barndoor Fowl and the +Dog who protects the farm-yard. Nevertheless the student of development +finds, not only that the chick commences its existence as an egg, +primarily identical, in all essential respects, with that of the Dog, +but that the yelk of this egg undergoes division--that the primitive +groove arises, and that the contiguous parts of the germ are fashioned, +by precisely similar methods, into a young chick, which, at one stage of +its existence, is so like the nascent Dog, that ordinary inspection +would hardly distinguish the two. + +The history of the development of any other vertebrate animal, Lizard, +Snake, Frog, or Fish, tells the same story. There is always, to begin +with, an egg having the same essential structure as that of the +Dog:--the yelk of that egg always undergoes division, or 'segmentation' +as it is often called: the ultimate products of that segmentation +constitute the building materials for the body of the young animal; and +this is built up round a primitive groove, in the floor of which a +notochord is developed. Furthermore, there is a period in which the +young of all these animals resemble one another, not merely in outward +form, but in all essentials of structure, so closely, that the +differences between them are inconsiderable, while, in their subsequent +course, they diverge more and more widely from one another. And it is a +general law, that, the more closely any animals resemble one another in +adult structure, the longer and the more intimately do their embryos +resemble one another: so that, for example, the embryos of a Snake and +of a Lizard remain like one another longer than do those of a Snake and +of a Bird; and the embryo of a Dog and of a Cat remain like one another +for a far longer period than do those of a Dog and a Bird; or of a Dog +and an Opossum; or even than those of a Dog and a Monkey. + +Thus the study of development affords a clear test of closeness of +structural affinity, and one turns with impatience to inquire what +results are yielded by the study of the development of Man. Is he +something apart? Does he originate in a totally different way from Dog, +Bird, Frog, and Fish, thus justifying those who assert him to have no +place in nature and no real affinity with the lower world of animal +life? Or does he originate in a similar germ, pass through the same slow +and gradually progressive modifications,--depend on the same +contrivances for protection and nutrition, and finally enter the world +by the help of the same mechanism? The reply is not doubtful for a +moment, and has not been doubtful any time these thirty years. Without +question, the mode of origin and the early stages of the development of +man are identical with those of the animals immediately below him in the +scale:--without a doubt, in these respects, he is far nearer the Apes, +than the Apes are to the Dog. + +The Human ovum is about l/125 of an inch in diameter, and might be +described in the same terms as that of the Dog, so that I need only +refer to the figure illustrative (14 A) of its structure. It leaves the +organ in which it is formed in a similar fashion and enters the organic +chamber prepared for its reception in the same way, the conditions of +its development being in all respects the same. It has not yet been +possible (and only by some rare chance can it ever be possible) to study +the human ovum in so early a developmental stage as that of yelk +division, but there is every reason to conclude that the changes it +undergoes are identical with those exhibited by the ova of other +vertebrated animals; for the formative materials of which the +rudimentary human body is composed, in the earliest conditions in which +it has been observed, are the same as those of other animals. Some of +these earliest stages are figured below, and, as will be seen, they are +strictly comparable to the very early states of the Dog; the marvellous +correspondence between the two which is kept up, even for some time, as +development advances, becoming apparent by the simple comparison of the +figures with those on page 249. + +(FIGURE 14.--A. Human ovum (after Kolliker). a. germinal vesicle. b. +germinal spot. B. A very early condition of Man, with yelk-sac, +allantois, and amnion (original). C. A more advanced stage (after +Kolliker), compare Figure 13, C. + +Indeed, it is very long before the body of the young human being can be +readily discriminated from that of the young puppy; but, at a tolerably +early period, the two become distinguishable by the different form of +their adjuncts, the yelk-sac and the allantois. The former, in the Dog, +becomes long and spindle-shaped, while in Man it remains spherical; the +latter, in the Dog, attains an extremely large size, and the vascular +processes which are developed from it and eventually give rise to the +formation of the placenta (taking root, as it were, in the parental +organism, so as to draw nourishment therefrom, as the root of a tree +extracts it from the soil) are arranged in an encircling zone, while in +Man, the allantois remains comparatively small, and its vascular +rootlets are eventually restricted to one disk-like spot. Hence, while +the placenta of the Dog is like a girdle, that of Man has the cake-like +form, indicated by the name of the organ. + +But, exactly in those respects in which the developing Man differs from +the Dog, he resembles the ape, which, like man, has a spheroidal +yelk-sac and a discoidal--sometimes partially lobed--placenta. + +So that it is only quite in the later stages of development that the +young human being presents marked differences from the young ape, while +the latter departs as much from the dog in its development, as the man +does. + +Startling as the last assertion may appear to be, it is demonstrably +true, and it alone appears to me sufficient to place beyond all doubt +the structural unity of man with the rest of the animal world, and more +particularly and closely with the apes. + +Thus, identical in the physical processes by which he +originates--identical in the early stages of his formation--identical in +the mode of his nutrition before and after birth, with the animals which +lie immediately below him in the scale--Man, if his adult and perfect +structure be compared with theirs, exhibits, as might be expected, a +marvellous likeness of organization. He resembles them as they resemble +one another--he differs from them as they differ from one another.--And, +though these differences and resemblances cannot be weighed and +measured, their value may be readily estimated; the scale or standard of +judgment, touching that value, being afforded and expressed by the +system of classification of animals now current among zoologists. + +A careful study of the resemblances and differences presented by animals +has, in fact, led naturalists to arrange them into groups, or +assemblages, all the members of each group presenting a certain amount +of definable resemblance, and the number of points of similarity being +smaller as the group is larger and 'vice versa'. Thus, all creatures +which agree only in presenting the few distinctive marks of animality +form the 'Kingdom' ANIMALIA. The numerous animals which agree only in +possessing the special characters of Vertebrates form one 'Sub-Kingdom' +of this Kingdom. Then the Sub-kingdom VERTEBRATA is subdivided into the +five 'Classes,' Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals, and +these into smaller groups called 'Orders'; these into 'Families' and +'Genera'; while the last are finally broken up into the smallest +assemblages, which are distinguished by the possession of constant, +not-sexual, characters. These ultimate groups are Species. + +Every year tends to bring about a greater uniformity of opinion +throughout the zoological world as to the limits and characters of these +groups, great and small. At present, for example, no one has the least +doubt regarding the characters of the classes Mammalia, Aves, or +Reptilia; nor does the question arise whether any thoroughly well-known +animal should be placed in one class or the other. Again, there is a +very general agreement respecting the characters and limits of the +orders of Mammals, and as to the animals which are structurally +necessitated to take a place in one or another order. + +No one doubts, for example, that the Sloth and the Ant-eater, the +Kangaroo and the Opossum, the Tiger and the Badger, the Tapir and the +Rhinoceros, are respectively members of the same orders. These +successive pairs of animals may, and some do, differ from one another +immensely, in such matters as the proportions and structure of their +limbs; the number of their dorsal and lumbar vertebrae; the adaptation +of their frames to climbing, leaping, or running; the number and form of +their teeth; and the characters of their skulls and of the contained +brain. But, with all these differences, they are so closely connected in +all the more important and fundamental characters of their organization, +and so distinctly separated by these same characters from other animals, +that zoologists find it necessary to group them together as members of +one order. And if any new animal were discovered, and were found to +present no greater difference from the Kangaroo and the Opossum, for +example, than these animals do from one another, the zoologist would not +only be logically compelled to rank it in the same order with these, but +he would not think of doing otherwise. + +Bearing this obvious course of zoological reasoning in mind, let us +endeavour for a moment to disconnect our thinking selves from the mask +of humanity; let us imagine ourselves scientific Saturnians, if you +will, fairly acquainted with such animals as now inhabit the Earth, and +employed in discussing the relations they bear to a new and singular +'erect and featherless biped,' which some enterprising traveller, +overcoming the difficulties of space and gravitation, has brought from +that distant planet for our inspection, well preserved, may be, in a +cask of rum. We should all, at once, agree upon placing him among the +mammalian vertebrates; and his lower jaw, his molars, and his brain, +would leave no room for doubting the systematic position of the new +genus among those mammals, whose young are nourished during gestation by +means of a placenta, or what are called the 'placental mammals.' + +Further, the most superficial study would at once convince us that, +among the orders of placental mammals, neither the Whales, nor the +hoofed creatures, nor the Sloths and Ant-eaters, nor the carnivorous +Cats, Dogs, and Bears, still less the Rodent Rats and Rabbits, or the +Insectivorous Moles and Hedgehogs, or the Bats, could claim our 'Homo', +as one of themselves. + +There would remain then, but one order for comparison, that of the Apes +(using that word in its broadest sense), and the question for discussion +would narrow itself to this--is Man so different from any of these Apes +that he must form an order by himself? Or does he differ less from them +than they differ from one another, and hence must take his place in the +same order with them? + +Being happily free from all real, or imaginary, personal interest in the +results of the inquiry thus set afoot, we should proceed to weigh the +arguments on one side and on the other, with as much judicial calmness +as if the question related to a new Opossum. We should endeavour to +ascertain, without seeking either to magnify or diminish them, all the +characters by which our new Mammal differed from the Apes; and if we +found that these were of less structural value, than those which +distinguish certain members of the Ape order from others universally +admitted to be of the same order, we should undoubtedly place the newly +discovered tellurian genus with them. + +I now proceed to detail the facts which seem to me to leave us no choice +but to adopt the last mentioned course. + +It is quite certain that the Ape which most nearly approaches man, in +the totality of its organization, is either the Chimpanzee or the +Gorilla; and as it makes no practical difference, for the purposes of my +present argument, which is selected for comparison, on the one hand, +with Man, and on the other hand, with the rest of the Primates,* I shall +select the latter (so far as its organization is known)--as a brute now +so celebrated in prose and verse, that all must have heard of him, and +have formed some conception of his appearance. ([Footnote] *We are not +at present thoroughly acquainted with the brain of the Gorilla, and +therefore, in discussing cerebral characters, I shall take that of the +Chimpanzee as my highest term among the Apes.) I shall take up as many +of the most important points of difference between man and this +remarkable creature, as the space at my disposal will allow me to +discuss, and the necessities of the argument demand; and I shall inquire +into the value and magnitude of these differences, when placed side by +side with those which separate the Gorilla from other animals of the +same order. + +In the general proportions of the body and limbs there is a remarkable +difference between the Gorilla and Man, which at once strikes the eye. +The Gorilla's brain-case is smaller, its trunk larger, its lower limbs +shorter, its upper limbs longer in proportion than those of Man. + +I find that the vertebral column of a full-grown Gorilla, in the Museum +of the Royal College of Surgeons, measures 27 inches along its anterior +curvature, from the upper edge of the atlas, or first vertebra of the +neck, to the lower extremity of the sacrum; that the arm, without the +hand, is 31-1/2 inches long; that the leg, without the foot, is 26-1/2 +inches long; that the hand is 9-3/4 inches long; the foot 11-1/4 inches +long. + +In other words, taking the length of the spinal column as 100, the arm +equals 115, the leg 96, the hand 36, and the foot 41. + +In the skeleton of a male Bosjesman, in the same collection, the +proportions, by the same measurement, to the spinal column, taken as +100, are--the arm 78, the leg 110, the hand 26, and the foot 32. In a +woman of the same race the arm is 83, and the leg 120, the hand and foot +remaining the same. In a European skeleton I find the arm to be 80, the +leg 117, the hand 26, the foot 35. + +Thus the leg is not so different as it looks at first sight, in its +proportion to the spine in the Gorilla and in the Man--being very +slightly shorter than the spine in the former, and between 1/10 and 1/5 +longer than the spine in the latter. The foot is longer and the hand +much longer in the Gorilla; but the great difference is caused by the +arms, which are very much longer than the spine in the Gorilla, very +much shorter than the spine in the Man. + +The question now arises how are the other Apes related to the Gorilla in +these respects--taking the length of the spine, measured in the same +way, at 100. In an adult Chimpanzee, the arm is only 96, the leg 90, the +hand 43, the foot 39--so that the hand and the leg depart more from the +human proportion and the arm less, while the foot is about the same as +in the Gorilla. + +In the Orang, the arms are very much longer than in the Gorilla (122), +while the legs are shorter (88); the foot is longer than the hand (52 +and 48), and both are much longer in proportion to the spine. + +In the other man-like Apes again, the Gibbons, these proportions are +still further altered; the length of the arms being to that of the +spinal column as 19 to 11; while the legs are also a third longer than +the spinal column, so as to be longer than in Man, instead of shorter. +The hand is half as long as the spinal column, and the foot, shorter +than the hand, is about 5/11ths of the length of the spinal column. + +Thus 'Hylobates' is as much longer in the arms than the Gorilla, as the +Gorilla is longer in the arms than Man; while, on the other hand, it is +as much longer in the legs than the Man, as the Man is longer in the +legs than the Gorilla, so that it contains within itself the extremest +deviations from the average length of both pairs of limbs (See the +illustration on page 196). + +The Mandrill presents a middle condition, the arms and legs being nearly +equal in length, and both being shorter than the spinal column; while +hand and foot have nearly the same proportions to one another and to the +spine, as in Man. + +In the Spider monkey ('Ateles') the leg is longer than the spine, and +the arm than the leg; and, finally, in that remarkable Lemurine form, +the Indri ('Lichanotus'), the leg is about as long as the spinal column, +while the arm is not more than 11/18 of its length; the hand having +rather less and the foot rather more, than one-third the length of the +spinal column. + +These examples might be greatly multiplied, but they suffice to show +that, in whatever proportion of its limbs the Gorilla differs from Man, +the other Apes depart still more widely from the Gorilla and that, +consequently, such differences of proportion can have no ordinal value. + +We may next consider the differences presented by the trunk, consisting +of the vertebral column, or backbone, and the ribs and pelvis, or bony +hip-basin, which are connected with it, in Man and in the Gorilla +respectively. + +In Man, in consequence partly of the disposition of the articular +surfaces of the vertebrae, and largely of the elastic tension of some of +the fibrous bands, or ligaments, which connect these vertebrae together, +the spinal column, as a whole, has an elegant S-like curvature, being +convex forwards in the neck, concave in the back, convex in the loins, +or lumbar region, and concave again in the sacral region; an arrangement +which gives much elasticity to the whole backbone, and diminishes the +jar communicated to the spine, and through it to the head, by locomotion +in the erect position. + +Furthermore, under ordinary circumstances, Man has seven vertebrae in +his neck, which are called 'cervical'; twelve succeed these, bearing +ribs and forming the upper part of the back, whence they are termed +'dorsal'; five lie in the loins, bearing no distinct, or free, ribs, and +are called 'lumbar'; five, united together into a great bone, excavated +in front, solidly wedged in between the hip bones, to form the back of +the pelvis, and known by the name of the 'sacrum', succeed these; and +finally, three or four little more or less movable bones, so small as to +be insignificant, constitute the 'coccyx' or rudimentary tail. + +In the Gorilla, the vertebral column is similarly divided into cervical, +dorsal, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal vertebrae, and the total number of +cervical and dorsal vertebrae, taken together, is the same as in Man; +but the development of a pair of ribs to the first lumbar vertebra, +which is an exceptional occurrence in Man, is the rule in the Gorilla; +and hence, as lumbar are distinguished from dorsal vertebrae only by the +presence or absence of free ribs, the seventeen "dorso-lumbar" vertebrae +of the Gorilla are divided into thirteen dorsal and four lumbar, while +in Man they are twelve dorsal and five lumbar. + +(FIGURE 15.--Front and side views of the bony pelvis of Man, the Gorilla +and Gibbon: reduced from drawings made from nature, of the same absolute +length, by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins.) + +Not only, however, does Man occasionally possess thirteen pair of ribs,* +but the Gorilla sometimes has fourteen pairs, while an Orang-Utan +skeleton in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons has twelve +dorsal and five lumbar vertebrae, as in Man. ([Footnote] *"More than +once," says Peter Camper, "have I met with more than six lumbar +vertebrae in man...Once I found thirteen ribs and four lumbar +vertebrae." Fallopius noted thirteen pair of ribs and only four lumbar +vertebrae; and Eustachius once found eleven dorsal vertebrae and six +lumbar vertebrae.--'Oeuvres de Pierre Camper', T. 1, p. 42. As Tyson +states, his 'Pygmie' had thirteen pair of ribs and five lumbar +vertebrae. The question of the curves of the spinal column in the Apes +requires further investigation.) Cuvier notes the same number in a +'Hylobates'. On the other hand, among the lower Apes, many possess +twelve dorsal and six or seven lumbar vertebrae; the Douroucouli has +fourteen dorsal and eight lumbar, and a Lemur ('Stenops tardigradus') +has fifteen dorsal and nine lumbar vertebrae. + +The vertebral column of the Gorilla, as a whole, differs from that of +Man in the less marked character of its curves, especially in the +slighter convexity of the lumbar region. Nevertheless, the curves are +present, and are quite obvious in young skeletons of the Gorilla and +Chimpanzee which have been prepared without removal of the ligaments. In +young Orangs similarly preserved, on the other hand, the spinal column +is either straight, or even concave forwards, throughout the lumbar +region. + +Whether we take these characters then, or such minor ones as those which +are derivable from the proportional length of the spines of the cervical +vertebrae, and the like, there is no doubt whatsoever as to the marked +difference between Man and the Gorilla; but there is as little, that +equally marked differences, of the very same order, obtain between the +Gorilla and the lower Apes. + +The Pelvis, or bony girdle of the hips, of Man is a strikingly human +part of his organization; the expanded haunch bones affording support +for his viscera during his habitually erect posture, and giving space +for the attachment of the great muscles which enable him to assume and +to preserve that attitude. In these respects the pelvis of the Gorilla +differs very considerably from his (Figure 15). But go no lower than the +Gibbon, and see how vastly more he differs from the Gorilla than the +latter does from Man, even in this structure. Look at the flat, narrow +haunch bones--the long and narrow passage--the coarse, outwardly curved, +ischiatic prominences on which the Gibbon habitually rests, and which +are coated by the so-called "callosities," dense patches of skin, wholly +absent in the Gorilla, in the Chimpanzee, and in the Orang, as in Man! + +In the lower Monkeys and in the Lemurs the difference becomes more +striking still, the pelvis acquiring an altogether quadrupedal +character. + +But now let us turn to a nobler and more characteristic organ--that by +which the human frame seems to be, and indeed is, so strongly +distinguished from all others,--I mean the skull. The differences +between a Gorilla's skull and a Man's are truly immense (Figure 16). In +the former, the face, formed largely by the massive jaw-bones, +predominates over the brain case, or cranium proper: in the latter, the +proportions of the two are reversed. In the Man, the occipital foramen, +through which passes the great nervous cord connecting the brain with +the nerves of the body, is placed just behind the centre of the base of +the skull, which thus becomes evenly balanced in the erect posture; in +the Gorilla, it lies in the posterior third of that base. In the Man, +the surface of the skull is comparatively smooth, and the supraciliary +ridges or brow prominences usually project but little--while, in the +Gorilla, vast crests are developed upon the skull, and the brow ridges +overhang, the cavernous orbits, like great penthouses. + +Sections of the skulls, however, show that some of the apparent defects +of the Gorilla's cranium arise, in fact, not so much from deficiency of +brain case as from excessive development of the parts of the face. The +cranial cavity is not ill-shaped, and the forehead is not truly +flattened or very retreating, its really well-formed curve being simply +disguised by the mass of bone which is built up against it (Figure 16). + +But the roofs of the orbits rise more obliquely into the cranial cavity, +thus diminishing the space for the lower part of the anterior lobes of +the brain, and the absolute capacity of the cranium is far less than +that of Man. So far as I am aware, no human cranium belonging to an +adult man has yet been observed with a less cubical capacity than 62 +cubic inches, the smallest cranium observed in any race of men by +Morton, measuring 63 cubic inches; while, on the other hand, the most +capacious Gorilla skull yet measured has a content of not more than +34-1/2 cubic inches. Let us assume, for simplicity's sake, that the +lowest Man's skull has twice the capacity of that of the highest +Gorilla.* ([Footnote] *It has been affirmed that Hindoo crania sometimes +contain as little as 27 ounces of water, which would give a capacity of +about 46 cubic inches. The minimum capacity which I have assumed above, +however, is based upon the valuable tables published by Professor R. +Wagner in his "Vorstudien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Morphologie und +Physiologie des menschlichen Gehirns." As the result of the careful +weighing of more than 900 human brains, Professor Wagner states that +one-half weighed between 1200 and 1400 grammes, and that about +two-ninths, consisting for the most part of male brains, exceed 1400 +grammes. The lightest brain of an adult male, with sound mental +faculties, recorded by Wagner, weighed 1020 grammes. As a gramme equals +15.4 grains, and a cubic inch of water contains 252.4 grains, this is +equivalent to 62 cubic inches of water; so that as brain is heavier than +water, we are perfectly safe against erring on the side of diminution in +taking this as the smallest capacity of any adult male human brain. The +only adult male brain, weighing as little as 970 grammes, is that of an +idiot; but the brain of an adult woman, against the soundness of whose +faculties nothing appears, weighed as little as 907 grammes (55.3 cubic +inches of water); and Reid gives an adult female brain of still smaller +capacity. The heaviest brain (1872 grammes, or about 115 cubic inches) +was, however, that of a woman; next to it comes the brain of Cuvier +(1861 grammes), then Byron (1807 grammes), and then an insane person +(1783 grammes). The lightest adult brain recorded (720 grammes) was that +of an idiotic female. The brains of five children, four years old, +weighed between 1275 and 992 grammes. So that it may be safely said, +that an average European child of four years old has a brain twice as +large as that of an adult Gorilla.) + +No doubt, this is a very striking difference, but it loses much of its +apparent systematic value, when viewed by the light of certain other +equally indubitable facts respecting cranial capacities. + +The first of these is, that the difference in the volume of the cranial +cavity of different races of mankind is far greater, absolutely, than +that between the lowest Man and the highest Ape, while, relatively, it +is about the same. For the largest human skull measured by Morton +contained 114 cubic inches, that is to say, had very nearly double the +capacity of the smallest; while its absolute preponderance, of 52 cubic +inches--is far greater than that by which the lowest adult male human +cranium surpasses the largest of the Gorillas (62 - 34 1/2 = 27 1/2). +Secondly, the adult crania of Gorillas which have as yet been measured +differ among themselves by nearly one-third, the maximum capacity being +34.5 cubic inches, the minimum 24 cubic inches; and, thirdly, after +making all due allowance for difference of size, the cranial capacities +of some of the lower Apes fall nearly as much, relatively, below those +of the higher Apes as the latter fall below Man. + +Thus, even in the important matter of cranial capacity, Men differ more +widely from one another than they do from the Apes; while the lowest +Apes differ as much, in proportion, from the highest, as the latter does +from Man. The last proposition is still better illustrated by the study +of the modifications which other parts of the cranium undergo in the +Simian series. + +It is the large proportional size of the facial bones and the great +projection of the jaws which confers upon the Gorilla's skull its small +facial angle and brutal character. + +(FIGURE 16.--Sections of the skulls of Man and various Apes (Australian, +Chrysothrix, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Mycetes, Lemur), drawn so as to give +the cerebral cavity the same length in each case, thereby displaying the +varying proportions of the facial bones. The line 'b' indicates the +plane of the tentorium, which separates the cerebrum from the +cerebellum; 'd', the axis of the occipital outlet of the skull. The +extent of cerebral cavity behind 'c', which is a perpendicular erected +on 'b' at the point where the tentorium is attached posteriorly, +indicates the degree to which the cerebrum overlaps the cerebellum--the +space occupied by which is roughly indicated by the dark shading. In +comparing these diagrams, it must be recollected, that figures on so +small a scale as these simply exemplify the statements in the text, the +proof of which is to be found in the objects themselves.) + +But if we consider the proportional size of the facial bones to the +skull proper only, the little 'Chrysothrix' (Figure 16) differs very +widely from the Gorilla, and, in the same way, as Man does; while the +Baboons ('Cynocephalus', Figure 16) exaggerate the gross proportions of +the muzzle of the great Anthropoid, so that its visage looks mild and +human by comparison with theirs. The difference between the Gorilla and +the Baboon is even greater than it appears at first sight; for the great +facial mass of the former is largely due to a downward development of +the jaws; an essentially human character, superadded upon that almost +purely forward, essentially brutal, development of the same parts which +characterizes the Baboon, and yet more remarkably distinguishes the +Lemur. + +Similarly, the occipital foramen of 'Mycetes' (Figure 16), and still +more of the Lemurs, is situated completely in the posterior face of the +skull, or as much further back than that of the Gorilla, as that of the +Gorilla is further back than that of Man; while, as if to render patent +the futility of the attempt to base any broad classificatory distinction +on such a character, the same group of Platyrhine, or American monkeys, +to which the 'Mycetes' belongs, contains the 'Chrysothrix', whose +occipital foramen is situated far more forward than in any other ape, +and nearly approaches the position it holds in Man. + +Again, the Orang's skull is as devoid of excessively developed +supraciliary prominences as a Man's, though some varieties exhibit great +crests elsewhere (See pp. 231, 232); and in some of the Cebine apes and +in the 'Chrysothrix', the cranium is as smooth and rounded as that of +Man himself. + +What is true of these leading characteristics of the skull, holds good, +as may be imagined, of all minor features; so that for every constant +difference between the Gorilla's skull and the Man's, a similar constant +difference of the same order (that is to say, consisting in excess or +defect of the same quality) may be found between the Gorilla's skull and +that of some other ape. So that, for the skull, no less than for the +skeleton in general, the proposition holds good, that the differences +between Man and the Gorilla are of smaller value than those between the +Gorilla and some other Apes. + +In connection with the skull, I may speak of the teeth--organs which +have a peculiar classificatory value, and whose resemblances and +differences of number, form, and succession, taken as a whole, are +usually regarded as more trustworthy indicators of affinity than any +others. + +(FIGURE 17.--Lateral views, of the same length, of the upper jaws of +various Primates (Man, Gorilla, Cynocephalus, Cebus, Cheiromys). 'i', +incisors; 'c', canines' 'pm', premolars; 'm', molars. A line is drawn +through the first molar of Man, 'Gorilla', 'Cynocephalus', and 'Cebus', +and the grinding surface of the second molar is shown in each, its +anterior and internal angle being just above the 'm' of 'm2'.) + +Man is provided with two sets of teeth--milk teeth and permanent teeth. +The former consist of four incisors, or cutting teeth; two canines, or +eyeteeth; and four molars, or grinders, in each jaw--making twenty in +all. The latter (Figure 17) comprise four incisors, two canines, four +small grinders, called premolars or false molars, and six large +grinders, or true molars, in each jaw--making thirty-two in all. The +internal incisors are larger than the external pair, in the upper jaw, +smaller than the external pair, in the lower jaw. The crowns of the +upper molars exhibit four cusps, or blunt-pointed elevations, and a +ridge crosses the crown obliquely, from the inner, anterior cusp to the +outer, posterior cusp (Figure 17 m2). The anterior lower molars have +five cusps, three external and two internal. The premolars have two +cusps, one internal and one external, of which the outer is the higher. + +In all these respects the dentition of the Gorilla may be described in +the same terms as that of Man; but in other matters it exhibits many and +important differences (Figure 17). + +Thus the teeth of man constitute a regular and even series--without any +break and without any marked projection of one tooth above the level of +the rest; a peculiarity which, as Cuvier long ago showed, is shared by +no other mammal save one--as different a creature from man as can well +be imagined--namely, the long extinct 'Anoplotherium'. The teeth of the +Gorilla, on the contrary, exhibit a break, or interval, termed the +'diastema', in both jaws: in front of the eye-tooth, or between it and +the outer incisor, in the upper jaw; behind the eyetooth, or between it +and the front false molar, in the lower jaw. Into this break in the +series, in each jaw, fits the canine of the opposite jaw; the size of +the eye-tooth in the Gorilla being so great that it projects, like a +tusk, far beyond the general level of the other teeth. The roots of the +false molar teeth of the Gorilla, again, are more complex than in Man, +and the proportional size of the molars is different. The Gorilla has +the crown of the hindmost grinder of the lower jaw more complex, and the +order of eruption of the permanent teeth is different; the permanent +canines making their appearance before the second and third molars in +Man, and after them in the Gorilla. + +Thus, while the teeth of the Gorilla closely resemble those of Man in +number, kind, and in the general pattern of their crowns, they exhibit +marked differences from those of Man in secondary respects, such as +relative size, number of fangs, and order of appearance. + +But, if the teeth of the Gorilla be compared with those of an Ape, no +further removed from it than a 'Cynocephalus', or Baboon, it will be +found that differences and resemblances of the same order are easily +observable; but that many of the points in which the Gorilla resembles +Man are those in which it differs from the Baboon; while various +respects in which it differs from Man are exaggerated in the +'Cynocephalus'. The number and the nature of the teeth remain the same +in the Baboon as in the Gorilla and in Man. But the pattern of the +Baboon's upper molars is quite different from that described above +(Figure 17), the canines are proportionally longer and more knife-like; +the anterior premolar in the lower jaw is specially modified; the +posterior molar of the lower jaw is still larger and more complex than +in the Gorilla. + +Passing from the old-world Apes to those of the new world, we meet with +a change of much greater importance than any of these. In such a genus +as 'Cebus', for example (Figure 17), it will be found that while in some +secondary points, such as the projection of the canines and the +diastema, the resemblance to the great ape is preserved; in other and +most important respects, the dentition is extremely different. Instead +of 20 teeth in the milk set, there are 24: instead of 32 teeth in the +permanent set, there are 36, the false molars being increased from eight +to twelve. And in form, the crowns of the molars are very unlike those +of the Gorilla, and differ far more widely from the human pattern. + +The Marmosets, on the other hand, exhibit the same number of teeth as +Man and the Gorilla; but, notwithstanding this, their dentition is very +different, for they have four more false molars, like the other American +monkeys--but as they have four fewer true molars, the total remains the +same. And passing from the American apes to the Lemurs, the dentition +becomes still more completely and essentially different from that of the +Gorilla. The incisors begin to vary both in number and in form. The +molars acquire, more and more, a many-pointed, insectivorous character, +and in one Genus, the Aye-Aye ('Cheiromys'), the canines disappear, and +the teeth completely simulate those of a Rodent (Figure 17). + +Hence it is obvious that, greatly as the dentition of the highest Ape +differs from that of Man, it differs far more widely from that of the +lower and lowest Apes. + +Whatever part of the animal fabric--whatever series of muscles, whatever +viscera might be selected for comparison--the result would be the +same--the lower Apes and the Gorilla would differ more than the Gorilla +and the Man. I cannot attempt in this place to follow out all these +comparisons in detail, and indeed it is unnecessary I should do so. But +certain real, or supposed, structural distinctions between man and the +apes remain, upon which so much stress has been laid, that they require +careful consideration, in order that the true value may be assigned to +those which are real, and the emptiness of those which are fictitious +may be exposed. I refer to the characters of the hand, the foot, and the +brain. + +Man has been defined as the only animal possessed of two hands +terminating his fore limbs, and of two feet ending his hind limbs, while +it has been said that all the apes possess four hands; and he has been +affirmed to differ fundamentally from all the apes in the characters of +his brain, which alone, it has been strangely asserted and re-asserted, +exhibits the structures known to anatomists as the posterior lobe, the +posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus minor. + +That the former proposition should have gained general acceptance is not +surprising--indeed, at first sight, appearances are much in its favour: +but, as for the second, one can only admire the surpassing courage of +its enunciator, seeing that it is an innovation which is not only +opposed to generally and justly accepted doctrines, but which is +directly negatived by the testimony of all original inquirers, who have +specially investigated the matter: and that it neither has been, nor can +be, supported by a single anatomical preparation. It would, in fact, be +unworthy of serious refutation, except for the general and natural +belief that deliberate and reiterated assertions must have some +foundation. + +Before we can discuss the first point with advantage we must consider +with some attention, and compare together, the structure of the human +hand and that of the human foot, so that we may have distinct and clear +ideas of what constitutes a hand and what a foot. + +The external form of the human hand is familiar enough to every one. It +consists of a stout wrist followed by a broad palm, formed of flesh, and +tendons, and skin, binding together four bones, and dividing into four +long and flexible digits, or fingers, each of which bears on the back of +its last joint a broad and flattened nail. The longest cleft between any +two digits is rather less than half as long as the hand. From the outer +side of the base of the palm a stout digit goes off, having only two +joints instead of three; so short, that it only reaches to a little +beyond the middle of the first joint of the finger next it; and further +remarkable by its great mobility, in consequence of which it can be +directed outwards, almost at a right angle to the rest. This digit is +called the 'pollex,' or thumb; and, like the others, it bears a flat +nail upon the back of its terminal joint. In consequence of the +proportions and mobility of the thumb, it is what is termed "opposable"; +in other words, its extremity can, with the greatest ease, be brought +into contact with the extremities of any of the fingers; a property upon +which the possibility of our carrying into effect the conceptions of the +mind so largely depends. + +The external form of the foot differs widely from that of the hand; and +yet, when closely compared, the two present some singular resemblances. +Thus the ankle corresponds in a manner with the wrist; the sole with the +palm; the toes with the fingers; the great toe with the thumb. But the +toes, or digits of the foot, are far shorter in proportion than the +digits of the hand, and are less moveable, the want of mobility being +most striking in the great toe--which, again, is very much larger in +proportion to the other toes than the thumb to the fingers. In +considering this point, however, it must not be forgotten that the +civilized great toe, confined and cramped from childhood upwards, is +seen to a great disadvantage, and that in uncivilized and barefooted +people it retains a great amount of mobility, and even some sort of +opposability. The Chinese boatmen are said to be able to pull an oar; +the artisans of Bengal to weave, and the Carajas to steal fishhooks, by +its help; though, after all, it must be recollected that the structure +of its joints and the arrangement of its bones, necessarily render its +prehensile action far less perfect than that of the thumb. + +But to gain a precise conception of the resemblances and differences of +the hand and foot, and of the distinctive characters of each, we must +look below the skin, and compare the bony framework and its motor +apparatus in each (Figure 18). + +(FIGURE 18.--The skeleton of the Hand and Foot of Man reduced from Dr. +Carter's drawings in Gray's 'Anatomy.' The hand is drawn to a larger +scale than the foot. The line 'a a' in the hand indicates the boundary +between the carpus and the metacarpus; 'b b' that between the latter and +the proximal phalanges; 'c c' marks the ends of the distal phalanges. +The line "a' a'" in the foot indicates the boundary between the tarsus +and metatarsus; "b' b'" marks that between the metatarsus and the +proximal phalanges; and "c' c'" bounds the ends of the distal phalanges; +'ca', the calcaneum; 'as', the astragalus; 'sc', the scaphoid bone in +the tarsus.) + +The skeleton of the hand exhibits, in the region which we term the +wrist, and which is technically called the 'carpus'--two rows of closely +fitted polygonal bones, four in each row, which are tolerably equal in +size. The bones of the first row with the bones of the forearm, form the +wrist joint, and are arranged side by side, no one greatly exceeding or +overlapping the rest. + +The four bones of the second row of the carpus bear the four long bones +which support the palm of the hand. The fifth bone of the same character +is articulated in a much more free and moveable manner than the others, +with its carpal bone, and forms the base of the thumb. These are called +'metacarpal' bones, and they carry the 'phalanges', or bones of the +digits, of which there are two in the thumb, and three in each of the +fingers. + +The skeleton of the foot is very like that of the hand in some respects. +Thus there are three phalanges in each of the lesser toes, and only two +in the great toe, which answers to the thumb. There is a long bone, +termed 'metatarsal', answering to the metacarpal, for each digit; and +the 'tarsus', which corresponds with the carpus, presents four short +polygonal bones in a row, which correspond very closely with the four +carpal bones of the second row of the hand. In other respects the foot +differs very widely from the hand. Thus the great toe is the longest +digit but one; and its metatarsal is far less moveably articulated with +the tarsus, than the metacarpal of the thumb with the carpus. But a far +more important distinction lies in the fact that, instead of four more +tarsal bones there are only three; and, that these three are not +arranged side by side, or in one row. One of them, the 'os calcis' or +heel bone ('ca'), lies externally, and sends back the large projecting +heel; another, the 'astragalus' ('as'), rests on this by one face, and +by another, forms, with the bones of the leg, the ankle joint; while a +third face, directed forwards, is separated from the three inner tarsal +bones of the row next the metatarsus by a bone called the 'scaphoid' +('sc'). + +Thus there is a fundamental difference in the structure of the foot and +the hand, observable when the carpus and the tarsus are contrasted; and +there are differences of degree noticeable when the proportions and the +mobility of the metacarpals and metatarsals, with their respective +digits, are compared together. + +The same two classes of differences become obvious when the muscles of +the hand are compared with those of the foot. + +Three principal sets of muscles, called "flexors," bend the fingers and +thumb, as in clenching the fist, and three sets--the extensors--extend +them, as in straightening the fingers. These muscles are all "long +muscles"; that is to say, the fleshy part of each, lying in and being +fixed to the bones of the arm, is, at the other end, continued into +tendons, or rounded cords, which pass into the hand, and are ultimately +fixed to the bones which are to be moved. Thus, when the fingers are +bent, the fleshy parts of the flexors of the fingers, placed in the arm, +contract, in virtue of their peculiar endowment as muscles; and pulling +the tendinous cords, connected with their ends, cause them to pull down +the bones of the fingers towards the palm. + +Not only are the principal flexors of the fingers and of the thumb long +muscles, but they remain quite distinct from one another through their +whole length. + +In the foot, there are also three principal flexor muscles of the digits +or toes, and three principal extensors; but one extensor and one flexor +are short muscles; that is to say, their fleshy parts are not situated +in the leg (which corresponds with the arm), but in the back and in the +sole of the foot--regions which correspond with the back and the palm of +the hand. + +Again, the tendons of the long flexor of the toes, and of the long +flexor of the great toe, when they reach the sole of the foot, do not +remain distinct from one another, as the flexors in the palm of the hand +do, but they become united and commingled in a very curious +manner--while their united tendons receive an accessory muscle connected +with the heel-bone. + +But perhaps the most absolutely distinctive character about the muscles +of the foot is the existence of what is termed the 'peronaeus longus', a +long muscle fixed to the outer bone of the leg, and sending its tendon +to the outer ankle, behind and below which it passes, and then crosses +the foot obliquely to be attached to the base of the great toe. No +muscle in the hand exactly corresponds with this, which is eminently a +foot muscle. + +To resume--the foot of man is distinguished from his hand by the +following absolute anatomical differences:-- + +1. By the arrangement of the tarsal bones. + +2. By having a short flexor and a short extensor muscle of the digits. + +3. By possessing the muscle termed 'peronaeus longus'. And if we desire +to ascertain whether the terminal division of a limb, in other Primates, +is to be called a foot or a hand, it is by the presence or absence of +these characters that we must be guided, and not by the mere proportions +and greater or lesser mobility of the great toe, which may vary +indefinitely without any fundamental alteration in the structure of the +foot. + +Keeping these considerations in mind, let us now turn to the limbs of +the Gorilla. The terminal division of the fore limb presents no +difficulty--bone for bone and muscle for muscle, are found to be +arranged essentially as in man, or with such minor differences as are +found as varieties in man. The Gorilla's hand is clumsier, heavier, and +has a thumb somewhat shorter in proportion than that of man; but no one +has ever doubted its being a true hand. + +(FIGURE 19.--Foot of Man, Gorilla, and Orang-Utan of the same absolute +length, to show the differences in proportion of each. Letters as in +Figure 18. Reduced from original drawings by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins. + +At first sight, the termination of the hind limb of the Gorilla looks +very hand-like, and as it is still more so in many of the lower apes, it +is not wonderful that the appellation "Quadrumana," or four-handed +creatures, adopted from the older anatomists* by Blumenbach, and +unfortunately rendered current by Cuvier, should have gained such wide +acceptance as a name for the Simian group. ([Footnote] *In speaking of +the foot of his "Pygmie," Tyson remarks, p. 13:--"But this part in the +formation and in its function too, being liker a Hand than a Foot: for +the distinguishing this sort of animals from others, I have thought +whether it might not be reckoned and called rather Quadru-manus than +Quadrupes, 'i.e.' a four-handed rather than a four-footed animal." As +this passage was published in 1699, M. I. G. St. Hilaire is clearly in +error in ascribing the invention of the term "quadrumanous" to Buffon, +though "himanous" may belong to him. Tyson uses "Quadrumanus" in several +places, as at p. 91... "Our 'Pygmie' is no Man, nor yet the 'common +Ape', but a sort of 'Animal' between both; and though a 'Biped', yet of +the 'Quadrumanus'-kind: though some 'Men' too have been observed to use +their 'Feet' like 'Hands', as I have seen several.") But the most +cursory anatomical investigation at once proves that the resemblance of +the so-called "hind hand" to a true hand, is only skin deep, and that, +in all essential respects, the hind limb of the Gorilla is as truly +terminated by a foot as that of man. The tarsal bones, in all important +circumstances of number, disposition, and form, resemble those of man +(Figure 19). The metatarsals and digits, on the other hand, are +proportionally longer and more slender, while the great toe is not only +proportionally shorter and weaker, but its metatarsal bone is united by +a more moveable joint with the tarsus. At the same time, the foot is set +more obliquely upon the leg than in man. + +As to the muscles, there is a short flexor, a short extensor, and a +'peronaeus longus', while the tendons of the long flexors of the great +toe and of the other toes are united together and with an accessory +fleshy bundle. + +The hind limb of the Gorilla, therefore, ends in a true foot, with a +very moveable great toe. It is a prehensile foot, indeed, but is in no +sense a hand: it is a foot which differs from that of man not in any +fundamental character, but in mere proportions, in the degree of +mobility, and in the secondary arrangement of its parts. + +It must not be supposed, however, because I speak of these differences +as not fundamental, that I wish to underrate their value. They are +important enough in their way, the structure of the foot being in strict +correlation with that of the rest of the organism in each case. Nor can +it be doubted that the greater division of physiological labour in Man, +so that the function of support is thrown wholly on the leg and foot, is +an advance in organization of very great moment to him; but, after all, +regarded anatomically, the resemblances between the foot of Man and the +foot of the Gorilla are far more striking and important than the +differences. + +I have dwelt upon this point at length, because it is one regarding +which much delusion prevails; but I might have passed it over without +detriment to my argument, which only requires me to show that, be the +differences between the hand and foot of Man and those of the Gorilla +what they may--the differences between those of the Gorilla, and those +of the lower Apes are much greater. + +It is not necessary to descend lower in the scale than the Orang for +conclusive evidence on this head. + +The thumb of the Orang differs more from that of the Gorilla than the +thumb of the Gorilla differs from that of Man, not only by its +shortness, but by the absence of any special long flexor muscle. The +carpus of the Orang, like that of most lower apes, contains nine bones, +while in the Gorilla, as in Man and the Chimpanzee, there are only +eight. + +The Orang's foot (Figure 19) is still more aberrant; its very long toes +and short tarsus, short great toe, short and raised heel, great +obliquity of articulation in the leg, and absence of a long flexor +tendon to the great toe, separating it far more widely from the foot of +the Gorilla than the latter is separated from that of Man. + +But, in some of the lower apes, the hand and foot diverge still more +from those of the Gorilla, than they do in the Orang. The thumb ceases +to be opposable in the American monkeys; is reduced to a mere rudiment +covered by the skin in the Spider Monkey; and is directed forwards and +armed with a curved claw like the other digits, in the Marmosets--so +that, in all these cases, there can be no doubt but that the hand is +more different from that of the Gorilla than the Gorilla's hand is from +Man's. + +And as to the foot, the great toe of the Marmoset is still more +insignificant in proportion than that of the Orang--while in the Lemurs +it is very large, and as completely thumb-like and opposable as in the +Gorilla--but in these animals the second toe is often irregularly +modified, and in some species the two principal bones of the tarsus, the +'astragalus' and the 'os calcis', are so immensely elongated as to +render the foot, so far, totally unlike that of any other mammal. + +So with regard to the muscles. The short flexor of the toes of the +Gorilla differs from that of Man by the circumstance that one slip of +the muscle is attached, not to the heel bone, but to the tendons of the +long flexors. The lower Apes depart from the Gorilla by an exaggeration +of the same character, two, three, or more, slips becoming fixed to the +long flexor tendons--or by a multiplication of the slips.--Again, the +Gorilla differs slightly from Man in the mode of interlacing of the long +flexor tendons: and the lower apes differ from the Gorilla in exhibiting +yet other, sometimes very complex, arrangements of the same parts, and +occasionally in the absence of the accessory fleshy bundle. + +Throughout all these modifications it must be recollected that the foot +loses no one of its essential characters. Every Monkey and Lemur +exhibits the characteristic arrangement of tarsal bones, possesses a +short flexor and short extensor muscle, and a 'peronaeus longus'. Varied +as the proportions and appearance of the organ may be, the terminal +division of the hind limb remains, in plan and principle of +construction, a foot, and never, in those respects, can be confounded +with a hand. + +Hardly any part of the bodily frame, then, could be found better +calculated to illustrate the truth that the structural differences +between Man and the highest Ape are of less value than those between the +highest and the lower Apes, than the hand or the foot, and yet, perhaps, +there is one organ the study of which enforces the same conclusion in a +still more striking manner--and that is the Brain. + +But before entering upon the precise question of the amount of +difference between the Ape's brain and that of Man, it is necessary that +we should clearly understand what constitutes a great, and what a small +difference in cerebral structure; and we shall be best enabled to do +this by a brief study of the chief modifications which the brain +exhibits in the series of vertebrate animals. + +The brain of a fish is very small, compared with the spinal cord into +which it is continued, and with the nerves which come off from it: of +the segments of which it is composed--the olfactory lobes, the cerebral +hemisphere, and the succeeding divisions--no one predominates so much +over the rest as to obscure or cover them; and the so-called optic lobes +are, frequently, the largest masses of all. In Reptiles, the mass of the +brain, relatively to the spinal cord, increases and the cerebral +hemispheres begin to predominate over the other parts; while in Birds +this predominance is still more marked. The brain of the lowest Mammals, +such as the duck-billed Platypus and the Opossums and Kangaroos, +exhibits a still more definite advance in the same direction. The +cerebral hemispheres have now so much increased in size as, more or +less, to hide the representatives of the optic lobes, which remain +comparatively small, so that the brain of a Marsupial is extremely +different from that of a Bird, Reptile, or Fish. A step higher in the +scale, among the placental Mammals, the structure of the brain acquires +a vast modification--not that it appears much altered externally, in a +Rat or in a Rabbit, from what it is in a Marsupial--nor that the +proportions of its parts are much changed, but an apparently new +structure is found between the cerebral hemispheres, connecting them +together, as what is called the 'great commissure' or 'corpus callosum.' +The subject requires careful re-investigation, but if the currently +received statements are correct, the appearance of the 'corpus callosum' +in the placental mammals is the greatest and most sudden modification +exhibited by the brain in the whole series of vertebrated animals--it is +the greatest leap anywhere made by Nature in her brain work. For the two +halves of the brain being once thus knit together, the progress of +cerebral complexity is traceable through a complete series of steps from +the lowest Rodent, or Insectivore, to Man; and that complexity consists, +chiefly, in the disproportionate development of the cerebral hemispheres +and of the cerebellum, but especially of the former, in respect to the +other parts of the brain. + +In the lower placental mammals, the cerebral hemispheres leave the +proper upper and posterior face of the cerebellum completely visible, +when the brain is viewed from above; but, in the higher forms, the +hinder part of each hemisphere, separated only by the tentorium (p. 281) +from the anterior face of the cerebellum, inclines backwards and +downwards, and grows out, as the so-called "posterior lobe," so as at +length to overlap and hide the cerebellum. In all Mammals, each cerebral +hemisphere contains a cavity which is termed the 'ventricle,' and as +this ventricle is prolonged, on the one hand, forwards, and on the other +downwards, into the substance of the hemisphere, it is said to have two +horns or 'cornua', an 'anterior cornu,' and a 'descending cornu.' When +the posterior lobe is well developed, a third prolongation of the +ventricular cavity extends into it, and is called the "posterior cornu." + +In the lower and smaller forms of placental Mammals the surface of the +cerebral hemispheres is either smooth or evenly rounded, or exhibits a +very few grooves, which are technically termed 'sulci,' separating +ridges or 'convolutions' of the substance of the brain; and the smaller +species of all orders tend to a similar smoothness of brain. But, in the +higher orders, and especially the larger members of these orders, the +grooves, or sulci, become extremely numerous, and the intermediate +convolutions proportionately more complicated in their meanderings, +until, in the Elephant, the Porpoise, the higher Apes, and Man, the +cerebral surface appears a perfect labyrinth of tortuous foldings. + +Where a posterior lobe exists and presents its customary cavity--the +posterior cornu--it commonly happens that a particular sulcus appears +upon the inner and under surface of the lobe, parallel with and beneath +the floor of the cornu--which is, as it were, arched over the roof of +the sulcus. It is as if the groove had been formed by indenting the +floor of the posterior horn from without with a blunt instrument, so +that the floor should rise as a convex eminence. Now this eminence is +what has been termed the 'Hippocampus minor;' the 'Hippocampus major' +being a larger eminence in the floor of the descending cornu. What may +be the functional importance of either of these structures we know not. + +As if to demonstrate, by a striking example, the impossibility of +erecting any cerebral barrier between man and the apes, Nature has +provided us, in the latter animals, with an almost complete series of +gradations from brains little higher than that of a Rodent, to brains +little lower than that of Man. And it is a remarkable circumstance that +though, so far as our present knowledge extends, there 'is' one true +structural break in the series of forms of Simian brains, this hiatus +does not lie between Man and the man-like apes, but between the lower +and the lowest Simians; or, in other words, between the old and new +world apes and monkeys, and the Lemurs. Every Lemur which has yet been +examined, in fact, has its cerebellum partially visible from above, and +its posterior lobe, with the contained posterior cornu and hippocampus +minor, more or less rudimentary. Every Marmoset, American monkey, +old-world monkey, Baboon, or Man-like ape, on the contrary, has its +cerebellum entirely hidden, posteriorly, by the cerebral lobes, and +possesses a large posterior cornu, with a well-developed hippocampus +minor. + +(FIGURE 20.--Drawings of the internal casts of a Man's and of a +Chimpanzee's skull, of the same absolute length, and placed in +corresponding positions. 'A'. Cerebrum; 'B'. Cerebellum. The former +drawing is taken from a cast in the Museum of the Royal College of +Surgeons, the latter from the photograph of the cast of a Chimpanzee's +skull, which illustrates the paper by Mr. Marshall 'On the Brain of the +Chimpanzee' in the 'Natural History Review' for July, 1861. The sharper +definition of the lower edge of the cast of the cerebral chamber in the +Chimpanzee arises from the circumstance that the tentorium remained in +that skull and not in the Man's. The cast more accurately represents the +brain in Chimpanzee than in the Man; and the great backward projection +of the posterior lobes of the cerebrum of the former, beyond the +cerebellum, is conspicuous.) + +In many of these creatures, such as the Saimiri ('Chrysothrix'), the +cerebral lobes overlap and extend much further behind the cerebellum, in +proportion, than they do in man (Figure 16)--and it is quite certain +that, in all, the cerebellum is completely covered behind, by +well-developed posterior lobes. The fact can be verified by every one +who possesses the skull of any old or new world monkey. For, inasmuch as +the brain in all mammals completely fills the cranial cavity, it is +obvious that a cast of the interior of the skull will reproduce the +general form of the brain, at any rate with such minute and, for the +present purpose, utterly unimportant differences as may result from the +absence of the enveloping membranes of the brain in the dry skull. But +if such a cast be made in plaster, and compared with a similar cast of +the interior of a human skull, it will be obvious that the cast of the +cerebral chamber, representing the cerebrum of the ape, as completely +covers over and overlaps the cast of the cerebellar chamber, +representing the cerebellum, as it does in the man (Figure 20). A +careless observer, forgetting that a soft structure like the brain loses +its proper shape the moment it is taken out of the skull, may indeed +mistake the uncovered condition of the cerebellum of an extracted and +distorted brain for the natural relations of the parts; but his error +must become patent even to himself if he try to replace the brain within +the cranial chamber. To suppose that the cerebellum of an ape is +naturally uncovered behind is a miscomprehension comparable only to that +of one who should imagine that a man's lungs always occupy but a small +portion of the thoracic cavity--because they do so when the chest is +opened, and their elasticity is no longer neutralized by the pressure of +the air. + +And the error is the less excusable, as it must become apparent to every +one who examines a section of the skull of any ape above a Lemur, +without taking the trouble to make a cast of it. For there is a very +marked groove in every such skull, as in the human skull--which +indicates the line of attachment of what is termed the 'tentorium'--a +sort of parchment-like shelf, or partition, which, in the recent state, +is interposed between the cerebrum and cerebellum, and prevents the +former from pressing upon the latter. (See Figure 16.) + +This groove, therefore, indicates the line of separation between that +part of the cranial cavity which contains the cerebrum, and that which +contains the cerebellum; and as the brain exactly fills the cavity of +the skull, it is obvious that the relations of these two parts of the +cranial cavity at once informs us of the relations of their contents. +Now in man, in all the old-world, and in all the new-world Simiae, with +one exception, when the face is directed forwards, this line of +attachment of the tentorium, or impression for the lateral sinus, as it +is technically called, is nearly horizontal, and the cerebral chamber +invariably overlaps or projects behind the cerebellar chamber. In the +Howler Monkey or 'Mycetes' (see Figure 16), the line passes obliquely +upwards and backwards, and the cerebral overlap is almost nil; while in +the Lemurs, as in the lower mammals, the line is much more inclined in +the same direction, and the cerebellar chamber projects considerably +beyond the cerebral. + +When the gravest errors respecting points so easily settled as this +question respecting the posterior lobes can be authoritatively +propounded, it is no wonder that matters of observation, of no very +complex character, but still requiring a certain amount of care, should +have fared worse. Any one who cannot see the posterior lobe in an ape's +brain is not likely to give a very valuable opinion respecting the +posterior cornu or the hippocampus minor. If a man cannot see a church, +it is preposterous to take his opinion about its altar-piece or painted +window--so that I do not feel bound to enter upon any discussion of +these points, but content myself with assuring the reader that the +posterior cornu and the hippocampus minor, have now been seen--usually, +at least as well developed as in man, and often better--not only in the +Chimpanzee, the Orang, and the Gibbon, but in all the genera of the old +world baboons and monkeys, and in most of the new world forms, including +the Marmosets.* ([Footnote] *See the note at the end of this essay for a +succinct history of the controversy to which allusion is here made.) + +(FIGURE 21.--Drawings of the cerebral hemispheres of a Man and of a +Chimpanzee of the same length, in order to show the relative proportions +of the parts: the former taken from a specimen, which Mr. Flower, +Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, was good +enough to dissect for me; the latter, from the photograph of a similarly +dissected Chimpanzee's brain, given in Mr. Marshall's paper above +referred to. 'a', posterior lobe; 'b', lateral ventricle; 'c', posterior +cornu; 'x', the hippocampus minor.) + +In fact, all the abundant and trustworthy evidence (consisting of the +results of careful investigations directed to the determination of these +very questions, by skilled anatomists) which we now possess, leads to +the conviction that, so far from the posterior lobe, the posterior +cornu, and the hippocampus minor, being structures peculiar to and +characteristic of man, as they have been over and over again asserted to +be, even after the publication of the clearest demonstration of the +reverse, it is precisely these structures which are the most marked +cerebral characters common to man with the apes. They are among the most +distinctly Simian peculiarities which the human organism exhibits. + +As to the convolutions, the brains of the apes exhibit every stage of +progress, from the almost smooth brain of the Marmoset, to the Orang and +the Chimpanzee, which fall but little below Man. And it is most +remarkable that, as soon as all the principal sulci appear, the pattern +according to which they are arranged is identical with that of the +corresponding sulci of man. The surface of the brain of a monkey +exhibits a sort of skeleton map of man's, and in the man-like apes the +details become more and more filled in, until it is only in minor +characters, such as the greater excavation of the anterior lobes, the +constant presence of fissures usually absent in man, and the different +disposition and proportions of some convolutions, that the Chimpanzee's +or the Orang's brain can be structurally distinguished from Man's. + +So far as cerebral structure goes, therefore, it is clear that Man +differs less from the Chimpanzee or the Orang, than these do even from +the Monkeys, and that the difference between the brains of the +Chimpanzee and of Man is almost insignificant, when compared with that +between the Chimpanzee brain and that of a Lemur. + +It must not be overlooked, however, that there is a very striking +difference in absolute mass and weight between the lowest human brain +and that of the highest ape--a difference which is all the more +remarkable when we recollect that a full grown Gorilla is probably +pretty nearly twice as heavy as a Bosjes man, or as many an European +woman. It may be doubted whether a healthy human adult brain ever +weighed less than thirty-one or two ounces, or that the heaviest Gorilla +brain has exceeded twenty ounces. + +This is a very noteworthy circumstance, and doubtless will one day help +to furnish an explanation of the great gulf which intervenes between the +lowest man and the highest ape in intellectual power;* but it has little +systematic value, for the simple reason that, as may be concluded from +what has been already said respecting cranial capacity, the difference +in weight of brain between the highest and the lowest men is far +greater, both relatively and absolutely, than that between the lowest +man and the highest ape. The latter, as has been seen, is represented +by, say twelve ounces of cerebral substance absolutely, or by 32:20 +relatively; but as the largest recorded human brain weighed between 65 +and 66 ounces, the former difference is represented by more than 33 +ounces absolutely, or by 65:32 relatively. Regarded systematically, the +cerebral differences of man and apes are not of more than generic value; +his Family distinction resting chiefly on his dentition, his pelvis, and +his lower limbs. + +([Footnote] * I say 'help' to furnish: for I by no means believe that it +was any original difference of cerebral quality, or quantity which +caused that divergence between the human and the pithecoid stirpes, +which has ended in the present enormous gulf between them. It is no +doubt perfectly true, in a certain sense, that all difference of +function is a result of difference of structure; or, in other words, of +difference in the combination of the primary molecular forces of living +substance; and, starting from this undeniable axiom, objectors +occasionally, and with much seeming plausibility, argue that the vast +intellectual chasm between the Ape and Man implies a corresponding +structural chasm in the organs of the intellectual functions; so that, +it is said, the non-discovery of such vast differences proves, not that +they are absent, but that Science is incompetent to detect them. A very +little consideration, however, will, I think, show the fallacy of this +reasoning. Its validity hangs upon the assumption, that intellectual +power depends altogether on the brain--whereas the brain is only one +condition out of many on which intellectual manifestations depend; the +others being, chiefly, the organs of the senses and the motor +apparatuses, especially those which are concerned in prehension and in +the production of articulate speech. + +A man born dumb, notwithstanding his great cerebral mass and his +inheritance of strong intellectual instincts, would be capable of few +higher intellectual manifestations than an Orang or a Chimpanzee, if he +were confined to the society of dumb associates. And yet there might not +be the slightest discernible difference between his brain and that of a +highly intelligent and cultivated person. The dumbness might be the +result of a defective structure of the mouth, or of the tongue, or a +mere defective innervation of these parts; or it might result from +congenital deafness, caused by some minute defect of the internal ear, +which only a careful anatomist could discover. + +The argument, that because there is an immense difference between a +Man's intelligence and an Ape's, therefore, there must be an equally +immense difference between their brains, appears to me to be about as +well based as the reasoning by which one should endeavour to prove that, +because there is a "great gulf" between a watch that keeps accurate time +and another that will not go at all, there is therefore a great +structural hiatus between the two watches. A hair in the balance-wheel, +a little rust on a pinion, a bend in a tooth of the escapement, a +something so slight that only the practised eye of the watchmaker can +discover it, may be the source of all the difference. + +And believing, as I do, with Cuvier, that the possession of articulate +speech is the grand distinctive character of man (whether it be +absolutely peculiar to him or not), I find it very easy to comprehend, +that some equally inconspicuous structural difference may have been the +primary cause of the immeasurable and practically infinite divergence of +the Human from the Simian Stirps.) + +Thus, whatever system of organs be studied, the comparison of their +modifications in the ape series leads to one and the same result--that +the structural differences which separate Man from the Gorilla and the +Chimpanzee are not so great as those which separate the Gorilla from the +lower apes. + +But in enunciating this important truth I must guard myself against a +form of misunderstanding, which is very prevalent. I find, in fact, that +those who endeavour to teach what nature so clearly shows us in this +matter, are liable to have their opinions misrepresented and their +phraseology garbled, until they seem to say that the structural +differences between man and even the highest apes are small and +insignificant. Let me take this opportunity then of distinctly +asserting, on the contrary, that they are great and significant; that +every bone of a Gorilla bears marks by which it might be distinguished +from the corresponding bone of a Man; and that, in the present creation, +at any rate, no intermediate link bridges over the gap between 'Homo' +and 'Troglodytes'. + +It would be no less wrong than absurd to deny the existence of this +chasm; but it is at least equally wrong and absurd to exaggerate its +magnitude, and, resting on the admitted fact of its existence, to refuse +to inquire whether it is wide or narrow. Remember, if you will, that +there is no existing link between Man and the Gorilla, but do not forget +that there is a no less sharp line of demarcation, a no less complete +absence of any transitional form, between the Gorilla and the Orang, or +the Orang and the Gibbon. I say, not less sharp, though it is somewhat +narrower. The structural differences between Man and the Man-like apes +certainly justify our regarding him as constituting a family apart from +them; though, inasmuch as he differs less from them than they do from +other families of the same order, there can be no justification for +placing him in a distinct order. + +And thus the sagacious foresight of the great lawgiver of systematic +zoology, Linnaeus, becomes justified, and a century of anatomical +research brings us back to his conclusion, that man is a member of the +same order (for which the Linnaean term PRIMATES ought to be retained) +as the Apes and Lemurs. This order is now divisible into seven families, +of about equal systematic value: the first, the ANTHROPINI, contains Man +alone; the second, the CATARHINI, embraces the old-world apes; the +third, the PLATYRHINI, all new-world apes, except the Marmosets; the +fourth, the ARCTOPITHECINI, contains the Marmosets; the fifth, the +LEMURINI, the Lemurs--from which 'Cheiromys' should probably be excluded +to form a sixth distinct family, the CHEIROMYINI; while the seventh, the +GALEOPITHECINI, contains only the flying Lemur 'Galeopithecus',--a +strange form which almost touches on the Bats, as the 'Cheiromys' puts +on a rodent clothing, and the Lemurs simulate Insectivora. + +Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series +of gradations as this--leading us insensibly from the crown and summit +of the animal creation down to creatures, from which there is but a +step, as it seems, to the lowest, smallest, and least intelligent of the +placental Mammalia. It is as if nature herself had foreseen the +arrogance of man, and with Roman severity had provided that his +intellect, by its very triumphs, should call into prominence the slaves, +admonishing the conqueror that he is but dust. + +These are the chief facts, this the immediate conclusion from them to +which I adverted in the commencement of this Essay. The facts, I +believe, cannot be disputed; and if so, the conclusion appears to me to +be inevitable. + +But if Man be separated by no greater structural barrier from the brutes +than they are from one another--then it seems to follow that if any +process of physical causation can be discovered by which the genera and +families of ordinary animals have been produced, that process of +causation is amply sufficient to account for the origin of Man. In other +words, if it could be shown that the Marmosets, for example, have arisen +by gradual modification of the ordinary Platyrhini, or that both +Marmosets and Platyrhini are modified ramifications of a primitive +stock--then, there would be no rational ground for doubting that man +might have originated, in the one case, by the gradual modification of a +man-like ape; or, in the other case, as a ramification of the same +primitive stock as those apes. + +At the present moment, but one such process of physical causation has +any evidence in its favour; or, in other words, there is but one +hypothesis regarding the origin of species of animals in general which +has any scientific existence--that propounded by Mr. Darwin. For +Lamarck, sagacious as many of his views were, mingled them with so much +that was crude and even absurd, as to neutralize the benefit which his +originality might have effected, had he been a more sober and cautious +thinker; and though I have heard of the announcement of a formula +touching "the ordained continuous becoming of organic forms," it is +obvious that it is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible, +and that a qua-qua-versal proposition of this kind, which may be read +backwards, or forwards, or sideways, with exactly the same amount of +signification, does not really exist, though it may seem to do so. + +At the present moment, therefore, the question of the relation of man to +the lower animals resolves itself, in the end, into the larger question +of the tenability, or untenability of Mr. Darwin's views. But here we +enter upon difficult ground, and it behoves us to define our exact +position with the greatest care. + +It cannot be doubted, I think, that Mr. Darwin has satisfactorily proved +that what he terms selection, or selective modification, must occur, and +does occur, in nature; and he has also proved to superfluity that such +selection is competent to produce forms as distinct, structurally, as +some genera even are. If the animated world presented us with none but +structural differences, I should have no hesitation in saying that Mr. +Darwin had demonstrated the existence of a true physical cause, amply +competent to account for the origin of living species, and of man among +the rest. + +But, in addition to their structural distinctions, the species of +animals and plants, or at least a great number of them, exhibit +physiological characters--what are known as distinct species, +structurally, being for the most part either altogether incompetent to +breed one with another; or if they breed, the resulting mule, or hybrid, +is unable to perpetuate its race with another hybrid of the same kind. + +A true physical cause is, however, admitted to be such only on one +condition--that it shall account for all the phenomena which come within +the range of its operation. If it is inconsistent with any one +phenomenon, it must be rejected; if it fails to explain any one +phenomenon, it is so far weak, so far to be suspected; though it may +have a perfect right to claim provisional acceptance. + +Now, Mr. Darwin's hypothesis is not, so far as I am aware, inconsistent +with any known biological fact; on the contrary, if admitted, the facts +of Development, of Comparative Anatomy, of Geographical Distribution, +and of Palaeontology, become connected together, and exhibit a meaning +such as they never possessed before; and I, for one, am fully convinced, +that if not precisely true, that hypothesis is as near an approximation +to the truth as, for example, the Copernican hypothesis was to the true +theory of the planetary motions. + +But, for all this, our acceptance of the Darwinian hypothesis must be +provisional so long as one link in the chain of evidence is wanting; and +so long as all the animals and plants certainly produced by selective +breeding from a common stock are fertile, and their progeny are fertile +with one another, that link will be wanting. For, so long, selective +breeding will not be proved to be competent to do all that is required +of it to produce natural species. + +I have put this conclusion as strongly as possible before the reader, +because the last position in which I wish to find myself is that of an +advocate for Mr. Darwin's, or any other views--if by an advocate is +meant one whose business it is to smooth over real difficulties, and to +persuade where he cannot convince. + +In justice to Mr. Darwin, however, it must be admitted that the +conditions of fertility and sterility are very ill understood, and that +every day's advance in knowledge leads us to regard the hiatus in his +evidence as of less and less importance, when set against the multitude +of facts which harmonize with, or receive an explanation from, his +doctrines. + +I adopt Mr. Darwin's hypothesis, therefore, subject to the production of +proof that physiological species may be produced by selective breeding; +just as a physical philosopher may accept the undulatory theory of +light, subject to the proof of the existence of the hypothetical ether; +or as the chemist adopts the atomic theory, subject to the proof of the +existence of atoms; and for exactly the same reasons, namely, that it +has an immense amount of prima facie probability: that it is the only +means at present within reach of reducing the chaos of observed facts to +order; and lastly, that it is the most powerful instrument of +investigation which has been presented to naturalists since the +invention of the natural system of classification, and the commencement +of the systematic study of embryology. + +But even leaving Mr. Darwin's views aside, the whole analogy of natural +operations furnishes so complete and crushing an argument against the +intervention of any but what are termed secondary causes, in the +production of all the phenomena of the universe; that, in view of the +intimate relations between Man and the rest of the living world, and +between the forces exerted by the latter and all other forces, I can see +no excuse for doubting that all are co-ordinated terms of Nature's great +progression, from the formless to the formed--from the inorganic to the +organic--from blind force to conscious intellect and will. + +Science has fulfilled her function when she has ascertained and +enunciated truth; and were these pages addressed to men of science only, +I should now close this essay, knowing that my colleagues have learned +to respect nothing but evidence, and to believe that their highest duty +lies in submitting to it, however it may jar against their inclinations. + +But desiring, as I do, to reach the wider circle of the intelligent +public, it would be unworthy cowardice were I to ignore the repugnance +with which the majority of my readers are likely to meet the conclusions +to which the most careful and conscientious study I have been able to +give to this matter, has led me. + +On all sides I shall hear the cry--"We are men and women, not a mere +better sort of apes, a little longer in the leg, more compact in the +foot, and bigger in brain than your brutal Chimpanzees and Gorillas. The +power of knowledge--the conscience of good and evil--the pitiful +tenderness of human affections, raise us out of all real fellowship with +the brutes, however closely they may seem to approximate us." + +To this I can only reply that the exclamation would be most just and +would have my own entire sympathy, if it were only relevant. But, it is +not I who seek to base Man's dignity upon his great toe, or insinuate +that we are lost if an Ape has a hippocampus minor. On the contrary, I +have done my best to sweep away this vanity. I have endeavoured to show +that no absolute structural line of demarcation, wider than that between +the animals which immediately succeed us in the scale, can be drawn +between the animal world and ourselves; and I may add the expression of +my belief that the attempt to draw a psychical distinction is equally +futile, and that even the highest faculties of feeling and of intellect +begin to germinate in lower forms of life.* At the same time, no one is +more strongly convinced than I am of the vastness of the gulf between +civilized man and the brutes; or is more certain that whether FROM them +or not, he is assuredly not OF them. No one is less disposed to think +lightly of the present dignity, or despairingly of the future hopes, of +the only consciously intelligent denizen of this world. + +([Footnote] * It is so rare a pleasure for me to find Professor Owen's +opinions in entire accordance with my own, that I cannot forbear from +quoting a paragraph which appeared in his Essay "On the Characters, +etc., of the Class Mammalia," in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the +Linnean Society of London' for 1857, but is unaccountably omitted in the +"Reade Lecture" delivered before the University of Cambridge two years +later, which is otherwise nearly a reprint of the paper in question. +Prof. Owen writes: + +"Not being able to appreciate or conceive of the distinction between the +psychical phenomena of a Chimpanzee, and of a Boschisman or of an Aztec, +with arrested brain growth, as being of a nature so essential as to +preclude a comparison between them, or as being other than a difference +of degree, I cannot shut my eyes to the significance of that +all-pervading similitude of structure--every tooth, every bone, strictly +homologous--which makes the determination of the difference between +'Homo' and 'Pithecus' the anatomist's difficulty." + +Surely it is a little singular, that the 'anatomist,' who finds it +'difficult' to 'determine the difference' between 'Homo' and 'Pithecus', +should yet range them on anatomical grounds, in distinct sub-classes!) + +We are indeed told by those who assume authority in these matters, that +the two sets of opinions are incompatible, and that the belief in the +unity of origin of man and brutes involves the brutalization and +degradation of the former. But is this really so? Could not a sensible +child confute by obvious arguments, the shallow rhetoricians who would +force this conclusion upon us? Is it, indeed, true, that the Poet, or +the Philosopher, or the Artist whose genius is the glory of his age, is +degraded from his high estate by the undoubted historical probability, +not to say certainty, that he is the direct descendant of some naked and +bestial savage, whose intelligence was just sufficient to make him a +little more cunning than the Fox, and by so much more dangerous than the +Tiger? Or is he bound to howl and grovel on all fours because of the +wholly unquestionable fact, that he was once an egg, which no ordinary +power of discrimination could distinguish from that of a Dog? Or is the +philanthropist or the saint to give up his endeavours to lead a noble +life, because the simplest study of man's nature reveals, at its +foundations, all the selfish passions and fierce appetites of the merest +quadruped? Is mother-love vile because a hen shows it, or fidelity base +because dogs possess it? + +The common sense of the mass of mankind will answer these questions +without a moment's hesitation. Healthy humanity, finding itself hard +pressed to escape from real sin and degradation, will leave the brooding +over speculative pollution to the cynics and the 'righteous overmuch' +who, disagreeing in everything else, unite in blind insensibility to the +nobleness of the visible world, and in inability to appreciate the +grandeur of the place Man occupies therein. + +Nay more, thoughtful men, once escaped from the blinding influences of +traditional prejudice, will find in the lowly stock whence Man has +sprung, the best evidence of the splendour of his capacities; and will +discern in his long progress through the Past, a reasonable ground of +faith in his attainment of a nobler Future. + +They will remember that in comparing civilised man with the animal +world, one is as the Alpine traveller, who sees the mountains soaring +into the sky and can hardly discern where the deep shadowed crags and +roseate peaks end, and where the clouds of heaven begin. Surely the +awe-struck voyager may be excused if, at first, he refuses to believe +the geologist, who tells him that these glorious masses are, after all, +the hardened mud of primeval seas, or the cooled slag of subterranean +furnaces--of one substance with the dullest clay, but raised by inward +forces to that place of proud and seemingly inaccessible glory. + +But the geologist is right; and due reflection on his teachings, instead +of diminishing our reverence and our wonder, adds all the force of +intellectual sublimity to the mere aesthetic intuition of the +uninstructed beholder. + +And after passion and prejudice have died away, the same result will +attend the teachings of the naturalist respecting that great Alps and +Andes of the living world--Man. Our reverence for the nobility of +manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that Man is, in substance +and in structure, one with the brutes; for, he alone possesses the +marvellous endowment of intelligible and rational speech, whereby, in +the secular period of his existence, he has slowly accumulated and +organized the experience which is almost wholly lost with the cessation +of every individual life in other animals; so that now he stands raised +upon it as on a mountain top, far above the level of his humble fellows, +and transfigured from his grosser nature by reflecting, here and there, +a ray from the infinite source of truth. + +A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY RESPECTING THE CEREBRAL STRUCTURE +OF MAN AND THE APES. + +Up to the year 1857 all anatomists of authority, who had occupied +themselves with the cerebral structure of the Apes--Cuvier, Tiedemann, +Sandifort, Vrolik, Isidore G. St. Hilaire, Schroeder van der Kolk, +Gratiolet--were agreed that the brain of the Apes possesses a POSTERIOR +LOBE. + +Tiedemann, in 1825, figured and acknowledged in the text of his 'Icones' +the existence of the POSTERIOR CORNU of the lateral ventricle in the +Apes, not only under the title of 'Scrobiculus parvus loco cornu +posterioris'--a fact which has been paraded--but as 'cornu posterius' +('Icones', p. 54), a circumstance which has been, as sedulously, kept in +the background. + +Cuvier ('Lecons', T. iii. p. 103) says, "the anterior or lateral +ventricles possess a digital cavity (posterior cornu) only in Man and +the Apes...its presence depends on that of the posterior lobes." + +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, and Gratiolet, had also figured and +described the posterior cornu in various Apes. As to the HIPPOCAMPUS +MINOR Tiedemann had erroneously asserted its absence in the Apes; but +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik had pointed out the existence of what +they considered a rudimentary one in the Chimpanzee, and Gratiolet had +expressly affirmed its existence in these animals. Such was the state of +our information on these subjects in the year 1856. + +In the year 1857, however, Professor Owen, either in ignorance of these +well-known facts or else unjustifiably suppressing them, submitted to +the Linnaean Society a paper "On the Characters, Principles of Division, +and Primary Groups of the Class Mammalia," which was printed in the +Society's Journal, and contains the following passage:--"In Man, the +brain presents an ascensive step in development, higher and more +strongly marked than that by which the preceding sub-class was +distinguished from the one below it. Not only do the cerebral +hemispheres overlap and the olfactory lobes and cerebellum, but they +extend in advance of the one and further back than the other. The +posterior development is so marked, that anatomists have assigned to +that part the character of a third lobe; 'it is peculiar to the genus +Homo, and equally peculiar is the posterior horn of the lateral +ventricle and the 'hippocampus minor,' which characterise the hind lobe +of each hemisphere'."--'Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnaean +Society, Vol. ii. p. 19. + +As the essay in which this passage stands had no less ambitious an aim +than the remodelling of the classification of the Mammalia, its author +might be supposed to have written under a sense of peculiar +responsibility, and to have tested, with especial care, the statements +he ventured to promulgate. And even if this be expecting too much, +hastiness, or want of opportunity for due deliberation, cannot now be +pleaded in extenuation of any shortcomings; for the propositions cited +were repeated two years afterwards in the Reade Lecture, delivered +before so grave a body as the University of Cambridge, in 1859. + +When the assertions, which I have italicised in the above extract, first +came under my notice, I was not a little astonished at so flat a +contradiction of the doctrines current among well-indormed anatomists; +but, not unnaturally imagining that the deliberate statements of a +responsible person must have some foundation in fact, I deemed it my +duty to investigate the subject anew before the time at which it would +be my business to lecture thereupon came round. The result of my +inquiries was to prove that Mr. Owen's three assertions, that "the third +lobe, the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle, and the hippocampus +minor," are "peculiar to the genus 'Homo'," are contrary to the plainest +facts. I communicated this conclusion to the students of my class; and +then, having no desire to embark in a controversy which could not +redound to the honour of British science, whatever its issue, I turned +to more congenial occupations. + +The time speedily arrived, however, when a persistence in this reticence +would have involved me in an unworthy paltering with truth. + +At the meeting of the British Association at Oxford, in 1860, Professor +Owen repeated these assertions in my presence, and, of course, I +immediately gave them a direct and unqualified contradiction, pledging +myself to justify that unusual procedure elsewhere. I redeemed that +pledge by publishing, in the January number of the 'Natural History +Review' for 1861, an article wherein the truth of the three following +propositions was fully demonstrated (l. c. p. 71):-- + +"1. That the third lobe is neither peculiar to, nor characteristic of, +man, seeing that it exists in all the higher quadrumana." + +"2. That the posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle is neither +peculiar to, nor characteristic of, man, inasmuch as it also exists in +the higher quadrumana." + +"3. That the 'hippocampus minor' is neither peculiar to, nor +characteristic of, man, as it is found in certain of the higher +quadrumana." + +Furthermore, this paper contains the following paragraph (p. 76): + +"And lastly, Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik (op. cit. p. 271), though +they particularly note that 'the lateral ventricle is distinguished from +that of Man by the very defective proportions of the posterior cornu, +wherein only a stripe is visible as an indication of the hippocampus +minor;' yet the Figure 4, in their second Plate, shows that this +posterior cornu is a perfectly distinct and unmistakeable structure, +quite as large as it often is in Man. It is the more remarkable that +Professor Owen should have overlooked the explicit statement and figure +of these authors, as it is quite obvious, on comparison of the figures, +that his woodcut of the brain of a Chimpanzee (l. c. p. 19) is a reduced +copy of the second figure of Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's +first Plate. + +"As M. Gratiolet (l. c. p. 18), however is careful to remark, +'unfortunately the brain which they have taken as a model was greatly +altered (profondement affaisse), whence the general form of the brain is +given in these plates in a manner which is altogether incorrect.' +Indeed, it is perfectly obvious, from a comparison of a section of the +skull of the Chimpanzee with these figures, that such is the case; and +it is greatly to be regretted that so inadequate a figure should have +been taken as a typical representation of the Chimpanzee's brain." + +From this time forth, the untenability of his position might have been +as apparent to Professor Owen as it was to every one else; but, so far +from retracting the grave errors into which he had fallen, Professor +Owen has persisted in and reiterated them; first, in a lecture delivered +before the Royal Institution on the 19th of March, 1861, which is +admitted to have been accurately reproduced in the 'Athenaeum' for the +23rd of the same month, in a letter addressed by Professor Owen to that +journal on the 30th of March. The 'Athenaeum report was accompanied by a +diagram purporting to represent a Gorilla's brain, but in reality so +extraordinary a misrepresentation, that Professor Owen substantially, +though not explicitly, withdraws it in the letter in question. In +amending this error, however, Professor Owen fell into another of much +graver import, as his communication concludes with the following +paragraph: "For the true proportion in which the cerebrum covers the +cerebellum in the highest Apes, reference should be made to the figure +of the undissected brain of the Chimpanzee in my 'Reade's Lecture on the +Classification, etc., of the Mammalia', p. 25, Figure 7, 8 vo. 1859." + +It would not be credible, if it were not unfortunately true, that this +figure, to which the trusting public is referred, without a word of +qualification, "for the true proportion in which the cerebrum covers the +cerebellum in the highest Apes," is exactly that unacknowledged copy of +Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik's figure whose utter inaccuracy had +been pointed out years before by Gratiolet, and had been brought to +Professor Owen's knowledge by myself in the passage of my article in the +'Natural History Review' above quoted. + +I drew public attention to this circumstance again in my reply to +Professor Owen, published in the 'Athenaeum' for April 13th, 1861; but +the exploded figure was reproduced once more by Professor Owen, without +the slightest allusion to its inaccuracy, in the 'Annals of Natural +History' for June 1861! + +This proved too much for the patience of the original authors of the +figure, Messrs. Schroeder van der Kolk and Vrolik, who, in a note +addressed to the Academy of Amsterdam, of which they were members, +declared themselves to be, though decided opponents of all forms of the +doctrine of progressive development, above all things, lovers of truth: +and that, therefore, at whatever risk of seeming to lend support to +views which they disliked, they felt it their duty to take the first +opportunity of publicly repudiating Professor Owen's misuse of their +authority. + +In this note they frankly admitted the justice of the criticisms of M. +Gratiolet, quoted above, and they illustrated, by new and careful +figures, the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus +minor of the Orang. Furthermore, having demonstrated the parts, at one +of the sittings of the Academy, they add, "la presence des parties +contestees y a ete universellement reconnue par les anatomistes presents +a la seance. Le seul doute qui soit reste se rapporte au pes Hippocampi +minor...A l'etat frais l'indice du petit pied d'Hippocampe etait plus +prononce que maintenant." + +Professor Owen repeated his erroneous assertions at the meeting of the +British Association in 1861, and again, without any obvious necessity, +and without adducing a single new fact or new argument, or being able in +any way to meet the crushing evidence from original dissections of +numerous Apes' brains, which had in the meanwhile been brought forward +by Prof. Rolleston,* ([Footnote] *On the Affinities of the Brain of the +Orang. 'Nat. Hist. Review', April, 1861.) F.R.S., Mr. Marshall,* +([Footnote] *On the Brain of a young Chimpanzee. 'Ibid.', July, 1861.) +F.R.S., Mr. Flower,* ([Footnote] *On the Posterior lobes of the Cerebrum +of the Quadrumana. 'Philosophical Transactions', 1862.) Mr. Turner,* +([Footnote] *On the anatomical Relations of the Surfaces of the +Tentorium to the Cerebrum and Cerebellum in Man and the lower Mammals. +'Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh', March, 1862.) and +myself,* ([Footnote] *On the Brain of Ateles. 'Proceedings of Zoological +Society', 1861.) revived the subject at the Cambridge meeting of the +same body in 1862. Not content with the tolerably vigorous repudiation +which these unprecedented proceedings met with in Section D, Professor +Owen sanctioned the publication of a version of his own statements, +accompanied by a strange misrepresentation of mine (as may be seen by +comparison of the 'Times' report of the discussion), in the 'Medical +Times' for October 11th, 1862. I subjoin the conclusion of my reply in +the same journal for October 25th. + +"If this were a question of opinion, or a question of interpretation of +parts or of terms,--were it even a question of observation in which the +testimony of my own senses alone was pitted against that of another +person, I should adopt a very different tone in discussing this matter. +I should, in all humility, admit the likelihood of having myself erred +in judgment, failed in knowledge, or been blinded by prejudice. + +"But no one pretends now, that the controversy is one of the terms or of +opinions. Novel and devoid of authority as some of Professor Owen's +proposed definitions may have been, they might be accepted without +changing the great features of the case. Hence though special +investigations into these matters have been undertaken during the last +two years by Dr. Allen Thomson, by Dr. Rolleston, by Mr. Marshall, and +by Mr. Flower, all, as you are aware, anatomists of repute in this +country, and by Professors Schroeder Van der Kolk, and Vrolik (whom +Professor Owen incautiously tried to press into his own service) on the +Continent, all these able and conscientious observers have with one +accord testified to the accuracy of my statements, and to the utter +baselessness of the assertions of Professor Owen. Even the venerable +Rudolph Wagner, whom no man will accuse of progressionist proclivities, +has raised his voice on the same side; while not a single anatomist, +great or small, has supported Professor Owen. + +"Now, I do not mean to suggest that scientific differences should be +settled by universal suffrage, but I do conceive that solid proofs must +be met by something more than empty and unsupported assertions. Yet +during the two years through which this preposterous controversy has +dragged its weary length, Professor Owen has not ventured to bring +forward a single preparation in support of his often-repeated +assertions. + +"The case stands thus, therefore:--Not only are the statements made by +me in consonance with the doctrines of the best older authorities, and +with those of all recent investigators, but I am quite ready to +demonstrate them on the first monkey that comes to hand; while Professor +Owen's assertions are not only in diametrical opposition to both old and +new authorities, but he has not produced, and, I will add, cannot +produce, a single preparation which justifies them." + +I now leave this subject, for the present.--For the credit of my calling +I should be glad to be, hereafter, for ever silent upon it. But, +unfortunately, this is a matter upon which, after all that has occurred, +no mistake or confusion of terms is possible--and in affirming that the +posterior lobe, the posterior cornu, and the hippocampus minor exist in +certain Apes, I am stating either that which is true, or that which I +must know to be false. The question has thus become one of personal +veracity. For myself, I will accept no other issue than this, grave as +it is, to the present controversy. + +End of On the Relations of Man to the Lower Animals. + +*** + + +ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. + +I have endeavoured to show, in the preceding Essay, that the ANTHROPINI, +or Man Family, form a very well defined group of the Primates, between +which and the immediately following Family, the CATARHINI, there is, in +the existing world, the same entire absence of any transitional form or +connecting link, as between the CATARHINI and PLATYRHINI. + +It is a commonly received doctrine, however, that the structural +intervals between the various existing modifications of organic beings +may be diminished, or even obliterated, if we take into account the long +and varied succession of animals and plants which have preceded those +now living and which are known to us only by their fossilized remains. +How far this doctrine is well based, how far, on the other hand, as our +knowledge at present stands, it is an overstatement of the real facts of +the case, and an exaggeration of the conclusions fairly deducible from +them, are points of grave importance, but into the discussion of which I +do not, at present, propose to enter. It is enough that such a view of +the relations of extinct to living beings has been propounded, to lead +us to inquire, with anxiety, how far the recent discoveries of human +remains in a fossil state bear out, or oppose, that view. + +I shall confine myself, in discussing this question, to those +fragmentary Human skulls from the caves of Engis in the valley of the +Meuse, in Belgium, and of the Neanderthal near Dusseldorf, the +geological relations of which have been examined with so much care by +Sir Charles Lyell; upon whose high authority I shall take it for +granted, that the Engis skull belonged to a contemporary of the Mammoth +('Elephas primigenius') and of the woolly Rhinoceros ('Rhinoceros +tichorhinus'), with the bones of which it was found associated; and that +the Neanderthal skull is of great, though uncertain, antiquity. Whatever +be the geological age of the latter skull, I conceive it is quite safe +(on the ordinary principles of paleontological reasoning) to assume that +the former takes us to, at least, the further side of the vague +biological limit, which separates the present geological epoch from that +which immediately preceded it. And there can be no doubt that the +physical geography of Europe has changed wonderfully, since the bones of +Men and Mammoths, Hyaenas and Rhinoceroses were washed pell-mell into +the cave of Engis. + +The skull from the cave of Engis was originally discovered by Professor +Schmerling, and was described by him, together with other human remains +disinterred at the same time, in his valuable work, 'Recherches sur les +ossemens fossiles decouverts dans les cavernes de la Province de Liege', +published in 1833 (p. 59, et seq.), from which the following paragraphs +are extracted, the precise expressions of the author being, as far as +possible, preserved. + +"In the first place, I must remark that these human remains, which are +in my possession, are characterized like thousands of bones which I have +lately been disinterring, by the extent of the decomposition which they +have undergone, which is precisely the same as that of the extinct +species: all, with a few exceptions, are broken; some few are rounded, +as is frequently found to be the case in fossil remains of other +species. The fractures are vertical or oblique; none of them are eroded; +their colour does not differ from that of other fossil bones, and varies +from whitish yellow to blackish. All are lighter than recent bones, with +the exception of those which have a calcareous incrustation, and the +cavities of which are filled with such matter. + +"The cranium which I have caused to be figured, Plate I., Figs. 1, 2, is +that of an old person. The sutures are beginning to be effaced: all the +facial bones are wanting, and of the temporal bones only a fragment of +that of the right side is preserved. + +"The face and the base of the cranium had been detached before the skull +was deposited in the cave, for we were unable to find those parts, +though the whole cavern was regularly searched. The cranium was met with +at a depth of a metre and a half (five feet nearly), hidden under an +osseous breccia, composed of the remains of small animals, and +containing one rhinoceros tusk, with several teeth of horses and of +ruminants. This breccia, which has been spoken of above (p. 30), was a +metre (3 1/4 feet about) wide, and rose to the height of a metre and a +half above the floor of the cavern, to the walls of which it adhered +strongly. + +"The earth which contained this human skull exhibited no trace of +disturbance: teeth of rhinoceros, horse, hyaena, and bear, surrounded it +on all sides. + +(FIGURE 22.--The skull from the cave of Engis--viewed from the right +side. 'a' glabella, 'b' occipital protuberance, ('a' to 'b' +glabello-occipital line), 'c' auditory foramen.) + +"The famous Blumenbach* has directed attention to the differences +presented by the form and the dimensions of human crania of different +races. This important work would have assisted us greatly, if the face, +a part essential for the determination of race, with more or less +accuracy, had not been wanting in our fossil cranium. + +([Footnote] *Decas Collectionis suae craniorum diversarum gentium +illustrata. Gottingae, 1790-1820. + +"We are convinced that even if the skull had been complete, it would not +have been possible to pronounce, with certainty, upon a single specimen; +for individual variations are so numerous in the crania of one and the +same race, that one cannot, without laying oneself open to large chances +of error, draw any inference from a single fragment of a cranium to the +general form of the head to which it belonged. + +"Nevertheless, in order to neglect no point respecting the form of this +fossil skull, we may observe that, from the first, the elongated and +narrow form of the forehead attracted our attention. + +"In fact, the slight elevation of the frontal, its narrowness, and the +form of the orbit, approximate it more nearly to the cranium of an +Ethiopian than to that of an European: the elongated form and the +produced occiput are also characters which we believe to be observable +in our fossil cranium; but to remove all doubt upon that subject I have +caused the contours of the cranium of an European and of an Ethiopian to +be drawn and the foreheads represented. Plate II., Figs. 1 and 2, and, +in the same plate, Figs. 3 and 4, will render the differences easily +distinguishable; and a single glance at the figures will be more +instructive than a long and wearisome description. + +"At whatever conclusion we may arrive as to the origin of the man from +whence this fossil skull proceeded, we may express an opinion without +exposing ourselves to a fruitless controversy. Each may adopt the +hypothesis which seems to him most probable: for my own part, I hold it +to be demonstrated that this cranium has belonged to a person of limited +intellectual faculties, and we conclude thence that it belonged to a man +of a low degree of civilization: a deduction which is borne out by +contrasting the capacity of the frontal with that of the occipital +region. + +"Another cranium of a young individual was discovered in the floor of +the cavern beside the tooth of an elephant; the skull was entire when +found, but the moment it was lifted it fell into pieces, which I have +not, as yet, been able to put together again. But I have represented the +bones of the upper jaw, Plate I., Figure 5. The state of the alveoli and +the teeth, shows that the molars had not yet pierced the gum. Detached +milk molars and some fragments of a human skull proceed from this same +place. The Figure 3 represents a human superior incisor tooth, the size +of which is truly remarkable.* ([Footnote] *In a subsequent passage, +Schmerling remarks upon the occurrence of an incisor tooth 'of enormous +size' from the caverns of Engihoul. The tooth figured is somewhat long, +but its dimensions do not appear to me to be otherwise remarkable.) + +"Figure 4 is a fragment of a superior maxillary bone, the molar teeth of +which are worn down to the roots. + +"I possess two vertebrae, a first and last dorsal. + +"A clavicle of the left side (see Plate III., Figure 1); although it +belonged to a young individual, this bone shows that he must have been +of great stature.* ([Footnote] *The figure of this clavicle measures 5 +inches from end to end in a straight line--so that the bone is rather a +small than a large one.) + +"Two fragments of the radius, badly preserved, do not indicate that the +height of the man, to whom they belonged, exceeded five feet and a half. + +"As to the remains of the upper extremities, those which are in my +possession consist merely of a fragment of an ulna and of a radius +(Plate III., Figs. 5 and 6). + +"Figure 2, Plate IV., represents a metacarpal bone, contained in the +breccia, of which we have spoken; it was found in the lower part above +the cranium: add to this some metacarpal bones, found at very different +distances, half-a-dozen metatarsals, three phalanges of the hand, and +one of the foot. + +"This is a brief enumeration of the remains of human bones collected in +the cavern of Engis, which has preserved for us the remains of three +individuals, surrounded by those of the Elephant, of the Rhinoceros, and +of Carnivora of species unknown in the present creation." + +From the cave of Engihoul, opposite that of Engis, on the right bank of +the Meuse, Schmerling obtained the remains of three other individuals of +Man, among which were only two fragments of parietal bones, but many +bones of the extremities. In one case a broken fragment of an ulna was +soldered to a like fragment of a radius by stalagmite, a condition +frequently observed among the bones of the Cave Bear ('Ursus spelaeus'), +found in the Belgian caverns. + +It was in the cavern of Engis that Professor Schmerling found, incrusted +with stalagmite and joined to a stone, the pointed bone implement, which +he has figured in Figure 7 of his Plate XXXVI., and worked flints were +found by him in all those Belgian caves, which contained an abundance of +fossil bones. + +A short letter from M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, published in the 'Comptes +Rendus' of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, for July 2nd, 1838, speaks +of a visit (and apparently a very hasty one) paid to the collection of +Professor 'Schermidt' (which is presumably a misprint for Schmerling) at +Liege. The writer briefly criticises the drawings which illustrate +Schmerling's work, and affirms that the "human cranium is a little +longer than it is represented" in Schmerling's figure. The only other +remark worth quoting is this:--"The aspect of the human bones differs +little from that of the cave bones, with which we are familiar, and of +which there is a considerable collection in the same place. With respect +to their special forms, compared with those of the varieties of recent +human crania, few 'certain' conclusions can be put forward; for much +greater differences exist between the different specimens of +well-characterized varieties, than between the fossil cranium of Liege +and that of one of those varieties selected as a term of comparison." + +Geoffroy St. Hilaire's remarks are, it will be observed, little but an +echo of the philosophic doubts of the describer and discoverer of the +remains. As to the critique upon Schmerling's figures, I find that the +side view given by the latter is really about 3/10ths of an inch shorter +than the original, and that the front view is diminished to about the +same extent. Otherwise the representation is not, in any way, +inaccurate, but corresponds very well with the cast which is in my +possession. + +A piece of the occipital bone, which Schmerling seems to have missed, +has since been fitted on to the rest of the cranium by an accomplished +anatomist, Dr. Spring, of Liege, under whose direction an excellent +plaster cast was made for Sir Charles Lyell. It is upon and from a +duplicate of that cast that my own observations and the accompanying +figures, the outlines of which are copied from very accurate Camera +lucida drawings, by my friend Mr. Busk, reduced to one-half of the +natural size, are made. + +As Professor Schmerling observes, the base of the skull is destroyed, +and the facial bones are entirely absent; but the roof of the cranium, +consisting of the frontal, parietal, and the greater part of the +occipital bones, as far as the middle of the occipital foramen, is +entire or nearly so. The left temporal bone is wanting. Of the right +temporal, the parts in the immediate neighbourhood of the auditory +foramen, the mastoid process, and a considerable portion of the squamous +element of the temporal are well preserved (Figure 22). + +The lines of fracture which remain between the coadjusted pieces of the +skull, and are faithfully displayed in Schmerling's figure, are readily +traceable in the cast. The sutures are also discernible, but the complex +disposition of their serrations, shown in the figure, is not obvious in +the cast. Though the ridges which give attachment to muscles are not +excessively prominent, they are well marked, and taken together with the +apparently well developed frontal sinuses, and the condition of the +sutures, leave no doubt on my mind that the skull is that of an adult, +if not middle-aged man. + +The extreme length of the skull is 7.7 inches. Its extreme breadth, +which corresponds very nearly with the interval between the parietal +protuberances, is not more than 5.4 inches. The proportion of the length +to the breadth is therefore very nearly as 100 to 70. If a line be drawn +from the point at which the brow curves in towards the root of the nose, +and which is called the 'glabella' ('a') (Figure 22), to the occipital +protuberance ('b'), and the distance to the highest point of the arch of +the skull be measured perpendicularly from this line, it will be found +to be 4.75 inches. Viewed from above, Figure 23, A, the forehead +presents an evenly rounded curve, and passes into the contour of the +sides and back of the skull, which describes a tolerably regular +elliptical curve. + +The front view (Figure 23, B) shows that the roof of the skull was very +regularly and elegantly arched in the transverse direction, and that the +transverse diameter was a little less below the parietal protuberances, +than above them. The forehead cannot be called narrow in relation to the +rest of the skull, nor can it be called a retreating forehead; on the +contrary, the antero-posterior contour of the skull is well arched, so +that the distance along that contour, from the nasal depression to the +occipital protuberance, measures about 13.75 inches. The transverse arc +of the skull, measured from one auditory foramen to the other, across +the middle of the sagittal suture, is about 13 inches. The sagittal +suture itself is 5.5 inches long. + +The supraciliary prominences or brow-ridges (on each side of 'a', Figure +22) are well, but not excessively, developed, and are separated by a +median depression. Their principal elevation is disposed so obliquely +that I judge them to be due to large frontal sinuses. + +If a line joining the glabella and the occipital protuberance ('a', 'b', +Figure 22) be made horizontal, no part of the occipital region projects +more than 1/10th of an inch behind the posterior extremity of that line, +and the upper edge of the auditory foramen ('c') is almost in contact +with a line drawn parallel with this upon the outer surface of the +skull. + +A transverse line drawn from one auditory foramen to the other +traverses, as usual, the forepart of the occipital foramen. The capacity +of the interior of this fragmentary skull has not been ascertained. + +The history of the Human remains from the cavern in the Neanderthal may +best be given in the words of their original describer, Dr +Schaaffhausen,* as translated by Mr. Busk. ([Footnote] *ON THE CRANIA OF +THE MOST ANCIENT RACES OF MAN. By Professor D. Schaaffhausen, of Bonn. +(From Muller's 'Archiv.', 1858, pp. 453.) With Remarks, and original +Figures, taken from a Cast of the Neanderthal Cranium. By George Busk, +F.R.S., etc. 'Natural History Review'. April, 1861.) + +"In the early part of the year 1857, a human skeleton was discovered in +a limestone cave in the Neanderthal, near Hochdal, between Dusseldorf +and Elberfeld. Of this, however, I was unable to procure more than a +plaster cast of the cranium, taken at Elberfeld, from which I drew up an +account of its remarkable conformation, which was, in the first +instance, read on the 4th of February, 1857, at the meeting of the Lower +Rhine Medical and Natural History Society, at Bonn.* ([Footnote] +*'Verhandl. d. Naturhist.' Vereins der Preuss. Rheinlande und +Westphalens., xiv. Bonn, 1857.) + +Subsequently Dr. Fuhlrott, to whom science is indebted for the +preservation of these bones, which were not at first regarded as human, +and into whose possession they afterwards came, brought the cranium from +Elberfeld to Bonn, and entrusted it to me for more accurate anatomical +examination. At the General Meeting of the Natural History Society of +Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia, at Bonn, on the 2nd of June, 1857,* +Dr Fuhlrott himself gave a full account of the locality, and of the +circumstances under which the discovery was made. ([Footnote] *'Ib. +Correspondenzblatt. No. 2.) + +He was of opinion that the bones might be regarded as fossil; and in +coming to this conclusion, he laid especial stress upon the existence of +dendritic deposits, with which their surface was covered, and which were +first noticed upon them by Professor Meyer. To this communication I +appended a brief report on the results of my anatomical examination of +the bones. The conclusions at which I arrived were:--1st. That the +extraordinary form of the skull was due to a natural conformation +hitherto not known to exist, even in the most barbarous races. 2nd. That +these remarkable human remains belonged to a period antecedent to the +time of the Celts and Germans, and were in all probability derived from +one of the wild races of North-western Europe, spoken of by Latin +writers; and which were encountered as autochthones by the German +immigrants. And 3rdly. That it was beyond doubt that these human relics +were traceable to a period at which the latest animals of the diluvium +still existed; but that no proof of this assumption, nor consequently of +their so-termed 'fossil' condition, was afforded by the circumstances +under which the bones were discovered. + +(FIGURE 23.--The Engis skull viewed from above (A) and in front (B).) + +"As Dr. Fuhlrott has not yet published his description of these +circumstances, I borrow the following account of them from one of his +letters. 'A small cave or grotto, high enough to admit a man, and about +15 feet deep from the entrance, which is 7 or 8 feet wide, exists in the +southern wall of the gorge of the Neanderthal, as it is termed, at a +distance of about 100 feet from the Dussel, and about 60 feet above the +bottom of the valley. In its earlier and uninjured condition, this +cavern opened upon a narrow plateau lying in front of it, and from which +the rocky wall descended almost perpendicularly into the river. It could +be reached, though with difficulty, from above. The uneven floor was +covered to a thickness of 4 or 5 feet with a deposit of mud, sparingly +intermixed with rounded fragments of chert. In the removing of this +deposit, the bones were discovered. The skull was first noticed, placed +nearest to the entrance of the cavern; and further in, the other bones, +lying in the same horizontal plane. Of this I was assured, in the most +positive terms, by two labourers who were employed to clear out the +grotto, and who were questioned by me on the spot. At first no idea was +entertained of the bones being human; and it was not till several weeks +after their discovery that they were recognised as such by me, and +placed in security. But, as the importance of the discovery was not at +the time perceived, the labourers were very careless in the collecting, +and secured chiefly only the larger bones; and to this circumstance it +may be attributed that fragments merely of the probably perfect skeleton +came into my possession' + +"My anatomical examination of these bones afforded the following +results:-- + +"The cranium is of unusual size, and of a long elliptical form. A most +remarkable peculiarity is at once obvious in the extraordinary +development of the frontal sinuses, owing to which the superciliary +ridges, which coalesce completely in the middle, are rendered so +prominent, that the frontal bone exhibits a considerable hollow or +depression above, or rather behind them, whilst a deep depression is +also formed in the situation of the root of the nose. The forehead is +narrow and low, though the middle and hinder portions of the cranial +arch are well developed. Unfortunately, the fragment of the skull that +has been preserved consists only of the portion situated above the roof +of the orbits and the superior occipital ridges, which are greatly +developed, and almost conjoined so as to form a horizontal eminence. It +includes almost the whole of the frontal bone, both parietals, a small +part of the squamous and the upper-third of the occipital. The recently +fractured surfaces show that the skull was broken at the time of its +disinterment. The cavity holds 16,876 grains of water, whence its +cubical contents may be estimated at 57.64 inches, or 1033.24 cubic +centimetres. In making this estimation, the water is supposed to stand +on a level with the orbital plate of the frontal, with the deepest notch +in the squamous margin of the parietal, and with the superior +semicircular ridges of the occipital. Estimated in dried millet-seed, +the contents equalled 31 ounces, Prussian Apothecaries' weight. The +semicircular line indicating the upper boundary of the attachment of the +temporal muscle, though not very strongly marked, ascends nevertheless +to more than half the height of the parietal bone. On the right +superciliary ridge is observable an oblique furrow or depression, +indicative of an injury received during life.* ([Footnote] *This, Mr. +Busk has pointed out, is probably the notch for the frontal nerve.) The +coronal and sagittal sutures are on the exterior nearly closed, and on +the inside so completely ossified as to have left no traces whatever, +whilst the lambdoidal remains quite open. The depressions for the +Pacchionian glands are deep and numerous; and there is an unusually deep +vascular groove immediately behind the coronal suture, which, as it +terminates in the foramen, no doubt transmitted a 'vena emissaria'. The +course of the frontal suture is indicated externally by a slight ridge; +and where it joins the coronal, this ridge rises into a small +protuberance. The course of the sagittal suture is grooved, and above +the angle of the occipital bone the parietals are depressed. + +[Column 1 : Anatomical Feature, Column 2 : Measurement in] millimetres.* + +([Footnote] *The numbers in brackets are those which I should assign to +the different measures, as taken from the plaster cast.--G. B.) + +The length of the skull from the nasal process of the frontal over the +vertex to the superior semicircular lines of the occipital +measures...303 (300) = 12.0". + +Circumference over the orbital ridges and the superior semicircular +lines of the occipital...590 (590) = 23.37" or 23". + +Width of the frontal from the middle of the temporal line on one side to +the same point on the opposite...104 (114) = 4.1"--4.5". + +Length of the frontal from the nasal. process to the coronal +suture...133 (125) = 5.25"--5". + +Extreme width of the frontal sinuses...25 (23) = 1.0"--0.9". + +Vertical height above a line joining the deepest notches in the squamous +border of the parietals...70 = 2.75". + +Width of hinder part of skull from one parietal protuberance to the +other...138 (150) = 5.4"--5.9" + +Distance from the upper angle of the occipital to the superior +semicircular lines...51 (60) = 1.9"--2.4". + +Thickness of the bone at the parietal protuberance...8. + +--at the angle of the occipital...9. + +--at the superior semicircular line of the occipital...10 = 0.3" + +"Besides the cranium, the following bones have been secured:-- + +"1. Both thigh-bones, perfect. These, like the skull, and all the other +bones, are characterized by their unusual thickness, and the great +development of all the elevations and depressions for the attachment of +muscles. In the Anatomical Museum at Bonn, under the designation of +'Giant's-bones,' are some recent thigh-bones, with which in thickness +the foregoing pretty nearly correspond, although they are shorter. + +[First value =] Giant's bones, [Second value =] Fossil bones in mm. + +Length...542 = 21.4"...438 = 17.4". + +Diameter of head of femur...54 = 2.14"...53 = 2.0". + +Diameter of lower articular end, from one condyle to the other...89 = +3.5"...87 = 3.4". + +Diameter of femur in the middle...33 = 1.2"...30 = 1.1". + +"2. A perfect right humerus, whose size shows that it belongs to the +thigh-bones. + +mm. + +Length...312 = 12.3". + +Thickness in the middle...26 = 1.0". + +Diameter of head...49 = 1.9". + +"Also a perfect right radius of corresponding dimensions, and the +upper-third of a right ulna corresponding to the humerus and radius. + +"3. A left humerus of which the upper-third is wanting, and which is so +much slenderer than the right as apparently to belong to a distinct +individual; a left 'ulna', which, though complete, is pathologically +deformed, the coronoid process being so much enlarged by bony growth, +that flexure of the elbow beyond a right angle must have been +impossible; the anterior fossa of the humerus for the reception of the +coronoid process being also filled up with a similar bony growth. At the +same time, the olecranon is curved strongly downwards. As the bone +presents no sign of rachitic degeneration, it may be supposed that an +injury sustained during life was the cause of the anchylosis. When the +left ulna is compared with the right radius, it might at first sight be +concluded that the bones respectively belonged to different individuals, +the ulna being more than half an inch too short for articulation with a +corresponding radius. But it is clear that this shortening, as well as +the attenuation of the left humerus, are both consequent upon the +pathological condition above described. + +"4. A left 'ilium', almost perfect, and belonging to the femur: a +fragment of the right 'scapula'; the anterior extremity of a rib of the +right side; and the same part of a rib of the left side; the hinder part +of a rib of the right side; and lastly, two hinder portions and one +middle portion of ribs, which from their unusually rounded shape, and +abrupt curvature, more resemble the ribs of a carnivorous animal than +those of a man. Dr. H. v. Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer, +will not venture to declare them to be ribs of any animal; and it only +remains to suppose that this abnormal condition has arisen from an +unusually powerful development of the thoracic muscles. + +"The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as proved by the use +of hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the cartilage is still +retained in them, which appears, however, to have undergone that +transformation into gelatine which has been observed by v. Bibra in +fossil bones. The surface of all the bones is in many spots covered with +minute black specks, which, more especially under a lens, are seen to be +formed of very delicate 'dendrites'. These deposits, which were first +observed on the bones by Dr. Meyer, are most distinct on the inner +surface of the cranial bones. They consist of a ferruginous compound, +and, from their black colour, may be supposed to contain manganese. +Similar dendritic formations also occur, not unfrequently, on laminated +rocks, and are usually found in minute fissures and cracks. At the +meeting of the Lower Rhine Society at Bonn, on the 1st April, 1857, +Prof. Meyer stated that he had noticed in the museum of Poppelsdorf +similar dendritic crystallizations on several fossil bones of animals, +and particularly on those of 'Ursus spelaeus', but still more abundantly +and beautifully displayed on the fossil bones and teeth of 'Equus +adamiticus', 'Elephas primigenius', etc., from the caves of Bolve and +Sundwig. Faint indications of similar 'dendrites' were visible in a +Roman skull from Siegburg; whilst other ancient skulls, which had lain +for centuries in the earth, presented no trace of them.* ([Footnote] +*'Verh. des Naturhist'. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857.) + +I am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following remarks on this +subject:-- + +'The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which were formerly +regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condition, is interesting. It has +even been supposed that in diluvial deposits the presence of 'dendrites' +might be regarded as affording a certain mark of distinction between +bones mixed with the diluvium at a somewhat later period and the true +diluvial relics, to which alone it was supposed that these deposits were +confined. But I have long been convinced that neither can the absence of +'dendrites' be regarded as indicative of recent age, nor their presence +as sufficient to establish the great antiquity of the objects upon which +they occur. I have myself noticed upon paper, which could scarcely be +more than a year old, dendritic deposits, which could not be +distinguished from those on fossil bones. Thus I possess a dog's skull +from the Roman colony of the neighbouring Heddersheim, 'Castrum +Hadrianum', which is in no way distinguishable from the fossil bones +from the Frankish caves; it presents the same colour, and adheres to the +tongue just as they do; so that this character also, which, at a former +meeting of German naturalists at Bonn, gave rise to amusing scenes +between Buckland and Schmerling, is no longer of any value. In disputed +cases, therefore, the condition of the bone can scarcely afford the +means for determining with certainty whether it be fossil, that is to +say, whether it belong to geological antiquity or to the historical +period.' + +"As we cannot now look upon the primitive world as representing a wholly +different condition of things, from which no transition exists to the +organic life of the present time, the designation of 'fossil', as +applied to 'a bone', has no longer the sense it conveyed in the time of +Cuvier. Sufficient grounds exist for the assumption that man coexisted +with the animals found in the 'diluvium'; and many a barbarous race may, +before all historical time, have disappeared, together with the animals +of the ancient world, whilst the races whose organization is improved +have continued the genus. The bones which form the subject of this paper +present characters which, although not decisive as regards a geological +epoch, are, nevertheless, such as indicate a very high antiquity. It may +also be remarked that, common as is the occurrence of diluvial animal +bones in the muddy deposits of caverns, such remains have not hitherto +been met with in the caves of the Neanderthal; and that the bones, which +were covered by a deposit of mud not more than four or five feet thick, +and without any protective covering of stalagmite, have retained the +greatest part of their organic substance. + +"These circumstances might be adduced against the probability of a +geological antiquity. Nor should we be justified in regarding the +cranial conformation as perhaps representing the most savage primitive +type of the human race, since crania exist among living savages, which, +though not exhibiting, such a remarkable conformation of the forehead, +which gives the skull somewhat the aspect of that of the large apes, +still in other respects, as for instance in the greater depth of the +temporal fossae, the crest-like, prominent temporal ridges, and a +generally less capacious cranial cavity, exhibit an equally low stage of +development. There is no reason for supposing that the deep frontal +hollow is due to any artificial flattening, such as is practised in +various modes by barbarous nations in the Old and New World. The skull +is quite symmetrical, and shows no indication of counter-pressure at the +occiput, whilst, according to Morton, in the Flat-heads of the Columbia, +the frontal and parietal bones are always unsymmetrical. Its +conformation exhibits the sparing development of the anterior part of +the head which has been so often observed in very ancient crania, and +affords one of the most striking proofs of the influence of culture and +civilization on the form of the human skull." + +In a subsequent passage, Dr. Schaaffhausen remarks: + +"There is no reason whatever for regarding the unusual development of +the frontal sinuses in the remarkable skull from the Neanderthal as an +individual or pathological deformity; it is unquestionably a typical +race-character, and is physiologically connected with the uncommon +thickness of the other bones of the skeleton, which exceeds by about +one-half the usual proportions. This expansion of the frontal sinuses, +which are appendages of the air-passages, also indicates an unusual +force and power of endurance in the movements of the body, as may be +concluded from the size of all the ridges and processes for the +attachment of the muscles or bones. That this conclusion may be drawn +from the existence of large frontal sinuses, and a prominence of the +lower frontal region, is confirmed in many ways by other observations. +By the same characters, according to Pallas, the wild horse is +distinguished from the domesticated, and, according to Cuvier, the +fossil cave-bear from every recent species of bear, whilst, according to +Roulin, the pig, which has become wild in America, and regained a +resemblance to the wild boar, is thus distinguished from the same animal +in the domesticated state, as is the chamois from the goat; and, lastly, +the bull-dog, which is characterised by its large bones and +strongly-developed muscles from every other kind of dog. The estimation +of the facial angle, the determination of which, according to Professor +Owen, is also difficult in the great apes, owing to the very prominent +supra-orbital ridges, in the present case is rendered still more +difficult from the absence both of the auditory opening and of the nasal +spine. But if the proper horizontal position of the skull be taken from +the remaining portions of the orbital plates, and the ascending line +made to touch the surface of the frontal bone behind the prominent +supra-orbital ridges, the facial angle is not found to exceed 56 +degrees.* ([Footnote] *Estimating the facial angle in the way suggested, +on the cast I should place it at 64 degrees to 67 degrees.--G. B.) +Unfortunately, no portions of the facial bones, whose conformation is so +decisive as regards the form and expression of the head, have been +preserved. The cranial capacity, compared with the uncommon strength of +the corporeal frame, would seem to indicate a small cerebral +development. The skull, as it is, holds about 31 ounces of millet-seed; +and as, from the proportionate size of the wanting bones, the whole +cranial cavity should have about 6 ounces more added, the contents, were +it perfect, may be taken at 37 ounces. Tiedemann assigns, as the cranial +contents in the Negro, 40, 38, and 35 ounces. The cranium holds rather +more than 36 ounces of water, which corresponds to a capacity of 1033.24 +cubic centimetres. Huschke estimates the cranial contents of a Negress +at 1127 cubic centimetres; of an old Negro at 1146 cubic centimetres. +The capacity of the Malay skulls, estimated by water, equalled 36, 33 +ounces, whilst in the diminutive Hindoos it falls to as little as 27 +ounces." + +After comparing the Neanderthal cranium with many others, ancient and +modern, Professor Schaaffhausen concludes thus:-- + +"But the human bones and cranium from the Neanderthal exceed all the +rest in those peculiarities of conformation which lead to the conclusion +of their belonging to a barbarous and savage race. Whether the cavern in +which they were found, unaccompanied with any trace of human art, were +the place of their interment, or whether, like the bones of extinct +animals elsewhere, they had been washed into it, they may still be +regarded as the most ancient memorial of the early inhabitants of +Europe." + +Mr. Busk, the translator of Dr. Schaaffhausen's paper, has enabled us to +form a very vivid conception of the degraded character of the +Neanderthal skull, by placing side by side with its outline, that of the +skull of a Chimpanzee, drawn to the same absolute size. + +Some time after the publication of the translation of Professor +Schaaffhausen's Memoir, I was led to study the cast of the Neanderthal +cranium with more attention than I had previously bestowed upon it, in +consequence of wishing to supply Sir Charles Lyell with a diagram, +exhibiting the special peculiarities of this skull, as compared with +other human skulls. In order to do this it was necessary to identify, +with precision, those points in the skulls compared which corresponded +anatomically. Of these points, the glabella was obvious enough; but when +I had distinguished another, defined by the occipital protuberance and +superior semicircular line, and had placed the outline of the +Neanderthal skull against that of the Engis skull, in such a position +that the glabella and occipital protuberance of both were intersected by +the same straight line, the difference was so vast and the flattening of +the Neanderthal skull so prodigious (compare Figs. 22 and 24, A.), that +I at first imagined I must have fallen into some error. And I was the +more inclined to suspect this, as, in ordinary human skulls, the +occipital protuberance and superior semicircular curved line on the +exterior of the occiput correspond pretty closely with the 'lateral +sinuses' and the line of attachment of the tentorium internally. But on +the tentorium rests, as I have said in the preceding Essay, the +posterior lobe of the brain; and hence, the occipital protuberance, and +the curved line in question, indicate, approximately, the lower limits +of that lobe. Was it possible for a human being to have the brain thus +flattened and depressed; or, on the other hand, had the muscular ridges +shifted their position? In order to solve these doubts, and to decide +the question whether the great supraciliary projections did, or did not, +arise from the development of the frontal sinuses, I requested Sir +Charles Lyell to be so good as to obtain for me from Dr. Fuhlrott, the +possessor of the skull, answers to certain queries, and if possible a +cast, or at any rate drawings, or photographs, of the interior of the +skull. + +(FIGURE 24.--The skull from the Neanderthal cavern. A. side, B. front, +and C. top view. One-third the natural size, by Mr. Busk: the details +from the cast and from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs. 'a' glabella; 'b' +occipital protuberance; 'd' lambdoidal suture.) + +Dr. Fuhlrott replied with a courtesy and readiness for which I am +infinitely indebted to him, to my inquiries, and furthermore sent three +excellent photographs. One of these gives a side view of the skull, and +from it Figure 24, A. has been shaded. The second (Figure 25, A.) +exhibits the wide openings of the frontal sinuses upon the inferior +surface of the frontal part of the skull, into which, Dr. Fuhlrott +writes, "a probe may be introduced to the depth of an inch," and +demonstrates the great extension of the thickened supraciliary ridges +beyond the cerebral cavity. The third, lastly (Figure 25, B.) exhibits +the edge and the interior of the posterior, or occipital, part of the +skull, and shows very clearly the two depressions for the lateral +sinuses, sweeping inwards towards the middle line of the roof of the +skull, to form the longitudinal sinus. It was clear, therefore, that I +had not erred in my interpretation, and that the posterior lobe of the +brain of the Neanderthal man must have been as much flattened as I +suspected it to be. + +In truth, the Neanderthal cranium has most extraordinary characters. It +has an extreme length of 8 inches, while its breadth is only 5.75 +inches, or, in other words, its length is to its breadth as 100:72. It +is exceedingly depressed, measuring only about 3.4 inches from the +glabello-occipital line to the vertex. The longitudinal arc, measured in +the same way as in the Engis skull, is 12 inches; the transverse arc +cannot be exactly ascertained, in consequence of the absence of the +temporal bones, but was probably about the same, and certainly exceeded +10 1/4 inches. The horizontal circumference is 23 inches. But this great +circumference arises largely from the vast development of the +supraciliary ridges, though the perimeter of the brain case itself is +not small. The large supraciliary ridges give the forehead a far more +retreating appearance than its internal contour would bear out. + +To an anatomical eye the posterior part of the skull is even more +striking than the anterior. The occipital protuberance occupies the +extreme posterior end of the skull, when the glabello-occipital line is +made horizontal, and so far from any part of the occipital region +extending beyond it, this region of the skull slopes obliquely upward +and forward, so that the lambdoidal suture is situated well upon the +upper surface of the cranium. At the same time, notwithstanding the +great length of the skull, the sagittal suture is remarkably short (4 +1/2 inches), and the squamosal suture is very straight. + +(FIGURE 25.--Drawings from Dr. Fuhlrott's photographs of parts of the +interior of the Neanderthal cranium. A. view of the under and inner +surface of the frontal region, showing the inferior apertures of the +frontal sinuses ('a'). B. corresponding view of the occipital region of +the skull, showing the impressions of the lateral sinuses ('a a').) + +In reply to my questions Dr. Fuhlrott writes that the occipital bone "is +in a state of perfect preservation as far as the upper semicircular +line, which is a very strong ridge, linear at its extremities, but +enlarging towards the middle, where it forms two ridges (bourrelets), +united by a linear continuation, which is slightly depressed in the +middle." + +"Below the left ridge the bone exhibits an obliquely inclined surface, +six lines (French) long, and twelve lines wide." + +This last must be the surface, the contour of which is shown in Figure +24, A., below 'b'. It is particularly interesting, as it suggests that, +notwithstanding the flattened condition of the occiput, the posterior +cerebral lobes must have projected considerably beyond the cerebellum, +and as it constitutes one among several points of similarity between the +Neanderthal cranium and certain Australian skulls. + +Such are the two best known forms of human cranium, which have been +found in what may be fairly termed a fossil state. Can either be shown +to fill up or diminish, to any appreciable extent, the structural +interval which exists between Man and the man-like apes? Or, on the +other hand, does neither depart more widely from the average structure +of the human cranium, than normally formed skulls of men are known to do +at the present day? + +It is impossible to form any opinion on these questions, without some +preliminary acquaintance with the range of variation exhibited by human +structure in general--a subject which has been but imperfectly studied, +while even of what is known, my limits will necessarily allow me to give +only a very imperfect sketch. + +The student of anatomy is perfectly well aware that there is not a +single organ of the human body the structure of which does not vary, to +a greater or less extent, in different individuals. The skeleton varies +in the proportions, and even to a certain extent in the connexions, of +its constituent bones. The muscles which move the bones vary largely in +their attachments. The varieties in the mode of distribution of the +arteries are carefully classified, on account of the practical +importance of a knowledge of their shiftings to the surgeon. The +characters of the brain vary immensely, nothing being less constant than +the form and size of the cerebral hemispheres, and the richness of the +convolutions upon their surface, while the most changeable structures of +all in the human brain, are exactly those on which the unwise attempt +has been made to base the distinctive characters of humanity, viz. the +posterior cornu of the lateral ventricle, the hippocampus minor, and the +degree of projection of the posterior lobe beyond the cerebellum. +Finally, as all the world knows, the hair and skin of human beings may +present the most extraordinary diversities in colour and in texture. + +So far as our present knowledge goes, the majority of the structural +varieties to which allusion is here made, are individual. The ape-like +arrangement of certain muscles which is occasionally met with* in the +white races of mankind, is not known to be more common among Negroes or +Australians: ([Footnote] *See an excellent Essay by Mr. Church on the +Myology of the Orang, in the 'Natural History Review', for 1861.) nor +because the brain of the Hottentot Venus was found to be smoother, to +have its convolutions more symmetrically disposed, and to be, so far, +more ape-like than that of ordinary Europeans, are we justified in +concluding a like condition of the brain to prevail universally among +the lower races of mankind, however probable that conclusion may be. + +We are, in fact, sadly wanting in information respecting the disposition +of the soft and destructible organs of every Race of Mankind but our +own; and even of the skeleton, our Museums are lamentably deficient in +every part but the cranium. Skulls enough there are, and since the time +when Blumenbach and Camper first called attention to the marked and +singular differences which they exhibit, skull collecting and skull +measuring has been a zealously pursued branch of Natural History, and +the results obtained have been arranged and classified by various +writers, among whom the late active and able Retzius must always be the +first named. + +Human skulls have been found to differ from one another, not merely in +their absolute size and in the absolute capacity of the brain case, but +in the proportions which the diameters of the latter bear to one +another; in the relative size of the bones of the face (and more +particularly of the jaws and teeth) as compared with those of the skull; +in the degree to which the upper jaw (which is of course followed by the +lower) is thrown backwards and downwards under the fore-part of the +brain case, or forwards and upward in front of and beyond it. They +differ further in the relations of the transverse diameter of the face, +taken through the cheek bones, to the transverse diameter of the skull; +in the more rounded or more gable-like form of the roof of the skull, +and in the degree to which the hinder part of the skull is flattened or +projects beyond the ridge, into and below which, the muscles of the neck +are inserted. + +In some skulls the brain case may be said to be 'round,' the extreme +length not exceeding the extreme breadth by a greater proportion than +100 to 80, while the difference may be much less.* ([Footnote] *In no +normal human skull does the breadth of the brain-case exceed its +length.) Men possessing such skulls were termed by Retzius +'brachycephalic,' and the skull of a Calmuck, of which a front and side +view (reduced outline copies of which are given in Figure 26) are +depicted by Von Baer in his excellent, "Crania selecta," affords a very +admirable example of that kind of skull. Other skulls, such as that of a +Negro copied in Figure 27 from Mr. Busk's 'Crania typica,' have a very +different, greatly elongated form, and may be termed 'oblong.' In this +skull the extreme length is to the extreme breadth as 100 to not more +than 67, and the transverse diameter of the human skull may fall below +even this proportion. People having such skulls were called by Retzius +'dolichocephalic.' + +The most cursory glance at the side views of these two skulls will +suffice to prove that they differ, in another respect, to a very +striking extent. The profile of the face of the Calmuck is almost +vertical, the facial bones being thrown downwards and under the forepart +of the skull. The profile of the face of the Negro, on the other hand, +is singularly inclined, the front part of the jaws projecting far +forward beyond the level of the fore part of the skull. In the former +case the skull is said to be 'orthognathous' or straight-jawed; in the +latter, it is called 'prognathous,' a term which has been rendered, with +more force than elegance, by the Saxon equivalent,--'snouty.' + +Various methods have been devised in order to express with some accuracy +the degree of prognathism or orthognathism of any given skull; most of +these methods being essentially modifications of that devised by Peter +Camper, in order to attain what he called the 'facial angle.' + +But a little consideration will show that any 'facial angle' that has +been devised, can be competent to express the structural modifications +involved in prognathism and orthognathism, only in a rough and general +sort of way. For the lines, the intersection of which forms the facial +angle, are drawn through points of the skull, the position of each of +which is modified by a number of circumstances, so that the angle +obtained is a complex resultant of all these circumstances, and is not +the expression of any one definite organic relation of the parts of the +skull. + +(FIGURE 26.--Side and front views of the round and orthognathous skull +of a Calmuck, after Von Baer. One-third the natural size.) + +I have arrived at the conviction that no comparison of crania is worth +very much, that is not founded upon the establishment of a relatively +fixed base line, to which the measurements, in all cases, must be +referred. Nor do I think it is a very difficult matter to decide what +that base line should be. The parts of the skull, like those of the rest +of the animal framework, are developed in succession the base of the +skull is formed before its sides and roof; it is converted into +cartilage earlier and more completely than the sides and roof: and the +cartilaginous base ossifies, and becomes soldered into one piece long +before the roof. I conceive then that the base of the skull may be +demonstrated developmentally to be its relatively fixed part, the roof +and sides being relatively moveable. + +(FIGURE 27.--Oblong and prognathous skull of a Negro; side and front +views. One-third of the natural size.) + +The same truth is exemplified by the study of the modifications which +the skull undergoes in ascending from the lower animals up to man. + +(FIGURE 28.--Beaver, Lemur and Baboon. Longitudinal and vertical +sections of the skulls of a Beaver ('Castor Canadensis'), a Lemur ('L. +Catia'), and a Baboon ('Cynocephalus Papio'), 'a b', the basicranial +axis; 'b c', the occipital plane; 'i T', the tentorial plane; 'a d', the +olfactory plane; 'f e', the basifacial axis; 'c b a', occipital angle; +'T i a', tentorial angle; 'd a b', olfactory angle; 'e f b', +cranio-facial angle; 'g h', extreme length of the cavity which lodges +the cerebral hemispheres or 'cerebral length.' The length of the +basicranial axis as to this length, or, in other words, the proportional +length of the line 'g h' to that of 'a b' taken as 100, in the three +skulls, is as follows:--Beaver 70 to 100; Lemur 119 to 100; Baboon 144 +to 100. In an adult male Gorilla the cerebral length is as 170 to the +basicranial axis taken as 100, in the Negro (Figure 29) as 236 to 100. +In the Constantinople skull (Figure 29) as 266 to 100. The cranial +difference between the highest Ape's skull and the lowest Man's is +therefore very strikingly brought out by these measurements. In the +diagram of the Baboon's skull the dotted lines 'd1 d2', etc., give the +angles of the Lemur's and Beaver's skull, as laid down upon the +basicranial axis of the Baboon. The line 'a b' has the same length in +each diagram.) + +In such a mammal as a Beaver (Figure 28), a line ('a b'.) drawn through +the bones, termed basioccipital, basisphenoid, and presphenoid, is very +long in proportion to the extreme length of the cavity which contains +the cerebral hemispheres ('g h'.). The plane of the occipital foramen +('b c'.) forms a slightly acute angle with this 'basicranial axis,' +while the plane of the tentorium ('i T'.) is inclined at rather more +than 90 degrees to the 'basicranial axis'; and so is the plane of the +perforated plate ('a d'.), by which the filaments of the olfactory nerve +leave the skull. Again, a line drawn through the axis of the face, +between the bones called ethmoid and vomer--the "basifacial axis" ('f +e'.) forms an exceedingly obtuse angle, where, when produced, it cuts +the 'basicranial axis.' + +If the angle made by the line 'b c'. with 'a b'., be called the +'occipital angle,' and the angle made by the line 'a d'. with 'a b'. be +termed the 'olfactory angle,' and that made by 'i T'. with 'a b'. the +'tentorial angle,' then all these, in the mammal in question, are nearly +right angles, varying between 80 degrees and 110 degrees. the angle 'e f +b'., or that made by the cranial with the facial axis, and which may be +termed the 'cranio-facial angle,' is extremely obtuse, amounting, in the +case of the Beaver, to at least 150 degrees. + +But if a series of sections of mammalian skulls, intermediate between a +Rodent and a Man (Figure 28), be examined, it will be found that in the +higher crania the basicranial axis becomes shorter relatively to the +cerebral length; that the 'olfactory angle' and 'occipital angle' become +more obtuse; and that the 'cranio-facial angle' becomes more acute by +the bending down, as it were, of the facial axis upon the cranial axis. +At the same time, the roof of the cranium becomes more and more arched, +to allow of the increasing height of the cerebral hemispheres, which is +eminently characteristic of man, as well as of that backward extension, +beyond the cerebellum, which reaches its maximum in the South America +Monkeys. So that, at last, in the human skull (Figure 29), the cerebral +length is between twice and thrice as great as the length of the +basicranial axis; the olfactory plane is 20 degrees or 30 degrees on the +'under' side of that axis; the occipital angle, instead of being less +than 90 degrees, is as much as 150 degrees or 160 degrees; the +cranio-facial angle may be 90 degrees or less, and the vertical height +of the skull may have a large proportion to its length. + +It will be obvious, from an inspection of the diagrams, that the +basicranial axis is, in the ascending series of Mammalia, a relatively +fixed line, on which the bones of the sides and roof of the cranial +cavity, and of the face, may be said to revolve downwards and forwards +or backwards, according to their position. The arc described by any one +bone or plane, however, is not by any means always in proportion to the +arc described by another. + +Now comes the important question, can we discern, between the lowest and +the highest forms of the human cranium anything answering, in however +slight a degree, to this revolution of the side and roof bones of the +skull upon the basicranial axis observed upon so great a scale in the +mammalian series? Numerous observations lead me to believe that we must +answer this question in the affirmative. + +The diagrams in Figure 29 are reduced from very carefully made diagrams +of sections of four skulls, two round and orthognathous, two long and +prognathous, taken longitudinally and vertically, through the middle. +The sectional diagrams have then been superimposed, in such a manner, +that the basal axes of the skulls coincide by their anterior ends, and +in their direction. The deviations of the rest of the contours (which +represent the interior of the skulls only) show the differences of the +skulls from one another, when these axes are regarded as relatively +fixed lines. + +The dark contours are those of an Australian and of a Negro skull: the +light contours are those of a Tartar skull, in the Museum of the Royal +College of Surgeons; and of a well developed round skull from a cemetery +in Constantinople, of uncertain race, in my own possession. + +It appears, at once, from these views, that the prognathous skulls, so +far as their jaws are concerned, do really differ from the orthognathous +in much the same way as, though to a far less degree than, the skulls of +the lower mammals differ from those of Man. Furthermore, the plane of +the occipital foramen ('b c') forms a somewhat smaller angle with the +axis in these particular prognathous skulls than in the orthognathous; +and the like may be slightly true of the perforated plate of the +ethmoid--though this point is not so clear. But it is singular to remark +that, in another respect, the prognathous skulls are less ape-like than +the orthognathous, the cerebral cavity projecting decidedly more beyond +the anterior end of the axis in the prognathous, than in the +orthognathous, skulls. + +It will be observed that these diagrams reveal an immense range of +variation in the capacity and relative proportion to the cranial axis, +of the different regions of the cavity which contains the brain, in the +different skulls. Nor is the difference in the extent to which the +cerebral overlaps the cerebellar cavity less singular. A round skull +(Figure 29, 'Const'.) may have a greater posterior cerebral projection +than a long one (Figure 29, 'Negro'). + +Until human crania have been largely worked out in a manner similar to +that here suggested--until it shall be an opprobrium to an ethnological +collection to possess a single skull which is not bisected +longitudinally--until the angles and measurements here mentioned, +together with a number of others of which I cannot speak in this place, +are determined, and tabulated with reference to the basicranial axis as +unity, for large numbers of skulls of the different races of Mankind, I +do not think we shall have any very safe basis for that ethnological +craniology which aspires to give the anatomical characters of the crania +of the different Races of Mankind. + +At present, I believe that the general outlines of what may be safely +said upon that subject may be summed up in a very few words. Draw a line +on a globe from the Gold Coast in Western Africa to the steppes of +Tartary. At the southern and western end of that line there live the +most dolichocephalic, prognathous, curly-haired, dark-skinned of +men--the true Negroes. At the northern and eastern end of the same line +there live the most brachycephalic, orthognathous, straight-haired, +yellow-skinned of men--the Tartars and Calmucks. The two ends of this +imaginary line are indeed, so to speak, ethnological antipodes. A line +drawn at right angles, or nearly so, to this polar line through Europe +and Southern Asia to Hindostan, would give us a sort of equator, around +which round-headed, oval-headed, and oblong-headed, prognathous and +orthognathous, fair and dark races--but none possessing the excessively +marked characters of Calmuck or Negro--group themselves. + +(FIGURE 29.--Sections of orthognathous (light contour) and prognathous +(dark contour) skulls, one-third of the natural size. 'a b', Basicranial +axis; 'b c, b1 c1', plane of the occipital foramen; 'd d1', hinder end +of the palatine bone; 'e e1', front end of the upper jaw; 'T T1', +insertion of the tentorium.) + +It is worthy of notice that the regions of the antipodal races are +antipodal in climate, the greatest contrast the world affords, perhaps, +being that between the damp, hot, steaming, alluvial coast plains of the +West Coast of Africa and the arid, elevated steppes and plateaux of +Central Asia, bitterly cold in winter, and as far from the sea as any +part of the world can be. + +From Central Asia eastward to the Pacific Islands and subcontinents on +the one hand, and to America on the other, brachycephaly and +orthognathism gradually diminish, and are replaced by dolichocephaly and +prognathism, less, however, on the American Continent (throughout the +whole length of which a rounded type of skull prevails largely, but not +exclusively)* than in the Pacific region, where, at length, on the +Australian Continent and in the adjacent islands, the oblong skull, the +projecting jaws, and the dark skin reappear; with so much departure, in +other respects, from the Negro type, that ethnologists assign to these +people the special title of 'Negritoes.' ([Footnote] *See Dr. D. +Wilson's valuable paper "On the supposed prevalence of one Cranial Type +throughout the American aborigines."--'Canadian Journal', vol. ii., +1857.) + +The Australian skull is remarkable for its narrowness and for the +thickness of its walls, especially in the region of the supraciliary +ridge, which is frequently, though not by any means invariably, solid +throughout, the frontal sinuses remaining undeveloped. The nasal +depression, again, is extremely sudden, so that the brows overhang and +give the countenance a particularly lowering, threatening expression. +The occipital region of the skull, also, not unfrequently becomes less +prominent; so that it not only fails to project beyond a line drawn +perpendicular to the hinder extremity of the glabello-occipital line, +but even, in some cases, begins to shelve away from it, forwards, almost +immediately. In consequence of this circumstance, the parts of the +occipital bone which lie above and below the tuberosity make a much more +acute angle with one another than is usual, whereby the hinder part of +the base of the skull appears obliquely truncated. Many Australian +skulls have a considerable height, quite equal to that of the average of +any other race, but there are others in which the cranial roof becomes +remarkably depressed, the skull, at the same time, elongating so much +that, probably, its capacity is not diminished. The majority of skulls +possessing these characters, which I have seen, are from the +neighbourhood of Port Adelaide in South Australia, and have been used by +the natives as water vessels; to which end the face has been knocked +away, and a string passed through the vacuity and the occipital foramen, +so that the skull was suspended by the greater part of its basis. + +(FIGURE 30.--An Australian skull from Western Port, in the Museum of the +Royal College of Surgeons, with the contour of the Neanderthal skull. +Both reduced to one-third the natural size.) + +Figure 30 represents the contour of a skull of this kind from Western +Port, with the jaw attached, and of the Neanderthal skull, both reduced +to one-third of the size of nature. A small additional amount of +flattening and lengthening, with a corresponding increase of the +supraciliary ridge, would convert the Australian brain case into a form +identical with that of the aberrant fossil. + +And now, to return to the fossil skulls, and to the rank which they +occupy among, or beyond, these existing varieties of cranial +conformation. In the first place, I must remark, that, as Professor +Schmerling well observed ('supra', p. 300) in commenting upon the Engis +skull, the formation of a safe judgment upon the question is greatly +hindered by the absence of the jaws from both the crania, so that there +is no means of deciding with certainty, whether they were more or less +prognathous than the lower existing races of mankind. And yet, as we +have seen, it is more in this respect than any other, that human skulls +vary, towards and from, the brutal type--the brain case of an average +dolichocephalic European differing far less from that of a Negro, for +example, than his jaws do. In the absence of the jaws, then, any +judgment on the relations of the fossil skulls to recent Races must be +accepted with a certain reservation. + +But taking the evidence as it stands, and turning first to the Engis +skull, I confess I can find no character in the remains of that cranium +which, if it were a recent skull, would give any trustworthy clue as to +the Race to which it might appertain. Its contours and measurements +agree very well with those of some Australian skulls which I have +examined--and especially has it a tendency towards that occipital +flattening, to the great extent of which, in some Australian skulls, I +have alluded. But all Australian skulls do not present this flattening, +and the supraciliary ridge of the Engis skull is quite unlike that of +the typical Australians. + +On the other hand, its measurements agree equally well with those of +some European skulls. And assuredly, there is no mark of degradation +about any part of its structure. It is, in fact, a fair average human +skull, which might have belonged to a philosopher, or might have +contained the thoughtless brains of a savage. + +The case of the Neanderthal skull is very different. Under whatever +aspect we view this cranium, whether we regard its vertical depression, +the enormous thickness of its supraciliary ridges, its sloped occiput, +or its long and straight squamosal suture, we meet with ape-like +characters, stamping it as the most pithecoid of human crania yet +discovered. But Professor Schaaffhausen states ('supra', p. 308), that +the cranium, in its present condition, holds 1033.24 cubic centimetres +of water, or about 63 cubic inches, and as the entire skull could hardly +have held less than an additional 12 cubic inches, its capacity may be +estimated at about 75 cubic inches, which is the average capacity given +by Morton for Polynesian and Hottentot skulls. + +So large a mass of brain as this, would alone suggest that the pithecoid +tendencies, indicated by this skull, did not extend deep into the +organization; and this conclusion is borne out by the dimensions of the +other bones of the skeleton given by Professor Schaaffhausen, which show +that the absolute height and relative proportions of the limbs were +quite those of an European of middle stature. The bones are indeed +stouter, but this and the great development of the muscular ridges noted +by Dr. Schaaffhausen, are characters to be expected in savages. The +Patagonians, exposed without shelter or protection to a climate possibly +not very dissimilar from that of Europe at the time during which the +Neanderthal man lived, are remarkable for the stoutness of their limb +bones. + +(FIGURE 31.--Ancient Danish skull from a tumulus at Borreby: one-third +of the natural size. From a camera lucida drawing by Mr. Busk.) + +In no sense, then, can the Neanderthal bones be regarded as the remains +of a human being intermediate between Men and Apes. At most, they +demonstrate the existence of a man whose skull may be said to revert +somewhat towards the pithecoid type--just as a Carrier, or a Pouter, or +a Tumbler, may sometimes put on the plumage of its primitive stock, the +'Columba livia'. And indeed, though truly the most pithecoid of known +human skulls, the Neanderthal cranium is by no means so isolated as it +appears to be at first, but forms, in reality, the extreme term of a +series leading gradually from it to the highest and best developed of +human crania. On the one hand, it is closely approached by the flattened +Australian skulls, of which I have spoken, from which other Australian +forms lead us gradually up to skulls having very much the type of the +Engis cranium. And, on the other hand, it is even more closely affined +to the skulls of certain ancient people who inhabited Denmark during the +'stone period,' and were probably either contemporaneous with, or later +than, the makers of the 'refuse heaps,' or 'Kjokkenmoddings' of that +country. + +The correspondence between the longitudinal contour of the Neanderthal +skull and that of some of those skulls from the tumuli at Borreby, very +accurate drawings of which have been made by Mr. Busk, is very close. +The occiput is quite as retreating, the supraciliary ridges are nearly +as prominent, and the skull is as low. Furthermore, the Borreby skull +resembles the Neanderthal form more closely than any of the Australian +skulls do, by the much more rapid retrocession of the forehead. On the +other hand, the Borreby skulls are all somewhat broader, in proportion +to their length, than the Neanderthal skull, while some attain that +proportion of breadth to length (80:100) which constitutes +brachycephaly. + +In conclusion, I may say, that the fossil remains of Man hitherto +discovered do not seem to me to take us appreciably nearer to that lower +pithecoid form, by the modification of which he has, probably, become +what he is. And considering what is now known of the most ancient races +of men; seeing that they fashioned flint axes and flint knives and +bone-skewers, of much the same pattern as those fabricated by the lowest +savages at the present day, and that we have every reason to believe the +habits and modes of living of such people to have remained the same from +the time of the Mammoth and the tichorhine Rhinoceros till now, I do not +know that this result is other than might be expected. + +Where, then, must we look for primaeval Man? Was the oldest 'Homo +sapiens' pliocene or miocene, or yet more ancient? In still older strata +do the fossilized bones of an Ape more anthropoid, or a Man more +pithecoid, than any yet known await the researches of some unborn +paleontologist? + +Time will show. But, in the meanwhile, if any form of the doctrine of +progressive development is correct, we must extend by long epochs the +most liberal estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of Man. + +End of On Some Fossil Remains of Man. + +*** + + +ON THE ADVISABLENESS OF IMPROVING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE.* + +([Footnote] *A Lay Sermon delivered in St. Martin's Hall on Sunday, +January 7th, 1866, and subsequently published in the 'Fortnightly +Review'.) + +This time two hundred years ago--in the beginning of January, +1666--those of our forefathers who inhabited this great and ancient +city, took breath between the shocks of two fearful calamities: one not +quite past, although its fury had abated; the other to come. + +Within a few yards of the very spot on which we are assembled, so the +tradition runs, that painful and deadly malady, the plague, appeared in +the latter months of 1664; and, though no new visitor, smote the people +of England, and especially of her capital, with a violence unknown +before, in the course of the following year. The hand of a master has +pictured what happened in those dismal months; and in that truest of +fictions, 'The History of the Plague Year', Defoe shows death, with +every accompaniment of pain and terror, stalking through the narrow +streets of old London, and changing their busy hum into a silence broken +only by the wailing of the mourners of fifty thousand dead; by the woful +denunciations and mad prayers of fanatics; and by the madder yells of +despairing profligates. + +But about this time in 1666, the death-rate had sunk to nearly its +ordinary amount; a case of plague occurred only here and there, and the +richer citizens who had flown from the pest had returned to their +dwellings. The remnant of the people began to toil at the accustomed +round of duty, or of pleasure; and the stream of city life bid fair to +flow back along its old bed, with renewed and uninterrupted vigour. + +The newly kindled hope was deceitful. The great plague, indeed, returned +no more; but what it had done for the Londoners, the great fire, which +broke out in the autumn of 1666, did for London; and, in September of +that year, a heap of ashes and the indestructible energy of the people +were all that remained of the glory of five-sixths of the city within +the walls. + +Our forefathers had their own ways of accounting for each of these +calamities. They submitted to the plague in humility and in penitence, +for they believed it to be the judgment of God. But, towards the fire +they were furiously indignant, interpreting it as the effect of the +malice of man,--as the work of the Republicans, or of the Papists, +according as their prepossessions ran in favour of loyalty or of +Puritanism. + +It would, I fancy, have fared but ill with one who, standing where I now +stand, in what was then a thickly peopled and fashionable part of +London, should have broached to our ancestors the doctrine which I now +propound to you--that all their hypotheses were alike wrong; that the +plague was no more, in their sense, Divine judgment, than the fire was +the work of any political, or of any religious, sect; but that they were +themselves the authors of both plague and fire, and that they must look +to themselves to prevent the recurrence of calamities, to all appearance +so peculiarly beyond the reach of human control--so evidently the result +of the wrath of God, or of the craft and subtlety of an enemy. + +And one may picture to one's self how harmoniously the holy cursing of +the Puritan of that day would have chimed in with the unholy cursing and +the crackling wit of the Rochesters and Sedleys, and with the revilings +of the political fanatics, if my imaginary plain dealer had gone on to +say that, if the return of such misfortunes were ever rendered +impossible, it would not be in virtue of the victory of the faith of +Laud, or of that of Milton; and, as little, by the triumph of +republicanism, as by that of monarchy. But that the one thing needful +for compassing this end was, that the people of England should second +the effort of an insignificant corporation, the establishment of which, +a few years before the epoch of the great plague and the great fire, had +been as little noticed, as they were conspicuous. + +Some twenty years before the outbreak of the plague a few calm and +thoughtful students banded themselves together for the purpose, as they +phrased it, of "improving natural knowledge." The ends they proposed to +attain cannot be stated more clearly than in the words of one of the +founders of the organization:-- + +"Our business was (precluding matters of theology and state affairs) to +discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries, and such as related +thereunto:--as Physick, Anatomy, Geometry, Astronomy, Navigation, +Staticks, Magneticks, Chymicks, Mechanicks, and Natural Experiments; +with the state of these studies and their cultivation at home and +abroad. We then discoursed of the circulation of the blood, the valves +in the veins, the venae lacteae, the lymphatic vessels, the Copernican +hypothesis, the nature of comets and new stars, the satellites of +Jupiter, the oval shape (as it then appeared) of Saturn, the spots on +the sun and its turning on its own axis, the inequalities and +selenography of the moon, the several phases of Venus and Mercury, the +improvement of telescopes and grinding of glasses for that purpose, the +weight of air, the possibility or impossibility of vacuities and +nature's abhorrence thereof, the Torricellian experiment in quicksilver, +the descent of heavy bodies and the degree of acceleration therein, with +divers other things of like nature, some of which were then but new +discoveries, and others not so generally known and embraced as now they +are; with other things appertaining to what hath been called the New +Philosophy, which from the times of Galileo at Florence, and Sir Francis +Bacon (Lord Verulam) in England, hath been much cultivated in Italy, +France, Germany, and other parts abroad, as well as with us in England." + +The learned Dr. Wallis, writing in 1696, narrates in these words, what +happened half a century before, or about 1645. The associates met at +Oxford, in the rooms of Dr. Wilkins, who was destined to become a +bishop; and subsequently coming together in London, they attracted the +notice of the king. And it is a strange evidence of the taste for +knowledge which the most obviously worthless of the Stuarts shared with +his father and grandfather, that Charles the Second was not content with +saying witty things about his philosophers, but did wise things with +regard to them. For he not only bestowed upon them such attention as he +could spare from his poodles and his mistresses, but being in his usual +state of impecuniosity, begged for them of the Duke of Ormond; and, that +step being without effect, gave them Chelsea College, a charter, and a +mace: crowning his favours in the best way they could be crowned, by +burdening them no further with royal patronage or state interference. + +Thus it was that the half-dozen young men, studious of the "New +Philosophy," who met in one another's lodgings in Oxford or in London, +in the middle of the seventeenth century, grew in numerical and in real +strength, until, in the latter part, the "Royal Society for the +improvement of Natural Knowledge" had already become famous, and had +acquired a claim upon the veneration of Englishmen, which it has ever +since retained, as the principal focus of scientific activity in our +islands, and the chief champion of the cause it was formed to support. + +It was by the aid of the Royal Society that Newton published his +'Principia'. If all the books in the world, except the Philosophical +Transactions, were destroyed, it is safe to say that the foundations of +physical science would remain unshaken, and that the vast intellectual +progress of the last two centuries would be largely, though +incompletely, recorded. Nor have any signs of halting or of decrepitude +manifested themselves in our own times. As in Dr. Wallis's days, so in +these, "our business is, precluding theology and state affairs, to +discourse and consider of philosophical enquiries." But our +"Mathematick" is one which Newton would have to go to school to learn; +our "Staticks, Mechanicks, Magneticks, Chymicks, and Natural +Experiments" constitute a mass of physical and chemical knowledge, a +glimpse at which would compensate Galileo for the doings of a score of +inquisitorial cardinals; our "Physick" and "Anatomy" have embraced such +infinite varieties of being, have laid open such new worlds in time and +space, have grappled, not unsuccessfully, with such complex problems, +that the eyes of Vesalius and of Harvey might be dazzled by the sight of +the tree that has grown out of their grain of mustard seed. + +The fact is perhaps rather too much, than too little, forced upon one's +notice, nowadays, that all this marvellous intellectual growth has a no +less wonderful expression in practical life; and that, in this respect, +if in no other, the movement symbolized by the progress of the Royal +Society stands without a parallel in the history of mankind. + +A series of volumes as bulky as the 'Transactions of the Royal Society' +might possibly be filled with the subtle speculations of the Schoolmen; +not improbably, the obtaining a mastery over the products of mediaeval +thought might necessitate an even greater expenditure of time and of +energy than the acquirement of the "New Philosophy"; but though such +work engrossed the best intellects of Europe for a longer time than has +elapsed since the great fire, its effects were "writ in water," so far +as our social state is concerned. + +On the other hand, if the noble first President of the Royal Society +could revisit the upper air and once more gladden his eyes with a sight +of the familiar mace, he would find himself in the midst of a material +civilization more different from that of his day, than that of the +seventeenth was from that of the first century. And if Lord Brouncker's +native sagacity had not deserted his ghost, he would need no long +reflection to discover that all these great ships, these railways, these +telegraphs, these factories, these printing-presses, without which the +whole fabric of modern English society would collapse into a mass of +stagnant and starving pauperism,--that all these pillars of our State +are but the ripples, and the bubbles upon the surface of that great +spiritual stream, the springs of which, only, he and his fellows were +privileged to see; and seeing, to recognise as that which it behoved +them above all things to keep pure and undefiled. + +It may not be too great a flight of imagination to conceive our noble +'revenant' not forgetful of the great troubles of his own day, and +anxious to know how often London had been burned down since his time, +and how often the plague had carried off its thousands. He would have to +learn that, although London contains tenfold the inflammable matter that +it did in 1666; though, not content with filling our rooms with woodwork +and light draperies, we must needs lead inflammable and explosive gases +into every corner of our streets and houses, we never allow even a +street to burn down. And if he asked how this had come about, we should +have to explain that the improvement of natural knowledge has furnished +us with dozens of machines for throwing water upon fires, any one of +which would have furnished the ingenious Mr. Hooke, the first "curator +and experimenter" of the Royal Society, with ample materials for +discourse before half a dozen meetings of that body; and that, to say +truth, except for the progress of natural knowledge, we should not have +been able to make even the tools by which these machines are +constructed. And, further, it would be necessary to add, that although +severe fires sometimes occur and inflict great damage, the loss is very +generally compensated by societies, the operations of which have been +rendered possible only by the progress of natural knowledge in the +direction of mathematics, and the accumulation of wealth in virtue of +other natural knowledge. + +But the plague? My Lord Brouncker's observation would not, I fear, lead +him to think that Englishmen of the nineteenth century are purer in +life, or more fervent in religious faith, than the generation which +could produce a Boyle, an Evelyn, and a Milton. He might find the mud of +society at the bottom, instead of at the top, but I fear that the sum +total would be a deserving of swift judgment as at the time of the +Restoration. And it would be our duty to explain once more, and this +time not without shame, that we have no reason to believe that it is the +improvement of our faith, nor that of our morals, which keeps the plague +from our city; but, again, that it is the improvement of our natural +knowledge. + +We have learned that pestilences will only take up their abode among +those who have prepared unswept and ungarnished residences for them. +Their cities must have narrow, unwatered streets, foul with accumulated +garbage. Their houses must be ill-drained, ill-lighted, ill-ventilated. +Their subjects must be ill-washed, ill-fed, ill-clothed. The London of +1665 was such a city. The cities of the East, where plague has an +enduring dwelling, are such cities. We, in later times, have learned +somewhat of Nature, and partly obey her. Because of this partial +improvement of our natural knowledge and of that fractional obedience, +we have no plague; because that knowledge is still very imperfect and +that obedience yet incomplete, typhus is our companion and cholera our +visitor. But it is not presumptuous to express the belief that, when our +knowledge is more complete and our obedience the expression of our +knowledge, London will count her centuries of freedom from typhus and +cholera, as she now gratefully reckons her two hundred years of +ignorance of that plague which swooped upon her thrice in the first half +of the seventeenth century. + +Surely, there is nothing in these explanations which is not fully borne +out by the facts? Surely, the principles involved in them are now +admitted among the fixed beliefs of all thinking men? Surely, it is true +that our countrymen are less subject to fire, famine, pestilence, and +all the evils which result from a want of command over and due +anticipation of the course of Nature, than were the countrymen of +Milton; and health, wealth, and well-being are more abundant with us +than with them? But no less certainly is the difference due to the +improvement of our knowledge of Nature, and the extent to which that +improved knowledge has been incorporated with the household words of +men, and has supplied the springs of their daily actions. + +Granting for a moment, then, the truth of that which the depreciators of +natural knowledge are so fond of urging, that its improvement can only +add to the resources of our material civilization; admitting it to be +possible that the founders of the Royal Society themselves looked for no +other reward than this, I cannot confess that I was guilty of +exaggeration when I hinted, that to him who had the gift of +distinguishing between prominent events and important events, the origin +of a combined effort on the part of mankind to improve natural knowledge +might have loomed larger than the Plague and have outshone the glare of +the Fire; as a something fraught with a wealth of beneficence to +mankind, in comparison with which the damage done by those ghastly evils +would shrink into insignificance. + +It is very certain that for every victim slain by the plague, hundreds +of mankind exist and find a fair share of happiness in the world by the +aid of the spinning jenny. And the great fire, at its worst, could not +have burned the supply of coal, the daily working of which, in the +bowels of the earth, made possible by the steam pump, gives rise to an +amount of wealth to which the millions lost in old London are but as an +old song. + +But spinning jenny and steam pump are, after all, but toys, possessing +an accidental value; and natural knowledge creates multitudes of more +subtle contrivances, the praises of which do not happen to be sung +because they are not directly convertible into instruments of creating +wealth. When I contemplate natural knowledge squandering such gifts +among men, the only appropriate comparison I can find for her is, to +liken her to such a peasant woman as one sees in the Alps, striding ever +upward, heavily burdened, and with mind bent only on her home; but yet, +without effort and without thought, knitting for her children. Now +stockings are good and comfortable things, and the children will +undoubtedly be much the better for them; but surely it would be +short-sighted, to say the least of it, to depreciate this toiling mother +as a mere stocking-machine--a mere provider of physical comforts? + +However, there are blind leaders of the blind, and not a few of them, +who take this view of natural knowledge, and can see nothing in the +bountiful mother of humanity but a sort of comfort-grinding machine. +According to them, the improvement of natural knowledge always has been, +and always must be, synonymous with no more than the improvement of the +material resources and the increase of the gratification of men. + +Natural knowledge is, in their eyes, no real mother of mankind, bringing +them up with kindness, and if need be, with sternness, in the way they +should go, and instructing them in all things needful for their welfare; +but a sort of fairy godmother, ready to furnish her pets with shoes of +swiftness, swords of sharpness, and omnipotent Aladdin's lamps, so that +they may have telegraphs to Saturn, and see the other side of the moon, +and thank God they are better than their benighted ancestors. + +If this talk were true, I, for one, should not greatly care to toil in +the service of natural knowledge. I think I would just as soon be +quietly chipping my own flint axe, after the manner of my forefathers a +few thousand years back, as be troubled with the endless malady of +thought which now infests us all, for such reward. But I venture to say +that such views are contrary alike to reason and to fact. Those who +discourse in such fashion seem to me to be so intent upon trying to see +what is above Nature, or what is behind her, that they are blind to what +stares them in the face, in her. + +I should not venture to speak thus strongly if my justification were not +to be found in the simplest and most obvious facts,--if it needed more +than an appeal to the most notorious truths to justify my assertion, +that the improvement of natural knowledge, whatever direction it has +taken, and however low the aims of those who may have commenced it--has +not only conferred practical benefits on men, but, in so doing, has +effected a revolution in their conceptions of the universe and of +themselves, and has profoundly altered their modes of thinking and their +views of right and wrong. I say that natural knowledge, seeking to +satisfy natural wants, has found the ideas which can alone still +spiritual cravings. I way that natural knowledge, in desiring to +ascertain the laws of comfort, has been driven to discover those of +conduct, and to lay the foundations of a new morality. + +Let us take these points separately; and, first, what great ideas has +natural knowledge introduced into men's minds? + +I cannot but think that the foundations of all natural knowledge were +laid when the reason of man first came face to face with the facts of +Nature; when the savage first learned that the fingers of one hand are +fewer than those of both; that it is shorter to cross a stream than to +head it; that a stone stops where it is unless it be moved, and that it +drops from the hand which lets it go; that light and heat come and go +with the sun; that sticks burn away to a fire; that plants and animals +grow and die; that if he struck his fellow-savage a blow he would make +him angry, and perhaps get a blow in return, while if he offered him a +fruit he would please him, and perhaps receive a fish in exchange. When +men had acquired this much knowledge, the outlines, rude though they +were, of mathematics, of physics, of chemistry, of biology, of moral, +economical, and political science, were sketched. Nor did the germ of +religion fail when science began to bud. Listen to words which though +new, are yet three thousand years old:-- + + "...When in heaven the stars about the moon + Look beautiful, when all the winds are laid, + And every height comes out, and jutting peak + And valley, and the immeasurable heavens + Break open to their highest, and all the stars + Shine, and the shepherd gladdens in his heart."* + +([Footnote] *Need it be said that this is Tennyson's English for Homer's +Greek?) + +If the half-savage Greek could share our feelings thus far, it is +irrational to doubt that he went further, to find, as we do, that upon +that brief gladness there follows a certain sorrow,--the little light of +awakened human intelligence shines so mere a spark amidst the abyss of +the unknown and unknowable; seems so insufficient to do more than +illuminate the imperfections that cannot be remedied, the aspirations +that cannot be realized, of man's own nature. But in this sadness, this +consciousness of the limitation of man, this sense of an open secret +which he cannot penetrate, lies the essence of all religion; and the +attempt to embody it in the forms furnished by the intellect is the +origin of the higher theologies. + +Thus it seems impossible to imagine but that the foundations of all +knowledge--secular or sacred--were laid when intelligence dawned, though +the superstructure remained for long ages so slight and feeble as to be +compatible with the existence of almost any general view respecting the +mode of governance of the universe. No doubt, from the first, there were +certain phenomena which, to the rudest mind, presented a constancy of +occurrence, and suggested that a fixed order ruled, at any rate, among +them. I doubt if the grossest of Fetish worshippers ever imagined that a +stone must have a god within it to make it fall, or that a fruit had a +god within it to make it taste sweet. With regard to such matters as +these, it is hardly questionable that mankind from the first took +strictly positive and scientific views. + +But, with respect to all the less familiar occurrences which present +themselves, uncultured man, no doubt, has always taken himself as the +standard of comparison, as the centre and measure of the world; nor +could he well avoid doing so. And finding that his apparently uncaused +will has a powerful effect in giving rise to many occurrences, he +naturally enough ascribed other and greater events to other and greater +volitions, and came to look upon the world and all that therein is, as +the product of the volitions of persons like himself, but stronger, and +capable of being appeased or angered, as he himself might be soothed or +irritated. Through such conceptions of the plan and working of the +universe all mankind have passed, or are passing. And we may now +consider, what has been the effect of the improvement of natural +knowledge on the views of men who have reached this stage, and who have +begun to cultivate natural knowledge with no desire but that of +"increasing God's honour and bettering man's estate." + +For example, what could seem wiser, from a mere material point of view, +more innocent, from a theological one, to an ancient people, than that +they should learn the exact succession of the seasons, as warnings for +their husbandmen; or the position of the stars, as guides to their rude +navigators? But what has grown out of this search for natural knowledge +of so merely useful a character? You all know the reply. +Astronomy,--which of all sciences has filled men's minds with general +ideas of a character most foreign to their daily experience, and has, +more than any other, rendered it impossible for them to accept the +beliefs of their fathers. Astronomy,--which tells them that this so vast +and seemingly solid earth is but an atom among atoms, whirling, no man +knows whither, through illimitable space; which demonstrates that what +we call the peaceful heaven above us, is but that space, filled by an +infinitely subtle matter whose particles are seething and surging, like +the waves of an angry sea; which opens up to us infinite regions where +nothing is known, or ever seems to have been known, but matter and +force, operating according to rigid rules; which leads us to contemplate +phenomena the very nature of which demonstrates that they must have had +a beginning, and that they must have an end, but the very nature of +which also proves that the beginning was, to our conceptions of time, +infinitely remote, and that the end is as immeasurably distant. + +But it is not alone those who pursue astronomy who ask for bread and +receive ideas. What more harmless than the attempt to lift and +distribute water by pumping it; what more absolutely and grossly +utilitarian? But out of pumps grew the discussions about Nature's +abhorrence of a vacuum; and then it was discovered that Nature does not +abhor a vacuum, but that air has weight; and that notion paved the way +for the doctrine that all matter has weight, and that the force which +produces weight is co-extensive with the universe,--in short, to the +theory of universal gravitation and endless force. While learning how to +handle gases led to the discovery of oxygen, and to modern chemistry, +and to the notion of the indestructibility of matter. + +Again, what simpler, or more absolutely practical, than the attempt to +keep the axle of a wheel from heating when the wheel turns round very +fast? How useful for carters and gig drivers to know something about +this; and how good were it, if any ingenious person would find out the +cause of such phenomena, and thence educe a general remedy for them. +Such an ingenious person was Count Rumford; and he and his successors +have landed us in the theory of the persistence, or indestructibility, +of force. And in the infinitely minute, as in the infinitely great, the +seekers after natural knowledge, of the kinds called physical and +chemical, have everywhere found a definite order and succession of +events which seem never to be infringed. + +And how has it fared with "Physick" and Anatomy? Have the anatomist, the +physiologist, or the physician, whose business it has been to devote +themselves assiduously to that eminently practical and direct end, the +alleviation of the sufferings of mankind,--have they been able to +confine their vision more absolutely to the strictly useful? I fear they +are worst offenders of all. For if the astronomer has set before us the +infinite magnitude of space, and the practical eternity of the duration +of the universe; if the physical and chemical philosophers have +demonstrated the infinite minuteness of its constituent parts, and the +practical eternity of matter and of force; and if both have alike +proclaimed the universality of a definite and predicable order and +succession of events, the workers in biology have not only accepted all +these, but have added more startling theses of their own. For, as the +astronomers discover in the earth no centre of the universe, but an +eccentric speck, so the naturalists find man to be no centre of the +living world, but one amidst endless modifications of life; and as the +astronomer observes the mark of practically endless time set upon the +arrangements of the solar system so the student of life finds the +records of ancient forms of existence peopling the world for ages, +which, in relation to human experience, are infinite. + +Furthermore, the physiologist finds life to be as dependent for its +manifestation on particular molecular arrangements as any physical or +chemical phenomenon; and, whenever he extends his researches, fixed +order and unchanging causation reveal themselves, as plainly as in the +rest of Nature. + +Nor can I find that any other fate has awaited the germ of Religion. +Arising, like all other kinds of knowledge, and out of the action and +interaction of man's mind, with that which is not man's mind, it has +taken the intellectual coverings of Fetishism or Polytheism; of Theism +or Atheism; of Superstition or Rationalism. With these, and their +relative merits and demerits, I have nothing to do; but this it is +needful for my purpose to say, that if the religion of the present +differs from that of the past, it is because the theology of the present +has become more scientific than that of the past; because it has not +only renounced idols of wood and idols of stone, but begins to see the +necessity of breaking in pieces the idols built up of books and +traditions and fine-spun ecclesiastical cobwebs: and of cherishing the +noblest and most human of man's emotions, by worship "for the most part +of the silent sort" at the altar of the Unknown and Unknowable. + +Such are a few of the new conceptions implanted in our minds by the +improvement of natural knowledge. Men have acquired the ideas of the +practically infinite extent of the universe and of its practical +eternity; they are familiar with the conception that our earth is but an +infinitesimal fragment of that part of the universe which can be seen; +and that, nevertheless, its duration is, as compared with our standards +of time, infinite. They have further acquired the idea that man is but +one of innumerable forms of life now existing in the globe, and that the +present existences are but the last of an immeasurable series of +predecessors. Moreover, every step they have made in natural knowledge +has tended to extend and rivet in their minds the conception of a +definite order of the universe--which is embodied in what are called, by +an unhappy metaphor, the laws of Nature--and to narrow the range and +loosen the force of men's belief in spontaneity, or in changes other +than such as arise out of that definite order itself. + +Whether these ideas are well or ill founded is not the question. No one +can deny that they exist, and have been the inevitable outgrowth of the +improvement of natural knowledge. And if so, it cannot be doubted that +they are changing the form of men's most cherished and most important +convictions. + +And as regards the second point--the extent to which the improvement of +natural knowledge has remodelled and altered what may be termed the +intellectual ethics of men,--what are among the moral convictions most +fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people. + +They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of belief; +that merit attaches to a readiness to believe; that the doubting +disposition is a bad one, and scepticism a sin; that when good authority +has pronounced what is to be believed, and faith has accepted it, reason +has no further duty. There are many excellent persons who yet hold by +these principles, and it is not my present business, or intention, to +discuss their views. All I wish to bring clearly before your minds is +the unquestionable fact, that the improvement of natural knowledge is +effected by methods which directly give the lie to all these +convictions, and assume the exact reverse of each to be true. + +The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge +authority, as such. For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind +faith the one unpardonable sin. And it cannot be otherwise, for every +great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection +of authority, the cherishing of the keenest scepticism, the annihilation +of the spirit of blind faith; and the most ardent votary of science +holds his firmest convictions, not because the men he most venerates +hold them; not because their verity is testified by portents and +wonders; but because his experience teaches him that whenever he chooses +to bring these convictions into contact with their primary source, +Nature--whenever he thinks fit to test them by appealing to experiment +and to observation--Nature will confirm them. The man of science has +learned to believe in justification, not by faith, but by verification. + +Thus, without for a moment pretending to despise the practical results +of the improvement of natural knowledge, and its beneficial influence on +material civilization, it must, I think, be admitted that the great +ideas, some of which I have indicated, and the ethical spirit which I +have endeavoured to sketch, in the few moments which remained at my +disposal, constitute the real and permanent significance of natural +knowledge. + +If these ideas be destined, as I believe they are, to be more and more +firmly established as the world grows older; if that spirit be fated, as +I believe it is, to extend itself into all departments of human thought, +and to become co-extensive with the range of knowledge; if, as our race +approaches its maturity, it discovers, as I believe it will, that there +is but one kind of knowledge and but one method of acquiring it; then +we, who are still children, may justly feel it our highest duty to +recognise the advisableness of improving natural knowledge, and so to +aid ourselves and our successors in their course towards the noble goal +which lies before mankind. + +End of On the Advisableness of Improving Natural Knowledge. + +*** + + +ON THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered at the South Kensington Museum in +1861.) + +Natural History is the name familiarly applied to the study of the +properties of such natural bodies as minerals, plants, and animals; the +sciences which embody the knowledge man has acquired upon these subjects +are commonly termed Natural Sciences, in contradistinction to other +so-called "physical" sciences; and those who devote themselves +especially to the pursuit of such sciences have been and are commonly +termed "Naturalists." + +Linnaeus was a naturalist in this wide sense, and his 'Systema Naturae' +was a work upon natural history, in the broadest acceptation of the +term; in it, that great methodising spirit embodied all that was known +in his time of the distinctive characters of minerals, animals, and +plants. But the enormous stimulus which Linnaeus gave to the +investigation of nature soon rendered it impossible that any one man +should write another 'Systema Naturae,' and extremely difficult for any +one to become even a naturalist such as Linnaeus was. + +Great as have been the advances made by all the three branches of +science, of old included under the title of natural history, there can +be no doubt that zoology and botany have grown in an enormously greater +ratio than mineralogy; and hence, as I suppose, the name of "natural +history" has gradually become more and more definitely attached to these +prominent divisions of the subject, and by "naturalist" people have +meant more and more distinctly to imply a student of the structure and +function of living beings. + +However this may be, it is certain that the advance of knowledge has +gradually widened the distance between mineralogy and its old +associates, while it has drawn zoology and botany closer together; so +that of late years it has been found convenient (and indeed necessary) +to associate the sciences which deal with vitality and all its phenomena +under the common head of "biology"; and the biologists have come to +repudiate any blood-relationship with their foster-brothers, the +mineralogists. + +Certain broad laws have a general application throughout both the animal +and the vegetable worlds, but the ground common to these kingdoms of +nature is not of very wide extent, and the multiplicity of details is so +great, that the student of living beings finds himself obliged to devote +his attention exclusively either to the one or the other. If he elects +to study plants, under any aspect, we know at once what to call him. He +is a botanist, and his science is botany. But if the investigation of +animal life be his choice, the name generally applied to him will vary +according to the kind of animals he studies, or the particular phenomena +of animal life to which he confines his attention. If the study of man +is his object, he is called an anatomist, or a physiologist, or an +ethnologist; but if he dissects animals, or examines into the mode in +which their functions are performed, he is a comparative anatomist or +comparative physiologist. If he turns his attention to fossil animals, +he is a palaeontologist. If his mind is more particularly directed to +the specific description, discrimination, classification, and +distribution of animals, he is termed a zoologist. + +For the purpose of the present discourse, however, I shall recognise +none of these titles save the last, which I shall employ as the +equivalent of botanist, and I shall use the term zoology as denoting the +whole doctrine of animal life, in contradistinction to botany, which +signifies the whole doctrine of vegetable life. + +Employed in this sense, zoology, like botany, is divisible into three +great but subordinate sciences, morphology, physiology, and +distribution, each of which may, to a very great extent, be studied +independently of the other. + +Zoological morphology is the doctrine of animal form or structure. +Anatomy is one of its branches; development is another; while +classification is the expression of the relations which different +animals bear to one another, in respect of their anatomy and their +development. + +Zoological distribution is the study of animals in relation to the +terrestrial conditions which obtain now, or have obtained at any +previous epoch of the earth's history. + +Zoological physiology, lastly, is the doctrine of the functions or +actions of animals. It regards animal bodies as machines impelled by +certain forces, and performing an amount of work which can be expressed +in terms of the ordinary forces of nature. The final object of +physiology is to deduce the facts of morphology, on the one hand, and +those of distribution on the other, from the laws of the molecular +forces of matter. + +Such is the scope of zoology. But if I were to content myself with the +enunciation of these dry definitions, I should ill exemplify that method +of teaching this branch of physical science, which it is my chief +business to-night to recommend. Let us turn away then from abstract +definitions. Let us take some concrete living thing, some animal, the +commoner the better, and let us see how the application of common sense +and common logic to the obvious facts it presents, inevitably leads us +into all these branches of zoological science. + +I have before me a lobster. When I examine it, what appears to be the +most striking character it presents? Why, I observe that this part which +we call the tail of the lobster, is made up of six distinct hard rings +and a seventh terminal piece. If I separate one of the middle rings, say +the third, I find it carries upon its under surface a pair of limbs or +appendages, each of which consists of a stalk and two terminal pieces. +So that I can represent a transverse section of the ring and its +appendages upon the diagram board in this way. + +If I now take the fourth ring, I find it has the same structure, and so +have the fifth and the second; so that, in each of these divisions of +the tail, I find parts which correspond with one another, a ring and two +appendages; and in each appendage a stalk and two end pieces. These +corresponding parts are called, in the technical language of anatomy, +"homologous parts." The ring of the third division is the "homologue" of +the ring of the fifth, the appendage of the former is the homologue of +the appendage of the latter. And, as each division exhibits +corresponding parts in corresponding places, we say that all the +divisions are constructed upon the same plan. But now let us consider +the sixth division. It is similar to, and yet different from, the +others. The ring is essentially the same as in the other divisions; but +the appendages look at first as if they were very different; and yet +when we regard them closely, what do we find? A stalk and two terminal +divisions, exactly as in the others, but the stalk is very short and +very thick, the terminal divisions are very broad and flat, and one of +them is divided into two pieces. + +I may say, therefore, that the sixth segment is like the others in plan, +but that it is modified in its details. + +The first segment is like the others, so far as its ring is concerned, +and though its appendages differ from any of those yet examined in the +simplicity of their structure, parts corresponding with the stem and one +of the divisions of the appendages of the other segments can be readily +discerned in them. + +Thus it appears that the lobster's tail is composed of a series of +segments which are fundamentally similar, though each presents peculiar +modifications of the plan common to all. But when I turn to the forepart +of the body I see, at first, nothing but a great shield-like shell, +called technically the "carapace," ending in front in a sharp spine, on +either side of which are the curious compound eyes, set upon the ends of +stout movable stalks. Behind these, on the under side of the body, are +two pairs of long feelers, or antennae, followed by six pairs of jaws +folded against one another over the mouth, and five pairs of legs, the +foremost of these being the great pinchers, or claws, of the lobster. + +It looks, at first, a little hopeless to attempt to find in this complex +mass a series of rings, each with its pair of appendages, such as I have +shown you in the abdomen, and yet it is not difficult to demonstrate +their existence. Strip off the legs, and you will find that each pair is +attached to a very definite segment of the under wall of the body; but +these segments, instead of being the lower parts of free rings, as in +the tail, are such parts of rings which are all solidly united and bound +together; and the like is true of the jaws, the feelers, and the +eye-stalks, every pair of which is borne upon its own special segment. +Thus the conclusion is gradually forced upon us, that the body of the +lobster is composed of as many rings as there are pairs of appendages, +namely, twenty in all, but that the six hindmost rings remain free and +movable, while the fourteen front rings become firmly soldered together, +their backs forming one continuous shield--the carapace. + +Unity of plan, diversity in execution, is the lesson taught by the study +of the rings of the body, and the same instruction is given still more +emphatically by the appendages. If I examine the outermost jaw I find it +consists of three distinct portions, an inner, a middle, and an outer, +mounted upon a common stem; and if I compare this jaw with the legs +behind it, or the jaws in front of it, I find it quite easy to see, +that, in the legs, it is the part of the appendage which corresponds +with the inner division, which becomes modified into what we know +familiarly as the "leg," while the middle division disappears, and the +outer division is hidden under the carapace. Nor is it more difficult to +discern that, in the appendages of the tail, the middle division appears +again and the outer vanishes; while, on the other hand, in the foremost +jaw, the so-called mandible, the inner division only is left; and, in +the same way, the parts of the feelers and of the eye-stalks can be +identified with those of the legs and jaws. + +But whither does all this tend? To the very remarkable conclusion that a +unity of plan, of the same kind as that discoverable in the tail or +abdomen of the lobster, pervades the whole organization of its skeleton, +so that I can return to the diagram representing any one of the rings of +the tail, which I drew upon the board, and by adding a third division to +each appendage, I can use it as a sort of scheme or plan of any ring of +the body. I can give names to all the parts of that figure, and then if +I take any segment of the body of the lobster, I can point out to you +exactly, what modification the general plan has undergone in that +particular segment; what part has remained movable, and what has become +fixed to another; what has been excessively developed and metamorphosed +and what has been suppressed. + +But I imagine I hear the question, How is all this to be tested? No +doubt it is a pretty and ingenious way of looking at the structure of +any animal; but is it anything more? Does Nature acknowledge, in any +deeper way, this unity of plan we seem to trace? + +The objection suggested by these questions is a very valid and important +one, and morphology was in an unsound state so long as it rested upon +the mere perception of the analogies which obtain between fully formed +parts. The unchecked ingenuity of speculative anatomists proved itself +fully competent to spin any number of contradictory hypotheses out of +the same facts, and endless morphological dreams threatened to supplant +scientific theory. + +Happily, however, there is a criterion of morphological truth, and a +sure test of all homologies. Our lobster has not always been what we see +it; it was once an egg, a semifluid mass of yolk, not so big as a pin's +head, contained in a transparent membrane, and exhibiting not the least +trace of any one of those organs, whose multiplicity and complexity, in +the adult, are so surprising. After a time a delicate patch of cellular +membrane appeared upon one face of this yolk, and that patch was the +foundation of the whole creature, the clay out of which it would be +moulded. Gradually investing the yolk, it became subdivided by +transverse constrictions into segments, the forerunners of the rings of +the body. Upon the ventral surface of each of the rings thus sketched +out, a pair of bud-like prominences made their appearance--the rudiments +of the appendages of the ring. At first, all the appendages were alike, +but, as they grew, most of them became distinguished into a stem and two +terminal divisions, to which in the middle part of the body, was added a +third outer division; and it was only at a later period, that by the +modification, or absorption, of certain of these primitive constituents, +the limbs acquired their perfect form. + +Thus the study of development proves that the doctrine of unity of plan +is not merely a fancy, that it is not merely one way of looking at the +matter, but that it is the expression of deep-seated natural facts. The +legs and jaws of the lobster may not merely be regarded as modifications +of a common type,--in fact and in nature they are so,--the leg and the +jaw of the young animal being, at first, indistinguishable. + +These are wonderful truths, the more so because the zoologist finds them +to be of universal application. The investigation of a polype, of a +snail, of a fish, of a horse, or of a man, would have led us, though by +a less easy path, perhaps, to exactly the same point. Unity of plan +everywhere lies hidden under the mask of diversity of structure--the +complex is everywhere evolved out of the simple. Every animal has at +first the form of an egg, and every animal and every organic part, in +reaching its adult state, passes through conditions common to other +animals and other adult parts; and this leads me to another point. I +have hitherto spoken as if the lobster were alone in the world, but, as +I need hardly remind you, there are myriads of other animal organisms. +Of these, some, such as men, horses, birds, fishes, snails, slugs, +oysters, corals, and sponges, are not in the least like the lobster. But +other animals, though they may differ a good deal from the lobster, are +yet either very like it, or are like something that is like it. The cray +fish, the rock lobster, and the prawn, and the shrimp, for example, +however different, are yet so like lobsters, that a child would group +them as of the lobster kind, in contradistinction to snails and slugs; +and these last again would form a kind by themselves, in +contradistinction to cows, horses, and sheep, the cattle kind. + +But this spontaneous grouping into "kinds" is the first essay of the +human mind at classification, or the calling by a common name of those +things that are alike, and the arranging them in such a manner as best +to suggest the sum of their likenesses and unlikenesses to other things. + +Those kinds which include no other subdivisions than the sexes, or +various breeds, are called, in technical language, species. The English +lobster is a species, our cray fish is another, our prawn is another. In +other countries, however, there are lobsters, cray fish, and prawns, +very like ours, and yet presenting sufficient differences to deserve +distinction. Naturalists, therefore, express this resemblance and this +diversity by grouping them as distinct species of the same "genus." But +the lobster and the cray fish, though belonging to distinct genera, have +many features in common, and hence are grouped together in an assemblage +which is called a family. More distant resemblances connect the lobster +with the prawn and the crab, which are expressed by putting all these +into the same order. Again, more remote, but still very definite, +resemblances unite the lobster with the woodlouse, the king crab, the +water flea, and the barnacle, and separate them from all other animals; +whence they collectively constitute the larger group, or class, +'Crustacea'. But the 'Crustacea' exhibit many peculiar features in +common with insects, spiders, and centipedes, so that these are grouped +into the still larger assemblage or "province" 'Articulata'; and, +finally, the relations which these have to worms and other lower +animals, are expressed by combining the whole vast aggregate into the +sub-kingdom of 'Annulosa'. + +If I had worked my way from a sponge instead of a lobster, I should have +found it associated, by like ties, with a great number of other animals +into the sub-kingdom 'Protozoa'; if I had selected a fresh-water polype +or a coral, the members of what naturalists term the sub-kingdom +'Coelenterata', would have grouped themselves around my type; had a +snail been chosen, the inhabitants of all univalve and bivalve, land and +water, shells, the lamp shells, the squids, and the sea-mat would have +gradually linked themselves on to it as members of the same sub-kingdom +of 'Mollusca'; and finally, starting from man, I should have been +compelled to admit first, the ape, the rat, the horse, the dog, into the +same class; and then the bird, the crocodile, the turtle, the frog, and +the fish, into the same sub-kingdom of 'Vertebrata'. + +And if I had followed out all these various lines of classification +fully, I should discover in the end that there was no animal, either +recent or fossil, which did not at once fall into one or other of these +sub-kingdoms. In other words, every animal is organized upon one or +other of the five, or more, plans, whose existence renders our +classification possible. And so definitely and precisely marked is the +structure of each animal, that, in the present state of our knowledge, +there is not the least evidence to prove that a form, in the slightest +degree transitional between any of the two groups 'Vertebrata', +'Annulosa', 'Mollusca', and 'Coelenterata', either exists, or has +existed, during that period of the earth's history which is recorded by +the geologist. Nevertheless, you must not for a moment suppose, because +no such transitional forms are known, that the members of the +sub-kingdoms are disconnected from, or independent of, one another. On +the contrary, in their earliest condition they are all alike, and the +primordial germs of a man, a dog, a bird, a fish, a beetle, a snail, and +a polype are, in no essential structural respects, distinguishable. + +In this broad sense, it may with truth be said, that all living animals, +and all those dead creations which geology reveals, are bound together +by an all-pervading unity of organization, of the same character, though +not equal in degree, to that which enables us to discern one and the +same plan amidst the twenty different segments of a lobster's body. +Truly it has been said, that to a clear eye the smallest fact is a +window through which the Infinite may be seen. + +Turning from these purely morphological considerations, let us now +examine into the manner in which the attentive study of the lobster +impels us into other lines of research. + +Lobsters are found in all the European seas; but on the opposite shores +of the Atlantic and in the seas of the southern hemisphere they do not +exist. They are, however, represented in these regions by very closely +allied, but distinct forms--the 'Homarus Americanus' and the 'Homarus +Capensis': so that we may say that the European has one species of +'Homarus'; the American, another; the African, another; and thus the +remarkable facts of geographical distribution begin to dawn upon us. + +Again, if we examine the contents of the earth's crust, we shall find in +the latter of those deposits, which have served as the great burying +grounds of past ages, numberless lobster-like animals, but none so +similar to our living lobster as to make zoologists sure that they +belonged even to the same genus. If we go still further back in time, we +discover, in the oldest rocks of all, the remains of animals, +constructed on the same general plan as the lobster, and belonging to +the same great group of 'Crustacea'; but for the most part totally +different from the lobster, and indeed from any other living form of +crustacean; and thus we gain a notion of that successive change of the +animal population of the globe, in past ages, which is the most striking +fact revealed by geology. + +Consider, now, where our inquiries have led us. We studied our type +morphologically, when we determined its anatomy and its development, and +when comparing it, in these respects, with other animals, we made out +its place in a system of classification. If we were to examine every +animal in a similar manner, we should establish a complete body of +zoological morphology. + +Again, we investigated the distribution of our type in space and in +time, and, if the like had been done with every animal, the sciences of +geographical and geological distribution would have attained their +limit. + +But you will observe one remarkable circumstance, that, up to this +point, the question of the life of these organisms has not come under +consideration. Morphology and distribution might be studied almost as +well, if animals and plants were a peculiar kind of crystals, and +possessed none of those functions which distinguish living beings so +remarkably. But the facts of morphology and distribution have to be +accounted for, and the science, whose aim it is to account for them, is +Physiology. + +Let us return to our lobster once more. If we watched the creature in +its native element, we should see it climbing actively the submerged +rocks, among which it delights to live, by means of its strong legs; or +swimming by powerful strokes of its great tail, the appendages of whose +sixth joint are spread out into a broad fan-like propeller: seize it, +and it will show you that its great claws are no mean weapons of +offence; suspend a piece of carrion among its haunts, and it will +greedily devour it, tearing and crushing the flesh by means of its +multitudinous jaws. + +Suppose that we had known nothing of the lobster but as an inert mass, +an organic crystal, if I may use the phrase, and that we could suddenly +see it exerting all these powers, what wonderful new ideas and new +questions would arise in our minds! The great new question would be, +"How does all this take place?" the chief new idea would be, the idea of +adaptation to purpose,--the notion, that the constituents of animal +bodies are not mere unconnected parts, but organs working together to an +end. Let us consider the tail of the lobster again from this point of +view. Morphology has taught us that it is a series of segments composed +of homologous parts, which undergo various modifications--beneath and +through which a common plan of formation is discernible. But if I look +at the same part physiologically, I see that it is a most beautifully +constructed organ of locomotion, by means of which the animal can +swiftly propel itself either backwards or forwards. + +But how is this remarkable propulsive machine made to perform its +functions? If I were suddenly to kill one of these animals and to take +out all the soft parts, I should find the shell to be perfectly inert, +to have no more power of moving itself than is possessed by the +machinery of a mill when disconnected from its steam-engine or +water-wheel. But if I were to open it, and take out the viscera only, +leaving the white flesh, I should perceive that the lobster could bend +and extend its tail as well as before. If I were to cut off the tail, I +should cease to find any spontaneous motion in it; but on pinching any +portion of the flesh, I should observe that it underwent a very curious +change--each fibre becoming shorter and thicker. By this act of +contraction, as it is termed, the parts to which the ends of the fibre +are attached are, of course, approximated; and according to the +relations of their points of attachment to the centres of motions of the +different rings, the bending or the extension of the tail results. Close +observation of the newly-opened lobster would soon show that all its +movements are due to the same cause--the shortening and thickening of +these fleshy fibres, which are technically called muscles. + +Here, then, is a capital fact. The movements of the lobster are due to +muscular contractility. But why does a muscle contract at one time and +not at another? Why does one whole group of muscles contract when the +lobster wishes to extend his tail, and another group when he desires to +bend it? What is it originates, directs, and controls the motive power? + +Experiment, the great instrument for the ascertainment of truth in +physical science, answers this question for us. In the head of the +lobster there lies a small mass of that peculiar tissue which is known +as nervous substance. Cords of similar matter connect this brain of the +lobster, directly or indirectly, with the muscles. Now, if these +communicating cords are cut, the brain remaining entire, the power of +exerting what we call voluntary motion in the parts below the section is +destroyed; and on the other hand, if, the cords remaining entire, the +brain mass be destroyed, the same voluntary mobility is equally lost. +Whence the inevitable conclusion is, that the power of originating these +motions resides in the brain, and is propagated along the nervous cords. + +In the higher animals the phenomena which attend this transmission have +been investigated, and the exertion of the peculiar energy which resides +in the nerves has been found to be accompanied by a disturbance of the +electrical state of their molecules. + +If we could exactly estimate the signification of this disturbance; if +we could obtain the value of a given exertion of nerve force by +determining the quantity of electricity, or of heat, of which it is the +equivalent; if we could ascertain upon what arrangement, or other +condition of the molecules of matter, the manifestation of the nervous +and muscular energies depends (and doubtless science will some day or +other ascertain these points), physiologists would have attained their +ultimate goal in this direction; they would have determined the relation +of the motive force of animals to the other forms of force found in +nature; and if the same process had been successfully performed for all +the operations which are carried on in, and by, the animal frame, +physiology would be perfect, and the facts of morphology and +distribution would be deducible from the laws which physiologists had +established, combined with those determining the condition of the +surrounding universe. + +There is not a fragment of the organism of this humble animal whose +study would not lead us into regions of thought as large as those which +I have briefly opened up to you; but what I have been saying, I trust, +has not only enabled you to form a conception of the scope and purport +of zoology, but has given you an imperfect example of the manner in +which, in my opinion, that science, or indeed any physical science, may +be best taught. The great matter is, to make teaching real and +practical, by fixing the attention of the student on particular facts; +but at the same time it should be rendered broad and comprehensive, by +constant reference to the generalizations of which all particular facts +are illustrations. The lobster has served as a type of the whole animal +kingdom, and its anatomy and physiology have illustrated for us some of +the greatest truths of biology. The student who has once seen for +himself the facts which I have described, has had their relations +explained to him, and has clearly comprehended them, has, so far, a +knowledge of zoology, which is real and genuine, however limited it may +be, and which is worth more than all the mere reading knowledge of the +science he could ever acquire. His zoological information is, so far, +knowledge and not mere hear-say. + +And if it were my business to fit you for the certificate in zoological +science granted by this department, I should pursue a course precisely +similar in principle to that which I have taken to-night. I should +select a fresh-water sponge, a fresh-water polype or a 'Cyanaea', a +fresh-water mussel, a lobster, a fowl, as types of the five primary +divisions of the animal kingdom. I should explain their structure very +fully, and show how each illustrated the great principles of zoology. +Having gone very carefully and fully over this ground, I should feel +that you had a safe foundation, and I should then take you in the same +way, but less minutely, over similarly selected illustrative types of +the classes; and then I should direct your attention to the special +forms enumerated under the head of types, in this syllabus, and to the +other facts there mentioned. + +That would, speaking generally, be my plan. But I have undertaken to +explain to you the best mode of acquiring and communicating a knowledge +of zoology, and you may therefore fairly ask me for a more detailed and +precise account of the manner in which I should propose to furnish you +with the information I refer to. + +My own impression is, that the best model for all kinds of training in +physical science is that afforded by the method of teaching anatomy, in +use in the medical schools. This method consists of three +elements--lectures, demonstrations, and examinations. + +The object of lectures is, in the first place, to awaken the attention +and excite the enthusiasm of the student; and this, I am sure, may be +effected to a far greater extent by the oral discourse and by the +personal influence of a respected teacher than in any other way. +Secondly, lectures have the double use of guiding the student to the +salient points of a subject, and at the same time forcing him to attend +to the whole of it, and not merely to that part which takes his fancy. +And lastly, lectures afford the student the opportunity of seeking +explanations of those difficulties which will, and indeed ought to, +arise in the course of his studies. + +But for a student to derive the utmost possible value from lectures, +several precautions are needful. + +I have a strong impression that the better a discourse is, as an +oration, the worse it is as a lecture. The flow of the discourse carries +you on without proper attention to its sense; you drop a word or a +phrase, you lose the exact meaning for a moment, and while you strive to +recover yourself, the speaker has passed on to something else. + +The practice I have adopted of late years, in lecturing to students, is +to condense the substance of the hour's discourse into a few dry +propositions, which are read slowly and taken down from dictation; the +reading of each being followed by a free commentary expanding and +illustrating the proposition, explaining terms, and removing any +difficulties that may be attackable in that way, by diagrams made +roughly, and seen to grow under the lecturer's hand. In this manner you, +at any rate, insure the co-operation of the student to a certain extent. +He cannot leave the lecture-room entirely empty if the taking of notes +is enforced; and a student must be preternaturally dull and mechanical, +if he can take notes and hear them properly explained, and yet learn +nothing. + +What books shall I read? is a question constantly put by the student to +the teacher. My reply usually is, "None: write your notes out carefully +and fully; strive to understand them thoroughly; come to me for the +explanation of anything you cannot understand; and I would rather you +did not distract your mind by reading." A properly composed course of +lectures ought to contain fully as much matter as a student can +assimilate in the time occupied by its delivery; and the teacher should +always recollect that his business is to feed, and not to cram the +intellect. Indeed, I believe that a student who gains from a course of +lectures the simple habit of concentrating his attention upon a +definitely limited series of facts, until they are thoroughly mastered, +has made a step of immeasurable importance. + +But, however good lectures may be, and however extensive the course of +reading by which they are followed up, they are but accessories to the +great instrument of scientific teaching--demonstration. If I insist +unweariedly, nay fanatically, upon the importance of physical science as +an educational agent, it is because the study of any branch of science, +if properly conducted, appears to me to fill up a void left by all other +means of education. I have the greatest respect and love for literature; +nothing would grieve me more than to see literary training other than a +very prominent branch of education: indeed, I wish that real literary +discipline were far more attended to than it is; but I cannot shut my +eyes to the fact, that there is a vast difference between men who have +had a purely literary, and those who have had a sound scientific, +training. + +Seeking for the cause of this difference, I imagine I can find it in the +fact that, in the world of letters, learning and knowledge are one, and +books are the source of both; whereas in science, as in life, learning +and knowledge are distinct, and the study of things, and not of books, +is the source of the latter. + +All that literature has to bestow may be obtained by reading and by +practical exercise in writing and in speaking; but I do not exaggerate +when I say, that none of the best gifts of science are to be won by +these means. On the contrary, the great benefit which a scientific +education bestows, whether as training or as knowledge, is dependent +upon the extent to which the mind of the student is brought into +immediate contact with facts--upon the degree to which he learns the +habit of appealing directly to Nature, and of acquiring through his +senses concrete images of those properties of things, which are, and +always will be, but approximatively expressed in human language. Our way +of looking at Nature, and of speaking about her, varies from year to +year; but a fact once seen, a relation of cause and effect, once +demonstratively apprehended, are possessions which neither change nor +pass away, but, on the contrary, form fixed centres, about which other +truths aggregate by natural affinity. + +Therefore, the great business of the scientific teacher is, to imprint +the fundamental, irrefragable facts of his science, not only by words +upon the mind, but by sensible impressions upon the eye, and ear, and +touch of the student, in so complete a manner, that every term used, or +law enunciated, should afterwards call up vivid images of the particular +structural, or other, facts which furnished the demonstration of the +law, or the illustration of the term. + +Now this important operation can only be achieved by constant +demonstration, which may take place to a certain imperfect extent during +a lecture, but which ought also to be carried on independently, and +which should be addressed to each individual student, the teacher +endeavouring, not so much to show a thing to the learner, as to make him +see it for himself. + +I am well aware that there are great practical difficulties in the way +of effectual zoological demonstrations. The dissection of animals is not +altogether pleasant, and requires much time; nor is it easy to secure an +adequate supply of the needful specimens. The botanist has here a great +advantage; his specimens are easily obtained, are clean and wholesome, +and can be dissected in a private house as well as anywhere else; and +hence, I believe, the fact, that botany is so much more readily and +better taught than its sister science. But, be it difficult or be it +easy, if zoological science is to be properly studied, demonstration, +and, consequently, dissection, must be had. Without it, no man can have +a really sound knowledge of animal organization. + +A good deal may be done, however, without actual dissection on the +student's part, by demonstration upon specimens and preparations; and in +all probability it would not be very difficult, were the demand +sufficient, to organize collections of such objects, sufficient for all +the purposes of elementary teaching, at a comparatively cheap rate. Even +without these, much might be effected, if the zoological collections, +which are open to the public, were arranged according to what has been +termed the "typical principle"; that is to say, if the specimens exposed +to public view were so selected that the public could learn something +from them, instead of being, as at present, merely confused by their +multiplicity. For example, the grand ornithological gallery at the +British Museum contains between two and three thousand species of birds, +and sometimes five or six specimens of a species. They are very pretty +to look at, and some of the cases are, indeed, splendid; but I will +undertake to say, that no man but a professed ornithologist has ever +gathered much information from the collection. Certainly, no one of the +tens of thousands of the general public who have walked through that +gallery ever knew more about the essential peculiarities of birds when +he left the gallery than when he entered it. But if, somewhere in that +vast hall, there were a few preparations, exemplifying the leading +structural peculiarities and the mode of development of a common fowl; +if the types of the genera, the leading modifications in the skeleton, +in the plumage at various ages, in the mode of nidification, and the +like, among birds, were displayed; and if the other specimens were put +away in a place where the men of science, to whom they are alone useful, +could have free access to them, I can conceive that this collection +might become a great instrument of scientific education. + +The last implement of the teacher to which I have adverted is +examination--a means of education now so thoroughly understood that I +need hardly enlarge upon it. I hold that both written and oral +examinations are indispensable, and, by requiring the description of +specimens, they may be made to supplement demonstration. + +Such is the fullest reply the time at my disposal will allow me to give +to the question--how may a knowledge of zoology be best acquired and +communicated? + +But there is a previous question which may be moved, and which, in fact, +I know many are inclined to move. It is the question, why should +training masters be encouraged to acquire a knowledge of this, or any +other branch of physical science? What is the use, it is said, of +attempting to make physical science a branch of primary education? Is it +not probable that teachers, in pursuing such studies, will be led astray +from the acquirement of more important but less attractive knowledge? +And, even if they can learn something of science without prejudice to +their usefulness, what is the good of their attempting to instil that +knowledge into boys whose real business is the acquisition of reading, +writing, and arithmetic? + +These questions are, and will be, very commonly asked, for they arise +from that profound ignorance of the value and true position of physical +science, which infests the minds of the most highly educated and +intelligent classes of the community. But if I did not feel well assured +that they are capable of being easily and satisfactorily answered; that +they have been answered over and over again; and that the time will come +when men of liberal education will blush to raise such questions,--I +should be ashamed of my position here to-night. Without doubt, it is +your great and very important function to carry out elementary +education; without question, anything that should interfere with the +faithful fulfilment of that duty on your part would be a great evil; and +if I thought that your acquirement of the elements of physical science, +and your communication of those elements to your pupils, involved any +sort of interference with your proper duties, I should be the first +person to protest against your being encouraged to do anything of the +kind. + +But is it true that the acquisition of such a knowledge of science as is +proposed, and the communication of that knowledge, are calculated to +weaken your usefulness? Or may I not rather ask, is it possible for you +to discharge your functions properly without these aids? + +What is the purpose of primary intellectual education? I apprehend that +its first object is to train the young in the use of those tools +wherewith men extract knowledge from the ever-shifting succession of +phenomena which pass before their eyes; and that its second object is to +inform them of the fundamental laws which have been found by experience +to govern the course of things, so that they may not be turned out into +the world naked, defenceless, and a prey to the events they might +control. + +A boy is taught to read his own and other languages, in order that he +may have access to infinitely wider stores of knowledge than could ever +be opened to him by oral intercourse with his fellow men; he learns to +write, that his means of communication with the rest of mankind may be +indefinitely enlarged, and that he may record and store up the knowledge +he acquires. He is taught elementary mathematics, that he may understand +all those relations of number and form, upon which the transactions of +men, associated in complicated societies, are built, and that he may +have some practice in deductive reasoning. + +All these operations of reading, writing, and ciphering, are +intellectual tools, whose use should, before all things, be learned, and +learned thoroughly; so that the youth may be enabled to make his life +that which it ought to be, a continual progress in learning and in +wisdom. + +But, in addition, primary education endeavours to fit a boy out with a +certain equipment of positive knowledge. He is taught the great laws of +morality; the religion of his sect; so much history and geography as +will tell him where the great countries of the world are, what they are, +and how they have become what they are. + +Without doubt all these are most fitting and excellent things to teach a +boy; I should be very sorry to omit any of them from any scheme of +primary intellectual education. The system is excellent, so far as it +goes. + +But if I regard it closely, a curious reflection arises. I suppose that, +fifteen hundred years ago, the child of any well-to-do Roman citizen was +taught just these same things; reading and writing in his own, and, +perhaps, the Greek tongue; the elements of mathematics; and the +religion, morality, history, and geography current in his time. +Furthermore, I do not think I err in affirming, that, if such a +Christian Roman boy, who had finished his education, could be +transplanted into one of our public schools, and pass through its course +of instruction, he would not meet with a single unfamiliar line of +thought; amidst all the new facts he would have to learn, not one would +suggest a different mode of regarding the universe from that current in +his own time. + +And yet surely there is some great difference between the civilization +of the fourth century and that of the nineteenth, and still more between +the intellectual habits and tone of thought of that day and this? + +And what has made this difference? I answer fearlessly--The prodigious +development of physical science within the last two centuries. + +Modern civilization rests upon physical science; take away her gifts to +our own country, and our position among the leading nations of the world +is gone to-morrow; for it is physical science only, that makes +intelligence and moral energy stronger than brute force. + +The whole of modern thought is steeped in science; it has made its way +into the works of our best poets, and even the mere man of letters, who +affects to ignore and despise science, is unconsciously impregnated with +her spirit, and indebted for his best products to her methods. I believe +that the greatest intellectual revolution mankind has yet seen is now +slowly taking place by her agency. She is teaching the world that the +ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment, and not +authority; she is teaching it to estimate the value of evidence; she is +creating a firm and living faith in the existence of immutable moral and +physical laws, perfect obedience to which is the highest possible aim of +an intelligent being. + +But of all this your old stereotyped system of education takes no note. +Physical science, its methods, its problems, and its difficulties, will +meet the poorest boy at every turn, and yet we educate him in such a +manner that he shall enter the world as ignorant of the existence of the +methods and facts of science as the day he was born. The modern world is +full of artillery; and we turn out our children to do battle in it, +equipped with the shield and sword of an ancient gladiator. + +Posterity will cry shame on us if we do not remedy this deplorable state +of things. Nay, if we live twenty years longer, our own consciences will +cry shame on us. + +It is my firm conviction that the only way to remedy it is, to make the +elements of physical science an integral part of primary education. I +have endeavoured to show you how that may be done for that branch of +science which it is my business to pursue; and I can but add, that I +should look upon the day when every schoolmaster throughout this land +was a centre of genuine, however rudimentary, scientific knowledge, as +an epoch in the history of the country. + +But let me entreat you to remember my last words. Addressing myself to +you, as teachers, I would say, mere book learning in physical science is +a sham and a delusion--what you teach, unless you wish to be impostors, +that you must first know; and real knowledge in science means personal +acquaintance with the facts, be they few or many.* ([Footnote] *It has +been suggested to me that these words may be taken to imply a +discouragement on my part of any sort of scientific instruction which +does not give an acquaintance with the facts at first hand. But this is +not my meaning. The ideal of scientific teaching is, no doubt, a system +by which the scholar sees every fact for himself, and the teacher +supplies only the explanations. Circumstances, however, do not often +allow of the attainment of that ideal, and we must put up with the next +best system--one in which the scholar takes a good deal on trust from a +teacher, who, knowing the facts by his own knowledge, can describe them +with so much vividness as to enable his audience to form competent ideas +concerning them. The system which I repudiate is that which allows +teachers who have not come into direct contact with the leading facts of +a science to pass their second-hand information on. The scientific +virus, like vaccine lymph, if passed through too long a succession of +organisms, will lose all its effect in protecting the young against the +intellectual epidemics to which they are exposed.) + +End of On the Study of Zoology. + +*** + +GEOLOGICAL CONTEMPORANEITY AND PERSISTENT TYPES OF LIFE.* + +([Footnote] *The Anniversary Address to the Geological Society for +1862.) + +Merchants occasionally go through a wholesome, though troublesome and +not always satisfactory, process which they term "taking stock." After +all the excitement of speculation, the pleasure of gain, and the pain of +loss, the trader makes up his mind to face facts and to learn the exact +quantity and quality of his solid and reliable possessions. + +The man of science does well sometimes to imitate this procedure; and, +forgetting for the time the importance of his own small winnings, to +re-examine the common stock in trade, so that he may make sure how far +the stock of bullion in the cellar--on the faith of whose existence so +much paper has been circulating--is really the solid gold of truth. + +The Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society seems to be an +occasion well suited for an undertaking of this kind--for an inquiry, in +fact, into the nature and value of the present results of +paleontological investigation; and the more so, as all those who have +paid close attention to the late multitudinous discussions in which +paleontology is implicated, must have felt the urgent necessity of some +such scrutiny. + +First in order, as the most definite and unquestionable of all the +results of paleontology, must be mentioned the immense extension and +impulse given to botany, zoology, and comparative anatomy, by the +investigation of fossil remains. Indeed, the mass of biological facts +has been so greatly increased, and the range of biological speculation +has been so vastly widened, by the researches of the geologist and +paleontologist, that it is to be feared there are naturalists in +existence who look upon geology as Brindley regarded rivers. "Rivers," +said the great engineer, "were made to feed canals"; and geology, some +seem to think, was solely created to advance comparative anatomy. + +Were such a thought justifiable, it could hardly expect to be received +with favour by this assembly. But it is not justifiable. Your favourite +science has her own great aims independent of all others; and if, +notwithstanding her steady devotion to her own progress, she can scatter +such rich alms among her sisters, it should be remembered that her +charity is of the sort that does not impoverish, but "blesseth him that +gives and him that takes." + +Regard the matter as we will, however, the facts remain. Nearly 40,000 +species of animals and plants have been added to the Systema Naturae by +paleontologic research. This is a living population equivalent to that +of a new continent in mere number; equivalent to that of a new +hemisphere, if we take into account the small population of insects as +yet found fossil, and the large proportion and peculiar organization of +many of the Vertebrata. + +But, beyond this, it is perhaps not too much to say that, except for the +necessity of interpreting paleontologic facts, the laws of distribution +would have received less careful study; while few comparative anatomists +(and those not of the first order) would have been induced by mere love +of detail, as such, to study the minutiae of osteology, were it not that +in such minutiae lie the only keys to the most interesting riddles +offered by the extinct animal world. + +These assuredly are great and solid gains. Surely it is matter for no +small congratulation that in half a century (for paleontology, though it +dawned earlier, came into full day only with Cuvier) a subordinate +branch of biology should have doubled the value and the interest of the +whole group of sciences to which it belongs. + +But this is not all. Allied with geology, paleontology has established +two laws of inestimable importance: the first, that one and the same +area of the earth's surface has been successively occupied by very +different kinds of living beings; the second, that the order of +succession established in one locality holds good, approximately, in +all. + +The first of these laws is universal and irreversible; the second is an +induction from a vast number of observations, though it may possibly, +and even probably, have to admit of exceptions. As a consequence of the +second law, it follows that a peculiar relation frequently subsists +between series of strata, containing organic remains, in different +localities. The series resemble one another, not only in virtue of a +general resemblance of the organic remains in the two, but also in +virtue of a resemblance in the order and character of the serial +succession in each. There is a resemblance of arrangement; so that the +separate terms of each series, as well as the whole series, exhibit a +correspondence. + +Succession implies time; the lower members of a series of sedimentary +rocks are certainly older than the upper; and when the notion of age was +once introduced as the equivalent of succession, it was no wonder that +correspondence in succession came to be looked upon as a correspondence +in age, or "contemporaneity." And, indeed, so long as relative age only +is spoken of, correspondence in succession IS correspondence in age; it +is RELATIVE contemporaneity. + +But it would have been very much better for geology if so loose and +ambiguous a word as "contemporaneous" had been excluded from her +terminology, and if, in its stead, some term expressing similarity of +serial relation, and excluding the notion of time altogether, had been +employed to denote correspondence in position in two or more series of +strata. + +In anatomy, where such correspondence of position has constantly to be +spoken of, it is denoted by the word "homology" and its derivatives; and +for Geology (which after all is only the anatomy and physiology of the +earth) it might be well to invent some single word, such as "homotaxis" +(similarity of order), in order to express an essentially similar idea. +This, however, has not been done, and most probably the inquiry will at +once be made--To what end burden science with a new and strange term in +place of one old, familiar, and part of our common language? + +The reply to this question will become obvious as the inquiry into the +results of paleontology is pushed further. + +Those whose business it is to acquaint themselves specially with the +works of paleontologists, in fact, will be fully aware that very few, if +any, would rest satisfied with such a statement of the conclusions of +their branch of biology as that which has just been given. + +Our standard repertories of paleontology profess to teach us far higher +things--to disclose the entire succession of living forms upon the +surface of the globe; to tell us of a wholly different distribution of +climatic conditions in ancient times; to reveal the character of the +first of all living existences; and to trace out the law of progress +from them to us. + +It may not be unprofitable to bestow on these professions a somewhat +more critical examination than they have hitherto received, in order to +ascertain how far they rest on an irrefragable basis; or whether, after +all, it might not be well for paleontologists to learn a little more +carefully that scientific "ars artium," the art of saying "I don't +know." And to this end let us define somewhat more exactly the extent of +these pretensions of paleontology. + +Every one is aware that Professor Bronn's 'Untersuchungen' and Professor +Pictet's 'Traite de Paleontologie' are works of standard authority, +familiarly consulted by every working paleontologist. It is desirable to +speak of these excellent books, and of their distinguished authors, with +the utmost respect, and in a tone as far as possible removed from +carping criticism; indeed, if they are specially cited in this place, it +is merely in justification of the assertion that the following +propositions, which may be found implicitly, or explicitly, in the works +in question, are regarded by the mass of paleontologists and geologists, +not only on the Continent but in this country, as expressing some of the +best-established results of paleontology. Thus:--Animals and plants +began their existence together, not long after the commencement of the +deposition of the sedimentary rocks; and then succeeded one another, in +such a manner, that totally distinct faunae and florae occupied the +whole surface of the earth, one after the other, and during distinct +epochs of time. + +A geological formation is the sum of all the strata deposited over the +whole surface of the earth during one of these epochs: a geological +fauna or flora is the sum of all the species of animals or plants which +occupied the whole surface of the globe, during one of these epochs. + +The population of the earth's surface was at first very similar in all +parts, and only from the middle of the Tertiary epoch onwards, began to +show a distinct distribution in zones. + +The constitution of the original population, as well as the numerical +proportions of its members, indicates a warmer and, on the whole, +somewhat tropical climate, which remained tolerably equable throughout +the year. The subsequent distribution of living beings in zones is the +result of a gradual lowering of the general temperature, which first +began to be felt at the poles. + +It is not now proposed to inquire whether these doctrines are true or +false; but to direct your attention to a much simpler though very +essential preliminary question--What is their logical basis? what are +the fundamental assumptions upon which they all logically depend? and +what is the evidence on which those fundamental propositions demand our +assent? + +These assumptions are two: the first, that the commencement of the +geological record is coeval with the commencement of life on the globe; +the second, that geological contemporaneity is the same thing as +chronological synchrony. Without the first of these assumptions there +would of course be no ground for any statement respecting the +commencement of life; without the second, all the other statements +cited, every one of which implies a knowledge of the state of different +parts of the earth at one and the same time, will be no less devoid of +demonstration. + +The first assumption obviously rests entirely on negative evidence. This +is, of course, the only evidence that ever can be available to prove the +commencement of any series of phenomena; but, at the same time, it must +be recollected that the value of negative evidence depends entirely on +the amount of positive corroboration it receives. If A B wishes to prove +an 'alibi', it is of no use for him to get a thousand witnesses simply +to swear that they did not see him in such and such a place, unless the +witnesses are prepared to prove that they must have seen him had he been +there. But the evidence that animal life commenced with the +Lingula-flags, 'e.g.', would seem to be exactly of this unsatisfactory +uncorroborated sort. The Cambrian witnesses simply swear they "haven't +seen anybody their way"; upon which the counsel for the other side +immediately puts in ten or twelve thousand feet of Devonian sandstones +to make oath they never saw a fish or a mollusk, though all the world +knows there were plenty in their time. + +But then it is urged that, though the Devonian rocks in one part of the +world exhibit no fossils, in another they do, while the lower Cambrian +rocks nowhere exhibit fossils, and hence no living being could have +existed in their epoch. + +To this there are two replies: the first, that the observational basis +of the assertion that the lowest rocks are nowhere fossiliferous is an +amazingly small one, seeing how very small an area, in comparison to +that of the whole world, has yet been fully searched; the second, that +the argument is good for nothing unless the unfossiliferous rocks in +question were not only 'contemporaneous' in the geological sense, but +'synchronous' in the chronological sense. To use the 'alibi' +illustration again. If a man wishes to prove he was in neither of two +places, A and B, on a given day, his witnesses for each place must be +prepared to answer for the whole day. If they can only prove that he was +not at A in the morning, and not at B in the afternoon, the evidence of +his absence from both is 'nil', because he might have been at B in the +morning and at A in the afternoon. + +Thus everything depends upon the validity of the second assumption. And +we must proceed to inquire what is the real meaning of the word +"contemporaneous" as employed by geologists. To this end a concrete +example may be taken. + +The Lias of England and the Lias of Germany, the Cretaceous rocks of +Britain and the Cretaceous rocks of Southern India, are termed by +geologists "contemporaneous" formations; but whenever any thoughtful +geologist is asked whether he means to say that they were deposited +synchronously, he says, "No,--only within the same great epoch." And if, +in pursuing the inquiry, he is asked what may be the approximate value +in time of a "great epoch"--whether it means a hundred years, or a +thousand, or a million, or ten million years--his reply is, "I cannot +tell." + +If the further question be put, whether physical geology is in +possession of any method by which the actual synchrony (or the reverse) +of any two distant deposits can be ascertained, no such method can be +heard of; it being admitted by all the best authorities that neither +similarity of mineral composition, nor of physical character, nor even +direct continuity of stratum, are 'absolute' proofs of the synchronism +of even approximated sedimentary strata: while, for distant deposits, +there seems to be no kind of physical evidence attainable of a nature +competent to decide whether such deposits were formed simultaneously, or +whether they possess any given difference of antiquity. To return to an +example already given: All competent authorities will probably assent to +the proposition that physical geology does not enable us in any way to +reply to this question--Were the British Cretaceous rocks deposited at +the same time as those of India, or are they a million of years younger +or a million of years older? + +Is paleontology able to succeed where physical geology fails? Standard +writers on paleontology, as has been seen, assume that she can. They +take it for granted, that deposits containing similar organic remains +are synchronous--at any rate in a broad sense; and yet, those who will +study the eleventh and twelfth chapters of Sir Henry De La Beche's +remarkable 'Researches in Theoretical Geology', published now nearly +thirty years ago, and will carry out the arguments there most luminously +stated, to their logical consequences, may very easily convince +themselves that even absolute identity of organic contents is no proof +of the synchrony of deposits, while absolute diversity is no proof of +difference of date. Sir Henry De La Beche goes even further, and adduces +conclusive evidence to show that the different parts of one and the same +stratum, having a similar composition throughout, containing the same +organic remains, and having similar beds above and below it, may yet +differ to any conceivable extent in age. + +Edward Forbes was in the habit of asserting that the similarity of the +organic contents of distant formations was 'prima facie' evidence, not +of their similarity, but of their difference of age; and holding as he +did the doctrine of single specific centres, the conclusion was as +legitimate as any other; for the two districts must have been occupied +by migration from one of the two, or from an intermediate spot, and the +chances against exact coincidence of migration and of imbedding are +infinite. + +In point of fact, however, whether the hypothesis of single or of +multiple specific centres be adopted, similarity of organic contents +cannot possibly afford any proof of the synchrony of the deposits which +contain them; on the contrary, it is demonstrably compatible with the +lapse of the most prodigious intervals of time, and with the +interposition of vast changes in the organic and inorganic worlds, +between the epochs in which such deposits were formed. + +On what amount of similarity of their faunae is the doctrine of the +contemporaneity of the European and of the North American Silurians +based? In the last edition of Sir Charles Lyell's 'Elementary Geology' +it is stated, on the authority of a former President of this Society, +the late Daniel Sharpe, that between 30 and 40 per cent. of the species +of Silurian Mollusca are common to both sides of the Atlantic. By way of +due allowance for further discovery, let us double the lesser number and +suppose that 60 per cent. of the species are common to the North +American and the British Silurians. Sixty per cent. of species in common +is, then, proof of contemporaneity. + +Now suppose that, a million or two of years hence, when Britain has made +another dip beneath the sea and has come up again, some geologist +applies this doctrine, in comparing the strata laid bare by the upheaval +of the bottom, say, of St. George's Channel with what may then remain of +the Suffolk Crag. Reasoning in the same way, he will at once decide the +Suffolk Crag and the St. George's Channel beds to be contemporaneous; +although we happen to know that a vast period (even in the geological +sense) of time, and physical changes of almost unprecedented extent, +separate the two. + +But if it be a demonstrable fact that strata containing more than 60 or +70 per cent. of species of Mollusca in common, and comparatively close +together, may yet be separated by an amount of geological time +sufficient to allow of some of the greatest physical changes the world +has seen, what becomes of that sort of contemporaneity the sole evidence +of which is a similarity of facies, or the identity of half a dozen +species, or of a good many genera? + +And yet there is no better evidence for the contemporaneity assumed by +all who adopt the hypothesis of universal faunae and florae, of a +universally uniform climate, and of a sensible cooling of the globe +during geological time. + +There seems, then, no escape from the admission that neither physical +geology, nor paleontology, possesses any method by which the absolute +synchronism of two strata can be demonstrated. All that geology can +prove is local order of succession. It is mathematically certain that, +in any given vertical linear section of an undisturbed series of +sedimentary deposits, the bed which lies lowest is the oldest. In many +other vertical linear sections of the same series, of course, +corresponding beds will occur in a similar order; but, however great may +be the probability, no man can say with absolute certainty that the beds +in the two sections were synchronously deposited. For areas of moderate +extent, it is doubtless true that no practical evil is likely to result +from assuming the corresponding beds to be synchronous or strictly +contemporaneous; and there are multitudes of accessory circumstances +which may fully justify the assumption of such synchrony. But the moment +the geologist has to deal with large areas, or with completely separated +deposits, the mischief of confounding that "homotaxis" or "similarity of +arrangement," which 'can' be demonstrated, with "synchrony" or "identity +of date," for which there is not a shadow of proof, under the one common +term of "contemporaneity" becomes incalculable, and proves the constant +source of gratuitous speculations. + +For anything that geology or paleontology are able to show to the +contrary, a Devonian fauna and flora in the British Islands may have +been contemporaneous with Silurian life in North America, and with a +Carboniferous fauna and flora in Africa. Geographical provinces and +zones may have been as distinctly marked in the Paleozoic epoch as at +present, and those seemingly sudden appearances of new genera and +species, which we ascribe to new creation, may be simple results of +migration. + +It may be so; it may be otherwise. In the present condition of our +knowledge and of our methods, one verdict--"not proven, and not +provable"--must be recorded against all the grand hypotheses of the +paleontologist respecting the general succession of life on the globe. +The order and nature of terrestrial life, as a whole, are open +questions. Geology at present provides us with most valuable +topographical records, but she has not the means of working them into a +universal history. Is such a universal history, then, to be regarded as +unattainable? Are all the grandest and most interesting problems which +offer themselves to the geological student essentially insoluble? Is he +in the position of a scientific Tantalus--doomed always to thirst for a +knowledge which he cannot obtain? The reverse is to be hoped; nay, it +may not be impossible to indicate the source whence help will come. + +In commencing these remarks, mention was made of the great obligations +under which the naturalist lies to the geologist and paleontologist. +Assuredly the time will come when these obligations will be repaid +tenfold, and when the maze of the world's past history, through which +the pure geologist and the pure paleontologist find no guidance, will be +securely threaded by the clue furnished by the naturalist. + +All who are competent to express an opinion on the subject are, at +present, agreed that the manifold varieties of animal and vegetable form +have not either come into existence by chance, nor result from +capricious exertions of creative power; but that they have taken place +in a definite order, the statement of which order is what men of science +term a natural law. Whether such a law is to be regarded as an +expression of the mode of operation of natural forces, or whether it is +simply a statement of the manner in which a supernatural power has +thought fit to act, is a secondary question, so long as the existence of +the law and the possibility of its discovery by the human intellect are +granted. But he must be a half-hearted philosopher who, believing in +that possibility, and having watched the gigantic strides of the +biological sciences during the last twenty years, doubts that science +will sooner or later make this further step, so as to become possessed +of the law of evolution of organic forms--of the unvarying order of that +great chain of causes and effects of which all organic forms, ancient +and modern, are the links. And then, if ever, we shall be able to begin +to discuss, with profit, the questions respecting the commencement of +life, and the nature of the successive populations of the globe, which +so many seem to think are already answered. + +The preceding arguments make no particular claim to novelty; indeed they +have been floating more or less distinctly before the minds of +geologists for the last thirty years; and if, at the present time, it +has seemed desirable to give them more definite and systematic +expression, it is because paleontology is every day assuming a greater +importance, and now requires to rest on a basis the firmness of which is +thoroughly well assured. Among its fundamental conceptions, there must +be no confusion between what is certain and what is more or less +probable.* ([Footnote] *"le plus grand service qu'on puisse rendre a la +science est d'y faire place nette avant d'y rien construire."--CUVIER.) +But, pending the construction of a surer foundation than paleontology +now possesses, it may be instructive, assuming for the nonce the general +correctness of the ordinary hypothesis of geological contemporaneity, to +consider whether the deductions which are ordinarily drawn from the +whole body of paleontologic facts are justifiable. + +The evidence on which such conclusions are based is of two kinds, +negative and positive. The value of negative evidence, in connection +with this inquiry, has been so fully and clearly discussed in an address +from the chair of this Society,* ([Footnote] *Anniversary Address for +1851, 'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.' vol. vii.) which none of us have +forgotten, that nothing need at present be said about it; the more, as +the considerations which have been laid before you have certainly not +tended to increase your estimation of such evidence. It will be +preferable to turn to the positive facts of paleontology, and to inquire +what they tell us. + +We are all accustomed to speak of the number and the extent of the +changes in the living population of the globe during geological time as +something enormous: and indeed they are so, if we regard only the +negative differences which separate the older rocks from the more +modern, and if we look upon specific and generic changes as great +changes, which from one point of view, they truly are. But leaving the +negative differences out of consideration, and looking only at the +positive data furnished by the fossil world from a broader point of +view--from that of the comparative anatomist who has made the study of +the greater modifications of animal form his chief business--a surprise +of another kind dawns upon the mind; and under 'this' aspect the +smallness of the total change becomes as astonishing as was its +greatness under the other. + +There are two hundred known orders of plants; of these not one is +certainly known to exist exclusively in the fossil state. The whole +lapse of geological time has as yet yielded not a single new ordinal +type of vegetable structure.* ([Footnote] *See Hooker's 'Introductory +Essay to the Flora of Tasmania', p. xxiii.) + +The positive change in passing from the recent to the ancient animal +world is greater, but still singularly small. No fossil animal is so +distinct from those now living as to require to be arranged even in a +separate class from those which contain existing forms. It is only when +we come to the orders, which may be roughly estimated at about a hundred +and thirty, that we meet with fossil animals so distinct from those now +living as to require orders for themselves; and these do not amount, on +the most liberal estimate, to more than about 10 per cent of the whole. + +There is no certainly known extinct order of Protozoa; there is but one +among the Coelenterata--that of the rugose corals; there is none among +the Mollusca; there are three, the Cystidea, Blastoidea, and +Edrioasterida, among the Echinoderms; and two, the Trilobita and +Eurypterida, among the Crustacea; making altogether five for the great +sub-kingdom of Annulosa. Among Vertebrates there is no ordinally +distinct fossil fish: there is only one extinct order of Amphibia--the +Labyrinthodonts; but there are at least four distinct orders of +Reptilia, viz. the Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, Pterosauria, Dinosauria, +and perhaps another or two. There is no known extinct order of Birds, +and no certainly known extinct order of Mammals, the ordinal +distinctness of the "Toxodontia" being doubtful. + +The objection that broad statements of this kind, after all, rest +largely on negative evidence is obvious, but it has less force than may +at first be supposed; for, as might be expected from the circumstances +of the case, we possess more abundant positive evidence regarding Fishes +and marine Mollusks than respecting any other forms of animal life; and +yet these offer us, through the whole range of geological time, no +species ordinally distinct from those now living; while the far less +numerous class of Echinoderms presents three; and the Crustacea two, +such orders, though none of these come down later than the Paleozoic +age. Lastly, the Reptilia present the extraordinary and exceptional +phenomenon of as many extinct as existing orders, if not more; the four +mentioned maintaining their existence from the Lias to the Chalk +inclusive. + +Some years ago one of your Secretaries pointed out another kind of +positive paleontologic evidence tending towards the same +conclusion--afforded by the existence of what he termed "persistent +types" of vegetable and of animal life.* ([Footnote] *See the abstract +of a Lecture "On the Persistent Types of Animal Life," in the 'Notices +of the Meetings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain'.--June 3, +1859, vol. iii. p. 151.) He stated, on the authority of Dr. Hooker, that +there are Carboniferous plants which appear to be generically identical +with some now living; that the cone of the Oolitic 'Araucaria' is hardly +distinguishable from that of an existing species; that a true 'Pinus' +appears in the Purbecks, and a 'Juglans' in the Chalk; while, from the +Bagshot Sands, a 'Banksia', the wood of which is not distinguishable +from that of species now living in Australia, had been obtained. + +Turning to the animal kingdom, he affirmed the tabulate corals of the +Silurian rocks to be wonderfully like those which now exist; while even +the families of the Aporosa were all represented in the older Mesozoic +rocks. + +Among the Molluska similar facts were adduced. Let it be borne in mind +that 'Avicula', 'Mytalis', 'Chiton', 'Natica', 'Patella', 'Trochus', +'Discina', 'Orbicula', 'Lingula', 'Rhynchonella', and 'Nautilus', all of +which are existing 'genera', are given without a doubt as Silurian in +the last edition of 'Siluria'; while the highest forms of the highest +Cephalopods are represented in the Lias by a genus, 'Belemnoteuthis', +which presents the closest relation to the existing 'Loligo'. + +The two highest groups of the Annulosa, the Insecta and the Arachnida, +are represented in the Coal, either by existing genera, or by forms +differing from existing genera in quite minor peculiarities. + +Turning to the Vertebrata, the only Paleozoic Elasmobranch Fish of which +we have any complete knowledge is the Devonian and Carboniferous +'Pleuracanthus', which differs no more from existing Sharks than these +do from one another. + +Again, vast as is the number of undoubtedly Ganoid fossil Fishes, and +great as is their range in time, a large mass of evidence has recently +been adduced to show that almost all those respecting which we possess +sufficient information, are referable to the same sub-ordinal groups as +the existing 'Lepidosteus', 'Polypterus', and Sturgeon; and that a +singular relation obtains between the older and the younger Fishes; the +former, the Devonian Ganoids, being almost all members of the same +sub-order as 'Polypterus', while the Mesozoic Ganoids are almost all +similarly allied to 'Lepidosteus'.* ([Footnote] *"Memoirs of the +Geological Survey of the United Kingdom.--Decade x. Preliminary Essay +upon the Systematic Arrangement of the Fishes of the Devonian Epoch.") + +Again, what can be more remarkable than the singular constancy of +structure preserved throughout a vast period of time by the family of +the Pycnodonts and by that of the true Coelacanths; the former +persisting, with but insignificant modifications, from the Carboniferous +to the Tertiary rocks, inclusive; the latter existing, with still less +change, from the Carboniferous rocks to the Chalk, inclusive? + +Among Reptiles, the highest living group, that of the Crocodilia, is +represented, at the early part of the Mesozoic epoch, by species +identical in the essential characters of their organization with those +now living, and differing from the latter only in such matters as the +form of the articular facets of the vertebral centra, in the extent to +which the nasal passages are separated from the cavity of the mouth by +bone, and in the proportions of the limbs. + +And even as regards the Mammalia, the scanty remains of Triassic and +Oolitic species afford no foundation for the supposition that the +organization of the oldest forms differed nearly so much from some of +those which now live as these differ from one another. + +It is needless to multiply these instances; enough has been said to +justify the statement that, in view of the immense diversity of known +animal and vegetable forms, and the enormous lapse of time indicated by +the accumulation of fossiliferous strata, the only circumstance to be +wondered at is, not that the changes of life, as exhibited by positive +evidence, have been so great, but that they have been so small. + +Be they great or small, however, it is desirable to attempt to estimate +them. Let us, therefore, take each great division of the animal world in +succession, and, whenever an order or a family can be shown to have had +a prolonged existence, let us endeavour to ascertain how far the later +members of the group differ from the earlier ones. If these later +members, in all or in many cases, exhibit a certain amount of +modification, the fact is, so far, evidence in favour of a general law +of change; and, in a rough way, the rapidity of that change will be +measured by the demonstrable amount of modification. On the other hand, +it must be recollected that the absence of any modification, while it +may leave the doctrine of the existence of a law of change without +positive support, cannot possibly disprove all forms of that doctrine, +though it may afford a sufficient refutation of any of them. + +The PROTOZOA.--The Protozoa are represented throughout the whole range +of geological series, from the Lower Silurian formation to the present +day. The most ancient forms recently made known by Ehrenberg are +exceedingly like those which now exist: no one has ever pretended that +the difference between any ancient and any modern Foraminifera is of +more than generic value, nor are the oldest Foraminifera either simpler, +more embryonic, or less differentiated, than the existing forms. + +The COELENTERATA.--The Tabulate Corals have existed from the Silurian +epoch to the present day, but I am not aware that the ancient +'Heliolites' possesses a single mark of a more embryonic or less +differentiated character, or less high organization, than the existing +'Heliopora'. As for the Aporose Corals, in what respect is the Silurian +'Paleocyclus' less highly organized or more embryonic than the modern +'Fungia', or the Liassic Aporosa than the existing members of the same +families? + +The 'Mollusca'.--In what sense is the living 'Waldheimia' less +embryonic, or more specialized; than the paleozoic 'Spirifer'; or the +existing 'Rhynchonellae', 'Craniae', 'Discinae', 'Lingulae', than the +Silurian species of the same genera? In what sense can 'Loligo' or +'Spirula' be said to be more specialized, or less embryonic, than +'Belemnites'; or the modern species of Lamellibranch and Gasteropod +genera, than the Silurian species of the same genera? + +The ANNULOSA.--The Carboniferous Insecta and Arachnida are neither less +specialized, nor more embryonic, than these that now live, nor are the +Liassic Cirripedia and Macrura; while several of the Brachyura, which +appear in the Chalk, belong to existing genera; and none exhibit either +an intermediate, or an embryonic, character. + +The VERTEBRARA.--Among fishes I have referred to the Coelacanthini +(comprising the genera 'Coelacanthus', 'Holophagus', 'Undina', and +'Macropoma') as affording an example of a persistent type; and it is +most remarkable to note the smallness of the differences between any of +these fishes (affecting at most the proportions of the body and fins, +and the character and sculpture of the scales), notwithstanding their +enormous range in time. In all the essentials of its very peculiar +structure, the 'Macropoma' of the Chalk is identical with the +'Coelacanthus' of the Coal. Look at the genus 'Lepidotus', again, +persisting without a modification of importance from the Liassic to the +Eocene formations inclusive. + +Or among the Teleostei--in what respect is the 'Beryx' of the Chalk more +embryonic, or less differentiated, than 'Beryx lineatus' of King +George's Sound? + +Or to turn to the higher Vertebrata--in what sense are the Liassic +Chelonia inferior to those which now exist? How are the Cretaceous +Ichthyosauria, Plesiosauria, or Pterosauria less embryonic, or more +differentiated, species than those of the Lias? + +Or lastly, in what circumstance is the 'Phascolotherium' more embryonic, +or of a more generalized type, than the modern Opossum; or a +'Lophiodon', or a 'Paleotherium', than a modern 'Tapirus' or 'Hyrax'? + +These examples might be almost indefinitely multiplied, but surely they +are sufficient to prove that the only safe and unquestionable testimony +we can procure--positive evidence--fails to demonstrate any sort of +progressive modification towards a less embryonic, or less generalised, +type in a great many groups of animals of long-continued geological +existence. In these groups there is abundant evidence of variation--none +of what is ordinarily understood as progression; and, if the known +geological record is to be regarded as even any considerable fragment of +the whole, it is inconceivable that any theory of a necessarily +progressive development can stand, for the numerous orders and families +cited afford no trace of such a process. + +But it is a most remarkable fact, that, while the groups which have been +mentioned, and many besides, exhibit no sign of progressive +modification, there are others, co-existing with them, under the same +conditions, in which more or less distinct indications of such a process +seems to be traceable. Among such indications I may remind you of the +predominance of Holostome Gasteropoda in the older rocks as compared +with that of Siphonostome Gasteropoda in the later. A case less open to +the objection of negative evidence, however, is that afforded by the +Tetrabranchiate Cephalopoda, the forms of the shells and of the septal +sutures exhibiting a certain increase of complexity in the newer genera. +Here, however, one is met at once with the occurrence of 'Orthoceras' +and 'Baculites' at the two ends of the series, and of the fact that one +of the simplest Genera, 'Nautilus', is that which now exists. + +The Crinoidea, in the abundance of stalked forms in the ancient +formations as compared with their present rarity, seem to present us +with a fair case of modification from a more embryonic towards a less +embryonic condition. But then, on careful consideration of the facts, +the objection arises that the stalk, calyx, and arms of the paleozoic +Crinoid are exceedingly different from the corresponding organs of a +larval 'Comatula'; and it might with perfect justice be argued that +'Actinocrinus' and 'Eucalyptocrinus', for example, depart to the full as +widely, in one direction, from the stalked embryo of 'Comatula', as +'Comatula' itself does in the other. + +The Echinidea, again, are frequently quoted as exhibiting a gradual +passage from a more generalized to a more specialized type, seeing that +the elongated, or oval, Spatangoids appear after the spheroidal +Echinoids. But here it might be argued, on the other hand, that the +spheroidal Echinoids, in reality, depart further from the general plan +and from the embryonic form than the elongated Spatangoids do; and that +the peculiar dental apparatus and the pedicellariae of the former are +marks of at least as great differentiation as the petaloid ambulacra and +semitae of the latter. + +Once more, the prevalence of Macrurous before Brachyurous Podophthalmia +is, apparently, a fair piece of evidence in favour of progressive +modification in the same order of Crustacea; and yet the case will not +stand much sifting, seeing that the Macrurous Podophthalmia depart as +far in one direction from the common type of Podophthalmia, or from any +embryonic condition of the Brachyura, as the Brachyura do in the other; +and that the middle terms between Macrura and Brachyura--the +Anomura--are little better represented in the older Mesozoic rocks than +the Brachyura are. + +None of the cases of progressive modification which are cited from among +the Invertebrata appear to me to have a foundation less open to +criticism than these; and if this be so, no careful reasoner would, I +think, be inclined to lay very great stress upon them. Among the +Vertebrata, however, there are a few examples which appear to be far +less open to objection. + +It is, in fact, true of several groups of Vertebrata which have lived +through a considerable range of time, that the endoskeleton (more +particularly the spinal column) of the older genera presents a less +ossified, and, so far, less differentiated, condition than that of the +younger genera. Thus the Devonian Ganoids, though almost all members of +the same sub-order as 'Polypterus', and presenting numerous important +resemblances to the existing genus, which possesses biconcave vertebrae, +are, for the most part, wholly devoid of ossified vertebral centra. The +Mesozoic Lepidosteidae, again, have, at most, biconcave vertebrae, while +the existing 'Lepidosteus' has Salamandroid, opisthocoelous, vertebrae. +So, none of the Paleozoic Sharks have shown themselves to be possessed +of ossified vertebrae, while the majority of modern Sharks possess such +vertebrae. Again, the more ancient Crocodilia and Lacertilia have +vertebrae with the articular facets of their centra flattened or +biconcave, while the modern members of the same group have them +procoelous. But the most remarkable examples of progressive modification +of the vertebral column, in correspondence with geological age, are +those afforded by the Pycnodonts among fish, and the Labyrinthodonts +among Amphibia. + +The late able ichthyologist Heckel pointed out the fact, that, while the +Pycnodonts never possess true vertebral centra, they differ in the +degree of expansion and extension of the ends of the bony arches of the +vertebrae upon the sheath of the notochord; the Carboniferous forms +exhibiting hardly any such expansion, while the Mesozoic genera present +a greater and greater development, until, in the Tertiary forms, the +expanded ends become suturally united so as to form a sort of false +vertebra. Hermann von Meyer, again, to whose luminous researches we are +indebted for our present large knowledge of the organization of the +older Labyrinthodonts, has proved that the Carboniferous 'Archegosaurus' +had very imperfectly developed vertebral centra, while the Triassic +'Mastodonsaurus' had the same parts completely ossified.* ([Footnote] +*As the Address is passing through the press (March 7, 1862), evidence +lies before me of the existence of a new Labyrinthodont +('Pholidogaster'), from the Edinburgh coal-field, with well-ossified +vertebral centra.) + +The regularity and evenness of the dentition of the 'Anoplotherium', as +contrasted with that of existing Artiodactyles, and the assumed nearer +approach of the dentition of certain ancient Carnivores to the typical +arrangement, have also been cited as exemplifications of a law of +progressive development, but I know of no other cases based on positive +evidence which are worthy of particular notice. + +What then does an impartial survey of the positively ascertained truths +of paleontology testify in relation to the common doctrines of +progressive modification, which suppose that modification to have taken +place by a necessary progress from more to less embryonic forms, or from +more to less generalized types, within the limits of the period +represented by the fossiliferous rocks? + +It negatives those doctrines; for it either shows us no evidence of any +such modification, or demonstrates it to have been very slight; and as +to the nature of that modification, it yields no evidence whatsoever +that the earlier members of any long-continued group were more +generalized in structure than the later ones. To a certain extent, +indeed, it may be said that imperfect ossification of the vertebral +column is an embryonic character; but, on the other hand, it would be +extremely incorrect to suppose that the vertebral columns of the older +Vertebrata are in any sense embryonic in their whole structure. + +Obviously, if the earliest fossiliferous rocks now known are coeval with +the commencement of life, and if their contents give us any just +conception of the nature and the extent of the earliest fauna and flora, +the insignificant amount of modification which can be demonstrated to +have taken place in any one group of animals, or plants, is quite +incompatible with the hypothesis that all living forms are the results +of a necessary process of progressive development, entirely comprised +within the time represented by the fossiliferous rocks. + +Contrariwise, any admissible hypothesis of progressive modification must +be compatible with persistence without progression, through indefinite +periods. And should such an hypothesis eventually be proved to be true, +in the only way in which it can be demonstrated, viz. by observation and +experiment upon the existing forms of life, the conclusion will +inevitably present itself, that the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic +faunae and florae, taken together, bear somewhat the same proportion to +the whole series of living beings which have occupied this globe, as the +existing fauna and flora do to them. + +Such are the results of paleontology as they appear, and have for some +years appeared, to the mind of an inquirer who regards that study simply +as one of the applications of the great biological sciences, and who +desires to see it placed upon the same sound basis as other branches of +physical inquiry. If the arguments which have been brought forward are +valid, probably no one, in view of the present state of opinion, will be +inclined to think the time wasted which has been spent upon their +elaboration. + +End of Geological Contemporaneity and Persistent Types of Life. + +*** + + +CORAL AND CORAL REEFS.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in Manchester, November 4th, 1870.) + +The subject upon which I wish to address you to-night is the structure +and origin of Coral and Coral Reefs. Under the head of "coral" there are +included two very different things; one of them is that substance which +I imagine a great number of us have champed when we were very much +younger than we are now,--the common red coral, which is used so much, +as you know, for the edification and the delectation of children of +tender years, and is also employed for the purposes of ornament for +those who are much older, and as some think might know better. The other +kind of coral is a very different substance; it may for distinction's +sake be called the white coral; it is a material which most assuredly +not the hardest-hearted of baby farmers would give to a baby to chew, +and it is a substance which is to be seen only in the cabinets of +curious persons, or in museums, or, may be, over the mantelpieces of +sea-faring men. But although the red coral, as I have mentioned to you, +has access to the very best society; and although the white coral is +comparatively a despised product, yet in this, as in many other cases, +the humbler thing is in reality the greater; the amount of work which is +done in the world by the white coral being absolutely infinite compared +with that effected by its delicate and pampered namesake. Each of these +substances, the white coral and the red, however, has a relationship to +the other. They are, in a zoological sense, cousins, each of them being +formed by the same kind of animals in what is substantially the same +way. Each of these bodies is, in fact, the hard skeleton of a very +curious and a very simple animal, more comparable to the bones of such +animals as ourselves than to the shells of oysters or creatures of that +kind; for it is the hardening of the internal tissue of the creature, of +its internal substance, by the deposit in the body of a material which +is exceedingly common, not only in fresh but in sea water, and which is +specially abundant in those waters which we know as "hard," those +waters, for example, which leave a "fur" upon the bottom of a +tea-kettle. This "fur" is carbonate of lime, the same sort of substance +as limestone and chalk. That material is contained in solution in sea +water, and it is out of the sea water in which these coral creatures +live that they get the lime which is needed for the forming of their +hard skeleton. + +But now what manner of creatures are these which form these hard +skeletons? I dare say that in these days of keeping aquaria, of +locomotion to the sea-side, most of those whom I am addressing may have +seen one of those creatures which used to be known as the "sea anemone," +receiving that name on account of its general resemblance, in a rough +sort of way, to the flower which is known as the "anemone"; but being a +thing which lives in the sea, it was qualified as the "sea anemone." +Well, then, you must suppose a body shaped like a short cylinder, the +top cut off, and in the top a hole rather oval than round. All round +this aperture, which is the mouth, imagine that there are placed a +number of feelers forming a circle. The cavity of the mouth leads into a +sort of stomach, which is very unlike those of the higher animals, in +the circumstance that it opens at the lower end into a cavity of the +body, and all the digested matter, converted into nourishment, is thus +distributed through the rest of the body. That is the general structure +of one of these sea anemones. If you touch it it contracts immediately +into a heap. It looks at first quite like a flower in the sea, but if +you touch it you find that it exhibits all the peculiarities of a living +animal; and if anything which can serve as its prey comes near its +tentacles, it closes them round it and sucks the material into its +stomach and there digests it and turns it to the account of its own +body. + +These creatures are very voracious, and not at all particular what they +seize; and sometimes it may be that they lay hold of a shellfish which +is far too big to be packed into that interior cavity, and, of course, +in any ordinary animal a proceeding of this kind would give rise to a +very severe fit of indigestion. But this is by no means the case in the +sea anemone, because when digestive difficulties of this kind arise he +gets out of them by splitting himself in two; and then each half builds +itself up into a fresh creature, and you have two polypes where there +was previously one, and the bone which stuck in the way lying between +them! Not only can these creatures multiply in this fashion, but they +can multiply by buds. A bud will grow out of the side of the body (I am +not speaking of the common sea anemone, but of allied creatures) just +like the bud of a plant, and that will fashion itself into a creature +just like the parent. There are some of them in which these buds remain +connected together, and you will soon see what would be the result of +that. If I make a bud grow out here, and another on the opposite side, +and each fashions itself into a new polype, the practical effect will be +that before long you will see a single polype converted into a sort of +tree or bush of polypes. And these will all remain associated together, +like a kind of co-operative store, which is a thing I believe you +understand very well here,--each mouth will help to feed the body and +each part of the body help to support the multifarious mouths. I think +that is as good an example of a zoological co-operative store as you can +well have. Such are these wonderful creatures. But they are capable not +only of multiplying in this way, but in other ways, by having a more +ordinary and regular kind of offspring. Little eggs are hatched and the +young are passed out by the way of the mouth, and they go swimming about +as little oval bodies covered with a very curious kind of hairlike +processes. Each of these processes is capable of striking water like an +oar; and the consequence is that the young creature is propelled through +the water. So that you have the young polype floating about in this +fashion, covered by its 'vibratile cilia', as these long filaments, +which are capable of vibration are termed. And thus, although the polype +itself may be a fixed creature unable to move about, it is able to +spread its offspring over great areas. For these creatures not only +propel themselves, but while swimming about in the sea for many hours, +or perhaps days, it will be obvious that they must be carried hither and +thither by the currents of the sea, which not unfrequently move at the +rate of one or two miles an hour. Thus, in the course of a few days, the +offspring of this stationary creature may be carried to a very great +distance from its parent; and having been so carried it loses these +organs by which it is propelled, and settles down upon the bottom of the +sea and grows up again into the form and condition of its parents. So +that if you suppose a single polype of this kind settled upon the bottom +of the sea, it may by these various methods--that is to say, by cutting +itself in two, which we call "fission," or by budding; or by sending out +these swimming embryos,--multiply itself to an enormous extent, and give +rise to thousands, or millions, of progeny in a comparatively short +time; and these thousands, or millions, of progeny may cover a very +large surface of the sea bottom; in fact, you will readily perceive +that, give them time, and there is no limit to the surface which they +may cover. + +Having understood thus far the general nature of these polypes, which +are the fabricators both of the red and white coral, let us consider a +little more particularly how the skeletons of the red coral and of the +white coral are formed. The red coral polype perches upon the sea +bottom, it then grows up into a sort of stem, and out of that stem there +grow branches, each of which has its own polypes; and thus you have a +kind of tree formed, every branch of the tree terminated by its polype. +It is a tree, but at the end of the branches there are open mouths of +polypes instead of flowers. Thus there is a common soft body connecting +the whole, and as it grows up the soft body deposits in its interior a +quantity of carbonate of lime, which acquires a beautiful red or flesh +colour, and forms a kind of stem running through the whole, and it is +that stem which is the red coral. The red coral grows principally at the +bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, at very great depths, and the coral +fishers, who are very adventurous seamen, take their drag nets, of a +peculiar kind, roughly made, but efficient for their purpose, and drag +them along the bottom of the sea to catch the branches of the red coral, +which become entangled and are thus brought up to the surface. They are +then allowed to putrefy, in order to get rid of the animal matter, and +the red coral is the skeleton that is left. + +In the case of the white coral, the skeleton is more complete. In the +red coral, the skeleton belongs to the whole; in the white coral there +is a special skeleton for every one of these polypes in addition to that +for the whole body. There is a skeleton formed in the body of each of +them, like a cup divided by a number of radiating partitions towards the +outside; and that cup is formed of carbonate of lime, only not stained +red, as in the case of the red coral. And all these cups are joined +together into a common branch, the result of which is the formation of a +beautiful coral tree. This is a great mass of madrepore, and in the +living state every one of the ends of these branches was terminated by a +beautiful little polype, like a sea anemone, and all the skeleton was +covered by a soft body which united the polypes together. You must +understand that all this skeleton has been formed in the interior of the +body, to suit the branched body of the polype mass, and that it is as +much its skeleton as our own bones are our skeleton. In this next coral +the creature which has formed the skeleton has divided itself as it +grew, and consequently has formed a great expansion; but scattered all +over this surface there were polype bodies like those I previously +described. Again, when this great cup was alive, the whole surface was +covered with a beautiful body upon which were set innumerable small +polype flowers, if we may so call them, often brilliantly coloured; and +the whole cup was built up in the same fashion by the deposit of +carbonate of lime in the interior of the combined polype body, formed by +budding and by fission in the way I described. You will perceive that +there is no necessary limit to this process. There is no reason why we +should not have coral three or four times as big; and there are certain +creatures of this kind that do fabricate very large masses, or half +spheres several feet in diameter. Thus the activity of these animals in +separating carbonate of lime from the sea and building it up into +definite shapes is very considerable indeed. + +Now I think I have said sufficient--as much as I can without taking you +into technical details, of the general nature of these creatures which +form coral. The animals which form coral are scattered over the seas of +all countries in the world. The red coral is comparatively limited, but +the polypes which form the white coral are widely scattered. There are +some of them which remain single, or which give rise to only small +accumulations; and the skeletons of these, as they die, accumulate upon +the bottom of the sea, but they do not come to much; they are washed +about and do not adhere together, but become mixed up with the mud of +the sea. But there are certain parts of the world in which the coral +polypes which live and grow are of a kind which remain, adhere together, +and form great masses. They differ from the ordinary polypes just in the +same way as those plants which form a peat-bog or meadow-turf differ +from ordinary plants. They have a habit of growing together in masses in +the same place; they are what we call "gregarious" things; and the +consequence of this is, that as they die and leave their skeletons, +those skeletons form a considerable solid aggregation at the bottom of +the sea, and other polypes perch upon them, and begin building upon +them, and so by degrees a great mass is formed. And just as we know +there are some ancient cities in which you have a British city, and over +that the foundations of a Roman city; and over that a Saxon city, and +over that again a modern city, so in these localities of which I am +speaking, you have the accumulations of the foundations of the houses, +if I may use the term, of nation after nation of these coral polypes; +and these accumulations may cover a very considerable space, and may +rise in the course of time from the bottom to the surface of the sea. + +Mariners have a name which they apply to all sorts of obstacles +consisting of hard and rocky matter which comes in their way in the +course of their navigation; they call such obstacles "reefs," and they +have long been in the habit of calling the particular kind of reef, +which is formed by the accumulation of the skeletons of dead corals, by +the name of "coral reefs," therefore, those parts of the world in which +these accumulations occur have been termed by them "coral reef areas," +or regions in which coral reefs are found. There is a very notable +example of a simple coral reef about the island of Mauritius, which I +dare say you all know, lies in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It is a +very considerable and beautiful island, and is surrounded on all sides +by a mass of coral, which has been formed in the way I have described; +so that if you could get upon the top of one of the peaks of the island, +and look down upon the Indian Ocean, you would see that the beach round +the Island was continued outward by a kind of shallow terrace, which is +covered by the sea, and where the sea is quite shallow; and at a +distance varying from three-quarters of a mile to a mile and a half from +the proper beach, you would see a line of foam or surf which looks most +beautiful in contrast with the bright green water in the inside, and the +deep blue of the sea beyond. That line of surf indicates the point at +which the waters of the ocean are breaking upon the coral reef which +surrounds the island. You see it sweep round the island upon all sides, +except where a river may chance to come down, and that always makes a +gap in the shore. + +There are two or three points which I wish to bring clearly before your +notice about such a reef as this. In the first place, you perceive it +forms a kind of fringe round the island, and is therefore called a +"fringing reef." In the next place, if you go out in a boat, and take +soundings at the edge of the reef, you find that the depth of the water +is not more than from 20 to 25 fathoms--that is about 120 to 150 feet. +Outside that point you come to the natural sea bottom; but all inside +that depth is coral, built up from the bottom by the accumulation of the +skeletons of innumerable generations of coral polypes. So that you see +the coral forms a very considerable rampart round the island. What the +exact circumference may be I do not remember, but it cannot be less than +100 miles, and the outward height of this wall of coral rock nowhere +amounts to less than about 100 or 150 feet. + +When the outward face of the reef is examined, you find that the upper +edge, which is exposed to the wash of the sea, and all the seaward face, +is covered with those living plant-like flowers which I have described +to you. They are the coral polypes which grow, flourish, and add to the +mass of calcareous matter which already forms the reef. But towards the +lower part of the reef, at a depth of about 120 feet, these creatures +are less active, and fewer of them at work; and at greater depths than +that you find no living coral polype at all; and it may be laid down as +a rule, derived from very extensive observation, that these +reef-building corals cannot live in a greater depth of water than about +120 to 150 feet. I beg you to recollect that fact, because it is one I +shall have to come back to by and by, and to show to what very curious +consequences that rule leads. Well then, coming back to the margin of +the reef, you find that part of it which lies just within the surf to be +coated by a very curious plant, a sort of seaweed, which contains in its +substance a very great deal of carbonate of lime, and looks almost like +rock; this is what is called the nullipore. More towards the land, we +come to the shallow water upon the inside of the reef, which has a +particular name, derived from the Spanish or the Portuguese--it is +called a "lagoon," or lake. In this lagoon there is comparatively little +living coral; the bottom of it is formed of coral mud. If we pounded +this coral in water, it would be converted into calcareous mud, and the +waves during storms do for the coral skeletons exactly what we might do +for this coral in a mortar; the waves tear off great fragments and crush +them with prodigious force, until they are ground into the merest +powder, and that powder is washed into the interior of the lagoon, and +forms a muddy coating at the bottom. Beside that there are a great many +animals that prey upon the coral--fishes, worms, and creatures of that +kind, and all these, by their digestive processes, reduce the coral to +the same state, and contribute a very important element to this fine +mud. The living coral found in the lagoon, is not the reef building +coral; it does not give rise to the same massive skeletons. As you go in +a boat over these shallow pools, you see these beautiful things, +coloured red, blue, green, and all colours, building their houses; but +these are mere tenements, and not to be compared in magnitude and +importance to the masses which are built by the reef-builders +themselves. Now such a structure as this is what is termed a "fringing +reef." You meet with fringing reefs of this kind not only in the +Mauritius, but in a number of other parts of the world. If these were +the only reefs to be seen anywhere, the problem of the formation of +coral reefs would never have been a difficult one. Nothing can be easier +than to understand how there must have been a time when the coral +polypes came and settled on the shores of this island, everywhere within +the 20 to 25 fathom line, and how, having perched there, they gradually +grew until they built up the reef. + +But these are by no means the only sort of coral reefs in the world; on +the contrary, there are very large areas, not only of the Indian ocean, +but of the Pacific, in which many many thousands of square miles are +covered either with a peculiar kind of reef, which is called the +"encircling reef," or by a still more curious reef which goes by the +name of the "atoll." There is a very good picture, which Professor +Roscoe has been kind enough to prepare for me, of one of these atolls, +which will enable you to form a notion of it as a landscape. You have in +the foreground the waters of the Pacific. You must fancy yourself in the +middle of the great ocean, and you will perceive that there is an almost +circular island, with a low beach, which is formed entirely of coral +sand; growing upon that beach you have vegetation, which takes, of +course, the shape of the circular land; and then, in the interior of the +circle, there is a pool of water, which is not very deep--probably in +this case not more than eight or nine fathoms--and which forms a strange +and beautiful contrast to the deep blue water outside. This circular +island, or atoll, with a lagoon in the middle, is not a complete circle; +upon one side of it there is a break, exactly like the entrance into a +dock; and, as a matter of course, these circular islets, or atolls, form +most efficient break-waters, for if you can only get inside your ship is +in perfect safety, with admirable anchorage in the interior. If the ship +were lying within a mile of that beach, the water would be one or two +thousand feet deep; therefore, a section of that atoll, with the +soundings as deep as this all round, would give you the notion of a +great cone, cut off at the top, and with a shallow cup in the middle of +it. Now, what a very singular fact this is, that we should have rising +from the bottom of the deep ocean a great pyramid, beside which all +human pyramids sink into the most utter insignificance! These singular +coral limestone structures are very beautiful, especially when crowned +with cocoa-nut trees. There you see the long line of land, covered with +vegetation--cocoa-nut trees--and you have the sea upon the inner and +outer sides, with a vessel very comfortably riding at anchor. That is +one of the remarkable forms of reef in the Pacific. Another is a sort of +half-way house, between the atoll and the fringing reef; it is what is +called an "encircling reef." In this case you see an Island rising out +of the sea, and at two or three miles distance, or more, and separated +by a deep channel, which may be eight to twelve fathoms deep, there is a +reef, which encircles it like a great girdle; and outside that again the +water is one or two thousand feet deep. I spent three or four years of +my life in cruising about a modification of one of these encircling +reefs, called a "barrier reef," upon the east coast of Australia--one of +the most wonderful accumulations of coral rock in the world. It is about +1,100 miles long, and varies in width from one or two to many miles. It +is separated from the coast of Australia by a channel of about 25 +fathoms deep; while outside, looking toward America, the water is two or +three thousand feet deep at a mile from the edge of the reef. This is an +accumulation of limestone rock, built up by corals, to which we have no +parallel anywhere else. Imagine to yourself a heap of this material more +than one thousand miles long, and several miles wide. That is a barrier +reef; but a barrier reef is merely as it were a fragment of an +encircling reef running parallel to the coast of a great continent. + +I told you that the polypes which built these reefs were not able to +live at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms of water; and that is the +reason why the fringing reef goes no farther from the land than it does. +And for the same reason, if the Pacific could be laid bare we should +have a most singular spectacle. There would be a number of mountains +with truncated tops scattered over it, and those mountains would have an +appearance just the very reverse of that presented by the mountains we +see on shore. You know that the mountains on shore are covered with +vegetation at their bases, while their tops are barren or covered with +snow; but these mountains would be perfectly bare at their bases, and +all round their tops they would be covered with a beautiful vegetation +of coral polypes. And not only would this be the case, but we should +find that for a considerable distance down, all the material of these +atoll and encircling reefs was built up of precisely the same coral rock +as the fringing reef. That is to say, you have an enormous mass of coral +rock at a depth below the surface of the water where we know perfectly +well that the coral animals could not have lived to form it. When those +two facts were first put together, naturalists were quite as much +puzzled as I daresay you are, at present, to understand how these two +seeming contradictions could be reconciled; and all sorts of odd +hypotheses were resorted to. It was supposed that the coral did not +extend so far down, but that there was a great chain of submarine +mountains stretching through the Pacific, and that the coral had grown +upon them. But only fancy what supposition that was, for you would have +to imagine that there was a chain of mountains a thousand miles or more +long, and that the top of every mountain came within 20 fathoms of the +surface of the sea, and neither rose above nor sunk beneath that level. +That is highly improbable: such a chain of mountains was never known. +Then how can you possibly account for the curious circular form of the +atolls by any supposition of this kind? I believe there was some one who +imagined that all these mountains were volcanoes, and that the reefs had +grown round the tops of the craters, so we all stuck fast. I may say +"we," though it was rather before my time. And when we all stick fast, +it is just the use of a man of genius that he comes and shows us the +meaning of the thing. He generally gives an explanation which is so +ridiculously simple that everybody is ashamed that he did not find it +out before; and the way such a discoverer is often rewarded is by +finding out that some one had made the discovery before him! I do not +mean to say that it was so in this particular instance, because the +great man who played the part of Columbus and the egg on this occasion +had, I believe, always had the full credit which he so well deserves. +The discoverer of the key to these problems was a man whose name you +know very well in connection with other matters, and I should not wonder +if some of you have heard it said that he was a superficial kind of +person who did not know much about the subject on which he writes. He +was Mr. Darwin, and this brilliant discovery of his was made public +thirty years ago, long before he became the celebrated man he now is; +and it was one of the most singular instances of that astonishing +sagacity which he possesses of drawing consequences by way of deduction +from simple principles of natural science--a power which has served him +in good stead on other occasions. Well, Mr. Darwin, looking at these +curious difficulties and having that sort of knowledge of natural +phenomena in general, without which he could not have made a step +towards the solution of the problem, said to himself--"It is perfectly +clear that the coral which forms the base of the atolls and fringing +reefs could not possibly have been formed there if the level of the sea +has always been exactly where it is now, for we know for certain that +these polypes cannot build at a greater depth than 20 to 25 fathoms, and +here we find them at 50 to 100 fathoms." + +That was the first point to make clear. The second point to deal with +was--if the polypes cannot have built there while the level of the sea +has remained stationary, then one of two things must have +happened--either the sea has gone up, or the land has gone down. + +There is no escape from one of these two alternatives. Now the +objections to the notion of the sea having gone up are very considerable +indeed; for you will readily perceive that the sea could not possibly +have risen a thousand feet in the Pacific without rising pretty much the +same distance everywhere else; and if it had risen that height +everywhere else since the reefs began to be formed, the geography of the +world in general must have been very different indeed, at that time, +from what it is now. And we have very good means of knowing that any +such rise as this certainly has not taken place in the level of the sea +since the time that the corals have been building their houses. And so +the only other alternative was to suppose that the land had gone down, +and at so slow a rate that the corals were able to grow upward as fast +as it went downward. You will see at once that this is the solution of +the mystery, and nothing can be simpler or more obvious when you come to +think about it. Suppose we start with a coral sea and put in the middle +of it an island such as the Mauritius. Now let the coral polypes come +and perch on the shore and build a fringing reef, which will stop when +they come to 20 or 25 fathoms, and you will have a fringing reef like +that round the island in the illustration. So long as the land remains +stationary, so long as it does not descend so long will that reef be +unable to get any further out, because the moment the polype embryos try +to get below they die. But now suppose that the land sinks very +gradually indeed. Let it subside by slow degrees, until the mountain +peak, which we have in the middle of it, alone projects beyond the sea +level. The fringing reef would be carried down also; but we suppose that +the sinking is so slow that the coral polypes are able to grow up as +fast as the land is carried down; consequently they will add layer upon +layer until they form a deep cup, because the inner part of the reef +grows much more slowly than the outer part. Thus you have the reef +forming a bed thicker upon the flanks of the island; but the edge of the +reef will be very much further out from the land, and the lagoon will be +many times deeper; in short, your fringing reef will be converted into +an encircling reef. And if, instead of this being an island, it were a +great continent like Australia, then you will have the phenomenon of a +barrier reef which I have described. The barrier reef of Australia was +originally a fringing reef; the land has gone slowly down; the +consequence is the lagoon has deepened until its depth is now 25 fathoms +and the corals have grown up at the outer edge until you have that +prodigious accumulation which forms the barrier reef at present. Now let +this process go on further still; let us take the land a further step +down, so as to submerge even the peak. The coral, still growing up, will +cover the surface of the land, and you will have an atoll reef; that is +to say, a more or less circular or oval ring of coral rock with a lagoon +in the middle. Thus you see that every peculiarity and phenomenon of +these different forms of coral reef was explained at once by the +simplest of all possible suppositions, namely, by supposing that the +land has gone down at a rate not greater than that at which the coral +polypes have grown up. You explain a Fringing Reef as a reef which is +formed round land comparatively stationary; an Encircling Reef as one +which is formed round land going down; and an Atoll as a reef formed +upon land gone down; and the thing is so simple that a child may +understand it when it is once explained. + +But this would by no means satisfy the conditions of a scientific +hypothesis. No man who is cautious would dream of trusting to an +explanation of this kind simply because it explained one particular set +of facts. Before you can possibly be safe in dealing with Nature--who is +very properly made of the feminine gender, on account of the astonishing +tricks which she plays upon her admirers!--I say before you can be safe +in dealing with Nature, you must get two or three kinds of cross proofs, +so as to make sure not only that your hypothesis fits that particular +set of facts, but that it is not contradicted by some other set of facts +which is just as clear and certain. And it so happens, that in this case +Mr. Darwin supplied the cross proofs as well as the immediate evidence. +You have all heard of volcanoes, those wonderful vents in the surface of +the earth out of which pour masses of lava, cinders and ashes, and the +like. Now, it is a matter of observation and experience that all +volcanoes are placed in areas in which the surface of the earth is +undergoing elevation, or at any rate is stationary; they are not placed +in parts of the world in which the level of the land is being lowered. +They are all indications of a great subterranean activity, of a +something being pushed up, and therefore naturally the land either gives +way and lets it come through, or else is raised up by its violence. And +so Mr. Darwin, being desirous not to merely put out a flashy hypothesis, +but to get at the truth of the matter, said to himself, "If my notion of +this matter is right, then atolls and encircling reefs, inasmuch as they +are dependent upon subsidence, ought not to be found in company with +volcanoes; and, 'vice versa', volcanoes ought not to be found in company +with atolls, but they ought to be found in company with fringing reefs." +And if you turn to Mr. Darwin's great work upon the coral reefs, you +will see a very beautiful chart of the world, which he prepared with +great pains and labour, showing the distribution on the one hand of the +reefs, and on the other of the volcanoes; you will find that in no case +does the atoll accompany the volcano, or the volcano burst up among the +atolls. It is most instructive to look at the great area of the Pacific +on the map, and see the great masses of atolls forming in one region of +it a most enormous belt, running from north-west to south-east; while +the volcanoes, which are very numerous in that region, go round the +margin, so that we can picture the Pacific to ourselves a section of a +kind of very shallow basin--shallow in proportion to its width, with the +atolls rising from the bottom of it, and at the margins the volcanoes. +It is exactly as if you had taken a flat mass and lifted up the edges of +it; the subterranean force which lifted up the edges shows itself in +volcanoes, and as the edges have been raised, the middle part of the +mass has gone down. In other words, the facts of physical geography +precisely and exactly correspond with the hypothesis which accounts for +the infinite varieties of coral reefs. + +One other point, before I conclude, about this matter. These reefs, as +you have just perceived, are in a most singular and unexpected manner +indications of physical changes of elevations and depressions going on +upon the surface of the globe. I dare say it may have surprised you to +hear me talk in this familiar sort of way of land going up and down; but +it is one of the universal lessons of geology that the land is going +down and going up, and has been going up and down, in all sorts of +places and to all sorts of distances, through all recorded time. +Geologists would be quite right in maintaining the seeming paradox that +the stable thing in the world is the fluid sea and the shifting thing is +the solid land. That may sound a very hard saying at first, but the more +you look into geology, the more you will see ground for believing that +it is not a mere paradox. + +In an unexpected manner, again, these reefs afford us not only an +indication of change of place, but they afford an indication of lapse of +time. The reef is a timekeeper of a very curious character; and you can +easily understand why. The coral polype, like everything else, takes a +certain time to grow to its full size; it does not do it in a minute; +just as a child takes a certain time to grow into a man so does the +embryo polype take time to grow into a perfect polype and form its +skeleton. Consequently every particle of coral limestone is an +expression of time. It must have taken a certain time to separate the +lime from the sea water. It is not possible to arrive at an accurate +computation of the time it must have taken to form these coral islands, +because we lack the necessary data; but we can form a rough calculation, +which leads to very curious and striking results. The computations of +the rate at which corals grow are so exceedingly variable, that we must +allow the widest possible margin for error; and it is better in this +case to make the allowance upon the side of excess. I think that anybody +who knows anything about the matter will tell you that I am making a +computation far in excess of what is probable, if I say that an inch of +coral limestone may be added to one of these reefs in the course of a +year. I think most naturalists would be inclined to laugh at me for +making such an assumption, and would put the growth at certainly not +more than half that amount. But supposing it is so, what a very curious +notion of the antiquity of some of these great living pyramids comes out +by a very simple calculation. There is no doubt whatever that the sea +faces of some of them are fully a thousand feet high, and if you take +the reckoning of an inch a year, that will give you 12,000 years for the +age of that particular pyramid or cone of coral limestone; 12,000 long +years have these creatures been labouring in conditions which must have +been substantially the same as they are now, otherwise the polypes could +not have continued their work. But I believe I very much understate both +the height of some of these masses, and overstate the amount which these +animals can form in the course of a year; so that you might very safely +double the period as the time during which the Pacific Ocean, the +general state of the climate, and the sea, and the temperature has been +substantially what it is now; and yet that state of things which now +obtains in the Pacific Ocean is the yesterday of the history of the life +of the globe. Those pyramids of coral rock are built upon a foundation +which is itself formed by the deposits which the geologist has to deal +with. If we go back in time and search through the series of the rocks, +we find at every age of the world's history which has yet been examined, +accumulations of limestone, many of which have certainly been built up +in just the same way as those coral reefs which are now forming the +bottom of the Pacific Ocean. And even if we turn to the oldest periods +of geologic history, although the nature of the materials is changed, +although we cannot apply to them the same reasonings that we can to the +existing corals, yet still there are vast masses of limestone formed of +nothing else than the accumulations of the skeletons of similar animals, +and testifying that even in those remote periods of the world's history, +as now, the order of things implies that the earth had already endured +for a period of which our ordinary standards of chronology give us not +the slightest conception. In other words, the history of these coral +reefs, traced out honestly and carefully, and with the same sort of +reasoning that you would use in the ordinary affairs of life, testifies, +like every fact that I know of, to the prodigious antiquity of the earth +since it existed in a condition in the main similar to that in which it +now is. + +End of Coral and Coral Reefs. + + +*** + + +YEAST. + + +I have selected to-night the particular subject of Yeast for two +reasons--or, rather, I should say for three. In the first place, because +it is one of the simplest and the most familiar objects with which we +are acquainted. In the second place, because the facts and phenomena +which I have to describe are so simple that it is possible to put them +before you without the help of any of those pictures or diagrams which +are needed when matters are more complicated, and which, if I had to +refer to them here, would involve the necessity of my turning away from +you now and then, and thereby increasing very largely my difficulty +(already sufficiently great) in making myself heard. And thirdly, I have +chosen this subject because I know of no familiar substance forming part +of our every-day knowledge and experience, the examination of which, +with a little care, tends to open up such very considerable issues as +does this substance--yeast. + +In the first place, I should like to call your attention to a fact with +which the whole of you are, to begin with, perfectly acquainted, I mean +the fact that any liquid containing sugar, any liquid which is formed by +pressing out the succulent parts of the fruits of plants, or a mixture +of honey and water, if left to itself for a short time, begins to +undergo a peculiar change. No matter how clear it might be at starting, +yet after a few hours, or at most a few days, if the temperature is +high, this liquid begins to be turbid, and by-and-by bubbles make their +appearance in it, and a sort of dirty-looking yellowish foam or scum +collects at the surface; while at the same time, by degrees, a similar +kind of matter, which we call the "lees," sinks to the bottom. + +The quantity of this dirty-looking stuff, that we call the scum and the +lees, goes on increasing until it reaches a certain amount, and then it +stops; and by the time it stops, you find the liquid in which this +matter has been formed has become altered in its quality. To begin with +it was a mere sweetish substance, having the flavour of whatever might +be the plant from which it was expressed, or having merely the taste and +the absence of smell of a solution of sugar; but by the time that this +change that I have been briefly describing to you is accomplished the +liquid has become completely altered, it has acquired a peculiar smell, +and, what is still more remarkable, it has gained the property of +intoxicating the person who drinks it. Nothing can be more innocent than +a solution of sugar; nothing can be less innocent, if taken in excess, +as you all know, than those fermented matters which are produced from +sugar. Well, again, if you notice that bubbling, or, as it were, +seething of the liquid, which has accompanied the whole of this process, +you will find that it is produced by the evolution of little bubbles of +air-like substance out of the liquid; and I dare say you all know this +air-like substance is not like common air; it is not a substance which a +man can breathe with impunity. You often hear of accidents which take +place in brewers' vats when men go in carelessly, and get suffocated +there without knowing that there was anything evil awaiting them. And if +you tried the experiment with this liquid I am telling of while it was +fermenting, you would find that any small animal let down into the +vessel would be similarly stifled; and you would discover that a light +lowered down into it would go out. Well, then, lastly, if after this +liquid has been thus altered you expose it to that process which is +called distillation; that is to say, if you put it into a still, and +collect the matters which are sent over, you obtain, when you first heat +it, a clear transparent liquid, which, however, is something totally +different from water; it is much lighter; it has a strong smell, and it +has an acrid taste; and it possesses the same intoxicating power as the +original liquid, but in a much more intense degree. If you put a light +to it, it burns with a bright flame, and it is that substance which we +know as spirits of wine. + +Now these facts which I have just put before you--all but the last--have +been known from extremely remote antiquity. It is, I hope one of the +best evidences of the antiquity of the human race, that among the +earliest records of all kinds of men, you find a time recorded when they +got drunk. We may hope that that must have been a very late period in +their history. Not only have we the record of what happened to Noah, but +if we turn to the traditions of a different people, those forefathers of +ours who lived in the high lands of Northern India, we find that they +were not less addicted to intoxicating liquids; and I have no doubt that +the knowledge of this process extends far beyond the limits of +historically recorded time. And it is a very curious thing to observe +that all the names we have of this process, and all that belongs to it, +are names that have their roots not in our present language, but in +those older languages which go back to the times at which this country +was peopled. That word "fermentation" for example, which is the title we +apply to the whole process, is a Latin term; and a term which is +evidently based upon the fact of the effervescence of the liquid. Then +the French, who are very fond of calling themselves a Latin race, have a +particular word for ferment, which is 'levure'. And, in the same way, we +have the word "leaven," those two words having reference to the heaving +up, or to the raising of the substance which is fermented. Now those are +words which we get from what I may call the Latin side of our parentage; +but if we turn to the Saxon side, there are a number of names connected +with this process of fermentation. For example, the Germans call +fermentation--and the old Germans did so--"gahren;" and they call +anything which is used as a ferment by such names, such as "gheist" and +"geest," and finally in low German, "yest";" and that word you know is +the word our Saxon forefathers used, and is almost the same as the word +which is commonly employed in this country to denote the common ferment +of which I have been speaking. So they have another name, the word +"hefe," which is derived from their verb "heben," which signifies to +raise up; and they have yet a third name, which is also one common in +this country (I do not know whether it is common in Lancashire, but it +is certainly very common in the Midland countries), the word "barm," +which is derived from a root which signifies to raise or to bear up. +Barm is a something borne up; and thus there is much more real relation +than is commonly supposed by those who make puns, between the beer which +a man takes down his throat and the bier upon which that process, if +carried to excess, generally lands him, for they are both derived from +the root signifying bearing up; the one thing is borne upon men's +shoulders, and the other is the fermented liquid which was borne up by +the fermentation taking place in itself. + +Again, I spoke of the produce of fermentation as "spirit of wine." Now +what a very curious phrase that is, if you come to think of it. The old +alchemists talked of the finest essence of anything as if it had the +same sort of relation to the thing itself as a man's spirit is supposed +to have to his body; and so they spoke of this fine essence of the +fermented liquid as being the spirit of the liquid. Thus came about that +extraordinary ambiguity of language, in virtue of which you apply +precisely the same substantive name to the soul of man and to a glass of +gin! And then there is still yet one other most curious piece of +nomenclature connected with this matter, and that is the word "alcohol" +itself, which is now so familiar to everybody. Alcohol originally meant +a very fine powder. The women of the Arabs and other Eastern people are +in the habit of tingeing their eyelashes with a very fine black powder +which is made of antimony, and they call that "kohol;" and the "al" is +simply the article put in front of it, so as to say "the kohol." And up +to the 17th century in this country the word alcohol was employed to +signify any very fine powder; you find it in Robert Boyle's works that +he uses "alcohol" for a very fine subtle powder. But then this name of +anything very fine and very subtle came to be specially connected with +the fine and subtle spirit obtained from the fermentation of sugar; and +I believe that the first person who fairly fixed it as the proper name +of what we now commonly call spirits of wine, was the great French +chemist Lavoisier, so comparatively recent is the use of the word +alcohol in this specialised sense. + +So much by way of general introduction to the subject on which I have to +speak to-night. What I have hitherto stated is simply what we may call +common knowledge, which everybody may acquaint himself with. And you +know that what we call scientific knowledge is not any kind of +conjuration, as people sometimes suppose, but it is simply the +application of the same principles of common sense that we apply to +common knowledge, carried out, if I may so speak, to knowledge which is +uncommon. And all that we know now of this substance, yeast, and all the +very strange issues to which that knowledge has led us, have simply come +out of the inveterate habit, and a very fortunate habit for the human +race it is, which scientific men have of not being content until they +have routed out all the different chains and connections of apparently +simple phenomena, until they have taken them to pieces and understood +the conditions upon which they depend. I will try to point out to you +now what has happened in consequence of endeavouring to apply this +process of "analysis," as we call it, this teazing out of an apparently +simple fact into all the little facts of which it is made up, to the +ascertained facts relating to the barm or the yeast; secondly, what has +come of the attempt to ascertain distinctly what is the nature of the +products which are produced by fermentation; then what has come of the +attempt to understand the relation between the yeast and the products; +and lastly, what very curious side issues if I may so call them--have +branched out in the course of this inquiry, which has now occupied +somewhere about two centuries. + +The first thing was to make out precisely and clearly what was the +nature of this substance, this apparently mere scum and mud that we call +yeast. And that was first commenced seriously by a wonderful old +Dutchman of the name of Leeuwenhoek, who lived some two hundred years +ago, and who was the first person to invent thoroughly trustworthy +microscopes of high powers. Now, Leeuwenhoek went to work upon this +yeast mud, and by applying to it high powers of the microscope, he +discovered that it was no mere mud such as you might at first suppose, +but that it was a substance made up of an enormous multitude of minute +grains, each of which had just as definite a form as if it were a grain +of corn, although it was vastly smaller, the largest of these not being +more than the two-thousandth of an inch in diameter; while, as you know, +a grain of corn is a large thing, and the very smallest of these +particles were not more than the seven-thousandth of an inch in +diameter. Leeuwenhoek saw that this muddy stuff was in reality a liquid, +in which there were floating this immense number of definitely shaped +particles, all aggregated in heaps and lumps and some of them separate. +That discovery remained, so to speak, dormant for fully a century, and +then the question was taken up by a French discoverer, who, paying great +attention and having the advantage of better instruments than +Leeuwenhoek had, watched these things and made the astounding discovery +that they were bodies which were constantly being reproduced and +growing; than when one of these rounded bodies was once formed and had +grown to its full size, it immediately began to give off a little bud +from one side, and then that bud grew out until it had attained the full +size of the first, and that, in this way, the yeast particle was +undergoing a process of multiplication by budding, just as effectual and +just as complete as the process of multiplication of a plant by budding; +and thus this Frenchman, Cagniard de la Tour, arrived at the +conclusion--very creditable to his sagacity, and which has been +confirmed by every observation and reasoning since--that this apparently +muddy refuse was neither more nor less than a mass of plants, of minute +living plants, growing and multiplying in the sugary fluid in which the +yeast is formed. And from that time forth we have known this substance +which forms the scum and the lees as the yeast plant; and it has +received a scientific name--which I may use without thinking of it, and +which I will therefore give you--namely, "Torula." Well, this was a +capital discovery. The next thing to do was to make out how this torula +was related to the other plants. I won't weary you with the whole course +of investigation, but I may sum up its results, and they are these--that +the torula is a particular kind of a fungus, a particular state rather, +of a fungus or mould. There are many moulds which under certain +conditions give rise to this torula condition, to a substance which is +not distinguishable from yeast, and which has the same properties as +yeast--that is to say, which is able to decompose sugar in the curious +way that we shall consider by-and-by. So that the yeast plant is a plant +belonging to a group of the Fungi, multiplying and growing and living in +this very remarkable manner in the sugary fluid which is, so to speak, +the nidus or home of the yeast. + +That, in a few words, is, as far as investigation--by the help of one's +eye and by the help of the microscope--has taken us. But now there is an +observer whose methods of observation are more refined than those of men +who use their eye, even though it be aided by the microscope; a man who +sees indirectly further than we can see directly--that is, the chemist; +and the chemist took up this question, and his discovery was not less +remarkable than that of the microscopist. The chemist discovered that +the yeast plant being composed of a sort of bag, like a bladder, inside +which is a peculiar soft, semifluid material--the chemist found that +this outer bladder has the same composition as the substance of wood, +that material which is called "cellulose," and which consists of the +elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen, without any nitrogen. But then +he also found (the first person to discover it was an Italian chemist, +named Fabroni, in the end of the last century) that this inner matter +which was contained in the bag, which constitutes the yeast plant, was a +substance containing the elements carbon and hydrogen and oxygen and +nitrogen; that it was what Fabroni called a vegeto-animal substance, and +that it had the peculiarities of what are commonly called "animal +products." + +This again was an exceedingly remarkable discovery. It lay neglected for +a time, until it was subsequently taken up by the great chemists of +modern times, and they, with their delicate methods of analysis, have +finally decided that, in all essential respects, the substance which +forms the chief part of the contents of the yeast plant is identical +with the material which forms the chief part of our own muscles, which +forms the chief part of our own blood, which forms the chief part of the +white of the egg; that, in fact, although this little organism is a +plant, and nothing but a plant, yet that its active living contents +contain a substance which is called "protein," which is of the same +nature as the substance which forms the foundation of every animal +organism whatever. + +Now we come next to the question of the analysis of the products, of +that which is produced during the process of fermentation. So far back +as the beginning of the 16th century, in the times of transition between +the old alchemy and the modern chemistry, there was a remarkable man, +Von Helmont, a Dutchman, who saw the difference between the air which +comes out of a vat where something is fermenting and common air. He was +the man who invented the term "gas," and he called this kind of gas "gas +silvestre"--so to speak gas that is wild, and lives in out of the way +places--having in his mind the identity of this particular kind of air +with that which is found in some caves and cellars. Then, the gradual +process of investigation going on, it was discovered that this +substance, then called "fixed air," was a poisonous gas, and it was +finally identified with that kind of gas which is obtained by burning +charcoal in the air, which is called "carbonic acid." Then the substance +alcohol was subjected to examination, and it was found to be a +combination of carbon, and hydrogen, and oxygen. Then the sugar which +was contained in the fermenting liquid was examined and that was found +to contain the three elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. So that it +was clear there were in sugar the fundamental elements which are +contained in the carbonic acid, and in the alcohol. And then came that +great chemist Lavoisier, and he examined into the subject carefully, and +possessed with that brilliant thought of his which happens to be +propounded exactly apropos to this matter of fermentation--that no +matter is ever lost, but that matter only changes its form and changes +its combinations--he endeavoured to make out what became of the sugar +which was subjected to fermentation. He thought he discovered that the +whole weight of the sugar was represented by the carbonic acid produced; +that in other words, supposing this tumbler to represent the sugar, that +the action of fermentation was as it were the splitting of it, the one +half going away in the shape of carbonic acid, and the other half going +away in the shape of alcohol. Subsequent inquiry, careful research with +the refinements of modern chemistry, have been applied to this problem, +and they have shown that Lavoisier was not quite correct; that what he +says is quite true for about 95 per cent. of the sugar, but that the +other 5 per cent., or nearly so, is converted into two other things; one +of them, matter which is called succinic acid, and the other matter +which is called glycerine, which you all know now as one of the +commonest of household matters. It may be that we have not got to the +end of this refined analysis yet, but at any rate, I suppose I may +say--and I speak with some little hesitation for fear my friend +Professor Roscoe here may pick me up for trespassing upon his +province--but I believe I may say that now we can account for 99 per +cent. at least of the sugar, and that 99 per cent. is split up into +these four things, carbonic acid, alcohol, succinic acid, and glycerine. +So that it may be that none of the sugar whatever disappears, and that +only its parts, so to speak, are re-arranged, and if any of it +disappears, certainly it is a very small portion. + +Now these are the facts of the case. There is the fact of the growth of +the yeast plant; and there is the fact of the splitting up of the sugar. +What relation have these two facts to one another? + +For a very long time that was a great matter of dispute. The early +French observers, to do them justice, discerned the real state of the +case, namely, that there was a very close connection between the actual +life of the yeast plant and this operation of the splitting up of the +sugar; and that one was in some way or other connected with the other. +All investigation subsequently has confirmed this original idea. It has +been shown that if you take any measures by which other plants of like +kind to the torula would be killed, and by which the yeast plant is +killed, then the yeast loses its efficiency. But a capital experiment +upon this subject was made by a very distinguished man, Helmholz, who +performed an experiment of this kind. He had two vessels--one of them we +will suppose full of yeast, but over the bottom of it, as this might be, +was tied a thin film of bladder; consequently, through that thin film of +bladder all the liquid parts of the yeast would go, but the solid parts +would be stopped behind; the torula would be stopped, the liquid parts +of the yeast would go. And then he took another vessel containing a +fermentable solution of sugar, and he put one inside the other; and in +this way you see the fluid parts of the yeast were able to pass through +with the utmost ease into the sugar, but the solid parts could not get +through at all. And he judged thus: if the fluid parts are those which +excite fermentation, then, inasmuch as these are stopped, the sugar will +not ferment; and the sugar did not ferment, showing quite clearly, that +an immediate contact with the solid, living torula was absolutely +necessary to excite this process of splitting up of the sugar. This +experiment was quite conclusive as to this particular point, and has had +very great fruits in other directions. + +Well, then, the yeast plant being essential to the production of +fermentation, where does the yeast plant come from? Here, again, was +another great problem opened up, for, as I said at starting, you have, +under ordinary circumstances in warm weather, merely to expose some +fluid containing a solution of sugar, or any form of syrup or vegetable +juice to the air, in order, after a comparatively short time, to see all +these phenomena of fermentation. Of course the first obvious suggestion +is, that the torula has been generated within the fluid. In fact, it +seems at first quite absurd to entertain any other conviction; but that +belief would most assuredly be an erroneous one. + +Towards the beginning of this century, in the vigorous times of the old +French wars, there was a Monsieur Appert, who had his attention directed +to the preservation of things that ordinarily perish, such as meats and +vegetables, and in fact he laid the foundation of our modern method of +preserving meats; and he found that if he boiled any of these substances +and then tied them so as to exclude the air, that they would be +preserved for any time. He tried these experiments, particularly with +the must of wine and with the wort of beer; and he found that if the +wort of beer had been carefully boiled and was stopped in such a way +that the air could not get at it, it would never ferment. What was the +reason of this? That, again, became the subject of a long string of +experiments, with this ultimate result, that if you take precautions to +prevent any solid matters from getting into the must of wine or the wort +of beer, under these circumstances--that is to say, if the fluid has +been boiled and placed in a bottle, and if you stuff the neck of the +bottle full of cotton wool, which allows the air to go through and stops +anything of a solid character however fine, then you may let it be for +ten years and it will not ferment. But if you take that plug out and +give the air free access, then, sooner or later fermentation will set +up. And there is no doubt whatever that fermentation is excited only by +the presence of some torula or other, and that that torula proceeds in +our present experience, from pre-existing torulae. These little bodies +are excessively light. You can easily imagine what must be the weight of +little particles, but slightly heavier than water, and not more than the +two-thousandth or perhaps seven-thousandth of an inch in diameter. They +are capable of floating about and dancing like motes in the sunbeam; +they are carried about by all sorts of currents of air; the great +majority of them perish; but one or two, which may chance to enter into +a sugary solution, immediately enter into active life, find there the +conditions of their nourishment, increase and multiply, and may give +rise to any quantity whatever of this substance yeast. And, whatever may +be true or not be true about this "spontaneous generation," as it is +called in regard to all other kinds of living things, it is perfectly +certain, as regards yeast, that it always owes its origin to this +process of transportation or inoculation, if you like so to call it, +from some other living yeast organism; and so far as yeast is concerned, +the doctrine of spontaneous generation is absolutely out of court. And +not only so, but the yeast must be alive in order to exert these +peculiar properties. If it be crushed, if it be heated so far that its +life is destroyed, that peculiar power of fermentation is not excited. +Thus we have come to this conclusion, as the result of our inquiry, that +the fermentation of sugar, the splitting of the sugar into alcohol and +carbonic acid, glycerine, and succinic acid, is the result of nothing +but the vital activity of this little fungus, the torula. + +And now comes the further exceedingly difficult inquiry--how is it that +this plant, the torula, produces this singular operation of the +splitting up of the sugar? Fabroni, to whom I referred some time ago, +imagined that the effervescence of fermentation was produced in just the +same way as the effervescence of a sedlitz powder, that the yeast was a +kind of acid, and that the sugar was a combination of carbonic acid and +some base to form the alcohol, and that the yeast combined with this +substance, and set free the carbonic acid; just as when you add +carbonate of soda to acid you turn out the carbonic acid. But of course +the discovery of Lavoisier that the carbonic acid and the alcohol taken +together are very nearly equal in weight to the sugar, completely upset +this hypothesis. Another view was therefore taken by the French chemist, +Thenard, and it is still held by a very eminent chemist, M. Pasteur, and +their view is this, that the yeast, so to speak, eats a little of the +sugar, turns a little of it to its own purposes, and by so doing gives +such a shape to the sugar that the rest of it breaks up into carbonic +acid and alcohol. + +Well, then, there is a third hypothesis, which is maintained by another +very distinguished chemist, Liebig, which denies either of the other +two, and which declares that the particles of the sugar are, as it were, +shaken asunder by the forces at work in the yeast plant. Now I am not +going to take you into these refinements of chemical theory, I cannot +for a moment pretend to do so, but I may put the case before you by an +analogy. Suppose you compare the sugar to a card house, and suppose you +compare the yeast to a child coming near the card house, then Fabroni's +hypothesis was that the child took half the cards away; Thenard's and +Pasteur's hypothesis is that the child pulls out the bottom card and +thus makes it tumble to pieces; and Liebig's hypothesis is that the +child comes by and shakes the table and tumbles the house down. I appeal +to my friend here (Professor Roscoe) whether that is not a fair +statement of the case. + +Having thus, as far as I can, discussed the general state of the +question, it remains only that I should speak of some of those +collateral results which have come in a very remarkable way out of the +investigation of yeast. I told you that it was very early observed that +the yeast plant consisted of a bag made up of the same material as that +which composes wood, and of an interior semifluid mass which contains a +substance, identical in its composition, in a broad sense, with that +which constitutes the flesh of animals. Subsequently, after the +structure of the yeast plant had been carefully observed, it was +discovered that all plants, high and low, are made up of separate bags +or "cells," as they are called; these bags or cells having the +composition of the pure matter of wood; having the same composition, +broadly speaking, as the sac of the yeast plant, and having in their +interior a more or less fluid substance containing a matter of the same +nature as the protein substance of the yeast plant. And therefore this +remarkable result came out--that however much a plant may differ from an +animal, yet that the essential constituent of the contents of these +various cells or sacs of which the plant is made up, the nitrogenous +protein matter, is the same in the animal as in the plant. And not only +was this gradually discovered, but it was found that these semifluid +contents of the plant cell had, in many cases, a remarkable power of +contractility quite like that of the substance of animals. And about 24 +or 25 years ago, namely, about the year 1846, to the best of my +recollection, a very eminent German botanist, Hugo Von Mohl, conferred +upon this substance which is found in the interior of the plant cell, +and which is identical with the matter found in the inside of the yeast +cell, and which again contains an animal substance similar to that of +which we ourselves are made up--he conferred upon this that title of +"protoplasm," which has brought other people a great deal of trouble +since! I beg particularly to say that, because I find many people +suppose that I was the inventor of that term, whereas it has been in +existence for at least twenty-five years. And then other observers, +taking the question up, came to this astonishing conclusion (working +from this basis of the yeast), that the differences between animals and +plants are not so much in the fundamental substances which compose them, +not in the protoplasm, but in the manner in which the cells of which +their bodies are built up have become modified. There is a sense in +which it is true--and the analogy was pointed out very many years ago by +some French botanists and chemists--there is a sense in which it is true +that every plant is substantially an enormous aggregation of bodies +similar to yeast cells, each having to a certain extent its own +independent life. And there is a sense in which it is also perfectly +true--although it would be impossible for me to give the statement to +you with proper qualifications and limitations on an occasion like +this--but there is also a sense in which it is true that every animal +body is made up of an aggregation of minute particles of protoplasm, +comparable each of them to the individual separate yeast plant. And +those who are acquainted with the history of the wonderful revolution +which has been worked in our whole conception of these matters in the +last thirty years, will bear me out in saying that the first germ of +them, to a very great extent, was made to grow and fructify by the study +of the yeast plant, which presents us with living matter in almost its +simplest condition. + +Then there is yet one last and most important bearing of this yeast +question. There is one direction probably in which the effects of the +careful study of the nature of fermentation will yield results more +practically valuable to mankind than any other. Let me recall to your +minds the fact which I stated at the beginning of this lecture. Suppose +that I had here a solution of pure sugar with a little mineral matter in +it; and suppose it were possible for me to take upon the point of a +needle one single, solitary yeast cell, measuring no more perhaps than +the three-thousandth of an inch in diameter--not bigger than one of +those little coloured specks of matter in my own blood at this moment, +the weight of which it would be difficult to express in the fraction of +a grain--and put it into this solution. From that single one, if the +solution were kept at a fair temperature in a warm summer's day, there +would be generated, in the course of a week, enough torulae to form a +scum at the top and to form lees at the bottom, and to change the +perfectly tasteless and entirely harmless fluid, syrup, into a solution +impregnated with the poisonous gas carbonic acid, impregnated with the +poisonous substance alcohol; and that, in virtue of the changes worked +upon the sugar by the vital activity of these infinitesimally small +plants. Now you see that this is a case of infection. And from the time +that the phenomenon of fermentation were first carefully studied, it has +constantly been suggested to the minds of thoughtful physicians that +there was a something astoundingly similar between this phenomena of the +propagation of fermentation by infection and contagion, and the +phenomena of the propagation of diseases by infection and contagion. Out +of this suggestion has grown that remarkable theory of many diseases +which has been called the "germ theory of disease," the idea, in fact, +that we owe a great many diseases to particles having a certain life of +their own, and which are capable of being transmitted from one living +being to another, exactly as the yeast plant is capable of being +transmitted from one tumbler of saccharine substance to another. And +that is a perfectly tenable hypothesis, one which in the present state +of medicine ought to be absolutely exhausted and shown not to be true, +until we take to others which have less analogy in their favour. And +there are some diseases most assuredly in which it turns out to be +perfectly correct. There are some forms of what are called malignant +carbuncle which have been shown to be actually effected by a sort of +fermentation, if I may use the phrase, by a sort of disturbance and +destruction of the fluids of the animal body, set up by minute organisms +which are the cause of this destruction and of this disturbance; and +only recently the study of the phenomena which accompany vaccination has +thrown an immense light in this direction, tending to show by +experiments of the same general character as that to which I referred as +performed by Helmholz, that there is a most astonishing analogy between +the contagion of that healing disease and the contagion of destructive +diseases. For it has been made out quite clearly, by investigations +carried on in France and in this country, that the only part of the +vaccine matter which is contagious, which is capable of carrying on its +influence in the organism of the child who is vaccinated, is the solid +particles and not the fluid. By experiments of the most ingenious kind, +the solid parts have been separated from the fluid parts, and it has +then been discovered that you may vaccinate a child as much as you like +with the fluid parts, but no effect takes place, though an excessively +small portion of the solid particles, the most minute that can be +separated, is amply sufficient to give rise to all the phenomena of the +cow pock, by a process which we can compare to nothing but the +transmission of fermentation from one vessel into another, by the +transport to the one of the torula particles which exist in the other. +And it has been shown to be true of some of the most destructive +diseases which infect animals, such diseases as the sheep pox, such +diseases as that most terrible and destructive disorder of horses, +glanders, that in these, also, the active power is the living solid +particle, and that the inert part is the fluid. However, do not suppose +that I am pushing the analogy too far. I do not mean to say that the +active, solid parts in these diseased matters are of the same nature as +living yeast plants; but, so far as it goes, there is a most surprising +analogy between the two; and the value of the analogy is this, that by +following it out we may some time or other come to understand how these +diseases are propagated, just as we understand, now, about fermentation; +and that, in this way, some of the greatest scourges which afflict the +human race may be, if not prevented, at least largely alleviated. + +This is the conclusion of the statements which I wished to put before +you. You see we have not been able to have any accessories. If you will +come in such numbers to hear a lecture of this kind, all I can say is, +that diagrams cannot be made big enough for you, and that it is not +possible to show any experiments illustrative of a lecture on such a +subject as I have to deal with. Of course my friends the chemists and +physicists are very much better off, because they can not only show you +experiments, but you can smell them and hear them! But in my case such +aids are not attainable, and therefore I have taken a simple subject and +have dealt with it in such a way that I hope you all understand it, at +least so far as I have been able to put it before you in words; and +having once apprehended such of the ideas and simple facts of the case +as it was possible to put before you, you can see for yourselves the +great and wonderful issues of such an apparently homely subject. + +End of Yeast. + +*** + + +WILLIAM HARVEY AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. + + +THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD.* + +([Footnote] *A Lecture delivered in the Free Trade Hall, November 2nd, +1878.) + +I desire this evening to give you some account of the life and labours +of a very noble Englishman--William Harvey. + +William Harvey was born in the year 1578, and as he lived until the year +1657, he very nearly attained the age of 80. He was the son of a small +landowner in Kent, who was sufficiently wealthy to send this, his eldest +son, to the University of Cambridge; while he embarked the others in +mercantile pursuits, in which they all, as time passed on, attained +riches. + +William Harvey, after pursuing his education at Cambridge, and taking +his degree there, thought it was advisable--and justly thought so, in +the then state of University education--to proceed to Italy, which at +that time was one of the great centres of intellectual activity in +Europe, as all friends of freedom hope it will become again, sooner or +later. In those days the University of Padua had a great renown; and +Harvey went there and studied under a man who was then very +famous--Fabricius of Aquapendente. On his return to England, Harvey +became a member of the College of Physicians in London, and entered into +practice; and, I suppose, as an indispensable step thereto, proceeded to +marry. He very soon became one of the most eminent members of the +profession in London; and, about the year 1616, he was elected by the +College of Physicians their Professor of Anatomy. It was while Harvey +held this office that he made public that great discovery of the +circulation of the blood and the movements of the heart, the nature of +which I shall endeavour by-and-by to explain to you at length. Shortly +afterwards, Charles the First having succeeded to the throne in 1625, +Harvey became one of the king's physicians; and it is much to the credit +of the unfortunate monarch--who, whatever his faults may have been, was +one of the few English monarchs who have shown a taste for art and +science--that Harvey became his attached and devoted friend as well as +servant; and that the king, on the other hand, did all he could to +advance Harvey's investigations. But, as you know, evil times came on; +and Harvey, after the fortunes of his royal master were broken, being +then a man of somewhat advanced years--over 60 years of age, in +fact--retired to the society of his brothers in and near London, and +among them pursued his studies until the day of his death. Harvey's +career is a life which offers no salient points of interest to the +biographer. It was a life devoted to study and investigation; and it was +a life the devotion of which was amply rewarded, as I shall have +occasion to point out to you, by its results. + +Harvey, by the diversity, the variety, and the thoroughness of his +investigations, was enabled to give an entirely new direction to at +least two branches--and two of the most important branches--of what +now-a-days we call Biological Science. On the one hand, he founded all +our modern physiology by the discovery of the exact nature of the +motions of the heart, and of the course in which the blood is propelled +through the body; and, on the other, he laid the foundation of that +study of development which has been so much advanced of late years, and +which constitutes one of the great pillars of the doctrine of evolution. +This doctrine, I need hardly tell you, is now tending to revolutionise +our conceptions of the origin of living things, exactly in the same way +as Harvey's discovery of the circulation in the seventeeth century +revolutionised the conceptions which men had previously entertained with +regard to physiological processes. + +It would, I regret, be quite impossible for me to attempt, in the course +of the time I can presume to hold you here, to unfold the history of +more than one of these great investigations of Harvey. I call them +"great investigations," as distinguished from "large publications." I +have in my hand a little book, which those of you who are at a great +distance may have some difficulty in seeing, and which I value very +much. It is, I am afraid, sadly thumbed and scratched with annotations +by a very humble successor and follower of Harvey. This little book is +the edition of 1651 of the 'Exercitationes de Generatione'; and if you +were to add another little book, printed in the same small type, and +about one-seventh of the thickness, you would have the sum total of the +printed matter which Harvey contributed to our literature. And yet in +that sum total was contained, I may say, the materials of two +revolutions in as many of the main branches of biological science. If +Harvey's published labours can be condensed into so small a compass, you +must recollect that it is not because he did not do a great deal more. +We know very well that he did accumulate a very considerable number of +observations on the most varied topics of medicine, surgery, and natural +history. But, as I mentioned to you just now, Harvey, for a time, took +the royal side in the domestic quarrel of the Great Rebellion, as it is +called; and the Parliament, not unnaturally resenting that action of +his, sent soldiers to seize his papers. And while I imagine they found +nothing treasonable among those papers, yet, in the process of rummaging +through them, they destroyed all the materials which Harvey had spent a +laborious life in accumulating; and hence it is that the man's work and +labours are represented by so little in apparent bulk. + +What I chiefly propose to do to-night is to lay before you an account of +the nature of the discovery which Harvey made, and which is termed the +Discovery of the Circulation of the Blood. And I desire also, with some +particularity, to draw your attention to the methods by which that +discovery was achieved; for, in both these respects, I think, there will +be much matter for profitable reflection. + +Let me point out to you, in the first place, with respect to this +important matter of the movements of the heart and the course of the +blood in the body, that there is a certain amount of knowledge which +must have been obtained without men taking the trouble to seek +it--knowledge which must have been taken in, in the course of time, by +everybody who followed the trade of a butcher, and still more so by +those people who, in ancient times, professed to divine the course of +future events from the entrails of animals. It is quite obvious to all, +from ordinary accidents, that the bodies of all the higher animals +contain a hot red fluid--the blood. Everybody can see upon the surface +of some part of the skin, underneath that skin, pulsating tubes, which +we know as the arteries. Everybody can see under the surface of the skin +more delicate and softer looking tubes, which do not pulsate, which are +of a bluish colour, and are termed the veins. And every person who has +seen a recently killed animal opened knows that these two kinds of tubes +to which I have just referred, are connected with an apparatus which is +placed in the chest, which apparatus, in recently killed animals, is +still pulsating. And you know that in yourselves you can feel the +pulsation of this organ, the heart, between the fifth and sixth ribs. I +take it that this much of anatomy and physiology has been known from the +oldest times, not only as a matter of curiosity, but because one of the +great objects of men, from their earliest recorded existence, has been +to kill one another, and it was a matter of considerable importance to +know which was the best place for hitting an enemy. I can refer you to +very ancient records for most precise and clear information that one of +the best places is to smite him between the fifth and sixth ribs. Now +that is a very good piece of regional anatomy, for that is the place +where the heart strikes in its pulsations, and the use of smiting there +is that you go straight to the heart. Well, all that must have been +known from time immemorial--at least for 4,000 or 5,000 years before the +commencement of our era--because we know that for as great a period as +that the Egyptians, at any rate, whatever may have been the case with +other people, were in the enjoyment of a highly developed civilisation. +But of what knowledge they may have possessed beyond this we know +nothing; and in tracing back the springs of the origin of everything +that we call "modern science" (which is not merely knowing, but knowing +systematically, and with the intention and endeavour to find out the +causal connection of things)--I say that when we trace back the +different lines of all the modern sciences we come at length to one +epoch and to one country--the epoch being about the fourth and fifth +centuries before Christ, and the country being ancient Greece. It is +there that we find the commencement and the root of every branch of +physical science and of scientific method. If we go back to that time we +have in the works attributed to Aristotle, who flourished between 300 +and 400 years before Christ, a sort of encyclopaedia of the scientific +knowledge of that day--and a very marvellous collection of, in many +respects, accurate and precise knowledge it is. But, so far as regards +this particular topic, Aristotle, it must be confessed, has not got very +far beyond common knowledge. He knows a little about the structure of +the heart. I do not think that his knowledge is so inaccurate as many +people fancy, but it does not amount to much. A very few years after his +time, however, there was a Greek philosopher, Erasistratus, who lived +about three hundred years before Christ, and who must have pursued +anatomy with much care, for he made the important discovery that there +are membranous flaps, which are now called "valves," at the origins of +the great vessels; and that there are certain other valves in the +interior of the heart itself. + +(FIGURE 1.--The apparatus of the circulation, as at present known. The +capillary vessels, which connect the arteries and veins, are omitted, on +account of their small size. The shading of the "venous system" is given +to all the vessels which contain venous blood; that of the "arterial +system" to all the vessels which contain arterial blood.) + +I have here (Figure 1) a purposely rough, but, so far as it goes, +accurate, diagram of the structure of the heart and the course of the +blood. The heart is supposed to be divided into two portions. It would +be possible, by very careful dissection, to split the heart down the +middle of a partition, or so-called 'septum', which exists in it, and to +divide it into the two portions which you see here represented; in which +case we should have a left heart and a right heart, quite distinct from +one another. You will observe that there is a portion of each heart +which is what is called the ventricle. Now the ancients applied the term +'heart' simply and solely to the ventricles. They did not count the rest +of the heart--what we now speak of as the 'auricles'--as any part of the +heart at all; but when they spoke of the heart they meant the left and +the right ventricles; and they described those great vessels, which we +now call the 'pulmonary veins' and the 'vena cava', as opening directly +into the heart itself. + +What Erasistratus made out was that, at the roots of the aorta and the +pulmonary artery (Figure 1) there were valves, which opened in the +direction indicated by the arrows; and, on the other hand, that at the +junction of what he called the veins with the heart there were other +valves, which also opened again in the direction indicated by the +arrows. This was a very capital discovery, because it proved that if the +heart was full of fluid, and if there were any means of causing that +fluid in the ventricles to move, then the fluid could move only in one +direction; for you will observe that, as soon as the fluid is +compressed, the two valves between the ventricles and the veins will be +shut, and the fluid will be obliged to move into the arteries; and, if +it tries to get back from them into the heart, it is prevented from +doing so by the valves at the origin of the arteries, which we now call +the semilunar valves (half-moon shaped valves); so that it is +impossible, if the fluid move at all, that it should move in any other +way than from the great veins into the arteries. Now that was a very +remarkable and striking discovery. + +But it is not given to any man to be altogether right (that is a +reflection which it is very desirable for every man who has had the good +luck to be nearly right once, always to bear in mind); and Erasistratus, +while he made this capital and important discovery, made a very capital +and important error in another direction, although it was a very natural +error. If, in any animal which is recently killed, you open one of those +pulsating trunks which I referred to a short time ago, you will find, as +a general rule, that it either contains no blood at all or next to none; +but that, on the contrary, it is full of air. Very naturally, therefore, +Erasistratus came to the conclusion that this was the normal and natural +state of the arteries, and that they contained air. We are apt to think +this a very gross blunder; but, to anybody who is acquainted with the +facts of the case, it is, at first sight, an exceedingly natural +conclusion. Not only so, but Erasistratus might have very justly +imagined that he had seen his way to the meaning of the connection of +the left side of the heart with the lungs; for we find that what we now +call the pulmonary vein is connected with the lungs, and branches out in +them (Figure 1). Finding that the greater part of this system of vessels +was filled with air after death, this ancient thinker very shrewdly +concluded that its real business was to receive air from the lungs, and +to distribute that air all through the body, so as to get rid of the +grosser humours and purify the blood. That was a very natural and very +obvious suggestion, and a highly ingenious one, though it happened to be +a great error. You will observe that the only way of correcting it was +to experiment upon living animals, for there is no other way in which +this point could be settled. + +(FIGURE 2. The Course of the Blood according to Galen (A.D. 170).) + +And hence we are indebted, for the correction of the error of +Erasistratus, to one of the greatest experimenters of ancient or modern +times, Claudius Galenus, who lived in the second century after Christ. I +say it was to this man more than any one else, because he knew that the +only way of solving physiological problems was to examine into the facts +in the living animal. And because Galen was a skilful anatomist, and a +skilful experimenter, he was able to show in what particulars +Erasistratus had erred, and to build up a system of thought upon this +subject which was not improved upon for fully 1,300 years. I have +endeavoured, in Figure 2, to make clear to you exactly what it was he +tried to establish. You will observe that this diagram is practically +the same as that given in Figure 1, only simplified. The same facts may +be looked upon by different people from different points of view. Galen +looked upon these facts from a very different point of view from that +which we ourselves occupy; but, so far as the facts are concerned, they +were the same for him as for us. Well then, the first thing that Galen +did was to make out experimentally that, during life, the arteries are +not full of air, but that they are full of blood. And he describes a +great variety of experiments which he made upon living animals with the +view of proving this point, which he did prove effectually and for all +time; and that you will observe was the only way of settling the matter. +Furthermore, he demonstrated that the cavities of the left side of the +heart--what we now call the left auricle and the left ventricle--are, +like the arteries, full of blood during life, and that that blood was of +the scarlet kind--arterialised, or as he called it "pneumatised," blood. +It was known before, that the pulmonary artery, the right ventricle, and +the veins, contain the darker kind of blood, which was thence called +venous. Having proved that the whole of the left side of the heart, +during life, is full of scarlet arterial blood, Galen's next point was +to inquire into the mode of communication between the arteries and +veins. It was known before his time that both arteries and veins +branched out. Galen maintained, though he could not prove the fact, that +the ultimate branches of the arteries and veins communicated together +somehow or other, by what he called 'anastomoses', and that these +'anastomoses' existed not only in the body in general but also in the +lungs. In the next place, Galen maintained that all the veins of the +body arise from the liver; that they draw the blood thence and +distribute it over the body. People laugh at that notion now-a-days; but +if anybody will look at the facts he will see that it is a very probable +supposition. There is a great vein (hepatic vein--Figure 1) which rises +out of the liver, and that vein goes straight into the 'vena cava' +(Figure 1) which passes to the heart, being there joined by the other +veins of the body. The liver itself is fed by a very large vein (portal +vein--Figure 1), which comes from the alimentary canal. The way the +ancients looked at this matter was, that the food, after being received +into the alimentary canal, was then taken up by the branches of this +great vein, which are called the 'vena portae', just as the roots of a +plant suck up nourishment from the soil in which it lives; that then it +was carried to the liver, there to be what was called "concocted," which +was their phrase for its conversion into substances more fitted for +nutrition than previously existed in it. They then supposed that the +next thing to be done was to distribute this fluid through the body; and +Galen like his predecessors, imagined that the "concocted" blood, having +entered the great 'vena cava', was distributed by its ramifications all +over the body. So that, in his view (Figure 2), the course of the blood +was from the intestine to the liver, and from the liver into the great +'vena cava', including what we now call the right auricle of the heart, +whence it was distributed by the branches of the veins. But the whole of +the blood was not thus disposed of. Part of the blood, it was supposed, +went through what we now call the pulmonary arteries (Figure 1), and, +branching out there, gave exit to certain "fuliginous" products, and at +the same time took in from the air a something which Galen calls the +'pneuma'. He does not know anything about what we call oxygen; but it is +astonishing how very easy it would be to turn his language into the +equivalent of modern chemical theory. The old philosopher had so just a +suspicion of the real state of affairs that you could make use of his +language in many cases, if you substituted the word "oxygen," which we +now-a-days use, for the word 'pneuma'. Then he imagined that the blood, +further concocted or altered by contact with the 'pneuma', passed to a +certain extent to the left side of the heart. So that Galen believed +that there was such a thing as what is now called the pulmonary +circulation. He believed, as much as we do, that the blood passed +through the right side of the heart, through the artery which goes to +the lungs, through the lungs themselves, and back by what we call the +pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart. But he thought it was +only a very small portion of the blood which passes to the right side of +the heart in this way; the rest of the blood, he thought, passed through +the partition which separates the two ventricles of the heart. He +describes a number of small pits, which really exist there, as holes, +and he supposed that the greater part of the blood passed through these +holes from the right to the left ventricle (Figure 2). + +It is of great importance you should clearly understand these teachings +of Galen, because, as I said just now, they sum up all that anybody knew +until the revival of learning; and they come to this--that the blood +having passed from the stomach and intestines through the liver, and +having entered the great veins, was by them distributed to every part of +the body; that part of the blood, thus distributed, entered the arterial +system by the 'anastomoses', as Galen called them, in the lungs; that a +very small portion of it entered the arteries by the 'anastomoses' in +the body generally; but that the greater part of it passed through the +septum of the heart, and so entered the left side and mingled with the +pneumatised blood, which had been subjected to the air in the lungs, and +was then distributed by the arteries, and eventually mixed with the +currents of blood, coming the other way, through the veins. + +Yet one other point about the views of Galen. He thought that both the +contractions and dilatations of the heart--what we call the 'systole' or +contraction of the heart, and the 'diastole' or dilatation--Galen +thought that these were both active movements; that the heart actively +dilated, so that it had a sort of sucking power upon the fluids which +had access to it. And again, with respect to the movements of the pulse, +which anybody can feel at the wrist and elsewhere, Galen was of opinion +that the walls of the arteries partook of that which he supposed to be +the nature of the walls of the heart, and that they had the power of +alternately actively contracting and actively dilating, so that he is +careful to say that the nature of the pulse is comparable, not to the +movement of a bag, which we fill by blowing into it, and which we empty +by drawing the air out of it, but to the action of a bellows, which is +actively dilated and actively compressed. + +(FIGURE 3.--The course of the blood from the right to the left side of +the heart (Realdus Columbus, 1559).) + +After Galen's time came the collapse of the Roman Empire, the extinction +of physical knowledge, and the repression of every kind of scientific +inquiry, by its powerful and consistent enemy, the Church; and that +state of things lasted until the latter part of the Middle Ages saw the +revival of learning. That revival of learning, so far as anatomy and +physiology are concerned, is due to the renewed influence of the +philosophers of ancient Greece, and indeed, of Galen. Arabic +commentators had translated Galen, and portions of his works had got +into the language of the learned in the Middle Ages, in that way; but, +by the study of the classical languages, the original text became +accessible to the men who were then endeavouring to learn for themselves +something about the facts of nature. It was a century or more before +these men, finding themselves in the presence of a master--finding that +all their lives were occupied in attempting to ascertain for themselves +that which was familiar to him--I say it took the best part of a hundred +years before they could fairly see that their business was not to follow +him, but to follow his example--namely, to look into the facts of nature +for themselves, and to carry on, in his spirit, the work he had begun. +That was first done by Vesalius, one of the greatest anatomists who ever +lived; but his work does not specially bear upon the question we are now +concerned with. So far as regards the motions of the heart and the +course of the blood, the first man in the Middle Ages, and indeed the +only man who did anything which was of real importance, was one Realdus +Columbus, who was professor at Padua in the year 1559, and published a +great anatomical treatise. What Realdus Columbus did was this; once more +resorting to the method of Galen, turning to the living animal, +experimenting, he came upon new facts, and one of these new facts was +that there was not merely a subordinate communication between the blood +of the right side of the heart and that of the left side of the heart, +through the lungs, but that there was a constant steady current of +blood, setting through the pulmonary artery on the right side, through +the lungs, and back by the pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart +(Figure 3). Such was the capital discovery and demonstration of Realdus +Columbus. He is the man who discovered what is loosely called the +'pulmonary circulation'; and it really is quite absurd, in the face of +the fact, that twenty years afterwards we find Ambrose Pare, the great +French surgeon, ascribing this discovery to him as a matter of common +notoriety, to find that attempts are made to give the credit of it to +other people. So far as I know, this discovery of the course of the +blood through the lungs, which is called the pulmonary circulation, is +the one step in real advance that was made between the time of Galen and +the time of Harvey. And I would beg you to note that the word +"circulation" is improperly employed when it is applied to the course of +the blood through the lungs. The blood from the right side of the heart, +in getting to the left side of the heart, only performs a +half-circle--it does not perform a whole circle--it does not return to +the place from whence it started; and hence the discovery of the +so-called "pulmonary circulation" has nothing whatever to do with that +greater discovery which I shall point out to you by-and-by was made by +Harvey, and which is alone really entitled to the name of the +circulation of the blood. + +If anybody wants to understand what Harvey's great desert really was, I +would suggest to him that he devote himself to a course of reading, +which I cannot promise shall be very entertaining, but which, in this +respect at any rate, will be highly instructive--namely, the works of +the anatomists of the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning +of the 17th century. If anybody will take the trouble to do that which I +have thought it my business to do, he will find that the doctrines +respecting the action of the heart and the motion of the blood which +were taught in every university in Europe, whether in Padua or in Paris, +were essentially those put forward by Galen, 'plus' the discovery of the +pulmonary course of the blood which had been made by Realdus Columbus. +In every chair of anatomy and physiology (which studies were not then +separated) in Europe, it was taught that the blood brought to the liver +by the portal vein, and carried out of the liver to the 'vena cava' by +the hepatic vein, is distributed from the right side of the heart, +through the other veins, to all parts of the body; that the blood of the +arteries takes a like course from the heart towards the periphery; and +that it is there, by means of the 'anastomoses', more or less mixed up +with the venous blood. It so happens, by a curious chance, that up to +the year 1625 there was at Padua, which was Harvey's own university, a +very distinguished professor, Spigelius, whose work is extant, and who +teaches exactly what I am now telling you. It is perfectly true that, +some time before, Harvey's master, Fabricius, had not only +re-discovered, but had drawn much attention to certain pouch-like +structures, which are called the valves of the veins, found in the +muscular parts of the body, all of which are directed towards the heart, +and consequently impede the flow of the blood in the opposite direction. +And you will find it stated by people who have not thought much about +the matter, that it was this discovery of the valves of the veins which +led Harvey to imagine the course of the circulation of the blood. Now it +did not lead Harvey to imagine anything of the kind. He had heard all +about it from his master, Fabricius, who made a great point of these +valves in the veins, and he had heard the theories which Fabricius +entertained upon the subject, whose impression as to the use of the +valves was simply this--that they tended to take off any excess of +pressure of the blood in passing from the heart to the extremities; for +Fabricius believed, with the rest of the world, that the blood in the +veins flowed from the heart towards the extremities. This, under the +circumstances, was as good a theory as any other, because the action of +the valves depends altogether upon the form and nature of the walls of +the structures in which they are attached; and without accurate +experiment, it was impossible to say whether the theory of Fabricius was +right or wrong. But we not only have the evidence of the facts +themselves that these could tell Harvey nothing about the circulation, +but we have his own distinct declaration as to the considerations which +led him to the true theory of the circulation of the blood, and amongst +these the valves of the veins are not mentioned. + +(FIGURE 4.--The circulation of the blood as demonstrated by Harvey (A.D. +1628).) + +Now then we may come to Harvey himself. When you read Harvey's treatise, +which is one of the most remarkable scientific monographs with which I +am acquainted--it occupies between 50 and 60 pages of a small quarto in +Latin, and is as terse and concise as it possibly can be--when you come +to look at Harvey's work, you will find that he had long struggled with +the difficulties of the accepted doctrine of the circulation. He had +received from Fabricius, and from all the great authorities of the day, +the current view of the circulation of the blood. But he was a man with +that rarest of all qualities--intellectual honesty; and by dint of +cultivating that great faculty, which is more moral than intellectual, +it had become impossible for him to say he believed anything which he +did not clearly believe. This is a most uncomfortable peculiarity--for +it gets you into all sorts of difficulties with all sorts of +people--but, for scientific purposes, it is absolutely invaluable. +Harvey possessed this peculiarity in the highest degree, and so it was +impossible for him to accept what all the authorities told him, and he +looked into the matter for himself. But he was not hasty. He worked at +his new views, and he lectured about them at the College of Physicians +for nine years; he did not print them until he was a man of fifty years +of age; and when he did print them he accompanied them with a +demonstration which has never been shaken, and which will stand till the +end of time. What Harvey proved, in short, was this (see Figure 4)--that +everybody had made a mistake, for want of sufficiently accurate +experimentation as to the actual existence of the fact which everybody +assumed. To anybody who looks at the blood-vessels with an unprejudiced +eye it seems so natural that the blood should all come out of the liver, +and be distributed by the veins to the different parts of the body, that +nothing can seem simpler or more plain; and consequently no one could +make up his mind to dispute this apparently obvious assumption. But +Harvey did dispute it; and when he came to investigate the matter he +discovered that it was a profound mistake, and that, all this time, the +blood had been moving in just the opposite direction, namely, from the +small ramifications of the veins towards the right side of the heart. +Harvey further found that, in the arteries, the blood, as had previously +been known, was travelling from the greater trunks towards the +ramifications. Moreover, referring to the ideas of Columbus and of Galen +(for he was a great student of literature, and did justice to all his +predecessors), Harvey accepts and strengthens their view of the course +of the blood through the lungs, and he shows how it fitted into his +general scheme. If you will follow the course of the arrows in Figure 4 +you will see at once that--in accordance with the views of Columbus--the +blood passes from the right side of the heart, through the lungs, to the +left side. Then, adds Harvey, with abundant proof, it passes through the +arteries to all parts of the body; and then, at the extremities of their +branches in the different parts of the body, it passes (in what way he +could not tell, for his means of investigation did not allow him to say) +into the roots of the vents--then from the roots of the veins it goes +into the trunk and veins--then to the right side of the heart--and then +to the lungs, and so on. That, you will observe, makes a complete +circuit; and it was precisely here that the originality of Harvey lay. +There never yet has been produced, and I do not believe there can be +produced, a tittle of evidence to show that, before his time, any one +had the slightest suspicion that a single drop of blood, starting in the +left ventricle of the heart, passes through the whole arterial system, +comes back through the venous system, goes through the lungs, and comes +back to the place whence it started. But that is the circulation of the +blood, and it was exactly this which Harvey was the first man to +suspect, to discover, and to demonstrate. + +But this was by no means the only thing Harvey did. He was the first who +discovered and who demonstrated the true mechanism of the heart's +action. No one, before his time, conceived that the movement of the +blood was entirely due to the mechanical action of the heart as a pump. +There were all sorts of speculations about the matter, but nobody had +formed this conception, and nobody understood that the so-called systole +of the heart is a state of active contraction, and the so-called +diastole is a mere passive dilatation. Even within our own age that +matter had been discussed. Harvey is as clear as possible about it. He +says the movement of the blood is entirely due to the contractions of +the walls of the heart--that it is the propelling apparatus--and all +recent investigation tends to show that he was perfectly right. And from +this followed the true theory of the pulse. Galen said, as I pointed out +just now, that the arteries dilate as bellows, which have an active +power of dilatation and contraction, and not as bags which are blown out +and collapse. Harvey said it was exactly the contrary--the arteries +dilate as bags simply because the stroke of the heart propels the blood +into them; and, when they relax again, they relax as bags which are no +longer stretched, simply because the force of the blow of the heart is +spent. Harvey has been demonstrated to be absolutely right in this +statement of his; and yet, so slow is the progress of truth, that, +within my time, the question of the active dilatation of the arteries +has been discussed. + +Thus Harvey's contributions to physiology may be summed up as follows: +In the first place, he was the first person who ever imagined, and still +more who demonstrated, the true course of the circulation of the blood +in the body; in the second place, he was the first person who ever +understood the mechanism of the heart, and comprehended that its +contraction was the cause of the motion of the blood; and thirdly, he +was the first person who took a just view of the nature of the pulse. +These are the three great contributions which he made to the science of +physiology; and I shall not err in saying--I speak in the presence of +distinguished physiologists, but I am perfectly certain that they will +endorse what I say--that upon that foundation the whole of our knowledge +of the human body, with the exception of the motor apparatus and the +sense organs, has been gradually built up, and that upon that foundation +the whole rests. And not only does scientific physiology rest upon it, +but everything like scientific medicine also rests upon it. As you +know--I hope it is now a matter of popular knowledge--it is the +foundation of all rational speculation about morbid processes; it is the +only key to the rational interpretation of that commonest of all +indications of disease, the state of the pulse; so that, both +theoretically and practically, this discovery, this demonstration of +Harvey's, has had an effect which is absolutely incalculable, and the +consequences of which will accumulate from age to age until they result +in a complete body of physiological science. + +(FIGURE 5.--The junction of the arteries and veins by capillary tubes, +discovered by Malpighi (A.D. 1664).) + +I regret that I am unable to pursue this subject much further; but there +is one point I should mention. In Harvey's time, the microscope was +hardly invented. It is quite true that in some of his embryological +researches he speaks of having made use of a hand glass; but that was +the most that he seems to have known anything about, or that was +accessible to him at that day. And so it came about, that, although he +examined the course of the blood in many of the lower animals--watched +the pulsation of the heart in shrimps, and animals of that kind--he +never could put the final coping-stone on his edifice. He did not know +to the day of his death, although quite clear about the fact that the +arteries and the veins do communicate, how it is that they +communicate--how it was that the blood of the arteries passed into the +veins. One is grieved to think that the grand old man should have gone +down to his tomb without the vast satisfaction it would have given to +him to see what the Italian naturalist Malpighi showed only seven years +later, in 1664, when he demonstrated, in a living frog, the actual +passage of the blood from the ultimate ramifications of the arteries +into the veins. But that absolute ocular demonstration of the truth of +the views he had maintained throughout his life it was not granted to +Harvey to see. What he did experience was this: that on the publication +of his doctrines, they were met with the greatest possible opposition; +and I have no doubt savage things were uttered in those old +controversies, and that a great many people said that these new-fangled +doctrines, reducing living processes to mere mechanism, would sap the +foundations of religion and morality. I do not know for certain that +they did, but they said things very like it. The first point was to show +that Harvey's views were absolutely untrue; and not being able to +succeed in that, opponents said they were not new; and not being able to +succeed in that, that they didn't matter. That is the usual course with +all new discoveries. But Harvey troubled himself very little about these +things. He remained perfectly quiet; for although reputed a hot-tempered +man, he never would have anything to do with controversy if he could +help it; and he only replied to one of his antagonists after twenty +years' interval, and then in the most charming spirit of candour and +moderation. But he had the great satisfaction of living to see his +doctrine accepted upon all sides. At the time of his death, there was +not an anatomical school in Europe in which the doctrine of the +circulation of the blood was not taught in the way in which Harvey had +laid it down. In that respect he had a happiness which is granted to +very few men. + +I have said that the other great investigation of Harvey is not one +which can be dealt with to a general audience. It is very complex, and +therefore I must ask you to take my word for it that, although not so +fortunate an investigation, not so entirely accordant with later results +as the doctrine of the circulation; yet that still, this little treatise +of Harvey's has in many directions exerted an influence hardly less +remarkable than that exerted by the Essay upon the Circulation of the +Blood. + +And now let me ask your attention to two or three closing remarks. + +If you look back upon that period of about 100 years which commences +with Harvey's birth--I mean from the year 1578 to 1680 or thereabouts--I +think you will agree with me, that it constitutes one of the most +remarkable epochs in the whole of that thousand years which we may +roughly reckon as constituting the history of Britain. In the +commencement of that period, we may see, if not the setting, at any rate +the declension of that system of personal rule which had existed under +previous sovereigns, and which, after a brief and spasmodic revival in +the time of George the Third, has now sunk, let us hope, into the limbo +of forgotten things. The latter part of that 100 years saw the dawn of +that system of free government which has grown and flourished, and +which, if the men of the present day be the worthy descendants of Eliott +and Pym, and Hampden and Milton, will go on growing as long as this +realm lasts. Within that time, one of the strangest phenomena which I +think I may say any nation has ever manifested arose to its height and +fell--I mean that strange and altogether marvellous phenomenon, English +Puritanism. Within that time, England had to show statesmen like +Burleigh, Strafford, and Cromwell--I mean men who were real statesmen, +and not intriguers, seeking to make a reputation at the expense of the +nation. In the course of that time, the nation had begun to throw off +those swarms of hardy colonists which, to the benefit of the world--and +as I fancy, in the long run, to the benefit of England herself--have now +become the United States of America; and, during the same epoch, the +first foundations were laid of that Indian Empire which, it may be, +future generations will not look upon as so happy a product of English +enterprise and ingenuity. In that time we had poets such as Spenser, +Shakespere, and Milton; we had a great philosopher, in Hobbes; and we +had a clever talker about philosophy, in Bacon. In the beginning of the +period, Harvey revolutionized the biological sciences, and at the end of +it, Newton was preparing the revolution of the physical sciences. I know +not any period of our history--I doubt if there be any period of the +history of any nation--which has precisely such a record as this to show +for a hundred years. But I do not recall these facts to your +recollection for a mere vainglorious purpose. I myself am of opinion +that the memory of the great men of a nation is one of its most precious +possessions--not because we have any right to plume ourselves upon their +having existed as a matter of national vanity, but because we have a +just and rational ground of expectation that the race which has brought +forth such products as these may, in good time and under fortunate +circumstances, produce the like again. I am one of those people who do +not believe in the natural decay of nations. I believe, to speak +frankly, though perhaps not quite so politely as I could wish--but I am +getting near the end of my lecture--that the whole theory is a +speculation invented by cowards to excuse knaves. My belief is, that so +far as this old English stock is concerned it has in it as much sap and +vitality and power as it had two centuries ago; and that, with due +pruning of rotten branches, and due hoeing up of weeds, which will grow +about the roots, the like products will be yielded again. The "weeds" to +which I refer are mainly three: the first of them is dishonesty, the +second is sentimentality, and the third is luxury. If William Harvey had +been a dishonest man--I mean in the high sense of the word--a man who +failed in the ideal of honesty--he would have believed what it was +easiest to believe--that which he received on the authority of his +predecessors. He would not have felt that his highest duty was to know +of his own knowledge that that which he said he believed was true, and +we should never have had those investigations, pursued through good +report and evil report, which ended in discoveries so fraught with +magnificent results for science and for man. If Harvey had been a +sentimentalist--by which I mean a person of false pity, a person who has +not imagination enough to see that great, distant evils may be much +worse than those which we can picture to ourselves, because they happen +to be immediate and near (for that, I take it, is the essence of +sentimentalism)--if Harvey had been a person of that kind, he, being one +of the kindest men living, would never have pursued those researches +which, as he tells us over and over again, he was obliged to pursue in +order to the ascertainment of those facts which have turned out to be of +such inestimable value to the human race; and I say, if on such grounds +he had failed to do so, he would have failed in his duty to the human +race. The third point is that Harvey was devoid of care either for +wealth, or for riches, or for ambition. The man found a higher ideal +than any of these things in the pursuit of truth and the benefit of his +fellow-men. If we all go and do likewise, I think there is no fear for +the decadence of England. I think that our children and our successors +will find themselves in a commonwealth, different it may be from that +for which Eliott, and Pym, and Hampden struggled, but one which will be +identical in the substance of its aims--great, worthy, and well to live +in. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lectures and Essays , by T.H. Huxley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LECTURES AND ESSAYS *** + +This file should be named thxls10.txt or thxls10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, thxls11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, thxls10a.txt + +Produced by Sue Asscher asschers@bigpond.com + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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