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diff --git a/2929.txt b/2929.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ecedc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/2929.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1730 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origin of Species, by Thomas H. Huxley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Origin of Species + From 'The Westminster Review', April 1860 + +Author: Thomas H. Huxley + +Posting Date: January 6, 2009 [EBook #2929] +Release Date: November, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES *** + + + + +Produced by Amy E. Zelmer + + + + + +THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES + +[1] + + +By Thomas H. Huxley + + + + +MR. DARWIN'S long-standing and well-earned scientific eminence probably +renders him indifferent to that social notoriety which passes by the +name of success; but if the calm spirit of the philosopher have not yet +wholly superseded the ambition and the vanity of the carnal man within +him, he must be well satisfied with the results of his venture in +publishing the 'Origin of Species'. Overflowing the narrow bounds of +purely scientific circles, the "species question" divides with Italy and +the Volunteers the attention of general society. Everybody has read Mr. +Darwin's book, or, at least, has given an opinion upon its merits or +demerits; pietists, whether lay or ecclesiastic, decry it with the mild +railing which sounds so charitable; bigots denounce it with ignorant +invective; old ladies of both sexes consider it a decidedly dangerous +book, and even savants, who have no better mud to throw, quote +antiquated writers to show that its author is no better than an ape +himself; while every philosophical thinker hails it as a veritable +Whitworth gun in the armoury of liberalism; and all competent +naturalists and physiologists, whatever their opinions as to the +ultimate fate of the doctrines put forth, acknowledge that the work +in which they are embodied is a solid contribution to knowledge and +inaugurates a new epoch in natural history. + +Nor has the discussion of the subject been restrained within the limits +of conversation. When the public is eager and interested, reviewers must +minister to its wants; and the genuine 'litterateur' is too much in +the habit of acquiring his knowledge from the book he judges--as the +Abyssinian is said to provide himself with steaks from the ox which +carries him--to be withheld from criticism of a profound scientific work +by the mere want of the requisite preliminary scientific acquirement; +while, on the other hand, the men of science who wish well to the new +views, no less than those who dispute their validity, have naturally +sought opportunities of expressing their opinions. Hence it is not +surprising that almost all the critical journals have noticed Mr. +Darwin's work at greater or less length; and so many disquisitions, +of every degree of excellence, from the poor product of ignorance, too +often stimulated by prejudice, to the fair and thoughtful essay of +the candid student of Nature, have appeared, that it seems an almost +hopeless task to attempt to say anything new upon the question. + +But it may be doubted if the knowledge and acumen of prejudged +scientific opponents, or the subtlety of orthodox special pleaders, have +yet exerted their full force in mystifying the real issues of the great +controversy which has been set afoot, and whose end is hardly likely +to be seen by this generation; so that, at this eleventh hour, and even +failing anything new, it may be useful to state afresh that which is +true, and to put the fundamental positions advocated by Mr. Darwin in +such a form that they may be grasped by those whose special studies lie +in other directions. And the adoption of this course may be the more +advisable, because, notwithstanding its great deserts, and indeed partly +on account of them, the 'Origin of Species' is by no means an easy book +to read--if by reading is implied the full comprehension of an author's +meaning. + +We do not speak jestingly in saying that it is Mr. Darwin's misfortune +to know more about the question he has taken up than any man living. +Personally and practically exercised in zoology, in minute anatomy, +in geology; a student of geographical distribution, not on maps and +in museums only, but by long voyages and laborious collection; having +largely advanced each of these branches of science, and having spent +many years in gathering and sifting materials for his present work, +the store of accurately registered facts upon which the author of the +'Origin of Species' is able to draw at will is prodigious. + +But this very superabundance of matter must have been embarrassing to +a writer who, for the present, can only put forward an abstract of his +views; and thence it arises, perhaps, that notwithstanding the clearness +of the style, those who attempt fairly to digest the book find much of +it a sort of intellectual pemmican--a mass of facts crushed and pounded +into shape, rather than held together by the ordinary medium of an +obvious logical bond; due attention will, without doubt, discover this +bond, but it is often hard to find. + +Again, from sheer want of room, much has to be taken for granted which +might readily enough be proved; and hence, while the adept, who can +supply the missing links in the evidence from his own knowledge, +discovers fresh proof of the singular thoroughness with which all +difficulties have been considered and all unjustifiable suppositions +avoided, at every reperusal of Mr. Darwin's pregnant paragraphs, the +novice in biology is apt to complain of the frequency of what he fancies +is gratuitous assumption. + +Thus while it may be doubted if, for some years, any one is likely to be +competent to pronounce judgment on all the issues raised by Mr. Darwin, +there is assuredly abundant room for him, who, assuming the humbler, +though perhaps as useful, office of an interpreter between the 'Origin +of Species' and the public, contents himself with endeavouring to +point out the nature of the problems which it discusses; to distinguish +between the ascertained facts and the theoretical views which it +contains; and finally, to show the extent to which the explanation it +offers satisfies the requirements of scientific logic. At any rate, it +is this office which we purpose to undertake in the following pages. + +It may be safely assumed that our readers have a general conception of +the nature of the objects to which the word "species" is applied; but it +has, perhaps, occurred to a few, even to those who are naturalists 'ex +professo', to reflect, that, as commonly employed, the term has a double +sense and denotes two very different orders of relations. When we call a +group of animals, or of plants, a species, we may imply thereby, either +that all these animals or plants have some common peculiarity of form +or structure; or, we may mean that they possess some common functional +character. That part of biological science which deals with form +and structure is called Morphology--that which concerns itself with +function, Physiology--so that we may conveniently speak of these two +senses, or aspects, of "species"--the one as morphological, the other +as physiological. Regarded from the former point of view, a species +is nothing more than a kind of animal or plant, which is distinctly +definable from all others, by certain constant, and not merely sexual, +morphological peculiarities. Thus horses form a species, because the +group of animals to which that name is applied is distinguished from all +others in the world by the following constantly associated characters. +They have--1, A vertebral column; 2, Mammae; 3, A placental embryo; 4, +Four legs; 5, A single well-developed toe in each foot provided with a +hoof; 6, A bushy tail; and 7, Callosities on the inner sides of both +the fore and the hind legs. The asses, again, form a distinct species, +because, with the same characters, as far as the fifth in the above +list, all asses have tufted tails, and have callosities only on the +inner side of the fore-legs. If animals were discovered having the +general characters of the horse, but sometimes with callosities only +on the fore-legs, and more or less tufted tails; or animals having the +general characters of the ass, but with more or less bushy tails, +and sometimes with callosities on both pairs of legs, besides being +intermediate in other respects--the two species would have to be merged +into one. They could no longer be regarded as morphologically distinct +species, for they would not be distinctly definable one from the other. + +However bare and simple this definition of species may appear to be, +we confidently appeal to all practical naturalists, whether zoologists, +botanists, or palaeontologists, to say if, in the vast majority of +cases, they know, or mean to affirm anything more of the group of +animals or plants they so denominate than what has just been stated. +Even the most decided advocates of the received doctrines respecting +species admit this. + +"I apprehend," says Professor Owen [2], "that few naturalists nowadays, +in describing and proposing a name for what they call 'a new species,' +use that term to signify what was meant by it twenty or thirty years +ago; that is, an originally distinct creation, maintaining its primitive +distinction by obstructive generative peculiarities. The proposer of the +new species now intends to state no more than he actually knows; as, for +example, that the differences on which he founds the specific character +are constant in individuals of both sexes, so far as observation has +reached; and that they are not due to domestication or to artificially +superinduced external circumstances, or to any outward influence within +his cognizance; that the species is wild, or is such as it appears by +Nature." + +If we consider, in fact, that by far the largest proportion of recorded +existing species are known only by the study of their skins, or bones, +or other lifeless exuvia; that we are acquainted with none, or next to +none, of their physiological peculiarities, beyond those which can be +deduced from their structure, or are open to cursory observation; and +that we cannot hope to learn more of any of those extinct forms of life +which now constitute no inconsiderable proportion of the known Flora and +Fauna of the world: it is obvious that the definitions of these species +can be only of a purely structural, or morphological, character. It is +probable that naturalists would have avoided much confusion of ideas +if they had more frequently borne the necessary limitations of our +knowledge in mind. But while it may safely be admitted that we are +acquainted with only the morphological characters of the vast majority +of species--the functional or physiological, peculiarities of a few have +been carefully investigated, and the result of that study forms a large +and most interesting portion of the physiology of reproduction. + +The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the +more conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the perennial +miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most worthy of +admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal from its +embryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal, such as a +salamander or newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the best microscope +will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing a glairy fluid, +holding granules in suspension. But strange possibilities lie dormant +in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate supply of warmth reach its +watery cradle, and the plastic matter undergoes changes so rapid, yet +so steady and purposelike in their succession, that one can only compare +them to those operated by a skilled modeller upon a formless lump of +clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is divided and subdivided +into smaller and smaller portions, until it is reduced to an aggregation +of granules not too large to build withal the finest fabrics of the +nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a delicate finger traced out +the line to be occupied by the spinal column, and moulded the contour +of the body; pinching up the head at one end, the tail at the other, +and fashioning flank and limb into due salamandrine proportions, in so +artistic a way, that, after watching the process hour by hour, one is +almost involuntarily possessed by the notion, that some more subtle aid +to vision than an achromatic, would show the hidden artist, with his +plan before him, striving with skilful manipulation to perfect his work. + +As life advances, and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror +of his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles +supplied by its prey, by the addition of which to its frame, growth +takes place, laid down, each in its proper spot, and in such due +proportion to the rest, as to reproduce the form, the colour, and the +size, characteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful +powers of reproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are +controlled by the same governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, +the jaws, separately or all together, and, as Spallanzani showed long +ago, these parts not only grow again, but the redintegrated limb is +formed on the same type as those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, +is a newt's, and never by any accident more like that of a frog. What is +true of the newt is true of every animal and of every plant; the acorn +tends to build itself up again into a woodland giant such as that from +whose twig it fell; the spore of the humblest lichen reproduces the +green or brown incrustation which gave it birth; and at the other end of +the scale of life, the child that resembled neither the paternal nor the +maternal side of the house would be regarded as a kind of monster. + +So that the one end to which, in all living beings, the formative +impulse is tending--the one scheme which the Archaeus of the old +speculators strives to carry out, seems to be to mould the offspring +into the likeness of the parent. It is the first great law of +reproduction, that the offspring tends to resemble its parent or +parents, more closely than anything else. + +Science will some day show us how this law is a necessary consequence +of the more general laws which govern matter; but, for the present, more +can hardly be said than that it appears to be in harmony with them. We +know that the phenomena of vitality are not something apart from other +physical phenomena, but one with them; and matter and force are the two +names of the one artist who fashions the living as well as the +lifeless. Hence living bodies should obey the same great laws as other +matter--nor, throughout Nature, is there a law of wider application than +this, that a body impelled by two forces takes the direction of their +resultant. But living bodies may be regarded as nothing but extremely +complex bundles of forces held in a mass of matter, as the complex +forces of a magnet are held in the steel by its coercive force; and, +since the differences of sex are comparatively slight, or, in other +words, the sum of the forces in each has a very similar tendency, their +resultant, the offspring, may reasonably be expected to deviate but +little from a course parallel to either, or to both. + +Represent the reason of the law to ourselves by what physical metaphor +or analogy we will, however, the great matter is to apprehend its +existence and the importance of the consequences deducible from it. For +things which are like to the same are like to one another; and if; in +a great series of generations, every offspring is like its parent, it +follows that all the offspring and all the parents must be like +one another; and that, given an original parental stock, with the +opportunity of undisturbed multiplication, the law in question +necessitates the production, in course of time, of an indefinitely large +group, the whole of whose members are at once very similar and are blood +relations, having descended from the same parent, or pair of parents. +The proof that all the members of any given group of animals, or plants, +had thus descended, would be ordinarily considered sufficient to entitle +them to the rank of physiological species, for most physiologists +consider species to be definable as "the offspring of a single primitive +stock." + +But though it is quite true that all those groups we call species 'may', +according to the known laws of reproduction, have descended from a +single stock, and though it is very likely they really have done so, +yet this conclusion rests on deduction and can hardly hope to establish +itself upon a basis of observation. And the primitiveness of the +supposed single stock, which, after all, is the essential part of the +matter, is not only a hypothesis, but one which has not a shadow of +foundation, if by "primitive" he meant "independent of any other living +being." A scientific definition, of which an unwarrantable hypothesis +forms an essential part, carries its condemnation within itself; +but, even supposing such a definition were, in form, tenable, the +physiologist who should attempt to apply it in Nature would soon find +himself involved in great, if not inextricable, difficulties. As we have +said, it is indubitable that offspring 'tend' to resemble the parental +organism, but it is equally true that the similarity attained never +amounts to identity, either in form or in structure. There is always a +certain amount of deviation, not only from the precise characters of a +single parent, but when, as in most animals and many plants, the sexes +are lodged in distinct individuals, from an exact mean between the two +parents. And indeed, on general principles, this slight deviation seems +as intelligible as the general similarity, if we reflect how complex the +co-operating "bundles of forces" are, and how improbable it is that, in +any case, their true resultant shall coincide with any mean between +the more obvious characters of the two parents. Whatever be its cause, +however, the co-existence of this tendency to minor variation with the +tendency to general similarity, is of vast importance in its bearing on +the question of the origin of species. + +As a general rule, the extent to which an offspring differs from its +parent is slight enough; but, occasionally, the amount of difference is +much more strongly marked, and then the divergent offspring receives the +name of a Variety. Multitudes, of what there is every reason to believe +are such varieties, are known, but the origin of very few has been +accurately recorded, and of these we will select two as more especially +illustrative of the main features of variation. The first of them is +that of the "Ancon," or "Otter" sheep, of which a careful account is +given by Colonel David Humphreys, F.R.S., in a letter to Sir Joseph +Banks, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1813. It appears +that one Seth Wright, the proprietor of a farm on the banks of the +Charles River, in Massachusetts, possessed a flock of fifteen ewes and +a ram of the ordinary kind. In the year 1791, one of the ewes presented +her owner with a male lamb, differing, for no assignable reason, from +its parents by a proportionally long body and short bandy legs, whence +it was unable to emulate its relatives in those sportive leaps over the +neighbours' fences, in which they were in the habit of indulging, much +to the good farmer's vexation. + +The second case is that detailed by a no less unexceptionable authority +than Reaumur, in his 'Art de faire eclore les Poulets'. A Maltese +couple, named Kelleia, whose hands and feet were constructed upon the +ordinary human model, had born to them a son, Gratio, who possessed six +perfectly movable fingers on each hand, and six toes, not quite so well +formed, on each foot. No cause could be assigned for the appearance of +this unusual variety of the human species. + +Two circumstances are well worthy of remark in both these cases. In +each, the variety appears to have arisen in full force, and, as it were, +'per saltum'; a wide and definite difference appearing, at once, between +the Ancon ram and the ordinary sheep; between the six-fingered and +six-toed Gratio Kelleia and ordinary men. In neither case is it possible +to point out any obvious reason for the appearance of the variety. +Doubtless there were determining causes for these as for all other +phenomena; but they do not appear, and we can be tolerably certain that +what are ordinarily understood as changes in physical conditions, as in +climate, in food, or the like, did not take place and had nothing to do +with the matter. It was no case of what is commonly called adaptation +to circumstances; but, to use a conveniently erroneous phrase, the +variations arose spontaneously. The fruitless search after final causes +leads their pursuers a long way; but even those hardy teleologists, who +are ready to break through all the laws of physics in chase of their +favourite will-o'-the-wisp, may be puzzled to discover what purpose +could be attained by the stunted legs of Seth Wright's ram or the +hexadactyle members of Gratio Kelleia. + +Varieties then arise we know not why; and it is more than probable that +the majority of varieties have arisen in this "spontaneous" manner, +though we are, of course, far from denying that they may be traced, +in some cases, to distinct external influences; which are assuredly +competent to alter the character of the tegumentary covering, to +change colour, to increase or diminish the size of muscles, to modify +constitution, and, among plants, to give rise to the metamorphosis of +stamens into petals, and so forth. But however they may have arisen, +what especially interests us at present is, to remark that, once in +existence, varieties obey the fundamental law of reproduction that like +tends to produce like; and their offspring exemplify it by tending +to exhibit the same deviation from the parental stock as themselves. +Indeed, there seems to be, in many instances, a pre-potent influence +about a newly-arisen variety which gives it what one may call an unfair +advantage over the normal descendants from the same stock. This is +strikingly exemplified by the case of Gratio Kelleia, who married a +woman with the ordinary pentadactyle extremities, and had by her +four children, Salvator, George, Andre, and Marie. Of these children +Salvator, the eldest boy, had six fingers and six toes, like his father; +the second and third, also boys, had five fingers and five toes, +like their mother, though the hands and feet of George were slightly +deformed. The last, a girl, had five fingers and five toes, but the +thumbs were slightly deformed. The variety thus reproduced itself purely +in the eldest, while the normal type reproduced itself purely in the +third, and almost purely in the second and last: so that it would seem, +at first, as if the normal type were more powerful than the variety. +But all these children grew up and intermarried with normal wives and +husband, and then, note what took place: Salvator had four children, +three of whom exhibited the hexadactyle members of their grandfather and +father, while the youngest had the pentadactyle limbs of the mother +and grandmother; so that here, notwithstanding a double pentadactyle +dilution of the blood, the hexadactyle variety had the best of it. The +same pre-potency of the variety was still more markedly exemplified in +the progeny of two of the other children, Marie and George. Marie (whose +thumbs only were deformed) gave birth to a boy with six toes, and three +other normally formed children; but George, who was not quite so pure a +pentadactyle, begot, first, two girls, each of whom had six fingers +and toes; then a girl with six fingers on each hand and six toes on the +right foot, but only five toes on the left; and lastly, a boy with only +five fingers and toes. In these instances, therefore, the variety, as +it were, leaped over one generation to reproduce itself in full force in +the next. Finally, the purely pentadactyle Andre was the father of many +children, not one of whom departed from the normal parental type. + +If a variation which approaches the nature of a monstrosity can strive +thus forcibly to reproduce itself, it is not wonderful that less +aberrant modifications should tend to be preserved even more strongly; +and the history of the Ancon sheep is, in this respect, particularly +instructive. With the "'cuteness" characteristic of their nation, the +neighbours of the Massachusetts farmer imagined it would be an excellent +thing if all his sheep were imbued with the stay-at-home tendencies +enforced by Nature upon the newly-arrived ram; and they advised Wright +to kill the old patriarch of his fold, and install the Ancon ram in his +place. The result justified their sagacious anticipations, and coincided +very nearly with what occurred to the progeny of Gratio Kelleia. The +young lambs were almost always either pure Ancons, or pure ordinary +sheep. [3] But when sufficient Ancon sheep were obtained to interbreed +with one another, it was found that the offspring was always pure Ancon. +Colonel Humphreys, in fact, states that he was acquainted with only "one +questionable case of a contrary nature." Here, then, is a remarkable +and well-established instance, not only of a very distinct race being +established 'per saltum', but of that race breeding "true" at once, and +showing no mixed forms, even when crossed with another breed. + +By taking care to select Ancons of both sexes, for breeding from, it +thus became easy to establish an extremely well-marked race; so peculiar +that, even when herded with other sheep, it was noted that the Ancons +kept together. And there is every reason to believe that the existence +of this breed might have been indefinitely protracted; but the +introduction of the Merino sheep, which were not only very superior to +the Ancons in wool and meat, but quite as quiet and orderly, led to the +complete neglect of the new breed, so that, in 1813, Colonel Humphreys +found it difficult to obtain the specimen, whose skeleton was presented +to Sir Joseph Banks. We believe that, for many years, no remnant of it +has existed in the United States. + +Gratio Kelleia was not the progenitor of a race of six-fingered men, as +Seth Wright's ram became a nation of Ancon sheep, though the tendency of +the variety to perpetuate itself appears to have been fully as strong +in the one case as in the other. And the reason of the difference is +not far to seek. Seth Wright took care not to weaken the Ancon blood by +matching his Ancon ewes with any but males of the same variety, while +Gratio Kelleia's sons were too far removed from the patriarchal times +to intermarry with their sisters; and his grandchildren seem not to have +been attracted by their six-fingered cousins. In other words, in the one +example a race was produced, because, for several generations, care +was taken to 'select' both parents of the breeding stock from animals +exhibiting a tendency to vary in the same condition; while, in the +other, no race was evolved, because no such selection was exercised. +A race is a propagated variety; and as, by the laws of reproduction, +offspring tend to assume the parental forms, they will be more likely to +propagate a variation exhibited by both parents than that possessed by +only one. + +There is no organ of the body of an animal which may not, and does not, +occasionally, vary more or less from the normal type; and there is +no variation which may not be transmitted and which, if selectively +transmitted, may not become the foundation of a race. This great truth, +sometimes forgotten by philosophers, has long been familiar to practical +agriculturists and breeders; and upon it rest all the methods of +improving the breeds of domestic animals, which, for the last century, +have been followed with so much success in England. Colour, form, size, +texture of hair or wool, proportions of various parts, strength or +weakness of constitution, tendency to fatten or to remain lean, to give +much or little milk, speed, strength, temper, intelligence, special +instincts; there is not one of these characters whose transmission is +not an every-day occurrence within the experience of cattle-breeders, +stock-farmers, horse-dealers, and dog and poultry fanciers. Nay, it +is only the other day that an eminent physiologist, Dr. Brown-Sequard, +communicated to the Royal Society his discovery that epilepsy, +artificially produced in guinea-pigs, by a means which he has +discovered, is transmitted to their offspring. + +But a race, once produced, is no more a fixed and immutable entity than +the stock whence it sprang; variations arise among its members, and +as these variations are transmitted like any others, new races may be +developed out of the pre-existing one 'ad infinitum', or, at least, +within any limit at present determined. Given sufficient time and +sufficiently careful selection, and the multitude of races which +may arise from a common stock is as astonishing as are the extreme +structural differences which they may present. A remarkable example of +this is to be found in the rock-pigeon, which Dr. Darwin has, in our +opinion, satisfactorily demonstrated to be the progenitor of all our +domestic pigeons, of which there are certainly more than a hundred +well-marked races. The most noteworthy of these races are, the four +great stocks known to the "fancy" as tumblers, pouters, carriers, and +fantails; birds which not only differ most singularly in size, colour, +and habits, but in the form of the beak and of the skull: in the +proportions of the beak to the skull; in the number of tail-feathers; in +the absolute and relative size of the feet; in the presence or absence +of the uropygial gland; in the number of vertebrae in the back; in +short, in precisely those characters in which the genera and species of +birds differ from one another. + +And it is most remarkable and instructive to observe, that none of these +races can be shown to have been originated by the action of changes +in what are commonly called external circumstances, upon the wild +rock-pigeon. On the contrary, from time immemorial, pigeon-fanciers have +had essentially similar methods of treating their pets, which have +been housed, fed, protected and cared for in much the same way in all +pigeonries. In fact, there is no case better adapted than that of +the pigeons to refute the doctrine which one sees put forth on +high authority, that "no other characters than those founded on the +development of bone for the attachment of muscles" are capable of +variation. In precise contradiction of this hasty assertion, Mr. +Darwin's researches prove that the skeleton of the wings in domestic +pigeons has hardly varied at all from that of the wild type; while, on +the other hand, it is in exactly those respects, such as the relative +length of the beak and skull, the number of the vertebrae, and the +number of the tail-feathers, in which muscular exertion can have no +important influence, that the utmost amount of variation has taken +place. + +We have said that the following out of the properties exhibited by +physiological species would lead us into difficulties, and at this point +they begin to be obvious; for if, as the result of spontaneous variation +and of selective breeding, the progeny of a common stock may become +separated into groups distinguished from one another by constant, not +sexual, morphological characters, it is clear that the physiological +definition of species is likely to clash with the morphological +definition. No one would hesitate to describe the pouter and the tumbler +as distinct species, if they were found fossil, or if their skins and +skeletons were imported, as those of exotic wild birds commonly +are--and without doubt, if considered alone, they are good and distinct +morphological species. On the other hand, they are not physiological +species, for they are descended from a common stock, the rock-pigeon. + +Under these circumstances, as it is admitted on all sides that races +occur in Nature, how are we to know whether any apparently distinct +animals are really of different physiological species, or not, seeing +that the amount of morphological difference is no safe guide? Is there +any test of a physiological species? The usual answer of physiologists +is in the affirmative. It is said that such a test is to be found in +the phenomena of hybridization--in the results of crossing races, as +compared with the results of crossing species. + +So far as the evidence goes at present, individuals, of what are +certainly known to be mere races produced by selection, however distinct +they may appear to be, not only breed freely together, but the offspring +of such crossed races are only perfectly fertile with one another. Thus, +the spaniel and the greyhound, the dray-horse and the Arab, the +pouter and the tumbler, breed together with perfect freedom, and their +mongrels, if matched with other mongrels of the same kind, are equally +fertile. + +On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the individuals of +many natural species are either absolutely infertile if crossed with +individuals of other species, or, if they give rise to hybrid offspring, +the hybrids so produced are infertile when paired together. The horse +and the ass, for instance, if so crossed, give rise to the mule, and +there is no certain evidence of offspring ever having been produced by a +male and female mule. The unions of the rock-pigeon and the +ring-pigeon appear to be equally barren of result. Here, then, says the +physiologist, we have a means of distinguishing any two true species +from any two varieties. If a male and a female, selected from each +group, produce offspring, and that offspring is fertile with others +produced in the same way, the groups are races and not species. If, on +the other hand, no result ensues, or if the offspring are infertile with +others produced in the same way, they are true physiological species. +The test would be an admirable one, if, in the first place, it were +always practicable to apply it, and if, in the second, it always yielded +results susceptible of a definite interpretation. Unfortunately, in +the great majority of cases, this touchstone for species is wholly +inapplicable. + +The constitution of many wild animals is so altered by confinement that +they will not breed even with their own females, so that the negative +results obtained from crosses are of no value; and the antipathy of wild +animals of the same species for one another, or even of wild and tame +members of the same species, is ordinarily so great, that it is hopeless +to look for such unions in Nature. The hermaphrodism of most plants, +the difficulty in the way of insuring the absence of their own, or the +proper working of other pollen, are obstacles of no less magnitude +in applying the test to them. And, in both animals and plants, is +superadded the further difficulty, that experiments must be continued +over a long time for the purpose of ascertaining the fertility of the +mongrel or hybrid progeny, as well as of the first crosses from which +they spring. + +Not only do these great practical difficulties lie in the way of +applying the hybridization test, but even when this oracle can be +questioned, its replies are sometimes as doubtful as those of Delphi. +For example, cases are cited by Mr. Darwin, of plants which are more +fertile with the pollen of another species than with their own; and +there are others, such as certain 'fuci', whose male element will +fertilize the ovule of a plant of distinct species, while the males of +the latter species are ineffective with the females of the first. So +that, in the last-named instance, a physiologist, who should cross the +two species in one way, would decide that they were true species; while +another, who should cross them in the reverse way, would, with equal +justice, according to the rule, pronounce them to be mere races. Several +plants, which there is great reason to believe are mere varieties, are +almost sterile when crossed; while both animals and plants, which have +always been regarded by naturalists as of distinct species, turn out, +when the test is applied, to be perfectly fertile. Again, the sterility +or fertility of crosses seems to bear no relation to the structural +resemblances or differences of the members of any two groups. + +Mr. Darwin has discussed this question with singular ability and +circumspection, and his conclusions are summed up as follows, at page +276 of his work:-- + +"First crosses between forms sufficiently distinct to be ranked as +species, and their hybrids, are very generally, but not universally, +sterile. The sterility is of all degrees, and is often so slight that +the two most careful experimentalists who have ever lived have come to +diametrically opposite conclusions in ranking forms by this test. The +sterility is innately variable in individuals of the same species, and +is eminently susceptible of favourable and unfavourable conditions. The +degree of sterility does not strictly follow systematic affinity, but is +governed by several curious and complex laws. It is generally different +and sometimes widely different, in reciprocal crosses between the same +two species. It is not always equal in degree in a first cross, and in +the hybrid produced from this cross. + +"In the same manner as in grafting trees, the capacity of one species +or variety to take on another is incidental on generally unknown +differences in their vegetative systems; so in crossing, the greater +or less facility of one species to unite with another is incidental +on unknown differences in their reproductive systems. There is no more +reason to think that species have been specially endowed with various +degrees of sterility to prevent them crossing and breeding in Nature, +than to think that trees have been specially endowed with various and +somewhat analogous degrees of difficulty in being grafted together, in +order to prevent them becoming inarched in our forests. + +"The sterility of first crosses between pure species, which have their +reproductive systems perfect, seems to depend on several circumstances; +in some cases largely on the early death of the embryo. The sterility of +hybrids which have their reproductive systems imperfect, and which +have had this system and their whole organization disturbed by being +compounded of two distinct species, seems closely allied to that +sterility which so frequently affects pure species when their natural +conditions of life have been disturbed. This view is supported by a +parallelism of another kind: namely, that the crossing of forms, only +slightly different, is favourable to the vigour and fertility of +the offspring; and that slight changes in the conditions of life are +apparently favourable to the vigour and fertility of all organic beings. +It is not surprising that the degree of difficulty in uniting two +species, and the degree of sterility of their hybrid offspring, should +generally correspond, though due to distinct causes; for both depend +on the amount of difference of some kind between the species which are +crossed. Nor is it surprising that the facility of effecting a first +cross, the fertility of hybrids produced from it, and the capacity of +being grafted together--though this latter capacity evidently depends +on widely different circumstances--should all run to a certain extent +parallel with the systematic affinity of the forms which are subjected +to experiment; for systematic affinity attempts to express all kinds of +resemblance between all species. + +"First crosses between forms known to be varieties, or sufficiently +alike to be considered as varieties, and their mongrel offspring, are +very generally, but not quite universally, fertile. Nor is this nearly +general and perfect fertility surprising, when we remember how liable we +are to argue in a circle with respect to varieties in a state of Nature; +and when we remember that the greater number of varieties have +been produced under domestication by the selection of mere external +differences, and not of differences in the reproductive system. In +all other respects, excluding fertility, there is a close general +resemblance between hybrids and mongrels."--Pp. 276-8. + +We fully agree with the general tenor of this weighty passage; but +forcible as are these arguments, and little as the value of fertility or +infertility as a test of species may be, it must not be forgotten that +the really important fact, so far as the inquiry into the origin of +species goes, is, that there are such things in Nature as groups of +animals and of plants, whose members are incapable of fertile union with +those of other groups; and that there are such things as hybrids, which +are absolutely sterile when crossed with other hybrids. For, if such +phenomena as these were exhibited by only two of those assemblages of +living objects, to which the name of species (whether it be used in its +physiological or in its morphological sense) is given, it would have +to be accounted for by any theory of the origin of species, and every +theory which could not account for it would be, so far, imperfect. + +Up to this point, we have been dealing with matters of fact, and the +statements which we have laid before the reader would, to the best of +our knowledge, be admitted to contain a fair exposition of what is at +present known respecting the essential properties of species, by all who +have studied the question. And whatever may be his theoretical views, no +naturalist will probably be disposed to demur to the following summary +of that exposition:-- + +Living beings, whether animals or plants, are divisible into multitudes +of distinctly definable kinds, which are morphological species. They are +also divisible into groups of individuals, which breed freely together, +tending to reproduce their like, and are physiological species. Normally +resembling their parents, the offspring of members of these species are +still liable to vary; and the variation may be perpetuated by selection, +as a race, which race, in many cases, presents all the characteristics +of a morphological species. But it is not as yet proved that a race +ever exhibits, when crossed with another race of the same species, those +phenomena of hybridization which are exhibited by many species when +crossed with other species. On the other hand, not only is it not proved +that all species give rise to hybrids infertile 'inter se', but there +is much reason to believe that, in crossing, species exhibit every +gradation from perfect sterility to perfect fertility. + +Such are the most essential characteristics of species. Even were man +not one of them--a member of the same system and subject to the same +laws--the question of their origin, their causal connexion, that is, +with the other phenomena of the universe, must have attracted his +attention, as soon as his intelligence had raised itself above the level +of his daily wants. + +Indeed history relates that such was the case, and has embalmed for us +the speculations upon the origin of living beings, which were among the +earliest products of the dawning intellectual activity of man. In those +early days positive knowledge was not to be had, but the craving +after it needed, at all hazards, to be satisfied, and according to the +country, or the turn of thought, of the speculator, the suggestion that +all living things arose from the mud of the Nile, from a primeval +egg, or from some more anthropomorphic agency, afforded a sufficient +resting-place for his curiosity. The myths of Paganism are as dead as +Osiris or Zeus, and the man who should revive them, in opposition to the +knowledge of our time, would be justly laughed to scorn; but the coeval +imaginations current among the rude inhabitants of Palestine, recorded +by writers whose very name and age are admitted by every scholar to be +unknown, have unfortunately not yet shared their fate, but, even at +this day, are regarded by nine-tenths of the civilized world as the +authoritative standard of fact and the criterion of the justice of +scientific conclusions, in all that relates to the origin of things, +and, among them, of species. In this nineteenth century, as at the dawn +of modern physical science, the cosmogony of the semi-barbarous Hebrew +is the incubus of the philosopher and the opprobrium of the orthodox. +Who shall number the patient and earnest seekers after truth, from the +days of Galileo until now, whose lives have been embittered and their +good name blasted by the mistaken zeal of Bibliolaters? Who shall count +the host of weaker men whose sense of truth has been destroyed in the +effort to harmonize impossibilities--whose life has been wasted in the +attempt to force the generous new wine of Science into the old bottles +of Judaism, compelled by the outcry of the same strong party? + +It is true that if philosophers have suffered, their cause has been +amply avenged. Extinguished theologians lie about the cradle of every +science as the strangled snakes beside that of Hercules; and history +records that whenever science and orthodoxy have been fairly opposed, +the latter has been forced to retire from the lists, bleeding and +crushed if not annihilated; scotched, if not slain. But orthodoxy is the +Bourbon of the world of thought. It learns not, neither can it forget; +and though, at present, bewildered and afraid to move, it is as willing +as ever to insist that the first chapter of Genesis contains the +beginning and the end of sound science; and to visit, with such petty +thunderbolts as its half-paralysed hands can hurl, those who refuse to +degrade Nature to the level of primitive Judaism. + +Philosophers, on the other hand, have no such aggressive tendencies. +With eyes fixed on the noble goal to which "per aspera et ardua" they +tend, they may, now and then, be stirred to momentary wrath by the +unnecessary obstacles with which the ignorant, or the malicious, +encumber, if they cannot bar, the difficult path; but why should their +souls be deeply vexed? The majesty of Fact is on their side, and the +elemental forces of Nature are working for them. Not a star comes to the +meridian at its calculated time but testifies to the justice of their +methods--their beliefs are "one with falling rain and with the growing +corn." By doubt they are established, and open inquiry is their bosom +friend. Such men have no fear of traditions however venerable, and no +respect for them when they become mischievous and obstructive; but they +have better than mere antiquarian business in hand, and if dogmas, which +ought to be fossil but are not, are not forced upon their notice, they +are too happy to treat them as non-existent. + +The hypotheses respecting the origin of species which profess to stand +upon a scientific basis, and, as such, alone demand serious attention, +are of two kinds. The one, the "special creation" hypothesis, presumes +every species to have originated from one or more stocks, these not +being the result of the modification of any other form of living +matter--or arising by natural agencies--but being produced, as such, by +a supernatural creative act. + +The other, the so-called "transmutation" hypothesis, considers that +all existing species are the result of the modification of pre-existing +species, and those of their predecessors, by agencies similar to those +which at the present day produce varieties and races, and therefore in +an altogether natural way; and it is a probable, though not a necessary +consequence of this hypothesis, that all living beings have arisen from +a single stock. With respect to the origin of this primitive stock, +or stocks, the doctrine of the origin of species is obviously not +necessarily concerned. The transmutation hypothesis, for example, is +perfectly consistent either with the conception of a special creation of +the primitive germ, or with the supposition of its having arisen, as a +modification of inorganic matter, by natural causes. + +The doctrine of special creation owes its existence very largely to the +supposed necessity of making science accord with the Hebrew cosmogony; +but it is curious to observe that, as the doctrine is at present +maintained by men of science, it is as hopelessly inconsistent with the +Hebrew view as any other hypothesis. + +If there be any result which has come more clearly out of geological +investigation than another, it is, that the vast series of extinct +animals and plants is not divisible, as it was once supposed to be, into +distinct groups, separated by sharply-marked boundaries. There are no +great gulfs between epochs and formations--no successive periods marked +by the appearance of plants, of water animals, and of land animals, +'en masse'. Every year adds to the list of links between what the older +geologists supposed to be widely separated epochs: witness the crags +linking the drift with older tertiaries; the Maestricht beds linking the +tertiaries with the chalk; the St. Cassian beds exhibiting an abundant +fauna of mixed mesozoic and palaeozoic types, in rocks of an epoch once +supposed to be eminently poor in life; witness, lastly, the incessant +disputes as to whether a given stratum shall be reckoned devonian or +carboniferous, silurian or devonian, cambrian or silurian. + +This truth is further illustrated in a most interesting manner by +the impartial and highly competent testimony of M. Pictet, from whose +calculations of what percentage of the genera of animals, existing in +any formation, lived during the preceding formation, it results that in +no case is the proportion less than 'one-third', or 33 per cent. It is +the triassic formation, or the commencement of the mesozoic epoch, which +has received the smallest inheritance from preceding ages. The other +formations not uncommonly exhibit 60, 80, or even 94 per cent. of genera +in common with those whose remains are imbedded in their predecessor. +Not only is this true, but the subdivisions of each formation exhibit +new species characteristic of, and found only in, them; and, in +many cases, as in the lias for example, the separate beds of these +subdivisions are distinguished by well-marked and peculiar forms of +life. A section, a hundred feet thick, will exhibit, at different +heights, a dozen species of ammonite, none of which passes beyond its +particular zone of limestone, or clay, into the zone below it or into +that above it; so that those who adopt the doctrine of special creation +must be prepared to admit, that at intervals of time, corresponding with +the thickness of these beds, the Creator thought fit to interfere with +the natural course of events for the purpose of making a new ammonite. +It is not easy to transplant oneself into the frame of mind of those who +can accept such a conclusion as this, on any evidence short of absolute +demonstration; and it is difficult to see what is to be gained by so +doing, since, as we have said, it is obvious that such a view of the +origin of living beings is utterly opposed to the Hebrew cosmogony. +Deserving no aid from the powerful arm of Bibliolatry, then, does the +received form of the hypothesis of special creation derive any support +from science or sound logic? Assuredly not much. The arguments +brought forward in its favour all take one form: If species were not +supernaturally created, we cannot understand the facts 'x' or 'y', or +'z'; we cannot understand the structure of animals or plants, unless we +suppose they were contrived for special ends; we cannot understand the +structure of the eye, except by supposing it to have been made to see +with; we cannot understand instincts, unless we suppose animals to have +been miraculously endowed with them. + +As a question of dialectics, it must be admitted that this sort of +reasoning is not very formidable to those who are not to be frightened +by consequences. It is an 'argumentum ad ignorantiam'--take this +explanation or be ignorant. + +But suppose we prefer to admit our ignorance rather than adopt a +hypothesis at variance with all the teachings of Nature? Or, suppose for +a moment we admit the explanation, and then seriously ask ourselves how +much the wiser are we; what does the explanation explain? Is it any more +than a grandiloquent way of announcing the fact, that we really know +nothing about the matter? A phenomenon is explained when it is shown +to be a case of some general law of Nature; but the supernatural +interposition of the Creator can, by the nature of the case, exemplify +no law, and if species have really arisen in this way, it is absurd to +attempt to discuss their origin. + +Or, lastly, let us ask ourselves whether any amount of evidence which +the nature of our faculties permits us to attain, can justify us in +asserting that any phenomenon is out of the reach of natural causation. +To this end it is obviously necessary that we should know all the +consequences to which all possible combinations, continued through +unlimited time, can give rise. If we knew these, and found none +competent to originate species, we should have good ground for denying +their origin by natural causation. Till we know them, any hypothesis is +better than one which involves us in such miserable presumption. + +But the hypothesis of special creation is not only a mere specious +mask for our ignorance; its existence in Biology marks the youth and +imperfection of the science. For what is the history of every science +but the history of the elimination of the notion of creative, or other +interferences, with the natural order of the phenomena which are the +subject-matter of that science? When Astronomy was young "the morning +stars sang together for joy," and the planets were guided in their +courses by celestial hands. Now, the harmony of the stars has resolved +itself into gravitation according to the inverse squares of the +distances, and the orbits of the planets are deducible from the laws +of the forces which allow a schoolboy's stone to break a window. The +lightning was the angel of the Lord; but it has pleased Providence, in +these modern times, that science should make it the humble messenger of +man, and we know that every flash that shimmers about the horizon on a +summer's evening is determined by ascertainable conditions, and that +its direction and brightness might, if our knowledge of these were great +enough, have been calculated. + +The solvency of great mercantile companies rests on the validity of the +laws which have been ascertained to govern the seeming irregularity +of that human life which the moralist bewails as the most uncertain of +things; plague, pestilence, and famine are admitted, by all but fools, +to be the natural result of causes for the most part fully within +human control, and not the unavoidable tortures inflicted by wrathful +Omnipotence upon His helpless handiwork. + +Harmonious order governing eternally continuous progress--the web and +woof of matter and force interweaving by slow degrees, without a broken +thread, that veil which lies between us and the Infinite--that universe +which alone we know or can know; such is the picture which science draws +of the world, and in proportion as any part of that picture is in unison +with the rest, so may we feel sure that it is rightly painted. Shall +Biology alone remain out of harmony with her sister sciences? + +Such arguments against the hypothesis of the direct creation of species +as these are plainly enough deducible from general considerations; but +there are, in addition, phenomena exhibited by species themselves, and +yet not so much a part of their very essence as to have required earlier +mention, which are in the highest degree perplexing, if we adopt the +popularly accepted hypothesis. Such are the facts of distribution in +space and in time; the singular phenomena brought to light by the study +of development; the structural relations of species upon which +our systems of classification are founded; the great doctrines of +philosophical anatomy, such as that of homology, or of the community +of structural plan exhibited by large groups of species differing very +widely in their habits and functions. + +The species of animals which inhabit the sea on opposite sides of the +isthmus of Panama are wholly distinct [4] the animals and plants which +inhabit islands are commonly distinct from those of the neighbouring +mainlands, and yet have a similarity of aspect. + +The mammals of the latest tertiary epoch in the Old and New Worlds +belong to the same genera, or family groups, as those which now inhabit +the same great geographical area. The crocodilian reptiles which existed +in the earliest secondary epoch were similar in general structure to +those now living, but exhibit slight differences in their vertebrae, +nasal passages, and one or two other points. The guinea-pig has teeth +which are shed before it is born, and hence can never subserve the +masticatory purpose for which they seem contrived, and, in like manner, +the female dugong has tusks which never cut the gum. All the members +of the same great group run through similar conditions in their +development, and all their parts, in the adult state, are arranged +according to the same plan. Man is more like a gorilla than a gorilla is +like a lemur. Such are a few, taken at random, among the multitudes +of similar facts which modern research has established; but when the +student seeks for an explanation of them from the supporters of the +received hypothesis of the origin of species, the reply he receives +is, in substance, of Oriental simplicity and brevity--"Mashallah! it +so pleases God!" There are different species on opposite sides of the +isthmus of Panama, because they were created different on the two sides. +The pliocene mammals are like the existing ones, because such was the +plan of creation; and we find rudimental organs and similarity of plan, +because it has pleased the Creator to set before Himself a "divine +exemplar or archetype," and to copy it in His works; and somewhat +ill, those who hold this view imply, in some of them. That such verbal +hocus-pocus should be received as science will one day be regarded as +evidence of the low state of intelligence in the nineteenth century, +just as we amuse ourselves with the phraseology about Nature's +abhorrence of a vacuum, wherewith Torricelli's compatriots were +satisfied to explain the rise of water in a pump. And be it recollected +that this sort of satisfaction works not only negative but positive ill, +by discouraging inquiry, and so depriving man of the usufruct of one of +the most fertile fields of his great patrimony, Nature. + +The objections to the doctrine of the origin of species by special +creation which have been detailed, must have occurred, with more or +less force, to the mind of every one who has seriously and independently +considered the subject. It is therefore no wonder that, from time to +time, this hypothesis should have been met by counter hypotheses, all as +well, and some better founded than itself; and it is curious to remark +that the inventors of the opposing views seem to have been led into them +as much by their knowledge of geology, as by their acquaintance with +biology. In fact, when the mind has once admitted the conception of +the gradual production of the present physical state of our globe, by +natural causes operating through long ages of time, it will be little +disposed to allow that living beings have made their appearance in +another way, and the speculations of De Maillet and his successors are +the natural complement of Scilla's demonstration of the true nature of +fossils. + +A contemporary of Newton and of Leibnitz, sharing therefore in the +intellectual activity of the remarkable age which witnessed the birth +of modern physical science, Benoit de Maillet spent a long life as a +consular agent of the French Government in various Mediterranean ports. +For sixteen years, in fact, he held the office of Consul-General in +Egypt, and the wonderful phenomena offered by the valley of the Nile +appear to have strongly impressed his mind, to have directed his +attention to all facts of a similar order which came within his +observation, and to have led him to speculate on the origin of the +present condition of our globe and of its inhabitants. But, with all his +ardour for science, De Maillet seems to have hesitated to publish views +which, notwithstanding the ingenious attempts to reconcile them with the +Hebrew hypothesis contained in the preface to "Telliamed," were hardly +likely to be received with favour by his contemporaries. + +But a short time had elapsed since more than one of the great anatomists +and physicists of the Italian school had paid dearly for their +endeavours to dissipate some of the prevalent errors; and their +illustrious pupil, Harvey, the founder of modern physiology, had not +fared so well, in a country less oppressed by the benumbing influences +of theology, as to tempt any man to follow his example. Probably +not uninfluenced by these considerations, his Catholic majesty's +Consul-General for Egypt kept his theories to himself throughout a long +life, for 'Telliamed,' the only scientific work which is known to have +proceeded from his pen, was not printed till 1735, when its author had +reached the ripe age of seventy-nine; and though De Maillet lived three +years longer, his book was not given to the world before 1748. Even then +it was anonymous to those who were not in the secret of the anagrammatic +character of its title; and the preface and dedication are so worded as, +in case of necessity, to give the printer a fair chance of falling back +on the excuse that the work was intended for a mere 'jeu d'esprit'. + +The speculations of the suppositious Indian sage, though quite as sound +as those of many a "Mosaic Geology," which sells exceedingly well, have +no great value if we consider them by the light of modern science. The +waters are supposed to have originally covered the whole globe; to have +deposited the rocky masses which compose its mountains by processes +comparable to those which are now forming mud, sand, and shingle; and +then to have gradually lowered their level, leaving the spoils of their +animal and vegetable inhabitants embedded in the strata. As the dry land +appeared, certain of the aquatic animals are supposed to have taken to +it, and to have become gradually adapted to terrestrial and aerial +modes of existence. But if we regard the general tenor and style of +the reasoning in relation to the state of knowledge of the day, two +circumstances appear very well worthy of remark. The first, that De +Maillet had a notion of the modifiability of living forms (though +without any precise information on the subject), and how such +modifiability might account for the origin of species; the second, that +he very clearly apprehended the great modern geological doctrine, +so strongly insisted upon by Hutton, and so ably and comprehensively +expounded by Lyell, that we must look to existing causes for the +explanation of past geological events. Indeed, the following passage +of the preface, in which De Maillet is supposed to speak of the Indian +philosopher Telliamed, his 'alter ego', might have been written by the +most philosophical uniformitarian of the present day:-- + +"Ce qu'il y a d'etonnant, est que pour arriver a ces connoissances il +semble avoir perverti l'ordre naturel, puisqu'au lieu de s'attacher +d'abord a rechercher l'origine de notre globe il a commence par +travailler a s'instruire de la nature. Mais a l'entendre, ce +renversement de l'ordre a ete pour lui l'effet d'un genie favorable +qui l'a conduit pas a pas et comme par la main aux decouvertes les plus +sublimes. C'est en decomposant la substance de ce globe par une anatomie +exacte de toutes ses parties qu'il a premierement appris de quelles +matieres il etait compose et quels arrangemens ces memes matieres +observaient entre elles. Ces lumieres jointes a l'esprit de comparaison +toujours necessaire a quiconque entreprend de percer les voiles dont +la nature aime a se cacher, ont servi de guide a notre philosophe pour +parvenir a des connoissances plus interessantes. Par la matiere et +l'arrangement de ces compositions il pretend avoir reconnu quelle est la +veritable origine de ce globe que nous habitons, comment et par qui il a +ete forme."--Pp. xix. xx. + +But De Maillet was before his age, and as could hardly fail to happen +to one who speculated on a zoological and botanical question before +Linnaeus, and on a physiological problem before Haller, he fell into +great errors here and there; and hence, perhaps, the general neglect of +his work. Robinet's speculations are rather behind, than in advance +of, those of De Maillet; and though Linnaeus may have played with +the hypothesis of transmutation, it obtained no serious support +until Lamarck adopted it, and advocated it with great ability in his +'Philosophie Zoologique.' + +Impelled towards the hypothesis of the transmutation of species, +partly by his general cosmological and geological views; partly by the +conception of a graduated, though irregularly branching, scale of being, +which had arisen out of his profound study of plants and of the lower +forms of animal life, Lamarck, whose general line of thought often +closely resembles that of De Maillet, made a great advance upon the +crude and merely speculative manner in which that writer deals with +the question of the origin of living beings, by endeavouring to find +physical causes competent to effect that change of one species into +another, which De Maillet had only supposed to occur. And Lamarck +conceived that he had found in Nature such causes, amply sufficient for +the purpose in view. It is a physiological fact, he says, that organs +are increased in size by action, atrophied by inaction; it is another +physiological fact that modifications produced are transmissible to +offspring. Change the actions of an animal, therefore, and you will +change its structure, by increasing the development of the parts newly +brought into use and by the diminution of those less used; but by +altering the circumstances which surround it you will alter its actions, +and hence, in the long run, change of circumstance must produce +change of organization. All the species of animals, therefore, are, +in Lamarck's view, the result of the indirect action of changes of +circumstance, upon those primitive germs which he considered to have +originally arisen, by spontaneous generation, within the waters of the +globe. It is curious, however, that Lamarck should insist so strongly +[5] as he has done, that circumstances never in any degree directly +modify the form or the organization of animals, but only operate by +changing their wants and consequently their actions; for he thereby +brings upon himself the obvious question, how, then, do plants, which +cannot be said to have wants or actions, become modified? To this +he replies, that they are modified by the changes in their nutritive +processes, which are effected by changing circumstances; and it does not +seem to have occurred to him that such changes might be as well supposed +to take place among animals. + + +When we have said that Lamarck felt that mere speculation was not the +way to arrive at the origin of species, but that it was necessary, +in order to the establishment of any sound theory on the subject, to +discover by observation or otherwise, some 'vera causa', competent to +give rise to them; that he affirmed the true order of classification to +coincide with the order of their development one from another; that he +insisted on the necessity of allowing sufficient time, very strongly; +and that all the varieties of instinct and reason were traced back by +him to the same cause as that which has given rise to species, we have +enumerated his chief contributions to the advance of the question. On +the other hand, from his ignorance of any power in Nature competent to +modify the structure of animals, except the development of parts, or +atrophy of them, in consequence of a change of needs, Lamarck was led +to attach infinitely greater weight than it deserves to this agency, +and the absurdities into which he was led have met with deserved +condemnation. Of the struggle for existence, on which, as we shall see, +Mr. Darwin lays such great stress, he had no conception; indeed, he +doubts whether there really are such things as extinct species, unless +they be such large animals as may have met their death at the hands of +man; and so little does he dream of there being any other destructive +causes at work, that, in discussing the possible existence of fossil +shells, he asks, "Pourquoi d'ailleurs seroient-ils perdues des que +l'homme n'a pu operer leur destruction?" ('Phil. Zool.,' vol. i. p. 77.) +Of the influence of selection Lamarck has as little notion, and he makes +no use of the wonderful phenomena which are exhibited by domesticated +animals, and illustrate its powers. The vast influence of Cuvier was +employed against the Lamarckian views, and, as the untenability of +some of his conclusions was easily shown, his doctrines sank under the +opprobrium of scientific, as well as of theological, heterodoxy. +Nor have the efforts made of late years to revive them tended to +re-establish their credit in the minds of sound thinkers acquainted with +the facts of the case; indeed it may be doubted whether Lamarck has not +suffered more from his friends than from his foes. + +Two years ago, in fact, though we venture to question if even the +strongest supporters of the special creation hypothesis had not, now +and then, an uneasy consciousness that all was not right, their position +seemed more impregnable than ever, if not by its own inherent strength, +at any rate by the obvious failure of all the attempts which had been +made to carry it. On the other hand, however much the few, who thought +deeply on the question of species, might be repelled by the generally +received dogmas, they saw no way of escaping from them save by the +adoption of suppositions so little justified by experiment or by +observation as to be at least equally distasteful. + +The choice lay between two absurdities and a middle condition of uneasy +scepticism; which last, however unpleasant and unsatisfactory, was +obviously the only justifiable state of mind under the circumstances. + +Such being the general ferment in the minds of naturalists, it is no +wonder that they mustered strong in the rooms of the Linnaean Society, +on the 1st of July of the year 1858, to hear two papers by authors +living on opposite sides of the globe, working out their results +independently, and yet professing to have discovered one and the same +solution of all the problems connected with species. The one of these +authors was an able naturalist, Mr. Wallace, who had been employed for +some years in studying the productions of the islands of the Indian +Archipelago, and who had forwarded a memoir embodying his views to +Mr. Darwin, for communication to the Linnaean Society. On perusing the +essay, Mr. Darwin was not a little surprised to find that it embodied +some of the leading ideas of a great work which he had been preparing +for twenty years, and parts of which, containing a development of the +very same views, had been perused by his private friends fifteen or +sixteen years before. Perplexed in what manner to do full justice both +to his friend and to himself, Mr. Darwin placed the matter in the hands +of Dr. Hooker and Sir Charles Lyell, by whose advice he communicated +a brief abstract of his own views to the Linnaean Society, at the same +time that Mr. Wallace's paper was read. Of that abstract, the work on +the 'Origin of Species' is an enlargement; but a complete statement of +Mr. Darwin's doctrine is looked for in the large and well-illustrated +work which he is said to be preparing for publication. + +The Darwinian hypothesis has the merit of being eminently simple and +comprehensible in principle, and its essential positions may be stated +in a very few words: all species have been produced by the development +of varieties from common stocks; by the conversion of these, first into +permanent races and then into new species, by the process of 'natural +selection', which process is essentially identical with that artificial +selection by which man has originated the races of domestic animals--the +'struggle for existence' taking the place of man, and exerting, in the +case of natural selection, that selective action which he performs in +artificial selection. + +The evidence brought forward by Mr. Darwin in support of his hypothesis +is of three kinds. First, he endeavours to prove that species may be +originated by selection; secondly, he attempts to show that natural +causes are competent to exert selection; and thirdly, he tries to prove +that the most remarkable and apparently anomalous phenomena exhibited by +the distribution, development, and mutual relations of species, can be +shown to be deducible from the general doctrine of their origin, which +he propounds, combined with the known facts of geological change; and +that, even if all these phenomena are not at present explicable by it, +none are necessarily inconsistent with it. + +There cannot be a doubt that the method of inquiry which Mr. Darwin +has adopted is not only rigorously in accordance with the canons of +scientific logic, but that it is the only adequate method. Critics +exclusively trained in classics or in mathematics, who have never +determined a scientific fact in their lives by induction from experiment +or observation, prate learnedly about Mr. Darwin's method, which is not +inductive enough, not Baconian enough, forsooth, for them. But even if +practical acquaintance with the process of scientific investigation +is denied them, they may learn, by the perusal of Mr. Mill's admirable +chapter "On the Deductive Method," that there are multitudes of +scientific inquiries in which the method of pure induction helps the +investigator but a very little way. + +"The mode of investigation," says Mr. Mill, "which, from the proved +inapplicability of direct methods of observation and experiment, remains +to us as the main source of the knowledge we possess, or can acquire, +respecting the conditions and laws of recurrence of the more complex +phenomena, is called, in its most general expression, the deductive +method, and consists of three operations: the first, one of +direct induction; the second, of ratiocination; and the third, of +verification." + +Now, the conditions which have determined the existence of species are +not only exceedingly complex, but, so far as the great majority of +them are concerned, are necessarily beyond our cognizance. But what Mr. +Darwin has attempted to do is in exact accordance with the rule laid +down by Mr. Mill; he has endeavoured to determine certain great facts +inductively, by observation and experiment; he has then reasoned from +the data thus furnished; and lastly, he has tested the validity of his +ratiocination by comparing his deductions with the observed facts of +Nature. Inductively, Mr. Darwin endeavours to prove that species arise +in a given way. Deductively, he desires to show that, if they arise in +that way, the facts of distribution, development, classification, etc., +may be accounted for, 'i.e.' may be deduced from their mode of origin, +combined with admitted changes in physical geography and climate, during +an indefinite period. And this explanation, or coincidence of observed +with deduced facts, is, so far as it extends, a verification of the +Darwinian view. + +There is no fault to be found with Mr. Darwin's method, then; but it is +another question whether he has fulfilled all the conditions imposed by +that method. Is it satisfactorily proved, in fact, that species may +be originated by selection? that there is such a thing as natural +selection? that none of the phenomena exhibited by species are +inconsistent with the origin of species in this way? If these questions +can be answered in the affirmative, Mr. Darwin's view steps out of the +rank of hypotheses into those of proved theories; but, so long as the +evidence at present adduced falls short of enforcing that affirmation, +so long, to our minds, must the new doctrine be content to remain among +the former--an extremely valuable, and in the highest degree probable, +doctrine, indeed the only extant hypothesis which is worth anything in a +scientific point of view; but still a hypothesis, and not yet the theory +of species. + +After much consideration, and with assuredly no bias against Mr. +Darwin's views, it is our clear conviction that, as the evidence stands, +it is not absolutely proven that a group of animals, having all the +characters exhibited by species in Nature, has ever been originate +by selection, whether artificial or natural. Groups having the +morphological character of species, distinct and permanent races +in fact, have been so produced over and over again; but there is +no positive evidence, at present, that any group of animals has, by +variation and selective breeding, given rise to another group which +was, even in the least degree, infertile with the first. Mr. Darwin is +perfectly aware of this weak point, and brings forward a multitude +of ingenious and important arguments to diminish the force of the +objection. We admit the value of these arguments to their fullest +extent; nay, we will go so far as to express our belief that +experiments, conducted by a skilful physiologist, would very probably +obtain the desired production of mutually more or less infertile breeds +from a common stock, in a comparatively few years; but still, as the +case stands at present, this "little rift within the lute" is not to be +disguised nor overlooked. + +In the remainder of Mr. Darwin's argument our own private ingenuity +has not hitherto enabled us to pick holes of any great importance; and +judging by what we hear and read, other adventurers in the same field +do not seem to have been much more fortunate. It has been urged, for +instance, that in his chapters on the struggle for existence and on +natural selection, Mr. Darwin does not so much prove that natural +selection does occur, as that it must occur; but, in fact, no other sort +of demonstration is attainable. A race does not attract our attention +in Nature until it has, in all probability, existed for a considerable +time, and then it is too late to inquire into the conditions of its +origin. Again, it is said that there is no real analogy between the +selection which takes place under domestication, by human influence, +and any operation which can be effected by Nature, for man interferes +intelligently. Reduced to its elements, this argument implies that an +effect produced with trouble by an intelligent agent must, 'a fortiori', +be more troublesome, if not impossible, to an unintelligent agent. Even +putting aside the question whether Nature, acting as she does according +to definite and invariable laws, can be rightly called an unintelligent +agent, such a position as this is wholly untenable. Mix salt and sand, +and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, +to separate all the grains of sand from all the grains of salt; but a +shower of rain will effect the same object in ten minutes. And so, while +man may find it tax all his intelligence to separate any variety which +arises, and to breed selectively from it, the destructive agencies +incessantly at work in Nature, if they find one variety to be more +soluble in circumstances than the other, will inevitably, in the long +run, eliminate it. + +A frequent and a just objection to the Lamarckian hypothesis of the +transmutation of species is based upon the absence of transitional forms +between many species. But against the Darwinian hypothesis this argument +has no force. Indeed, one of the most valuable and suggestive parts of +Mr. Darwin's work is that in which he proves, that the frequent absence +of transitions is a necessary consequence of his doctrine, and that +the stock whence two or more species have sprung, need in no respect be +intermediate between these species. If any two species have arisen from +a common stock in the same way as the carrier and the pouter, say, have +arisen from the rock-pigeon, then the common stock of these two species +need be no more intermediate between the two than the rock-pigeon is +between the carrier and pouter. Clearly appreciate the force of +this analogy, and all the arguments against the origin of species by +selection, based on the absence of transitional forms, fall to the +ground. And Mr. Darwin's position might, we think, have been even +stronger than it is if he had not embarrassed himself with the aphorism, +"Natura non facit saltum," which turns up so often in his pages. We +believe, as we have said above, that Nature does make jumps now and +then, and a recognition of the fact is of no small importance in +disposing of many minor objections to the doctrine of transmutation. + +But we must pause. The discussion of Mr. Darwin's arguments in detail +would lead us far beyond the limits within which we proposed, at +starting, to confine this article. Our object has been attained if we +have given an intelligible, however brief, account of the established +facts connected with species, and of the relation of the explanation of +those facts offered by Mr. Darwin to the theoretical views held by his +predecessors and his contemporaries, and, above all, to the requirements +of scientific logic. We have ventured to point out that it does not, as +yet, satisfy all those requirements; but we do not hesitate to assert +that it is as superior to any preceding or contemporary hypothesis, in +the extent of observational and experimental basis on which it rests, +in its rigorously scientific method, and in its power of explaining +biological phenomena, as was the hypothesis of Copernicus to the +speculations of Ptolemy. But the planetary orbits turned out to be +not quite circular after all, and, grand as was the service Copernicus +rendered to science, Kepler and Newton had to come after him. What if +the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular? What if species +should offer residual phenomena, here and there, not explicable by +natural selection? Twenty years hence naturalists may be in a position +to say whether this is, or is not, the case; but in either event they +will owe the author of 'The Origin of Species' an immense debt of +gratitude. We should leave a very wrong impression on the reader's +mind if we permitted him to suppose that the value of that work depends +wholly on the ultimate justification of the theoretical views which it +contains. On the contrary, if they were disproved to-morrow, the book +would still be the best of its kind--the most compendious statement +of well-sifted facts bearing on the doctrine of species that has ever +appeared. The chapters on Variation, on the Struggle for Existence, on +Instinct, on Hybridism, on the Imperfection of the Geological Record, on +Geographical Distribution, have not only no equals, but, so far as +our knowledge goes, no competitors, within the range of biological +literature. And viewed as a whole, we do not believe that, since the +publication of Von Baer's Researches on Development, thirty years ago, +any work has appeared calculated to exert so large an influence, not +only on the future of Biology, but in extending the domination of +Science over regions of thought into which she has, as yet, hardly +penetrated. + + + +[Footnote 1: 'The Westminster Review', April 1860.] + +[Footnote 2: On the Osteology of the Chimpanzees and Orangs: +Transactions of the Zoological Society, 1858.] + +[Footnote 3: Colonel Humphreys' statements are exceedingly explicit +on this point:--"When an Ancon ewe is impregnated by a common ram, the +increase resembles wholly either the ewe or the ram. The increase of the +common ewe impregnated by an Ancon ram follows entirely the one or +the other, without blending any of the distinguishing and essential +peculiarities of both. Frequent instances have happened where common +ewes have had twins by Ancon rams, when one exhibited the complete marks +and features of the ewe, the other of the ram. The contrast has been +rendered singularly striking, when one short-legged and one long-legged +lamb, produced at a birth, have been seen sucking the dam at the same +time."--'Philosophical Transactions', 1813, Pt. I. pp. 89, 90.] + +[Footnote 4: Recent investigations tend to show that this statement is +not strictly accurate.--1870.] + +[Footnote 5: See 'Phil. Zoologique,' vol. i. p. 222, 'et seq.'] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Origin of Species, by Thomas H. Huxley + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES *** + +***** This file should be named 2929.txt or 2929.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/2/2929/ + +Produced by Amy E. 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