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OUTLINES

or

NATURAL THEOLOGY,

FOR THE rSE OF ,^

THE CANADIAN STUDENT,

SELECTED AND ARRANGED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC

SOURCES,

riY

PR

JAMES BOVELL, M.D.,

0FES80R OF NATUKA., Tn.:o..oaV IN TRTNITY COT.LEGE.

TORONTO. C. W.

TORONTO :

rUlNTF. I» in HOWSEI-l- \ KLLIS.

OV£L

iX

C/

1

-Xtjf'r

THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED

vo

THE RIGHT REVEREND JOHN STRACHAN, D.D.,

FouNDBR OF Tbinitv Collegk, Tobonto, C.W,,

THE RIGHT REVEREND THOMAS PARRY, D.D.,

Visitor op Coduinqton Colleoe, Barbados, W. I.,

AND THE OTHER COLONIAI. BlSHOPS AND CLEROY OF TV.ii H0L7

CaTHOLIO CrfORCH OF EkOLAND, who by their IMETT, earnest ZEAL,

AND SELF-DENIAL FOR THE ReLIQION OF

JESUS CHRIST,

have BEKX MAINLY INSTRUMENTAL IN I'LANTINU IN THG COLONIES

or
THE BRITISH EMPIRE,

THE Faith onck delivkbed to the Saints.

WORKS OF REFERENCE.

The Student is reminded that, in our youncr country, Works
of Reference are not easily procured ; therefore it was thought
advisable to adhere as much as possible to tlie language of
authors, whenever their opinions were quoted.

The following is a list of the authorities quoted in the text :

AKCiiKU Bt'TLEn's Lcctures on An- SEYFrAnxii's Scripture Cosmology,
cicnt Philosophy.

Victor Cousin's History of Mod-
ern Philosophy, Eng. Eil.

►Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy of
Common Seuso.

('AU>KRwoon'» Philosophy of the
Infinite.

Keid's Philosophy.

Harris'.s Prc-Adamitc Earth.

Comte's Positive Philosophy (Mar-
tiueau).

CiiALYBAUs' History of Philosuphy.

Mouell's Modern Philosophy.

Timicus of Plato.

Humboldt's Work--, Cosmos ami
Views of Nature.

Ht'Gic Miller's Works, Testimony
of Rocks, and Foot-prints.

Ltell's Priuoiples of Geology.

De La Beeciie's Geological Obser-
ver.

Mlrciiison's Siluria.

Bete Jlkes' Geology

Uarwin'.s Zoology.

Owen's British Fo.'isils.

Livincstone's Africa.

Combe'.s Phrenology.

Hickock's Rational Cosmos.

Solly on the Brain.

Kxox's Edition of Kdward.s" Natu-
ral History.

(^vui'entek's Physiology.

Draper's Do.

AoAssiz' l>o.

Rii'iiaudso.n's Do.

Maxtell's Wonders and Medal.* of
Creation.

Cyclopaedia of Natural History.

IiATiiAM".< ^lan and his Migration.'*,

Pi!ii;hari»'!-
Man.

Natural History of

Smith's Hi .m

Types of Mai kind ((ilvddon ami
Nott.)

Indigenous Races of Men. I>'i.

Morton's Crania Americana.

Guyot's Earth and Man.

Maxsel's Bampton Lectures.

Prof. Wilson's Prc-historic Annals.

Dr. Williams' Physiolosry.

Hr.XLEV on Cell-growth,

Dr. liAYiMU'K on Cerebral Action

ERRATA.

'or Lebniti,

read

Leibnitz, page ti.

• Morrcll,

Morcll, *

' 127

' Le Mnrc,

L'Marck,

• 400

Synchiuniiim,

SynclironlHin, •

• 308

Occepital.

Occipital, '

' 426

('amus,

Kamus, *

• 426

A re hy- type,

Archetype, '

' 104

• Title,

Tittle,

• 316.

l«n»,

z^,

' 48.

»•>»»'.

w«f«.

' 280.

INTRODUCTION.

The present work is undertaken with a view to
induce tbe Canadian Student to engage in the r^tud}'
<>1 natural science, and to contemplate the works
of creation, with the object of deducing therefrom
principles calculated to improve the mind, and to
furnish the moral nature with such food for rellec-
tion as may tend to elevate and adorn, rather than
degrade and corrupt it. In arranging, compiling,
and collecting, from authentic sources, the facts
which have been brought forward, the principal
aim of the writer has been, to prove not only that
the creation of the world has been the work of a
Mighty Creator, but that the revelation which has
been made to us, by inspired writers, of the method
and order of that creation, need not be considered
as false, and that the proofs rather tend to support
aud coulirni the Mosaic History. Fn treating so
vast a subject, we have constantly striven to
recollect, that the plan sketched out is merely
in outline : if therefore we have dwelt with too
much precision on some [)()ints, it is only becauso
we believe that such needed greater elaboration,
being those on which, or about which, there was

11

11

1.1!

i2;roator »'onlrovorsv. in inixiiiu- with our follow

' ' ft *

creatures, the startling cM)uvi('tioii coiuos upon
us, that numbers are living; in a state of praeti-
eal infidclitv. and seem to be earelcss whctlior

ft

tlioir opinions are (»rroneous, or Just and truoaeeord-
ini:; to the standard of revealed truth. Our endea-
vour, therefore, should be to persuade them to
enijuire and to discover whether they are rip;ht or
wron«r. II any one should lie led to contemplate the
structure and operations of his own nature, and
(he relation which that nature has to otliers, we
believe that he will rise from the study convinced,
not only that there is a reality in his own life and
in the life of others — which cannot be annihilated,
but also that there is, distinct from and above all.
a Self-Existent and Primary Energy. Let a man be
ever so blind to the manifestation of God in his own
consciousness, he can hardly shut his eyes to the
iniiumerable evidences of His working, which meet
him every where in creation. For He who is pre-
sented to consciousness as the Absolute, is man-
ifested in nature as the Infniitc Energy. The
knowledge of Him is given by intuition in the one
case, and by generalisation in the other. ft is
limited in both l>y the finitt^ manifestation, and in
both, therefore, it is imperfect. \V«' have to pr,ss
from His manifestation in ourselves and in creation,
to His fuller manifestation in the image of His Son=
The former is the revelation of His existence ; tl e

iii

secoinl of His power and wisdom ; the last, of His
lovt' In the one, He is viewed as the uneonditioned ;
ill the otiier, as the First Cause : and, in the last, as
our F'athi^-, who is in heaven.

And thus, though Natural Theology he only a
step of " the world's great altar-stairs, whieh slope
through darkness up to God ;*' though it be the mere
seeing — ^as in a glass — darkly, r'onipared with the
light of the Incarnation and the mystery of the
Saeriliee ; yet, to many who doubt, it may be a
pathway ; and to many who believe, another out-
work to the citadel of the faith. Though the one be
the rellex, the other may be the shadow of His glory.

We have, then, desired earnestly to shew forth
the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, as distinct
from, and superior to His works ; condescending
to create ])cings whom he has (leemed to be wor-
thy of His constiuit care, and who, as rellccting
His image, he permits and denuiuds should offer Him
worship. While false systems of philosophy may
tantalise and fret the mind, the calm and reflecting
reiisoner on revealed truth is content to curb his
imagination, and to accept the creator as He has
thought lit to shew Himself. Satislied of His
mighty majesty, dominion, and i)ower, he finds
ouough, ijnd more than enough, to demand his
homage, and to throw him into the very dust, when
ronvicted of ingratitude and convinced of the ter-
rible wickedness of disobedience.

iv

Some ancient philosophies, dimly it may be, taught
men that a Heinj:; exists, who through His works I
reveals himself, as an author in his volume : thatj
He is the i)rovi(lential cause and governor of the
world, and (above all j)ortions of His creation)!
the sjjecial guardian of man : that He is, more-
over, the legislator of rational boings, havinj:
given them laws, (harmony and numbers,) whose*
evident universality forbids the supposition of a
partial or accidental origin ; and that those laws arr
accompanied with sanctions of reward or punish-
ment, to which the fact of conscience bears perpe-
tual attestation. Can it be that, in an age in which
the ])ure and brilliant light of (christian philosophy
havS been burning for more ihan eighteen hundred
years, mankind shoidd continue to prefer the dark-
ness of a despairing scepticism, to that simple but
inspiring reality contained in the message which
brought peace on earth and good will to man ?

St. Okobije'b SgiAUK, Tobonto,
Canada West,
November *J5, 1860.

I

le, taught
is works
ne : that I
31- of the
creation)]
s, morc-
, having
;,) whoso
ion of ;i
Uiws ur(
punish -
•s perpc-
iu which
lilosophv
hundred
Lhe (lark-
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SYSTEMS AND SUBDIVISIONS.

1
1

PLEISTOCENE,

OR MODKRN DEPOaiTS.

Boc

a

Bnr

MAMMALIFEROUS, OR NORWICH CRAG.

P

PLIOCENE.

RED CRAG.

Rol

MIO€ENE.

CORALLINE CRAG.

Cor
F

EOCENE.

FLUVIO-MARINE BEDS.

Af

1

BARTON CLAYS.

Ma

1\

BAGSIIOT AND BRACKLESIIAM SANDS.

Vei

LONDON CLAY AND BOGNOR BEDS.

Boi

PLASTIC AND MOTTLED CLAYS.

Sb«
c

CRETACEOUS.

UlTER CHALK.

Fis
1

LOWER CHALK.

Spc

1 I

CHALK MARL.

>*

in

i1

Sh(
r

Bel
a

Rei

1
Fr(

1

Boi

r

Fis
(

Mn

]

Lif

1

UPPER GREEN SAND.

GAULT.

LOWER GREEN-SAND.

WEALD EN.

WEALD CLAY.

HASTINGS SANDS.

PUR BECK BEDS.

UPPER OOLITE.

PORTLAND ROCK AND SANDS.

KIMMKRIDOE CLAY.

MIDDLE OOLITE.

UPPtK CALCAREOUS GRIT.

CORALLINE OOLITE.

O Co

LOWER CALCAREOUS GRIT.

(A

o

M

o

N

O

An

Fis

She
i

Mil

I
Sh.

I

OXFORD CLAY.

KELLOWAYS ROCK.

LOWER OOLITE.

CORNUKASH.

FOHKST .MAUItl.i:.

SIONS.

U CRAG.

PRINCIPAL FOSSILS.

I SANDS.
il BEDS.

LAYS.

Bones oT Stag, Elephant, llhinoceros. Bear, llyicna, &c ,
auJ Shells, as Fusus, Murex, Littorina, &c.

Bones of the Mastodon, &c. Of the Shells, about ninety
per cent, are of recent species.

Rolled and worn bones of the Mastodon, &c. Sharks' teeth.
About seventy per cent, of the Shells are of recent spec ves.

Corals, Zoophytes, Echinoderras, and Shells. About sixty
per cent, of the Shells are of recent species.

A few bones of Pacbydcrmata, &c., and Shells of the gener*

Paludina, Potomomya, Planorbis, Murex, &c.
Marine Shells, as Avicula, Bulla, Cardium, Corbula, Fusus,

Modiola, Natica, Oliva, Pleurotoma.
Very few Fossils ; Marine Shells, as Turritella sulcifora,

Venericardia planicosta, NummuUtes.
Bones of Crocodiles, and remains of Turtles, teeth of Sharks,

Crustacea, Shells, Tropical Fruits and Seeds, &c.
Shells, ns Owtrea bclloviciaa, Melania inquiuata, Cyreiia

cuneiformis.

ANDS.

'E.

Rlf.

RIT.

E.

Fishes, Zoophytes, Echinoderniatn, BelcmniteH, Shells, as
TerebratuUv, Ostreiv, Crauiic, Piagio^toma, Ammonites.

Sponges, Echinoderm&ta, Ammonites, Ostreee, Terebratulae,
Inocerami.

A few Zoophytes and Echini tes, Shells, as Turrilites, Nau-

I tilus, Tcrebratulto sulcata, &c.

Shells, as Ammonitits, Rhotoraagensis, Ostrca ciirinata, Tur-
rilites costata, Tcrebratula biplicata.

Belemnitcs, and Shells, as Ilamites rotundus, Inoceramua
Bulcatus, Ammonites dentatus.

Remains of the Iguanodon, Fishes, and Shells, as Pern*
mulleti, Trigonia aliformis, Thetis minor, Ammonites.

Freshwater Shell of the genera Paludina, Cypris, Cyreaa,

Neritina, Melanopsis.
Bones of Reptiles, &c., as the Iguanodon, Megalosaurua,

Turtles, remains of Plants, Freshwater and Estuary Shells.
Fishes, Fossil wood, Conifcrje and Cycadeous Plants, Shells

of the genera Unio, Ostrea, Physa, Cyclas, Paludina, &c.

O
09

o
o

Marine Shells, as Trigonlo gibbosa, Terebra Portlandica ;

Pecten lamillosus ; Remains of Cycadiform Plants.
Lipr<ite ; Shells, as Ostrea Deltoidea, Qryphoea virgula ; a

iew bones of Icthyosauri, scales and teeth of Fishes.

— /-—

iViiixiioniies vei'iobralis, Gryphae buUata, Isocardiu tumida,

Roijtclerin bispinosa.
Corals of the genera Astrea, Caryophyllia, &c, &c ; Marine

Shells, as Trigoniic, Ostrca, Nerinea, Pecten, &c.
Ammonites Solaris, Pholadomya simplex. Modiola bipartita,

Actit'ou retusus, Pinna Innceolata, Ostrea gregarea.
Finhcs ; Bclomnitea hastatus, and Shells, as Ammonitea.

.liiso!!. Nautilus, subliovio, Tei'ebratuia, Modiola, Panopea,
Shells as Oryphrea dilatata. Ammonites callovieusis, Ammon,

ites subhcvis, Pecten fibrosus, Plagiostoma duplicatum.

Murine Shells, us Sanguitiolaria parvubi, lUilla uiululatu,
liittoriiia i)\inotiira, Ostroa mai'strii, Anomia seiuistriata.

Slu'llrt UH Acriisak'nia liemii'iilari.-', Torobratula uiaxillata,
Pocttii, allmlliltu^, I'l'otcii va^ian,'-, Niiciila \K'iil;ii.

GREAT OOLITE.

H
»

Tcreb
Coral ai

STONESFIELU SLATE.

Pleur
Bones o

Astac
Echinite

nosa,

FULLERS' EARTH.

INFERIOR OOLITE.

Shells, 1
maria

LIAS.

UPPER LIAS SHALE.

Saui'ian
Crinoi

MARLSTONE.

culae,

Cycadoo

MIDDLE LIAS SHALE.

Avicu

LIAS LIMESTONE.

Belcmni

Medio

LOWER LIAS MARLS.

Plagio
Reniai
Fishes

RED CLAYS.

A few Pli

No Fossil
or Chei

NEW RED, OR VARIEGATED SANDSTONE.

PERMIAN.

HTPOZOIC PALEOZOIC OR PRIMARY

KNOTTINGLEY LIMESTONE.

Fossils ve

GYPSEOUS MARLS.

MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.

Marine SI

septifei

Fossil Fis

MARL SLATE.

LOWER NEW RED SANDSTONE

AND DOLOJIITIC CO.NGLOMERATK.

thus an
A few Plf

CARBONIFEROUS.

COAL MEASURES.

Plants, aa

opteria,

Ferns, Sig

MILLSTONE GRIT.

MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE.

Urinoidea
Euomp

Plants an

LIMESTONE SHALES.

DEVONIAN.

QUARTZOSE CONGLOMERATES.

Fish, Hoi

CORNSTONE AND MARL.

Fish, Cep

TILESTONE SERIES.

Fishes, a.

UPPER SILURIAN.

LUDLOW ROCKS.

Shells, as
feroe, 0

Trilobites

Corals,
discors

WENLOCK ROOKS.

LOWER SILURIAN.

CARADOC ROCKS.

A few Co
Pentam

LLANDEILO OR BALA ROCKS.

Corals, as
Asaphi

CAMBRIAN.

SNOWDEN, SKIDDAW, BANGOR,

AND OTHER SLATE KOCKS.

Mollusca,
and At

MICA SeHIST.

GNEISS.

So Organ

GRANITE.

H
S

ierebratula iligona.

Coral and Shells, as Tcrcbratula globata, Turbo costariua,
Pleurotomaria conoidea, Ammonites, Nautilus.

Bones of Mammalia and Reptiles ; Land Plants, Insects,
Astacidcfe, Belemnites ; and Shells, as Avicula ovata.

Echinites and Shells, Lysianassa literata, Terebratula spi-
nosa, Torobratula ornithocephala.

Shells, Terebratula spinosa, Pholadomyaliducula, Pleuroto-
maria ornata, Ostrea Marshii, Trigonia costata.

Saurian remains, as Icthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus ; Fishes,
Crinoidea, Belemnities, and Shells, as Ammonites, Nu-
culae, &c.

Cycadoous, Plants, Ferns, and Shells, as Terebratula, Pecten,
Avicula, Cardiuffi; Modiola, Plagiostoma, Gryphaja.

Belcmnites, Shells, as Gryphea incurva. Ammonites Trochus,
Modiola, Pmna, Area Buckmani, Spirifer punctatus,
Plagiostoma gigantium, Cardinia ovalis, Nucula rostralis.
Remains of the Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus, also
Fishes And TpspatR..

A few Plants.

No Fossils. Footsteps of Animals, as the Labyriuthodon,
or Cheirotherium.

Fossils very rare, a few marine Sheila.

Marine Shells, Productus calvus, Spirifer undulatus, Mytilus
septifer, CucuUoea Sulcata, Axinus obscurus.

Fossil Fish of the genera Paloeoniscua, Pygopterus, Coolacan-
thus and Platysomus. Algse and Ferns.

A few Plants, as Calamites, and Sigillaria.

M

o

o

O
<

Plants, as Sigillaria, Calamities, Ferns, as Pecopteris, Sphen-
opteris, and Shells, as Cypris inflata, Ammonites listen.

Ferns, Sigillarise, Calamites, Zoophyta, Conchifera, MoUusca.

Crinoidea, Polyparia, and Shells, as Producta gigantea,

Euomphalus catillus, Spirifer stria tus.
Plants and Shells.

Fish, Holoptycchius nobilissimus.
Fish, Cephalaspis and Onchus.

Fishes, as Dipterus, &c., and remains of Testacea.

Shells, as Pentamerus Knightii, Lingulfo, Orbiculoc, Spiri-
I feroe, Orthis.

Trilobites, Echinodermata, as Actinocrinus moniliformis ;
Corals, as Catenipora cacharoides ; Shells a Euomphalus
discors, Orthoceras annulatum.

A few Corals and Crinoidea, Trilobites ; and Shells, as
Pentamei'us Iwvis, Orthis graudis, Nucula, Tentaculites.

Corals, as Catenipora ; Shells ; and Crustacea, as Trilobites,
I Asaphus Bucliii, &c. and Graptolites.

Mollusca, as Lingulic and Crustacea, a few Corals, Fuoi,
and Annelids

o

Q No Organic Rcmaines jet disovercd.

I I

<

I

H

Hi

% <

^f^^

Mankii]

hence we

in the w(

the exist(

other clas

comprisinj

things, the

First Cau

First Cauj

its creatio:

belief not

cause, but

doubt thai

which so

are to be t

from earr

•

schools, an
influence f<
away, and
this very 1

A

,4-/ ■ •i/i.'-i. -,

l-y. lit- 'V«'*. J'f. ' <ii^l .' ..' ,'■ I.': .. .li.

NATURAL THEOLOGY.

V]

,,U''^.,u'V. I'.:'

BOOK FIRST.

Mankind at large have naturally some belief ;
hence we discover that there are two great classes
in the world, the one having a firm conviction of
the existence of a Supreme All-wise Creator, the
other class, which permits of many sub-divisions,
comprising those who believe in the eternity of all
things, those who deny the existence of an intelligent
First Cause, and of a third party, who suppose a
First Cause which is so intimately mixed up with
its creations as to be lost in them, thus declaring a
belief not only in the eternity of matter and its
cause, but- in the oneness of both. There can be no
doubt that the conflicting and erroneous opinions
which so unfortunately divide the family of man
are to be traced to the systems of philosophy which
from early times have taken possession of the
schools, and Avhich have invariably exercised their
influence for evil in proportion as religion was put
away, and its place supplied by cold morality. At
this very time we may easily trace the revival in

/

the schools of the doctrines of Spinosa, Lebnitz,
Locke, and an emasculated Platonism, all exercising
an immense influence on the different nationalities
of Europe and America, and the influence of these
philosophies predominating as religion is put aside.
We look in vain for the impress of a system of
philosophy based on Christianity, a system which,
assuming the revelation of God to man to be true,
examines the grounds and proofs of that revelation,
and on such a foundation proceeds to raise a super-
structure. ' ., .

" With all our admiration," says Butler, " for the
energetic labours of the great naturalists of our day,
and for the advances which the physical sciences
are receiving throuejh their combined exertions, we
cannot refuse to see — and in all quarters the convic-
tion is gaining ground among thoughtful men — that
the spiritual world (except as far as practically pre-
sented by the preachers of religion) is in proportion
eclipsed. It is, as it were, unrepresented in the
parliament of philosophy."

It matters little to the sceptic whether we invite
him to discuss We evidence for the existence of an
intelligent First Cause — which may or may not be
independent of its effects — or whether we set before
him a Grod self-existent, eternal, all-wise, omni-
present, absolutely perfect — one to be adored and
worshipped by creatures who enjoy endless immor-
tality. The God of the Christian believer is not

acknowledged jy the pantheist or atheist : thereibro
nothing is gained by withholding any part of our
article of faith, which includes a full declaration and
acknowledcjraent of all those attributes which are
given to the Supreme Being in Holy Writ, and the
relation which that incomprehensible I^eing has to
his creatures and his creatures to him.

"It is very remote from my inclination," says
Mr. Crombie, " to insinuate even a censure on the
reasonings of men distinguished by science, eminent
for piety, and zealous in promoting the interests of
religion and truth. But I must candidly own that
the metaphysical speculations in which some theolo-
gians and philosophers have indulged, respecting
the mode of the divine existence, have appeared to
me likely to obscure the subject which they meant
to illustrate, and to injure the cause which they
were solicitous to promote. The mode in which
the Supreme Being exists, in which he is every
where present, and in which by his power he
created and rules the universe, are, and ever must
remain, subjects too profound for the faculties of
man to investigate or comprehend. They are veiled
in impenetrable obscurity." Again, he further re-
marks, "If we are desirous to avoid error, and to
arrive at truth, we must be careful to survey every
subject of discussion, not only in the light in which
one author or one party presents it to our exami-
nation, but in that also in which their opponents

8

propose it to be viewed. Every man has reason to
suspect the justness of his conclusions who confines
his attention exclusively to the evidence which is
favourable to one side of a question ; and he is
equally a bigot in philosophy as in religion, who is
obstinately wedded to a doctrine which he has only
partially examined. If it be necessary to disengage
our understandings from the prejudices of education,
which, by presenting to us objects of speculation
invariably in the same light, exclude those views
which would enable us to rectify our judgment and
correct our errors ; it is equally requisite, on the
other hand, when we have shaken off the dominion of
these, to beware lest we become the dupes of others,
not less injurious, maintaining opinions founded in
partial evidence and partial inquiry." Had Sir
Isaac Newton been more mindful of the authority
of Christian philosophy, as embodied in Scripture,
he would not have represented space as if it were
the " sensorium'' of the Deity. Spinosa would not
have uttered the horrible assertion, that "the uni-
verse is Deity." Dr. More never would have re-
presented him as " Spatium tribus dimensionibus
prcsditum;'^ nor would Dr. Clarke have said, " that
space and time are real fjuantitios, and not the mere
order of thinp^s, * * and that God is present
every where, not virtually only, but substantially,
because power cannot .subsist without substance ;"
thus declaring that an Omnipotent Bejng must be

d

substantially present, in order to accomplish the
purposes of his will.

In the very opening clause of the charter of man's
hopes his faith is at once challenged, and in language
the most simple and sublime the majesty of a Creator
is proclaimed, and the origin of all things by his will
unequivocally asserted. But — as if this were not
sufficient to excite Lis curiosity and compel atten-
tion— the precise method and order of creation is
detailed, and at the close of the brief narrative the
immortality of a race of creatures is declared.
The advent of man is not the first in order, but the
first in position : he is not only the last of the crea-
tion, but the completion of the great work, so far as
it is accomplished : a being capable of reasoning on
the past and of contemplating the future. We find
such an one taking up his abode not in a barren
world ; but, standing on the sepulchre of worlds,
man, the foretold of the past, the glory and promise
of the future, takes his place. He is not found in
the ancient graveyards — he comes not until the plan
of creation of animal life is all but complete. No !
he is not found even with those giant forms which
some imagine to have lived even to his advent, and
amongst whom lie the ashes of beings of their
own day, and the entombed remains of worlds long
since demolished. Man has then a deep interest in
these questions, and is freely permitted and incited
to make enquiry into the origin of things, so that

10

men shall speak of his marvellous acts who made
them ; " for all thy works praise thee, 0 Lord."
The works of the Lord are great : sought out of
all them that have pleasure tlnerein, the merciful
and gracious Lord has so done his marvellous works
that they ought to be had in remembrance. For the
invisible things of him from the creation are plainly
seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godheiid : so that they
are without excuse. To enquire, therefore, is not
only a privilege, it is a duty ; but in entering on
such a momentous inquiry, surely it becomes us
reverently and thankfully to undertake so whole-
some and pleasurable a task, not with a predetermi-
nation to doubt, and at length disbelieve what we
cannot instantly prove, but rather with a distrust of
our own finite capacities, and the recollection that
but too often the splendid fictions of philosophers,
which have seduced thousands into error, disappear
one by one, and leave sceptic and believer alike
astonished and confounded.

Li entering, then, on the enquiry. What is the
origin and what is the object of creation? we shall
prefer to take as a basis for the investigation the
expressive des('rij)ti<)n which is given in a record
which a very large class of men in all ages has been
content to uccopt as coutuining an authentic narra-
tion of events coimectod witii tlic worhl s history.
Wc find in the stateiiu*iit referred to several dog-

11

matic assertions, either and all of which sufficiently
meet 1 113 views of the sceptic as starting points from
which he may assail the believer, and the believer

answer the sceptic. Thus it is said —

" In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth ; and the earth was without form and void ;
and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the
spirit of God moved on the pace op the waters."

We have then two important declarations : first,
that there was a beginning of things ; and, secondly,
that all things were created by a God or Being, who,
as the subsequent portions of the narrative emphati-
cally pronounce, proceeded in the creation of all
things by the fulness of his power in ix systematic
and orderly manner ; thirdly, that our epoch was a
re-formation of the earth, a re-fitting it for the human
period.

"We are content therefore to make use of the
history of the earth, detailed in the Mosaic records,
as our starting point ; for although it be brief, it in
nevertheless explicit, and has hitherto been accepted
as a divinely inspired record of facts and events
which took place at a given time, for and within a
stated period. Before, therefore, we acquiesce in
the opinions of those who deem it to be impossible
to reconcile the sacred account of the present crea-
tion with the supposed requirements of geological
and astronomical science, it should be distinctly
shewn that such a reconciliation cannot be at-

12

tained, and that the supposed proofs advanced by
the professors of these sciences are valid and true.
We can discover but little difference between the
thorough disbeliever, and the sceptic who endea-
vours to explain away the simple language of the
scriptural account of the creation ; for although it be
true that, with reference to the history of certain
events in Holy Writ, the literal meaning may be
departed from, nevertheless in such instances the
context, or collateral passage, or other references
elsewhere given, guide to a correct conclusion.
We unhesitatingly express our sincere conviction
of the literal meaning and accuracy of the des-
criptions given in the Book of Genesis, and find it
more difficult to receive as truth the fanciful theo-
ries of the lamented Hugh Miller, than the unadorned
record of a Moses.

How the vulgar belief of the creation arose seems
altogether unaccountable, and serves only to point
out to the thoughtful student that his eyes may be
holden from the truth, and his mind led captive by
unrealities. Mankind, with the Scriptures before
them for centuries, have from age to age believed
and taught that this globe of ours was brought into
existence for the first time five days before the
creation of man ; and yet it is positively affirmed
that it was in existence before the first day. Who
can tell the countless ages which elapsed ere the
shapeless earth, buried in the depths of an ocean.

was lift(

dale, tor

from the

were um

above th

which mi

it in utt

which wa

a gloom.

tion of \

with the

advent ol

epochs w

menced 1

on and o:

perfectly

attained,

earth and

the glory

angels.

JSTow J(
law sent i
destiny, a
Worship, ^
encumber
science ; j
even whei
which inv
science, tl

B

IB

was lifted up into mountain and valley, hill and
dale, touched by the Spirit which parted the waters
from the waters, and which divided the waters which
were under the firmament yrow the waters which were
ahove the firmament, rolling back the funereal pall
which must during a long midnight have shrouded
it in utter darkness, and have excluded that light
which was commanded or made to dispel so horrible
a gloom. Who can yet measure the accurate dura-
tion of those periods, each of which was occupied
with the peculiar life forms which preceded the
advent of man ; or who can recount the number of
epochs which, far back in the night of time, com-
menced the wondrous scheme of life, which rolling
on and on through each succeeding age, was more
perfectly developed, until at length perfection was
attained, and " God's own image,'* fashioned of the
earth and blessed with immortality, became at once
the glory and the special care of his Maker and of

angels.

Now looking on the Bible as the book of divine
Inw sent from God to man to inform him of his high
destiny, and to demand willing obedience and holy
Worship, we ought not to expect to find its pages
encumbered with learned disquisitions on matters of
science ; and it surely is sufficient if we find that
even where the sacred writers do bring out points
which involve the most subtle problems of physical
science, that they have not cared to conceal beneath

B

14

•

artfully turned sentences or equivocal expressions
statements which could not be proved or doctrines
impossible to be received. The language employed
by Moses in introducing the history of the creation
is not only sublime, but so astonishingly simple
as from its very simplicity to convince us that
he desired ijieither to detail a fiction or to gloss
a truth. As a writer of a divine revelation he was
mindful of such facts as immediately concerned the
Imman family in their relationship to the world
around them and to the author of their being, and
was in no way concerned in any thing which trans-
pired in or belonged to those other previous creations
which preceded his own. Moses therefore gives
clear testimony of his inspiration when he informs
his co-mortals that before they were created, the
earth which they inhabit was engulphed in water
and shrouded in a dense vapourous mass, excluding
light, and that it was expressly fitted and renovated
and created anew for their use ; for the earth there
was renovation, for organized beings there was
creation.

"We are naturally led to enquire whether there
are any proofs of a display of creative power?
Secondly, whether an intelligent power is not re-
vealed as having devised a plan and observed order
in the execution of that plan, and which has been
carried out with marvellous harmony and wisdom ?
Thirdlv. can we furnish evidence of there haviiisE

15

been special acts of creation at different times or
periods, new beings created and introduced into the
world at new and particular epochs of its history ?

Do we any any where discover then a display of
creative power ? It is said that nothing necessarily
exists but time and space. Perhaps it would be
much nearer truth to say that nothing niecessarily
exists but Cause — self-existence, power or will —
time and space being but necessary conceptions of the
human mind ; for if it be impossible to conceive of
body without space, so is it equally impossible to con-
ceive of the existence of body in space without powet*
or will to place it there. This is well shewn in the ar-
gument advanced by M. Cousin. " You have," he
says, " the idea of a body, you believe that it exists^
but can you suppose it not to exist ? I ask you
can you not suppose this book to be destroyed?
Without doubt you can ; and can you not also sup-
pose the whole world to be destroyed, and no body
whatever to be in existence ? You can. For you,
constituted as you are, the supposition of the non-
existence of bodies implies no contradiction ; and
what do you call the idea of a thing which we can
conceive as non-existing? We call it a contingent
and relative idea. But if you can suppose this book
to be destroyed, the world dcstroyedj all matter des-
troyed ; can you suppose that when all bodies should
cease to exist, there would no longer remain any
space for bodies which might come into existence ?

16

You cannot. If it is in the power of man's thought
to suppose the non-existence of bodies, it is not in
his power to suppose the non-existence of s;pace :
the idea of spa,ce is then an absolute and necessar}r
idea. Here then are two characters entirely differ-
ent which separate the two ideas of body and space."
It is clear that M. Cousin admits the idea of power
as a necessary idea, although in the paragraph he had
not expressly enumerated it : for we cannot possibly
conceive of the destruction of body without the neces-
sary conceptions of power adequate to the task of de-
struction ; nor can we conceive body in space without
power to create and retain it in space. Professor
Hamilton, in treating of the same idea, does not com-
mit the same error, he says, space, or extension, is
a necessary form of thought. We cannot think it
as non-existent ; we cannot but think it as existent.
But we are not so necessitated to imagine the reality
of ought occupying space ; for while unable to con-
ceive as null the space in which the material universe
exists, the material universe itself we can without
difficulty annihilate in thought, and if we can in
thought annihilate, we must conceive the power to
annihilate. All that exists in, all that occupies,
space, becomes therefore known to us by experience :
we conceive, we construct its notion. The notion of
space is thus native, or, a priori, the notion of what
space contains adventitious, or a posteriori; of this
latter class is that of body or matter." The lamented

'':.^'

17

author of " The Pre- Adamite Earth" has set this
matter in a much clearer light than any other writer
with whom we are acquainted." He observes, "That
the first stage of creation, as it exhibited the exist-
ence of matter in motion, involved at least three
necessary truths. For we cannot conceive of succes-
sion, without time ; of body, without space, nor of
effect without the power which caused it, i.e., a being
or substance potential to the effect produced. Time,
space, power are necessary ideas. All phenomena
presuppose them ; are not intelligible without them ;
they themselves cannot be resolved into any thing
antecedent ; have no conceivable conditions, but exist
independently of every thing else. Here an impor-
tant distinction comes to light. While space is only
the condition of body, and time of motion, power, a^
we have implied, is not only the condition, but the
cause of both ; as condition, it could not but be ; as
cause, its existence was contingent on the Divine
will. As condition, it was from eternity ; as cause,
it commenced the succession of immeasurable time.
As condition, it is the condition of the infinite sub-
stance, an attribute of the Divine nature ; as cause,
it is the objective manifestation of that property, the
creating exercise of that attribute. As condition,
its activity from eternity was only subjective ; as
cause, its activity becomes objective also. Here
then we have the subjective and the objective; for that
which was possible has become real. What must

X

IS

that be, to which the real has always been possible ?
and what is that which having been only possible
has now become real? What are the relations be-
tween the two? or how do they co-exist? This
is the domain of ontology — the doctrine which relates
to the substance of being. Whether Mr. Harris
borrowed these ideas or not from others matters
little, they are re-introduced to us by a wise and good
man, and may seem to strengthen our conviction by
their similarity. In Archer Butler's excellent
lectures on the History of Philosophy, he gives the
following commentat-y on Plato's conception of time,
in which is included the manifestation of power so
visibly developed as to lead one to suppose that the
mind of the philosopher was dwelling much more on
its conception : "This was considered to have been
created with the rest of the sensible world, to finish
with it, if it ever finish — to be altogether relative to this
phenomenal scene." Again, ' ' the generating Father, "
says TimsBus, " having beheld this created image of
the invisible powers in life and motion, rejoiced at the
sight, (saw that it was good,) and in his delight
thought to make it still more resemble its model ; and
this being a living thing, he endeavoured to give the
universe this sort of completeness as far as might be.
The nature of the exemplar animal was eternal ; and
it was impracticable to adapt this character to any
thing created, without qualification ; he determined

therefore to create a moving image of eterrdty^

19

{eliau Kipvrop riva alwvo^,) and in disposing the heavens
he framed of this eternity — reposing in its own un-
changeable unity — an eternal image, moving according
to numerical succession, which we call time. With
world arose days, nights, months, years, which all
had no previous existence ; the past and future are
but forms of time which we most erroneously trans-
form to the eternal substance : we say it was, and is,
and iviii be, whereas we can only fitly say it is. Past
and future are appropriate to the successive nature
of generated beings, for they bespeak motion ; but
the Being eternally, unmovedly the same, is subject
neither to growth nor to age, nor to any other accident
of time ; it neither was, nor hath been, nor will be,
which are the attributes of fleeting sense — the cir-
cumstances of time imitating eternity, in the shape
of number and motion. Nor can any thing be
more inaccurate than to apply the term real being
(to elvai) to past, or present, or future, or even
to non-existence (to /417 ov). Of this, however, we
cannot speak more fully now. Time, then, was
formed with the heavens, that, together created, they
may together end; if, indeed, an end be 11 the purpose
of the Creator ; and it is designed as closely as
possible to resemble the eternal nature, its exemplar.
The model exists through all eternity. The world
has been, and is, and will be through all time.'^
He, continues Plutarch, and others in various

20

ages, have made the attempt to demonstrate that the
" Ideas" of Plato were not meant as distinct realities
at all, b ; imply as models conceived in the mind
of Grod, in the same manner as models are imagined
in the mind of man. The operation of the Deity is
thus conformable to ideas, in being the shadowing in
the world of sense of his conceptions of order. "'
This carries with it the attraction of simplicity,
but it is utterly inconsistent with the assertions of
Plato, which every where, and in every form, dis-
tinguish between the reality of eternal forms and
the mere conceptions of the mind. Holding that
the " Ideas" are intimately incorporated in creation,
being its very life and substance, Plato could not,
without identifying the Deity with his work, regard
them as in any sense a portion of the Divine Nature
itself. These " forms," or eternal laws of things, are
above us, but they are below Grod ; and though they
point to us the character of the Supreme Essence of
Essences, they are not to be worshipped as him.
Nor are these laws only existent in his intellect,
for then where were " Creation." But he is the
cause, and sustainer, and substance of laws. Here,
then, is briefly Plato's opinion — there exist, and
existed belore the formation of the universe, three
distinct principks, being, place, and production :
that is to say, the real, which we know is essentially
eternal ; the nature, which received the subsequent

21

sensible creation ; and the creative principle, which
was prepared, as it were, to project the eternal and
invisible in the forms of time and sense.

"To treat of power," says M. Cousin, " is to treat of
cause. Let us not forget that the belief in the world
and in external causes is universal and necessary,
and that the fact which explains it must itself be a
necessary and universal fact. If, then, our belief in
the world and in exterior causes resolves itself into
the assimilation of these causes to our own, this
assimilation must be a necessary and universal fact.
Now look to physiology : I expect that it will prove
that all intellectual and moral beings conceive ex-
ternal causes by reason of their own, as endowed
with consciousness and animated : I look to it to
prove that this opinion of children and savages is
not only a frequent fact, but a universal fact, and
that there is not a child, not a savage, who does not
thus begin. Aud when it shall have proved that
this fact is universal, it must necessarily go still
further : it must necessarily prove that this fact is
not only universal, but that it is necessary. But
the character of a necessary fact is, that it must
unavoidably exist ; and the necessit}^ of an idea,
of a law, implies the denomination of that idea, of
that law, in the whole extent of its duration, and
so long as the human mind subsists. * * *
We all have the perfect conviction that this world
exists, that there are external causes ; and these

0

\ Ip

22

causes we believe to be neither personal nor volun-
tary. This is the belief of the human race : it
belongs to philosophy to explain it, without destroy-
ing it, without altering it." " Let us," says Sir
William Hamilton, "form to ourseh^s a concept
of the universe. Now wc are unable to think that
the quantity of existence, of which the universe is
conceived the sum, can either be amplified or
diminished. We are able to conceive the creation
of a world : this indeed as easily as the creation of
an atom. But what is our thought of creation ? It
is not a thought of the mere springing of nothing
into something. On the contrary, creation is con-
ceived, and is conceivable by us, only as the evo-
lution of existence from possibility into actuality, by
the Jiat of the Deity. Let us place ourselves in
imagination at its very crisis. Now, cun we con-
strue it to thought, that the moment after the uni-
verse flashed into material reality, into manifested
being, that there was a larger compliment of
existence in the universe, and its author together,
than the moment before there subsisted in the Deity
alone ? This we are unable to imagine. And what
is true of our concept of creation, holds of our con-
cept of annihilation. We can think no real annihi-
lation, no absolute sinking of something into nothing.
But as creation is cogitable by us, only as a putting
forth of divine power, so is annihilation by us con-
ceivable as a withdrawal of that same povfcr. dU

23

that is now actually existent in the universe, this we
think and must think, as having, prior to creation,
virtually existed in the Creator ; and in imagining
the universe to be annihilated, we can only conceive
this, as the retraction by the Deity of an overt energy
into latent power." To this doctrine we demur, since
it places a limit on Creative Power. Power is above
creation, or the created, as cause is superior to the
caused ; we can think real annihilation, as Cousin
affirms, and as Sir William himself virtually admits,
when he says, " as creation is cogitable to us as a
putting forth of divine power, annihilation the with-
If-awal of divine power ;" but unless it be proved that
cause and effect are the same, we cannot comprehend
how we are bound necessarily to believe that "all
that is now actually existent in the universe, we must
think as having, prior to creation, virtually existed
in the Creator." It is manifestly not so. The Crea-
tive Power is absolute, all-comprehensive, capable
of accomplishing what it wills, even in its absolute,
unrestraiuable omnipotence to create that which is
not itself, but exists only by virtue of its will. Whe-
ther we turn our attention, says Cousin, to the forces
and the laws that animate and govern matter with-
out belonging to it, or as the order of our labour
calls us to do, reflect upon the universal and neces-
sary truths which our mind discovers, but does not
constitute, the least systematic use of reason makes
us naturally conclude from the forces and laws of

24

!\\

1 li

P

Hi

the universe that there is a first intelligent mover,
and from necessary truths that there is a necessary
being who alone is their substance. We do not per-
ceive God, but we can conceive him, upon the faith
of this admirable world exposed to our view, and
upon that of this other world, more admirable still,
which we bear in ourselves. By this double road
we succeed in going to God. This natural course is
that of all men : it must be sufficient for a sound
philosophy. But there are feeble and presumptuous
minds that do not know how to go thus far, or do
not know how to stop there. Confined to experi-
ence, they do not dare to conclude from what they
see in what they do not see ; as if at all times, at the
sight of the first phenomenon that appears to their
eyes, they did not admit that this phenomenon has a
cause, even when this cause does not come within
reach of their senses. They do not perceive it, yet
they believe in it, for the simple reason that they
necessarily conceive it. Man and the universe are
also facts that cannot but have a cause, although this
cause may neither be seen by the eye nor toiiched
by our hands. Reason has been given us for the
very purpose of going, and without any circuit of
reasoning, from the visible to the invisible — from the
finite to the infinite — from the imperfect to the perfect,
and also from necessary and universal truths, which
surround us on everv side, to their eternal and
necessary principle. Such is the legitimate and

26

natural bearing of reason. It possesses an evidence
of which it renders no account, and is not thereby
less irresistible to whomsoever does not undertake to
contest with God the veracity of the faculties which
he has received. But one does not revolt against
reason with impunity. It punishes our false wisdom
by giving us up to extravagance. When one has
confined himself to the narrow limits of what he
directly perceives, he is sr ^ \ered by these limits,
wishes to go out of them at any price, and invokes
some other means of knowing ; he did not dare to
admit the existence of an invisible God, and now
behold him aspiring to enter into immediate commn-
xi' ^^'on with him, as with sensible objects and the
rh :?3 of consciousness. It is an extreme for a ra-
tional being thus to doubt reason, and it is an incre-
dible rashness, in this despair of intelligence, to
dream of direct communication with God. This
desperate and ambitious dream is mysticism.

What, then, is the true relationship which the
Creator has to his works ? It is in answering this
question that we require to be especially careful,
least we find ourself involved in error, for on the
one hand we may deny the omnipresence of the Deity,
or on the other may easily fall into the oninions of
pantheism, and merge the Creator in his works.

One great value of adhering to the Mosaic ac-
count is, that we get absolute pi'oof of creative
interference ; for if geology did not inform us that

26

the earth had been replenished many times, we
should have had difficulty in refuting the perpetual
succession of life. " One important distinc-
tion," observes Dr. Harris, " is disclosed to us
under the law relating to truth — the distinction
between the subjective and the objective ; the infinite
mind and the created universe ; the latter presup-
posing the former having existed potentially in the
mind of Grod before it existed objectively as a purpose
realized." "Let us," observes Mr. Calderwood,
"imagine that we stand at the point of creation, and
perceive the material universe dart into existence —
the actual commencement of material substance.
What have we here ? We are conscious of the
origin of this new existence ; we necessarily think
that it had a cause — that some operating power has
brought it into existence. But do we think that this
material substance previously existed in the cause ?
Do we think that the cause is material ? By the
nature of the case it is impossible. By our con-
sciousness the statement is false." But, says Sir
William Hamilton, we cannot conceive of nothing
becoming something. Certainly not, for that were
to think nothing, which is impossible. Well, then,
he continues, creation is conceived, and is by us
conceivable, only as the evolution of existence from
possibility into actuality by the fiat of the Deity.
What have we here ? "The evolution of existence
from possibility into actuality." What is existence ?

iiiiii

27

It is nothing except in so far as an individual exist-
ence is indicated. In this case, therefore, it is either
nothing, or it is the material universe. It cannot be
the material universe, for that has just begun ; and
if it be not that, it is nothing, and to talk of its evolu-
tion is absurd. But let us grant that it is the
materir.^ universe. Well, if it be the evolution of
the universe, whence is it evolved? From possibility,
says Sir William ; and whence is that ? This is only
an attempt to escape under the use of general terms.
The meaning seems to be, that in the creation God
put forth into action or actuality the power to
create which he previously possessed the possibility
of doing. This expresses a doctrine sufficiently
correct, were it not for the accompanying assertion
that God exercises this power by evolving the
universe out of himself. Applying the phraseology
to second causes, it would be said that the formation
of a steam-engine " is the evolution of existence
from possibility into actuality." In this case it is
quite true that the man had previously the ability to
make an engine, but out of what is the engine
evolved ? Out of the materials certainly, and not
out of the man. Where, then, were the materials
out of which God evolved the universe. They were
no where. Therefore, in the work of creation, we
cannot talk of the evolution of the created object.
Were we to express what we hold to be our notion
of creation, we would say that creation is conceived

28

I

and is by us conceivable only as the origin of exist-
ence by the fiat of the Deity. We think the fact of
the existence of th universe whenever it springs
into being, but the how is beyond our reach. Let
us again imagine the work of creation, and see what
are the facts of consciousness. We imagine the
universe beginning to exist ; its existence is realized
as a phenomenon. If, then, we are asked, how does
it come into existence ? we answer, that does not
come within our observation, and is therefore beyond
the range of our speculation. To attempt to answer,
were to violate the first principle of sound philosophy.
All that we can affirm is, that we now recognise the
world springing into existence, and we think an
operating power, the great first cause, as producing
it. We think the universe as now existing, as a
new existence, as an increase in the sum of being. It
has nothing to do with this to tell ur that we cannot
think time previously existent and separate from the
universe ; that we cannot make time the object of
thought, and think it before the universe began, as
if this were essential to thinking the non-existence
of the universe. When we are asked to think the
time before a certain house was erected, we realize
that time simply by thinking of events which occur-
red, or of objects which existed, before that house
was built. And we also think the existence of
power capable to combine and bring about the
events and use the objects which existed prior to the

29

act of building. So with the creation, we think the
time when the v/orld did not exist, by thinking God
as alone existent. We have no more difficulty in
thinking a time when the world did not exist, than
in thinking a time when that house did not exist. If
we think the world evolved out of God, it is plainly
implied that we think God as previously existent.
We, however, admit that we cannot understand how
God operates without materials, for we have no such
experience of causal energy ; but we think God as
the cause which produces the effect, and we have n i
difficulty in thinking the object as beginning to exist.
We at once recognise the absurdity oi the assertion
that God separated from himself a part of his
essence, and so operated on it as to produce the
universe ; and Sir William Hamilton recognises this
when he speaks of the creation of the universe as its
evolution from possibility into actuality. This is
admitting that it did not previously exist, but that
there was previously in God the power to produce
it, which is a very different question from that in-
volved in the assertion, that we think the act of
creation by supposing that God evolves the universe
out of himself.

The idea of distinct, independent power is thus ad-
mitted to be a necessary idea in the human minu, and
as being more necessarily conceivable than either time
or space. We have sought to determine what the na-

11 1 i

ture 01 tne power may oe, ana nave oeen enaoieu lo

D

m

!; .:

!

■m

i!

Jllflililil

shew that power which is admitted to be is an omni-
potent power. It is not a little remarkable that within
the last few years opinions have been promulgated,
with reference to the material world, by some modern
writers, which resolve the creation into a system of
dynamics, at the head of whom we may place Messrs.
Grove and Radcliff, who, in theorising on the nature
of the physical forces of the universe, have really at-
tempted to resolve them into one force, and that force
a dynamical idea of the essence of matter, as th-^ ulti-
mate essence into which we may resolve all things,
which we presume is virtually, but not so intelligibly,
asserting the existence of controuling power, as has
been done by many philosophers. This opens to us
for consideration the belief which minds even of a very
opposite order discover, attributing to the material
universe an innate possession of laws, which they
think satisfactorily explain all the phenomena dis-
played, both by organic and inorganic bodies. ISfow
we do not think that such belief can be refuted by an
appeal to the special modifications and adaptations of
the various isolated forms of which the universe is com-
posed ; but we apprehend that a true article of faith
may be clearly drawn up and proved, by setting
forth the existence of a plan of creation governed
by laws general and specialised, manifesting most
distinctly the wisdom, power, and goodness which
must dwell in a Cause capable of originating and
carrying into action so comprehensive and perfect a

81

scheme of creation. Professor Whewell, as long ago
as the publication of the Briclgewater Treatises, ac-
knowledged this to be the true principle on which to
rest the argument for an intelligent cause ; and very
recently, Professor Agassiz insisted on the necessity
of following up the method, observing, "That the ar-
gument for the existence of an intelligent Creator is
generally drawn from the adaptations of means to ends,
upon which the Bridge water Treatises have been based.
But this does not appear to me to cover the whole
ground, for we can conceive that the natural action
of objects on each other should result in a final fitness
of the universe, and thus produce a harmonious
whole. Nor does the argument, derived from the
connexion of organs and functions, seem to be more
satisfactory, for, beyond certain limits, it is not even
true. We find organs without functions ; as, for in-
stance, the teeth of the whale, which never cut through
the gums ; the breast in all the males of the class of
mammalia ; these and similar organs are preserved
in obedience to a certain uniformity of fundamental
structure, true to the original formula of that division
of animal life, even not essential to its mode of
existence. The organ remains, not for the perform-
ance of a function, but with reference to a plan, and
might almost remind us of what we often see in
human structures, where, for instance, in architec-
ture, the same external combinations are retained
for the sake of symmetry and harmony of propor-

32

ii'i

I'lll

I'biii

tion, even when they have no practical object." We
believe this reasoning to be true, and therefore re-
sort to the more available proofs, which the existence
of general laws affords.

In the first place, let me endeavour to exhibit the
method which lias been observed in creation. At-
tention has been directed to the existence of what
may be termed " the law of generalisation." We
believe that there is evidence sufficient to shew that
the general plan, which is found to prevail in the
structure of the organic world, applies with equal
force to the inorganic, namely, " the passage from
the more general to the more special;^' there is such
a general dependence of one thing on another, that
we almost arbitrarily determine lines of demarcation,
and it requires diligent enquiry to discover the ex-
istence of the law of independence, which it is admit-
ted exists, in a world of mutual dependence.

If we interrogate geology as to what has been the
condition of the earth in times past, the most con-
vincing evidence is furnished of mighty changes
accomplished, each one becoming more and more
specialised by the addition of newer and more
varied forms, adapted to peculiar conditions, so that
while it may truly be said that each epoch was per-
fect in itself, nevertheless each succeeding one was
rendered an advance on the former one, and exhi-
bited special peculiarities, which lent to it particular
characteristics. But where is the proof that all such

33

iirmngements are not the eflfect of chance ? We can
only appeal to common sense, to common experience,
to reason, for the answer.

Mr. Crabbe, in his work on natural theology, fol-
lowing exactly the illustration selected by Dr.
Crombie, asks, " If a person were to enter a room
in which he saw no human being, but on a table
were twelve of the twenty-four detached letters of
the alphabet arranged in a straight line and in alpha-
betical order, and the other twelve in a confused
heap by their side, he would probably stake all he
possessed in the conviction that some one had placed
those twelve letters in that orderly position, and that
the other twelve had been cast down without any
intention respecting their arrangement ; and he
would come to this conclusion, because in such cases
it is a matter of invariable experience, that when
mind does not interfere, no orderly sequence ever
takes place except in the most limited degree." But
how much more grand and conclusive an argument
does the earth afford ? If a sceptic, eager in search
of truth, were to discover an illustrated book full of
records, and between the leaves permanent fac-
similes of the remains of an empire passed away, he
would inevitably conclude from the many indepen-
dent circumstances necessary to the existence or
construction of such a work, that an intelligent mind
had been engaged in its production ; the wildest
imagination could not for a moment be induced to

0k

34

accept as true the explanation which would attribute
it to chance or a blind necessity. Here, then, we
meet the sceptic on fair ground : such a book exists,
prepared not by the hand of man, for many of its pages
were written, and the mortal remains of the subjects
of its history were entombed, volume after volume,
shelved and carefully preserved, ere man walked
this earth in "the image of his God." Interrogate
these volumes, study the records of " the wreck of
matter and the crash of worlds," and see if in each
succeeding event we discover hopeless ruin and blind
confusion, or learn of regeneration and progressive
stages to more perfect states. \

Geology henceforth becomes the handmaid to
religion, and instead of aiding in the overthrow of
inspired truth, furnishes the most convincing proofs
in its favour. It teaches that before the Spirit of Life
breathed on the earth and awaked the dreary silence
which reposed on its granite bosom ; that ere one lowly
organism, which expressing the mystic union of life
and matter, swarmed in its aqueous zones — time had
passed away ; that ever since the vapourous liquid
nebula— 'the most probable condition of our parent
earth in its earliest state — had first become consoli-
dated, changes have been going on. Omnipotence
constructing that skeleton frame-work, on which has
been in succession formed the advancing orders of
prolific creations. By what processes, or through
what stages, has the mass assumed its solid shape ?

^^

35

Who may tell the time when gneiss and granite
cooled to shut up within a hard anC thickened crust
the fiery and more centralised heat ? But if in this
beginning we have reached that time when life was
not, so do we on this first page of our world's
history soon learn that on its inorganic bed first
was laid the deep foundations of a scheme which
should, by progressive developement, unfold the
unfathomable riches of its author's resources and
fore-knowledge, and set forth the praise and glory of
him who is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.
Hugh Miller, a name dear to every lover of that
which is wise and good, the earnest, pious Hugh
Miller, has drawn from the very observance of order
and progression in nature, as displayed by thp di^ ine
mind, an argument not only to prove the existence
of a supeme creative intelligence, but even to deduce
from a similar necessity in the human mind the
essential nature of its relationship with that of its
maker. And, observes Harris, ' ' In an age in which a
class of writers, not without their influence in the
world of letters, would fain repud! t*:^ every argu-
ment derived from design, and denounce all who hold
with Paley and Chalmers as anthropomorphists — that
labour to create for themselves a god of their own
type and form — it may not be altogether unprofitable
to contemplate the wonderful parallelism which
exists between the human and divine systems of
What was this order? Commenc-

ClaSaiuctiuou.

/

%■

I

I

t

itig, says Miller, at the bottom of the scale» we
find the Thallogens, or flowerless plants, which lack
proper stems and leaves ; a class which includes all
the Algae. Next succeed the Acrogens, or flowerless
plants that possess both stems and leaves, such as the
ferns and their allies. Next, omitting an inconspicu-
ous class, represented by a few parasitical plants in-
capable of preservation as fossils, come the Endogens
— monocotyledenous flowering plants, that include
the palm, the libraceae, and several other families, all
characterised by the parallel venation of their leaves.
Next, omitting another inconspicuous tribe, there
follows a very important class, the Gymnogens, poly-
cotyledonous trees, represented by the conifera and
cycadaceae. And last of all, come the Dycotyledo-
nous Exogens, a class to which all our fruit, and what
are known as our " forest trees," belong, with a vastly
preponderating majority of the herbs and flowers that
impart fertility and beauty to our gardens and
meadows. Such is the arrangement of Lindley, or
rather an arrangement the slow growth of ages, to
which this distinguished botanist has given the last
finishing touches. And let us now mark how closely
it resembles the geologic arrangement, as developed
in the successive stages of the earth's history.

(See diagram A, on succeeding page.)

Carboniferous.

Cretaceous.

W

'■If 111

A

^i 0 tu-yy^> >2y^^p X

37

ux

.^n >r

- J'

■ ii; -r •■'•■

Silurian.

Old Red.

Carboniferous.

Permian.

Triassic.

Oolitic.

Cretaceous.

Tertiary.

DIAGRAM A.

^1

ThnlJogens.

t
Acrdgens.

Gymnogens.
Monoctyledons.

Dicotyledons.

Dicotyledonous
Trees.

Geologic (Thai. Ac. Gy. Mon. Die.) arrangement.

Lindley's (Thai. Ac. Mon. Gy. Die.) arrangement.

E

/

38

iSi

The parallelism which exists between the course
of creation, as exhibited in the animal kingdom
and the classification of the greatest zoologist of
modern times, is perhaps still more remarkable.
Cuvier divides all animals into vertebrate, and in-
vertebrate ; the invertebrates consisting, according
to this arrangement, of three great divisions —
mollusca, articulata, and radiata ; and the vertebrates
of four great classes — the mammals, the birds, the
reptiles, and the fishes. From the lowest zone at
which organic remains occur, up till the higher beds
of the lower Silurian System, all the animal remains
yet found belong to the invertebrate divisions. The
numerous tables of stone which compose the leaves
of this first and earliest of the geologic volumes cor-
respond in their contents with that concluding volume
of Cuvier's great work, in which he deals with the
mollusca, articulata, and ratiata ; with, however, this
difference, that the three great divisions, instead of
occurring in a continuous series, are ranged like the
terrestrial trees and herbs, in parallel columns.
The chain of animal being on its first appear-
ance is, if I may so express myself, a threefold
ch'MU — a fact nicely correspondent with the furthc
fact, that we cannot in the present creation range
serially as either higher or lower in the scale, at least
two of these divisions -the mollusca ancl articulata.

(See diagrnm B, on succeediDg page.j^

39

i

DIAGRAM

B.

Silurian.

Bad. Art. Mol

1 n!-i. -

Old Red

Rflptilen.

Carboniferous.

Permian.

Triassic.

Oolitic.

Birds.
: Mammals.

Cretaceous.

Tertiary.

Pla. Mam.

Recent.

Man.

Qeologic (Rad. Art. Mol. Fish. Rep. Bird. Mam. Man.) arrangement.
Cuvier's (Rad. Art. Mol. Fish. Rep. Bird. Mam. Man.) arrangement.

40

iHill:

1^'

ii^l

Here we see the mind entirely engaged in the
acquisition of knowledge, discovering systems of
classification well nigh identical with those which
ages ago have been engraved and recorded on
stone ; but when we carry out the comparison, how
immeasurably does man's task fall below that which
has been accomplished before. The latter has no
doubt, by the exercise of the highest skill, and by
the employment of deep reason, gradually succeeded
in arranging in order the things of the world around
him ; not so with that other intelligence, which has
not only " in the volume of the book in which are
all our members written," exemplified things as they
were, but also things as they must be hereafter.
Can the sceptic impose upon himself a harder creed
than that which he now endeavours to believe ? Can
he adduce solid arguments to prove that the imper-
sonal deities which he creates — heat, light, electricity
— all that may be included under the physical forces,
or so-called forces of nature — are endowed with intel-
ligence transcending far the brightest dreams of the
power of intellect which the most intelligent of men
can conceive. For even supposing that such intel-
lectual forces existed, the mind cannot rest satisfied
at this stage, but must seek yet another, in which
they may discover some principle, some law, (!) some
other presiding faculty, which has been entrusted
with the task of harmonising and reducing to unity
independent powers of s'lch stupendous proportions

iiiiii' -

41

as suffice not only for the creation of worlds in or-
derly progitssion, bat capable of harmonising the
several so-called creative forces.

Let us examine the doctrine of pantheism as
stated by its authors, and endeavour to show the
emptiness of its claims to be received as true. In
a work which bears the stamp of genius on its pages,
and received with no little applause by the scientific
world, we find the author employing the following
unmistakeable language in describing the effects of
light and the influence of heat on organization :
"An organized structure," says the distinguished
Professor, " of a given kind is, therefore, the result of
the operation of many of these forces, and is an
expression of their aggregate action. In the full
developement of a perfect tree there has been ex-
pended a measured quantity of forces, of light, or of
heat, and the organized mass (the italics are our own)
as it stands before us, the product of those forces, is the
resultant of millions of vibrations of the luminifer-
ous ether which have acted upon ponderable atoms ;
vibrations which have stood in a certain relation to
each other, as the symmetry of the ve^i; table parts
indicates." Again, in speaking oi the effects of the
sun on vegetation : " Where then do these things
carry our reflections ? What are the elevated ideas
they bring before us ? Do they not show that tho
great spaces of the universe are not simply solitudes,
in which there onlv resides mechanical forces, in

^i

42

m

m

n
M

which only the mfluences of gravitation and projec-
tile action occur ? Do they not teach us that wherever
a ray of light can pass, there is the capability for
organization and life? And in those luniimerable
stars which we see at night ; bome of which are
giving fortli rays of one and some of lU'other cul<.uf,
and a multitude of double ^tars, which furnish com-
plementary lights to (li(»ir attendant planets, who can
tell what multiplied results these thiugs impr'^.ss on
the world of orr^anizati;.ni i In our reflections on
the constitution of the univeise, though thv' beautiful
jiyrff ction of its mechanism may excite our wonder
do ii(>t these views of its capability for organization,
of the co!;stant presence of light, the parent of
LIFE, call for our unbounded admiration. Instead of
regarding the interplanetary spaces as a great
vacuum, a desolate solitude, they rise before us as
regions filled with active forces, and ready to put
on and to communicate movement and life,''^ There is
nothing equivocal in Professor Draper's language,
light is apostrophized as " The Parent of Life," and,
together with other " forces," is endowed with all the
attributes of Deity ; indeed the American professor's
doctrine is rendered the more remarkable, and at the
same time the more objectionable, since no one has
stood forth a better champion of the independence of
the respective forces than himself ^Uthough ignoring
Dr. Carpenter's revived Spino' , that substance is
the c 3 of its attril)utes, h ; into errors equally

43

grave, and we cannot detect the slightest difference
between Dr. Carpenter and M. Becquerel, whom
Professor Draper directly quotes and objects to,
saying, " No one can feel more strongly the ab-
surdity of supposing that nature (?) has created
between forty and fifty elementary ponderable sub-
stances, all possessed of metallic characters, and all
so nearly alike that even a chemist is often puz-
zled to distinguish them from one another. No one,
upon satisfactory proof, would more willingly go
back to the alchemical doctrine in relation to these
matters ; but so long as the evidence on the constitu-
tion of these bodies rests where it does, the laws of
chemistry compel us to admit them to be simple and
undecompounded ; and just in the same way that I
am willing to admit the existence of forty different
simple metals, so upon similar evidence I am free to
admit the existence of fifty different imponderable
agents, if need be. Is there any thing which would
lead us to suppose that the imponderables are con-
stituted by nature on a plan that is elaborately com-
plex' ? That the former are all modifications of one
primordial ether, and the latter intrinsically different
bodies, more than a quarter of a hundred of which
have been discovered during the present century?
Wh!'i,ji Professor Carpenter accepts but one force
i/hich is susceptible of assuming protean shapes,
Mr. Draper fills the uni erse with independent pow-
ers, endowed, or possessing supernatural intelligence
and forethought. It is impossible for those who

»^':ti'.

^1

■' ' ,

/-

44

I

m.

hold the doctrines which are so openly set forth,
by modern writers, for any length of time to pre-
serve their followers from extending their theories to
a much more dangerous length than they themselves
would desire : this has been the history of all false
teaching ; and vhere "forces" are called into existence
and endowed with all the attributes of creative in-
telligence, it is not at all likely that the believers in
such a creed will care to trouble themselves about a di-
vine cause, nor will they recognise a personal omni-
present Deity. It requires but a very superficial
acquaintance with the life of organised beings to dis-
cover, that in accordance with the complexity of their
nature, so is their greater or less dependence on what
are called external physical agents, and even in the life
of the very first in the order of creation — man ! we
see enough to satisfy us that he is of the earth,
earthy ! But because this dependence is real, and
acknowledged to be so, we are to be equally care-
ful in setting forth the remainder of the history of
organised beings, which as plainly testifies of their
dependence on some great separate power, which has
repeatedly interfered in their progress, and ever and
anon introduced new forms and modified others, not
in an irregular and confused manner, but always in
strict accordance with the laws of order.

To this agreement Pala3ontologists"' and Mate-
rialists have now come. " In the developement

* iraAoios, ancient ; ovra, beings ; \oyos, liscourse.

-»;jy-;

46

of all living beings," to use the words of Von B*ar,
" a heterogeneous or special structure arises out of
one more homogeneous or general, and this by a
gradual change." Dr. Carpenter, applying this
law, observes, "It is peculiarly interesting to re-
mark that the same general plan appears to have
been followed in the organization of the vast series
of living forms which have successively appeared on
the face of the globe. The entombment of the
remains of many of these, in the strata in progress
of formation at the time of their existence, has
enabled the Palaeontologist to reconstruct to a certain
extent the fauna and flora of each of those great
epochs in the earth's history, which are so distinctly
marked out in geological time, both by extensive dis-
turbances in the earth's crust, and by striking
changes in the structure and distribution of the Irving
beings which dwelt upon it. Each of these epoih?
was characterised by some peculiar foims, or com-
binations of forms, of animal and vegetable life,
which existed in it alone ; and the further we go
back from the existing period, the wider are the
diversities which we meet with, both in that general
aspect of these kingdoms of nature which depends
upon the relative proportions of these different iau-
ordinate groups, and in the features and structure of
the beings composing these groups. The attempt
has been made to prove that these changes might be
red^ '"" to a law of progressive djvelopement ;"
meaning, by this, that the lowest forms of vegetable

F

4K Jita>

'M

46

i'iiii'ii

iHrli:

1'iii'vl

and animal life were first introduced, that those of the
least degree of elevation first presented themselves,
and so on consecutively until we reach man, who, as
the highest in the series, was the last to make his
appeai.-f. e )j. the globe. Further, it has been sur-
miSc^d Iha- actual transmutation of the lower forms
into the higher took place in the course of geological
time ; so that from the germs first introduced, or
from others, w^ic^ L-,o since originated in com-
binations of inorganic matter, the whole succes-
sion of organic forms, from the simplest protophyte
up to the oak or palm, from the protozoon up to man,
has been gradually evolved ; not, however, in single
series, but from several distinct stirpes, whose
developement has taken different directions. The
facts of geological science, however, do not seem to
bear out the first of these doctrines ; and the fact>^
of physiology lend no real support to the second.
For it is easily capable of being shown, that although
the doctrine of "progressive developement," as just
stated, may be true in some of its main features,
radiata, mollusc? and articulata having perhaps
existed before an} vertebrated animals left traces of
their oxiatence, fishes being abundant before we have
any evidence from the remains cf reptiles that any
of the latter ha ^ been introduced, and reptiles having
been for a tr^ th ^ sole air-breathing vertebrata,
and having occupied the place (so to speak) of birds
and mammals, when as yet these had been verv
scantily produced, or were altogether wanting, yet

ii'li

T.hen we c

fails ; and

in its usua'

would aflfoj

transmutat

experience

that so coi

higher and

members o

A more

organic life

be found ii

to pi'evail i

of organic

more genei

present the

grout) Iirsi

that they

ters which

and more

subsequent

most curioi

* radiated c

found in th<

the group \

lopement at

by which i

nected witl

^there is re

* Racliu

47

T.lien we come to apply more closely, it altogether
fails ; and if the doctrine progressive d^velopement
in its usual form were true in every particular, it
would afford no ground whatever for the doctrine of
transmutation, which is not only opposed to all our
experience, but fails to account for the intimate nexus
that so commonly unites together, not merely the
higher and the lower forms of each series, but the
members of the different series with each other.

A more satisfactory account of the successsion of
organic life on the surface of the globe may probably
be found in the general plan which has been shown
to pi'evail in the deveiopement of the existing forms
of organic structure, namely, the passage from the
more general to the more special. Many indications
present themselves that the types of each principal
grout) first introduced were 710/ the lowest, but
that they presented in comUuation those charac-
ters which are found to be separately distributed,
and more distinctly manifested among groups that
snbHiquently made their appearance. One of the
most curious exemplifications of this principle in the
'•'radiated division of the anim, 1 kingdom, is to be
found in the history of the class -fEchinodefmaia; for
the group which seems to have attained a high deve-
iopement at the earliest period is not that of Crinoidea,
by which the class in question is most closely con-
nected with zoophytes, but that of Cystidea, which
'^there is reason to believe) was much superior to

* Radius, a ray.

t ex'**''' A hedge ; ttpfui, skin.

: ■l'i

. V

■ ! ' *'■

48

this in general organisation. Now th'" order seems
to have presented a most extraordinary combination
of the most distinctive characters of the remaining
groups ; of which some appear not to have existed,
and the rest to have presented a very limited range
of forms, at the time when it was predominant.
Thus the Crinoidea of Palaeozoic period, though very
numerous, exhibit but little variety of type ; and in
the complete enclosure of the body by polygonal
plates, they present a more close approximation to
the Oystidea than do the *Crinoidea of the secondary

Crinoideee — 1. Apocrinus rotuada. 2. Eucrinus inaniliformia.

period, in which the variety of forms is much greater.

So again, the f^steriada and Ophiurida of the

J Palaeozoic period appear to have represented only

Kpivov, lily ; ctSof, fonn.

f (umip, star; ciSof, form.

X naKmos, ancient ; (fcii, life.
{Set lustration, p. 64.)

49

a small part of the forms which those groups have
included. It is probable tluit the true Echinida did
not exist at all in the Palieozoie period ; and although
we are unfortunately not likely ever to obtain proof
or disproof of the existence of Holithuriada, it can-
not but be thought probable that they, too, were as
yet absent. In the secondary period, on the other
hand, when the Cystidea had ceased to exist, we have
evidence that they were replaced by all the orders just
named, (except Holithuriada, the softness of whose
bodies would be likely to prevent their preservation) ;
and these soon came to present a very high degree
of developement, dividing among them (so to speak)
the characters possessed by Oystidea, and carrying
these out separately as the distinctive peculiarities
of their respective structures. So among the higher
mollusca, we find that a prominent place in the
earlier formations was occupied by that group
(Tetrabranchiata) which presents the last develope-
ment of the distinctive characters of the Cephalopod
class, and which has so much in common with the
testaceous *Gasteropods. Now there is no evidence

j ,

Gasteropod — Planorbis.

Moiluac — (Juruium.

ywmip, belly; kovs, foot.

i?

50

f::

of the existence of the higher order of *"Dibran-
chiate" fCephalopods, at that early date in the Palaeo-
zoic period at which the Tetrabranchiate order had
acquired an extraordinary multiplication and variety
of forms, and so far it might seem that we have a
progression from the lower to the higher. But the
paucity of remains of typical Gasteropods at the same
period is almost as remarkable ; and some of those
forms which are most abundant {e. g. Enomphalus
and Bellerophon) present indications of close proxi-
mity to Cephalopoda. So that it would seem as if
the Nautiloid type is generally to be regarded as

Scales of fish-

orders whii
be undoubt

icf<pa\ii, head; irovs, foot. f Sts, ty.'^oj Pp«yjc*9, gUis.

ii :n

61

having occupied the place at that period not merely
of the order above, but also, in part, of the class
below ; its decline and almost complete disappear-
ance, during the secondary epoch, being coincident
with the multiplication of forms of the more typical
Gasteropods and of the higher Cephalopods. Again,
among the fishes which were the earliest of the verte-
brated inhabitants of the globe, we find a remarkable
assemblage of characters, some of them presenting, in
the extraordinary developement of the dermo-skele-
ton, and in the softness and probably rudimentary
condition of vertebral skeleton, an evident leaning
to the invertebrata series ; whilst others seem to have
foreshadowed the class of reptiles, an approach
to which is represented, not merely by the sharks
and their allies, but by the Sauroid tribe of osseous
fishes, which was extremely abundant towards the end
of the Palaeozoic period. The *Ctenoid and fCycloid

Scales of fish — 1. Placoid. 2. Ganoid. 8. Cteuoid. 4. Cycloid.

orders which, on review of the whole class, may
be undoubtedly considered as comprehending the

H

* KTtvis, a tooth, or ktus, a comb.

t KVKKoSf a circle.

52

most typical tahes, did not make their appearance (so
far as can be determined from the evidence of their
fossil remains) until the *Oretaceous period. The
universal possession of the homocercal tail, by the

earlier fishes, is to be considered
on this view not as an csGentially
embryonic character, but as the
most general character of the
class, which is presented in
every member of it at an
early stage of developement,
but which subsequently gives
place in certain cases to a
special modification. i

Turning to the air-breathing
vertebrata, again, we find that
during the secondary period,
this series was chiefly repre-
sented by the class of reptiles
which then attained its greatest
importance, and included groups
which represented fishes, birds,
and mammals respectively, thus
having more general character
than the class at present exhibits.
These groups subsequently gave
way to the more special forms
which carry out most exten-

1. Heterooeroal.
2, 8. Homooeroal.

* Chalk.

53

sively the reptilian type ; and when we look at the
earliest forms of reptilian life of which we have any
cognizance, we find them to present very remarkable
combinations of the characters which are now dis-
tributed among different groups. Thus the Laby-
rinthodon of the Triassic formation, appears to have
been essentially *Batrachian in its structure, but to
have possessed some characters of the Crocodilian
order. And the same formation contains the re-
mains of reptiles, which, while essentially f Saurian
in their general structure, had the horny mandibles,
and probably many other characters of the XChelonia,
In the early history of the class Mammalia, so far as
known to us, the same general plan may be traced.
The only order that is still recognisable by the remains
preserved in the secondary strata, is that of Marsu-
pialia, which has much in common with the ovi-
parous vertebrata. Near the commencement of the
tertiary epoch remains of Pachydermata are abun-
dant ; but these were for the 7nust part different
from those of the present epoci;, containing combi-
nations of characters which are now distributed
among several distinct fainiliej^, and presenting also
a closer approximation to the Herbivorous Cetaceans
on the one hand, and to the Euminants on the
other, than is exhibited by any existing species of
the order. So among the enrly §Edentata. we

* Barpaxos, a frog. f aavpos, lizard. J x*^*"^* * turtle.

^ Ux, vrithout ; dens, tuoih.
G

54

meet with a group, now
entirely extinct, which con-
nected that order with the
massive Pachyderma.

Now the most that Profes-
sor Draper and his followers
can claim for their deities,
will not account for the me-
thod and orderly arrange-
ment which the recorded
history of the past unfolds.
All the light and heat of
billions of centuries w6uld
not suffice to originate the
life of the smallest atom of
the cell-wall of the humblest
organism ; then much less
are these forces or agents of
themselves sufficient to ex-
plain the mysterious nature
of the law of type, or why such
ajlaw is in the nature of beings. Does the action of
light and heat on living beings m any way explain to
us why, at o,ny one time, an animal like the Toxo-
don should exist ? An animal referable to the
order *Pachydermata, intimately related to the Ro-
dent ordci , and with manifest affinities to the Her-
biverous fCetaceous order. Or, again, Marauchenia

* KTjTor, a whale. f ifo^C^h thick ; itpim, skin.

Comatola — Crinoid.

No. 1— Early life.

No. 2 — Detached and free.

• r

66

Patagonica, a large extinct mammiferous animal,
referrable to the order pachydermata, but with affi-
nities to the ruminantia, and especially to the
eamelidae ; in short, are we enabled to trace any
connexion whatsoever between these important and
necessary agents, and the 5j9ec«a//or?/i of organised
beings ? In the very important, although lengthy,
extract from Dr. Carpenter, which so plainly sets
forth the fact of progressive and more special
creations, new forms are introduced on the stage,
not hy developement out of one form into another,
but by the creation of a special form, having
centred in itself the special peculiarities which
existed in combination with those of a more
general character in some older form, as in the
two instances cited above. The law of specialization,
or differentiation, as it is sometimes called, is cer-
tainly not one of the least significant of those which
are observed to be in duration in the universe ; and
it is only because we have confined its jurisdiction to
the organism or material fabric, that we lose sight of
its real importance — ^believing that to be only real
which is evident to the senses, we have failed to
appreciate the equally real existence of things which
is manifested only in their action : hence the " dif-
ferentiation of life," as well as body, is a fact not
grasped by our minds. Physiologists have ceased
to regard any one agent as the cause of action in
organised beings ; and even in the same organism we

fte

i ;

I <

discover that while each part has a life of its own,
and influences the other parts with which it is asso-
ciated, so that " the foot cannot say to the hand ' I
have no need of thee,'" yet, as in the case of muscle,
the power to contract is inhe: ent, and is the manifesta-
tion of the power of peculiar life in muscle, although
the degree and time of contraction are regulated by
anot^^er system ; so in the whole body, its various
actions arc but so many manifestations of its
general life. We would ask the law worshipper
to inform us how " light ! — the fountain of life
impulsions, the great centre of vital dynamics" —
directs and controls the law of type ? Nay, we
presume that we may go a step further, and ask, how
has the sun given the law of type ? Where are the
proofs ? "V . rily observation contradicts this declara-
tion, and clearly points to other equally important
conditions which exercise as much influence, and
which are as essential to organisation, as light and
heat. The law o^ differentiation of life and body is
most mysterious and astounding, and is one which
has not received that close attention from the natural
theologian which it so well deserves. In the study
of the operations of this law. we cannot fail to discover
its co-working with those other laws which so effec-
tually influence the phenomena of life on this globe.
In the differentiation, which is so clearly manifest
in the various typical forms bestowed on organised
beings, we cannot separate the organic base from its

67

vital force or life — the two are conjoined and con-
stitute " the living being," the single animal or vege-
table form ; and in proportion to the differentiation
of this organism, i. e,, its greater complexity and
power of self-dependence, is its independence of
those external circumstances which surround it.
This is not only true of the kingdom of organised
beings as a whole, but it is equally true of the indi-
vidual parts of which each being in that kingdom is
composed — each separate cell of which the animal or
vegetable is compounded having a life of its own,
and in accordance with that life and its destined
office, is it dependent on external circumstances.
To this we shall refer more particularly shortly.
The anatomist hoped that when he should be
enabled to expose the ultimate structure of organ-
ised bodies, that he would at least stand on the thres-
hold and gaze on the mystery of life ; and Schwan's
doctrine of " cell developement " for a time seemed
to sanction the statement, that every being proceeds
from a cell, the cell being the form of life.

Subsequent observation has fully proved the
fallacy of Schwan and Schleiden's views. The
labours of scientific anatomists and physiologists
reveal to us a class of "organised bodies," which
have in no part of their lives passed through the
process of cell-growth or developement ; and instead
of looking on the simple cell, as it is called, as the
necessary form or basis of life, we are compelled to
view it as one of the first steps in differentiation —

I

y

V,

■n,^^

68

the foreshadowing of complexity in organisation,
which so constantly presents itself. It is in study-
ing the history of the simple cell, that we discern
the full force of Dr. Williams's remark, that "there
is some mysterious relation between the shape and
the substance, between the material and the^orwi."
So far, however, from " life" being manifested only
in organisms that are compounded of diflferent parts,
we find the original declaration of Hunter to be
strictly tii9 ; for every individual particle of animal
matter is possessed of life, and the least imaginable
part that we can separate is as much alive as the whole."
The attempt to revive, on a more rational basis, the
dynamical theory of force, first promulgated by
Leibnitz, proves that there is an innate necessity to
trace all things to a cause, and then to discover the
nature or fitness of the cause for the accomplishment
of the act. Let us ascertain the views which Leibnitz
held, and then contrast them with those of the present
school, and learn if possible how far we may gather
the testimony for the existence of independent power
or force. " A thousand phenomena," Leibnitz de-
clares, " are passing around us — a perpetual series of
movements and developements take place, and how
are we to account for all these ? Extension alone
does not explain them ; there must be some other
fundsmental attribute of substance, from which these
phenomena take their rise. In fact, unless we
choose to admit that every movement in nature is
the direct product of tiie Divine Mind, we must

\-

\,

(li

■■/' '%

attribute to all substance an inherent power, by which
the phenomena of motion are generated. But, then,
where does this inherent power reside ? It cannot
reside in masses ^s such, for essential attribute is
independent of alt such combinations. Masses are
infinitely'divisible ; the'limit to which even material
substance tends, as far as extension is concerned, is
zero. Every material property, properly so called,
vanishes ; and we come at last to the simple and im-
material idea of power, as the essential basis of all ex-
istence. The simple idea of force, Leibnitz terms a
monaJ^ and consequently, instead of an atomic theory
of the universe, we have a system of monadology
based on the fundamental conception^ of dynamics.
The monad being indivisible, unextended, immaterial,
cannot be exposed to any influences from without ;
being indissoluble, it can never perish. Nevertheless,
in all monads changes do perpetually take place, of
which we are perfectly cognisani and for which we
must assign some sufficient cause. The cause, then,
not being external, must be internal ; that is, all
monads must contain an inward energy, by virtue of
mich they develope themselves spontaneously. Without
discussing at present the correctness or incorrectness
of this doctrine, we shall proceed to show how it has
been introduced into the modern school, divested
even of some of those least objectionable points pecu-
liar to Leibnitz. Mr. Mill and Professor Carpenter
are its two great supporters, and iroiii them we may

-V 'i

•n ^

60

.1

gather a very clear exposition of the doctr. is
originally delivered by the renowned philosopher
froTii whom they have borrowed much. Dr. Car-
penter, in his justly celebrates \vork on Human
Physiology, asks, " What is the original source of that
organising force, which the cell receives during the
early stage of its developement, and which it subse-
quently exerts upon the nutrient matter it ap-
propriates, and to this question it seems possible now
to give a more satisfactory answer than that with
which physiologists were obliged to satisfy them-
selves. For it was maintained by some, that the
germ of every living being contains within itself the
wivole oj the force necessary to accomplish the organi-
sation of its fabric, and to impart to each portion of
it (he peculiar powers with which it is endowed : an
obvious objection to this doctrine is, that if this be
true, not only must the germ contain the whole vital
force of the fabric into which it is evolved, but also
that which it imparts to its descendants (?) ; so that
the first individual of a race must have concentrated
within itself the vital force of its entire posterity
— a palpable reductio ad ahsurdum. To escape from
this difficulty it has been alleged that the vital force
with which matter becomes endowed by the process
of organisation, previously existed in it in a latent
form or dormant state_ and is made sensible when the
nutrient matter is incorporated into a living fabric.
"This doctrine could claim no higher value than

/^

61

that of a mere hypothesis, and it rested on the
idea that latent or dormant force of other kinds
had a real existence — an idea of which a more
logical appreciation of the facts of science has
completely exposed the fallacy. For it is now
coming to be generally acknowledged, that all force
must (from its very nature) bft active in some mode
or other ; that force can aeiu ' riginate de novo,
nor cease to be operative un*''''' form ; and that

in every case in which fore* o be annihilated,

it merely changes its wiot^i^ o^c.idi. Thus, when
motion is retarded by friction, heat is generated,
with electricity in addition, whenever the rubbing
surfaces are otherwise than perfectly homogeneous ;
so, when it is caused to vapourise water, it no longer
manifests itself as heat, but in the form of mechani-
cal power, which produces motion: and the dis-
charge, which restores the electric equilibrium, is in
like manner attended with the developement of the
mechanical force. It will be found that in all instances
in which such a conversion or metamorphosis of force
takes place, some material substratum is required
as its instrument. This may be, in some cases, of
almost any description whatever ; as when heat is
produced by the friction (or retarded motion) of
solids, or liquids, or even of gases ; or when motion
(as shewn in expansion) is produced by the applica-
tion of heat to any kind of material substance. But
in other cases the change can only be effected

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through some special kind of instrument ; or if seve-
ral .substances may serve as its medium, then in
some one which is greatly superior to every other,
in the readiness with which a certain force manifests
itself through it. Thus, iron is the substance through
which an electric current can best develope magnetic
force ; a combination of bismuth and antimony is
that through which heat can best generate electri-
city ; and the affection of light by magnetism, though
producible through any transparent medium, (but
not through a vacuum,) can be made much more
obvious when magnetism is made to act upon a glass
composed of vitrified borate of lead, than thrpush
the medium of any other substance yet known. It
is, indeed, on this speciality in the action of different
substances, when subjected to the influences of the
same forces, that our notion of their properties
entirely rests ; and to say that all matter which is
capable of becoming organised, possesses " vital
properties," is merely to affirm, in other words, that
it is capable of heing made a part of a living stnic-
ture, and of becoming the instrument of operating,
after the same fashion, upon other matter — leaving
the question as to the source or origin of the force
which thus changes it, or by which it induces
changes in other matter, just where it was. Looking
at the phenomena of life from the same point of view
as that from which we are now taught to regard
those of the physical sciences, viz., as the results or

m

manifestations of a certain kind of force acting
throngh those forms of mr.tter which we term organ-
ised,— we are further led to seek for its source, not
in the organism itself, but in some power external
to it. And this power we find in those physical
agencies, light, heat, and electricity, which have
been commonly accounted " Vital Stimuli ;" their
operatio\i, singly or in combination, having long
been recognised as necessary to enable an organised
structure to manifest vital phenomena. Thus, light,
acting upon the living vegetable cell, makes it the
instrument of decomposing carbonic acid, water, and
ammonia, and of generating organic compounds,
which the chemist has not yet been able to imitate ;
and the amount of carbonic acid thus decomposer
has been found to bear a constant ratio (cmteris
paribus) to the illuminating power of the rays which
it receives. The agency of light, however, is chiefly
exerted in preparing the pabulum to be appropriated
by the organism ; and we see in the germinating
seed, that when this has been previously elaborated,
light is not required for its conversion into living
tissue ; but for this purpose a certain measure of
heat is required ; and the . rate of germination, t. e.,
the rate at which the organisable material is con-
verted into living tissue, is determined (within cer-
tain limits) by the degree in which that agent is in
operation. In the animal kingdom, for which, as for
the germinating seed, the nutrient material is already

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proYided byi a pre-exMng, vegetation, the dynamical
mflaence of light is of comparatiyely little import-
ance ; but we have abundant eyidence in the life of
the " coldrblooded tribes," which are destitute of
the power of maintaining an independent tempera-
ture, that th^ rate of vital activity, as manifested
both in the phenomena, of growth and developement,
and) in the production! of nervo-muscular focce, is
determined (within certain limits) by the amount of
heat to which the individnail. is subjected. This
dependence is no less real apd immediate in the
case of warm-blooded animals ; but it is rendered
less apparent by the uniformity of temperature
which they are enabled to sustain. Of the degre^e
in which the orcKnary phenomena of life are depen-
dent on electricity acting upon the organism from
mithouty we as yet know next to nothing. ; the mode
in which they are affected by this agent not having
been yet precisely determined* It can scarcely be
doubted, however, from whft known, that it
stands in very dose relation to vital force, and
is capable of exerting an extremely powerful in-
fluence^ upon its operations. It seems, then^ to be
a legitimateL expi^ession of the dynamical conditions
requisite for the. production of the phenomena
which, wa distinguish, as vital^ to say that they are
dependent, directly or indirectly, upon the physical
forces pervading the universe ; which acting through
oi^ANiSBD STRUCTURE as their material svhstratum,

m

manifest themselves a$ vital force — one q£ the mQ9i
cliaracteiristic operationa of this being the procbtctim
of new tissue, which m it» turn may become the
instrument of a similar metamorphosis. And we
have the same kind of evidence that light and heat,
actmg upon the organic germ, become transformed
into vital force, which we possess of the conversion
of beat into electricity (?) by acting on a certain
combination of metals ; or of sleetr icity into magne-
tism, by being passed round) a bar of iron ; or of heat
or of electricity into motion, when their repulsive
action separates the particles of matter from each
other. For just as heat, light, electricityj chemical
affinity, &c., are transformable into vital force, so is
vital force capable of manifesting itself in the pro-
duction, of light, heat, electricity, chemical affinity,
or mechanical motion : thus completing the proof of
that mutual relationship, or co-relation, which has
been shewn to exist among the physical and che-
mical forces themselves.

It is extremely difficult to understand Professor
Carpenter's actual meaning from the statement above
quoted ; and indeed, after an examination, into Ms
writings as a whole, we cannot^ at; this moment,
clearly discover what his precise views are : we
know not whether it is intended to establi^ the
doctrine that there is but one form of force which is
modified by passing through a particular substratum,
or whether there are several forms or kinds of force

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66

which display certain phenomena according to the
base on which, or with which, they are acting. Dr.
WilUams, of Swansea, thinks that the leamed> and
laborious author of the system of physiology intends
to teach "that 'vital action,' cell growth, nerve
force, and muscular action, are the physical impon-
derable forces modified in manifestation by passage
through an organic material substratum — ^heat
becoming vital force by passing from without into
the e^. Such expressions imply the locomotion of
an entity." It is almost impossible to avoid arriving
at any other conclusion ; and if Professor Carpenter's
doctrine be legitimately carried out, and should his
system be accepted, it must lead to the most uni-
fortunate results. In the first place, we must not
allow theory to stand in the place of truth, and until
it is proved that there is but one force to which has
been delegated authority, endowed with a decidedly
super-natural intelligence, we must be excused if we
refuse to accept a doctrine as established which is
based simply on assumption. Professor Agassiz, in
reasoning on this very question, observes : " I have

known those who hold it to be very unscientific to
believe that thinking is not something inherent in
matter, and that there is an essential difference
between inorganic and living and thinking beings.
I shall not be prevented by any such pretensions of
a false philosophy from expressing my conviction
that as long as it cannot be shewn that. matter or

67

physical forces actoally do reason, I shall consider
any manifestation of thought as evidence of the
existence of a thinking being as the author of such
thought, and shall look upon an intelligent and
intelligible connexion between the facts of nature
as direct proof of the existence of a thinking G-od,
as certainly as man exhibits the power of thinking
when he recognises their mutual relations. I am
well aware that even the most eminent investigators
consider the task of science at an end as soon as the
most general relations of natural phenomena have
been ascertained. To many the enquiry into the
primitive cause of their existence seems either
beyond the reach of man, or as belonging rather to
philosophy thar to physics. To these the name of
God appears out of place in a scientific work, as if
the knowledge of secondary agencies constituted ahne
a worthy sub/ect for their investigations, and as if
nature could teach nothing about its Author. Many,
again, no doubt are prevented from expressing their
conviction that the world was called into existence
and is regulated by an Intelligent Grod, either by the
fear of being supposed to shew clerical or sectarian
prejudices, or because it maybe dangerous for them
to discuss such questions without at the same time
acknowledging the obligation of taking the Old
Testament as the standard by which the validity of
their results is to be measured."
In order to prove the untenable nature of the

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Views propounded, we shall ttow endeavour to pomt
i6iit ihe manifest inconsistency in the physiological
isfOLon. Ph)fessor Carpenter observes, "that the
doctrine that the germ of every living being contains
imtMn itself the whole of the force necessary to ac-
complish the organisation of its fabric, and to impart
to each portion of it the peculiar powers with which
it is endowed, is a palpable reductio ad absurdum."
As We hold this doctrine on good authority, we feel
^sinclined to yield it up for any other until we have
beeu or can be satisfied that that other is the true
one ; for in the Sacred Record it is declared that,
" &od said j let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after
its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and
it was So." Again, we have the remarkable expres-
sions contained in the blessing of Jacob : " And God
Appeared unto Jacob, * * and said unto him. Thy
name is Jacob : thy name shall not be called any
more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name * * be
fruitful and multiply ; a nation and a company of
nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of
thy loins." " The land which I gave Abraham and
Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee
will I give the land." The same is declared by St.
Paul, who says, " Yerily they that are of the sons of
Levi who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of the people according to
the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come

69

out of the loins of Abraham. * * Levi, also, who
peceiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham, for he
was yet in the loins of his father when Abraham
met him."

What, then, the physiologist considers an absurd
theory, we hold to be the only rational doctrine,
and that it is the only scheme by which we may
explain family relationship, likeness, peculiarity, &c.
In the next place, we are glad to avail ourselves of
the argument as stated, as it seems well to bring out
the proofs of those points on which we are now more
immediately engaged, and establishes, not only that
there must be a cause or power, but we arrive a
step further, and gain the admission of a power
which is efficient and capable of acting according to
a well devised plan. We, in the first place, object
to this physiological argument, because it starts with
an assumption, and not only supposes a relationship
between the various forces, but actually takes as
proved the existence of but one force, which is modi-
fied by the substratum through which it rit'sses ;
whereas we have no right to suppose the forc?s of
physical bodies anything but the affections of matter.
Now no one the least conversant with the phenomena
of creation can for a moment fail to recognise the
intimate connexion between mind and matter, or
rather between life and matter, for "the Lord God, "as
it is said, " formed man out of the dust of the ground :"
at his command the earth was let to bring forth the
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living creature after his kind, and grass and herb
and the fruit tree ;" and to preserve these latter
more especially, and to point out their dependence
and connexion with the world around them, " there
went up a mist from the earth, and watered the
whole face of > the ground ;" and to the animal king-
dom was given " every herb bearing seed which is
upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which
is the fruit of the tree yielding seed to you it shall
be for meat." Again, what can more strongly point
out the intimate dependence of created beings on the
world of which they form a part than the conditional
promise which was given : " If ye walk in my
statutes, and keep my commandments, and do then^,
then will I give you rain in due season ; and the land
shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field
shall yield their fruit *, * ye shall eat your
bread to the fill." Again : " Ye mountains of
Gilboa let there be no dew, neither kt there be any rain
upon you, nor fields of offering." In that most sub-
lime dedication of the temple to God uttered by the
mouth, of wisdom we are taught to implore that
" When heaven is shut up, and there is no. rain,
because they have sinned against thee : if they pray
toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn
from their sin, then hear them in heaven and (orgive
the sin." And why ? Because all flesh would perish.
Surely these are no equivocal expressions ? Boldly
and unhesitatingly man is taught to remember whereof

71

he is made, and to humble his haughty thoughts by
the recollection that as man he is of the earth. Did,
however, the Magna-charter of the human race stop
here we should be of all creatures the most misera-
ble ; but fortunately neither it nor the illustrated
book of nature finish at this point, for both proclaim
a higher destiny, as well as a loftier status, to man.

Before, however, we seek out the true relationship
which exists between the organic and inorganic king-
doms, and the physical forces of the universe, it may
be well to enquire whether there is any certainty of
the doctrine of a single force, independent of matter,
or capable of entering into and passing from matter
to matter ; and, next, what is the true meaning of
the term, correllation of force. The author who
first brought forward in a systematic form the plie-
nomena of living beings as correlated to physical
forces, was the distinguished Tuscan, Professor
Matteuci, although the celebrated John Hunter and
Milne Edwards had both specially directed experi-
mental researches towards the subject, and estab-
lished many important truths.

" Living beings," says: Matteuci, " are endowed
with the general properties of all natural bodies"
(that is, with the general properties of all others in
addition to their own special endowments, for a dis-
tinction of primary importance is to be kept in view,
viz., they are living beings). The most ultra-vitalist
never dreamed of denying that living organised mat-

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ter is extended, impenetrable, devisable, and porous.
How can we believe that caloric, electricity, light and
chemical affinity, act on these beings in a iianner
entirely different from that which they are known to
do on the other bodies of nature. Are we to con-
clude that all the phenomena of living being:^ are
explicable, by the general properties which belong
to them in common with all the bodies of nature, and
by the sole action of the great physical forces, caloric,
light, electricity, and attraction ? Such an inference
would be as far from the truth as the conclusion of
those who have denied, and still deny, these general
properties to living beings, and who regard them as
entirely beyond the influence of physical agentb.
Who could confound an organised being with an
inorganic body ? The groups of closed vesicles of
diflferent dimensions, united and disposed in an irre-
gular manner, then is assuredly some thing essen-
tially diflferent from a mass of polyhedral particles,
composing a crystal. To say, with some microgra-
phers, that organisation is crystalisation eflfected in
a liquid, which the first formed crystals imbibe, is
equivalent to admitting that the structure of a sta-
lactite is identical with that of the lungs or liver.
Molecules of at least three elements, into which a
great number of elementary atoms enter, must ne-
cessarily form chemical systems, whose affinities
diflfer from those which are possessed by molecules
chiefly composed of two elements, and in which the

78

number of elementary atoms is smaller. And if the
general chemical actions, by showing us that combi-
nations become weaker in proportion as the number
of elementary atoms increase, are sufficient to ex-
plain the tendency of organic bodies to resolve
themselves into more simple combinations ; if che-
mistry furnishes us with many instances of this same
tendency in some inorganic compounds whose com-
position has many analogies with that of organic
bodies, it is not therefore to be inferred that the laws
of inorganic chemistry are sufficient to give us a
complete explanation of all the chemical phenomena,
of life. We must then conclude that organisation
and the molecular structure of living beings effect
important modifications in the action of chemical
and physical agents. Open an animal, examine its
kidneys and it,s liver, and then ask yourselves by
what physical force you can explain how the blood,
which is carried to an organ, forms bile and urine.
We conclude, therefore, —

1st. That living beingy have the general properties
of all the bodies of nature : that these properties are
influential in the production of the phenomena pro-
per to them ; and that, consequently, we must not
neglect or disregard them when we attempt to ex-
plain these phenomena.

2nd. That the great physical agents, caloric, light,
electricity, and molecular attraction, act on living
beings as well as on all the bodies of nature, and

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that this action must necessarily be influential in the
production of the functions peculiar to these beings.

3rd. That these forces, when acting on organised
matter, sometimes have their general mode of action
modified, and that this difference is owing to a
diversity in the structure and chemical composition
of organised bodies.

4th. That there are also in living beings phenomena
which we call vital : that these are numerous and of
the highest importance, and that in the present state
of the science, we are unable to explain how their
productioii can be influenced by physical agents,
though the action of these be modified by the
organisation. - >

According to Matteuci, then, the affections of
matter are vaT-ious, and the con.binations of matter
also various. We have no reason to believe that
certain forms of matter could exist in combination
without being acted on by an innate principle which
dwells in the united whole. The constituent inor-
ganic elements of a plant or animal need the super-
added principle of life. An organised body implies
a compound arrangement of elements, and that the
elements may be varied indefinitely.

Professor Draper, of New York, in his admirable
work, observes in the examination of the theory of
M. Becquerel, and on the detithonizing action of
yellow solutions : " I have some years ago brought
forward the doctrine, that we are compelled to

Mil

76

enlarge our catalogue of imponderable principles :
that there is nothing unphilosophical in supposing
that an invisible principle should exist in solar light
is shown by the analogy of radiant heat, a principle
equally invisible to our eyes, but of which the ex-
istence is palpable enough to our other organs of
sense. In a dark room we are utterly unable ta
see a vessel of hot water, but its calorific emena-
tions are plain to the hand, even at a considerable
distance. In like manner this analogy is supported
by the recent discovery of Becquerel. For a long
time it has been known that there are certain bodies,
such as calcined oyster- ohells, which shine in dark-
ness after a brief exposure to the light. A hundred
years ago it was discovered that the transient light
of an electric spark is sufficient to awaken the dor-
mant glow of these bodies. Now Becquerel has shown
that to the rays which thus issue from an electric
spark and cause this wonderful phenomena, glass is
opaque — that light can pass through glass but the
phosphorescent rays cannot : they also are invisi-
ble to the eye. There are certain phenomena which
may be explained on the supposition that the

invisible tithonic rays escape by radiation from
bodies which have been impressed by them, those
bodies simultaneously reverting to their original
condition. '^^ ''^' Dark invisible rays thus exist in
sunlight, and carry on a variety of functions, and
control a variety of phenomena. Of solar principles,

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four diflferent kinds have been traced : rays of light,
of heat, tithonic, and phosphorescent rays. What are
the latter two ? We must include these tithonic rays.
Before admitting the hypothesis of M. Becquerei, that
the agent under consideration is one and indivisible,
and that all the phenomena we discover are due to
the receiving surfaces, and that there are as many
spectra as there are substances in nature, each giving
its own manifestations when exposed to the sun's
ray, we should make enquiries like the following :
how is it that a piece of black cloth exposed to the
moonbeams does not become warm? How is it that
a cannister of hot water is not luminous to the eye ?
In the rays that come from the moon and those that
are admitted by warm water, is there no intrinsic
difference, or does the phenomena depend on the
receiving surface alone ? What becomes of the
beautiful experiments of Melloni, on the physical
independence of light and heat, since they are
mainly founded on the fact, that by the use of ab-
sorbent media we can separate one from the other ?
How is it that the rays of an electric spark passing
through quartz can make the Bolognian stone phospho-
resce, but passing through glass equally transparent
and equally colourless, can do no such thing ? The
receiving surface is the same in both cases ; and, as
far as human eye-sight can discover, the light that
comes through the glass is as pure and unaltered as
the light that came through the quartz, but the

77

results are diametrically opposed. And is it not
more consonr -^t to reason to suppose that the glass
was opaque impervious to some agent existing in
that beam, Tvhich freely passed the quartz — opaque
to it, but transparent both to it and the tithonic
rays. We are thus forced to admit that rays of
light, rays of heat, tithonic rays, phosphoric rays,
and probably many other radiant forms, have an
independent existence, and that they can be separated
by proper processes from each other. Light itself
can produce as many different effects as there are
possible combinations of colour, for each one of its
rays has peculiar powers of its own ; and it is also
attended by other invisible and imponderable prin-
ciples which have their modes of action." Here then
we discover reasons for inferring that one at least of
the so called physical forces is itself constituted
of other forces, capable of producing various results :
in other words, we learn that the matter in space
which gives rise to light is not homogeneous, but
itself compound, as declared by the compound phe-
nomena to which it gives rise ; and as every part of
a ray of light has its specific office, we cannot avoid
the inference, that the matter of which each separate
part is composed is in a peculiar state, or is really di-
verse. We apprehend, however, that specific inde-
pendence maybe proved of all the physical forces, and
that Dr. Carpenter's illustration of the transmutation
of force is not correct. We have already pointed out

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that by correlation he understands convei'tiUUty.
Is this true ? Now the argument, it will be noticed,
is thus put, taking the case of heat as the most fami-
liar one : " When heat is caused to vapourise watfer,
it no longer manifests itself as heat, bat in the form
of mechanical power which produces motion." In
this statement it is implied that heat is changed into
motion ; there is a conversion of force : it is not said
that these respective forces, as affections of matter,
are related to each other ; that there is a similarity
in their respective modes of manifestation and action,
but that there is identity of essence.

Now to this doctrine there are many serious objec-
tions : first, as to the question of fact, that "heat k
the vaporisation of water is changed into motion."
It is essential, in the case given, that a certain
amount of heat be present, or rather that the parti-
cles of matter should be so affected as to cause them
to manifest a definite amount of heat before the phe-
nomena of vaporisation are displayed. How can it
be said that the one force or affection is changed into
the other ; on the contrary, the two affections co-
exist, the one necessitates (under the necessary con-
ditions) the presence of the other : some of the atoms
of water will assume the motor condition, others will
continue to discover heat. Water at 212°, ordinary
pressure, boils ; at 210° it does not ; at the former
increment of heat there is rapid movement, at the
latter there is not : diminish the tempterature, and

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there is diminislied motion, or cessation of move-
ment.

It is interesting sometimes, as well as instructive,
to trace back the origin of doctrines ; and in this
instance it is remarkable to discover the modern
theory of the correlation of force unmistakeably de-
clared in the Timoeus of Plato : " Let us investigate
the nature and affections of fire and water, air and
earth, prior to the generations of the heavens ; for up
to the present time, no one has unfolded their gene-
ration : and yet we speak of fire and other things as
principles and elements of the universe, just as if the
elements of each were known ; whereas at the same
time the best intelligence must be aware that they
cannot be compared even to letters or parts of which
syllables are formed. In the first place, then, what
we now denominate water, on becoming understood,
seems to take the form of stones and earth, and when
melted and dispersed, that of vapour and air ; air
also, when burnt up, becomes fire ; while the latter
again, on becoming again condensed and extinct,
resumes the form of air ; and again, air, when col-
lected and condensed, produces mists and clouds,
from which, when still more compressed, rain de-
scends ; and from water again are formed earth
and stones : the whole of them, as it seems,
exchanging all round their natural generation.
As these, then, never maintain any constancy of
existence, wio will have the assurance to maintain

111

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that any one of them is this rather than that ? No
one ; and it would seem by far the safest plan to
speak about them as follows : when we see any
thing constantly passing from one state of existence
to another ; as, for instance, we should not say, that
it was fire absolutely, but some thing fiery ; and,
again, that what we call water is not so absolutely,
but something watery, without assigning to them any
names that would give the idea of stability, as we
think people do, when they express it by this or
that ; for, not being of an abiding nature, it cannot
endure to have applied to it such terms as, this, this
thing, of this nature, belonging to this, and any such
others as would show it to have a substantive exis-
tence. Hence we should not give any one an indi-
vidual name, but call it some thing such-like, i. e.,
wholly such-like, and similarly likewise every thing
endued with generation. [That receptacle] however
in which each of these appears successively to grow
up and decay, that alone is entited to be termed
this and that ; whereas any thing of any kind
soever, as hot, white, or their contraries, and all
therefrom proceeding, cannot be so denominated.
Let us again try more clearly to explain our
meaning. If any one, in modelling all kinds of
figures out of gold, were unceasingly to transform
them one by one into all the others, and some one
present were to point to one of them and enquire
what it was, it would be tar the safest and most

81

r

correct to say that it was gold ; but as for its being
a triangle, or any other figure that was given to it,
not to speak of them as being so in reality, inasmuch
as they are in process of change even while we make
such assertion, but to be content if it be denominated
such-like (or of such a nature). The same remark
applies to that which receives all bodies ; and we
should ever call it by the same name, as it never
abandons its own proper power, but perpetually
receives all things, and never any where or in any
way assumes any of those shapes that enter into it —
being in fact a natural receptacle for every thing,
receiving both motion and form from what enter
tlierein ; and this is why ' it exhibits a different
aspect at different times." ■

Now if we compare the above with Mr. Grove's
views, as published in his very excellent work, it
must, we apprehend, be apparent that the doctrine
of correlation is by no means new ; but Mr. Grove's
views are not to be confounded with those of
Professor Carpenter. In speaking particularly of
light, he observes that, *' In a lecture delivered
in January, 1842, I stated that it appeared to me
more consistent with known facts to regard light
as resulting from a vibration of the molecules of
matter itself, and not from a specific ether per-
vading it ; just as sound is propagated by the vibra-
tion of wood, or as ^faves by water. I am not here
speaking of the character of the vibrations of light.

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sound, or water, which are very different from each
other, but am only comparing them so far as they
illustrate the propagation of force by motion in the
matter itself. The fact itself of the correlation of
the different modes of force is, to my mind, a very
cogent argument in favour of their being affections
of the same matter ; and though electricity, magne-
tism, and heat, may be viewed as produced by un-
dulations of the same ether as that by means of
which light is supposed to be produced, yet this
offers greater difficulties with regard to the other
affections than with regard to light : thus conduc-
tion and non-conduction are not explained by it ;
the transmission of electricity through long wires
in preference to the air which surrounds them, and
which must oe at least equally pervaded by the
ether, is irreconcilable with such an hypothesis.
The phenomena of these forces affords, as I think,
equally strong evidence with those of light, of ordi-
nary matter acting from particle to particle, and
having no action at a distance. The experiments of
Faraday on electric induction, showing it to be an
action of contiguous particles, are strongly in favour
of this view.

" One of the objections to which this view is open

is the necessity involved in it of an universal plenum ;

for if light, heat, and electricity, &c., be affections of

ordinary matter, then matter must be supposed to

be ©Very Wii^r© wuere tuese puenomena are apparent^

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aii - consequently there can be no vacuum. The
answer appears to me to be, first, that we have no
proof of a vacuum ever having been formed. The
Torricellian vacuum, the most perfect with which
we are acquainted, is filled with the vapour of mer-
cury. Davy's experiments on this point prove, at
all events, the formation of a vacuum to have been,
up to this time, impracticable. Secondly, the other
two theories equally suppose the non-existence of a
vacuum : according to the emission or corpuscular
theory, the vacuum is filled by the matter itself, of
light, heat, &c. ; according to the etherial, it is filled
by the > all penetrating ether.

" Of the existence of matter in the interplanetary
spaces we have some evidence in the diminished
periods of comets ; and where, from its highly at-
tenuated state, we cannot test the character of the
medium by which the forces are conveyed, we may,
if we please, call this medium ether. Our assumption
is, that wher'iver light, heat, &c , exists, ordinary
matter exists, though it may be so attenuated that
we cannot recognise it by the tests of other forces,
such as gravitation. On the other hand, a specific
matter, without weight, must be assumed, (?) of the
existence of which there is no evidence but in the
phenomena for the explanation of which its existence
is supposed. To account for the phenomena, the
ether is assumed ; and to prove the existence of the
ether, the phenomena are cited. For these reasons

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the assumption of the universality of ordinary matter
is the least gratuitous."

Professor Williams, of Swansea, supports, in the
main, Mr. Grove's opinion. Here, then, is simply
a re-enunciation of the old Platonic doctrine of the
transmutability of matter, and the correlation of the
forces or affections of matter ; for, as Williams ob-
serves, " The transmutability of matter (Dumas,
Faraday,) is no longer held as an alchemic extrava-
ganza. The facts of allatropism, established by the
genius of Schonbein, and the late prophetic specula-
tions oi M. Dumas on the chemical, electrical, and
mathematical jyrogression traceable through the pro-
perties of isomeric or conformable bodies, awaken
in the mind of the modern chemist a reverence for
the disentombed manes of alchemy. The transmu-
table bodies group themselves in nature in triads,
or ternary series, thus : chlorine, bromine, and
iodine ; sulphur, silenium, and tellurium ; calcium,
strontium and barium ; lithium, sodium and potas-
sium. The members of these triads severally are
capable of replacing one another in chemical com-
pounds. Wher these bodies, having qualities pre-
cisely similar, though not identical, are arranged in
succession of their chemical powers, there will be
also a successive arrangement of mathematical
powers, indicated by the respective atomic numbers
of the substances, and amenable to every mathema-
tical law. That this symmetry of chemical with

86

mathematical function points to the possibility of
transmutation is unquestionable, yet not transmuta-
tion in the sense of the old alchemical philosophy.
Chemists see no manifestations of being able to con-
vert lead into silver, or silver into gold. These
metals are not chemically conformable ; one cannot
take place of another by substitution ; they do not
form an isomeric group. The preceding illustrations
are drawn from inorganic bodies. Chemists have
long believed that certain organic compounds dis-
play in their properties a close resemblance to
metals : of this kind are the three organic radicals —

C, Ha 0 :, :
- C. H. O:;'': '%,:

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which may be regarded as the three several axiodes
of an isomeric triad, bearing analogy to those already
adverted to in the inorganic world. With reference
to these radicals (omitting the oxygen) it is found,
as in the case of the inorganic triads, that the sum
of the atomic weights of the extreme bodies divided
by two is equal to that of the intermediate body.
The discovery of allotropism has bereft these spe-
culations of impossible extravagance. The allotropic
modifications of which sulphur, phosphorus, oxygen,
and carbon are susceptible, suggest the thought
that the countless array of organic compounds which
now bewilder the chemist, may prove only modified

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80

forms of one unchanging radical. Like those of iso-
merism, the phenomena of allotropism inspire the
ochemist with new hopes. Solidified albumen and
fibrine are allotropic conditions of liquid albumen
and fibrine. Physically the former differ remarkably
ftroro the latter, chemically they are identical.
"In the isomeric compounds, that is, in such as
possess the same composition, but not the same
properties, a different arrangement of the atoms is

to be supposed ; in the san^c
manner as in a ches^i-boarrl,
where the white and LUek
squares may be grouped to-
gether, either 2 and 2, or 3
and S, or 4 and 4, &c. This
variety in the grouping of the
atoms, which happens only as an exception among
inorganic substances, occurs as a general rule among
organic compounds ; and it has here so ^uch the
larger scope, because always three or four, and
sometimes even more elements, are present, which
enter into combination with each other, while, in
the department ot inorganic chemistry, commonly
only two elements unite with er ', jiher ; and like-
wise because it is a law in or^"^.>?j\. v! ^mistrj, .iiat
the atoms of the elements do not unite singly, as is the
case with mineral substances, but always in groups;
namely, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, or more atoms of one eU-
m'siU, with any number of atoms of the other elements.

A

87

" Organic sabetances have, therefore, an tneompa-
mbly more complicated onstituHon than the inoi^nic
compounds, as the following examples show :

MM OMA MM MM MM

1 2 8 4 4

"From the well known amber, a peculiar acid,
'ci'aic acid, is obtained, which consists of four
atoiiis of carbon, two atoms of hydrogen, and three
atoms of oxygen, and has accordingly the formula
C4 H2 O3 (see No. 1). If one atom of oxygen is
added to this, we have the constitution of malic acid
= O4 H2 O4 (see No. 2). If one more atom of oxy-
gen is added, that of tartaric acid = C4 Ha Or (see
No. 3). And by adding yet another atom of oxy-^en,
that of formic acid = C4 H2 0« (see No. 4). But, on
the other hand, if one atom of hydrogen is added to
the succinic acid, which was the starting point, the
constitution of acetic acid is obtained = C4 H3 O3, &(•.
(see No. 6). If we are not yet able to produce all
the transformations as they are here given, yet the
possibility of succeeding at some future time cannot
be doubted." — (Stockhardt). " There was a time
when the doctrine which supposed the converta-
bility of metals was opposed to known analogies ;
it is now no longer opposed to them, but only
some stages beyond their present developement."

f

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-y^j.' Oil Oiviajf ).

l« *

88

According, then, to these views matter and force
are correlates in the strictest sense of the word.
The conception of the existence of the one involves
the conception of the existence of the other. The
quantity of matter again, and the degree of force,
involve conceptions of space and time. The doc-
trine of the correlation of matter, as above set
forth, we can understand, inasmuch as the unity
of matter, and its phenomena, are presented to us
on a generalized plan of creation ; but the views
of the learned British physiologist are so contra-
dictory that we believe it to be impossible to
reconcile them. The essential point of diflfereuce
between Messrs. Grove and Carpenter we hold to
be this, that whereas the former recognises matter as
endowed with phenomena and special forms, and not
to be productive, but rather "capable of manifesting
special power or powers," the latter evidently con-
siders the physical forces as so many real forms or
entities 'which exist as products of, and essentially
flowing from, matter ; or, to use their author's
words, fashioned by the material substratum.

To show the fallacy of the theory, it will be neces-
sary to bring into contrast different statements put
forward. In human physiology we are taught
" that we have evidence of the operation of a power
in the human body, whose manifestations are so dif-
ferent from those of any of the physical forces, that
we cannot reasonably refrain from giving it a dis-

S9

tinctive designation ; and that this vital power may
exert itself in a great variety of modes, and may con-
sequently produce a great variety of phenomena,
according to the material conditions of its operation,
just as (though the comparison be somewhat clumsy)
the mechanical power which turns the engine shaft
in an extensive factory is rendered efficient for an
immense variety of purposes, according to the con-
struction and arrangement of the several machines
through which it is distributed. And further, that
the source of this vital power is to be found, not in
the organisation of the being itself, but in the forces
which operate on it ah externo ; and that it has the
same close affinity."

There can be no doubt as to what is here meant
by correlation ; and it is equally clear that the term
is not used in the sense as when employed by Mr.
Grove ; on the contrary, according to Dr. Carpenter,
physical forces are external entities, which acting
on matter, are transformed into each other, and are
acted on by the material substratum into which they
enter. Every material substratum, therefore, ac-
cording to this view, must have, as part of its
essence, a conversion of force power : a doctrine far
more absurd than that on which its author has passed
condemnation, since abundant proof will be fur-
nished to show that the organic substratum is itself
controlled and influenced by some innate in-dwelling
power even in it, as an elementary germ. Already

M i

'^,V

^li! ^ M I i

9d

we find Professor Draper declaring that " the ex-
istence of the vital force of physiologists — as a
homogeneous and separate force — is uniformly de-
nied," for he says : " The progress of science
shows plainly thot living structures, far from being
the product of one such homogeneous power, are
rather the resultants of the action of a multitude of
natural forces : gravity, co-hesion, elasticity, the
agency of the imponderables, and all other powers
which operate both on masses and atoms, are called
into action ; and hence it is that the very evolution
of a living form depends on the condition that all
these various agents conspire. There is no mystery
in animated beings which time will iiot at last reveal.
It is astonishing that in our day the ancient system
which excludes all connexion with natural philosophy
and chemistry, and depends on ike fictitious aid of
a visionary force, should continue to exist." This is
certainly not so, for no one denies the influence of
external circumstances, although they may maintain
the reality of life.

All this is from the pen of one who stoutly de-
fends the doctrine of the independence of the phy-
sical forces, so called ; but in the case of organisa-
tion denies the independence and reality of the
vital principle ; yet Professor Draper declares, with
reference to light, " That there is nothing unphilo-
sophical in supposing that an invisible principle—
as tithonic rays — should exist in solar light, as is

91

shown by the analogy of radiaut heat : a principle
equally invisible to our eyes, but of which the ex-
istence is palpable enough to our other organs of
sense. ' Although it is in the highest degree unphiloso-
phical to acknowledge the independence of a principle
which evidently does exist, albeit in combination.
We surely must not necessarily refuse to admit that
organic beings may include in their organisms affec-
tions that exist in inorganic matter, besides super-
added ones, since it is in full accordance with the law
of differentiation. Again he adds, " Organised struc-
ture of a given kind is the result of the operation of
many of these forces, and is the expression of their
aggregate action. In the full developement of the per-
fect tree there has been expended a measured quantity
offerees, of light, or of heat ; and the organised mass
as it stands before us, the product of those forces, is
the resultant of millions of vibrations of the lumini-
ferous c^Aer which have acted upon ponderable atoms ;
vibrations which have stood in a certain relation to
each other,as the symmetry of the vegetable parts in-
dicates." And hence, as a further developement of
the doctrine, we find another chemist thus discoursing
of light : " The luminous principle which emanates
from stars, placed at the profoundest distance in
space, affects the eye — is related to optical mecha-
nism of the animal— its nervous tissue and circu-
lating blood, in precisely the same manner as the
light of our sun. Luminous impulses which expend

' IM

'! ■

f\

•ill H\'y'\

I ij

:;. I

themselves on the retina in a few minutes after they
have left the central orb of our system, affect the
brain in exactly the same way as those which have
been as many thousands of years travelling from
the uttermost bounds of the telescopic universe. If,
therefore, our sun, the great centre of vital dynamics
Qjjid fountain of life impulsions, which has charge of
the destiny of our planet — alike its atoms and its
masses — ^be but a solitary star among the countless
hosts of the celestial spheres ; if the earth be a scene
of life, beauty, and intelligence, only by virtue of its
astronomical relations ; if the messenger of God,
the SOLAR BEAM, comcs through the spacious ampli-
tudes a hundred millions of miles, to illuminate, and
vivify, and people our otherwise desolate globe ; if the
life exciting forces traverse stellar distances, and
belong to astral systems, can we imagine, even for a
moment, that the phenomena of life are limited to
our earth ? Can there be a question that organisa-
tion is the product of a plan of agencies which com-
prehends the physical universe, and that the effect
must be as universal as the cause ?"

Directly opposed to such sentiments are those
promulgated on the authority of Professor Drapet,
in his work on Physiology ; and except that we
detect the idea of the localisation of the soul, or life
of man, we cannot itnagine a more forcible enuncia-
tion of the complete independence of life. Professor
Draper says : "I have constantly assumed the ex*

93

istence of an intellectual principle, spirit, or soul,
whose links of connexion with the external world
are the sensory ganglia and cerebral hemispheres.
We may profitably enquire whether any arguments
in behalf of the existence of such an agent may be
gathered from anatomical and physiological facts, or
whether we must assume it as a postulate, relying
for proof on evidences of a totally different character
to those which are presented by the science in ques-
tion. It is to be greatly regretted that evidence
drawn from structural arrangement has hitherto, by
very high authority, either been totally cast aside,
or held in very light esteem. It is still more deeply
to be regretted that those who should have known
better have conceded the argument, that from no
consideration, based upon anatomical or structural
arrangement, could proof be obtained of the ex-
istence of an immaterial principle. But what if it
should turn out that, from the study of the cerebral
mechanism, distinct proof can be obtained on this
point — proof of just as cogent a nature in support
of the doctrine of the existence of the soul as that
which we have of the existence of the external
world, and of precisely the same character. We
may present it as follows : The simple cellated
nervous arc consists essentially of these portions,
a centripetal fibre, a vesicle, and a centrifugal
fibre : the centi ipetal fibre may have, at its outward
or receiving extremity, vesecular or cellular mate-

M

11

94

rial. Thus constituted this mechanism is ready to
receive external impressions, which, if such lan-
guage may be appropriately used, are converted
or reflected in part by the ganglion into motions,
and the residue retained. But the arc, viewed by
itself, is a mere instrument, ready, it is true, for
action, but possessing no interior power of its own.
It is as automatic as any mechanical contrivance in
which, before a motion can be made, a certain spring
must be touched. .^

The essential condition of such a nervous arc is
therefore the presence and influence of an external
agent — a something which can communicate ,the
primitive impression, for without it the mechanism
can display no kind of result. Moreover, there
must be adaptation between the nature of that
agent and the structure thus brought into action
with it, as is strikingly illustrated by each of the
organs of sense. Thus the peripheral extremities
of the fibrils of the optic nerve are involved in a
combination of a purely physical kind, having rela-
tion to the properties of light : the convex surface
of the cornea, the unequi-curved lens, the diaphrag-
matic iris, the interior investiture of black pig-
ment ; these are all structures we clearly understand.
We know that the rays of light must undergo refrac-
tion at the curved surfaces upon which they are
incident, and depict the images of external forms
on the retina, or black pigment, the iris expanding

95

or contracting, as the case may be, to regulate the
entrance of the light. So completely do we admit
this principle of an adaptation of structure to the
nature of the agent which is to set it in activity,
that in this particular instance, without any hesita-
tion, we class the eye among optical instruments.
But in the same manner that starting from the well
known properties of light, we advance to the expla-
nation of the uses of the various parts of the eye,
there can be no doubt that the converse of this
method of reasoning would be possible to an intel-
lect of sufficient power, who, from a full considera-
tion of the structure of the eye, might determine

the properties of light, guided in doing this by the
principle that there must be an adaptation between
such structures and such properties ; and in the
same manner a man born deaf and dumb, but of an
intellect of great capacity, might doubtless, from a
critical study of the construction of the ear, deter-
mine the nature of sounds. Nay, even more, it is
not impossible that he should be able to compare
together the physical peculiarity of the movements
which constitute light or sound respectively, and
to demonstrate that these originate in normal, and
those in transverse vibrations. These problems
present themselves under a double aspect, and are
capable both of direct and Inverse solutions : given
the nature of light, to determ_ine what must neees-
Iding ■ sarily be the structure of the organ of vision ; or,

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the

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there

that
tion
the
ities
in a
ela-
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rag-
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96

WKt

given the construction of the eye, to determine what
is the nature of light ; and the same of the organ of
hearing. ,

This inverse method of treating natural agents
is still in its infancy, because of the extreme im-
perfection of our knowledge ; but what has been
said may perhaps recal to the mind of the reader
the parallel example which is furnished by astro-
nomy, and which, within a few years past, has
yielded such a splendid result. The mass of a
planet being known, the perturbations which it can
cause in another are capable of direct computation ;
but it was reserved for Levcrrier to discuss the
inverse problem, and from the perturbations to
find the planet. Now the problem we are dealing
with is of this kind. It may be thus stated : given the
structure of the cerebrum, to determine the nature
of the agent that sets it in action. And herein the
fact which chiefly guides us is the absolute analogy
in construction between the elementary arrangement
of the cerebrum and any other nervous arc. In it
we plainly recognise the centripetal and centrifugal
fibres, and their conveyance to the sensory ganglia,
the corpus striatum and optic thalamus : we notice
the vesicular material at their external periphery
as presented in the convolutions of the human brain
(see wood cut, comparison of brains,) ; and if in
other nervous arcs the structure is merely automa-
tic, and can display no phenomena of itself, but

97

requires the influence of an external agent ; if the
optical apparatus be inert and without value, "f^ve
under the influence of light ; if the auditory appa-
ratus yields no result, save under the impression
of sound : since there is between these structures,
and the elementary structure of the cerebrum, a
perfect analogy, we are entitled to come to the
same conclusions in this instance as in those, and
asserting the absolute inertness of the cerebral
structure in itself, to impute the phenomena it
displays to ari agent as perfectly external to the
body, and as independent of it as are light and
sound ; and that agent is the soul. Thus it may
be proved that those actions which we term intel-
lectual do not spring from mere matter alone, nor
are they functions of mere material combinations ;
for though it is indisputably true that the mind
seems to grow with the bodily structure, and
declines with it, exhibiting the full perfection of
its powers at the period of bodily maturity, it
may be demonstrated that all this arises from the
increase, perfection, and diminution of the instru-
ment through which it is working. An accom-
plished artisan cannot display his power through
an imperfect tool ; nor if the tool should be broken,
or become useless through impairment, is it any
proof that the artisan has ceased to exist ; and so
though we admit that there is a correspondence
between the developement of the mind and the

98

!

! . i M

growth of the body, we deny that it follows that,
either the mind did not pre-exist, or that the death
of the body implies its annihilation.

Agreeing fully in the arguments, we are at a loss
to conceive why they have been restricted to the
mental operations of man ; and, indeed, when so
restricted they are stript of much of their force.
We believe that the evidence is equally competent
to prove the independence of the whole life of the
organism — as a distinct principle — and that the
differentiation of the various organisms can be ex-
plained in no other way than that the} are evidence
of " adaptation of structure" to tho nature of t^e
agent which is to set it in activity. May we ask,
What of the embryo before the cerebrum is formed
fully ? Is not the life there ? Is there not that
specialised life-power which determines the future
destiny of the germ — an existing principle ?

We regret very much not having as yet been able
to obtain a copy of Professor Goodsir's able lecture
"on organisation," lately delivered in Edinburgh,
but from the short review which we have seen, he has
nobly vindicated the truth. " The chief feature,"
says the review, " in the lecture was, where the
professor alluded to the idealism and materialism theo-
ries which had been common in Germany, but which
had never attained any degree of popularity in
England. He said, in considering physical powers,
they must not omit psychological ones r. that organic

99

powers were developed from within outwardl} , that
a psyche existed in animals and plants, and that man,
besides possessing a psyche, possessed a pneuma, an
ESSENCE PECULIAR TO HIMSELF. Thus by his psijche
he could bring himself to the level of the brute ; and
by his pneuma he could raise himself to the higher
and more noble position which he occupies ; and
thus living organisation was a system of psychycal
ar d physical powers."

i I

^vfM■

\ ' m

11

100

CHAPTER II.

i T

i

hi;

Man, as a reasoning being, may attain to a know-
ledge of the existence of immortal life and of a Su-
preme Being, by the exercise of that faculty of mind
which he alone, of all earth-born creatures, possesses,
viz., " reason ;" by employing this gift and special
faculty on the visible works of nature around him,
by the exercise of his reason in dissecting the myriad
forms of matter by an analysis of matter itself, and
yet more by the existence of a moral law and crav-
ing for truth, he becomes conscious of the existence
of a self-determining power which is capable of lead-
ing to higher results, anon the necessary existence
of a self-existing Supreme Power, at once the foun-
tain and origin of all that is manifest. Prof. Hickock,
in his "Rational Cosmology," speaks clearly when
he says, "We have a position from which we see
that all labour is useless unless we turn to the use of
the reason solely to discover the absolute reason,
the faculty for direct and immediate insight. That
we have such a faculty distinctive in kind, and giv-
ing to us all o-^r prerogatives of rationality, person-
ality, and free and responsible originality, is suffici-
ently clear in the consciousness of its own working.
In pure diagram-S we see universal truths, without
any process of logical deductions, as that, any three
points in space must be in one and the same plane ;
and that any two sides of a triangle must, together,

101

be greater than a third side. In pure physics wo
see that action and rc-action must be opposite and
equal ; and that corapound forces must give their
conjoint direction to motion. In pure forms we can
see spiritual sentiment, and thus have an ultimate
standard oi taste in the beautiful ; and in spirit itself
we can see an intrinsic excellence that demands for
itself that it should be an end, and thus have an
ultimate standard of right in the good. We will
apply this rational insight to a series of grounds, in
which may be detected the working of other than
material forces ; and also to the distinctions in an
ascending spiritual spontaniety up to the supernatu-
ral ; and in the spiritual we will detect also the
point which separates the conditioned from the un-
conditioned, and come directly upon the Absolute
and Divine.

Let it be remarked that the Absolute we seek is
not excluded from all relations and conditions. That
which should be without all relations and conditions,
that which should be utterly without relations,
would not be expressed, and that which should be
utterly without conditions, could not be explained.
It is only necessary that the relations and conditions
should be wholly subjective, self-directed, and self-
sustained, and bringing with them no dependence
upon, nor ameniability to, any outer being. Not
without self-relations and self-conditions, but wholly
absolved from all dependent relationship and sub-

N

102

ij

jected conditioning to any other. A grain of wheat
may be wrapped up in the same cerements together
with an Egyptian mummy — thousands of years pass
away, and not a moment in the long period has been
without action neither in the living wheat nor in the
dead mummy. But to the insight of reason, a broad
distinction is seen between these perpetuated activi-
ties. In the dead, all the agency has been from
without, and coming upon the subject that has been
modified and changed by it ; while in the living, the
agency has been its own, springing up ever fresh
within it, and resisting the outer agencies that would
corrupt and dissolve it. The one hns been the hie-
chanical attrition of material f' rces, the other has
been the spontaneous spring of a living energy.
We seize upon this vital energizing as reason gives
it to us, and reserve it for our purpose in our future
progress.

The living energy can only act according to con-
ditions imposed upon it. It cannot germinate and
propagate itself in new grains without the air, the
sunshine, and the moisture. It is a power put into
matter, but only according to conditions imposed
upon it, and when these conditions are supplied, it
is still conditioned within itself, and must grow out
after its own controlling, " first the blade, then the
ear, afterwards the full corn in the ear," and this
full corn in the ear only, " the seed after its kind."
With all the spontaniety of life, the vegetable is still

103

bound in matter, and even its life is conditioned by
an imposed law which ii can by no means transcend ;
and thus its whole being is in and of nature only.

The ox that treads out and eats the grain has all
this living energy, with the very remarkable addi-
tion that it can feel itself and give back sensation
for sensation. Through the power of sensation it
can be impelled to locomotion, direct itself in the
selection of its food, and guide its experience by
rules of prudence. The insight of reason finds at
once in this a higher grade of spontaneous energiz-
ing, and knows that here is an approach towards
self-direction. The animal can condition itself by
its own sensations. We take then this higher idea
of spontaniety which reason has gained in animal
life, and hold it for our purpose.

But this animal life and sensation are also in mat-
ter, and subjected to all the conditions of matter.
Its very sentient life, which distinguishes it from the
vegetable, is active only through matter. It uses
and seeks the material only, so that if we speak here
at all of the spiritual being, it is of " the spirit of a
beast which goeth downward." Its feelings are all
determined for it in the laws imposed upon it ; and
the sentient life can 7ieither assume nor propagate
other laws of energizing than those of its own kind.
The animal is yet, therefore, wholly in nature.

Man has, besides the sentient animal life, the far
higher endowment of a rational existence. The pe-

104

i !

culiarities of his rational being are in the following
distinctive elements: he can originate for himself
what to him are the perfect ideal patterns or archy-
types of that which is the beautiful, the true, and the
good, and use them to measure, criticize, and esti-
mate all that experience may offer. Not what is
taken from experience, but what his own genius
creates for him, is his criterion for testing what he
shall approve and what disapprove. He has his
own principles or standards of judgment within him-
self, and with which the material and sentient world
has nothing to do. He has also that self-knowledge
which determines the intrinsic excellency of this (bis
rational being, and what is due to himself and wor-
thy of himself in all his actions. He can thus feel
the claims of self-respect and responsibility to his
own conscience, and know the retributions of self-
approbation or self-reproach according as his deeds
sustain or violate the law which his own rational
being imposes upon himself. Here are peculiar
self-relations anc' self-conditions, all subsisting within
the rational, and having no dependence upon his
animal being. The rational activity to guide and
determine itself alone, both without and even against
the animal life. Although we have elsewhere refer-
red to the differentiation of life — ^higher grades of
spontaneous energizing — as a law in creation ; we
cannot refrain from shewing +he entire independence
of life by illustrations which are excellent and

105

forciblv A recent writer, in pointing out the conse-
quences which follow the " confounding the action
of the organs with the results that follow/' remarks,
" Prof. Berard says, that penetrated with the idea
of a special organ being necessary for respiration,
he experienced a singular disappointment in reading
the experiments of Spallanzani, which proved that
every tissue of the body absorbed oxygen and gave
out carbonic acid ; and he only recovered his con-
tentment on perceiving that the essence o/' respiration
consisted in this interchange of gases, so that, wher-
ever a nutritive fluid was in contact with the atmo-
sphere, respiration must take place." Prof. Berard
was right in conceiving that a special organ was
necessary for respiration, and his error arose from
confounding the action of the organ with the result
of that action. Respiration effects the interchange
of gases, and thvO seration of the blood by means of
a peculiar organic apparatus, without which the due
aeration would not take place in the higher animals.
In the simpler animals this apparatus is not needed,
because the nutritive fluid being easily accessible,
requires no function to bring it into contact with the
air ; but no sooner does the organism become so
complex that a direct aeration of the nutritive fluid
ceases to be possible, than an apparatus is construct-
ed, the functions of which are to eff'ect this aeration.
The same holds good with sensation, as recently put
forth by a very ablewriter. " What we metaphori-

! i

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J.

106

t

cally call nervous conduction, takes place not only
in the absence of fibres, but also in the absence of
nerves whatever. The fact is demonstrable, that
both contractility and sensibility are manifested by
animals totally destitute of either muscles or nerves.
Some physiologists, indeed, misled by a priori ten-
dency to construct the organism in lieu of observing
it, speak of the muscles and nerves of the simplest
animals ; because, when they see the phenomena of
contractility and sensibility, they are unable to dis-
possess themselves of the idea that these must be
due to muscles and nerves. Thus, when the fresh-
water polype is seen capturing, struggling with, .and
finally swallowing a worm, yet refusing to swallow
a bit of thread, we cannot deny that it manifests
both sensibility and contractility, unless we deny
these properties to other animals. Nevertheless,
the highest powers of the best microscope fail to
detect the slightest trace of either muscle or nerve
in the polype. To call the contractile substance a
"muscle," is to outrage language more than if a
wheelbarrow were spoken of as a railway carriage ;
and as to nerve substance, nothing resembling it is
discernible. In presence of these facts, those who
cannot conceive sensibility without a nervous sys-
tem, but are forced to confess that such a system is
undiscoverable, assume that it exists " in a diffused
state." It is a flat contradiction in terms ; a diffused

nerve is tantamount to a diffused crvstal.

107

then is the sensibility derived ? Either we must
admit the presence of what cannot be discovered, or
we must admit that a function can act without its
organ ; or finally, we must modify our conception of
the relation between sensibility and the nervous
system. Which of these three conclusions shall we
adopt ? Not the first ; for to admit the presence of
an organ which cannot be discovered, even by the
highest powers, although easily discoverable in other
animals, would be permissible only as the last re-
source of hypothesis, when no other supposition
could be tenable. Not the second ; for philosophic
biology rejects the idea of a function being indepen-
dent of its organ, since the function is the activity
of an organ. The organ is the agent, the function
the act. The third conclusion therefore seems ine-
vitable : we must modify our views. Instead of
saying, '* Sensibility is a property of nervous tissue,"
wc must say, " Sensibility is a property of the vital
organism which hecomts specialised in the nervous
tissue in proportion as the organ itself becomes spe-
cialised." We have no difficulty in understanding
how contractility, at first the property of the whole
of the simple organism, becomes specialised in mus-
cular tissue. We have no difficulty in understand-
ing how respiration, at first affected by the whole
surface of the simple organism, becomes specialised
in a particular part of that surface — gills or lungs —
in the more complex organisms : nor should we have

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108

more difficulty in understanding how sensibility,
from being common to the whole organism, is handed
over to a special structure, which then performs that
function exclusively, as the lungs perform that of
respiration, or the muscle that of contraction. Nay,
more, just as animals possessing special organs for
respiration, do also, in a minor degree, respire by
the general surface, so it is almost demonstrable that
animals, possessing a special nervous system, also
manifest sensibility in parts removed far from any
nervous filament. In man we find an organism
fitted for the performance of the highest functions—
the material substratum adapted to the manifesta-
tions of faculties which transcend those of all crea-
tures co-temporaneous with him, and in the posses-
sion of the gift of Reason, leading him up to association
with beings which, in the same orderly differentia-
tion, stand as it were between him and the Supreme.
The organism is subordinate to, or is the instrument
of, the ME ; for the beautiful, the true, and the right
are in the Reason itself, and instead of copying them
from nature and experience, it judges both nature
and experience by them. It can move itself not
only without the promptings of sentient nature, but
directly against and over them. All of nature may
be on one side, and yet the rational can say I ought
and will stand and act on the other side. It can
make its own conscious worth and dignity its end of
action, and exclude all other ends which nature may

109

i-

present, from holding any competition with this.
Here is a real spontaneity, related in its activity and
iu its law, its going forth and the end it is to reach,
only to itself. It furnishes its own end and occasion
for its activity. It is self-activity self-directed.
From the existence of this power in man, we see
how it is that he is made in the " image of the Su-
preme," and endowed with an " immortality, a real
essence, a principle, incarnate in matter," by which
he is enabled to imitate the great Archytype of him-
self. Man, it is quite true, cannot originate matter —
he cannot put forth any neiv forces — yet, in a lower
sense, man is a creative being, conceiving ideas to
which he gives form by employing crude matter in
their construction, and compelling, as it were, the
dumb stones to speak his mind. Who, that has bent
his head in worship and humbled his soul before his
Grod in His thrice-hallowed Church, can fail to admit
that there proceeds from those holy piles an impulse
—an incentive to holy thoughts ; he feels that in the
carcases of stone and wood the mind of man has
developed, into form and fair proportions, that which
calls up vigorous sentiments in him and his fellow
man, of piety and love. Do not the monuments of
antiquity give back to this present age the wonder-
ful history of nations passed away, even to the
records of their daily life ? Is there nothing of crea-
tion in all this mind ?
To give force to these arguments, we may add the

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: 1

i
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1

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■

reasoning of Herbart — that me is really an essence,
it is not self- consciousness ! Knowledge — no mat-
ter whether it bear reference to ourselves or to
other things — is only a certain state, an activity.
But such cannot be conceived without some being
which is in that sti^te, or which is the author of that
activity. So much, then, seems to be evident ; the
me must, in itself, be something real. Add to this,
that no man will look upon himself as being merely
an activity, to wit, of something else ; on the con-
trary, if there is any thing at all which is immediately
certain to us — if there is any thing that is affirmed in
and not with us, it is beyond doubt this, that the^e
is, at the foundation of our personality, one single
essence which is itself self-subsistent, and remains
always the same in itself in all the states through
which it may pass.

The me, to which every one refers as being him-
self, is, in the first instance, our person, and implies
every thing which belongs immediately to our body
and our spirit. But it is not that personal me of
which we are now speaking, and which, if it were to
be fully and s iflficiently indicated, would require a
long series of predecates — an auto-description and
auto-biography. We refer here rather to what is
termed the pure or the absolute me, at which we
arrive at last, after having in thought eliminated
every thing which is only the state of our sml. That
me, which thus designates itself, is found in the

proves. VIZ..

Ill

inmost depths of our own self-consciousness. It
refers not only to the body, but also to all the sensa-
tions, representations, wishes — in short, to all our
activity, as to somethirg that belongs to it, that is
in connexion with it, that proceeds from it : from
it we say, as from the innermost and invariable
central point of the essence — the connecting point
of all thinking and doing. But this me does not only
represent itself to the outer world, but also its own
self. If it puts the question to itself what itself is,
the answer is returned : I am that essence which
represents to myself both the world and my own
self. The me represents itself ; it has or forms an
image of itself. Hence the essential characteristic
of the me is self-consciousness, it does not discover
any othe^ within itself ; it cognises itself, and knows
about itself only as about self-consciousness.

The free spontaneity, self-activity, which we dis-
cover, is the conception of spirit as opposed to mat-
ter— that which is contrary to matter, yet which,
being bound and tied up in matter, reveals itself in
as many personalities or individualities, as there are
associated material forms in humanity, reaching its
highest development — the visible revealing the invi-
sible. If in the conception of force as the essence of
matter, we approach that border line which sepa-
rates matter from spirit, we but do that which the
Absolute Power has done, and which reason ap-
proves, viz., reached that point where distinct forces

^^,

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112

meet and result in objective existence ; for reason
unfolds to us not one force working in nature as sub-
ordinate to another, but One Supreme Force, All-
Powerful, Absolute Existence, originating and creat-
ing forces which are objectivised, manifested in
forms. Thus there may be a relationship between
the several forces as there is in the several forms of
matter, and yet by the reason the understanding is
corrected in its judgments, and it can be conceived
that in the combination of forces is the origination
of a new thing, even a distinct personality. It is,
we apprehend, after this manner that we may admit
a correlation between spirit and matter which does
not involv". the notion of identity, and leads to a
conception of the reality of spiritual existence supe-
rior to, and differentiated from, matter, ^and yet
which may be involved in or combined with matter
as a special form or mode of existence. It is from
this point of view that we are informed of the dis-
tinctibility of matter, even under its present mode of
existence ; for although forces may and do change
their modes of manifestation indefinitely, yet, after
Cousin, we can conceive of the utter annihilation of
matter by a suspension of the free-will of that All-
Absolute Power which alone cannot cease to he
Free Spontaneity, the Absolute under self-contained
conditions. The same reason guides the judgment
correctly, and informs it how spiritual existence
must be in its forms differentiated, even to the

113

highest, and that there is in the mode of existence
of spiritual essence a significance as important and
real as there is in material forms.

What is matter ? asks Prof. Hickock. The first
answer comes from the sense. The conception as
gained in experience — the earliest, the easiest, and
thus the common conception of matter, is that of
some dead, dry, hard substance, given in mass of
larger or smaller volume. It is found divisible into
parts, and we readily conceive that the largest bo-
dies may be made up of small particles, and in our
analysis of these particles, we bring them into atdms
which will not admit that we should further sub-
divide them. We thus begin with that into which
we have . analysed our experience, and conceive of
matter as originally existent indivisible atoms, and
that by various conjunctions of these atoms all bo-
dies are formed. In all cases, whether as atoms or
in the mass, matter is for the sense a lifeless, pow-
erless, motionless substance ; utterly inert, except
as something is done to it, and in itself only existing
to occupy and cumber the place it fills.

When matter is subjected to a nic'C;i scrutiny in
experiment, the conception is more extended, but
not at all corrected. It is observed that matter in
bodies is perpetually altering its qualities, and
though often by slow gradations, yet in all cases
mattei is moving from present modes of existence

. I

and transmuting itself to other forms.

r errneniaiion

I :

114

carries its changes through the successive saccha-
rine, vinous, and acetous stages : the atoms crumble,
and the ii..rdest bodies become disintegrated, and
these again are made the elements of new com-
pounds : living agencies are assimilating and build-
ing up new bodies, and the life goes out, and the
body again dissolves, and their elements are scat-
tered ; and colours, densities, magnitudes, indeed the
qualities of every sense glide from one into another,
and nothing abides permanently. All things flow.
We sometimes speak as if one portion of matter
moved or changed other portions, and that thus
matter was conceived as itself active in producing
its changes ; but a partial reflection again qualifies
this language, and we speak of powers and forces
given to matter, and that the imparted force, and not
the dead matter, does all the work, and makes all
the changes. The highest conceptions of the sense
will therefore be, that matter itself is not cause
except as a causal efficiency is given to it ; that the
forces and powers of nature are superinduced upon
matter, and are something other than matter ; mat-
ter is mere inertia, and all changes are wrought in
it, and not by it. When such a conception is sub-
jected to the insight of reason, it is found utterly
empty. What can this passive and inert existence
do ? At rest it cannot move, and moving it cannot
rest, without a force supplied to it. It can neither
change nor resist change, neither combine nor dis-

115

solve, neither sustain nor press, except as power is
given it to do all the work. Put it where we may,
it is utterly a caput mortuiim, neither acting nor re-
acting ; the force given to it does all things for it.
How can it be hnoxun ? In any sense, receive an
impression and thereby a sensation, out of which
the Intellectual action brings a distinct and definite
perception, that impression and sensation must have
been induced, not at all by the dead matter, but by
some eflSciency put into the dead matter, and it must
be this and not the matter that becomes object in
perception. What, then, can it he ? It cannot exist,
for it cannot stand out in any sense ; it cannot sub-
sist, for it cannot stand under any quality ; it is
wholly a negation, and if we should attempt to con-
ceive of it in any way as object, it would be the
absurdity of an object that could not be put before
any organ of sense.

"We must, tho^ lore, wholly renounce cuch a con-
ception of matter. Let us, however, keep this_/brcc
which we hav« supposed to be supplied to matter,
and which we have found in such case must work all
the mutations that occur in matter, carefully sub-
jected to a rational insight, and determine whether
indeed this force that does all that is done, is not
matter itself. Simple activity is spiritual activity,
and has nothing in it that can awaken the thought
of force ; and it is only as it meets some opposing
action, and encounters an antagonist, that we can

^1

116

come to have the notion of force. In all push and
pull there is counteraction, complex action, action
and re-action, while simple spiritual agency can
never be made a conception of physical existence.
It cannot be thought as taking and holding any fixed
position : it cannot become a permanent and have a
'* where," that it may be conceived to pull from a
" there," that it may be conceived " to push to." It
could not be determined to any time nor any place,
for it has no constant from whence the determination
might begin, nor where it might end. When, how-
ever, the conception is that of the simple in counterac-
tion, an activity that works from opposite sides upon
itself, we have in it at once the true notion of for^e.
From the diflficulty of clearly apprehending counter-
action or antagonism in a single activity, as always
acting in opposite directions upon or against itself,
and which must be the true conception ; for the
notion is that of one source for the antagonism, it
will be more readily taken and equally available in
the result, if we have the conception of two activi-
ties meeting each other, and reciprocally holding
back, or resting against each other, and thus of the
two making a third thing at the limit of meeting,
which is unlike to either. In neither of the two
activities can there be notion of force, but at the
point of antagonism force is generated, and one new
thing comes from the synthesis of the two activities.
To distinguish this from other forces hereafter, we

117

call it antagonistic force. In this position is taken,
and there is more than the idea of being, which the
simple activities each have, there is being standing
out, an Existence being in re, reality, A Thing.
Let, then, an indefinite number of such positions,
contiguous to each other, be conceived as so taken
and occupied, and a space will thereby be filled and
holden ; an aggregate force will maintain itself in a
place ; and a ground is given on which other things
may rest. A substantial reality here exists. This
antagonism may be conceived to be of any degree
of intensity, and the substantial ground will hold its
'ace with the same amount of persistency, and
stand there permanent, impenetrable, and real. No-
thing else may come into its place until itself has
been displaced. It is not inertia, but a vis inertia ;
a force resting in itself, and thus holding itself in
place. This conception of antagonism alone, though
adequate to give substantial matter, will not be
found adequate to give such forms and modes of
matter as a universe needs for the rational ends
designed in it. There will need to he varied substance ;
combinations and resolutions ; perpetual changes and
processes through successive stages ; and thus our
primitive idea of matter must comprehend more than
the idea of pure antagonistic force, even that which
may dissolve and become a combination with pure
antagonism. We conceive, then, of an activity

going out in exactly the reverse process of antagon-
p

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118

I ! :. .ii I . I

i i I

ism, even a beginning in the same limit of the meet-
ing simple activities, and working on each side away
from the limit ; a throwing of simple activities in
opposite directions from the limit of contact. Not a
counteracting and resisting, but a divelent and dis-
parting activity ; not an antagonistic, but hereafter
known as distinctly a diremptive movement. Such
an activity could not be conceived as space-tilling
of itself. Wherever the limit in which there might
be conceived the contact of two simple activities
should be, the diremptive movement would be away
from that limit on each side, and thus a space-vacat-
ing and not a space-filling activity — if this direi^ip-
tive movement be conceived as at the very limit and
point of contact of the antagonism, the antagonist
activity working towards itself in the limit, and
the diremptive activity working from itself out of
the limit, then must the diremptive movement on
each side encounter the antagonistic movement, and
the simple diremptive activity going out on one side
from the limit, will meet the simple antagonistic
activity on the same side coming to the limit, and
these two simples of the opposite kinds oj forces must
make a new counteraction among themselves. And
equally so with the going out and coming in of the
opposite kind of forces in their simple activities on
tlje other side of the limit, the one must encounter
the other, and engender a new counteraction among
themselves on this other side. The result must be,

that whil
loosens th(
the other 1
and thus
on either s
tagonism c
full, but 1
the limit ai
indifferent
diremptive
The pui
limit may
molecules o
iin>it cons
Hi'' l-<e w(
diremptive
these force
compound
may be kn
atom, and
mical aton
must there
able forces
the meanii
something
something
previously
impossible
of all being

119

that while the diremptive activity disparts and
loosens the antagonism, the antagonistic activity on
the other hand restrains and binds in the divellency,
and thus the diremptive can neither go off wholly
on either side and leave the limit void, nor the an-
tagonism come up from each side and make the limit
full, but both antagonism and diremption meet in
the limit and make a third thing, which may be called
indifferently an antagonis*i< force loosened, or a
diremptive force fixed. ...

The pure forces in their contact in the simple
limit may be known as units, under the term of
mokcuks or molecular forces ; the working to the
iin«it constituting an antagonistic molecular force,
f .. ' : ue working away from the limit constituting a
diremptive molecular force. The combination of
these forces, in their joint interaction making a new
compound as a third thing unlike to either alone,
may be known also as a unit, constituting a material
atom, and which may farther on be known as a che-
mical atom or molecule. Our conception of matter
must therefore be of this combination of distinguish-
able forces. In the manner here used, creation has
the meaning of origination ; the putting forth of
something where before there was nothing, and this
something thus set forth a new thing which had not
previously an existence. It does not involve the
impossible thought of existence coming out of a void
of all being. There can be no Creation without a

1 ,

120

I

I ! '

Creator. It cannot escape observation how com-
pletely this reasoning accords with that of Prof.
Draper, on the independence of the physical forces.
' So when we examine the doctrine of the correla-
tion of force, as propounded by Grove, Radclyffe,
and Matteuci, we shall find that there is nothing
therein contained to support or justify the theoretical
opinions, which, emanating from Dr. Carpenter,
have grown into such proportions under the faci-
nating touch of two distinguished American che-
mists. There is no equivocation, but we are
distinctly taught that the solar beam is the messen-
ger of God, carrying the principle of life, or w^iat
may be converted into life, wherever those beams
of light may travel. Not only is the organic frame-
work placed in immediate dependence on these so-
called forces, but the whole organised world, from
the monad to the intellectual man, is but the differ-
entiation of solar light. We apprehend, then, that
a very wide distinction must be drawn between the
Carpenter school and that of Mr. Grove : the teach-
ing of the latter is certainly more in accordance with
what the larger class of mankind will feel inclined
to accept, and which we feel must ultimately be
received as being in harmony and in agreement
with the laws of nature and revelation, as we have
found it to be with common sense,

"We have no hesitation in adopting the philoso-
phy taught in Scripture as a stand-point of com-

121

parison, inasmuch as it is the one which the sceptic
assails, and also that which is the most ancient,
la that system of philosophy we are taught that
substance is endowed with attributes, offering a con-
trary doctrine to that of Spinosa and his followers,
who declare substance to be the cause of its attributes,
and above all declares the existence of a power
capable of intelligently creating. " Can we, in-
deed," urges Mr. Grove, " suggest a proposition,
definitely conceiveable by the mind, of force with-
out antecedent force ? I cannot, without calling
for the interposition of creative power, any more
than I can conceive the sudden appearance of a
mass of matter that comes from nowhere, and formed
rem nothing." Now it cannot escape observation
that in making out their case, the transforma-
tionists are forced to commence their superstruc-
ture on a well laid foundation, not however planted
by themselves, but existing ere they commence
to build. Both Messrs. Draper and Carpenter
admit that, so far as organic matter is concerned,
there must have been a protoplasm or parent cell
from which the race proceeded : that no combina-
tion of physical causes are adequate to the forma-
tion of an organic being, however humble its form and
organisation may be ; for if we expose in a glass some
spring water to the sunshine, though it may have
been clear and transparent at first, it presently
begins to assume a greenish tint, and after awhile,

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122

flocks of green matter collect on the sides of the
vessel in which it is contained. On these flocks,
whenever the sui s shining, bubbles of gas may be
seen, which if collected, prove to be a mixture of
oxygen and nitrogen, the proportion of the two
being variable. Meantime the green matter rapidly
grows, its new parts, as they are developed, being all
day long covered with air-bells, which disappear as
soon as the sun has set. If these observations be
made on a stream of water, the current of which
runs slowly, it will be discovered that the green
matter serves as food for thousands of aquatic in-
sects, which make their habitations in it. Th^se
insects are endued with powers of rapid locomotion,
and possess a highly organised structure ; in their
turn they fall a prey to the fishes which frequent
such streams. Organic chemistry teaches that it is
the office of vegetable life to fo) m from ifiorganic
matter organised molecules, and furnish them as
food for the support of animals which simply assimi-
late, but do not fabricate ; we must therefore infer
that the fibrine, the albumen, the gelatine, the fat,
and whatever else of those compound organic mole-
cules is required for the support of fishes and
insects, are originally formed by the action of light
on that green matter. But the production of this
substance is the result of a multitude of coincident,
actions. The sun light is the agent which directs
its growth, but it does not so plainly appear what

123

is the body from which it originally springs, and
on tohich the light exerts its influence ; whether it
comes from microscopic germs, which, floating about
in the air, find their way into every water, or from
organic cells furnished from obscure sources. "So
far," says Dr. Carpenter, " as we at present know,
every plant and every animal is the offspring of a
parent, to which it bears a resemblance in all essen-
tial particulars ; and the same may be said of the
individual cells of which the composite animal and
vegetable fabrics are composed. It does not always
seem requisite that a definite germ particle should
have been prepared by a parent cell ; for there
appear to be cases in which new cells originate in
the midst of a homogeneous protoplasma, in which
no distinct germs can be detected. Still that fluid
must have been prepared and elaborated by cell
agency : the first stage of cell-formation consists in
the appearance of aggregations of molecules, forming
nuclei, from which the cells grow ; and these new
cells bear the same relation to those which prepared
the protoplasma as if they had originated in distinct
germs or reproductive molecules." The doctrine of
spontaneous generation being abandoned by all phy-
siologists, we find both our authors as above quoted
admitting the necessity of a /2tJ2wg' organism, however
diminutive, as the parent of the subsequent progeny,
be it vegetable or animal cell. Now, then, we would
ask, is this parent cell capable of transmitting all its

= M

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124

1

III

§

M r

):■•; - 1,- ■.■

V'M

attributes to its descendants, or does it only trans-
mit a portion, the remainder being the effect of the
operation of certain external powers ? / "• ?

We believe that physiological science is quite capa-
ble of proving that, so far as the operation of external
forces are concerned, they in no way effect the typi-
cal form of the creature, nor do they in any way
influence the nature nor production of the inner life
of the being which is bound up in, and is peculiar to,
the organism in which it displays its phe^ominal
existence ; it is impossible, indeed, to explain the
operation of the most important general laws of phy-
siology or natural history, unless we admit that ithe
attributes of substance are as much its essence, as are
extension and impenetrability the admitted essen-
tials of matter ; the idea of substance involves the
necessary idea of attributes, so that the concep-
tion of the Dne involves the necessity of the con-
ception of the other, for we must even conceive
of substance when conceiving the Spiritual.

In order to discover the truth of this statement,
let us revert to the proposition made by Mr
Grove, wherein it is clearly laid down " that light
is the result of the vibrations of matter itself,
and not from a specific ether pervading it ;" either
on this hypothesis or on the ethereal, light is
the result of undulation or motion in the atoms
of matter ; but according to Mr. Grove's theory,
light is the result of vibrations in matter diffused in

126

all bpace, and which matter, bathing all bodies in
space, is itself acted on by these bodies. It would
appear from this theory that light was not an essence,
but the evidence of the particles of matter being in a
peculiar state, or of their having assumed a definite
arrangement, by which they become capable of in-
ducing an analogous condition in other particles of
matter, or else totally dissimilar conditions, such as
heat, motion, electricity, &c. To say, therefore, that
the sun is the caiise of light, is not really true, for we
know that there are many other bodies besides the
sun, whose constitutions vary, and yet they are
quite capable of emitting light ; in other words, are
we justified in accepting as established the doctrine
of secondary causes, which is resorted to as a ready
method of solving some of the most perplexing pro-
blems. Phosphorous in one state is luminous, in
another it is not ; carbon in one condition is a black
mass, in another it is a brilliant gem. Chemists ex-
plain these and such like phenomena, by stating that
such bodies are in a state of allotropism or isomer-
ism ; or, to explain more definitely, many of the
elements may exist under two or more different con-
ditions, called allotropic states. In one state they
readily exert their usual active properties, in the
other they seem passive, and, as it were, torpid.
The diamond is the passive form of carbon, and it
can hardly be made to burn in oxygen gas ; while
lamp black, which is one of its active forms, is so

Q

a i

126

Ci,

If'' :*''

: t

highly combustible that it often takes fire sponta-
neously in the open air, and it is supposed that thef^e
conditions of the elements are retained when they
enter into combination. Isomeric compounds are
such as contain the same elements in the same propor-
tions, and yet have different properties. Formerly
it was supposed bodies, having the same chemical
constitution, must necessarily have the same quali-
ties, but such is now proved not to be the fact.
Spirits of turpentine, the oil of lemons, oil of juniper,
oil of black pepper, and oil of bergamot, contain
equal amounts of carbon and hydrogen, yet their
properties are very different. Oil of roses and illu-
minating gas are also identical in composition, 'rtie
difference in isomeric bodies is accounted for by
supposing that the atoms or molecules are differently
arranged in the different cases ; but so far as the
cause of the phenomena is concerned, we are just as
much in the dark as ever. Why should the same
particles which enter into the composition of spirits
of turpentine and oil of lemons, by dissimilar ar-
rangement merely, be capable of manifesting such
very different physical properties? The si^stance
here is evidently not the cause of its attributes, but
it is the form which the substance has assumed ; and
what has caused it to assume the particular form?
There is surely something in the form and arrange-
ment of bodies which demands more attention as

- -X .. -1

JXl-

conuecieu wiiu pheuomena than it has yet received,

127

yet we cannot suppose "form" to be the cause oi
new phenomena ; but what becomes of the famous
declaration, that substance is the cause of its attri-
butes, for here we have virtually the same substance
but with differing attributes ? What, then, shall we
conclude ? That in the matter and form of substance
are included the phenomena to which it gives mani-
festation, so that it is more correct to say that sub-
stance is necessary for the manifestation of attri-
butes, or that substance contains its attributes, than
that substance is the cause of its attributes ; indeed,
what do we know of substance except through these ;
and, as Mr. Morrell observes, " after all the disputes
about infinite divisibility on the one hand, and ulti-
mate atoms on the other, it may, perhaps, at length
be found that a system of monadology is the most
intelligible theory ; that the most correct notion of
matter is that of a combination of forces, which
produce certain impressions upon our minds, and to
which those minds necessarily attribute certain
material properties. Thus it may turn out that the
mode ill which we are now accustomed to view
material masses in physical science, namely, as
powers acting in certain directions, is metaphy-
sically, as well as mechanically, true." According
to Prof. Carpenter's theory this is impossible, view-
ing, as he does, the external physical forces as out-
ward entities ; he constructs for them a stage on
which they not only manifest themselves, but in turn

Mi

128

lilt

become the cause of other manifestations. But we
have endeavoured to shew that, in accepting the
dynamical theory, we cannot explain intelligibly the
physiological doctrines of the London school, and we
shall fully illustrate the inconsistencies by reference
to its own dogmas. In like manner, we freely con-
fess being incapable of understanding M. Cousin, and
some others who, while speaking of a Creator in lan-
guage which seems to accord all the attributes of
perfection and absolute power, nevertheless unhesi-
tatingly limit that Creator's power and absolute per-
fection by denying Him the power to create at all ;
for surely the power of creating, which M. Cousin
assigns to the Deity, is not creation at all, but sim-
ply the power of differentiation or submergence:
thus, M. Cousin observes, " Grod creates by virtue
of his creative power : he draws the world, not from
nothing, which is not, hnt from himself, who is abso-
lute existence. His prominent character being an
ABSOLUTE CREATING FORCE, which canuot avoid exer-
cise ; it follows not only that creation is possible,
but that it is necessary. Further, God creates with
himself : then he creates with all the qualities which
we have recognised in him, and which necessarily
pass into his creations. God is in the universe as
the cause is in its effects." Sir William Hamilton's
doctrine is equally objectionable, and has been ably
answered. Restricting our remarks more immedi-
atelv to M, Cousin's theory, we would ask whether

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' God's prominent character, being absolute creating
fo»^e," is not virtually destroyed by the declaration
that "he draws the world not from nothing, but
from himself, who is absolute existence 7^^ There was
then no creation, for all things, according to this
doctrine, already existed in God, who has passed
into creation ; indeed, it would be necessary to
invent a term or terms to express the doctrine, since
creation is, according to it, impossible ; it would be
much more accurate to declare that all things are
but the products of germination, and not of creation.
Further, the liberty of God is circumscribed, and
He cannot but choose to create, because He is not
only absolute creating power, but creating power
always in action. Here, then, M. Cousin /voi Id
force us to believe that absolute power is, after all,
but limited power, since it has not the power to con-
trol its own action, as well as a creative power
who does not create, but uses that which already
exists to effect his purposes, namely, its own sub-
stance. We fully admit that "the eternal power
and goodness are plainly seen by ^he things that
are;" we are confident that in viewlug "material
masses as powers acting in certain directions," we
do trace or see as through a glass darkly the grand
and transcendent power which originated them, and
believing that our best conceptions of power are
I derived from mind, we can understand that Abso-
lute Creative Power was quite equal to the task of

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creating that which was not itself, but different from
itself, in virtue of the power of the Divine Mind — in
short, deny the capacity for creatmi to be absolute,
prove that the power to create is not an absolute
power, and you destroy its character as absolute.
In answering Sir W. Hamilton, Mr. Calderwood
has, we conceive, put the question in its true light,
and most ably refuted its pantheistic tendencies ; he
says, "If we examine our consciousness, we shall
find that there is always an element of power in our
notion of a cause, a fact for which the theory of Sir
William entirely fails to account. Our notion of
causality is net embraced under the notion of a mere
continuance of existence; it is not even embraced
under a notion of a change in the^cwm of existence.
A cause is that on account of which the change
occurs ; it is that which produces the change. Take,
as an example, a stone broken in two by the stroke
of a hammer. We perceive the two pieces of stone,
we think them as having previously existed in one
whole ; but we have yet to think that a certain
power has separated them, before we have realised
cur notion of causality. Without realising in the
mind the necessary belief that there has been an
operation of power, we fail to identify our notion of
causality ; and as neglecting this, the theory of Sir
William Hamilton does not embrace the phenomena
to be explained." Again, we may take an illustra-
tion from what takes place in our sense of sight,

131

when we look at an object ; do we see the thing we
look at ? does the mind lay hold of the object imme-
diately? The answer is unhesitatingly, no! we
perceive and mentally lay hold of the image of the
thing gazed upon. Experience teaches us that the
image is so perfect, that for all practical purposes it
is a perfect representation, and does not give us a
false perception of the object. Now, can it be said
that any part of the object has passed into the mind,
or that any part of the beholder has been lost, as it
went forth to perceive the object. When the eye
of the engineer beheld the steam from boiling water
raising with force the lid of the kettle, his mind con-
ceived the steam-engine which his hands afterwards
brought into existence : how much of the man passed
into the instrument ? Did the image of the wreath
of curling steam, or any part of the vapourised water,
pass into the mind? It appears, therefore, to be
clear, that if we admit a creative power which is
absolute, pericct, unlimited power, we cannot curtail
or circumscribe its action or capacity for action in
any way. Now M. Cousin would no doubt admit
that as cause, he argues for no closer identification
than that which is above admitted : thus he says,
"To create is a thing not difficult to be conceived,
for it is a thing that we do every moment ; in short,
we create every time we perform a free act. I will ;
I take a resolution ; I take another, then another
still ; I modify, I suspend it, I pursue it, &c. What

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is it that I do ? I produce an effect which I refer to
myself as the cause, and only cause ; and in regard
to the existence to this effect, I seek nothing beyond
myself. We create a free act ; we create it, I say,
for we refer it to no principle other than ourselves ;
we impute it to ourselves, and to ourselves alone.
It existed not ; and now it begins to exist by virtue
of the causative power which we possess. This, then,
is to create ; but with what ? with nothing ? No,
doubtless ; but, on the contrary, we create even
with the foundation of our existence. Man draws
not from nothing which he has not yet performed,
but is about to perform. He draws it from the f eal
power which he has to perform it. Divine creation
is of the same nature." Dr. Harris has employed
language equally strong, without finding it at all
necessary to draw the objectionable inferences which
M. Cousin does , he observes, " That every divinely
originated object and event is a result of which the
supreme and ultimate reason is in the Divine Naturt,
By which we mean that not only is a reason for it
to be found there — ^this would only acquit the maker
from a charge of folly — ^but that the ultimate and
adequate reason, that it is, and what it is, is to be founts
there. For if the origin of every thing which may
exist must be traced to him as the first great cause,
every thing will, in some sense, be like him ; i. «.,
it will be, and will be what it is, when it proceeds
from him, because he is what he is ; for before it was

IBS

produced, it was potentially included in him. Ad-
ditional reasons may be found in itself, and in other
parts of creation, to account 'for its existence. And
of vast significance may many of these reasons be to
the creature. Yet all these will be found subordi-
nate and traceable to that infinite reason which
includes, but is independent of them all, as belong-
ing to the infinite nature of God. These subordinate
reasons may be only co-existent with the respective
natures in which they are found — beginning and
ending therefore, in some cases, in a few short hours
—soon, and perhaps for ever, to be forgotten by all
the rest of creation ; but the infinite reason of their
being at all, existed from eternity, in the nature of
God, and can never cease to exist. However insig-
nificant, comparatively, any creature may be, not
only is the reason of its existence to be sought in
God, as prior to, in the order of time, and causative
of, that existence ; but as a reason which approved
itself it to, and in some sense expressed a property
of, the Divine nature. So that even if there were no
purpose of manifesting Divine all-sufificiency — but the
creation even to be limited to the production of a
single creature — still as every effect must be in
some sense like its cause, that single effect would be
(not formally but virtually) a manifestation pro tanto
of the Divine nature ; in other words, its ultimate
reason would be found in Grod." And " Thoughts of
Pascal," quoted by M. Cousin in his third note, still

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more conclusively jhew how unfortunate the great
French philosopher is in his mode of expression,
since he approvingly adopts Pascal's language as a
true statement of his own opinions. "Let us," he
says. " speak without circumlocution. "What is pan-
theism ? It is not an atheism disguised, as they say.
No. It is avowed atheism. To say in presence of
this universe, so vast, so beautiful, so magnificent,
God is there entire — behold God, there is no other ;
is to say as clearly as possible that there is no God,
for it is to say that the universe has not a cause
essentially different from its effects. However im-
mense it may be, this world is finite in itself, com-
pared to God who is infinite ; he manifests, but lie
also veils his grandeur, intelligence, wisdom. The
universe is the image of God ; it is not God ; some-
thing of the cause passes into the effect, it does not
exhaust itself there, and it remains entire. The
universe itself is so far from exhausting God, that
many of the attributes of God are there covered
with an obscurity almost impenetrable, and are dis-
covered only in the soul of man. The universe is a
necessity ; but the soul is free ; it is one, simple—
essentially identical with itself under the harmonious
diversity of its faculties ; it is capable of conceiving
virtue, and accomplishing it ; it is capable of love
and of sacrifice. Now we are averse to believing
that the being who is the first and last cause of this
soul is an abstract being, possessing less than he has

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given, and having himself neither personality, nor
liberty, nor intelligence, nor justice, nor love.
Either God is inferior to man, or he possesses at
least all that is permanent, and substantial in man,
with inferiority besides." God then created by
virtue, not of necessity, but of his own free will and
determinate action, because he deemed it best to
create ; and in creating he was cause and source of
all things, and remains by virtue of his all-suffi-
ciency tlie cause of all things. Endowed from the
beginning with attributes and powers, the display of
those powers are surely not causatively brought out
by the substance through which the manifestation is
made ; on the contrary, the material substratum is
made the stage on which is manifested the power of
the cause of its existence, although it may be quite
incapable of explaining the nature of that cause. It
is no doubt true that we cannot realise in our minds
the time when nothing was, since we cannot idealise
the time when power to produce something was not j
nevertheless it by no means follows that the cause
of something enters actually into that something.
That, however, which was primary caii o cannot be
aflnihilated or set aside by another cause, since it
must always have some relation to the effect, for
after all, what are com:- only called secondary causes
are really but themselves effec' • j thus light ^r
heat, which are the results of motion in the mattei
of the interplanetary space, is caused by the pecu-

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liar an lagement of the matter of tlie sun, which in
contact with that matter allows the phenomena of
light or heat to be displayed. These ^articles of
matter manifesting such affectioii3, m like manner,
by their presence, furnish conditions for lurther
eflfpcts m inorganic or organic bodiei. Heai Vlling
on a seed or an egg, there follow actions of b ^^801]-
liar kind, and it is gene? iilly yuid that heat is the
cause of the life deveiopement ; but how many other
conditions are there to be coinplied witli, ere the
aniiiial is fully developed ? Ileat iu Jshes one of
those conditions which enables the seed to germinate
or the egg to produce the bird. Dr. Carpeniter
fjtjects io the doctrine which declares that the cell-
germ contains within itself all the elements, or
rather power of its future liie, and teaches that the
offspring is not potentially included in the parent
and transmitted to it. What shall we say, then, of
the facts which the chemistry of inorganic bodies
unfolds ? Here we discover elements which, while
they remain the same, nevertheless are capable of
existing in a variety of states, carrying along with
them frequently into the new alliances or conditions
on which they enter some of their special or pecu-
liar attributes ; while on the other hand we perceive
a display of new or previously unknown ones when
new associations are formed. Thrs, chlorine remains
in all essential particulars t' ame whether acted
on J J light or not, yC n /ill no longer bleach

1B7

coloured bodies if kept in a dark place. Oxygen,
we know, may exist in different states, exercising
various powers ; and carbon is no less possessed of
like endowments. To every substance was given
all and every its attributes, and these are as various
as may be conformable to a general plan of unifor-
mity and to the law of harmony, traceable every
where in nature. Is it less marvellous that we
notice inorganic substance endowed with properties
which they display only when in particular circum-
stances, than that there should be in organic beings,
which possess the inherent property of sustaining
themselves, the power of self-construction and multi-
plication ? If, therefore, we do discover degrees of
progression — gradational steps from higher to lower
forms — and if we should discover that, together with
the form and material, are present diverse attributes,
is there any logical necessity for the inference, that
all things are absolutely and really the same ? The
attempt which has been ?nade to reduce all things
to absolute oneness has failed, and, as in the instance
of light aiid heat, clearly reveals to us that the
monads which make up matter by re-adjustment or
change of state, and may give rise to the phenomena of
electricity, heat, light, motion, are evidently diverse.
Prof Draper'?^ experiments on light, and Melloni's
c: aeat, are Y^ry instructive, and lead us to infer
that however close the relationship may be, that
there is really an essential difference in the ele-

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mentary particles or atoms. Thus, accepting the doc-
trine of monadology, we may explain that the solar
beam is composed of monads which, being dift >reiitly
arranged, manifest diverse properties, and that the
arrangement in each particular ray of the beam was
originally given to it, and that it has not the capa-
city to part with it. Thus, the peculiar properties
of a particle of lead may appear to be lost when
acted on by acetic acid ; but, under the flame of the
blow-pipe on charcoal, the original metallic qualities
of the metal may be restored ; the instances may be
multiplied to an indefinite extent. Mr. Crombie
observes, "When the atheist ascribes to matter
active independent powers, and on this assumption
erects his hypothesis and constructs his universe,
we contend that, until he can produce clear and
incontestible evidence that matter produces such
active power, his argument must be dismissed as
mere assumption. Power is strictly the attribute
of a voluntary agent, and its exercise subject to his
will. It is not an object of perception, but an infer-
ence of the understanding ; nor is our notion of it
acquired, as Hume supposes, from the constant
conjunction of certain phenomena, and the habit of
passing in imagination from antecedent to conse-
quent. We may, indeed, thence derive our notion
of cause and effect ; but our notion of power is dif-
ferent from our notion of cause, the former being
apprehended as that by which the latter is under-

139

stood to produce its effect. It is evident that our
notion of active power is derived from our own
energies as understanding and willing beings. Hence
it follows that the only intelligible and distinct con-
ception that we can form of power, is, as Dr. Eeid
has observed, "that it is the attribute of a being
who can do certain things if he wills, and that it can
exist only in beings that are endowed with under-
standing and capable of volition." It cannot belong
to inanimate substance, though matter, like a tool in
the hands of a machinist, may be made an instru-
ment subservient to the purposes of a Supreme
Intelligent Power. Mr. Morrell observes: —

" The universe presents to our view innumerable
objects, which are finite, changeable, and dependent.
All of them consist of certain forms and attributes,
united to a substance or substratum. But substai ee,
in its finite and dependent form, cannot be self-
existent ; for it has come into that form irom a pre-
vious state, i. e., has been brought into it by a prior
cause. Go backwards accordingly in the chain of
causes, and you come at last to an absolute cause.
There must be, therefore, something previous to
finite existence which we call Being per se, sotdp-
thing which is self-existent, underived, absoiuie,
eternal. Under all the fleeting appearances which
nature presents, there is something abiding, which
reposes alike at the basis of all — a Being which
pasf- lot away with her changes. Here, then, is

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the dawn of the infinite, upon the human mind^
an idea which is soon reproduced in numberless
different forms. Think of space ; — we see it stretch-
ing out beyond the world, beyoud our system, be-
your' lii" furthest limits of creation ; and every
))OuiH • ". affix to it only carries us to the unbounded
beyond. Think of time ; — all the limits of duration
do but suggest the illimitable eternity. Think of
dependent existrn^^ —and we sink lower and lower
from one stage of dependence to another, till we
rest only in the independent, the absolute. Think
of finite being ; — what is it but an endless paradox
without infinite being ? Think of cause ; — yhat
does it end in, but the causa causarum, the sprin.
and source of all things. The idea of the infinite is
necessary, absolutely necessary, to perfect the full
conception of God. But this idea comes not l: 'in
without. We can never see, we can never ha,
any experience of infinite being, and yet this is
positive idea, an idea of which we feel the reality
and necessity ; yea, without which, all being were
mi a r',irado:x The finite is really the negative
idea ; it only comprehends limitation and negation,
a ^.imiLation which is uni' ersal within the regions of
our sensuous knowledge. Eut reason, taking its
start from the unite, brings us infallibly to the
infinite ; a ii ismuch as two infinites involve a
contradiction, it linds here the proof of the uni^
and thft eternitv of the first flrreal pansp. Nature

141

then, gave us a dem' rge for a Deity : reflection
now asserts his unih .atinity and eternity ; and
we have thus before us the absolute Beings without
which all thought, all creation, all nature, would be
involved in one inexplicable contradiction. As
polytheism was the prevailing sentiment under the
former conception, so pantheism appears to be on
the whole the prevailing result of the second or
metaphysical stand-point. But if there be any such
thing as truth at all, if there be any common princi-
ples on which the human reason can rest, then
assuredly the universe has a ground, or cause, and
tLat cause is self-existent, absolute, infinite, eternal.
But again, we rise into another region of proof, and
that is the moral. The only personality of which we
have any direct knowledge, is that of our own minds.
We must take mind, therefore, as a field of observa-
tiun — as a created effect, and see what we can learn
from this effect of the infinite cause. Humanity is
^ot self-created. The reason we possess is not con-
bii acted by us out of a state of unreason. If, there-
fore, it is implanted in us, then the being who im-
planted it, the Creator of the spirit, must himself
possess reason. So it is with our moral sentiments.
If there is a law of right and wrong engraven upon
our constitution . there aust have been a lawgiver.
Ail the appeals of innocence against unrighteous
force are appeals to an eternal justice, and all the
visions of moral purity are glimpses of the infinite

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excellence. In a word, if we see in iiature, in mind,
in history — if we see in every rej.'i /n of the Divine
operation, intelligence adapting means to an end ; if
we see moral sanctions expressed and implied in the
natural tendencies of human action ; if we see all
this, moreover, effected by a supreme intelligent
power, that is, a Divine will ; then from the concep-
tions we have of intelligence, moral sentiments, and
will, as existing in our own personality, we are con-
strained to regard the being from whom they all
flowed as himself a personality, in which all these
attributes exist in their fulness and perfection. And
then, at length, when we have once attained the idea
of a Divine personality, we may go back again
through all the realms of nature and existence, and
gather new delight from the infinite illustrations of
power, wisdom, and goodness, which they perpetu-
ally show forth. Thus it is, that the teleological,
the ontological, and the moral arguments, blend in
one, and mutually support each other. To extort
from nature alone, a complete proof of the Divine
personality, is throwing ourselves into a false posi-
tion, and weakening our argument by making it
prove too much. That nature has a cause, every
one who speaks intelligibly must admit. The main
object of the ontological argument, is to prove that
this cause is infinite, self-existent, one ; while that
of the moral, is to prove that he is intelligent, holy,
free. Having arrived at this point, we have whers-

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withal to ground our belief in the authority of reve-
lation. The internal and external evidences can
now both appeal to the power and purity of the
Divinity ; and then, its claim to the title of a Divine
message being once established, revelation can carry
us onwards, in our conceptions of the Divine nature,
to a still loftier elevation. Thus revelation, while
useless at the basis, may yet become the crowning
piece of our natural theology. Grive it but a pedes-
tal to rest upon, and it may lead us into the loftiest
regions of Divine knowledge, which are accessible
to humanity in its earthly state. Such is the brief
outline of what we regard to be the true nature of
the theistic argument. Were we required to point
out the region in which the whole argument is best
concentrated, we should refer to man, as himself a
living embodiment of all the evidences. If you want
argument from design, then you see in the human
frame the most perfect of all known organisation.
If you want the argument from being, then man, in
his conscious dependence, has the clearest conviction
of that independent and absolute one, on which his
own being reposes. If you want the argument from
reason and morals, then the human mind is the only
known repository of both. Man is, in fact, a micro-
cosm— a universe in himself; and whatever proof
the whole universe affords, is involved in principle
in man himself. With the image of Grod before us.

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who can doubt of the Divine type ?

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But for the stability of the properties of matter,
all the rigid calculations of the mathematician, geo-
metrician, or chemist, would utterly fail, and scien-
tific truth come to an end. We infer that heat,
light, electricity, motion, are affections of matter
which must have been when the broad foundations
of the creation were laid, since we can trace their
presence in the remotest age to which observation
may be made. Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, car-
bon, must have all had the peculiar attributes or
properties which they are at all capable of display-
ing from the very instant of their creation. "When
a phenomenon," observes M. Cousin, " presents
itself with such a character in such a circumstance,
and when, the circumstance changing, the character
of the phenomenon changing also, it follows thrit this
character is not a law of the phenomeno"^ ; for this
phenomenon can still appear, even when this cha-
racter no longer exists. But if this phenomenon
appears with the same character in a succession of
numerous and diverse cases, and even in all the
cases that fall under the observation, we hence con-
clude that this character does not pertain to such or
such a circumstance, but to the r^xif=tciice itself of
the phenomenon. Such is the process which givos
to the physical philosopher, and to the naturalist,
v/hat is called a law. Where a law has been thus
obtained by observation, that is, by the comparison
of a great number of particular cases, the mind, in

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possession of this law, transfers it from the past to
the future, and predicts that in all the analogous
circumstances that can take place, the same pheno-
mena will be produced with the same character.
This prediction is induction ; induction has, for a
necessary condition, a supposition — that of the con-
stancy of nature ; for, leave out this supposition-
admit that nature does not resemble herself, and the
night does not guarantee the coming day — the future
eludes foresight, and there no longer exists any thing
but arbitrary chance : all induction is impossible.
The supposition of the constancy )f nature is the
necessary condition of induction ; but this condition
being granted, induction, resting upon sufficient
observation, has all its force. In the moral order,
the same processes severely employed, conduct to
the same results, to laws which give to the moralist
and the historian, quite as well as to the physical
philosopher and the naturalist, the right to forsee
and to predict Ihe future." We have alluded to the
com[)osition of light as illustrative of the doctrine
which we desire to establish ; a review of Prof.
Draper's experiments afford evidence enough on
this point. Thus, in the solar spectrum, we disco-
ver that of the rays of which it is composed no one
possesses precisely the same property, as manifested
in its behaviour to other bodies ; but, on the con-
trary, each particular ray of the beam is endowed
with special power, i, e., each ray discovers itself to

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be, in its ultimate atoms, in a special state, and that
all are not under the same condition. Thus, if
we suppose the solar beam to be composed, say of
seven rays, we may imagine, by way of illustration,
the elementary monads to be diverse in each ray ;
thus each ray will always remain in that state. The
monads of which the yellow ray is composed exercise
a special effect on organisation, and induce organic
particles to assume states, and exhibit phenomena,
which they are alone capable of doing in the pre-
sence of that ray ; the capacity for the display is in
the organic particle ; the passage of the poteiitia
into actus requires that the yellow ray shou^lbe
present. If, then, we find that there necessarily exists
in our mind the idea of power, and if we discover that
the idea which we necessarily form of power is, that
it be absolute, perfect, unlimited : by a similar neces-
sity we admit the idea of the possibility of variety in
the display of power ; it may display itself in any
way, and in diverse ways. So that while the mind,
bj the completeness and perfection of the works,
seizes the oneness of the worker, it also, by the
variety in the form of the works, lays hold of dif-
ferences in the works themselves as direct proofs of
creative intervention. Creative power being ad-
mitted, the absolute perfection of that porer being
given, it follows that all creation is possible, nnd
possible only in the most comprehensive and perfect
way. In the inorganic world we behold brute mat-

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ter created with powers and properties whick are
permanent, and are as much part of its essence as
any one of the more revealed and sensible proper-
ties which it possesses. We witness chaages of form
and new arrangements of elements, accompanied by
new, or rather varied phenomena, and we attribute
the appearance of these phenomena to that change.
In organic bodies we behold like results, following
the form or differentiation of matter. Are we, there-
fore, entitled to infer the absolute oneness of all mat-
ter and material forms ? Are we, of necessity, to
limit the absolute power and perfection which has
been previously admitted, and to declare that Abso-
lute Creative Power can only create unity, without
diversity ? We certainly hs^ve no such right ; we
cannot even entertain the idea, without contradiction.
The phenomena themselves were created with the
substance, and although we cannot say how attributes
may dwell apart from substance — for the Creator
of all things is substance — it does not follow that it
was impossible to create substance which was
compound in essence, or that the simples of the com-
pound should have the ct'.pacity of existing in a
separate form. We certainly cannot understand
how th. light of the sun could exist in its purity, if
its present constitution was altered ; we think it and
speak of it as light, as one an:ent : the elements of
which it is composed co-exisi ; we may artificially
prove their separatenesa by experiment, as is shewn

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■f.

in their behaviour to other bodies ; nevertheless
their different elements are necessary to the per-
fection of a solar beam. In organic bodies we may
also have elements conjoined, which are diverse and
separate ; we hold, therefore, that there is nothing
inconsistent in the doctrine which declares an as-
cending differentiation in organic bodies, accompa-
nied both by differentiation of form and differentia-
tion in the phenomena, until at length we arrive at
a point of differentiation at which we find the inor-
ganic forms extreme, and the phenomena so differ-
entiated as to have become capable of dwelling
apart from their substance ; that boundary line at
which material and immaterial rest against each
other„ We, therefore, unhesitatingly believe tiie
form to be essential, as an evidence of differentia-
tion ; we unhesitatingly admit a Creative Power,
equal to any and every emergency, unlimited in
power, absolute in perfection, and therefore able
to create " by the power of his word, objects
which may endure for a moment, or that shall live
in an unending eternity.'" We cannot, with Archbishop
Whately, think the Creator as obliged to act within
the scope of our understanding, and in no other way ;
on the contrary, we cannot explain how he acts, but
knowing that he acts, we also idealize his capacity
for action to be without limit.

In consequence of the substitution of dynamical
tor material ideas and language, the phenomena of

149

light, heat, electricity, magnetism, motion, are almost
by common consent ranked as forces. " I have,"
says Prof. Faraday, " long held an opinion, almost
amounting to conviction, in common, I believe, with
many others — lovers of natural knowledge, that the
various forms under which the forces of matter are
made manifest, have one common origin ; or, in other
words, are so directly related and mutually depend-
ent, that they are convertible, as it were, one into
another, and possess equivalents of power in their
action." Mr. Grove, who has extended the re-
searches in this branch of science, observes, "that
the various affections of matter which constitute the
main objects of Experimental Physics, viz., heat,
light, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity, and
motion, are all correlative, or have a reciprocal de-
pendence ; that neither, taken abstractedly, can be
said to be the essential or the proximate cause of
the others ; but that either may, as o. force, produce
the others." In order to explain the idea of " cor-
relation," Dr. Carpenter states, "force A, operating
upon a certain form of matter, ceases to manifest
itself ; but B is developed in its stead." Now what
we are concerned in shewing here, is the supposed
existence of a something ah extra, or something
which, entering or operating on "a certain form
of matter," is not changed itself, but changes or
affects the matter on which it acts. We do not
mean to state this as a truth, lor we have had reason

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already to suppose that, between matter and force,
there is a correlation more striking even than that
stated by Mr. Faraday ; the affections of matter
being part of the essence of matter. Dr. Carpenter,
in his " Human Physiol )gy," remarks, " the essen-
tial nature of these two entities — mind and matter
— is such, that no relation whatever can exist
between them." Matter possesses extension, or
occupies space ; whilst mind has no such proper-
ty. On the other hand we are cognizant of mat-
ter only through its occupation of space, of which
we are informed through our senses ; we are cogni-
zant of the existence of mind by oiir direct conscious-
ness of feelings and ideas, which to us are the most
certain of all realities. But what is, perhaps, a more
important distinction, the existence of matter is
essentially passive ; left to itself, it always impresses
our consciousness in one and the same mode ; and
any change in its condition is the consequence of
external agency. V^hat have been termed the actr^t
states of matter, are really the manifestations op
Forces, of which we can conceive as having an exist-
efice independent of matter, and as having no other
relation to it than that which consists in their capa-
bility of changing its states. Thus, water continues
unchanged so long as its temperature remains the
same ; but the dynamical agency of heat occasions
that mutual repulsion between its particles, which
transforms it from a non-elastic liquid into an elastic

151

vapour ; and all that heat is given forth from it
again, when the aqueous vapour is transformed back
to the liquid state. On the other hand, the existence
of mind is essentially active ; all its states are states
of change, and we know nothing whatever of it save
by its changes. Sensations, perceptions, ideas, emo-
tions, reasoning process, &c., in fact every term
which expresses a mental state, is a designation of
a phase of mental existence which intervenes between
other phases, in the continual siiccessiori of which our
ideas: of mind consists. But whilst between matter
and mind it is utterly vain to attempt to establish
a relation of identity or analogy, a very close rela-
tion may be shewn to exist between mind and force.
For in the first place, force, like mind, can be con-
ceived of only in a state of activity ; and our idea
of it essentially consists in the succession of different
states under which its manifestations present them-
selves to our consciousness. But, secondly, our
consciousness of force is almost as direct as is that
of our mental states ; our notion of it being based
upon our internal sense of the exertion which we
determinately make to develope one form of force,
which maj be taken as the type of all the rest, viz.,
that which produces or resists motion. When we
attempt to lift a weight, or to stop a horse that is
running away, we are directly conscious of a mental
exertion, as the immediate and invariable antecedent
of the developement of motive power through the

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contraction of our muscles ; and the connexion of
the two is further established by that "sense of
effort " which we intuitively refer to the muscles
themselves, arising, as it docs, from their own condi-
tion ; and thus we are led to feel, that in this parti-
cular case, force must bo regarded as the direct
expression or manifestation of that mental state
which we call the will. The analogy becomes
stronger when we trace it into the relations which
these two agencies respectively bear to matter. For
in the phenomena of voluntary movement, we can
scarcely avoid seeing that mind is one of the dynami-
cal agencies which is capable of acting on matter ;
and that, like other such agencies, the mode of its
manifestation is alfected by the nature of the mate-
rial substratum through which its influence is exerted.
Thus the physiologist knows well that the immediate
operation of the will is not upon the muscles, but
upon the brain, wherein it exerts that active state of
nervous matter which he designates as the operation
of nerve-force, and that the propagation of this force
along the nerve trunks is the determining power.
He knows, too, that this dynamical metamorphosis is
effected — like every other analogous change — by the
intermediation of a peculiar material substratum,
which itself undergoes a change of condition; the
compounds both of the nervous and muscular sub-
stances ceasing to exist under their previous forms,
and entering into new combinations. Thus, i/ucn,

153

we have evidence, in what we know of the physiolo-
gical conditions under which mind produces motion,
that certain forms of vital force constitute the con-
necting link between the two ; and it is difficult to
see that the dyr= mical agency, which we term will,
is more removed from nerve-force, on the one hand,
than nerve-force is removed from motor force on the
other. Each, in giving origin to the next, is itself
expended, or ceases to exist as such, and each bears
in its own intensity a precise relation to that of its
antecedent and its consequent. But we have not
onl^ evidence of the excitement of nerve force by
meuial agency ; the converse is equally true, mental
activity being excited by nerve-force. For this is
the case in every act in which our consciousness is
excited through the instrumentality of the sensorium,
whether its condition be affected by impressions
made upon organs of sense, or by changes in the
state of the cerebrum itself ; a certain active condi-
tion of the nervous matter of i>.e sensoriam being —
we have reason to believe — the immediate antece-
dent of all consciousness, whether sensational or
ideational. And thus we are led to perceive, that
as the power of the will can cevclope nervous acti-
vity, and as the nerve-force cun develope mental
activity, there must be a correlation between these
two modes of dynamical agency which is not less
intimate and complete than that which exists be-
tween nerve-force, on the one hand, and electricity

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or luMit oil tli(* other. This idea ol" corrc^latioii of
Ibrces will l>o round coinplotoly to liarmoni;,;; with
those phoiionicna already referred to, which uninis-
taktMibly indicate th(» iiillucnr' f physieal conditions
in lh(^ d(»lerniination of mental states ; whilst, on
the other hand, it explains that relation between
emotional excitement and bodily ohanpje, which is
manifested in the subsidence of the former, whonit
luis ex|)en(bMl itself in the production of the latter.
And, furlluM'. it will be found no less applicable to
the explanation of all that automatic action of the
mind, which consists in the succession of ideas, iic-
cordinii' to certain "laws of thought," without die
exercise of any control or direction on the part of the
individual to whose consciousness they ])resent them-
selves, mid which manifests itself in the action of
those ideas ui)on the centres of movement. For
iliis succession must be regarded as the exponent of
a series of changes taking place in the ccrebnini
itself, in res[)oudencc to the impressions made upon
it ; whilst the motions which proceed from these
must be considered as being no less the results of
lis "rettex" operation, than are the consensual of
the rellex actions of the sensory ganglia, and the
'' excHo-motor'' of that of the spinal cord. For all
physiological purposes, then, we may consider tlio
nervous matter of the cerebrum as the material sub-
stratum through which the metamorphosis of nerve-
force into mind force, and of mind force into nerve-

165

force, is effected ; and as every sucli mctamorplioHis
involves, like other analogous translbrmationH, a
cliuiige ill the state of the matter tlirou^ii wlii(;h it
is cll'cctcd ; so sliould we expect that mental acti-
vity would involve the disintegration of the nervous
siihstauce which thus ministers to it, and such ap-
pears to be the case.

External surf Jioe, tihewing convoIutionH
of human brain.

It is obvious that the view here taken does not in
the least militate against the idea that mind may
have an existence altogether independent of the
material body, through which it here manifests
itself. All which has been contended is, that the
connexion between mind and body is such that each
has, In virtue of its constitution, a determinate rela-
tion to each other, in this present state of existence ;
and that the actions of our minds, in so far as they
are carried on without any interference of our will,

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may be considered as functiois of the cerebrum.
On the other hand, in the control and direction
which the will has the power of exerting over the
course of the thoughts, we have the evidence of a
new and independent power, which is entirely
opposed in its very nature to all the automatic ten-
dencies ; and which, according as it is habitually
exerted, tends to render the individual 21, free agent.

Now the manifest inconsistency of Dr. Carpen-
ter's views are apparent, when we contrast his argu-
ments for the independence of mind, with those
which he adduces in support of his opinions on
" Vital Force ;'' and the inconsistency is rendiere*'
yet more apparent, when viewed in connexion with
the recent opinions very ably set forth by Dr. Lay-
cock. We cannot suppose that what we ordinarily
understand as "mind," is the only spiritual part of
man that escapes dissolution ; on the contrary, there
is in his whole inner life a substantial reality— for
f>ven spiritual substances exist — which, if we our-
selves saw, we should recognise as certainly as they
did who once saw Moses and Elias in holy converse,
although in spiritual form.

Mr. Paget's observations forcibly reveal the innate
incorporate union of life and matter, and teach
us to consider the whole immaterial principle as
a real existence, rather than to isolate a portion of
that principle, and take it as the only essential part.
By such a mode of thought personality is utterly

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lost, " The characteristic property of the germ is,
that when placed in favourable circumstances, all the
materials of which it first consists, and all that it
appropriates, are developed according to the same
method as was observed in the developement of its
progenitors ; in other words, in uniformity with what
we may regard as a law of specific character. In
all the wonders of developement, none, I think,
appear more marvellous than the constancy, the
seeming tenacity of purpose with which the germ is
developed to the likeness of its parents. However
vast its power of multiplication and increase — how-
ever various its metamorphosis — however far in
some of these changes it may deviate from the form
in which its parents generated it ; however near in
some it may approach the perfect characters of ano-
ther species ; or, which is stranger still, however
much alike all germs may be in their primal struc-
ture and earliest developement, yet through all these
things, each germ moves, with unswerving progress,
guided by the same power as created its first pa-
rents, to the formation of a being in which the paren-
tal form and properties are re-produced.

" Now, the constancy of this result, and its little
dependence on external circumstances, justify the
expression that every impregnated germ has in itself
and in the properties with which its maker has en-
dowed it, the power to develope itself into the per-
fection of an appropriate specific form. However
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mysterious the nature of such properties, we cannot
deny their existence, or refuse to recognise a law
(in the sense in which we generally use that term)
in the regularity with which the power acts that
issues from them when the germ is placed in favour-
able conditions." There is here no intermediate
power standing between the Supreme Power and the
organism, but it is the created organism and what are
commonly called its attributes, which are in action ;
and surely it is not incorrect to suppose that these at-
tributes are as much part and parcel of, the reals, the
essences, of which the organism is composed, as the
" objectivised forces," which give us the material
form, and with which its Maker endowed it.

But Dr. Carpenter cannot have foreseen the full
force of his reasoning, or we are satisfied that
he would not have put his problem forward in the
shape which he has done, for it amounts to nothing
less than localising " the soul of man," the *' spiritual
man" in the cerebral ganglia. Now we have already
shewn that all the arguments and facts which estab-
lish the existence of force, mind, &c., apply equally
to vital force, and as fully prove its reality. If the
physiologist was called on to challenge the state-
ments of revealed truth, by the nature of the proofs
furnished him by organisation or organised bodies,
we might feel inclined to respect his opinions, and
to wait patiently until either enlarged observation,
or a more intimate acquaintance with tl;ie subject

169

unfolded the tmth ; but there is really in the case
before us no just grounds for doubt. The true relation-
ship which exists between the very highest forms of
organised bodies and the world around, is over and
over again expressly enunciated. In the very first
account which we have of the formation of man, is,
" that he was formed out of the dust of the earth ;"
" dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
To suppose, then, that organised beings are utterly
independent of the world, of which they are but a
part, is directly contrary to the plainest declaration
of Scripture. The simple fact that " every green
herb" was given for food, and that these were de-
pendent on the former and latter rain to enable
them to take their sustenance from the inorganic
world, is of itself sufficient to prove to us the law of
dependence which governs their respective indepen-
dent kingdoms. As we have already stated, the
doctrine of progression, from the general to the spe-
cial, is one of those laws which seems to have go-
verned creation. This law, including another which
we may call "the law of economy," discovers to
us that as inorganic elements enter into the con-
stitution of organised bodies, so the former take with
them all the properties or laws which govern them
as such, controlling, or subordinating them to those
other laws which are equally the property oi the
latter. Thus heat, light, eltctricity, magnetism,'
motion, chemical affinity, &c., forces which are

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incorporated in the inorganic world, are no
potent when displaying themselves in the organic.
The material question which we have to keep in
mind, is the extent and true nature of the connexion
or relationship which the forces of matter have to
life. In an admirable review, by Mr. Morell, of
Dr. Laycock's work, we have a very concise state-
ment which may help us on the point. He observes :
" The effective study of the nervous system takes
its starting point from the grand discovery of Sir C.
Bell, that the whole of the nerves spread in infinite
ramifications through the body, are of two different
orders, and perform two distinct but related fi^nc-
tions. One portion of them, he shewed, convey
impressions from all points in the oircumference of
the human frame to the centre ; the other portion
convey impulses from the centre to the various parts
of the circumference. The one portion, therefore,
are properly termed nerves of sensation ; the other,
nerves of motion ; the one, afferent ; the other, ef-
ferent. In this discovery we have the first idea
presented to us of the nervous system as one great
organ of action and re-action ; as the link between
the soul and the world ; the instrument by which
outward realities around us affect the mind ; and by
which the mind, as force or will, re-acts in its turn
upon the world without. For some tune it was
imagined that every nervous impression necessarily
reached the sensorium, and that every external

161

movement, therefore, was made consciously in obedi-
ence to the will. Against this view, however, many
well known facts began to raise well-founded doubts.
It was observed, for example, that in cold-blooded
animals, such as frogs and turtles, the operations of
hopping, crawling, &c., could be very well performed
for a time, after the severance of the head from the
body. This was a sufficient proof that, in their C4ise
at least, the motor impulse could not come from the
brain, but must reside in the nervous apparatus of
the spinal cord. The researches, thus commenced,
were carried systematically^ forward by Dr. Mar-
shall Hall, until it was completely established, that
in the human subject, as well as in the lower ani-
mals, there is a distinct and separate centre of ner-
vous action in the spinal cord ; and that numerous
movements take place, the origin of which is not in
the brain, nor in any of the sensory ganglia beneath
it ; but simply and solely in the spinal cord itself.
These movements, of course, are performed wholly
unconsciously (like the act of breathing in sleep or
in apoplexy) ; they are the organic response, as it
were, to certain physical stimuli, necessary equally
for the preservation and the well-being of the human
individual : in other words, they are thrown hack
from that part of the nervous system to which the
stimulus especially applies ; and on account of this
particular characteristic, have received the name of
Reflex Actions. Here, then, we see already how
decidedly the nervous system, in its unconscious

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operations, has begun to claim for itself the origina-
tion of many phenomena which were before attri-
bated to the direct effort of the mind, or the will ;
and we can judge from this fact alone how many
false observations in psychology are corrected by
the simple comprehension of the laws of reflex
activity. The phenomena of reflex action, however,
were not allowed to rest here. It was seen that the
principle, once established, in relation to the spinal
cord, might be carried out still further, and throw
light upon many other phenomena hitherto cuffi-
ciently perplexing. Dr. Carpenter took up the
investigation where it was left by Dr. Marshall Hall,
and has given us, particularly in the two last edi-
tions of his ' Human Physiology,' a very full and
detailed account of the further conclusions at which
he has since arrived. It is frequently supposed
that the spinal cord, if traced upward, communicates
immediately with the cerebrum, so that actions and
re-actions pass directly from the one into the other.

Side view of hemispheres of cerebrum
and oerebellum.

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163

This is shewn, by mere anatomy, to be erroneous.
Instead of communicating with the cerebrum, the
spinal cord is found to merge into a series of gan-
glionic masses, which form the centres of the nerves
of sensation. These sensory ganglia are not, as was
formerly supposed, mere appendages to the cere-
brum ; they are distinct cerUres of action and feeling,
analogous to the entire ' brain ' of insects and mol-
lusks, and form, therefore, in regard to their func-
tions, the subject of a distinct investigation, apart
from the spinal cord on the one side, and the cere-
bral hemispheres on the other. It is in the fuller
investigation of this second and intermediate centre
of innervation, that Dr. Carpenter has added so
materially to the elucidation of the whole subject of
cerebral physiology. The ' sensory ganglia,' as Dr.

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■'f'C • Sensory ganglia and cerebrum of human brain.

Carpenter has shewn, hold an intermediate position
a^j regards their functions, as well as their location,
between the spinal cord and the cerebrum. Like

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the intellectual and voluntary activity of the latter,
their operations are connected with consciousness ;
but, like the reflex activity of the former, they take
place without forethought, purpose, or any control
of the will. From this peculiarity they have re-
ceived the appellation of consensual actions. Many
simple examples of these actions might be readily
cited. The start produced by a loud and sudden
noise ; the contraction of the eyelids, to prevent a
too dazzling light j the act of sneezing, and the sen-
sation of tickling ; the process of sucking, in the
young of the mammalia ; these are a few of the most
familiar instances of the consensual actions — actions,
that is, bearing the double character of beirg at-
tended with consciousness on the one hand, and yet
being wholly involuntary on the other. They bear,
it will be seen, a very close resemblance to the
purely reflex actions before explained ; and indeed
may be called reflex, only with the further addition
of our being fully conscious of their existence at the
moment in which they take place. The most im-
portant conclusions drawn from the phenomena of the
consensual actions, may be summed up as follows :—
" We learn from them — 1. That many actions
are performed by us, and performed co9isciously,
which are not in any way the result of purpose,
forethought, desire, or adaptation, and which there-
fore cannot be cited as any illustrations of our vol-
untary activity.

165

2. That there exists in the mechanism of the
ia a pre-arranged system of impulses, which
urge us to the performance of various functions,
adapted to answer important purposes in the physical
economy of our being, independently of any thing
connected with our own personal will or intelligence.

" 3. A third conclusion is — that the sensory ap-
paratus is that part of our nervous system which
supplies the immediate force, not only for the ac-
tions above alluded to, but for all kinds of voluntary
action as well ; that the will itself, in fact, can only
act upon the muscular system through its interven-
tion ; that every human action, accordingly, viewed
at one remove, is really automatic, because the sen-
sory ganglia operate upon the nerves belonging to
the musculp^r system, in a mode of which we are
wholly unconscious at the time, and impel them to
certain results through an impulse blind in itself,
although set in motion by a voluntary effort derived
from the brain. This explains the reason why rapid
actions are often performed by us with a view to
certain ends, the individual movements of which we
do not at all follow with the understanding and the
will. The will only contemplates the desired end
itself; the automatic action of the sensory nerves
instinctively supplies the method of accomplishment.

" 4. Another very important conclusion is — that
the sensory apparatus, lying midway between the
impulses of the world without, and the action of the

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intellect and will within, may be set into motion,
and :hat similar motion, either by the one or the
other. For example, a sensation, and the idea of a
sensation, will often excite the very same consen-
suous movements. By thinking of a nauseous dish
which has disgusted us, we may renew all the incon-
venience we experienced from it. Many persons
faint away by imagining vividly a surgical operation.
The whole working, in fact, of the mind, and of its
ideas upon the body, receives a new light as soon
as we have well comprehended the independent
position and the automatic action of the sensory
ganglia. All the phenomena - of hypnotism ^ and
electro-biology (as it is termed) are manifestly ex-
plicable on this principle. They all point to a great
automatic centre, which can mould human action
with the most perfect adaptation to definite ends,
without being controlled by the will, and which may
be excited, moreover, to do so either by impulses
directly from without, or by strong ideas operating
downwards upon it from within.

'•5. One more point we may mention is — the
light thrown by the consensuous movements upon
the nature and philosophy of instinct. Those animals
(chiefly insects) which are, as it were, all instinct
are known to possess simply a highly perfected
sensory apparatus, without the super-addition of any
cerebrum whatever, properly so called. Hence the
rapidity, the perfection, the beauty, the adaptation

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of their movements, impelled, as they are, neither
by conscious ideas nor by volition, but by a highly
organised automatic machinery. The consensuous
movements in man are exactly analogous to this.
We perform involuntarily, and without reason or
forethought, many actions which are as complex in
their nature, and as curiously adapted to certain
ends, as does the bee when it constructs its hexa-
gonal cell, or the spider when it weaves its snares
for its enemies. Thus nearly all the instincts, both
of man and the lower animals, become, in fact, sim-
ple examples of the reflex action of the sensory
ganglia."

[All the reasoning applied, by Dr. Carpenter, to
the connexion of mind and body, applies, with equal
force, to the connexion between life and body. We
here see an elaborate system of organs, by which
the life of the being is brought into contact with the
external world. We find in the lower insects a
nervous knotted chain, running through the body of
the creature, and ministering to its sensitive actions :
in ascending developement we notice a further display
of nervous power, accompanied by an increased
complexity of organic forms : but is not all this in
obedience to that incorporate essence, which, in»
eluded in the germ, manifests itself as an active
formative power, building, as it were, the material
fabric, subordinating material forms to its own use,
and for its own ultimate good ? Not that this life-

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power is itself capable of originating or changing its
form or nature, but that, in obedience to laws or
impulses, or capacities imparted to it from the be-
ginning of its creation, it moves and appropriates,
and subordinates to itself, all that its Creator intended
that it should, and which it will continue to do until
his will is re-called. Organs and instruments it
apparently must have, under its present existence ;
but we hold it contrary to reason and sound ar-
gument, to confound the life with the organism,
or to locate in any one organ, that which has
been united as a great whole — for, that the union is
real, even Dr. Carpenter seems to admit, foi he
says, " we are led to perceive, that as the power of
the will can develope nervous activity, and as the
nerve-force can develope mental activity, there must
be a correlation between these two modes of dynami-
cal agency ;" a correlation we hold so real, that we
can no more separate them than by severing the
head from the trunk and the trunk from limbs — the
disjointed members could be taken as the living
man.]

'•These, then, are some of the conclusions which
have been drawn from the physiological investiga-
tion of this portion of our nervous system. Much
more will undoubtedly be elicited in process of time;
but what we havo already presented sufficiently
proves that, in any analysis of our complex mental
phenomena, we should be liable to many errors and

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169

false conclusions without the light that flows from
cerebral physiology ; and that, in investigating a
large number of important facts, we derive an essen-
tial service from the knowledge now possessed of
the independent action of the reflex and the consen-
sual centres of human activity.

"Whether a similar light will be thrown upon the
working of the emotions, remains to be seen. In
the highly intelligent and scientific work of Mr.
Noble on Insanity, we are directed to a series of
physiological facts bearing very closely upon the
elucidation of this part of our nature. He has there
stated various grounds for the belief, that the emo-
tional sensibility has a distinct centre amongst the
ganglia of the lower brain ; and shews that by well
adapted experiments and observations we may suc-
ceed eventually in isolating, as it were, the activity
of the emotions, jus* in the same way as Dr. Car-
penter has done with regard to the sensory appara*-
tus. If this theory be verified, we may expect a
new and most welcome light to be shed, through the
aid of physiology, accompanied by a series of well-
directed experiments, upon that portion of our men-
tal constitution, which has hitherto been marked,
even amongst professed psychologists, with the
greatest amount of indistinctness and confusion.

" To return, however, from this short digression on
the emotions, we must proceed somewhat further
with our exposition of the various centres of nervous

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action. Two have already been pointed out ; those
which originate purely reflex an^' conscious move-
ments ; and those which give rco to conscious hut
yet involuntary actions, prompted by certain guiding
sensations. It is hardly necessary now to dwell at
any length upon the third great centre of innerva-
tion, which exists in the cerebrum proper. All the
experiments of modern physiology go distinctly to
prove that the physical organ attached to the intel-
lect and the will lies here. This third centre of
nervous action, moreover, operates in perfect co-
ordination with the other two. Just as an impulse
from without passes upwards, first through the spi-
nal cord, then to the sensorium, where it becomes an
object of consciousness, and lastly, to the cerebral
hemispheres, and is there attended by the genesis of
actual ideas ; so an idea or volition, beginning its
physical career in the brain, passes down again to
the sensorium, sets the automatic apparatus in mo-
tion, and finally reacts, through the instrumentality
ot the muscular system, upon the world without;
the whole system thus shewing the most beautifiil
and harmonious co-ordination between thought itself,
the material organism through which it is conveyed,
and the order of universal nature in the midst of
which we are placed.

" "We may regard it, then, in fine, as a point in
our knowledge of humanity which has been defi-
nitely gained by the researches of modern physio-

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logy, and which can now be set down within the
region of positive fact, — ^that there are three i.iain
centres of nervous action — the spinal cord, or the
excitor-motor system ; the sensory ganglia, or the
consensuous system ; and, lastly, the cerebrum pro-
per, which is now known, as far as any direct
evidence can reach the case, to be the physical
laboratory in .vhich our notions, ideas, and volun-
tary efforts first manifest their action on the world
without.

" In the ' Elements of Psychology,' by J. D. Mo-
rel!, these conclusions, which have been recently
developed on the side of physiology, are employed
for generalising the study of mental philosophy, and
bringing it more directly into co-ordination with the
science of nature. The views there presented are
substantially as follows. Comparative physiology
has brought to light the fact that, physically speak-
ing, there is a regular progression visible throughout
all organised existence. The vegetable world exhi-
bits already the phenomena of life and growth — i. e.,
of self-developement from a primary germ in the
way of cell-formation. Proceeding upwards, we
find that the limits between the vegetable and the
animal kingdom can hardly be defined ; and that
when we once arrive definitely at the lower forms
of animal life, there is still an infinite gradation in
the structure and perfection of the nervous system,
developing one instinct and one faculty after ano-

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ther, till we come to the very limits of humanity.
Once within the region of humanity, we see the law
of progress still going forward, and exhibiting a new
series of stages, from the mere sensitive life of the
infant, up to the loftiest forms of reason and will.

"If, then, we can trace a regular progression
throughout nature, in carrying out the laws of or-
ganic life — from the first effort at cell-formation up
to the highest and most complicated cerebral machi-
nery— then, it is argued, there must be some rational
connexion running through the whole. This con-
nexion is seen in the fact, that there is a constant
tendency throughout all being to advance fronj the
more material form of existence to the more imma-
terial ; from the more instinctive regions of intelli-
gence to the more rational ; from the passive to the
active ; from the dependent to the independent ;
from complete identification with nature to the
higher life of a self-determining individual. This
law, then, which we see at work throughout nature
universally, holds good equally in the whole process
of our mental developement. The principle of life,
which acts unconsciously, though with perfect adap-
tation, in the vegetable world — which operates
blindly, according to mere instinct and impulse,
amongst the lower animals — which gives rise, not
only in them, but also in mankind as well, to reflex
activities beautifully adapted to subserve the pur-
poses of self-preservation, — this principle of lift k

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at length gifted with self-consciousness in connexion
with the superior organism of the brain, and the con-
sequent operation of the higher J acuities ; and being
gifted with self-consciousness, still proceeds onward
to the developement of the highest reason, the purest
emotions, and the most perfectly self-regulating
will. The problem of psychology, accordingly, a»
here viewed, is to shew how the laws of nature,
assuming the form of the laws of self-conscious mind,
accompany the soul onwards through the various
regions of instinct, of sensitivity, of intuitive per-
ception, of ideal representation, &c., up to the.
highest regions of reflective thought and voluntary
activity. In this way mind comes to be viewed as
an organic unity, developing successive powers like
every other organism ; and the science of mind, no
longer standing alone, takes its pls^ce in the regular
series of the natural sciences, depending for its data
upon the results of those which have gone before.

"This point of view has been taken up by Dr.
Laycock, and made the basis of renewed investiga-
tions into the functions of the brain. Starting with
the now admitted phenomena of reflex action, and
granting that such action must take its rise from the
vesicular matter of which the ganglia are composed,
he goes back one step further in the enquiry, and
asks, How or by what active principle is it that this
vesicular organism is constructed, and so constructed
as to produce such marvellous results ? How is it

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that a material machinery should exist within us
which, when set in motion by some stimulus from
without, should have all the effect of the most per-
fect contrivance and forethought? What is the
principle of intelligence by which it acts, indepen-
dent as it is of our own conscious volition ? Theories
of all kinds, he shews, have been formed in reply.
Plato, in his time, maintained the existence of a
plastic power in nature, which forms every thin^
adaptively for its position and circumstances. The
ordinary way of cutting the knot at present is by
introducing a Dens ex machincL and attributing the
constructive power and intelligence shewn bot|i in
the mechanism and functions of the ganglia and
nerves, to the direct, separate, and individualised
operation of the Deity ; which comes, in fact, to a
sort of modified doctrine of * occasmial causes J

" With these hypotheses, however, Dr. Laycock
thinks inductive philosophy/ has nothing to do. It
treats only of palpable phenomena, and the method
of their operation. It seeks to find some expression
of the laws of nature actually at work around us,
independently of any theory respecting the indivi-
dual exertion of Divine power in carrying them on.
Viewing the subject in this light, one plain fact pre-
sents itself to us, that there is inherent in the prim-
ordial cell of every organic existence, and through
all its subsequent growth, an immanent or abiding

iiuw u/ ucuci/O^cf/iciu, \Yuiuii luuuius luoiiicx iiicu lurms

176

of the most exquisite beauty, and constructs out of
it machines adapted to all the peculiar wants or
possible contingencies of the individual. Specula-
tion may account for this abiding law of plastic
activity in a variety of ways : there may be, and
have been, numerous theories as to its exact rela-
tion to the great First Cause, the all-sustaining
Mind of the universe ; but apart from speculation,
here is the fact palpably presented to us, that a
principle of life exists, and exists abidingly, in the
primary cell and its subsequent developement, which
acts at every instant of each creature's organic
growth, and acts, too, with all the effect, all the out-
ward manifestation, and all the final results, of
intelligence — that is, of complete adaptation of means
to the most desirable ends. Whether we choose to
call this a principle of intelligence or not, must, of
course, depend upon our definition of the term — i. e.,
whether or not the word ' intelligence ' ought to be
employed for any kind of activity which is unac-
companied with self-consciousness. That there is a
principle at work, however, in every atom of organ-
ised matter which produces intelligent results, is a
fact which, speculation apart, admits of no dispute.
" Having considered the plastic principle that
resides in every organism. Dr. Laycock next goes
on to shew that there must be a direct connexion
between the construction of organisms, and their use
when constructed ; and that we have no right, on
the principles of the inductive philosophy, to wander

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away into speculations, and imagine two distinct
intelligent agents, to account for these two so closely
affiliated purposes. The intelligence, for example,
that developes the ganglia in the head of the bee
from the primary insect cell-germ, must, he thinks,
be Adndamentally the same as that which prompts it
to construct a comb with the most perfect mathema-
tical proportions. Either we must attribute both
processes to an extraneous power, which renders
the bee simply a living machine, or we must attri-
bute them both to an immanent principle, that
operates without self-consciousness, indeed, yet
individually, in each separate organism. \

" The operations or functions, then, of what we
may term the unconscious principle of intelligence in
organic nature, may be summed up in a few words :
— 1. It moulds matter into living organisms accord-
ing to a fixed, pre-determined plan, and yet adapts
them by the most certain intuitive logic to the pur-
poses for which they are constructed. 2. It moves
and regulates these living machines, according to
fixed and unchanging sequences, in such a way as to
promote the welfare and continued existence of the
individual. 3. In animals endowed with self-con-
sciousness—that is, in man — it acts upon the vesicu-
lar matter of the brain, and excites changes there ;
the results of which changes, when presented to the
consciousness, constitute some of the most important
phenomena of thought.

" The next step, according to Dr. Laycock (after

177

this elucidation of what he has termed the uncon-
scious principle of intelligence), is to shew the rela-
tion which this unconscious principle bears to the
conscious mind. Are we to regard them as two
distinct intelligent agents ; or can we identify them
as being really and fundamentally one and the same ?
To this question Dr. Laycock has addressed himself
at some length, and shews with great skill that it is
impossible to separate into two categories the gan-
glionic formations, which subserve the instinctive
life of men and animals, and the cerebral formations,
which subserve conscious intelligence. He has
proved, in fact, that the brain is, strictly speaking,
a large ganglionic centre, only superior to the rest ;
that it is subject to the same laws of developement
and growth ; that it accumulates substrata, and,
consequently, power of function, in the same way as
the rest of the nervous system ; that it responds to
stimuli in the same manner, and is strictly subject to
reflex actions ; — in brief, ' that the two forms of
mental manifestation — the voluntary and the invo-
luntary— ^have a common origin and a common sub-
stratum, and that the human mind is none other than
the unconsciously working principle of intelligence
individualised, become conscious of its own workings
in the cerebrum, and deriving its ideas from its own
I' constructive or material changes in the organ of mind. ^
"In the views thus put forward by Dr. Laycock,
we certainly see the most complete co-ordination

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established between psychology and physiology in
the widest extent. All the facts and laws of physi-
ology, beginning with the simplest notions of cell-
formation, are brouglit into play, and then traced
upwards in one direct line of progression, till we
are landed amidst the most remarkable phenomena
of mind and the general laws of its operation. Whe-
ther all the particular conclusions which Dr. Lay-
cock has drawn, in his analysis of the subject, are
correct, it can hardly be our object here to examine.
The point we are most anxious to notice is, the new
direction which this kind of research must inevita-
bly give to psychology as a science, in extei^ding
the operations of mind beyond the limits of consci-
ousness, and thus drawing the activity of the soul
and the activities of nature into one broad and sci-
entific generalisation. Doubtless, it will require
both time and labour to work out this generalisation,
but no system of psychology can henceforth prove
satisfactory that does not at least attempt to solve
the problem thus arrived at, and to interpret the
numerous phenomena which bear so directly upon it.
" When all the direct correspondences of the soul
and the world shall have been explored, we shall
not then be at the complete termination of our re-
search ; for our enquiries lead us insensibly onwards
to the primary cause as well as the final goal of
human reason, and to the problem of human destiny,
in connexion with that great all-pervading Inteili-

179

gence by which the pre-established order of the
conscious and unconscious universe has been itself
arranged from the beginning. If intelligence grows
and expands through the perpetual adjustment of
mind with nature, then must it not reach up at last
to that primaeval Intelligence by which the law of
life has been planned and sent forth upon its mis-
sion ? And if we can identify instinct as the early
twilight of reason, cannot we follow out the same
law of progress, so as to identify human reason itself
in its present form as the twilight only of a still
higher form of existence ? These are questions to
which psychology at present only distantly and
indistinctly points us ; but stranu,e indeed would it
be if the more complete comprehension of mental
phenomena should be found ultimately destructive
to the best aspirations and the most purifying faith
of our spiritual nature. For ourselves, we believe
that while it sweeps away many narrow and noxious
superstitions, it will leave the great pillars of our
moral conviction and our human hopes more firmly
than ever rooted in the analogies of reason, and the
obvious tendencies of human life."

How different is the foregoing from the doctrine
of Dr. Carpenter — "admit that there is a peculiar
substratum, necessary for the manifestation of spe-
cial forms of force ;" or, with Dr. Williams, that
"there is some mysterious relation between the
sJiape and the substance, between the material and

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the form;" yet we must still have an incorporate
principle, an essence which is not matter, but yet
dwells within matter : we must, too, keep in view
the fact that it is with the whole nature of the beinji;
that we have to deal, and not with isolated portions
of that being ; and, speaking of man, it is the yfhuk
man — body, soul, and spirit — that we must include in
our reasoning, as to his nature and connexion with
the world. Tba' \>. Carpenter has mis-stated the
case, and altrj^etber ignored the independence o!
life, imd u'-ntified it with other forces, is evident
enough from the language employed by Dr. Wil-
liams, and already referred to ; and it is on, this
very account that we are the more desirous to en-
deavour to discover the truth, and set it in its true
light. In the first place, we may direct attention to
the fact, that there is a very great difference between
the correlation of forces, and the " convertibility of
forces ;" and yet this is the very complication into
which the question has been thrown. Now no one
could have been more particular or guarded in Ms
language than Mattenci, who has wrought out so
much for us in this branch of scientific enquiry ; and
how do we find him stating the doctrine ? In speak-
xg of nex ve-force, he says, " This unknown force of
the nervous system is, therefore, not electricity, and
still less is it the electric current. But what con-
nexion exists between it and electricity, or the elec-
tric current ?

181

In order to reply to these questions, we may sum
up, that there exists, between electricity and the
nerve-force, an analogy which, if it does not possess
the same degree of evidence, is, however, of the
same kind as those analogies which we know to
exist between caloric, light, and electricity. We
have seen, when speaking '' the phenomena pre-
sented by electric iishes, that th. faculty which they
possess of producing electricity, i- obedient to the
nervous system. There is, then, i. those anmals,
a peculiar organic structure, su ji an arrange ment of
parts, that, by an act of the ner\ ous tree, they can
develope the electric fluid. A crystal of tourmaline,
when heated, developes electricity .id from this fact
we assume that between caloric aii jlectricity there
exists a moio or less intimate relat n. The pheno-
mena which we have observed in ctrical fishes,
prove that a link of the sanae naturi iiites the ner-
vous force and electricity. Electri ty is not the
nervous force, nor is caloric electricity. The latter
is derived from caloric, in consequence '>f the form
of the integral molecules of the tourmaiine ; (?) the
nervous is transformed into electricity, under the
influence of the peculiar structure of the organs of
the electric fishes. We conclude, therefore, that
the great physical agents, caloric, light, electricity,
and molecular attraction, act on living beings as well
as on all bodies of nature, and that their action must
necessarily be influential in the production of the

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functions peculiar to these beings ; that these forces,
when acting on organised matter, have their general
mode of action modified^ and that this difference is
owing to a diversity in the structure and mechanical
composition of organised bodies ; that there is
ALSO m LIVING BEINGS phenomena, which we call
Vital ; that these are numerous and of the highest
importance, and that in the present state of science
we are unable to explain how their production can
be influenced by physical agents, though the action
of these be modified hj the organism.

Do the observations and experiments, on which
the doctrine of the "convertibility" offeree rests,
warrant the conclusions to which our authors have
come ? We will endeavour to discover.

We may briefly allude to the account of the
action of light on the vegetable germ, as detailed by
Dr. Carpenter, and as also given by Prof. Draper :
— " If we expose some spring water to the sunshine,
though it may have been clear and transparent at
first, it presently begins to assume a greenish tint ;
and after awhile flocks of green matter collect on the
sides of the vessel in which it is contained. On
these flocks, whenever the sun is shining, bubbles of
gas may be seen, which, if collected, prove to be a
mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, the proportion of
the two being variable. Meanwhile the green mat-
ter rapidly grows ; its new parts, as they are deve-
loped, being all day long covered with air-bells,

183

which disappear as soon as the suu has set. If these
observations be made upon a stream of water, the
current of which runs slowly, it will be discovered
that the green matter serves as food for thousands
of aquatic insects, which make their habitations in
it. These insects are endowed with powers of rapid
locomotion, and possess a highly organised struc-
ture ; in their turn they fall a prey to the fishes
which frequent such streams." Such is th.- 'general
succession of nutritive actions in the organised crea-
tion. The highest animal is either directly depend-
ent upon the vegetable kingdom for the materials of
its fabric, or it is furnished with these by some other
animal, this again (it may be) by another, and so
on ; the last in the series being always necessitated
to find its support in the vegetable kingdom, since
the animal does not possess the power of causing the
inorganic elements to unite into even the simplest
organic compound. This power is possessed in a
high degree by plants ; but it can be only exercised
under the influence of light, which is, therefore, the
prime agent on which all the phenomena of life
depend.

" The green matter of Priestley, which liiakes its
appearance when water of average purity is sub-
mitted to the action of the sun's light, and which also
presents itself on the surface of walls and rocks that
are constantly kept damp, is now known by botan-
ists to consist of cells, in various stages of develope-

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ment, — the early forms, it may be, of several dif-
ferent species of confervse. That these cells all
originate from germs, and not from any direct com-
bination of the inorganic elements, appears not only
from general considerations, but also from the fact
that, if measures be taken to free the water entirely
from any possible infusion of organic matter, and to
admit into contact with it such air alone as has un-
dergone a similar purification, no green flocks make
their appearance, under the prolonged influence of the
strongest sun-light. We find, then, that the presence
of a germ is one of the conditions indispensable to
tlie new production in question." And to this cbn-
clusion every physiologist has at length satisfactorily
arrived ; we have, therefore, two great facts admit-
ted, first, the necessity of their being present not
only " a germ," but a living germ, on which light
may act ; second, that each kingdom of nature is
related the one to the other, although they are also
independent.

With regard to the action of light on organisation,
it may be legitimately stated that, so far from its
action being modified, we, on the contrary, from
direct experiment, ascertain that, of the agents of
which it is composed, some would appear to exer-
cise a special influence on the growth of plants, and,
no doubt, on animals ; while others are destined for
the purposes of vision, &c., &c. It is, therefore, un-
doubtedly true, that light, as a force, or some of its

186

elements, are necessary to enable the germ of an
organised being to develope itself ; but is it true
that the " yellow ray, falling on this germ, is so
modified as to be converted into life," by the substra-
tum through which it passes. We have already
shewn that there is no reason whatever for receiving
this doctrine.

Reverting to the illustration which has been given
by Dr. Carpenter, viz., " that force A., operating
upon a certain form of matter, ceases to manifest
itself, but B. is developed in its stead ;" and, as an
example, states the circumstances attendant on the
states which water assumes under different degrees
of temperature. If we analyse the phenomena
and interpret them truly, we shall not be content, it
is believed, to use the expression " developed in its
stead ;" on the contrary, we can only legitimately
say, " another mode of force is induced ;" thus, we
may take as examples, the metals lead and iron, and
the liquids water and bi-sulphuret of carbon, and
the gases which have been liquified.

In taking the solids into consideration, it will be
admitted that they are fused at different tempera-
tures, but the same solid is always fused at the same
temperature. In the same manner, all liquids which,
by the loss of heat, are converted into solids, have a
certain point — the same for each liquid, but different
for different liquids — at which they pass into the
solid form. If we take the experiments already

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prepared for us, and very succinctly narrated by
Dr. Lardner, we have apt illustrations of the pheno-
mena at once, although we cannot accept the expla-
nation which he offers. ' ' Let us suppose that a mass
office or snow, at the temperature of 20°, is placed in
a vessel and immersed in a bath of quicksilver, under
which spirit lamps are placed. Let one thermome-
ter be immersed in the ice or snow, and another in
the mercury. Let the number and force of the
lamps be so regulated, that the thermometer in the
mercury shall indicate the uniform temperature of
200°. The mercury imparting heat to the vessel
containing the ice, will first cause the ice to rise
from 20° to 32°, which will be indicated by the
thermometer immersed in the ice ; but when that
thermometer has risen to 32°, it will become sta-
tionary, and the ice will begin to be liquified. This
process of liquifaction will continue for a considera-
ble time, during which the thermometer will continue
to stand at 32° ; at the moment that the last portion
of ice is liquified, it will again begin to rise." The
coincidence of this elevation with the completion of
the liquifaction may be easily observed, because ice
being lighter — bulk for bulk — than water, will float
on the surface, and so long as a particle of it remains
unmelted, it will be visible.

'' It is evident," remarks Dr. Lardner, " that dur-
ing this process, the mercury maintained at 200°,
constantly imparts heat to the ice: yet, from the

187

moment the liquifaction begins, until it is completed,
no increase of temperature is exhibited by the ther-
mmeter immersed in the iceJ' Mr. Grove refers to
this illustration in support of his opinions. But what
is evidently the true interpretation of the pheno-
mena, for certainly Dr. Lardner's account is by no
means satisfactory, nor do we believe Mr. Grove's
to be more so.

In order to give a correct explanation, we shall
first refer to the table of diathermanous bodies ;
there we learn that of all liquids, water is the least
diathermanous, and water in a state of congela-
tion much less so than in the liquid state. Now
it cannot be said that the mercury, maintained at
200° constantly, imparts heat to the ice, i. e., in the
sense used by the author ; for it is to be borne in
mind that the imparted heat does not penetrate the
lump or mass of ice, but acts only on the surface,
so that not a single atom of heat, or, rather, the
rays of heat do not reach the thermometer until
liquifaction has actually taken place. We have, there-
fore, to look to the melted ice or ivater for the amount
of imparted heat said to be rendered latent, — recol-
lecting that frozen water is diathermanous — refusing
to admit the rays of heat through its frozen
mass. We can have no difficulty in shewing that
the particles have not been in a state of repulsion
in the area of the thermometer ; but not so with the
water, which has collected in the liquid form from

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the surface of the ice. This is proved by another
experiment. " Let us suppose that a vessel, con-
taining water at 60°, is immersed in a bath of mer-
cury at the temperature of 60° below the freezing
point. If one thermometer be immersed in the
mercury, and another in the water, thejormer will
gradually rise, and the latter fall, until the latter
indicates 32°. This thermometer will then become
stationary, and the water will begin to freeze;
meanwhile the thermometer immersed in the mer-
cury will still rise, proving that the water — while it
freezes — continually imparts heat to the mercury,
although the thermometer immersed in the freezing
water does not fall. When the congelation is com-
pleted, and the whole quantity of water is reduced
to the solid state, then, and not until then, the ther-
mometer immersed in the ice will again begin to
fall. The thermometer immersed in the mercury
will rise without interruption, until the two thermo-
meters meet at some temperature below 32°." Here
we have the one thermometer immersed at a tem-
perature of 60° or 31° above freezing, while the
second is in the mercurial bath (itself containing the
water bath) at 60° below freezing ; the consequence
is, that the one which is in the mercury will rise,
while the one in the water falls until it registers 32°,
the freezing point of the water, when it ceases to
fall ; but the other thermometer still rises. Now in
this case we cannot understand how what is called

189

latent heat explains the phenomena ; on the con-
trary, we rather think that latent heat has nothing
to do with it, and the whole answer is contained in
the relative capacity of the two liquids for heat,
their conditions being the same, i. e., both being
exposed to the same atmospheric pressure. Water,
at the temperature of 32°, changes from the liquid
to the solid state, particularly if it be subjected to
the slightest agitation ; although, as the thermometer
shows, if the water be perfectly still, a lower tem-
perature, and therefore less heat, will be amongst
its particles. Mercury has a much larger range,
freezing at 40° below zero, and boiling at 662°. It
is highly sensitive to change of temperature, dilating
with promptitude by the same increments of heat
with great regularity, and a smaller quantity of heat
produces in it a greater dilatation than in most other
liquids. It is evident, therefore, that as water freezes
at 32°, assuming the solid form, and being tl' ^ least
diiithermanous body, the thermometer which rests on
it will not fall below 32°, for the volume of water
around the ice, which has not yet frozen, is still
imparting heat to the mercury, as the thermometer
shews. When the heat has passed /ro;w the water in
the trough, sufficiently to reduce the whole to the state
of ice, then, and not till then, will the thermometer
on the ice begin to fall a second time ; for the
simple reason that the temperature throughout

the mass of ice — now one homogeneous solid — is
2 A

190

the same, and the actual heat which is in it, mea-
sured at 32°, passes still on to the mercury, which
will continue to abstract it, (as it does not freeze
many degrees yet lower,) until both thermometers
stand below 32°. How this case can be taken as an
illustration of the latency of heat, we cannot con-
ceive. But neither can it, we believe, be put
forward as an illustration of the doctrine of the
convertibility of forces. Again, referring to the
order in which the phenomena succeed each other,
we find that water, under a certain degree of pres-
sure, at the temperature of 32°, passes from the
liquid to the solid state. Experiment further de-
clares that, at the temperature of 32°, there is yet
remaining in the solidified water or ice, a further
quantity of actual heat, provided that the ice be in
contact with a body colder than itself. At the tem-
perature of 32°, therefore, in the case of water, the
quantity of heat now surrounding the particles of
water is not enough to maintain their repulsion as
a liquid, consequently they undergo a change some-
what like crystalization : if it be so, and the whole
assumes the solid form, the presence, then, of
new forces has hence been necessitated or induced,
without the original force having departed or
been changed ; for we first have motion amongst the
particles of water on the reduction of the heat to
32°, and then congelation ; yet we must recollect
that heat is still present in the ice, and may be even

V '

191

further withdrawn below 32°. Hence it is we infer
that a relati'^nship does really exist amongst the
respective fOx jes, which are nevertheless distinct ;
and that although it may be true that, in some cases,
one force may take the place of another, yet, as a
general rule, it may be said that one force necessi-
tates the presence of another, or even of more forces.
Mr. Grove views heat simply as "a molecular
repulsive power," which is communicable by conti-
guity or proximity.

Without going too far into an examination of this
question, we may cite the very beautiful and instruc-
tive experiments of Prof. Draper, "on tithonized
chlorine." " In two similar white glass tubes
place equal volumes of chlorine, which has been
made from peroxide of manganese and muriatic
acid, by lamp-light, and carefully screened frmn access
of day-light. Expose one of the tubes to the full
sunbeams for some minutes, or, if the light be feeble,
for a quarter of an hour ; the chlorine which is in it
becomes tithonized. Keep the other tube, during
this time, carefully in a dark place j and now, by
lamp-light, add to both equal volumes of hydrogen
gas. These processes are best carried on in a small
porcelain or earthenware trough, filled with a satu-
rated solution of common salt, which dissolves
chlorine slowly, and, to avoid explosions, operate
on limited quantities of the gases. The two tubes
now contain the same gaseous mixture, and only

i^^

i!liJ||i:

1 1 a ;i

192

differ in the circumstance that one is tithonized, the
other not. Place them, therefore, side by side
before a window, through which the entrance of
daylight can be effected by opening the shutter;
and now, if this part of the process be conducted
properly, it will be seen that the tithonized chlorine
commences to unite with the hydrogen, and the salt
water rises in that tube. But the untithonized
chlorine shews no disposition to unite with its hydro-
gen, and the liquid in its tube remains motionless
for a long time. Finally, as it becomes slowly
tithonized, by the action of the daylight impinging
on it, union at last takes place. From this, there-
fore, we perceive that chlorine, which has been
exposed to the sun, will unite promptly and ener-
getically with hydrogen ; but that chlorine, which
has been made and kept in the dark, shews no such
property." This effect is not transient. We must
divest the mind of the impression that heat is in
itself a substantial reality, when we find such qua-
lities resulting from it ; for we have here the mat-
ter of space in a heated state —and we so far differ
from Prof. Draper's opinion — as to their being any
absorption of the tithonic rays, that we imagine that
the phenomena may be much more satisfactorily
explained by referring them to the action of cata
lysis. The more we examine the illustrations Mr.
Grove has given, the more conclusive does his rea-
sonmg appear : ne says, lue enecis oi wMt we can

103

heat are simply an e.^pansk )f tba iMHtr n^ted on,
and the matter so expande Uas th power of com-
municating expansion to . rtain »tiier bodies in
contiguity to it — if the body be u solid, iron ; a
liquid, water ; or a gas, say atmospheric air — each
of these passing into the heated state, is expanded
in every direction : in the two former cases, by con-
tinuing the contact or contiguity for a certain time,
a change is produced in the physical character of
the substance, the solid becomes liquified, the liquid
may be vapourized, &c., &c. These, however, are
still nothing more than instances of expansion, and,
in the case of a gas, and water also, the expansion
becomes rapidly and indefinitely greater. Now
what is, in fact, done, in order to heat a substance ?
It is merely approximated to some other body that is
in a heated state : but, in order to continue this condi-
tion, it is essential that the body continue in that state,
and in proportion to the expansion or motion is the
manifestation of the phenomena of heat ; and thus
we find heat and motion co-existing. We cer-
tainly fail to discover any thing in the behaviour of
heated bodies which gives any real support to the
very novel theory of conversion ; and thus, when
we appeal to another source for information — an
organised body — we receive even more convincing
arguments against it. The seed, for example.
We have most of us either seen or heard of wheat
raised from grains taken from the hand of an

'i ^

? (

194

Egyptian mummy. What preserved those grains
from decay ? We answer, the fact of its contain-
ing within itself — as part ol the very essence
of its constitution — the power — life — the capa-
city to develope and to disijlay vital phenomena
— a power and capacity implanted in its substance
and form at the very instant of its creation.
The late illustrious British philosopher, John Hunter,
whose acute perception enabled him to grasp almost
intuitively the most complicated problems of natural
history and physiology, long ago pointed to the egg
as illustrative of the fact that the phenomena which
we denominate vital, are given to certain forjiis ol
matter in a general and special manner ; and he
clearly recognised the relationship which exists
between vital and physical forces, and of these,
particularly motion. His remarks on this point,
made at so comparatively remote a period, would
no doubt be hailed by Mr. Grrove as particularly
advantageous to his views. And, indeed, so late as
1835, Mr. Palmer, editor ot Hunter's works, ob-
served that " it is considered by many, and perhaps
truly, that we are not yet prepared for a general-
isation of so high a kind, or, at least, that it would
be more convenient for the analysis of vital pheno-
mena to consider life as made up of several princi-
ples, differing in their nature." And a second note,
added by Mr. Palmer, still further shews how cer=

11 r.

TT i..

lami^ mr. nuuier uuu uuucipateu pnysioiogisis

lU

196

the doctrine of " a general vital force," or, "the
unity of the principle of life," the modifications of
life being accompanied by a differentiation nj tlie
organism. " All matter," observes Mr. Hunter,
"is endowed with a principle called, in common
laDguage, life. This principle is conceived of with
more difificultv than any other in nature, which
arises in its being more complex in its effects than
any other ; but although life may appear very com-
pound in its effects in a complicated animal like man^
it is as simple in him as m the most simple animal,
and is reducible to one simple property in every
animal. Animal matter mav bo in two states ; in
one it is endowed with the living principle, in the
other it is deprived of it. From this it appears that
the principle called life cannot arise from the pecu-
liar modijication of matter, because the same modifi-
cation exists where this principle is no more. Life
appears to be something superadded to this peculiar
modification of matter ; or this peculiar modification
of matter is so arranged that the principle of life
arises out of the arrangement, and this peculiar
disposition of parts may be destroyed, and still the
modification from which it is called animal matter
remain the same. If the latter be the true explana-
tion, this arrangement of parts, on which life should
depend, would not be that position of pavts necessary
to the formation of a whole part or organ, for that is
probably a mechanical, or, at least, organical ar-

\ :

t I

196

is» -ia*-! '.

rangement ; but just a peculiar arrangement of the
most simple particles, giving rise to a principle of
preservation, so that matter so arranged could not
undergo any destructive change till this arrangement
was destroyed, which is death.

" This simple principle of life can with difficulty
be conceived : but to shew that matter may take on
new properties, without being altered in itself as to
the species of matter, it may not be improper to
illustrate this idea by such acquirements in other
matter. Perhaps magnetism affords the best illus-
tration we can give of this. A. bar of iron without
magnetism may be considered like animal matter
without life : set it upright, and it acquires a new
property, of attraction and repulsion, at its different
ends. Now is this any substance added ? or is it a
certain change which takes place in the arrangement
of particles of iron, giving it this property ? It was
not sufficient that animal matter should be endowed
with this first principle — the principle of preserva-
tion— it was necessary that it should have action or
motion within itself. This does not necessarily arise
out of the arrangement for preservation ; on the
other hand, the arrangement for preservation, which
is life, becomes the principle of action — not the power
of action — for the power of action is one step fur-
ther. The power of action must arise from a parti-
cular position of those living parts, for, before action
can take place, the matter must be arranged with

197

this view. This is generally effected by the union
of two or more living parts, so united as to allow of
motion in each other, which motion the principle of
action is capable of effecting when so disposed. A
number of these simple acting parts make, united,
a muscular fibre : when a number of these are put
together they form a muscle, which, joined with
other kinds of animal matter, as tendon, ligament,
composes what may be called an organ. Then, too,
by the arrangement of living particles, the other
organs of the body are formed, their various dispo-
sitions and actions depending on the nature of the
arrangement, for action is not confined to muscle ;
the nerves also have action, arising from the arrange-
ment of the living particle. The principle of life has
been compared to a watch or the moving powers of
other machinery ; but its mode of existence is en-
tirely different. In a machine, the power is only
the cause of the first movement or action, and there-
by becomes the remote cause of the second, third,
&c. ; but this is not the case with an animal ; animal
matter has a principle ot action in every part inde-
pendent of the others, and whenever the action of
one part — which is always the effect of the living
principle — becomes the cause of an action in ano-
ther, it is by stimulating the living principle of that
other part ; the action in the second part being as
much the effect of the living principle of that part, as

the action of the first was of the living principle in it.

2 n

rilb

198

iV

■liii

r^

i.t

II !■ ,'•>

The living principle, the ;, is the immediate cause
of action in every part ; it is, therefore, essential to
every part, and is as much the property of it as
gravity is of every particle of matter composing th
whole. Every individual particle of the animal
matter, then, is possessed of life, and the least ima-
ginable part which we can separate, is as much alive
as the whole. A fresh egg is a body which, it must
be allo^ved, has no vital action ; yet an egg is as much
alive as an animal ; thus, I observed, that whenever
an egg was hatched, the yelk which was not dimin-
ished in the term of incubation remains sweet to the
last, and that part of the albumen which wa& not
employed in the growth of the chick, was perfectly
sweet some days before the hatching, though both
had been kept at a temperature of 103°, in a hen's
nest, for three weeks. But if the egg did not batch,
it became putrid in the same time that other dead
animal matter does. These observations, made bv
Mr. Hunter, nearly a century ago, certainly seem
to be much nearer the truth than the doctrines ad-
vanced by his successors, and, coupled with those
which have been very lately put forth by Dr. Lay-
cock, are exceedingly valuable ; and, as Dr. Laycock
no where alludes to Hunter's opinions, we may rea-
sonably conclude that his opinions have been formed
independently. We can discover no difFerence be-
tween the great father of British surgery and ana-
tomy— who declared " life" to be as simple in man

as an une:

199

as in the most simple animal, and " that it is reduci-
ble to one simple property in every animal," — and
tho Edinburgh Professor, who declares that "The
principle of life, which acts unconsciously, though
with perfect adaptation in the vegetable world ;
which operates blindly, according to mere instinct
and impulse, amongst the lower animals ; which
gives rise, not only in them, but also in mankind as
well, to reflex activities, beautifully adapted to serve
the purposes of self-preservation. That this principle
of life is at length gifted with self-consciousness, in
conmxion with a superior organism of the brain, and
the consequent operation of the higher faculties :
and being gifted with self-consciousness, still pro-
ceeds onwards to the developement of the highest
reason, the purest emotions, and the most perfectly
self-regulating will."

Later observations very strongly confirm these
views, for Dr. Williams, of Swansea, remarks that
" In the animal series, the fluids and the solids exhi-
bit a never-var^ ing relation to each other. Where
the machinery of the latter is of low standard, the
former is simple in chemical and vital composition.
As new organs are added to the organism in the
zoological series, so new principles or elements are
developed in the fluids, and conversely as the scale
is descended. This proposition was discussed at
length in former papers. Of course it is not given
as an unexceptionable rule. Thus expressed, it

^ri

I )

200

may probably, as details of structures are more and
more amassed by special and improved observation,
come to wear too absolute a form. It was th'en
stated that, in going down the series, the disappear-
ance of an organ, or a system of organs, from the
solids, implied necessarily the cessation in the fluids
of those products which such an organ or system
was designed to elaborate. But another method of
descensive simplification was then also explained.
It was shewn that even the ultimate histological
elements grew more and more simple. This idea is
supported by the history of the muscle and nerve
tissue in the scale. It is self-evident that the« bile
of an annelid or an echinoderm cannot be so com-
plex a fluid as the bile of a mammal ; because, first,
the biliary organ in the former instances, by which
that bile is secreted, is more simple than it is in the
latter ; and secondly, because the fluid from which
that organ draws the product of its action is more
simple. This argument applies with equal force to
all the solid systems of the body. As the animal
chain is histologically traced downwards, it is found
that the higher class of tissues disappear more and
more, and that the less endowed elements acquire a
greater and greater predominance in the organism.
Of the general truth of these views, thus recapitu-
lated after much subsequent study and observation,
the author is still convinced.

" The system of the fluids does not constitute, in

fiTfirptinn nnrj

f

201

the zoological series, an independent chain. A study
of this system, apart from its connexions, would lead
to no useful results. Viewing it in its reciprocal
relations with that of the solids, an intelligent ob-
server cannot ascend or descend a step without
acquiring a new idea or seizing a new principle.
The fluids act and are acted upon ; this is also true
of the parenchyma. The reciprocity is an endless
tangle. No one point more than another can be
signalised as the beginning or the end of a succes-
sion. This difficulty renders the present enquiry
both long and involved.

" Out of one common source — the fluids — diflfer-
ent solids are moulded in the lowest as in the highest
organisms. In this process of appropriation the fluids
are passive, the solids are active and positive. (?)*

Take corresponding parts of the same organ from
ascaris lumbricoides of the sheep, and note the
extraordinary fact that beneath an exterior of per-
fectly similar conformation there lies a singular
histological difference. " The testis of the male
has the same general conformation as one of the
tubular ovaries of the female. Both commence in a
slender caecal tube, which slowly grows larger and
thicker until it reaches a dilated portion, which in
the female is the uterus, tig. 14 f^ (Nelson) ; Eiweiss-

* This ia pure assumption, for there is reason to believe that both fluids
and solids are, as living structures, active and positive ; the history of
excretion and secretion proves this, and the preceeding paragraphs by Dr.
Williams.

M

! !

202

1

' t

■ ■ ■ ' • . vi

W it

i

schlauch (Meissner) ; in the male, the vesicula semi-
nalis (Nelson), fig. 15 h. Dr. Nelson has most accu-
rately described the female organ, but neither he nor
Meissner alludes to the following interesting peculi-
arity in the structure of the male organ. If the
lining membrane of the male and female organ be
compared stage for stage, commencing at the fine
caecal end, and ending at the dilated portion, it
will be found that at the first stage (that at which
the germinal vesicle is formed in the female, the
nucleus of the sperm-cell in the male) the mucous
or lining membrane is precisely the same in both ;
at the second (corresponding with the " Dotter-
stock" of Meissner, and the Yitellarium of Nelson)
the lining cells of the membrane in the female
tube have increased in size, but are still oval
in form, having a very conspicuous nucleus ; in
the male tube they have a very distinct pyriform
shape, being attached to the sides of the tube
endwise, forming thus a villous coating ; at the
third stage (uterus, Nelson : Eiweiss-schlauch,
Meissner) the two series of cells are found to have
diverged from each other to a remarkable degree
(compare a", fig. 14, with b", fig. 15). In the female
series {a", fig. 14), the cells have deviated little from
their original form ; they are still large elliptical
bodies, having a very evident clear nucleus in the
centre, the space between it and the involucrum
being filled with granules. In the male tube, at the
same stage, the cells have acquired an extraordinary

203

spider-like form. The nucleus is so small as scarcely
to be detected, but the membrane of the cell-wall
{b'\ fig. 15) has thrown out singular pseudopod-like

processes, which, when the
cells are in situ, mat them-
selves together into a thick
felt with those of the adjoin-
ing cells. These processes
are hollow, and contain the
same granules as those which
are seen in the centre of the
cell. Higher up in the tube
they are projected only from

Cells of the mucous lining of "^ ^ "^ ''

the female (fig. 14) and male one Side of the CCll. ThuS, aS
(fig. 15) generative tubes of

Aicaris lumbricoides of sheep, the generative tubc Is traccd

a. Uterus of female, laid open,

shewing the large ova-like QOWnwards, thCJ gradually
cells on the internal surface. . ,.. .

At a^% a few of these cells grow from the pair-liko into

are represented, still further . ■,■,•■,

magnified. the crab-likc form.

b. Seminal vesicle of male, ,, mi n i« i
opened, in order to shew the ihCSC CCUS rCSpCCtlVely
peculiar cells by which it is ,•, . ,i i .

Uned. At 6'^ two or three COUStltute the produClUg Or
cells, enlarged. , , . . • ,i ■,

stromatous tissue m the male
and female generative tubes. They demonstrate
two directly opposite modes of growth in cells — one
centripetal, the other centrifugal — one in which the
nucleus and contents increase, the other in which,
at the expense of the nucleus and contents, the cell-
membrane acquires a considerable developement.
"They shew that from a common starting-point
two series of cells, produced by tubes of apparently

.»

\ !

204

li

.hi ■ 1 •

i 14]

the same precise structure, and by one and the same
nutritive fluid, may yet conceal beneath identical
exteriors fori itive powers capable of impelling
them, in the march of growth, towards twc ividely-
separated destinations. Such facts convey to the
physiologist, though distant, yet correct conceptions
as to the nature of the ' vital force.' Certain ele-
ments of the blood pass through a simple membrane,
yet in one case they emerge as the germ, in the
other as the sperm-fluid ! But how remarkable it is
that the fluids of the lowest animal should be endow-
ed with the same histomorphic power as those of the
highest ! In both cases, a plain incomplex membri'ne
attracts a protoplasm out of the fluids which cellu-
lales into the same germinal vesicles ! It follows,
that in one sense the fluids of the lowest animal are
equal to those of the highest — that the same elements
are present in both. When the physiologist has
acquired a correct knowledge as to the number and
variety of solid organised parts which the fluids in
any given case are capable of producing, he has
reached a point of information which no analyses of
the fluids themselves would enable him to attain.

"A strong argument in favour of this conclusion
may be drawn from the character of the solids in
the trematode,'-' cystic, and cestoidf entozoa.

[We may here ask, has the life of tho organism

Mil

I

* Treina, a pore. The order of Entozoa characterised hy uuctoriai pore^.

■\ Kestos, a girdle.

205

no power, or is it not concerned in the developement
of the products, as well as the position and form of
the products ; it is the Livma body that acts.]

" The *nematoid entozoa, as already stated, are
destitute of every trace of a vascular system. An
apparatus of vessels in these worms is, notwithstand-
ing, described by all authors. Far too trusting confi-
dence has been given to the delineations of Emile
Blanchard. They were taken from artificial injec-
tions. They have deceived both the operator and
Ms admirers. The proof of the absence of a vaso-
fluid system rests upon two methods of examination :
in the larger specimens, by dissection and by the
microscope — in the smaller, by directly viewing the
body as a transparent object.

" In this family of worms there exists only one
system of fluids — which, for brevity sake, may be
called the cavitary system, in contradistinction to
the vaso or vascular system, so often present in the
annelids. It is contained in part in the free cham-
ber of the peri-visceral space, which, in the nema-
toids, as formerly explained, is in all species
narrowed, in some almost obliterated, by the
encroachment of the vesicular tissue, in part in the
vesicular tissue. There is one very marked pecu-
liarity about the cavitary fluid of this class of worms
—namely, that it is altogether destitute of every form

%^

1

N

i.M|l

* Ni)/ta, ft thread ; El5os, like ; Evtoi, within ; Zuov, an animal.

2o

206

•i!-i

m

of floating corpuscle. This is the only example of
such a peculiarity that the author is acquainted with
in the whole history of the cavitary-^mA system of
the invertebrata. It is the rule as regards the vaso-
fluid system of the annelids. So little is known of
the nutritive liquids of the trematode and cestoid
entozoa, that at present it cannot be affirmed with
certainty whether they are corpusculated or not.
The cavitary fluid of the nematodes consists of a
smooth, oily, homogeneous liquid, having a slightly
yellow tinge, and entirely amorphous under the
microscope.

" It is probably of high specific gravity, as it is
of great apparent density. It strongly resembles
the serum of the blood of \ vertebrated animal. It
looks very much more as if it were sucked directly
into the body of the parasite, than as the product of
the digestive agency of an animal so low in the scale.
Sufficient quantity in the larger ascarides and stron-
gyli may be readily collected to test its chemical
properties. It is a thick solution tf albumen. If
placed in a clean watch-glass, no cou'gula of any
description are formed under any circJ^H^stances.
It leaves a dense smooth skin of solidified u'lbumen
on the glass, after complete evaporation. A^cids
throw down a thick body of albumen. From the^, e
facts the inference may be drawn that this fluid does
not contain fibrin or any analogous self-coagulating
principle. Why should the cavitary fluid of the

207

nematodes possess these remarkable characters?
Why should it be so much more rich in albumen
than its homologue in the annelids, the latter ani-
mals being so much higher than the former in the
scale ? The chylaqueous fluid of the annelid is a
watery corpusculated fluid ; the cavitary liquid of
the nematodes is as dense as the serum of a verte-
brate animal. Is it not beyond doubt that, in both
cases respectively, the fluid owes its properties to
those of the medium from which it is drawn ? The
annelid lives in water, the nematode in blood ! But
the fluids of the nematode worms are motionless,
stagnant in the hodij ! In the annelids they are in
constant movement. This is a peculiarity still more
striking than the former. The fluids are sluggish,
like the parasites themselves. The chemist will at
once see that motion is an important accessory to
all chemical operations. If the densely albuminous
cavitary fluid of the nematodes vrere the product of
blood-making processes, having their seat exclu-
sively in the body of the worm, is it not wonderful
and contrary to all analogy that these processes
should not be accompanied by the mechanical cir-
cumstances of motion ? Why there is no motion of
the fluids, it is easy at once to understand. The
intestine is so completely tied to the integument,
that it can neither roll laterally, nor lengthen and
shorten in a longitudinal direction ; but the epider-
mis is so leathery and inflexible, that no liberty of

h^

i^i

208

11^^^ \

^;ii1

motion is possible in any of the enclosed parts. The
integuments of the nematode do not exhibit that
undulatory movement which, in the sipuncles, drives
the cavitary fluid incessantly and with great force
from one end of the body to the other. The absence
of fibrin from the nutritional fluid of these entozoa,
associates itself (causally?) irresistibly with tbe low
developement and sluggish character of their mus-
cle-system. The absence of the mechanical circum-
stances of motion may, too, explain the absence of
corpusculation. The vesicular tissue, and its un-
doubted absorptive power, cannot be separated from
the fact, that the fluid by which that tissue is filled
resembles most closely the serum of the animal upon
which the worm is parasitic." Again, there is dif-
ferentiation. Some materialists and their school,
while pleading for a relationship — nay, more, an
actual identity — of vital and physical force, are
nevertheless obliged to admit " miuu ' as distinct;
whilst others, going a step further, would re-
duce all to " conditions of matter." Now both Mr.
Hunter and Dr. Laycock, deducing their conclu-
sions from observation of the phenomena of living
beings, assert the existence of the principle of life
and its dififerentiation coincident with the differen-
tiation of the material organism with which it is
associated. We here require no Deus ex machind,
for the germ contains within itself all the laws of its
existence, which also includes the preservation of

209

its species. Dr. Harris has perhaps put this in a
much clearer point of view than any one who has
handled the subject, and certainly coincides with
both the authors whom wo have last cited :

Now profound as the subject of life is, all itc ope-
rations will be found to be impressed with the regu-
larity of general laws. On this condition alone
can we hope to ascertain its opertlions and mark
the wisdom which they evince. The vital prin-
ciple, once superinduced by the living God, acts
according to his appointment and under his superin-
tendence, with constancy and certainty. True it is,
that in studying organic life, we find ourselves for
the first time in the regions of mutual adaptations ;
and that the writer on Systematic Botany is obliged
to indite a chapter of anomalies. Unlike the law of
chemical affinity, which requires that the compound
be in definite proportions, we find that life asserts
its freedom and its power by dispensing with this
chemical exactness. But even this freedom is only
within certain limits, or is bounaed by law. This
power of adaptation is according to particular rules,
which are all ranged under a general rule. It is a
law unto itself. For example : oxygen is indispen-
sable to the germination of seeds ; where it is en-
tirely wanting, as in distilled water, they will not
germinate ; while, if acted on by more than a certain
proportion, they will be over-stimulated. But let
them have about the right proportion — one part of

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210

oxygen, with three of azote — ^and they will germi-
nate accordingly. The general law cannot be vio-
lated ; while the power of adaptation, by which the
seed is adjusted to the circumstances, is itself regu-
lated by the universal law which measures the cause
by the effect, and which determines that its action
shall be always the same in the same circumstances.
And as no compliance with the other conditions of
germination will compensate for the want of the
necessary oxygen, so no supply of this alone will
atone for the absence of the other conditions of ger-
mination. Its constitution is defined by laws, which
must be complied "w .' !:. !

These laws, indeed, must not be confounded with
causes. The life of the plant pre-supposes the
organisation which the Creator has been pleased to
make a necessary condition: this condition, how-
ever, is not the cause of its vitality, but only the
meafis of its manifestation. And organisation pre-
supposes certain inorganic conditions ; but these
conditions are not the cause of it ; they are only
employed and subordinated to organic ends. All
that we recognise, in either case, is the law or rule
according to which the organic and inorganic are
made to act ; the cause of that action is entirely
distinct.

The organs by which life acts may be anatomically
examined, and correctly classed ; but life is some-
thing independent of them all : for not one of them

211

is universal in organised nature, and therefore is
not essential to the vital force. The functions
of these organs may be known, and the chemistry
of their operations be silently and perseveringly
watched ; but the principle of that chemistry, the
cause of these functions, are meanwhile pre-supposed
and unapproached. The proximate organic princi-
ples, which the chemistry of life produces, and sub-
mits to our examination, may be minutely analysed
and correctly named ; but they have been produced
in circumstances which we cannot imitate, and, in
fact, do not understand. They are, at best, only
proximate principles ; effects which refer us to the
existence of a cause, the nature of which they do
not reveal ; their very number and diversity not
explaining, but multiplying the mysteries in which
it is involved. The little "nucleated cells," evolved
from these proximate principles, and by the deve-
lopement of which the organic mass is supposed to
be enlarged, may be known and truly described ;
but this is something already existing, the cause
which has led to it is still pre-supposed.

If the law, to which reference has been already
made, be true, viz., " the progression from the gen-
eral to the special," as anatomists declare it to be,
and which is well exemplified in the vertebrate king-
dom, we have exactly the same grounds for maintain-
ing the differentiation of life and its specialisation
throughout the whole organised world ; and this

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212

I r

applies not only to the functional life of the organ-
ism, but even to the term of its existence. "It
may," says Mr. Paget, " be proved, partly by de-
monstration, aiiu partly by analogy, that each inte-
gral or elemental part of the body is formed for a
certain natural period of existence, in the ordinary
condition of active life, at the end of which period,
if not destroyed by outward force or exercise, it
degenerates and is absorbed, or dies and is casl
needing in either case to be replaced for the main-
tenance of health. The simplest examples that can
be adduced are in the growth of the hair and teeth:
an eye-lash, which naturally falls, or which clan be
drawn out without ii" is one that has lived its
natural time and has d. u, and been separated from
living parts. In its bulb, such an one will be found
very different from those that are still living, in any
period of their age. In Ihe early period of the
growth of a dark eye-lash, we find its outer end
almost uniformly dark, marked only with darker
short linear streaks, and exhibiting no distinction of
cortical and medullary substance. Not far from its
end, however, this distinction is plainly marked;
dark as the cortical part may be, the medullary
appears like an interior cylinder, of much darker
granular substance ; and in a young hair this condi-
tion is continued down to its deepest part, where it
enlarges to form the bulb. Now this enlarge-
ment, which is of nearly cup-like form, appears

213

to depend on the accumulation of round and plump

nucleated cells, which, according to their position,

are either, by narrowing or elongation, to form the

dry fibro-cells of the outer part of the growing and

farther protruding shaft, or are to be transformed

into the air-holding cells of the medullary portion.

At the time of most active growth, both cells and

nuclei contain abundant pigment matter, and the

whole bulb looks nearly black. The sources of the

material out of which the cells form themselves, are

at least two, viz., the inner surface of the sheath or

capsule, which dips into the skin, enveloping the

hair, and the surface of the vascular pulp, which

fits in a conical cavity in the bottom of the hair

bulb.

Such is the state of parts so long as the g^-^-

ing hair is at all dark. But as it approaches

the end of its existence, it seems to give tokens of

advancing age, by becoming gray. Instead of the

almost sudden enlargement at its bulb, the hair

only swells a little and then tapers nearly to a

point ; the conical cavity in its base is contracted

and hardly demonstrable, and the cells produced on

the inner surface of the capsule contain no particle

of pigment. Still for some time it continues thus to

Uve and grow, and we find that the vigour of the

conical bulb lasts rather longer than that of the

sheath or capsule ; for it continues to produce pigment

matter some time after the cortical substance of the
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hair lias been entirely white, and it is still distinct
because of the pigment cells covering its surface.

At length the pul^ can be no longer discerned,
and unclosed cells above are produced, and main-
tain the latest growth of the hair. With these it
appears to grow yet some further distance ; for we
see traces of their elongation into fibres or fibro-
cells, in lines running from the inner surface of the
capsule inwards and along the surface of the hair ;
and we can always observe that the dark colour of
medullary air-containing substance ceases at some
distance above the lower end of the contracted
hair-bulb. The end of all is the complete closure
of the conical cavity in which the hair-pulp was
lodged ; the cessatio.i of the production of new
cells, and the consequent detachment of the hair
as a dead part, which now falls by the first acci-
dent : falls sometimes quite bear and smooth on the
whole surface of its white bulb, but sometimes
bringing with it a layer of cells detached from the
inner surface of the capsule. Such is the life of a
hair, and such its death.

Facts seem to shew that the ordinary course of
such elementary organ in the body, after the at-
tainment of its perfect state by developement and
growth, is to remain in that state for a time ; then
independently of the death or decay of the whole
body, and at least in a great measure, independently
of its own exercise or exposure to external violence,

2lS

to die, or to degenerate ; and then being cast ont or
absorbed, to make way for its successor. It appears,
moreover, very probable that the length of life which
each part is to enjoy is fixed and determined, though
of course in some degree subject to accidents, which
may shorten it, as sickness may prevent, or through
mere old age ; and subject to the expenditure of life
in the exercise of function."

Professor Carpenter, to whom we are indebted
for the full recognition of this law of specialization
of life, thus enunciates his opinions : " We distin-
guish the following as the principal manifestations
of cell-life :

"«. Growth of the original cell, from its germ to
maturity ; involviiig the selection and appropriation
of its materials.

" h. Multiplication, by the sub-division either of
the original cell or of its nucleus.

"c. Chemical transformation, exerted upon the
pahulum of the cell, whereby new products may
be generated in its interior.

" d. Vitalization of a portion of the pabulum,
whereby it becomes endowed with vital properties
of its own, so as even to originate cells de novo.

" e. Permanent changes of form, taking place in
connexion with acts of growth, and giving a peculiar
character to the tissue.

"/. Temporary changes of form, applied to the ge-
neration of mechanical force, and to the 'production
of sensible motions.

1 ;

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Production of nerve force, which may affect all
the preceding operations, and which is ultimately
related to mental agency. s

"That these various phenomena are to be regarded
as manifestations of one and the same vital force, of
which the several modifications of organic structure
that exhibit them are the respective instruments,
may be argued, not merely from the facts already
urged, but also from the community of origin of all
the tissues and organs of each individual, in a single
primordial cell. For like the humblest forms of ve-
getable and animal life which permanently consist
of separate and independent cells, the embryo of
even the highest types of each kingdom, in the
earliest phase of its dev elopement, is but a single
cell ; and during the earlier periods of its increase,
we observe that it displays only that most general
manifestation of cell-force which consists in growth
and multiplication.

" The descendants of this parent-cell, however,
soon begin to undergo a variety of transformations,
and to assume a diversity of character ; and we ob-
serve, in fact, that a sort "of division of labour"
takes place among them, each group of cells being
appropriated to some particular office, and discharg-
ing it alone to the exclusion of the rest ; as if by this
special direction of the vital force, the cell which is
its instrument is unfitted for any other kind of vital
agency. Of this relation of reciprocity between the
several manifestations of vital power, the following

217

examples among others may be cited : — When the
whole energy of the cell is directed to multiplication,
we do not observe either chemical transformation or
change of form, or developement into any other tis-
sue ; nor do we find that either motor power or
nerve force is generated. Of this we have already
had an example in that early phase of embryonic
life, in which cell-multiplication takes place with
extraordinary rapidity. In the formation of new
parts, which m.ike their appearance at a subsequent
time, we find that their foundation is laid in a mass
of cells, which rapidly multiply, up to a certain
point, (like those of the embryonic mass,) without
any change of form or character ; and that when
they have once begun to undergo developement into
other kinds of tissue, they multiply no longer. So,
again, in those cancerous growths, whose rapid
increase is one of their most distinctive features, we
usually observe that the whole texture retains its
primitive cellular character ; and that the develope-
ment of higher forms of tissue only occurs in those
whose growth is slower, these cells having ceased to
multiply themselves thus rapidly, when they under-
went histological change. But, perhaps, one of the
most striking examples of this principle is presented
by those glandular follicles, which act as parent
cells, developing in their interior a successional pro-
geny, which are the true secreting cells: for the
former possess no secreting power, their vital force

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218

being expended in the production of the latter;
whilst, on the other hand, the latter possess no re-
productive power, but die and are cast off when they
reach their maturity, even their own cell walls being
usually very imperfectly developed, as if their whole
vital force had been expended in the secreting pro-
cess. So, again, the cells whose vital force is exerted
in mechanical movement, seem exclusively adapted
for this purpose, apparently performing no other
vital changes than those developed in their own
developement. Thus the ciliated epithelium cells
which line the respiratory passages, and the ducts
of many glands, appear never to perform that secre-
tory function, which is discharged by other non-
ciliated cells of the same stratum ; so that their
mode of production and the general conditions of
their developement being essentially the same, we
can scarcely fail to regard the ciliary movement and
the secreting action as, however dissimilar in them-
selves, two modes of operation of one and the same
cell-force, [life-force]. Again, the elongated cells,
which constitute the non-striated muscular fibre, and
the minute cellules of which the fibrillae of the striated
muscular fibre are made up, seem to exercise no
chemical change, to undergo no further develope-
ment, and to undergo disintegration without having
multiplied themselves: so that all increase and
regeneration of muscular tissue appear to take place,
either by production de novo, or, possibly — in the

219

case of striated fibre — by the continued develope-
inent of new cells from the nucleus of the parent
cell, which, like that of the glandular follicle, per-
forms no other function than that of multiplication.
The cells composing nerve tissue, again, do not shew
any indication of reproductive power, and seem to
undergo disintegration, as the direct consequence of
the production of nerve-force ; so that they, too,
appear to expend their whole vital energy in one
particular mode of action, and to have no power to
spare for any other."

In the sixth chapter of the same work, Prof. Car-
penter, continuing the subject, observes: " By the
study of the various forms of elementary tissue, of
which the human fabric is made up, we are led to
the very same conclusion with that which we draw
from the observation of the simplest forms of organ-
ised beings, or from the scrutiny into the earliest
condition of the most complex, viz., that the simple
ctUmmj he regarded as the type of organisation ; and
that on its actions rests our fundamental idea of life.
Between the humblest plant and the embryonic
human organism, there is, originally, j^no perceptible
difference ; they may be said to have a common
starting-point ; and the subsequent difference in
their course consists essentially in this, that the suc=
cessive generations of cells, which are the descend-
ants of the former, are all similar to it and to each
other, each cell being capable of maintaining an

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220

I.

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independent existence ; whilst the subsequent gene-
rations, which originate from the latter, progres-
sively become more and more dissimilar to each
other, and more and more mutually dependent ; so
that whenever it is thrown entirely upon its own
resources, the integrity of the whole fabric becomes
essential to the continued life of any individual cell.
Every individual part, j^however, even in the most
complex and highly organised fabric, has its own
capacity of developement, and the properties which
it possesses arc the result of its exercise.

Mr. Huxley, in his resume of cell-growth, ob-
serves : — ^

" It is less generally (we might say hardly at all)
known that Caspar Wolff demonstrated, by numerous
observations on developement, the doctrine of the
metamorphosis of plants, when Goethe, to whom it
is commonly ascribed, was not quite ten years old ;
but it seems to have been wholly forgotten that he
endeavoured to work out, upon the basis of the strict
study of histological and morphological develope-
ment, that ' identity of structure of plants and ani-
mals' which is the thesis defended by Schwann.
Had Wolff's teaching been founded upon one of
those clever guesses upon which an able man will
often build up a plausible hypothesis, we should
have thought it quite unnecessary to make even
historical reference to him ; but the most cursory
examination of the ' Theoria Generationis,' or of the

tiun 9 0 tho

221

more popular and discursive exposition of his views
in the ' Theorie von d. Greneration,' is enough to
dispel any such notion. The passage we have al-
ready quoted is sufficient to shew how just and
accurate Wolff's ideas upon the importance of the
study of developement, as a method, were ; and the
whole of his work is the laborious application of that
method. The parts of the calyx, of the corolla, and
of the pericarp, are for him ' modified leaves ;' not
because certain observed modifications had suggested
that they might be so considered — which is the whole
gist of Goethe's subsequent argument — but because
he had carefully traced back their developement,
and had found that they all proceeded from the same
original form. The homology of the wing of the
chick with its leg, is placed by Wolflf on precisely
the same basis — the only one, be it observed, on
which any homology can ultimately rest ; and fol-
lowing out the argument to its legitimate conclusion,
he shews that the appendicular organs of plants and
animals are developed after the sn ^le fashion. The
limbs of animals, he says, are developed in the same
manner from the body oi the embryo, as the leaf
from the stem, or the lamina of the leaf from its
mid-rib. Ordinary four-footed animals are like pin-
natifid leaves, while ' the bat is a perfect leaf — a
startling statement, but, as I have shewn, the ana-
logy is not chimerical, for the mode of origin of the

two is the same J
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222

M

" Wolff's doctrine concerning histological deve-
lopement is shortly ttiis. Every organ, he says, is
composed at first of a little mass of clear, viscous,
nutritive fluid, which possesses no organisation of
any kind, but is at most composed of globules. In
this semi-fluid mass, cavities {Bldschen, Zellen) are
now developed ; these, if they remain rounded or
polygonal, become the subsequent cells — if they
elongate, the vessels ; and the process is identically
the same, whether it is examined in the vegetating
point of a plant, or in the young budding organs of
an animal. Both cells and vessels may subsequently
be thickened, by deposits from the ' solidescible'
nutritive fluid. In the plant, the cells at first com-
municate, but subsequently become separated from
one another ; in the animal, they always remain in
communication. In each case, they are mere cavi-
ties, and not independent entities ; organisation is
not effected by them, but they are the visible results
of the action of the organising power inherent in the
living mass, or what W olff calls the vis tssentiah,
For him, however, this ' vis essentialis ' is no mythi-
cal archaus, but simply a convenient name for two
facts which he takes a great deal of trouble to de-
monstrate ; the first, the existence in living tissues
(before any passages are developed in them) of cur-
rents of the nutritious fluid determined to particular
parts by some power which is independent of all

, the

peculiar

223

changes of form and composition, which take place
in the same manner.

" Now there is really no very great difference
betw^een these views of the mode of devclopement of
the tissues, and those ofSchleidcn and Schwann.
The * solidescible nutritive fluid' of Wolff is the
' cytoblastemu ' of Schleiden and Schwann ; with the
exception of the supposed relation of the nucleus to
the devclopement of the cell (which, as we shall see,
is incorrect) Wolff's description of the latter process
is nearly that of Schleiden ; Wolff maintains that
the ' vessel- ' of pl^ nts are the result of the greater
activity of the niiUitive currents in particular direc-
tions ; an(^ "^o does Schli?iden.

" Exaii iniag his statements closely, we notice,
indeed, that his imperfect means of investigation led
Wolff into two important errors — that of supposing
the cells of plants to communicate in their youngest
state, and thence deducing a false analogy with the
areolar tissue of animals ; and that of supposing that
animal and vegetable tissues are always, in their
,'?ry youngest state, absolutely structureless. How-
ever, as we shall see subsequently, Wolff is by no
means singular in having started wiih grave anatom-
ical mistakes, and we cannot perceive that in his case
these errors, one of which, at any rate, Schleiden
shares with him, vitiate those other and more import-
ant parts of his views, to which we are about to refer.

"We have said, in fact, that not merely sp^cu-

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224

latively, but by observation, Wolfif established a
theory of the devolopement of the vegetable tissues
very similar to that of Schleiden, and that ' identity
of structure as shown by their developement,' be-
tween plants and animals, to prove which was the pur-
pose of the microscopical investigation of Schwann.
But he did much more than this. In the ' Theoria
Generationis,' and in the essay on the vital forces
published thirty years afterwards, Wolff developed
some very remarkable views on the relation of life
to organisation — of the vital processes of the organic
elements — in which he diverges very widely from
all who preceded, and from most who have followed
him, most of all from Schleiden and Schwann. We
may best exhibit the bearing of these views by con-
trasting them with those of the latter writers.

" Schleiden and Schwann teach implicitly that the
primary histological elements (cells) are independent,
anatomically and physiologically ; that iliej stand in
the relation of causes or centres, to organisation and
the ' organising force ;' and that the whole organism
is the result of the union and combined action of
these primarily separate elements. Wolff, on the
other hand, asserts that the primary histological
elements (cells too, but not always defined in the
same way) are not either anatomically or physiolo-
gically independent ; that they stand in the relation
of effects to the organising or vital force (vis essen-
tialis) ; and that the organism results from the ' diffe-

225

rentiation^ of a primarily homogeneous whole into
these parts. Such a doctrine is, in fact, a most
obvious and almost a necessary developement of the
doctrine of epigenesis in general. To one who had
worked out the conclusion, that the most complex,
grosser, animal or vegetable organisations, arise
from a semi-fluid and homogeneous mass, by the
continual and successive establishment of differences
in it, it would be only natural to suppose that the
method of nature, in that finer organisation which
we call histological, was the same ; and that as the
organ is developed by the differentiation of cells, so
the cells are the result of the differentiation of
inorganic matter. If the organism be not constituted
by the coalescence of its organs and tissues in con-
sequence of their peculiar forces, but if, on the other
hand, the organism exists before its organs and
tissues, and envolves them from itself, — is it not
probable that the organs and tissues also, are not
produced by the coalescence of the cells of which
they are composed, in consequence of their peculiar
forces, but, contrariwise, that the cells are a pro-
duct of the differentiation of something which existed
before them ?

"For Schwann the organism is a beehive, its
actions and forces resulting from the separate but
harmonious action of all parts (compare Schwann, 1.
c, p. 229). For "Wolff it is a mosaic, every portion
of which expresses only the conditions under which

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the formative power acted m^ the tendei^ejies by
which it was guided.

" We have said above, not without a full conscious-
ness of the responsibility of the assertion, that we
believe the cell- theory of Schleiden and Schwann to
be based upon erroneous conceptions of structure,
and to lead to errors in physiology, and we beg now
to offer some evidence in favour of these views. We
need not stop to prove, what must be familiar to
every one who is acquainted with Schwann's work,
that in making his comparison of animal with vege-
table structures, he rests wholy upon Schleiden's
statements concerning the developement, and upon
the commonly prevalent views with respect to the
anatomy, of the latter.

" It is clear, then, that however logically consequent
Schwann's work maybe in itself, its truth and tlie
justice of its nomenclature will depend upon that of
these latter views and statements. Schwann took
these for granted, and if they were untrue he lias
been trusting to a rotten reed. Such, we fear, lijte
indeed been the case. Schwann's botanical data
were :

1. "The prr' lent notion of the anatomical inde-

pendence of the vegetable ceil, considered
as a separate entity.

2. "The prevalent conception of the structure of

the vegetable cell.

3. ^' The doctrine of the mode of its developement

m

"&ch of these, assumed by Schwann, and as
taught by Schleiden, has since, we shall endeavour
to show, been proved to be erroneous. W« will
take them seriatim.

1. " The first observer who, aided by the micros-
cope, turned his attention to the structure of plants,
was the versatile Hooke, and, as might be expected,
tlie most noticeable thing to his mind was the exis-
tence of the innumerable cavities or ' cells ' scattered
through their substance. Malpighi, the first proper
botanical histologist, found that the walls of these
vesicles were separable, that they could be isolated
from one another, and therefore, doubtless urged
more by the obvious convenience of the phraseology,
than by any philosophical consideration upon the
subject, he gave each the definite name of ' utriculus,'
and regarded it as an independent entity. Of course
it was a natural consequence that the plant should be
regarded as constituted by the union and coalescence
of a great number of these ont'ties.

" Grew, who, if all scandal be true, is so much
indebted to Malpighi, did not appropriau 's view
among other things ; on the other hand, he co^.^jared
the utricles to the cavities in the foam of beer ; and
subsequently Wolff propounded the idea, that the
cells were cavities in a homogeneous substance, as
we have mentioned above. In modern times, the
most important defender of this mode of rejrardinor
the matter has been Mirbel, who (escaping the error

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228

of "Wolff, that the cavities of the cells communicate)
endeavoured to demonstrate its truth, by tracing the
formation of the cambium ; but, at the time when
Schwann wrote, it must be considered to have been
wholly discredited, the opposite viev, having one of
its strongest supporters in the caustic Schleiden him-
self— as, indeed, would necessarily be the case, from
the tendency of his researches upon phytogenesis. As
we shall see below, however, Schleiden was quite
wrong in his ideas of cell-development — and we have
therefore merely to consider the purely anatomical
arguments for the independence of the cell. Now
these amount, however various their disguise, to
nothing more than this — that, by certain chemical or
mechanical means, a plant may be broken up into
vesicles corresponding with the cavities which pre-
viously existed in it : of course no one denies this
fact ; but of what value is it ? Is the fact, that a
rhombohedron of calcareous spar breaks up, if
pounded, into minute rhombohedrons, any evidence
that those minuter ones were once independent, and
formed the larger by their coalescence ? Is the cir-
cumstance that wood itself tears up into fibres, any
evidence that it was formed by the coalescence of
fibres ? Assuredly not ; for every hand-book will
tell us that these fibres are the result of a metamor-
phosis of quite different parts,, Is it not perfectly
clear, that the behaviour of a body under mechanical
or chemical influences, is simply an evidence of the

it

229

disposition of the lines of great cohesion or affinity
among its particles at the time being, and bears not
in the slightest degree upon the question as to what
these lines indicate ; whether they are the remains
of an ancient separation among heterogeneous parts,
or the expression of a recent separation which has
arisen in a homogeneous whole. So that, if the walls
of the cells were really as distinct from one another as
is commonly supposed, it would be no argument for
their vital independence : but they are not so. Von
Mohl has shewn that, in the great majority of cases,
the assumption of the existence of a so-called inter-
cellular substance, depends simply on imperfect
chemical investigation — that there exists no real line
of demarcation between one cell and another, and
that wherever cells have been separated, whether
mechanically or chemically, thert is evidence that
the continuous cellulose substance has been torn
or in some way destroyed. In young tissues — such,
for instance, as the cambium, or the base of a leaf,
we have been quite unable to detect the least evidence
of tb' existence of any line of demarcation between
the cells ; the cellulose substance forms a partition
between cavity and cavity, which becomes evenly
blue throughout by the action of sulphuric acid and
iodine, and whic>i certainly, even undc siie highest
powers, exhibit no symptom of any optical differ-
ence ; so that, in this ate, vegetal* •• 'ssue answer

pretty closely to Wolff's idea, it is in a homo-
2f

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230

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geneous cellulose-yielding, transparent substance,
containing cavities, in which lie peculiar vesicular
bodies, into whose composition much nitrogen enters.
It will be found a great aid if in the present confused
state of terminology the reader will accept two new
dcnoninat;(*iS for these elementary parts, which
express noting but their mutual relation. To the
former, and to every thing which answers to it, we
shall tl rourhout the present article give the name
of Veriplast,^ or periplastic substance ; to the latter,
thai; ofEndoplast** So far, then, from the utricles or
cells in the plant being anatomically distinct, we
regard it as quite certain, that that portion which
corresponds with the periplast, forms a continuous
whole through the entire plant.

2. " In 1837-8, each utricle of the plant was con-
sidered to have the following composition. In the
first place, there was the cellulose cell- wall, or the
portion of periplast answering to any particular
endoplast ; secondly, there were the cell-contents, a
substance of not very defined nature, which occupied
the cavity of the ceil , f'nd thirdly, there was the
nucleus, a body to whose occurrence attention was
first drawn, as is well known, by our own illustrious
botanist, Eobert Brown. He, however, cautiously
remarked only its very .'^ric^ral occurrence, without
pretending to dra^ any inference, from the fact ;
while Schleiden made the belief in its exis; ance in

* Ufpv, a cp'"le round ; nxoffjua, that which has been formed.
** EvSoc, within : irXcurfxa.

WMM

tmf

231

all young tissues, the first article of the faith botanical.
This is, however, most certainly incorrect ; there is
no trace of a nucleus in many Algae, such as a Hy-
drodictyon, Yaucheria, Caulerpa ; in the leaf of
Sphagnum, nor in young germinating Ferns.

" Whatever opinion may be entertained upon this
head, there is one point quite certain — the enumer-
ation of the elements of the vegetable-cell given
above is incomplete ; there being one, and that the.
most important, which is omitted. We refer to the
primordial utricle, which was only discovered by
Von Mohl in 1 844. This is a nitrogenous membrane,
which always lies in close contact with the peri-
plast, and forms, in fact, an included vesicle, within
which the * contents ' and the nucleus lie. Instead,
therefore, of the endoplast consisting merely of
contents and a nucleus, it is a vesicle containing the
two latter, when they exist at all ; and they are of
subordinate importance, for while, as we have seen,
a nucleus and formed contents may be absent in
young or even fully formed tissues, the primordial
utricle is invariably present in the young structures,
and often persists until they have attained their full
size. Since, then, the functions of the vegetable
' cell ' can be effectually carried on by the primordial
utricle alone ; since the ' nucleus ' has precisely the
same chemical composition as the primordial utricle ;
and since, in some cases of cell-division, new nuclei
are seen to arise in the substance of the endoplast,

n

,» ^

232

by a mere process of chemical and morphological
diflferentii\tion (Von Mohl. 1. c, p. 52), it follows, we
think, that the primordial utricle must be regarded
as the essential part of the endoplast — the proto-
plasmand nucleus being simply its subordinate, and,
we had almost said, accidental anatomical modifi-
cations.

3. " Finally, with respect to Schleiden's observa-
tions upon the mode of cell-developement, according
to which in all cases the new production of vegetable-
cells takes place by the developement of nuclei, round
which the cell-membrane is deposited, subsequently
expanding and becoming separated from the nucleus,
so as to form a complete cell ; we need only say,
that they have been long since set aside by the
common consent of all observers ; in Yon Mohl's
words (p. 69) : ' The whole of this account of the
relation of the nucleus to the cell membrane is in-
correct.' The fact is, that in by far the greater
proportion of cases, new cell-developement occurs by
the division of the previous endoplasts, and the
growth or deposition round them and between them,
of fresh periplastic substance. The extent of this
process of division will be understood, if we remem-
ber that all observers now agree in its being the
method by which * cell-developement ' always occurs,
except in the embryo-sac of the Phanerogamia, the
sporangia of Lichens an<^ o*' some Algae and Fungi.
The so-called free cell-a ^elopement of the latter.

233

however, by no means takes place in accordance
with Schleiden's views, but by the developement of
a cellulose membrane (periplast) around a mass of
nitrogenous substance (endoplast), which may or may
not contain a nucleus ; subsequently increasing, pari
passu, with the periplast. And it is well worthy of
consideration, how far the process deserves any dis-
tinction, except in degree, from ordinary cell-division,
since the new endoplast is only one portion of that
of the parent cell, set aside for the purpose of fresh
developement, while the rest undergoes no corres-
ponding change. However this may be, it may be
regarded as quite certain, that, leaving out of view
the immediate results of sexual reproduction, the
whole of the ' cells ' — the entirety of the periplasts
and endoplrsts — of which a plant, whether it be a
moss or an oai: are composed, never are independent
of on*^ another, a - never have been so, at any period
of their existence ; but that, while the original
endoplast of the embryo-cell, from whici he plant
sprung, has grown and divided into dl the eadoplasts
of the adult, the original periplast has grown at a
corresponding rate, and has formed one continuous
and conneci • Qvelope from the first. The ground
of his comparison, therefore, is cut away from under
Schwann's feet ; every statement of Schleiden's on
which he relied turning out to be erroneous — as
w'. shall see if we turn to his original comparison
of cartilage with a vegetable tissue (pp. 9 — 17).

\ ■'

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234

It

%-

. I

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I

*■*«• 1- Schwann, finding in c tilage

cavities with more or i, ,s dis-
tinct walls, in each of which
lay a corpuscle, singularly re-
sembling the nucleus of the
vegetable-cell ; finding also
that the cell- wall was close to
this corpuscle in the younger
parts, more distant from it
in the older, naturally con-
cluded that he had here, in
the animal world an exact
A.'SSJS^Snr^eta confirmation of Schleiden's
J^e'^h^^f ir^u^hTSt^aSup discoveries, and of

cartilage-cell with its corpus- „^„^„ , .i ,

cle, to compare with D, a ve- COUrSe gaVC tO the COrpUSClc
eetable-cell with its nucleus, c J.•^ ±r. i> i

the primordial u.icie in the ^t cnrtilagc the name of ' cy-

latter being indie i only by , , , , , - , , . ,.

a dotted line. to »iast,' or uucleus,' as indi-

cating its homolo'} V with the structure of that name
in the plant.

" The primordial utricle was, as we have said, not
then discovered in the latter, and of course Schwann
was not led to look for any thing corresponding to
it. Indeed, had he done so, his search would have
been unsuccessful, for the young and unaltered car-
tilage cavity contains the corpuscle, and nothing
else. The circumstance; therefore, which Schwann
considered to demonstrate the identity of structure
of plants and animals — 2. ^., the correspondence of
the cartilage-corpuscle with the nucleus of the vege-

235

table-cell, and of the chondrin-wall with the cellu-
lose-wall, would, if it were really the case, be the
widest possible ground of distinction between the
two, for it would leave the most important element
of the latter, the 'primordial utricle,' without any
homologue in the animal, and totally unaccounted

for.

"It is precisely the neglect of this important
change in the whole subject, effected by the disco-
very of Von Mohl, which has, we think, led to the
confusion which prevails at present, not only in the
comparative, but in the absolute nomenclature of
animal histology. Animal physiologists go on using
Schwann's nomenclature, forgetting that the whole
doctrine of the vegetable-cell, from which he drew
that nomenclature, has been completely upset ; and
at present, beyond the mere fact of a common vesi-
cularity at one period of their existence, one would
be led, on opening successively two works on animal
and vegetable structure, rather to predicate their
total discrepancy, than any uniformity between
them;

" Kow does this discrepancy lie in the facts,
or in our names of them ? To decide this question,
it seemed to us that the only plan was to follow
Schwann's steps, and to compare cartilage with a
vegetable tissue — for he has shewn logically and
conclusively enough, that whatever is true of the
corpuscle of cartilage, to which he gives the name of

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'riin^leus,' is true also of all those corpuscles in the
other tissues, to which he gives the same name.

"Let us compare, then, some young vegetable
tissue, say that of the base of a sphagnum leaf (fig.
2. A), which is in many respects very convenient
for examination, with that of young cartilage (fig. 3.
A) ; the identity of structure is such, that it would
be difficult, without the aid of chemical re-agents, to
distinguish one from the other : in each, we see
highly nitrogenous, more or less vesicular endoplasts
imbedded in a homogeneous transparent substance,
whose cavities they wholly fill. If we trace the fur-
ther developement, we find that in the Sphagnum
leaf the endoplasts and their cavities rapidly increase
in size (fig. 2. B), the former becoming, in certain
localities of the leaf, regular primordial utricles
without any nucleus, and growing in exact propor-
tion to the cavities in the periplast (b), while in other
directions, having attained a certain size they cease
to grow, and rapidly disappear, leaving the peri-
plastic cavity empty, (a) In cartilage, precisely the
same thing occurs. The endoplasts increase in size
for awhile, and then stop, while the periplastic cavi-
ties continue to increase, and thus we have event-
ually a cartilage-Cavity with its corpuscle. In old
cartilage the latter frequently disappears, or is con-
verted into fat. We have here purposely selected,
in both the animal and the plant, simple cases, in
which the endoplast l^ecomes a primordial utricle,

237

without any nucleus. Had wi; /elected the cambium
of a phojuogamous plant, it vou'J have been merely
necessary to add, that as the endoplast grew, a nu-
cleus appeared in its interior ; and in ossifying car*
tilage, near the ossifying surface, we have repeat-
edly seen endoplasts such as those described above,
some of which contained definite ' nuclei,' while those
in their immediate neighbourhood possessed none.

" In the case of cartilage, then, (and it is a conclu-
sion at which Leidy and Remak have already ar-
rived,) we hold it to be proved, that the corpuscle
does not correspond with the nucleus of the plant, as
Schwann supposed, but with the primordial utricle,
contents and nucleus ; or, in other words, that the
' nucleus ' of cartilage, is the equivalent of the ' pri-
mordial utricle' of the plant — that they are both
endoplasts. It follows, hence, that the chondrin-
wall of the cartilage, is ^he homologue of the cellu-
lose wall of the pl^ ^ ... hat they both represent
the periplastic elt . u ' . • phenomena of growth
and multiplicatio e\i:;l ''; 'by these corresponding
elements are perfectly similar. The process of cell-
division, as it is called, is identical in each case. In
the plant, the primordial utricles divide, separate,
and the cellulose substance grows in between the
two. In young cartilage the same thing occurs, the
corpuscles divide, separate, and the chondrin sub-
stance eventually forms a wall of separation be^veen
the two. There is neither endogenous develop-^ment

1

ri\

2 Q

238

nor new formation in either case. The endoplasts
grow and divide, the periplast grows so as to sur-
round the endoplasts completely, and, except so far
as its tendency is, to fill up the space left by their
separation, there is no evidence that its growth is in
any way affected by them, still less, that it is, as is
often assumed, deposited by them. We are led,
then, to the conclusion, that though Schwann's great
principle of the identity of structure of plants and
animals is perfectly correct, his exposition of it is
incorrect, inasmuch as the corpuscle of cartilage (his
* nucleus,' whence he reasoned to the other ' nuclei ')
answers not to the ' nucleus,' but to the ' primoi^dial
utricle ' of the plant ; since the mode of develope-
ment of new * cells,' though identical in each case, is
different from what Schleiden stated, and Schwann
believed ; and finally since, for the notion of the
anatomical independence of the cells, we must sub-
stitute that of the unity and continuity of the peri-
plastic substance in each case.

"Intimately connected with these structural errors,
as we cannot but think them, are Schwann's views
of the nature and powers of the ' cell,' and those
facibsequently developed (principally by Kolliker)
with respect to the action of the nuclei as * centres
of force.' Led apparently by his views of its anato-
mical independence, Schwann maintains, as a general
proposition, that the cell as such possesses powers
which are not inherent in its separate molecules.

239

" 'We must, in fact, ascribe an independent life
to cells — i.e., the combination of molecules which
take place in a single cell are sufficient to set free
the force, in consequence of which the cell has the
power of attracting new molecules. The cause of
nutrition and growth lies not in the organism as a
whole, but in the separate elementary parts — the
cells. That in point of fact every cell when separated
from the organism, is not capable of further growth,
as little militates against this theory, as its incapa-
bility of existing separate from the swarm would be
an argument against the independent life of a bee.
The enquiry into the fundamental forces of organisms,
therefore, is reduced into one concerning the funda-
mental forces of the single cells.' (p. 229)

" And yet, strongly as Schwann maintains, not
only here but in many other places, the view that
the vital forces are manifested by the cells as
machines, and are not inherent in the matter of
which these cells are composed, apart from their
form ; he gives it up in effect when he comes to treat
of these forces in detail. The fundamental cell-forces
are, he says, of two kinds, the attractive and the
metabolic, the former regulating growth, the latter
determining the chemical changes ; and he shows
very justly that these forces are not located in any
special centres in the cell, but are exhibited by all
its solid constituents (pp. 233, 236), and that they
may be exhibited by diflferent portions of these solid

"i

a

240

constituents, and to a different extent by these
different portions (p. 233) ; proving hereby, very
clearly, as it seems to ua, that the forces in question
are not centralised in the cells, but are resident in
their component molecules. All Schwann's able
comparison of cell-developement with cryL'allisation,
tends in fact to the same conclusion. When matter
crystallises from a solution, the presence of a foreign
body may determine the place and form of the
deposit ; but the crystals themselves are the result,
not of the attractive forces of the foreign body, but
of the forces resident in their component molecules.
So in cell-developement, if it is to be rigorously
compared to crystallisation, even if the nuclei re-
present the foreign bodies, which determine the
place of the chemical and morphological alterationu
in the surrounding substance, it by no means follows
that they are their cause.

" KoUiker (§§ 11, 13), resting especially upon the
phenomena of yelk-division and of endogenous cell-
developement, advocates the existence of a peculiar
molecular attraction proceeding from the nucleolus
first, and subsequently from the nucleus. Now as
regards endogenous cell-developement, we must con-
fess that we can find no move ground for its occur-
rence among animals than among plants. Nageli's
cell-developement around portions of contents, upon
which Kolliker lays so much stress, is nothing nioro
than a case of division of the cndoplast (priniordia]

241

utricle) and subsequent developement of pleriplastic
substance round the portions. In cartilage, which
is so often quoted as offering marked endogenous
cell'developement, we must agree with Leidv and
Reraak, that nothing but division of the endoplasts
(nuclei, primordial utricles) and in-growth of the
periplast (intercellular substance, cell-wall) occurs.
lu these endoplasts again, the very existence of a
nucleus is in the highest degree variable and incon-
stant, and division occurs as well without it as with
it.

" The process of yelk-division — that remarkable
iiianii'estation of a tendency to break up, in the yelk
of most animals, into successively smaller spheroids,
in each of which a nucleus of some kind aj)pears —
seems, at first, to offer very strong evidence in favour
of the exertion of some attraction by these nuclei
upon the vitelline mass. But we think that a closer
examination completely deprives this evidence of all
weight. In the first place, the appearance of the
nuclei is in many cases subsequent to segmentation.
It is thus in Strongylus auricularis (Reichert), in
Phallusia (Krohn), in the hen's egg (Remak). In
the second place, it seems difficult to conceive any
mode of operation of a central attractive force which
shall give rise to the phenomena of segmentation,
for the resulting spheroids always pass into one
another by extensive plane surfaces, whereas the
(;vcn action of two attractive centres, in a mass free

1

11^

i

242

m

m

to move, would give rise to two spheroids in contact
only by a point. Again, Ecmak has observed, tliat
in the frog's egg the time occupied by the formation
of the groove, indicating the iirst line of cleavage
upon the upper half of tlie yelk, is very much shorter
than that required to give rise to the correspondinif
line upon the lower half — a fact which is (juite unin-
telligible upon the theory of a central attraction.

" Thirdly, in OucuUanus, Ascaris dentata, &c,,
Kolliker has shewn, that though nuclei are developed,
no yeik-divisions occur ; and in the latter stages of
division of the frog's egg, yelk masses are found
undivided, and containing many nuclei. \

" Finally, in Ascaris mystax, according to Dr.
Nelson, the embryonic visicles absolutely revolve
in circles during the progress of yelk-divisiou— a
phenomenon which seems incompatible with the
existence of any mutual attractive reaction betwoeu
themselves and the vitelline mass.

" We see, in short, that the effects of the force
supposed to be exerted liy the nuclei may take place
without them, and, on the other hand, that the nuclei
may be picsent without exerting the peculiar forces
which they are supposed to possess ; and finally, that
even if such forces exist, they must be something
very different from all the attractive forces of
which we have any conception ; and that the hypo-
thesis of nuclear force is no explanation, but merely
a fresh name for the difficulty.

243

" Wc arc as littlo able to discover any evidence
ot the existence of metabolic forces in the nuclei.
The metabolic changes of the tissues — such as we
sec, for instance, in the convc^rsion of cartilage into
bone, of cartilage into Cv.»nnective tissue — do not take
place, cither primarly or with greater intensity, in
the neghbourhood of the nuclei ; a fact of which
striking evidence is afforded by ossifying cartilage,
ill which the first deposit of calcareous matter occurs,
not in aresc surrounding each nucleus, as we should
expect if they exerted a metabolic influence, but in
straight lines, which stretch from the ossified surface
into the substance of the matrix of the cartilage, and
the amount of calcareous matter in which gradually
diminishes as we recede from the ossified part, with-
out the least reference to the nuclei. It is the same
with the metamorphosis of the periplast of the
cartilage when it passes into tendon.

" From all this we consider it to be satisfactorily
shewn, that there is no evidence that the * cells ' of
living bodies are, in any respect, centres of those
properties which are called vital forces. What,
then, are these cells ? it may be asked. What is
the meaning of the unquestionable fact, that the first
indication of vitality, in the higher organisms at any
rate, is the assumption of the cellular structure ?

" In answering these questions, we would first
'Iraw attention to the definition of the nature of
developement in general, first clearly enunciated by

244

w

m

Von Baer. ' The history of developement,' he says,
' is the history of a gradually increasing differentia-
tion of that which was at first homogeneous.' The
yelk is homogeneous ; the blastoderma is a portion
of it which becomes different from the rest, as the
result of the operation of the laws of growth ; the
blastoderma, again, comparatively homogeneous, be-
comes differentiated into two or more layers ; the
layers, originally identical throughout, set up differ-
ent actions in their various parts, and are differen-
tiated into dorsal and visceral plates, chorda dorsalis
and bodies of vertebra), &c., &c. No one, however,
imagines that there is any causal connexion bet\^eeu
these successive morphological states. No one has
dreamt of explaining the developement of the dorsal
and visceral plates by blastodermic force, nor that
of the vertebra) by chorda-dorsalic force. On the
other hand, all these states are considered, and
justly, to result from the operation of some common
determining power, apart from them all — to be, in
fact, the modes of manifestation of that power.

"Now, why should we not extend this view to
histology, which, as we have explained, is oniy
ultimate morphology ? As the whole animal is the
result of the differentiation of a structureless yelk,
so is every tissue the result of the differentiation of
a structureless blastema — the first step in that dil-
ferentiation being the separation of the blastema into
endoplast and periplast, or the formation of what is

246

called a ' nucleated cell.' Then, just as in the deve-
lopement of the embryo, when the blastodermic
membrane is once formed, new organs are not deve-
loped in other parts of the yelk, but proceed wholly
from the differentiation of the blastoderm, — so his-
tologically, the ' nucleated cell,' the periplast with
its endoplast, once formed, further developement
takes place by their growth and differentiation into
new endoplasts and periplasts. The further change
into a special tissue, of course, succeeds and results
from this primary differentiation, as we have seen
the bodies of the vertebrae succeed the chorda dor-
salis ; but is there any more reason for supposing a
causal connexion between the one pair of pheno-
mena, than between the other ? The cellular struc-
ture precedes the special structure ; but is the lat-
ter, therefore, the result of a 'cell-force,' of whose
existence there is on other grounds no evidence
whatever ? We must answer in the negative. For
ns the primarily cellular structure of plants and
animals is simply a fact in the history of their histo-
logical developement — a histologically necessary
stage, if one may so call it, which has no more
causal connexion with that which follows it, than the
equally puzzling morphological necessity for the
existence of a chorda dorsalis or of Wolffian bodies
has, with the developement of the true vertebras or
of the true kidneys.

" If this be true, we might expect, as we fmd,
2 H

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246

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that the differentiation of the germinal disc, for
instance, into a primitive groove and lateral portions
— the first stage of developement in the embryo of
all vertebrate animals — does not occur in moUusks ;
as we find, again, that the difife5entu'>ion of the em-
bryo into plumula and cotyledons which occurs in a
great number of plants, is absent in others ; so, if,
like these, the histological differentiation into cells
have no necessary causal connexion with the action
of the vital forces, but be merely a genetic state, we
may expect to meet with cases in which it does not
occur. Such, in fact, -ire the so-called unicellular
plants and animals — organisms which often exnibit
no small complexity of external form, but present
no internal histological differentiation. In the genus
Caulerpa we have an Algse, presenting apparent
leaves, stems, and roots, and yet which, according
to Nageli, consists of a single cell — that is, is r*^!
composed of cells at all. The Yorticellae furnish vr,
with examples of animals provided with a distiiia
oesophagus, a muscular pedicle, &c., and yet in which
no further histological differentiation can be made
out. As Wolff says —

" ' The latter (Roesel's Proteus) has no structure,
no determinate figure, and even the indeterminate
figure that it has at any given time does not remain the
same, but alters continually. We can, in fact, regaru
all these plants and animals as little else than living
or vegetating matters — hardly as organised bodies.'

247

" ' However, all these plants and animals nourish
themselves, vegetate, and propagate their species,
just as well and as easily as the most artificial pieces
of mechanism to be met v/ith in the vegetable or
animal kingdom.'

" It is true, indeed, that the^diflficulty with regard
to these organisms has been evaded by calling them
' unicellular ' — by supposing them to be merely en-
larged and modified simple cells ; bui does not the
phrase an ' unicellular organism ' involve a contra-
diction for the cell-theory? In the terms of the
cell-theory, is not the cell supposed to be an anato-
mical and physiological unity, capable of performing
one function only — the life of the organism being
the life of the separate cells of which it is composed ?
and is not a cell with different organs and functions
something totally different from what we mean by a
cell among the higher animals ? "We must say that
the admission of the existence of unicellular organ-
isms appears to us to be virtually giving up the
cell-theory for these organisms. If it be once ad-
mitted that a particle of vitalisable matter may as-
sume a definite and complex form, may take on
different functions in its different parts, and may
exhibit all the phenomena of life, without assuming
the cellular structure, we think that it necessarily
follows that the cells are not the centres of the mani-
festation of the vital forces ; or that, if they be so,
tha nature of these forces is different in the lower

u

1

24d

organisms f om what it is in the higher — a proposi-
tion which probably few would feel disposed to
maintain.

" So much for the critical, and therefore more or
less ungrateful, portion of our task. We have seen
how the great idea, fully possessed by Fallopius
that life is not the effect of organisation, noi n^cep
sarily dependent upon it, but, on the other iiaiiu,
that organisation is only one of the phenomena
sented by living matter — carried to absurdity l)
Stahl and Yan Helmont — has, on the other hand,
been too much neglected by the later writers who
have attempted to reduce life to the mere attractions
and repulsions of organic centres, or to consider
physiology simply as a complex branch of mere
physics. We have seen how this latter notion has
been fostered by the misconceptions of a great
botanist, only too faithfully followed in the animal
world by the illustrious author of the cell-theory ;
and we have endeavoured to show how the solitary
genius of Wolff had kept in the old track, and that
the choice of modern histologists lies between him
and Schleiden and Schwann. It will be sufficiently
obvious that our own election has long been made in
this matter, and we ^beg to submit the following
sketch of a general theory of the structure of plants
and animals — conceived in the spirit, and not unfre-
quently borrowing the phraseology, of Wolff and
Yon Baer.

perty inhe

"There

in which it

its exterr

nhysical li

structure.

" Now, J

conditious-

— of the c

in other W(

amorphous

a whole, f

mination,

living beii

through tl

Developen

ing, one tl

the former

to speak o\

ing an ima

the adult o

"The ir

smgle life,

opement is

cyclical ch

logically ai

249

" Vitality, the faculty, that is, of exhibiting definite
cycles of change in form and composition, is a pro-
perty inherent in certain kinds of matter.

" There is a condition of all kinds of living matter
iu wliich it is an amorphous germ — that is, in which
its external form depends merely on ordinary
i>hysical laws, and in which it possesses no internal
structure,

" Now, according to the nature ct -jprtain previous
conditions — the character of the changes undergone
—of the different states necessarily exhibited — or,
in other words, the successive differentiations of the
amorphous mass will be different. Conceived aa
a whole, from their commencement to their icr-
mination, they constitute the individuality ot the
living being, and the passage of the living being
through these states, is called its developement
Developement, therefore, and life are, strictly sp- ik-
ing, one thing, though we are accustomed to limit
the former to the progressive half of life merely, and
to speak of the retrogressive half as decay, consider-
ing an imaginary resting point between the tv/o as
the adult or perfect state.

" The individuality of a living thing, then, or a
smgle life, is a continuous developement, and devel-
opement is the continual differentiation, the constant
cyclical change of that which was .t first, morpho-
logically and chemically indifferent and homogeneous.

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260

The morphological dififerentiatioii may be of two
kinds. In the lowest animals and plants — the so-
called unicellular organisms — it may be said to be
external the changes of form being essentially con-
fined to the outward shape of the germ, and being
unaccompanied by the developement of any internal
structure. ' i w

** But in all other animals and plants, an internal
morphological differentiation precedes or accompanies
the external, and the homogeneous germ becomes
separated into a certain central portion, which we
have called the endoplast, and peripheral portion, the
periplast. Inasmuch as the separate existence of the
former necessarily implies a cavity, in which it lies,
the germ in this state constitutes a vesicle with a
central particle, or a ' nucleated cell.' There is no
evidence whatever that the molecular forces of the
living matter (the ' vis essentialis ' of Wolff, or the
vital forces of the moderns) are by this act of differ-
entiation localised in the endoplast, to the exclusion
of the periplast, or vice versL Neither is there any
evidence that any attraction or other influence is
exercised by the one over the other ; the changes
which each subsequently undergoes, though they are
in harmony, having no causal connexion with one
another, but each proceeding, as it would seem, in
accordance with the general determining lawb of the
organism. Ou the other hand, the ' vis essentialis '

261

appears to have sssentially different and independent
ends in view — if we may for the nonce speak meta-
phorically— in thus separating the endoplast from

the periplast. • ^j -

" The endoplast grows and divides ; but, except
in a few more or less doubtful cases, it would seem
to undergo no other morphological change. It fre-
quently disappears altogether ; but as a rule, it
undergoes neither chemical nor morphological meta-
morphosis. So far from being the centre of activity
of the vital actions, it would appear much rather to
be a less important histological element. The peri-
plast, on the other hand, which has hitherto passed
under the names of cell-wall, contents, and intercel-
lular substance, is the subject of all the most important
metamorphic processes, whether morphological or
chemical, in the animal and in the plant. By its
differentiation, every variety of tissue is produced ;
and this differentiation is the result not of any
metabolic action of the endoplast, which has fre-
quently disappeared before the metamorphosis begins,
but of intimate molecular changes in its substance,
which take place under the guidance of the * vis
essentialis,' or, to use a strictly positive phrase, occur
in a definite order, we know not why. The meta-
morphoses of the pleriplastic substance are twofold
—chemical and structural. The former may be of
the nature either of conversion : change of cellulose

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mto xylogen, intercellulai* sntistance, &c., of the
indifferent tissue of embryos into collagen, chondrin,
&c. ; or of deposit : as of silica in plants, of calcareous
salts in animals.

" The structural metamorphoses, again, are of two
kinds — vacuolation, or the formation of cavities ; as
in the intercellular passages of plants, the first
vascular canals of animals ; and fibrillatimi, or the
developement of a tendency to break up in certain
definite lines rather than in others, a peculiar modi-
fication of the cohesive forces of the tissue, such as
we have in connective tissue, in muscle, and in the
* secondary deposits ' of the vegetable cell. Now to
illustrate and explain these views, let us return to
the vegetable and animal tissues, as we left them in
describing the base of the Sphagnum leaf and foetal
cartilage, and trace out the modification of these,
which are identical with all young +* ^es, into some
of the typical adult forms. The point c . the Sphagnum
leaf is older than the base, and it is easy to trace
every stage from the youngest to the complete forms
in this direction. At the base of the leaf, we find,
as has been said, nothing but minute endoplasts,
each resembling the other, embedded in a homoge-
neous periplastic substance (A) ; as we trace these
upwards, we find, that some of the endoplasts increase
in size more rapidly than the others (B), and eventually

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258

Fig. 2.

totally disappear, leav-
ing only the endoplas-
tic cavity, or 'cell/
which contained them.
In the surrounding
cells, the endoplasts
are very obvious as
granular primordial
utricles (0). After the
disappearance of the
endoplast, changes
commence in the peri-
plastic substance or

Portions of the leaf of Sphagnum. A, Wall of the CCU (fl),
from the base; B, more towards the ^f.|,p ^« Ipaq oirnnlnr
point; 0, fully formed; a, endoplasts more or iCSS OirCUiar

which disappear; b, those which re- ^jnirnl fhiVVpnino-Q

main; c, spiral thickenings of periplast ^r Spirai iniCKenmgS

in the caTities of the former; (f, aper- /\ x^i ^-^ ^l«^« i„ ;+

tures formed by resorption. (c) taking plaCC lU it,

SO as to form the well-knowft fibre-cell of the
sphagnum leaf ; and at the same time, a process of
resorption occurs in particular parts of the wall, so
that round apertures are formed {d.) Nothing can
be more instructive than this case, the leaf being
composed of a single layer of delicate and trans-
parent cells, so that there are no interfering diffi-
culties of observation ; and we see demonstrated,
in the most striking manner, that the endoplast or
primordial utricle has nothing to do with the meta-
morphoses which occur in the periplastic substance.

The disappearance of the primordial utricle in cells
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264

mii

which are undergoing thickening, was, in truth, long
ago pointed out by Von Mohl ; but neither he nor any
of his successors seem to have noticed how completely
this fact does away with that activity of the primordial
utricle, and passivity of the cell-wall, which they
all assume. We have here, in fact, the cell-wall
commencing and carrying through its morphological
changes after the primordial utricle has completely
disappeared, and we see that the so-called secondary
deposit in this ease, is a morphological differentiation
of the periplast, which at the same time exhibits its
peculiar powers by setting up a resorption of its
substance at another point. Here, however, we
have no marked chemical differentiation ; for an
instance of which we may turn to the collenchyma of
the beet-root (fig. 1, A.). There is no question that,
at one period of its developement, the whole peri-
plastic substance here, as in the Sphagnum, was
homogeneous, and of the same chemical constitution.
In the fully formed beet-root, however, we have no
less than three compounds disposed around each cell
cavity. The pleriplastic substance has, in fact,
undergone both a chemical and a morphological
differentiation — the innermost layers (c) consisting
of ordinary cellulose ; the next of a substance which
swells up in water (b) ; and the outermost of a
different, but not exactly defined, substance {a).
We may call one of these portions ' cell-membrane,'
and another intercullar substance, but they are,

266

assuredly, all nothing but differentiated portions of
one and the same periplast. .^ » " v'>r v>ituij»^,* ,7tii*'j

" Woody tissue presents precisely the same phe-
nomena, the inner layers of the periplastic substance
having, very generally, a different composition from
the outer. •' - '. -, .. .*,

"Morphologically, we have already noticed the
lamination of the periplastic substance, and we may
mention its fibrillation, a process which takes place
almost invariably in the inner layers of the periplast,
and to which the well-known spirality of the so-called
secondary deposits must be referred ; but a more
important process for our present purpose is what
we have called Vacuolation ; the developement of
cavities in the periplastic substance independent of
the endoplast, and which, to distinguish them from
the cells, may conveniently be termed Vacuoles. In
the youngest vegetable tissues there are no such
cavities, the periplastic substance forming a con-
tinuous solid whole ; and it is by this vacuolation,
which occurs as the part grows older, that all the
intercellular passages are formed, and that many
cells obtain that spurious anatomical independence,
to which we have adverted above. The exaggerated
developement of the vacuolae in the pith of the rush
converts the periplastic substance, with its proper
endoplastic cavities, into regular stellate cells. (Fig.
1, B.)

" Sufficient has been said to illustrate the diflferen-

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tiation of the primitive vegetable structure into its
most complex forms. If we turn to the animal
tissues, we shall find the same simple principles
amply suflScient to account for all their varieties.

" In the plant, as we have seen, there are but two
histological elements — the periplastic substance, and
the endoplasts, cell-wall and intercellular substance,
being merely names for differentiated portions of the
former ; cell-contents, on the other hand, represent-
ing a part of the latter. In the animal, on the other
hand, if we are to put faith in the present nomencla-
ture, we find the cell-wall, intercellular substance,
and cell-contents, forming primitive elements of the
tissues, and entering into their composition as such :
there have been no small dispu^ 3 whether the colla-
genous portion of connective tissue is intercellular
substance or cell-wall, the elastic element bemg
pretty generally admitted to be developed from dis-
tinct cells. Again, it appears to be usual to consider
the fibrillee of striped muscle as modified cell-contents,
while the sarcolemma represents the cell-walls. The
hyaline substance of cartilage is asserted by some to
be cell-wall, by some to be intercelular substance ;
while the walls of the epithelium cavities are admitted,
on all hands, to be ceU-walls. We confess ourselves
quite unable to find any guiding principle for this
nomenclature, unless it be that the toughest structure
surrounding a ' nucleus ' is to be taken as cell-wall,
any thing soft inside it being contents, and any thing

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267

external to it intercellular substance ; whidi is hardly
a caricature of the vagueness whidi perYad,eB IM^
logical works upbn this subject. This n&nMti, w»
think, from the attempt to detomuBie i^ iMMRBokgy
of the parts of the tissues hamg hem mi4e ftmn
the examination of their embry^vue Q<aai4Et9«iie, ifiiere
it is often very obscure, and har#y to h» unwjff lOnt.
It is another matter if we adc^ itSve ' prnti^ of
continuity ' of Beichert — a method oif in^notognliMHi
which has been much neglected. 1Mb ^tsmavf^ ^
simply, that whatever histological elemente pue ioito
one another by insensible gradations aire homolqgoae
and of the same nature ; and it is so dear and ensy
of application, that we can but wonder at its bHboitto
limited use. We will now proceed to aofdyse the
nature of the constituents of some of the most qbarac-
teristic tissues in this way, starting from that of
enbryonic cartilage, as we may have described it
above. - ' ■ ' * :

" Connecting tissue occurs in two forms, — whic'i,
however, pass into one another by infinite grada-
tions,— ^the solid and the areolated: of the former
we may take a tendon as an example ; of the latter,
the loose areolar tissue, which is found forming the
inner layer of the skin and mucous membranes. Fig.
3 represents the junction between the tendo-Achillis
and the cartilage of the os calcis, in a young kitten.
At A, we have pure cartilage, the endoplasts lying
within cavities whose walls present more or less

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^8' 8- defined contours. At R, the

cavities and their contaiaed
endoplasts arc somewhat
elongated, and a faint stri*
ationis obvious in the upper
portion of the periplastic
substance, which becomos
stronger and stronger, as
we proceed lower down,
until it ends in an apparent
fibrillation. A chemical
change has at the same
time taken place, so that
in this portion the striated
part of the periplast is
swollen up more or less by
acetic acid, the walls of
the cavities remaining un-

Janetion of tendo-Aohillis and oar- „. . -. j , t. ,

tilage of the caloaneum in a kit- anectecl, and tnCUCe DeCOm-

ten. A, pure cartilage; B, in- . j. i. j. i .i •

termediate portion ; C, tendon. lUg more dlStlUCt ; while m

It must be understood that the . a .-t

transition is in reality much more the pOrtlOU A, the Whole
gradual, the different stages hav- . i .

ing here been approximated for periplast WaS nearly Cqual-

the sake of economising space. . . ., _ , ^. .

ly insensible to this re-
agent. The portion 0, nearest the tendon, and pas-
sing into it, is completely tendinous in its structure.
The periplast exhibits strong fibrillation, and is very
sensitive to acetic acid, while not only the walls of
the cavities, but the intermediate periplast, in cer-
tain directions, which radiate irregularly from them,

259

have changed into a substance which resists acetic
acid even more than before, and is in fact elastic
tissue. Compare this process with that which we
have seen to be undergone by the collenchyma of
the beet-root, and we have the fibrillation of the
outer i)ortlon of the periplast around each endoplast,
and its conversion into collagen, answering to the
lamination of the * intercellular substance,' and its
conversion into a vegetable gelatinous matter, while
the elastic corresponds with the cellulose inner wall .

" The testimony of numerous observers agree that
cartilage is converted into connective tissue in the
way described. Professor KoUiker, who unwillingly
admits the fact, suggests, nevertheless, that such
connective tissue as this, is not true connective tis-
sue, inasmuch as it presents differences in its mode
of developement, the collagenous element in the lat-
ter being always developed from cells.

" Now, we might be inclined to ask, if the sub-
stance of the tendo-Achillis is not connective tissue,
but only ^tdmchend dhnlich,^ what is? But it is
better to attack Prof. KoUiker's stronghold, the are-
olated gelatinous connective tissue, which is, as he
justly observes, the early form of foetal connective
tissue generally. If the outer layer of the corium
of the skin, or the submucous gelatinous tissue in the
enamel organ, be teased out with needles, we shall
obtain various stellate or ramified bodies, contain-
ing endoplasts (fig. 4) which KoUiker calls cells, and

260

*'^8- ^' which, as he si. ^es,

do assuredly pass
into, and become
bundles of fibril lal-
ed connective tissue.
But is thib reallv a
different mode of
developement from
that already de-
scribed ? We think
not. Indeed, if that
portion ofthisyounj;
gelatinous (connect-
ive tissue, which lies
immediately adja-

Stellate 'cells' of young oonneotive tissue * + au -j

from the aotinenchyma of the enamel or- CCnt tO tne epiuer-
gan of the calf. . mi i>

mis or epithelium
be examined, it will be found to present a structure
in all respects similar to foetal cartilage, that is, there
is a homogenous matrix in which the endoplasts are
dispersed (fig. 6 B). If this be traced inwards, it
will be found that the endoplasts become more
widely separated from one another, and that the
matrix in places between them is softened and alter-
ed, while in their immediate neighbourhood, and in
the direction of irregular lines stretching from them,
it is unaltered. This is, in fact, the first stage of
that process which we have called vacuolation. In
this condition the intermediate softened spots still

261

retain sufficient consistence not to flow out of a sec-
tion ; but yielding, as it does, in these localities,
much more readily than in other?, it is easy enough
to tear out the firmer portion in '.he shape of ' cells,'
which are fusiform, irregular, or stellate ; and the
whole tissue has therefore been described (Reichert,
Virchow, Schwann) as consisting of cells, connected
by an ' intercellular substance.' Both ' cell-walls '
and ' intercellular substance,' however, are portions
^»<^'^' of the same periplast, and

together correspond with
the matrix of the car-
tilage. When, therefore
in the course of further
developement, the ' inter-
cellular substance ' be-
comes (|uite fluid and so
disappears, tlio outer por-
tion of these cells be-
ing converted into fibril-
lated collagenous tissue,
and the inner into elastic
substance, we have, not-
withstanding the apparent-
ly great difference, in re-
ality exactly the same mode

Submucous tissue and epithelium ^ mCtamOrphOSis of the
of the tongue of the kitten. A, ^

ftSiue.' ^' ^°"°^ ''"'''" same elements, as in the
2 K

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preceding instance. Connective tissue, therefore,
we may say, consists in its earliest state of a homoge-
neous periplast inclosing endoplasts. The endoplasts
may elongate to some extent, but eventually become
lost, and cease, more or less completely, to be distin-
guishable elements of the tissue. The periplast may
undergo three distinct varieties of chemical differen-
tiation, e. g., into the gelatinous ' intercellular sub-
stance,' the collagenous * cell-wall,' and the elastic
* cell-wall ;' and two varieties of morphological dif-
ferentiation, vacuolation, and fibrillation — and the
mode in which these changes take place gives rise
to the notion that the perfect tissue is composed of
elements chemically and mechanically distinct

" The proper understanding of the nature and
mode of developement of the component parts of
connective tissue is, we believe, of the first impor-
tance in comprehending the other tissues. If we
clearly bear in mind, in the first place, that the
periplast is capable of undergoing modifications quite
independently of the endoplasts ; and secondly, that
in consequence of their modification, elements may
become optically, mechanically, or chemically separ-
able from a perfect tissue, which were not discover-
able in its young form, and never had any steparate
existence ; many of the great difficulties and per-
plexities of the cell-theory will disappear. Thus,
for instance, with regard to the structure of bone,
there can be no doubt that the ' nuclei ' of the cor-

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263

puscles are endoplasts, and that the calcified matrix
is the pleriplast. This calcified matrix has, however,
in adult bone, very often a very regular structure,
being composed of definite particles. To account for
these, Messrs. Tomes and De Morgan, in their valu-
able essay on ossification, which has just appeared,
suppose that certain * osteal cells ' exist and become
ossified. We have no intention here of entering
upon the question of the existence of these ' osteal
cells ' as a matter of fact, but we may remark, that
they are by no means necessary, as the appearance
might arise from a differeEtiation of the periplast
into definite and fibrillated aspect. So with regard to
the vexed question whether the lacunae have separate
parietes or not, how readily comprehensible the
opposite results at which different observers have
arrived, become, if we consider that their demon-
strability or otherwise results simply from ihe nature
and amount of the chemical difference which has
been established in the periplast in the immediate
neighbourhood of the endoplast, with regard to that
in the rest of the periplast. In fig. 3 substitute
calcific for collagenous metamorphosis, and we should
have a piece of bone exhibiting every variety of
lacunae, from those without distinct walls, to those
which constitute regular stellate ' bone corpuscles.'
Finally, in bone, the formation of the ' Haversian
spaces ' of Tomes and De Morgan is a process of
vaeuolation, strictly comparable to that which we
have described as giving rise to the areolated osseous

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tissue. Once having comprehended the fact that the
periplast is the metamorphic element of the tissHes,
and that the endoplast has no influence nor importance
in histological metamorphosis, there ceases to be any
difficulty in understanding and admitting the devel-
> opement of the tubules of dentine and the prisms of
the enamel, without the intervention of endoplasts.
These are but extreme and obvious cases in which na-
ture has separated for us two histological elements and
two processes, which are elsewhere confounded toge-
ther. , ■■"''■'■' ■•■'■^' ' ■ ' '■' • '■' "■■■■'■

" One of the most com-
plicated of tissues is striped
muscle, yet the true homology
of its elements seems to us to
become intelligible enough
upon these principles. Dr.
Hyde Salter has pointed out,
that in the tongue the muscles
pass directly into the bundles
of the submucous connective
tissue which serve as their
tendons. We have figured
such a transition in fig. 6.
The tendon A may be seen
passing insensibly into the
I. '''?ottfive'Lr?L te ni^scle B, the granular sarcous
neTe 1*.^'^^ m^acie?"" elements of the latter appear-
, .; ing as it were to be deposited

265

in tlie substance c f i tondon (just as the calcareous
particles are deposited in bone), at first leaving tl«
tissue about the walls of tbe cavities of the endopkstd,
and that in some other difteetioiis, unaltered. Itiese
portions, which would have represented the elftslie^
element in ordinary ooiHi«c^ve tissue, dii^appettr Iv
the centre of the muscular btiadte, and tilkie «iKl«)|^iBfs
are immediately surroaadttd by mnscle, jiist as, in
many specimens of boa^^UM lacuna have no (dSstn*
gaishable walls On t]i« o^r hsanA^ at tine mthm
of the bundle the represtatadve of the elastic ekimfil
remains, and often becomes mueh developed as the
sarcolemma. There is no question here of ransde
resulting from the contents of fused cells, &c. It is
obviously and readily seen to be nothing but a meta-
morphosis of the periplastic substance, in all respects
comparable to that which occurs in ossification, or in
the developement of tendon. In this case we might
expect, that as there is an areolar form of connective
tissue, so we should find some similar arrangement
of muscle ; and such may indeed be seen very
beautifully in the terminations of the branched
muscles, as they are called. In fig. 7 the termination
of such a muscle, from the lip of the rat, is shown,
and the stellate * cells ' of areolated connective tissue
are seen passing into the divided extremities of the
mttscular bundle, becoming gradually striated as they
do so.
" We have already exceeded our due limits, and

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266

^*f' ^- we must, therefore,

reserve for another
place the '^applica-
tion of these views
to other^j tissues.
There is, however,
one application of
the mode of ter-
mination of the
branched muscles
to which we have
just referred, which
is of too great phy-

Branohed masole, ending in tteUate eonnective siological import-
• ceUa,' from the upper liv of the rat. , , ,

ance to be passed
over in silence. In the muscle it is obvious enough,
that whatever homology there may be between the
stellate ' cells ' and the muscular bundles with which
they are continuous, there is no functional analogy,
the stellate bodies having no contractile faculty. But
a nervous tubule is developed in essentially the same
manner as a muscular fasciculus, the only difiference
being, that fatty matters take the place of syntonin.
Now, it commonly happens that the nerve-tubules
terminate in stellate bodies of a precisely similar
nature ; and these, in this case, are supposed to
possess important nervous functions, and go by the
name of * ganglionic cells.' From what has been said,
however, it is clear that these may be genetically

n

. ' 267 ■ : [ '"

and not functionally, connected with the nervouS
tubules, and that, so far from being the essential
element of the nervous centres and expansions, it is
possible that the 'ganglionic cells' have as little
nervous function, as the stellate cells in the lip of the
rat have contractile function. ^

" We cannot conclude better than by concisely
repeating the points to which we have attempted to
draw our attention in the course of the present

" We have endeavoured to show that life, so far
as it is manifested by structure, is for us nothing but
a succession of certain morphological and chemical
phenomena in a definite cycle, of whose cause or
causes we know nothing ; and that, in virtue of their
invariable passage through these successive states,
living beings have a developement, a knowledge of
which is necessary to any complete understanding of
them. It has been seen that Yon Baer enunciated
the law of this developement, so far as the organs
are concerned ; that it is a continually increasing
differentiation of that which was at first homogeneous ;
and that Caspar Frederich Wolff demonstrated the
nature of histological developement to be essentially
the same, though he erred in some points of detail.
We have found Schwann demonstrating for the
animal, what was already known for the plant — that
the first histological differentiation, in the embryo, is
into endopiast and periplast, or, in his own phrase,

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into a ' nucleated cell ;' and we have endeavoured to
show in what way he was misled into a fundamentally
erroneous conception of the homologies of these two
primitive constituents in plants and animals — that
what he calls the ' nucleus ' in the animal is not the
homologue of the ' nucleus ' in the plant, but of the
primordial utricle.

, " We have brought forward evidence to the effect,
that this primary differentiation is not a necessary
preliminary to further organisation — that the cells
are not machines by which alone further develope-
ment can take place, nor, even with Dr. Carpenter's
restriction, are to be considered as ' instrumental' to
that developemeut. We have tried to show that
they are not instruments, but indications — that they
are no more the producers of the vital phenomena,
than the shells scattered in orderly lines along the
sea-beach are the instruments by which the gravita-
tive force of the moon acts upon the ocean. Like
these, the cells mark only where the vital tides have
been, and how they have acted. < m.

" Again, we have failed to discover any satisfac-
tory evidence that the endoplast, once formed,
exercises any attractive, metamorphic, or metabolic
force upon the periplast ; and we have therefore
maintained the broad doctrine established by Wolff,
that the vital phenomena are not necessarily pre-
ceded by organisation, nor are in any way the result
or aflfect of formed parts, but that the faculty of

269

manifesting them resides in the matter of which living
bodies are composed, as such — or, to use the language
of the day, that the ' vital forces ' are molecular
forces. /.(^ mmin-m

" It will be doubtless be said by many. But what
guides these molecular forces ? Some Cause, some
Force, must rule the atoms and determine their ar-
rangement into cells and organs ; there must be
something, call it what you will — Archaeus, ' Bild-
dui^-trieb,' 'Vis Essentialis,' Yital Force, Cell-force
—by whose energy the vital phenomena in each case
are what they are.

" We have but one answer to such inquiries :
Physiology and Ontology are two sciences which
cannot be too carefully kept apart ; there may be
such entities as causes, powers, and forces, but they
are the subjects of the latter, and not of the former
science, in which their assumption has hitherto been
a mere gaudy cloak for ignorance. For us, physiology
is but a branch of humble philosophy of facts ; and
when it has ascertained the phenomena presented by
living beings and their order, its powers are exhaust-
ed. If cause, power, and force, mean any thing but
convenient names for the mode of association of facts,
physiology is powerless to reach them. It is satis-
fiM5tory to reflect, however, that in this comparatively
Wted sphere the inquiring mind may yet find much
occupation." We think, however, that we may

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life with the " vis essentialia, " or any secondo-pri-
mary power, and rest satisfied with the simple decla-
ration approved by the reason, that life and matter
continue in union by the fiat of an omnipotent power.
Further, Mr. Huxley clearly exposes the fallacy
against which we contend. We gather from his views
of cell-developement, that these bodies are not to be
looked upon as instruments or agents in the process of
vitalisation, i. e., producers of vital phenomena ; and
when we recollect the evidence which they afford of
differentiation of organic structure, we cannot but
think that Mr. Huxley is in the main correct. Mr.
DeMorgan, who opposes these opinions, quotes a
passage, which we interpret very differently. Mr.
Huxley says, " we have brought forward evidence
to the effect that this primary differentiation is not a
preliminary to further organisation — that the cells
are not machines by which alone further develope-
ment can take place, nor even with Dr. Carpenter's
restriction are to be considered as instrumental to
that developement. We have tried to shew that
they are not instruments, but indicators — tliat they
are no more the producers of vital phenomena, than
shells scattered along the sea beach in orderly lines,
are the instruments by which the gravitatiVe force
of the moon acts upon the ocean. Like these, the
cells mark only where the vital tides have been, and
how they have acted." Arguments will shortly be
adduced to prove the doctrine of JBr. Carpenter

271

erroneous ; we shall here briefly shew that Mr.
Huxley merely declares that cells are not instru-
ments for manufacturing vital force ; he nowhere
says that they are not instruments for preserving or
ministering in the economy of organisation ; but he
denies, and we think correctly, that the cell is the
cause of life, the organic originator of life, for "as the
whole animal is the result of a differentiation of a
structureless yelk, so is every tissue the result of a
structureless blastema ;* the first step in that differ-
entiation being the separation of the blastema into
endoplastf and periplast,! or the formation of what
is called " nucleated cell." There, just as in the
developement, when the blastodermic! membrane is
once formed, new organs are not developed in other
parts of the yelk, but proceed wholly from the dif-
ferentiation of the blastoderm ; so, histologically, ||
the " nucleated cell," the periplast with its endoplast
once formed, further developement takes place by
their growth and differentiation into new endoplasts
and periplasts." Mr. Huxley is here evidently con-
tending against the doctrine which declares " sub-
stance to be the cause of its attributes ;'' he denies
that the nucleated cell is first formed and then be-
comes possessed of attributes, manufacturing its own
powers, the instrument of its own life ; nor does he
maintain "that the absorbent gland, for example,

* fihaxnuita, growth, production ; germ-substanoe. f EvSov, within ;
■siisaisa, that which has been formed. 1 Ilfpi, round aboat ; vXcur/io, that
which has been formed. § Germinal membrane, inclosing liquid yelk.
II loTos, a tissue ; \oyos, discourse.

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272

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which is nothing more than a compact plexus of
absorbents, containing an abundance of nucleated
corpuscles, is not an active agent, because in the
lower animals there are no absorbents at all ; or
that the red-blood corpuscle, which is either cell or
nucleus, is not an active agent, because develope-
ment goes on, and all kinds of animal and organic
functions are performed in the lower animals with-
out its presence ; and the doctrine advanced espe-
cially declares " that in these and many other
instances, the presence of the cell elements is a
sufficient proof of some higher, or, at least, some
modified manifestation of vital force, of which they
are the indication, as well as the instruments. They
are instruments for the performance of some special
function ; they are not the instruments of their own
ei^-jtence, or of the vital power by which they act.
They are mighty indications of the existence of a
vital power which issues with the germ, and which
continues with and abides in it through all its stages
of subsequent developement. Mr. Paget has ad-
vanced the same dcctrine in his usual elegant lan-
guage : " While studying the means by which living
bodies, having suffered injury, regain their perfec-
tion, we may find continual manifestation^ of the
same mysterious properties of the germ by which,
through developement, they first attained it. And
in these manifestations we may discern the best evi-

Ao-nnck ihai. in flpvplanincT iho Innrlxr in \ta rkorfonfmn

278

the power of the germ is not lost, or quite exhausted,
but rather is diffused through all parts of the com-
pleted being ; and that diffused, it works in them
through all their life, determining, as with continuous
design, every natural formative process, in accord-
aoce with the specific character of the individual.
For I believe that we cannot form a just conception
of the scope and nature of even the least of the pro-
cesses of repair and reproduction after injury, or of
the maintenance of the body in ordinary nutrition,
or of its natural changes in the course of age, unless
we admit that each organism, in its perfect state,
retains, diffused through all its parts, some of the
specific properties from which the power issued that
actuated the impregnated germ in its developement."
In other words, the power and capacity of develope-
ment is an implanted power from the first, and is not
dependent for its existence on the machinery which
it uses for its manifestation. Is the brain of the
young foetus simply an excretion from the blood,
or an evidence of wonderful provision for the
fiiture, an indication that the vital power has been
operative in providing an instrument for its subse-
quent wants? It cannot be said that this power
acts of itself, as supposed by some ancients, but it
does act in accordance with the primary degree, not
yet abrogated, which said that the seed should
contain within itself the future generations.
Dr. Carpenter testifies that, whatever be the pre-

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« nature and history of the fecundating process
there can be no doubt that the properties of the germ
depend upon conditions both material and dynamicai,
supplied Uy both parents. This is most obviously
shewn by the fusion of the characters of the parents,
which is exhibited by hybrids between distinct spe-
cies or strongly marked varieties among the lower
animals, such as the horse and ass, the lion and
tiger, or the various breeds of dogs ; or in the off-
spring of parents belonging to two strongly o: -
trasted races of men, such as the Europeau on the
one hand, and the negro or American Indian on the
other. But it is rare to meet with instances, even
when the differences between the families are less
strongly marked, in which some distinctive traits of
both may not be luadily traced ; these traits shew-
ing themselves in peculiarities of manner and ges-
ture, in tendencies of thought or feeling, in proneness
to particular constitutional disorders, &c., even
where there is no personal resemblance, and where
there has been no possibility that these peculiarities
should have been gained by imitation. And it is
well known, too, that such peciiimrit"er? will often ,
re-appear in a subsequent genci^Lun, after being
apparently extinct; as if the agency which produced
them, for a time had been overpowered by some
, trorgar infiuence, but had subsequently been left
ire<3 to oper^'.te. The influence of particular provi-
sions of the regular nutritive operations, brought

275

about by causes to which tlic parents have been
exposed, is often manifested in tlie offspring ; thus
we find gout, scrofula, syphilis, kc, hereditarily
transmitted ; and the children of habitual drunkards
are distinguished by their tenden jy to idiocy and
insanity. Mr. Kneeland, of Boston, on this head,
repc/'^^ "The pre-disposing cause must act during
gjritsitiOTt -idiocy may be hereditary: children of
I ! rotted parents are very apt to be idiotic. Of this
it is needless to quote examples, as the records of
idiocy are full of striking proofs of this visiting on
the children the sin of their parents. Various shocks
to the nervous system of the mother have been
known to cause idiocy. Esquirol mentions that,
during the excising period of the French revolution,
many women brought forth idiotic children, who
before and after that period had healthy ones. The
intermarriage of near relatives is very apt to be
followed by idiotic children. In 359 cases alluded
toby Dr. S. Gr. Howe, in his state report, 17 were
known to be the children of parents nearly related
by blood, and doubtless many more should be added.
This makes (so far as such few cases go) the propor-
tion of idiots from this cause, one-eighteenth of the
whole ; and, considering the small ratio such mar-
riages bear to the great mass of marriages, this pro-
portion becomes of more importance. It is said
most of the j^)arents were intemperate and scrofulous,

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there were other causes, to increase chances of
infirm offspring, besides that of the intermarriage.
There were born unto them 95 children, of whom 44
were idiotic, 12 others were scrofulous and puny,
one was deaf, and one was a dwarf. In some cases
all the children were either idiotic or very scrofii-
lous and puny. In one family of eight children,
five were idiotic." Dr. S. M. Bemis, of Kentucky,
made a report at the late meeting of the National
Medical Association, in Washington, shewing the
influence of marriages of consanguinity upon off-
spring. After giving a variety of statistics, obtained
from reliable sources, the Dr. speculates as follows :
— " If the same ratio be supposed to exist tnrough-
out the Union, there would be found to the twenty
millions of white inhabitants, six thousand three
hundred and twenty-one marriages of cousins, giv-
ing birth to three thousand nine hundred and nine
deaf, dumb, blind, idiotic and insane children, dis-
tributed as follows : — Deaf and dumb, 1,116 ; blind,
648 ; idiotic, 1,854 ; insane, 290. Then, if the
figures of the last United States census, still applied
to our population, there would now be found in the
Union, 9,136 deaf and dumb, of whom 1,116, or
12.8 per cent., are children of cousins ; 7,978 blind,
of whom 648, or 8.1 per cent., are children of cou-
sins ; 14,978 insane, of whom 290, or 0.19 per cent.,
are children of cousins.

" If parents and people generally understood the

.■^ «, ; i'f

277

causes that produce idiocy there would be fewer of
those poor unfortunates cast upon the world.

" Physiologists have examined the physical con-
dition of the progenitors of idiots, and sought for
some satisfactory causes of the very vice or defect
iu the organisation which causes idiocy.

•* Several striking truths seem to be the result of
these inquiries. One of the most is, that eight-tenths
of the idiots are born of a wretched stock ; of families
which seem to have degenerated to the lowest degree
of bodily and mental condition ; whose humors are
vitiated, and whose scrofulous tendency shows itself
in eruptions, sores, and cutaneous and glandulous
diseases. This condition of the body is the result of
intemperance, of excesses of various kinds, commit-
ted, for the most part, in ignorance of their dreadful
consequences. They are lean, nervous, puny, and
sore-eyed. They have salt-rheum, king's evil, and
kindred afflictions ; they cannot digest well, cannot
sleep well, and they die young. Their mental and
moral condition is as low as their bodily one.

" But of 420 cases of congenital idiocy which were
examined in Massachusetts, some information was
obtained respecting the progenitors of 359. Now,
in all these other, 359 cases, save only four, it was
found that one or the other, or both, of the immediate
progenitors of the unfortunate sufferer had in some
wav widelv denarted from, the normal condition of
2 M

278

health, and violated the natural laws. That is to
say, one or the other, or both of them, had been
very unhealthy or scrofulous ; or hereditarily pre-
disposed to affections of the brain, causing occasional
insanity ; or had intermarried with blood relatives ;
or had been intemperate ; or had been guilty of
sensual excesses which impair the constitution. The
idiotic child is just as much the result of some organic
vice or weakness in the constitution of the parent as
the sour and crabbed apple is the necessary product
of a wild and bad stock.

" A report made to the Senate of Massachusetts,
by a Board of Commissioners appointed in 184G, to
investigate into the condition of idiots in that State,
and to consider the propriety of establishing an
asylum or school for them, contains the following :—

"In some families which are degraded by drunk-
enness and vice, there is a degree of combined ignor-
ance and depravity which degrades humanity. It is
not wonderful that feeble-minded children are born in
such families ; or, being born, that many of them
become idiotic. Out of this class domestics are some-
times taken by tliose in better circumstances ; and
they make their employers feel the consequences of
suffering ignorance and vice in the community.
There are cases recorded where servant women, who
had the charge of little girls, deliberately taught

the 111

habits u

f self abuse, in order that ihey might

I r

279

exhaust themselves and go to sleep quietly ! This
has happened out of the almhouses as well as in them,
and such little girls have become idiotic !

" There are, among those enumerated in this
report, some who not long ago were considered
young gentlemen and ladies, but who are now moping
idiots, idiots of the lowest kind ; lost to all reason, to
all moral sense, to all shame ; idiots who have but
one thought, one wish, one passion, and that is, the
further indulgence of the habit which has loosed the
silver cord, even in their early youth ; which has
already wasted, and, as it were, dissolved the fibrous
parts of their bodies, and utterly extinguished their
minds.

" For one victim which it leads down to the depth
of idiocy, there are scores and hundreds whom it
makes shamefaced, languid, irresolute, and inefficient
for any high purpose of life.

" In no less than ten cases which are here recorded
the idiocy of the children was manifestly attributable
to this sin of the parent. Now, if a cause which
would be be so carefully concealed, is brought out in
these ten cases, in how many more must it have been
at work unnoticed and unsuspected.

" How much bodily disease and weakness ; how
much mental obliquity and imbecility ; how much of
ungovernable lust, are thrown upon the children of
this generation by the vices of their fathers and
mothers of the foregoing one.

; - k

280

:| '1

" The treatment of children at home for idiocy, by
giving them medicine and otherwise, generally results
in very serious consequences.

" Probably the habitual use of alcoholic drinks
does a great deal to bring families into that low and
feeble condition of body alluded to as a prolific cause
of idiocy. Out of three hundred and fifty-nine idiots,
the condition of whose progenitors was ascertained,
ninety-nine idiots were the children of drunkards. The
general appearance of these idiots is remarkably like
that of their parents when they were in their long
drunken debauches. The effect of habitual use of
alcohol, even in moderate quantities, seems to be to
lymphatise the whole bodily organisation ; that is, to
diminish the proportion of the fibrous part of the body
— that which gives enduring strength, and to make
the lymphatic or the watery particles to abound in ail
the tissues. The children of persons so lymphatised
are apt to be of the scrofulous character above
described ; and their children are apt to be feeble in
body and weak in mind. Idiots, fools and simpletons
are common among the progeny of such persons,
either in the first or second generation.

" The use of alcoholic drinks or other stimulants
by parents begets an appetite for them in the off-
spring.

" By givirg this as one of the remote causes of
idiocy, it is not meant that even in a majority of cases
the offspring of marriages between cousins, or other

281

«

near relations, will be idiotic. The cases are very
numerous where nothing extraordinary is observable
in the immediate offspring of such unions. On the
other hand, there are so many cases where blindness,
deafness, insanity, idiocy, or some peculiar bodily
or mental deficiency, or a manifest tendency and
liability to them, is seen in such offspring that one
is forced to believe they cannot be fortuitous. It
depends very much upon the health, education, and
similarity of disposition or temperament of the
parties. Out of 359 cases in which the parentage
was ascertained, seventeen were known to be the
children of parents nearly related by blood. This
would show that more than one -twentieth of the
idiots examined are the offspring of the marriage of
relations. It is probable that blindness, deafness,
imbecility, and other infirmities, are more likely to
be the lot of children of parents related by blood
than of others. The statistics of the seventeen
families, the heads of which, being blood relatives,
intermarried, tells a fearful tale.

" xMost of the parents were intemperate or scrofu-
lous ; some were both the one and the other ; of course
there were other causes to increase the chance of infirm
offspring besides that of the intermarriage. There
were born unto them ninety-five children, of whom
forty-four were idiotic, twelve others scrofulous and
puny, one was deaf, and one was a dwarf. In some
cases, all the children were either idiotic or very

^'

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-282

scrofulous and puny. In one family of eight children,

five were idiotic. '»

" The following is the number of idiots in the

several States, according to the census report of

1850 :—

Free

Whites. Coloured. Slaves,

"Maine 575 2 -

New Hampshire 350 1 —

Vermont 297 2

Massachusetts 186 5 —

Rhode Island 110 4 —

Connecticut * . . . . 283 4 —

New York 1644 21 -

New Jersey 406 13 —

Pennsylvania 1432 35 —

Delaware 74 14 4

Maryland 275 48 68

District of Columbia 10 3 —

Virginia 891 90 201

North Carolina 615 28 121

South Carolina 249 5 94

Georgia 516 1 148

Florida 28 — 8

Alabama 343 — 133

Mississippi 136 2 34

Louisiana 106 6 62

Texas 93 — U

Arkansas 103 2 10

Tennessee 756 6 25

u .,

283

Kentucky 796 20 91

Missouri 325 — 32

lUinois 361 2 —

Indiana 925 13 —

Ohio 1344 17 —

Michigan 186 8 —

Wisconsin 92 2 —

Iowa 94 — — ■

California 7 — —

Minnesota 1 — —

New Mexico 44 — —

Oregon 4 — —

Utah 1 — —

Total 14257 348 1182

"The number of idiots in the United States is
considered, by persons who have made statistical
research on this subject, as much greater than the
result above given, for parents who have an idiot
child do not like, and frequently absolutely refuse, to
specify the fact to the census takers."

Except it be that the germ receives from its pa-
rents the powers it displays, how are we to explain
these facts ?

There seems good reason to believe that the attri-
butes of the germ are in a great degree dependent,
not merely upon the habitual conditions of the pa-
rents which have furnished its original components,
but even upon the condition which those parents

• I .

284

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"1

may be at the time of the sexual congress. Of this
we have a remarkable proof in the phenomena, well
known to the breeders of animals, that a stron<j
mental impression made upon the female by a par-
ticular male, will give the offspring a resemblauce
to him, even though she has had no sexual inter-
course with him, a circumstance for which there is
no difficulty in accounting, on the hypothesis put
forth regarding the dynamical relation of mental
states to the organic process. There is no improba-
bility, therefore, in the idea that the offspring of
parents, ordinarily healthy and temperate, but be-
gotten in a fit of intoxication on both sides, would be
likely to suffer permanently from the abrogation of
the reason, which they have temporarily brought
upon themselves. There is another class of facts
which seem referable to the same category, that,
namely, which exhibits the influence of a male pa-
rent upon the subsequent offspring of a different
parentage ; as in the well-known instance of the
quagga makes to a succession of colts, both of whose
parents were of the species horse, the mare having
been once impregnated by the quagga male : and in
the not unfrequent occurrence of a similar phenome-
non in the human species, as, when a widow who
marries a second time, bears children strongly re-
sembling her first husband. Some of these appear
referable to the strotig mental impression left by the
first male parent on the female ; but there are others

' ' 286

which seem to render it more likely that the blood
of the female has imbibed from that of the foetus,
through the placental circulation, some of the attri-
butes which the latter has derived from its male
parent ; and that the female may communicate these,
with those proper to herself, to the subsequent off-
spring of a different male parentage. On the whole,
then, we seem entitled to conclude that the attri-
butes of the embryo will be influenced in a most im-
portant degree by the entire condition (as relates both
to the organic and the psychical life) of both parents
at the time of the sexual congress.

Contrasting the opinions here advanced, with
those previously enunciated by the London physio-
logists, we cannot fail to observe the singular con-
tradictions which they involve : first, it is denied
that the germ does contain within itself the power
necessary to its future developement, and then the
admission that the attributes of the embryo will be
influenced in a most important degree by the entire
condition of both parents.

As another proof why we should entertain the idea
of the nature of life as a power, it may be well to shew
that what is true of the animal kingdom is no less
true of the vegetable: thus, it is remarked by
Schouws, that " It is very well known that the seed
of tiny given plant produces another plant, which
displays most exactly the external form, the internal

structure, and the chemical composition of the parent

^ ■■ 2 N

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286

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plant ; on this depends the whole idea of the species.
If the eflfect upon our imagination had not been
weakened by the constant observation of this fact,
it would appear to us one of the greatest miracles of
nature. In the seed there exists not the slightest
trace of all those parts of the often so complicated
structure, the flower — these are formed much later,
and yet it is certain that they are formed exactly in
that way and in no other. We are able to go even
further back : in the seed we see the germ, and in
this traces of the root and terminal bud ; but if we
examine the seed in the flower, in its state of ovule,
the germ appears to us, even under the highest
magnifying powers, to be composed of a few minute
vesicular cells : from these cells all those parts, and
no others, must be gradually developed ; while mi-
nute cells, exactly resembling them, will be deve-
loped in another seed, into a plant, perhaps, differ-
ing from it as widely as the poles. How there can
reside in these cellules, a formative force, tending
exactly in the direction thus determined, as though
an ideal figure, gradually to be realised, floated be-
fore it, — this is to the most deeply initiated naturalist
a wonder which he can only marvel at, and not
comprehend.

But the marvellousness becomes still more in-
creased when we reflect that this repetition of the
forms takes place, not only from the parent-plant
to its next successor, but through thousands of gen^

287

erations : for every thing indicates that the forms
have been maintained unaltered since the last great
disturbance of the earth's surface.

Examples, however, do occur, of deviation from
the normal types of species, produced by the agency
of man, viz., the varieties which have originated
through cultivation in the course of time. The
cereals, the fruit-trees, and ornamental plants, offer
plenty of examples. We see the dahlia, the pink,
aad the auricula vary in an extraordinary degree j
yet this variation is strictly limited — through all the
changes the typical or fundamental form is retained ;
a stock, vary as it may, never becomes a wall-
flower, a dahlia never an aster.

We trust that sufficient proof has been adduced
to controvert the doctrine of the passage of an entity
from body to body, and to lead to the inference that
the affections of matter are as much endowments as
any other quality or property which they possess.

It may, at first sight, appear objectionable to use
the terms "molecular force," but it does not tie us
down to any theory of materialism, and simply ex-
presses what we believe to be fully proved ; that mat-
ter, and all the properties it possesses, were created
and are creations : so that, in ascending the scale of
organisation, when wo discover matter and the man-
ifestation of immaterial substance conjoined, the
reason is convinced that in this higher conjunction
the molecular force is a substantial reality, and is

288

»

endowed with a power cf endurance, which ig as
endless as the self-existent Omnipotence from which
it sprang.

Except on such considerations, weknownot how to
receive the- declaration, " Be fruitful and multiply,
and replenish the earth ; behold I have given you
every herb bearing seed, and every tree in which is
the fruit of a tree yielding seed. Let the earth bring
forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself
upon the earth." It is particularly to these last words
that attention is directed, as containing the strength
of the law for which we contend, for if we have
sufficiently set forth the necessity of an all- wise
power, then the simple enunciation, " whose seed is
in itself upon the earth," has a significance which
the unfolding of the plan of nature clearly developes,
and presents to reasoning man the fact of the con-
tinued operation of the will by which the earth was
" let to bring forth." The whole history of the uni-
verse, from "the beginning" to the present hour,
plainly pour trays the continual presence of a sus-
taining and adjusting intelligent cause ; whilst the
effects produced as plainly declare the wisdom,
goodness, and power of that cause. Now, if it has
been proved that the progressive movements in the
universe have been manifested in the continued un-
folding of a general plan of creation, in order by
that very differentiation to illustrate its capacity,

289

and fully set fortli its perfection ; if it be true — as
all nature shews it to be — that no changes have
taken place without plainly setting forth the con-
tinued maintcnai (!e of harmony and elevation in the
scale of developement — reached by strict adherence
to law and order — then we are justified in declaring
that, in the operations and changes which are con-
tinually occurring, there is a guiding power in
action which has not yet closed the plan, the
foundations of which mark the commencement of
time, and can only end in eternity. What proof is
there that the end of all things has come ? Who has
gathered evidence to establish the fact of a completed
creation ? If the naturalist has not falsified the tes-
timony of the rocks, they do, indeed, bear witness
to a future as unmistakeably now, as we know that
they did when the deep foundations of the vertebrate
skeleton was laid, which, in man, has reached its
highest developement. " A retrospect," says Mr.
Owen, "of the varied forms of animals, whether
modified for aquatic, aerial, or terrestrial life, will
shew that, while they were perfectly and beautifully
adapted to the sphere of life and exigences of the
species, they adhered, with remarkable constancy,
to that general pattern or archetype which was first
manifested on this planet, as geology teaches, in the
class of fishes, and which has not been departed from
even in the most extremely modified skeleton oj the
last and highest form which creative wisdom has

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been pleased to place on this earth ; and, as in the
beginning, the early skeleton form was prophetic of
the later and more perfected type, so, now, the pre-
sent condition of creatioi;i testifies of a yet more
perfect future." If, therefore, the geologist and
naturalist simultaneously establish, by the most
conclusive evidence, that at the present hour laws
are in active operation ; and if the most superficial
acquaintance with the actions every instant going
on in the organic and inorganic kingdom, reveal
the same truth, we must arrive at the conclusion
that the cause of all such actions and changes is
as potent now as ever.

Wherein this connexion of matter and life, of
body, soul, and spirit consists, cannot be explained ;
all that we do know is, that all experience points to
the existence of a law which impels the earth to
"bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the
fruit-tree yilding fruit, after his kind, whose seed is
in itself vpom USE earth," and that throughout the
animal kingdom the same law is in force. Now al-
though we do not for a moment suppose that " the
principle of life," which it is contended constitutes
part of all organised beings, is like that " intelligent
animal," which Stahl created, or like the Archeus of
Van Helmont ; yet, we hold with Mr. Paget, that
there is proved to be a power — nay, more, an es-
sence, a real principle — manifested in the germ, and
acting in all essential things like it ; for the charac-

291

teristic property of an impregnated germ is that,
when placed in favourable circumstances, all the
materials of which it first consists, and all that it
appropriates, are developed according to the same
method as was observed in the developement of its
progenitors : in other words, in conformity with
what we may regard as a law of specific character.
In all the wonders of developement, that Prof. Owen
has detailed, none appeared more marvellous than
the constancy, the seeming tenacity of purpose, with
which the germ is thus developed to the likeness of
its parents — however vast its power of multiplication
and increase — however various its metamorphosis,
—however far, in some of these changes, it may
deviate from the form in which its parents generated
it— however near, in some, it may approach the
perfect character of another species — or, which is
stranger still, however much alike all germs may be
in their primal structure and earliest developements
—yet, through all these things, each germ moves,
with unswerving progress, guided hy the same power
as created its first parents, to the formation of a being
in which the parental form and properties are re-
produced.

Now the constancy of this result, and its little
dependence on external circumstances, justify the
expression that every impregnated germ has, in
itself and in the properties (attributes) with which
its maker has endowed it, the power. to develope

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itself into the perfection of an appropriate specific
form. However mysterious the nature of sucli
properties, we cannot deny their existence, or
refuse to recognise a law (in the sense in which we
generally use that term) in the regularity with
whicl^ the power acts that issues from them, when
the germ is placed in favourable conditions , and,
therefore, it appears that this power is peculiar in
its modes of operation : we may specialise it, when-
ever acting as "the germ power," or "power of
the germ," in consideration of its having its apparent
origin and intensest action in the germ.

" There are," says Professor Yogel, " two differ-
ent causes which may be supposed to effect the
transition of the blastema in developement ; firstly,
the cause may be grounded on the nature of the
cytoblastema, and the formation muj be developed
with the same necessity which, under favourable con-
ditions, compels the separation of certain crystals
from the mother liquid : or secondly, the transition
in the developement may be dependent on external
conditions, independent of surrounding parts of the
body, &c. In order to ascertain which of these two
hypotheses is deserving of preference, it is requisite
that every one should have perfectly clear and
distinct ideas on the following points. We must
distinguish between the capacity of the cytoblas-
tema in the progress of developement (potentia) and
the actual transition (actus). That the capacity for

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developement essentially pertains to the mjtohhstema
no one will deny. If it depended merely on exter-
nal influences, then would any substance placed in
similar relations undergo the same process of deve-
lopement— an assumption entirely at variance with
experience. In this respect the cytoblastema of a
morbid product resembles an egg or seed ; it differs,
however, in the circumstances of its actual develope-
ment— the transition of the potentia into the actus,
being much more dependent on external conditions.
Its developement is not merely dependent on the
same general conditions as those of the egg, which
is developed out of its mother's body, (viz., on the
presence of warmth, moisture, and oxygen,) in the
majority of cases it is likewise requisite that it
should be connected with the body of a living indi-
vidual." And again, the same author adds : "In
the formation of the animal organism from the egg,
the share of the cytoblastema is very predominating ;
there is contained within it not merely the capacity,
but likewise the whole quality of the future forma-
tion : in fact, the whole of the future organism is
included in the egg : external circumstances can
hinder, but cannot essentially change it. We must
conclude that the formative capacity — which being
equally diffused through the egg is impressed on
the whole blastema — now acts at special points, and
on those individual tissues vfhich have the capability

of extending a developement in a suitable blastema,
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leading to the formation of analagous compounds
within its sphere of action ; that is, in its immediate
neighbourhood."

If we have discovered, both from experience and
from the testimony of philosophers, that it is an
impossibility to avoid the idea of power, subsequent
investigation no less discloses that power unfolding
itself in astonishing manifestations of wisdom, good-
ness, justice, mercy — in short, as a power capable
of all things — absolute perfection. Standing on the
birth-place of creation, we may behold matter flash
into existence at the bidding of the Absolute One ; and
now that the fiat has gone forth, now that that Power
has passed into action, every progressive movement
reveals the incomprehensible, unlimited greatness
and mpjesty of a Being who, omnipotent, omni-
scient, omnipresent, so orders all his works that
they may tell of his greatness and shew forth his
wisdom, power, and goodness. Surely an honest
enquiry into the works of creation brings to man a
conviction that those works have been constructed
not only on a plan which has been fashioned and
executed by a designer, but that the object of that
plan has been to set forth the perfection of that
designer. And here we challenge the doctrine of
some of our ablest philosophers, but gladly use
their statements as furnishing the very best means
of refuting tha erroneous theories which are so com-
monly received as solid truth. If we have correctly

295

enunciated the true doctrine which natural history-
is capable of uttering, we are warranted in drawing
the conclusion, that so far as the organic world at
least is concerned, method and intelligence pre-
side over its destiny. Beings constructed on a
general plan have been specialised in forms and in
a manner fully illustrative of the capacity of the
contriver, and well adapted to display all the modi-
fications of which the primary plan is susceptible ;
and further, that the modification and extension
of the plan have rendered evident the continued
operation of that original power which summoned
them into being. In the whole circle of organisa-
tion, as well as in the arrangements and re-arrange-
ments of the inorganic masses, dependence and
inter-dependence is unmistakeably apparent. " All
things are double, one against another, and G-od
hath made nothing imperfectr However evident,
then, the power of perfecting itself and its kind be
in the innumerable differentiations which the general
plan has passed through, we fail to notice the opera-
tion of any inherent force of any secondary power
at all adequate to account for the known and dis-
coverable changes which in the first place can initiate
life movement, or control the forces of nature.
The introduction of novel forms is evidently but
the progressive unfolding of the scheme which was
laid down in the beginning, and which proves most
conclusively that to preserve the harmony which

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exists between the various parts of the universe,
nothing but intelligence can guide the movements
of bodies not necessarily dependent on each other.
Blot out the life on the earth, and it would be re-con-
structed and go on afresh : the world's position to the
heavenly bodies remain obedient to the same laws
as when in primeval nakedness its granite crust as
yet refused to nurse the humblest weed. If there is
such dependence between the varied parts of creation
as to establish that sort of connexion which declares
that perfection is in that particular way best attained,
then we can no longer refuse to believe that, although
the general plan may not be capable of self-develope-
ment — would never be able to modify itself, yet that
the author of the plan will, at the right time and in
the right place, bring about those modifications which
are necessary to its amplification and explication-
introducing modifications having reference not only to
the organisms so diversified, but also to the inorganic
elements which surround them ; "for each epoch was
characterised by some peculiar forms of animal and
vegetable life which existed in it alone " — these forms,
too, foreshadowing the advent of bemgs which were
to pourtray in their natures qualities which were
then combined, and which should re-appear at some
future time : thus, it is well known that " near the
commencement of the tertiary epoch, remains of
pachydermata are found in abundance ; but these
were for the most part different from those of the

297

present epoch, containing combinations of cliaracters
which are now distributed among several distinct
families, and presenting also a closer approximation
to the herbiverous cetaceans on the one hand, and to
the ruminants on the other, than is exhibited by
any existing species of the order." While, there-
fore, we admit as true that each differentiation of
life is particularised by special phenomena affecting
the whole nature of 1 * e creature, and stamping it
with individuality, yet we are equally forced to
acknowledge that this very specialisation has inva-
riably been marked and brought about by direct
interposition. " In examining," observes Mr. B.
Jukes, " the fossils from the earliest rocks, the
species and, for the most part, the genera, and even
the families, are entirely different from any now
living. Still, though different, they are yet so
nearly allied to them, as to be capable of being
placed in the same great classes, often even in the
same orders of organisation as the existing species
and genera are grouped in. When we look at the
fossils of newer and newer rocks, we find some of
these genera and families, and one or two of the
orders, ve:y soon disappearing : they are not only
extinct now, but they were extinct long before
others came into existence which are now equally
extinct. This happens not once only, but fre-
quently, as we examine the series of fossil groups.
But together with these short-lived orders,

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families, and genera, there occur species, chiefly
mollusca, which are so nearly allied to some now
living, as to receive the same general names, such
as nautilus, turbo, nalica, terebratula, rhynconella,
etc. : these existing goneric groups become more
and more numerous, until at length the existing
become more numerous than the extinct genera,
and at last even two or three species make their
appearance, which are obviously identical with still
existing species. More and more, then, of these
existing species come to light in still newer rocks,
at first associated with a vast majority of extinct
species, but gradually attaining the preponderance,
until in the newest works of all we find all the mol-
lusca belonging to existing species, and only extinct
species of the higher orders of animals.

" One result," observes M. Agassiz, " stands now
unquestioned : the existence during each great geo-
logical era of an assemblage of animals and plants
differing essentially from each period ; and by
period is meant those minor sub-divisions in the
successive sets of beds of rocks, which constitute the
stratified crust of our globe, the number of which is
daily increasing, as our investigations become more
extensive and more precise. In order to be able to
compare the succession of the animals of the past
ages with some other prominent traits of the animal
kingdom, it is necessary to make a few remarks on
this topic. In Pictet's Palaeontology -we have ar-

299

ranged in zoological order, in which every one may
at a glance see how, throughout all classes of the
animal kingdom, the differ =^nt representatives of
each in past ages are distributed in the successive
geological formations. From such a cursory survey,
it must appear that while certain types prevail
during some periods, they are entirely foreign to
others. This limitation is conspicuous, with refer-
ence to entire classes among vertebrata, while in
other types it relates more to orders, or to the
families, and extends frequently only to the genera
or to the species."

But whatever be the extent of their range in
time, all these types bear, as far as the order of
their succession is concerned, the closest relation
to the relative rank of living animals of the same
types, compared with one another, to the phases of
the embryonic growth of these types in the present
day, and even to their geographical distribution
upon the present surface of our globe. Among
echinoderms the crinoids are, fox" a long succession
of periods, the only representatives of that class ;
next follow the star-fishes, and next the sea-urchins,
the oldest of which belong to the type of cedaris and
echinus ; then follow clypeastroids and spatangoids.
No satisfactory evidence of holothuria has yet been
found. Among Crustacea a comparison of the splen-
did work of Barrande upon the Silurian system of
Bohemia, with the paper of Count Munster upon the

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Crustacea of Solenhofen, and with the work of
Dftsmarest upon fossil crabs, will at once shew
that while trilobites arc the only Crustacea of the
oldest palaeozoic rocks, there is found in the Jurassic
period a fauna entirely composed of macrura, to
which brachyura are added in the tertiary period.
The formations intermediate between the older
palaeozoic rocks and the Jura contain the remains
of other entomastraca, and later of some macrousa
also. In both classes the succession of their re-
presentatives, in different periods, agrees with their
respective standing, as determined by the grada-
tion of their structure.

Among plants, we find in the carboniferous
period, prominently, ferns and lycopodiacere ; in
the triassic period equisetaceae and conifera prevail ;
in the Jurassic deposits, cycadeas and monocotyledo-
neae ; while later, only dicotyledoneae take the lead.
The econographic illustration of the vegetation of
past ages, has of late advanced beyond the attempts
to represent the characteristic features of the animal
world in different geological periods.

Without attempting here to characterise the order
of succession, this much follows already from the facts
mentioned, that while the material world in its ele-
ments is ever the same through all ages in all its com-
binations, as far back as direct investigation can trace
its existence ; organised beings, on the contrary,
transform these same materials into ever new forms

301

and new combinations. The carbonate of lime of
all ages is the same carbonate of lime in form as
well as in composition, as long as it is under the
action of physical agents only. Let ltfe he intro-
duced upon earth, and a polyp builds its coral out of
it, and each family, each genus, each species, a dif-
ferent one and different ones for all successive geo-
logical epochs. Phosphate of lime in pala30zoic
rocks, is the same phosphate as when prepared arti-
ficially by man ; but a fish makes its spines out of
it, and every fish in its own way : a turtle its shield,
a bird its wings, a quadruped its legs, and man —
like all vertebrates — his whole skeleton ; and during
each successive period in the history of our globe,
these structures are different for different species.
What similarity is there between these facts ? Do
they not plainly indicate the working of different
agencies, excluding one another ? Truly the noble
frame of man does not owe its origin to the same
forces which combine to give a definite shape to the
crystal. And what is true of carbonate of lime, is
equally true of all inorganic substances ; tliey present
the same characters in all ages past, as those they
exhibit now.

Let us look upon the subject, now, in another
light, and we shall see that the same is also true of
the influence of all physical causes. Among these
agents, the most powerful one is certainly electricity ;

the only agent to which, though erroneously, the
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formation of animals lias ever been directly ascribed.
The effects u luay now produce it has always pro-
duced, and produced them in the same manner. It
has reduced metallic ores and various earthy mine-
rals and deposited them in crystalline form, in veins,
during all geological ages ; it has transported these
and other substances from one point to another in
times past, as we may do now in our laboratories
under its influence. Evaporation upon the surface
of the earth, has always produced clouds in the at-
mosphere, which, after accumulating, have been
condensed in rain showers in past ages as now.
Rain-drop marks in the carboniferous and triassic
rocks, have brought to us this testimony of the iden^:
tity of the operation of physical agents in past ages,
to remiiiu us, that what these agents may do now
they already did in the same way, in the oldest
geological times, and have done at all times. Who
could, in presence of such facts, assume any causal
connexion between two series of phenomena, the one
of which is ever obeying the same laws, while the
other presents at every suc< essive period new rela-
tions, an ever changing gradation of new combina-
tions, leading to a final climax with the appearance
of man ? Who doea not see, on the contrary, that
this identity of the [)roducts of physical agents in all
ages, totally disproves any influence on their part
in the production of those ever changing beings
which constitute the organic world, and which exhibit,

303

as a whole, such striking evidence of connected
thmights.

The study of tlio f^eogrtiphical distribution of ani-
mals now living upon earth, has taught us that many
species of animals and plants have a fixed home,
and even that peculiar types may be circumscribed
within definite limits upon the surface of our globe.
But it is only recently, since geological investiga-
tions have been carried into remote parts of the world,
that it has been ascertained that this special locali-
sation of types extends to past ages. Lund, for the
first time, shewed that the extinct fauna of the Bra-
zils, during the latest periods of a past age, consists
of different representatives of the very same types
now prevalent on that continent. Owen has observed
similar relations between the extinct fauna of Aus-
tralia and the types now living on that continent :
and adds, " that a utional facts, and the means of
extending our comparisons, by the collection of the
fossils of distan! lauds, are most desirable, in order
to precisely deline the laws of the geographical dis-
tribution of the mammalia of the older and newer
pliocene periods ; and to speak of the sum of the pre-
sent observations under the term law, may, perhaps,
be deemed premature. But the gen o rail sation first
enunciated in my Report to the British Association
in 1844, seemed to be sufficiently extensive and
unexceptionable, to render them of importance, in a
scientific consideration, of the present distribution of

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the highest organised and last created class of ani-
mals ; and to shew that, with extinct as with exist-
ing mammalia, particular forms were assigned to
particular provinces, and what is still more interest-
ing and suggestive, that the same forms were re-
stricted to the same provinces at the pliocene periods
as they are at the present day."

A.ustralia, at present, almost exclusively the home
of marsupials, has yielded also a considerable num-
ber of equally remarkable species, and two extinct
genera of that type. Without entering on debatable
ground, it remains evident, that before the estab-
lishment of the present state of things, peculiar types
of animals, which were formerly circumscribed
within definite limits, have continued the same on
similar grounds in the present period, even though
no genetic connexion can be assumed between them,
their representatives in these different formations
not even belonging to the same genera. Such facts
are in the most direct contradiction with any as-
sumption that physical agents could have any thing
to do with their origin ; for though their occurrence
within similar geographical areas might at first seem
to favour such a view, it must be borne in mind that
these so-localised beings are associated with other
types which have a much wider range ; and, what
is still more significant, they belong to different
geological periods, between which great physical
changes have taken place.

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Thus the facts indicate precisely the reverse of
what the theory assumes ; they prove a continued
similarity of organised beings, during successive
geological periods, notwithstanding the extensive
changes in the prevailing physical conditions which
the country they inhabited may have undergone at
different periods. In whatever direction this theory of
the origin of animals and plants, under the influence
of physical agents, is approached, it can nowhere
stand a critical examination. ' ' Only the deliberate in-
tervention of an Intellect, acting consecutively, according
toon- i)lan, can account for phenomena of this hind. ^^

Without entering into a discussion respecting the
precise limits within which this fact is true, there
can no longer be any doabt, that not only species,
but all groups of animals and plants, have a definite
range of duration, as well as individuals. The limits
of this duration, as far as species are concerned,
generally coincide with great changes in the physi-
cal condition oi the earth's surface ; though, strange
to say, most of the investigators who would ascribe
the origin of organised beings to the influence of such
causes, maintain, also, that species may extend from
one period to another, which implies that these are
not affected by such changes.

When considering in general the limitation of spe-
cies to particular geological periods, we might very
properly disregard the question of the simultaniety
of the successive appearance and disappearance of

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fauna, as in no way affecting the results of the inves-
tigation, as long as it is universally conceded that
there is no species known, among the fossils, which
extends through an indefinite series of geological
formations. Moreover, the number of the species
still considered as identical in several successive
periods, is growing smaller and smaller, in propor-
tion as they are more closely compared. It has
already been shewn, long ago, how widely many of
the tertiary species, long considered as identical
with living ones, differ from them, and also how
different the species of the same family may be, in
successive sub-divisions of the same great geologi-
cal formation. Hall has come to the same result,
in his investigation of the fossils of the State of New
York. Every monograph reduces their number, in
every formation. Thus, Barraude, who has devoted
so many years to the most minute investigation of
the trilobites of Bohemia, has come to the conclusion
that their species do not extend from one formation
to the other. D'Orbigny and Pistet have come to
the same conclusion for the fossil remains of all
classes. It may well be said, that as fossil remains
are studied more carefully, in a zoological point of
view, the supposed identity of species, in different
geological formations, vanishes gradually more and
more ; so that the Imitation of the species in titne,
already ascertained in a general way, by the earlier
investigation of their remains in successive geologi-

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cal formations, is circumscribed step by step within
narrower, more definite, and also more equable
periods. Species are truly limited in time, as they
are limited in space on the surface of the globe.
The facts do not exhibit a gradual disappearance of
a limited number of species, and an equally gradual
introduction of an equally limited number of new
ones ; but, on the contrary, the 5 '*" Uaneous creation
and the simultaneous destruction of entire fauna, and
a coincidence between these changes in the organic
world, and the great physical changes our earth has
undergone. Yet it would be premature to attempt
to deti '•mine the extent of the geographical range of
these rl) ■ >- as, and still more questionable to assert
their synchionism upon the whole surface of the
globe, in the ocean and upon dry land.

To form u,dequate ideas of the great physical
changes the surface of the globe has undergone, and
the frequency of these modifications of the character
of the earth's surface, and of their coincidence with
the changes observed among the organised beings,
it is necessary to study attentively the works of Elie
de Beaumont. He, for the first time, attempted to
determine the relative age of the different systems
of mountains, and shewed, first, also, that the phy-
sical disturbances occasioned by their upheaval
coincided with the successive disappearance of entire
fauna, and the re-appearance of new ones. In his
earlier papers he recognised seven, then twelve,

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afterwards fifteen such convulsions of the globe ;
and now h^ has traced more or less fully and con-
clusively the evidence that the number of these
disturbances has been at least sixty, perhaps one
iijndred. ' -

But while the genesis and genealogy of our moun-
tain systems were thus illustrated, palaeontologists,
extending their comparisons between the fossils of
the different formations more carefully to all the
successive beds of each great era, have observed
more and more marked differences between them,
and satisfied themselves that fauna also have been
more frequently renovated than was formerly sup-
posed ; so that the general results of geology proper
and palaeontology concur in the main to prove, that
while the globe has been at repeated intervals, and
indeed frequently, though after immensely long
periods, altered and altered again, until it has
assumed its present condition, so have also animals
and plants, living upon its surface, been again and
again extinguished and replaced hy others, until those
now living were called into existence with man at
their head. The investigation is not in every case
sufficiently complete to show any where a coinci-
dence between this renovation of animals and
plants, and the great physical revolutions whicli
have altered the general aspect of the globe ; but
it is also already extensive enough to exhibit a
frequent synchionism and correlation, and to war-

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rant the expectation that it will, in the end, lead to
a complete demonstration of their mutual depen-
dence, not as cause and effect, but as steps in the
same progressive developement of a plan which
embraces the physical as well as the organic world.
Further, recent investigations in palaeontology have
led to the discovery of relations between animals of
past ages and those now living which were not even
suspected by the founders of that science. It has,
for instance, been noticed, that certain types which
are frequently prominent among representatives of
past ages, combine in their structure peculiarities
which, at later periods, are only observed separately
iu different distinct types. Sauroid fishes before
reptiles, pterodactyles before birds, icthyosauri
before dolphins, &c.

There are entire families, among the representa-
tives of older periods, of nearly every class of ani-
mals, which, in the state of their perfect develope-
ment, exemplify such prophetic relations, and afford
within the limits of the animal kingdom, at least, the
most unexpected evidence, that the plan of the
whole creation had been maturely considered long
before it was executed. Such types may be called
prophetic types. The sauroid fishes of the past
geological ages are an example of this kind. These
fishes, which have preceded the appearance of rep-
tiles, present a combination of ichythyic and repti-

lean characters not to be found in the true members
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of this class, which form its bulk at present. The
pterodactyles, which . tve preceded the clasps of
birds, and the icthyosauri, which have preceded the
appearance of the Crustacea, are other examples of
such prophetic types.

The admirable and accurate description of the
" Life of a Hair," as drawn by Mr. Paget, illustrated
well that special adaptation of life and form which
the naturalist proves to have governed the deve-
lopement of organised beings from their very earli-
est creation ; but further than this, we now have
demonstrative proof, that to each organic germ has
been assigned a law of developement by which the
creature has been ordained to fulfil its destiny, to
maintain itself, and to reproduce its kind. No phy-
sical agencies are discovered potent to the task of
developing either a rodent, an edentate, or herbivo-
rous cetacean from toxodon platensis ; it was brought
into being a composite animal, typifying the coming
of creatures which should separately display in per-
fection the conjoined attributes of its own nature;
and having in its allotted time accomplished its pur-
posed end, it dies out, and leaves its place to be
supplied by those whose appearance is in like
manner necessary to the progression of the creative
plan. But so far we have been unable to discover
that the plan which has been originally laid down is
in any degree capable of extending itself : dependent
for its completion on other conditions than those

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which it originally received, and which pertain to
the immediate welfare and perpetuation of the seve-
ral parts of which it is made up : adjustment, re-
construction, and construction of special elements,
are constantly necessary ; and amid all the various
interpositions which have occurred in the process
of extension, not one single failure has been detected,
not a blot to mar the prophetic history which each
race proclaimed of those that were to come after.
If, in considering the organic creation merely in
relation to its " life movements," we detect enough
to satisfy the reason that creative intelligence has
originated it, perhaps we may find as strong argu-
ments for the immortality of the life of man. By
meditating on the extraordinary gift which he alone
of earth-begotten beings possesses — the gift of a
moral nature, a nature capable of enjoyirg and
working out the highest moral excellencies — we
come on a class of actions which are comprehensible
only on the idea of their being those of a creature
whose destiny is eternity. For if the life of man
be limited to the sphere of earth, it is manifest
that of all creatures he is and must be the most
miserable : the purest desires of his mind, the
loftiest aspirations of his soul, are but so many
delusions to cheat and even to torment him ; but
analogy forces upon him the conviction, that it is
with him as with the rest of the great schem.e of
creation ; and from the position in that scale which

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he occupies, he looks back, and finds ascending ap-
proaches to perfection, and from the imperfections
which he discovers in his own moral state — not in his
physical so much — is persuaded that yet a step higher
must he ascend, ere he can gain a position which shall
place him in the enjoyment of satisfying bliss. Guided
by conscience and reason, he rises, not without an
efifort, to the contemplation of Excellence, and
brought within the influence of the pure atmosphe.v
in which it dwells, contemplates with wonder and
astonishment the spotless purity, the unsullied life
of " the Pattern Man :" in that character all per-
fection is manifested, and the highest dreams oi'
the heathen or christian philosopher realised. What
the object and what the end of all this true great-
ness, if it be possible to conceal it in the dark and
L arrow tomb? " Intus in domicilio cogitationis,
TLijG Hebraea, nee Graeca, nee Latina, nee Barbara
Veritas." — Confess. St. Augustine.

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BOOK II.

Can we obtain evidence of there having been spe-
cial acts of creation at different times — new beings
created and introduced into the world — at new and
particular epochs ? By the enquiry we shall be ena-
bled to ascertain whether any act of interposition in
the progress of creation has taken place ; and, should
this prove to be the case, whether the act was ac-
complished of set purpose, in accordance with evi-
dent intention and design.

It has already been stated that we believe proof
exists to shew that the creation of the world, as gen-
erally accepted, is erroneous, and is not at all in
accordance with the narrative which has been handed
down to us by the inspired Moses.

Before, however, we proceed to sum up the proofs
of special acts of creation which have undoubtedly
occurred, let us direoc our attention to the true inter-
pretation which should be put on the language of the
first few verses of ihe first chapter of Genesis. It has
been shewn by Prof. E. B. Pusey, that in some old
editions of the English Bible, where there is no divi-
sion into verses, there is actually a break at the end
of what is now the second verse ; and in Luther's Bi-

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ble (Wittenburg, 1557) there is, in addition, the figure
1 placed against the third verse, as being the begin-
ning of the account of the Creation on the first day.
We are at a loss to understand how any one can
doubt that this must be the true reading, for, on any
other, the opening declaration is unintelligible ; ex-
amine the verses : —

" In the beginning God created the Heavens and
the Earth.

" And the Earth was without form, and void.

" And Darkness was on the face of the Deep.

" And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the
Waters."

Now, we suppose, that it will cheerfully be conceded
that Moses was delivering a history of events, which
were applicable especially to man, and intended
to apply immediately to him; we may, therefore,
without any violence to propriety, suppose him to
deliver to us the truth, in language as short and con-
cise as possible, and, perhaps, rendered still more
indefinite through the fault of translation. Accord-
ing to the true import of the original, and certainly
in accordance with the further light which observa-
tion throws on the history, we may take the actual
meaning to be, —

In the beginning God created the Heavens and the
Earth ; hut at the time when man was to he created,
the Earth was wituout form, and void, {desolate and
empty,) and darkness was on the face of the deep. In

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iuch a state there was, necessarily, darkness : mist and
thick vapour hung over the surface as a shroud, and not
a ray of light penetrated the vaporous 'mass ; the earth
was beneath the waters.

To render such a chaos fit for the abode of beings
such as are now found upon its surface, a very won-
derful change was necessary, and, as of primary
importance, the atmosphere must first be purified.
In accomplishing this, the Creator of all things, in
the majesty of his power, commands the light to
shine through the darkness : ' ' Let there be light,
and there was light." The abruptness of this fiat
tells of its origin, and further points to an active
and authoritative preparation of the earth's atmos-
phere, and the whole subsequent narrative speaks
the same language. We read that this work was
accomplished in six days. Prof. Buckland, in his
well known Bridgewater Treatise, has, in maintaining
such opinions, declared the Mosaic record to be cor-
rect, and teaches us how we may confidently adhere
to the undoubtedly true meaning of the Holy Book,
that six literal days are intended, and are the true
and only measures of time employed by the Deity
in his work. Nothing, certainly, has, since Dr.
Buckland 's writing, occurred to invalidate his opin-
ion ; nor is there a title of evidence to induce us to
waver from the doctrine which he endeavoured to
establish. " Thus," as he says, " in the second verse

we have a distinct mention of the earth and waters,

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as already existing and involved in darkness ; their
condition, also, is described as a state of confusion
and emptiness (tohu bohu), words which arc usually
interpreted by the vague and indefinite Greek term,
' chaos,' and which may be geologically considered
as designating the wreck and ruins of a former
world." At this intermediate point of time, the
preceding undefined geological period had terminated;
a NEW series of events commenced, and the work of
the first morning of this new creation was the
calling forth (not the making) of light, to dispel a
darkness which had overspread the ruins of the
ancient earth.

We have farther mention of this ancient earth
and sea in the ninth verse, in which the waters are
commanded to be gathered together into one place,
and the dry land to appear ; this dry land being the
same earth whose material creation had been an-
nounced in the first verse, and whose temporary
submersion and temporary darkness are described
in the second verse. " Let the dry land appear," is
the command, and not " Let the dry land be made,'
for it already existed. The appearance of the land,
and the gathering together of the waters, are the
only facts affirmed respecting them in the ninth
verse ; but neither land nor waters are said to have
been created on the third day.

A similar interpretation may be given of the four-
teenth and four succeeding verses ; what is here

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spoken of the celestial luminaries seems to be spoken
solely with reference to our planet, and more espe-
cially to the human race, then about to bo i)laced
upon it. We are not told that the substance of the
sun and moon were first called into exist<^ncc upon
the fourth day ; for, let there he light, by Yehi aor
by no means necessarily imply any more than the
English words by which they are translated, that
light had never existed before. The text may
equally imply that these bodies were then prepared
or appointed to certain offices of high importance ' '^
the human epoch, " to be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and for years," which purposes th'^y
do fulfil now, and need not necessarily have fulfil ed
in the same way before.

In Mr. Kitto's Scripture Eeadings, Ed., 1857,
we find the following corroboration of Dr. Buckland
and Dr. Pusey's rendering : ''Let there he light, and
there was lights Striking and magnificent as these
words are in the current version, their native force
is much weakened by dilution. Here are eight
words to translate four of the original. The Hebrew
expressed in English characters, is Yehi Aor, Va-
Yehi Aor, the letters being exactly alike in the two
clauses, with the sole exception of the letter pre-
fixed to the third word to express and. The Latin
version expresses the grand words with almost the
force and brevity of the original, " sit lux, et lux

fait." The Greek version of the Septuagint is not
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equal in either of these qualities to the original or
to the Latin, and yet it was from this version that
the critic Longinus derived his impression — a hea-
then's impression of their surpassing beauty and
majesty. The greatest apparent difficulty arises
from the creation of light on the first day : whereas,
in the sequel of the narrative, the creation of the sun
and moon seems to be ascribed to the fourth day.
Geology, which was at first regarded as increasing
the difficulties of a solution, may now claim the cre-
dit of having pointed out the true sense in which
these intimations are to be received. If we admit
that the earth existed, and was replenished with
successions of animal and vegetable life, and that
the whole was reduced to that desolate state in
which we find it, before the work of re-organisation
commenced ; we must allow, also, that the light of
the sun shone upon it in those more ancient days.
The earth existed as the result of an anterior crea-
tion, with all its previous and interim geological
arrangements and fossil remains ; but strangely con-
vulsed and fractured, submerged in water, and
enshrouded in darkness. Thus it lay, probably, for
a very long period, or, it may be, only a short
time, for in neither case is the question of inter-
ference affected ; life was extinct, but matter con-
tinued subject to the same laws with which it had
been originally endowed : the same attraction, the
same repulsion, the same combination of forces,

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which, by the will of God, have ever been inherent
in it, still existed. A vast body of water, surround-
ing the earth, in the course of time iurnished a pro-
digious mass of dense and dark vapours, which were
held suspended in the atmosphere, and threw a pall
ot blackest night around the globe. All things be-
neath became invisible, and no ray of light could
pierce the thick canopy of continuous night. Layer
upon layer of darkling clouds filled the atmosphere,
and, in the fullest extent, justified the language of
Scripture, " there was darkness on the face of the
deep." But when God saw fit, in the fulness of
time, to commence a new creation, and prepare the
desolate earth for the abode of a special order of
beings, to be associated, too, with man, the dense
barrier, which shut out light, began, at His high
command, to disperse ; His word rolled back the
curtain, and let in light upon a hitherto darkened
world. It was noi likely to be, nor was it necessary
to be, a sudden change from the depth of utter
darkness to the blaze of sunny day, but the letting
in of light without sunshine ; the source of this light
—the body of the sun — not becoming visible until
the fourth day, when its full glory was disclosed,
and its beams once more shone through the purged
atmosphere, upon mountains and valleys, seas and
rivers, as of old. The sun and moon were not, of
course, simultaneously, but successively, disclosed :
and the moon first, because the fourth day, in which

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both appeared, was, like the other days, composed
of the night with the following day. If the sun had
first appeared, the day would have closed when the
sun set, and then the appearance of the moon on the
following night would have belonged to another day.
But, seeing that they appeared both on the fourth
day, and that the days are reckoned from evening
to evening, and not from morning to morning, we
may be sure that it was the moon whose rays first
shone through on the new earth. If man had then
existed on the earth, the appearance of " the pale
regent of the night " would have prepared his mind
and his eye for the glory of that greater light which
the day was to disclose. It is further to be observed,
that the word " made " is not the same in the He-
brew as that translated " created." It is a term fre-
quently employed in Scriptu^-e to signify *' consti-
tuted, appointed, set for a particular purpose or use."
Thus, it is said, " that God made Joseph a father to
Pharaoh : made him lord over Egypt : made the
Jordan a border between the tribes : made Daniel
the head of the heathen ;" and so in numerous other
examnles. A critic, whose learning claims the re-
spect which cannot be always allowed to his opinions,
says, with regard to the clause, "Let there be lights
in the firmament," &c. " The words ' Let there be,'
are, in my conception, equivalent to ' Let there
appear ;' and, if I had allowed myself the freedom
which some modern translators have taken, I should

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thus have rendered the verse : ' Let the luminaries,
which are in the expanse of the heavens, be for the
purpose of illuminating the earth,'" etc. Let it be
borne in mind that this author (Dr. G-eddes) wrote
before science had established a necessity for the
pre-existence of the heavenly bodies. Thus, therefore,
as it has been well remarked by Bush, " As the
rainbow was made or constituted a sign, though it
might have existed before, so the sun, moon, and
stars may be said to have been made or set as lights
in the fourth day, though actually called into exist-
ence previously. The same result had been, indeed,
really effected by the same means during the pre-
vious three days and nights ; but these luminaries
were henceforth, by their rising and setting, to be
the visible means of producing this separation or
succession." Another recent writer observes: "1
think the sun and moon were made long before oiu'
earth." But the language of the sacred penman
does not teach that God then made the sun and
moon : for the words in the original are not those
usually rendered made and created ; they might be
translated, as it has been shewn by the best Hebrew
scholars — in fact they must be so : " Let the lights
in the iirmament of heaven be for the purpose of
dividing the day from the night." The word for
create, is hara ; the other word that is used for mah-
ing, is aasa : but the sacred penman does not, in
this instance, use either of these words. He does

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not say, " Let these lights be created," using bara;
or, " Let these lights be made," using aasa; but
Yehi, " Let them be for the purpose of dividing the
day from the night." In fact, the passage recog-
nises their previous existence, and only assigns
them a new and resuscitated function, to give light
— the one by day and the other by right — and to be
"/or signs and /or seasons :^' to whom? surely not
for signs to creatures who had not the gift of reason?
but for signs to one yet to be, to a reasoning being,
Man, who could appreciate these signs, and turn
them to fit use, even as guides to traverse the path-
less deep, confident thn.t his way was sure ! hence a
new office is truly assigned them, for they are indeed
signs, as the astronomer and sea-faring man well
know. Prof Hirschfelder has given the following,
as the result of his researches : —

*' This language, ' And the earth was without
form, and void,' may, at the first glance, appear to the
ordinary reader perfectly plain ; but when we come
to examine it more closely, we discover it to be
altogether incomprehensible, and that any exposition
founded thereon must necessarily be unintelligible,
as it is not easy to conceive how any thing material
can possibly subsist ' without form.' It matters not
whether the verb bara, in the preceding verse, be
taken in the sense he formed, and be explained as
having reference to the earth being formed from
some pre-existent material into its present shape,

323

as is held by some commentators ; or whether it be
taken in the sense, he created, and applied to its hav-
ing been then first created cut of nothing, as is
maintained by others ; in either case, after the earth
had been so formed or so created, it must have had
some kind of form. The difl&cuity, however, is en-
tirely removed when we appeal to the original
Hebrew, where we read, 'And the earth was (thohoo
vavohoo),^ lit., desolateness and emptiness — i. e., deso-
late and empty, or without covering of any kind ;
abstract nouns being often employed in Hebrew
instead of adjectives. The meaning of the passage
now becomes perfectly obvious : — ^The earth, after
its creation, was desolate and empty, inasmuch as no
organised beings existed upon it, — they had not yet
been summoned into being, or made, by the Creator.
The English version has been followed by the
French, 'sans forme et vide,' and these alone have
given ' without form and void.'^ As, for instance,
the Targum of Onkelos gives 'tzadya v'rekonya,' i, e.,
desolate and empty ; the Syriac, ' thooh v'booh,' i. e.,
desolate and empty; the Vulgate, ' inanis et vacua,'
i e., empty and void ; the German, ' wuste und leer,'
i €., desolate and empty ; the Italian, ' una cosa de-
serta e vacua,' i. e., a thin^ miinhabited and empty ;
the Spanish, 'desnuda y vacia,' i. e., ha,e and empty.
Very singular and quite inadmissible is the render-
ing of the Septuagint, ' doparog koI dKoraQK^vaajoq,^ i. e.,

invisible and unfinished^'

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Now, to illustrate the fact of creative interfer-
ence, and to substantiate the general truthfulness
of the Mosaic record, we must appefjl to geology,
in order to .'.scertain whether the earih has been
renovated at various epochs, and its cUmatal coa-
dition entirely changed, in conft iinity wii.i the.
peculiar life forms whieli have lived during given
times ; furnishiiiL': evideueo of adjustment, which the
most daring believer in the mni'vellous cannot sap-
pose to hi) ve arisen from chance cv a blind v. essity.
S?r H. Marchison, in his Siluria, admirably illus-
traieB .lie subject : " Passing over the earliest
stiigoj? cf the planet, which are necessarily involved
in obscurity, we begin with the iirst attainable evi-
dence of the formation of sediments, composed of
mud, sand and pebbles. It was shewn that the low-
est accessible of these deposits, though of enormous
dimensions, and occasionally less altered than strata
formed after them, are almost entirely azoic, or void
of traces of inliabitants of the seas in which they
were accumulated. One solitary genus of zoophytes
has been alone detected in such bottom rocks ; the
heat of the surface, during those early periods, Iiuv*
ing been, it is supposed, adverse to life. Proofs
there are that, in the next formations, scarfcely dif*
fering at all in mineral character n om those that
preceded them, observers in v is regions had
detect clear and unmistakt *'': jigns of a contein'
poraneous appearance ofaTii •, life, as shewn by

325

the presence of a few genera of crustaceans, mol-
^usks, and zoophytes, occupying layers of similar
date in the crust of the earth. Proceeding upwards
from the protozoic zone, wherein organic remains
are comparatively rare, we then ascend to other
sediments, in which, throughout nearly all latitudes,
we recognise a copious distribution of submarine
creatures, resembling each other very nearly, though
imbedded in rocks now separated by very wide seas,
and often raised up to the summits of high mountains.
Examining all the strata exposed to view, that were
formed during the first long natural epoch of similar
life, termed silurian, we find that the successive
deposits were charged with a great variety of forms
of the trilobite,* a peculiar crustacean ; of the
ortlioceratite,t the earliest chambered shell ; as well
as with numerous exquisitely formed mollusks, cre-
noids,J and zoophytes : the genus graptolite, of the
latter class, being exclusively found in these silurian
rocks. In short, my contemporaries have assembled
from tl:ose ancient, and now desicated marine sedi-
ments or repositories of primeval creatures, exam-
ples of every group of purely aquatic animals, save
fishes. The multiplied researches of the past twenty
years h^ v*> iaHed to detect the trace of a fish, amid
the ■') idtude of all other marine beings, in the va-
rio)i3 sediments which constitute the chief mass of
the silurian rocks. Of these, though they are the

* Three lobed. f OpOos, etraight ; Kepas, a hom. % Kptvoy, a lily ;

EiSos, like.

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lowest in the scale of the great division vertebrcta,
we are unable to perceive a vestige until we reacn
the highest zone of the upper silurian, and are about
to enter on the Devonian period. Even on that
horizon, the minute fossil fishes, long ago noticed by
myself, are exceedingly scarce ; and none have since
been found in strata of higher antiquity. In fact,
the few fragments of cartilagenous ichthyolites of the
highest band of silurian rock, still retain the most
ancient known being of their class. Looking, there-
fore, at the silurian system as a whole, and judging
from the collection of facts gathered from all quar-
ters of the globe, we know that its chief deposits
(certainly all the lower and most extensive) were
formed during a long period, in which, while the sea
abounded with countless invertebrate animals, no
marine vertebrate had been called into existence.
The silurian (except at its close) was, therefore, a
series in which there appeared no example of that
bony framework of completed vertebra;, from which,
as approaching to the vertebrate archetype, the
comparative anatomist traces the rise of creative
power, up to the formation of man. Whether,
therefore, the term 'progressive,' or that of 'suc-
cessive,' be applied to such acts of creation, my ob-
ject is to shew, upon clear and general evidence,
that there was a long period in the history of the
world, wherein no vertebrate animal lived. In this
sense, the appearance of the first rCviognisable fossil

327

fishes is as decisive a proof of a new and distinct
creation, as that of the placing of man upon the ter-
restrial surface, at the end of the long series of
animals which characterise the younger geological
periods." Prof. Owen, whose name is first among
the greatest naturalists of the age, declares, "That a
retrospect of the varied forms and proportions of
the skeletons of animals, whether modified for
aquatic, aerial, or terrestrial life, will shew that,
whilst they were perfectly and beautifully adapted
to the sphere of life, and exigencies of the species,
they adhered with remarkable constancy to that
general pattern or archetype which was first mani-
fested on this planet, as geology teaches, in the class
of fishes, and which has not been departed from
even in the most extremely modifieJ skeleton of the
last and highest form which Creative Wisdom has
been pleased to place upon the earth. It is no mere
transcendental dream, but true knowledge and legi-
timate fruit of inductive research — that clear insight
into the essential nature of each element of the bony
framework, Which is acquired by tracing them step
by step, as e. g., from the unbranched pectoral ray
of the lepidosiren, to the equally small and slender,
but bifid pectoral ray of amphiume ; thence to the
similar, but trifid ray of proteus ; and through the
progressi^- V superadded structures and perfections
of the lim softhe higher reptiles and mammals."
In his very latest work (A. D. 1857) Hugh Miller

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adduces most elaborate testimony in support of the
doctrine as above laid down: "Let us," he says,
" in grappling with the vast multiplicity of our sub-
ject, att«3iiij.> /.^uacing and simplifying it by means
of th« classifying principle ; not simply, howcTer—
again recurring to the remark of the metaphysician
— as an internal principle given up by nature, but
as an external priu^I^>i»j, txempl^fed by nature. Let
us take the organisms of the old geological periods
in the order in which they occur in time ; secure, as
has been shewn, that if our chronology be correct,
our classification will, as a consequence, be good.
It will be for the Natural Theologians of the coming
age to shew the bearing of this wonderful fact on the
progress of man towards the just and the solid, and
on the being and character of man's Creator — to es-
tablish on the one hand, against the undue deprecia-
tion of intellect and it results, that in certain
departments of mind, such as that which deals with
the ar^-angement and developement of the scheme of
organic being, human thought is not profitlessly
revolving in an idle circle, but progressing God-
wards, and gradually unlocking the order of crea-
tion. And, on the othor hand, he may demand of
the Pantheist ho> -seeing that only such^e/'5ows as
the Cuv'ers and Liudi ys, could have wrought out
for themselves the real arrangement of this scheme
— how, I say, or on what principle is it to be held,
that it was a scheme originated and established at

329

the beginning, not by a peth aal, but by an imper-
sonal God. But our business is with the fact of
parallel arrangements — divine and human — not with
the inferences deducible from it.

"Beginning with the plants, let us, however, ob-
serve that they do not precede, in the order of their
appearance, the humblest animals. No more ancient
organism than the oldharnia of the lowest Irish Silu-
rians, a plant-like zoophyte, somewhat resembling
our modern sertularia has yet been detected by the
geologist ; though, only a few months ago, the re-
searches of Mr. Salter, in the ancient rocks of Long-
raynd, Shropshire, previously deemed unfossiliferous,
have given to it what seem to be contemporary
vegetable organisms, in a few ill-preserved fucoids.
So far a ^ IS yet known, plants and animals appear
together. The long upward march of the animal
. ngdom takes its departure, at its starting point,
from a 'lick forest of algae. In Bohemia, in Norway,
in Sweden, in the British Islands, in North America,
wherever, in fine, what appears to be the lowest, or
at least one of the lowest, zones of life has yet been
detected, the rocks are found to be darkened by the
remains of algge, so abundantly developed in some
cases, that they compose, as in the ancient lower
Silurian of Dumfrieshire, impure beds of anthracite,
several feet in thickness, [and as is most probably
the case in parts of Canada.] Apparently, from
the original looseness of their texture, the individual

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plants are but indiflferently preserved ; nor can we
expect that organisms so ancient should exhibit any
very close resemblance to the plants which darken
the half-tide rocks and skerries of our coasts at the
present time. In the upper beds of the silurian,
lycopodites are the only terrestrial plants yet found.
In the lower old red sandstone we find, added to
these, with thallogens, that bear at least the same
general character as in the system beneath, minute
ferns, and a greatly larger plant, allied to the horse
tails. The old-red flora seems to have been an
acrogenic flora. Ere passing to the luxuriant car-
boniferous flora, I shall make but one remark. The
existing jjlants, whence we derive our analogies in
dealing with the vegetation of this early period, con-
tribute hut little, if at all, to the support of animal
life. The ferns and their allies remain untouched
by the grazing animals. Even the insects that infest
the herbacea of the botanist, almost never injure his
ferns. Judging from all we yet know, the earliest
terrestrial flora may have covered the dry land with
its mantle of cheerful green, and served its general
purposes, chemical and otherwise, in the well bal-
anced economy of nature ; but the herb-eating ani-
mals would have fared but ill, even where it throve
most luxuriantly ; and it seems to harmonise with
the fact of its non-edible character, that up to the
present time we know not that a single herbivorous
animal lived among its shades. The flora of the coai

331

measures was the richest and most luxuriant in at
least individual productions, with which the botanist
has formed any acquaintance. Never before, or since,
did our planet bear so rank a vegetation. Almost
all our coal — the stored up fuel of a world — forms
but a comparatively small part of the produce of
this wonderful ilora ; and, as Sir R. Murchison re-
marks, " the great carboniferous period is marker!
by the first copious and universally abundant ter-
restrial flora, the prelude of tuhich had appear jd in
the foregoing Devonian epoch. This lu7*»'-*'"Qt tree
vegetation is also especially remarkable for its
spread over many latitudes and longitudes ; and,
together with it, occurs the same cornmon species of
marine shells, all indicating a more or less equable
climate, from polar to inter-tropical regions ; a phe-
nomenon wholly at variance with the present distribu-
tion of animal life on the iurfare of the globe." In
the oolite flora, we find a few peculiar features in-
troduced. The cycadea3, a family of plants allied to
the ferns on the one hand, and to the conifers on
the other, and which, in their general aspect, not a
little resemble stunted palms, appear for the first
Hmc. Its coniferous genera receive great accessions
to their numbers, and begin to resemble, more closely
than at an earlier period, the genera which still con-
tinue to exist : a further step towards the unfolding
of the great system or plan of creation. The cy-
presses, the yews, the thujas, the dammaras, all

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make their earliest appearance in the flora of the
oolite Among our existing woods there seem to
be but two conifers (thaf attain to the dignity of
trees) indigenous to Britain, the common yew, taxm
haccata, and the commoii Scotch ^r, P. sylvestris ;
and yet we know that the Hatter alone formed, dur-
ing the last few centuries, great woods, that dark-
ened, for many miles together, the now barren
moors and bare hill-sidea of the highlands of Scot-
land. In the times of the oolite, on the other hand,
Britain ^3 <} from fourteen to twenty different species
of conifers ; and its great forests, of ]j^1iose existenc-^
we have direct evidence in the very abundant lig-
nites of the system, must have possessed a richness
and variety which pur ancient fir-w<^s, of the his-
toric or human period, could not ^ve possessed.
With the • jconifers and cycadese there were many
ferns associated, so many, that they still composed
nearly two-fifths of the entire flora; and associated
with these, though in reduced proportions, we find
the fern allies. The reduction in these last is rather
in species than in individuals. The broca coal, one
of the most considerable oolite seams in Europe,
seems to have been formed almost exclusively of an
equisetum — E. columnare. In this flora, the more
equivocal production of the coal measures are re-
presented by what seems to be the last of the cala-
mites ; but it contains no lepidodeudra, no uloden-
dra, no segellaria, no favularia, n knoria or Imo-

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333

aia. Those monsters of the vegetable world, that
united to the forms of its humbler productions the
bulk of trees, had, with the solitary exception ot
the calamites, passed into extinction ; and ere tin;
close of the system, they, too, had disappeared.
The forms borne by most of the oolite plants, were
comparatively familiar forms. With the acrogens
and gymnogens, we find Wiq first indication oi ^q
liliacese or lily-like plants ; of plants, too, allied to
pandanaceae or screw-pines, the fruits of which are
sometimes preserved in a wonderfully perfect state
of keeping in the inferior oolite ; together with car-
polithes — palm-like fruits, very ornately sculptured
—and the remains of at least one other mono-cotyle-
don, that bears the somewhat general name of an
endogenite. No^true fossil palms have yet been
detected in the great oolite and Wealden systems,
though they certainly occur in the carboniferous and
permean rocks, and are comparatively common in
the earlier and middle tertiary formations. Much
cannot be founded on merely negative evidence ;
but it would be certainly a curious circumstance,
should it be found that this graceful family, first
ushered into being some time in the later palaeozoic
periods, was withdrawn from creation^ during the
middle ages of the earth's history, to be again intro-
duced in greatly more than earlier proportions,
clurmg the tertiary and recent periods.

i^v

* We shall see that this remark^ is true of other cr t-ations.

2t

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334

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The earlier flora of the tertiary division presents
an aspect widely different from that of any of the
previous ones. The ferns and their allies sink into
their existing proportions ; nor do the c^niferse, pre-
viously so abundant, occupy any longer a prominent
place. On the other hand, the dicotyledinous herbs
and trees, previously so inconspicuous in creation, are
largely developed. Trees of those amentiferous
orders, to which the oak, the hazel, the beech, and
the plane belong, were, perhaps, not less abundant
in the eocene woods, than in those of the present
time ; they were mingled with trees of the laurel,
the leguminous, and the anonaceous or custard ap-
ple families, with many others ; and deep forests in
the latitude of London (in which the inter-tropical
forms must now be protected as in the Crystal Pa-
lace, with coverings of glass and warmed by artificial
heat) abounded in graceful palms. The nearer we
approacli to existing times, the more familiar in
form and outline do the herbs and trees become.*
We detect, at least, one existing order in the ferns of
the coal measures ; we detect, at least, existing
genera among the coniferae, equisetacere, and cyca-
daceae of the oolite ; the acacias, gourds and laurels
of the eocene flora, and the planes, willows and buck-
thorns of the miocene, though ivefail to identify their
species with aught that now lives, still more strongly
remind us of the recent productions of our forests

* And the same is true of the animal kinKdom.

■'Li, I

3S5

and conservatories ; and on entering on our down-
ward course, the pleistocene period, we at length
find ourselves among familiar species. We at least
know, generally, that with each succeeding period
there appeared a more extensively useful and vari-
ous vegetation than that which had gone before. In
referring to the sombre unproductive character of
the earliest terrestrial flora with which we are ac-
quainted, we remark that it was a flora untitled,
apparently, either for graminiferous bird, or herbiv-
erous quadruped. The singularly profuse vegetation
of the coal measures, was, with all its wild luxuri-
ance, of a resembling cast. So far as appears, neither
flock nor herd could have lived on its richest or
greenest plains ; nor does even the flora of the oolite
seem to have been in the least suited for the pur-
poses of the shepherd or herdsman. Not until we
enter on the tertiary periods, do we find floras amid
which man might have profitably laboured as a
dresser of gardens, a tiller of fields, or a keeper of
flocks and herds. Nay, there are whole orders and
families of plants, of the fersl importance to man,
which do not appear until late even in the tertiary
ages. So. le degree of doubt must always attach to
merely negative evidence, but Agassiz finds reason
to conclude that the order rosacene — an order more
important to the gardener than almost any other,
and to which the apple, the pear, the quince, the
cherry, the plum, the peach, the apricot, the necta-

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336

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rine, the almond, the raspberry, the strawberry, and
the various bramble berries belong, together with
all the roses and the potentillas — was introduced
only a short time previous to the appearance of man.
And the true grasses — a still more important order
— which, as the corn-bearing plants of the agricultu-
rist, feed at the present time at least two-thirds of
the human species, and, in their humble varieties,
form the staple food of the grazing animals, scarce
appear 171 the fossil state at all. It is certainly no
mere coincidence, this correspondence between geo-
logy and Scripture ; food fit for man and his associate
sub-kingdom of animals, is discovered to be the order
of creation by the geologist. They are peculiarly
plants of the human period. Yet, with all this
amount of evidence, it is dogmatically declared that
the Mosaic history is false ; but if an intelligent
power was adequate to the task of guiding the plan
of creation, why deny the validity of a history which
accumulated evidence stamps with truth ?

With regaTd to the animal kingdom, the same law
of adaptation and progression holds good. The fauna
of the Silurian system boars, in all its three great
types, the stamp of a fashion peculiarly antique, and
which, save in a few of the mollusca, has long since
become obsolete. Its radiate animals are chiefly
corals, simple or compound, whose inhabitants may
have somewhat resembled the sea-anemones, with
zoophytes akin mayhap to the sea-pens, though the

337

relationship must have been a remote one ; and the
numerous crinoids or stone-lilies, some of which
consisted of but a sculptured calyx, without petals,
while others threw off a series of long flexible arms,
that divided and subdivided like the branches of a
tree, and were thickly fringed by hair-like fibres.
The difference between the older and newer forma-
tions or fashions, as exemplified in the cup-shaped
corals, may be indicated in a single sentence. The
ancient corals were stars of four rays, or of multi-
ples of four: the modern corals are stars of six rays,
or multiples of six. But though at a certain definite
period — that during which the great palaeozoic divi-
sion ended, and the secondary division began —
naftire, informi^ig this class of creatures, discarded
the number four, and adopted, instead, the number
six ; the great leading idea of the star itself was
equally retained in corals of the modern, as in those
of more ancient type. The articulate of the silurian
periods bore a still more peculiar character. They
consisted only of trilobites, which, after receiving so
immense a developement during the middle and later
times of the silurian period, that whole rocks were
almost formed exclusively of their remains, gradu-
ally died out in the times of the old-red sandstone,
and disappeared for ever from creation after the car-
boniferous limestone had been deposited. The paloe-
ontologist knows no more unique family than that of
the trilobites, or a family more unlike any v/hich

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338

now exists, or a family which marks with more cer-
tainty the early rocks in which they occur. And
yet, though formed in a fashion that perished my-
riads of ages ago, how admirably does it not exhibit
the articulated type of being, and illustrate that unity
of design which, amid endless diversity, pervades all
natu. .;. In its general character, the Silurian fauna,
antiquely fashioned as became its place in the prime-
val ages of existence, was unlike any other which
the world ever saw ; and the absence of the verte-
brata, or at least the inconspicuous place which they
occupied, if they were present at all, must have im-
parted to the whole, as a group, a humble and meai-
ocre charicter. It seems to have been for many
ages together a creation of molluscs, corals, and
Crustacea. At length, in an upper }>ed of the sys-
tem, immediately under the base of the old-red sand-
stone, the remains of the earliest known fishes appear,
blended with what also appears, for the first time,
the fragmentary remains of a terrestrial vegetation.
The rocks beneath this ancient bone-bed have yield-
ed no trace of any plants higher than the thallogens,
or at least not higher than zosteracese — plants whose
proper habitation is the sea ; but through an appa-
rently simultaneous advance of the two last king-
doms, animal and vegetable, the first land plants and
the first vertebrates appear together in the same
deposits. We may here adduce a very remarkable
instance of the correspondence which obtains be-

339

tween the sequence in which certain classes of being
were first ushered into existence, and the order of clas-
sification adopted, after many revisions, by the higher
naturalists. Cuvier, with not a few of the icthyolo-
gists which preceded him, arranged the fishes into
two distinct series, the cartilaginous and osseous ;
and these last he mainly divided into the hard, or
spiny-finned fishes, and the soft, or joint-finned fishes.
*The place assigned to the class of fishes as a whole,
corresponded to their place in the paloeontological
scale" ; first, of the vertebrate division, in the order
of their appearance they border, as in the " animal
kingdom " of the naturalist, on the invertebrate divi-
sions. It was not until the new classification of
Agassiz had ranged them after a different fashion,
that the correspondence became complete in all its
parts.

The horizontal lines represent the divisions of the
great geologic system, while the vertical lines indi-
cate the sweep of the several orders of fishes across
the scale, and the periods, so far as has yet been
determined, of their first occurrence in creation.

The oldest known reptiles appear a little be-
fore the close of the old red sandstone, just as the
oldest fishes appeared a little before the close of
the Silurian system. What seems to be the upper
old-red of our own country, though there still hangs
^ome shade of doubt on the subject, has furnished

* See diaeram. next naee.

■>- A'.

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340

DIAGRAM.

ARRANGEMENT :

I'

Geological. — Placoid. Ganoid. Ctenoid. Cycloid.
Agassiz. — Placoid. Ganoid. Ctenoid. Cycloid.

Silurian.

Old Red.

Carboniferous.

Permian.

Triassic.

Oolitic.

Cretaceous.

Placoid.
Ganoid.

Tertiary.

341

the remains of a small reptile, equally akin, it would
appear, to the lizards and the batrachians ; and what
seems to be the upper old-red of the United States,
has exhibited the T ot-tracks of a larger animal of
the same class, which not a little resemble those
which would be impressed on recent sand or clay
by the alligator of the Mississippi, did not that ani-
mal efface its own foot-prints (a consequence of the
shortness of its legs) by the trail of its abdomen.
In the coal measures, the reptiles hitherto found are
all allied, though not without a cross of the higher
crocodilian or lacertian* nature, to the batrachian
order — that lowest order of reptiles to which the
frogs, newts and salamanders belong. It was not
until the permian and triassic systems had come to
a close, and even the earlier ages of the oolitic sys-
tem had passed away, that the class received its
fullest developement in creation. And certainly
very wonderful was the developo -;ent which it did
then receive. Eeptiles became every where the
lords and masters of this lower world. When any
class of the air-breathing vertebrates is very largely
developed, we find it taking possession of all the
three old terrestrial elements, air, earth, and water.
The human period, for instance, like that which
immediately preceded it, is peculiarly a period of
mammals ; and we find the class free, if I may so
express myself, of the three elements, disputing

* Lizard.

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pptoession of the sea with the fishes, in its cetaceans
its se^^l^, ^nd its sea-lions ; and of the air, with its
birds, in its numerous genera of the bat family.
Further, not until the great maminaliierous period is
fairly ushered in, do either the bats or the whales
make their appearance in creation. Remains of
oolitic reptiles have been mistaken in more than one
instance for those of cetacean ; but it is now gener-
ally held that the earliest known specimens of the
family belong to the tertiary ages, while those of the
oldest bats occur in the eocene of the Paris basin,
associated with the bones of dolphins, lamantines,
and morses. Birds make their first appearance in a
red sandstone deposit of the United States, at least
not older than the times of the lias. No fragments
of tlK' skeletons have yet been discovered in forma-
tiors older than the chalk. The Connecticut remains
are those of foot-prints exclusively ; and yet they
tell their extraordinary story, so far as it extends,
with precision and distinctness. With the Stone-
field slates — a deposit which lies above what is
known, as the inferior oolite — the remains of the
mammiferous animals first appear. As, however,
no other mammalian remains occur until after the
close of the great secondary division, and as certain
marked peculiarities attach to the oolitic ones, it
may be well to. enquire whether their place, so far
in advance of their fellows, may not be indicative of

♦ Cete, a whale.

343

a radical difference of character — a difference con-
siderable enough to suggest to the zoologist an im-
provement in his scheme of classification. It has
been shewn by Prof. Owen, that whilo one Stone-
field genus unequivocally belonged to the marsupial*
order, another of its genera boar also cortain of the
marsupial traits ; and that ihe ^ -^ which they
composed — a very small one, ^ us luting exclu-
sively of minute insect-eating uui —exhibits, in
its general aspect, the characteristic:^ a the pouched
family. The placental mammals make their appear-
ance in the earliest ages of the great tertiary divi-
sion, and exhibit in the group an aspect very unlike
that which they at present bear. The eocene ages
were peculiarly the ages of the palseotheresf — strange
animals of that pachydermatose or thick-skinned
order, to which the elephants, the tapirs, the hogs
and the horses belong. It had been remarked by
naturalists, that there are fewer families of this
order in living nature, than of almost any other ;
and that, of the existing genera, not a/ew are undely
separated, in their analogies, from the others. But
in the palaeotheres of the eocene, which ranged in
size from a large horse to a hare, not a few of the
missing links have been found — links connecting the
tapirs to the hogs, and the hogs to the palaeotherei
proper ; and there is at least one species suggestive
of an union of some of the more peculiar traits of

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the tapirs and the horses. In the middle or miocene
tertiary, pachyderms, though of a wholly dif event
type from their predecessors, are still the prevailing
forms. The dinotherium,* one of the greatest quad-
rapedal mammals that ever lived, seems to have
formed a connecting.livik between the pachydermataf
and the cetacea. The group of mammals which, in
Europe at least, immediately preceded the human
period, seems to have been every where a remarka-
ble one ; and nowhere was it more so than in the
British Isles. The present mammilaferous fauna is
rather poor, but the contents of the later deposits
shew, that we must regard it as being fragmentary
of a very noble one, associated with species that still
exist in the less cultivated parts of the country, such
as the badger, the fox, wild cat, roe, and red deer ;
we also find the remains of great animals, whose con-
geners must now be sought for in the inter-tropical
regions.

Sir C. Lyell observes that " Each local change in
climate and physical geography is attended with the
immediate increase of certain species, and the limi-
tation of the range of others. A revolution thus
effected is rarely, if ever, confined to a limited space,
or to one geographical province of animals or plants,
but affects several other surrounning or contiguous
provinces. In each of these, moreover, analogous
alterations of the stations and habitations of species

* Attyos, terrible ; Srjpiov, beast.

f iraxvs, ^ikik. ; Sr)pfia, skiri,

4

345

are siruultaneously m progress, reacting in the man-
ner already alluded to on the first province. Hence,
long before the geography of any particular district
can be essentially altered, the flora and fauna
throughout the world will have been materially
modified by countless disturbances in the mutual
relation of the various members of the organic crea-
tion to each other. To assume that in one large
area, inhabited exclusively by a single assemblage
of species, any important revolution in physical
geography can be brought about, while other areas
remain stationary in regard to the position of land
and sea, the height of mountains, and so forth, is a
most improbable hypothesis, wholly opposed to what
we know of the laws now governing the aqueous and
igneous causes. On the other hand, even were this
conceivable, the communication of heat and cold
between different parts of the atmosphere and ocean
is so free and rapid, that the temperature of certain
zones cannot be materially raised or lowered without
others being immediately affected ; and the eleva-
tion or diminution in height of an important chain of
mountains, or the submergence of a wide tract of
land, would modify the climate even of the anti-
podes." And, as a consequence of this, it is most
improbable that animals and plants should have lived
through any very material changes of the earth's
surface.
Again, that Creative Intelligence has interfered.

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346

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or rather continually guided the progress of crea-
tion, we gather from the fact that, " As the ancient
fishes have left their remains in the To6ks of all
epochs, they afford a satisfactory demonstration of
the law which limits fossil forms to different stages
of the earth's history. Of the one thousand fossil
species at present known, not one is identical with
any species now living, and none of the fossil species
pass from one stage to another. The history of fos-
sil fishes affords an unanswerable argument against
the hypothesis, that a gradual developement in the
species of animals has taken place during past ages :
an idea now known as the developement theory.
We find the fossil fishes belonging to the placoid and
ganoid orders, which are in fact the most highly
organised types of the class, approached reptiles in
some important points of their anatomy ; that these
highest orders maintained their dominion during the
deposition of the pal^eozr triassic, and oolitic
strata,* and preserved their typical structure throngh
all the changing conditions to which they were ex-
posed. The cycloid and ctenoid orders were mt
created until towards the close of the cretaceons
period — their organisation being inferior to the pla*
coids and ganoids, they could only have appeared
by a special act of creation, as it would be fatal to
the hypothesis of developement to admit that higher
organisms could become the progenitors of lower

* See map of suocession of strata.

MHHn

mm

347

fonns. In fine, the history of fossil fishes supplies
abundant evidence in support of the opinion that the
Almighty has, from time to time, created those forms
of life which were best adapted to the changing con-
ation of the eartKs surface. Hence we see families
and genera appearing in numbers, destined to live
for a limited time, and to become extinct with the
close of the stage which they characterise. We
therefore conceive that the deductions of Mr. Miller
are not consistent with the general laws which go-
vern the life of animals, and are utterly irreconcil-
able with the facts of natural history. From the
very remark above quoted, we must conclude that
the continuous life from one period to another, as
assumed by some geologists, is in direct opposition
to the laws which they themselves admit to govern
the distribution and preservation of life, and proves
that the supposed law of uniformity of Sir C. Lyell
is not by any means established, and does not har-
monise with the plan of creation, which consists in
a series of interventions and adaptations, which com-
prehend not only the good of a single family, but the
continous advancement and fulfilment of a general
plan of creation, having for its end the constitution
of an order of beings capable of understanding and
working out this scheme of creative wonder, and of
offering adoration for gifts which lift them from their
association with earthly co-temporaries, to a goodly
company of spirits, in whom alone are displayed,

I

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348

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ID comparative perfection, moral and spiritual ex-
cellencies. ' '■'- \t ii,,,:
It is manifest that there has been a constant bring-
ing forward of some special parts of the plan, and
that the inferences which are drawn from the resem-
blance which the plants and animals of Australia
and of America have to former epochs, are not cor-
rect, and cannot be taken as illustrative of lineal
descent. Mr. B. Jukes remarks on this, that "The
animals and plants of Australia are very peculiar,
and many of them such as are found nowhere else
living in the world. Now some of the marine shells,
and some of the land animals and plants, more re-
semble those found fossil in rocks deposited during
the early geological period — the oolitic in Britain—
than they do any other ordinal or generic types.
We must guard against the idea of their being in
any way the direct descendants, though they may be
considered the representatives of oolitic species.
Why the oolitic types should have been preserved
in Australia, and new species introduced there fash-
ioned on those types, while in other parts of the world
new types were used, is a mystery we are yet una-
ble to fathom." Agassiz has made a similar an-
nouncement as to the fauna and flora of America ;
here, then, we have two vast areas of re-introduction
of typical forms, and we imagine that a simple answer
may be given to Mr. Jukes' query, by referring to
the great fact that the plan of creation was not a

more re-

349

completed plan, but was one gradually unfolded, and
brought forward to completion ; so that we should
expect to find a bringing on of the parts, and a
revelation or perfecting of those which were re-
quired to complete the structure. In like manner
we must infer, that the interference with the plan
would be regulated by the general interests, and
ultimate good of the whole.

Agassiz admits that " the total absence of the
highest representatives of the animal kingdom in the
oldest deposits forming part of the crust of our globe,
has actually led to the very general belief, that the
animals wh'.ch have existed during the earliest pe-
riod of the earth, were inferior to those now living ;
nay, that there is a natural gradation from the oldest
and lowest animals, to the highest now in existence.
To some extent this is true ; but it is certainly not
true, that all animals form one simple [series from
earliest times, during which only the lowest types of
animals would have been represented, to the last
period, when man appeared at the head of the ani-
mal kingdom. It is not in the successive appearance
of the great branches of the animal kingdom, that
we may expect to trace a parallelism between their
succession in geological times, and their relative
standing at present. Nor can any such correspond-
ence be observed between the appearance of the
classes, at least not among radiate, and moUusca,

and articulata, as their respective classes seem to
2x

350

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have been introduced simultaneously on the earth,
with, perhaps, the sole exception of the insects,
which are not known to have existed before the
carboniferous period. Among the vertebrata, how-
ever, there appears already a certain coincidence
even within the limits of the classes, between the
time of their introduction, and the rank their repre-
sentatives hold, in comparison one to another. It
is only within the limits of the different orders of
each class, that the parallelism between the succes-
sion of the representatives in past ages, and their
respective rank in the present period, is decidedly
characteristic. But if this is true, it must be at the
same time obvious to what extent the recognition of
this correspondence t- ay be influenced by the state
of our knowledge of the true affinities and natural
gradations of living animals. '&' -'

" I shall therefore limit myself," says Agassiz,
"to a general comparison, which may be suffi-
cient to shew that the improvements which have
been introduced into our systems, upon purely zoo-
logical grounds, have nevertheless tended to render
moro apparent the coincidence between the relative
standing among living animals, and the order of
succession of their representatives in past ages. I
have lately attempted to shew that the order of hal-
cyonoids, among polypes, is superior to that of acti-
noids ; that in this class compound communities
constitute a higher degree of developement, when

361

contrasted with the characters and mode of existence
of the single polypes, as exhibited by the actinia ;*
that top-budding is superior to lateral budding ; and
that the type of madrepores, with their top-animal,
or, at least, with a definite and limited number of
tentacles, is superior to all other actinoids. If this
be so, the prevalence of actinoids in older forma-
tions, to the exclusion of halcyonoids ; the preva-
lence of rugosa and tabulata, in the oldest deposits ;
the later prevalence of asteroids, and the very late
introduction of madrepores, would already exhibit a
correspondence between the rank of living polypes,
and the representatives of that class in past ages,
though we may hardly expect a very close coinci-
dence in this respect between animals, the structure
of which is so simple.

The gradation among the orders of echinoderms is
perfectly plain. I<owest stand the crinoids, next
the asteroids, t next the echinoids, J and highest the
holothuroids.§ Ever since this class has been cir-
cumscribed within its natural limits, this succession
has been considered as expressing their relative
natural standing ; and modern investigation, respect-
ing their anatomy and embryology, however exten-
sive, have not led to any important change in their
classification, as far as the estimation of their rank
is concerned. This is also precisely the order in
which the representatives of this class have been

* axriv, a ray. f a(rrpov, a star. % tx^vos, a hedgehog. § Soft sea-slugs.

] (I I

>. f!

*,

i i

/

' < t

352

i^

successively introduced upon earth in past geologi-
cal ages. Among the oldest formations, we find
pedunculated crinoids only, and this order remains
prominent for a long period of successive periods ;
next come free crinoids and asteroids ; next echi-
noids, the successive appearance of which, since the
triassic period to the present day, coincides also
with the gradation of their sub-divisions, as deter-
mined by their structure ; and it was not until the
present period, that the highest echinoderms, the
holothuroids, have assumed a prominent position in
their class. ^

Among acephala,* there is not any more uncer-
tainty, respecting the relative rank of their living
representatives, than among echinoderms. Every
zoologist acknowledges the inferiority of the bryozoaf
and brachciapods,t when compared with lamellibran-
chiata ;§ and among these, the inferiority of the mono-
myaria, in comparison with the dimyaria, would
hardly be denied. Now if any fact is well estab-
lished in palaeontology, it is the earlier appearance
and prevalence of bryozoa and brachciopods in the
oldest geological formations, and their extraordinary
developement for a long succession of ages, until
lamellibranchiata assume the ascendancy which they
maintain to the fullest extent at present.

The order of succession of vertebrata in past ages
exhibit features in many respects differing greatly

* a, withoat ; Kfipa\-fi, a head.
{ fipaxtoy, an arm ; -noSfs, feet.

t Ppvov, moss ; Zwov, animal.
§ Lamella, a plate ; jSpayx'") &^'

353

from articulata, mollusks, and radiata. Among these
we find their respective classes appearing simulta-
neously in the oldest periods in the history of our
earth. Not so with the vertebrata, for although
fishes may be as old as any of the lower classes,
reptiles, birds, and mammalia are introduced suc-
cessively in the order of their relative rank in their
type. Again, the earliest representatives of their
classes do not always seem to be the lowest ; on the
contrary they are, to a certain extent, and in a cer-
tain sense the highest, in as far as they embody cha-
racters which, in later periods, appear separately in
higher classes, to the exclusion of what henceforth
constitutes the special character of the lower class.
For instance, the oldest fishes known partake of the
characters which, at a later time, are exclusively
found in reptiles, and no longer belong to the fishes
of the present day. It may be said that the oldest
fishes arc rather the oldest representatives of the
type of vertebrata, than of the class of fishes, and
that this class assume only its proper characters after
the introduction of the class of reptiles upon earth.
It is plain that, before the class of reptiles was in-
troduced upon our globe, the fishes being then the
only representatives of the type of vertebrata, were
invested with the characters of a higher order, em-
bodying, as it were, a prospective view of a higher
developement in another class, which was introduced
as a distinct type only at a later period ; and from

I

fiSB

}^

w

/

m

364

that time the reptilian character, which had been so
prominent in the oldest fishes, was gradually re-
duced, till in more recent periods, and in the present
creation, the fishes lost all this herpetological rela-
tionship, and were at last endowed with characters,
which contrast as much, when compared with those
of reptiles, as they agreed closely at the beginning.
Lepidosteous alone reminds us, in our time, of these
old fashioned characters of the class of fishes, as it
was in former days. Similar relations may be traced
between the reptiles and the classes of birds and
mammalia which they precede. We need only al-
lude to the resemblance of the pterodactyle and the
birds, and to that of icthyosauri and certain cetacea.
Yet through all these intricate relations, there runs
an evident tendency towards the production of higher
and higher types, until at last man crowns the series.
Seen, as it were, at a distance, so that the mind can
take a general survey of the whole, and perceive
the connexion of the successive steps, without being
bewildered by the details, such a series appears like
the developement of a great conception, expressed
in such harmonious proportions, that every link
appears necessary to the full comprehension of its
meaning, and yet so independent and perfect in
itself, that it might be mistaken for a complete
whole ; and again so intimately connected with the
preceding and following members of the series, that
one might be viewed as flowing out of the other.

355

What is universally admired as characteristic of the
highest conception of genius, is here dirnlayed in a
fulness, a richness, a magnificence, an amplitude, a
perfection of details, a complication of relations,
which baffle our skill and our most persevering ef-
forts to appreciate all its beauties. Who can look
upon such series, coinciding to such an extent., and
not read in them the successive manifestations of a
thought, expressed at different times, in ever new
forms, and yet tending to the same end, onwards to
the coming of man, whose advent is already prophe-
sied in the first appearance of the earliest fishes."

In taking a careful survey of the facts whicu the
geologist has industriously collected, and weighing
the evidence which he brings forward to support his
constantly repeated declaration of adjustments in
creation, the unprejudiced mind must admit that no
fortuitous concurrence of atoms, no blind incompre-
hensible concatenation of circumstances, could have
so repeatedly resulted in the production of events
which, for grandeur and marvellous wisdom, surpass
the most daring flights of human imaermation. We are
forced to admit that, where man's voice is feeble,
" the rocks cry out," and bear testimony to a power
unseen, but not unknown^ — invisible, but yet revealed
in majesty, and awful even in concealment. The
most daring doubter will not deny that the records
of the past testify plainly to an orderly system of
events, and unfold to man the deep foundations of a

856

pi Hi

I

II'-

scheme which was laid " in the beginning." Nay!
so evident is it that the plan of creation has been one
of progression, that it was even surmised — till re-
search upset the dream — that all things were mutu-
ally convertible, and the world but a system of de-
velopement. Geologists and naturalists unanimously
accord their testimony to such truths as are alorie con-
sistent with reason and common sense, and fully
prove the creations past to have been controlled
by an intelligent, designing mind. " Passing," says
Sir R. Murchison, " rapidly over the earliest stages
of the planet, which are necessarily involved in
obscurity, our sketch of nature began with the
first attainable evidences of the formation of sedi-
ments composed of mud, sand, and pebbles. It was
shewn that the lowest accessible of these deposits,
though of enormous dimensions, and occasionally
less altered than strata formed after them, are
almost entirely azoic, or void of traces of inhabi-
tants of the seas in which they were accumulated.
One solitary genus of zoophytes has been alone
detected in such bottom rocks ; the heat of the sur-
face having been, it is supposed, adverse to life.
In the next formations, scarcely differing at all in
mineral character from those which preceded them,
observers in various regions have detected clear and
unmistakeable signs of a contemporaneous appear*
ance of animal life, as shewn by the presence of a
few genera of crustaceans, moUusks, and zoophytes,

367

M

occupying layers of similar date in the crust of the earth.
Proceeding upwards from the protozoic zone, wherein
organic remains are comparatively rare, we then as-
cend to other sediments, in which, throughout all lati-
tudes, we recognise a copious distribution of sub-marine
creatures, resembling each other very nearly, though
imbedded in rocks now separated by wide seas, and
often raised up to the summits of high mountains.
Examining all the strata exposed to view, that were
formed during the first long natural epoch of similar
life, termed Silurian, we find that the successive de-
posits are charged with a great variety of forms — of
the trilobite, a peculiar crustacean ; of the orthoce-
ratite, the earliest chambered shell, as well as with
exquis'tely formed mollusks. crinoids, and zoophytes ;
the genus graptolite, of the latter class, being exclu-
sively found in the silurian rocks. In short, from those
ancient and now desicated marine sediments or reposi-
tories of primeval creatures, examples of every group
of purely aquatic animals, save fishes, are assembled.
The multiplied researches of the last twenty years
have failed to detect the trace of a fish, amid th*^ multi-
tudes of all other marine beings in the various sedi-
ments which constitute the chief mass of the silurian
rocks. Of these, though they are the lowest in the
scale of the great division vertehrata, we are unable to
perceive a vestige until we reach the highest zone of
the upper silurian, and are about to enter upon the

Bevonian period. Even on that horizon, the minute
2 Y

n.

358

/-"

,1

fossil fishes long ago noticed by myself, are exceed-
ingly scarce, and none have since been found in
strata of higher antiquity. In fact, the few frag-
ments of cartilaginous ichthyolites of the highest
band of silurian rocks, still remain the most ancient
known beings of their class.

" Looking, therefore, at the silurian system as a
whole, and judging from the collection of facts ga-
thered from all quarters of the globe, we know that
its chief deposits (certainly all the lower and most
extensive) were formed during a long period, in
which, while the sea abounded with countless inver-
tebrate animals, no marine vertebrata had been called
into existence. The silurian, except at its close, was
therefore a series in which there appeared no exam-
ple of that long framework of completed vertebrae,
from which, as approaching to the vertebrate arche-
type, the comparative anatomist traces the rise of
creative power up to the formation of man."

Whether, therefore, the term of "progressive,"
or " successive," be applied to such acts of creation,
the object is simply to shew, upon clear and general
evidence, that there was a long period in the history
of the world, wherein no vertebrated animal lived.
In this sense, the appearance of the first recognisable
fossil fishes is as decisive a proof of a new and distinct
creation, as that of the placing of man upon the ter-
restrial surface, at the end of the long series of animals
which characterise the younger geological periods.

369

Nor h ^e we been able to disinter from the older
strata o> iliis long period of invertebrate life, any-
distinct fragments of land plants. But just in the
same stratum wherein the few earliest small fishes
have been detected, there also have we observed
the first appearances of a diminutive, yet highly
organised, tree vegetation. If it be granted that the
position of the earliest recognisable vertebrata is
good positive evidence on which to argue, still it
might be contended that such forms may, at a future
period, be found in lower strata. In this work we
only reason on known data. Nor is it on this testi-
mony alone, strong, clear, and universal as it is,
that my view is sustained, for as soon as we pass
into the formation immediately over-lying, and quit
the zone wherein the first few small fishes are to be
detected, we are furnished with collateral proofs
that this was the earliest great step in a progressive
order of creation. In the following or Devonian
period, we are surrounded by a profusion of larger
fossil fishes, with vertebrae, for the most part very
imperfectly ossified, and with dermal skeletons of
very singular forms ; all differing vastly from any
thing of their class in existing nature. These fishes
were thus clearly added to the other forms of ma-
rine life. Again, in this Devonian era, we are pre-
sented with well defined land plants, also of much
larger dimensions than the very rare specimens in
the uppermost silurian ; while, towards the close of

360

it^i ',;

'3 r-

the period, we meet with an air-breathing reptile.
The little telerpeton had groves of tree ferns or
lycopodaceous plants, and even of coniferse, amid
the roots of which he could nestle. Just as the in-
troduction of cartilagenous fishes is barely traceable
at the close of the long silurian era, so becoming
soon afterwards more abundant, they are associated
in all younger formations with true osseous fishes,
whose remains are found intermixed with the other
exuviae of the sea. Putting aside, therefore, theory,
and judging solely from positive observation, we
may fairly infer, first, that during very long epochs,
the seas were unoccupied by any kind of fishes .
secondly, that the earliest discoverable creatures of
this class had an internal framework, almost incapa-
ble of fossilisation, and left in the strata their teeth
and dermal skeletons only ; and, thirdly, that in the
succeeding periods, the oldest fishes having bony
vertebrae make their scanty appearance, but become
numerous in the overlying deposits.

Are not these absolute data of the geologist clear
signs of a progress in creation? We may further
strengthen these declarations, by accepting the illus-
trative arguments of Mr. Gosse, although not agreeing
with his views on the main question which he raises :
"Creation," he remarks, "is the sudden bursting into
a circle — the sovereign fiat of Almighty Power, the
commencing point which we in vain seek in nature."
Take the course of a plant, it is a circle without

361

beginning, without end ; that is, unless it commence
as a created thing. At what point of its history can
you put your fiuger and say, " Here is the com-
mencement of this organism, before which there is a
blank ; here it began to exist ?" There is no such
point ; no stage which does not look back to a pre-
vious stage, on which thh stage is inevitable and
absolutely dependent. This may be rendered more
clear by a diagram : —

-STEM-

SHOOT

BUD

COTYLEDONS

rLowCFt

se:e:d carpel

The plumuhria, a shrub-like zoophyte, comprising
within its populous branches some twenty thousand
polypes, tells a similar story.

Every individual cell now inhabited by its tentacled
hydra, has, in its turn, budded out from a branch,
which was itself but a lateral process from the cen-
tral axis. And this was but the prolongation of
what was at first a single cell, shooting up from a

!) .

''■■*■ '■'

862

I,

^

■ POLYPE

■ . ' I li U.J-h

BFfANCH

CAPSULE

-t,'

AXIS

PLANULE

m k

.PRIMAL.
CEUL

^

creeping root-thread. A little earlier than this,
there was neither cell nor root- thread ; but the or-
ganism existed in the form of a planuk, a minute
soft-bodied, pear-shaped worm, covered with cilia,
that crawled softly over the stones and sea-weeds.
Whence came it? A few hours before it had emerged
from the mouth of a vase-like cell, one of the ova-
rian capsules which studded the stem of an old well-
peopled plumularia shrub, and which had been
gradually developed from its substance by a process
analogous to budding. And then if we follow the
history of this earlier shrub backward, it will only
lead us through exactly the same correspondent
stages — primal cell, planule, ovarian capsule, stem,
and so on interminably. Once more : the cow was
a year or two ago a heifer, with budding horns.

363

The year before she was a bleating calf, which again
had been a breathless foetus wrapped up in the
womb of its mother. Earlier still it had been an
unformed embryo ; and yet earlier, an embryonic
vesicle, a microscopically minute cell, formed out of
one of the component cells of a still earlier structure
—the germinal vesicle of a fecundated ovum. But
this ovum, which is the remotest to which we can
trace the history of our cow as an individual, was,
before it assumed a distinct individuality, an undis-
tinguishable constituent of a viscus — the ovary — of
another cow, an essential part of her structure, a
portion of the tissues of Iter body, to be traced back,
therefore, through all the stages enumerated above,
to the tissues of another parent cow, as long as we
choose to follow it : —

'A'v I

COW"

HEirER

OVUM

CALF

GERM. VESICLE

■f 1, . I

FOCTUS

EMBR.VESreLE:

. r M R rvo

This is the order of all organic nature. It is evident

1^

m

li i:

I tl a
I?

u\

[\\k

364

there is no one point in the history of any single
creature, which is a legitimate beginning of its exist-
ence. And this is not a law of some particular spe-
cies, but of all : it pervades all classes of animals,
all classes of plants : the life of every organic being
is whirling in a ceaseless circle, to which one knows
not how to assign ani/ commencement. The life-
history of any organism commenced at some point
or other of its circular course. It was created, called
into being, in some definite stage. Possibly various
creatures differed in this respect : perhaps some
began existence in one stage of developement, some
in another ; but every separate organism had a dis-
tinct point at which it began to live. Before that
point there was nothing ; this particular organism
had till then no existence, — it was not. The pri-
mary creature must have been suddenly created and
constituted a perfect being: for the care and nurture
of the young, there must be a mother — there must
be a pair to originate the offspring.

Now what is true of the course of individual crea-
tions, is just as true of the order of creation and
order of adaptation. From what we have already
learned of the progress by sea, turn we to the land,
and behold evidence as conclusive of the repeated
adjustment of the plan of creation. We trace back
the first appearance of plant or animal to a particu-
lar stage in the world's history j we find it there
and only there, and, from the laws of life at this hour.

365

n

are forced to conclude that the creature could only
have been placed on the earth, at the given epoch, by
some All-Powerful Creative Agent. Every geolo-
gist sets before us the same facts, and constantly
presents to our incredulous minds the proofs of the
advent of new beings on the stage of life. The sea
has, as we have shewn, furnished witnesses ; the
land may now tell us its story, for there is progress
in the productions of the land ; the great carbonif-
erous period being marked by the first copious and
universally abundant terrestrial flora, the prelude to
which had appeared in the foregoing Devonian
epoeh. This earliest luxuriant tree vegetation, the
pabulum of our great coal-fields, is also especially
remarkable for its spread over many latitudes and
longitudes ; and together with it occur the same com-
mon species of marine shells, all indicating a more
or less equable climate — from polar to inter-tropical
regions — a phenomenon wholly at variance mth the
present distribution of animal or vegetable life over
the surface of the planet. While the permian era
was distinguished by the disappearance of the
greater number of primeval types, and by the essen-
tial modification of those which remained, it still bore
a strong resemblance, through its plants and animals,
to the carboniferous period ; whilst, in unison with
all the great facts elicited by our survey of the older
strata, it was marked by the appearance of an ani-
mal of a higher grade than any one in the foregoing
2z

366

V '

eras — a large thecodont reptile — allied, according to
Mr. Owen, to the living monitor.

In speaking of the silurian, Devonian, carbonifer-
ous, and permian rocks, let us explain that, whilst
each of the three latter groups occupy wide spaces
in certain regions, no one of them is of equal value
with the Silurian, in representing time, or the succes-
sion of animal life on the globe. When the silurian
was divided into lower and upper parts, our acquaint-
ance with younger formations simply sufficed to shew
a complete distinction between its animal remains as
a whole, and those of the carboniferous rocks, from
which it is separated by the thick accumulations of
the old-red sandstone. At that period, the shelly,
slaty rocks of Devonshire were not known to be the
equivalents of the old-red ; still less had the rela-
tions and fossil contents of the strata, now called
permian, been ascertained. Judging from the fos-
sils then collected, it was believed that the lower
silurian contained organic remains very distinct
from those of the upper ; and yet the two groups
were united in a system, because they were charac-
terised throughout by a common fades. This so-
called system was, in short, typified by a profusion
of trilobites and graptolites, with orthides and pen-
tameri of a type wholly unknown in the carboniferous
rocks. And whilst fishes were seen to exist in the
intermediate masses of the old-red sandstone, no
traces of them could be detected below the very

3C7

uppermost zone of the silurian rocks. Niueteen
years have elapsed, and after the most vigilant
researches in various regions of both hemispheres,
these great features remain the same as when first
indicated. At the close of the permian era an inji-
nitely greater change took place in life, than that
which marked the ascent from the silurian system to
the overlying groups. The earlier races then disap-
peared, (at least all the species,) and were replaced hy
an entirely new creation, the generic types of which
were continued through those long epochs which
geologists term secondary or mesozoic (the mediaeval
age of extinct beings). In these, again, we learn
how one creation followed another, each character-
ised by different creatures ; many of them, however,
exhibiting, near their downward and upward limits,
certain fossils which link on one reign of life to ano-
ther. In connexion with these facts, we must carry
in our minds the law of the dependence of life
on external conditions ; for in surveying the whole
series of formations, the practical geologist is fully
impressed with the conviction, that there has at
all times subsisted a very intimate connexion be-
tween the existence, or, at all events, the preser-
vation of animals, and the media in which they
have been fossilised. The chief seat of former life
in each epoch is often marked by a calcareous
mass, mostly in a central point, towards which the
animals increase from below, and whence they

368

;i!

I ! ; '#

I i i I

diminish upwards. Thus, Llandeilo limestone of
the lower Silurian, and the Wcnlock of the upper,
are respectively centres of animalisation of each of
those groups. In like manner, the Eif'cl limestone
is the true index of the Devonian, the mountain
limestone ol the carboniferous, and the Zichstein or
English magnesian limestone of the permian.
Throughout the secondary rocks the same law pro
vails more or less ; and wherever the typical j.ie-
stone of a natural group is absent, there wc porceive
the deposits to be ill-characterised by orj^unic re-
mains. For example, the trias, so rich in fossil
remains, when its great calcareous centre, the muy-
chelkalk, is present, as in Germany and France, is
a miserable sterile formation in Britain, where, as
in our new red sandstone, no such limestone exists.
Proceedirji," into the secondary strata, which often
constitute vast mountain masses, we pass first through
the trias, then traverse the lias, and afterwards the
long series of the oolitic or Jurassic formations, all of
which are charged with many animal and vegetable
remains, and laden with a great profusion of curious
and large saurians, very nnlilxe the lizards which
preceded them. Besides mv(ii . •• land '^.iXiis.in-
sects now become abundant — a tribe which began to
appear in the carboniferous era, or in the first great
forests ; and with these are found bones of that large
winged reptile — the " pterodactyle "* of geologists.

* irrepov, a wing ; SaxrvXos, a finger.

369

itone of
upper,
' each of
mestone
lountain
istein or
lermian.
law pro
3al Ji.ie-
l^orceive
i;unic re-
in fossil
the muii-
ranee, is
^herc, as
e exists,
ich often
through
rards the
ns, all of
egetable
f curious
s which
.^nts, in-
began to
rst great
hat large
eologists.

But still surrounded, as wc arc, in these secondary
strata, by the spoils of tlio land, wc have to journey
through nearly a half of them, before we obtain any
other evidences (tT the exKstcnce of mammalia, than
two or three teeth of a carnivorous animal, said to
be found in a bone bed of the trias, (but which may
possibly be the bottom bed of the lias,) and the
scarce fragments, in the Stonestiold oolite, of the
amphitherium, formerly named didelphis bucklandii
by Brodrip. This last-mentioned creature, which is
allied to living marsupials, though discovered many
years ago, has had no companions added to it by the
hordes of collectors who have sought for hem, ex-
cept the small but highly curious phascoh thorium
of Devon. The eminent naturalist, Owen, remarks
on the absence of mammalia in the older rocks :
" Had mammalia existed in the same number and
variety in the ancient forests that have contrii)uted
to the coal strata, as in the actual swamps and ^^ oods
in the warmer parts of the globe : had armadillos
and ant-eaters been then created to feed on insects,
sloths on the leaves, and monkeys on the fruits of
the coal plants, as they do now in the Brazilian for-
ests, where the mammals preponderate over the
reptiles, we might have expected the first evidences
f^f an air-breathing vertebrate animal to have been
a mammalian.

" After this, we have plentiful evidences of succes-
sive shore deposits at inany periods, with abundant

I

370

I'U

examples of sediments formed in lakes and rivers,
(an order of things of which vestiges were first ap-
parent towards the close of the primeval period,)
and with continual signs of adjacent lands affording
numerous forms of plants and insects. The Wealden,
of such vast thickness, is indeed exclusively tenanted
by land and fresh- water remains ; and yet, although
its strata are full of plants and i.he gigantic fossil
lizards of the period, not one bone of a mammal has
been exhumed from them ; while bones of birds
make their appearance first only in green-sand and
chalk.

" We have to work through the whole cretaceous
series and its prolific fauna, to take leave, in short,
of the secondary rocks, and enter upon the tertiary
epochs, before such remains are at all plentiful.
Then, for the first time in this incalculably long
series of formations, we have before us, on all sides,
the bones of the higher order of mammalia ; and
these having been drifted from adjacent lands, arc
constantly associated with the exuvias of marine
creatures, which, though of classes known in the
earlier formations, are entirely different in species.
Animals of every sort abound in each succeeding
formation, and exhibit an increasing quantity and
variety of both sea and land mammalia, as we ap-
proach the superficial accumulations. In the last
are entombed the bones of gigantic quadrupeds-
quadrupeds which once inhabited our present conti-

371

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nents, and which must have required for their sus-
tenance a range over lands as extensive as those
now occupied by man and his associates." We have
now learned the conclusions to which the geologist
has arrived from palpable evidence ; we shall also
discover that naturalists are forced to like conclu-
sions. "We discern," says Mr. Owen, "the earliest
trace of warm-blooded, air-breathing viviparous
quadrupeds, at that remote period when the deposi-
tion of the oolitic group of limestones had commenced.
The massive evidence of the operations of the old
ocean, from which those rocks were gradually preci-
pitated, extends across England, from Yorkshire on
the north-east, to Dorsetshire on the south-west,
with an average breadth of nearly thirty miles ; and
from the same land which formed the shore of this
arm of the sea, were washed down the remains of
small insectivorous and probably marsupial quadru-
peds, distinct in genus and species from any now
known in the world. With these small mammals
there occur elytra of beetles, and debris of cycadea)
and other terrestrial plants. The character of some
of the vegetable fossils and of the associated shells,
as the trigonia for example, and the great abundance
in the oolitic ocean of fishes, whose nearest living
analogue is the Port Jackson shark, (cestracion,)
recall many of the characteristic features of actual
organic life in Australia.
In contemplating, however, the frail and scanty,

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but precious evidence, of the ancient oolitic insecti-
vora, we naturally ask, could the link of the mam-
malian chain of being have existed detached and
insulated ? Were there then no representatives of
carnivorous phylacines and dasyures to enjoy life at
the expense of the quick-breeding little phascolo-
theres and amphitheres ? We can scarcely resist
the latent conviction of such an association, notwith-
standing the absence of direct proof, since we find
so many indications of coeval conditions, apparently
favourable for the developement of all forms of
organic life ; and it is plain from the scarce and
fragmentary parts of the skeletons of the hitherto
discovered Stonesfleld mammalia, that many circum-
stances concurred to destroy or conceal such evi-
dences. The non-discovery of the remains of marine
mammalia is more conclusive as to their non-exist-
ence. Had whales, grampuses, porpoises, or mana-
tees existed in the oolitic ocean, it is highly impro-
bable that every trace of their bones and teeth
should have escaped notice, especially when the
remains of cetiosauri and other reptilian inhabitants
of those ancient seas are so abundant. From the
remote period in which the remains of mammals
first make their appearance, to that in which we
again get indubitable evidence of their existence,
a lapse of time incalculably vast has occurred. We
trace it by the successive deposition from seas and
estuaries, of enormous masses of rocks of various

/

373

kinds — the grave-yards of as various extinct forms
of animal and vegetable life. The shelly limestone
of Stonesfield, which contains the bones of the am-
phitheria and phascolotheria, lies upon inferior
oolite. Upon it have been accumulated the strata
of the great oolite, the cornbrash and the forest mar-
ble ; and upon these have been successively piled
the Oxford group of clay, calcareous grit, and coral
rag, the Kimridge clay, and Portland stone. In the
extensive range of Wealden rocks, deposited after
the formation of the Portland sands by the waters
of an immense estuary, and rising to the height of
eight hundred feet, no true indication of warm-
blooded animals have been hitherto discovered.
Four hundred feet deep of gault and greensand rest
upon the Wealden, but yield no trace of cetacean or
other forms of mammalian life.

Over these foundations of the present south-
eastern part of England the ocean continued to
roll ; but, under influences of heat and light, favour-
able to the developement of corals and microscopic
shells, during a period of time which has permitted
the successive accumulation of layers of these skele-
tons, in a more or less decomposed state, with pro-
bably additions from sub-marine calcareous and
silicious springs, to the height of one thousand feet.
But though amongst the remains of higher organised
animals that have become enveloped in the cretace-
ous deposits, there have been recognised birds,
3 A

374

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pterodactiles, and a land lizard, probably washed
down from a neighbouring shore, no trace of a
mammalian quadruped has yet been discovered in
them. The surface of the chalk after it had become
consolidated, was long exposed to the corroding ac-
tion of waves and currenis. Into deep indentations
so formed, have been rolled fragments of chalk and
flint, with much sand. The perforations of marine
animals on that surface have been filled with fine
sand ; and there are many other proofs of the lapse
of a long interval of time between the deposits of the
chalk deposits of Britain, and the commencement of
the next or tertiary era. Of this era our present
island gives the first indication, in traces of mighty
rivers, which defiled the fair surface of the rising chalk,
by pouring over it the debris of the great continent
which they drained^ — a continent which has again
sunk, and probably now lies beneath the Atlantic.
The masses of clay and sand that have been thus
deposited upon the chalk, are accumulated chiefly in
two tracts, called the London and Hampshire basins,
which seem to have been two estuaries or mouths of
the great river : the one extends from Cambridge-
shire, through Hertfordshire and Suffolk, to the
North Downs ; the other from the South Downs,
along the range of chalk hills, into Dorsetshire.
Some parts of these deposits attain the height of
more than one thousand feet, indicating the great
depth of the ocean into which they were poured.

375

At the time when these vast, but gradual (?)
operations were taking place, an arm of the sea
extended from the north, to the area called the Paris
basin, which received the overflow of a chain of
lakes extending thither, from the highest part of the
central mountain group of France. An enormous
mass of mixed or alternating marine and fresh water
deposits was accumulated in this basin, coeval, if
we may judge from the species of shells, with the
outpouring of the London and plastic clays upon the
English chalk. Each division of the French eocene
deposits is characterised either by the exclusive
possession or the predominance of the particular
fossils, and the entire series must have required a
long lapse of ages for its accumulation. Yet the
sudden introduction, as it seems, of various forms of
mammalia, at this period of the earth's history, cor-
roborates the inference, from more direct evidence,
of the long interval of time that elapsed between the
cessation of the British chalk formation, and the
commencement of the tertiary deposits. The proofs
of the abundant mammalian inhabitants of the eocene
continent were first obtained by Cuvier, from the
fossilised remains in the deposits that fill the enor-
mous Parisian excavation of the chalk. But the
forms which that great anatomist restored were all
new and strange, and for the most part generally
distinct from all known existing quadrupeds. By
these animals the naturalist was first made acquainted

It

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376

with the aquatic cloven-hoofed animal, which Cuvier
has called anoplothere, and with its light and grace-
ful congeners, the dechobunes and xephiodon, with
the great paleotheres, which may be likened to horn-
less rhinoceroses, with the more tapiroid lophiodon,
with the large peccari-like pachyderm called chcero-
potamus, with about a score of other genera and
species.

Long before any discovery had been made of
remains of terrestrial animals in the contemporary
London and plastic clays, the existence of neighbour-
ing dry land had been inferred, from the occurrence
in those deposits of bones of crocodiles and turtle^',
and from the immense number of fossil seeds and
fruits, resembling those of tropical trees, as pandani,
cocoa-nut, «fec. The remains of a few of the mam-
mals of the ancient palm-groves, that bordered the
mighty eocene river or estuary, have since been
recovered from its sediments. One of these quadru-
peds is a lephiodon, another a nearly-allied pachy-
derm, (coryphodon,) larger than any existing tapir ;
a third (hyracotherium) has the closest affinity to the
choeropotamus, but was not much larger than a hare.
In a sandy deposit, probably near the margin of the
estuary, and where Kingston in Sussex now stands,
the remains of a smaller species of hyracothere,
about the size of a rabbit, have been found, and both
here and in the eocene clay at Sheppey and at

f large serpents, like the

Brocklesham,

■\rQ*«4-/-»TM»rr» rw

377

boa constrictor, have been discovered. The combi-
nation of organic remains in these vast accumulations
of the detritus of the eocene continent, is in fact
quite analogous to what may be expected to be found
in the outpourings of the Ganges or the Amazon,
when those sedimentary deposits are in their turn
raised from the bed of the recipient ocean and made
dry land.

Scanty as are the eocene mammalia hitherto dis-
covered in the London clay, they are highly inter-
esting from their identity or close affinity with some
of the peculiar extinct genera of the Paris basin.
In the fresh water and marine beds at the north
side of the Isle of Wight, and at the opposite coast
of Hampshire, there occur the remains of the same
species of quadrupeds as have been found in the
contemporaneous Parisian formations. One of the
rarest and most remarkable of the pachyderms,
whose peculiar characters were obscurely indicated
by Cuvier, from scanty fossils yielded by the Mont-
raartre gypsum, has had its claim to generic distinc-
tion established, and its nature and affinities fully
illustrated by more perfect specimens from the eocene
limestone of the Isle of Wight : in no other part of
Great Britain has any portion of this animal, the
chceropotamus, been found, except in the above
limited locality, which alone corresponds with the
formation of the Paris basin in mineral character as
in date of origin. This discoverv becomes, there-

#

378

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fore, peculiarly interesting and suggestive. For
were the common notion true, that all the fossil
remains of quadrupeds not now existing in England,
had been brought hither during a single catastrophe,
and been strewed with the detritus of a general
deluge over its surface, what would have been the
chance of finding the solitary bone of a choeropota-
mus in the very spot, and in the verj^ limited locality
where alone in all England the same kind of fresh
water deposits existed as those in which the unique
upper jaw of the same extinct species had been
found in France. With choeropotamus are associated,
in the Binstead and Seafield quarries of the Isle of
Wight, remains of anoplotherium, dichobune, palaeo-
therium, and lophiodon., shewing, with the fossils
from the London clay, that the same peculiar gen-
eric forms of the class mammalia prevailed during
the eocene epoch in England as in France.

Almost the sole exception to the generic distinc-
tion of the eocene mammalia, which occurred in the
researches of Cuvier, was the famous didelphys of
Montmartre ; and what made this discovery the
more remarkable, was the fact that all the known
existing species of that marsupial genus are now
confined to America, and the greater part to the
southern division of that continent. An opossum
appears to have been associated with the peccari-
like hyracotherium in the eocene sand of Suffolk ;
whfti'P. likftwisp. sonrift tfiPsth ofamoTikfiv. annarentlv

--,/ 7 --rx"

379

a macacus, have been found. It is not uninteresting
to remark that the peccari, the nearest exist* ^ ally
to the old hyracothere, is like the opossum, now
l)eculiar to America ; and that two species of tapir,
the nearest living allies to lophiodon, exist in South
America. We gain little, however, from the com-
parison of the eocene with the existing mammalia, in
reference to their geographical distribution, except
a strong indication that the relative distribution of
land and sea, as well as the climate of English lati-
tudes, were then widely different from what they are
at the present day.

The marine deposits of the eocene epoch, in con-
trast with those of the preceding secondary periods,
also bespeak the great advance of animal life, and
shew the remains of great whales. Petrified ceta-
ceous bones have been found in situ in the London
clay at Harwich ; and similarly petrified teeth and
ear-bones (cetotolites) have been washed out of the
eocene clay into the red-crag at Felix-stow. These
fossils belong to species distinct from any known
existing cetacea, and which, probably, like some of
the eocene quadrupeds, retained fully developed
characters, which are embryonic and transitory in
existing cognate mammals. With the last layer of
the eocene deposits we lose in England every trace of
the mammalia of that remote period. The imagina-
tion strives in vain to form an idea commensurate
with the evidence of the intervening operations

I

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380

which continental geology teaches to have gradually
and successively taken place : of the length of time
that elapsed before the foundations of England were
again sufficiently settled, to serve as the theatre of
life to another race of warm-blooded quadrupeds.
The miocene basins of the Danube and the Rhine
and the valley of the Bormida, attest the share
which the sea took in the contribution of these depo^
sits, between the end of the eocene period, and the
time when wo again find mammalian fossils in Eng-
land. Lake and rivers intercalated their sediments
with those of the sea, as at Saueats, south of Bor-
deux ; whilst active volcanoes, in Auvergne, Hun-
gary, and Transylvania, were adding their share of
solid matter to the rising continent.

In his usual forcible and startling language, the
Eev. Mr. Kingsley has combined these several facts
together, and points out, in strict accordance with
the declaration of the ablest and best geologists and
naturalists, that the course of this world has been so
ordered and governed, that the harmony between its
inorganic and physical masses, and its animate and
organised occupants, had never once been disturbed.

In his admirable lecture at Bristol, Mr. Kingsley
says : — " Let us go out (in fancy, for it is too cold
and dark to go in any thing else) into one of the
gravel-pits. The gravel-pit I would take would
be one of those situated on the G-reat Western

T>„:i.

Kauway, oetween ncre ana iwyford. The first

|-\f^ »--»-»ri^ r\ 1

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381

thing we see is a quantity of rounded stones, lying In
sand upon clay. Well, what do those stones tell
you ? Let us ask those stones, how did you come
here, and whence did you come from ? I am afraid
that, the stones having no tongues, I must answer
for them, and say these are ancient venerable wor-
thies. They have seen a great deal in their time.
They have had a great deal of knocking about, and
have stood it manfully. In fact they have stood the
knocking about of three worlds before this one, and
have done their duty therein, and are ready and
willing to be knocked about in a fourth, and will do
their duty there too. Three worlds ? Yes, I must
answer for the stones still. Standing there in the
gravel-pit, I see three old worlds, in each of which
these stones played their part, and this world in which
we now live is the fourth. Three worlds ? I speak
the truth. Let me explain the solemn truth step by
step. You see the chalk hills to the north, and the
range of chalk hills, running for many a mile, from
Newbury through Pangbourne, away to Caversham,
and so running to the north. These represent one
world. You know the clays and sands that lie to the
south, through Shinfield, Arborfield, Hartford Bridge
Flat, and Windsor ; that is what I called the second
world. Then you see beds of gravel and upper soils,
spread over the length and breadth of the country,
to the north, from the gravel-pit in which you stand,

right over Ascott Heath, to the Beacon-hill at Farn-
3 B

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ham. This is the third world. Let us take them
one by one. First the chalk. The chalk hills rise
much higher than the surrounding country, but you
must not suppose for that reason that they were
made after it, laid upon the top of the sands and
clays. - I i ...!

" We are in what we may call a chalk basin in
this locality, or rather half a basin, which begins
below Lord Carnarvon's park at Highclerc, and runs
to the eastward, widening gradually till it meets the
eastern sea below London, running every where
under London and throughout the low country round
London, both to the north and south. The ohalk
basin is filled, or rather half filled, with clays and
sands. But what has this to do with the gravel-pit ?
This, first — that all flints in this pit have come out of
the chalk. They are coloured by the oxide of iron,
which has turned them rusty red, instead of their
original white or grey, but they are exactly the same
flints as you will find in the chalk-pit on the other
side of the town. How do I know that ? Our own
eyes will prove that ; but a still surer proof exists
when you break or slice them, you find exactly the
same fossils in them. I told you that each flint was
moulded, so it seems, round the body of some living
thing, animal or vegetable, which had bred at the bot-
tom of the chalk ocean. I told you also that you would
find in the pebbles the shells of many animalcules.
On mmy of them you will find the prints of large

383

shells ; on othora bits of coral cither embedded in
the flint or sticking to it. You may find some very
interesting details on this subject in a little book
called * Mantell's Thoughts on a Pebble,' which I
wish most particularly to recommend to you, and
which I think no Mechanics' Institute or school-room
should be without. You will find these pebbles then
exactly alike in the chalk-pit and gravel-pit ; and
the natural conclusion then is, that the gravel has
been produced from the washings of the chalk. The
white lime of the chalk has been carried away in
solution in water by some flood or floods ; the flints
have been left behind, and the round and polished
shape of many of them shows plainly that they have
been rolled about for a long time at the bottom of
the sea ; perhaps, as they have been found near
Reading, they have been beaten on the shore of some
old sea beach, till they have lost their original form
and are broken up into round pebbles. These facts
have been worked out, one by one, by many men
labouring in many parts of England, and the con-
tinent also, for the last forty years. Look at the
magnificence of the results ? We know what chalk
is— how chalk was formed. We know that it was
deposited as white-lime mud, at the bottom of an
ancient sea — seemingly a deep one, undisturbed by
storms or currents ; we know that not only the flint,
but the chalk itself, is made up of shells. I do not
mean that you will find shells in it, but that it is

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384

shells. The shells of little microscopic animalcules
and vegetables, smaller than a needle's point, in
millions of millions, some whole, some broken, some
in powder, which lived, and died, and decayed for
ages on the bottom of the great chalk sea. Their
numbers none can count, but Him who made them.
Three or four millions of them have been counted in
one small ounce of sand.

" We know this, I say. We had suspected it
long, and became more and more certain of it as the
years went on. But within the last few months we
have had a confirmation of this suspicion more com-
plete than ever. In the late survey of the bottom
of the Atlantic ocean, with a view to laying down
the electric telegraph between England and America,
by Lieutenant Keans, of the American service,
science was not forgotten. A sounding-lead was in-
vented, which would bring up safely specimens of
the mud and sand from the bottom. And the result
is, that the floor of the Atlantic, after you have left
the land a few miles, is one vast plain of mud and
sand, extending over 1,300 miles in length. But
here is the wonder — at a depth averaging 1,600
fathoms — 9,600 feet — in utter darkness, the sea floor
is covered with countless millions of animalcules of
the same family (though not the same species) as
those of the chalk. Whether, both in ihxi Atlantic
and the chalk ocean, these tiny wonders live at the
bottom, in total darkness from birth to death, or

■.'■Wf^'

385

whether they swim freely at all depths, and their
shells, after they die, sink down, to add ever fresh
layers to the floor below, we do not yet know. There
is reason to suspect the latter, but till we have facts
we must not indulge in guesses. But our chalk is
still at the bottom of the sea. How did it become
dry land ? By the upheaving force which causes
earthquakes — ^when it acts in a single shock, snapping
the layers of the earth's crust by an explosion ; but
which acts, too, quietly and slowly, uplifting day by
day, and year by year, some parts of the land, and
letting others sink as gradually. That these up-
heaving forces were much more violent and powerful
in the earlier epochs of our planet, we are certain ;
and we have good reasons already to show why they
must have been so, but the subject is too long and
too obscure to enter on here. The reverend gentle-
man then described the formation of the clays and
sands, which he denominated the second world, and
proceeded to say — But do not suppose that we have
yet got our gravel-pit made, or that the way-worn
pebbles of which it is composed are near the end of
their weary journey. Poor old stones ! driven out
of their native chalk, rolled for ages on a sea beach,
they have tried to get a few centuries' sleep in the
sands, on the top of the chalk hills behind us, while
the London clay was being deposited peacefully in
the sea below* And behold they are swe^^t out
once more, and hurled pell-mell upon the clay, three

w

386

hundred feet over our heads — over our heads, re-
member. We have come now to a time when Hart-
ford-bridge flats stretched also over Winchfield and
Dogmersfield. What broke them up? What fur-
rowed out their steep side valleys ? What formed
the magnificient escarpment of the Beacon-hill, or the
lesser one of Finchampstead ridges ? What swept
away all but a thin cap of them on the upper part of
Dogmersfield Park, and another under Winchfield-
house, another at Bearwood, and so forth. The con-
vulsions of a third world, more fertile in animal life
than those which preceded it, and which also was
more terrible and rapid, if possible, in its changes.
Of this the third world (the one which, so to speak,
immediately preceded our own) we know little as
yet — its changes are so complicated that geologists
have as yet hardly arranged them.

" But what we can see I will sketch for you
shortly. A great continent to the south, England
probably an island at the beginning of the period
united to a continent by new beds, the mammoth
ranging up to where we now stand. Then a period
of upheaving. The German Ocean becomes dry
land. The Thames, a far larger river than now, runs
far eastward to join the Ehine and other rivers which
altogether flow northward in one enormous stream,
toward the open sea between Scotland and Norway.
And with this a new creation of enormous quadrupeds,
as yet unknown. Countless herds of elephants

387

pa 'ired by the side of that mighty river, where
now the Norfolk fisherman dredges their flesh and
bones, far out in open sea. The hippopotamus
floundered in the Severn, the rhinoceros ranged over
the southwestern countries, and enormous elks and
oxen, species now extinct, inhabited the vast fir and
larch forests which stretch from Norfolk to the furthest
part of Wales. Hyasnas and bears, double the size
of our modern ones, and here and there the great
sabre-toothed tiger, now extinct, prowled out of the
caverns in the limestone hills to seek their bulky
prey. We see, too, a period— whether the same as
this or after it I know not yet — in which the moun-
tains of Wales and Cumberland rose to the limits of
eternal frost, and Snowdon was indeed Snowdon, an
alp down whose valleys vast glaciers spread far and
wide ; while the reindeer of Lapland, the marmount
of the Alps, and tho musk ox of Hudson's Bay, fed
upon alpine plants, a few of whose descendar Is still
survive as tokens of the long past age of ico. At
every successive upheaval of the western mountains,
the displaced waters of the ocean swept over the
lower lands, filling the valley of the Thames with
vast beds of drift gravel, containing among it chalk
flints and fragments of stone from every rock between
here and Wales, teeth of elephants, skulls of oxen
and musk oxen ; while icebergs, breaking away from
the glaciers of the Welsh Alps, sailed down over the
spot where we now are, dropping their embedded

' 1 . / .

388

m

n ?

■I

'vn

stones to confuse more utterly than before the records
of a world rocking and throbbing above the shocks
of the nether fire.

" At last the convulsions get weaker, the German
Ocean becomes sea once more, the northwestern Alps
sink again to a level far lower even than their present
one, only to rise again, and not so high as before. Sea
beaches and sea shells fill many of our London
valleys, whales by thousands are stranded, as in the
Farnham valley, where is now dry land. Gradually
the sunken land begins to rise again, and falls perhaps
again, and rises again after that, more and more
gently each time, till, as it were, the panting earth,
worn out with the fierce passions of her fiery youth,
has sobbed herself to sleep once more. And this
new world of man is made, and among it — I know
not when — was deposited our little gravel-pit, from
which we started on our journey through three
worlds. Enough for us that He knows when— in
whose hands are the times and the seasons, God the
father of the spirits of all flesh."

Dr. Carpenter, in his excellent and instructive
work on zoology, remarks: "There is abundant
evidence, derived from the fossil remains which
occur in the newer tertiary strata, (those that lie
above the chalk,) in gravel beds and in caves, that
the IsbYger feline and hycenine animals were formerly
distributed much more extensively : that lions and
tigers of greater bulk than any at present existing,

389

e G-erman
stern Alps
iir present
efore. Sea
ir London
I, as in the
Gradually
,11s perhaps
and more
iting earth,
iery youth,

And this
it— I know
el-pit, from
ough three

when— in
IS, God the

instructive
abundant
ains which
ose that lie
caves, that
•e formerly
at lions and
it existing,

formerly roamed over the plains, and inhabited the
jungles of Europe, and even of our own country
(England) ; and that gigantic hyaenas and enormous
hears dwelt in the caves, which occur so frequently
in our limestone rocks, dragging thither the carcases
of the animals they had slaughtered, and prowling
about by night, with glaring eyes and savage howls,
in search of prey. In a fissure recently laid open
on Durdham Downs, near Bristol, arc found, besides
numerous other remains, teeth of hygenas, as much
surpassing in size those of the largest tiger now
existing, as these last exceed those of the largest
hyaena. In many of the caves are now found vast
heaps of bones of the animals thus destroyed, which
must have accumulated during many years, toge-
ther with the bones of the rapacious beasts which
had their dwelling there ; and it is a remarkable
proof that these caves really were the dens of hyae-
nas, and that the collection of bones found in them
were not merely washed into their entrances by
some great convulsion, which swept these races
from this part of our globe, but that many of the bones
of the oxen, antelopes, deer, &c., which accompany
them, bear the distinct marks of hyaenas' teeth ; and
that the fossilised excrements of these last animals
(which, like those of other carnivora, are nearly
white, consisting of little else than bone earth) have
been clearly recognised. The existence of these

gigantic carnivora in what are now the temperate
3c

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390

i;egions of the globe, seems clearly to indicate that
the climate of these parts must have been formerly
much warmer than at present. It is further inter-
esting to remark that, as at the present time, we
only find the larger carnivora existing in countries
inhaljited by large species of herbivorous quadru-
peds, on which they may prey as in former epochs ;
we never find the one set of races present without
the other — the herbivorous to supply the carnivora
witjh food — the carnivora to restrain the otherwise
excessive multiplication of the herbivora, and to
remove their decomposing remains from the surface
of the earth." Again, "Fossil remains of marsu-
pials (kangaroo and opossum race) have been found
in the bone caves of Australia, in which country
thjeir remains might be fairly anticipated. But there
is evidence that this order was formerly diffused
more widely over the globe than it is at present ;
for remains of animals which unquestionably belong-
ed to it, have been found in Europe, and even in
Epgland. Bones of an opossum were found by Cu-
vier in the gypsum-beds ofMontmartre, near Paris;
and portions of the lower iaws of two opossum-like
aiiimals have been discovered in the oolite of Stone-
field, in Oxfordshire. These last remains have
given rise to much discussion ; some eminent ana-
tomists having maintained that they are not the
remains of mammals at all, but of animals of the
reptile class. But the question may now be consid-

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391

ered as finally settled ; since the examination of the
microscopic structure of the teeth has shewn that it
corresponds exactly with that of marsupials, and
differs entirely from that of any reptiles. It is ex-
tremely interesting to remark that these remains
occur in strata much lower (and therefore older)
than those in which any other remains of mammalia
are found ; whence it may be concluded that ovo-
viviparous snb-class was called into existence at an
earlier period in the history of the globe, than that
at which the true mammalia were created." Some
remains of gigantic pachyderms, that seem to have
been intermediate between the mastodon and the
dinotherium, have been recently brought from Aus-
tralia, in some parts of which they are said to
abound. " They tell us plainly," says Prof. Owen,
"that the time was when Australia's arid plains
were trodden by the hoofs of heavy pachyderma :
but could the land have been as now, parched by
long-continued droughts, with dry river courses,
containing here and there a pond of water? All the
facts and analogies which throw light on the habits
of the extinct mastodons and dinotheres, indicate
these creatures to have been frequenters of marshes
and swamps, or lakes. Other relations of land and
sea than now characterise the southern hemisphere
—a different condition of the surface of the land, and
of the meteoric influences governing the proportion
of fresh water on that surface, may therefore be

I

392

•..^..^^.. i

conjectured to have prevailed when huge masto-
donoid pachyderm constituted part of the quadru-
pedal population of Australia ; and a change f: om a
humid climate to the present particularly dry one,
may have betn the cause, or chief cause, of the ex-
tinction of the race."

Again, in contrasting the fossil with recent speci-
mens of crocodilia, Mr. Owen observes : " On re-
viewing the information which we have derived from
the study of the fossil remains of the pro-coelian
crocodilia, that have been discovered in the eocene
deposits of England, the great degree of climatal and
geographical change which this part of Europe must
have undergone since the period when every known
generic form of that group of reptiles flourished here,
must be forcibly inipressed on the mind. At the
present day the conditions of earth, air, water and
warmth, which are indispensable to the existence
and propagation of these most gigantic of living sau-
rians, occur only in the tropical or warmer tem-
perate latitudes of the globe. "What must have been
the extent and configuration of the eocene continent,
which was drained by rivers that deposited the
masses of clay and sand, accumulated in some parts
of the London and Hampshire basins to the height
of one thousand feet, and forming the grave-yard of
countless crocodiles and gavials ? Whither tended
that great stream, once the haunt of alligators and
the resort of tapir-like quadrupeds, the sandy bed

14^::

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393

of which is now exposed on the upheaved face of
Hordwell cliff? Had any of the human kind existed
and traversed the laud where now the base of Bri-
tain rises from tho ocean, he might have witnessed
the gavial cleaving the waters of its native river
with the velocity of an arrow, and ever and anon
rearing its long and slender snout above the waters,
and making its banks re-echo with the loud and
sharp snappings of its formidably armed jaws. Our
fossil evidences supply us with ample materials for
the most strange picture of animal life of G-reat Bri-
tain, and what adds to the singularity of the restored
'tableaux vivant,' the fact that it could not now he
presented in any part op the world. The same
forms of crocodilian reptile, it is true, still exist, but
the habitats of the gavial and the alligator are wide
asunder, thousands of miles of land and water inter-
vening : one is peculiar to the continental rivers of
tropical Asia, the other is restricted to the warmer
latitudes of north and south America : both forms
are excluded from Africa, in the rivers of which
continent true crocodiles alone are found. Not one
representative of the crocodilian order naturally
exists in any part of Europe ; yet every form of the
order once flourished in close proximity to each
other, in a territory which now forms part of Eng-
land."

Surely we have evidence here which cannot be
refuted, evidence which convinces us that the whole

ill

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394

universe — its whole as well as its particular parts,
are and have been the constant care and designed
appointment of an All- Wise, All-Powerful, ever
present Power. A little reflection on the important
events which have been revealed, must carry home
the conviction that, amid all the changes which the
world, in its inorganic elements, has passed through,
there has been a Mind ever directing and controling
those changes, and so arranging events, as to pro-
duce the most supernatural disp^iys of wisdom and
goodness. Rocked in the cradle of the deep, the
submerged land has heaved and tossed in its watery
bed, rntil at length, as if struggling to be free, its
mighty head has been reared beneath the waste of
waters ; now with sudden start, now with more
silent, but not uncertain effort. There is nothing to
warrant us in believing that the order observed in
the changes of the earth has been always uniform ;
indeed the nature of the evidence leads to a contrary
belief ; for when it is discovered that there is a law
which requires the adaptation of the creature to the
medium in which it is to live ; another determining
not only the life — or, rather, length of days—
of the being, as well of the genera, order, class or
family ; and yet another determining the re-arrange-
ment of the earth on which these beings live ; we
cannot, with Mr. Lyell, suppose that those several
changes have always been effected with uniformity,
and invariably accomplished through long periods of

395

time. But whatever mpy have been the rate of
change which pertained to the inorganic world, no
geologist or naturalist for a moment supposed that
the change observed in animal and vegetable forms,
was the result of a process of gradual developement
of one form into another : on the contrary, we have
adduced abundant evidence to prove, while in
each succeeding age the plan of creation became as
it were unfolded, its various parts so clearly shew-
ing the necessity for a yet further becoming, that
the anatomist reads in the mighty scheme a faultless
perfection and adaptation, which fills the mind with
wonder. Who can deny that stupendous might and
comprehensive intelligence must have been engaged
:\ fashioning those animate existences which we see
in turn to have peopled the earth in the respective
epochs through which it has passed, telling plainly
that at each period life was clothed upon with spe-
cial forms — was a distinct life period, which had its
own special appointment and its own length of days,
and we learn that whatever may have been the pe-
culiar changes of the earth, those changes were first
effected to fit it for the reception of new creations of
beings.

Greologists and naturalists confess that the close of
the tertiary and the dawn of the quarternary periods
are so blended, that it is difficult to fix the precise
line of demarcation between them ; but we believe
that much of the difficulty may be removed by re*

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calling to mind the fact thri, as there has always
L "ii. a bringing forward as it were of events and an
amplitication of plan, the progression from " the
general to the special," so at last it must come to
pass that the similarity observed between younger
epochal creations would be more apparent. As Sir
R. Murchison has pointed out, in the earlier history
of the earth we have a more general diffusion of
animal and vegetable life, as in the carboniferous ;
while, in the oolite, we find a more geographical
centralisation of species : thus, speaking of the dis-
tribution of animal life. Prof. Owen remarks : " It
would appear from comparisons, which the preseut
state of palaeontology permits to be instituted be-
tween the extinct mammalian fauna of other great
natural divisions of dry land, that these divisions
severally possessed a series of mammalia as distinct
and peculiar in each, during the pliocene period, as
at the present day.

"Additional facts and the means of extending our
comparisons, by the collection of fossils of distant
lands, are most dosirable, in order to precisely de-
line the laws of the geographical distribution of
mammalia of the older and newer pliocene periods ;
and to sj)r,ik of the sum of the present observations,
under the term ' law,' may, perhaps, be deemed
premature. But the generalisation first enunciated
in my report to the British Association, in 1844,
seemed to be sufficiently extensive and uuexcep-

397

tionable, to render them of importance in a scientific
consideration of the present distribution of the high-
est organised and last created class of animals ; and
to shew that, with extinct as with existing mamma-
lia, particular forms were assigned to particular
provinces ; and, what is still more interesting and
suggestive, that the same forms were restricted to the
same provinces at the pliocene periods, as they are at
the present day. In carrying back the retrospective
comparison of recent and extinct mammals, to those
of the eocene and oolitic strata, in relation to their
local distribution, we obtain ifidications of extensive
change in the relative position of sea and land during
those epochs — in the degree of incongruity between
the generic forms of the mammalia which then ex-
isted in Europe, and any that actually exist on the
great natural continent of which Europe forms a
part. It ^ aid appear, indeed, ^rom our present
knowlc(lL''o, that the further we penetrate into time
for the re<jovery of extinct mammalia, the further
must we go into space for their existing analogues.
To match the eocene palreotheros c.nd lophiodons, we
must bring tapirs from Sumatra or South America ;
and we must travel to the antipodes for myrmeco-
bians and dasyures, the neares living analogues to
the amphitheres and phascolotheres of our oolitic
strata."
To form adeauate ideas, says Ao;assiz, of the

great physical changes which the earth has under-
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gone, and the frequency of these modifications of the
character of the earth's surface, and of their coinci-
dence with the changes observed among the organ-
ised beings, it is necessary to l tudy attentively the
works of Elie de Beaumont ; he, lor the first time,
attempted to determine the relative ages of the dif-
ferent systems of mountains, and shewed first, also,
that the physical disturbance, occasioned by their
upheaval, coincided with the disappearance of entire
fauna, and the re-appearance of new ones. While
the genesis and genealogy of our mountain system
was thus illustrated, palajontologists extending their
comparisons between the different formations to all
the successive beds of each great era, have observed
more and more marked differences between them,
and satisfied themselves that fauna have been more
frequently renovated than was formerly supposed ;
so that the general results of geology proper, and of
palaeontology, concur in the main to prove that,
while the globe has been, at repeated intervals, and,
indeed, frequently, though after immensely long
periods, altered and altered again, until it has as-
sumed its present condition ; so have also animals
and plants, living upon its surface, been again and
again extinguished and replaced by others, until
those now living were called into existence, with
man at their head. The investigation is not in every
case suLueiently complete to sheiu every where a coin-
cidence between this renovation of animals and

399

plants, and the great physical revolutions which
have altered the general aspect of the globe ; but it
is already extensive enough to exhibit a frequent
synchronism and correlation, and to warrant the
expectation that it will in the end lead to a complete
demonstration of their mutual dependence, not as
cause and effect, but as steps in the same progresL'ive
developement of a plan which embraces the physical
as well as the organic world. In order not to mis-
apprehend the facts, and perhaps to fall back upon
the idea that these changes may be the cause ob-
served between the fossils of different periods, it
must be well understood that, while organised beings
exhibit through all geological formations a regular
order of succession, this succession has been from
time to time violently interrupted by physical dis-
turbances, without any of these altering in any way
the progressive character of that succession of or-
ganised beings. Truly this shews that the import-
ant, ^he leading features of this whole drama, is the
developement of life ; and that the material world
affords only the elements for its realisation. The
simultaneous disappearance of entire fauna, and the
following simultaneous appearance of other fauna,
shew further that, as all these fauna consist of the
greatest variety of types, in all formations, combined
every where into natural associations of animals and
plants, between which there have been definite
relations at all times ; their origin can at no time be

400

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owmg to the limited influence of monotonous physi-
cal causes, ever acting in the same way. Here,
again, the intervention of a Creator is displayed, in
the most striking manner, in every stage of the Lij-
tory of the world : the sudden introduction of life
forms cfl'ected, and adaptation between these and
the inorganic world preserved. Years may, in some
cases, have been expended in the preparation of the
earth for living creatures, while the introduction of
the creatures has been sudden, and in accordance
with the condition of earth.

From testimony, such as the naturalist and geolo-
gist has offered, and which we have now had before
us, how can any one doubt that the respective crea-
tions, which have been introduced on the earth, are
each in themselves distinct, and have been severally
fashioned in completion of a stupendous plan. How
it is that some men, who have pondered on the
harmonious operations of the Creator's will, fail to
discover that, at some times, during the prepara-
tion of the inorganic earth, there have been in-
tervals of rest from organic creation, (as pointed
out by Owen.) and as shewn from the very neces-
sities of the cai^e, we are at a loss to explain : but
it would appear that at times they wrote as if
fully persuaded of the doctrine of Le Marc. Yet
it is now very well known that such doctrine has
no foundation whatever, in nature or in fact. In-
deed, what more natural than that the close of one

401

and geolo-
had bfefore
ictive crea-
earth, are
n severally
Ian. How
ed on the
vill, fail to
e prepara-
been in-
as pointed
ery neces-
plain : but
rrote as if
larc. Yet
octrine lias
fact. In-
lose of one

epoch should blend its imbedded remains with those
of the next overlying occupants of a succeeding age ?
The difficulties which have been thrown around the
question can no longer embarrass the student, since
it has been ably shewn by some of the most astute
geologists, that the law of rigid uniformity, attempted
to be established by Mr. Lyell, has utterly failed,
We claim, then, the D'^rfect right to declare that
there is the best evidence furnished by geology, to
prove that this earth has been renovated at different
times, and that the last renovation — constituting the
human or quarternary period — was a distinct and
special creation, prophesied and typified by the ani-
aal and vegetable beings which, in preceding epochs,
had replenished the world.

We will, brielly as may be, furnish the evidence
of prophetic annunciation through animal types :
here, again, we have to s'^ek for the facts from
Owen, Agassiz, Miller and Knox.

" Several authors," says Agassiz, "have already
alluded to the resemblance which exists between the
young of some of the animals now living, and the
fossil representatives of the same families in earlier
periods. But these comparisons have thus far been
traced only in isolated cases, and huve not yet led
to a conviction, that the character of the succession
of organised beings in past ages, is such in general as
to shew a remarkable agreement with the embryonic
growth of animals ; though the state of our know-

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402

ledge in embryology and palaeontology justifies now
such a conclusion." In examining the agreement
between this succession, and the phases of the em-
bryonic growth of living animals, we may therefore
take for granted, that the order of succession of their
fossil representatives is sufficiently present to the
mind, to afford a satisfactory basis of comparison.
No class affords, as yet, a more complete and more
beautiful evidence of the correspondence of their
embryonic changes, with the successive appearance
of their representatives in past ages, than the echin-
oderms. Prior to the publications of J. Muller, the
metamorphosis of the European comatula alon^ was
known. This had already shewn that the early
stages of growth of the echinoderm exemplify the
pedunculated crinoids of past ages. I have myself
seen further, that the successive stages of the em-
bryonic growth of comatula, typify, as it were, the
principal forms of crinoids which characterise the
successive geological formations ; first it recalls the
cistoidsofthe palseozoic rocks, which are represented
in its simple spheroidal head : next, the few-plated
platycrinoids of the carboniferous period ; next, the
pentacrinoids, of the lias and oolite, with their hosts
of cirrtic, and, finally, when freed from its stem, it
stands as the highest crinoid, as the prominent type
of the family in the present period. The investiga-
tions of Muller upon the larva of all the families of
asteroids and echinoids, enable us to extend these

nece;

the

such

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403

comparisons to the higher echinoderms. The first
point which strikes the observer in the facts ascer-
tained by MuUer, is the extraordinary similarity of
so many larva, of such different orders and different
families — as the aphinroids and asteroids, the echi-
noids proper and the spatangoids, and even the
nulothuroids — all of which end, of course, in repro-
ducing their typical peculiarities. It is next very
remarkable, that the more advanced larval state of
echinoids and spatangoids, should continue to shew
such great similarity, that a young amphidetus
hardly differs from a young echinus. Finally, not
to extend these remarks too far, we may add, that
these young echinoids (spatangus as well as echinus
proper) have rather a general resemblance to cida-
ris, on account of their large spines, than to echinus
proper. These facts agree exactly with what is
known of the successive appearance of echinoids in
past ages ; their earliest representatives belong to
the genera diadema and cidaris ; next come true
echinoids, later only spatangoids. When the em-
bryology of clypeastroids is known, it will no doubt
afford other links to connect a large number of the
members of this series.

The class of Crustacea is very instructive ; but to
trace our comparisons through the whole series, it is
necessary that we should consider simultaneously
the embryonic growth of the higher entromastraca,
such as limulus, and that of the highest order of the

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404

class ; when it will appear that, as the former recall
in early life le form and character of the trilobites,
so does the young crab, passing through the form of
the isopods, and that of the macrouran decapods,
before it assumes its typical form as brachyouran,
retail the well known succession of Crustacea,
through the geologic middle ag^es and the tertiary
period, to the present day. The early appearance
of scorpions, in the carboniferous period, is proba-
bly also a fact to the point, if, as I have already
attetripted to shew, arachnidians may be considered
as exemplifying the crysalis stage of the develope-
ment of insects ; but for good reasons it is hardly
possible to take insects into consideration. In the
fossil fishes, the embryonic character of the oldest
fishes has been pointed out. The only fact of im-
portance learned of late is, that the young lepidos-
teous, long after it has been hatched, exhibits in the
form of its tail, characters thus far only known
among the fossil fishes of the Devonian system. It
is to be hoped that the embryology of the crocodile
will throw some light upon the succession of the
gigantic reptiles of the middle geological ages, as I
shall shew that the embryology of turtles throws
light upon the fossil chelonians. It is already plain
that the embryonic changes of batrachians coincide
with what is known of their succession in past ages.
The fossil birds were too little known, and the fossil
mammalia do not extend through a sufficiently long

405

series ofgfjological formations, to afford many strong
points of comparison ; yet the characteristic peculi-
arities of their extinct genera exhibit every where
indications, that their living representatives in early
life resemble them more than they do their own
parents. A minute comparison of a young elephant
with any mastodon, will shew this most fully, not
only in the peculiarities of the teeth, but even in the
proportion of their limbs, their toes, &c.

It may therefore be considered as a gener il fact,
very likely to be more fully illustrated as investiga-
tions cover a wider ground, that the phases of deve-
lopement of all living animals correspond to the
order of succession of their extinct representatives
in past geological times. As far as this goes, the
oldest representatives of every class may then be
considered as embryonic types of their respective
orders or families among the living. Pedunculated
crinoids are embryonic types of the comatuloids ;
the oldest echinoids, embryonic representatives of
the higher living families ; trilobites, embryonic
types of entromastraca ; the oolitic decapods, em-
bryonic types of our crab ; the heterocercal ganoids,
embryonic types of the lepidosteous ; the andreas
scheuchzeri, an embryonic prototype of our batra-
chians ; the zeuglodonts, embryonic sirenidae ; the
mastodonts, embryonic elephants, &c.

To appreciate fully and correctly all these rela-
tions, it is further necessary to make a distinction
3 E

406

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i...^i I

between embryonic types in general, which repre-
sent in their whole organisation early stages of
growth of higher representatives of the same type,
and embryonic features prevailing more or less ex-
tensively in the characters of allied genera, as in the
case of the mastodon and the elephant, and what
may be called hyp-embryonic types, in which em-
bryonic features are developed to extremes in the
further periods of growth, as, for instance, the wings
of the bats, wliich exhibit the embryonic character
of a webbed hand, as all mammalia have it at first,
bijit here grown out and developed into an org^n of
flight ; or assuming, in other families, the shape of a
fin, as in a whale, or in the sea- turtle, in which the
close connexion of the fingers is carved out to the
extreme. The leading thought which runs through
the succession of all organised beings in past ages,
is manifested again in the phases of the developement
of the living representatives of these different types.
It exhibits every where the working of the same
Creative Mind, through all times, and upon the
w;hole surface of the globe. He who said "gather
up the fragments that nothing be lost," merely acted
out a law which had been laid down by himself in
the beginning, and which is yet in operation for the
instruction of his people. An organic combination
having been once perfected, is not lost, but again
and again employed in the great plan of the life-
world.

407

CHAPTER II.

' Tlit

We have seen how the embryonic conditions of
higher representatives of certain types, called into
existence at a later time, are typified, as it were, in
representatives of the same types which have existed
at an earlier period. These relations, now that they
are satisfactorily known, may also be considered as
exemplifying, as it were, in the diversity of animals
of an earlier period, the pattern upon which the
phases of developement of other animals of a latei
period were to he established. They appear now like
a prophecy in those earlier times, of an order of
things not possible with the earlier combinations
then prevailing in the animal kingdom, but exhibit-
ing in a later period, in a striking manner, the ante-
cedent considerations of every step in the gradations
of animals. Recent investigations in palaeontology,
have led to the discovery of relations between ani-
mals of past ages and those now living, which were not
even suspected by the founders of that science. It has,
for instance, been noticed that certain types which are
frequently prominent amongst the representatives of
past ages, combine in their structure peculiarities
which, at later periods, are only observed separately in
different distinct types — sauroid fishes before reptiles,
pterodactyles before birds, ichthyosauri before dol-
phins, &c. There are entire families, among the repre-

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408

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sentatives of older periods, of nearly every class of ani-
mals, which, in the state of their perfect developement,
exemplify such prophetic relations, and afford within

' n.ii J-' ';

THOMESON

* ICHTHYOSAURUS.

the limits of the animal kingdom, at least, the most
unexpected evidence that the plan of the whole
creation had been maturely considered long before it
was executed. Such types we have been in the
habit of calling jyrophetic types. The sauroid fishes
of the past geological ages are an example of this
kind. These fishes, which have preceded the ap-
pearance of reptiles, present a combination of ich-
thyic and reptilian characters, not to be found in the
true members of this class which form its bulk at
present. Dr. Buckland's truthful description of ich-
thyosaurus will at once explain the importance and
depth of the law which we are considering. "Near-

* (X'Sva, a fish ; cavpos, a lizard. — Approximating more nearly to the fish

than the lizard.

409

ly/' he says, " at the head of discoveries relating to
the family of saurians, we may rank the remains of
many extraordinary species, which inhabited the
sea, and which present almost incredible combina-
tions of foTm and structure, adapting them for modes
of life that do not occur among living reptiles. These
remains are most abundant throughout the lias and
oolite formations of the secondary series. In these
deposits we find not only animals allied to crocodiles,
and nearly approaching to the gavial of the Ganges,
but also still more numerous gigantic lizards, that
inhabited the then existing seas and estuaries.

Some of the most remarkable of these reptiles
have been arranged under the order ichthyosaurus
—fish-lizard — in consequence of the partial resem-

* TELEOSAURUS.

blance of their vertebrae to those of fishes. If we
examine these creatures with a view to their capa-
bilities of locomotion, and the means of offence and
defence, which their extraordinary structure afforded
to them, we shall find combinations of form and me-
chanical contrivances which are now dispersed through

* TtAcoj, full grown ; iravpos, lizard. — Approximating more nearly to the

lizard than the iish.

410

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various classes and orders of existing animals, but
are no longer united in the same genus. Thus, in the
same individual, the snout of a porpoise is combined
with the teeth of a crocodile — the head of a lizard
with the vertebrsB of a fish, and the sternum of an
ornithorincus with the paddles of a whale. The gen-
eral outline of an ichthyosaurus must have more
nearly resembled the modern porpoise and grampus.
It had four broad paddles or feet, and terminated
behind in a long and powerful tail. Some of the
largest must have exceeded thirty feet in length.

Tbleosaurus. — In the oolite of England and the
continent, the remains of a genus of extinct rep-iles,
having, like the recent gavial, long slender muzzles,
have been discovered in several localities. These
fossils consist of the osseous scutes of an imbricated
dermal cuirass ; of the cranium and jaws, with the
teeth ; of the vertebral column, and many other
bones. The character of the dermal scutes, and of
the muzzle, with its terminal nasal apertures, are as
follows : the outer surfaces are marked with small
circular distinct pits ; these scutes are thicker and
more rectangular than goniopholis, found at Swan-
age, and they slightly overlapped each other later-
ally ; the nasal apertures terminate in two orifices,
(not blended into a single opening, as in the recent
species,) in front of the nose.

Plesiosaurus. — The animals of this genus pre-
sent, in their osteological structure, a remarkable

411

deviation Iftom all tnown recent and fossil reptiles ;
uniting the characters of the head of a lizard with
the teeth of a crocodile, to a neck of inordinate
length, with such modifications of the ribs, the pec-

XHOHPSON a ROBINSDN. 9C.

* PLESIOSAURUS.

toral and pelvic arches, and the paddles, as to justify
the graphic simile of Prof. Sedr; wick, that the plesi-
osaurus might be compared to a serpent threaded
through the shell of a turtle. The character which
most readily strikes the observer, is the extraordi-
nary length of the neck, and the relative smallness
of the head. The neck which, in most animals, is
formed but of five vertebrae, and in the swan does
not exceed twenty-four, is, in the plesiosaurus, com-

* it\i)(Tios, almost ; travpos, lizard.

,1.

I 11

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412

posed of from twenty to forty ; and, in some species,
is four times the length of the head, and equal to the
entire length of the body and tail ; while the length
of the head (in P. dolichodirus) is less than one-
thirteenth the entire skeleton. The skull resembles
that of the crocodile in its general form, but is rela-
tively smaller, and is more related to the lacertian
type. The parietal bone is more triquetral than in
crocodiles ; but the zygomatic bone is attached to its
lower end. The breathing apertures are situated
anterior to the orbits, on the highest part of the
head. The lower jaw has the usual structure of
saurians, but the dentary bone is greatly expanded
anteriorly, and united in front. The teeth are im-
planted in separate sockets, as in the crocodile, and
there are from thirty to forty on each side the jaws.
They are conical, slender, long, pointed, slightly
recurved, and longitudinally grooved from the base
upwards, having a long round fang. The pulp cavity
is long and single, surrounded by a body of fine
dentine, covered on the crown with a layer of ena-
mel, and at the base with cement. The dentition iu
the piesiosauri differs from that of the crocodiles, in
the successional teeth emerging through distinct
apertures on the inner side of the sockets of their
predecessors, and not through the pulp cavity. The
vertebra? are relatively longer than in ichthyosaurus,
and their articular faces are either flat, or slightly
excavated towards the periphery, with a gentle con-

413

V:

vexity in the centre. The caudal vertebrae have
two distinct hoemapophyses, not united into a chaev-
ron bone. The cervical ribs, or hatchet-bones, are
attached by two articular facets to the bodies of the
vertebrae, but with a very narrow space between
them ; scarcely large enough for the passage of the
sympathetic nerve, and apparently not suflQciently
for the vertebral artery. The pectoral arch is re-
markable for the pair of elongated and broad
coracoid bones ; indeed, these bones attain their
maximum developement in plesiosaurus. The ribs,
which are very numerous, and extended throughout
a great portion of the vertebral column, are con-
nected anteriorly, in the abdominal region, by
several slender bones, c&,lled costal arcs, consisting
of six or seven pieces to each pair of ribs. The
ichthyosaurus has a similar structure, but the arcs
are composed of but five pieces. As these connect-
ing bones are so constructed as to admit of a certain
degree of gliding motion on each other, it is inferred
that by this mechanism considerable expansion of
the pulmonary cavities in these air-breathing marine
reptiles was attained. The paddles are composed
of fewer and more slender bones than in the ichthy-
osaurus, and must have been a more elegant form,
and possessed greater flexibility. The wrist consists
of a double row of round oscicles, which are succeed-
ed by five elongated metacarpal, and these by numer-
ous slender and slightly curved phalangeal bones.
3p

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414

■^ ■■:-.\

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.1.' ■

THOMPSONS ROBINSON.

* MEGALOSAURUS.

Megalosaurus. — The most important relic of this
great carnivorus terrestrial lizard is a portion of the
right armur of the lower jaw, containing one perfect
tooth and the germs of several teeth. The tooth of
megalosaurus has a conical, laterally compressed
crown, with the point recurved, like a sabre, and the
edges trenchant and finely serrated. The implanta-
tion of the teeth i? very peculiar, and exhibits the
dentition of crocodilians blended with that of the
lacertians. The form of the jaw shows that the
head was terminated by a straight narrow snout,
compressed laterally like that of the delphinus gan-
geticus.j- The form of the teeth exhibits a combi-
nation of mechanical contrivances remarkablo and
there is provision for a constant succession oi new
teeth to supply the loss of the old ones. For this

"• Meyas, great ; aavpos, lizard.

f NOTK. — We would direct attention to this history, as affording an illus-
tration of mechanical oonirivance for the good of tho creature, and as also
iiiuBtrative of the resouixes of the Great Designer, who, as iu tula case,
iavariably foreknows the wants of His creatures and provides for them.

415

)■■

purpose the new teeth are formed in distinct cavities
by the side of the old ones, and towards the interior
surface of the jaw ; so that each as it grew gradually
pushed away the one previously existing there, ex-
pelling it by the usual process of absorption, and
insinuating itself into the cavity thus left vacant.
When young and first protruding above the gum,
the apex of the tooth presented a double cutting
edge of cerrated enamel ; but as it advanced in
growth, its direction was turned backwards in the
form of a pruning-knife, and the. enamelled sawing
edge was continued downwards to the base of the
inner and cutting side, but became thicker on the
other side, obtaining additional strength when it was
no longer needed as a cutting instrument. The
vertebrae indicate a more decided departure from
the lacertian type than the mode of dentition ; but
by far the most remarkable difference occurs in the
group of five of these bones, which, anchylosed toge-
ther, form the sacrum, which are so characteristic of
the land saurians. Up to the time that these bones
were discovered, there had been no instance re-
corded of any reptilian animal possessing more
than two saceral vertebrae ; and when first the
megalosaurian remains were described by Dr. Buck-
land, three of the five were referred to by him as
belonging rather to the lumbar or caudal series.
The whole five, however, properly belong to the
sacrum, and they were so contrived as to give an

I I

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416

amount of strength and resisting power that must
have corresponded to enormous muscular energy
and weight ; and, as if to give them every possible
advantage of position, they are not anchylosed in a
straight line, but in a gentle curve, forming an arch,
and therefore better able to support the weight
pressing upon them. A]l the bones of the extre-
mities are exceedingly large compared with the
same parts in existing saurians ; the cylindrical ones
are hollow, like those of land animals. The thigh-
bone and the tibia each measure nearly three feet
in length ; and thus the contour of the hinder part
of the body, raised high abo"\ e the ground, must
have been totally unlike that of any existing croco-
dilian ; and the large share in the support of the
trunk assigned to the hinder legs of the megalosau-
rus, probably made it necessary in that genus, as
in the heavy land quadrupeds, that a greater pro-
portion of the spine should be permanently and
solidly fastened together, in order to transfer the
weight through the bones of the pelvis to the legs.
Megatherium. — Prof. Owen describes gigantic
mammiferous quadrupeds of the following genera of a
family extinct, and allied to the sloths : — Megalouyx
— MeyoKVf great ; ow^, a claw. Scelidotherium—
E^eXt?, femur ; Ovpi'Ov, beast. Mylodon — M1/X17, mola;
oBov^, tooth. Glossotherium — rxwrra, tongue ; ^vp^ov,
beast. Megatherium — Meya. great ; Orjpiov. beast.
They are fully described in "Darwin's Zoology of

l\

417

the Beagle ;" one will suffice to shew the gigantic

proportions of these
extinct creatures, as
compared with their
representatives of this
age. Megatherium was
a greatbeast, its size ex- ^
ceeding that of exist-
ing edentata, to which
it is most nearly allied,
in a greater degree
than any other fossil
animal exceeds its liv-
ing congeners. "With
respect," says Mr. Owen, "to the question of the
respective affinities of the megatherium to the brady-
podoid or dasypodoid families, the result of the exa-
mination of the teeth speaks strongly for its closer
relationship with the former group. The megalonyx,
mylodon, and scelidotherium, in like manner cor-
respond, in the structure of their teeth, with the
sloth."

If, from a similarity of dental structure, we may
predicate a similarity of food, it may reasonably be
conjectured that the leaves and soft succulent sprouts
of trees may have been the stri^jle diet of the m^'ra-
theroid quadrupeds, as of the existing sloths, ^heir
enormous claws, I conclude, from the character of
the powerful mechanism by which they were worked,

MEGATHERIUM.

.«■ J J

life:

rm

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418

to have been employed, not as in the sloths, to carry
the animal to the food, but to bring the food within
reach of the animal, by uprooting the trees on whic'i
it grew. In the remains of the megatherium, we
have evidence of the frame v/or!i of aif. animal equal
to the task of undermining and haul'ng (\uv7n the
largest members of a tropical forest. In the latter
operation it is olv; ions ihdt the immediate applica-
tion of the anterior extremities to the tvim\ of the
tree, would demand a corresponding fulcrum, to be
erTectual, and it is the uecessity for iir. adequate basis
of support and resistance, to such an application of
lUe fore extremities, which gives the explanation to
the anomalous developemcnt of the pelvis, tail, and
hinder extremities in the megatheroid quadrupeds.
No wonder, therefore, that the type of structure is
so peculiar ; for where shall we find quadrupeds
equal, like (.hem, to the habitual task of uprooting
trees? We have, in bradypus tridactylus, a dwarfed
representative of megatherium cuveri ; yet the natu-
ralist determines the relationship ; and in all these
there is the promise of the more perfect extension
of the plan of creation. In order to illustrate the
connexion, we give bradypus tridactylus— one of
the sloths of South America — the living representa-
tive of the megatherium. They are deserving espe-
cial attention, as well f ' \ the singularity of their
structure, and from the rr - ^sies which have prevailed
,yith regard to their ;; .s, as from the relationship,

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419

"m

in osteological details,
to the megatherium.

The sloths are ar-
ranged by naturalists
in a tribe termed tar-
digrada, from their
feeble power of pro-
gression on the surface
of the land ; for the
same reason they are
caWed paresseux by the
French, and shths by
the English. They are
of slender form and
small size : the largest
species is but little larger than a cat. They have long
toes, and nails which fold up, so as to enable the animal
to walk in the same way as if our fingers were folded
under the palm of the hands, but which are not capable
of being retracted into a sheath, as in the feline tribes.
The arms are double the length of the legs, and,
from the construction of the limbs, the animal, when
it walks, or rather crawls on the ground, is obliged
to drag itself along on its elbows. But these crea-
tures arc destined to inhabit trees ; their proper
element is on the branches, and they can pass from
bough to rough, and from tree to tree, with a rapi-
dity which soon e ^ables them to lor.c themselves in
the depths of the forests. They live on the leaves

BRADYPUS TRIDACTYLUS.

1

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420

and the young shoots, and, unless disturbed, never
quit a tree until they have stripped ofl every leaf.
To avoid the labour of a descent, they drop to the
ground, previously coiling themselves into a round
ball, in which state, while attached to the branch,
they may be taken alive. Thus the habits and
economy of the sloth point out the necessity for a
peculiarity in the structure of its claws. The
monkey leaps and swings himself from tree to tree,
and catches at will the branches or the trunk ; but
the sloths do not grasp ; their claws are mere hooks
to hang by, and their great strength is in their arms.
They never untix one set of hooks until they Lave
caught a secure hold with the other, thus hanging
by their arms and legs, while their bodies are pen-
dent ; and they sleep in the same position. The
bones of the arm are constructed to suit these con-
ditions. The humerus has a long internal condyle
for the origin of large muscles to move the enormous
claws ; and there is an opening for the passage of
the principal nerves and blood-vessels, to protect
them from the pressure to which they would be
exposed from the powerful muscular action ; and
the radius (one of the bones of the fore-arm) is con-
structed to allow of a free rotary motion to the limb.
In the extinct sloths a similar conformation is main-
tained, but somewhat modified to suit the different
physical conditions under which they existed.
The Pterodactylb. — Among the most remarka-

5d, never
rery leaf,
►p to the
a round
i branch,
ibits and
ssity for a
ws. The
36 to tree,
'unk ; but
lere hooks
their arms,
they Lave
IS hanging
iS are pen-
tion. The
these Gon-
ial condyle
e enormous
passage of
to protect
would he
.ction ; and
,rm) is con-
;o the limh.
^on is main-
.e different

Isted.

it remarka-

421

ble disclosures made by the researches of geology,
we may rank the flying reptiles under the genus
pterodactyle — finger-winged — a genus presenting
more singular combinations of form than we find in

PTERODACTYLE.

any other creatures yet discovered amid the ruins
of the ancient earth. This extraordinary liscord-
ance of opinion respecting a creature whose skbl.l as
was almost entire, arose from the presence of cha-
racters apparently belonging to each of the three
classes to which it was referred — bird, bat, flying
reptile. The form of its head and length of its neck
resembled that of birds, its wings approaching to the
proportion and form of those of bats, and thp body
and tail approximating to those of ordinary iiiamma-
Ha. These characters, connected with a small skull,
as is usual among reptiles, and a beak furnished
with no less than sixty pointed teeth, presented a
'^' )ination of apparent anomalies, which it was

^served for the genius of Cuvier to reconcile. In
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422

this animal we have an extinct genus of the order
saurians, in the class of reptiles, (a class that now
moves only on land or in the water,) adapted by a
pemlinrity of structure to fly in the air.

j.xi external form, these animals somewhat re-
semble our modern bats and vampires ; most of
them had the nose elongated, like the snout of a
crocodile, and armed with conical teeth. Their eyes
were of eaormous size, apparently enabling them to
fly by night. From their wings projected fingers,
terminated by long hooks, like the curved claw on
the thumb of the bat. These must have formed a
powerful paw, wherewith the animal was enabled to
climb or suspend itself from trees. It is probable,
also, that the pterodactyles had the power of swim-
ming, which is so common in r'>ptiles, and which is
now possessed by pteropus pselaphon, or ^ mpire
bat of the island of Bonin. With flocks of sucii-like
creatures flyinr, .n the air, and shoals of no lessu. v-
stroas ichthyosauri and plesiosauri swarming in the
oce^n, and L;igantic crocodiles and tortoises crawling
on the shorv s of the primeval lakes and rivers — air,
P?a, and land must have been strangely tenanted in
these early periods of our infant world. As the
most obvic:^r feature of these fossil reptiles is the
preset of the organs of flight, it is natural to look
for the pecu larities of the bird or bat in the struc-
ture of the component bones. All attempts, how-
ever, to identify them with birds, arc stopped at

423

once, by the fart o. their having teeth in the beak,
resembling those of reptiles. The form of a single
bone — the os quadratum — enabled Cuvier to pro-
nounce at once that the creature was a lizard ; but
a lizard possessing wings exists not in the present
creation, while a moment's comparison of the head
and teeth with those of bats, shews that the fossil
animal in question cannot be referred to that family
of flying mammalia. Another race of creatures,
possessing a compound character, and now extinct,
and represented by separate animals, has been
ably described by Prof. Owen ; and Hugh Miller,
in speaking of the palaeotheres, remarks, "the
eocene ages were peculiarly the ages of the palae-
otheres, strange animals of that pachydermatous
or thick-skinned order to which the elephants, the
tapirs, the hogs and the horses belong. It had been

* ANOPLOTHERIUM COMMUNE.

. I -

* avoTr\os, unarmed ; erjpiov, beast.

'•*

■I *

It

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424

remarked by naturalists, thai tievc are fewer fami-
lies of this order in living nature than almost any
other ; and that, of the existing genera, not a few
are widely separated in their analogies from the
others. But in the palaeotheres of the eocene, which
ranged in size from a horse to a hare, not a few of
the missing links have been found — links connecting
the tapirs to the hogs, and the hogs to the palaeotheres
proper ; and there is at least one species suggestive
of an union of some of the more peculiar traits of
the tapirs and the horses. And Prof. Owen de-
scribes anoploth-
erium commune
as being one of
the earliest forms
of hoofed quadru-
peds introduced
upon the surface
of the earth ; and
it is most import-
ant, in reference
ANOPLOTHERiUM GRACiLE. to the Origin of

organised species, to bear in mind that this an-
cient herbivore presents in comparison with living
species, no indications of an inferior or rudimen-
tary character in any known part of its organ-
isation ; and that, with regard to its dentition, it
not only possessed incisors and canines in both

425

jaws, but that those teeth were so equably aev :looed,
that they formed one unbroken series with the \>vii-
molars and true molars, which character is now
manifested only in the human species. Amongst
the varied forms of existing herbivora, we tind cer-
tain teeth disproportionally developed, sometimes to
a monstrous size ; whilst other teeth are reduced to
rudimental minuteness, or are wanting altogether ;
but the number of teeth in any hoofed quadruped
never exceeds that displaced in the dental formula
of anoplotherium. It is likewise most interesting to
tiud, that those species with a comparatively defec-
tive dentition, as the horned ruminants for example,
manifest transitorily, in the embryo state, the germs
of upper incisors and canines, which disappear be-
fore birth, but which were retained and functionally
developed in the cloven- footed anoplothere. The
dental system of this extinct quadruped realised, in
short, that ideally perfect type upon which so m?
kinds and degrees of variation have been supei .
duced in the dentition of later and still-existing t, -
des of hoofed mammalia.

The dinotherium, one of the greatest quadrupedal
animals that ever lived, seems to have formed a
connecting link, in the middle or miocenc tertiary,
between the pachydermata and cetaceas. In 1836,
an entire head of this animal was discovered at Ep-
pleshem, measuring about four feet in length, and
three in breadth. Prof. Kaup states that the very

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426

remarkable form and disposition of the hinder part
of the skull, shew it to have been connected with
muscles of extraordinary power, to give that kind of
movement to the head which would admit of the
peculiar action of the tusks in digging into and tear-
ing up the earth. They further observe that Dr.
Buckland's conjectures were true respecting the
aquatic habits of t^»is animal, by approximations in
the form of the occepital bone to the occeput of ceta-
cean ; the dinotherium, in this structure, affording a
new and important link between the cetacea) and
pachydermata. Each camus of the lower jaw, wlieh,
in the larger specimens, are fully four feet in length,
bore at the symphysis a great bent tusk turned

DINOTHERIUM.

downwards, which appears to have been employed
as a pick-axe, in uprooting the aquatic plan+s and
liliaceous roots on which the creature seems to have
lived. The head, which measured about three feet
across, was provided with muscles of enormous
strength, arranged so as to give potent effect to the
operations of this strange tool. The hinder pari of

I

427

the skull not a little resembled that of the cetaceae,
while, from the form of the nasal bones, the creature
was evidently furnished with a trunk like the ele-
phant.

Thus, another combination is observed among
animals, when a series exhibits such a succession as
exemplifies a natural gradation, without immediate
or necessary reference to either embryonic deve-
lopement or succession in time, as the chambered
cephalopods. Such types may be called progressive
types.

THOMPSON » ROBINODN.

* IGUANODON.

Iguanodon. — The remains of this creature, so
carefully collected and treasured by Dr. Mantell,
are now preserved in the British museum.

In instituting a comparison between the maxillary
organs of the iguanodon and those of the existing
berbivorous lizards, we are at once struck with their

* Iguana, a saurian reptile ; acd eSoiis, a tooth.

I
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428

remarkable deviation from known types of the class
reptilia. In the amblyrhynchi, the most exclusively
vegetable feeders of the saurian order, the alveolar
process, beset with teeth, is continued round the
front of the mouth ; the junction of the two rami of
the lower jaw, at the symphysis, presenting no eden-
tulous interval whatever, and the lips not being more
produced than in other reptiles ; for these creatures
chip off and bruise their food, and cannot grind or
masticate it: in the ignuanas the same character
exists. In the carnivorous saurians, the teeth are
also continued to symphysal suture, on each side.
The extinct colossal lizards offer no exception t6 this
rule : in the acrodont* mosasaurus of the chalk, in
the thecodont megalosaurus of the oolite and wealden,
the jaws are armed with teeth round the anterior
extremity. In short, the edentulous, expanded,
scoop-shaped, procumbent symphysis of the lower
jaw of the iguanodon, has no parallel among either
.existing or extinct reptiles ; and we seek in vain
for analogous organs, except among the herbivorous
mammalia. The nearest approach is to be found in
some edentata,t as the two- toed sloth, in which the
lower part of anterior jaw is edentulous and much
prolonged. The mechanism of the maxillary organs

* Acrodont. — Those lizards -witli the teeth fixed to upper Bsargin or
ridge of jaw-bone. Pleurodonts. — Those in vrhioh the teeth are anchylosed
to side of dentarj bone. Thecodonts. — Having the teeth implanted either
loosely, or anchylosed to walls of sockets. Lacertians. — They are said to
be pleodont, solid toothed ; or ooelodont, hollow toothed.

f Edentata : ex, without ; dens, a tooth.

429

is in perfect harmony with the remarkable charac-
ters which rendered the first known teeth enigmati-
cal ', and in the Wealden herbivorous reptile we have
a solution of the problem, how the integrity of the
type of organisation; peculiar to the class of cold-
blooded vertebrata, was maintained, and yet adapted,
by simple modifications, to fulfil the conditions re-
quired by the economy of a gigantic terrestrial rep-
tile, destined to obtain support exclusively from
vegetable substances, in like manner as the extinct
colossal herbivorous edentata, which flourished in
South America, ages after the country of the iguan-
odon had been swept off the face of the earth. In
fine, we have in the iguanodon the type of the ter-
restrial herbivora, which, in the remote epoch termed •
"Age of Reptiles," occupied the same relative posi-
tion in the scale of being, and fulfilled the same
general purposes as the mastodons, mammoths, and
mylodons of the tertiary and existing pachyderms.
In the present state of our knowledr^c we mav,
however, safely infer, thai the body of the iguano-
don was equal in magnitude to that of the elephant,
and as massive in its proportions ; for, being a
vegetable feeder, a large developemeut of the ab-
dominal region may be inferred. Its limbs must
have been of a proportionate size to sustain so
enormous a bulk ; one of the thigh-bones, (in the
British Museum,) if covered with muscles and in-
teguments of suitable proportions, would form a

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430

limb seven feet in circumference. The hinder ex-
tremeties, in all probability, presented the unwieldy
contour of those of the hippopotamus or rhinoceros,
and were supported by very strong short feet, the
toes of which were armed with claws like those of
certain turtles. The fore-legs appear to have been
less bulky, and were furnished with hooked claws
resembling the ungual phalanges of the iguana.
The teeth demonstrate the nature of the food re-
quired for the support of this herbivorous reptile,
and the power of mastication it enjoyed ; and the
ferns, cycadeous plants, and coniferous trees with
which its remains are associated indicate the 'flora
adapted for its sustenance. But the physiognomy
4Df this creature, from the peculiar modification of
the skull and jaws required for the attachment and
support of the powerful muscles necessary for the
trituration of tough vegetablo substances, must have
differed considerably from that of all known saurians.
Again, a distinction ought to be made between
pi'ophetic types proper, and what may be called
synthetic types, though both arc more or less blended
in nature. Prophetic types proper are those which,
in their structural complications, lean towards other
combinations fully realised in a later period ; while
synthetic types are those which combine in a well-
balanced measure features o^ several types, occurring
as distinct, only at a later time. Sauroid fishes and
ichthyosauri are more distinctly synthetic than pro-

431

phetic types, while pterodactyles have more the
character of prophetic types ; so are also echinocri-
nus with reference to echini, pentremites with refer-
ence to asteroids, and pentacrinus with reference to
comatula.

These facts, from the unerring pages of the book
of nature, are conclusive as to the order and arrange-
ment which have been observed in the great plan of
progressive world developement ; to render tlie evi-
dence complete, we shall now shew that the conditions
of the earth have been repeatedly varied, and its cli-
mate and other physical qualities changed to meet
the peculiar introduction and limitation of life forms.
While it is undoubtedly true that the animal or vege-
table type cannot be transformed by any external
conditions, it is no less true that certain organised
beings are adapted to, and live best or only in cer-
tain geographical limits ; and it would appear that,
as the plan of creation became more and more un-
folded, the restriction of certain forms to certain
areas was manifestly established as a law ) and this
is even sometimes found to be so, although there
may be no apparent climatal causes discoverable,
adequate to account for the distribution of life in
each case. Let us see if these assertions cannot be
clearly established.

The arioplotherium already referred to furnishes
au instance of general diffusion, having extended
far into Asia, where its remains have been found

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432

associated with forms now peculiarly Aeiatic. Dr.
Falconer has described, in vol. iv., part ii., Geo.
Soc. Proceedings, some fossil remains of anoplo-
therium and giraffe from the Sewalik Hills, in the
north of India, on which he remarks : " That the
bones are found imbedded either in clay or in
sandstone. The bones described were found in the
former, and designated as ' soft fossil :' the giraffe
in * the hard fossil.' " The remarkable admixture
of extinct and recent forms which constitute the
ancient fauna has been noticed by Messrs. Falconer.
An extinct testudinate form, {colossochelys atlas,) a,8
enormous to other known chelonians as the satirians
of the lias oolite are to their existing analogue,
it there associated with one or more of the same
spcvoies of crocodile that now inhabit the rivers of
India. The evidence respecting one of the species
of crocodile, resting as it does on numerous remains
of individuals of all ages, is considered by the au-
thors as nearly conclusive of the identity of the
fossil with its recent analogue. These reptiles
occur together with extinct species of such very
modern types as the monkey, the camel, the ante-
lope, and (as has been shewn) the giraffe ; and these
are met by species of the extinct genera liratherium
and anoplotherium. As regards the anoplotherias,
those hitherto discovered have been confined to
Europe, and as regards their geological distribution,
to the older and middle tertiaries. In India this

433

genera continued down to the period when existing
Indian crocodiles, and probably some other recent
forms, had become inhabitants of that region. It is
also worthy of notice that the moschus aquaticus of
Ogilby has its metacarpals distinct along its whole
length : its fore-leg, from the carpus downwards, is
undistinguishable from that of the peccary ; and its
succentional toes are as much developed as in the
last mentioned animal, thus possessing the supposed
distinctive characters of the anoplotherium pachy-
derms. The deviation from the ordinary ruminant
type, indicated by the foot of this moschus, is borne
out by a series of modifications in the construction
of the head, and in the bones of the extremeties and
trunk, all tending in the direction of the pachyderms.
The finding of the giraffe as a fossil furnishes
another link to the rapidly increasing chain which
will sooner or later connect the extinct with existing
forms in a continuous series. The bovine, antelope,
and antlered ruminants have numerous representa-
tives, both recent and fossil. The camel tribe com-
prises a considerable fossil group, represented in
India by the camelus siraleusis, and is closely ap-
proached to in America by the extinct pachyderma-
tous maccrauchenia (pataghonica). The giraffe has
hitherto been confined to a single species, and has
occupied an isolated position in the order to which
it belongs. It is now as closely represented by its
fossil analogues as the camel.

i: s-;p-

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434

The giraffe shews a new light on the original
physical characters of northern India ; for whatever
may be urged in regard to the possible range of its
vegetable food, it is very clear that like the existing
species, it must have inhabited an open country, and
had broad plains to roam over. In a densely forest-
clad tract like that which now skirts the foot of the
Himalayas, it would soon have been exterminated
by the large feline ferae, by the hyaenas and large
predaceous bears which are known to have been
members of the old Sewalik fauna.

We desire, in analysing these several facts, to
shew that they do not warrant the assertion of Mr.
Miller, and those who abandon the Mosaic history
on evidence which they would consider insufficient
in any other case. In language which does infinite
honour both to their hearts and heads, Messrs. Owen
and Agassizhave clearly brought out that most glorious
law in natural history, which completely establishes
what the latter philosopher has rightly named — the
prophetic constitution of animals — a law which
plainly declares the object of creation, as well as the
unity of design. We clearly see that in '.ach suc-
ceeding epoch, as the great plan became more and
more pronounced, the animals and plants became
more and more closely related, as well as more
largely particularised. In a paper by Mr. A. R.
Wallace, in the Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. 20, No. 121,
A.D., 1858, we have a clear enunciation of this law,

1 i

435

as well as a fair illustration of the very equivocal
mode of writing adopted by those who, while pro-
fessing to hold the doctrine of epochal creations, at
the same time write as if they recognised either the
validity of 'iie theory of La Marc or some thing
which approaches it very closely. " We know,"
observes Mr. Adams, " that at a comparatively
recent geological period not one single species of the
present organic world was in existence, while all
the vertebrata now existing have had their origin
still more recently. How do we account for the
places where they came into existence ? "Why are
not the same* species found in the same climates all
over the world ? The general explanation given is,
that as the ancient species became extinct, new ones
were created in each country p^.d district, adapted
to the physical conditions of that district. " Sir C.
Lyell, who has written with more ability on this
subject than most naturaK- ts, adopts this vicAV. He
illustrates it by speculatmj on the vast i^hysical
changes that might be effected in No .'th America
by the upheaval of a chain of mountains in the
Sahara. " Then," he say?, " the animals and plants
of northern Africa would disappear, and the region
would gradually become fitted for the reception of a
population of species perfectly dissimilar in their
jorms, habits and organisation.'^ This theory implies
that we shall find a general similarity in the produc-
tion of countries which resemble each other in

Il

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436

character and general aspect, while therr ! hall be
a complete dissimilarity between those which are
totally opposed in these respects. And if this is
the general law which h& dritermined the distribu-
tion of the existing organic world, there must be no
exceptions, no striking contradictions. Now, we
know how totally the productions of New Guinea
differ from those of the western islands of the
eastern archipelago, say Borneo, as the type of the
rest, and as almost equal in area to New Gruinea.
This difference, it must be well remembered, is not
one of species, but of genera, families and whole
orders. Yet it would be difficult to point out two
countries more exactly resembling each other in
climate and physical features. In neither is there
any marked dry season, rain falling more or less all
the year round ; both are near the equator, both
subject to the east and west monsoons, both every-
where covered with lofty forests, both have a great
extent of flat swampy coast, and a mountainous
interior, both are rich in palms and pandanaceae.
If, on the other hand, we compare Australia with
New Guinea, we can scarcely find a stronger con-
trast than in their physical conditions : the one
near the equator, the other near and beyond the
tropics ; the one enjoying perpetual moisture, the
other with alternations of excessive drought ; the
one a vast verdant forest, the other dry open
woods, downs or deserts. Yet the fauna of the two,

437

though mostly distinct in species, are strikingly
similar in character. Every family of birds (except
menuridae) found in Australia, also inhabits New
Guinea, while all those strikinjy deficiencies of the
latter exist equally in the fornur. But a consider-
able proportion of the characteristic Australian gen-
era are also found iu > G-uiiiea ; and, when that
country is better knoAvn. to be supposed that

the namber will be iii in the mammalia it

is the same. Marsupiais Imost the only (Juad-

rupeds in the one as in the other. If kangaroos are
especially adapted to the dry plains and open woods
of Australia, there must be some other reason for
their introduction into the dense damp forests of
New Guinea ; and we can hardly imagine that the
great variety of monkeys, of squirrels, of insectivora,
and of felidae were created in Borneo, because the
country was adapted to them, and not one single
species given to. another country exactly similar,
and at no great distance. If there is any reason in
the hardness of the woods, or the scarcity of wood-
boring insects, why wood-peckers should be absent
from Australia, there is none why they should not
swarm in the forests of New Guinea, as well as in
those of Borneo and Malacca. We can hardly help
concluding, therefore, that some other law has gov-
erned the distribution of existing species, than the
physical condition of the countries in which they are

found ; or we should not see countries most opposite
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438

in character with similar productions, while others
almost exactly alike, as respects climate and general
aspect, yet differ totally in their forms of organic
life. The simple law of every new creation being
closely allied to some species already existing in the
same country, would explain all these anomalies, if
taken in conjunction with the changes of surface and
the gradual extinction and introduction of species,
which are facts proved by geology. At the period
when' New Guinea and North Australia were united,
it is probable that their physical features and climate
were more similar, and that a considerable portion
of the species inhabiting each portion of the coilntry
were found over the whole. After the separation
took place, we can easily understand how the climate
of both may be considerably modified, and this
might perhaps lead to the extinction of cei tain spe-
cies. During the period that has since elapsed, new
species have been gradually (?) introduced into each,
but in each closely allied to pre-existing species,
many of which were at first common to the two
countries. This process would evidently produce
the present condition ot the two faunas, in which
there are many allied species — few identical. The
great well-marked groups absent from the one,
would necessarily be so from the other also ; for
however much they may be adapted to the country,
the law of close affinity would not allow of their
appearance, except by a long succession of styps,

439

H;;

f.

occupy iiig an immense geological interval. The
species which, at the time of separation, were found
only in one country, would, by the gradual intro-
duction of species allied to them, give rise to groups
peculiar to that country. This separation of New
(ruinea from Australia no doubt took place whilst
Ara was part of the former island. Its separation
must have occurred at a very recent period, the
number of species common to the two shewing that
scarcely any extinctions have since taken place, and
probably as few introductions of new species. Both
Prof. Owen and Mr. H. Miller enunciate, with con-
siderable force, the existence of such a law as that
referred to by Mr. Wallace, although it will not be
difficult to shew that the former philosopher does
not iu the least lead us to suppose that "the gradual
introduction of species" is a necessary condition of
that law. In his observations on the Australian
fauna. Prof. Owen clearly proves, from the evidence
afforded by its fossil remains, that there was a close
affinity between its extinct fauna and its .present
indigenous races ; he says, " The close approxima-
tion of the phascolotherium to marsupial genera, now
confined to New South Wales and Yan Dieman's
Land, leads us to reflect upon the interesting cor-
respondence between other organic remains of the
British oolite, and other existing forms now confined
to the -Australian continent and adjoining seas.
Here, for example, swims the cestracion or Port

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440

Jackson shark, which has given the key to the
nature of the palates from our oolite, now recognised
as the teeth of the congeneric forms of cartilaginous
fish." Mr. Brodrip observes that a recent species
of trigonia (three-corners) has very lately been dis-
covered on the coast of Australia — that land of mar-
supial animals. Our English specimen lies imbedded
with a number of fossil shells of that genus. Not
only trigonia, but living terebratulse {terebraius,
pierced) exist, and the latter abundantly in the
Australian seas, yielding food to the cestracion, as
their extinct analogues doubtless did to the allied
cartilaginous fish called acrodi, psammodi, &c. Arau-
cariee (Norfolk Island pine) and cycadeous plants,
likewise flourish on the Australian continent, where
marsupial animals abound, and thus appear to com-
plete a, picture of an ancient condition of the earth's
surface, which has been superceded in our hemis-
phere by other strata and gher type of mamma-
lian organisation. " It has been," observes Hugh
Miller, . " repeatedly remarked that the existing
plants and trees of the United States, with not a few
of its fishes and reptiles, bear in their forms and
' construction the marks of a much higher antiquity
than those of Europe. The geologist who sets him-
self to discover similar types on the eastern side of
the Atlantic, would have to seek for them among the
deposits of the later tertiaries. North America
seems to be passing through its later tertiary ages,

441

Ml

^^'^

(?) and it appears to be a consequence of this curious
transposition, that while in Europe the mastodon ic
period is removed by two great geologic periods
from the present time, it is removed from it in Ame-
rica by only one. Even in America, however, that
period lies far beyond the reach of human tradition.
" It is a circumstance quite extraordinary and unex-
pected," says Agassiz, in his profound work on lake
Superior, " that the fossil plants of the tertiary beds
ofOeningen resemble more closely the trees and
shrabs which grow at present in the eastern parts of
North America, than those of any other parts of the
world ; thus allowing us to express correctly the
difference between the opposite coasts of Europe and
America, by saying that the present eastern Ameri-
can flora, and we may add the fauna also, have a
raoftf ancient character than those of Europe. The
plants and trees growing in our days in the United
States are, as it were, old-fashioned ; and the charac-
teristic genera lagomys, (lagomys pusillius, or calling
hare,) chelydea, (turtle family,) and large salaman-
ders with permanent gills, that remind us of the fos-
sils of Oeningen, are at least equally so : they bear
the marks of former ages." Again, as already stated,
Mr. Darwin, in his account of the fossil remains found
in the Pampas, South America, remarks : "The most
remarkable of the fossil bones discovered in the Pam-
pas belong to several extinct colossal animals of the
edentata, an order of which the armadillos, sloths,

#

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442

and ant-eaters are the living representatives. But
as the extinct forms dififer greatly from the existing
ones in their gigantic proportions — short massive
extremities and thick and short tail — their mode of
life must have been very dissimilar. ,.,.^ .,p .^,.,
We have here, then, evidence that while the
South American fauna was determined at this re-
mote period, as was the case with the localisation
of the previously more widely-diflTused marsupalia
in Australia, and as is the case with the fauna and
flora of North America, yet the animals are not the
progenitors of the present race. We shall now
enquire whether the mastodon (/Aa<rro9, a teat) oBov,
a tooth) does not likewise furnish proof of its having
had an extensive range, both in time and space,
not as a consecutive race, but as new genera intro-
duced at special times. Dr. Falconer has very
recently investigated the history of these fossils,
and, as the result of his remarks, declares : " That
it is most important to geology, that every mammal
found in the fossil state should be defined as regards,
first, its specific distinctness, and, secondly, ^>5 range
of existence geographically and in time, with as much
severe exactitude as the available materials and the
state of our knowledge will admit." He observes
that, " with regard to the remains of the probosci-
dian genera — dinotherium, mastodon, and elephant
— some of which abounded in the miocene (/Aewv,
less, x«*»'05' recent) and pliocene {irKetov, more,

443

'I'

Xffivo^, recent) deposits of Europe, Asia, and Ame-
rica, the opinions respecting the species and their
nomenclature in all the standard palaeontological
works on the subject, are extremely confused, and
often contradictory." Dr. Falconer proceeds to
state, that the remains of only one species of masto-
don have hitherto been discovered in the British
Isles. They occur in what is called the older plio-
cene red crag, at Felixstowe and Sutton in Suffolk,
and in the newer pliocene — fluvio-marine or mam-
maliferous crag — 'at various localities near Norwich
in Suffolk. He describes the characteristic peculi-
arities both of the molars (teeth) and of the symphy-
sis of the loafer jaws in the three species; and shews
that the molars from the crag mastodon were like
those of tstralophidon avernensis, characterised by
four-ridged molars, with their conical points more or
less alternating, and with their valleys blocked up ;
and that they essentially differed from the molars of
the trihphodon augustidens from Summore, Dax,
&c., and from tetralophodon longirostris of Eppleshem.
The mastodon avernensis of Montpellier, Auvergne,
Italy, &c., had no lower tusks ; and Dr. Falconer is
of opinion that the only specimen which has been
figured and described as one of the lower tusks of
the crag mastodon, is a terminal fragment of one of
the upper tusks of that species. From osteological
considerations, it appears that tetralopfwdon avernen-
k was of a low heavy make ; that tetralophodon

♦ I

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444

hngirostris was of similar general proportions ; and
that trilophedon augustidens was higher in its limbs,
and of a comparatively light and slender shape. In
his remarks on the geological age, and associated
faunas of the formations in which each of these spe-
cies severally occur, Dr. Falconer has noticed that
trilophcdon augustidens is a characteristic species of
the miocene falunian beds throughout Europe, and is
associated with trilophodon tapiroides in the faluris
(middle tertiary) of France, and the upper fresh-
water molasse of Switzerland. The tetralophodon
avernensis is characteristic of the pliocene fauna, and
it had a very extended range over Europe, accom-
panying loxodon (nesti) in Tuscany ; trilophodon,
borsoni, loxodon prisons, and elephas antiquusin
Piedmont and Lombardy ; loxodon meridionalis at
Montpellier ; and trilophodon borsoni, loxodon me-
ridionalis, and loxodon prisons in Yelay and Au-
vergne. Dr. Falconer concludes that, — 1st. The
mastodon remains which have been met with in the
fluvio-marine crags, belong to a pliocene form, named
tetralophodon avernensis. 2ndly. That the mam-
malian fauna of the red and fluvio-marine crags,
regarded as a whole, bears all the characters of a
pliocene age, and is identical with the sub-Appenine
pliocene fauna of Italy. 3rdly. The red and flnvio*
marine crags, tested by their mammalian fauna, must
be considered as a bed of the same age. Consider*
ing these observations, so recently made by Dr.

■ H

445

Falconer, of the highest importance, we shall now
enquire into the extent of the operation of two laws
which are supposed, and we believe truly, to hav?
governed the operation of creative energy in past

1. Different sets of tertiary strata immediately
saperimposed on each other, contain distinct imbed-
ded species of fossils, in consequence of fluctuations
which have been going on in the animate creation,
and by which, in the course of ages, one state of
things in the organic world has been sttbstituted for
naoiheT wholly dissimilar,

2. In proportion as the age of a tertiary deposit is
more modern, so is its fauna more analogous to that
now in being in the neighbouring seas ; and that the
present distribution of organic/orwis dates back to a
period anterior to the creation of existing species :
in other words, the limitation of particular genera or
families of quadrupeds, mollusca, &c., to certain.
existing provinces of land and sea, began before th'3
species now contemporary with man had been in-
troduced upon the earth. ':"-'"

A very few remarks will suffice to illustrate the
general reception of the first law above quoted. We
may call to mind the opinion of M. Agassiz, already
expressed : ' * One result, however, stands now unques-
tioned,—the existence, during each great geological
era, of an assemblage of animals and plants differing

essentially from each period. And, by period, is
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446

i I

meant those minor sub-divisions, in the successive
sets of beds of rocks, which constitute the stratified
crust of our globe, the number of which is daily
increasing, as our investigations become more exten-
sive and more precise ; and that this seems to be a
universal fact in geology, would appear from all
authors accepting it as a law ; and, as stated by the
latest writers, may be received. Thus, in speaking
of the upper Silurian age, Mr. Jukes adds, " Of the
life of the period, the plants are as little known to
us as those of the preceding period. The animals
include fish, in addition to those classes mention-
ed in the preceding period. Of the species, pome
range throughout all, others through two or three
groups of the series ; while others, again, are
confined to one particular group of beds, of which
they are accordingly characteristic. A few spe-
cies extend from lower into upper Silurian rocks,
and still fewer, coming into existence during this
period, extend into the next or Devonian. These
long successive species mostly ranged through great
depths of water, and spread over large areas." So
much, then, for the great fact which is admitted by
all, that there have been at various particular pe-
riods, distinct and new acts of Creative Power.

The second law referred to, requires a more
lengthened notice, and it is exceedingly important
to discover, if possible, its true import, as we be-
lieve that, on a faithful interpretation of it depends

(■'.

447 . •^

our being able or unable to support the Mosaic
record of the re-arrangement of the quaternary or
human period.

"We have already pointed out the admission, freely
made by all modem naturalists, that the universe,
in its organic kingdom, is constructed on one great
and uniform ^/izn; and that while there is reason to
suppose that the foundation-stones of the whole
scheme were laid at a very early period, yet differ-
ent portions of the scheme have been projected vari-
ously, so that it is quite true that as it rose towards
completion, its respective points of beauty and har-
mony were progressivehj unfolded. Thus, Sir R.
Murchison remarks : " At the close of the permian
era, an infinitely greater change took placo in life,
than that which marked the ascent from the silurian
system to over-lying groups. The earlier races then
disappeared, (at least all the species,) and were re-
placed by an entirely new creation, the generic types
of which were continued through those long epochs
which geologists term secondary or mesozoic — the
mediaeval age of extinct beings." In these, again,
we learn, by consulting the works of many writers,
how one formation followed another, each charac-
terised by dififerent creatures ; many of them, how-
ever, exhibiting near their downward and upward
limits, certain fossils which link on one reign of life
to another. The first fiat of creation which went
forth, doubtless ensured the perfect adaptation of

m

448

'u-.

animals to the surroonding media ; and thus, whilst
the geologist recognises a beginning, h^ can see in
the innumerable facets of the eyes of the earliest
crustacean, the same evidence of Omniscience as in
the contemplation of the vertebrate form. Yet,
however they admit the facts, some speculative minds
think they can so explain them as not to justify the
inference of progressive creations. They suppose
that nearly all the strata of date antecedent to those
in which the first signs of life have been detected,
are often in so crystalline a state, that if they origi-
nally contained the remains of animals, the traces of
them must have been obliterated by changes ^nce
effected in the structure of the rock. The hypothe-
sis has been set aside by the fact of the existence of
deposits many thousand feet thick, and scarcely at
all altered, which, made up of sand, mud, and peb-
bles, constitute the very foundation of the fossil-
bearing strata. In these huge lower sediments a
zoophyte only has been detected ; but immediately
above them, in various and distinct countries, we
perceive the oldest known small group of animals.
When the explorer of the older formations produces
his specimens of fossils from various parts of the
world, to shew that the mass of the silurian rocks
contains all classes of marine life with the exception
of the fishes ; his antagonist might reply, that gelati-
nous fishes, void of backbones, (like the solitary lit-
tle amphioxus now living,) mai/ have been the only

449

VI

creatures of their class which swarmed in the broad
seas then prevailing : and if so, that no trace of them
could exist, their boneless bodies perishing, and
leaving no sign of their former existence. As an
old student of nature's works, I cannot allow this
bare probability to be placed in opposition to the
very numerous and well recorded facts, which an-
nontice the perfection of all the other classes of the
ancient sub-marine kingdom. If thousands of ani-
mals have left their coverings behind, is it rational
to suppose that every form of the great class of fishes
should be wanting in that frame-work, which, whe-
ther consisting of dermal plates, or of bony verto-
brsB, characterises them in the strata of all succeed-
ing epochs? Nay, more, we see that in this same
long period, in which no traces of fishes appear,
there specially prevailed a superabundance of cepha-
lopods ; and as creatures of that structure are well
known to be carnivorous, little doubt can be enter-
tained that they acted the part of fishes, and were
the scavengers of the silurian seas.

Another hypothesis, advanced in opoosition to the
mass of positive evidence, is, that although such ear-
lier rocks are void of ichthyolites, the sediments
may have all been formed in limited zones around
the earth. But here, again, the application of such
a theory is still more negatived by the facts adduced.
Silurian rocks, similar in structure, and containing
the same organic remains, are not confined to any

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450

one segment of the earth's surfacie, however broad;
but are largely developed in nearly all known re-
gions. The argument is therefore untenable in face
of the knowledge we have acquired, that amidst the
profusion of all other forms of aquatic life, fishes
only are absent from strata of this early age. This
prevalence of a wideiy-spi'ead, primeval ocean, and
of a surface which had not yet been subjected to
those innumerable variations of outline which have
since changed and modified the different climates of
the earth, when connected with the belief in the
former radiation of heat from its interior, are the
chief data required to satisfy us that physical fcondi-
tions then prevailed, with which the mature and
extensive spread of the earlier groups of animals
are in harmony. Again, if the old continents and
islands, which existed during the accumulation of
the marine silurian deposits, had borne larger trees,
the numerous researches of geologists in all quarters
of the globe must have brought to light some of
them. For whilst we know that there are rocks of
considerable extent, which, from the fine nature of
their materials, may probably have been deposited
in an ocean at some distance from a shore ; there
arc also many silurian districts of the old and new
world, where the form and structure of the deposit
bespeak the action of wave and surge, and where
the imbedded sea- weeds, zoophytes, and other re-
mains, compel us to adopt the same view. If the

451

I r

primeval fauna does afford fewer spiral univalve
shells than are seen among the animals of the cami-
varian zones of our modern seas, we may suggest
that shore Imes, as we understand them, must have
been much less numerous in primeval epochs than
at the present day, now that the surface has been
diversified by lofty dividing ridges on the land, and
corresponding depressions in the ocean. In the fun-
damental facts disclosed., we cannot but recognise
arrangements which, though perfect as respected all
truly primeval creatures and plants, were essentially
different from those of our own time. For if the
then existing contineiitS or islands had borne trees,
some fragments of them must have been transported
into adjacent estuaries, and mixed in the mud and
sand, like the vegetables of every subsequent epoch,
by the agency of those great streams, of whose me-
chanical power we have such decisive proof In all
quarters of the globe the Silurian strata constantly
lie in juxtaposition to the other overlying palaozoic
formations ; and hence it is impossible to apply to
the lowest strata any reason which does not equally
refer to those which repose upon them. For as the
Silurian rocks are constantly found in the same lati-
tudes and longitudes as the Devonian and carbonif-
erous, why is it that in one there are never found
traces of vertebrata and land plants, and that in the
same places remains of both these classes abound in
the other ? By no theoretical suggestion, therefore.

452

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can the fair inference be evaded, that things which
did not exist during the Silurian period, were created
in the very same tracts during the following ages.
The uniformitarian who would explain every natural
event in the earliest periods, by reference to the ex-
isting conditions of being, is thus stopped at the very
threshold of the palace of former life, which he can-
not deprive of its true foundations. Nature herself
tells him, through her most ancient monuments, that
though she has worked during all ages on the same ge-
nera^, principles of destruction and renovation of the
surface, there was tbrmerly a distribution of land, in
reference to the sea, very different in outlin^ from
that which now prevails. That primeval state was
followed by outbursts of great volumes of igneous
matter from the interior, the extraordinary violence
of which is made manifest by clear evidences.
Fractures in the crust of the earth, accompanied
by oscillations that suddenly displaced masses to
thousands of feet above or beneath their previous
levels, were necessarily productive of such transla-
tions of water as to abrade and destroy solid mate-
rials, to an extent inj&nitely surpassing any change
of which the historical era affords an example. We
would cite the works of Leopold Von Buch, Elie de
Beaumont, Sedgwick Stridor, and numerous other
geologists for countless proofs of this grander inten-
sity of former geological causation, by which gigantic
masses were inverted, and strata forming mountains

463

have been so wrenched, broken, and twisted as to
pass und the very rocks out of whose material
they were constructed. In the Alps and other
mountain chains we see signs of such former catas-
trophes, each of which resulted from convulsions
utterly immeasurable and inexplicable by any refer-
ence to those puny oscillations of the earth which
can be appealed to during the times of history.*

On what data, concludes Sir Robert Murchison,
is founded the beautiful and rational theory of Lyell,
which explains the successive changes of the climate
of the earth ? Is it not mainly dependent on those
diversified evolutions proceeding from beneath the
surface, which have caused changes in the former
outline of former lands and seas, equivalent in ex-
tent, although different in position, to our present
contments and oceans ? And if such varied distri-
bution of earth and water as the present had existed
in the pristine periods, how could the same groups
of animals, manifestly requiring the same conditions,
the same temperature, and the same food, have had
an almost universal diffusion.

Patient researches have demonstrated that in the
primeval eras all living things differed completely
from those of our own times ; so we see how the
animals subsequently created were adapted to new
and altered physical conditions. Proceeding on-
wards from the early period in which we can trace

3 L

* See Appendix 2, Murchison.

UM

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454

no sign of land plants or vertebrata, and in which
the solid materials, enclosing every where a similar
fauna, were spread out with great uniformity, we
soon begin to perceive proofs of powerful evolutions,
chiefly commencing after the coal formations, by
which the earth's surface was so corrugated, that,
after many perturbations, the groups of animals and
plants were infinitely more restricted than before to
given regions and climates. And as the highly
diversified conditions of the latest geological era
and of the present day were wholly unknown in
the primeval epochs, so it follows that we should
greatly err if we endeavoured to force all nature
into a close comparison with existing operations.
Now, assured that these most important deduc-
tions are based on truth, and may be readily sup-
ported by valid arguments from the laws which
govern the organic world, wc ought then to find
that, as the architect developed the several parts of
his scheme, there wou^d necessarily be a more
and more close similarity in its parts, a greater
harmony in the great whole. Such we find really
to be the case in nature, and we cannot then but
expect to find a greater and more close similarity
between later creations. We shall therefore endea-
vour to shew that the re-creation of genera or varie-
ties rather, of organic forms, has been and is the
law of creation. We have already shewn, on the
authority of Professor Owen and others, that the

ha

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466

Australian province had its marsupalia and South
America its gigantic sloths ere the present analo-
gous fauna were ushered in ; and it is conclusively
established that this condition of things does not
result from any lineal descent, but is purely the
effect of creative energy. We may here, then,
without any violence to truth, declare that there is
strong evidence of the restoration of extinct types,
with some peculiar adaptations it may be to present
conditions. Now if we believe and are satisfied that
every modification and change which the universe has
passed through has been effected designedly, and
that there has clearly been a series of adjust-
ments between the inorganic and organic king-
doms ; then it must be admitted that the changes
which the crust of the earth has \indergone always
and every where, had reference to the life forms
which were to be its occupants. So we discover the
constant improvement, the more evident unfolding of
the great scroll of life, leading to the logical con-
clusion that they were made to subserve an end,
and that the Originator of the whole is worthy to
be praised, and intended that the works of his
hands should set forth his glory and power. We
have as yet seen no ground for believing or even
entertaining the opinion that the various revolutions
and evolutions, through which the world has passed,
have been brought about solely by forces, which
have been implanted in matter ; on the contrary.

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456

while we have reason to admit that the various
forms of matter result from many essences originally
created, we cannot find proof of the reality of any
one supreme, intelligent physical force, to which has
been entrusted the governance and direction of
matter. After we have, as it were, in thought dis-
sected a material form, where do we necessarily
lean the many reals of which it may be composed ?
We are, by the very constitution of our reason,
forced to lean them as it were against the stronger
will, and power, of one sole and efficient All-wise,
Omnipotent, Intelligent Cause. We cannot acquiesce
in the dogma sung by Virgil : — \

Principio, coelum, ac terras, camposque liquenfes, ' '
Lucentemque globum Lunse, Titaniaque astra,
Spiritus intus alit ; totamque infusa per artus,
Mens agitat molern, et xnagno se corpore miscet.
Inde hominum pecudumque genus, vitseque volantum,
£t que marmoreo fert monstra sub sequore pontus. ■ . . ,

Yet such is the doctrine held by not a few in the pre-
sent day, who, either openly or by implication, teach
the dogma ' ' that the material universe is governed and
guided by an in-dwelling, intelligent power, an arch-
s&as or soul, rather than directed or re-arranged by
the eternal Word, an Omnipotent, Omniscient, and
Omnipresent Being. We believe that the evidence
already adduced, is sufficient to establish the truth
and validity of the latter conclusion, to which the
very works of creation direct us ; and if the princi-

I 11*1

pie 01 mierierencc oe esiaoiisnea, it ii nas oeen

m

.* '

shewn that the Supreme has ordered and governed
all things to their ultimate good, and to the end that
His glory should appear, then ' must we admit that,
iu creating this present world, in which are dis-
played the extraordinary workings of an intelligent
mind, there has been the manifestation of Intelligence
most excellent, most prized and coveted even by the
heathen, combined also with the most profound
gifts of virtue and religion.

Both palaeontologist and geologist affirm that
their investigations lead to no other conclusion
than that which we have all along endeavoured
to set forth, that there has ever been a mutual
dependence in the order of creation of one part
on another, and that the life in the world has
been always preceded by those changes which have
been found ever to be the best adapted to the
wants of in-coming beings. Plants and animals are
found to have been created at particular epochs,
and even allied forms and mere varieties have been
re-introduced, apparently in accordance with that
perfection of plan which is strongly marked in all
the events of nature. When, therefore, Mr. Miller
and some other geologists declare that there is no
break, for instance, between the close of the tertiary
and commencement of the quaternary period, they
are certainly dealing in somewhat reckless asser-
tions, since it is quite certain that there is evidence
enough to induce us to pause and much closely in-

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458

vestigate the facts of the history of 'the past, -which
seem to point to very diflPerent conclusions, mm \u
?It will be well to keep in mind that the plan of
creation was not worked out at once, but was an
improving and enlarging progression ; and that the
mighty changes which have taken place in the
inorganic world were necessary to the perfecting
of the scheme of animal and vegetable life. We are
apt apparently to overlook this fact, and to suppose
that the life of the globe has been subservient to
changes in the inorganic kingdom which are grand
and very stupendous ; but what do we learn was the
meaning of the no less wondrous creation otf plant
and animal life which, from the early history of
the world, has come down the stream of time, en-
larging its proportions, and, with prophetic majesty,
proclaiming the advent of a being combining
within himself the dispersed and scattered attributes
of perfection, which, dwelling now in this animal
•and now in that, were nevertheless but senseless
unreasoning witnesses to the glory of their maker.
Suppose an intelligent being to have stood on the
earth at the termination of the tertiary epoch, ima-
gine such an one endowed with the wisdom only, of
a Cuvier, an Owen, an Agassiz : let him proclaim
the transcendent beauty and glory of the thousand
forms which lie buried in the rocky beds of bye-
gone worlds ; mark the wonderful secret of nature
which is revealed as age by age is passed, one fur-

459

nishing the key by which to tell the true history of
the other, the very frame-work of each race telling*
of the advent of others, the promise of whose coming
is in the mysterious fashioning of the limbs and ap^
pendages, the bones and the teeth of the prophetic
type which is there. But such a being, as one en- 1
dowed with intelligence, may, nay, must go further :
his mind cannot refuse to survey the mental pheno-
mena of beings, and the life attributes which they
display : he looks to humble creatures, whose tiny
forms would, but for their wondrous life, scarce
attract his attention ; and finds, in their daily history
such startling wonders of skill, and incomprehensi-
ble solutions of the most subtle problems of social
economy, which the brightest intellects struggle to
define and settle : again he finds works of art, of con-
summate skill, accomplished by unreasoning crea-
tures, which the mathematical genius of a Maraldi
and a Brougham could alone solve. The bee builds
its cell on the most correct mathematical principles ;
the ant governs his republican society with match-
less wisdom ; the beaver constructs his home with a
profound skill, which the most thoughtful and fore-
tMnking mind might well be pleased to imitate. Do
they understand what they do ? Are they capable of
reasoning on what they do? Still continuing his
investigation, the ponderous elephant would exhibit
tliat wonderful power which comes so closely up to
reason as well nigh to touch the dividing line, which

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460

separates the mind from mere animal instinct;
furnishing an example of intelligence in a creature
some way removed from that quodrumanous tpye
which, in its external configuration, and in some
respects in its external structure, approaches that
being who is the last and most perfect of the whole
creation. But what an unfinished work does he
contemplate : harmony and beauty prevail, bat
where is the creature to understand it: law and
order reign, but as yet which among the created
things can tell of the might, majesty, and goodness of
their Creator ? Heathens saw the necessity of this,
and gave thanks that they were above the brutes.
Lord Brougham has aptly directed attention to the
discussion held by Socrates with Aristodemus, in
which, after enumerating the various bodily organs,
he adds : " Nor has the Deity been satisfied with
taking care of body alone ; he has implanted in man
what is a far greater work to have made — a most
excellent soul ; for what other animal possesses a
mind that can perceive the existence of the Gods,
by whom all these vast and fair works have been
formed ? What other creature than man worships
those Gods ? What other intelligence is superior to
man's, in providing against hunger, and thirst, and
cold, and heat ; or in the curing disease, or in exer-
cising strength, or in cultivating learning, or in stor-
ing up the recollection of things heard, and seen,
and learned ?" In like manner, the discussion with

461

instinct;
a creature
nous tpye
1 in some
)aches that
• the whole
rk does he
revail, but
f ; law and
the created
goodness of
ssity of this,
i the brutes,
sntion to the
stodemus, in
)dily organs,
itisfied with
ited in man
tde — a most
possesses a
of the Gods,
;s have been
lan worships
s superior to
id thirst, and
or in exer-
Ig, or in stor-
and seen,
icussion wiiii

Euthydemus, after shewing the goodness of the Gods
in adapting all things to man's use, closes with men-
tioning the senses given to us to enjoy those gifts
of external nature, and, lastly, the use of reason :
" They have implanted reason in our nature, where-
by we enquire touching external things ; and ar-
ranging and remembering, we learn the use of each,
and hit upon many contrivances for attaining good,
and avoiding evil. Have they not also given us the
gift of speech, by which we can communicate mutu-
ally all we have learnt, and thus instruct each other,
and make laws and regulate civil polity." To which
we may add, " Has He not, in these latter days,
spoken to us by His Son, and confirmed our immor-
tality?"'^' ' "

Surely, then, we do not reason falsely when we
declare that the whole scheme of creation plainly
testifies that the changes which we note in the pro-
gress of the great work were changes always with
reference to the ultimate manifestation of Divine
goodness. Nor can we fail to allow another admission,
that as the plan approached its completion, there
would necessarily be, in the bringing forward of its
several parts, a repetition of them or some of them.
Let us examine this point a little. Mr. Miller, in
Testimony of the Rocks, has not failed to suspect
this to be the case ; and we feel certain that both
the researches of Owen and Darwin abundantlv

substantiate it as a law. " We at least know," saya
3m

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462

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Miller, "generally, that with each succeeding pe-
riod there appeared a more extensively useful and
various vegetation than that which had gone before.
We may refer to the sombre unproductive character
of the earliest terrestrial flora with wlc'ch we are ac-
quainted. It was a flora unfitted apparently for the
support of either graminivorous bird, or herbive>
ous quadruped. The singular profuse vegetation of
the coal measure was, with all its wild luxuri?Tic( ,
of a resembling cast. So far as appears, nei.^ho-
flock nor herd could have lived in its riuhoat and
greenest plains ; nor does even the flora of the oolite
seem to have been in the least united for th^ pur-
poses of the shepherd or husbandman. Not until
we enter on the tertiary periods do we find floras
amid which man might have profitably laboured as
a dresser ^«f gardens, a tiller of fields, or a keeper
of flocks and herds ; nay, there are whole orders
and families of plants which do not appear until
late in even the tertiary ages. Some degree of
doubt must always attach to merely negative evi-
dence ; but Agassiz finds reason to conclude that
the order of the rosacese— an or^er more important
to the garcl':?ner than almost nu^^ other, and to wbl4
the apple, the pear anc; ^^i act, the cherry, plum,
peach, aprecot, almond, raspberry, &c., belong,
together with all the other roses and the potentillas
—■was introduced only a short time previous to the
apptaranee of man. And the true grasses— a still

463

seding pe-
useful and
c>ne "before.
P) character
we are ac-
atly for the
)V herbiver-
egetation of
luxnriric ,
lars, nei.^imr
rJv' it and
of the oolite
for th<6 pur-
. Not nntil
we find floras
laboured as
or a keeper
virhole orders
appear until
lo degree of
.egative evi-
lonclude that
ire important
and CO whi^h
jherry, pluDa^
&c., belong,
[he potentillas
•evious to the
rasses— a still

Acre important or lor — scarce appear at all in the
fossil state. The (^arlicr flora of this tertiary divi-
sion presents an aspect widol} different from that
of any of the pre. ious ont . The ferns and their
allies sink into their existing proportions, nor do
the conifera), previously so abundant, occupy any
longer a prominent place. On the other hand,
dicotyledonous herbs and trees, previously so in-
lonspicuous in creation, are largely developed.*
Trees of those amentiferous orders to which the
oak, the hazel, the beech, and the plane belong,
were perhaps not less abundant in the eocene
woo(^s, than in those of the present time they
were mingled with trees of the laurel, the legu-
minous, and the anonaceous, or custard apple fami-
lies, with many others j and deep forests in the
latitude of London, (in which the intertropical forms
must now be protected with coverings of glass, and
warmed by artificial heat,) abounded in graceful
palms. The nearer we approach to existing times,
the more familiar in form and outline do the herbs
and trees become. We detect, as has been shewn,
at least one existing order in the ferns of the coal
measures ; we detect, at least, existing genera
among the coniferse, equisetaceae, and cycadaceae of
the oolite : the acacias, gourds, and laurels of the
eocene flora, and the planes, willows and buckthorns
of the miocene — though we fail to identify their sve-

* It must not be forgotten that, r 7 the term "largely deTeloped," is
meant "introduced"— "created."

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464

des with aught that now lives — still more strongly
remind us of the recent productions of our forests
or conservatories ; and in entering on our downward
course — the pleistocene period — we at length find
ourselves amid familiar species. On old terrestrial
surfaces, that date before the times of the glacial pe-
riod, which underlie the boulder clay, the remains of
forests of oak, birch, hazel, and fir have been de-
tected,— all the familiar species indigenous to the
country, and which still flourish in our native woods.
The late Prof. E. Forbes held that the most ancient
of his five existing British floras — that which occurs
in the south-west of Ireland, and corresponds with
the north-west of Spain and the Pyrenees—had
been introduced into the country as early, perhaps,
as the times of the miocene. Be this as it may,
there can rest no doubt of the great antiquity of the
prevailing trees of our indigenous forests. The oak,
the birch, the hazel, the Scotch fir, all lived in what
is rum Britain ere the last great depression of tk
land. The gigantic northern elephant and rhinoce-
ros, extinct for untold ages, forced their way through
their tangled branches ; and the British tiger and
hyaena harboured in their thickets. " Tigers and
hyaenas," says Miller, " entirely different from the
intertropical species ; as much so as the ass from the
horse, or the dog from the wolf, while there is evi-
dence to shew that they were natives, and had not
lived in tropical countries."

465

It cannot escape notice that the geologist here
admits a re-introduction of plants, for they flourish-
ed on land which has been submerged and again
re-elevated ; and from evidence elsewhere gath-
ered, we find them, in their last introduction,
restricted, as it were, within a narrower area,
while the animals which roamed through the
thickets, or sheltered beneath their shade, have
been confined to the warm areas of the present earth :
thus, we find that the mastodons — closely allied to the
elephants — had their head-quarters in North Ame-
rica, but extended also to Europe and Asia ; and
the elephants themselves, of several species, were
spread over the northern hemisphere, even to the
polar regions. The hippopotamus, the rhinoceros,
and other creatures now exclusively tropical were
also inhabitants of the same northern latitudes.
From some specimens of rhinoceroses and elephants
of this period, which seem to have been buried in
avalanches, and thus to have been preserved from
decomposition, we learn something of the climate
that prevailed. The very fact of their preservation
by frost, shews that it was not a tropical climate in
which they lived ; and the clothing of the thick wool,
fur, and hair, which protected the skin of the mam-
moth or Silurian elephant, tends to the same conclu-
sion. At the same time those regions were not so
cold as they now are. The district in which the
remains are found, in almost incredible abundance.

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is the coast of northern Asia which bounds the polar
sea. The trees of a temperate climate — -the oak,
the beech, the maple, the poplar, and the birch—
which now attain their highest limit somewhere
about T0° of north latitude, and then are dwarfed
to minute shrubs, appear there to have grown at the
very verge of the polar basin ; in the condition of
vast and luxuriant forests. Now we would ask of
the unprejudiced mind, to what conclusion do these
several facts point ? We have here before us a
series of renovations and adjustments, which are not
dependent on the mere migration of animals and
plants from one spot to another, because becoining
more suited to them ; but we have positive proof of
the existence of animals and plants of a kind like those
now living in special hcaUties, which were formerly-
spread over larger sections ; and, as we approach the
more recent period, even the same geographical
homes occupied by kindred races. Are we to sup-
pose that these respective organisms lived through
the mighty changes which the earth passed through ?
This idea is negatived at once, by the fact that the
animals and plants were not of the same species as
exist at the present time ; and even if, at the close of
the last epoch, some are exactly alike, their presence
and re-creation cannot invalidate a law which was of
general import, and which controled the ultimate
accomDlishment of the perfect plan. We have already
referred to the researches of Dr. Falconer ; we now

467

point to the conclusions to which his researches h^ye
led him, in order to shew that there has virtually
been a positive re-creation of animals at each
of the epochs of creation. "The mastodon, they
say, found in the red and Norwich crag, was, till
lately, regarded as a miocene or falunian species ;
and, under this persuasion, calling it M. augustidenSt

THOMPSON

ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS.

on the authority of Prof. Owen, it was suggested by
Mr. Lyell, that its remains might have been washed
out of the strata into the crag. Many teeth of this
mastodon, together with numerous ear-bones of
whales, have recently been found at Felixstowe, in
what is called the 'detrital bed,' so rich in phosphate
of lime. That accumulation of drifted materials lies
at ihe base of the red crag, and it has been supposed
that the imbedded mammalian fossils were derived
from the destruction of an older set of strata. But
in regard to the mastodon above mentioned. Dr.
Falconer declares that the fossil is a well known

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pliocene animal, first observed in Auvergne by M.
M. Croizet and Jobert, and called by them mastodon
avernensis. The entire skeletons of both these ani-
mals having now been obtained, they are found to
be referable to two distinct sub-genera. The crag
fossil belongs to the tetralophiodon, (rerpa, four,
\o<l)€iov, a small crest) a small genus, of which five
species are known, and so called because there are
four ridges in the penultimate true molar, as well as
in the two teeth which are placed immediately be-
fore it in both jaws. The mastodon augustidens,
(augusttis narrow, dens a tooth,) on the other hand,
belongs, with six other species, to the section called
trilophodon, (three-ridged,) in which the correspond-
ing teeth have three ridges. This mastodon is cha-
racteristic of the faluns, and of the molasse at Sau-
san, at the foot of the Pyrenees, and of several other
miocene localities. No one, we presume, would say
that the hairy elephant was not typically the same
animal as the elephant of to-day. He is not pre-
cisely the same, but still of the same class, and may
be but a variety of the hairy elephant of the Hima-
layas, seen by Bishop Heber, and heard of by Hooker,
as yet in Upper India. Similar evidence of the re-in-
troduction of animal life may be had from Prof. Owen's
collection of fossils of Britain, who most significantly
descants on the remarks of those naturalists who
suppose the present race of animals to be descend-
aiits of those which went before them in previous

469

epochs. Prof. Owen observes, " Dr. Molyneux, to
whom we owe the first account of the remains of the
gigantic Irish deer, and by whom they were regarded
as a proof that the American moose was formerly
common in Ireland, prefaces his description with the
following observation : ' that no real specie&of living
creatures are so utterly extinct as to be lost entirely
out of the world since it was first created, is the
opinion of many naturalists ; and it is grounded on
so good a principle — of Providence taking care in
general of all its animal productions — that it de-
serves our assent.' " The numerous and incontro-
vertible, though marvellous results of modern palae-
ontology, place in a strong light the danger of such
a "petitio principii," or presumption of the way in
which the benefits of a good Providence are dis-
pensed ; and the fallacy of the conclusion founded
thereon, in the present instance, is shewn both by
the now well-determined diagnosis of the American
moose, whose dimensions were much exaggerated in
the earlier notices of the wild beasts of the North
American colonies, and by the exact comparisons of
the osteological characters of the megaceros of all
other known cervine animals.

Recent discoveries of the entire skeleton of the
megaceros, have shewn that the proportions of the
trunk and limbs to the vast antlers were not the
same with which we are familiar in the existing deer

-best provided with these weapons — but that the
3n

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GIGANTIC IRISH DEER.

antlers were both absolutely and relatively larger in
the extinct species : this, in fact, constitutes one of
its best characteristics, and involves other differences
in the form and proportions of its osseous frame-
work. One of the modifications in the skeleton of
megaceros, which relates to the vast weight of the
head and neck, is the stronger proportions of its
limbs ; and another, and more striking character, is
the great size of the vertebrae of the neck, which
form the column immediately supporting the head

471

^

ely larger in
itutes one of
3r differences
seous frame-
e skeleton of
weigM of the
ortions of its
character, is
neck, which
ing the head

and its appendages ; these, and other differences,

pointed out by Prof. Owen, establish its specific

characters. Another instance of re-construction we

may adduce, the macacus eocoenus, also figured and

described by Prof Owen ; he observes, " I have

been so fortunate in my researches on the fossil

mammalia of Great Britain, as to determine not only

the remains of extinct pachydermal animals in the

eocene beds called London clay, but likewise of a

quadrumana or monkey, in a sandy strata of the

same formation, the epoch of which has been shewn

by Mr. Lyell, from the evidence of other organic

remains, to have had a temperature sufficiently high

for arboreal mammalia of the four-handed order."

The evidence on which the fossil monkey in the
eocene strata of England has been determined, is of
the same kind as that which has brought to light
the former existence of another and higher species of
quadrumana in the south of France, and is equally
conclusive with that by which quadrumana fossils
have also been recognised in India and in South
America. Dr. Lund writes, " I am at length ena-
bled to solve the important question as to the exist-
ence of the highest order of mammalia (quadrumana)
in those ancient times to which these fossils belong.
It is certain that this order was then in existence,
and the first animal of this class recovered is of gi-
gantic size — a character belonging to the organisa-
tion of the period." Again, in reviewing, says

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^ ■-■■'■

'■■- \ '

t-

I I

472

i^il i

il-)

St'
■ *='

T
t

MACACUS (of present time.)

the same author, the general position and distribu-
tion of the fossil remains of the genus equus, or
horse, we find that this very remarkable and most
useful form of pachyderm made its first appearance
with the rhinoceros, during the miocene tertiary
period of geology. From the peculiar and well-
marked specific distinction of the primordial or short-
legged horses (hippoiherium) which ranged from
central Europe to the then rising chain of the Hima-
laya mountains, it is most probable that they would
have been as little available for the service of civil-

473

ised man as is the zebra or wild ass (equus hemionus)
of the present day ; and we can as little in the
docility of the later or pliocene species — equus plici-
dms and equusfossilis, the only ones hitherto detected
in Britain — from any characters deducible from their
known fossil remains. There are many specimens
that cannot be satisfactorily distinguished from the
corresponding parts of existing species : equus ca-
ballus, which, with the wild ass, may be the sole
existing survivors of the numerous representatives
of the genus equus, in the European and Asiatic
continents, during the pliocene period. The species
of equus which existed during that geological period
in both North and South America, appears to have
been blotted out of the fauna of those continents
before the introduction of man. The researches of
Mr. Darwin and Dr. Lund have shewn that the
genus equus was represented in South America dur-
ing the pliocene period, by a species — equus curvi-
dens — which has been shewn to be distinct both from
the European j^5£e7 and the existing species.

Now, what we again ask, are these but instances
of the continuance of several families of animals, by
the re-introduction of them under modifications
suited to each particular period ? and we do also
notice that the peculiar lines of demarcation between
them, as in the horse and mastodon, are sometimes
so difficult of detection, as to escape the notice of
unquestionably learned palaeontologists.

//

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474

The evidence afforded by extinct fossil delphini-
dse and cetacea, are to the same effect ; and the
specimens figured by Mr. Owen indicate decided
specific distinctions between extinct and recent
species. ,

SKULL OF THICK-TOOTHED GRAMPUS.

The most complete example of the skeleton of a
cetaceous animal whi >, by the alteration of the
osseous texture, and by the peculiar configuration of
the bones, claims to rank with the British fossil
mammalia, is that which was discovered in the year
1843, in the great fen of Lincolnshire, beneath the
turf, in the neighbourhood of the ancient town of
Stamford, and which is now preserved in the museum
of the Stamford Institution.

In the above figure, the skull, which is [almost
entire, and the teeth, some of which are preserved
in the lower jaw, proved the animal to have belonged
to the dolphin tribe, (delphinidce,) and to the short-

475

comparable, in point of size, with the round-headed
porpoise, (phoccena melas,) the grampus, (phocana
orca,) and the beluga (phoccena leucas).

The phoccena crassidens differs from the phoccena
melas in the relatively larger temporal fossae, by
which it resembles the grampus ; and it differs from
ph. orca, and resembles the ph. melas in the continu-
ation of the intermaxillary bones backwards to the
nasal bones, which they join ; but, in the breadth of
the intermaxillaries, it is intermediate between the
ph. orca and ph. melas.

I have seen no specimens of these existing British
ddphinidce meriting to be regarded as fossils ; the
subject of the present section presents characters by
which it dififers not only from the known existing
Mphinidce of our own coasts, but from all the spe-
cies that;; have been so described and figured as to
admit of a comparison.

BASE OF SKULL OP THICK-TOOTHED GRAMPUS.

V ■

full

b

We may sum up these proofs of re-introduction by
a fact from H. Miller, and a significant query from his
latest work : "In the coal period we find great coni-
fers, so great that they must have raised their heads
more than a hundred feet over the soil. Though
marked by certain peculiarities of structure, they
bore, as is shewn by the fossil trunks of Gran ton
and Craigleith, the familiar outlines of true conifer-
ous trees ; and would, mayhap, have differed no
more in appearance /rowi their successors of the same
order that now live in our forests, than these differ
from the conifers of New Zealand or of New South
Wales. \

"The forms borne by most of the oolitic plants were
comparatively familiar forms. With the acrogens
and gymnogens, we find the first indication of the
lily-like plants ; of plants, too, allied to the panda-
naceae or screw pines, the fruits of which are some-
times preserved in a wonderfully perfect state of
keeping in the inferior oolite ; together with carpo-
liths — palm-like fruits, very ornately sculptured—
and the remains of one, at least, other monocotyle-
don that bears the somewhat general name of an
endogenite. No true fossil palms have yet been
detected in the great oolitic and wealden systems,
though they certainly occur in the great carbonife-
rous and permian rocks, and are comparatively
common in the earlier middle and tertiary forma-
tions. Much cannot be founded on merely negative

477

)duction by
jry from his
, great coni-
tbeir heads
il. Though
icture, they
of Granton
true conifer-
differed no
I of the same
L these differ
,f JSew South

\
c plants were
the acrogens
cation of the
;o the panda-
ch are sorae-
•fect state of
with carpo-
sculptured—
monocotyle-
name of an
e yet been
Iden systems,
lat carbonife-
»mparatively
■tiary forma-
"ely negative

evidence . but it would be certainly a curious cir-
cumstance should it be found that this graceful
family, first ushered into being some time in the later
palaeozoic periods, was mthdrawn from creation
during ihe middle ages of the earth's history, to be
again introduced in greatly more than the earlier
proportions during the tertiary and recent periods."
We believe that we may safely accept the propo-
sition laid down by Mr. Lyell, " That in proportion
as the age of a tertiary deposit is more modern, so is
its fauna more analogous to that now in being in
neighbouring eras." We humbly and sincerely
differ from him in another inference, that the law
which has governed the creation and extinction of
species, seems to be expressed in the couplet of the
poet Ariosto, —

Nature made him, and then broke the die.

So far from this being strictly true or a just inter-
pretation of the law, we think it has been clearly
shewn, that the pattern, having been pronounced
good, has been preserved, and handed down im-
proved through a great many changes of time and
place. Will Mr. Lyell maintain, that the macacus
and megatherium and elephants of old are cases of
utter breaking of the die ?

We know not how the sceptic can refuse to admit
the abiding power of an Intelligent Will, capable
of combining and harmonising a stupendous scheme of

organisation in its largest sense. We have passed
3 o

478

in review instances of repeated interposition of crea-
tive energy, fresh acts of power, wisdom, and good-
ness. Yerily there is a God that judgeth the earth.
" When thou hidest Thy face they are troubled :
when Thou takest away their breath they die.
When Thou lettest Thy breath go forth they shall
be made : and Thou shalt renew the face of the
earth."

r >'f

479

BOOK III.

The modern epoch — the reign of man — succeeds
to, but is not a continuation of, the tertiary age.
These two epochs are separated by a great geolo-
gical event, traces of which we see every where
around us. The climate of the northern hemis-
phere, which had been, during the tertiary epoch,
considerably warmer than now, so as to allow of
the growth of palm-trees in the temperate zone
of our time, became much colder at this end of
the period, causing the polar glaciers to advance
south, much beyond their previous limits. It was
this ice — either floating as icebergs, or, as there is
still more reason to believe, moving all along the
ground, like the glaciers of the present day — that,
in its movement towards the south, rounded and
polished the hardest rocks, and deposited the numer-
ous detached fragments brought from distant locali-
ties, which we find every where scattered about
upon the soil, and which are known under the name
of erratics, boulders, or greyheads. This phase of
the earth's history has been called by geologists the
glacial or drift period. After the ice that carried
the erratics had melted away, the surface of North

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480

America and the north of Europe was covered by
sea, in consequence of the general subsidence of the
continents. It is not until this period, that we find,
in the deposits known as the diluvial or pleistocene
formation, incontestible traces of the species of animals
now living. It seems, saysAgassiz, from the latest
researches of geologists, that the animals belonging to
this period are exclusively marine, for, as the northern
part of both continents was covered to a great depth
with water, and only the summits of the mountains
were elevated above it, as islands, there was no
place in our latitudes where land or fresh-water
animals could exist. They appeared, therefore, at
a later period, after the water had again retreated ;
and as, from the nature of their organization, it is
impossible that they could have migrated from other
countries, we conclude that thev were created at a
more recent period than our marine animals. Among
the land animals which *.hen made their appearance,
there were representatives of all the genera and species
now living around us, and, besides these, many
types now extinct, some of them of gigantic size,
such as the mastodon, the remains of which are
found in the uppermost strata of the earth's surface,
and probably the very last large animal which be-
came extinct before the creation of man. The im-
portant facts just narrr»ted, afford most interesting
illustration of the truth of the Mosaic record, and
tend strongly to confirm the correctness of that most

481

i covered by
idence of the
that we find,
>r pleistocene
ies of animals
)m the latest
3 belonging to
s the northern
a great depth
the mountains
there was no
r fresh-water
, therefore, at
lin retreated;
anization, it is
ted from other
e created at a
imals. Among
ir appearance,
era and species
THESE, many
' gigantic size,
of which are
earth's surface,
mal which be-
man. The ira-
lost interesting

interesting history. It is certainly a remarkable
fact that geology should reveal to i:s a condition of
the earth, at the close of the tertiary period, in
which the continents are submerged, and its moun-
tain summits only, as islands, appearing above the
surface of the deep, while an ice-wrapt covering
wuld seem to have been the mantle which clothed
even these isolated lands. So utterly unfitted for
habitation was the condition of the earth at this time,
that, as M. Agassiz declares, it is necessary to dis-
tinguish two periods in the history of the animals
now living : one in which the marine animals were
created, and a second during which the land and fresh-
water animals made their appearance, and, at their
head, Man. Why this special arrangement should be
supposed to have been followed we are at a loss to un-
derstand ; and when we consider the laws of mutual
dependence find adaptation which govern the distri-
bution of animal life, and vegetable life also, on the
surface of the earth, it is impossible to reconcile the
existence of these laws with the complete abnegation
of them, which is involved in the hypothesis of M.
Agassiz. His admission that there was a similarity
to the living fauna, and among the vertebrata espe-
cially, in their increasing resemblance to man, and
this not in consequence of a direct lineage between
them, is fatal to the objection evidently implied, of

4

ie record, and 9 the non-introduction of extinct forms in the case of
;ss of that most ■ sea-animals. Is there one law for the governance of

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482

life periods in aqueous areas, and another for the
inhabitants of terrestrial ones? No one has laboured
more successfully to establish the law of life periods
for the race, family, and individual, than the learned
and laborious Swede ; how then shall we reconcile
his present theory with the other great facts of natu-
ral history ? We therefore look for a wiser solution
of the question ; and, guided solely by the interpre-
tation of the facts, and by the laws of nature, we
close the tertiary period as a concluded book and
witness to the introduction of the human period, and
its associate life, as the beginning, the inauguration
of a new history of life, a new volume of the great
work of creation.

We have already pointed out, what every one will
admit, that there must be a supply of races of beings,
in order to preserve the balance of creation ; the
vegetable and animal kingdoms sustain each other :
destroy the proportions, and all would sooner or
later perish. Now if a catastrophe of so general a
nature was to occur, as to be capable of blotting out
the terrestrial organisation, is it at all reasonable to
suppose that the aquatic races would escape destruc-
tion? The very change of level, and variation of
sea-bottom, or depth, would injuriously affect large
classes, and the breaking up of their geographical
homes would exterminate others. The great diifi-
culty in understanding their preservation, renders
miraculous intervention on their behalf necessary

483

That sudden re-arrangements of the earth's surface
have occurred, we have evidence ; and as regards the
life of the globe, the introduction of it must have
always been in a short time. " For," observes De
La Beech, "every day's experience in geological
research, will shew the observer that he has to con-
sider the surface of the earth to have been in an
unquiet state, from remote geological, times to the
present ; and that while he so often stands amid
stratified deposits, on ancient sea-bottoms now ele-
vated to various altitudes above the ocean level,
many a region shews that its area has more than
once been beneath that level and above it. Thus,
although a mass of land may now rise above the
level of the sea at the south pole, separated by a
broad band of ocean from other great masses of land
to the northward, producing certain effects as regards
the climate of that part of the globe, and the north-
em polar regions are otherwise circumstanced, it by
no means follows that such has always been the case,
even in more recent geological times. If we change
the conditions of the two polar regions, a difference
of results is obtained, of an important geological cha-
racter." Mr. Darwin thus skilfully sketches it :
" On this supposition, in the southern provinces of
France, magnificent forests, entwined by arborescent
grasses, and the trees loaded with parasitical plants,
would cover the face of the country. In the latitude
of Mont Blanc, but on an island far eastward as cen-

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484

tral Siberia, true ferns and parasitical orchideae
would thrive amidst the thick woods. Even as far
north as central Denmark, humming birds might be
seen flutlering around delicate flowers, and parrots
feeding amidst the evergreen woods, with which the
mountains would be clothed to the water's edge.
Nevertheless, the southern part of Scotland — only
removed twice as far to the eastward — would pre-
sent an island, almost wholly covered with everlast-
ing snow, and having each bay terminated by ice-
cliffs, from which great masses, yearly detached,
would sometimes bear with them fragments of rock.
This island would only boast of one land-bird* and a
little grass and moss ; yet, in the same latitude, the
sea might swarm with living creatures. A chain of
mountains running north and south through the
Alps, (but having an altitude much inferior to the
latter,) would connect them with the central part of
Denmark. Along this whole line, nearly every
deep sound would end in bold and astonishing gla-
ciers. In the Alps themselves, with their altitude
reduced by one-half, we should find proofs of recent
elevations, and occasionally terrible earthquakes
would cause such masses of ice to be precipitated
into the sea ; that waves, tearing all before them,
would heap together enormous fragments, and pile
them up in the corners of the valleys. At other
times, ice-bergs, charged with no inconsiderable
blocks of granite, would be floated from the flanks of

486

Mont Blanc, and then stretched in the out-lying
islands of the Jura. "Who, then, will deny the pos-
sibility of these things having taken place in Europe
during a former period, andunder these circumstances
known to he different from the present^ when, on
merely looking to the other hemisphere, we see they
are under the daily order of events. The island
groups situated in the southern part of Norway, and
others in thr* of Faroe, in the middle of summer
would be buried under snow and surrounded by
walls of ice, so that scarcely a living thing of any
kind would be supported on the land.

Hitherto, continues De La Beech, we have re-
garded these alterations of level, as slowly pro-
duced, so that the changes, of whatever kind, were
gradual, causing no sudden alteration of conditions.
This, however, is very far from necessary in geolo-
gical reasoning, there being evidence connected not
only with actual mountain ranges, but also with
many a district wherein the rocks are broken and
contorted, which would lead us to infer, with every
allowance for the repeated effects resulting from the
repeated application of minor forces, that consider-
able forces had often been suddenly called into action.
When we carefully analyse the facts which pertain
to this great period, it is not going too far to declare
that there are the strongest reasons for inferring
that we discover the witnesses to that time when it

is said that the earth was void and without form,
3p

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^ii

B:

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4^6

buried beneath a wide-spread ocean, and covered
with glacial ice to a considerable extent ; and, with
Mr. Darwin, we may view the drift period ? the
close of the great tertiary era of geologists.* In that
period there was much dry land in the northern
hemisphere, and multitudes of large animals, now
extinct, inhabited it, apparently under a climate
milder than now. Great changes, however, took
place in the relative positions of land and water,
inducing yery important changes of climate, which
became finally of an almost arctic character over
almost all the present temperate regions. Then the
greater part of northern Europe and Asia appear to
have subsided beneath the waters of the boulder-
bearing semi-arctic ocean, until raised again by the
fiat of the Creator, to be the abode of man and ani-
mals of the modern earth.

With these facts before us, how can we accept the
doctrine of the preservation of part of the life of the
time : there could not have been a geographical home
for animals or plants. The question of the re-intro-
ductioii of animal and vegetable life, has been deter-
mined, however, satisfactorily in the affirmative, from
evidence already existing and discovered by geolo-
gists, and by the important labours of Prof. Owen, and
the accomplished anatomist Dr. Knox. We have
already partly anticipated the evidence of the re-
introduction of forms, and refer back to those illus-

* St. Gregory, of Nyssa, says that such an idea -was current in early times.

487

rrent in early times.

trations in Book II., ^^ which bear upon the question ;
we now particularly discuss the subject, in connex-
ion with the admission of there being an essential
difference betwecL me quaternary, or human epoch,
and the tertiary, which at its close had many forms
which are closely related to those of the present
creation. Before, however, we cite the instances
of re-introduction of animals inhabiting the sea,
furnished by our distinguished countryman, Prof.
Owen, it will be well to quote the generalisations
of Dr. Knox, whose opinions, as those of a most
laborious and scientific anatomist, are universally
held in respect. By dissection, he says, the dead are
analysed or reduced to certain assemblages of or-
gans, holding relations, often mechanical, to each
other. They all perform certain functions, some of
which have been imperfectly guessed at ; made out
in a coarse way : organs of locomotion exist — bones,
ligaments, joints, muscles, or flesh ; organs of sensa-
tion, and thought, and will — the brain and spinal
marrow, the nerves ; organs of digestion and assi-
milation— the stomach and digestive tube, and their
appendages ; lastly, organs of breathing, essential to
life — the lungs, by which we draw from the air the
breath of life. Blood-vessels acted on by a heart,
carry the blood through the frame. Out of this
vital fluid the body is constructed, repaired, formed.
Now if we select any one of these organs, or sets of
organs, we we shall find that, in one shape or ano-

I ■;..

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488

ther, it extends through the whole range of verte-
brate animals, most probably through the entire
range of animal life, but under a shape or form no
longer recognisable by our senses. A few instances
will suffice to explain this. There is no occasion for
any minute or technical exposition of facts, which
are, as it were, on the surface. Let us first turn our
attention to the skeleton. Not that this assemblage
of levers proves better than any other set of organs
the unity of structure, the unity of organisation
sought to be superadded by the German and
Slavonian philosophy, to the unity of plan laid
down by Newton ; I do not even think so well ;
but it presents materials easier to be handled,
easier to be inspected, obtained, and easier under-
stood.

The basis of the skeleton, whether mere animal
or man, is a series of bones jointed or articulated
with each other. In common language it is called
the back-bone. You see how violently inaccurate
such a term is, when applied to a series of bones
perfectly distinct from each other, possessing most
of them a distinct mobility. These bones we call
vertebra. When studied by the surgeon or medical
man, it is viewed by him merely as a portion of the
skeleton ; to the philosophic anatomist it becomes the
type of all vertebrate animals, of the entire skeleton,
limbs and head included ; or the organic world,
vertebrate and invertebrate. Carried further, it

489

possesses the form of the primitive cell ; of the
sphere ; of the universe.

Now study this bone in man — it appears sim-
ple, but it is not so. Originally, that is, in the young,
composed of many distinct portions, which afterwards
unite with each other, but which remaining distinct
in many animals, as in fishes, proves to us, that
throughout the whole range of animals so formed,
the vertebrae do not really differ so much from each
other as might at first appear : that, in fact, the ele-
ments forming them seem the same almost numeri-
cally, giving rise to the well grounded belief, that,
in the embryo, the elements of the skeleton may be,
after all, the same in every animal. From man to
the "vhale, all is alike ; one theory explains all ; one
idea or plan pervades all.

Let us trace this chain of bones upwards and
downwards ; see how downwards (coccygeal verte-
brae) certain elements cease to be developed, or do
not grow : still the plan is the same ; identical ;
analogous, as regards the individual, that is, repeat-
ed ; homologous or identical, as re^p^ds one animal
compared with another. Look to this section of the
skeleton, called the head ; the bones seem widely
different from the vertebrae ; but it is not so. They
are merely vertebras, repeated, upon a larger scale
as^aaybe required: a chain of vertebrae form, then,
the head or cranium. These great truths we owe
exclusively to the illustrious South German and

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490

Slavonian schools of transcendental anatomy ; to
C\'ii. and Spix, Autenrieth, Frank, Goethe, and a
host oi others. ''^'' "' '"

A vertebra must have a type ; that is, a plan,
sufficiently comprehensive to include all forms of
vertebrae. Now where is this to be found ? Is it
an ideal type not yet discovered ? Or is it to be
found in any extinct or living animal? I apprehend
that it may or it may not have been found, but this in
no way interferes with the principle that there must
be a type laid down by nature ; eternal ; equal to all
manifestations of form, extinct or living, or to come.

But the discovery of such a type could 6nly be
made were the anatomy of all animals that ever lived
known to us ; perhaps not even then, for the future
must be wrapt up in the past ; and what seems to
us now a mere speck of bone, a nucleus, a point
unimportant, nay, scarcely discernible, may, in a
future order of things, become an all-important ele-
ment. As thus : —

If birds did not exist, we could scarcely conceive
the high organisation to which the third eyelid, in
man a mere rudiment, attains in them. Not wanted
in man, the organ sinks to its rudimentary and
scarcely pnrceptible condition. Of essential service
in birds, it suddenly acquires its seemingly highest
developement. Yet the organ was always present,
rudimentary in one, developed in the other. Let us
take another instance.

491

latomy, to
DC the, and a

t is, a plan,
all forms of
3und ? Is it
)r is it to be
I apprehend
id, but this in
at there must
; equal to all
T, or to come,
jould 6nlybe
tiat ever lived
for the future
^hat seems to
eleus, a point
le, may, in a
mportant ele-

Icely conceive
jird eyelid, in
Not vyanted
jimentary and
lential service
lingly highest
^ays present,
>ther. Let us

The adult, or grown-up man, has, as you all no
donbt know, three bones to each toe, with the ex-
ception of the first ; these three bones are connected
to each other, and to the metatarsal bone, their sup-
porters, by three joints. In the feet of birds you
meet with four or five bones in certain of the toes ;
and it might seem to you that the feet of birds were
formed on a different numerical plan, at least ; but
it is not so : for in man, as in birds, each digital
bone is formed of two elements, or distinct bones, at
first, that is, in the young of each : as the bird grows
up, they remain distinct — in man, on the contrary,
they unite — that is all. The arrangement is not only
analogous, but homologous or identical, in the strict-
est sense of the terms.

Again, remember that a thousand similar in-
stances might be given : I merely select a few of the
easiest understood.

In man there is a little cartilage, scarcely per-
ceptible, connected to one of those bones occupying
the nostrils, called turbinated bones. It may or
it may not in him serve any purpose ; that is a
matter of pure indifference. It is a rudimentary and
a useless organ seemingly. Now, mark the exten-
sion and developement of this cartilage or organ in
tlie horse — still more in the whale ; in the horse,
where it most admirably serves to shut off the great
cavities of the nostrils from the vestibular cavities
1 front — thus protecting them from foreign bodies :

n

492

in the whale, acquiring their presumed highest de-
velopement, these cartilages, now grown to the size
of bolsters, return after breathing, into the vast nos-
trils of the whale from which tL^y had been momen-
tarily withdrawn, filling them up, sealing them her-
metically against the pressure of a thousand fathoms
deep of water, which they sustain with ease, when,
plunging into the vast abyss of the ocean, the giant
of nature seeks to avoid his enemies.

Let us now briefly review the progress we have
made in this the highest of all analyses : deepest of
all theories : most important to man. Man, we have
seen, stands not alone, he is one of many; apart
and parcel of the organic world, from all eternity.
That organic world is the product of secondary
causes. (?) During his growth he undergoes numerous
metamorphoses, too numerous even for the human
imagination. These have a relation to the organic
world. They embrace the entire range of organic
life, from the beginning to the end of time. Nature
can have no double systems j no amendments or
second thoughts ; no exceptional laws. Eternal and
unchanging, the orbs move in their spheres precisely
as they did millions of years ago. Proceeding, as
it were, from an invisible point endowed with life,
he passes rapidly, at first, through many forms, all
resembling, more or less, either different races of I
men from his own, or animals lower in the scale of j
being ; or beings which do not now exist, though

493

they probably once did, or may at some future time.
When his developement is imperfect, it represents
then some form, resembling the inferior races of
men, or animals still lower in the scale of being.
Moreover, what is irregular in him is the regular
structure in some other class of animals. Take for
example the webbed hand or foot occasionally found
in man, constant in certain animals — as in the otter
and beaver ; constant also in the human foetus, that
is, the child before birth. Take, for example, the
cuticular fold at the inner angle of the eye, so com-
mon with the Esquimaux and Bosjesman or Hotten-
tot, (the corresponding yellow races of the northern
and southern hemispheres,) so rare in the European,
but existing in every foetus of every race. Nor let
it be forgotten that forms exist in the human foetus
which have nothing human in them in the strictest
sense of the term ; that the foetus of the negro does
not, as has been stated, resemble the foetus of the
European, but that the latter resemble the former,
all the more resembling the nearer they are to the
embryonic condition. Unity of structure, unity of
organisation, unity of life, at the commencement of
time, whether measured by the organic world or by
the duration of individual life. This is the law.

The relation of species to genus also merits our
deepest attention.

My iirst observations were made on animals low

in the scale of the vertebrata — on fishes, in fact. I
3q

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iSMllMHafc;

";' . . 494

selected, as I shall presently more fully explain,
the natural family of the salmonidae, as the one to
which I had given most attention. In the young of
the true salmon I found the specific characters of al!
the sub-families of the genus present ; that is, red
spots, dark spots of several kinds, silvery scales,
proportions, and a dentition identical. The young
fisb before me was, in fact, a generic animal, includ-
ing within it the specific characters of all the species
composing the natural family. To connect this gen-
eric animal with any species, you have but to ima-
gine the disappearance of certain characters then
and there present. Nothing requires to be added.
Take, for example, the dentition — the dentition of
the vomer, to which M. Yalenciennes attaches so
much importance, and in which he has endeavoured
to discover the true distinguishing characters of the
three sub-families into which that distinguished natu-
ralist subdivides the salmonidae. Look at these
vomerine teeth in the young of any of the species—
that is, as I view it, in the generic animal, and in
the adult of all the species, that is, in the animal
specialised — and we shall find that the generic animal
possesses a dentition embracing all the characters by
which the fully-developed individuals are afterwards
to be recognised. But it is the young alone wliicli
comprises all, combines with the anterior group of
teeth (teeth of the chevron) a double row on the
body of the vomer, which row, becoming in due

m

495

Uy explain,
ts the one to
the young of
racters of all
; that is, red
[very scales,
The young
limal, includ-
11 the species
lect this gen-
e but to ima-
aracters then
to be kdded.
.e dentition of
s attaches so
1 endeavoured
iracters of the
guished natu-
iOok at these
the species—
mnal, and in
n the animal
generic animal
characters by
ire afterwards
alone whicli
erior group of
e row on the
joming in due

time single, characterises, according to M. Valen-
ciennes, the adult of the sub-family forelle, or, dis-
appearing altogether, marks the true salmon when
adult, the common trout growing up with the denti-
tion of the generic animal. The primitive type,
then, is not lost, as M. Yalenciennes seems to have
supposed, but is retained in one species at least of
the natural family. Af ith the dentition, so with
the colouration and proportions : and thus the law
of generation being generic, and not specific, marks
the extent of the natural family, its unity in time
and space, the fixity of its species, the destruction
of some and the appearance of others being but the
■ !tory, not of successive creations, but of one deve-
lopement, extending through millions of years,
countless as the stars of the firmament.

I'Ook now at the colt a few months old as it
gambols through the fields, o-nd say, does it resem-
ble the domestic animal from which it is sprung, in
colour, proportions, movements, attitudes ? Not in
the least. Its colour is a rich deep fawn, to be found
only amongst the wilde ; in its proportions it resem-
bles the quagga or zebra, and as it canters along, its
rocking-horse motion and short frisking tail recall
to the mind scenes only to be seen in Southern
Africa, on the plains of the Koonap, or the slopes of
the Winterbergen, where roams the wild horse, to
which this youno; of a domestic horse bears the
strongest resemblance. The obvious inference is,

i : II

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f

f'!'

496

that even in animals so high in the scale of mammals
as the solidungula, the young is a generic animal,
including in it the colour, proportions, movements,
and habits of the genus or natural family of all its
species, wherever placed, and representing, more
especially in this instance, a wild species of that
family, never domesticated or subdued by man.
Even here, where we should expect specific and
other influences to have told strougly on the product
— that is, the young, we find the generic law to be
in full force, and that the young of the domestic
horse resembles a species peculiar to another region
of the earth. The natural family, then, of the solid-
ungula embraces in the young of each species all the
forms which it, the genus, can or has assumed on
the earth. The quagga and the zebra may become
extinct ; but their forms remain in the generic young
of whatever species still lives. The fossil horse
belonged, no doubt, to the same family ; as the ex-
terior is lost, the precise species cannot now be
determined. That he belonged to any species now
living I do not believe ; but he was of the family,
and may appear again. Thus the successive appear-
ance of new forms or species is no new creation,
but merely the developement of forms already ex-
isting in every natural family. The extinction of
species which has gone on through millions of years
has led some to the belief that nature hastens on-
wards to the extinction of life on the globe. It is

497

possible ; but I lean to the opposite opinion, believ-
ing that living nature will have no end. That which
has been may be again, the potentiality existing in
every species of every natural family ; and to this
creed point the infinite affiliations of germs, not con-
fined to natural families, but extending to all that
lives. These are speculations on which I do not
enter. Primordial forms are visible in all germs ;
the germs themselves must be eternal

If we enquire into the law of generic forms
lower in the scale, as in fishes, to which I have just
alluded, we find still stronger confirmation of the
point I now seek to determine. The natural family
of the salmonidae, as the one with which I am best
acquainted, was that fixed on for the enquiry. Look
at the young salmon when but a few inches in length,
and you will find that in its dentition, colouring, and
proportions, it is not a specific, but a generic — i. e.,
it possesses (and is therefore perfect) all the natural
history characteristics of the three sub-families into
which the salmonidae have been divided. At first,
for example, its dentition is the type of the common
trout ; as it grows it assumes the character which we
find to prevail in some of the forelle or sea-trout.
Lastly, it assumes the true salmon dentition ; but
that which especially merits attention is, that the
original type of the generic being is of a character
so ample as to embrace all possible forms which the
dentition can assume in any species of that natural

1^'

I ■ I

! ?>:

■■ : i

-^

498

family. Nothing is wanting ; nothing new appears:
nothing has ^ be supplied ; all is foreseen ; all pro-
vided for. To institute a species, all that is required
is to omit, or cause to disappear, or cease to grow,
some parts of the organ or apparatus already exist-
ing in the generic being. In every natural family
there is a species which bears, to the generic animal,
that is, to the young, a stronger resemblance than

■4 any other. In the salmonidae it is the common trout
of freshwater rivers, but there may be others. In
the solipede it seems to be the quagga of Southern

£ Africa.

We can by no means accept Dr. Knox's specillations
on the eternity of the material universe, since the facts
of geology afford a complete refutation of his idea
of continuous descent. We are therefore released
from the duty of adducing m this place any argu-
ments to subvert his theories on this bead. Profs.
Owen and Agassiz both ignore the possibility of
connecting the extinct with present races, by lineal
series. With this caution, Dr. Knox's conclu-
sions and observations, carried on carefully for
some time in the class fish, entirely corroborate
and explain why we should expect to find the
re-introduction of extinct forms, either with some
variations, or as transitory forms, which idealise
their connexion with the past, and furnish cogent
proof that the same Divine Mind has been ever
engaged in the works of nature. In his Notes to

499

Milne Edwards' Manual of Zoology he says : ' ' These
deductions are alike interesting to the philosopher
and more simple believer ; they do most clearly
indicate a future, and point to that higher state, to
which it needed that revelation should conduct us."
In strict accordance with Dr. Knox's, are the con-
clusions of Prof. Owen ; and an examination of his
" British Fossil Mammals and Birds" will satisfy us,
that even in the class fish there is enough to shew
that M. Agassiz's doubts and difficulties are set
aside by the fact, that even among the higher aqua-
tic animals, re-introduction has been effected.

The evidence with regard to tae whale family
is clear ; and in summing it up, Prof. Owen says :
"We have four species of cetacea referrable by
the form of the tympanyc bones to the whale
family, but distinct from all known existing spe-
cies of that family, are more definitoly indicated
by the remarkable fossils termed cetotolites ; and it
is not improbable that these and the teeth may have
been parts of the same cetaceous animals . We know
that the great whale-bone whales of the present day,
before their jaws acquire the peculiar array of baleen-
plates, manifest a true dental system, although the
foetal teeth are transitory, and never destine 1 to cut
the gum ; and as the embryos of existing ruminants
feebly and evanescently manifest in the dark womb,
by their upper incisors, their divided canon bones,
and boneless forehead, the mature and persistent

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600

characters of their ancient predecessors, the anaplo-
theria, so may the equally ancient whales of the
eocene seas have retained and fully developed
those maxillary teeth, which are transitory and
functionless in the existing species." ,

Both, then, Messrs. Owen and Knox testify to the
restoration of forms, and adduce the strongest rea-
sons for believing, that in order to preserve the
harmony of the plan of creation, re-constructions
not only have been, but must have been effected.
So far from the class fish forming any valid objec-
tion to the doctrine, as stated above, it would
be most difl&cult to believe that there was one
law which had reference to land animals, and
another to fish. We discover so undeviating an
adherence to the plan of creation, as laid down
in "the beginning," that we are almost tempted
with Dr. Knox to say, that strictly, there cannot
be said to be a new creation, but the unfolding
and reaching forward to the exhausting in per-
fection that Divine conception which first ushered
into existence the material universe. All is grand,
all significant of an end to come, all wonderful, all
declaratory of a Supreme, Intelligent Mind, as we
stand on the cold ruins of the glacial world, and look
back on the past. It is not until we turn our thoughts
from this crash of matter and wreck of worlds, and
scan the renovated earth, as it exists in the present
age, that the hitherto incomprehensible beuomes

601

open to comprehension ; and man, the last oorn of
earth, crowns His Maker's work, and, in the lineage
of that Maker, declares a new creation indeed to
have been accomplished, a moral and religious uni-
verse to have been fashioned. Praise, adoration,
dominion, and power, is chanted to heaven ; thanks-
giving and great glory are rendered by a race of
beings having the high gift of reason, and immortal
by the breath of Him who is immortality. Having,
then, been endowed with faculties and powers trans-
cending far all the creatures of his time, man sums
up in himself all the excellencies and powers of
earthly creations, and in his more pure and exalted
condition, as well as in his depressed and more animal
existence, plainly discovers that a future lies before
him. We know that his advent on earth has been
the last of the creations ; and experience illustrates
the high dominion which he exercises over all the
world. Created in perfection, he left his Maker's
hands endowed with knowledge ; and if in his
singular history there be lamentation, and mourn-
ing, and woe, ne^^ertheless the purport of his exis-
tence is not changed, and the Great Creator who has
not left Himself without witness, has never quenched
the sacrifice — ceased to demand worship from, or
utterly cast off, the work ^of His hands. And
now after ages have passed, and families have be-
come nations, when we try to trace back the

parentage of each, nowhere do we find the birth to
3r

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r*^

502

Fist?
liili

'W

be in ignorance, but at once the earliest and best
known are the wise ones of the earth ; and when
we do encounter fools, they are the degraded aud
rebellious oflf-shoots of intelligent sires. The his-
tory of man affords conclusive evidence of the
wisdom and goodness of Jehovah ; and although
there may be much in that history which is difficult
to understand, yet enough may be disclosed to
satisfy us, that as children of one family, we have
a common Creator and God ; whom to serve is the
highest privilege ; to worship, the greatest delight.
Strange, then, is it to find a being so highly gifted
prostituting those very gifts, and instead of |the one
family uniting in one common union of good, they
l;iave basely permitted a diversity of evil to pervert
and mar their happiness. Mind and body alike have
become corrupt ; and each, shut up in the spheres of
their own degradation, have become centres from
whence flow, in rapid descent, the accumulating con-
sequences of vice. Such are the divisions at the pre-
sent time, and so complete the isolation of races, that
strong temptation inclines the more intellectual and
civilised to suppose their fallen and brutalised kindred
to be members of another stock. Swift is declen-
sion : deterioration rapidly supervenes on the fall
from civilisation. The time which has elapsed
since the creation of man has sufficed to bring him
under the influence of those external circumstances
^hich surround him : and these, together with the

503

laws of his own nature, have wrought changes such
as are found to distinguish men from each other, and
to enable them to be designated by the regions
which they severally inhabit. Here, as in the his-
tory of the world, we have to seek for information
from recorded history ; and it is a duty to interro-
gate its pages deeply, and to leave speculation en-
tirely to those points on which the past is silent,
la contemplating the history of man, we are study-
ing a creature who is the object of a moral and
religious government, and whose duty lies in obe-
dience to its laws, and the perfecting himself for the
enjoyment of an eternity of bliss.

His advent on earth was, it must be admitted, the
commencement of a new era in the work of creation
-the formation of a being possessing Grod-like attri-
butes ; capable of understanding the supreme wis-
dom and goodness of his Maker, and endowed with
a capacity to receive increased happiness, having
that within him which may hold converse with
truths that sense has never given and never could
give : with truths that are real, manifesting them^
selves in our conscious intelligence as the images
of eternal realities centring in God. It was the
constitution of such a being that formed the link
which connected the creation of the earth with holier
creations in heaven. He is nevertheless of the earth,
earthy ! The material fabric, conjoined with com-
pound essential indwelling realities, constituting him

H

504

R

('!•■ ■'

a compound creature, on the one hand related to
earth-born beings of his own time — to the world of
which they both form a part, and to that Supreme
Spirit who breathed upon him that breath of immor-
tality which can never be quenched. Thus, if the
genius of an Owen, an Agassiz, and a Knox> has
taught us to read in the members of an organic crea-
tion, a continuous striving after perfection : if, in
the exterior framework, type and ante-type are
given, no less in the " life" which has been conjoined
to these perpetual re-orderings of the material fabric,
do we discover unmistakeable reachings forward to
that " ideal perfection," which culminated in that
Being who, cradled among the beasts of the earth,
taught us to despise nothing created ; and who,
sanctifying our nature, and by the sinless purity of
His all-holy life, left humanity a witness of the essen-
tial meaning of that life, and by His glorious death
convinces the child of flesh of the end of his crea-
tion— an eternity of good.

Because, therefore, we discover at various points
of the earth, varieties of men adapted to conditions
of climate and other circumstances, we are not there-
by justified in drawing the conclusion that each of
these respective families is a separate race, created
at the spot on which we find them ; thus cutting off
nations of men from the connexion which a common
humanity gives, with the sacrifice of its redemption.
On the contrary, the family of man is lineally de-

605

scended from one original pair, and there is enough
in the history of the past, as well as of the present,
to illustrate the proposition and to maintain its truth-
fulness.

We may adduce, in the first place, the organisa-
tion of man, as a proof of the unity of the race ; and,
secondly, his life or inner nature. We believo
that there can be no objection urged against the ad-
mission of what seems to bo a self-evident fact, that
the organ through which the inner man, or the spi-
rit, holds communion with the world without, is the
brain — that curious mass of pulpy neurinc, with 'is
blood-vessels and web of tissue, which is so adiiija-
bly packed in the bone case of the skull The es-
sential man, through this organ — as through a lens
—looks out upon the worlds of matter and spirit,
and reads from its photographic surface those im-
pressions which may come from without ; while,
by his consciousness — his reason — he brings forth
thoughts, and manifests them through the instru-
ments of sense and thought ; all which may have
been enregistered within. Brii this organ, like
every other organic instrument, is developed by
the proper discharge of its fanctions ; and, like any
other vitalised mechanism, will display those qua-
lities best which it has most cultivated. Is the
brain less admirably fitted for the discharge of
its functions than the hand, beautiful and exqui-
sitely formed as that instrument is, for the perform-

606

ance of its functions and offices ? On the contrary,
it is admitted that the intellectual and moral condi-
tions of mankind are in accordance with the degrees
of perfection to which the brain is developed, and in
proportion to the exercise which the instrument
undergoes is its increase in power and size. This is
particularly noticed in the case of idiots, who, al-
though possessing a degraded brain, nevertheless, by
education, have their condition raised, and in some
instances perfectly developed, affording also strong
evidence of the independence of mind ; for, from the
lowest state of human developement, the creature
may be raised to a higher ; while, in the chimpanzee
and ape, no amount of education can bestow the gift
of reason, as we shall presently shew.

It is not yet a quarter of a century since Great
Britain liberated from slavery a portion of the
human family, which for ages, even in their own
land, lived under most savage bondage, and yet no
unprejudiced mind can refuse to acknowledge the
rapid change which is passing over the African race
settled in the West Indian islands. Education has
only been partially accepted by them, or rather but
lately generally introduced ; and it is only among
any considerable number of the rising generation
that it is upon a large scale acting. Still a number
of the last or present adult population have been
educated, and from their ranks may be taken men
as intelligent and well-informed as are to be found

607

le contrary,
[Oral condi-
tlie degrees
►ped, and in
instrument
ze. This is
its, who, al-
3rtheless, by
and in some
; also strong
for, from the
the creature
5 chimpiinzee
(Stow the gift

since Great
'tion of the
in their own
!, and yet no
lowledge the
irican race
lucation has
►r rather but
I only among

generation
ill a number

have been
le taken men

to be found

in general society in this country ; and a few in
the senate and in the professions, are deservedly
esteemed. To one who visits the islands after an
absence of some years, the changes in physiognomy
and in the cranium are marked and evident ; and,
taking the people of the island of Barbadoes as illus-
trative, it may safely be affirmed that the truly Afri-
can cast of head and face is becoming more and more
obliterated. As these people ascend to higher forms
of character, both moral and intellectual, so do the
anterior parts of the head and the projecting lower
jaw become less palpable ; so that, in very many of the
better class of black men, the European type is ap-
proximated. There are influences at work, no doubt,
besides education, which in these, as in every other
race, bring about improvement, and one of the
principal of these is an absence of that complete
isolation of classes, which is one of the greatest bar-
riers to imrrovement in the tribal families of man
settled in Asia, Africa, and North and South Ame-
rica. The constant admixture of the same blood and
mind, ages of education in the same evil habits, have
had their legitimate influence on these wild races of
men ; but the African in the West Indies, under
the influence of European civilis.^ :ion, and by an
infusion of European blood, has been and is very
materially improved, and should the same causes
contmue in operation, there can be no doubt but
that in a comparatively short time a radical change

it

r

m

508

will be effected. Mr. Squier remarks, that the
Indian or aboriginal element preponderates in the
population of Central America. The population of
Honduras forms no exception to this remark ; and
in some districts of the state, it is diflBcult to say if
the whites have assimilated most to the Indians, or
the Indians to the whites. So will it be in the West
Indies ; and, from the disproportion of numbers, it
is more than probable that some time will elapse
ere a mixed race will be established, partaking of
the properties of the two families which are now
existing separately. It is evident that continued
education, coupled with a superior mental conform-
ation, are also influential in improving the standard
of character in a people, and, vice versa, an inter-
mixture of bad qualities, certain to produce a vicious
influence. The older races of Europe, and portions
of Asia, afford evideiJoc of the former, while the
Carib race and its mixture with African blood, is a
standing evidence of the latter. In each and in all
these instances, it is the " mind" of man in action,
influencing and directing his very physical conform-
ation. The reason degrading or elevating the body,
in proportion to its state ; and isolated peopi' isa
rule, degenerate, and are displaced by the more ag-
gressive and intelligent. Dr. Latham illustrates this
with his usual skill : after an account of the existing
groups in Europe, he adds, "the displacements effect-
ed by the different European populations, one with

609

another, have been numerous. See how the Saxons
overran England ; the Romans, Spain and Gaul. How
do we know that some small stock was not annihil-
ated here ? History, it may be ^said, tells us the
contrary. From history we learn that all the ancient
Spaniards were allied to the ancestors of the Basques,
all Gaul to those of the Britons, all England to those
of the Welsh. Granted. But what does history
tell us of Bavaria, Styria, the valley of the Po, or
ancient Thrace? In all these parts the present
population is known to be recent, and the older
known next to not at all. The reconstruction of the
original populations of such areas as these, is one of
the highest problems in ethnology. To what did
they belong ? an existing stock more widely extend-
ed than now, or a fresh stock altogether ? My own
belief is, that the number of European stocks, for
which there is an amount of evidence suflBcient to
make their extinction a reasonable doctrine, is two
—two, and no more ; and even with these, the doc-
trine of their extinction is only reasonable. The
old Etruscans are the first of these ; the Pelasgi, the
second. I have used the word extinction; I must
now qualify it, reminding the reader that this very
qualification introduces a new and difficult subject.
Extinction often means no more than the abolition
QUhe outward and visible signs of ethnological differ-
ence, A negro marries a white : in the fourth, fifth,

sixth or seventh generation, as the case may be, his
3s

I II I' s

610

descendant is, to all intents and purposes, a white
man. Yet the negro blood is not extinguished ; it
exists, though in small proportions. Again, a Cor-
nish man loses his native language, and speaks Eng-
lish as his mother tongue. Many generations before
he did this, he differed from the Englishman iu
speech only. Is his British blood extinguished?
No. The chief sign of it has been lost, that is all.
So that stocks may intermix, and stocks may lose
their characteristics."

Similar testimony to the diffusion of races, coupled
with improvement generally, is abundantly gathered
from Mortor's Crania Americana, and a long list of
mixed races constitute the sum of his observations ;
and when it is supposed that wc are just going to
alight on the nidus of some aboriginal stock or cen-
tre, we only lea^.i that the oldest known race has
been preceded by an older unknown one, which was
itself preceded by — we know not what. Thus, in
the cases of the Egyptian and Peruvian, Dr. Morton
declares that they were both preceded by a different
people, and, in the case of the latter, Recognised the
change to have been within a thousand years ; and
in the case of the Copts, he says, " The Copts are
supposed by Niebuhr, Dennon, and others, to be the
descendants of the ancient Egyptians ; and it has
often been observed that a strong resemblance may
be traced between the Coptic visage, and that pre-
sented in the ancient mummies, paintings and sta-

V 'I

611

tues : hut it is in vain that we hokfor absolute ideti'
iity in a country that has groaned in bondage for two
thousand years. The Persians, the Greeks, the
Romans, the Arabians, and the Turks, have succes-
sively held dominion in this fated valley, and sub-
jected it in turn to every species of oppression.
The Copts, therefore, can be at most but the degen-
erate remains, both physically and intellectually, of
that mighty people who have claimed the admiration
of all ages. The great mass of the present Egyptian
population is composed of a mixed race of Copts and
Arabs, who are called Moslem-Egyptians^ or Fellahs.
They are handsomer than the pure Copts." If these
are facts applicable to the Egyptian family, what
reason have we to withhold the application of paral-
lel facts in the case of the African, both as regards
his external conformation, and his mental state ? Is
continuous slavery and mental degradation to be
urged as an effective argument of persistence of typo
itt one case, and not in the other? Dr. Latham, in
discussing the history of the British people, remarks,
"In those tombs where the implements are most
exclusively of stone, and where the Oiher signs of
antiquity correspond, the skulls are of unusually
small capacity. In the nex'^ period they are larger.
There are also some notable poi^^ts of difference in
the shape. How far is the introduction of meC
iastruments and of new arts a sign of the introduc-
tion of a fresh stock or variety of the human species ?

■i^

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512

How far, too, is the difference in the capacity of the
skulls 1 How far the fact of the two changes coin-
ciding? .-'■;■; li ^ .,.• -

'The men who used instrumeittw oi bronze were
Kelts ; the men who eked out their existence with
nothing better than adzes and arcow-heaci? of stone,
were other than Keitic. rhey were aatc-Keltic
aborigiiies, whora a Keitic migration annihilated and
superfioded. Such is the widoly-spread •^octrine.
Yet it is doubtful wheiher the promiseis bear out the
inference ; admitting thut there i.^ i difference in
the sizp. and shape of the skulls, it by no means fol-
lows that a difference of stock is the only tway of
accounting for it. Improved implements, taken hy
themselves, merely denote either a progress in the
arts, or, what is more likely, some new commercial
relations. From analogy, as well as from the facts
of history, we rather incline to the belief that the
improvement was effected by migration ; but be this
as it may, there are numerous instances to prove
not only improvement or change of cranium with
corresponding peculiarity of employment, but also
to shew the same or like changes consequent on an
intermixture of blood. These circumstances alone
are enough to upset the dogma of those who ascribe
hybridity to the offspring of two most remote fami-
lies, and with a little trou^
be adduced to contradir
Morton, again, in m io< jus passages, refutes the

- positive evidence could
\.3 assertion altogether.

613

m

position, and, as an example, we may take the fol-
lowing : " In the immediate vicinity of Mount Atlas
the distinctions of race are often altogether confound-
ed, owing to the proximity of negro tribes. Thus,
the Tibboos are nearly black, and have long wiry
hair — intermediate between that of the Tuarick and
the negro ; yet their features are good, and their
forms delicately and even beautifully moulded." In
Hayti or St. Domingo, the mulatto are a class, and
maintain their numbers ; and, in the West India
islands, they are an advancing and intelligent peo-
ple, raising themselves rapidly to the best and high-
est positions. Surely, then, if the mind of man acts
through a material organ, it ia not wonderful to tind
the cranium undergoing a change of form in corres-
pondence with the higher or lower estimates of the
scale of reason.

Man, as part of the plan of creation, is in his body
allied to creatures below him, but yet is distinct and
peculiar. A comparison of the skeletons of the chim-
panzee and man, will shew the decided differences
which exist between them ; a creature, no doubt, Agas^
siz would consider, his prophetic type ; an animal
approaching him in some of his great characteristics,
but yet placed at a decided interval from even his
' '^ f^si Hues , and when his mental endowments are
considered, Vi^. gap is widened considerably, for it
is not ill any one anim? \ that we discover approaches
him, in some wondrous instinctive qualities, but

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614

5 ;

the manifestation is in several,
and in some low in the scale.
Although the chim;^anzee, in
its organisation, bears a strik-
ing resemblance to man, it is
separated from him decidedly, as
the accurate investigations of
modern anatomists sufficiently
prove. Tyson, Camper, Blu-
menbach, Cuvier, Lawrence,
and especially Owen, have set
that question at rest. " Certain
modifications," observes the
last-mentioned philosopher, "in
the form of the human pelvis,
have been observed to accom-
pany the different forms of the
cranium which characterise the
diflTerent races of mankind ; bat
CHIMPANZEE. there is nothing in the form of
the pelvis of the Australian or negro, which tends to
diminish the wide hiatus that separates the biraanous
from the quadrumanous type of structure, in regard
to this part of the skeleton. Observation has not
yet shewn that the pelvis of the ourang, in a state of
captivity, undergoes any change approximating it
towards the peculiar form which the same part pre-
sents in the human subject. The idea that the iliac
bones would become expanded and curved forwards,

ill

516

from the preflsatv of
the snperinciiinbent
viscera, conseqiM&t
on habitual attempts
at progression on the
lower extremities, is
merely speculatiye.
Those features of the
cranium of the onr-
angs which stamp
the character of the
irrationalbrutemoBt
strongly upon their
frame, are, however,
of a kind, and the
result of a law, ort-
ginally impr^^ssed
upon the speCiVv:
which cannot be sup-
posed to he modified
jnder any circum'
stances, or during
any lapse of time ;
for what t rial
influence, operating
upon and around
HUMAN SKELETON. "^^ the animal, can pos-
siHv modify in its oflFspring the forms, or filter the
m of the deeply-seated germs of the permanent

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516

teeth ? They exist before the animal is bom ; and
let him improve his thinking faculties as he may,
they must, in obedience to an irresistible law, pass
t)jrri^^.i- the phases of their developement, and in-
diiL^' nose remarkable changes in the maxillary
portions of the skull, which give to the adult ourangs
a more bestial form and expression of head, than
many of the inferior simiae present. It is true that,
in the human enbject, tne cranium varies in its rela-
tive proportions to the face in different tribes, accord-
ing to the degree of civilisation and cerebral devdope-
menl which they attain ; and that in the more debased
Ethiopian varieties and Papuans, the skull makes
some approximation to the qnadrumanous propor-
tions : but in these cases, as well as when the cra-
nium is distorted by artificial ni. ims or by cor anital
malformation, it is always accompanied by a k i of
the jaws, and by a disposition and proportions of t^e
the teeth, whicn afford unfailing and impassable
generic distinctions between man and the ape. To
plac** this ^proposition in the most unexceptionable i
light, we have selected the cranium of a human idiot,
in whom nature may be said to have performed for
us the experiment of arresting Ihe vievelopement of
the braic aln. >st exactly at the size which it attains
in the c*^ jprnzee, and where the intellectual facul-
ties were scarcely more developed ; yet no anatom-
ist would hesitate in at once referring this craniom
to the human species. A detailed comparison with
the cranium of the chimp( nzee, or ourang, shews

is born ; and
) as he may,
ale law, pass
lent, and in-
he maxillary
eidult onrangs
of head, than
t is true that,
ies in its rela-
tribes, accord-
ebral devtbpt-
more debased
3 skull rmkes
anous proper-
57hen thecra-
• by cor 3nital
ibyaiv nof
portions of t^e
id impassable
the ape. To
lexceptionable
a human idiot,
performed for
svelopement of
^ich it attains
lUectual facul-
ret no :anatom-
this craniam
mparison viui
)urang, shews

617

that all those charact- arc retained in the idiot's^
skull, which constitute the differential features of the
human structure. The cranial cavity extends down-
wards below the level of the glenoid articulatory*
surfaces. The nasal bones are two in number, and
prominent ; the jaws and teeth exhibit the bimanous
characters as strongly as in the most elevated of the
human race. The cuspidate do not project beyond
the contiguous teeth, and consequently there are no
interruptions in the dental series, as in the ourangs,

when they are required to
lodge the disproportion-
ate crowns of the canine
teeth. No such discrep-
ancies are discovered in
man ; it is impossible to
draw such distinctions be-
CHIBIPANZEE. twecu the several varie-

ties, as will enable the naturalist to declare that no

such relation-
ship or contin-
uous comiexion
exiSkS? between
them, As Prof.
Owenremarks,
their crania dif-
fer in propor-
tion to their in-
OURANG. tellectual dif-

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518

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ferences, and are certainly not greater or more cha-
racteristic than are the varieti; ; of crania in the same
nation ; if we compare, for instance, the crania of men
of one race, not only of varying intellectual states, but

of moral states,
do we not also
find the most de-
cided differences!
Take for instance
the illustrative
sketches : the one
exhibiting a hu-
man heati of Brit-
ish type of aver-
age intellect, and
HUMAN SKULL. the Other the idiot

alluded to by Mr. Owen ; is it not evident in these

V»! :»l'fl'

IDIOT.

extreme cases that the cause of difference is not
fundamental, but accidental from arrest of develope-

iUUVtUAUVlAMW*! ivtov Mrv/«>iV»^US

619

ment ? Just so in the case of the uneducated man
the varieties are begotten by cultivation of certain
dispositions and propensities, to the neglect of others.
In Dr. Combe's work, we have most satisfactory
evidence of this, in the conformation of the skulls of
men distinguished for some peculiar trait of charac-
ter ; and although as-
f ' /^^^^^^ sociation and contact

with a higher civilisa-
tion must have had
some etfeci on the
whole character, yet
in each case no doubt
through neglected
education, or want of
education altogether,
a deteriorating effect on the developement of the
organ of the mind was the consequence. The
above wood-cut represents the head of a crafty and
depraved murderer, in whom it is well seen how
badly developed are the anterior portions of the
brain, while the projecting cheek bones and massive
lower jaw, the width of cranium, from cheek bones
or floor of orbit, to the occipital protruberance,
and the depth of head from the depression or
growth downwards of the floor of the occiput, give
to the man a very animal appearance. Contrast,
again, the diagrams illustrating the peculiar confor-
mation of the heads of a French soldier and a girl,

ARTHUR SPRY.

{■

w

620

il;

whose characters are in strong contrast, and which
are employed by Dr. Combe to shew the charac-

INDIAN CHILD'S SKULL.

*" FRENCH SOLDIER. GIRL.

teristic differences between the English and French
soldier. The French, under the influence of large

combativeness and moderate
cautiousness, make the most
lively and spirited attacks;
but, if steadfastly resisted,
their ardour abiites, and from
deficiency in firmness, yield
to adversity. The British ad-
vance to the assault with coolness and determination,
and, although repulsed, are not discomfited. In the
soldier, the convexity of the base of the occiput is
decided ; in the girl, it is moderate ; in the skull of
the Indian child, it ic more marked, and shews how
quickly the animal passions are developed, whilo the
mental are merely retaining their rudimentary state,
but which were equally developed with the other
parts ; the forehead has not receded yet. Again, is
there a stronger contrast between the heads of a

^tri

621

I ii'* "itti'

HARE. MELANCTHON.

civilised European and a highly intelligent North
American Indian, than there is between the portraits
of Hare, the brutal, cold-blooded assassin, and the
holy-minded, resolute Melancthon and an Indian
—such as Eed-Jacket or Brant ? Which of the two
skulls is most widely separated in point of those
qualities which give dignity and grace to the human
character ; and is it not true that in both the Indian
and christian there is an approximation to cerebral
conformity ? while the British murderer is degraded
to a savage type of existence.

The brain is a mighty instrument, variously adapted
to, and moving but in response to the intelligent will j
and the will, traversing the electric threads of life,
sends its mandates from its imperial throne, and
conveys them, to the most distant members. The

* ••- 1

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622

life of man — like the life of all below him — is, there-
fore, a highly differentiated life. The organ of the
will is step by step evolved in more complex form,
associated with more complex arrangement of faculties,
until at length, in fulfilment of the plan of creation, to
the instinctive qualities of the being are added in the
man those ennobling powers, by which through reason
the spirit holds converse with its God. This being so,
we should expect to find that, wherever mankind
has been for any time settled in one place, or Avhere
they have been separated into isolated groups, varie-
ties in the developement of the head or skull, which
shall indicate in some marked manner the specidl attri-
butes which such isolation may have brought out, will
be manifested. A recent writer, Prof. Meigs, observes,
"If the construction of each and every part of the fa-
bric is in harmony with, and to a certain extent re-
presented in that of all the other parts, as the laws of
th? philosophico-transcendental anatomy seem firmly
lo have established ; it will be evident that the cra-
ninm is the index — so to speak — of the entire eco-
nomy : for the relation between the cranium on the
one hand, and the face, thorax, and abdominal or-
gans, respectively, on the other, or, in other words,
between the cerebral or intellectual lobes of the brain
and the sensory ganglia and nerves, is the relation
of mental powers to animal propensities ; and exactly
upon this relation depends the nature and character
of the individual man. and the family group to which

523

he necessarily belongs." That the brain is deve-
loped in the various classes of animals in accordance
with their special requirements, is admitted by moat
anatomists and physiologists. Prof. Carpenter ob-
serves, " That the cerebrum varies in different classes
and orders of vertebrata, not merely in proportional
size, but also in the relative developement of its ante-
rior, middle, and posterior lobes. The cerebrum of the
oviparous vertebrata is not a minature representa-
tive of that of man as a whole, but only of his ante-
rior lobes ; as is sufficiently obvious from an exami-
iiation of its connexion with other parts, and from
the absence of any commissural connexions between
its two hemispheres, than those which are afforded
by the sensory ganglia. It is in the implacental
mammals that we find the first rudiment of the mid-
dle lobe of the cerebrum, and of the proper inter-
cerebral commissure — the corpus callosum ; and
even in the rodents, this is but very imperfectly
developed. As we ascend the mammalian series,
we find the cerebrum becoming more and more
elongated posteriorly, by the developement of the
middle lobes, and the intercerebral commissure be-
comes more complete : but we must ascend as high
as the carnivora before wo find the least vestige of
the posterior lobes ; and the rudiment which these
possess, and which is enkrged in the quadrumana,
only attains its full developement in man, in whom
alone the posterior lobes extend so far backwards

(^

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624

as to cover completely the cerebellum. The atten-
tion which has yet been given to this department of
the enquiry, has not hitherto done more than confirm
the statement made with regard to the general cor-
respondence between the developement of the cere-
brum, and the manifestation of intelligence ; very
decided evidence of which is furnished by the great
enlargement of cerebrum, and the corresponding
alteration in the form of the crania which present
themselves in those races of dogs most distinguished
for their educability, when compared with those
whose condition approximates most closely to what
was probably their original state of wildness. These
facts are borne out bv observation on the human
species. When the cerebrum is fully developed, it
offers innumerable diversities of form and size
among various individuals ; and there are as many
diversities of character. That a cerebrum which is
greatly under the average size is incapable of per-
forming its proper functions, and that the possessor
of it must necessarily be more or less idiotic, there
can be no reasonable doubt ; on the other hand, that
a well developed cerebrum is found to exist in per-
sons who have made themselves conspicuous in the
world in virtue of their intellectual achievements,
may bo seated as a proposition of equal generality.
In these opposite cases we witness most distinctly
the antagonism between the instinctive and voluntary
powers. Those unfortunate beings in whom the

14 '!'■ '■f

"(.

525

cerebrum is but little developed, are guided almost
solely by their instinctive tendencies ; which fre-
quently manifest themselves with a degree of
strength that would not have been supposed to exist,
and occasionally new instincts present themselves
of which the human being is ordinarily regarded as
destitute. On the other hand, those who have ob-
tained most influence over the understandings of
others have always been large-brained persons, of
strong intellectual and volitional powers, whose
emotional tendencies have been subordinated to the
reason and will, and who have devoted their whole
energy to the particular objects of their pursuit. It
is very different with those who are actuated by
what is ordinarily termed genius, and whose influ-
ence is rather upon the feelings and intuitions than
upon the understandings of others. Such persons
are often very deficient in the power even of com-
prehending the ordinary affairs of life ; and, still
more commonly, they shew an extreme want of
judgment in the management of them, bei?ig under
the immediate influence of their passions and emotions,
which they do not endeavour sufficiently to control
by their intelligent will." '•

Prof. Carpenter is. we believe, entirely entitled
to the merit of making these important distinctions,
and we beg to direct special attention to the doctrine
which he advances with reference to the actions of

the three several portions of the brain, and which he
3u

/•/

k i

626

undoubtedly was the very first to propound. From
a careful survey of the field of comparative anatomy,
Dr. Carpenter has very properly arrived at the
conclusion that the brain of man — the most complex
in the whole scale of animal life — possessed certain
elements which were not necessary to the classes be-
low him ; after a careful analytical enquiry, he has
deduced the rational inference now received as a
legitimate truth, that to the superadded parts were
to be assigned special functions., We find from
comparative anatomy, as well as from diseased
conditions of the brain, that the organ is divided
into several parts, the seats of severally (distinct
classes of phenomena. Thus, commencing with
th se, we have in the cerebral system of verte-
brata, 1st. A system of ganglia subservient to the
reflex action of the organs of hcomotion, and corres-
ponding with the chain of pedal or locomotive gan-
glia, that make up the chief part of the ventral cord
of the articulata ; in this system the grey or vesi-
cular matter forms one continuous tract, which occu-
pies the interior of the spinal cord. 2nd. A gan-
glionic centre for the movements of respiration, and
another for those of mastication and deglutition;
these, with part of the preceding, make up the pro-
per substance of the medulla oblongata. 3rd. A
series of ganglia in immediate connexion with the
organs oi special sense ; these are situated within iha
cranium, at the anterior extremity of the meduUa

; i,

527

oblongata ; and, in the lowest vertebrata, they con-
stitute by far the largest portion of the entire ence-
phalon. 4. The cerebellum, which is a sort of
offshoot from the upper extremity of the medulla
oblongata, lying behind the preceding. 6. The
cerebral hemispheres — a pair of ganglionic masses
which lie upon the ganglia of special sense, capping
them over more or less completely, jiccording to
their relative developement. Of these, the first
three may be considered as constituting the automa-
tonic portion of the nervous centres, whilst the
cerebrum is certainly the original source of all volun-
tary movements ; and the cerebellum seems to con-
tribute to the adjustment and combination of the
individual acts by which the directions of the will
are worked out, through the instrumentality of the
automatic apparatus. Now the chain of sensory
ganglia, which forms nearly the entire encephalon
of fishes, but which is overlaid and obscured in man

Brain of the pike, a Olfactory ganglion, b Hemispherical ganglion.
0 Optic ganglion. b Oereliellum. h Spinal cord. x The olfactory
nerve penetrating the cribriform plate of ethmoid bone, without any bulb-
otu enlargement.

and in the higher vertebrata by the relatively enor-
mous developement of the cerebrum, may be regard-
ed as constituting the true sensorium ; that is, as the
mi of consciousness, to which impressions made upon

,11 ir

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528

rif

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Miaawf<ii»

the nerves of sense are carried, and through which
the individual is rendered cognisant of them. There
is abundant evidence that this endowment does not
exist in the locomotive, stomato-gastric, or respira-
tory ganglia, of which the spinal cord and the prin-
cipal part of the medulla oblongata are made up ;
whilst, on the other hand, there is adequate proof
that thj presence of a cerebrum is not necessary to
its possession. Without presuming, says Prof. Car-
penter, to affirm positively what cannot be proved,
it may be stated as a probable inference, from phy-
siological facts and from psychological evidence,
that the sensory ganglia constitute the seat >of con-
sciousness, not
merely for im-
pressions of the
organs of sense,
but also for
changes in the
cortical substance
of the cerebrum ;
so that until the
CEREBRXJM AND SENSORY GANGLIA, latter havc re-
acted downwards on the sensorium, we have no con-
sciousness cither of the formation of ideas or of any
intellectual process of which these may be the sub-
jects. Ideas, emotions, intellectual operations, &c.,
have of late been frequently designated as " states
of consciousness," and this psychological description

629 •)

of them is in full harmony with the physioloigical
account given of the material conditions under which
they respectively occur.

• There can, therefore, be no doubt that the mechan-
ism of the JL vA is exactly adapted to each condition,
and that Louret is correct when he alleges " that the
number, form, arrangements, and relations of the
cerebral convolutions are not formed at hazard :
every family of animals has a brain formed in a de-
terminate manner. How can we believe that the
most important organ in the economy, that by which
ae manifestations of intelligence operate, to which
IS attributed the instincts and passions and the intel-
ligence and reasoning power, has not a fixed organi-
satioa, and as invariable as that of other parts ?"
But if Prof. Carpenter has established the claim of
the large ganglionic central masses to be the senso-
rium proper, then have we to claim for them an
equal degree of importance in determining the cha-
racter of the individual, ac ■ Ihe shape of the cra-
nium ; and we shall find that in three directions
especially would the relative or absolute preponder-
ance of these masses influence the shape of the skull.
In Dr. Pritchard's admirable work, we find there
crania which we conceive do illustrate the point
well ;* by comparing these skulls with each other,
and taking the Greek as ae proper type, we
cannot fail to discover that the increased develope-

* Compare European, African, and oihfir skuUs.

ir

«■

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530

H'

i> '

ment of particular portions is dependent, e* idently,
on the developeraent of the cerebral masstj occupy-
ing the position of the sensory ganglia, with corres-
ponding diminution of the ;<»rebral anterior lobes,
and, in some instances, of shortening of the posterior
lobes to a very appreciable extent, and enlargement
of the cerebellum and posterior lobes, giving a great
convexity and breadth to the occiput. Now, before
applying our observations to the various families of
man — using the term in its familiar sense — let us
see what precise series of mental operations Prof.
Carpenter supposes to act through the ganglia in
question. He thus explains, " The sensory ganglia
collectively constituting the sensorium, may be re-
garded as the most essential part of the encephalon,
since we find them fully developed in animals which
scarcely possess a rudimentary cerebrum, and pre-
senting the same relative condition to the latter in
the early embryo of man. They directly receive
the nerves proceeding from the organs of special
sense, each pair of which has its own g-anglionic
centre ; and they receive also, through (the so-
called) crura cerebri, the nerves of ' common sensa-
tion,' whose ganglionic centre appears to lie in the
thalami optici. They give off a large number of
motor fibres, which, descending through the crura
cerebri, are distributed with the fibres proceeding
from the spinal ganglia, through the various motor
trunks, to the muscular system generally. On the

531

other hand, by one set of radiating fibres of the
cerebral substance, they transmit sensorial impres-
sions upwards to the vesicular surface of the hemi-
spheres ; whilst conversely, by desceudiug fibres,
they receive the impressions transmitted downwards
from the cerebral ganglia, and thuy thus constitute
the medium by which alon- the cerebrum communi-
cates with the organs of s< ^n the one hand, and
the muscular apparatus ^n ^ her. The sensory
ganglia must be regardeu ' ctively forming the

organ through whose instr .tality the mind is
rendered conscious of impressions made on the or-
gans of sense ; and reasons have been advanced for
the belief that it also serves as the instrument
whereby the consciousness is affected by cerebral
changes, which, in so far as they take place inde-
pendently of the will, are the cause and not the con-
squence of mental activity. There is no reason to
think, that the sensorium has in itself any higher
function than that of impressing the consciousness of
the individual ; this impression on the consciousness
when made by an external impression, operating
through the sensory nerves, is that which is known
as sensation; but when produced by cerebral changes,
it constitutes ideation." We may therefore conclude
that, where the animal or man receives his impres-
sions through the sense-organs and less through the
cerebrum, there will be the superior automatic and
animal predominance of the qualities of mind.

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632

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It is not a little singular that Dr. Pritchard should
have used this peculiar construction of the brain as
an argument to shew how the skull may become
modified by preponderance of one or the other por-
tions of the brain: he says, " The greater relative
developement of the jaws and zygomatic bones, and
of the bones of the face altogether, in domparison
with the size of the brain, indicates in the pyramidal
and prognathous skulls a more ample extension of the
organs subservient to sensation and the animal facul-
ties" If we contrast the skulls in Combe's illus-
trations, we shall find the characteristic difference
here referred to : thus, in the skull of the Greek,
we find that lines drawn in accordance with the prin-
ciple laid down by Mr. Combe, give us a remarka-
ble developement of the anterior and coronal
portions of the brain, with a s afficient developement
of the upper portion of the posterior part of the
cerebral lobes, thus giving a preponderance to those
parts of the encephalon, which are the instruments
of the moral, intellectual, or reflective faculties of
the mind. Here we find the face and lower jav
orthognathic, {prthos, upright, and gnathos, jaw). In
the negro proper, and in the affiliated varieties— as
the Galla and some of the Nilotic — the moral and
intellectual faculties are less developed, while, at
the same time, the aninal and sensory regions are
highly developed, although there are many charac
teristic qualities in the negro mind, and therefore

633

in his cranium, that place him above the North
American Indian. The annexed wood-cut affords

an apt illustration, and ex-
hibits the peculiar projec-
tion of the lower and upper
jaws and recession of fore-
head, with the large deve-
lopement of sensory gan-
glia : we thus have the pro-
gnathous {pro, forwards,
andgwaMo5,jaw) character.
Again, by comparing the
skulls of the wretched
woman Gottfried, a noted
i,' murderer, and that of the
head of the negro Eustache, we shall find that, in
proportion to the preponderance of sensory, or moral
and intellectual organs, so is the character of the in-
dividual or nation. If we examine the inferior
animals, the same facts are apparent, as regards
their faculties.

NEGRO.

•m.

634

I

Fig. a rflpresents the head of Oesohe Margarethe OottMed, a omel and
treaoheroQS female, who was executed, at Bremen, in 1828, ,for poisoning,
in oold blood, daring a saooession of years, both her parents, her three
ebildren, her first and second husbands, and about six other individuala.
The line a b commences at the organ of causality, b, and passes throngh
the middle of cautiousness, 12. These points are in genorsl snfScientlj
distinguishable on the skull, and the line can easily be traced. The con-
Tolutions lying above the line a b must have been shallow and small, com-
pared with those below, which are doToted to the animal propensities.

Fig. 6 is a sketch of the head of a negro named Enstache, who was bb
much distinguished for high morality and practical benoTolence as GottfHed
was for deficiency of these qualities. During the nfassacire of the wUtei
by the negroes in St. Domingo, Eustaohe, while in the capacity of a sltre,
saved, by his address, courage, aud devotion, the lives of his master, and
upwards of 400 other whites, at the daily risk of his own safety. Th^ lint
A B is drawn from causality, b, through cautiousness, 12 ; and the great
sise of the convolutions of the moral sentiments may be estimated from the
space lying between that line and the top of the heaid o.

Both of the sketches are taken from busts, and the convolutions an
drawn suppositively for the sake of illustration. The depth of the convolu-
'tions, in both outs, is greater than in nature, that the contrast may be
rendered the more perceptible.

;^' -■ 'tK

FRANCOIS CORDONNIER.

Mb. A-

The above represent casts of heads taken by Dr.
Combe, and afford striking evidence of the difference
in heads, which accord with peculiar characteristics
in the individual, more in the intellectual than ani-
mal regions.

Prof. Owen, in a paper communicated to the
Zoological Society as far back as 1833, began a
classification of the convolutions of the brain. His

636

paper was simply entitled, "The Anatomy of the
Cheetah, Felis jubata." He continued his observa-
tions to the feline and canine race. They are very
clear, and point out the same longitudinal furrowing
which was afterwards described by Leuret, as will
be shewn further on. I have thought it better to
follow the latter, as his descriptions are more ex-
tended, and quite confirm the observations of Prof.
Owen, who observes, that the constancy manifested
in the disposition of the convolutions, as to their
form, extent, and symmetrical arrangement, argues
strongly in favour of the conclusion that the folding
of the hemispherical substance in the progress of
developement follows a determinate law. A classi-
fication of animals in relation to their convolutions,
will be found to accord with the extent of their
intelligence j animals may be divided into groups,
in accordance with the form of their convolutions. -"^

The Jirsf group includes animals taken from dif-
ferent families, viz., the cheiroptera or bats, the
insectivora, the marsupiata, the monotremata, and
especially the rodentia. They correspond, as re-
gards the absence of convolutions, to those birds
which have but little intelligence.

The carnivora. — The number of ganglia and com-
missures constituting the encephalon of these animals
is the same in all. There is no great peculiarity as
regards their relative size. In the common cat (see
wood-cut), the olfactory ganglia (e), as we might

/y^.

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1

1

p-':

:^^^:^■ ■

p

Br.

r

n31

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'V,!i

536

^ I

■■I-

> Side view of the brain of the common oat b Olfactory
ganglia, o Optic nerve, a a ▲ Anterior portion of the
longitudinal convolutions, p p p Posterior of ditto, z
Union of the two. o Orbital convolution.

expect, are enormous. The hippocampal lobes are
also large. The hemispheres cover the optip tuber-
cles, and partly overlap the cerebellum. The hemi-
sperical ganglion is much convoluted. The convo-
lutions are described further on. The anterior and
posterior quadrigeminal bodies are of nearly equal
size, the anterior being rather the longest from be-
fore backwards. In the lion, the posterior, though
smaller in longitudinal diameter, are broader, and
rise above the level of the anterior pair. In the
seal the olfactory ganglia are small, but not absent,
as in the cetacea, though the form of the brain re-
sembles in its roundness that of these creatures.
The hemispheres do not entirely cover the cerebel-
lum, which is large, especially its lateral lobes.
The corpora olivaria maintain the same central
position as in the porpoise, but they do not project
on the surface. The corpus trapezaidum, that oblong
portion of the medulla oblongata running trans-

. B Olfactory
portion of the
r of ditto. X

a,mpal lobes are
the optip tuber-
im. The hemi-
d. The convo-
'he anterior and
of nearly equal
ongest from be-
osterior, thougli
•e broader, and
>r pair. In the
but not absent,
of the brain re-
;hese creatures.
ver the cerebel-
lateral lobes,
same central
y do not project
lum, that obloDg
running trans-

637

versely inferior and parallel to the pons varolii,
between the fibres of which facial and auditory
nerves emerge, is of remarkable size in all genus
felis.

In the second group there are still no convolutions,
but there are depressions which announce, as it
were, their approach. The animals which compose
this group are from the rodentia, the insectivora,
and the marsupiata. Besides the fissura sylvii,
which is here more prominent than in the first
group, there are depressions upon the cerebral lobe
which have a certain regularity, as may be seen in
the examination of the brain of the hare and agouti.

On each side of the median
furrow, which extends from
before to behind, we see a pa-
rallel furrow which circum-
scribes a portion of cerebral
substance, having almost the
aspect of a convolution : this is
well seen in the agouti. In the
beaver we see some furrows less
prolonged but more deep, hav-
ing the same direction as those
Upper surface of the brain in the hare and agouti. G-all

of the agouti. Slight trac- °

ing of the longitudinal con- and Spurzhcim wcrc in error

volutions. A Olfactory gan- ^

glia. B Hemispherical gan-
glia. E Cerebellum, h spinal

cord,

Hemispherical gan- when thcv Stated that the num-
ber of convolutions is in relation
to the volume of the brain ; for instance, in the

I- •• I

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L-

ly

m ^ j

ki. <

I

538

brain of the ferret there are five convolutions very
distinct, three external, one internal, an anterior or
supra-orbital ; yet the brain is not equal to that of
the squirrel, which is without convolutions or fur-
rows, and it is much inferior to that of the hare, of
the porcupine, of thepaca, agouti, beaver, &c. These
latter have a brain more voluminous than the ferret
an^ the polecat. Nevertheless, it is generally true
that those species of animals which have the most
voluminous brain, have also the convolutions and
undulations most numerous and varied.

M. Leuret illustrates his views regarding the cere-
bral convolutions, by a demonstration of the Convo-
lutions of the brain of tL^- fox, exhibiting the external

!r*,;v^ "-^H '''

Brain of the fox. b Olfactory ganglia, a. Optic
nerve, o Orbital convolution, a ▲ a Anterior ditto,
p p p Posterior ditto. 1 2 CerebeUum. ™'\„|:_j

face of the right hemisphere of the brain : (s) marks
a deep furrow, passing obliquely upwards and back-
wards—the fissura sylvii. There is a rounded body
surrounding this fissure — this is the first convolu-
tion ; a second, third, and fourth, are placed one

m

■\hh--^-/.

above the other, making four convolutions ; before
these, placed in front, there is a fifth, (o) the supra-
orbital. The sixth, and last, (1) forms at the under
part of the middle lobe the hippocampal convolution.
If we compare this brain with that of the bear, we
find that the fissura sylvii is larger, but there is the
same proportion to the rest of the brain. Instead
of their being four lateral convolutions, as in the fox,
there are only three, though at first sight the brain
appears more complicated. The succeeding wood-
cut, representing the upper surface of the brain of
the fox, shews the completion of the fourth convolu-
tion, of which the above shews the internal and pos-
terior part.

The third group
contains the fox,
wolf, &c. The con-
volutions of the
brain of the wolf
are the same in
number as those of
the fox, only there
are more numerous
depressions, and a
very prolonged fur-
row upon the third
- , . . , .V , external convolu-

Opper surface of the brain of the fox. s s
Pissnra sylvU. tioU, in the Spot

where in the fox there is only a rudiment of a de-

\s

640

i *

pression. Leuret states that he has compared the
brains of dogs of different species, and he has always
found the same type, the same convolutions, without
any difference but in the number of the depressions,
and extent of the undulations ; this difference cor-
responds to the volume of the brain.

Fourth group. — All animals of the genus cat and
hyaena are comprised in this group. As in the pre-
ceding group, the smaller the brain, the fewer the
convolutions and depressions. There are many
essential differences with regard to the cerebral
convolutions between the fox tribe, which includes
the dogs, and wolves, and the cats. In these latter
we find four external longitudinal convolutions, one
internal, and one supra-orbital. But, contrary to
the arrangement in the brain of the foxes, these
convolutions have many points of union, which, I
believe, arises from the greater length of the gan-
glion requiring it to be pushed up together in its
long axis, at the point of convolution opposite the
fissura sylvii in the cat ; this furrow is very much
developed in the panther, in the lion, and all the
large species of this genus. | A . /

Fifth group. — They are varied, but they have this
common point of resemblance — that the number is
only five, three external, one supra-orbital, and the
fifth internal.

The civet forms a very natural and easy transition
between the bears and the foxes. The genet forms

641

a transition between the brain of the civet and that
of the marten. In the coati there are but three
external convolutions ; the first is of unequal size in
different parts of its extent ; behind the fissura sylvii
it is very much enlarged ; above that fissure it re-
cedes upon itself, and remains partly below the
anterior portion of the second convolution. The
same disposition is met with in the weazel, the mar-
ten, the otter, and the bear. The second convolu-
tion is in an inverse ratio to the first, being larger
before than behind. The third convolution, simple
and regular in the ferret, has in the polecat a fissure
behind, which is replaced on the two sides. The
coati has more depressions. Viewing the brain of
the ferret, weazel, coati, badger, and polecat, above,
a transverse fissure may be seen to cut the mesial
fissure, like the letter V. The convolution in front
of this fissure, which forms the anterior point of the
brain, is a portion of the internal convolution, which,
commencing at the hippocampal lobe, runs back-
wards, embraces the corpus callosum, and rises
anteriorly to unite with the superior convolution.
Above the orbit is the last convolution, the supra-
orbital ; it is furrowed for the olfactory commissure.
The brains of the fifth group form a sort of tran-
sition between the foxes and the sheep. The sixth
gronp includes only the ichneumons. The seventh
gronp includes the two-toed sloth, the ai or three-
toed sloth, the African ant-eater, phascolomys or
3t

/>

1 !

pf-f

' i [

■■f

"' *1

n.

w

iiy'^- i?

a

642

wombat, and the hyru/ or coney. In none of the
animals composing this group do we meet with a
single transverse furrow. The eighth group inclades {
the pteropus, or fox-like bat, kangaroo, orycteropns.

41 Ninth group. — The brain of the genus sheep,
including the ruminantia, which form the ninth I
group, has in reality only four convolutions ; one
internal, one infra-orbital, two external, which have
numerous divisions, some depressions, and a form
very undulating. It is a sort of amplification of the
brain of the orycteropns. The convolutions ofthisj
group, in their general aspect, do not resemble t
of the foxes, cats, or bears ; they have more analogyl
to the convolutions in the human brain. Viewed!
above, we observe the longitudinal foldings muchl
doubled up, so as to produce many transverse foldsj
We cannot attempt to follow out all the minate
varieties in the convolutions of the tenth, eleventhj
and twelfth groups of M. Leuret, which include M
pigs, the seals, and the cetacea, but proceed to tba
thirteenth group. With the exception of sub-orbita|

. convolutions, the convolutions of the brain of animals
below this group are all directed from before i<\
behind — they traverse the brain longitudinallj
Between these convolutions in many brains therd
are points of union, a sort of soldering or joint |
they are found in the cat, bears, otter, sheep, &c.
but all are parallel, none are placed transversely til
the brain, cutting the longitudinal convolutions intj

543

two parts, and dividing them into anterior and pos-
terior convolutiotis. This division of the longitudinal
convolutions, this addition of new convolutions, is
found only in the elephant, the apes, and in man.

Fourteenth group. — In the apes, and especially
the monkeys, the convolutions are not so undulating
and voluminous as in the elephant and whale ; thus
they appear at first sight to be further from man
than the latter : but a little attentive observation
soon dispels this illusion. The general form of the
brain of the monkey, its developement behind, the
extent and degree of inclination of the fissura sylvii,
form a brain as an embryonic perfectioning of the

>• ^

The above represents the intemiL' aurfaoe of the right hemisphere of
the Indian elephant, o o Corpus oallosum. 1 1 1 1 Internal convolution.
This convolution, above and behind the corpus callosum, sends a prolonga-
tion z, which is united to the superior convolutions s s s s. Leuret states
that he has never met with this disposition of the convolutions, except in
man, the ape, and in the elephant. This portion cuts the antero-posterior
eoDTolnUons into two portions, of which some are anterior and the others
posterior, iii p, in p Third posterior convolution, iv f, iv p Fourth
poBterior convolution, iv a Fourth anterior convolution. " Suppose,"
nys Leuret, " that all the superior convolutions, s s s s, and the pro-
longation, z, of the internal convolution are obliterated, the fourth anterior
conTolntion might be united to the fourth posterior convolution, the third
to the third, and we should have one of the groups of convolutions of the
^mia of the ruminants and solipedes."

>l

\

> \

i.

hi

11

; i

644

brain of man, whilst the brain of the elephant, and
especially that of the whale, considered in their dif.
erent relations, descend towards the form of the
brain of other mammalia. The ape has three ante-
rior convoliitici .^, three posterior, two superior, one
internal, and the supra-orbital convolutions, also
corresponding to those in man. The orbital con-
volutions always exist ; they are larger and bet-
ter divided than in the inferior animals, but they do
not shew the same regularity as the others. " The
brain of the chimpanzee," says Mr. Owen, "in the
relative proportions of the different parts, \ and the
disposition of the convolutions, especially those of
the posterior lobes, approaches nearest to the human
brain ; it differs chiefly in the flatness of the hemi-
spheres, in the comparative shortness of the poste-
rior, and in the narrowness of the anterior lobes."
It also approaches nearer to the human brain than
that of the other mammalia, in the absence of the
corpus trapezoidum, which, I observe, exists in the
brain of many of the apes, though I cannot affirm
that the chimpanzee is the only exception." The
number, form, arrangement, and relations of the
cerebral convolutions,, says Louret, are not formed
at hazard : every family of animals has a brain
formed in a determinate manner, and the difference
of opinions on this subject arise from the want of
attentive examination of a sufhcient number of
brains. Observation has thus shewn what strict

\.'.\

545

«T s..i'»» n,i, ;■•'

induction had led ug to conclude. How, indeed,
can we believe, that the most important organ of the
economy, that by which the manifestations of intel-
ligence operate, to which is attributed the instincts
and passions, has not a fixed organisation, and is
invariable as that of other parts. Each group of
brains has a type which is proper to it, and this type
is esi)ccially manifested by the form of its convolu"

//

ipnt number of
ewn what strict

Left side of the braia of the baboon (^Singe Papio), s s Fissure of Syl-
vias, ranning obliquely from before backwards, s ii Fissure of rolando.
8 8 B, s' s' s' The two superior convolutions, i a, ii a, hi a First, se-
cond, and third anterior convolutions, arising all three from the same supe-
rior convolution, i v, ii p, iii p First, second, and third posterior convo-
lations. The first, long, isolated, and turned round above the fissura
sjlvii, and directed towards the first anterior convolution, from which it is
wparated by tlie lowest part of the superior convolutions. The second and
third convolutions are carried above and behind the cerebellum, and are in
part confounded one with the other, x Point of re-union and prolongation
sf the Superior convolution, s^ a' s^, with the prolongation of the internal
convolution. 2 Lateral lobe of the cerebellum. 3 Third lobe of the cere-
bellum, or ftoeoni.

It

Pi

M

54G

tions. In the foxes the divisions are clear and well
marked ; in the cats the divisions are less, but still
the forms are fixed and very simple ; in the bears
and martens there is a tendency to another form,
complete preservation of some convolutions, which I
have called primitive, (m account of their simplicity,
and disposition of some of the others to unite and
present undulations. In the next t^pe, the funda-
mental separations are less numerous and of greater
variety in their details for the different groups to
which the wombat, kangaroo, roebuck, pig, seal,
and whale belong. Next, as in the elephant, an
entire addition to the general forms, with an iiifiuite
developement of details. In the ape, a still more
perfect type, nearer to man, but incomplete and
rudimentary. In each family, as a general rule,
the more the brain increases, the more it divides,
the more also it acquires undulations. The fox, the
domestic cat, the weazel, the ferret, the roebuck,
the peccary, each represents the first step of a scale,
at the summit of which is the dog, the lion, the otter,
the hyrax, and the boar. In its class the elephant
is at the summit ; but I know of no animal which
can be placed at the opposite end. In its own class
the lemur is very low, the ape very high, and man
very far above the ape. However, there are some
large brains which do not represent a perfect type
of some small brains of the same class. Thus, that
of the ox is not more perfect than that of the sheep ;

e4

y ■

547

sar and well
5SS, but still
in the bears
Lother form,
ons, which I
r simplicity,
to unite and
e, the funda-
id of greater
nt groups to
k, pig, seal,
elephant, an
th an iiifiuite
, a still more
iomplete and
general rule,
)re it divides.

The fox, the
the roebuck,
tep of a scale,
ion, the otter,
I the elephant
animal which
I its own class
ligh, and man

lere are some
a perfect type
Thus, that

of the sheep ;

/

that of the whale is not above that of the porpoise.
Are there intermediate degrees between all these
brains ? Are there any forms of brain different
from those that I have described? Observations
more extended can alone resolve these questions,
which are of the deepest interest for anatomy and
psychology.

The annexed out-
lines of the internal
and external aspects
of the human brain
will convey a tolera-
ble idea of the superi-
ority of its construc-
tion, over that of the
animals below man in
the scale of existence.
We have not only a
more deeply convo-
luted surface, but we
have also the posterior
lobes covering the ce-
rebellum, and the mid-
dle lobes largely deve-
loped. It is pointed
out by Prof. Owen
as a remarkable fea-
suPERioR ASPECT OF BRAIN, ture in the geographi-
cal distribution of the quadrumana, that the peculiarly

EXTERNAL FACE OF BRAIN.

Ns

548

limited range of the ourangs and chimpanzees con-
trasts strikingly with the cosmopolitan range of man.
The former appear inexorably bound to their locali-
ties by climatal influences regulating the assemblage
of certain trees, and the production of certain fruits ;
and with all our care in artificially supplying these
conditions, the healthiest specimens of ourang or chim-
panzee, brought over in the vigour of youth, perish
within a period never exceeding three years (and
usually much less) in our climate. By what meta-
morphoses, he pertinently asks, has the alleged
humanised chimpanzee or ourang been brought to
endure all climates? The advocates of transmu-
tation have failed to explain them. In man, the
brain presents an ascensive step in developement,
higher and more strongly marked than that by
which the preceding sub- class was distinguished
from the one below it ; for not only do the cere-
bral hemispheres overlap the olfactory lobes and
the cerebellum, but they extend in advance of
the one and further back than the other ; and their
posterior developement is so marked, that anatomists
have commonly assigned to that part the character
and name of a third or ** posterior lobv,." The super-
ficial grey matter of the cerebrum, through the
number and depth of the convolutions, attains its
maximum of extent in man ; and the system of
intercommunicating fibres, by which the various
parts of the convoluted surface and the ganglionic

^anzees con-
ange of man.
► their locali-
e assemblage
ertain fruits ;
)plyiiig these
irang or chim-
youth, perish
e years (and
;y what meta-
s the alleged
en brought to
js of trknsmu-
In man, the
developement,

than that by
distinguished
do the cere-
:ory lobes and
[in advance of
ther ; and their
|that anatomists
the character
,J' The super-
through the
►ns, attains its
the system of
jh the various
the ganglionic

549

centres covered in by the hemispheres are brought
into relation with each other, is greatly augmented
in complexity. The peculiar mental capabilities
which are associated with this highest form of brain,
and the possession of which constitutes the essence
of man's immeasurable superiority to all other mam-
mals, give an importance to his cerebral character
which it is scarcely possible to over-estimate ; and
we are fully satisfied, therefore, of the correctness
of Prof. Owen's view of his zoological relations, in
making him the representative not merely of a dis-
tinct order, but of a distmct sub-class, for which he
proposes the name archencephala, significant of the
overruling superiority of his cerebral organisation.

if

U I. ' ' ■ ■ . ■ .

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660

■:,Buo-u;-;. -■. CHAPTER n. -'-■^^'•^''^^^ ^

Physiology teaches us that, in accordance with
the power and capacity of the mind, is the deve-
lopement of the organ through which it commu-
nicates with the world and the world with it. It is
however inferred from this, that the type of cranium,
and therefore the type of mind, is fixed for certain
primitive races, and that from these types there has
been no departure. Thus, in tracing back the his-
tory of the world for nearly eight thousand years,
it is alleged that on the earliest monuments the fea-
tures of the primary race? of mankind are fo^nd—
the negro face being accurately depicted on the
Egyptian monuments ; and it is concluded from
this, that no change having taken place since in
the negro, therefore his and all other permanent
races, as they are called, were originally created
at the centres where they are now found, and are
not the lineal descendants of one pair.*

* The dootrine set forth by M. Agassiz ia an exaggeration of a philo-
Bophio speculation, which has been met by Mr. Mansel's arguments,
against an irrational conception of an abstract humanity — which subordi-
nates the individual to the universal, the person to the species. If there
is one dream, he says, of a godless philosophy, to which, beyond all others,
every moment of our consciousness gives the lie, it is that which subordi-
nates the individual to the universal, which deifies kinds and realises clas-
sifioation, which sees Being in generalisation and Appearance in limitation ;
which regards the living and conscious man as a wave on the ocean of the
unconscious infinite, his life a momentary tossing to and fro on the shifting
tide, his destiny to be swallowed up in the formless and boundless universe,

Yet there is and must be a sense in which we must admit the existence
of human nature as the common property, a sense in which that human
nature was depraved in all, as it has been re-constructed for all. We have
endeavoured to shew that the inheritance of the flesh and inner nature is
by continuous descent, by direct-, unbroken, lineal progression, and in like
manner the re-construction of that nature : and so it comes to pass that,

661

From the depths of the human soul deep calleth
to deep ; there are ever issuing forth sympathetic
actions which demand from us the recognition of a
common principle of love, which teaches us to seek

in the personality of Christ — the new Adam — we have that rook which oon.
tains the living water ; the stream of life flowing only for those who, having
been grafted into His body, readily and heartily receive Him as their only
Bource of life. Humanity is drawn into Himself, that it may flow out again
purified and cleansed for the in-dwelling of the Spirit of God ; but inasmuch
as the Second Man reclaims human nature through the sacrifice of Himself,
it is by Sacramental union that we receive the gift of a regenerated nature,
and are preserved by His strength imparted to us, from lapsing into eternal
death. If we accept the doctrine of M. Agassiz, which plainly intimates that
the human soul, or the spiritual man, being one and the same, has been
clothed upon by differing kinds of human flesh ; then we cannot understand
the doctrine of a fallen humanity, or trace the relationship which runs
through the family as human beings ; but, on the contrary, the personality
of each man being established, and his human origin being traced from one
even as himself, we can understand how, in a sense, there is a common
humanity through which all are bound together, and all reclaimed through
the God-Man.

In another place Mr. Mansell adds, "If, on the one hand, the spiritual
element within me, is merely dependent on the corporeal; if my«eZ/' is a
result of my bodily organisation, and may be resolved into the operation of
system of material agents ; why should I suppose it to be otherwise in the
great world beyond me ? If I, who deem myself a spirit distinct from and
saperior to matter, am but the product of that which I seem to rule ; why
may not all spiritual existence, if such there be, be dependent upon the
constitution of the material universe ? Or if, on the other hand, I am not
a distinct substance, but a mode of the infinite — a shadow passing over the
face of the universe ; what is that universe which you would have me ac-
knowledge a God ? It is, says the pantheist, the one and the all. By no
means ; it is the many in which there is neither all nor one. You have
taught me that within the little world of my own consciousness there is no
relation between the one and the many ; but that all is transient and acci-
dental alike.

" One feature deserves especial notice, as common to both of those modes
of consciousness which primarily exhibit our relation to God. In both we
are compelled to regard ourselves as persons related to a person. In the
feeling of dependence, however great it may be, the consciousness of my-
ulf, the dependent element, remains unextinguished; and, without that
element, there could be no consciousness of relation at all. In the sense
of moral obligation, I know myself as the agent on whom the law is bind-
ing ; I am free to choose and to act, as a person whose principle of action
is in himself." There can be no doubt that M. Agassiz destroys the doc-
trine of the Incarnation and Atonement as effected by the Son of Man, and
substitutes a doctrine hard to be understood, and drives the mind into a
credulous belief— to end in delusion. Differing, as we do, from Mr. Mau-
sel, as to his notions of the Infinite, as applied under the dictates of reve-
lation and the conscious mind, to the apprehension of a personal, self-ex-
istent, infinite Creator, we yet cannot fail to appreciate the full force of the
Arguments by which he shatters to fragments the false god which pure
rationalism has created.

.■'/

662

[ft '*^'=^^f

h ^ u

out and to heal the woes which may be corroding the
life of our follows. It is not the passive possession
of virtue, or the sentiment of religion, which digni-
fies man ; but it is the possession of all this, and its
manifestation in intense action and vigour, which
offers to us one of the most convincing proofs of the
universality — the oneness of that nature which man
enjoys. Contrary to all else in nature, man in his
best estate, and under the best and highest influences,
seeks by the sacrifice of his individuality to carry to
his less fortunate brother the elements of the happi-
ness which he has obtained. No obstacles check his
course, no terrors affright him from his purpose;
and whether it be to proclaim tidings of peace to
the frozen north, or to the heated plains of Africa,
the missionary of the Gospel is indomitable in his
intent and humble in the discharge of his duty, as
was the life of Him whose reign he proclaims. This
unobtrusive warfare of light against darkness— of
the spiritual against the carnal man — is not a
whit less hazardous, and surely not less fraught with
peril to the champion of the cross, than the noisy
pomp and pretension which surround the turmoil
of hostile hordes. It is human nature individually
entering into contest with wide-spread corruption ;
it is individual effort contending with a multitude
possessed of evil. Now, whence this sympathy ;
whence this inborn passion to do good to all men ;
this burning desire, which seizes and takes hold of

658

the hearts of christian men, to turn to like principles
those who, from ignorance of such things, are brutish
and low ? Convince mankind that there is no bro-
therhood, that all nations of the earth are not of one
blood, and you take from them one of the best in-
centives to sympathy. But, fortunately, no false
theories can displace this principle from the mind.
" Let brotherly love continue," was the precept of
old, as it is the precept now, and will be for ever ;
and it is because we have this fellowship within us,
that wc have a real bond of union drawing us toge-
ther, so that the declaration, " He hath made of one
blood all the nations of the earth," becomes convin-
cingly fixed upon our minds, and we feel that to be
true which nature and revelation both attest. *- .'
As the result of investigation into the anatomical
peculiarities of the brain in the different classes of
animals, we find that to each class is assigned a spe-
cial adaptation of the nervous matter, and although
the popular and thoroughly misapplied views of Gall
and Spurzheim are incapable of verification, yet, as
Prof. Carpenter clearly points out, the three grand
divisions of the cerebral mass do minister to the intel-
lectual, emotional, and sensory-motor powers proper
to the life of man and animals below him. It is there-
lore true that, in proportion to the superior develope-
inent of the different portions of the organ of the mind,
is the general shape and proportion of the cranium or
case of the brain. In the most widely-differing por-

554

tions of the human race we fail to detect any funda-
mental differences at all sufficient to constitute such
transformations, as would suffice to sever the family
into diverse races ; and the more closely the history
of foetal developement is attended to, the more
certain do Dr. Knox's opinions appear — that it is in
the developement of the foetus that we must look for
those points of conformity or non-conformity which
give evidence as to the diversity or oneness of fami-
lies. As yet we have only observations made on,
and deductions derived from the crania of adults ;
and, notwithstanding the great value of such collec-
tions, we believe them to be entirely insufficient to
substantiate any claim for the effective division of
man into distinct and originally diverse families.
' As far as we have evidence, it is believed that there
is a conformity in all foetal skulls, and it is in after
growth that by the arrest of certain parts and con-
tinued developement of others that the character of
the cranium is fixed for and in each family. The Jew
will continue to be a Jew, so long as Jewish educa-
tion, habits, and customs, make and keep him so ;
and so with the African and every other.

The system of moral and religious government,
which divine revelation attests to have been intro-
duced into the world, was for the elevation of man,
and to keep alive in him the obligations under which
he labours to his Divine originator, affording a satis-
factory answer to those who, in the history of the

555

human race, see but the arbitrary decrees of an
exacting judge ; or who, plunging yet deeper into
scepticism, from such assumed decrees, deny the
controling and directing influence of an ever-present
Creator and Governor of the universe. But to what
do both revelation and history witness ? The former
declares man to have been created perfect: and
even when information of a lapse from this high per-
fection is given, we do not find a stage of barbarism
the immediate result ; but, on the contrary, Cain
and his descendants set about exercising the arts of
civilisation, as they are termed, in high perfection ;
and of this unfortunate family a full account is re-
corded, illustrative of its continued downward course,
until the earth is tilled with violence. And after
the fall of the first pair and the death of Abel, yet
a remnant is loyal, and for its loyalty is elected to
keep alive truth on the face of the earth, and to
declare the knowledge of the only true God before
the face of the world, and to raise up worshippers
to fulfil man's destiny and God's intention that such
a being should shew forth His praise and declare
the wonders that He doeth. So, in the election of
the house of Israel, and the establishment of the
Jewish confederation : it was the reward of faith and
obedience, and as a means of testifying to the cor-
rupt and backsliding nations around, how a great
Jehovah rewarded and punished his people.

Nor has this course of policy ever been departed
from : for no sooner are the Jews, like Cain of old.

i><i

/ > 556

waxed rebellious and fat in wickedness — no sooner
do they corrupt themselves, as the nations around
them, than the blessing is taken away — at least for
a time — and their place supplied by a remnant of
the good that came out of them, and a foreign, but
convinced race, grafted in, to take up the chorus of
praise and thanksgiving due to the long-suffering
patience of Him who is infinite in ra icy. It is
always the same history: the many ioliovv ilioirown
inclinations, the few submit to *he Tril! of Him who
is their Lord. If we interrogr.i" profane history, no
other response is given than that which the sacred
narrative has concisely declared before. We never
have yet been told of, or discovered the abode of a
people that have risen out of barbarism, to any
degree of moral rectitude and true dignity, without
having been influenced in their rise and progress by
the example of some intruder or invader who held
the truth. Nations have retained for a time their
status in the political arena, and have witnessed to
the full capacity of the human mind, and its extra-
ordinary intellectual grandeur ; they have shewn of
what pure human intellect is capable, and they hav(
shewn its inhen?il veaknesr' The wailing of au
Infant cradle J .LLdong the beasts of earth, startled
this lofty pride from its throne, and laid the founda-
tion of a people and a kingdom, which should wor-
ship in the beauty of holiness Him whose name is

evnfillp.nt in nil flio Parfli '< -:

If we study the history of the lower orders of

"y,

ower orders of

' ' ' 657 f

creation, we cannot fail to note the singularly strik-
ing eflFect which is produced by inte»*nal and external
influen ^a, on the conformation of creatures, both
animal and vop'etabie, but always with fixed limits ;
and when, as in the animal, these changes of form
are coupled w^ith modifications cither by admixture
or otherwise, in the life-powers of the being, tne
varieties produced are the mor« striking. Some-
times the life-attributes outlasting, as it were, the
physical form — as in the judicious crossing of the
bull-dog and greyhound, or the latter and hep-
herd's dog — for we cannot refuse to admit that both
sets of qualities, those of life ad body, are handed
down in organised beings.

That a similar law obtains am< >ng plants, we will
illustrate also, by reference to the Himalayan Jour-
nal by Dr. Hooker, at page 20, vol. I. he says,
" The ascent of the hills of Bahar was at first through
woods of the common trees, with large clumps of
bamboo, over slaty rocks of gneiss, much inclined
and sloping away from the mountain. The view
from a ridge, five hundred feet high was superb.
Descending to a valley, some ferns t\ ere met with,
and a more luxuriant vegetation, especially of ur-
tecece. Wild bananas formed a novel and beautiful
feature in the woods. The conical hills of the white
ants were abundant. Ascending again, the path
strikes up the hill, through a thick forest of Sal {va-

teria rehusia) and other trees, spanned with cables
4a

' /

668

■ f

of scandent banhinia stems. At about three thou-
sand feet above the sea the vegetation becomes more
luxuriant, and by a little stream I collected five
species of ferns and some mosses. Still higher, cli-
matis, thalectrum, and an increased number of
grasses are seen, with bushes of verbenaceae and
compositae. The white ant, apparently, does not
enter this cooler region. A juniper — the European
communis, deodar (possibly only a variety of the
cedar of Lebanon and of Mount Atlas), pinus gerar-
diana, pinus excelsa, and cypresses tonelosa ; the
names are given, because they shew how European
the absent ones are, either specifically or in affinity.
I have stated that the deodar is possibly a variety of
the cedar of Lebanon ; this is now a prevalent opin-
ion, which is strengthened by the fact that so many
more Himalayan plants are now ascertained to be
European, than had been supposed before they were
compared with European specimens : such are the
yew, juniperus communis, berberis vulgaris, quercus
ballota, populus alba, and euphratica, &c. The
cones of the deodar are identical with those of the
cedar of Lebanon ; the deodar has generally longer
and more pale-bluish leaves and weeping branches,
but these characters seem to be unusually developed
in our gardens ; for several gentlemen well acquaint-
ed with the deodar, when asked to point it out in
the Kew gardens, have indicated the cedar of Leba-
non, and, when shewn the deodar, declare that they

m

i..i

t 659 '

never saw that plant in the Himalaya. I have seen,
says Dr. Hooker, the magnificent pinitum of Drop-
more — ^noble cedars — with the length and hue of
leaf and the pensile branches of the deodar, and far
more beautiful than that is, and as unlike the common
Lebanon cedar as possible. When it is considered
from how very few wild trees (and these said to be
exactly alike) the many dissimilar varieties of the
0. Libani have been derived, the probability of this
—the cedar of Algiers, and of the Himalayas (deo-
dar) being all forms of one species, is greatly increased.
We cannot presume to judge from the few cedars
which still remain, what the habit and appearance
of the tree may have been when it covered the slopes
of Lebanus ; and seeing how very variable the coni-
ferae are in habit, we may assniie that its surviving
specimens give us no information on this head.
Should all three prove one, it will materially enlarge
our ideas of the distribution and variation of species.
The botanist will insist that the typical form of cedar
is that which retains its characters best over the
greatest area, namely, the deodar ; in which case
the prejudice of the ignorant, and the pre-conceived
ideas of the naturalist, must yield to the fact that
the old familiar cedar of Lebanon is an unusual
variety of the Himalayan deodar. The observations
of Dr. Hooker are most felicitous, and we need
scarcely direct attention specially to the last obser-
vations, as having a most important bearing on the

r r

::w:\

iv

&H

\\

f!5

660

question of the origin of varieties. That geographi-
cal position has a most important effect on the deve-
lopement of animals, is also a fact supported by
observation, too certain to admit of doubt. Thus,
two of our commonest domestic animals, the horse
and sheep, at page 243 of the journal of Dr. Hooker,
so often quoted, we find the following: " We came
suddenly upon a flock of gigantic wild sheep, feeding
on scanty tufts of dried sedge and grass ; there were
twenty-five of these enormous animals, of whose
dimensions the term sheep gives no idea ; they are
very long-legged, stand as high as a calf, and have
immense horns, so large, that the fox is said to take
up his abode in their hollows, when detached and
bleaching on the barren mountains of Thibet. The
ovis ammon of Pallas stands from four to five feet
high, and measures seven feet from nose to tail ; it
is quite a Thibetan animal, and is seldom seen below
fourteen thousand feet, except when driven lower by
snow ; and I have seen it as high as eighteen thou-
sand feet. The same animal is, I believe, found in
Siberia, and is allied to bighorn of North America."
Again, in Darwin's voyage, he describes the cattle of
the Falkland Islands as fine : he says, I never saw
such magnificent beasts ; they equalled, in the size
of their huge heads and necks, the Grecian marble
sculptures. Captain Sulivan informs me that the
hide of an average sized bull weighs forty-seven
pounds, whereas a hide of this weight, less thoroughly

661

a,t geographi-
, on the deve-
mpported by
ioubt. Thus,
lis, the horse
if Dr. Hooker,
;: " We came
sheep, feeding
s ; there were
lals, of whose
dea ; they are
calf, and have
is said to take
detached and
^Thibet. The
)ur to five feet
lose to tail ; it
om seen beiow
riven lower by
eighteen thou-
ieve, found in
irth America."
►es the cattle of
3, I never saw
led, in the size
rrecian marble
3 me that the
IS forty-seven
ess thoroughly

dried, is considered a very heavy one at Monte
Video. During our whole ride we saw only one
troop of wild horses ; these animals, as well as the
cattle, were introduced by the French in 1764, since
which time both have greatly increased. It is a
curious fact that the horses have never left the east-
ern end of the island, although there is no natural
boundary to prevent them from roaming, and that
part of the island is not more tempting than the rest.
Considering that the island does not appear fully
stocked, I was curious to know what had checked
their progress. Captain Sulivan has taken much
pains in the enquiry. The Guachos employed here
attribute it chiefly to the stallions constantly roam-
ing from place to place, and compelling the mares
to accompany them, whether or not the young foals
are able to follow. A Guacho told Captain Sulivan
that he had watched a stallion for a whole hour,
violently kicking and biting a mare, till he forced
her to leave her foal to its fate. Captain Sulivan
can so far corroborate this curious account, that he
has several times found young foals dead, whereas
he has never found a young calf. Moreover the
dead bodies of full grown horses are more frequently
found, as if more subject to disease than cattle.
From the softness of the ground, their hoofs often
grow irregularly to a great length, and this causes
lameness. AH the horses, both tame and wild, arc
rather small sized, though generally in good condi-

/

mi

\ \

562

:v .

tion ; and they have lost so much strength, that they
are unfit to be used in taking wild cattle with the
lasso. At some future period, the southern hemi-
sphere probably will have its breed of Falkland
ponies, as the northern has its Shetland breed. The
cattle, instead of having degenerated, seem to have
increased in size, and are much more numerous
than the horses. They vary much less in the gene-
ral form of their bodies, and in the shape o( their
horns, than English cattle. In colour they differ
very much ; and it is a remarkable circumstance,
that in different parts of this one island different
colours predominate. Eound Mount Usborne, at a
height of from one thousand to one thousand five
hundred feet above the sea, about half of some of the
herds are mouse or lead colour, a tint which is not
common in other parts of the island. Near Port
Pleasant, dark brown prevails ; whereas, south of
Choiseul Sound, they appeared like white spots on
the hill-sides ; these beasts have black heads and
feet. Captain Sulivan remarks that the herds do
not mingle ; and it is a singular fact that the mouse-
coloured cattle, though living on the high land, calve
about a month earlier in the season than the other
coloured cattle in the lower land. [Lord Jersey
has shewn that, in England, cows in calf to a parti-
cular bull, have longer or shorter periods of gesta-
tion.] It is interesting to find the once domesticated
cattle breaking into three colours, of which some one

1 j

wnicn some one

663

colour would, in all probability, ultimately prevail,
if the herds were left undisturbed for several centu-
ries. The rabbit is another animal which has been
introduced ; yet, like the horses, they are confined
within narrow limits, for they have not crossed the
central chain of hills. The French naturalists have
considered the black variety a distinct species, and
have called it lepus magellanicus ; they imagined
that Magellan, when talking of an animal under the
name of "conejos," in the Straits of Magellan, re-
ferred to this species ; but he was alluding to a small
cavy. The Guachos laughed at the idea of the black
kind being different from the grey, for that the two
were never found separate, and that they bred toge-
ther and produced piebald young. Of the latter,
says Darwin, I now possess a specimen, and it is
marked about the head different from the French
specific description. The distinction of the rabbit
as a species is taken from peculiarities in the fur,
from the shape of the head, and from the shortness
of the ears. I may observe that the difference be-
tween the Irish and English hares rests upon nearly
similar characters, only more strongly marked.
With reference to my own specimen, the circum-
stance shews how cautious naturalists should be in
making species ; for even Cuvier, on looking at the
skull of one of the rabbits, thought it was probably
distinct. Is man under a different system of laws,
or is he subject to these external circumstances or
act? -

I

H

"•>

564

Uii '

The first inhabitants of the earth must have been
men of like passions with those now living, and have
been moved by the same circumstances which influ-
ence the actions of men at this day. What then, we
will ask, is one of the strongest features in the hu-
man character ? The tendency to family isolation ;
the tendency in the family to tribal organisation, and
in the tribe to enlarge itself into a mightier and
therefove national confederacy, and the nation to
maintain a dominant position by such influence, as a
con sequence of the more or less restricted intercourse
which must ever ensue from such a combination ; we
thus derive family likeness in its widest sense, and at
length national peculiarities, which are but multiplied
family resemblances. So strong is the disposition in
the human race to perpetuate its famiiy peculiarities,
that we cannot find a single instance of any people
dwelling for any length of time in close proximity
to each other, without one or the other obtaining an
ascendancy, either by superior mental and physical
force, or strategy, or else by the equally certain pro-
cess of absorption or amalgamation ; and in those cases
where we find the primitive stock still maintaining
its distinctive characters, there has been continued
isolation, produced either by religious antipathy, or
by other equally potent causes of separation. "What
preserves to the Jew his form and special attributes,
but the unchanged type of mind, his prejudices,
his customs, which determine his destiny ; his whol(
nationality lives in him yet ; how can he change

(J

666

The negro, whose whole history tells how persecu-
tion and years of degradation may sink humanity,
tells, too, how that degradation may be wiped out,
and his form become once more elevated. We know
not how serious and enlightened men dare to put
forward the negro variety, as an instance strongly in
favour of their doctrine of diverse origin. Will they
tell us what chance these persecuted people have had
of raising themselves in the scale of civilisation ?
See them on Egyptian tablets bound in fetters ;
behold them at this very hour manacled, and sold in
the markets of relentless oppressors. But is it true
that the conformation of the negro remains the same
at this time, as when he crouched in Egyptian bond-
age ? We unhesitatingly answer that he does not.
The West Indian negro — the descendant of the
African negro stock — is not the same negro in form
as his ancestors, if he has undergone education and
civilisation ; and although the natural law which
governs transmitted or transmissible features can-
not be set aside, yet we find that external circum-
stances have a strong tendency to modify the cha-
racter both of body and mind, and to stamp certain
peculiarities on the family. In a district in Ireland,
according to Humboldt, poverty and isolation have
conspired to degrade a portion of the people, and
reduce them in form towards that of the negro. In
Barbadoes, similar causes have dwarfed some poor

white people to such a degree, that I have seen some
4b

\-i

666

fit • A

of both sexes, who were known to be twenty-four
years old, who, in body and mind, were no more
advanced than boys or girls of nine or ten years of
age. It is now well known that in Africa it is only
in a particular area that the true negro is found,
and that from the negro to the several surround-
ing families, the transition is gradual until we
come to the Kaffir and Bashukulumpo, and the
Londo race, closely resembling the ancient Egyp.
tians ; thus according with the remark made by Prit-

chard, who found
that many Egyptian
heads bore a strik-
ing resemblance,
both to Ethiopic
and Negritian

type ; and Dr. Liv-
ingstone remarks

of the Kaffirs, that
their splendid phy-
sical developement
and form of skull
shew that, but for
the black skin and
woolly hair, they
would take rank
among' the foremost
Europeans. The tra-
vels of Barth and

BASHUKULUMPO.

667

Livingstone have done more to enlighten us as to
the true condition of Africa tha any writers who
have preceded them ; and so far from the people of
that wide spread area being even national in their
forms or inner life, they are known to be as diverse
as possible. The deviations in external character
among the aboriginal inhabitants of North America,
although sufficiently characteristic, are nevertheless
much less easily described or discovered : similarity
of climate and pursuits and mental occupation, ren-
dering a wide separation impossible ; but even among
the North American Indians, there is not that close
uniformity which ought to exist if the type of cra-
nium was a fixed fact, and this Morton's own tables
of measurements and illustrations most clearly prove.
The authority who receives great deference and
enjoys the implicit confidence of his school is the
learned American, Dr. Morton, from the pages of
whose work satisfactory refutation of the doctrine of
uniformity may be drawn ; and it will appear that the
alleged hybridity of the mixed races is destitute of
truth ; and that, on the contrary, the improvement in
nations and families has been generally brought
about by the intrusion of new blood. "We have
already observed that the Egyptian records furnish
the oldest information of the human family ; and
surely that information does not contradict the ex-
perience of younger annals. We there [^discover
types of crania peculiar to those ancient people ;

1

h

p:

.- _•

1

h \ 1

i '''

1

* \

f:.m %

668

and looking to Egypt now, we ask, where is the
Egyptian ? Both Dr. Morton and Messrs. Nott and
Gliddon present us to a race which they declare to
be a mixed race, nor can we discover any valid
reason for supposing that this compound people
were preceded by an aboriginal race. " "We read,"
says Messrs. Nott and G-liddon, "the ' Crania Egyp-
tiacd' of Morton with intense interest, as soon as it
was published ; and down to the time when Lepsius'
j)lates of IVth., Vth., and Vlth. dynasties appeared,
we had not ceased to regard his Egyptian type as
the true representative of the old empire ; but the
first hour's glance over those magnificent delinea-
tions of the primeval inhabitants, produced an
entire revolution in our opinions, and enforced the
conviction that the Egyptians of the earliest times
did not correspond with Morton's description, but
with a type which, although not negro, nor akin to
any negroes, was strictly African, — a type, in fact,
that supplied the long-sought for link between Afri-
can and Asiatic races." The negroid type of the
earlier dynasties seems never to have become ex-
tinguished, notwithstanding the immense influx of
Asiatics into Egypt, and which has been going on
literally for thousands of years to the present hour.
It may be received in science as a settled fact, that
where two races are thrown together and blended,
the type of the major number must prevail over
that of the lesser, and in time the latter will be-

569

come effaced. This law, too, acta with g tier
force where a foreign is attempted to be eugiifted
upon a native type suited to local cliuiat* 5.
The Fellahs of Upper and Middle Egypt, at the
pesent day, continue to be an unmistakeable race,
and are regarded as the best living representatives
of the ancient population of Egypt. Now we ima-
gine that the same reasoning which is here applied
to the Egyptian family, will apply to all or most of
those lying around the African and negroid in-
fluences. Thus the Libyan family, as described
by Morton, are found to the north and south of
Mount Atlas, extending their wanderings into
Morocco and Barbary. On the east coast they in-
habit as far as the Gulf of Cabes, or the Little
Lyortis, while on the Avest they reach the Atlantic.
The various communities of this family are charac-
terised by handsome Caucasian features, but in
complexion they present all the shades from white
to nearly hlack ; and it is worth while to trace the
varieties of this family, in order to discover why
Dr. Morton should refuse to assign to each of the
divisions of the family a separate "centre of crea-
tion," for certainly a greater catalogue of disagree-
ments it would be diflBcult to enumerate : thus —

The Tuaricks arc the best known of all the
Berber tribes. Captain Lyon describes them as the
handsomest men he ever saw : tall, straight, and
handsome, with an imposing air of pride and inde-

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pendence. Their features resemble those of south-
ern Europeans ; their natural complexion is nearly
white, much darkened, however, by exposure to tho
hot sun ; and the hair is long, black, and glossy.
They are said to'be less treacherous than the Arabs,
yet passionate and revengeful. They are fond of
war, and plunder both their Arab and negro neigh-
bours, and reduce the latter to slavery.

The Skillochs, who inhabit south of the Tuaricks,are
less robust, and have darker complexions ; they
are industrious, peaceful, civilised, and humane,
having some manufactures : being more husba|idmen
than shepherds.

The Adem, who inhabit the oasis of Ghadmis, south
of Tripoli, are divided into two tribes, which are at
constant war with each other. To this family, also,
belong the Beni-Mozab, and other tribes of Belad-
el-gerid, south of Atlas; the Zouaves of the Tunisian
territory ; the Kollurians, in the neighbourhood of
Loudan ; the Tagama, near Timbuctoo, who are
white ; and the Hagara and Matkara, who are yel-
lowish.

The Kahyies, who appear to be intimately con-
nected with the Berbers, inhabit the higher part of
the Algerine and Tunisian territories, living in
mountain villages composed of huts, which resemble
the Magalia of the old Numidians. They are ge-
nerally of a swarthy colour, with dark hair ; but
those who inhabit the mountains of Auress, though

671

they speak the same idiom, are of a fair and rnddy
complexion, and their hair is of a deep yellow.

I am at a loss, continues Morton, where to
place the Galla of eastern Africa ; yet they bear a
general physical resemblance to some of the Berbers.
They are of small stature, with long black hair, and
complexions varying from brown to black. They
are among the most warlike and remorseless barba-
rians of Africa ; and their principal tribe, the Boren-
Salla, now govern by conquest in Abyssinia, and
even occupy Goudar, the capital. They are sup-
posed to spring from that unknown region which
constitutes the southern interior of the continent.
We have here as diverse a people as could well be
found, and yet Dr. Morton is satisfied to include them
in one family. In Asia the families differ grada-
tionally, and in Africa the same history is brought
to light.

Pritchard gives a good portrait of the race in
which the negro feature is approached very deci-
dedly. In the immediate vicinity of Mount Atlas
the distinctions of race are often altogether confound-
ed, owing to the proximity of the negro tribes.
Thus, the Tibboos are nearly black, and have very
long wiry hair — intermediate between that of the
Tuarick and negro ; yet their features are good, and
their forms delicately and even beautifully moulded.
The immemorial predatory habits of these various
tribes, amply account for the blending of physical

ill '

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572

characters ; for the Tibboos mix with the negroes,
the Tuaricks enslave the Tibboos, and the Moors
in their turn make enemies and slaves of them all.
Again, the Moslem-Egyptians are composed of two
classes, the Copts and Fellahs. The Copts, though
now remarkably distinct from the people who sur-
round them, derive from their remote ancestors some
mixture of Greek, Arabian, and, perhaps, even
negro blood. They present various shades of com-
plexion, from a pale yellow to a deep bronze or
brown. Another fact, from Dr. Morton, will satisfy
us that colour cannot be taken into our considera-
tion, in determining the family. The New Zealand-
ers (as with many others) in complexion vary be-
tween white, brown, and black. The better classes
have the olive and yellowish-brown tint of the Ma-
lays, with hair long and black, and generally more
or less frizzled. In turning to the most recent
writer. Dr. Livingstone, we are struck with aston-
ishment at the various forms which every where
met him in his travels through Africa ; and the hos-
tile and degrading warfare which is continually
waged by the wretched inhabitants against each
other, has evidently had the effect of isolating tribes
far more effectually than ever has been the case with
the North American Indians, where the general
family resemblance is more apparent. The same
writer has not failed to observe the marked impress
of the Egyptian type in some races with whom he

573

came in contact ; and throughout his work, as well
as that of Morton, we constantly discover a blending
of races ; for if, on the one hand, we do find what is
styled a perfect Egyptian or perfect negro, we as
constantly detect gradational varieties between the
two, and sometimes between several others. Thus,
the Bashinge seem to possess more of the low negro
character and physiognomy than either the Balonda
or Basongo ; their colour is generally dirty black ;
foreheads low and compressed ; noses flat and much
expanded laterally, though this is partly owing to
the alae spreading over the cheeks by the custom of
inserting bits of sticks or reeds in the septum ; their
teeth are deformed by being filed to points ; their

lips are large.
They make a
nearer approach
to the general ne-
gro appearance
than any tribes I
met ; but I did
not notice this on
my way down.
The people resid-
ing on the Looji-
na seemed more
slender in form,
and their colour
a lighter olive

LONDA LADY.

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674

than any we had hitherto met. The mode of dres-
sing the hair, which lay upon their shoulders, toge-
ther with their general features, again reminded me
of the Egyptians. The features given are frequently
met with ^ but they are by no means universal. The
inhabitants of the island of Menye, as seen by Liv-
ingstone, were muscular, and had large ploughman
hands. Their colour was the same admixture, from
very dark to light olive, that we saw in Londa.
Though all have thick lips and flat noses, only the
more degraded of the population possess the uglj
negro physiognomy. The experience of the great
African traveller clearly proves that the inhabitants
of Africa are exceedingly diverse in their external
appearance ; and that isolation produces as certain
degradation amongst them as amongst other people,
and a free admixture of the tribal families as certain
improvement in physical aspect and mental vigour.
But the mo st general principle established by the
observations of Dr. Morton, Mr. Gliddon, and Dr.
Livingstone, is, that in no single instance can there be
discerned the actual origin of one of the many fami-
lies now inhabiting the earth. The Egyptian of Dr.
Morton's first finding, he afterwards assumed to have
been preceded by an aboriginal people ; but on what
true principle we know not, since all analogy would
lead to the inference, that they, too, may have been

mix XUiilL uoi T V IMUlll y .

It is also to be remembered, that the varieties of

576

he varieties of

man which are found In Atrica alone, are so extreme,
that if we are to accept the theory of a diverse
origin, we must have as many centres in Africa as
there are diversified groups ; and the same would
apply to the Indo-European families. If, however,
we investigate the character, position, and general
history of any one or all of the inhabitants of the.
areas so peopled, may we not detect the causes of
the many diflferences which are admitted to exist?
We have already pointed out the dual communica-
tion which exists with the inner man ; it has been
shewn how the animal life may be allowed to
triumph, the senses leading captive and obtaining
dominion over the whole being, until man becomes
a mere creature of instinct ; or how reason and a
disciplined mind, maintaining the mastery, may
elevate and ennoble the soul to its highest destiny.
It is therefore folly to attribute to any one cause the
varied results of man's developenient, for while
innate forces are contending with'n him, he is
re-acted on by very many external causes, all of
which have more or less influence upon his metital
and bodily forms. M. Cousin, in his usual brilliant
language, strongly sets this truth forth : " Which
one of you believes that the land which he inhabits,
the air which he breathes, the mountains or rivers
which are his neighbours, the climate and all the
impressions which result from it ; in a word, that
the external world is indifferent to him, and exer-

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676

cises no influence upon him ? It would be on your
part an idealism somewhat extraordinary ; I imagine
that you think with all the world that the soul is
distinct from, but not absolutely independent of the
body. Do you think, and does any one ever think,
that the man of the mountain has, and could have,
the same habits, the same character, and the same
ideas as the man of the plain, of the river-side, of
the island ? Do you suppose that the man whom
the fires of the torrid zone consume, might be called
to the same destiny in this world as he who inhabits
the desert icy regions of Siberia ? That which is
true of these two extremes of the frigid and torrid
zones, ought to he equally true of two intermediate
places, and of all latitudes." The old world, says
Guyot, and the new world differ in the groupings,
and ii]i, the num]3er and extent of the continents com-
po^i^ng them ; in their astronomical situation, with
respect to the cli^na^tic zones ; in the general direc-
tion of their lands j in their interior structure. This
as^eniblage of opposite characters secures to each of
th^^ a cliji^ate, a yegetation, and an animal kingdom
peQjjiJi^jrly it9 own. The old wprld is conaposeijl of
fouLir contineiiit^. Setting aside Australia, which is
only 9,n islan,d in the midst of the oceanic hemi-
sp^r^, it niynj)ers three, all very near each other,
agg;i;egQ,ted apid forming an oval compact mass,
wjip^ extent fipir surpasses that of every other ter-
reatrial sjpace. It presents a solid extent of land,

677

the most vast, the most unbroken, the least accessi-
ble in its centre to the influence of the ocean. The
old world is pre-eminently the continental world.

The new world has only two continents, North and
South America — America and Columbia. They are
not grouped in one mass, nor placed side by side, but
separated from each other ; not touching upon their
long sides, but by their exterior angles ; standing in
line rather than grouped. They are situated in two
opposite hemispheres. M. Guyot goes on to say,
"What characterises the interior structure of the new
world is its simplicity. In place of the variety of the
old world, when in spite of a few general features com-
mon to both, each continent is, as it were, cast in a
separate mould, the two Americas seem absolutely
formed upon the same plan. America is less rich in
internal contrasts than the old world, but has more of
unity, because it is more simple. Undoubtedly in
this uniformity of structure, in this absence of obsta-
cles to a free circulation from end to end of this
world, we are to look for one of the principal causes
of that common character of that American physi-
ognomy, which strikes us in all the organised beings
of this continent ; and which we find again in man
himself— in the Indian — all the tribes of whom, from
the banks of the Mackenzie river to Patagonia, have
the same coppery tint, and a family likeness in the
features impossible to mistake." This opinion of M.
Uuyot receives confirmation from, and may also

l;

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578

serve to elucidate a declaration made by Dr. Knox,
as to the unsuitableness of the climate of the Ame-
ricas to the European people. There are many
strong reasons for receiving — but partially — the
statement made by the learned anatomist, since
many other close observers are likewise impressed
with the conviction that there is a tendency to de-
generacy in the European settled in America. Dr.
Knox remarks of the tropical regions of the new
world, that every one knows that none but those whom
nature placed there can live there ; that no Euro-
peans can colonise a tropical country. May there
not be some doubts of their self-support in milder
regions? Take the Northern States themselves;
there the Saxon and the Celt seem to thrive beyond
all that is recorded in history. Are we quite sure
that this is fated to be permanent ? Annually, from
Europe, is poured in a hundred thousand men and
women of the best blood of the Scandinavian, and
twice that number of the Celt ; and so long as this
continues, they are sure to thrive. But check it, as
in the case of Mexico and Peru : throw the onus of
reproduction upon the population — no longer Euro-
pean, but a struggle between the European alien
and his adopted father-land. The climate, the forest,
the remains of the aborigines not yet extinct ; last,
but not least, that unknown (?) and mysterious de-
gradation of life and energy, which in ancient times
seems to have decided the fate of all the Phoenician,

679

Grecian, and Coptic colonies, will produce analo-
gous effects. Cut off from their original stock,
they gradually withered and faded, and iinally
died away. Already the United States man dif-
f&r» in appearance from the European : the ladies
early loose their teeth ; in both sexes the adi-
pose cellular cushion interposed between the skin
and the aponeuroses and muscles, disappears ; the
muscles become stringy, and show themselves ; the
lundons appear on the surface ; symptoms of pre-
mature decay manifest themselves. Now we do
not dispute the facts stated by Dr. King : it is noto-
riously true that the condition whi(».h he describes
as pertaining to the larger class of the American
people is correct ; but, as Dr. Latham very properly
observes, to work out questions in such cases, there
must be some reference to the general operations of
climate, food, and other influences : operations which
imply a correlative susceptibility of modification on
the part of the human organism. If we find a peo-
ple whose habits of life and dietary system are so
wretchedly inconsistent with the most ordinary laws
of health, is it to be wondered ni if signs of degene-
ration are manifested amongst them ? Are not the
hundred and one varieties of dyspepsia to be seen
in every city and town of the Union, to be attri-
buted to the mode of life of the American ; and, as a
consequence, the dentist is in constant requisition,
to supply by art that which three-fourths of the

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580

people lose, not from any vice of the climate, but
from the want of vigour, produced by the demi-
starvation which must result from impaired diges-
tive powers. Dr. Knox clearly alludes to Lower
Canada, not to Upper Canada, when he speaks of the
European-French stock having degenerated. In
the former, the French race have been for a long
time isolated : a sparse population breeding in and
in, and mixing but little with the old blood of
France, or that of other European people. They
have been a virtuous, contented, happy race ; and,
both from religious and national sentiments, con-
lining themselves to the portion of country in which
their lot was cast. If, therefore, we do find small
men and small horses, we find all the old primitive
habits of the parent stock unchanged, shewing how
completely they have refrained from intermixture.
But what of Upper Canada ? We answer, that the
children of Britain, the sons and daughters of Scot-
land, England, and Ireland, are not only not a
degenerate, but an improved race. The agricul-
tural districts of Upper Canada can produce as
many tall, athletic, well formed specimens of hu-
manity as are to be found at home ; and if Canada
may boast of any one thing more than another, it
is of the athletic forms of her people.

The wealth, inexhaustible and easily gathered,
which the hand of Benificence has strewed on the wide
surface of the land ; the magnitude and magnificence

581

of inland seas, waving rolling plains, and accessible
but far stretching mountain ranges, stir the mind to
efforts of gigantic grasp, and feed it with ideas which
somet)mes seem too mighty to be achieved. The red
man, the child of the forest, pales before the intrud-
ing race : shut up for ages in the dark recesses of
his home, cut oflf from intercourse with his fellow
men, degraded in mind and body, the external face
of nature stamps upon him a peculiar character, while
the hidden treasures of national prosperity and
advancement lay at his feet, unknown and uncared
for. In Asia, Africa, and Europe, how striking the
contrast ? Egypt, for instance, but a few hundred
miles in length, gave birth to a people whose history
is the wonder of the earth. Africa has its diverse
families, and Europe continues to preserve its nati-
onalities, however much they may fluctuate. Man,
thns the sport, as it were, of circumstances, the
creature on whom such mighty influences are con-
stantly operating, cannot fail but to be impressed by
them. The brain, the organ of the mind, furnish-
ing to that mind intelligence through the sensory
organism, or through its more noble hemispheres, —
the immediate organ of the Me — must, in proportion
to the dominancy of either, stamp a configuration
on the skeletal envelope. The form and fashion of
the cranium cannot but be determined by the form
and fashion of the mind. The Indian mind could

only be reflected from a form of brain which was
4d

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682

,1

low in moral power, high in its animal and in-
stinctive or automatic capabilities. The unlet-
tered Australian sighs not for knowledge, his heart
quickens not its pulse at the touch of one generous
emotion, or at the sight of human woe. The Afri-
can, dead to all high and lofty sense of morality,
dwelling amidst scenes of brute violence, familiar-
ised from infancy to manhood with the roarinj? of
beasts of prey, and on the defence against them,
becomes imbued with their savage nature, and has
his own fashioned on a plan scarcely removed from
theirs. The European and the Asiatic, under the
influence of the true and a false religion, and sur-
rounded by better external circumstances, have deve-
loped the faculties of the mind in their due propot tion ;
and the former, superior in the exercise of a lofty
reason, and governed by the higher faculties of the
soul, wins the inheritance of the more brutalised man.
The birth of every nation under heaven is lost in
the night of the past. Egypt sprang (so far as we can
discover) into existence a race of intellectual giants,
and claims to be born of gods and demi-gods.
Mr. Grote says of Glreece : "The mythical world
of the Grreeks opens with the gods, anterior as well
as superior to man : it gradually descends, first to
heroes, and next to the human race ;" and the dam
of Rome is still hidden in mist. It is quiii true
that we do find the primitive races still living mem-
bers of the family of men ; but are they not yet

683

under the very same influences which surrounded
them in ancient times : has the African, even when
brought from his native home, ever been permitted
to enter into the possession and free enjoyment of
the privileges and powers which are exercised by
his more fortunate white brethren ; does the degrad-
ing lash of the task-master no longer crush that
spirit of humanity, which now, more than ever,
cries out for christian aid, teaching his oppressors
that the slave may thirst for freedom ? The Jew,
as we have already said, remains even now a Jew ;
and wherefore not ? have they yet learned to mingle
their blood in Gentile veins ? do they learn to be
citizens of any kingdom, or have they ever at-
tempted a settled home ? And the Greek, what
of him ? We may find in the population most re-
mote from European blood, the old cranial type ;
but does not the exception in this very case prove
that the original type, permanent only by isolation,
has in the other case been changed, no doubt by
infused blood, as well as lost national status, and
given to us a mixed and diverse race. The Carib
of the little island ot St. Vincent is the Carib still ;
but what marvel ! he lives in the pent-up corner of
his island home, the proud inheritor of old cherished
customs. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin,
nor the leopard his spots ; so long as Ethiopic
influences surround him, for so long as his moral
degradation continues, will he perpetuate his special

!:^^i

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584

organisation. Elevate him by stimulating and ex<
panding his higher faculties, as Christianity will yet
do for the African, and his perfect equality with the
white man will be apparent. Mr. Gliddon says :
" Mr. Lyell, in common with tourists less eminent,
but, on this question, not less misinformed, has some-
where stated that the negroes in America are
undergoing a manifest improvement in their phy-
sical type. He has no doubt that they will, in time,
shew a developeraent in skill and intellect quite
equal to the whites. This unscientific assertion is
disproved by the cranial admeasurements of Dr.
Morton." How ? in what wav ? Does our author
mean for a moment to intimate, that the American-
African has had even the slightest chance to deve-
lope intellectual power ; have they enjoyed any of
those minor privileges which free men in their most
degraded condition possess ? Where are the high
schools or low schools in which to train the black-
skinned youth ? Why, even in the house of God
the Amen of a negro would invoke the anathema
of the praying white christian. What say the
records of a christian church ? That, to this hour,
the Church in the United States excludes from her
synodal assemblies the black man ; even coloured
congregations gather themselves together as distinct
and isolated communities. Short as has been the time
since emancipation, we must cast our eyes to the
West Indian Islands for occular and substantial proof

586

of the change which may be effected in the negro
type, even in a brief space of time ; and so far from
obtaining evidence of tlio stationary nature of the
African ; on the contrary, it is seen that the noral,
political, and other conditions of the race are rapidly
advancing. Even in America, under the most disad-
vantageous circumstances, this is admitted ; and Mr.
Nott is forced to acknowledge, " that the negroes
imported into or born in the United States, become
more intelligent and better developed in their phy-
sique generally, than their native compatriots of Africa,
every one will admit ; but such intelligence is easily
explained by their ceaseless contact with the whites,
from whom they derive much instruction. [Is it in
the same way as that by which the white American
race has increased its intelligence, by ceaseless con-
tact with all the European races ?] Their physical
'mpi'ovoment may also bj readily accounted for, by
the increased comforts with which they are supplied.
One or two generations of domestic culture, effect
all the improvement of which the negro organism is
susceptible." This disingenuous conclusion is un-
true, and is illustrative of that narrow prejudice
characteristic of some men ; first educate the negro,
and if he is idiotic, then condemn him : but the
intelligent man will look on this declaration of Mr.
Nott's as a cruel mockery, and cold, heartless insult
to a poor oppressed people. " Domestic culture,"
under the scourge and torment of a hard master,

t*

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586

eflfects all the improvement of which the black is
susceptible ! On what principle a bar is placed
against improvement we know not ; prejudice alone
seems to dictate th*5 declaration, and already the
emancipated West Indian slave gives a flat contra-
diction to it. We need not, however, confine our-
selves to the instance of the black ; history attests
that no nation has risen to importance through
isolation, and but for the intermixture of peoples,
degradation must have been the common lot, if men
had continued to occupy small centres. With the
loss of her national supremacy, Spain has been
crumbling to decay ; and Mexico, in the a^ony of
death, awaits regeneration, by being amalgamated
with the Anglo-Saxon blood.

Prof. Daniel Wilson, whose standard work is
acknowledged with respect by every lover of
science, in speaking of Britain, asks, "Was the
bronze period superinduced on the primeval one
by internal improvement and progression, or wns
it the result of the intruded ?cts of a superior
race ? This, it is manifest, can only be deter-
mined by an extensive series of observations, since
physiologists are generally agreed in admitting that
the physical characteristics of races have been large-
ly modified, and even entirely altered by a change
of circumstances. The nomadic Turkish tribes, for
examDle. spread throu^jh central Asia, still exhibit
the broad-faced, pyramidal skulls which Dr. Prit-

687

chard has assigned to the nomadic races ; inrhile the
long-civilised European Turks have become closely
assimilated to other European races, and possess
the characteristic oval skull. The greater relative
developement of the jaws and zygomata, and of the
bones of the face altogether, in comparison with the
size of the brain, indicates in the pyramidal and pro-
gnathous skulls, a more ample extension of the
organs subservient to sensation and the animal
faculties. Such a configuration is adapted, by its
results, to the condition of human tribes in the
nomadic state, and in that of savage hunters. Two
important points, therefore, which remain to be
determined in relation to the British tumuli, are,
whether the forms and proportions of the skulls of
their builders indicate the existence of one or seve-
ral races ? and, next, whether the changes in the
forms of the crania are sudden and decided, or are
gradual, and pass, by an undefined transition, from
the one to the other ? Archaiological evidence
points to a transitional state from the stone to the
bronze period, such as is altogether irreconcilable
with the idea of the sudden extermination of the
aboriginal race. It at the same time no less dis-
tinctly points to the existence of a native popula-
tion in Britain, long anterior to the earliest historic
indications of the Arian nations passing into Europe."
To these early races, which we describe loosely
as primitive. Dr. Pritchard has suggested the appli-

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588

catioii of the conveniently indefinite term, ' Allo-
pHyllian,' which suffices to distinguish them from
the well ascertained primitive races, without mean-
while assuming any hypothetical origin for them.
Of the AUophyllian colonists of Scandinavia, Prof.
Wilson assigns to the most ancient the short or
brachy-kephalic form of cranium, with prominent
parietal tubers and broad and flattened occiput. To
this aboriginal race, he conceives, succeeds another,
with a ^cranium of a more lengthened form, and
prominent and narrow occiput. The third race
which Scandinavian antiquaries incline to regard
as that of the bronze, or first metallic period, is
characterised by a cranium longer than ihc V?t and

reater

v &

broader than the second, and marked
prominency at the sides. The last. Prof. Wilson
considers to have been of Celtic origin. To this
succeeded the true Scandinavian race, and the first
workers of the native iron ore. Prof. Eschricht
assigns to the crania from the barrows of the oldest
Dar ish series an ample and well developed form,
with the forehead vaulted and tolerably spacious,
and the nasal bones prominent. In a skull described
by him, the zygomata appear large and angular, and
the cranium has somewhat of a pyramidal form. The
eyes have been deeply set, and the eye-brows are
strongly prominent. One of the most unmistakeable
features in these skulls is their round form, approach-
ing to a sphinical shape. The type of the old Celtic

539

/ /'

cranium is considered by Prof. Wilson as interme-
diate to the lengthened and shortened oval, or the
true dolicho-kephalic and brachy-kephalic forms ;
and in this conclusion Dr. Thurnam coincides. Dr.
Morton describes the Celtic head as rather elongated,
and the forehead narrow and but slightly arched,
the brow low and bushy, the eyes and hair light,
the nose and mouth large, and the cheek bones high.
Such char. ristics differ decid3dly from those of
the early barrows. A similar change in the Egyp-
tian cranium is described by Dr. Morton. We
trace the peculiar style of countenance in its several
modifications, through epochs and in localities the
most remote from each other, and in every class of
the Egyptian people. How different from the Pe-
lasgic type, yet how evidently Caucasian! How
varied in outline, yet how readily identified ! And
if we compare these features with those of the
Egyptian series of embalmed bodies, are we not
forcibly impressed with a striking analogy, not only
in osteological conformation, but also in the very
expression of the face ? This type is certainly na-
tional, and presents to our view the genuine Egyp-
tian physiognomy, which, in the ethnographic scale,
is intermediate between the Pelasgic and Semitic
forms. A closer examination evidently induced
Dr. Morton to regard these his " genuine Egyptians"
as the successors of a yet more ancient race ; for,

subsequent to the publication of the crania, he again
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690

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■;l

writes, " I am more than ever confirmed in my old
sentiment, that northern Africa was peopled by an
indigenous and aboriginal people, who were dispos-
sessed by Asiatic tribes." We have here evidence
of change in the crania of races, arising from the
introduction of new blood by intrusion of new fami-
lies. We apprehend more fortunate illustrauons
could not have been selected than those of the
Egyptian and Jew, for what is the history of both
these people ? In the former case, we have a peo-
ple occupying a tract of country of most limited
extent, and, small as it was, split up into contending
factions, which yet more effectually circumscribed
its people. An appeal to the restored history of
this singular people, would seem to point to the
inference, that whoever they originally were, or
wherever derived, they came into Egypt an intel-
lectual people. The perfection of Egyptian art,
says Osburn, is to be found in the monuments which
are of the remotest date. The most ancient remains
with which we are acquainted, are those in which
the largest amount of artistic and handicraft skill
has been displayed. It is a remarkable circum-
stance, says Lepsius, that the antiquity of Egyptian
monuments, considered in relation to the larger
masses of their remains, become less remote the
higher we ascend the valley, in direct opposition to
that which might have been anticipated according
to the very g'^nerally received theory, which as-

^•.}v:

691

sumes that Egyptian civilization in the valley of
the Nile originated in the south, and extended itself
northward. While the pyramids of lower Egypt,
with the tombs that surround them, brought to our
view the wonderfully ample details of the most
ancient civilisation of the third, fourth, and fifth
dynasties, we found the sixth and the full bloom
of the twelfth, the last of the old kingdom, princi-
pally represented in middle Egypt. Thebes was
the glorious metropolis of the first dynasties of the
new kingdom, surpassing all that had gone before,
and all ihat followed, in the number, magnitude,
and the beauty of her monuments, and presenting,
even yet, a reflection, however faint, of Egypt in
the palmy days of her highest prosperity. Egyptian
art, accomplishing great works even in its decline,
has left behind it a range of stately temples, all exe-
cuted by Ptolemies and Roman emperors, and all,
with the single exception of Dendra, occurring in
the southern portion of the Thebaid, or in lower
Nubia. The Egyptian monuments which are situ-
ated the farthest of all to the south, in the valley of
the Nile, viz , those on the island of Meroe, are
likewise the most recent of all, and were, for the
most part, begun after the commencement of the
Christian era. It will, adds Osburn, be easy to fill
up the slight but able sketch borrowed from this
accomplished scholar. The most ancient city of
Heliopolis stands near the crown of the Delta, on

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592

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imm

the eastern bank of the Nile. In the palmy days of
Greece it was the great resort of those of that en-
quiring and restless people, who, like Plato, were
curious to search into the wisdom of the Egyptians.
Immediately opposite the site of Heliopolis, on the
western bank of the Nile, are the great pyramids
of Egypt. The rocky platform on which they stand
is the northern extremity of the range of low lime-
stone hills, which extend southward thence for
more than seventy miles to Howara in the Faiura.
Throughout this entire distance, the rock is crowned
with pyramids, and perforated with 4ombs. It has
visibly served as the burial place of a populous
nation for many ages. It is in the innumerable
tombs of this platform that we fmd the most ancient
remains that have been preserved in any part of
Egypt. In wonderful acceptance with the indica-
tion of Lepsius, the cemeteries of Gizeh and Abousir,
which are the two northernmost groups of tombs in
the entire range, belong to epochs more remote than
those of the cemeteries to the southward. It is here,
therefore, that the most, ancient monuments of Egypt
have been preserved. Those to the southward arc
of more recent date. If we proceed from Grizeli
northward, no single monument has yet been
found in any locality there of an earlier date
than the eighteenth dynasty, with which, according

follow, the new kingdom of

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Egypt commences. Thus, then, we are able to indi-

593

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cat? with certainty the point in the valley of the
Nile in which are found the monuments of the re-
motest antiquity ; and therefore, by the unerring
analogy of the customs of all nations, the spot in
which the first settlement in Egypt took place.
Every thing, both to the northward and southward
of this point, is more modern. This point lies ex-
actly parallel to the Isthmus of Suez, and is pre-
cisely the place at which immigrants over that
thoroughfare, between Asia and A frica, would first
find a locality suited to their purpose after travers-
ing the sands of the desert, and attempting in vain
to penetrate the swamps of the Delta. After dis-
cussing fully the archaeological and ethnological
proofs, which the remains and language of the
people afford, Mr. Osburn says, "The reasonable
inference fro'hi these facts appears to be, that the
first settlers in Egypt were a company of persons in
a high state of civilisation ; but that through some
strange anomaly in the history of man, they had
been deprived of a great part of the language, and
the entire written system, which had formerly been
the means and vehicle of their civilisation." "We
contend that this is the only reasonable or possible
inference, even if no account of the first dispersion
of man had ever reached us.

Combining this inference with the clear unanswer-
able indications we have pointed out — that the fathers
of ancient Egypt first journeyed thither across the

m^'

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594

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pm

Isthmus of Suez, and that they brought with then
the worship of the setting sun ; how is it possible t
resist the conclusion that they came thither from thi
plains of Babel, and that the civilisation of Egyp
was derived from the banks of the Euphrates ? I
is more than probable, therefore, that this peoph
who so settled in Egypt were of a peculiar type, aj
Dr. Morton supposes, and preceded that mixed cha
racter which was afterwards r? general in the nation
Ohumpollion, Rosellini, Heiren and Ruppell detecl
the Nubian physiognomy every where on the monu-
ments ; and Dr. Morton, at one time, adopted the
opinion that the Egyptians and monumental Ethi-
opians were of the same lineage, and probably
descended from a Libyan tribe. Mr. Gliddon's
commentary on Morton's opinion, is not a little
amusing on account of its inconsistency. " To our
view," he says, " Morton struck the true key to the
type of the Egyptian population of the new empire,
They were then already a mixed people, derivec
from Asiatic superpositions upon the aborigina
people of the lower Nile. From the dawn of monu
mental history, which antedates all chronicles, sacrec
or profane, we see the whole basin of the Nile, toge-
ther with that part of Africa lying north of th(
Sahara, inhabited by races unlike Asiatics, anc
equally unlike negroes ; but forming in anthropologi
a connecting link, and geographically another grada-
tion. To say nothing of Egyptians proper, sucl

696

1:^

were and are the Nubians, the Abyssinians, the
Gallas, the Barobra, no less than the whole native
population of the Barbary States." We imagine that
to an honest and well constituted mind, this " con-
necting link" and "geographical gradation" would be
a serious stumbling-block in the way to a reception
of such doctrine as Mr. Gliddon delivers ; and ere
we could receive such a theory, we would demand
of its advocates the aim and end of the creation of
human races at different centres, if in the course of
a few generations amalgamation with improvement
was to be the inevitable sequence. Already in the
American Union the native-born descendants of the
European family is assuming a special developement,
which is as marked and national as the most burning
patriot could desire ; whether the form is deteriorat-
ing, as Dr. Knox supposes, is beside the question ;
but there can be no doubt that notwithstanding the
constant infusion of new l^lood, a new and marked
American type is becoming rapidly established. The
numerous investigators, who have amply detailed
their impressions and observations concerning the
diiierent families, all agree in the existence of con-
necting links ; and no where do we find a race abso-
lutely distinct from its neighbours : tribal and
family peculiarities there are, and no where more
strongly marked than in the savage and degraded
races of Africa. Dr. Latham truly observes,
"If the word negro mean the combination of woolly

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696

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m.

hair, with a jetty skin, depressed nose, thick lips,
and prominent jaw, it applies to Africans as widely
different from each other as the Laplander is from
the Samoeid and Esquimaux, or the Englishman
from the Finlander. It applies to the inhabitants
of certain portions of different river systems, inde-
pendent of relationship, and vice versa. The negroes
of Kordofan are nearer in descent to the Copts and
Arabs, than arc the light-coloured and more civilised
Fulahs. They are also nearer to the same, than
they are to the blacks of Senegambia. If this be
the case, the term has no place in ethnology, except
so far as its extensive use makes it hard to abandon.
Few writers are less disposed to account for ethno-
logical differences, by reference to a change of phy-
sical conditions, rather than original distinction of
species, than Dr. Daniel ; nevertheless, he expressly
states that when you leave the low swamps of the
delta of the Niger for the sandstone country of the
interior, the skin becomes fairer, and black becomes
brown, and brown yellow. The Nubians or the
natives of the middle Nile, between Egypt and
Senaar, are truly transitional in features between the
Egyptians and the blacks of Kordofan. Again, Dr.
Morton's pages afford abundant evidence of the con-
stant blending of forms in small areas, and the
equally constant extinction of some by the prepon-
derance and supremacy of others. At this very
time the European population of South America is,

697

. At this very

according to Squiers, undergoing rapid absorption by
the imported Carib Indian blood which now predomi-
nates ; the new race partaking, in a minor degree, of
the European impress. Before, however, we leave
this part of the subject, to enquire into its time and
space aspect, we would direct attention to the fact
that, at the present all nations are tending more and
more towards each other ; the facilities of travel and
the necessities of man cause a more rapid intercourse
between families, and in the same manner that the
European type has blended — leaving the primary
settlers to be sought in stationary areas — so will there
ultimately be a blending and fusion of the whole
race or family. Is there a " centre of creation" for
the criminal population of the large and over-
crowded cities of the old world ? In one sense there
certainly is, but it is centralisation produced by
forced association. Transport the felons and other
convict classes of Europe to a single spot ; leave
them in isolation and to the lawless indulgence
of their passions and inclinations, and what phy-
siologist will declare that the savage type of cra-
nium will not be handed down from generation to
generation ? and this is precisely the history of the
human family ! Broken up and dispersed abroad
for nearly seven thousand years, one part of mankind
has passed through stages of civilisation and reli-
gious enlightenment, the other through as many

corresponding degrees of degradation and imm jrality |
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and ill proportion t(i the degradation and to the (jua-
lity of the mind, is the conformation of the organ of
its faculties. .,, . , , ,

There are, ho.vevor, two most important physio-
lo;;'cal laws, wliicili seem to [)oint conclusively to the
unity of tlie species, and suflicientl}^ to account for
variety, which Ikivc been strangely overlooked hy
Dr. Meigs in the hite work, "Indigenous Races of
Mankind" ; qnoting Mr. Lawrence, he says, "There
is, on the whole, an undeniable amount of evidence,
nay, a very remarkable constancy of character in
the crania of differeut nations, contributing very
essentially to national peculiarities of form, and
corresponding exactly to the features which charac-
terise such nations." Nor, says Meigs, does this
fact stand alone. It is associated with another,
which should never be lost sight of in all our specu-
lations upon the unity or diversity, geographical
origin and distribution, affiliation and antiquity of
the races of men. I allude to that insensible grada-
tion which appears to he the laio of human frnms, no
less than of all the objects in nature.'-' From the
isolation and exclusive consideration of these facts,
have resulted not a few erroneous assertions, which
have tended to embarrass the science. Thus, it has
been considered in general a matter of but little

* It is to be remembered that this gradation " in aU objects of nature"
has to be sought in the whole plan, sometimes the link being in a past
creation. In man the gradation constantly exists, although the grades

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699

difficulty to (liscriminutc botwcon the crania of dif-
ferent races. Those who un; aceiistonied to this
kindofexaniination, know that tliis statement is true
only for tlie standard or typical lornis of very di-
verse races ; and tiiat as soon as certain divergent
lonns of two allied races or families are compared,
the dillicuUies become very api)arent. On the other
hand, it has been aflirmed that, in any one nation, it
is easy to point out entirely dissimilar types of con-
figuration. Prof. »I. M. Weber i.rrives at the gene-
ral conclusion, that Uu^re is no proper mark of a
definite race-lorm of the (;ranium so fi mly attached,
that it may not be found in some oucr race. The
assumption of the iniiversali y )f certain ethnical
forms, though countenanced by more than one writer,
does not rest upon sufficient evidence to warrant its
acceptance. Another prevalent, but erjually gratui-
tous notion is, that the more ancient the heads, the
more they tend to approximate to one primitive form
or type. With regard to the law which we are
never to lose sight of, we would ask, can there be a
more powerful arg ^'iicnt in favour of actual blood
relationship, than the simple fact of " insensible gra-
dation," not onl;y in family form and likeness, but
also in the whole man — body, soul, and spirit ? Un-
like the gradation which is said to be observable
between the horse, the (juagga, the zebra and the
ass, the gradation in the varied family of man is
positively insensible, and relates as well to his phy-

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sical as to his psychical condition. The difference
observable between the horse and the ass, for in-
stance, are manifested first in the greater power of
adaptation in the former to various climatal changes
— horizontal and vertical — now having his form
expanded to the size almost of the elephant, again
dwarfed down to that of a sheep. The other is
stationary almost in its developement, and in Spain
has been most improved, but the improvement
is not to be compared to that effected in the
horse. Again, the union of the horse and ass
produces a progeny which is, as a general law,
sterile and incapable of producing or perpetuating
its kind. This is so far from being the case in
man, that in every instance improvement follows
free intercourse between the severed stocks. Dr.
Morton's book is full of instances, and every writer
testifies to the same fact : thus, at page 10, speaking
of the Persians, it is said, " It is chiefly among the
mountain tribes (being more isolated) that the indi-
genous Persian is now found. In the towns, the
inhabitants present a different aspect ; for the long
admixture of Georgian and Circassian blood has
done much to improve the Tartar physiognomy of
the rural tribes, and the somewhat heavy figures
and sallow colour of the original Persians." Again,
"The Iliyats or wandering tribes of Persia are
chiefly of exotic extraction, and form a distinct body
oi people. Morier compares them to foreign shoots,

601

/ /•

grafted on the original Persian stock. They date
from the conquest by the Saracens, A. D. 651, and
their numbers were augmented during the subse-
quent invasions of Genghiz and Tamerlane. They
are of Mongol Tartar extraction, but have mingled
for centuries with the Persians, to whom they have
imparted their roving propensities.' Again, •' Dur-
ing the period of the Eoman greatness, the colonies
of Greece and Rome extended themselves widely
into Spain, where they blended with the primitive
Celtabrians or Basques, and the Phoenicians. The
later invasions of the Vandal and Saracens have
added their diversities to the physical and moral cha-
racter of the Spaniard, which, with some redeeming
qualities, has the selfishness of the Arab, the cruelty
of the Roman, and the superstition of the Greek."
And precisely the same general facts apply to the
African diversities and their Asiatic neighbours ;
every where, even among people inhabiting the
same continent, and among those of the same nation,
gradational links are seen. We know where the
true negro is to be found ; do we know where his
connexion with others terminates ? It is true that,
at the present time, the primitive ethnical form
cannot be determined ; but this much is certain,
that the cranium is the index of the entire eco-
nomy ; for the relation between the cranium on the
one hand, and the face, thorax and abdominal organs
on the other, or, in other words, as is the cere-

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bral or intellectual lobes of the brain and the sen-
sory ganglia and nerves, so is the relation of mental
powers to animal propensities ; and exactly upon
this relation depends the nature and character of
the individual man, and the family groups to which
he naturally belongs. Examples, observes Meigs,
of this fact are every where to be found, alike in the
transitionary, as in the more stationary specimens of
the human series. It is a general and well-marked
truth, that in those inferior races — the so-called
prognathous — characterised by a narrow skull, re-
ceding forehead, and enormous anterior develope-
ment of the maxillae, the mental are in entire abey-
ance to the animal powers ; so that their sensuality
is only equalled by their stupidity, as one might
readily minYfrom the ample accommodation for the
organs of the senses. The pyramidal type is ano-
ther inferioi lurm, singularly analogous to the pro-
gnathous in many respects, but differing from it in
others. Races possessing this form of cranium,
manifest corresponding peculiarities in intellectual
power. If then the brain be an organ which, con-
structed on the plan of other organs of the animal
body, increases in size and powei oy the healthy
performance and exercise of its functions, is it not a
necessary result that the cranium should indicate the
mental and moral condition of the race, in accordance
with the exercise which the orwin undergoes? With
regard to the second law, referred to by Dr. Meigs,

603

that " resemblances in cranial form and character-
istics do not necessarily betoken congenital affilia-
tions," we entirely agree ; but does it not prove the
stability of another law in physiology, which is com-
monly apparent in family groui)s, viz., that there is
a constant tendency (as has been already i)ointed
out) to a return to primitive peculiarities ? For it is
certain that, although the characteristics ofan ancestor
may not appear in one generation, they do occur
ill some succeeding one ; and what is true of the
family, is true of the nation ; and if we do find
coincident forms, while there may be no immediate
relationship, it tends to shew that there is a commu-
nity of origin, although how remote we may never
discover — dissimilarity does not prove disunion.
Dr. Latham, in his " Varieties of the Human Spe-
cies," gives an admirable ill us I ration how, in the
same people, we ma}^ have varied characteristics,
apparently partaking of the peculiarities whicli may
exist in two families. If, says Dr. Latliani. we
examine the details of the geographical a re; i. occu-
pied by the Esquimaux, its direction is doubff The
Esquimaux of the Atlantic arc not only easily dis-
tinguished from the tribes of American aborigines
which lie to the south or west of them, and with
which they come in contact, but they stand in strong
contrast and opposition to them— a contrast and
opposition exhibited equally in appearance, man-
ners, and language, and one which has had full jus-

604

I

h\

I \

tice done to it by those who have written on the
subject. It is not so with the Esquimaux of Russian
America and the parts that look on the Pacific.
These are so far from being separated by any broad
and trenchant line of demarcation from the proper
Indians, or the so-called red race, that they pass
go'adually into il; and that, in respect to their habit,
manner, and appearance, equally. So far is this the
case, that he would be a bold man who should ven-
ture, in speaking of the southern tribes of Russian
America, to say, here the Esquimaux area ends, and
here a different area begins. Similar observations
are made by African travellers, who repeatedly de-
scribe, not only varieties in some tribes, but also
the existence of intermediate types, which seem co
blend the characteristics of the true negro and some
other African form, and insensibly to connect all
forms.

Another assertion is, " that a type, as it is mani
Jested in nature, is for all practical purposes Jixed
and immutable r

It depends entirely on the meaning of the term,
as to the kind of answer to be given. If it be meant
that the immutability shall include, not only form,
but life powers also, we may subscribe to the ge-
neral truthfulness of the laws. Thus, the horse,
whether he be the proud, high-blooded racer, the
elephant dray-horse, or the Shetland r>onev, is yet
of the same type. The zebra or the ass is always

605

written on the
laux of Russian
on the Pacific.
(i by any broad
rom the proper
that they pass
t to their habit,
5o far is this the
^ho should yen-
•ibes of Russian
V area ends, and
lar observations
> repeatedly de-
tribes, but also
I, which seem co
negro and some
r to connect all

oe, as it is mani.
I purposes fixd

ng of the term,
If it be meant
not only form,
ribe to the ge-
?hus, the horse,
joded racer, the
id Donev. is yet
le ass is always

the fiame with varieties admitted to be such. So
we affirm it to be with man — as man can never
be any thing else, although his physical character
may oscillaie between two points, the intermediate
space being occupied by varieties which are gra-
dational. The organs which are modified in him,
are precisely those which altered circumstances
are efficient to account for, and it is only possible
to retain peculiarities in his varied members by
most careful isolation, for no sooner does a new
family enter on the area of the old one than tran-
sition begins. Arrest of developement is noticed
in all the savage races ; and the exceptions amongst
them establish the fact, that under favourable con-
ditions their brains would undergo the same deve-
lopement as those of enlightened people. The
American family furnish illustrations of this fact,
and among the negro family similar examples may
be found : thus, the old chief Red Jacket, amongst
others, tells how the forehead may be expanded and
elevated to the measure of intellectual standard.
The illustration of the .ead of an Indian child
T-bout eight years of age, taken from a mound at
Berwick, near Weston, and twenty miles north-
west of 'Toronto, (see wood-cut, page 620,) shews
that neither the re oding forehead o occiput are
in this case greater than in a European of similar
age, although the hereditary type is beg ling to

display itself in the prominence of the cheek-bones,

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The objectors to the doctrine of unity of the
human family adduce as a strong argument against
it, that the early appearance of the r egro physiog-
nomy on the moDunierual tablets of Egypt render it
impossible to sup} r>,!.e that tho change could have
been effected i)' so brief a ; fiir?. Few of us can
really appreciate the actual duration of eight thou-
sand years/' In noticing the changes, some observers

* What ni.i ;.' Lnvo been the date wjich tue Egyptians asaigued to the
creation '^nd t; 10 deluge? Th« day of U so creation was, according to their
traditions, the dav of tiia vernal . > ('linos, as Philo and the Church Patters
testify. The sani pianetaiy cai^t .oUatic^i of the commencement of the
first age of the -world, alsf. "sveaervod by the Egyptians, refers us, as we
have already shewn, to the same day, the vernal equinox of the year 5871
B. C. Furtheriaove, they placed the creation in the year in which Sirius,
the dog-star, rose together with the sun, on the day of the vernal equinox,
as we are informcil by Porphyry, by iEneas Qazeeus and others. And this
again could take place only in the year 5871 B. C. Lastly, we findit
stated by the Alexandrian astronomer Theon, that in the year 27 B. C, the
sixteenih of the ivig a of Augustus, on the 29th of August (the first of the
month Thoth) an<;vi' canicular period (the fifth since the creation, compris-
ing 1461 years) had commenced; by which 5871 B. C. is again confirmed
as the year of the creation. In short, the Egyptians, like all the other
nations of antiquity, \v\ye assigned 5871 B. C. as the year of the creation.
The history of the deluge they represented by the myth concerning the
death of Osiris, which occurred on the same day, the 17th of the mouth
Athyr, on which the i^ood began, according to the sacred Scriptures.

But how does this agree with Matheno and the Vetus Ghronicon, which
reckon 30,000 years from the beginning of time to TyPhon, the murderer
of his brother Osiris {i. e. to the flood ; for Typhon signifies also the sea,
as Osiris tho mainland) ; and, farther, 3984 years from thence to Menes,
and besides 217 additional years ? We are informed by Censorinus, Hora-
poUo and others, that the Egyptian word abot, habot, (complexns) signified
not only a year, but also a month, and also a season of two •^onths. Con-
sequently Manetho and the author of the Vetus Chronicon wen. authorised
to calculate times according to such shortei' years, without contradicting
the other historical traditions of their n.ition. Now we know, moreover,
that Manetho's history of Egypt was called the book of the Sothis, that is
to say, the book of the great canicular period of 36,525 years. This num-
ber was obtained by the multiplication of the smaller Sothis of 14G1 years
with the Apis-period of twenty-five years, and proximately coincided, as we
have seen, with the ereat world-period of 86,000 years. T^Tow Lmco Ma-
uetho was very we': .'.cfiuainted with the very year of the o>>:-\'^;ou, 5Sri
B. C, which was -vied in the planetary co«>*ellatioM .>ucerning the
commencements o' • three fi'-st ages of the world, h( uust have taken
shorter years as iii- sis of those periods, of 30,000 •; ad 3984 years, in
order to it . ** is great Sothis of 36,625 years the entire history of
Egypt down ^ ; 'line. In short, for the purpose of establishing a his-
tory of 36,C ?f. jfeAte, ojilled Sothis, ^lanetbo tv .^ed solar years into months

♦.*'. J

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607

(1 by Censorinus, Hora-

dogmatising on the fact, declare that man has been
on the earth a much greater time, and much more
nearly thirty thousand years ; while more careful
enquirers after truth give positive contradiction
to such statements. Now, taking, as we may fairly
do, the period of time stated by Seyffarth and Os-
burn to have elapsed since the Noahic deluge, we
find that decided changes have taken place in the
race of man ; the evidence is clear and decisive, and
what has to be reconciled is the fact that such change
has been produced in limited time.

We have already alluded to the fact, that the
change of the Egyptian cranium in that ancient
people, as discovered to us by their monuments,
was preceded by a family bearing different charac-
teristics, and by the present becoming a more and
more diverse type, approaching the European fa-
mily, as the Turk is doing. That the greatest cau-
tion is required in drawing conclusions from the

by multiplication, as we find it also among the ancient Chaldeans, Hindoos,
Chinese, and others. He therefore regarded those 30,000 years of his from
the creation to the flood as so many lunar months, (abot) and consequently
reckoned only 2424 solar years for the period in question. Moreover the
3984 years, (Horse) from the deluge to Menes, of which each expressed
a season of two months, give but 664 solar years ; and Manetho's third
period of 217 years, rather comprises the days from Menes' departure from
Babylonia to his arrival in Egypt.

Hence there is nothing at all irreconcilable betweeu Manetho's Sethis
and the other traditions of his people. All knew that, according to the
above-mentioned planetary configurations, the creation had taken place on
the lOch of May, 5871 B. C, and the arrival of Menes on the 16th of July,
2871 B. C. Between the two epochs 3989 years intervene, and precisely
'his number we have in Manetho's periods of 30,000 months and 3984
Horse, with i ' 7 days. In fine, as Manetho reckons from the creation down
toTyphon ('iio deluge) 2424 solar years, the Egyptians placed the flood
2424 years subsequent to 6871 B. C, and therefore in the year 3447 B. C,
to which year, as has already been said, the planetary coiiBguration in the
alphabet refers.

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shapes of crania, is well illustrated by Dr. Morton ;
and we turn to the instanc<^ of "Peruvian skull"
for information on this head, and there we find
just the sort of evidence which the careless inves-
tigator may twist and turn to his purpose, unless
governed by a stern love of truth. In examining
the grave-yards of the ancient Peruvians, Dr.
Morton and others discovered certain skulls so
flattened that they assumed the shape and form of
those of the common domestic cat ; and it was sup-
posed, after close examination, that this form was
produced by artificial means, since a very large
number of savage tribes do, even to this day, from
the Flat-heads of North America to the Carib of
San Vincent, practise this absurd art. Recently a
Danish savan, Dr. Lund, has re-opened the question,
stating certain reasons for believing that the type is
not artificial, but native. Let us examine into the
validity of his conclusion. Dr. Lund remarks :
" We know tha^ V.uman figures found sculptured in
the ancient monuments of Mexico represent, for the
greater part, a singular conformation of head, being
entirely without forehead, the cranium retreating
backwards immediately above the superciliary arcli
This anomaly, which is generally attributed to an ar-
tificial disfigurement of the head, or the taste of the
artist, now admits a more natural explanation : it
being now proved by these authentic dor^^ 'v its,
that there really existed on the continent .. race

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exhibiting this anomalous conformation." Meigs,
in commenting on this, observes : Many curious
facts might be mentioned in this connexion, shew-
ing that not a few of the artificial deformations of
the head witnessed in certain races of them,
are in reality imitations of once natural types.
We know, says Amedec Thierry, that the Huns
used artificial means for giving Mongolian physiog-
nomy to their children ; they flattened the nose with
firmly-strained linen ribbons, and pressed the head
to make the cheek-bones projecting. What could
be the reasonable cause of this barbarous custom, if
not the effort to approach a form which, among the
Huns, was held in greater regard ; in a word, the
aristocratic race ? Now if we compare the figures
of Egyptian heads on the bas-reliefs, we shall find
that the receding forehead is very well depicted ;
and in the sculptures of Central Ani' a, drawn by
Squiers, we have the same flattening of the head.
Was this custom, so common in the unwritten his-
tory of the human race, an imitated peculiarity ; or
does it point to races of flat-headed men, springing
up at different centres of creation ? Can any rea-
sonable mind come to any ot; j' conclusion, than
that which the just mode of weighing evidence would
p*^ int out ; that if there be evidence of imitation,
there must have been a copy to imitate ? It is
curious as well as instructive to compare the remarks
of two distinguished historians on this point. Tor-

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610

queinada, writing of the Peruvians, says, " As to
the custom of appearing fierce in war, it was in
some provinces ordered that the mother or their
attendants should make the faces of their children
long and rough, and their foreheads broad ; as Hip-
pocrates and Galen relate of Macrocephali, who had
them moulded by art into the elevated and conical
form " We see in this evidence of imitation, and
it affords incidental proof of that oneness of the
family which it is well to bear in mind. Sinct
the publication of Lund's opinion, Dr. Morton has
examined the whole question, and conclrJes that
the cause of the deformity is compression. I havt;
remarked, he says, that if we had no other evi-
dence of this strange custom than the narration
of travellers, we n; j;ht be dispo d to deny U alto-
gether, and attribute the resultinj; deform i lies — not
to art, but to some original and ron^ienital peculi-
arity. I at first found it difiicult to conceive that
the original rounded skull of the Indian ould be
« hanged into this fantastic form, and was led to sup-
pose that the latter was an artificial elongation of a
head remarkable f>>x its natural length and narrow-
ness. I even supposed that the long-headed Peru-
v' vns were a more ancient people than the Inca
tribes, and distinguished from them by their cranial
configuration. In this opinion T was nustaken.
Abundant means of observation and comparison
have since convinced me that all these variously-

on

formed ads were originally of the same rounded
shape w lich is characteristic of the aboriginal race
from Cape Horn to Canada, and that art alone has
caused the diversities. It was also remarked of the
ancient Aymacas — lake Titicacca — that those skulls
which were flattened were uniformly those of men.
So far, then, from accepting Dr. Meig's conclusions,
we must assume that there is not ground for the
belief in an original flat-headed race ; but abundant
reason to accept the doctrine that the practice was
aii artificial one, and may have been imitative of a
custf m common in ancient times.

In considering the changes noted in the human
family, the element, time, is much insisted on, and the
endeavour is constantly made to push back the origin
of man to an almost indefinite extent. Dr. Lund
avails himself of the cave-remains of Brazil to prove
this point : on the contrary, we believe that they
rather establish his recent origin.

That changes have taken place in the surface of
the earth, since the origin of the human period,
there is evidence to shew. Humboldt, in his wan-
derings in the interior of Guiana, and Wilson, in
his ' Pre-historic Annals of Scotland," have well
illustrated the fact. The former author says,
' Schomburgh has described a cascade on the banks
of the Essequibo, near the cascades of Warraputa,
which, he says, is celebrated not only for its height,
but also for the quantity of figures cut in the rock,

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which have a gv: i r.- .semblance to genuine Carib
ones in one of the small Virgin Islands (St. John's) ;
but notwithstanding the wide extent of the invasion
of the Caribs, and the ancient power of this fine
race, 1 cannot believe that all the rock engravings,
which form an immense belt, traversing a great part
of South America from west to east, are to be re-
garded as their work. Between Encaramada and
Caycara, on the banks of the Oronoco, a number of
these liieroglyphical figures are sculptured on the
face of precipices, at a height which could now be
reached only by means of extraordinary high scaf-
folding. If one asks the natives how these figures
can have been cut, they answer, laughing — as if it
were a fact of which a white man alone could be
ignorant, * that in the days of the great wafers, their
fathers went in canoes at that height.' Although
not absolute proof, the height of these sculptures,
and the tradition of a large river or lake flowing at
the base 6f the lofty rocks, would seem to indicate
a great change in this region of country."

Of the remains of man himself, we have the fol-
lowing instances furnished by Agassiz, Lund, and
Mantell. The former writer says, " The fossil re-
mains of the human body from Florida, that T pos-
sess, were discovered in a hluff upon the shores of
lake Monroe. The mass in which they v/ere found
is a conglomerate of rotten coral-reef^ limestone, ad
shells, mostly ampularia of the same species now found

613

in the St. John's river, which drains lake Monror.
The question of their age is difficult to answer. T!ic
point to settle is the rate of increase of the peninsula
of Florida, in its southward progress. If wo assume
from evidence we now have, of the additions forming
upon the reefs and keys, the rate of growth to be
one foot in a century, it would require one hundred
and thirty-live thousand years to form the southern
half of the peninsula. Assuming, further, that the
northern half of the peninsula already formed, con-
tinued for nine-tenths of that time a desert waste,
before the fossiliferous conglomerate could be formed,
there would still remain ten thousand years, during
which it should be admitted that the main land was
inhabited by man." Every thing in this case is
based on assumptions, and Mr. Ly ell's "Law of
Uniformity " is taken as proven, while some of the
very ablest geologists have shewn its utter ^ollacy.
Again, it is not a little remarkable th"' u,' ..) all
Prof. Agassiz' ingenuity, he comes up ^ .;;.- ^1 .-. ]v
to the dates which sonie of the chrono: ;, Ir/j' '• ' JiS-
sign to man's advent, making the differtixoo oecween
Agassiz, Seyffarth, Osburn and others somewhere from
one to two thousand years ; while, as we shall point
out, authorities superior to Agassiz on points of pure
geology, are decidedly against him.

Mr. Mantell has given illustrations of the fossil
remains of man, which are very interesting ; and, as

the result of bis investigations, concludes, that there
4h

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614

is no evidence of their being so ancient as some scep-
tics imagine. After describing the rapidity of some
formations in the West Indies and Scotland, he says :
The shores of the Bermuda Islands afford interest-
ing examples of this class of deposits in different
states of consolidation. The sea surrounding the
Bermudas abounds in corals and shells ; and from
the action of the waves on the reefs and on the dead
shells, the water becomes loaded with calcareous
matter. Much of the detritus is transported to a
distance, and subsides in the depths of the ocean,
imbedding the remains of animals and vegetables ;
but a great portion is borne by the waves towards
the shores, and cast up on the strand in the state of
line earth and sand. This detritus is blown inland
by the winds, and is soon consolidated by the perco-
lation of water and the infiltration of crystallized
carbonate of lime ; a fine white calcareous stone is
thus formed, which in some localities forms the drip-
stone or filter-stone, and sometimes is sufficiently
compact for building. In this rock xre numerous
shells and corals, of species which inhabit the neigh-
bouring seas ; in some instances the large mottled
turbo, so well known to collectors both in its natural
dnd polished stai i, with all its colours preserved, is
imbedded in a pure white limestone. In many spe-
cimens the colours are faded, and the shells verv
much in the state of those found in the tertiary strata
at Grignon ; in others the shell matter is wanting,

616

but the hard stone retains the forms and markuigs
of the originals. The corals are imbedded in a simi-
lar manner ; and masses occur in the limestone so
like the fossil corals of the oolite of this country,
that it requires an experienced eye to detect their
real nature. In a suite of specimens, shewing the
transition from loose sand to solid rock, we have —

1 . Broken shells and corals, retaining their colours.

2. Similar materials, more comminuted and com-
pletely bleached.

3. An aggregation of fine sand and white earth,
broken shells, and corals.

4. Friable liiaestone, resembling soft chalk, and
composed of comminuted corals, corallines, &c.

6. Hard limestone, of similar materials.

6. Compact limestone, enveloping shells and peb-
bles.

7. A fine indurated limestone, so hard as to be
with difficulty broken by the hammer, enclosing a
few shells and corals : this stone is employed for
building.

The Bahamas, and others of the West Indian
Islands, mainly consist of similar coral-deposits.
Some of the indurated coral-sands occasionally con-
tain eggs of alligators and of turtles.

In the lakes of Forfarshire, in Scotland, fresh-
water limestone, containing recent shells and aquatic
plants, is in progress of formation. In the speci-
mens collected by Sir C. Lyell, are various species

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of fresh-water shells, and masses of that common
fresh-water plant, the rJiara medicaginula, beauti-
fully preserved ; even the minute Jieed-vessels of
the chara are converted into stone, in precisely the
same manner as those in the' ancient fresh-water
tertiary limestones. Here, then, is an example of
the formation of a modern lacustrine rock ; while,
in the recent limestones of Bermuda, we have proof
that the sea is at this time forming shelly and coral-
line rocks, analogous to many of the ancient second-
ary strata.

i Similar aggregations are m progress along the
shores of the whole West Indian archipelago ; and
in St. Domingo they have greatly extended the
plain of Cayes, where accumulations of conglo-
merate occur, and in which, at the depth of twenty
feet, fragments of ancient pottery have been dis-
covered. On the north-eaHt coast of the main-
land of Gruadaloupe, a bed of recent limestone
forms a sloping bank from the steep cliffs of the
island to the sea, and is nearly all submerged at
high tides. This modern rock is composed of con-
solidated sand and comminuted shells and corals of
species now inhabiting the adjacent seas : land-
shells, fragments of pottery, stone arrow-heads,
carved stone and wooden ornaments, and human
skeletons, are occasionally found imbedded in it.
This circumstance, being the first known undoubted
example of the occurrence of human bones in solid

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limestone, excited great attention ; and the fact,
simple and self-evident as is its explanation, was
made the foundation of many vague and absurd
hypotheses.

In most instances the bones are dispersed ; but a
large slab of rock, in which a considerable portion
of the skeleton of a female is imbedded, is preserved
in the British Museum, and has been described by
Mr. Konig, in a highly interesting memoir, pub-
lished in the Philosophical Transactions of 1814.
The annexed representation will convey an idea of
this celebrated relic, which was detached from the
rock at the mole, near Point-a-Pitre.

In this specimen the skull is wanting, but the
spinal columin, many of the ribs, and the bones of

the left arm and hand, of the
pelvis, and of the thighs and
legs, remain. The bones still
contain some animal matter,
and th*^ whole of their phos-
phate of lime. It is remark-
able, that the fragments of the
skull of this very specimen
have recently been purchas-
ed, for the museum at South
Carolina, from a French na-
turalist, who brought them
from Guadaloupe ; and they
F0S8IL HUMAN SKELETON, havo been described by Pro-

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618

fessor Moultrie, of the Medical College of that State.
These relics consist of portions of the temporal,
parietal, frontal, sphenoidal, and inferior maxillary
bones of the right side of the skull. An entire ske-
leton was also discovered in the usual position of
burial ; and another, in a sitting posture, in a softer
sandstone. The bodies, thus differently situated.
may have belonged to distinct tribes. Greneral
Emouf, who carefully investigated this interesting
deposit, conjectured that the presence of the bones
might be explained by the circumstance of a battle,
and the massacre of a tribe of Gallibis by the Caribs,
which took place near this spot, about one hundred
and twenty ^ears ago ; for, as the bodies of the slain
were interred on the sea-shore, their skeletons may
have subsequently been covered by sand-drift, which
has since consolidated into limestone. Dr. Moultrie,
however, from a rigorous examination and compari-
son of the bones of the skull in his possession, is of
opinion that the specimen in the British Museum did
not belong to an individual of the Carib, bu;, to one
of the Peruvian race, or of a tribe possessing a simi-
lar crauiological dcvelopement.

In another skeleton from Guadaloupe, now in the
museum of the Jardin des Plantes, and represented
in the last edition of Cuvier's "Theorie delaTerre,'
the figure is bent, the spine forms an arc, and the
thighs are drawn up as if the individual were in a
sitting posture ; a portion of the upper jaw, and the

■ 619

left half of the lower with several teeth, nearly the
whole of one side of the trunk and pelvis, and a con-
siderable portion of the upper and lower left extre-
mities are preserved. The stone encloses terrestrial
and marine shells ; it is evident that the former have
been drifted by streams from the interior, and the
latter deposited by the sea. In the bed from which
this block was extracted, were found teeth of the
caiman, (a species of crocodile) stone hatchets, and a
piece of wood, having rudely sculptured on one side
a mask, and on the other the figure of an enormous
frog ; it is of guaiacum, but has become extremely
hard, and as black as jet.

Human skeletons have also been found in solid
calcareous tufa, near Santa, in Peru. Bones, be-
longing, it is computed, to some scores of indivi-
duals, were discovered imbedded in travertine,
containing fragments of marine shells, which still
possess colour. The bed of stone is covered by a
deep vegetable soil, and forms the face of a hill
crowned with brushwood and large trees, on the one
side of the river Santa.

In the Isle of Ascension, which is a volcanic cone
in the midst of the Atlantic, and appears to have
been a dome of trachytic rocks, subsequently afford-
ing vent to lava-currents, a recent deposit of con-
glomerate is going on. Its coasts are flanked by
accumulations of concreted sand with comminuted
shells, corals, echini, and fragments of lava. The

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specimens before us are portions of this modern
rock in various states of consolidation ; they are
composed of corals, which still retain their colour,
of shells, more or less broken, and of sand of similar
materials ; they also contain pebbles of trachytic
and glassy lava. The shores of this island are a
favourite resort of turtles, which repair thither in
immense numbers, and deposit their eggs in the
loose sand : the rapid conversion of the coarse cal-
careous banks into solid stone, occasions the frequent
imbedding and preservation of the eggs ; and there
are specimens iti the cabinet of the Geological So-
ciety, in which the bones of young turtles, just on
the point of being hatched, are preserved. The
conglomerate of the Isle of Ascension is, as you
may observe, principally composed of corals. Here
we have another example of a rock formed of the
calcareous skeletonts of those wonderful forms of
organic existence ; but it is not my intention in this
place to dwell on the geological changes produced
by zoophytes in the formation of coral-reefs, &c.

We have already alluded to the encroachments
on the land by the drifting of sand-banks, thrown up
beyond the reach of the tide, and driven by the
winds inland ; thus effecting the desolation of whole
regions by their slow but certain progress. Egypt
instantly presents herself to the imagination, with
her stupendous pyramids, the sepulchres of a mighty
race of monarchs, and the wonder of the world — her

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621

temples and palaces, once so splendid and massive
as to bid defiance to the ravages of time — her plains
and valleys, formerly teeming with abundance and
supporting a numerous population — now stripped of
her ancient glories, her fairest regions depopulated,
and converted into arid wastes, — her cities over-
whelmed and i)rostrate in the dust,— and the colos-
sal monuments of her kings and the temples of her
gods half buried beneath the sands of the desert !

The drifting sands of the Libyan desert by the
westerly winds, observes M. De Luc, have left no
lands capable of cultivation on those parts of the
western bank of the Nile, whole districts are covered
by moveable sands, and here and there mtiy be seen
the summits of temples and the ruins of cities which
they have overwhelmed. " Nothing can be more
melancholy," says Denon, " than to walk over vil-
lages swallowed up by the sand of the desert, to
trample under foot their roofs and minarets, and to
retlect that yonder were cultivated fields, that there
grew trees, that here were the dwellings of men,
and that all have now vanished. The sands of the
desert were in ancient times remote from Egypt ;
and tho oases which still appear in the midst of this
stertile region are the remains of fertile soils which
formerly extended to the Nile."

In the maritime plains and valleys of Peru the

same cause is operating slowly, but with unremitting

energy ; the sea-sands are marching incessantly
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before the trade-wind, and threat^^n ultimate deso-
lation. The sand has already surmounted the lofty
hills which form the southern boundary of the beau-
tiful valley of Lurin, and io flowing down in large
waves over the cultivated ground. The same phe-
nomenon is observable on the elevated plain which
is called the Tablada, where the tops of the hills
appear like Egyptian oases, and whenc^ .^e sand is
pouring down in enormous floods over the sugar-
plantations of San Juan and Villa, in the valley of
Eimac.

' On many parts of the shores of Scotlai*'"., sand-
floods have converted tracts of great fertility into
barren wastes ; and on the northern coast of Corn-
wall an extensive district has been covered by
drifted sand, which has become consolidated by the
percolation of water holding iron in solution, and in
some places forms ranges of low mounds, and hills
forty feet high.

From a memoir by Dr. Paris, in the transactions
of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, we find
that a sandstone occurs in various parts of the nor-
thern coast of Cornwall, which affords a most instruc-
tive example of a recent formation, since we here
actually detect nature at work in converting loose
sand into solid rock. A very considerable portion
of the northern coast of Cornwall is covered with
calcareous sand, consisting of minute particles of
comminuted shells, which, in some places, has accu-

'}

623

mulated in quantities so great, as to have formed
hills of from forty to sixty feet in elevation. In
digging into these sand-hills, or upon the occasional
removal of some part of them by the winds., the
remains of houses may be seen ; and in places,
where churchyards have been overwhelmed, a great
number of human bones may be found. The sand
is supposed to have been originally brought from
the sea by hurricanes, probably at a remote period.
At the present moment, the progress of its incursion
is arrested by the growth of the arundo aretmcea.
The sand firsc appears in a slight but increasing
state of aggregation on several parts of the shore in
the Bay of St. Ives ; but on approaching the Gwy-
thiau River, it becomes more extensive and indu-
rated. On the shore opposite Godrevy Island, an
immense mass of it occurs, of more than a hundred
feet in length, and from ten to twenty in depth,
containing ent're shells and fragments of clay-slate ;
it is singular ti^c*^ the whole mass assumes a striking
appearance of stratification. In some places it ap-
pears that attempts have been made to separate it,
probably for the purpose of building, for several
old houses in Gwythian are built of it. The rocks
in the vicinity of this recent formation in the Bay of
St. Ives are greenstone and clay-slate, alternating
with each othei. The clay-slate is in a state of
rapid decomposition, in consequence of which large
masses of the horn*blend rock have fallen in va-

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rious directions, and given p angular character of
picturesque rudeness to the scene. This is remark-
able in the rocks which constitute Godrevy Island.
It is around th' promontory of New Kaye that the
most extensive formation of sandstone takes place.
Here it may be seen in different stages of indura-
tion, from a state in which it is too friable to be
detached from the rock upon which it reposes, to a
hardness so considerable that it requires a very
violent blow from a sledge to break it. Buildings
are here constructed of it ; the church of Oranstock
is entirely built with it ; and it is also employed for
various articles of domestic and agricultural uses.
The geologist who has previously examined the
celebrated specimen from Guadaloupe will be struck
with the great analogy which it bears to this forma-
tion. Suspecting that masses might be found con-
taining human bones, if a diligent search were made
in the vicinity of those cemeteries which have been
overwhelmed, I made some investigations in those
spots, but, I regret to add, without success. The
rocks upon which the sandstone reposes are alterna-
tions of clay-slate and slaty limestone. The inclina-
tion of the beds is S.S., and at an angle of 40°.
Upon a plane formed by the edges of these strata,
lies a horizontal bed of rounded pebbles, cemented
together by the sandstone which is deposited imme-
diately above them, forming a bed of from ten to
twelve feet in thickness, containing fragments of

625

slate and entire shells, and exhibiting the same ap-
pearance of stratification as that noticed in St. Ives'
Bay. Above this sandstone lie immense heaps of
drifted sand. But it is on the western side of the
promontory of New Kaye, in Fishel Bay, that the
geologist will be most struck with this formation ;
for here no '^er ro^k is in sight. The cliffs, which
are high ana id for several miles, are entirrly

composed tfa'^y are occasionally intersected

by veins uiiU es of breccia. In the cavities,
calcareous stalacutes of rude appearance, opaque,
and of a grey colour, hang suspended. The beach
is covered with disjointed fragments, which have
been detached from the cliffs above, many of which
weigh two or three tons.

An interesting fact relating to the Brazilian caves
is worthy of record. M. Claussen, in the course of
his researches, discovered a cavern, the stalagmitic
floor of which was entire. On penetrating the sparry
crust he found the usual ossiferous bed, but pressing
engagements compelled him to leave the deposit
unexplored. After an interval of some years M.
Claussen again visited the cavern, and found the
excavation he had made completely filled up with
stalagmite, the floor being as entire as on his first
entrance. On breaking through this newly-formed
incrustation, it was found to be distinctly marked
with lines of dark-coloured sediment, alternating
with the crystalline stalactite. Reasoning on the

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probable cause of this appearance, M. Claussen sag^i-
cioQsly concluded that it arose frcnn the alternation
o£ the wet and dry seasons. Daring the drought of
summer, the sand and dust of the parched land were
WAfted into the caves and fissures, and this earthy
layer was covered during the rainy season by sta-
la^ite, from the water that percolated through the
limestone, aiid deposited oaJc-spar on the floor. The
number of alternate layers of spar and sediment tal-
lied with the years that had elapsed since his first
visit ; and on breaking up the ancient bed of stalag-
mite, he found the same natural register of the annual
variation of the seasons ; every layer dug through
presented a uniform alternation of sediment and
spar : and as the botanist ascertains the age of an
ancient dicotyledonous tree from the annual circles
of growth, in like manner the geologist attempted to
calculate the period that had elapsed since the com-
mencement of these ossiferous deposits of the cave ;
aaid although the inference, from want of time and
means to conduct the enquiry with precision, can
only be accepted as a rough calculation, yet it is
interesting to learn, that the time indicated by this
natural chronometer, since the extinct mammalian
forms were interred, amounted to mwy thousand
years.

As in the bone-caves of England, Prance, and
Germany, relics of human skeletons have been
found in the upper layers of the detritus formisg the

Y

ii

62T

floor of the Brazilian caves. Dr. Lund, from ^e
condition and situation of these remains, concluded
that they belonged to an ancient tribe that was coe-
val with some of the extinct mammalia.

The facts which have been accumulated by the
most laborious industry, and not always commented
on with the most scrupulous impartiality, all, never-
theless, conspire to establish the recent advent of
man upon the earth, at the head of the present crea-
tion ; and thus to identify him not only as closely
connected with the last age of Creative Energy, but
as the being in whom is summed up the love and
glory of the Creator. Not only in man do we dis-
cover that perfection in external form, that wonder-
ful mechanism which places him above his associate
creatures ; but beyond all this is revealed to us the
creation of a Moral World, with its grand and sub-
lime duties, which lift him up to association with
spirits, Which we feel and are conscious must be par-
takers of a state of existence, which our own yearn-
ings prompt us to regard as alone worthy to be
enjoyed by creatures gifted wi^h faculties such as we
possess. It is a matter of deep concern to the the-
ist, and, above all, to the christian, to feel and know
that accumulating proofs attest the truth of man's later
creation, and conspire, with the judgments of the
naturalist, to place him at the head of earth's mar-
vels ; and yet a step further, when the records of
written history seem to have been siletit, the imper-

628

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ishable monuments of a long past age yield up their
mysterious testimony to the truthfulness of that
written history, which a large portion of the most
enlightened receive as the revelation of the Holy
One. But we not only find the strongest reasons
for accepting the history of man's comparatively
recent origin ; there is every reason to acknowledge
that there is but one flesh, that the Great Father of
All hath made, of one blood, all the nations upon
earth, and hath bound them in one bond of fellow-
ship.

Mr. Mantell observes that in Europe, the first
appearance of man, as indicated by the remains of
human skeletons and works of art, was immediately
after the' great inundation which spread the rolled
boulders and detritus of the drift or diluvium over
the valleys and plains, and into the caverns and fis-
sures in which the bones of the mammalia that
inhabited the land are fo^^nd entombed. What spe-
cies, now extinct, wer^: ^ting at the period of the
first advent of the human race into Europe, it is
scarcely possible to determine. The Irish elk, two
or three species of bos, and probably a species of
horse, beaver, and bear, are apparently the only
lost forms which the facts at present known point
out as contemporaries of the aboriginal tribes of the
British Islands and the neighbouring continent.* In
the ancient tertiary strata, though the bones of many

* With Prof. Owen, we beliete that even theso ftoiinaUi were not con-
temporary with man.

'n. ■

629

i up their
3 of that

the most
the Holy
jt reasous
paratively
knowledge

Father of
ions upon
[ of fellow-

yrere not oon-

species of quadrupeds of existing genera, and even
some species believed to be identical, abound, yet
no vestiges of man or of his works have been de-
tected. While, therefore, we may reasonably expect
to find fossil human remains in strata of higher anti-
quity than any in which they have hitherto been
observed, it does not seem probable that traces of
man's existence will be met with in the eocene, or
ancient tertiary formations; for, notwithstanding
the occurrence of existing genera and species of
mammalia, even of that race which approaches near-
est to man in its physical organisation — the quadru-
mana or monkey tribes — there are no just grounds
for assuming that physical evidence will be obtained
by which the existence of man, and, consequently,
of the present order of things, may be traced back
to that remote era. ^.,

In reference to this problem, I entirely concur in
the opinion expressed by Prof. Whewell, " that the
gradation in form between man and other animals
is but a slight and unimportant feature in contem-
plating the great subject of the origin of the human
race. Even if we had not revelation to guide us, it
would be most unphilosophical to attempt to trace
back the history of man, without taking into account
the most remarkable facts in his nature ; the facts
of civilisation, arts, government, speech j his tradi-
tions ; his internal wants ; his intellectual, moral, and

religious constitution. If we will attempt a retro-
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spect, we must look at all these things as eyidence
of the origin and end of man's being ; and when we
do thus comprehend in one view the whble of the
argument, it is impossible for us to arrive at an
origin homogeneous with the present order of things.
On this subject the geologist may therefore be well
content to close the volume of the earth's physical
history, and open that divine record which has for
its subject the moral and religious nature of man."*
In the previous portion of this book we have en-
deavoured to illustrate, both from the anatomical
confdrmation of the brain of animals, as well as that
of man, that it is the instrument by which the mind
is enabled to hold converse with the external world,
and to appreciate and reflect upon external objects.
In accordance with the development of the organ,
and even in proportion to the^ perfection of its
parts — as, for instance, in the 0K of the elephant,
whose cerebrum is more convoluted and better ar-
ranged than that of the ape, although the whole
type of brain of the latter is nearer to that of man —
so is man able to understand and perceive external
relations. We have also shewn that in the brain of
the degraded man, there is not that full growth of

* ApplyiDg the transcendental anatomy— the unity of organiijm—- only to
the « family of man," aa Dr. Knox professes to do in his last work, and the
oonclosion which we hold in common with Dr. Knox is, that the homan
family is a unit, modified into permanent tarieties by a law; that law oper-'
ating in combination with external circumstances, and adapting each variety
of the family to those cironmstances. As rational theists, we hold further,
in opj>osition to brute atheism, that the law, and man and its subject, and
the circomstanees of his being, and the adaptation of one to the other, pro-
ceed from a Being All- Wise and AU-Powerful— the Cbbatob of all.

'//

//

631

parts, or that well balanced proportion between the
cerebral masses in the savage or criminal dac^es
that is found to prevail in the enlightened and moral
iamilies. It is also true, that the changes which
take place in the form of crania are much more
rapid in case of declension of character than in the
opposite case of rise and progress from barbarism
to civilisation ; and this would seem to be in accord-
ance with the laws of growth and organisation, —
injury, disease, or arrest of growth may take place
very suddenly in the organs of the body, or in the
whole, but repair and restoration to the primitive
condition is more slow and difficult. Food, climate,
isolation, or free communion between races, moral
ov immoral influences, are the circumstances which
continually interpose to afiTect the destiny of man ;
and when his reason has become obtuse, or his moral
nature blunted, befalls to the condition of brute life.
Yet the singular power of adaptation which man
possesses enables him to occupy every portion of
the earth, gives him an advantage over most
creatures, and furnishes one proof of that goodness
and wisdom manifested in so wondrous a creation.
If man had been originally created at different cen-
tres, there must have been some very patent reason
for such an arrangement ; and we may conceive,
that so very marked a diversity of origin would
have been preserved, and admixture prevented by
some law ahalagous to that which controls amalga-

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mation between allied species in the inferior animals.
No such law exists to curb the intercourse among
nations ; on the contrary, nations and families are
constantly blending, and enlightened peoples, com-
pelled by irresistible impulse, push themselves even
into areas which are occupied ; sometimes freely
admiring with the occupants, at other times putting
further back the aboriginal holders of the soil. If
there ever were centres of creation of men, we
cannot tell how many or where they were ; for
intermixture is so cooiplete, that the supposed
central birth-places are lost, and the object of such
a method of creation rendered incomprehensible.
However mr!ch, therefore, the external colour
and form may vary, we see nothing but the action
of the law of adaptation which, through the influence
of external conditions, establishes a conformity be-
tween man and the climate which he lives in.

It is to the inner life that we look for that manifes-
tation of unity which offers such decided proof of the
oneness of the race ; it is in the perfect accordance
of the human mind that we discover that we are all
men of like passions, liable to be influenced by the
same motives, and swayed by similar feelings and
incentives to good or evil. In all who do not act up
to the standard of good morals, the coarse and bru-
tal propensities of man's nature are in more or less
active exercise ; while in those portions of the race
in which the moral law is the standard by which

rat- MX

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633

actions are weighed, there more or less the nobler
and pnrer focnlties of the spirit are in vigorous and
healthful exercise. But the student of Natural
Theology may fairly draw some very cogent reasons
for the unity of man's nature, from the necessitios
arising out of those relationships which stimulate
commercial enterprise, and set in action that cease-
less energy by which the ebb and flow of products
of different climes are kept in motion. There is a
mutual dependence between the respective nations
of men, which forces them into communion sooner or
later, and the tendency of which is to harmonise and
consolidate those bonds of peace, by means of which
elevation and improvement are effected. It is no
mere worldly wisdom which inculcates the duty of
sending to savage and heathen men a knowledge of
the arts and industry of civilisation, along with that
which they may subsequently admit to be "true
knowledge ;" it is much more reasonable, and in
accordance with the dictates of religion, to prevent
the mischievous idleness and apathy of heathen life,
by supplying new and useful occupations, and by
creating a desire for the possession and enjoyment
of those appliances of educated man, which have
been found most conducive to a healthy standard of
social and moral life. Rarely has success waited on
trials which have been made to win the heathen man
— grown up in vice — to paths of virtue ; and the disap-
pointment which follows the attempt, too often blunts

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exertion and consigns to deBtruotion genArations of
Bonis. Let the fact be reeognised that "the child must
be trained in the way he should go, that when he is old
he may not depart from it :" gather the children of
such heathen nations as oommeroe— or purer motives
than those of gain — throw in the way of truth, and
do the best we can to put into operation good lessons
for the improvement of the grown-up man, and little
disappointment will succeed so glorious a work. Com-
merce, as the hand-maid to religion, promises to do
for Africa what, it its powerful co-operation had
been more fully recognised, it would have done
more successfully for India ; and what, on no con-
temptible scale, it has done and is doing for the
negroid West Indian. Anatcmiy has taught us that
in the young of the human family there is that iden-
tity of type which proclaims the original unity of the
family of man ; and if in the growth and develop-
ment from childhood to age, there be hindrance
in the work of perfection— if we fail to cultivate
the mind to the highest standard of excellence, we
may be sure that the task of renovation will b^ a more
arduous one, than that which is undertaken in behalf
of the rs yet undeveloped infant. Educate, therefore,
the mind ; improve the intellectual and moral capacity
of the young ; teach them ; let them know that the earth
which they inhabit was meant to yield its fruits and
treasure to supply the wants of man ; let them feel and
know that man has wants which are to be satisfied —

u

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685

wants which arenecMSMry to the advancement of his
highest intefests ; and the interpretation of the lesson
which flows ttem snch a contest with the material
world will plainly declare, that in all this striving
after physical and mental improvement, there is bnt
the gross and shadowy preparation of that comeli-
ness and rich perfection which shall hereafter be
given to man. Herdiag with the beasts of the
forest, and dwelling amid that primal vegetation
which natarally dothes the earth, the chief
lessons to be learned by the heathen are those
which tell of that otter degradation which renders
Mm dead to responsibility, and almost lost to the
knowledge of good. Gorsed is the ground for man's
sake^ and he eares not to remove the briar nor the
thorn, alike emblems and portions of the curse.
The vision of Eaiadise dawns not on his mind, and
the wild wildemesB of sin neither brings remorse
to his heart nor yet a Idnsh to his cheek. Is there
not a deep and seairching witness agai^^stus in the
mute but ele^^nt voice of nature? Is not the
triumph of agineultire over the forest-encumbered
soil something l&e a triumph of man over the spoiling
of evil, a conqjuest overftcorntption which embitters
his life ? And if in this continuous conflict with the
world of matter, the victory be so far complete as
to all but eHe^e the defiamaticHi which neglect or
slothfulness permits, and which sin brought in : how
much more real^ hcmr much more important that

^^x

636

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fiercer contest whicb man most wage with the mad
and boisterous passions which rage against his spirit.
Religion, and the arts and occupations of a moral
and virtuous people, must ever be conjoined, as
man's body and soul are coigoined. Moral and vir-
tuous precepts, holy laws, holy actions, are essential
/ to a holy life of the soul : profitable employment,
commercial prosperity, and national advancement,
are essential to the dignity of the temporal condition
of man. Happy that people who, in these pursuits
and in such prosperity, see but the types of an end-
less future. While the soul of man must be kept in
holiness, none need suppose that the body is not to
be held in high respect. The body is part of the
man, and must be elevated along with the spirit ;
for both are required to worship Him who is the
Creator. We are under the influence of a false
humility to leave our bodies grovelling in the dust,
and to speak as if they formed no essential part of
our nature : the operations of nature tell us other-
wise. He who created the body deemed it worthy
to be taken into Himself, and He who took it into
Himself suffered it not to see corruption. In the
world of nature we see how He hath, in perfect
wisdom, fashioned all material forms, and made of
our flesh tabernacles, in which the spirit may dwell :
as the earth, garnished and cropped with its richest
fruits, tells that the husbandman's care has been
diUgently employed in keeping down the choking

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687

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his spirit.
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joined, as
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ployment,
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be kept in
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ok it into
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briar and destructive thorn, and so gaining a harvest
of good grain : in like manner the exhibition of vir-
tue, industry, and all morality, not only sets forth the
elevation of man's inner nature, but it includes in the
advancement that of his external nature also, and
holds the possessor of such gifts up as an example to
be imitated.

The tide of history has floated down its troubled
sur&ce a clear indication of the possession by the
human family of the knowledge of "good and eviV
and therefore of that knowledge which proves man
to have the faculty of understanding the difference
between actions which are moral and immoral ; and
at the present hour the whole world — as it has ever
been — is arrayed in opposition and in continued
conflict, by the struggle for dominion which is per-
petually waged by morality against immorality. It
is in the nature and progress of this uncompromising
strife that the theologian looks for evidence of a
supernal and controlling influence. It is a conflict,
in which all will admit, that the natural man is
most easily induced to lend himself to the cultiyatiou
of appetites which are earthly, and to desires
which are centred on the possession and enjoyment
of immediate gratification. It is a conflict against
a condition which seduces the present life to be
swallowed up in bodily delights and passions: a
conflict in which the natural man is easily overcome,

and his knowledge of good utterly overturned by
4 L

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638

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his aptitude for the acquirement of the knowledge
of evil. Surely if we study man as related to the
creation, and contemplate the marrellous display of
sympathy and powers which have been and are yet
expended in the cause of human advancement, we
would cease, both in the pulpit and on general
occasions, to ridicule that charity which engages
itself in reclaiming ihe vicious, or to decry his
nature as something too debased to merit the care
or engage the sympathy of an All-Wise Creator.
The exclamation uttered of old, *' What is man that
Thou regardest him," was never meant to condemn
to dust that creature who, alone, of all earthly beings,
was capable of chaunting the praises of Him who
created all things. It vas the cry of humiliation,
wrung from the soul of one who had tasted of the
knowledge of good and evil, and had been permitted
to feel, aud had had strength given him to escape
from the one and to hold fast to the other. It is not,
however, from the moral man alone that we derive
attestation of the superior value of morality over
vice ; it is from the corrupt and depraved them-
selves that we may draw testimony in support of
that nobler condition which is the result of a better
life. The truly unfortunate revolutionist, hurled by
the whirlwind of vicious passions into scenes dark
and dismal, yet had judgment enough to declare
" that if God did not exist, it would behove man
to invent Him :" and whether we contemplate the

1/

639

barbarism which deluged the streets of a civilised
city with blood, or the matchless treachery by which
christians were butchered by demi-civilised Asiatics,
we must conclude that even earthly happiness is
best and only secured by the full display of moral
excellencies enjoyed by those nations which have
reached the highest prosperity ; for in proportion
to the full developement of their moral life, has been,
and is, their pre-eminence. in/i'i,il^»frt?vrtl/f^a*»M''^rt«rf^

If it be true that, by the constitution of his present
nature, the tendency of man is towards evil ; by
what power is he turned from that evil, which may,
in the main, bring present enjoyment ? It is not
possible that a people should rise to the enjoyment
of a dignified position who are under the influence of
evil principles : yet however dwarfed and corrupt
their notions of "the good" may be, should they
attain a position, it is by such goodness as they
possess, that they are ever raised to any degree of
happiness. The history of the birth of Righteous-
ness in apparent weakness — its conflict with princi-
palities and powers, with the rulers of this world,
and with spiritual wickedness in high places — con-
vinces the reasonable mind that there was, and is
yet, in this unequal contest between good and evil,
an unseen but not unfelt power, which is quite ade-
quate to the task of victory : a power in action which
is not in its mode of acting akin to the mode of action
of anv thinff earthly. It is to be somewhat under-

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stood by the mysterious working of that energy, which,
in the body, is perpetually supplying the waste of lost
parts, and which more than symbolises that property
of mind which is for ever urging on to the recovery of
lost perfection. As in the body, there is this per-
petual contest between opposing forces ; the one
reaching to the attainment of good, and the other to
degradation and loss. So in the race of man : there
is a mighty conflict between good and evil ; the for-
mer attained only by the mysterious and subtle
agency of that unseen power which is felt in the
life, and in the achievement of victory over evil. '|
*^ While the accidents of man's life influence to
a considerable degree his conformation — mental and
bodily — it is no less true, that in all ages and cir-
cumstances there is a tendency to reversion to the
primitive type ; a desire for, and an appreciation of
those better qualities of mind which characterise
man in his most perfect state. A distinction be-
tween right and wrong seems innate, although
the judgment may be dubious as to what in every
case constitutes right and wrong. Rewards and
punishment are dispensed by the most savage na-
tions; and, in many of thero, admiration for the
loftier attributes of man's nature is carried to a su-
perstitious extent. The religious fanaticism of the
Hindoo and the Chinese, stimulated both by a subtle
philosophy and sensualistic faith, teaches us how
intensely the mind may be nerved to vigorous action,

(7

641

y, which,
jteoflost
property
30very of
this per-
the one
) other to
,n : there
; the for-
id subtle
It in the
r evil. -'I
luence to
ental and
and cir-
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ciation of
iracterise
etion be-
although
in every
ards and
wage na-
1 for the
d to a su-
m of the
y a subtle
us how
us action,

th ough the avenue of the senses and emotional
t j u-lities ; and accounts for the fact that the form
of Christianity which influences, in the first instance,
the masses most, is that which appeals to their
emotions. Under the most adverse circumstances
Christianity has retained its place amongst the
Asiatics in that form which prevails in the Eastern
Church, through a rich ceremonial and rites which
appeal to the senses and emotions. In elevating
to a moral and religious life the lapsed and degen-
erate heathen, we ought surely to reach his mind
through those channels which yet remain most acces-
sible— ^to appeal to his reason primarily is not enough,
his senses and emotions must be employed to stimu-
late and develope the loftier reason. Mahomet sup-
planted a pure faith by thus employing and ener-
gising the lower faculties of the spirit of men : may
we not supplant his sensual creed, by engaging those
very powers, and so lead the reason to exercise
itself upon holier and more rational truths ? The deep
and eternal truths of religion may be set visibly forth
by the symbols of a pure Christianity and the har-
mony of musical service, together with a rational and
meaning ceremonial, acting on the senses and emo-
tions, may, through the understanding, supplant
idolatrous rites ; while the higher and holy duties of
practical religion may, by appealing both to the
emotions and senses, enlighten the reason and win
the creature from his corruntions. The emotions

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and senses are not in themselves bad, since they are
implanted in us by the Creator ; it is the mis-use
and mis-direction of them that lead captive and
enslave the whole being. Neglecting the cul-
tivation of the three great avenues to the spirit,
Christianity itself has been made a stone of stumbling
and a rock of oflfence ; but a wise and well-balanced
system continues, now as ever, to keep truth in the
world, and towards it, sooner or later, all will gra-
vitate. When emotion and sensualism stand in the
place of a reasonable faith, then do we see debase-
ment and corruption ensue, and that fanaticism
which incites to massacre follow ; it matters not
whether the actors be professedly christian or maho-
medan, or the Indian or African fanatic, the result is
the same. We thus perceive that the constitution
of the human mind is similar in the most widely
separated members of the family of man ; and in
order to raise him to the highest perfection, the
whole creature must exercise and rightly use those
powers and properties with which he has been
gifted. Living with his body and soul directed
towards his destined end, man becomes an object
worthy of contemplation ; and in his aspirations
and strivings after that perfection which was ma-
nifested in ''the flesh which was taken into the
Beauty of Holiness" — and after which even the
heathen sought — we learn to elevate the human
race high above all earthly beings, and to under-

643

I they are
e mis-use
)tive and
the cul-
he spirit,
stumbling
[-balanced
uth in the
will gra-
iind in the
e debase-
fanaticism
Bitters not
I or maho-
e result is
mstitution
st widely
and in
ction, the
use those
has been
directed
an object
.spirations
was ma-
into the
even the
e human
to under-

stand somewhat the dignity with which it is clothed,
when graced with the appellation, "Sons of God."
As the result of the examination into the plan of
creation, and as unfolded to us by the nature of the
works themselves, we cannot resist the conviction
that we are the occupants and the objects of a grand
and imposing world, whose aim is the glory and
worship of a Being whose goodness is over all His
works, and by whom alone they are and were
created. v .,, ^ -

In the visible works of creation is clearly seen
the Invisible Worker, and in the operations of His
might he is revealed to us as he has discovered
Himself to us in Scripture. He is not revealed to
us as a God, fashioned after man's judgment, nor
is His Being to be understood after the similitude
of men. He is made known to us as the Infinite
God, but Infinite in Holiness, Goodness, Mercy,
Truth, Perfection, Energy. He is Absolute, as
including every thing that excludes evil, and yet
having power over evil to subdue and root it out.
We may not create a God after our own image,
nor fashion Him by our own language. We must
accept Him as He is to us, as He is in relation to
all things, even to Himself. Thus there is no limit
to our religious thoughts — our conception, of that
All- Wise, All-Holy God, infinite in mercy, goodness,
and truth ; the Almighty, the Everlasting, the Being
who declared Himself " I AM." We may not limit

- -\

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644

Him by our thoughts ; we may not create Him an
image fashioned by our modes of speech. We dare
not, like those of old, make a God and worship it. We
can worship Him who has made Himself known to
us as the Creator, Sanctifier, and Saviour of His
people. We can give the Lord the honour due unto
His name, and worship Him with holy worship.

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ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

PAQI.

Chapter I. — The origin of Creation.

Phases of belief ;... 5

The basis of true belief is Bevelation 9

Which asserts \\

,^ ^■>s\f^^^Zr '■■'':: --■ 1. A beginning. .;
^■, ' r 2. A Creator.

, . ' 3. A certain order of creation 11

Jiv J ;; Proofs of this account :

,, , ,- ,')■/' 1. A priori: the idea of power inherent in

<<s^,-<i,:, '~>n the human mind 16,29

Theory ofPlato 19

( .d«! >/ ; '. " "Cousin 21

,/ " " Sir William Hamilton 22

2. A poateriori' the idea of an intelligent
J ,^. J power inferred from the constitution of

.,,!,, nature 88,99

Si.': ''-'■ , / Coincidence between the order of creation

as inferred
: , J y^ (1) from the earth's crust,

-^;. (2) from plants,

. , ■ (3) from animals, showing unity of design 35

, , Which unity is not self-caused, because

• „,. organisation is

1. Not inherent in matter 41

2. Independent of external physical forces 44
, , - . •- Proved from

a. The order of succession.... 46

6. The law of differentiation 66

Ori{^ of organising force.

Theory of Carpenter < 60

" " Matteuci 71

" " Grove i.... 81

Chapter II.— Evidences of a Creator.

An intelligent cause inferred

I. From the constitution of man 100,111

1. Life every where subject to conditions,
but not to be confounded with them...... 102

•:,l

hi

Ml

1

646

Chapter II. continued.

FAQI.

2. ThiR proyed to be the case with mra, who
is highest in the scale of life 108

And hj his self-oonsoiousness, which is the
highest part of man 108

Leading to the oonovption of existence inde-
pendent of matter 112

II. From the constitation of matter 118,124

1. From the invariable conception of matter

aspassive 118

2. From the conception of forces as an-

tagonistic 115

8. From the trae doctrine of the correlation

\ " offerees 120

- ' '••'%■ 4. From the non-dependence of typical form

'^ on external forces 124

tit it\thX^^Hi ^y Substance and attributes both created toge-
» ■ r • ' • ther, and not to be condsidered as producing ';

•p .. - • each other, 'i^''-' l

• •' ■ This Intelligent Cause not to be confounded \

~ - ..»..; . • V . . ^f-tU i yffm^ physical forces.

V J^;;^x''''iL Dr. Carpenter, who makes substance the fac- .

V. '■? ^s-*' • ' ■' " * ■' tor of its attributes, and V. Cousin, who j
''• ^^ •• merges the Creator in matter and its mani-

i<V>/,o* >v festations ; refuted by Mr. Calderwood 127, 128

God's freedom to create 129

f God not passed into His works 184,185

/ Forces of matter created with matter 187

^•'' ^'. Man's being, a personality, a proof of God's

vsVi- V, ^. -A personality 141

'' I. From the theory of creation as maintained

^> ' by Mr. Calderwood 180

llr »'K-r> «^ V ' '-' Dr. Harris 182

. II. From an examination of the true connexion
<-'i- ' of life and physical forces 148,294

• ' ) . ... '^ Mr. Paget on the intimate union of life and

matter 156

yvi| . ,. Dr. Carpenter's theory refuted 182

,'■ ' • 1. By Lardner's experiment on ico 186

V?- ' , 2. By Draper's experiment on tithonized chlo-
rine 191

' ^ The vital principle the immediate cause of

f action in every part of the organised being.. 198

U< ^'A .... . . .r*^ Its dififerentiations 199

,. v?;-' "-^c" '.f- ' Its regularity of operation and progression ... 209
':r,.ir_ ,;:'«/U;;ii^r I Cell-growth 215

• ')

'' .' ■ \

I'l

' '( ,. " ' - :

•

647

Chapter II.

continued.

tJM,

Opinion of Dr. Carpenter 215

" Mr. Huxley 220 i

In the cell is included the capacity of its future
developments, shewn

1. In the animal kingdom, by the transmis-

sion of hereditary qualities 272

2. In the vegetable kingdom, by the repeti-

tion of forms 286

Summary of evidences of method and intelli-

"' *, ' , ■•

gence in creation 204

BOOK II.

Chapter I.-

-Evidences of successive epochs in Creation.
The Mosaic cosmogony, rightly understood, the
true account of the order of creation 813

Renovation of the earth at various epochs,
shewn from

■'^^^^ ■ c^v^i -'K-i *

<■. \, 1. The characters and adaptations of the

'■ • f}K-H'>y'

v..,/ flora and fauna 324

y

2. The re introduction of typical forms ... 348

.,-•,''- ■' ' ■

3. The life-course of the history of all or- '

: ■■■■>."

. ^ . ganisms a proof of their introduction as
perfect beings, and of design on the

) - '^'

part of the Creator to carry out a plan 360

i '

4. The evidences of progression andj^unity
fUiTiished by geology 364

' ■VV :.. .

6. The more extensive distribution of va-
* rious species of animals at former pe-
riods 388

6. The repeated existence of embryonic

j^-

tvpes- 401

Chapter II.

— Relations of the fauna of successive periods.
The existence and re-introduction of typical

. »

forms considered as an evidence of design... 407
Instances :

1. Ichthyosaurus „. 408

- »- ^

2. Teleosaurus 410

3. Plesiosaurus 410

4. Megalosaurus 414

6. Megatherium 410

6. Pterodactvle 421

■ '

7. Anonlotheria 428

648

/

Chapter II. con^tnuef^.

PAOI.

8. Iguanodon 427

The continued adaptations of the physical oon-
ditions of the earth to suooessiTO distribu-
tions of life 481

Lavs of suocession 445

1. Essential differences of animals and

plants of each period 445

2. Present limitations of species began bo-

fore the human period 446

Evidently prophetic nature of successive deve-
lopments 453, 477

^'4

i-r'i

h

^ BOOK III.

Chapter I. — Gluaternary or human period a special creation
for moral ends.

1 The glacial period closes the tertiary era 479

" Its character necessitates the supposition of

a break between the tertiary and human eras 482
Evidence of the re-construction of forms :

1. From Dr. Knox 487

■ ''~ 2. From Prof. Owen 499

Creation culminates in man 601

In whom there is :

' I. A unity of type 504

vv ;r-i-. - ;'.yt Proved by Unity of organisation. Spe-

cific differences arising from degrees

of development 506

^',''" II. A differtntiated type . ..." 513

' • '■ '* Proved by comparison :

p.ivfr' f:, -iv. J Of skeletons 513

■ • • " 2. Of crania 516

,/>^r . s.; 3. Of brains 621

^. , , . „ ;,. " ■ <* Special organs corresponding to spe-

. - , ,. .} cialfunctions 526

j & Reciprocal ratio of cerebral and men-

;,: ' ' tal development 529

'/"*''"" ; 1. In man '. 532

(, ,' ' 2. In animals 535

Chapter II.— Unity of the human race.

:].,.. Organisation of brain modified by influences

■■'■y'r/- ■'■'"'•■ external and internal. 550

.,.rv,.>-.' I ^nj^iogy ^1) of plants, (2) of animals 567

I'- if- ■ r

M * ■

PAOI.

427

'flioal con-
distribu-

481

446

lals and

445

tegan bo-

446

sive deve-
458, 477

nal creation

era 479

jsition of
iman eras 482
ms:

487

499

501

504

)n. Spe-
a degrees

506

513

513

516

521

ig to spe-

/..... 526

and men-

529

....". 532

535

nfluences

550

557

649
Chapter II. continued,

_ , , PAOl.

InTestigation of supposed oases, la which the
differences are not those of deTclopment,
but of type 565

niustrations of this law afforded by America 577

Concomitant variations of physical character,
istics and circumstances 586

Examples :

1. In Scandinavia , 588

2. In^Egypt 589

8. In America 595

Consequent uncertainty of arguments derived
from typal race-forms 598

Bearing of the argument on the antiquity of
the human race 606

1. The Peruvian skull 608

(; 2. Changes in the surface of the ^arth

_i i;^ ' \ within the human era 611

Conclusion :
;» I 4; 1. As to the comparatively recent origin of

man 627

2. As to the moral evidences of the unity of

thehumanrace 683

* 8. As to the theological results of the whole

enquiry 648

-■•I,

BOWSKLL &. ILLI8, PRINTERS, KING STREET, TORONTO.