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diff --git a/7116-h/7116-h.htm b/7116-h/7116-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6bcea7 --- /dev/null +++ b/7116-h/7116-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9601 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, by Robert Chambers</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, +by Robert Chambers + + +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: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation + + +Author: Robert Chambers + + + +Release Date: August 2, 2014 [eBook #7116] +[This file was first posted on March 11, 2003] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF +CREATION*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1844 John Churchill edition by David +Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1>VESTIGES<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OF</span><br /> +THE NATURAL HISTORY<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OF</span><br /> +CREATION.</h1> + +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:</p> +<p style="text-align: center">JOHN CHURCHILL, PRINCES STREET, +SOHO.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">M DCCC +XLIV.</span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Bodies of Space—Their arrangements and +formation</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Constituent materials of the Earth and of the other Bodies +of Space</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page27">27</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Earth formed—Era of the Primary Rocks</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page44">44</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Commencement of Organic Life—Sea Plants, Corals, +etc.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page54">54</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the Old Red Sandstone—Fishes abundant.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page66">66</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Secondary Rocks. Era of the Carboniferous +Formation.—Land formed—Commencement of Land +Plants</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page76">76</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the New Red Sandstone—Terrestrial Zoology +commences with Reptiles—First traces of Birds</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page94">94</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the Oolite—Commencement of Mammalia</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the Cretaceous Formation</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page116">116</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the Tertiary Formation—Mammalia abundant</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page125">125</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Era of the Superficial Formations—Commencement of +present Species</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page134">134</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>General Considerations respecting the Origin of the +Animated Tribes</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page145">145</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Particular Considerations respecting the Origin of the +Animated Tribes</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Hypothesis of the Development of the Vegetable and Animal +Kingdoms</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page191">191</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Macleay System of Animated Nature—This System +considered in connexion with the Progress of Organic Creation, +and as indicating the natural status of Man</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page236">236</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Early History of Mankind</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page277">277</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Mental Constitution of Animals</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page324">324</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Purpose and General Condition of the Animated Creation</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page361">361</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Note Conclusory</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page387">387</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>THE +BODIES OF SPACE,<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THEIR ARRANGEMENTS AND +FORMATION.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is familiar knowledge that the +earth which we inhabit is a globe of somewhat less than 8000 +miles in diameter, being one of a series of eleven which revolve +at different distances around the sun, and some of which have +satellites in like manner revolving around them. The sun, +planets, and satellites, with the less intelligible orbs termed +comets, are comprehensively called the solar system, and if we +take as the uttermost bounds of this system the orbit of Uranus +(though the comets actually have a wider range), we shall find +that it occupies a portion of space not less than three thousand +six hundred millions of miles in extent. The mind fails to +form an exact notion of a portion of space so immense; but some +faint idea of it may be obtained from the fact, that, if the +swiftest race-horse ever known had begun to traverse it, at full +speed, at the time of the birth of Moses, he would only as yet +have accomplished half his journey.</p> +<p>It has long been concluded amongst astronomers, that the +stars, though they only appear to our eyes as brilliant points, +are all to be considered as suns, representing so many solar +systems, each bearing a general resemblance to our own. The +stars have a brilliancy and apparent magnitude which we may +safely presume to be in proportion to their actual size and the +distance at which they are placed from us. Attempts have +been made to ascertain the distance of some of the stars by +calculations founded on parallax, it being previously understood +that, if a parallax of so much as one second, or the 3600th of a +degree, could be ascertained in any one instance, the distance +might be assumed in that instance as not less than 19,200 +millions of miles! In the case of the most brilliant star, +Sirius, even this minute parallax could not be found; from which +of course it was to be inferred that the distance of that star is +something beyond the vast distance which has been stated. +In some others, on which the experiment has been tried, no +sensible parallax could be detected; from which the same +inference was to be made in their case. But a sensible +parallax of about one second has been ascertained in the case of +the double star, α α, of the constellation of the +Centaur, <a name="citation3"></a><a href="#footnote3" +class="citation">[3]</a> and one of the third of that amount for +the double star, 61 Cygni; which gave reason to presume that the +distance of the former might be about twenty thousand millions of +miles, and the latter of much greater amount. If we suppose +that similar intervals exist between all the stars, we shall +readily see that the space occupied by even the comparatively +small number visible to the naked eye, must be vast beyond all +powers of conception.</p> +<p>The number visible to the eye is about three thousand; but +when a telescope of small power is directed to the heavens, a +great number more come into view, and the number is ever +increased in proportion to the increased power of the +instrument. In one place, where they are more thickly sown +than elsewhere, Sir William Herschel reckoned that fifty thousand +passed over a field of view two degrees in breadth in a single +hour. It was first surmised by the ancient philosopher, +Democritus, that the faintly white zone which spans the sky under +the name of the Milky Way, might be only a dense collection of +stars too remote to be distinguished. This conjecture has +been verified by the instruments of modern astronomers, and some +speculations of a most remarkable kind have been formed in +connexion with it. By the joint labours of the two +Herschels, the sky has been “gauged” in all +directions by the telescope, so as to ascertain the conditions of +different parts with respect to the frequency of the stars. +The result has been a conviction that, as the planets are parts +of solar systems, so are solar systems parts of what may be +called astral systems—that is, systems composed of a +multitude of stars, bearing a certain relation to each +other. The astral system to which we belong, is conceived +to be of an oblong, flattish form, with a space wholly or +comparatively vacant in the centre, while the extremity in one +direction parts into two. The stars are most thickly sown +in the outer parts of this vast ring, and these constitute the +Milky Way. Our sun is believed to be placed in the southern +portion of the ring, near its inner edge, so that we are +presented with many more stars, and see the Milky Way much more +clearly, in that direction, than towards the north, in which line +our eye has to traverse the vacant central space. Nor is +this all. Sir William Herschel, so early as 1783, detected +a motion in our solar system with respect to the stars, and +announced that it was tending towards the star λ, in the +constellation Hercules. This has been generally verified by +recent and more exact calculations, <a name="citation5"></a><a +href="#footnote5" class="citation">[5]</a> which fix on a point +in Hercules, near the star 143 of the 17th hour, according to +Piozzi’s catalogue, as that towards which our sun is +proceeding. It is, therefore, receding from the inner edge +of the ring. Motions of this kind, through such vast +regions of space, must be long in producing any change sensible +to the inhabitants of our planet, and it is not easy to grasp +their general character; but grounds have nevertheless been found +for supposing that not only our sun, but the other suns of the +system pursue a wavy course round the ring <i>from west to +east</i>, crossing and recrossing the middle of the annular +circle. “Some stars will depart more, others less, +from either side of the circumference of equilibrium, according +to the places in which they are situated, and according to the +direction and the velocity with which they are put in +motion. Our sun is probably one of those which depart +furthest from it, and descend furthest into the empty space +within the ring.” <a name="citation6"></a><a +href="#footnote6" class="citation">[6]</a> According to +this view, a time may come when we shall be much more in the +thick of the stars of our astral system than we are now, and have +of course much more brilliant nocturnal skies; but it may be +countless ages before the eyes which are to see this added +resplendence shall exist.</p> +<p>The evidence of the existence of other astral systems besides +our own is much more decided than might be expected, when we +consider that the nearest of them must needs be placed at a +mighty interval beyond our own. The elder Herschel, +directing his wonderful tube towards the <i>sides</i> of our +system, where stars are planted most rarely, and raising the +powers of the instrument to the required pitch, was enabled with +awe-struck mind to see suspended in the vast empyrean astral +systems, or, as he called them, firmaments, resembling our +own. Like light cloudlets to a certain power of the +telescope, they resolved themselves, under a greater power, into +stars, though these generally seemed no larger than the finest +particles of diamond dust. The general forms of these +systems are various; but one at least has been detected as +bearing a striking resemblance to the supposed form of our +own. The distances are also various, as proved by the +different degrees of telescopic power necessary to bring them +into view. The farthest observed by the astronomer were +estimated by him as thirty-five thousand times more remote than +Sirius, supposing its distance to be about twenty thousand +millions of miles. It would thus appear, that not only does +gravitation keep our earth in its place in the solar system, and +the solar system in its place in our astral system, but it also +may be presumed to have the mightier duty of preserving a local +arrangement between that astral system and an immensity of +others, through which the imagination is left to wander on and on +without limit or stay, save that which is given by its inability +to grasp the unbounded.</p> +<p>The two Herschels have in succession made some other most +remarkable observations on the regions of space. They have +found within the limits of our astral system, and generally in +its outer fields, a great number of objects which, from their +foggy appearance, are called <i>nebulæ</i>; some of vast +extent and irregular figure, as that in the sword of Orion, which +is visible to the naked eye; others of shape more defined; +others, again, in which small bright nuclei appear here and there +over the surface. Between this last form and another class +of objects, which appear as clusters of nuclei with nebulous +matter around each nucleus, there is but a step in what appears a +chain of related things. Then, again, our astral space +shews what are called nebulous stars,—namely, luminous +spherical objects, bright in the centre and dull towards the +extremities. These appear to be only an advanced condition +of the class of objects above described. Finally, nebulous +stars exist in every stage of concentration, down to that state +in which we see only a common star with a slight <i>bur</i> +around it. It may be presumed that all these are but stages +in a progress, just as if, seeing a child, a boy, a youth, a +middle-aged, and an old man together, we might presume that the +whole were only variations of one being. Are we to suppose +that we have got a glimpse of the process through which a sun +goes between its original condition, as a mass of diffused +nebulous matter, and its full-formed state as a compact +body? We shall see how far such an idea is supported by +other things known with regard to the occupants of space, and the +laws of matter.</p> +<p>A superficial view of the astronomy of the solar system gives +us only the idea of a vast luminous body (the sun) in the centre, +and a few smaller, though various sized bodies, revolving at +different distances around it; some of these, again, having +smaller planets (satellites) revolving around them. There +are, however, some general features of the solar system, which, +when a profounder attention makes us acquainted with them, strike +the mind very forcibly.</p> +<p>It is, in the first place, remarkable, that the planets all +move nearly <i>in one plane</i>, corresponding with the centre of +the sun’s body. Next, it is not less remarkable that +the motion of the sun on its axis, those of the planets around +the sun, and the satellites around their primaries, <a +name="citation9"></a><a href="#footnote9" +class="citation">[9]</a> and the motions of all on their axes, +are <i>in one direction</i>—namely, from west to +east. Had all these matters been left to accident, the +chances against the uniformity which we find would have been, +though calculable, inconceivably great. Laplace states them +at four millions of millions to one. It is thus powerfully +impressed on us, that the uniformity of the motions, as well as +their general adjustment to one plane, must have been a +consequence of some cause acting throughout the whole system.</p> +<p>Some of the other relations of the bodies are not less +remarkable. The primary planets shew a progressive increase +of bulk and diminution of density, from the one nearest to the +sun to that which is most distant. With respect to density +alone, we find, taking water as a measure and counting it as one, +that Saturn is 13/32, or less than half; Jupiter, 1 1/24; Mars, 3 +2/7; Earth, 4 1/2; Venus, 5 11/15; Mercury 9 9/10, or about the +weight of lead. Then the distances are curiously +relative. It has been found that if we place the following +line of numbers,—</p> +<p style="text-align: center">0 3 6 12 24 48 96 192,</p> +<p>and add 4 to each, we shall have a series denoting the +respective distances of the planets from the sun. It will +stand thus—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>4</p> +</td> +<td><p>7</p> +</td> +<td><p>10</p> +</td> +<td><p>16</p> +</td> +<td><p>28</p> +</td> +<td><p>52</p> +</td> +<td><p>100</p> +</td> +<td><p>196</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Merc.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Venus.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Earth.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Mars.</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p>Jupiter.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Saturn.</p> +</td> +<td><p>Uranus.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>It will be observed that the first row of figures goes on from +the second on the left hand in a succession of duplications, or +multiplications by 2. Surely there is here a most +surprising proof of the unity which I am claiming for the solar +system. It was remarked when this curious relation was +first detected, that there was a want of a planet corresponding +to 28; the difficulty was afterwards considered as in a great +measure overcome, by the discovery of four small planets +revolving at nearly one mean distance from the sun, between Mars +and Jupiter. The distances bear an equally interesting +mathematical relation to the times of the revolutions round the +sun. It has been found that, with respect to any two +planets, the squares of the times of revolution are to each other +in the same proportion as the cubes of their mean +distances,—a most surprising result, for the discovery of +which the world was indebted to the illustrious Kepler. Sir +John Herschel truly observes—“When we contemplate the +constituents of the planetary system from the point of view which +this relation affords us, it is no longer mere analogy which +strikes us, no longer a general resemblance among them, as +individuals independent of each other, and circulating about the +sun, each according to its own peculiar nature, and connected +with it by its own peculiar tie. The resemblance is now +perceived to be a true <i>family likeness</i>; they are bound up +in one chain—interwoven in one web of mutual relation and +harmonious agreement, subjected to one pervading influence which +extends from the centre to the farthest limits of that great +system, of which all of them, the Earth included, must henceforth +be regarded as members.” <a name="citation12"></a><a +href="#footnote12" class="citation">[12]</a></p> +<p>Connecting what has been observed of the series of nebulous +stars with this wonderful relationship seen to exist among the +constituents of our system, and further taking advantage of the +light afforded by the ascertained laws of matter, modern +astronomers have suggested the following hypothesis of the +formation of that system.</p> +<p>Of nebulous matter in its original state we know too little to +enable us to suggest how nuclei should be established in +it. But, supposing that, from a peculiarity in its +constitution, nuclei are formed, we know very well how, by virtue +of the law of gravitation, the process of an aggregation of the +neighbouring matter to those nuclei should proceed, until masses +more or less solid should become detached from the rest. It +is a well-known law in physics that, when fluid matter collects +towards or meets in a centre, it establishes a rotatory +motion. See minor results of this law in the whirlwind and +the whirlpool—nay, on so humble a scale as the water +sinking through the aperture of a funnel. It thus becomes +certain that when we arrive at the stage of a nebulous star, we +have a rotation on an axis commenced.</p> +<p>Now, mechanical philosophy informs us that, the instant a mass +begins to rotate, there is generated a tendency to fling off its +outer portions—in other words, the law of centrifugal force +begins to operate. There are, then, two forces acting in +opposition to each other, the one attracting <i>to</i>, the other +throwing <i>from</i>, the centre. While these remain +exactly counterpoised, the mass necessarily continues entire; but +the least excess of the centrifugal over the attractive force +would be attended with the effect of separating the mass and its +outer parts. These outer parts would, then, be left as a +ring round the central body, which ring would continue to revolve +with the velocity possessed by the central mass at the moment of +separation, but not necessarily participating in any changes +afterwards undergone by that body. This is a process which +might be repeated as soon as a new excess arose in the +centrifugal over the attractive forces working in the parent +mass. It might, indeed, continue to be repeated, until the +mass attained the ultimate limits of the condensation which its +constitution imposed upon it. From what cause might arise +the periodical occurrence of an excess of the centrifugal +force? If we suppose the agglomeration of a nebulous mass +to be a process attended by refrigeration or cooling, which many +facts render likely, we can easily understand why the outer +parts, hardening under this process, might, by virtue of the +greater solidity thence acquired, begin to present some +resistance to the attractive force. As the solidification +proceeded, this resistance would become greater, though there +would still be a tendency to adhere. Meanwhile, the +condensation of the central mass would be going on, tending to +produce a separation from what may now be termed the +<i>solidifying crust</i>. During the contention between the +attractions of these two bodies, or parts of one body, there +would probably be a ring of attenuation between the mass and its +crust. At length, when the central mass had reached a +certain stage in its advance towards solidification, a separation +would take place, and the crust would become a detached +ring. It is clear, of course, that some law presiding over +the refrigeration of heated gaseous bodies would determine the +stages at which rings were thus formed and detached. We do +not know any such law, but what we have seen assures us it is one +observing and reducible to mathematical formulæ.</p> +<p>If these rings consisted of matter nearly uniform throughout, +they would probably continue each in its original form; but there +are many chances against their being uniform in +constitution. The unavoidable effects of irregularity in +their constitution would be to cause them to gather towards +centres of superior solidity, by which the annular form would, of +course, be destroyed. The ring would, in short, break into +several masses, the largest of which would be likely to attract +the lesser into itself. The whole mass would then +necessarily settle into a spherical form by virtue of the law of +gravitation; in short, would then become a planet revolving round +the sun. Its rotatory motion would, of course, continue, +and satellites might then be thrown off in turn from its body in +exactly the same way as the primary planets had been thrown off +from the sun. The rule, if I can be allowed so to call it, +receives a striking support from what appear to be its +exceptions. While there are many chances against the matter +of the rings being sufficiently equable to remain in the annular +form till they were consolidated, it might nevertheless be +otherwise in some instances; that is to say, the equableness +might, in those instances, be sufficiently great. Such was +probably the case with the two rings around the body of Saturn, +which remain a living picture of the arrangement, if not the +condition, in which all the planetary masses at one time +stood. It may also be admitted that, when a ring broke up, +it was possible that the fragments might spherify +separately. Such seems to be the actual history of the ring +between Jupiter and Mars, in whose place we now find four planets +much beneath the smallest of the rest in size, and moving nearly +at the same distance from the sun, though in orbits so +elliptical, and of such different planes, that they keep +apart.</p> +<p>It has been seen that there are mathematical proportions in +the relative distances and revolutions of the planets of our +system. It has also been suggested that the periods in the +condensation of the nebulous mass, at which rings were +disengaged, must have depended on some particular crises in the +condition of that mass, in connexion with the laws of centrifugal +force and attraction. M. Compte, of Paris, has made some +approach to the verification of the hypothesis, by calculating +what ought to have been the rotation of the solar mass at the +successive times when its surface extended to the various +planetary orbits. He ascertained that <i>that rotation +corresponded in every case with the actual sidereal revolution of +the planets</i>, <i>and that the rotation of the primary planets +in like manner corresponded with the orbitual periods of the +secondaries</i>. The process by which he arrived at this +conclusion is not to be readily comprehended by the unlearned; +but those who are otherwise, allow that it is a powerful support +to the present hypothesis of the formation of the globes of +space. <a name="citation17"></a><a href="#footnote17" +class="citation">[17]</a></p> +<p>The nebular hypothesis, as it has been called, obtains a +remarkable support in what would at first seem to militate +against it—the existence in our firmament of several +thousands of solar systems, in which there are more than one +sun. These are called double and triple stars. Some +double stars, upon which careful observations have been made, are +found to have a regular revolutionary motion round each other in +ellipses. This kind of solar system has also been observed +in what appears to be its rudimental state, for there are +examples of nebulous stars containing two and three nuclei in +near association. At a certain point in the confluence of +the matter of these nebulous stars, they would all become +involved in a common revolutionary motion, linked inextricably +with each other, though it might be at sufficient distances to +allow of each distinct centre having afterwards its attendant +planets. We have seen that the law which causes rotation in +the single solar masses, is exactly the same which produces the +familiar phenomenon of a small whirlpool or dimple in the surface +of a stream. Such dimples are not always single. Upon +the face of a river where there are various contending currents, +it may often be observed that two or more dimples are formed near +each other with more or less regularity. These fantastic +eddies, which the musing poet will sometimes watch abstractedly +for an hour, little thinking of the law which produces and +connects them, are an illustration of the wonders of binary and +ternary solar systems.</p> +<p>The nebular hypothesis is, indeed, supported by so many +ascertained features of the celestial scenery, and by so many +calculations of exact science, that it is impossible for a candid +mind to refrain from giving it a cordial reception, if not to +repose full reliance upon it, even without seeking for it support +of any other kind. Some other support I trust yet to bring +to it; but in the meantime, assuming its truth, let us see what +idea it gives of the constitution of what we term the universe, +of the development of its various parts, and of its original +condition.</p> +<p>Reverting to a former illustration—if we could suppose a +number of persons of various ages presented to the inspection of +an intelligent being newly introduced into the world, we cannot +doubt that he would soon become convinced that men had once been +boys, that boys had once been infants, and, finally, that all had +been brought into the world in exactly the same +circumstances. Precisely thus, seeing in our astral system +many thousands of worlds in all stages of formation, from the +most rudimental to that immediately preceding the present +condition of those we deem perfect, it is unavoidable to conclude +that all the perfect have gone through the various stages which +we see in the rudimental. This leads us at once to the +conclusion that the whole of our firmament was at one time a +diffused mass of nebulous matter, extending through the space +which it still occupies. So also, of course, must have been +the other astral systems. Indeed, we must presume the whole +to have been originally in one connected mass, the astral systems +being only the first division into parts, and solar systems the +second.</p> +<p>The first idea which all this impresses upon us is, that the +formation of bodies in space is <i>still and at present in +progress</i>. We live at a time when many have been formed, +and many are still forming. Our own solar system is to be +regarded as completed, supposing its perfection to consist in the +formation of a series of planets, for there are mathematical +reasons for concluding that Mercury is the nearest planet to the +sun, which can, according to the laws of the system, exist. +But there are other solar systems within our astral system, which +are as yet in a less advanced state, and even some quantities of +nebulous matter which have scarcely begun to advance towards the +stellar form. On the other hand, there are vast numbers of +stars which have all the appearance of being fully formed +systems, if we are to judge from the complete and definite +appearance which they present to our vision through the +telescope. We have no means of judging of the seniority of +systems; but it is reasonable to suppose that, among the many, +some are older than ours. There is, indeed, one piece of +evidence for the probability of the comparative youth of our +system, altogether apart from human traditions and the geognostic +appearances of the surface of our planet. This consists in +a thin nebulous matter, which is diffused around the sun to +nearly the orbit of Mercury, of a very oblately spheroidal +shape. This matter, which sometimes appears to our naked +eyes, at sunset, in the form of a cone projecting upwards in the +line of the sun’s path, and which bears the name of the +Zodiacal Light, has been thought a residuum or last remnant of +the concentrating matter of our system, and thus may be supposed +to indicate the comparative recentness of the principal events of +our cosmogony. Supposing the surmise and inference to be +correct, and they may be held as so far supported by more +familiar evidence, we might with the more confidence speak of our +system as not amongst the elder born of Heaven, but one whose +various phenomena, physical and moral, as yet lay undeveloped, +while myriads of others were fully fashioned and in complete +arrangement. Thus, in the sublime chronology to which we +are directing our inquiries, we first find ourselves called upon +to consider the globe which we inhabit as a child of the sun, +elder than Venus and her younger brother Mercury, but posterior +in date of birth to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus; next to +regard our whole system as probably of recent formation in +comparison with many of the stars of our firmament. We +must, however, be on our guard against supposing the earth as a +recent globe in our ordinary conceptions of time. From +evidence afterwards to be adduced, it will be seen that it cannot +be presumed to be less than many hundreds of centuries old. +How much older Uranus may be no one can tell, much less how more +aged may be many of the stars of our firmament, or the stars of +other firmaments than ours.</p> +<p>Another and more important consideration arises from the +hypothesis; namely, as to the means by which the grand process is +conducted. The nebulous matter collects around nuclei by +virtue of the law of attraction. The agglomeration brings +into operation another physical law, by force of which the +separate masses of matter are either made to rotate singly, or, +in addition to that single motion, are set into a coupled +revolution in ellipses. Next centrifugal force comes into +play, flinging off portions of the rotating masses, which become +spheres by virtue of the same law of attraction, and are held in +orbits of revolution round the central body by means of a +composition between the centrifugal and gravitating forces. +All, we see, is done by certain laws of matter, so that it +becomes a question of extreme interest, what are such laws? +All that can yet be said, in answer, is, that we see certain +natural events proceeding in an invariable order under certain +conditions, and thence infer the existence of some fundamental +arrangement which, for the bringing about of these events, has a +force and certainty of action similar to, but more precise and +unerring than those arrangements which human society makes for +its own benefit, and calls laws. It is remarkable of +physical laws, that we see them operating on every kind of scale +as to magnitude, with the same regularity and perseverance. +The tear that falls from childhood’s cheek is globular, +through the efficacy of that same law of mutual attraction of +particles which made the sun and planets round. The +rapidity of Mercury is quicker than that of Saturn, for the same +reason that, when we wheel a ball round by a string and make the +string wind up round our fingers, the ball always flies quicker +and quicker as the string is shortened. Two eddies in a +stream, as has been stated, fall into a mutual revolution at the +distance of a couple of inches, through the same cause which +makes a pair of suns link in mutual revolution at the distance of +millions of miles. There is, we might say, a sublime +simplicity in this indifference of the grand regulations to the +vastness or minuteness of the field of their operation. +Their being uniform, too, throughout space, as far as we can scan +it, and their being so unfailing in their tendency to operate, so +that only the proper conditions are presented, afford to our +minds matter for the gravest consideration. Nor should it +escape our careful notice that the regulations on which all the +laws of matter operate, are established on a rigidly accurate +mathematical basis. Proportions of numbers and geometrical +figures rest at the bottom of the whole. All these +considerations, when the mind is thoroughly prepared for them, +tend to raise our ideas with respect to the character of physical +laws, even though we do not go a single step further in the +investigation. But it is impossible for an intelligent mind +to stop there. We advance from law to the cause of law, and +ask, What is that? Whence have come all these beautiful +regulations? Here science leaves us, but only to conclude, +from other grounds, that there is a First Cause to which all +others are secondary and ministrative, a primitive almighty will, +of which these laws are merely the mandates. That great +Being, who shall say where is his dwelling-place, or what his +history! Man pauses breathless at the contemplation of a +subject so much above his finite faculties, and only can wonder +and adore!</p> +<h2><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>CONSTITUENT MATERIALS <span class="GutSmall">OF +THE</span> EARTH<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND OF THE OTHER BODIES OF +SPACE.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> nebular hypothesis almost +necessarily supposes matter to have originally formed one +mass. We have seen that the same physical laws preside over +the whole. Are we also to presume that the constitution of +the whole was uniform?—that is to say, that the whole +consisted of similar elements. It seems difficult to avoid +coming to this conclusion, at least under the qualification that, +possibly, various bodies, under peculiar circumstances attending +their formation, may contain elements which are wanting, and lack +some which are present in others, or that some may entirely +consist of elements in which others are entirely deficient.</p> +<p>What are elements? This is a term applied by the chemist +to a certain limited number of substances, (fifty-four or +fifty-five are ascertained,) which, in their combinations, form +all the matters of every kind present in and about our +globe. They are called elements, or simple substances, +because it has hitherto been found impossible to reduce them into +others, wherefore they are presumed to be the primary bases of +all matters. It has, indeed, been surmised that these +so-called elements are only modifications of a primordial form of +matter, brought about under certain conditions; but if this +should prove to be the case, it would little affect the view +which we are taking of cosmical arrangements. Analogy would +lead us to conclude that the combinations of the primordial +matter, forming our so-called elements, are as universal or as +liable to take place everywhere as are the laws of gravitation +and centrifugal force. We must therefore presume that the +gases, the metals, the earths, and other simple substances, +(besides whatever more of which we have no acquaintance,) exist +or are liable to come into existence under proper conditions, as +well in the astral system, which is thirty-five thousand times +more distant than Sirius, as within the bounds of our own solar +system or our own globe.</p> +<p>Matter, whether it consist of about fifty-five ingredients, or +only one, is liable to infinite varieties of condition under +different circumstances, or, to speak more philosophically, under +different laws. As a familiar illustration, water, when +subjected to a temperature under 32° Fahrenheit, becomes ice; +raise the temperature to 212°, and it becomes steam, +occupying a vast deal more space than it formerly did. The +gases, when subjected to pressure, become liquids; for example, +carbonic acid gas, when subjected to a weight equal to a column +of water 1230 feet high, at a temperature of 32°, takes this +form: the other gases require various amounts of pressure for +this transformation, but all appear to be liable to it when the +pressure proper in each case is administered. Heat is a +power greatly concerned in regulating the volume and other +conditions of matter. A chemist can reckon with +considerable precision what additional amount of heat would be +required to vaporise all the water of our globe; how much more to +disengage the oxygen which is diffused in nearly a proportion of +one-half throughout its solids; and, finally, how much more would +be required to cause the whole to become vaporiform, which we may +consider as equivalent to its being restored to its original +nebulous state. He can calculate with equal certainty what +would be the effect of a considerable diminution of the +earth’s temperature—what changes would take place in +each of its component substances, and how much the whole would +shrink in bulk.</p> +<p>The earth and all its various substances have at present a +certain volume in consequence of the temperature which actually +exists. When, then, we find that its matter and that of the +associate planets was at one time diffused throughout the whole +space, now circumscribed by the orbit of Uranus, we cannot doubt, +after what we know of the power of heat, that the nebulous form +of matter was attended by the condition of a very high +temperature. The nebulous matter of space, previously to +the formation of stellar and planetary bodies, must have been a +universal Fire Mist, an idea which we can scarcely comprehend, +though the reasons for arriving at it seem irresistible. +The formation of systems out of this matter implies a change of +some kind with regard to the condition of the heat. Had +this power continued to act with its full original repulsive +energy, the process of agglomeration by attraction could not have +gone on. We do not know enough of the laws of heat to +enable us to surmise how the necessary change in this respect was +brought about, but we can trace some of the steps and +consequences of the process. Uranus would be formed at the +time when the heat of our system’s matter was at the +greatest, Saturn at the next, and so on. Now this tallies +perfectly with the exceeding diffuseness of the matter of those +elder planets, Saturn being not more dense or heavy than the +substance cork. It may be that a sufficiency of heat still +remains in those planets to make up for their distance from the +sun, and the consequent smallness of the heat which they derive +from his rays. And it may equally be, since Mercury is +twice the density of the earth, that its matter exists under a +degree of cold for which that planet’s large enjoyment of +the sun’s rays is no more than a compensation. Thus +there may be upon the whole a nearly equal experience of heat +amongst all these children of the sun. Where, meanwhile, is +the heat once diffused through the system over and above what +remains in the planets? May we not rationally presume it to +have gone to constitute that luminous envelope of the sun, in +which his warmth-giving power is now held to reside? It +could not be destroyed—it cannot be supposed to have gone +off into space—it must have simply been reserved to +constitute, at the last, a means of sustaining the many +operations of which the planets were destined to be the +theatre.</p> +<p>The tendency of the whole of the preceding considerations is +to bring the conviction that our globe is a specimen of all the +similarly-placed bodies of space, as respects its constituent +matter and the physical and chemical laws governing it, with only +this qualification, that there are <i>possibly</i> shades of +variation with respect to the component materials, and +<i>undoubtedly</i> with respect to the conditions under which the +laws operate, and consequently the effects which they +produce. Thus, there may be substances here which are not +in some other bodies, and substances here solid may be elsewhere +liquid or vaporiform. We are the more entitled to draw such +conclusions, seeing that there is nothing at all singular or +special in the astronomical situation of the earth. It +takes its place third in a series of planets, which series is +only one of numberless other systems forming one group. It +is strikingly—if I may use such an expression—a +member of a democracy. Hence, we cannot suppose that there +is any peculiarity about it which does not probably attach to +multitudes of other bodies—in fact, to all that are +analogous to it in respect of cosmical arrangements.</p> +<p>It therefore becomes a point of great interest—what are +the materials of this specimen? What is the constitutional +character of this object, which may be said to be a sample, +presented to our immediate observation, of those crowds of worlds +which seem to us as the particles of the desert sand-cloud in +number, and to whose profusion there are no conceivable local +limits?</p> +<p>The solids, liquids, and aeriform fluids of our globe are all, +as has been stated, reducible into fifty-five substances hitherto +called elementary. Six are gases; oxygen, hydrogen, and +nitrogen being the chief. Forty-two are metals, of which +eleven are remarkable as composing, in combination with oxygen, +certain earths, as magnesia, lime, alumin. The remaining +six, including carbon, silicon, sulphur, have not any general +appellation.</p> +<p>The gas oxygen is considered as by far the most abundant +substance in our globe. It constitutes a fifth part of our +atmosphere, a third part of water, and a large proportion of +every kind of rock in the crust of the earth. Hydrogen, +which forms two-thirds of water, and enters into some mineral +substances, is perhaps next. Nitrogen, of which the +atmosphere is four-fifths composed, must be considered as an +abundant substance. The metal silicium, which unites with +oxygen in nearly equal parts to form silica, the basis of nearly +a half of the rocks in the earth’s crust, is, of course, an +important ingredient. Aluminium, the metallic basis of +alumin, a large material in many rocks, is another abundant +elementary substance. So, also, is carbon a small +ingredient in the atmosphere, but the chief constituent of animal +and vegetable substances, and of all fossils which ever were in +the latter condition, amongst which coal takes a conspicuous +place. The familiarly-known metals, as iron, tin, lead, +silver, gold, are elements of comparatively small magnitude in +that exterior part of the earth’s body which we are able to +investigate.</p> +<p>It is remarkable of the simple substances that they are +generally in some compound form. Thus, oxygen and nitrogen, +though in union they form the aerial envelope of the globe, are +never found separate in nature. Carbon is pure only in the +diamond. And the metallic bases of the earths, though the +chemist can disengage them, may well be supposed unlikely to +remain long uncombined, seeing that contact with moisture makes +them burn. Combination and re-combination are principles +largely pervading nature. There are few rocks, for example, +that are not composed of at least two varieties of matter, each +of which is again a compound of elementary substances. What +is still more wonderful with respect to this principle of +combination, all the elementary substances observe certain +mathematical proportions in their unions. One volume of +them unites with one, two, three, or more volumes of another, any +extra quantity being sure to be left over, if such there should +be. It is hence supposed that matter is composed of +infinitely minute particles or atoms, each of which belonging to +any one substance, can only (through the operation of some as yet +hidden law) associate with a certain number of the atoms of any +other. There are also strange predilections amongst +substances for each other’s company. One will remain +combined in solution with another, till a third is added, when it +will abandon the former and attach itself to the latter. A +fourth being added, the third will perhaps leave the first, and +join the new comer.</p> +<p>Such is an outline of the information which chemistry gives us +regarding the constituent materials of our globe. How +infinitely is the knowledge increased in interest, when we +consider the probability of such being the materials of the whole +of the bodies of space, and the laws under which these everywhere +combine, subject only to local and accidental variations!</p> +<p>In considering the cosmogenic arrangements of our globe, our +attention is called in a special degree to the moon.</p> +<p>In the nebular hypothesis, satellites are considered as masses +thrown off from their primaries, exactly as the primaries had +previously been from the sun. The orbit of any satellite is +also to be regarded as marking the bounds of the mass of the +primary at the time when that satellite was thrown off; its speed +likewise denotes the rapidity of the rotatory motion of the +primary at that particular juncture. For example, the +outermost of the four satellites of Jupiter revolves round his +body at the distance of 1,180,582 miles, shewing that the planet +was once 3,675,501 miles in circumference, instead of being, as +now, only 89,170 miles in diameter. This large mass took +rather more than sixteen days six hours and a half (the present +revolutionary period of the outermost satellite) to rotate on its +axis. The innermost satellite must have been formed when +the planet was reduced to a circumference of 309,075 miles, and +rotated in about forty-two hours and a half.</p> +<p>From similar inferences, we find that the mass of the earth, +at a certain point of time after it was thrown off from the sun, +was no less than 482,000 miles in diameter, being sixty times +what it has since shrunk to. At that time, the mass must +have taken rather more than twenty-nine and a half days to +rotate, (being the revolutionary period of the moon,) instead of +as now, rather less than twenty-four hours.</p> +<p>The time intervening between the formation of the moon and the +earth’s diminution to its present size, was probably one of +those vast sums in which astronomy deals so largely, but which +the mind altogether fails to grasp.</p> +<p>The observations made upon the surface of the moon by +telescopes, tend strongly to support the hypothesis as to all the +bodies of space being composed of similar matters, subject to +certain variations. It does not appear that our satellite +is provided with that gaseous envelope which, on earth, performs +so many important functions. Neither is there any +appearance of water upon the surface; yet that surface is, like +that of our globe, marked by inequalities and the appearance of +volcanic operations. These inequalities and volcanic +operations are upon a scale far greater than any which now exist +upon the earth’s surface. Although, from the greater +force of gravitation upon its exterior, the mountains, other +circumstances being equal, might have been expected to be much +smaller than ours, they are, in many instances, equal in height +to nearly the highest of our Andes. They are generally of +extreme steepness, and sharp of outline, a peculiarity which +might be looked for in a planet deficient in water and +atmosphere, seeing that these are the agents which wear down +ruggedness on the surface of our earth. The volcanic +operations are on a stupendous scale. They are the cause of +the bright spots of the moon, while the want of them is what +distinguishes the duller portions, usually but erroneously called +<i>seas</i>. In some parts, bright volcanic matter, besides +covering one large patch, radiates out in long streams, which +appear studded with subordinate <i>foci</i> of the same kind of +energy. Other objects of a most remarkable character are +ring mountains, mounts like those of the craters of earthly +volcanoes, surrounded immediately by vast and profound circular +pits, hollowed under the general surface, these again being +surrounded by a circular wall of mountain, rising far above the +central one, and in the inside of which are terraces about the +same height as the inner eminence. The well-known bright +spot in the south-east quarter, called by astronomers +<i>Tycho</i>, and which can be readily distinguished by the naked +eye, is one of these ring-mountains. There is one of 200 +miles in diameter, with a pit 22,000 feet deep; that is, twice +the height of Ætna. It is remarkable, that the maps +given by Humboldt of a volcanic district in South America, and +one illustrative of the formerly volcanic district of Auvergne, +in France, present features strikingly like many parts of the +moon’s surface, as seen through a good glass.</p> +<p>These characteristics of the moon forbid the idea that it can +be at present a theatre of life like the earth, and almost seem +to declare that it never can become so. But we must not +rashly draw any such conclusions. The moon may be only in +an earlier stage of the progress through which the earth has +already gone. The elements which seem wanting may be only +in combinations different in those which exist here, and may yet +be developed as we here find them. Seas may yet fill the +profound hollows of the surface; an atmosphere may spread over +the whole. Should these events take place, meteorological +phenomena, and all the phenomena of organic life, will commence, +and the moon, like the earth, will become a green and inhabited +world.</p> +<p>It is unavoidably held as a strong proof in favour of any +hypothesis, when all the relative phenomena are in harmony with +it. This is eminently the case with the nebulous +hypothesis, for here the associated facts cannot be explained on +any other supposition. We have seen reason to conclude that +the primary condition of matter was that of a diffused mass, in +which the component molecules were probably kept apart through +the efficacy of heat; that portions of this agglomerated into +suns, which threw off planets; that these planets were at first +very much diffused, but gradually contracted by cooling to their +present dimensions. Now, as to our own globe, there is a +remarkable proof of its having been in a fluid state at the time +when it was finally solidifying, in the fact of its being bulged +at the equator, the very form which a soft revolving body takes, +and must inevitably take, under the influence of centrifugal +force. This bulging makes the equatorial exceed the polar +diameter as 230 to 229, which has been demonstrated to be +precisely the departure from a correct sphere which might be +predicated from a knowledge of the amount of the mass and the +rate of rotation. There is an almost equally distinct +memorial of the original high temperature of the materials, in +the store of heat which still exists in the interior. The +immediate surface of the earth, be it observed, exhibits only the +temperature which might be expected to be imparted to such +materials, by the heat of the sun. There is a point, very +short way down, but varying in different climes, where all effect +from the sun’s rays ceases. Then, however, commences +a temperature from an entirely different cause, one which +evidently has its source in the interior of the earth, and which +regularly increases as we descend to greater and greater depths, +the rate of increment being about one degree Fahrenheit for every +sixty feet; and of this high temperature there are other +evidences, in the phenomena of volcanoes and thermal springs, as +well as in what is ascertained with regard to the density of the +entire mass of the earth. This, it will be remembered, is +four and a half times the weight of water; but the actual weight +of the principal solid substances composing the outer crust is as +two and a half times the weight of water; and this, we know, if +the globe were solid and cold, should increase vastly towards the +centre, water acquiring the density of quicksilver at 362 miles +below the surface, and other things in proportion, and these +densities becoming much greater at greater depths; so that the +entire mass of a cool globe should be of a gravity infinitely +exceeding four and a half times the weight of water. The +only alternative supposition is, that the central materials are +greatly expanded or diffused by some means; and by what means +could they be so expanded but by heat? Indeed, the +existence of this central heat, a residuum of that which kept all +matter in a vaporiform chaos at first, is amongst the most solid +discoveries of modern science, <a name="citation42"></a><a +href="#footnote42" class="citation">[42]</a> and the support +which it gives to Herschel’s explanation of the formation +of worlds is most important. We shall hereafter see what +appear to be traces of an operation of this heat upon the surface +of the earth in very remote times; an effect, however, which has +long passed entirely away. The central heat has, for ages, +reached a fixed point, at which it will probably remain for ever, +as the non-conducting quality of the cool crust absolutely +prevents it from suffering any diminution.</p> +<h2><a name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>THE +EARTH FORMED—ERA OF THE<br /> +PRIMARY ROCKS.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Although</span> the earth has not been +actually penetrated to a greater depth than three thousand feet, +the nature of its substance can, in many instances, be inferred +for the depth of many miles by other means of observation. +We see a mountain composed of a particular substance, with +strata, or beds of other rock, lying against its sloped sides; +we, of course, infer that the substance of the mountain dips away +under the strata which we see lying against it. Suppose +that we walk away from the mountain across the turned up edges of +the stratified rocks, and that for many miles we continue to pass +over other stratified rocks, all disposed in the same way, till +by and bye we come to a place where we begin to cross the +opposite edges of the same beds; after which we pass over these +rocks all in reverse order till we come to another extensive +mountain composed of similar material to the first, and shelving +away under the strata in the same way. We should then infer +that the stratified rocks occupied a basin formed by the rock of +these two mountains, and by calculating the thickness right +through these strata, could be able to say to what depth the rock +of the mountain extended below. By such means, the kind of +rock existing many miles below the surface can often be inferred +with considerable confidence.</p> +<p>The interior of the globe has now been inspected in this way +in many places, and a tolerably distinct notion of its general +arrangements has consequently been arrived at. It appears +that the basis rock of the earth, as it may be called, is of hard +texture, and crystalline in its constitution. Of this rock, +granite may be said to be the type, though it runs into many +varieties. Over this, except in the comparatively few +places where it projects above the general level in mountains, +other rocks are disposed in sheets or strata, with the appearance +of having been deposited originally from water; but these last +rocks have nowhere been allowed to rest in their original +arrangement. Uneasy movements from below have broken them +up in great inclined masses, while in many cases there has been +projected through the rents rocky matter more or less resembling +the great inferior crystalline mass. This rocky matter must +have been in a state of fusion from heat at the time of its +projection, for it is often found to have run into and filled up +lateral chinks in these rents. There are even instances +where it has been rent again, and a newer melted matter of the +same character sent through the opening. Finally, in the +crust as thus arranged there are, in many places, chinks +containing veins of metal. Thus, there is first a great +inferior mass, composed of crystalline rock, and probably resting +immediately on the fused and expanded matter of the interior: +next, layers or strata of aqueous origin; next, irregular masses +of melted inferior rock that have been sent up volcanically and +confusedly at various times amongst the aqueous rocks, breaking +up these into masses, and tossing them out of their original +levels. This is an outline of the arrangements of the crust +of the earth, as far as we can observe it. It is, at first +sight, a most confused scene; but after some careful observation, +we readily detect in it a regularity and order from which much +instruction in the history of our globe is to be derived.</p> +<p>The deposition of the aqueous rocks, and the projection of the +volcanic, have unquestionably taken place since the settlement of +the earth in its present form. They are indeed of an order +of events which we see going on, under the agency of more or less +intelligible causes, even down to the present day. We may +therefore consider them generally as comparatively recent +transactions. Abstracting them from the investigations +before us, we arrive at the idea of the earth in its first +condition as a globe of its present size—namely, as a mass, +externally at least, consisting of the crystalline kind of rock, +with the waters of the present seas and the present atmosphere +around it, though these were probably in considerably different +conditions, both as to temperature and their constituent +materials, from what they now are. We are thus to presume +that that crystalline texture of rock which we see exemplified in +granite is the condition into which the great bulk of the solids +of our earth were agglomerated directly from the nebulous or +vaporiform state. It is a condition eminently of +combination, for such rock is invariably composed of two or more +of four substances—silica, mica, quartz, and +hornblende—which associate in it in the form of grains or +crystals, and which are themselves each composed of a group of +the simple or elementary substances.</p> +<p>Judging from the results and from still remaining conditions, +we must suppose that the heat retained in the interior of the +globe was more intense, or had greater freedom to act, in some +places than in others. These became the scenes of volcanic +operations, and in time marked their situations by the extrusion +of traps and basalts from below—namely, rocks composed of +the crystalline matter fused by intense heat, and developed on +the surface in various conditions, according to the particular +circumstances under which it was sent up; some, for example, +being thrown up under water, and some in the open air, which +conditions are found to have made considerable difference in its +texture and appearance. The great stores of subterranean +heat also served an important purpose in the formation of the +aqueous rocks. These rocks might, according to Sir John +Herschel, become subject to heat in the following +manner:—While the surface of a particular mass of rock +forms the bed of the sea, the heat is kept at a certain distance +from that surface by the contact of the water; philosophically +speaking, it radiates away the heat into the sea, and (to resort +to common language) is cooled a good way down. But when new +sediment settles at the bottom of that sea, the heat rises up to +what was formerly the surface; and when a second quantity of +sediment is laid down, it continues to rise through the first of +the deposits, which then becomes subjected to those changes which +heat is calculated to produce. This process is precisely +the same as that of putting additional coats upon our own bodies; +when, of course, the internal heat rises through each coat in +succession, and the third (supposing there is a fourth above it) +becomes as warm as perhaps the first originally was.</p> +<p>In speaking of sedimentary rocks, we may be said to be +anticipating. It is necessary, first, to shew how such +rocks were formed, or how stratification commenced.</p> +<p>Geology tells us as plainly as possible, that the original +crystalline mass was not a perfectly smooth ball, with air and +water playing round it. There were vast irregularities in +the surface,—irregularities trifling, perhaps, compared +with the whole bulk of the globe, but assuredly vast in +comparison with any which now exist upon it. These +irregularities might be occasioned by inequalities in the cooling +of the substance, or by accidental and local sluggishness of the +materials, or by local effects of the concentrated internal +heat. From whatever cause they arose, there they +were—enormous granitic mountains, interspersed with seas +which sunk to a depth equally profound, and by which, perhaps, +the mountains were wholly or partially covered. Now, it is +a fact of which the very first principles of geology assure us, +that the solids of the globe cannot for a moment be exposed to +water, or to the atmosphere, without becoming liable to +change. They instantly begin to wear down. This +operation, we may be assured, proceeded with as much certainty in +the earliest ages of our earth’s history, as it does now, +but upon a much more magnificent scale. There is the +clearest evidence that the seas of those days were not in some +instances less than a hundred miles in depth, however much +more. The sub-aqueous mountains must necessarily have been +of at least equal magnitude. The system of disintegration +consequent upon such conditions would be enormous. The +matters worn off, being carried into the neighbouring depths, and +there deposited, became the components of the earliest stratified +rocks, the first series of which is the <i>Gneiss and Mica Slate +System</i>, or series, examples of which are exposed to view in +the Highlands of Scotland and in the West of England. The +vast thickness of these beds, in some instances, is what attests +the profoundness of the primeval oceans in which they were +formed; the Pensylvanian grawacke, a member of the next highest +series, is not less than a hundred miles in direct +thickness. We have also evidence that the earliest strata +were formed in the presence of a stronger degree of heat than +what operated in subsequent stages of the world, for the +laminæ of the gneiss and of the mica and chlorite schists +are contorted in a way which could only be the result of a very +high temperature. It appears as if the seas in which these +deposits were formed, had been in the troubled state of a caldron +of water nearly at boiling heat. Such a condition would +probably add not a little to the disintegrating power of the +ocean.</p> +<p>The earliest stratified rocks contain no matters which are not +to be found in the primitive granite. They are the same in +material, but only changed into new forms and combinations; hence +they have been called by Mr. Lyell, metamorphic rocks. But +how comes it that some of them are composed almost exclusively of +one of the materials of granite; the mica schists, for example, +of mica—the quartz rocks, of quartz, &c.? For +this there are both chemical and mechanical causes. Suppose +that a river has a certain quantity of material to carry down, it +is evident that it will soonest drop the larger particles, and +carry the lightest farthest on. To such a cause is it owing +that some of the materials of the worn-down granite have settled +in one place and some in another. <a name="citation52"></a><a +href="#footnote52" class="citation">[52]</a> Again, some of +these materials must be presumed to have been in a state of +chemical solution in the primeval seas. It would be, of +course, in conformity with chemical laws, that certain of these +materials would be precipitated singly, or in modified +combinations, to the bottom, so as to form rocks by +themselves.</p> +<p>The rocks hitherto spoken of contain none of those petrified +remains of vegetables and animals which abound so much in +subsequently formed rocks, and tell so wondrous a tale of the +past history of our globe. They simply contain, as has been +said, mineral materials derived from the primitive mass, and +which appear to have been formed into strata in seas of vast +depth. The absence from these rocks of all traces of +vegetable and animal life, joined to a consideration of the +excessive temperature which seems to have prevailed in their +epoch, has led to the inference that no plants or animals of any +kind then existed. A few geologists have indeed endeavoured +to shew that the absence of organic remains is no proof of the +globe having been then unfruitful or uninhabited, as the heat to +which these rocks have been subjected at the time of their +solidification, might have obliterated any remains of either +plants or animals which were included in them. But this is +only an hypothesis of negation; and it certainly seems very +unlikely that a degree of heat sufficient to obliterate the +remains of plants or animals when dead, would ever allow of their +coming into or continuing in existence.</p> +<h2><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +54</span>COMMENCEMENT OF ORGANIC LIFE—<br /> +SEA PLANTS, CORALS, ETC.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> can scarcely be said to have +passed out of these rocks, when we begin to find new conditions +in the earth. It is here to be observed that the subsequent +rocks are formed, in a great measure, of matters derived from the +substance of those which went before, but contain also beds of +limestone, which is to no small extent composed of an ingredient +which has not hitherto appeared. Limestone is a carbonate +of lime, a secondary compound, of which one of the ingredients, +carbonic acid gas, presents the element <i>carbon</i>, a perfect +novelty in our progress. Whence this substance? The +question is the more interesting, from our knowing that carbon is +the main ingredient in organic things. There is reason to +believe that its primeval condition was that of a gas, confined +in the interior of the earth, and diffused in the +atmosphere. The atmosphere still contains about a +two-thousandth part of carbonic acid gas, forming the grand store +from which the substance of each year’s crop of herbage and +grain is derived, passing from herbage and grain into animal +substance, and from animals again rendered back to the atmosphere +in their expired breath, so that its amount is never +impaired. Knowing this, when we hear of carbon beginning to +appear in the ascending series of rocks, we are unavoidably led +to consider it as marking a time of some importance in the +earth’s history, a new era of natural conditions, one in +which organic life has probably played a part.</p> +<p>It is not easy to suppose that, at this period, carbon was +adopted directly in its gaseous form into rocks; for, if so, why +should it not have been taken into earlier ones also? But +we know that plants take it in, and transform it into substance; +and we also know that there are classes of animals (marine +polypes) which are capable of appropriating it, in connexion with +lime, (carbonate of lime,) from the waters of the ocean, provided +it be there in solution; and this substance do these animals +deposit in masses (coral reefs) equal in extent to many +strata. It has even been suggested, on strong grounds of +probability, that a class of limestone beds are simply these +reefs subjected to subsequent heat and pressure.</p> +<p>The appearance, then, of limestone beds in the early part of +the stratified series, may be presumed to be connected with the +fact of the commencement of organic life upon our planet, and, +indeed, a consequent and a symptom of it.</p> +<p>It may not be out of place here to remark, that carbon is +presumed to exist largely in the interior of the earth, from the +fact of such considerable quantities of it issuing at this day, +in the form of carbonic acid gas, from fissures and +springs. The primeval and subsequent history of this +element is worthy of much attention, and we shall have to revert +to it as a matter greatly concerning our subject. Delabeche +estimates the quantity of carbonic acid gas locked up in every +cubic yard of limestone, at 16,000 cubic feet. The quantity +locked up in coal, in which it forms from 64 to 75 per cent., +must also be enormous. If all this were disengaged in a +gaseous form, the constitution of the atmosphere would undergo a +change, of which the first effect would be the extinction of life +in all land animals. But a large proportion of it must have +at one time been in the atmosphere. The atmosphere would +then, of course, be incapable of supporting life in land +animals. It is important, however, to observe that such an +atmosphere would not be inconsistent with a luxuriant land +vegetation; for experiment has proved that plants will flourish +in air containing <i>one-twelfth</i> of this gas, or 166 times +more than the present charge of our atmosphere. The results +which we observe are perfectly consistent with, and may be said +to presuppose an atmosphere highly charged with this gas, from +about the close of the primary non-fossiliferous rocks to the +termination of the carboniferous series, for there we see vast +deposits (coal) containing carbon as a large ingredient, while at +the same time the leaves of the <i>Stone Book</i> present no +record of the contemporaneous existence of land animals.</p> +<p>The hypothesis of the connexion of the first limestone beds +with the commencement of organic life upon our planet is +supported by the fact, that in these beds we find the first +remains of the bodies of animated creatures. My hypothesis +may indeed be unsound; but, whether or not, it is clear, taking +organic remains as upon the whole a faithful chronicle, that the +deposition of these limestone beds was coeval with the existence +of the earliest, or all but the earliest, living creatures upon +earth.</p> +<p>And what were those creatures? It might well be with a +kind of awe that the uninstructed inquirer would wait for an +answer to this question. But nature is simpler than +man’s wit would make her, and behold, the interrogation +only brings before us the unpretending forms of various zoophytes +and polypes, together with a few single and double-valved +shell-fish (mollusks), all of them creatures of the sea. It +is rather surprising to find these before any vegetable forms, +considering that vegetables appear to us as forming the necessary +first link in the chain of nutrition; but it is probable that +there were sea plants, and also some simpler forms of animal +life, before this period, although of too slight a substance to +leave any fossil trace of their existence.</p> +<p>The exact point in the ascending stratified series at which +the first traces of organic life are to be found is not clearly +determined. Dr. M’Culloch states that he found fossil +orthocerata (a kind of shell-fish) so early as the gneiss tract +of Loch Eribol, in Sutherland; but Messrs. Sedgwick and +Murchison, on a subsequent search, could not verify the +discovery. It has also been stated, that the gneiss and +mica tract of Bohemia contains some seams of grawacke, in which +are organic remains; but British geologists have not as yet +attached much importance to this statement. We have to look +a little higher in the series for indubitable traces of organic +life.</p> +<p>Above the gneiss and mica slate system, or group of strata, is +the <i>Clay Slate and Grawacke Slate System</i>; that is to say, +it is higher in the <i>order of supraposition</i>, though very +often it rests immediately on the primitive granite. The +sub-groups of this system are in the following succession +upwards:—1, hornblende slate; 2, chiastolite slate; 3, clay +slate; 4, Snowdon rocks, (grawacke and conglomerates;) 5, Bala +limestone; 6, Plynlymmon rocks, (grawacke and grawacke slates, +with beds of conglomerates.) This system is largely +developed in the west and north of England, and it has been well +examined, partly because some of the slate beds are extensively +quarried for domestic purposes. If we overlook the dubious +statements respecting Sutherland and Bohemia, we have in this +“system” the first appearances of life upon our +planet. The animal remains are chiefly confined to the +slate beds, those named from Bala, in Wales, being the most +prolific. <i>Zoophyta</i>, <i>polyparia</i>, +<i>crinoidea</i>, <i>conchifera</i>, and <i>crustacea</i>, <a +name="citation60"></a><a href="#footnote60" +class="citation">[60]</a> are the orders of the animal kingdom +thus found in the earliest of earth’s sepulchres. The +<i>orders</i> are distinguished without difficulty, from the +general characters of the creatures whose remains are found; but +it is only in this general character that they bear a general +resemblance to any creatures now existing. When we come to +consider specific characters, we see that a difference +exists—that, in short, the species and even genera are no +longer represented upon earth. More than this, it will be +found that the earliest species comparatively soon gave place to +others, and that they are not represented even in the next higher +group of rocks. One important remark has been made, that a +comparatively small variety of species is found in the older +rocks, although of some particular ones the remains are very +abundant; as, for instance, of a species of asaphus, which is +found between the laminæ of some of the slate rocks of +Wales, and the corresponding rocks of Normandy and Germany in +enormous quantities.</p> +<p>Ascending to the next group of rocks, we find the traces of +life become more abundant, the number of species extended, and +important additions made in certain vestiges of fuci, or +sea-plants, and of fishes. This group of rocks has been +called by English geologists, the <i>Silurian System</i>, because +largely developed at the surface of a district of western +England, formerly occupied by a people whom the Roman historians +call Silures. It is a series of sandstones, limestones, and +beds of shale (hardened mud), which are classed in the following +sub-groups, beginning with the undermost:—1, Llandillo +rocks, (darkish calcareous flagstones;) 2 and 3, two groups +called Caradoc rocks; 4, Wenlock shale; 5, Wenlock limestone; 6, +Lower Ludlow rocks, (shales and limestones;) 7, Aymestry +limestone; 8, Upper Ludlow rocks, (shales and limestone, chiefly +micaceous.) From the lowest beds upwards, there are +polypiaria, though most prevalent in the Wenlock limestone; +conchifera, a vast number of genera, but all of the order +brachiopoda, (including terebratula, pentamerus, spirifer, +orthis, leptæna;) mollusca, of several orders and many +genera, (including turritella, orthoceras, nautilus, +bellerophon;) crustacea, all of them trilobites, (including +trinucleus, asaphus, calamene.) A little above the +Llandillo rocks, there have been discovered certain convoluted +forms, which are now established as annelids, or sea-worms, a +tribe of creatures still existing, (nereidina and serpulina,) and +which may often be found beneath stones on a sea-beach. One +of these, figured by Mr. Murchison, is furnished with feet in +vast numbers all along its body, like a centipede. The +occurrence of annelids is important, on account of their +character and status in the animal kingdom. They are +red-blooded and hermaphrodite, and form a link of connexion +between the annulosa (white-blooded worms) and a humble class of +the vertebrata. <a name="citation62"></a><a href="#footnote62" +class="citation">[62]</a> The Wenlock limestone is most +remarkable amongst all the rocks of the Silurian system, for +organic remains. Many slabs of it are wholly composed of +corals, shells, and trilobites, held together by shale. It +contains many genera of crinoidea and polypiaria, and it is +thought that some beds of it are wholly the production of the +latter creatures, or are, in other words, coral reefs transformed +by heat and pressure into rocks. Remains of fishes, of a +very minute size, have been detected by Mr. Philips in the +Aymestry limestone, being apparently the first examples of +vertebrated animals which breathed upon our planet. In the +upper Ludlow rocks, remains of six genera of fish have been for a +longer period known; they belong to the order of cartilaginous +fishes, an order of mean organization and ferocious habits, of +which the shark and sturgeon are living specimens. +“Some were furnished with long palates, and squat, +firmly-based teeth, well adapted for crushing the strong-cased +zoophytes and shells of the period, fragments of which occur in +the fœcal remains; some with teeth that, like the fossil +sharks of the later formations, resemble lines of miniature +pyramids, larger and smaller alternating; some with teeth sharp, +thin, and so deeply serrated, that every individual tooth +resembles a row of poniards set up against the walls of an +armory; and these last, says Agassiz, furnished with weapons so +murderous, must have been the pirates of the period. Some +had their fins guarded with long spines, hooked like the beak of +an eagle; some with spines of straighter and more slender form, +and ribbed and furrowed longitudinally like columns; some were +shielded by an armour of bony points, and some thickly covered +with glistening scales.” <a name="citation64"></a><a +href="#footnote64" class="citation">[64]</a></p> +<p>The traces of fuci in this system are all but sufficient to +allow of a distinction of genera. In some parts of North +America, extensive though thin beds of them have been +found. A distinguished French geologist, M. Brogniart, has +shewn that all existing marine plants are classifiable with +regard to the zones of climate; some being fitted for the torrid +zone, some for the temperate, some for the frigid. And he +establishes that the fuci of these early rocks speak of a torrid +climate, although they may be found in what are now temperate +regions; he also states that those of the higher rocks betoken, +as we ascend, a gradually diminishing temperature.</p> +<p>We thus early begin to find proofs of the general uniformity +of organic life over the surface of the earth, at the time when +each particular system of rocks was formed. Species +identical with the remains in the Wenlock limestone occur in the +corresponding class of rocks in the Eifel, and partially in the +Harz, Norway, Russia, and Brittany. The situations of the +remains in Russia are fifteen hundred miles from the Wenlock +beds; but at the distance of between six and seven thousand from +those,—namely, in the vale of Mississippi, the same species +are discovered. Uniformity in animal life over large +geographical areas argues uniformity in the conditions of animal +life; and hence arise some curious inferences. Species, in +the same low class of animals, are now much more limited; for +instance, the Red Sea gives different polypiaria, zoophytes, and +shell-fish, from the Mediterranean. It is the opinion of M. +Brogniart, that the uniformity which existed in the primeval +times can only be attributed to the temperature arising from the +internal heat, which had yet, as he supposes, been sufficiently +great to overpower the ordinary meteorological influences, and +spread a tropical clime all over the globe.</p> +<h2><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>ERA OF +THE OLD RED SANDSTONE—<br /> +FISHES ABUNDANT.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> advance to a new chapter in this +marvellous history—the era of the <i>Old Red Sandstone +System</i>. This term has been recently applied to a series +of strata, of enormous thickness in the whole mass, largely +developed in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, and South +Wales; also in the counties of Fife, Forfar, Moray, Cromarty, and +Caithness; and in Russia and North America, if not in many other +parts of the world. The particular strata forming the +system are somewhat different in different countries; but there +is a general character to the extent of these being a mixture of +flagstones, marly rocks, and sandstones, usually of a laminous +structure, with conglomerates. There is also a schist +shewing the presence of bitumen; a remarkable new ingredient, +since it is a vegetable production. In the conglomerates, +of great extent and thickness, which form, in at least one +district, the basis or leading feature of the system, inclosing +water-worn fragments of quartz and other rocks, we have evidence +of the seas of that period having been subjected to a violent and +long-continued agitation, probably from volcanic causes. +The upper members of the series bear the appearance of having +been deposited in comparatively tranquil seas. The English +specimens of this system shew a remarkable freedom from those +disturbances which result in the interjection of trap; and they +are thus defective in mineral ores. In some parts of +England the old red sandstone system has been stated as 10,000 +feet in thickness.</p> +<p>In this era, the forms of life which existed in the Silurian +are continued: we have the same orders of marine creatures, +zoophyta, polypiaria, conchifera, crustacea; but to these are +added numerous fishes, some of which are of most extraordinary +and surprising forms. Several of the strata are crowded +with remains of fish, shewing that the seas in which those beds +were deposited had swarmed with that class of inhabitants. +The investigation of this system is recent; but already <a +name="citation68"></a><a href="#footnote68" +class="citation">[68]</a> M. Agassiz has ascertained about twenty +genera, and thrice the number of species. And it is +remarkable that the Silurian fishes are here only represented in +genera; the whole of the <i>species</i> of that era had already +passed away. Even throughout the sub-groups of the system +itself, the species are changed; and these are phenomena observed +throughout all the subsequent systems or geological eras; +apparently arguing that, during the deposition of all the rocks, +a gradual change of physical conditions was constantly going +on. A varying temperature, or even a varying depth of sea, +would at present be attended with similar changes in marine life; +and by analogy we are entitled to assume that such variations in +the ancient seas might be amongst the causes of that constant +change of genera and species in the inhabitants of those seas to +which the organic contents of the rocks bear witness.</p> +<p>Some of the fossils of this system,—the cephalaspis, +coccosteus, pterichthys, holoptychius—are, in form and +structure, entirely different from any fishes now existing, only +the sturgeon family having any trace of affinity to them in any +respect. They seem to form a sort of connecting link +between the crustacea and true fishes.</p> +<p>The <i>cephalaspis</i> may be considered as making the +smallest advance from the crustacean character; it very much +resembles in form the asaphus of lower formations, having a +longish tail-like body inserted within the cusp of a large +crescent-shaped head, somewhat like a saddler’s +cutting-knife. The body is covered with strong plates of +bone, enamelled, and the head was protected on the upper side +with one large plate, as with a buckler—hence the name, +implying <i>buckler-head</i>. A range of small fins conveys +the idea of its having been as weak in motion as it is strong in +structure. The <i>coccosteus</i> may be said to mark the +next advance to fish creation. The outline of its body is +of the form of a short thick coffin, rounded, covered with strong +bony plates, and terminating in a long tail, which seems to have +been the sole organ of motion. It is very remarkable, that, +while the tail establishes this creature among the vertebrata and +the fishes, its mouth has been opened vertically, like those of +the crustaceans, but which is contrary to the mode of vertebrata +generally. This seems a pretty strong mark of the link +character of the coccosteus between these two great departments +of the animal kingdom. The <i>pterichthys</i> has also +strong bony plates over its body, arranged much like those of a +tortoise, and has a long tail; but its most remarkable feature, +and that which has suggested its name, is a pair of long and +narrow wing-like appendages attached to the shoulders, which the +creature is supposed to have erected for its defence when +attacked by an enemy.</p> +<p>The <i>holoptychius</i> is of a flat oval form, furnished with +fins, and ending in a long tail; the whole body covered with +strong plates which overlap each other, and the head forming only +a slight rounded projection from the general figure. The +specimens in the lower beds are not above the size of a flounder; +but in the higher strata, to judge by the size of the scales or +plates which have been found, the creature attained a +comparatively monstrous size.</p> +<p>The other fishes of the system,—the osteolepis, +glyptolepis, dipterus, &c., are, in general outline, much +like fishes still existing, but their organization has, +nevertheless, some striking peculiarities. They have been +entirely covered with bony scales or plates, enamelled +externally; their spines are tipped with bone, and, as one +striking and unvarying feature, the tail is only finned on the +lower side. The internal skeleton, of which no traces have +been preserved, is presumed to have been cartilaginous. +They therefore unite the character of cartilaginous fishes with a +character peculiar to themselves, and in which we see pretty +clear vestiges of the pre-existent crustaceous form.</p> +<p>With regard to the link character of these animals, some +curious facts are mentioned. It appears that in the +imperfect condition of the vertebral column, and the inferior +situation of the mouth in the pterichthys, coccosteus, &c., +there is an analogy to the form of the dorsal cord and position +of the mouth in the embryo of perfect fishes. The one-sided +form of the tail in the osteolepis &c. finds a similar +analogy in the form of the tail in the embryo of the +salmon. It is not premature to remark how broadly these +facts seem to hint at a parity of law affecting the progress of +general creation, and the progress of an individual fœtus +of one of the more perfect animals.</p> +<p>It is equally ascertained of the types of being prevalent in +the old red, as of those of the preceding system, that they are +uniform in the corresponding strata of distant parts of the +earth; for instance, Russia and North America.</p> +<p>In the old red sandstone, the marine plants, of which faint +traces are observable in the Silurians, continue to appear. +It would seem as if less change took place in the vegetation than +in the animals of those early seas; and for this, as Mr. Miller +has remarked, it is easy to imagine reasons. For example, +an infusion of lime into the sea would destroy animal life, but +be favourable to vegetation.</p> +<p>As yet there were no land animals or plants, and for this the +presumable reason is, that no dry land as yet existed. We +are not left to make this inference solely from the absence of +land animals and plants; in the arrangement of the primary +(stratified) rocks, we have further evidence of it. That +these rocks were formed in a generally horizontal position, we +are as well assured as that they were formed at the bottom of +seas. But they are always found greatly inclined in +position, tilted up against the slopes of the granitic masses +which are beneath them in geological order, though often shooting +up to a higher point in the atmosphere. No doubt can be +entertained that these granitic masses, forming our principal +mountain ranges, have been protruded from below, or, at least, +thrust much further up, <i>since</i> the deposition of the +primary rocks. The protrusion was what tilted up the +primary rocks; and the inference is, of course, unavoidable, that +these mountains have risen chiefly, at least, since the primary +rocks were laid down. It is remarkable that, while the +primary rocks thus incline towards granitic nuclei or axes, the +strata higher in the series rest against these again, generally +at a less inclination, or none at all, shewing that these strata +were laid down after the swelling mountain eminences had, by +their protrusion, tilted up the primary strata. And thus it +may be said an era of local upthrowing of the primitive and +(perhaps) central matter of our planet, is established as +happening about the close of the primary strata, and beginning of +the next ensuing system. It may be called the <i>Era of the +Oldest Mountains</i>, or, more boldly, of the formation of the +detached portions of dry land over the hitherto watery surface of +the globe—an important part of the designs of Providence, +for which the time was now apparently come. It may be +remarked, that volcanic disturbances and protrusions of trap took +place throughout the whole period of the deposition of the +primary rocks; but they were upon a comparatively limited scale, +and probably all took place under water. It was only now +that the central granitic masses of the great mountain ranges +were thrown up, carrying up with them broken edges of the primary +strata; a process which seems to have had this difference from +the other, that it was the effect of a more tremendous force +exerted at a lower depth in the earth, and generally acting in +lines pervading a considerable portion of the earth’s +surface. We shall by-and-by see that the protrusion of some +of the mountain ranges was not completed, or did not stop, at +that period. There is no part of geological science more +clear than that which refers to the ages of mountains. It +is as certain that the Grampian mountains of Scotland are older +than the Alps and Apennines, as it is that civilization had +visited Italy, and had enabled her to subdue the world, while +Scotland was the residence of “roving +barbarians.” The Pyrenees, Carpathians, and other +ranges of continental Europe, are all younger than the Grampians, +or even the insignificant Mendip Hills of southern England. +Stratification tells this tale as plainly as Livy tells the +history of the Roman republic. It tells us—to use the +words of Professor Philips—that at the time when the +Grampians sent streams and detritus to straits where now the +valleys of the Forth and Clyde meet, the greater part of Europe +was a wide ocean.</p> +<p>The last three systems—called, in England, the Cumbrian, +Silurian, and Devonian, and collectively the palæozoic +rocks, from their containing the remains of the earliest +inhabitants of the globe—are of vast thickness; in England, +not much less than 30,000 feet, or nearly six miles. In +other parts of the world, as we have seen, the earliest of these +systems alone is of much greater depth—arguing an enormous +profundity in the ocean in which they were formed.</p> +<h2><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +76</span>SECONDARY ROCKS.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">ERA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS +FORMATION.</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">LAND FORMED.</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">COMMENCEMENT OF LAND PLANTS.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> now enter upon a new great epoch +in the history of our globe. There was now dry land. +As a consequence of this fact, there was fresh water, for rain, +instead of immediately returning to the sea, as formerly, was now +gathered in channels of the earth, and became springs, rivers, +and lakes. There was now a theatre for the existence of +land plants and animals, and it remains to be inquired if these +accordingly were produced.</p> +<p>The Secondary Rocks, in which our further researches are to be +prosecuted, consist of a great and varied series, resting, +generally unconformably, against flanks of the upturned primary +rocks, sometimes themselves considerably inclined, at others, +forming extensive basin-like beds, nearly horizontal; in many +places, much broken up and shifted by disturbances from +below. They have all been formed out of the materials of +the older rocks, by virtue of the wearing power of air and water, +which is still every day carrying down vast quantities of the +elevated matter of the globe into the sea. But the separate +strata are each much more distinct in the matter of its +composition than might be expected. Some are siliceous or +arenaceous (sandstones), composed mainly of fine grains from the +quartz rocks—the most abundant of the primary strata. +Others are argillaceous—clays, shales, &c., chiefly +derived, probably, from the slate beds of the primary +series. Others are calcareous, derived from the early +limestone. As a general feature, they are softer and less +crystalline than the primary rocks, as if they had endured less +of both heat and pressure than the senior formation. There +are beds (<i>coal</i>) formed solely of vegetable matter, and +some others in which the main ingredient is particles of iron, +(<i>the iron black band</i>.) The secondary rocks are quite +as communicative with regard to their portion of the +earth’s history as the primitive were.</p> +<p>The first, or lowest, group of the secondary rocks is called +the <i>Carboniferous Formation</i>, from the remarkable feature +of its numerous interspersed beds of coal. It commences +with the beds of the <i>mountain limestone</i>, which, in some +situations, as in Derbyshire and Ireland, are of great thickness, +being alternated with chert (a siliceous sandstone), sandstones, +shales, and beds of coal, generally of the harder and less +bituminous kind (<i>anthracite</i>), the whole being covered in +some places by the millstone grit, a siliceous conglomerate +composed of the detritus of the primary rocks. The mountain +limestone, attaining in England to a depth of eight hundred +yards, greatly exceeds in volume any of the primary limestone +beds, and shews an enormous addition of power to the causes +formerly suggested as having produced this substance. In +fact, remains of corals, crinoidea, and shells, are so abundant +in it, as to compose three-fourths of the mass in some +parts. Above the mountain limestone commence the more +conspicuous <i>coal beds</i>, alternating with sandstones, +shales, beds of limestone, and ironstone. Coal is +altogether composed of the matter of a terrestrial vegetation, +transmuted by pressure. Some fresh-water shells have been +found in it, but few of marine origin, and no remains of those +zoophytes and crinoidea so abundant in the mountain limestone and +other rocks. Coal beds exist in Europe, Asia, and America, +and have hitherto been esteemed as the most valuable of mineral +productions, from the important services which the substance +renders in manufactures and in domestic economy. It is to +be remarked, that there are some local variations in the +arrangement of coal beds. In France, they rest immediately +on the granite and other primary rocks, the intermediate strata +not having been found at those places. In America, the kind +called anthracite occurs among the slate beds, and this species +also abounds more in the mountain limestone than with us. +These last circumstances only shew that different parts of the +earth’s surface did not all witness the same events of a +certain fixed series exactly at the same time. There had +been an exhibition of dry land about the site of America, a +little earlier than in Europe.</p> +<p>Some features of the condition of the earth during the +deposition of the carboniferous group, are made out with a +clearness which must satisfy most minds. First we are told +of a time when carbonate of lime was formed in vast abundance at +the bottoms of profound seas, accompanied by an unusually large +population of corals and encrinites; while in some parts of the +earth there were patches of dry land, covered with a luxuriant +vegetation. Next we have a comparatively brief period of +volcanic disturbance, (when the conglomerate was formed.) +Then the causes favourable to the so abundant production of +limestone, and the large population of marine acrita, decline, +and we find the masses of dry land increase in number and extent, +and begin to bear an amount of forest vegetation, far exceeding +that of the most sheltered tropical spots of the present +surface. The climate, even in the latitude of +Baffin’s Bay, was torrid, and perhaps the atmosphere +contained a larger charge of carbonic acid gas (the material of +vegetation) than it now does. The forests or thickets of +the period, included no species of plants now known upon +earth. They mainly consisted of gigantic shrubs, which are +either not represented by any existing types, or are akin to +kinds which are now only found in small and lowly forms. +That these forests grew upon a Polynesia, or multitude of small +islands, is considered probable, from similar vegetation being +now found in such situations within the tropics. With +regard to the circumstances under which the masses of vegetable +matter were transformed into successive coal strata, geologists +are divided. From examples seen at the present day, at the +mouths of such rivers as the Mississippi, which traverse +extensive sylvan regions, and from other circumstances to be +adverted to, it is held likely by some that the vegetable matter, +the rubbish of decayed forests, was carried by rivers into +estuaries, and there accumulated in vast natural rafts, until it +sunk to the bottom, where an overlayer of sand or mud would +prepare it for becoming a stratum of coal. Others conceive +that the vegetation first went into the condition of a peat moss, +that a sink in the level then exposed it to be overrun by the +sea, and covered with a layer of sand or mud; that a subsequent +uprise made the mud dry land, and fitted it to bear a new forest, +which afterwards, like its predecessor, became a bed of peat; +that, in short, by repetitions of this process, the alternate +layers of coal, sandstone, and shale, constituting the +carboniferous group, were formed. It is favourable to this +last view that marine fossils are scarcely found in the body of +the coal itself, though abundant in the shale layers above and +below it; also that in several places erect stems of trees are +found with their roots still fixed in the shale beds, and +crossing the sandstone beds at almost right angles, shewing that +these, at least, had not been drifted from their original +situations. On the other hand, it is not easy to admit such +repeated risings and sinkings of surface as would be required, on +this hypothesis, to form a series of coal strata. Perhaps +we may most safely rest at present with the supposition that coal +has been formed under both classes of circumstances, though in +the latter only as an exception to the former.</p> +<p>Upwards of three hundred species of plants have been +ascertained to exist in the coal formation; but it is not +necessary to suppose that the whole contained in that system are +now, or ever will be distinguished. Experiments shew that +some great classes of plants become decomposed in water in a much +less space of time than others, and it is remarkable that those +which decompose soonest, are of the classes found most rare, or +not at all, in the coal strata. It is consequently to be +inferred that there may have been grasses and mosses at this era, +and many species of trees, the remains of which had lost all +trace of organic form before their substance sunk into the mass +of which coal was formed. In speaking, therefore, of the +vegetation of this period, we must bear in mind that it may have +comprehended forms of which we have no memorial.</p> +<p>Supposing, nevertheless, that, in the main, the ascertained +vegetation of the coal system is that which grew at the time of +its formation, it is interesting to find that the terrestrial +botany of our globe begins with classes of comparatively simple +forms and structure. In the ranks of the vegetable kingdom, +the lowest place is taken by plants of cellular tissue, and which +have no flowers, (<i>cryptogamia</i>,) as lichens, mosses, fungi, +ferns, sea-weeds. Above these stand plants of vascular +tissue, and bearing flowers, in which again there are two great +subdivisions; first, plants having one seed-lobe, +(<i>monocotyledons</i>,) and in which the new matter is added +within, (<i>endogenous</i>,) of which the cane and palm are +examples; second, plants having two seed-lobes, +(<i>dicotyledons</i>,) and in which the new matter is added on +the outside under the bark, (<i>exogenous</i>,) of which the +pine, elm, oak, and most of the British forest-trees are +examples; these subdivisions also ranking in the order in which +they are here stated. Now it is clear that a predominance +of these forms in succession marked the successive epochs +developed by fossil geology; the simple abounding first, and the +complex afterwards.</p> +<p>Two-thirds of the plants of the carboniferous era are of the +cellular or cryptogamic kind, a proportion which would probably +be much increased if we knew the whole Flora of that era. +The ascertained dicotyledons, or higher-class plants, are +comparatively few in this formation; but it will be found that +they constantly increased as the globe grew older.</p> +<p>The master-form or type of the era was the <i>fern</i>, or +breckan, of which about one hundred and thirty species have +already been ascertained as entering into the composition of +coal. <a name="citation84a"></a><a href="#footnote84a" +class="citation">[84a]</a> The fern is a plant which +thrives best in warm, shaded, and moist situations. In +tropical countries, where these conditions abound, there are many +more species than in temperate climes, and some of these are +arborescent, or of a tree-like size and luxuriance. <a +name="citation84b"></a><a href="#footnote84b" +class="citation">[84b]</a> The ferns of the coal strata +have been of this magnitude, and that without regard to the parts +of the earth where they are found. In the coal of +Baffin’s Bay, of Newcastle, and of the torrid zone alike, +are the fossil ferns arborescent, shewing clearly that, in that +era, the present tropical temperature, or one even higher, +existed in very high latitudes.</p> +<p>In the swamps and ditches of England there grows a plant +called the horse-tail (<i>equisetum</i>), having a succulent, +erect, jointed stem, with slender leaves, and a scaly catkin at +the top. A second large section of the plants of the +carboniferous era were of this kind (<i>equisetaceæ</i>), +but, like the fern, reaching the magnitudes of trees. While +existing equiseta rarely exceed three feet in height, and the +stems are generally under half an inch in diameter, their +kindred, entombed in the coal beds, seem to have been generally +fourteen or fifteen feet high, with stems from six inches to a +foot in thickness. Arborescent plants of this family, like +the arborescent ferns, now grow only in tropical countries, and +their being found in the coal beds in all latitudes is +consequently held as an additional proof, that at this era a warm +climate was extended much farther to the north than at +present. It is to be remarked that plants of this kind +(forming two genera, the most abundant of which is the +<i>calamites</i>) are only represented on the present surface by +plants of the same <i>family</i>: the <i>species</i> which +flourished at this era gradually lessen in number as we advance +upwards in the series of rocks, and disappear before we arrive at +the tertiary formation.</p> +<p>The club-moss family (<i>lycopodiaceæ</i>) are other +plants of the present surface, usually seen in a lowly and +creeping form in temperate latitudes, but presenting species +which rise to a greater magnitude within the tropics. Many +specimens of this family are found in the coal beds; it is +thought they have contributed more to the substance of the coal +than any other family. But, like the ferns and +equisetaceæ, they rise to a prodigious magnitude. The +lepidodendra (so the fossil genus is called) have probably been +from sixty-five to eighty feet in height, having at their base a +diameter of about three feet, while their leaves measured twenty +inches in length. In the forests of the coal era, the +lepidodendra would enjoy the rank of firs in our forests, +affording shade to the only less stately ferns and +calamites. The internal structure of the stem, and the +character of the seed-vessels, shew them to have been a link +between single-lobed and double-lobed plants, a fact worthy of +note, as it favours the idea that, in vegetable, as well as +animal creation, a progress has been observed, in conformity with +advancing conditions. It is also curious to find a missing +link of so much importance in a genus of plants which has long +ceased to have a living place upon earth.</p> +<p>The other leading plants of the coal era are without +representatives on the present surface, and their characters are +in general less clearly ascertained. Amongst the most +remarkable are—the <i>sigillaria</i>, of which large stems +are very abundant, shewing that the interior has been soft, and +the exterior fluted with separate leaves inserted in vertical +rows along the flutings—and the <i>stigmaria</i>, plants +apparently calculated to flourish in marshes or pools, having a +short, thick, fleshy stem, with a dome-shaped top, from which +sprung branches of from twenty to thirty feet long. Amongst +monocotyledons were some palms, (<i>flabellaria</i> and +<i>næggerathia</i>,) besides a few not distinctly +assignable to any class.</p> +<p>The dicotyledons of the coal are comparatively few, though on +the present surface they are the most numerous sub-class. +Besides some of doubtful affinity, (<i>annularia</i>, +<i>asterophyllites</i>, &c.,) there were a few of the pine +family, which seem to have been the highest class of trees of +this era, and are only as yet found in isolated cases, and in +sandstone beds. The first discovered lay in the Craigleith +quarry, near Edinburgh, and consisted of a stem about two feet +thick, and forty-seven feet in length. Others have since +been found, both in the same situation, and at Newcastle. +Leaves and fruit being wanting, an ingenious mode of detecting +the nature of these trees was hit upon by Mr. Witham of +Lartington. Taking thin polished cross slices of the stem, +and subjecting them to the microscope, he detected the structure +of the wood to be that of a cone-bearing tree, by the presence of +certain “reticulations” which distinguish that +family, in addition to the usual radiating and concentric +lines. That particular tree was concluded to be an +araucaria, a species now found in Norfolk Island, in the South +Sea, and in a few other remote situations. The +coniferæ of this era form the dawn of dicotyledenous trees, +of which they may be said to be the simplest type, and to which, +it has already been noticed, the lepidodendra are a link from the +monocotyledons. The concentric rings of the Craigleith and +other coniferæ of this era have been mentioned. It is +interesting to find in these a record of the changing seasons of +those early ages, when as yet there were no human beings to +observe time or tide. They are clearly traced; but it is +observed that they are more slightly marked than is the case with +their family at the present day, as if the changes of temperature +had been within a narrower range.</p> +<p>Such was the vegetation of the carbonigenous era, composed of +forms at the bottom of the botanical scale, flowerless, +fruitless, but luxuriant and abundant beyond what the most +favoured spots on earth can now shew. The rigidity of the +leaves of its plants, and the absence of fleshy fruits and +farinaceous seeds, unfitted it to afford nutriment to animals; +and, monotonous in its forms, and destitute of brilliant +colouring, its sward probably unenlivened by any of the smaller +flowering herbs, its shades uncheered by the hum of insects, or +the music of birds, it must have been but a sombre scene to a +human visitant. But neither man nor any other animals were +then in existence to look for such uses or such beauties in this +vegetation. It was serving other and equally important +ends, clearing (probably) the atmosphere of matter noxious to +animal life, and storing up mineral masses which were in long +subsequent ages to prove of the greatest service to the human +race, even to the extent of favouring the progress of its +civilization.</p> +<p>The animal remains of this era are not numerous, in comparison +with those which go before, or those which come after. The +mountain limestone, indeed, deposited at the commencement of it, +abounds unusually in polypiaria and crinoidea; but when we ascend +to the coal-beds themselves, the case is altered, and these +marine remains altogether disappear. We have then only a +limited variety of conchifers and shell mollusks, with fragments +of a few species of fishes, and these are rarely or never found +in the coal seams, but in the shales alternating with them. +Some of the fishes are of a sauroid character, that is, partake +of the nature of the lizard, a genus of the reptilia, a land +class of animals, so that we may be said here to have the first +approach to a kind of animals calculated to breathe the +atmosphere. Such is the Megalichthys Hibbertii, found by +Dr. Hibbert Ware, in a limestone bed of fresh-water origin, +underneath the coal at Burdiehouse, near Edinburgh. Others +of the same kind have been found in the coal measures in +Yorkshire, and in the low coal shales at Manchester. This +is no more than might be expected, as collections of fresh water +now existed, and it is presumable that they would be +peopled. The chief other fishes of the coal era are named +palæothrissum, palæoniscus, diperdus.</p> +<p>Coal strata are nearly confined to the group termed the +carboniferous formation. Thin beds are not unknown +afterwards, but they occur only as a rare exception. It is +therefore thought that the most important of the conditions which +allowed of so abundant a terrestrial vegetation, had ceased about +the time when this formation was closed. The high +temperature was not one of the conditions which terminated, for +there are evidences of it afterwards; but probably the +superabundance of carbonic acid gas supposed to have existed +during this era was expended before its close. There can be +little doubt that the infusion of a large dose of this gas into +the atmosphere at the present day would be attended by precisely +the same circumstances as in the time of the carboniferous +formation. Land animal life would not have a place on +earth; vegetation would be enormous; and coal strata would be +formed from the vast accumulations of woody matter, which would +gather in every sea, near the mouths of great rivers. On +the exhaustion of the superabundance of carbonic acid gas, the +coal formation would cease, and the earth might again become a +suitable theatre of being for land animals.</p> +<p>The termination of the carboniferous formation is marked by +symptoms of volcanic violence, which some geologists have +considered to denote the close of one system of things and the +beginning of another. Coal beds generally lie in basins, as +if following the curve of the bottom of seas. But there is +no such basin which is not broken up into pieces, some of which +have been tossed up on edge, others allowed to sink, causing the +ends of strata to be in some instances many yards, and in a few +several hundred feet, removed from the corresponding ends of +neighbouring fragments. These are held to be results of +volcanic movements below, the operation of which is further seen +in numerous upbursts and intrusions of volcanic rock +(trap). That these disturbances took place about the close +of the formation, and not later, is shewn in the fact of the next +higher group of strata being comparatively undisturbed. +Other symptoms of this time of violence are seen in the beds of +conglomerate which occur amongst the first strata above the +coal. These, as usual, consist of fragments of the elder +rocks, more or less worn from being tumbled about in agitated +water, and laid down in a mud paste, afterwards hardened. +Volcanic disturbances break up the rocks; the pieces are worn in +seas; and a deposit of conglomerate is the consequence. Of +porphyry, there are some such pieces in the conglomerate of +Devonshire, three or four tons in weight. It is to be +admitted for strict truth that, in some parts of Europe, the +carboniferous formation is followed by superior deposits, without +the appearance of such disturbances between their respective +periods; but apparently this case belongs to the class of +exceptions already noticed. <a name="citation93"></a><a +href="#footnote93" class="citation">[93]</a> That +disturbance was general, is supported by the further and +important fact of the destruction of many forms of organic being +previously flourishing, particularly of the vegetable +kingdom.</p> +<h2><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 94</span>ERA OF +THE NEW RED SANDSTONE.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TERRESTRIAL ZOOLOGY COMMENCES</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WITH REPTILES.</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">FIRST TRACES OF BIRDS.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> next volume of the rock series +refers to an era distinguished by an event of no less importance +than the commencement of land animals. The <i>New Red +Sandstone System</i> is subdivided into groups, some of which are +wanting in some places; they are pretty fully developed in the +north of England, in the following ascending +order:—1. Lower red sandstone; 2. Magnesian +limestone; 3. Red and white sandstones and conglomerate; +4. Variegated marls. Between the third and fourth +there is, in Germany, another group, called the Muschelkalk, a +word expressing a limestone full of shells.</p> +<p>The first group, containing the conglomerates already adverted +to, seems to have been produced during the time of disturbance +which occurred so generally after the carbonigenous era. +This new era is distinguished by a paucity of organic remains, as +might partly be expected from the appearances of disturbance, and +the red tint of the rocks, the latter being communicated by a +solution of oxide of iron, a substance unfavourable to animal +life.</p> +<p>The second group is a limestone with an infusion of +magnesia. It is developed less generally than some others, +but occurs conspicuously in England and Germany. Its place, +above the red sandstone, shews the recurrence of circumstances +favourable to animal life, and we accordingly find in it not only +zoophytes, conchifera, and a few tribes of fish, but some faint +traces of land plants, and a new and startling appearance—a +reptile of saurian (lizard) character, analogous to the now +existing family called monitors. Remains of this creature +are found in cupriferous (copper-bearing) slate connected with +the mountain limestone, at Mansfield and Glucksbrunn, in Germany, +which may be taken as evidence that dry land existed in that age +near those places. The magnesia limestone is also +remarkable as the last rock in which appears the leptæna, +or producta, a conchifer of numerous species which makes a +conspicuous appearance in all previous seas. It is likewise +to be observed, that the fishes of this age, to the genera of +which the names palæoniscus, catopterus, platysomus, +&c., have been applied, vanish, and henceforth appear no +more.</p> +<p>The third group, chiefly sandstones, variously coloured +according to the amount and nature of the metallic oxide infused +into them, shews a recurrence of agitation, and a consequent +diminution of the amount of animal life. In the upper part, +however, of this group, there are abundant symptoms of a revival +of proper conditions for such life. There are marl beds, +the origin of which substance in decomposed shells is obvious; +and in Germany, though not in England, here occurs the +muschelkalk, containing numerous organic remains, (generally +different from those of the magnesian limestone,) and noted for +the specimens of land animals, which it is the first to present +in any considerable abundance to our notice.</p> +<p>These animals are of the vertebrate sub-kingdom, but of its +lowest class next after fishes,—namely, reptiles,—a +portion of the terrestrial tribes whose imperfect respiratory +system perhaps fitted them for enduring an atmosphere not yet +quite suitable for birds or mammifers. <a +name="citation97"></a><a href="#footnote97" +class="citation">[97]</a> The specimens found in the +muschelkalk are allied to the crocodile and lizard tribes of the +present day, but in the latter instance are upon a scale of +magnitude as much superior to present forms as the lepidodendron +of the coal era was superior to the dwarf club-mosses of our +time. These saurians also combine some peculiarities of +structure of a most extraordinary character.</p> +<p>The animal to which the name <i>ichthyosaurus</i> has been +given, was as long as a young whale, and it was fitted for living +in the water, though breathing the atmosphere. It had the +vertebral column and general bodily form of a fish, but to that +were added the head and breast-bone of a lizard, and the paddles +of the whale tribes. The beak, moreover, was that of a +porpoise, and the teeth were those of a crocodile. It must +have been a most destructive creature to the fish of those early +seas.</p> +<p>The <i>plesiosaurus</i> was of similar bulk, with a +turtle-like body and paddles, shewing that the sea was its +element, but with a long serpent-like neck, terminating in a +saurian head, calculated to reach prey at a considerable +distance. These two animals, of which many varieties have +been discovered, constituting distinct species, are supposed to +have lived in the shallow borders of the seas of this and +subsequent formations, devouring immense quantities of the finny +tribes. It was at first thought that no creatures +approaching them in character now inhabit the earth; but latterly +Mr. Darwin has discovered, in the reptile-peopled Galapagos +Islands, in the South Sea, a marine saurian from three to four +feet long.</p> +<p>The <i>megalosaurus</i> was an enormous lizard—a land +creature, also carnivorous. The <i>pterodactyle</i> was +another lizard, but furnished with wings to pursue its prey in +the air, and varying in size between a cormorant and a +snipe. Crocodiles abounded, and some of these were +herbivorous. Such was the iguanodon, a creature of the +character of the iguana of the Ganges, but reaching a hundred +feet in length, or twenty times that of its modern +representative.</p> +<p>There were also numerous <i>tortoises</i>, some of them +reaching a great size; and Professor Owen has found in +Warwickshire some remains of an animal of the batrachian order, +<a name="citation99"></a><a href="#footnote99" +class="citation">[99]</a> to which, from the peculiar form of the +teeth, he has given the name of labyrinthidon. Thus, three +of Cuvier’s four orders of reptilia (<i>sauria</i>, +<i>chelonia</i>, and <i>batrachia</i>) are represented in this +formation, the serpent order (<i>ophidia</i>) being alone +wanting.</p> +<p>The variegated marl beds which constitute the uppermost group +of the formation, present two additional genera of huge +saurians,—the phytosaurus and mastodonsaurus.</p> +<p>It is in the upper beds of the red sandstone that beds of salt +first occur. These are sometimes of such thickness, that +the mine from which the material has been excavated looks like a +lofty church. We see in the present world no circumstances +calculated to produce the formation of a bed of rock salt; yet it +is not difficult to understand how such strata were formed in an +age marked by ultra-tropical heat and frequent volcanic +disturbances. An estuary, cut off by an upthrow of trap, or +a change of level, and left to dry up under the heat of the sun, +would quickly become the bed of a dense layer of rock salt. +A second shift of level, or some other volcanic disturbance, +connecting it again with the sea, would expose this stratum to +being covered over with a layer of sand or mud, destined in time +to form the next stratum of rock above it.</p> +<p>The plants of this era are few and unobtrusive. +Equiseta, calamites, ferns, Voltzia, and a few of the other +families found so abundantly in the preceding formation, here +present themselves, but in diminished size and quantity.</p> +<p>This seems to be the proper place to advert to certain +memorials of a peculiar and unexpected character respecting these +early ages in the sandstones. So low as the bottom of the +carboniferous system, slabs are found marked over a great extent +of surface with that peculiar corrugation or wrinkling which the +receding tide leaves upon a sandy beach when the sea is but +slightly agitated; and not only are these ripple-marks, as they +are called, found on the surfaces, but casts of them are found on +the under sides of slabs lying above. The phenomena +suggests the time when the sand ultimately formed into these +stone slabs, was part of the beach of a sea of the carbonigenous +era; when, left wavy by one tide, it was covered over with a thin +layer of fresh sand by the next, and so on, precisely as such +circumstances might be expected to take place at the present +day. Sandstone surfaces, ripple-marked, are found +throughout the subsequent formations: in those of the new red, at +more than one place in England, they further bear impressions of +rain-drops which have fallen upon them—the rain, of course, +of the inconceivably remote age in which the sandstones were +formed. In the Greensill sandstone, near Shrewsbury, it has +even been possible to tell from what direction the shower came +which impressed the sandy surface, the rims of the marks being +somewhat raised on one side, exactly as might be expected from a +slanting shower falling at this day upon one of our +beaches. These facts have the same sort of interest as the +season rings of the Craigleith conifers, as speaking of a parity +between some of the familiar processes of nature in those early +ages and our own.</p> +<p>In the new red sandstone, impressions still more important in +the inferences to which they tend, have been +observed,—namely, the footmarks of various animals. +In a quarry of this formation, at Corncockle Muir, in +Dumfriesshire, where the slabs incline at an angle of +thirty-eight degrees, the vestiges of an animal supposed to have +been a tortoise are distinctly traced up and down the slope, as +if the creature had had occasion to pass backwards and forwards +in that direction only, possibly in its daily visits to the +sea. Some slabs similarly impressed, in the Stourton +quarries in Cheshire, are further marked with a shower of rain +which we know must have fallen <i>afterwards</i>, for its little +hollows are impressed in the footmarks also, though more slightly +than on the rest of the surface, the comparative hardness of a +trodden place having apparently prevented so deep an impression +being made. At Hessberg, in Saxony, the vestiges of four +distinct animals have been traced, one of them a web-footed +animal of small size, considered as a congener of the crocodile; +another, whose footsteps having a resemblance to an impression of +a swelled human hand, has caused it to be named the +<i>cheirotherium</i>. The footsteps of the cheirotherium +have been found also in the Stourton quarries above +mentioned. Professor Owen, who stands at the head of +comparative anatomy in the present day, has expressed his belief +that this last animal was the same batrachian of which he has +found fragments in the new red sandstone of Warwickshire. +At Runcorn, near Manchester, and elsewhere, have been discovered +the tracks of an animal which Mr. Owen calls the rynchosaurus, +uniting with the body of a reptile the beak and feet of a bird, +and which clearly had been a <i>link</i> between these two +classes.</p> +<p>If geologists shall ultimately give their approbation to the +inferences made from a recent discovery in America, we shall have +the addition of perfect birds, though probably of a low type, to +the animal forms of this era. It is stated to be in +quarries of this rock, in the valley of Connecticut, that +footprints have been found, apparently produced by birds of the +order grallæ, or waders. “The footsteps appear +in regular succession on the continuous track of an animal, in +the act of walking or running, with the right and left foot +always in their relative places. The distance of the +intervals between each footstep on the same track is occasionally +varied, but to no greater amount than may be explained by the +bird having altered its pace. Many tracks of different +individuals and different species are often found crossing each +other, and crowded, like impressions of feet upon the shores of a +muddy stream, where ducks and geese resort.” <a +name="citation103"></a><a href="#footnote103" +class="citation">[103]</a> Some of these prints indicate +small animals, but others denote birds of what would now be an +unusually large size. One animal, having a foot fifteen +inches in length, (one-half more than that of the ostrich,) and a +stride of from four to six feet, has been appropriately entitled, +<i>ornithichnites giganteus</i>.</p> +<h2><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 105</span>ERA +OF THE OOLITE.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">COMMENCEMENT OF MAMMALIA.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> chronicles of this period +consist of a series of beds, mostly calcareous, taking their +general name (<i>Oolite System</i>) from a conspicuous member of +them—the oolite—a limestone composed of an +aggregation of small round grains or spherules, and so called +from its fancied resemblance to a cluster of eggs, or the roe of +a fish. This texture of stone is novel and striking. +It is supposed to be of chemical origin, each spherule being an +aggregation of particles round a central nucleus. The +oolite system is largely developed in England, France, +Westphalia, and Northern Italy; it appears in Northern India and +Africa, and patches of it exist in Scotland, and in the vale of +the Mississippi. It may of course be yet discovered in many +other parts of the world.</p> +<p>The series, as shewn in the neighbourhood of Bath, is +(beginning with the lowest) as follows:—1. Lias, a +set of strata variously composed of limestone, clay, marl, and +shale, clay being predominant; 2. Lower oolitic formation, +including, besides the great oolite bed of central England, +fullers’ earth beds, forest marble, and cornbrash; 3. +Middle oolitic formation, composed of two sub-groups, the Oxford +clay and coral rag, the latter being a mere layer of the works of +the coral polype; 4. Upper oolitic formation, including +what are called Kimmeridge clay and Portland oolite. In +Yorkshire there is an additional group above the lias, and in +Sutherlandshire there is another group above that again. In +the wealds (moorlands) of Kent and Sussex, there is, in like +manner, above the fourth of the Bath series, another additional +group, to which the name of the <i>Wealden</i> has been given, +from its situation, and which, composed of sandstones and clays, +is subdivided into Purbeck beds, Hastings sand, and Weald +clay.</p> +<p>There are no particular appearances of disturbance between the +close of the new red sandstone and the beginning of the oolite +system, as far as has been observed in England. Yet there +is a great change in the materials of the rocks of the two +formations, shewing that while the bottoms of the seas of the one +period had been chiefly arenaceous, those of the other were +chiefly clayey and limy. And there is an equal difference +between the two periods in respect of both botany and +zoology. While the new red sandstone shews comparatively +scanty traces of organic creation, those in the oolite are +extremely abundant, particularly in the department of animals, +and more particularly still of sea mollusca, which, it has been +observed, are always the more conspicuous in proportion to the +predominance of calcareous rocks. It is also remarkable +that the animals of the oolitic system are entirely different in +species from those of the preceding age, and that these species +cease before the next. In this system we likewise find that +uniformity over great space which has been remarked of the Faunas +of earlier formations. “In the equivalent deposits in +the Himalaya Mountains, at Fernando Po, in the region north of +the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Run of Cutch, and other parts +of Hindostan, fossils have been discovered, which, as far as +English naturalists who have seen them can determine, are +undistinguishable from certain oolite and lias fossils of +Europe.” <a name="citation108a"></a><a href="#footnote108a" +class="citation">[108a]</a></p> +<p>The dry land of this age presented cycadeæ, “a +beautiful class of plants between the palms and conifers, having +a tall, straight trunk, terminating in a magnificent crown of +foliage.” <a name="citation108b"></a><a +href="#footnote108b" class="citation">[108b]</a> There were +tree ferns, but in smaller proportion than in former ages; also +equisetaceæ, lilia, and conifers. The vegetation was +generally analogous to that of the Cape of Good Hope and +Australia, which seems to argue a climate (we must remember, a +universal climate) between the tropical and temperate. It +was, however, sufficiently luxuriant in some instances to produce +thin seams of coal, for such are found in the oolite formation of +both Yorkshire and Sutherland. The sea, as for ages before, +contained algæ, of which, however, only a few species have +been preserved to our day. The lower classes of the +inhabitants of the ocean were unprecedentedly abundant. The +polypiaria were in such abundance as to form whole strata of +themselves. The crinoidea and echinites were also extremely +numerous. Shell mollusks, in hundreds of new species, +occupied the bottoms of the seas of those ages, while of the +swimming shell-fish, ammonites and belemnites, there were also +many scores of varieties. The belemnite here calls for some +particular notice. It commences in the oolite, and +terminates in the next formation. It is an elongated, +conical shell, terminating in a point, and having, at the larger +end, a cavity for the residence of the animal, with a series of +air-chambers below. The animal, placed in the upper cavity, +could raise or depress itself in the water at pleasure by a +pneumatic operation upon the entral air tube pervading its +shell. Its tentacula, sent abroad over the summit of the +shell, searched the sea for prey. The creature had an +ink-bag, with which it could muddle the water around it, to +protect itself from more powerful animals, and, strange to say, +this has been found so well preserved that an artist has used it +in one instance as a paint, wherewith to delineate the belemnite +itself.</p> +<p>The crustacea discovered in this formation are less +numerous. There are many fishes, some of which +(<i>acrodus</i>, <i>psammodus</i>, &c.,) are presumed from +remains of their palatal bones, to have been of the gigantic +cartilaginous class, now represented by such as the +cestraceon. It has been considered by Professor Owen as +worthy of notice, that, the cestraceon being an inhabitant of the +Australian seas, we have, in both the botany and ichthyology of +this period, an analogy to that continent. The pycnodontes, +(thick-toothed,) and lepidoides, (having thick scales,) are other +families described by M. Agassiz as extensively prevalent. +In the shallow waters of the oolitic formation, the +ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, and other huge saurian carnivora of +the preceding age, plied, in increased numbers, their destructive +vocation. <a name="citation110"></a><a href="#footnote110" +class="citation">[110]</a> To them were added new genera, +the cetiosaurus, mososaurus, and some others, all of similar +character and habits.</p> +<p>Land reptiles abounded, including species of the pterodactyle +of the preceding age—tortoises, trionyces, +crocodilians—and the pliosaurus, a creature which appears +to have formed a link between the plesiosaurus and the +crocodile. We know of at least six species of the flying +saurian, the pterodactyle, in this formation.</p> +<p>Now, for the first time, we find remains of insects, an order +of animals not well calculated for fossil preservation, and which +are therefore amongst the rarest of the animal tribes found in +rocks, though they are the most numerous of all living +families. A single libellula (dragon-fly) was found in the +Stonesfield slate, a member of the lower oolitic group quarried +near Oxford; and this was for several years the only specimen +known to exist so early; but now many species have been found in +a corresponding rock at Solenhofen, in Germany. It is +remarkable that the remains of insects are found most plentifully +near the remains of pterodactyles, to which undoubtedly they +served as prey.</p> +<p>The first glimpse of the highest class of the vertebrate +sub-kingdom—<i>mammalia</i>—is obtained from the +Stonesfield slate, where there has been found the jaw-bone of a +quadruped evidently insectivorous, and inferred, from +peculiarities in the structure of that small fragment, to have +belonged to the marsupial family, (pouched animals). It may +be observed, although no specimens of so high a class of animals +as mammalia are found earlier, such may nevertheless have +existed: the defect may be in our not having found them; but, +other things considered, the probability is that heretofore there +were no mammifers. It is an interesting circumstance that +the first mammifers found should have belonged to the +marsupialia, when the place of that order in the scale of +creation is considered. In the imperfect structure of their +brain, deficient in the organs connecting the two +hemispheres—and in the mode of gestation, which is only in +small part uterine—this family is clearly a link between +the oviparous vertebrata (birds, reptiles, and fishes) and the +higher mammifers. This is further established by their +possessing a faint development of two canals passing from near +the anus to the external surface of the viscera, which are fully +possessed in reptiles and fishes, for the purpose of supplying +aerated water to the blood circulating in particular vessels, but +which are unneeded by mammifers. Such rudiments of organs +in certain species which do not require them in any degree, are +common in both the animal and vegetable kingdoms, but are always +most conspicuous in families approaching in character to those +classes to which the full organs are proper. This subject +will be more particularly adverted to in the sequel.</p> +<p>The highest part of the oolitic formation presents some +phenomena of an unusual and interesting character, which demand +special notice. Immediately above the upper oolitic group +in Buckinghamshire, in the vicinity of Weymouth, and other +situations, there is a thin stratum, usually called by workmen +the <i>dirt-bed</i>, which appears, from incontestable evidence, +to have been a soil, formed, like soils of the present day, in +the course of time, upon a surface which had previously been the +bottom of the sea. The dirt-bed contains exuviæ of +tropical trees, accumulated through time, as the forest shed its +honours on the spot where it grew, and became itself +decayed. Near Weymouth there is a piece of this stratum, in +which stumps of trees remain rooted, mostly erect or slightly +inclined, and from one to three feet high; while trunks of the +same forest, also silicified, lie imbedded on the surface of the +soil in which they grew.</p> +<p>Above this bed lie those which have been called the Wealden, +from their full development in the Weald of Sussex; and these as +incontestably argue that the dry land forming the dirt-bed had +next afterwards become the area of brackish estuaries, or lakes +partially connected with the sea; for the Wealden strata contain +exuviæ of fresh-water tribes, besides those of the great +saurians and chelonia. The area of this estuary comprehends +the whole south-east province of England. A geologist thus +confidently narrates the subsequent events: “Much +calcareous matter was first deposited [in this estuary], and in +it were entombed myriads of shells, apparently analogous to those +of the vivipara. Then came a thick envelope of sand, +sometimes interstratified with mud; and, finally, muddy matter +prevailed. The solid surface beneath the waters would +appear to have suffered a long continued and gradual depression, +which was as gradually filled, or nearly so, with transported +matter; in the end, however, after a depression of several +hundred feet, the sea again entered upon the area, not suddenly +or violently—for the Wealden rocks pass gradually into the +superincumbent cretaceous series—but so quietly, that the +mud containing the remains of terrestrial and fresh-water +creatures was tranquilly covered up by sands replete with marine +exuviæ.” <a name="citation114"></a><a +href="#footnote114" class="citation">[114]</a> A subsequent +depression of the same area, to the depth of at least three +hundred fathoms, is believed to have taken place, to admit of the +deposition of the cretaceous beds lying above.</p> +<p>From the scattered way in which remains of the larger +terrestrial animals occur in the Wealden, and the intermixture of +pebbles of the special appearance of those worn in rivers, it is +also inferred that the estuary which once covered the south-east +part of England was the mouth of a river of that far-descending +class of which the Mississippi and Amazon are examples. +What part of the earth’s surface presented the dry land +through which that and other similar rivers flowed, no one can +tell for certain. It has been surmised, that the particular +one here spoken of may have flowed from a point not nearer than +the site of the present Newfoundland. Professor Philips has +suggested, from the analogy of the mineral composition, that +anciently elevated coal strata may have composed the dry land +from which the sandy matters of these strata were washed. +Such a deposit as the Wealden almost necessarily implies a local, +not a general condition; yet it has been thought that similar +strata and remains exist in the Pays de Bray, near +Beauvais. This leads to the supposition that there may have +been, in that age, a series of river-receiving estuaries along +the border of some such great ocean as the Atlantic, of which +that of modern Sussex is only an example.</p> +<h2><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>ERA +OF THE CRETACEOUS FORMATION.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> record of this period consists +of a series of strata, in which chalk beds make a conspicuous +appearance, and which is therefore called the cretaceous system +or formation. In England, a long stripe, extending from +Yorkshire to Kent, presents the cretaceous beds upon the surface, +generally lying conformably upon the oolite, and in many +instances rising into bold escarpments towards the west. +The celebrated cliffs of Dover are of this formation. It +extends into northern France, and thence north-westward into +Germany, whence it is traced into Scandinavia and Russia. +The same system exists in North America, and probably in other +parts of the earth not yet geologically investigated. Being +a marine deposit, it establishes that seas existed at the time of +its formation on the tracts occupied by it, while some of its +organic remains prove that, in the neighbourhood of those seas, +there were tracts of dry land.</p> +<p>The cretaceous formation in England presents beds chiefly +sandy in the lowest part, chiefly clayey in the middle, and +chiefly of chalk in the upper part, the chalk beds being never +absent, which some of the lower are in several places. In +the vale of the Mississippi, again, the true chalk is wholly, or +all but wholly absent. In the south of England, the lower +beds are, (reckoning from the lowest upwards), 1. +<i>Shankland</i> or <i>greensand</i>, “a triple alternation +of sands and sandstones with clay;” 2. Galt, “a +stiff blue or black clay, abounding in shells, which frequently +possess a pearly lustre;” 3. <i>Hard</i> chalk; +4. Chalk with flints; these two last being generally white, +but in some districts red, and in others yellow. The whole +are, in England, about 1200 feet thick, shewing the considerable +depths of the ocean in which the deposits were made.</p> +<p>Chalk is a carbonate of lime, and the manner of its production +in such vast quantities was long a subject of speculation among +geologists. Some light seemed to be thrown upon the subject +a few years ago, when it was observed, that the detritus of coral +reefs in the present tropical seas gave a powder, +undistinguishable, when dried, from ordinary chalk. It then +appeared likely that the chalk beds were the detritus of the +corals which were in the oceans of that era. Mr. Darwin, +who made some curious inquiries on this point, further suggested, +that the matter might have intermediately passed through the +bodies of worms and fish, such as feed on the corals of the +present day, and in whose stomachs he has found impure +chalk. This, however, cannot be a full explanation of the +production of chalk, if we admit some more recent discoveries of +Professor Ehrenberg. That master of microscopic +investigation announces, that chalk is composed partly of +“inorganic particles of irregular elliptical structure and +granular slaty disposition,” and partly of shells of +inconceivable minuteness, “varying from the one-twelfth to +the two hundred and eighty-eighth part of a line”—a +cubic inch of the substance containing above ten millions of +them! The chalk of the north of Europe contains, he says, a +larger proportion of the inorganic matter; that of the south, a +larger proportion of the organic matter, being in some instances +almost entirely composed of it. He has been able to +classify many of these creatures, some of them being allied to +the nautili, nummuli, cyprides, &c. The shells of some +are calcareous, of others siliceous. M. Ehrenberg has +likewise detected microscopic sea-plants in the chalk.</p> +<p>The distinctive feature of the uppermost chalk beds in +England, is the presence of flint nodules. These are +generally disposed in layers parallel to each other. It was +readily presumed by geologists that these masses were formed by a +chemical aggregation of particles of silica, originally held in +solution in the mass of the chalk. But whence the silica in +a substance so different from it? Ehrenberg suggests that +it is composed of the siliceous coverings of a portion of the +microscopic creatures, whose shells he has in other instances +detected in their original condition. It is remarkable that +the chalk <i>with</i> flint abounds in the north of Europe; that +<i>without</i> flints in the south; while in the northern chalk +siliceous animalcules are wanting, and in the southern present in +great quantities. The conclusion seems but natural, that in +the one case the siliceous exuviæ have been left in their +original form; in the other dissolved chemically, and aggregated +on the common principle of chemical affinity into nodules of +flint, probably concentrating, in every instance, upon a piece of +decaying organic matter, as has been the case with the nodules of +ironstone in the earlier rocks, and the spherules of the +oolite.</p> +<p>What is more remarkable, M. Ehrenberg has ascertained that at +least fifty-seven species of the microscopic animals of the +chalk, being infusoria and calcareous-shelled polythalamia, are +still found living in various parts of the earth. These +species are the most abundant in the rock. Singly they are +the most unimportant of all animals, but in the mass, forming as +they do such enormous strata over a large part of the +earth’s surface, they have an importance greatly exceeding +that of the largest and noblest of the beasts of the field. +Moreover, these species have a peculiar interest, as the only +specific types of that early age which are reproduced in the +present day. Species of sea mollusks, of reptiles, and of +mammifers, have been changed again and again, since the +cretaceous era; and it is not till a long subsequent age that we +find the first traces of any other of even the humblest species +which now exist; but here have these humble infusoria and +polythalamia kept their place on earth through all its +revolutions since that time,—are we to say, safe in their +very humility, which might adapt them to a greater variety of +circumstances than most other animals, or are we required to look +for some other explanation of the phenomenon?</p> +<p>All the ordinary and more observable orders of the inhabitants +of the sea, except the cetacea, have been found in the cretaceous +formation—zoophytes, radiaria, mollusks, crustacea, (in +great variety of species,) and fishes in smaller variety. +In Europe, remains of the marine saurians have been found; they +may be presumed to have become extinct in that part of the globe +before this time, their place and destructive office being +perhaps supplied by cartilaginous fishes, of which the teeth are +found in great quantities. In America, however, remains of +the plesiosaurus have been discovered in this part of the +stratified series. The reptiles, too, so numerous in the +two preceding periods, appear to have now much diminished in +numbers. One, entitled the mosæsaurus, seems to have +held an intermediate place between the monitor and iguana, and to +have been about twenty-five feet long, with a tail calculated to +assist it powerfully in swimming. Crocodiles and turtles +existed, and amongst the fishes were some of a saurian +character.</p> +<p>Fuci abounded in the seas of this era. Confervæ +are found enclosed in flints. Of terrestrial vegetation, as +of terrestrial animals, the specimens in the European area are +comparatively rare, rendering it probable that there was no dry +land near. The remains are chiefly of ferns, conifers, and +cycadeæ, but in the two former cases we have only cones and +leaves. There have been discovered many pieces of wood, +containing holes drilled by the teredo, and thus shewing that +they had been long drifted about in the ocean before being +entombed at the bottom.</p> +<p>The series in America corresponding to this, entitled the +ferruginous sand formation, presents fossils generally identical +with those of Europe, not excepting the fragments of drilled +wood; shewing that, in this, as in earlier ages, there was a +parity of conditions for animal life over a vast tract of the +earth’s surface. To European reptiles, the American +formation adds a gigantic one, styled the saurodon, from the +lizard-like character of its teeth.</p> +<p>We have seen that footsteps of birds are considered to have +been discovered in America, in the new red sandstone. Some +similar isolated phenomena occur in the subsequent +formations. Mr. Mantell discovered some bones of birds, +apparently waders, in the Wealden. The immediate connexion +of that set of birds with land, may account, of course, for their +containing a terrestrial organic relic, which the marine beds +above and below did not possess. In the slate of Glarus, in +Switzerland, corresponding to the English galt, in the chalk +formation, the remains of a bird have been found. From a +chalk bed near Maidstone, have likewise been extracted some +remains of a bird, supposed to have been of the long-winged +swimmer family, and equal in size to the albatross. These, +it must be owned, are less strong traces of the birds than we +possess of the reptiles and other tribes; but it must be +remembered, that the evidence of fossils, as to the absence of +any class of animals from a certain period of the earth’s +history, can never be considered as more than negative. +Animals, of which we find no remains in a particular formation, +may, nevertheless, have lived at the time, and it may have only +been from unfavourable circumstances that their remains have not +been preserved for our inspection. The single circumstance +of their being little liable to be carried down into seas, might +be the cause of their non-appearance in our quarries. There +is at the same time a limit to uncertainty on this point. +We see, from what remains have been found in the whole series, a +clear progress throughout, from humble to superior types of +being. Hence we derive a light as to what animals may have +existed at particular times, which is in some measure independent +of the specialties of fossilology. The birds are below the +mammalia in the animal scale; and therefore they may be supposed +to have existed about the time of the new red sandstone and +oolite, although we find but slight traces of them in those +formations, and, it may be said, till a considerably later +period.</p> +<h2><a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 125</span>ERA +OF THE TERTIARY FORMATION.—<br /> +MAMMALIA ABUNDANT.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> chalk-beds are the highest +which extend over a considerable space; but in hollows of these +beds, comparatively limited in extent, there have been formed +series of strata—clays, limestones, marls, +alternating—to which the name of the <i>Tertiary +Formation</i> has been applied. London and Paris alike rest +on basins of this formation, and another such basin extends from +near Winchester, under Southampton, and re-appears in the Isle of +Wight. There is a patch, or fragment of the formation in +one of the Hebrides. A stripe of it extends along the east +coast of North America, from Massachusetts to Florida. It +is also found in Sicily and Italy, insensibly blended with +formations still in progress. Though comparatively a local +formation, it is not of the less importance as a record of the +condition of the earth during a certain period. As in other +formations, it is marked, in the most distant localities, by +identity of organic remains.</p> +<p>The hollows filled by the tertiary formation must be +considered as the beds of estuaries left at the conclusion of the +cretaceous period. We have seen that an estuary, either by +the drifting up of its mouth, or a change of level in that +quarter, may be supposed to have become an inland sheet of water, +and that, by another change, of the reverse kind, it may be +supposed to have become an estuary again. Such changes the +Paris basin appears to have undergone oftener than once, for, +first, we have there a fresh-water formation of clay and +limestone beds; then, a marine-limestone formation; next, a +second fresh water formation, in which the material of the +celebrated <i>plaster of Paris</i> (gypsum) is included; then, a +second marine formation of sandy and limy beds; and finally, a +third series of fresh-water strata. Such alternations occur +in other examples of the tertiary formation likewise.</p> +<p>The tertiary beds present all but an entirely new set of +animals, and as we ascend in the series, we find more and more of +these identical with species still existing upon earth, as if we +had now reached the dawn of the present state of the zoology of +our planet. By the study of the shells alone, Mr. Lyell has +been enabled to divide the whole term into four sub-periods, to +which he has given names with reference to the proportions which +they respectively present of surviving species—first, the +eocene, (from ’ηως, the dawn; +χαινος, recent;) second, the +miocene, (μειων, less;) third, older +pliocene, (πλειων, more;) fourth, +newer pliocene.</p> +<h3>EOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</h3> +<p>The eocene period presents, in three continental groups, 1238 +species of shells, of which forty-two, or 3.5 per cent, yet +flourish. Some of these are remarkable enough; but they all +sink into insignificance beside the mammalian remains which the +lower eocene deposits of the Paris basin present to us, shewing +that the land had now become the theatre of an extensive creation +of the highest class of animals. Cuvier ascertained about +fifty species of these, all of them long since extinct. A +considerable number are <i>pachydermata</i>, <a +name="citation127"></a><a href="#footnote127" +class="citation">[127]</a> of a character approximating to the +South American tapir: the names, palæotherium, +anthracotherium, anoplotherium, lophiodon, &c., have been +applied to them with a consideration of more or less conspicuous +peculiarities; but a description of the first may give some +general idea of the whole. It was about the size of a +horse, but more squat and clumsy, and with a heavier head, and a +lower jaw shorter than the upper; the feet, also, instead of +hooves, presented three large toes, rounded, and unprovided with +claws. These animals were all herbivorous. Amongst an +immense number of others are found many new reptiles, some of +them adapted for fresh water; species of birds allied to the +sea-lark, curlew, quail, buzzard, owl, and pelican; species +allied to the dormouse and squirrel; also the opossum and racoon; +and species allied to the genette, fox, and wolf.</p> +<h3>MIOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</h3> +<p>In the miocene sub-period, the shells give eighteen per cent. +of existing species, shewing a considerable advance from the +preceding era, with respect to the inhabitants of the sea. +The advance in the land animals is less marked, but yet +considerable. The predominating forms are still +pachydermatous, and the tapir type continues to be +conspicuous. One animal of this kind, called the +<i>dinotherium</i>, is supposed to have been not less than +eighteen feet long; it had a mole-like form of the +shoulder-blade, conferring the power of digging for food, and a +couple of tusks turning down from the lower jaw, by which it +could have attached itself, like the walrus, to a shore or bank, +while its body floated in the water. Dr. Buckland considers +this and some similar miocene animals, as adapted for a +semi-aquatic life, in a region where lakes abounded. +Besides the tapirs, we have in this era animals allied to the +glutton, the bear, the dog, the horse, the hog, and lastly, +several felinæ, (creatures of which the lion is the type;) +all of which are new forms, as far as we know. There was +also an abundance of marine mammalia, seals, dolphins, lamantins, +walruses, and whales, none of which had previously appeared.</p> +<h3>PLIOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</h3> +<p>The shells of the older pliocene give from thirty-five to +fifty; those of the newer, from ninety to ninety-five per cent. +of existing species. The pachydermata of the preceding era +now disappear, and are replaced by others belonging to still +existing families—elephant, hippopotamus, +rhinoceros—though now extinct as species. Some of +these are startling, from their enormous magnitude. The +great mastodon, whose remains are found in abundance in America, +was a species of elephant, judged, from peculiarities of its +teeth, to have lived on aquatic plants, and reaching the height +of twelve feet. The mammoth was another elephant, but +supposed to have survived till comparatively recent times, as a +specimen, in all respects entire, was found in 1801, preserved in +ice, in Siberia. We are more surprised by finding such +gigantic proportions in an animal called the megatherium, which +ranks in an order now assuming much humbler forms—the +edentata—to which the sloth, ant-eater, and armadillo +belong. The megatherium had a skeleton of enormous +solidity, with an armour-clad body, and five toes, terminating in +huge claws, wherewith to grasp the branches, from which, like its +existing congener, the sloth, it derived its food. The +megalonyx was a similar animal, only somewhat less than the +preceding. Finally, the pliocene gives us for the first +time, oxen, deer, camels, and other specimens of the +<i>ruminantia</i>.</p> +<p>Such is an outline of the fauna of the tertiary era, as +ascertained by the illustrious naturalists who first devoted +their attention to it. It will be observed that it brings +us up to the felinæ, or carnivora, a considerably elevated +point in the animal scale, but still leaving a blank for the +quadrumana (monkeys) and for man, who collectively form, as will +be afterwards seen, the first group in that scale. It +sometimes happens, however, as we have seen, that a few rare +traces of a particular class of animals are in time found in +formations originally thought to be destitute of them, displaying +as it were a dawn of that department of creation. Such +seems to be the case with at least the quadrumana. A +jaw-bone and tooth of an animal of this order, and belonging to +the genus macacus, were found in the London clay, (eocene,) at +Kyson, near Woodbridge, in 1839. Another jaw-bone, +containing several teeth, supposed to have belonged to a species +of monkey about three feet high, was discovered about the same +time in a stratum of marl surmounted by compact limestone, in the +department of Gers, at the foot of the Pyrenees. Associated +with this last were remains of not less than thirty mammiferous +quadrupeds, including three species of rhinoceros, a large +anoplotherium, three species of deer, two antelopes, a true dog, +a large cat, an animal like a weasel, a small hare, and a huge +species of the edentata. Both of these places are +considerably to the north of any region now inhabited by the +monkey tribes. Fossil remains of quadrumana have been found +in at least two other parts of the earth,—namely, the +sub-Himalayan hills, near the Sutlej, and in Brazil, (both in the +tertiary strata;) the first being a large species of +semnopithecus, and the second, a still larger animal belonging to +the American group of monkeys, but a new genus, and denominated +by its discoverer, Dr. Lund, protopithecus. The latter +would be four feet in height.</p> +<p>One remarkable circumstance connected with the tertiary +formation remains to be noticed,—namely, the prevalence of +volcanic action at that era. In Auvergne, in Catalonia, +near Venice, and in the vicinity of Rome and Naples, lavas +exactly resembling the produce of existing volcanoes, are +associated and intermixed with the lacustrine as well as marine +tertiaries. The superficies of tertiaries in England is +disturbed by two great swells, forming what are called anticlinal +axes, one of which divides the London from the Hampshire basin, +while the other passes through the Isle of Wight, both throwing +the strata down at violent inclination towards the north, as if +the subterranean disturbing force had <i>waved</i> forward in +that direction. The Pyrenees, too, and Alps, have both +undergone elevation since the deposition of the tertiaries; and +in Sicily there are mountains which have risen three thousand +feet since the deposition of some of the most recent of these +rocks. The general effect of these operations was of course +to extend the land surface, and to increase the variety of its +features, thus improving the natural drainage, and generally +adapting the earth for the reception of higher classes of +animals.</p> +<h2><a name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>ERA +OF THE SUPERFICIAL FORMATIONS.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">COMMENCEMENT OF PRESENT +SPECIES.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have now completed our survey of +the series of stratified rocks, and traced in their fossils the +progress of organic creation down to a time which seems not long +antecedent to the appearance of man. There are, +nevertheless, monuments of still another era or space of time +which it is all but certain did also precede that event.</p> +<p>Over the rock formations of all eras, in various parts of the +globe, but confined in general to situations not very elevated, +there is a layer of stiff clay, mostly of a blue colour, mingled +with fragments of rock of all sizes, travel-worn, and otherwise, +and to which geologists give the name of diluvium, as being +apparently the produce of some vast flood, or of the sea thrown +into an unusual agitation. It seems to indicate that, at +the time when it was laid down, much of the present dry land was +under the ocean, a supposition which we shall see supported by +other evidence. The included masses of rock have been +carefully inspected in many places, and traced to particular +parent beds at considerable distances. Connected with these +phenomena are certain rock surfaces on the slopes of hills and +elsewhere, which exhibit groovings and scratchings, such as we +might suppose would be produced by a quantity of loose blocks +hurried along over them by a flood. Another associated +phenomenon is that called <i>crag and tail</i>, which exists in +many places,—namely, a rocky mountain, or lesser elevation, +presenting on one side the naked rock in a more or less abrupt +form, and on the other a gentle slope; the sites of Windsor, +Edinburgh, and Stirling, with their respective castles, are +specimens of crag and tail. Finally, we may advert to +certain long ridges of clay and gravel which arrest the attention +of travellers on the surface of Sweden and Finland, and which are +also found in the United States, where, indeed, the whole of +these phenomena have been observed over a large surface, as well +as in Europe. It is very remarkable that the direction from +which the diluvial blocks have generally come, the lines of the +grooved rock surfaces, the direction of the crag and tail +eminences, and that of the clay and gravel +ridges—phenomena, be it observed, extending over the +northern parts of both Europe and America—are <i>all from +the north and north-west towards the south-east</i>. We +thus acquire the idea of a powerful current moving in a direction +from north-west to south-east, carrying, besides mud, masses of +rock which furrowed the solid surfaces as they passed along, +abrading the north-west faces of many hills, but leaving the +slopes in the opposite direction uninjured, and in some instances +forming long ridges of detritus along the surface. These +are curious considerations, and it has become a question of much +interest, by what means, and under what circumstances, was such a +current produced. One hypothetical answer has some +plausibility about it. From an investigation of the nature +of glaciers, and some observations which seem to indicate that +these have at one time extended to lower levels, and existed in +regions (the Scottish Highlands an example) where there is now no +perennial snow, it has been surmised that there was a time, +subsequent to the tertiary era, when the circumpolar ice extended +far into the temperate zone, and formed a lofty, as well as +extensive accumulation. A change to a higher temperature, +producing a sudden thaw of this mass, might set free such a +quantity of water as would form a large flood, and the southward +flow of this deluge, joined to the direction which it would +obtain from the rotatory motion of the globe, would of course +produce that compound or south-easterly direction which the +phenomena require. All of these speculations are as yet far +too deficient in facts to be of much value; and I must freely own +that, for one, I attach little importance to them. All that +we can legitimately infer from the diluvium is, that the northern +parts of Europe and America were then under the sea, and that a +strong current set over them.</p> +<p>Connected with the diluvium is the history of <i>ossiferous +caverns</i>, of which specimens singly exist at Kirkdale in +Yorkshire, Gailenreuth in Franconia, and other places. They +occur in the calcareous strata, as the great caverns generally +do, but have in all instances been naturally closed up till the +recent period of their discovery. The floors are covered +with what appears to be a bed of the diluvial clay, over which +rests a crust of stalagmite, the result of the droppings from the +roof since the time when the clay-bed was laid down. In the +instances above specified, and several others, there have been +found, under the clay bed, assemblages of the bones of animals, +of many various kinds. At Kirkdale, for example, the +remains of twenty-four species were ascertained—namely, +pigeon, lark, raven, duck, and partridge; mouse, water-rat, +rabbit, hare, deer, (three species,) ox, horse, hippopotamus, +rhinoceros, elephant, weazel, fox, wolf, bear, tiger, +hyena. From many of the bones of the gentler of these +animals being found in a broken state, it is supposed that the +cave was a haunt of hyenas and other predaceous animals, by which +the smaller ones were here consumed. This must have been at +a time antecedent to the submersion which produced the diluvium, +since the bones are covered by a bed of that formation. It +is impossible not to see here a very natural series of +incidents. First, the cave is frequented by wild beasts, +who make it a kind of charnel-house. Then, submerged in the +current which has been spoken of, it receives a clay flooring +from the waters containing that matter in suspension. +Finally, raised from the water, but with no mouth to the open +air, it remains unintruded on for a long series of ages, during +which the clay flooring receives a new calcareous covering, from +the droppings of the roof. Dr. Buckland, who examined and +described the Kirkdale cave, was at first of opinion that it +presented a physical evidence of the Noachian deluge; but he +afterwards saw reason to consider its phenomena as of a time far +apart from that event, which rests on evidence of an entirely +different kind.</p> +<p>Our attention is next drawn to the erratic blocks or boulders, +which in many parts of the earth are thickly strewn over the +surface, particularly in the north of Europe. Some of these +blocks are many tons in weight, yet are clearly ascertained to +have belonged originally to situations at a great distance. +Fragments, for example, of the granite of Shap Fell are found in +every direction around to the distance of fifty miles, one piece +being placed high upon Criffel Mountain, on the opposite side of +the Solway estuary; so also are fragments of the Alps found far +up the slopes of the Jura. There are even blocks on the +east coast of England, supposed to have travelled from +Norway. The only rational conjecture which can be formed as +to the transport of such masses from so great a distance, is one +which presumes them to have been carried and dropped by icebergs, +while the space between their original and final sites was under +ocean. Icebergs do even now carry off such masses from the +polar coasts, which, falling when the retaining ice melts, must +take up situations at the bottom of the sea analogous to those in +which we find the erratic blocks of the present day.</p> +<p>As the diluvium and erratic blocks clearly suppose one last +long submersion of the surface, (<i>last</i>, geologically +speaking,) there is another set of appearances which as +manifestly shew the steps by which the land was made afterwards +to reappear. These consist of <i>terraces</i>, which have +been detected near, and at some distance inland from, the coast +lines of Scandinavia, Britain, America, and other regions; being +evidently ancient beaches, or platforms, on which the margin of +the sea at one time rested. They have been observed at +different heights above the present sea-level, from twenty to +above twelve hundred feet; and in many places they are seen +rising above each other in succession, to the number of three, +four, and even more. The smooth flatness of these terraces, +with generally a slight inclination towards the sea, the sandy +composition of many of them, and, in some instances, the +preservation of marine shells in the ground, identify them +perfectly with existing sea-beaches, notwithstanding the cuts and +scoopings which have every here and there been effected in them +by water-courses. The irresistible inference from the +phenomena is, that the highest was first the coast line; then an +elevation took place, and the second highest became so, the first +being now raised into the air and thrown inland. Then, upon +another elevation, the sea began to form, at its new point of +contact with the land, the third highest beach, and so on down to +the platform nearest to the present sea-beach. Phenomena of +this kind become comparatively familiar to us, when we hear of +evidence that the last sixty feet of the elevation of Sweden, and +the last eighty-five of that of Chili, have taken place since man +first dwelt in those countries; nay, that the elevation of the +former country goes on at this time at the rate of about +forty-five inches in a century, and that a thousand miles of the +Chilian coast rose four feet in one night, under the influence of +a powerful earthquake, so lately as 1822. Subterranean +forces, of the kind then exemplified in Chili, supply a ready +explanation of the whole phenomena, though some other operating +causes have been suggested. In an inquiry on this point, it +becomes of consequence to learn some particulars respecting the +levels. Taking a particular beach, it is generally observed +that the level continues the same along a considerable number of +miles, and nothing like breaks or hitches has as yet been +detected in any case. A second and a third beach are also +observed to be exactly parallel to the first. These facts +would seem to indicate quiet elevating movements, uniform over a +large tract. It must, however, be remarked that the raised +beaches at one part of a coast rarely coincide with those at +another part forty or fifty miles off. We might suppose +this to indicate a limit in that extent of the uniformity of the +elevating cause, but it would be rash to conclude positively that +such is the case. In the present sea, as is well known, +there are different levels at different places, owing to the +operation of peculiar local causes, as currents, evaporation, and +the influx of large rivers into narrow-mouthed estuaries. +The differences of level in the ancient beaches might be +occasioned by some such causes. But, whatever doubt may +rest on this minor point, enough has been ascertained to settle +the main one, that we have in these platforms indubitable +monuments of the last rise of the land from the sea, and the +concluding great event of the geological history.</p> +<p>The idea of such a wide-spread and possibly universal +submersion unavoidably suggests some considerations as to the +effect which it might have upon terrestrial animal life. It +seems likely that this would be, on such an occasion, +extensively, if not universally destroyed. Nor does the +idea of its universal destruction seem the less plausible, when +we remark, that none of the species of land animals heretofore +discovered can be detected at a subsequent period. The +whole seem to have been now changed. Some geologists appear +much inclined to think that there was at this time a new +development of terrestrial animal life upon the globe, and M. +Agassiz, whose opinion on such a subject must always be worthy of +attention, speaks all but decidedly for such a conclusion. +It must, however, be owned, that proofs for it are still scanty, +beyond the bare fact of a submersion which appears to have had a +very wide range. I must therefore be content to leave this +point, as far as geological evidence is concerned, for future +affirmation.</p> +<p>There are some other superficial deposits, of less consequence +on the present occasion than the diluvium—namely, +lacustrine deposits, or filled-up lakes; alluvium, or the +deposits of rivers beside their margins; deltas, the deposits +made by great ones at their efflux into the sea; peat mosses; and +the vegetable soil. The animal remains found in these +generally testify to a zoology on the verge of that which still +exists, or melting into it, there being included many species +which still exist. In a lacustrine deposit at +Market-Weighton, in the Vale of York, there have been found bones +of the elephant, rhinoceros, bison, wolf, horse, felis, deer, +birds, all or nearly all extinct species; associated with +thirteen species of land and fresh water shells, “exactly +identical with types now living in the vicinity.” In +similar deposits in North America, are remains of the mammoth, +mastodon, buffalo, and other animals of extinct and living +types. In short, these superficial deposits shew precisely +such remains as might be expected from a time at which the +present system of things (to use a vague but not unexpressive +phrase) obtained, but yet so far remote in chronology as to allow +of the dropping of many species, through familiar causes, in the +interval. Still, however, there is no authentic or +satisfactory instance of human remains being found, except in +deposits obviously of very modern date; a tolerably strong proof +that the creation of our own species is a comparatively recent +event, and one posterior (generally speaking) to all the great +natural transactions chronicled by geology.</p> +<h2><a name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +145</span>GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">RESPECTING</span><br /> +THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED TRIBES.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Thus</span> concludes the wondrous chapter +of the earth’s history which is told by geology. It +takes up our globe at the period when its original incandescent +state had nearly ceased; conducts it through what we have every +reason to believe were vast, or at least very considerable, +spaces of time, in the course of which many superficial changes +took place, and vegetable and animal life was gradually +developed; and drops it just at the point when man was apparently +about to enter on the scene. The compilation of such a +history, from materials of so extraordinary a character, and the +powerful nature of the evidence which these materials afford, are +calculated to excite our admiration, and the result must be +allowed to exalt the dignity of science, as a product of +man’s industry and his reason.</p> +<p>If there is any thing more than another impressed on our minds +by the course of the geological history, it is, that the same +laws and conditions of nature now apparent to us have existed +throughout the whole time, though the operation of some of these +laws may now be less conspicuous than in the early ages, from +some of the conditions having come to a settlement and a +close. That seas have flowed and ebbed, and winds disturbed +their surfaces, in the time of the secondary rocks, we have proof +on the yet preserved surfaces of the sands which constituted +margins of the seas in those days. Even the fall of +wind-slanted rain is evidenced on the same tablets. The +washing down of detached matter from elevated grounds, which we +see rivers constantly engaged in at the present time, and which +is daily shallowing the seas adjacent to their mouths, only +appears to have proceeded on a greater scale in earlier +epochs. The volcanic subterranean force, which we see +belching forth lavas on the sides of mountains, and throwing up +new elevations by land and sea, was only more powerfully +operative in distant ages. To turn to organic nature, +vegetation seems to have proceeded then exactly as now. The +very alternations of the seasons has been read in unmistakable +characters in sections of the trees of those days, precisely as +it might be read in a section of a tree cut down yesterday. +The system of prey amongst animals flourished throughout the +whole of the pre-human period; and the adaptation of all plants +and animals to their respective spheres of existence was as +perfect in those early ages as it is still.</p> +<p>But, as has been observed, the operation of the laws may be +modified by conditions. At one early age, if there was any +dry land at all, it was perhaps enveloped in an atmosphere unfit +for the existence of terrestrial animals, and which had to go +though some changes before that condition was altered. In +the carbonigenous era, dry land seems to have consisted only of +clusters of islands, and the temperature was much above what now +obtains at the same places. Volcanic forces, and perhaps +also the disintegrating power, seem to have been on the decrease +since the first, or we have at least long enjoyed an exemption +from such paroxysms of the former, as appear to have prevailed at +the close of the coal formation in England and throughout the +tertiary era. The surface has also undergone a gradual +progress by which it has become always more and more variegated, +and thereby fitted for the residence of a higher class of +animals.</p> +<p>In pursuing the progress of the development of both plants and +animals upon the globe, we have seen an advance in both cases, +along the line leading to the higher forms of organization. +Amongst plants, we have first sea-weeds, afterwards land plants; +and amongst these the simpler (cellular and cryptogamic) before +the more complex. In the department of zoology, we see +zoophytes, radiata, mollusca, articulata, existing for ages +before there were any higher forms. The first step forward +gives fishes, the humblest class of the vertebrata; and, +moreover, the earliest fishes partake of the character of the +next lowest sub-kingdom, the articulata. Afterwards come +land animals, of which the first are reptiles, universally +allowed to be the type next in advance from fishes, and to be +connected with these by the links of an insensible +gradation. From reptiles we advance to birds, and thence to +mammalia, which are commenced by marsupialia, acknowledgedly low +forms in their class. That there is thus a progress of some +kind, the most superficial glance at the geological history is +sufficient to convince us. Indeed the doctrine of the +gradation of animal forms has received a remarkable support from +the discoveries of this science, as several types formerly +wanting to a completion of the series have been found in a fossil +state. <a name="citation149"></a><a href="#footnote149" +class="citation">[149]</a></p> +<p>It is scarcely less evident, from the geological record, that +the progress of organic life has observed some correspondence +with the progress of physical conditions on the surface. We +do not know for certain that the sea, at the time when it +supported radiated, molluscous, and articulated families, was +incapable of supporting fishes; but causes for such a limitation +are far from inconceivable. The huge saurians appear to +have been precisely adapted to the low muddy coasts and sea +margins of the time when they flourished. Marsupials appear +at the time when the surface was generally in that flat, +imperfectly variegated state in which we find Australia, the +region where they now live in the greatest abundance, and one +which has no higher native mammalian type. Finally, it was +not till the land and sea had come into their present relations, +and the former, in its principal continents, had acquired the +irregularity of surface necessary for man, that man +appeared. We have likewise seen reason for supposing that +land animals could not have lived before the carbonigenous era, +owing to the great charge of carbonic acid gas presumed to have +been contained in the atmosphere down to that time. The +surplus of this having gone, as M. Brogniart suggests, to form +the vegetation, whose ruins became coal, and the air being thus +brought to its present state, land animals immediately +appeared. So also, sea-plants were at first the only +specimens of vegetation, because there appears to have been no +place where other plants could be produced or supported. +Land vegetation followed, at first simple, afterwards complex, +probably in conformity with an advance of the conditions required +by the higher class of plants. In short, we see everywhere +throughout the geological history, strong traces of a parallel +advance of the physical conditions and the organic forms.</p> +<p>In examining the fossils of the lower marine creation, with a +reference to the kind of rock in connexion, with which they are +found, it is observed that some strata are attended by a much +greater abundance of both species and individuals than +others. They abound most in calcareous rocks, which is +precisely what might be expected, since lime is necessary for the +formation of the shells of the mollusks and articulata, and the +hard substance of the crinoidea and corals; next in the +carboniferous series; next in the tertiary; next in the new red +sandstone; next in slates; and lastly, least of all, in the +primary rocks. <a name="citation151"></a><a href="#footnote151" +class="citation">[151]</a> This may have been the case +without regard to the origination of new species, but more +probably it was otherwise; or why, for instance, should the +polypiferous zoophyta be found almost exclusively in the +limestones? There are, indeed, abundant appearances as if, +throughout all the changes of the surface, the various kinds of +organic life invariably <i>pressed in</i>, immediately on the +specially suitable conditions arising, so that no place which +could support any form of organic being might be left for any +length of time unoccupied. Nor is it less remarkable how +various species are withdrawn from the earth, when the proper +conditions for their particular existence are changed. The +trilobite, of which fifty species existed during the earlier +formations, was extirpated before the secondary had commenced, +and appeared no more. The ammonite does not appear above +the chalk. The species, and even genera of all the early +radiata and mollusks were exchanged for others long ago. +Not one species of any creature which flourished before the +tertiary (Ehrenberg’s infusoria excepted) now exists; and +of the mammalia which arose during that series, many forms are +altogether gone, while of others we have now only kindred +species. Thus to find not only frequent additions to the +previously existing forms, but frequent withdrawals of forms +which had apparently become inappropriate—a constant +shifting as well as advance—is a fact calculated very +forcibly to arrest attention.</p> +<p>A candid consideration of all these circumstances can scarcely +fail to introduce into our minds a somewhat different idea of +organic creation from what has hitherto been generally +entertained. That God created animated beings, as well as +the terraqueous theatre of their being, is a fact so powerfully +evidenced, and so universally received, that I at once take it +for granted. But in the particulars of this so highly +supported idea, we surely here see cause for some +re-consideration. It may now be inquired,—In what way +was the creation of animated beings effected? The ordinary +notion may, I think, be not unjustly described as +this,—that the Almighty author produced the progenitors of +all existing species by some sort of personal or immediate +exertion. But how does this notion comport with what we +have seen of the gradual advance of species, from the humblest to +the highest? How can we suppose an immediate exertion of +this creative power at one time to produce zoophytes, another +time to add a few marine mollusks, another to bring in one or two +conchifers, again to produce crustaceous fishes, again perfect +fishes, and so on to the end? This would surely be to take +a very mean view of the Creative Power—to, in short, +anthropomorphize it, or reduce it to some such character as that +borne by the ordinary proceedings of mankind. And yet this +would be unavoidable; for that the organic creation was thus +progressive through a long space of time, rests on evidence which +nothing can overturn or gainsay. Some other idea must then +be come to with regard to <i>the mode</i> in which the Divine +Author proceeded in the organic creation. Let us seek in +the history of the earth’s formation for a new suggestion +on this point. We have seen powerful evidence, that the +construction of this globe and its associates, and inferentially +that of all the other globes of space, was the result, not of any +immediate or personal exertion on the part of the Deity, but of +natural laws which are expressions of his will. What is to +hinder our supposing that the organic creation is also a result +of natural laws, which are in like manner an expression of his +will? More than this, the fact of the cosmical arrangements +being an effect of natural laws is a powerful argument for the +organic arrangements being so likewise, for how can we suppose +that the august Being who brought all these countless worlds into +form by the simple establishment of a natural principle flowing +from his mind, was to interfere personally and specially on every +occasion when a new shell-fish or reptile was to be ushered into +existence on <i>one</i> of these worlds? Surely this idea +is too ridiculous to be for a moment entertained.</p> +<p>It will be objected that the ordinary conceptions of Christian +nations on this subject are directly derived from Scripture, or, +at least, are in conformity with it. If they were clearly +and unequivocally supported by Scripture, it may readily be +allowed that there would be a strong objection to the reception +of any opposite hypothesis. But the fact is, however +startling the present announcement of it may be, that the first +chapter of the Mosaic record is not only not in harmony with the +ordinary ideas of mankind respecting cosmical and organic +creation, but is opposed to them, and only in accordance with the +views here taken. When we carefully peruse it with awakened +minds, we find that all the procedure is represented primarily +and pre-eminently as flowing <i>from commands and expressions of +will</i>, <i>not from direct acts</i>. Let there be +light—let there be a firmament—let the dry land +appear—let the earth bring forth grass, the herb, the +tree—let the waters bring forth the moving creature that +hath life—let the earth bring forth the living creature +after his kind—these are the terms in which the principal +acts are described. The additional expressions,—God +made the firmament—God made the beast of the earth, +&c., occur subordinately, and only in a few instances; they +do not necessarily convey a different idea of the mode of +creation, and indeed only appear as alternative phrases, in the +usual duplicative manner of Eastern narrative. Keeping this +in view, the words used in a subsequent place, “God +<i>formed</i> man in his own image,” cannot well be +understood as implying any more than what was implied +before,—namely, that man was produced in consequence of an +expression of the Divine will to that effect. Thus, the +scriptural objection quickly vanishes, and the prevalent ideas +about the organic creation appear only as a mistaken inference +from the text, formed at a time when man’s ignorance +prevented him from drawing therefrom a just conclusion. At +the same time, I freely own that I do not think it right to +adduce the Mosaic record, either in objection to, or support of +any natural hypothesis, and this for many reasons, but +particularly for this, that there is not the least appearance of +an intention in that book to give philosophically exact views of +nature.</p> +<p>To a reasonable mind the Divine attributes must appear, not +diminished or reduced in any way, by supposing a creation by law, +but infinitely exalted. It is the narrowest of all views of +the Deity, and characteristic of a humble class of intellects, to +suppose him acting constantly in particular ways for particular +occasions. It, for one thing, greatly detracts from his +foresight, the most undeniable of all the attributes of +Omnipotence. It lowers him towards the level of our own +humble intellects. Much more worthy of him it surely is, to +suppose that all things have been commissioned by him from the +first, though neither is he absent from a particle of the current +of natural affairs in one sense, seeing that the whole system is +continually supported by his providence. Even in human +affairs, if I may be allowed to adopt a familiar illustration, +there is a constant progress from specific action for particular +occasions, to arrangements which, once established, shall +continue to answer for a great multitude of occasions. Such +plans the enlightened readily form for themselves, and conceive +as being adopted by all who have to attend to a multitude of +affairs, while the ignorant suppose every act of the greatest +public functionary to be the result of some special consideration +and care on his part alone. Are we to suppose the Deity +adopting plans which harmonize only with the modes of procedure +of the less enlightened of our race? Those who would object +to the hypothesis of a creation by the intervention of law, do +not perhaps consider how powerful an argument in favour of the +existence of God is lost by rejecting this doctrine. When +all is seen to be the result of law, the idea of an Almighty +Author becomes irresistible, for the creation of a law for an +endless series of phenomena—an act of intelligence above +all else that we can conceive—could have no other +imaginable source, and tells, moreover, as powerfully for a +sustaining as for an originating power. On this point a +remark of Dr. Buckland seems applicable: “If the properties +adopted by the elements at the moment of their creation adapted +them beforehand to the infinity of complicated useful purposes +which they have already answered, and may have still farther to +answer, under many dispensations of the material world, such an +aboriginal constitution, so far from superseding an intelligent +agent, would only exalt our conceptions of the consummate skill +and power that could comprehend such an infinity of future uses +under future systems, in the original groundwork of his +creation.”</p> +<p>A late writer, in a work embracing a vast amount of +miscellaneous knowledge, but written in a dogmatic style, argues +at great length for the doctrine of more immediate exertions on +the part of the Deity in the works of his creation. One of +the most striking of his illustrations is as +follows:—“The coral polypi, united by a common animal +bond, construct a defined form in stone; many kinds construct +many forms. An allotted instinct may permit each polypus to +construct its own cell, but there is no superintending one to +direct the pattern, nor can the workers unite by consultation for +such an end. There is no recipient for an instinct by which +the pattern might be constructed. It is God alone, +therefore, who is the architect; and for this end, consequently, +he must dispose of every new polypus required to continue the +pattern, in a new and peculiar position, which the animal could +not have discovered by itself. Yet more, millions of these +blind workers unite their works to form an island, which is also +wrought out according to a constant general pattern, and of a +very peculiar nature, though the separate coral works are +numerously diverse. Still less, then, here is an instinct +possible. The Great Architect himself must execute what he +planned, in each case equally. He uses these little and +senseless animals as hands; but they are hands which himself must +direct. He must direct each one everywhere, and therefore +he is ever acting.” <a name="citation159"></a><a +href="#footnote159" class="citation">[159]</a> This is a +most notable example of a dangerous kind of reasoning. It +is now believed that corals have a general life and sensation +throughout the whole mass, residing in the nervous tissue which +envelops them; consequently, there is nothing more wonderful in +their determinate general forms than in those of other +animals.</p> +<p>It may here be remarked that there is in our doctrine that +harmony in all the associated phenomena which generally marks +great truths. First, it agrees, as we have seen, with the +idea of planet-creation by natural law. Secondly, upon this +supposition, all that geology tells us of the succession of +species appears natural and intelligible. Organic life +<i>presses in</i>, as has been remarked, wherever there was room +and encouragement for it, the forms being always such as suited +the circumstances, and in a certain relation to them, as, for +example, where the limestone-forming seas produced an abundance +of corals, crinoidea, and shell-fish. Admitting for a +moment a re-origination of species after a cataclysm, as has been +surmised by some geologists, though the hypothesis is always +becoming less and less tenable, it harmonizes with nothing so +well as the idea of a creation by law. The more solitary +commencements of species, which would have been the most +inconceivably paltry exercise for an immediately creative power, +are sufficiently worthy of one operating by laws.</p> +<p>It is also to be observed, that the thing to be accounted for +is not merely the origination of organic being upon this little +planet, third of a series which is but one of hundreds of +thousands of series, the whole of which again form but one +portion of an apparently infinite globe-peopled space, where all +seems analogous. We have to suppose, that every one of +these numberless globes is either a theatre of organic being, or +in the way of becoming so. This is a conclusion which every +addition to our knowledge makes only the more irresistible. +Is it conceivable, as a fitting mode of exercise for creative +intelligence, that it should be constantly moving from one sphere +to another, to form and plant the various species which may be +required in each situation at particular times? Is such an +idea accordant with our general conception of the dignity, not to +speak of the power, of the Great Author? Yet such is the +notion which we must form, if we adhere to the doctrine of +special exercise. Let us see, on the other hand, how the +doctrine of a creation by law agrees with this expanded view of +the organic world.</p> +<p>Unprepared as most men may be for such an announcement, there +can be no doubt that we are able, in this limited sphere, to form +some satisfactory conclusions as to the plants and animals of +those other spheres which move at such immense distances from +us. Suppose that the first persons of an early nation who +made a ship and ventured to sea in it, observed, as they sailed +along, a set of objects which they had never before +seen—namely, a fleet of other ships—would they not +have been justified in supposing that those ships were occupied, +like their own, by human beings possessing hands to row and +steer, eyes to watch the signs of the weather, intelligence to +guide them from one place to another—in short, beings in +all respects like themselves, or only shewing such differences as +they knew to be producible by difference of climate and habits of +life. Precisely in this manner we can speculate on the +inhabitants of remote spheres. We see that matter has +originally been diffused in one mass, of which the spheres are +portions. Consequently, inorganic matter must be presumed +to be everywhere the same, although probably with differences in +the proportions of ingredients in different globes, and also some +difference of conditions. Out of a certain number of the +elements of inorganic matter are composed organic bodies, both +vegetable and animal; such must be the rule in Jupiter and in +Sirius, as it is here. We, therefore, are all but certain +that herbaceous and ligneous fibre, that flesh and blood, are the +constituents of the organic beings of all those spheres which are +as yet seats of life. Gravitation we see to be an +all-pervading principle: therefore there must be a relation +between the spheres and their respective organic occupants, by +virtue of which they are fixed, as far as necessary, on the +surface. Such a relation, of course, involves details as to +the density and elasticity of structure, as well as size, of the +organic tenants, in proportion to the gravity of the respective +planets—peculiarities, however, which may quite well +consist with the idea of a universality of general types, to +which we are about to come. Electricity we also see to be +universal; if, therefore, it be a principle concerned in life and +in mental action, as science strongly suggests, life and mental +action must everywhere be of one general character. We come +to comparatively a matter of detail, when we advert to heat and +light; yet it is important to consider that these are universal +agents, and that, as they bear marked relations to organic life +and structure on earth, they may be presumed to do so in other +spheres also. The considerations as to light are +particularly interesting, for, on our globe, the structure of one +important organ, almost universally distributed in the animal +kingdom, is in direct and precise relation to it. Where +there is light there will be eyes, and these, in other spheres, +will be the same in all respects as the eyes of tellurian +animals, with only such differences as may be necessary to accord +with minor peculiarities of condition and of situation. It +is but a small stretch of the argument to suppose that, one +conspicuous organ of a large portion of our animal kingdom being +thus universal, a parity in all the other organs—species +for species, class for class, kingdom for kingdom—is highly +likely, and that thus the inhabitants of all the other globes of +space bear not only a general, but a particular resemblance to +those of our own.</p> +<p>Assuming that organic beings are thus spread over all space, +the idea of their having all come into existence by the operation +of laws everywhere applicable, is only conformable to that +principle, acknowledged to be so generally visible in the affairs +of Providence, to have all done by the employment of the smallest +possible amount of means. Thus, as one set of laws produced +all orbs and their motions and geognostic arrangements, so one +set of laws overspread them all with life. The whole +productive or creative arrangements are therefore in perfect +unity.</p> +<h2><a name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +165</span>PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">RESPECTING</span><br /> +THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED TRIBES.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> general likelihood of an +organic creation by law having been shewn, we are next to inquire +if science has any facts tending to bring the assumption more +nearly home to nature. Such facts there certainly are; but +it cannot be surprising that they are comparatively few and +scattered, when we consider that the inquiry is into one of +nature’s profoundest mysteries, and one which has hitherto +engaged no direct attention in almost any quarter.</p> +<p>Crystallization is confessedly a phenomenon of inorganic +matter; yet the simplest rustic observer is struck by the +resemblance which the examples of it left upon a window by frost +bear to vegetable forms. In some crystallizations the +mimicry is beautiful and complete; for example, in the well-known +one called the <i>Arbor Dianæ</i>. An amalgam of four +parts of silver and two of mercury being dissolved in nitric +acid, and water equal to thirty weights of the metals being +added, a small piece of soft amalgam of silver suspended in the +solution, quickly gathers to itself the particles of the silver +of the amalgam, which form upon it a <i>crystallization precisely +resembling a shrub</i>. The experiment may be varied in a +way which serves better to detect the influence of electricity in +such operations, as noted below. <a name="citation166"></a><a +href="#footnote166" class="citation">[166]</a> Vegetable +figures are also presented in some of the most ordinary +appearances of the electric fluid. In the marks caused by +positive electricity, or which it leaves in its passage, we see +the ramifications of a tree, as well as of its individual leaves; +those of the negative, recal the bulbous or the spreading root, +according as they are clumped or divergent. These phenomena +seem to say that the electric energies have had something to do +in determining the forms of plants. That they are +intimately connected with vegetable life is indubitable, for +germination will not proceed in water charged with negative +electricity, while water charged positively greatly favours it; +and a garden sensibly increases in luxuriance, when a number of +conducting rods are made to terminate in branches over its +beds. With regard to the resemblance of the ramifications +of the branches and leaves of plants to the traces of the +positive electricity, and that of the roots to the negative, it +is a circumstance calling for especial remark, that the +atmosphere, particularly its lower strata, is generally charged +positively, while the earth is always charged negatively. +The correspondence here is curious. A plant thus appears as +a thing formed on the basis of a natural electrical +operation—the <i>brush</i> realized. We can thus +suppose the various forms of plants as, immediately, the result +of a law in electricity variously affecting them according to +their organic character, or respective germinal +constituents. In the poplar, the brush is unusually +vertical, and little divergent; the reverse in the beech: in the +palm, a pencil has proceeded straight up for a certain distance, +radiates there, and turns outwards and downwards; and so +on. We can here see at least traces of secondary means by +which the Almighty Deviser might establish all the vegetable +forms with which the earth is overspread.</p> +<p>Vegetable and animal bodies are mainly composed of the same +four simple substances or elements—carbon, oxygen, +hydrogen, and nitrogen. The first combinations of these in +animals are into what are called proximate principles, as +albumen, fibrin, urea, alantoin, &c., out of which the +structure of the animal body is composed. Now the chemist, +by the association of two parts oxygen, four hydrogen, two +carbon, and two nitrogen, can <i>make urea</i>. Alantoin +has also been produced artificially. Two of the proximate +principles being realizable by human care, the possibility of +realizing or forming all is established. Thus the chemist +may be said to have it in his power to realize the first step in +organization. <a name="citation169a"></a><a href="#footnote169a" +class="citation">[169a]</a> Indeed, it is fully +acknowledged by Dr. Daubeny, that in the combinations forming the +proximate principles there is no chemical peculiarity. +“It is now certain,” he says, “that the same +simple laws of composition pervade the whole creation; and that, +if the organic chemist only takes the requisite precautions to +avoid resolving into their ultimate elements the proximate +principles upon which he operates, the results of his analysis +will shew that they are combined precisely according to the same +plan as the elements of mineral bodies are known to be.” <a +name="citation169b"></a><a href="#footnote169b" +class="citation">[169b]</a> A particular fact is here +worthy of attention. “The conversion of fecula into +sugar, as one of the ordinary processes of vegetable economy, is +effected by the production of a secretion termed <i>diastose</i>, +which occasions both the rupture of the starch vesicles, and the +change of their contained gum into sugar. This diastose may +be separately obtained by the chemist, and it acts as effectually +in his laboratory as in the vegetable organization. He can +also imitate its effects by other chemical agents.” <a +name="citation170"></a><a href="#footnote170" +class="citation">[170]</a> The writer quoted below adds, +“No reasonable ground has yet been adduced for supposing +that, if we had the power of bringing together the elements of +any organic compound, in their requisite states and proportions, +the result would be any other than that which is found in the +living body.”</p> +<p>It is much to know the elements out of which organic bodies +are composed. It is something more to know their first +combinations, and that these are simply chemical. How these +combinations are associated in the structure of living bodies is +the next inquiry, but it is one to which as yet no satisfactory +answer can be given. The investigation of the minutiæ +of organic structure by the microscope is of such recent origin, +that its results cannot be expected to be very clear. Some +facts, however, are worthy of attention with regard to the +present inquiry. It is ascertained that the basis of all +vegetable and animal substances consists of nucleated cells; that +is, cells having granules within them. Nutriment is +converted into these before being assimilated by the +system. The tissues are formed from them. The ovum +destined to become a new creature, is originally only a cell with +a contained granule. We see it acting this reproductive +part in the simplest manner in the cryptogamic plants. +“The parent cell, arrived at maturity by the exercise of +its organic functions, bursts, and liberates its contained +granules. These, at once thrown upon their own resources, +and entirely dependent for their nutrition on the surrounding +elements, develop themselves into new cells, which repeat the +life of their original. Amongst the higher tribes of the +cryptogamia, the reproductive cell does not burst, but the first +cells of the new structure are developed within it, and these +gradually extend, by a similar process of multiplication, into +that primary leaf-like expansion which is the first formed +structure in all plants.” <a +name="citation171"></a><a href="#footnote171" +class="citation">[171]</a> <i>Here the little cell becomes +directly a plant</i>, <i>the full formed living being</i>. +It is also worthy of remark that, in the sponges, (an animal +form,) a gemmule detached from the body of the parent, and +trusting for sustentation only to the fluid into which it has +been cast, becomes, without further process, the new +creature. Further, it has been recently discovered by means +of the microscope, that there is, as far as can be judged, a +perfect resemblance between the ovum of the mammal tribes, during +that early stage when it is passing through the oviduct, and the +young of the infusory animalcules. One of the most +remarkable of these, the <i>volvox globator</i>, has exactly the +form of the germ which, after passing through a long fœtal +progress, becomes a complete mammifer, an animal of the highest +class. It has even been found that both are alike provided +with those <i>cilia</i>, which, producing a revolving motion, or +its appearance, is partly the cause of the name given to this +animalcule. These resemblances are the more entitled to +notice, that they were made by various observers, distant from +each other at the time. <a name="citation172"></a><a +href="#footnote172" class="citation">[172]</a> It has +likewise been noted that the globules of the blood are reproduced +by the expansion of contained granules; they are, in short, +<i>distinct organisms multiplied by the same fissiparous +generation</i>. So that all animated nature may be said to +be based on this mode of origin; <i>the fundamental form of +organic being is a globule</i>, <i>having a new globule forming +within itself</i>, by which it is in time discharged, and which +is again followed by another and another, in endless +succession. It is of course obvious that, if these globules +could be produced by any process from inorganic elements, we +should be entitled to say that the fact of a transit from the +inorganic into the organic had been witnessed in that instance; +the possibility of the commencement of animated creation by the +ordinary laws of nature might be considered as established. +Now it was given out some years ago by a French physiologist, +that <i>globules could be produced in albumen by +electricity</i>. If, therefore, these globules be identical +with the cells which are now held to be reproductive, it might be +said that the production of albumen by artificial means is the +only step in the process wanting. This has not yet been +effected; but it is known to be only a chemical process, the mode +of which may be any day discovered in the laboratory, and two +compounds perfectly co-ordinate, urea and alantoin, have actually +been produced.</p> +<p>In such an investigation as the present, it is not unworthy of +notice that the production of shell is a natural operation which +can be precisely imitated artificially. Such an +incrustation takes place on both the outside and inside of the +wheel in a bleaching establishment, in which cotton cloth is +rinsed free of the lime employed in its purification. From +the <i>dressing</i> employed by the weaver, the cloth obtains the +animal matter, <i>gelatin</i>; this and the lime form the +constituents of the incrustation, exactly as in natural +shell. In the wheel employed at Catrine, in Ayrshire, where +the phenomenon was first observed by the eye of science, it had +required ten years to produce a coating the tenth of an inch in +thickness. This incrustation has all the characters of +shell, displaying a highly polished surface, beautifully +iridescent, and, when broken, a foliated texture. The +examination of it has even thrown some light on the character and +mode of formation of natural shell. “The plates into +which the substance is divisible have been formed in succession, +and certain intervals of time have elapsed between their +formation; in general, every two contiguous laminæ are +separated by a thin iridescent film, varying from the three to +the fifty millionth part of an inch in thickness, and producing +all the various colours of thin plates which correspond to +intermediate thicknesses: between some of the laminæ no +such film exists, probably in consequence of the interval of time +between their formation being too short; and between others the +film has been formed of unequal thickness. There can be no +doubt that these iridescent films are formed when the dash-wheel +is at rest during the night, and that when no film exists between +two laminæ, an interval too short for its formation, +(arising, perhaps, from the stopping of the work during the day,) +has elapsed during the drying or induration of one lamina and the +deposition of another.” <a name="citation175"></a><a +href="#footnote175" class="citation">[175]</a> From this it +has been deduced, by a patient investigation, that those colours +of mother-of-pearl, which are incommunicable to wax, arise from +iridescent films deposited between the laminæ of its +structure, and it is hence inferred that <i>the animal</i>, like +the wheel, <i>rests periodically from its labours in forming the +natural substance</i>.</p> +<p>These, it will be owned, are curious and not irrelevant facts; +but it will be asked what actual experience says respecting the +origination of life. Are there, it will be said, any +authentic instances of either plants or animals, of however +humble and simple a kind, having come into existence otherwise +than in the ordinary way of generation, since the time of which +geology forms the record? It may be answered, that the +negative of this question could not be by any means formidable to +the doctrine of law-creation, seeing that the conditions +necessary for the operation of the supposed life-creating laws +may not have existed within record to any great extent. On +the other hand, as we see the physical laws of early times still +acting with more or less force, it might not be unreasonable to +expect that we should still see some remnants, or partial and +occasional workings of the life-creating energy amidst a system +of things generally stable and at rest. Are there, then, +any such remnants to be traced in our own day, or during +man’s existence upon earth? If there be, it clearly +would form a strong evidence in favour of the doctrine, as what +now takes place upon a confined scale and in a comparatively +casual manner may have formerly taken place on a great scale, and +as the proper and eternity-destined means of supplying a vacant +globe with suitable tenants. It will at the same time be +observed that, the earth being now supplied with both kinds of +tenants in great abundance, we only could expect to find the +life-originating power at work in some very special and +extraordinary circumstances, and probably only in the inferior +and obscurer departments of the vegetable and animal +kingdoms.</p> +<p>Perhaps, if the question were asked of ten men of approved +reputation in science, nine out of the number would answer in the +negative. This is because, in a great number of instances +where the superficial observers of former times assumed a +non-generative origin for life, (as in the celebrated case in +Virgil’s fourth Georgic,) either the direct contrary has +been ascertained, or exhaustive experiments have left no +alternative from the conclusion that ordinary generation did take +place, albeit in a manner which escapes observation. +Finding that an erroneous assumption has been formed in many +cases, modern inquirers have not hesitated to assume that there +can be no case in which generation is not concerned; an +assumption not only unwarranted by, but directly opposed to, the +principles of philosophical investigation. Yet this is +truly the point at which the question now rests in the scientific +world.</p> +<p>I have no wish here to enter largely into a subject so wide +and so full of difficulties; but I may remark, that the +explanations usually suggested where life takes its rise without +apparent generative means, always appear to me to partake much of +the fallacy of the <i>petitio principii</i>. When, for +instance, lime is laid down upon a piece of waste moss ground, +and a crop of white clover for which no seeds were sown is the +consequence, the explanation that the seeds have been dormant +there for an unknown time, and were stimulated into germination +when the lime produced the appropriate circumstances, appears +extremely unsatisfactory, especially when we know that (as in an +authentic case under my notice) the spot is many miles from where +clover is cultivated, and that there is nothing for six feet +below but pure peat moss, clover seeds being, moreover, known to +be too heavy to be transported, as many other seeds are, by the +winds. Mushrooms, we know, can be propagated by their seed; +but another mode of raising them, well known to the gardener, is +to mix cow and horse dung together, and thus form a bed in which +they are expected to grow without any seed being planted. +It is assumed that the seeds are carried by the atmosphere, +unperceived by us, and, finding here an appropriate field for +germination, germinate accordingly; but this is only assumption, +and though designed to be on the side of a severe philosophy, in +reality makes a pretty large demand on credulity. There are +several persons eminent in science who profess at least to find +great difficulties in accepting the doctrine of invariable +generation. One of these, in the work noted below, <a +name="citation179a"></a><a href="#footnote179a" +class="citation">[179a]</a> has stated several considerations +arising from analogical reasoning, which appear to him to throw +the balance of evidence in favour of the aboriginal production of +infusoria, <a name="citation179b"></a><a href="#footnote179b" +class="citation">[179b]</a> the vegetation called mould, and the +like. One seems to be of great force; namely, that the +animalcules, which are supposed (altogether hypothetically) to be +produced by ova, are afterwards found increasing their numbers, +not by that mode at all, but by division of their bodies. +If it be the nature of these creatures to propagate in this +splitting or fissiparous manner, how could they be communicated +to a vegetable infusion? Another fact of very high +importance is presented in the following terms:—“The +nature of the animalcule, or vegetable production, bears a +constant relation to the state of the infusion, so that, in +similar circumstances, the same are always produced without this +being influenced by the atmosphere. There seems to be a +certain <i>progressive advance in the productive powers of the +infusion</i>, for at the first the animalcules are only of the +smaller kinds, or monades, and afterwards <i>they become +gradually larger and more complicated in their structure</i>; +<i>after a time</i>, <i>the production ceases</i>, <i>although +the materials are by no means exhausted</i>. When the +quantity of water is very small, and the organic matter abundant, +the production is usually of a vegetable nature; when there is +much water, animalcules are more frequently +produced.” It has been shewn by the opponents of this +theory, that when a vegetable infusion is debarred from the +contact of the atmosphere, by being closely sealed up or covered +with a layer of oil, no animalcules are produced; but it has been +said, on the other hand, that the exclusion of the air may +prevent some simple condition necessary for the aboriginal +development of life—and nothing is more likely. +Perhaps the prevailing doctrine is in nothing placed in greater +difficulties than it is with regard to the entozoa, or creatures +which live within the bodies of others. These creatures do, +and apparently can, live nowhere else than in the interior of +other living bodies, where they generally take up their abode in +the viscera, but also sometimes in the chambers of the eye, the +interior of the brain, the serous sacs, and other places having +no communication from without. Some are viviparous, others +oviparous. Of the latter it cannot reasonably be supposed +that the ova ever pass through the medium of the air, or through +the blood-vessels, for they are too heavy for the one transit, +and too large for the other. Of the former, it cannot be +conceived how they pass into young animals—certainly not by +communication from the parent, for it has often been found that +entozoa do not appear in certain generations, and some of +peculiar and noted character have only appeared at rare +intervals, and in very extraordinary circumstances. A +candid view of the less popular doctrine, as to the origin of +this humble form of life, is taken by a distinguished living +naturalist. “To explain the beginning of these worms +within the human body, on the common doctrine that all created +beings proceed from their likes, or a primordial egg, is so +difficult, that the moderns have been driven to speculate, as our +fathers did, on their spontaneous birth; but they have received +the hypothesis with some modification. Thus it is not from +putrefaction or fermentation that the entozoa are born, for both +of these processes are rather fatal to their existence, but from +the aggregation and fit apposition of matter which is already +organized, or has been thrown from organized surfaces. +Their origin in this manner is not more wonderful or more +inexplicable than that of many of the inferior animals from +sections of themselves. * * Particles of matter fitted by +digestion, and their transmission through a living body, for +immediate assimilation with it, or flakes of lymph detached from +surfaces already organized, seem neither to exceed nor fall below +that simplicity of structure which favours this wonderful +development; and the supposition that, like morsels of a +planaria, they may also, when retained in contact with living +parts, and in other favourable circumstances, continue to live +and be gradually changed into creatures of analogous +conformation, is surely not so absurd as to be brought into +comparison with the Metamorphoses of Ovid. * * We think the +hypothesis is also supported in some degree by the fact, that the +origin of the entozoa is favoured by all causes which tend to +disturb the equality between the secerning and absorbent +systems.” <a name="citation182"></a><a href="#footnote182" +class="citation">[182]</a> Here particles of organized +matter are suggested as the germinal origin of distinct and fully +organized animals, many of which have a highly developed +reproductive system. How near such particles must be to the +inorganic form of matter may be judged from what has been said +within the last few pages. If, then, this view of the +production of entozoa be received, it must be held as in no small +degree favourable to the general doctrine of an organic creation +by law.</p> +<p>There is another series of facts, akin to the above, and which +deserve not less attention. The pig, in its domestic state, +is subject to the attacks of a hydatid, from which the wild +animal is free; hence the disease called measles in pork. +The domestication of the pig is of course an event subsequent to +the origin of man; indeed, comparatively speaking, a recent +event. Whence, then, the first progenitor of this +hydatid? So also there is a tinea which attacks dressed +wool, but never touches it in its unwashed state. A +particular insect disdains all food but chocolate, and the larva +of the <i>oinopota cellaris</i> lives nowhere but in wine and +beer, all of these being articles manufactured by man. +There is likewise a creature called the <i>pimelodes +cyclopum</i>, which is only found in subterranean cavities +connected with certain specimens of the volcanic formation in +South America, dating from a time posterior to the arrangements +of the earth for our species. Whence the first pymelodes +cyclopum? Will it, to a geologist, appear irrational to +suppose that, just as the pterodactyle was added in the era of +the new red sandstone, when the earth had become suited for such +a creature, so may these creatures have been added when media +suitable for their existence arose, and that such phenomena may +take place any day, the only cause for their taking place seldom +being the rarity of the rise of new physical conditions on a +globe which seems to have already undergone the principal part of +its destined mutations?</p> +<p>Between such isolated facts and the greater changes which +attended various geological eras, it is not easy to see any +difference, besides simply that of the scale on which the +respective phenomena took place, as the throwing off of one copy +from an engraved plate is exactly the same process as that by +which a thousand are thrown off. Nothing is more easy to +conceive than that to Creative Providence, the numbers of such +phenomena, the time when, and the circumstances under which they +take place, are indifferent matters. The Eternal One has +arranged for everything beforehand, and trusted all to the +operation of the laws of his appointment, himself being ever +present in all things. We can even conceive that man, in +his many doings upon the surface of the earth, may occasionally, +without his being aware of it, or otherwise, act as an instrument +in preparing the association of conditions under which the +creative laws work; and perhaps some instances of his having +acted as such an instrument have actually occurred in our own +time.</p> +<p>I allude, of course, to the experiments conducted a few years +ago by Mr. Crosse, which seemed to result in the production of a +heretofore unknown species of insect in considerable +numbers. Various causes have prevented these experiments +and their results from receiving candid treatment, but they may +perhaps be yet found to have opened up a new and most interesting +chapter of nature’s mysteries. Mr. Crosse was +pursuing some experiments in crystallization, causing a powerful +voltaic battery to operate upon a saturated solution of silicate +of potash, when the insects unexpectedly made their +appearance. He afterwards tried nitrate of copper, which is +a deadly poison, and from that fluid also did live insects +emerge. Discouraged by the reception of his experiments, +Mr. Crosse soon discontinued them; but they were some years after +pursued by Mr. Weekes, of Sandwich, with precisely the same +results. This gentleman, besides trying the first of the +above substances, employed ferro-cyanet of potash, on account of +its containing a larger proportion of carbon, the principal +element of organic bodies; and from this substance the insects +were produced <i>in increased numbers</i>. A few weeks +sufficed for this experiment, with the powerful battery of Mr. +Crosse; but the first attempts of Mr. Weekes required about +eleven months, a ground of presumption in itself that the +electricity was chiefly concerned in the phenomenon. The +changes undergone by the fluid operated upon, were in both cases +remarkable, and nearly alike. In Mr. Weekes’ +apparatus, the silicate of potash became first turbid, then of a +milky appearance; round the negative wire of the battery, dipped +into the fluid, there gathered a quantity of <i>gelatinous +matter</i>, a part of the process of considerable importance, +considering that gelatin is one of the <i>proximate +principles</i>, or first compounds, of which animal bodies are +formed. From this matter Mr. Weekes observed one of the +insects in the very act of emerging, immediately after which, it +ascended to the surface of the fluid, and sought concealment in +an obscure corner of the apparatus. The insects produced by +both experimentalists seem to have been the same, a species of +acarus, minute and semi-transparent, and furnished with long +bristles, which can only be seen by the aid of the +microscope. It is worthy of remark, that some of these +insects, soon after their existence had commenced, were found to +be likely to extend their species. They were sometimes +observed to go back to the fluid to feed, and occasionally they +devoured each other. <a name="citation187"></a><a +href="#footnote187" class="citation">[187]</a></p> +<p>The reception of novelties in science must ever be regulated +very much by the amount of kindred or relative phenomena which +the public mind already possesses and acknowledges, to which the +new can be assimilated. A novelty, however true, if there +be no received truths with which it can be shewn in harmonious +relation, has little chance of a favourable hearing. In +fact, as has been often observed, there is a measure of +incredulity from our ignorance as well as from our knowledge, and +if the most distinguished philosopher three hundred years ago had +ventured to develop any striking new fact which only could +harmonize with the as yet unknown Copernican solar system, we +cannot doubt that it would have been universally scoffed at in +the scientific world, such as it then was, or at the best +interpreted in a thousand wrong ways in conformity with ideas +already familiar. The experiments above described, finding +a public mind which had never discovered a fact or conceived an +idea at all analogous, were of course ungraciously +received. It was held to be impious, even to surmise that +animals could have been formed through any instrumentality of an +apparatus devised by human skill. The more likely account +of the phenomena was said to be, that the insects were only +developed from ova, resting either in the fluid, or in the wooden +frame on which the experiments took place. On these +objections the following remarks may be made. The +supposition of impiety arises from an entire misconception of +what is implied by an aboriginal creation of insects. The +experimentalist could never be considered as the author of the +existence of these creatures, except by the most unreasoning +ignorance. The utmost that can be claimed for, or imputed +to him is that he arranged the natural conditions under which the +true creative energy—that of the Divine Author of all +things—was pleased to work in that instance. On the +hypothesis here brought forward, the <i>acarus Crossii</i> was a +type of being ordained from the beginning, and destined to be +realized under certain physical conditions. When a human +hand brought these conditions into the proper arrangement, it did +an act akin to hundreds of familiar ones which we execute every +day, and which are followed by natural results; but it did +nothing more. The production of the insect, if it did take +place as assumed, was as clearly an act of the Almighty himself, +as if he had fashioned it with hands. For the presumption +that an act of aboriginal creation did take place, there is this +to be said, that, in Mr. Weekes’s experiment, every care +that ingenuity could devise was taken to exclude the possibility +of a development of the insects from ova. The wood of the +frame was baked in a powerful heat; a bell-shaped glass covered +the apparatus, and from this the atmosphere was excluded by the +constantly rising fumes from the liquid, for the emission of +which there was an aperture so arranged at the top of the glass, +that only these fumes could pass. The water was distilled, +and the substance of the silicate had been subjected to white +heat. Thus every source of fallacy seemed to be shut +up. In such circumstances, a candid mind, which sees +nothing either impious or unphilosophical in the idea of a new +creation, will be disposed to think that there is less difficulty +in believing in such a creation having actually taken place, than +in believing that, in two instances, separated in place and time, +exactly the same insects should have chanced to arise from +concealed ova, and these a species heretofore unknown.</p> +<h2><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +191</span>HYPOTHESIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">OF THE</span><br /> +VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL KINGDOMS.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> has been already intimated, as a +general fact, that there is an obvious gradation amongst the +families of both the vegetable and animal kingdoms, from the +simple lichen and animalcule respectively up to the highest order +of dicotyledonous trees and the mammalia. Confining our +attention, in the meantime, to the animal kingdom—it does +not appear that this gradation passes along one line, on which +every form of animal life can be, as it were, strung; there may +be branching or double lines at some places; or the whole may be +in a circle composed of minor circles, as has been recently +suggested. But still it is incontestable that there are +general appearances of a scale beginning with the simple and +advancing to the complicated. The animal kingdom was +divided by Cuvier into four sub-kingdoms, or divisions, and these +exhibit an unequivocal gradation in the order in which they are +here enumerated:—Radiata, (polypes, &c.;) mollusca, +(pulpy animals;) articulata, (jointed animals;) vertebrata, +(animals with internal skeleton.) The gradation can, in +like manner, be clearly traced in the <i>classes</i> into which +the sub-kingdoms are subdivided, as, for instance, when we take +those of the vertebrata in this order—reptiles, fishes, +birds, mammals.</p> +<p>While the external forms of all these various animals are so +different, it is very remarkable that the whole are, after all, +variations of a fundamental plan, which can be traced as a basis +throughout the whole, the variations being merely modifications +of that plan to suit the particular conditions in which each +particular animal has been designed to live. Starting from +the primeval germ, which, as we have seen, is the representative +of a particular order of full-grown animals, we find all others +to be merely advances from that type, with the extension of +endowments and modification of forms which are required in each +particular case; each form, also, retaining a strong affinity to +that which precedes it, and tending to impress its own features +on that which succeeds. This unity of structure, as it is +called, becomes the more remarkable, when we observe that the +organs, while preserving a resemblance, are often put to +different uses. For example: the ribs become, in the +serpent, organs of locomotion, and the snout is extended, in the +elephant, into a prehensile instrument.</p> +<p>It is equally remarkable that analogous purposes are served in +different animals by organs essentially different. Thus, +the mammalia breathe by lungs; the fishes, by gills. These +are not modifications of one organ, but distinct organs. In +mammifers, the gills exist and act at an early stage of the +fœtal state, but afterwards go back and appear no more; +while the lungs are developed. In fishes, again, the gills +only are fully developed; while the lung structure either makes +no advance at all, or only appears in the rudimentary form of an +air-bladder. So, also, the baleen of the whale and the +teeth of the land mammalia are different organs. The whale, +in embryo, shews the rudiments of teeth; but these, not being +wanted, are not developed, and the baleen is brought forward +instead. The land animals, we may also be sure, have the +rudiments of baleen in their organization. In many +instances, a particular structure is found advanced to a certain +point in a particular set of animals, (for instance, feet in the +serpent tribe,) although it is not there required in any degree; +but the peculiarity, being carried a little farther forward, is +perhaps useful in the next set of animals in the scale. +Such are called rudimentary organs. With this class of +phenomena are to be ranked the useless mammæ of the male +human being, and the unrequired process of bone in the male +opossum, which is needed in the female for supporting her +pouch. Such curious features are most conspicuous in +animals which form links between various classes.</p> +<p>As formerly stated, the marsupials, standing at the bottom of +the mammalia, shew their affinity to the oviparous vertebrata, by +the rudiments of two canals passing from near the anus to the +external surfaces of the viscera, which are fully developed in +fishes, being required by them for the respiration of aerated +waters, but which are not needed by the atmosphere-breathing +marsupials. We have also the peculiar form of the sternum +and rib-bones of the lizards <i>represented</i> in the mammalia +in certain white cartilaginous lines traceable among their +abdominal muscles. The struphionidæ (birds of the +ostrich type) form a link between birds and mammalia, and in them +we find the wings imperfectly or not at all developed, a +diaphragm and urinary sac, (organs wanting in other birds,) and +feathers approaching the nature of hair. Again, the +ornithorynchus belongs to a class at the bottom of the mammalia, +and approximating to birds, and in it behold the bill and +web-feet of that order!</p> +<p>For further illustration, it is obvious that, various as may +be the lengths of the upper part of the vertebral column in the +mammalia, it always consists of the same parts. The giraffe +has in its tall neck the same number of bones with the pig, which +scarcely appears to have a neck at all. <a +name="citation195"></a><a href="#footnote195" +class="citation">[195]</a> Man, again, has no tail; but the +notion of a much-ridiculed philosopher of the last century is not +altogether, as it happens, without foundation, for the bones of a +caudal extremity exist in an undeveloped state in the <i>os +coccygis</i> of the human subject. The limbs of all the +vertebrate animals are, in like manner, on one plan, however +various they may appear. In the hind-leg of a horse, for +example, the angle called the hock is the same part which in us +forms the heel; and the horse, and all other quadrupeds, with +almost the solitary exception of the bear, walk, in reality, upon +what answers to the toes of a human being. In this and many +other quadrupeds the fore part of the extremities is shrunk up in +a hoof, as the tail of the human being is shrunk up in the bony +mass at the bottom of the back. The bat, on the other hand, +has these parts largely developed. The membrane, commonly +called its wing, is framed chiefly upon bones answering precisely +to those of the human hand; its extinct congener, the +pterodactyle, had the same membrane extended upon the fore-finger +only, which in that animal was prolonged to an extraordinary +extent. In the paddles of the whale and other animals of +its order, we see the same bones as in the more highly developed +extremities of the land mammifers; and even the serpent tribes, +which present no external appearance of such extremities, possess +them in reality, but in an undeveloped or rudimental state.</p> +<p>The same law of development presides over the vegetable +kingdom. Amongst phanerogamous plants, a certain number of +organs appear to be always present, either in a developed or +rudimentary state; and those which are rudimentary can be +developed by cultivation. The flowers which bear stamens on +one stalk and pistils on another, can be caused to produce both, +or to become perfect flowers, by having a sufficiency of +nourishment supplied to them. So also, where a special +function is required for particular circumstances, nature has +provided for it, not by a new organ, but by a modification of a +common one, which she has effected in development. Thus, +for instance, some plants destined to live in arid situations, +require to have a store of water which they may slowly +absorb. The need is arranged for by a cup-like expansion +round the stalk, in which water remains after a shower. Now +the <i>pitcher</i>, as this is called, is not a new organ, but +simply a metamorphose of a leaf.</p> +<p>These facts clearly shew how all the various organic forms of +our world are bound up in one—how a fundamental unity +pervades and embraces them all, collecting them, from the +humblest lichen up to the highest mammifer, in one system, the +whole creation of which must have depended upon one law or decree +of the Almighty, though it did not all come forth at one +time. After what we have seen, the idea of a separate +exertion for each must appear totally inadmissible. The +single fact of abortive or rudimentary organs condemns it; for +these, on such a supposition, could be regarded in no other light +than as blemishes or blunders—the thing of all others most +irreconcilable with that idea of Almighty Perfection which a +general view of nature so irresistibly conveys. On the +other hand, when the organic creation is admitted to have been +effected by a general law, we see nothing in these abortive parts +but harmless peculiarities of development, and interesting +evidences of the manner in which the Divine Author has been +pleased to work.</p> +<p>We have yet to advert to the most interesting class of facts +connected with the laws of organic development. It is only +in recent times that physiologists have observed that each animal +passes, in the course of its germinal history, through a series +of changes resembling the <i>permanent forms</i> of the various +orders of animals inferior to it in the scale. Thus, for +instance, an insect, standing at the head of the articulated +animals, is, in the larva state, a true annelid, or worm, the +annelida being the lowest in the same class. The embryo of +a crab resembles the perfect animal of the inferior order +myriapoda, and passes through all the forms of transition which +characterize the intermediate tribes of crustacea. The +frog, for some time after its birth, is a fish with external +gills, and other organs fitting it for an aquatic life, all of +which are changed as it advances to maturity, and becomes a land +animal. The mammifer only passes through still more stages, +according to its higher place in the scale. Nor is man +himself exempt from this law. His first form is that which +is permanent in the animalcule. His organization gradually +passes through conditions generally resembling a fish, a reptile, +a bird, and the lower mammalia, before it attains its specific +maturity. At one of the last stages of his fœtal +career, he exhibits an intermaxillary bone, which is +characteristic of the perfect ape; this is suppressed, and he may +then be said to take leave of the simial type, and become a true +human creature. Even, as we shall see, the varieties of his +race are represented in the progressive development of an +individual of the highest, before we see the adult Caucasian, the +highest point yet attained in the animal scale.</p> +<p>To come to particular points of the organization. The +brain of man, which exceeds that of all other animals in +complexity of organization and fulness of development, is, at one +early period, only “a simple fold of nervous matter, with +difficulty distinguishable into three parts, while a little +tail-like prolongation towards the hinder parts, and which had +been the first to appear, is the only representation of a spinal +marrow. Now, in this state it perfectly resembles the brain +of an adult fish, thus assuming <i>in transitu</i> the form that +in the fish is permanent. In a short time, however, the +structure is become more complex, the parts more distinct, the +spinal marrow better marked; it is now the brain of a +reptile. The change continues; by a singular motion, +certain parts (<i>corpora quadragemina</i>) which had hitherto +appeared on the upper surface, now pass towards the lower; the +former is their permanent situation in fishes and reptiles, the +latter in birds and mammalia. This is another advance in +the scale, but more remains yet to be done. The +complication of the organ increases; cavities termed +<i>ventricles</i> are formed, which do not exist in fishes, +reptiles, or birds; curiously organized parts, such as the +corpora striata, are added; it is now the brain of the +mammalia. Its last and final change alone seems wanting, +that which shall render it the brain of <span +class="GutSmall">MAN</span>.” <a name="citation201"></a><a +href="#footnote201" class="citation">[201]</a> And this +change in time takes place.</p> +<p>So also with the heart. This organ, in the mammalia, +consists of four cavities, but in the reptiles of only three, and +in fishes of two only, while in the articulated animals it is +merely a prolonged tube. Now in the mammal fœtus, at +a certain early stage, the organ has the form of a prolonged +tube; and a human being may be said to have then the heart of an +insect. Subsequently it is shortened and widened, and +becomes divided by a contraction into two parts, a ventricle and +an auricle; it is now the heart of a fish. A subdivision of +the auricle afterwards makes a triple-chambered form, as in the +heart of the reptile tribes; lastly, the ventricle being also +subdivided, it becomes a full mammal heart.</p> +<p>Another illustration here presents itself with the force of +the most powerful and interesting analogy. Some of the +earliest fishes of our globe, those of the Old Red Sandstone, +present, as we have seen, certain peculiarities, as the one-sided +tail and an inferior position of the mouth. No fishes of +the present day, in a mature state, are so characterized; but +some, at a certain stage of their existence, have such +peculiarities. It occurred to a geologist to inquire if the +fish which existed before the Old Red Sandstone had any +peculiarities assimilating them to the fœtal condition of +existing fish, and particularly if they were small. The +first which occur before the time of the Old Red Sandstone, are +those described by Mr. Murchison, as belonging to the Upper +Ludlow Rocks; <i>they are all rather small</i>. Still older +are those detected by Mr. Philips, in the Aymestry Limestone, +being the most ancient of the class which have as yet been +discovered; <i>these are so extremely minute as only to be +distinguishable by the microscope</i>. Here we apparently +have very clear demonstrations of a parity, or rather identity, +of laws presiding over the development of the animated tribes on +the face of the earth, and that of the individual in embryo.</p> +<p>The tendency of all these illustrations is to make us look to +<i>development</i> as the principle which has been immediately +concerned in the peopling of this globe, a process extending over +a vast space of time, but which is nevertheless connected in +character with the briefer process by which an individual being +is evoked from a simple germ. What mystery is there +here—and how shall I proceed to enunciate the conception +which I have ventured to form of what may prove to be its proper +solution! It is an idea by no means calculated to impress +by its greatness, or to puzzle by its profoundness. It is +an idea more marked by simplicity than perhaps any other of those +which have explained the great secrets of nature. But in +this lies, perhaps, one of its strongest claims to the faith of +mankind.</p> +<p>The whole train of animated beings, from the simplest and +oldest up to the highest and most recent, are, then, to be +regarded as a series of <i>advances of the principle of +development</i>, which have depended upon external physical +circumstances, to which the resulting animals are +appropriate. I contemplate the whole phenomena as having +been in the first place arranged in the counsels of Divine +Wisdom, to take place, not only upon this sphere, but upon all +the others in space, under necessary modifications, and as being +carried on, from first to last, here and elsewhere, under +immediate favour of the creative will or energy. <a +name="citation204"></a><a href="#footnote204" +class="citation">[204]</a> The nucleated vesicle, the +fundamental form of all organization, we must regard as the +meeting-point between the inorganic and the organic—the end +of the mineral and beginning of the vegetable and animal +kingdoms, which thence start in different directions, but in +perfect parallelism and analogy. We have already seen that +this nucleated vesicle is itself a type of mature and independent +being in the infusory animalcules, as well as the starting point +of the fœtal progress of every higher individual in +creation, both animal and vegetable. We have seen that it +is a form of being which electric agency will +produce—though not perhaps usher into full life—in +albumen, one of those compound elements of animal bodies, of +which another (urea) has been made by artificial means. +Remembering these things, we are drawn on to the supposition, +that the first step in the creation of life upon this planet was +<i>a chemico-electric operation</i>, <i>by which simple germinal +vesicles were produced</i>. This is so much, but what were +the next steps? Let a common vegetable infusion help us to +an answer. There, as we have seen, simple forms are +produced at first, but afterwards they become more complicated, +until at length the life-producing powers of the infusion are +exhausted. Are we to presume that, in this case, the simple +engender the complicated? Undoubtedly, this would not be +more wonderful as a natural process than one which we never think +of wondering at, because familiar to us—namely, that in the +gestation of the mammals, the animalcule-like ovum of a few days +is the parent, in a sense, of the chick-like form of a few weeks, +and that in all the subsequent stages—fish, reptile, +&c.—the one may, with scarcely a metaphor, be said to +be the progenitor of the other. I suggest, then, as an +hypothesis already countenanced by much that is ascertained, and +likely to be further sanctioned by much that remains to be known, +that the first step was <i>an advance under favour of peculiar +conditions</i>, <i>from the simplest forms of being</i>, <i>to +the next more complicated</i>, <i>and this through the medium of +the ordinary process of generation</i>.</p> +<p>Unquestionably, what we ordinarily see of nature is calculated +to impress a conviction that each species invariably produces its +like. But I would here call attention to a remarkable +illustration of natural law which has been brought forward by Mr. +Babbage, in his <i>Ninth Bridgewater Treatise</i>. The +reader is requested to suppose himself seated before the +calculating machine, and observing it. It is moved by a +weight, and there is a wheel which revolves through a small angle +round its axis, at short intervals, presenting to his eye +successively, a series of numbers engraved on its divided +circumference.</p> +<p>Let the figures thus seen be the series, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, +&c., of natural numbers, each of which exceeds its immediate +antecedent by unity.</p> +<p>“Now, reader,” says Mr. Babbage, “let me ask +you how long you will have counted before you are firmly +convinced that the engine has been so adjusted, that it will +continue, while its motion is maintained, to produce the same +series of natural numbers? Some minds are so constituted, +that, after passing the first hundred terms, they will be +satisfied that they are acquainted with the law. After +seeing five hundred terms few will doubt, and after the fifty +thousandth term the propensity to believe that the succeeding +term will be fifty thousand and one, will be almost +irresistible. That term <i>will</i> be fifty thousand and +one; and the same regular succession will continue; the five +millionth and the fifty millionth term will still appear in their +expected order, and one unbroken chain of natural numbers will +pass before your eyes, from <i>one</i> up to <i>one hundred +million</i>.</p> +<p>“True to the vast induction which has been made, the +next succeeding term will be one hundred million and one; but the +next number presented by the rim of the wheel, instead of being +one hundred million and two, is one hundred million <i>ten +thousand</i> and two. The whole series from the +commencement being thus,—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">2</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">3</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">5</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">.</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. .</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">99,999,999</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,000,000</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>regularly as far as</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,000,001</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,010,002</p> +</td> +<td><p>the law changes.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,030,003</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,060,004</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,100,005</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,150,006</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,210,007</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,280,008</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>“The law which seemed at first to govern this series +failed at the hundred million and second term. This term is +larger than we expected by 10,000. The next term is larger +than was anticipated by 30,000, and the excess of each term above +what we had expected forms the following table:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">10,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">30,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">60,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">100,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">150,000</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: right">. . .</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>being, in fact, the series of <i>triangular numbers</i>, <a +name="citation208"></a><a href="#footnote208" +class="citation">[208]</a> each multiplied by 10,000.</p> +<p>“If we now continue to observe the numbers presented by +the wheel, we shall find, that for a hundred, or even for a +thousand terms, they continue to follow the new law relating to +the triangular numbers; but after watching them for 2761 terms, +we find that this law fails in the case of the 2762d term.</p> +<p>“If we continue to observe, we shall discover another +law then coming into action, which also is dependent, but in a +different manner, on triangular numbers. This will continue +through about 1430 terms, when a new law is again introduced +which extends over about 950 terms, and this, too, like all its +predecessors, fails, and gives place to other laws, which appear +at different intervals.</p> +<p>“Now it must be observed that <i>the law that each +number presented by the engine is greater by unity than the +preceding number</i>, which law the observer had deduced from an +induction of a hundred million instances, <i>was not the true law +that regulated its action</i>, and that the occurrence of the +number 100,010,002 at the 100,000,002nd term was <i>as necessary +a consequence of the original adjustment</i>, <i>and might have +been as fully foreknown at the commencement</i>, <i>as was the +regular succession of any one of the intermediate numbers to its +immediate antecedent</i>. The same remark applies to the +next apparent deviation from the new law, which was founded on an +induction of 2761 terms, and also to the succeeding law, with +this limitation only—that, whilst their consecutive +introduction at various definite intervals, is a necessary +consequence of the mechanical structure of the engine, our +knowledge of analysis does not enable us to predict the periods +themselves at which the more distant laws will be +introduced.”</p> +<p>It is not difficult to apply the philosophy of this passage to +the question under consideration. It must be borne in mind +that the gestation of a single organism is the work of but a few +days, weeks, or months; but the gestation (so to speak) of a +whole creation is a matter probably involving enormous spaces of +time. Suppose that an ephemeron, hovering over a pool for +its one April day of life, were capable of observing the fry of +the frog in the water below. In its aged afternoon, having +seen no change upon them for such a long time, it would be little +qualified to conceive that the external branchiæ of these +creatures were to decay, and be replaced by internal lungs, that +feet were to be developed, the tail erased, and the animal then +to become a denizen of the land. Precisely such may be our +difficulty in conceiving that any of the species which people our +earth is capable of advancing by generation to a higher type of +being. During the whole time which we call the historical +era, the limits of species have been, to ordinary observation, +rigidly adhered to. But the historical era is, we know, +only a small portion of the entire age of our globe. We do +not know what may have happened during the ages which preceded +its commencement, as we do not know what may happen in ages yet +in the distant future. All, therefore, that we can properly +infer from the apparently invariable production of like by like +is, that such is the ordinary procedure of nature in the time +immediately passing before our eyes. Mr. Babbage’s +illustration powerfully suggests that this ordinary procedure may +be subordinate to a higher law which only <i>permits</i> it for a +time, and in proper season interrupts and changes it. We +shall soon see some philosophical evidence for this very +conclusion.</p> +<p>It has been seen that, in the reproduction of the higher +animals, the new being passes through stages in which it is +successively fish-like and reptile-like. But the +resemblance is not to the adult fish or the adult reptile, but to +the fish and reptile at a certain point in their fœtal +progress; this holds true with regard to the vascular, nervous, +and other systems alike. It may be illustrated by a simple +diagram. The fœtus of all the four classes may be +supposed to advance in an identical condition to the point +A. +<a href="images/p212b.jpg"> +<img class='floatright' alt= +"Diagram" +title= +"Diagram" +src="images/p212s.jpg" /> +</a> The fish there diverges and passes along a line apart, +and peculiar to A itself, to its mature state at F. The +reptile, bird, and mammal, go on together to C, where the reptile +diverges in like manner, and advances by itself to R. The +bird diverges at D, and goes on to B. The mammal then goes +forward in a straight line to the highest point of organization +at M. This diagram shews only the main ramifications; but +the reader must suppose minor ones, representing the subordinate +differences of orders, tribes, families, genera, &c., if he +wishes to extend his views to the whole varieties of being in the +animal kingdom. Limiting ourselves at present to the +outline afforded by this diagram, it is apparent that the only +thing required for an advance from one type to another in the +generative process is that, for example, the fish embryo should +not diverge at A, but go on to C before it diverges, in which +case the progeny will be, not a fish, but a reptile. To +protract the <i>straightforward part of the gestation over a +small space</i>—and from species to species the space would +be small indeed—is all that is necessary.</p> +<p>This might be done by the force of certain external conditions +operating upon the parturient system. The nature of these +conditions we can only conjecture, for their operation, which in +the geological eras was so powerful, has in its main strength +been long interrupted, and is now perhaps only allowed to work in +some of the lowest departments of the organic world, or under +extraordinary casualties in some of the higher, and to these +points the attention of science has as yet been little +directed. But though this knowledge were never to be +clearly attained, it need not much affect the present argument, +provided it be satisfactorily shewn that there must be some such +influence within the range of natural things.</p> +<p>To this conclusion it must be greatly conducive that the law +of organic development is still daily seen at work to certain +effects, only somewhat short of a transition from species to +species. Sex we have seen to be a matter of +development. There is an instance, in a humble department +of the animal world, of arrangements being made by the animals +themselves for adjusting this law to the production of a +particular sex. Amongst bees, as amongst several other +insect tribes, there is in each community but one true female, +the queen bee, the workers being false females or neuters; that +is to say, sex is carried on in them to a point where it is +attended by sterility. The preparatory states of the queen +bee occupy sixteen days; those of the neuters, twenty; and those +of males, twenty-four. Now it is a fact, settled by +innumerable observations and experiments, that the bees can so +modify a worker in the larva state, that, when it emerges from +the pupa, it is found to be a queen or true female. For +this purpose they enlarge its cell, make a pyramidal hollow to +allow of its assuming a vertical instead of a horizontal +position, keep it warmer than other larvæ are kept, and +feed it with a peculiar kind of food. From these simple +circumstances, leading to a shortening of the embryotic +condition, results a creature different in form, and also in +dispositions, from what would have otherwise been produced. +Some of the organs possessed by the worker are here altogether +wanting. We have a creature “destined to enjoy love, +to burn with jealousy and anger, to be incited to vengeance, and +to pass her time without labour,” instead of one +“zealous for the good of the community, a defender of the +public rights, enjoying an immunity from the stimulus of sexual +appetite and the pains of parturition; laborious, industrious, +patient, ingenious, skilful; incessantly engaged in the nurture +of the young, in collecting honey and pollen, in elaborating wax, +in constructing cells and the like!—paying the most +respectful and assiduous attention to objects which, had its +ovaries been developed, it would have hated and pursued with the +most vindictive fury till it had destroyed them!” <a +name="citation215"></a><a href="#footnote215" +class="citation">[215]</a> All these changes may be +produced by a mere modification of the embryotic progress, which +it is within the power of the adult animals to effect. But +it is important to observe that this modification is different +from working a direct change upon the embryo. It is not the +different food which effects a metamorphosis. All that is +done is merely to accelerate the period of the insect’s +perfection. By the arrangements made and the food given, +the embryo becomes sooner fit for being ushered forth in its +imago or perfect state. Development may be said to be thus +arrested at a particular stage—that early one at which the +female sex is complete. In the other circumstances, it is +allowed to go on four days longer, and a stage is then reached +between the two sexes, which in this species is designed to be +the perfect condition of a large portion of the community. +Four days more make it a perfect male. It is at the same +time to be observed that there is, from the period of +oviposition, a destined distinction between the sexes of the +young bees. The queen lays the whole of the eggs which are +designed to become workers, before she begins to lay those which +become males. But probably the condition of her +reproductive system governs the matter of sex, for it is remarked +that when her impregnation is delayed beyond the twenty-eighth +day of her entire existence, she lays only eggs which become +males.</p> +<p>We have here, it will be admitted, a most remarkable +illustration of the principle of development, although in an +operation limited to the production of sex only. Let it not +be said that the phenomena concerned in the generation of bees +may be very different from those concerned in the reproduction of +the higher animals. There is a unity throughout nature +which makes the one case an instructive reflection of the +other.</p> +<p>We shall now see an instance of development operating within +the production of what approaches to the character of variety of +species. It is fully established that a human family, +tribe, or nation, is liable, in the course of generations, to be +either advanced from a mean form to a higher one, or degraded +from a higher to a lower, by the influence of the physical +conditions in which it lives. The coarse features, and +other structural peculiarities of the negro race only continue +while these people live amidst the circumstances usually +associated with barbarism. In a more temperate clime, and +higher social state, the face and figure become greatly +refined. The few African nations which possess any +civilization also exhibit forms approaching the European; and +when the same people in the United States of America have enjoyed +a within-door life for several generations, they assimilate to +the whites amongst whom they live. On the other hand, there +are authentic instances of a people originally well-formed and +good-looking, being brought, by imperfect diet and a variety of +physical hardships, to a meaner form. It is remarkable that +prominence of the jaws, a recession and diminution of the +cranium, and an elongation and attenuation of the limbs, are +peculiarities always produced by these miserable conditions, for +they indicate an unequivocal retrogression towards the type of +the lower animals. Thus we see nature alike willing to go +back and to go forward. Both effects are simply the result +of the operation of the law of development in the generative +system. Give good conditions, it advances; bad ones, it +recedes. Now, perhaps, it is only because there is no +longer a possibility, in the higher types of being, of giving +sufficiently favourable conditions to carry on species to +species, that we see the operation of the law so far limited.</p> +<p>Let us trace this law also in the production of certain +classes of monstrosities. A human fœtus is often left +with one of the most important parts of its frame imperfectly +developed: the heart, for instance, goes no farther than the +three-chambered form, so that it is the heart of a reptile. +There are even instances of this organ being left in the +two-chambered or fish form. Such defects are the result of +nothing more than a failure of the power of development in the +system of the mother, occasioned by weak health or misery. +Here we have apparently a realization of the converse of those +conditions which carry on species to species, so far, at least, +as one organ is concerned. Seeing a complete specific +retrogression in this one point, how easy it is to imagine an +access of favourable conditions sufficient to reverse the +phenomenon, and make a fish mother develop a reptile heart, or a +reptile mother develop a mammal one. It is no great +boldness to surmise that a super-adequacy in the measure of this +under-adequacy (and the one thing seems as natural an occurrence +as the other) would suffice in a goose to give its progeny the +body of a rat, and produce the ornithorynchus, or might give the +progeny of an ornithorynchus the mouth and feet of a true rodent, +and thus complete at two stages the passage from the aves to the +mammalia.</p> +<p>Perhaps even the transition from species to species does still +take place in some of the obscurer fields of creation, or under +extraordinary casualties, though science professes to have no +such facts on record. It is here to be remarked, that such +facts might often happen, and yet no record be taken of them, for +so strong is the prepossession for the doctrine of invariable +like-production, that such circumstances, on occurring, would be +almost sure to be explained away on some other supposition, or, +if presented, would be disbelieved and neglected. Science, +therefore, has no such facts, for the very same reason that some +small sects are said to have no discreditable +members—namely, that they do not receive such persons, and +extrude all who begin to verge upon the character. There +are, nevertheless, some facts which have chanced to be reported +without any reference to this hypothesis, and which it seems +extremely difficult to explain satisfactorily upon any +other. One of these has already been mentioned—a +progression in the forms of the animalcules in a vegetable +infusion from the simpler to the more complicated, a sort of +microcosm, representing the whole history of the progress of +animal creation as displayed by geology. Another is given +in the history of the Acarus Crossii, which may be only the +ultimate stage of a series of similar transformations effected by +electric agency in the solution subjected to it. There is, +however, one direct case of a translation of species, which has +been presented with a respectable amount of authority. <a +name="citation221"></a><a href="#footnote221" +class="citation">[221]</a> It appears that, whenever oats +sown at the usual time are kept cropped down during summer and +autumn, and allowed to remain over the winter, a thin crop of rye +is the harvest presented at the close of the ensuing +summer. This experiment has been tried repeatedly, with but +one result; invariably the <i>secale cereale</i> is the crop +reaped where the <i>avena sativa</i>, a recognised different +species, was sown. Now it will not satisfy a strict +inquirer to be told that the seeds of the rye were latent in the +ground and only superseded the dead product of the oats; for if +any such fact were in the case, why should the usurping grain be +always rye? Perhaps those curious facts which have been +stated with regard to forests of one kind of trees, when burnt +down, being succeeded (without planting) by other kinds, may yet +be found most explicable, as this is, upon the hypothesis of a +progression of species which takes place under certain favouring +conditions, now apparently of comparatively rare +occurrence. The case of the oats is the more valuable, as +bearing upon the suggestion as to a protraction of the gestation +at a particular part of its course. Here, the generative +process is, by the simple mode of cropping down, kept up for a +whole year beyond its usual term. The type is thus allowed +to advance, and what was oats becomes rye.</p> +<p>The idea, then, which I form of the progress of organic life +upon the globe—and the hypothesis is applicable to all +similar theatres of vital being—is, <i>that the simplest +and most primitive type</i>, <i>under a law to which that of +like-production is subordinate</i>, <i>gave birth to the type +next above it</i>, <i>that this again produced the next +higher</i>, <i>and so on to the very highest</i>, the stages of +advance being in all cases very small—namely, from one +species only to another; so that the phenomenon has always been +of a simple and modest character. Whether the whole of any +species was at once translated forward, or only a few parents +were employed to give birth to the new type, must remain +undetermined; but, supposing that the former was the case, we +must presume that the moves along the line or lines were +simultaneous, so that the place vacated by one species was +immediately taken by the next in succession, and so on back to +the first, for the supply of which the formation of a new +germinal vesicle out of inorganic matter was alone +necessary. Thus, the production of new forms, as shewn in +the pages of the geological record, has never been anything more +than a new stage of progress in gestation, an event as simply +natural, and attended as little by any circumstances of a +wonderful or startling kind, as the silent advance of an ordinary +mother from one week to another of her pregnancy. Yet, be +it remembered, the whole phenomena are, in another point of view, +wonders of the highest kind, for in each of them we have to trace +the effect of an Almighty Will which had arranged the whole in +such harmony with external physical circumstances, that both were +developed in parallel steps—and probably this development +upon our planet is but a sample of what has taken place, through +the same cause, in all the other countless theatres of being +which are suspended in space.</p> +<p>This may be the proper place at which to introduce the +preceding illustrations in a form calculated to bring them more +forcibly before the mind of the reader. The following table +was suggested to me, in consequence of seeing the scale of +animated nature presented in Dr. Fletcher’s Rudiments of +Physiology. Taking that scale as its basis, it shews the +wonderful parity observed in the progress of creation, as +presented to our observation in the succession of fossils, and +also in the fœtal progress of one of the principal human +organs. <a name="citation224"></a><a href="#footnote224" +class="citation">[224]</a> This scale, it may be remarked, +was not made up with a view to support such an hypothesis as the +present, nor with any apparent regard to the history of fossils, +but merely to express the appearance of advancement in the orders +of the Cuvierian system, assuming, as the criterion of that +advancement, “an increase in the number and extent of the +manifestations of life, or of the relations which an organized +being bears to the external world.” Excepting in the +relative situation of the annelida and a few of the mammal +orders, the parity is perfect; nor may even these small +discrepancies appear when the order of fossils shall have been +further investigated, or a more correct scale shall have been +formed. Meanwhile, it is a wonderful evidence in favour of +our hypothesis, that a scale formed so arbitrarily should +coincide to such a nearness with our present knowledge of the +succession of animal forms upon earth, and also that both of +these series should harmonize so well with the view given by +modern physiologists of the embryotic progress of one of the +organs of the highest order of animals.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p226b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Complex table of animal kingdom" +title= +"Complex table of animal kingdom" +src="images/p226s.jpg" /> +</a> <a name="citation226"></a><a href="#footnote226" +class="citation">[226]</a></p> +<p>The reader has seen physical conditions several times referred +to, as to be presumed to have in some way governed the progress +of the development of the zoological circle. This language +may seem vague, and, it may be asked,—can any particular +physical condition be adduced as likely to have affected +development? To this it may be answered, that air and light +are probably amongst the principal agencies of this kind which +operated in educing the various forms of being. Light is +found to be essential to the development of the individual +embryo. When tadpoles were placed in a perforated box, and +that box sunk in the Seine, light being the only condition thus +abstracted, they grew to a great size in their original form, but +did not pass through the usual metamorphose which brings them to +their mature state as frogs. The proteus, an animal of the +frog kind, inhabiting the subterraneous waters of Carniola, and +which never acquires perfect lungs so as to become a land animal, +is presumed to be an example of arrested development, from the +same cause. When, in connexion with these facts, we learn +that human mothers living in dark and close cells under +ground,—that is to say, with an inadequate provision of air +and light,—are found to produce an unusual proportion of +defective children, <a name="citation229"></a><a +href="#footnote229" class="citation">[229]</a> we can appreciate +the important effects of both these physical conditions in +ordinary reproduction. Now there is nothing to forbid the +supposition that the earth has been at different stages of its +career under different conditions, as to both air and +light. On the contrary, we have seen reason for supposing +that the proportion of carbonic acid gas (the element fatal to +animal life) was larger at the time of the carboniferous +formation than it afterwards became. We have also seen that +astronomers regard the zodiacal light as a residuum of matter +enveloping the sun, and which was probably at one time denser +than it is now. Here we have the indications of causes for +a progress in the purification of the atmosphere and in the +diffusion of light during the earlier ages of the earth’s +history, with which the progress of organic life may have been +conformable. An accession to the proportion of oxygen, and +the effulgence of the central luminary, may have been the +immediate prompting cause of all those advances from species to +species which we have seen, upon other grounds, to be necessarily +supposed as having taken place. And causes of the like +nature may well be supposed to operate on other spheres of being, +as well as on this. I do not indeed present these ideas as +furnishing the true explanation of the progress of organic +creation; they are merely thrown out as hints towards the +formation of a just hypothesis, the completion of which is only +to be looked for when some considerable advances shall have been +made in the amount and character of our stock of knowledge.</p> +<p>Early in this century, M. Lamarck, a naturalist of the highest +character, suggested an hypothesis of organic progress which +deservedly incurred much ridicule, although it contained a +glimmer of the truth. He surmised, and endeavoured, with a +great deal of ingenuity, to prove, that one being advanced in the +course of generations to another, in consequence merely of its +experience of wants calling for the exercise of its faculties in +a particular direction, by which exercise new developments of +organs took place, ending in variations sufficient to constitute +a new species. Thus he thought that a bird would be driven +by necessity to seek its food in the water, and that, in its +efforts to swim, the outstretching of its claws would lead to the +expansion of the intermediate membranes, and it would thus become +web-footed. Now it is possible that wants and the exercise +of faculties have entered in some manner into the production of +the phenomena which we have been considering; but certainly not +in the way suggested by Lamarck, whose whole notion is obviously +so inadequate to account for the rise of the organic kingdoms, +that we only can place it with pity among the follies of the +wise. Had the laws of organic development been known in his +time, his theory might have been of a more imposing kind. +It is upon these that the present hypothesis is mainly +founded. I take existing natural means, and shew them to +have been capable of producing all the existing organisms, with +the simple and easily conceivable aid of a higher generative law, +which we perhaps still see operating upon a limited scale. +I also go beyond the French philosopher to a very important +point, the original Divine conception of all the forms of being +which these natural laws were only instruments in working out and +realizing. The actuality of such a conception I hold to be +strikingly demonstrated by the discoveries of Macleay, Vigors, +and Swainson, with respect to the affinities and analogies of +animal (and by implication vegetable) organisms. <a +name="citation232"></a><a href="#footnote232" +class="citation">[232]</a> Such a regularity in the +<i>structure</i>, as we may call it, of the <i>classification of +animals</i>, as is shewn in their systems, is totally +irreconcilable with the idea of form going on to form merely as +needs and wishes in the animals themselves dictated. Had +such been the case, all would have been irregular, as things +arbitrary necessarily are. But, lo, the whole plan of being +is as symmetrical as the plan of a house, or the laying out of an +old-fashioned garden! This must needs have been devised and +arranged for beforehand. And what a preconception or +forethought have we here! Let us only for a moment consider +how various are the external physical conditions in which animals +live—climate, soil, temperature, land, water, air—the +peculiarities of food, and the various ways in which it is to be +sought; the peculiar circumstances in which the business of +reproduction and the care-taking of the young are to be attended +to—all these required to be taken into account, and +thousands of animals were to be formed suitable in organization +and mental character for the concerns they were to have with +these various conditions and circumstances—here a tooth +fitted for crushing nuts; there a claw fitted to serve as a hook +for suspension; here to repress teeth and develop a bony net-work +instead; there to arrange for a bronchial apparatus, to last only +for a certain brief time; and all these animals were to be +schemed out, each as a part of a great range, which was on the +whole to be rigidly regular: let us, I say, only consider these +things, and we shall see that the decreeing of laws to bring the +whole about was an act involving such a degree of wisdom and +device as we only can attribute, adoringly, to the one Eternal +and Unchangeable. It may be asked, how does this reflection +comport with that timid philosophy which would have us to draw +back from the investigation of God’s works, lest the +knowledge of them should make us undervalue his greatness and +forget his paternal character? Does it not rather appear +that our ideas of the Deity can only be worthy of him in the +ratio in which we advance in a knowledge of his works and ways; +and that the acquisition of this knowledge is consequently an +available means of our growing in a genuine reverence for +him!</p> +<p>But the idea that any of the lower animals have been concerned +in any way with the origin of man—is not this +degrading? Degrading is a term, expressive of a notion of +the human mind, and the human mind is liable to prejudices which +prevent its notions from being invariably correct. Were we +acquainted for the first time with the circumstances attending +the production of an individual of our race, we might equally +think them degrading, and be eager to deny them, and exclude them +from the admitted truths of nature. Knowing this fact +familiarly and beyond contradiction, a healthy and natural mind +finds no difficulty in regarding it complacently. Creative +Providence has been pleased to order that it should be so, and it +must therefore be submitted to. Now the idea as to the +progress of organic creation, if we become satisfied of its +truth, ought to be received precisely in this spirit. It +has pleased Providence to arrange that one species should give +birth to another, until the second highest gave birth to man, who +is the very highest: be it so, it is our part to admire and to +submit. The very faintest notion of there being anything +ridiculous or degrading in the theory—how absurd does it +appear, when we remember that every individual amongst us +actually passes through the characters of the insect, the fish, +and reptile, (to speak nothing of others,) before he is permitted +to breathe the breath of life! But such notions are mere +emanations of false pride and ignorant prejudice. He who +conceives them little reflects that they, in reality, involve the +principle of a contempt for the works and ways of God. For +it may be asked, if He, as appears, has chosen to employ inferior +organisms as a generative medium for the production of higher +ones, even including ourselves, what right have we, his humble +creatures, to find fault? There is, also, in this +prejudice, an element of unkindliness towards the lower animals, +which is utterly out of place. These creatures are all of +them part products of the Almighty Conception, as well as +ourselves. All of them display wondrous evidences of his +wisdom and benevolence. All of them have had assigned to +them by their Great Father a part in the drama of the organic +world, as well as ourselves. Why should they be held in +such contempt? Let us regard them in a proper spirit, as +parts of the grand plan, instead of contemplating them in the +light of frivolous prejudices, and we shall be altogether at a +loss to see how there should be any degradation in the idea of +our race having been genealogically connected with them.</p> +<h2><a name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +236</span>MACLEAY SYSTEM OF ANIMATED NATURE.<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THIS SYSTEM CONSIDERED IN CONNEXION WITH +THE</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">PROGRESS OF ORGANIC CREATION, AND AS +INDICATING</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE NATURAL STATUS OF MAN.</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is now high time to advert to +the system formed by the animated tribes, both with a view to the +possible illustration of the preceding argument, and for the +light which it throws upon that general system of nature which it +is the more comprehensive object of this book to ascertain.</p> +<p>The vegetable and animal kingdoms are arranged upon a scale, +starting from simply organized forms, and going on to the more +complex, each of these forms being but slightly different from +those next to it on both sides. The lowest and most +slightly developed forms in the two kingdoms are so closely +connected, that it is impossible to say where vegetable ends and +animal begins. United at what may be called their bases, +they start away in different directions, but not altogether to +lose sight of each other. On the contrary, they maintain a +strict analogy throughout the whole of their subsequent courses, +sub-kingdom for sub-kingdom, class for class; shewing a +beautiful, though as yet obscure relation between the two grand +forms of being, and consequently a unity in the laws which +brought them both into existence. So complete does this +analogy appear, even in the present imperfect state of science, +that I fully expect in a few years to see the animal and +vegetable kingdoms duly ranked up against each other in a system +of parallels, which will admit of our assigning to each species +in the former the particular shrub or tree corresponding to it in +the latter, all marked by unmistakable analogies of the most +interesting kind.</p> +<p>It is as yet but a few years since a system of subordinate +analogies not less remarkable began to be speculated upon as +within the range of the animal kingdom. Probably it also +exists in the vegetable kingdom; but to this point no direct +attention has been given; so we are left to infer that such is +the case from theoretical considerations only. We are +indebted for what we know of these beautiful analogies to three +naturalists—Macleay, Vigors, and Swainson, whose labours +tempt us to dismiss in a great measure the artificial +classifications hitherto used, and make an entirely new +conspectus of the animal kingdom, not to speak of the +corresponding reform which will be required in our systems of +botany also.</p> +<p>The Macleay system, as it may be called in honour of its +principal author, announces that, whether we take the whole +animal kingdom, or any definite division of it, we shall find +that we are examining a group of beings which is capable of being +arranged along a series of close affinities, <i>in a circular +form</i>,—that is to say, starting from any one portion of +the group, when it is properly arranged, we can proceed from one +to another by minute gradations, till at length, having run +through the whole, we return to the point whence we set +out. All natural groups of animals are, therefore, in the +language of Mr. Macleay, <i>circular</i>; and the possibility of +throwing any supposed group into a circular arrangement is held +as a decisive test of its being a real or natural one. It +is of course to be understood that each circle is composed of a +set of inferior circles: for example, a set of <i>tribe</i> +circles composes an <i>order</i>; a set of <i>order</i> circles, +again, forms a <i>class</i>; and so on. Of each group, the +component circles are <i>invariably five in number</i>: thus, in +the animal kingdom, there are five sub-kingdoms,—the +vertebrata, annulosa, <a name="citation239a"></a><a +href="#footnote239a" class="citation">[239a]</a> radiata, acrita, +<a name="citation239b"></a><a href="#footnote239b" +class="citation">[239b]</a> mollusca. Take, again, one of +these sub-kingdoms, the vertebrata, and we find it composed of +five classes,—the mammalia, reptilia, pisces, amphibia, and +aves, each of the other sub-kingdoms being similarly +divisible. Take the mammalia, and it is in like manner +found to be composed of five orders,—the cheirotheria, <a +name="citation239c"></a><a href="#footnote239c" +class="citation">[239c]</a> feræ, cetacea, glires, +ungulata. Even in this numerical uniformity, which goes +down to the lowest ramifications of the system, there would be +something very remarkable, as arguing a definite and preconceived +arrangement; but this is only the least curious part of the +Macleay theory.</p> +<p>We shall best understand the wonderfully complex system of +analogies developed by that theory, if we start from the part of +the kingdom in which they were first traced,—namely, the +class aves, or birds. This gives for its five +orders,—<i>incessores</i>, (perching birds,) +<i>raptores</i>, (birds of prey,) <i>natatores</i>, (swimming +birds,) <i>grallatores</i>, (waders,) <i>rasores</i>, +(scrapers.) In these orders our naturalists discerned +distinct organic characters, of different degrees of perfectness, +the first being the most perfect with regard to the general +character of the class, and therefore the best representative of +that class; whence it was called the <i>typical</i> order. +The second was found to be inferior, or rather to have a less +perfect balance of qualities; hence it was designated the +<i>sub-typical</i>. In this are comprehended the chief +noxious and destructive animals of the circle to which it +belongs. The other three groups were called aberrant, as +exhibiting a much wider departure from the typical standard, +although the last of the three is observed to make a certain +recovery, and join on to the typical group, so as to complete the +circle. The first of the aberrant groups (natatores) is +remarkable for making the water the theatre of its existence, and +the birds composing it are in general of comparatively large +bulk. The second (grallatores) are long-limbed and +long-billed, that they may wade and pick up their subsistence in +the shallows and marshes in which they chiefly live. The +third (rasores) are distinguished by strong feet, for walking or +running on the ground, and for scraping in it for their food; +also by wings designed to scarcely raise them off the earth and, +farther, by a general domesticity of character and usefulness to +man.</p> +<p>Now the most remarkable circumstance is, that these organic +characters, habits, and moral properties, were found to be +traceable more or less distinctly in the corresponding portions +of every other group, even of those belonging to distant +subdivisions of the animal kingdom, as, for instance, the +insects. The incessores (typical order of aves) being +reduced to its constituent circles or tribes, it was found that +these strictly represented the five orders. In the +<i>conirostres</i> are the perfections which belong to the +incessores as an order, with the conspicuous external feature of +a comparatively small notch in their bills; in the +<i>dentirostres</i>, the notch is strong and toothlike, (hence +the name of the tribe) assimilating them to the raptores; the +<i>fissirostres</i> come into analogy with the natatores in the +slight development of their feet and their great powers of +flight; the <i>tenuirostres</i> have the small mouths and long +soft bills of the grallatores. Finally, the +<i>scansores</i> resemble the rasores in their superior +intelligence and docility, and in their having strong limbs and a +bill entire at the tip. This parity of qualities becomes +clearer when placed in a tabular form:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: center"><i>Orders of Birds</i>.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center"><i>Characters</i>.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center"><i>Tribes of +Incessores</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Incessores</p> +</td> +<td><p>Most perfect of their circle; notch of bill small</p> +</td> +<td><p>Conirostres.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Raptores</p> +</td> +<td><p>Notch of bill like a tooth</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dentirostres.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Natatores</p> +</td> +<td><p>Slightly developed feet; strong flight</p> +</td> +<td><p>Fissirostres.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Grallatores</p> +</td> +<td><p>Small mouths; long soft bills</p> +</td> +<td><p>Tenuirostres.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rasores</p> +</td> +<td><p>Strong feet, short wings; docile and domestic</p> +</td> +<td><p>Scansores.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>Some comprehensive terms are much wanted to describe these +five characters, so curiously repeated throughout the whole of +the animal, and probably also the vegetable kingdom. +Meanwhile, Mr. Swainson calls them typical, sub-typical, +natatorial, suctorial, <a name="citation242"></a><a +href="#footnote242" class="citation">[242]</a> and +rasorial. Some of his illustrations of the principle are +exceedingly interesting. He shews that the leading animal +of a typical circle usually has a combination of properties +concentrated in itself, without any of these preponderating +remarkably over others. The sub-typical circles, he says, +“do not comprise the largest individuals in bulk, but +always those which are the most powerfully armed, either for +inflicting injury on their own class, for exciting terror, +producing injury, or creating annoyance to man. Their +dispositions are often sanguinary, since the forms most +conspicuous among them live by rapine, and subsist on the blood +of other animals. They are, in short, symbolically types of +<i>evil</i>.” This symbolical character is most +conspicuous about the centre of the series of +gradations:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Kingdom</p> +</td> +<td><p>Annulosa.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-kingdom</p> +</td> +<td><p>Reptilia.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Class (Mammalia)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Feræ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>(Aves)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Raptores.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>In the annulosa it is not distinct, although we must also +remember that insects do produce enormous ravages and annoyance +in many parts of the earth. In the reptilia it is more +distinct, since to this class belong the ophidia, (serpents,) an +order peculiarly noxious. It comes to a kind of climax in +the feræ and raptores, which fulfil the function of +butchers among land animals. As we descend through tribes, +families, genera, species, it becomes fainter and fainter, but +never altogether vanishes. In the dentirostres, for +instance, we have in a subdued form the hooked bill and +predaceous character of the raptores; to this tribe belongs the +family of the shrikes, so deadly to all the lesser field +birds. In the genus bos, we have, in the sub-typical group, +the bison, “wild, revengeful, and shewing an innate +detestation of man.” In equus, we have, in the same +situation, the zebra, which actually shews the stripes of the +tiger, and is as remarkable for its wildness as its congeners, +the horse and ass, are for their docility and usefulness. +To quote again from Mr. Swainson, “the singular threatening +aspect which the caterpillars of the sphinx moth assume on being +disturbed, is a remarkable modification of the terrific or evil +nature which is impressed in one form or another, palpable or +remote, upon all sub-typical groups; for this division of the +lepidopterous order is precisely of this denomination. In +the pre-eminent type of this order of insects, the butterflies, +(papilionides,) our associations little prepare us for expecting +any trace of the evil principle; but here, too, there is a +sub-typical division. These,” says our naturalist, +“are distinguished by their caterpillars being armed with +formidable spines or prickles, which in general are possessed of +some highly acrimonious or poisonous quality, capable of injuring +those who touch them. It is only,” continues Mr. +Swainson, “when extensive researches bring to light a +uniformity of results, that we can venture to believe they are so +universal as to deserve being ranked as primary laws. Thus, +when a celebrated entomologist denounced as impure the black and +lurid beetles forming the saprophagous petalocera of Mr. Macleay, +a tribe living only upon putrid vegetable matter, and hiding +themselves in their disgusting food, or in dark hollows of the +earth, neither of these celebrated men suspected the absolute +fact, elicited from our analogies of this group, that this very +tribe constituted the sub-typical group of one of the primary +divisions of coleopterous insects: nor had they any suspicion +that, by the filthy habits and repulsive forms of these beetles, +nature had intended that they should be types or emblems of +hundreds of other groups, distinguished by peculiarities equally +indicative of evil. On the other hand, the thalerophagous +petalocera, forming the typical group of the same division, +present us with all the perfections and habits belonging to their +kind. These families of beetles live only upon fresh +vegetables; they are diurnal, and sport in the glare of day, pure +in their food, elegant in their shapes, and beautiful in their +colours.” <a name="citation246"></a><a href="#footnote246" +class="citation">[246]</a></p> +<p>The third type, (first of the three aberrant,) called by Mr. +Swainson, the <i>natatorial</i>, or aquatic, are chiefly +remarkable for their bulk, the disproportionate size of the head, +and the absence, or slight development of the feet. They +partake of the predaceous and destructive character of the +adjoining sub-typical group, and the means of their predacity are +generally found in the mouth alone. In the primary division +of the animal kingdom, we find the type in the radiata, not one +of which lives out of water. In the vertebrata, it is in +the fishes. In both of these, feet are totally +wanting. Descending to the class mammalia, we have this +type in the cetacea, which present a comparatively slight +development of limbs. In the aves, as we have seen, the +type is presented in the natatores, whose name has been adopted +as an appropriate term for all the corresponding groups. An +enumeration of some other examples of the natatorial type, as the +cephalopoda (instanced in the cuttle-fish) in the mollusca; the +crustacea (crabs, &c.) in the annulosa; the owls (which often +duck for fish) in the raptores; the ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus, +&c., among reptilia, will serve to bring the general +character, and its pervasion of the whole animal world, forcibly +before the mind of the reader.</p> +<p>The next type is that of meanest and most imperfect +organization, the lower termination of all groups, as the typical +is the upper. It is called by Mr. Swainson the suctorial, +from a very generally prevalent peculiarity, that of drawing +sustenance by suction. The acrita, or polypes, among the +sub-kingdoms; the intestina, among the annulosa; the tortoises, +among the reptilia; the armadillo and scaly ant-eater, pig, +mouse, jerboa, and kangaroo, among quadrupeds; the waders and +tenuirostres, among birds; the coleoptera, (bug, louse, flea, +&c.) among insects; the gastrobranchus, among fishes; are +examples which will illustrate the special characters of this +type. These are smallness, particularly in the head and +mouth, feebleness, and want of offensive protection, defect of +organs of mastication, considerable powers of swift movement, and +(often) a parasitic mode of living; while of negative qualities, +there are, besides, indisposition to domestication, and an +unsuitableness to serve as human food.</p> +<p>The rasorial type comprehends most of the animals which become +domesticated and useful to man, as, first, the fowls which give a +name to the type, the ungulata, and more particularly the +ruminantia, among quadrupeds, and the dog among the +feræ. Gentleness, familiarity with man, and a +peculiar approach to human intelligence, are the leading mental +characteristics of animals of this type. Amongst external +characters, we generally find power of limbs and feet for +locomotion on land, (to which the rasorial type is confined,) +abundant tail and ornaments for the head, whether in the form of +tufts, crests, horns, or bony excrescences. In the animal +kingdom, the mollusca are the rasorial type, which, however, only +shews itself there in their soft and sluggish character, and +their being very generally edible. In the ptilota, or +winged insects, the hymenopterous are the rasorial type, and it +is not therefore surprising to find amongst them the ants and +bees, “the most social, intelligent, and in the latter +case, most useful to man, of all the annulose animals.”</p> +<p>As yet the speculations on representation are imperfect, in +consequence of the novelty of the doctrine, and the defective +state of our knowledge of animated nature. It has, however, +been so fully proved in the aves, and traced so clearly in other +parts of the animal kingdom, and as a general feature of that +part of nature, that hardly a doubt can exist of its being +universally applicable. Even in the lowly forms of the +acrita, (polypes,) the suctorial type of the animal kingdom, +representation has been discerned, and with some remarkable +results as to the history of our world. The acrita were the +first forms of animal life upon earth, the starting point of that +great branch of organization. Now, this sub-kingdom +consists, like the rest, of five groups, (classes,) and these are +respectively representations of the acrita itself, and the other +four sub-kingdoms, which had not come into existence when the +acrita were formed. The polypi vaginati, in the crustaceous +covering of the living mass, and their more or less articulated +structure, represent the <i>annulosa</i>. In the radiated +forms of the rotifera, and the simple structure of the polypi +rudes, we are reminded of the <i>radiata</i>. The +<i>mollusca</i> are typified in the soft, mucous, sluggish +intestina. And, finally, in the fleshy living mass which +surrounds the bony and hollow axis of the polypi natantes, we +have a sketch of the <i>vertebrata</i>. The acrita thus +appear as a prophecy of the higher events of animal +development. They shew that the nobler orders of being, +including man himself, were contemplated from the first, and came +into existence by virtue of a law, the operation of which had +commenced ages before their forms were realized.</p> +<p>The system of representation is therefore to be regarded as +<i>a powerful additional proof of the hypothesis of organic +progress by virtue of law</i>. It establishes the unity of +animated nature and the definite character of its entire +constitution. It enables us to see how, under the flowing +robes of nature, where all looks arbitrary and accidental, there +is an artificiality of the most rigid kind. The natural, we +now perceive, sinks into and merges in a Higher Artificial. +To adopt a comparison more apt than dignified, we may be said to +be placed here as insects are in a garden of the old style. +Our first unassisted view is limited, and we perceive only the +irregularities of the minute surface, and single shrubs which +appear arbitrarily scattered. But our view at length +extending and becoming more comprehensive, we begin to see +parterres balancing each other, trees, statues, and arbours +placed symmetrically, and that the whole is an assemblage of +parts mutually reflective. It can scarcely be necessary to +point to the inference hence arising with regard to the +origination of nature in some Power, of which man’s mind is +a faint and humble representation. The insects of the +garden, supposing them to be invested with reasoning power, and +aware how artificial are their own works, might of course very +reasonably conclude that, being in its totality an artificial +object, the garden was the work of some maker or artificer. +And so also must we conclude, when we attain a knowledge of the +artificiality which is at the basis of nature, that nature is +wholly the production of a Being resembling, but infinitely +greater than ourselves.</p> +<p>Organic beings are, then, bound together in development, and +in a system of both affinities and analogies. Now, it will +be asked, does this agree with what we know of the geographical +distribution of organic beings, and of the history of organic +progress as delineated by geology? Let us first advert to +the geographical question.</p> +<p>Plants, as is well known, require various kinds of soil, forms +of geographical surface, climate, and other conditions, for their +existence. And it is everywhere found that, however +isolated a particular spot may be with regard to these +conditions,—as a mountain top in a torrid country, the +marsh round a salt spring far inland, or an island placed far +apart in the ocean,—appropriate plants have there taken up +their abode. But the torrid zone divides the two temperate +regions from each other by the space of more than forty-six +degrees, and the torrid and temperate zones together form a much +broader line of division between the two arctic regions. +The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Persian Gulf, also +divide the various portions of continent in the torrid and +temperate zones from each other. Australia is also divided +by a broad sea from the continent of Asia. Thus there are +various portions of the earth separated from each other in such a +way as to preclude anything like a general communication of the +seeds of their respective plants towards each other. Hence +arises an interesting question—Are the plants of the +various isolated regions which enjoy a parity of climate and +other conditions, identical or the reverse? The answer +is—that in such regions the vegetation bears a general +resemblance, but the <i>species</i> are nearly all different, and +there is even, in a considerable measure, a diversity of +families.</p> +<p>The general facts have been thus stated: in the arctic and +antarctic regions, and in those parts of lower latitudes, which, +from their elevation, possess the same cold climate, there is +always a similar or analogous vegetation, but few species are +common to the various situations. In like manner, the +intertropical vegetation of Asia, Africa, and America, are +specifically different, though generally similar. The +southern region of America is equally diverse from that of +Africa, a country similar in clime, but separated by a vast +extent of ocean. The vegetation of Australia, another +region similarly placed in respect of clime, is even more +peculiar. These facts are the more remarkable when we +discover that, in most instances, the plants of one region have +thriven when transplanted to another of parallel clime. +This would shew that parity of conditions does not lead to a +parity of productions so exact as to include identity of species, +or even genera. Besides the various isolated regions here +enumerated, there are some others indicated by naturalists as +exhibiting a vegetation equally peculiar. Some of these are +isolated by mountains, or the interposition of sandy +wastes. For example, the temperate region of the elder +continent is divided about the centre of Asia, and the east of +that line is different from the west. So also is the same +region divided in North America by the Rocky Mountains. +Abyssinia and Nubia constitute another distinct botanical +region. De Candolle enumerates in all twenty well-marked +portions of the earth’s surface which are peculiar with +respect to vegetation; a number which would be greatly increased +if remote islands and isolated mountain ranges were to be +included.</p> +<p>When we come to the zoology, we find precisely similar +results, excepting that man (with, perhaps, some of the less +conspicuous forms of being) is universal, and that several +tribes, as the bear and dog, appear to have passed by the land +connexion from the arctic regions of the eastern to those of the +western hemisphere. “With these exceptions,” +says Dr. Prichard, “and without any others, as far as +zoological researches have yet gone, it may be asserted that no +individual species are common to distant regions. In +parallel climates, analogous species replace each other; +sometimes, but not frequently, the same genus is found in two +separate continents; but the species which are natives of one +region are not identical with corresponding races indigenous in +the opposite hemisphere.</p> +<p>“A similar result arises when we compare the three great +intertropical regions, as well as the extreme spaces of the three +great continents, which advance into the temperate climates of +the southern hemisphere.</p> +<p>“Thus, the tribes of simiæ, (monkeys,) of the dog +and cat kinds, of pachyderms, including elephants, tapirs, +rhinoceroses, hogs, of bats, of saurian and ophidian reptiles, as +well of birds and other terrene animals, are all different in the +three great continents. In the lower departments of the +mammiferous family, we find that the bruta, or edendata, (sloths, +armadillos, &c.,) of Africa, are differently organized from +those of America, and these again from the tribes found in the +Malayan archipelago and Terra Australis.” <a +name="citation255"></a><a href="#footnote255" +class="citation">[255]</a></p> +<p>It does not appear that the diversity between the similar +regions of Africa, Asia, and America, is occasioned in all +instances by any disqualification of these countries to support +precisely the same genera or species. The ox, horse, goat, +&c., of the elder continent have thriven and extended +themselves in the new, and many of the indigenous tribes of +America would no doubt flourish in corresponding climates in +Europe, Asia, and Africa. It has, however, been remarked by +naturalists unacquainted with the Macleay system, that the larger +and more powerful animals of their respective orders belong to +the elder continent, and that thus the animals of America, unlike +the features of inanimate nature, appear to be upon a small +scale. The swiftest and most agile animals, and a large +proportion of those most useful to man, are also natives of the +elder continent. On the other hand, the bulk of the +edentata, a group remarkable for defects and meanness of +organization, are American. The zoology of America may be +said, upon the whole, to recede from that of Asia, “and +perhaps in a greater degree,” adds Dr. Prichard, +“from that of Africa.” A much greater recession +is, however, observed in both the botany and zoology of +Australia.</p> +<p>There “we do not find, in the great masses of +vegetation, either the majesty of the virgin forests of America, +or the variety and elegance of those of Asia, or the delicacy and +freshness of the woods of our temperate countries of +Europe. The vegetation is generally gloomy and sad; it has +the aspect of our evergreens or heaths; the plants are for the +most part woody; the leaves of nearly all the plants are linear, +lanceolated, small, coriaceous, and spinescent. The +grasses, which elsewhere are generally soft and flexible, +participate in the stiffness of the other vegetables. The +greater part of the plants of New Holland belong to new genera; +and those included in the genera already known are of new +species. The natural families which prevail are those of +the heaths, the proteæ, compositæ, leguminosæ, +and myrthoideæ; the larger trees all belong to the last +family.” <a name="citation257"></a><a href="#footnote257" +class="citation">[257]</a></p> +<p>The prevalent animals of Australia are not less +peculiar. It is well known that none above the marsupialia, +or pouched animals, are native to it. The most conspicuous +are these marsupials, which exist in great varieties here, though +unknown in the elder continent, and only found in a few mean +forms in America. Next to them are the monotremata, which +are entirely peculiar to this portion of the earth. Now +these are animals at the bottom of the mammiferous class, +adjoining to that of birds, of whose character and organization +the monotremata largely partake, the ornithorynchus presenting +the bill and feet of a duck, producing its young in eggs, and +having, like birds, a clavicle between the two shoulders. +The birds of Australia vary in structure and plumage, but all +have some singularity about them—the swan, for instance, is +black. The country abounds in reptiles, and the prevalent +fishes are of the early kinds, having a cartilaginous +structure.</p> +<p>Altogether, the plants and animals of this minor continent +convey the impression of an early system of things, such as might +be displayed in other parts of the earth about the time of the +oolite. In connexion with this circumstance, it is a fact +of some importance, that the geognostic character of Australia, +its vast arid plains, its little diversified surface and +consequent paucity of streams, and the very slight development of +volcanic rock on its surface, seem to indicate a system of +physical conditions, such as we may suppose to have existed +elsewhere in the oolitic era: perhaps we see the chalk formation +preparing there in the vast coral beds frontiering the +coast. Australia thus appears as a portion of the earth +which has, from some unknown causes, been belated in its physical +and organic development. And certainly the greater part of +its surface is not fitted to be an advantageous place of +residence for beings above the marsupialia, and judging from +analogy, it may yet be subjected to a series of changes in the +highest degree inconvenient to any human beings who may have +settled upon it.</p> +<p>The general conclusions regarding the geography of organic +nature, may be thus stated. (1.) There are numerous +distinct foci of organic production throughout the earth. +(2.) These have everywhere advanced in accordance with the local +conditions of climate &c., as far as at least the class and +order are concerned, a diversity taking place in the lower +gradations. No physical or geographical reason appearing +for this diversity, we are led to infer that, (3,) it is the +result of minute and inappreciable causes giving the law of +organic development a particular direction in the lower +subdivisions of the two kingdoms. (4.) Development has not +gone on to equal results in the various continents, being most +advanced in the eastern continent, next in the western, and least +in Australia, this inequality being perhaps the result of the +comparative antiquity of the various regions, geologically and +geographically.</p> +<p>It must at the same time be admitted that the line of organic +development has nowhere required for its advance the whole of the +families comprehended in the two kingdoms, seeing that some of +these are confined to one continent, and some to another, without +a conceivable possibility of one having been connected with the +other in the way of ancestry. The two great families of +quadrumana, cebidæ and simiadæ, are a noted instance, +the one being exclusively American, while the other belongs +entirely to the old world. There are many other cases in +which the full circular group can only be completed by taking +subdivisions from various continents. This would seem to +imply that, while the entire system is so remarkable for its +unity, it has nevertheless been produced in lines geographically +detached, these lines perhaps consisting of particular typical +groups placed in an independent succession, or of two or more of +these groups. And for this idea there is, even in the +present imperfect state of our knowledge of animated nature, some +countenance in ascertained facts, the birds of Australia, for +example, being chiefly of the suctorial type, while it may be +presumed that the observation as to the predominance of the +useful animals in the Old World, is not much different from +saying that the rasorial type is there peculiarly abundant. +It does not appear that the idea of independent lines, consisting +of particular types, or sets of types, is necessarily +inconsistent with the general hypothesis, as nothing yet +ascertained of the Macleay system forbids their having an +independent set of affinities. On this subject, however, +there is as yet much obscurity, and it must be left to future +inquirers to clear it up.</p> +<p>We must now call to mind that the geographical distribution of +plants and animals was very different in the geological ages from +what it is now. Down to a time not long antecedent to man, +the same vegetation overspread every clime, and a similar +uniformity marked the zoology. This is conceived by M. +Brogniart, with great plausibility, to have been the result of a +uniformity of climate, produced by the as yet unexhausted effect +of the internal heat of the earth upon its surface; whereas +climate has since depended chiefly on external sources of heat, +as modified by the various meteorological influences. +However the early uniform climate was produced, certain it is +that, from about the close of the geological epoch, plants and +animals have been dispersed over the globe with a regard to their +particular characters, and specimens of both are found so +isolated in particular situations, as utterly to exclude the idea +that they came thither from any common centre. It may be +asked,—Considering that, in the geological epoch, species +are not limited to particular regions, and that since the close +of that epoch, they are very peculiarly limited, are we to +presume the present organisms of the world to have been created +<i>ab initio</i> after that time? To this it may be +answered,—Not necessarily, as it so happens that animals +begin to be much varied, or to appear in a considerable variety +of species, towards the close of the geological history. It +may have been that the multitudes of locally peculiar species +only came into being after the uniform climate had passed +away. It may have only been when a varied climate arose, +that the originally few species branched off into the present +extensive variety.</p> +<p>A question of a very interesting kind will now probably arise +in the reader’s mind—<i>What place or status is +assigned to man in the new natural system</i>. Before going +into this inquiry, it is necessary to advert to several +particulars of the natural system not yet noticed.</p> +<p>It is necessary, in particular, to ascertain the grades which +exist in the classification of animals. In the line of the +aves, Mr. Swainson finds these to be nine, the species pica, for +example, being thus indicated:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Kingdom</p> +</td> +<td><p>Animalia.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-kingdom</p> +</td> +<td><p>Vertebrata.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Class</p> +</td> +<td><p>Aves.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Order</p> +</td> +<td><p>Incessores.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tribe</p> +</td> +<td><p>Conirostres.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Family</p> +</td> +<td><p>Corvidæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-family</p> +</td> +<td><p>Corvinæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Genus</p> +</td> +<td><p>Corvus.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-genus, or species</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pica.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>This brings us down to species, the subdivision where +intermarriage or breeding is usually considered as natural to +animals, and where a resemblance of offspring to parents is +generally persevered in. The dog, for instance, is a +species, because all dogs can breed together, and the progeny +partakes of the appearances of the parents. The human race +is held as a species, primarily for the same reasons. +Species, however, is liable to another subdivision, which +naturalists call variety; and variety appears to be subject to +exactly the same system of <i>representation</i> which have been +traced in species and higher denominations. In canis, for +instance, the bull-dog and mastiff represent the ferocious +sub-typical group; the waterdog is natatorial; we see the speed +and length of muzzle of the suctorial group in the greyhound; and +the bushy tail and gentle and serviceable character of the +rasorial in the shepherd’s dog and spaniel. Even the +striped and spotted skin of the tiger and panther is reproduced +in the more ferocious kind of dogs—an indication of a +fundamental connexion between physical and mental qualities which +we have also seen in the zebra, and which is likewise displayed +in the predominance of a yellow colour in the vultures and owls +in common with the lion and his congeners.</p> +<p>It is by no means clearly made out that this system of nine +gradations over and above that of variety applies in all +departments of nature. On the contrary, even Mr. Swainson +gives series in which several of them are omitted. It may +be that, in some departments of nature, variation from the class +or order has gone down into fewer shades than in others; or it +may be, that many of the variations have not survived till our +era, or have not been as yet detected by naturalists; in either +of which cases there may be a necessity for shortening the series +by the omission of one or two grades, as for instance +<i>tribe</i> or <i>sub-family</i>. This, however, is much +to be regretted, as it introduces an irregularity into the +natural system, and consequently throws a difficulty and doubt in +the way of our investigating it. With these preliminary +remarks, I shall proceed to inquire what is the natural status of +man.</p> +<p>That man’s place is to be looked for in the class +mammalia and sub-kingdom vertebrata admits of no doubt, from his +possessing both the characters on which these divisions are +founded. When we descend, however, below the <i>class</i>, +we find no settled views on the subject amongst +naturalists. Mr. Swainson, who alone has given a review of +the animal kingdom on the Macleay system, unfortunately writes on +this subject in a manner which excites a suspicion as to his +judgment. His arrangement of the first or typical order of +the mammalia is therefore to be received with great +hesitation. It is as follows:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Quadrumana</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pre-eminently organized for grasping.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Feræ</p> +</td> +<td><p>Claws retractile; carnivorous.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Natatorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cetacea</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pre-eminently aquatic; feet very short.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Suctorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Glires</p> +</td> +<td><p>Muzzle lengthened and pointed.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rasorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ungulata</p> +</td> +<td><p>Crests and other processes on the head.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>He then takes the quadrumana, and places it in the following +arrangement:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Simiadæ</p> +</td> +<td><p>(Monkeys of Old World.)</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cebidæ</p> +</td> +<td><p>(Monkeys of New World.)</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Natatorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Unknown</p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Suctorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Vespertilionidæ</p> +</td> +<td><p>(Bats.)</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rasorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lemuridæ</p> +</td> +<td><p>(Lemurs.)</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>He considers the simiadæ as a complete circle, and +argues thence that there is no room in the range of the animal +kingdom for man. Man, he says, is not a constituent part of +any circle, for, if he were, there ought to be other animals on +each hand having affinity to him, whereas there are none, the +resemblance of the orangs being one of mere analogy. Mr. +Swainson therefore considers our race as standing apart, and +forming a link between the unintelligent order of beings and the +angels! And this in spite of the glaring fact that, in our +teeth, hands, and other features grounded on by naturalists as +characteristic, we do not differ more from the simiadæ than +the bats do from the lemurs—in spite also of that +resemblance of analogy to the orangs which he himself admits, and +which, at the least, must be held to imply a certain +relation. He also overlooks that, though there may be no +room for man in the circle of the simiadæ, (this, indeed, +is quite true,) there may be in the order, where he actually +leaves a place entirely blank, or only to be filled up, as he +suggests, by mermen! <a name="citation266"></a><a +href="#footnote266" class="citation">[266]</a> Another +argument in his arrangement is, that it leaves the grades of +classification very much abridged, there being at the most seven +instead of nine. But serious argument on a theory so +preposterous may be considered as nearly thrown away. I +shall therefore at once proceed to suggest a new arrangement of +this portion of the animal kingdom, in which man is allowed the +place to which he is zoologically entitled.</p> +<p>I propose that the typical order of the mammalia should be +designated cheirotheria, from the sole character which is +universal amongst them, their possessing hands, and with a regard +to that pre-eminent qualification for grasping which has been +ascribed to them—an analogy to the perching habit of the +typical order of birds, which is worthy of particular +notice. The tribes of the cheirotheria I arrange as +follows:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>Typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Bimana.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sub-typical</p> +</td> +<td><p>Simiadæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Natatorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Vespertilionidæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Suctorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Lemuridæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rasorial</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cebidæ.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>Here man is put into the typical place, as the genuine head, +not only of this order, but of the whole animal world. The +double affinity which is requisite is obtained, for here he has +the simiadæ on one hand, and the cebidæ on the +other. The five tribes of the order are completed, the +vespertilionidæ being shifted (provisionally) into the +natatorial place, for which their appropriateness is so far +evidenced by the aquatic habits of several of the tribe, and the +lemuridæ into the suctorial, to which their length of +muzzle and remarkable saltatory power are highly suitable. +At the same time, the simiadæ are degraded from the typical +place, to which they have no sort of pretension, and placed where +their mean and mischievous character seem to require; the +cebidæ again being assigned that situation which their +comparatively inoffensive dispositions, their arboreal habits, +and their extraordinary development of the tail, (which with them +is like a fifth hand,) render so proper.</p> +<p>The zoological status thus assigned to the human race is +precisely what might be expected. In order to understand +its full value, it is necessary to observe how the various type +peculiarities operate in fixing the character of the animals +ranked in them. It is easy to conceive that they must be, +in some instances, much mixed up with each other, and +consequently obscured. If an animal, for example, is the +suctorial member of a circle of species, forming the natatorial +type of genera, forming a family or sub-family which in its turn +is rasorial, its qualities must evidently be greatly mingled and +ill to define. But, on the other hand, if we take the +rapacious or sub-typical group of birds, and look in it for the +tribe which is again the rapacious or sub-typical group of its +order, we may expect to find the qualities of that group exalted +or intensified, and accordingly made the more conspicuous. +Such is really the case with the vultures, in the rapacious +birds, a family remarkable above all of their order for their +carnivorous and foul habits. So, also, if we take the +typical group of the birds, the incessores or perchers, and look +in it for its typical group, the conirostres, and seek there +again for the typical family of that group, the corvidæ, we +may expect to find a very marked superiority in organization and +character. Such is really the case. “The +crow,” says Mr. Swainson, “unites in itself a greater +number of properties than are to be found individually in any +other genus of birds; as if in fact it had taken from all the +other orders a portion of their peculiar qualities, for the +purpose of exhibiting in what manner they could be +combined. From the rapacious birds this “type of +types,” as the crow has been justly called, takes the power +of soaring in the air, and of seizing upon living birds, like the +hawks, while its habit of devouring putrid substances, and +picking out the eyes of young animals, is borrowed from the +vultures. From the scansorial or climbing order it takes +the faculty of picking the ground, and discovering its food when +hidden from the eye, while the parrot family gives it the taste +for vegetable food, and furnishes it with great cunning, +sagacity, and powers of imitation, even to counterfeiting the +human voice. Next come the order of waders, who impart +their quota to the perfection of the crow by giving it great +powers of flight, and perfect facility in walking, such being +among the chief attributes of the suctorial order. Lastly, +the aquatic birds contribute their portion, by giving this +terrestrial bird the power of feeding not only on fish, which are +their peculiar food, but actually of occasionally catching it. <a +name="citation270"></a><a href="#footnote270" +class="citation">[270]</a> In this wonderful manner do we +find the crow partially invested with the united properties of +all other birds, while in its own order, that of the incessores +or perchers, it stands the pre-eminent type. We cannot also +fail to regard it as a remarkable proof of the superior +organization and character of the corvidæ, that they are +adapted for all climates, and accordingly found all over the +world.</p> +<p>Mr. Swainson’s description of the zoological status of +the crow, written without the least design of throwing any light +upon that of man, evidently does so in a remarkable degree. +It prepares us to expect in the place among the mammalia, +corresponding to that of the corvidæ in the aves, a being +or set of beings possessing a remarkable concentration of +qualities from all the other groups of their order, but in +general character as far above the corvidæ as a typical +group is above an aberrant one, the mammalia above the +aves. Can any of the simiadæ pretend to such a place, +narrowly and imperfectly endowed as these creatures are—a +mean reflection apparently of something higher? Assuredly +not, and in this consideration alone Mr. Swainson’s +arrangement must fall to the ground. To fill worthily so +lofty a station in the animated families man alone is +competent. In him only is to be found that concentration of +qualities from all the other groups of his order which has been +described as marking the corvidæ. That grasping +power, which has been selected as the leading physical quality of +his order, is nowhere so beautifully or so powerfully developed +as in his hand. The intelligence and teachableness of the +simiadæ rise to a climax in his pre-eminent mental +nature. His sub-analogy to the feræ is marked by his +canine teeth, and the universality of his rapacity, for where is +the department of animated nature which he does not without +scruple sacrifice to his convenience? With sanguinary, he +has also gentle and domesticable dispositions, thus reflecting +the characters of the ungulata, (the rasorial type of the class,) +to which we perhaps see a further analogy in the use which he +makes of the surface of the earth as a source of food. To +the aquatic type his love of maritime adventure very readily +assimilates him; and how far the suctorial is represented in his +nature it is hardly necessary to say. As the corvidæ, +too, are found in every part of the earth—almost the only +one of the inferior animals which has been acknowledged as +universal—so do we find man. He thrives in all +climates, and with regard to style of living, can adapt himself +to an infinitely greater diversity of circumstances than any +other animated creature.</p> +<p>Man, then, considered zoologically, and without regard to the +distinct character assigned to him by theology, simply takes his +place as the type of all types of the animal kingdom, the true +and unmistakable head of animated nature upon this earth. +It will readily occur that some more particular investigations +into the ranks of types might throw additional light on +man’s status, and perhaps his nature; and such light we may +hope to obtain when the philosophy of zoology shall have been +studied as it deserves. Perhaps some such diagram as the +one given on the next page will be found to be an approximation +to the expression of the merely natural or secular grade of man +in comparison with other animals.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p274b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Diagram" +title= +"Diagram" +src="images/p274s.jpg" /> +</a> <a name="citation274"></a><a href="#footnote274" +class="citation">[274]</a></p> +<p>Here the upright lines, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, may represent the +comparative height and grade of organization of both the five +sub-kingdoms, and the five classes of each of these; 5 being the +vertebrata in the one case, and the mammalia in the other. +The difference between the height of the line 1 and the line 5 +gives an idea of the difference of being the head type of the +aves, (corvidæ,) and the head type of the mammalia, +(bimana;) <i>a. b. c. d</i>. 5, again, represent the five +groups of the first order of the mammalia; <i>a</i>, being the +organic structure of the highest simia, and 5, that of man. +A set of tangent lines of this kind may yet prove one of the most +satisfactory means of ascertaining the height and breadth of the +psychology of our species.</p> +<p>It may be asked,—Is the existing human race the only +species designed to occupy the grade to which it is here +referred? Such a question evidently ought not to be +answered rashly; and I shall therefore confine myself to the +admission that, judging by analogy, we might expect to see +several varieties of the being, homo. There is no other +family approaching to this in importance, which presents but one +species. The corvidæ, our parallel in aves, consist +of several distinct genera and sub-genera. It is startling +to find such an appearance of imperfection in the circle to which +man belongs, and the ideas which rise in consequence are not less +startling. Is our race but the initial of the grand +crowning type? Are there yet to be species superior to us +in organization, purer in feeling, more powerful in device and +act, and who shall take a rule over us! There is in this +nothing improbable on other grounds. The present race, rude +and impulsive as it is, is perhaps the best adapted to the +present state of things in the world; but the external world goes +through slow and gradual changes, which may leave it in time a +much serener field of existence. There may then be occasion +for a nobler type of humanity, which shall complete the +zoological circle on this planet, and realize some of the dreams +of the purest spirits of the present race.</p> +<h2><a name="page277"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +277</span>EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> human race is known to consist +of numerous nations, displaying considerable differences of +external form and colour, and speaking in general different +languages. This has been the case since the commencement of +written record. It is also ascertained that the external +peculiarities of particular nations do not rapidly change. +There is rather a tendency to a persistency of type in all lines +of descent, insomuch that a subordinate admixture of various type +is usually obliterated in a few generations. Numerous as +the varieties are, they have all been found classifiable under +five leading ones:—1. The Caucasian or Indo-European, +which extends from India into Europe and Northern Africa; +2. The Mongolian, which occupies Northern and Eastern Asia; +3. The Malayan, which extends from the Ultra-Gangetic +Peninsula into the numerous islands of the South Sea and Pacific; +4. The Negro, chiefly confined to Africa; 5. The +aboriginal American. Each of these is distinguished by +certain general features of so marked a kind, as to give rise to +a supposition that they have had distinct or independent +origins. Of these peculiarities, colour is the most +conspicuous: the Caucasians are generally white, the Mongolians +yellow, the Negroes black, and the Americans red. The +opposition of two of these in particular, white and black, is so +striking, that of them, at least, it seems almost necessary to +suppose separate origins. Of late years, however, the whole +of this question has been subjected to a rigorous investigation, +and it has been successfully shewn that the human race might have +had one origin, for anything that can be inferred from external +peculiarities.</p> +<p>It appears from this inquiry, <a name="citation278"></a><a +href="#footnote278" class="citation">[278]</a> that colour and +other physiological characters are of a more superficial and +accidental nature than was at one time supposed. One fact +is at the very first extremely startling, that there are nations, +such as the inhabitants of Hindostan, known to be one in descent, +which nevertheless contain groups of people of almost all shades +of colour, and likewise discrepant in other of those important +features on which much stress has been laid. Some other +facts, which I may state in brief terms, are scarcely less +remarkable. In Africa, there are Negro nations,—that +is, nations of intensely black complexion, as the Jolofs, +Mandingoes, and Kafirs, whose features and limbs are as elegant +as those of the best European nations. While we have no +proof of Negro races becoming white in the course of generations, +the converse may be held as established, for there are Arab and +Jewish families of ancient settlement in Northern Africa, who +have become as black as the other inhabitants. There are +also facts which seem to shew the possibility of a natural +transition by generation from the black to the white complexion, +and from the white to the black. True whites (apart from +Albinoes) are not unfrequently born among the Negroes, and the +tendency to this singularity is transmitted in families. +There is, at least, one authentic instance of a set of perfectly +black children being born to an Arab couple, in whose ancestry no +such blood had intermingled. This occurred in the valley of +the Jordan, where it is remarkable that the Arab population in +general have flatter features, darker skins, and coarser hair, +than any other tribes of the same nation. <a +name="citation280"></a><a href="#footnote280" +class="citation">[280]</a></p> +<p>The style of living is ascertained to have a powerful effect +in modifying the human figure in the course of generations, and +this even in its osseous structure. About two hundred years +ago, a number of people were driven by a barbarous policy from +the counties of Antrim and Down, in Ireland, towards the +sea-coast, where they have ever since been settled, but in +unusually miserable circumstances, even for Ireland; and the +consequence is, that they exhibit peculiar features of the most +repulsive kind, projecting jaws with large open mouths, depressed +noses, high cheek bones, and bow legs, together with an extremely +diminutive stature. These, with an abnormal slenderness of +the limbs, are the outward marks of a low and barbarous condition +all over the world; it is particularly seen in the Australian +aborigines. On the other hand, the beauty of the higher +ranks in England is very remarkable, being, in the main, as +clearly a result of good external conditions. +“Coarse, unwholesome, and ill-prepared food,” says +Buffon, “makes the human race degenerate. All those +people who live miserably are ugly and ill-made. Even in +France, the country people are not so beautiful as those who live +in towns; and I have often remarked that in those villages where +the people are richer and better fed than in others, the men are +likewise more handsome, and have better +countenances.” He might have added, that elegant and +commodious dwellings, cleanly habits, comfortable clothing, and +being exposed to the open air only as much as health requires, +cooperate with food in increasing the elegance of a race of human +beings.</p> +<p>Subject only to these modifying agencies, there is, as has +been said, a remarkable persistency in national features and +forms, insomuch that a single individual thrown into a family +different from himself is absorbed in it, and all trace of him +lost after a few generations. But while there is such a +persistency to ordinary observation, it would also appear that +nature has a power of producing new varieties, though this is +only done rarely. Such novelties of type abound in the +vegetable world, are seen more rarely in the animal circle, and +perhaps are least frequent of occurrence in our own race. +There is a noted instance in the production, on a New England +farm, of a variety of sheep with unusually short legs, which was +kept up by breeding, on account of the convenience in that +country of having sheep which are unable to jump over low +fences. The starting and main taming a <i>breed</i> of +cattle, that is, a variety marked by some desirable peculiarity, +are familiar to a large class of persons. It appears only +necessary, when a variety has been thus produced, that a union +should take place between individuals similarly characterized, in +order to establish it. Early in the last century, a man +named Lambert, was born in Suffolk, with semi-horny excrescences +of about half an inch long, thickly growing all over his +body. The peculiarity was transmitted to his children, and +was last heard of in a third generation. The peculiarity of +six fingers on the hand and six toes on the feet, appears in like +manner in families which have no record or tradition of such a +peculiarity having affected them at any former period, and it is +then sometimes seen to descend through several generations. +It was Mr. Lawrence’s opinion, that a pair, in which both +parties were so distinguished, might be the progenitors of a new +variety of the race who would be thus marked in all future +time. It is not easy to surmise the causes which operate in +producing such varieties. Perhaps they are simply types in +nature, <i>possible to be realized under certain appropriate +conditions</i>, but which conditions are such as altogether to +elude notice. I might cite as examples of such possible +types, the rise of whites amongst the Negroes, the occurrence of +the family of black children in the valley of the Jordan, and the +comparatively frequent birth of red-haired children amongst not +only the Mongolian and Malayan families, but amongst the +Negroes. We are ignorant of the laws of variety-production; +but we see it going on as a principle in nature, and it is +obviously favourable to the supposition that all the great +families of men are of one stock.</p> +<p>The tendency of the modern study of the languages of nations +is to the same point. The last fifty years have seen this +study elevated to the character of a science, and the light which +it throws upon the history of mankind is of a most remarkable +nature.</p> +<p>Following a natural analogy, philologists have thrown the +earth’s languages into a kind of classification: a number +bearing a considerable resemblance to each other, and in general +geographically near, are styled a <i>group</i> or +<i>sub-family</i>; several groups, again, are associated as a +<i>family</i>, with regard to more general features of +resemblance. Six families are spoken of.</p> +<p>The Indo-European family nearly coincides in geographical +limits with those which have been assigned to that variety of +mankind which generally shews a fair complexion, called the +Caucasian variety. It may be said to commence in India, and +thence to stretch through Persia into Europe, the whole of which +it occupies, excepting Hungary, the Basque provinces of Spain, +and Finland. Its sub-families are the Sanskrit, or ancient +language of India, the Persian, the Slavonic, Celtic, Gothic, and +Pelasgian. The Slavonic includes the modern languages of +Russia and Poland. Under the Gothic, are (1) the +Scandinavian tongues, the Norske, Swedish, and Danish; and (2) +the Teutonic, to which belong the modern German, the Dutch, and +our own Anglo-Saxon. I give the name of Pelasgian to the +group scattered along the north shores of the Mediterranean, the +Greek and Latin, including the modifications of the latter under +the names of Italian, Spanish, &c. The Celtic was from +two to three thousand years ago, the speech of a considerable +tribe dwelling in Western Europe; but these have since been +driven before superior nations into a few corners, and are now +only to be found in the highlands of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, +Cornwall, and certain parts of France. The Gaelic of +Scotland, Erse of Ireland, and the Welsh, are the only living +branches of this sub-family of languages.</p> +<p>The resemblances amongst languages are of two +kinds,—identity of words, and identity of grammatical +forms; the latter being now generally considered as the most +important towards the argument. When we inquire into the +first kind of affinity among the languages of the Indo-European +family, we are surprised at the great number of common terms +which exist amongst them, and these referring to such primary +ideas, as to leave no doubt of their having all been derived from +a common source. Colonel Vans Kennedy presents nine hundred +words common to the Sanskrit and other languages of the same +family. In the Sanskrit and Persian, we find several which +require no sort of translation to an English reader, as +<i>pader</i>, <i>mader</i>, <i>sunu</i>, <i>dokhter</i>, +<i>brader</i>, <i>mand</i>, <i>vidhava</i>; likewise +<i>asthi</i>, a bone, (Greek, <i>ostoun</i>;) <i>denta</i>, a +tooth, (Latin, <i>dens</i>, <i>dentis</i>;) <i>eyeumen</i>, the +eye; <i>brouwa</i>, the eye-brow, (German, <i>braue</i>;) +<i>nasa</i>, the nose; <i>karu</i>, the hand, (Gr. <i>cheir</i>;) +<i>genu</i>, the knee, (Lat. <i>genu</i>;) <i>ped</i>, the foot, +(Lat. <i>pes</i>, <i>pedis</i>;) <i>hrti</i>, the heart; +<i>jecur</i>, the liver, (Lat. <i>jecur</i>;) <i>stara</i>, a +star; <i>gela</i>, cold, (Lat. <i>gelu</i>, ice;) <i>aghni</i>, +fire, (Lat. <i>ignis</i>;) <i>dhara</i>, the earth, (Lat. +<i>terra</i>, Gaelic, <i>tir</i>;) <i>arrivi</i>, a river; +<i>nau</i>, a ship, (Gr. <i>naus</i>, Lat. <i>navis</i>;) +<i>ghau</i>, a cow; <i>sarpam</i>, a serpent.</p> +<p>The inferences from these verbal coincidences were confirmed +in a striking manner when Bopp and others investigated the +grammatical structure of this family of languages. Dr. +Wiseman pronounces that the great philologist just named, +“by a minute and sagacious analysis of the Sanskrit verb, +compared with the conjugational system of the other members of +this family, left no doubt of their intimate and positive +affinity.” It was now discovered that the peculiar +terminations or inflections by which persons are expressed +throughout the verbs of nearly the whole of these languages, have +their foundations in pronouns; the pronoun was simply placed at +the end, and thus became an inflexion. “By an +analysis of the Sanskrit pronouns, the elements of those existing +in all the other languages were cleared of their anomalies; the +verb substantive, which in Latin is composed of fragments +referable to two distinct roots, here found both existing in +regular form; the Greek conjugations, with all their complicated +machinery of middle voice, augments, and reduplications, were +here found and illustrated in a variety of ways, which a few +years ago would have appeared chimerical. Even our own +language may sometimes receive light from the study of distant +members of our family. Where, for instance, are we to seek +for the root of our comparative <i>better</i>? Certainly +not in its positive, good, nor in the Teutonic dialects in which +the same anomaly exists. But in the Persian we have +precisely the same comparative, <i>behter</i>, with exactly the +same signification, regularly formed from its positive +<i>beh</i>, good.” <a name="citation287"></a><a +href="#footnote287" class="citation">[287]</a></p> +<p>The second great family is the <i>Syro-Phœnician</i>, +comprising the Hebrew, Syro-Chaldaic, Arabic, and Gheez or +Abyssinian, being localized principally in the countries to the +west and south of the Mediterranean. Beyond them, again, is +the African family, which, as far as research has gone, seems to +be in like manner marked by common features, both verbal and +grammatical. The fourth is the Polynesian family, extending +from Madagascar on the west through all the Indian Archipelago, +besides taking in the Malayan dialect from the continent of +India, and comprehending Australia and the islands of the western +portion of the Pacific. This family, however, bears such an +affinity to that next to be described, that Dr. Leyden and some +others do not give it a distinct place as a family of +languages.</p> +<p>The fifth family is the Chinese, embracing a large part of +China, and most of the regions of Central and Northern +Asia. The leading features of the Chinese are, its +consisting altogether of monosyllables, and being destitute of +all grammatical forms, except certain arrangements and +accentuations, which vary the sense of particular words. It +is also deficient in some of the consonants most conspicuous in +other languages, b, d, r, v, and z; so that this people can +scarcely pronounce our speech in such a way as to be +intelligible: for example, the word Christus they call +<i>Kuliss-ut-oo-suh</i>. The Chinese, strange to say, +though they early attained to a remarkable degree of +civilization, and have preceded the Europeans in many of the most +important inventions, have a language which resembles that of +children, or deaf and dumb people. The sentence of short, +simple, unconnected words, in which an infant amongst us attempts +to express some of its wants and its ideas—the equally +broken and difficult terms which the deaf and dumb express by +signs, as the following passage of the Lord’s +Prayer:—“Our Father, heaven in, wish your name +respect, wish your soul’s kingdom providence arrive, wish +your will do heaven earth equality,” &c.—these +are like the discourse of the refined people of the so-called +Celestial Empire. An attempt was made by the Abbé +Sicard to teach the deaf and dumb grammatical signs; but they +persisted in restricting themselves to the simple signs of ideas, +leaving the structure undetermined by any but the natural order +of connexion. Such is exactly the condition of the Chinese +language.</p> +<p>Crossing the Pacific, we come to the last great family in the +languages of the aboriginal Americans, which have all of them +features in common, proving them to constitute a group by +themselves, without any regard to the very different degrees of +civilization which these nations had attained at the time of the +discovery. The common resemblance is in the grammatical +structure as well as in words, and the grammatical structure of +this family is of a very peculiar and complicated kind. The +general character in this respect has caused the term +Polysynthetic to be applied to the American languages. A +long many-syllabled word is used by the rude Algonquins and +Delawares to express a whole sentence: for example, a woman of +the latter nation, playing with a little dog or cat, would +perhaps be heard saying, “<i>kuligatschis</i>,” +meaning, “give me your pretty little paw;” the word, +on examination, is found to be made up in this manner: <i>k</i>, +the second personal pronoun; <i>uli</i>, part of the word wulet, +pretty; <i>gat</i>, part of the word wichgat, signifying a leg or +paw; <i>schis</i>, conveying the idea of littleness. In the +same tongue, a youth is called pilape, a word compounded from the +first part of pilsit, innocent, and the latter part of lenape, a +man. Thus, it will be observed, a number of parts of words +are taken and thrown together, by a process which has been +happily termed <i>agglutination</i>, so as to form one word, +conveying a complicated idea. There is also an elaborate +system of inflection; in nouns, for instance, there is one kind +of inflection to express the presence or absence of vitality, and +another to express number. The genius of the language has +been described as accumulative: it “tends rather to add +syllables or letters, making farther distinctions in objects +already before the mind, than to introduce new words.” <a +name="citation291"></a><a href="#footnote291" +class="citation">[291]</a> Yet it has also been shewn very +distinctly, that these languages are based in words of one +syllable, like those of the Chinese and Polynesian families; all +the primary ideas are thus expressed: the elaborate system of +inflection and agglutination is shewn to be simply a farther +development of the language-forming principle, as it may be +called—or the Chinese system may be described as an +arrestment of this principle at a particular early point. +It has been fully shewn, that between the structure of the +American and other families, sufficient affinities exist to make +a common origin or early connexion extremely likely. The +verbal affinities are also very considerable. Humboldt +says, “In eighty-three American languages examined by +Messrs. Barton and Vater, one hundred and seventy words have been +found, the roots of which appear to be the same; and it is easy +to perceive that this analogy is not accidental, since it does +not rest merely upon imitative harmony, or on that conformity of +organs which produces almost a perfect identity in the first +sounds articulated by children. Of these one hundred and +seventy words which have this connexion, three-fifths resemble +the Manchou, the Tongouse, the Mongal, and the Samoyed; and +two-fifths, the Celtic and Tchoud, the Biscayan, the Coptic, and +Congo languages. These words have been found by comparing +the whole of the American languages with the whole of those of +the Old World; for hitherto we are acquainted with no American +idiom which seems to have an exclusive correspondence with any of +the Asiatic, African, or European tongues.” <a +name="citation293"></a><a href="#footnote293" +class="citation">[293]</a> Humboldt and others considered +these words as brought into America by recent immigrants; an idea +resting on no proof, and which seems at once refuted by the +common words being chiefly those which represent primary ideas; +besides, we now know, what was not formerly perceived or +admitted, that there are great affinities of structure +also. I may here refer to a curious mathematical +calculation by Dr. Thomas Young, to the effect, that if three +words coincide in two different languages, it is ten to one they +must be derived in both cases from some parent language, or +introduced in some other manner. “Six words would +give more,” he says, “than seventeen hundred to one, +and eight near 100,000, so that in these cases the evidence would +be little short of absolute certainty.” He instances +the following words to shew a connexion between the ancient +Egyptian and the Biscayan:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Biscayan</span>.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Egyptian</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>New</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Beria</p> +</td> +<td><p>Beri.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>A dog</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Ora</p> +</td> +<td><p>Whor.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>Little</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Gutchi</p> +</td> +<td><p>Kudchi.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>Bread</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Ognia</p> +</td> +<td><p>Oik.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>A wolf</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Otgsa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ounsh.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><i>Seven</i></p> +</td> +<td><p>Shashpi</p> +</td> +<td><p>Shashf.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>Now, as there are, according to Humboldt, one hundred and +seventy words in common between the languages of the new and old +continents, and many of these are expressive of the most +primitive ideas, there is, by Dr. Young’s calculation, +overpowering proof of the original connexion of the American and +other human families.</p> +<p>This completes the slight outline which I have been able to +give, of the evidence for the various races of men being +descended from one stock. It cannot be considered as +conclusive, and there are many eminent persons who deem the +opposite idea the more probable; but I must say that, without the +least regard to any other kind of evidence, that which physiology +and philology present seems to me decidedly favourable to the +idea of a single origin.</p> +<p>Assuming that the human race is <i>one</i>, we are next called +upon to inquire in what part of the earth it may most probably be +supposed to have originated. One obvious mode of +approximating to a solution of this question is to trace backward +the lines in which the principal tribes appear to have migrated, +and to see if these converge nearly to a point. It is very +remarkable that the lines do converge, and are concentrated about +the region of Hindostan. The language, religion, modes of +reckoning time, and some other peculiar ideas of the Americans, +are now believed to refer their origin to North-Eastern +Asia. Trace them farther back in the same direction, and we +come to the north of India. The history of the Celts and +Teutones represents them as coming from the east, the one after +the other, successive waves of a tide of population flowing +towards the north-west of Europe: this line being also traced +back, rests finally at the same place. So does the line of +Iranian population, which has peopled the east and south shores +of the Mediterranean, Syria, Arabia, and Egypt. The Malay +variety, again, rests its limit in one direction on the borders +of India. Standing on that point, it is easy to see how the +human family, originating there, might spread out in different +directions, passing into varieties of aspect and of language as +they spread, the Malay variety proceeding towards the Oceanic +region, the Mongolians to the east and north, and sending off the +red men as a sub-variety, the European population going off to +the north-westward, and the Syrian, Arabian, and Egyptian, +towards the countries which they are known to have so long +occupied. The Negro alone is here unaccounted for; and of +that race it may fairly be said, that it is the one most likely +to have had an independent origin, seeing that it is a type so +peculiar in an inveterate black colour, and so mean in +development. But it is not necessary to presume such an +origin for it, as much good argument might be employed to shew +that it is only a deteriorated offshoot of the general +stock. Our view of the probable original seat of man agrees +with the ancient traditions of the race. There is one among +the Hindoos which places the cradle of the human family in +Thibet; another makes Ceylon the residence of the first +man. Our view is also in harmony with the hypothesis +detailed in the chapter before the last. According to that +theory, we should expect man to have originated where the highest +species of the quadrumana are to be found. Now these are +unquestionably found in the Indian Archipelago.</p> +<p>After all, it may be regarded as still an open question, +whether mankind is of one or many origins. The first human +generation may have consisted of many pairs, though situated at +one place, and these may have been considerably different from +each other in external characters. And we are equally bound +to admit, though this does not as yet seem to have occurred to +any other speculator, that there may have been different lines +and sources of origination, geographically apart, but which all +resulted uniformly in the production of a being, one in species, +although variously marked.</p> +<p>It has of late years been a favourite notion with many, that +the human race was at first in a highly civilized state, and that +barbarism was a second condition. This idea probably took +its origin in a wish to support certain interpretations of the +Mosaic record, and it has never yet been propounded by any writer +who seemed to have a due sense of the value of science in this +class of investigations. The principal argument for it is, +that we see many examples of nations falling away from +civilization into barbarism, while in some regions of the earth, +the history of which we do not clearly know, there are remains of +works of art far superior to any which the present unenlightened +inhabitants could have produced. It is to be readily +admitted that such decadences are common; but do they necessarily +prove that there has been anything like a regular and constant +decline into the present state, from a state more generally +refined? May not these be only instances of local failures +and suppressions of the principle of civilization, where it had +begun to take root amongst a people generally barbarous? It +is, at least, as legitimate to draw this inference from the facts +which are known. But it is also alleged that we know of no +such thing as civilization being ever self-originated. It +is always seen to be imparted from one people to another. +Hence, of course, we must infer that civilization at the first +could only have been of supernatural origin. This argument +appears to be founded on false premises, for civilization does +sometimes rise in a manner clearly independent amongst a horde of +people generally barbarous. A striking instance is +described in the laborious work of Mr. Catlin on the +North-American tribes. Far placed among those which inhabit +the vast region of the north-west, and quite beyond the reach of +any influence from the whites, he found a small tribe living in a +fortified village, where they cultivated the arts of manufacture, +realized comforts and luxuries, and had attained to a remarkable +refinement of manners, insomuch as to be generally called the +polite and friendly Mandans. They were also more than +usually elegant in their persons, and of every variety of +complexion between that of their compatriots and a pure +white. Up to the time of Mr. Catlin’s visit, these +people had been able to defend themselves and their possessions +against the roving bands which surrounded them on all sides; but, +soon after, they were attacked by small-pox, which cut them all +off except a small party, whom their enemies rushed in upon and +destroyed to a man. What is this but a repetition on a +small scale of phenomena with which ancient history familiarizes +us—a nation rising in arts and elegances amidst barbarous +neighbours, but at length overpowered by the rude majority, +leaving only a Tadmor or a Luxor as a monument of itself to +beautify the waste? What can we suppose the nation which +built Palenque and Copan to have been but only a Mandan tribe, +which chanced to have made its way farther along the path of +civilization and the arts, before the barbarians broke in upon +it? The flame essayed to rise in many parts of the earth; +but there were always considerable chances against it, and down +it accordingly went, times without number; but there was always a +vitality in it, nevertheless, and a tendency to progress, and at +length it seems to have attained a strength against which the +powers of barbarism can never more prevail. The state of +our knowledge of uncivilized nations is very apt to make us fall +into error on this subject. They are generally supposed to +be all at one point in barbarism, which is far from being the +case, for in the midst of every great region of uncivilized men, +such as North America, there are nations partially refined. +The Jolofs, Mandingoes, and Kafirs, are African examples, where a +natural and independent origin for the improvement which exists +is as unavoidably to be presumed as in the case of the +Mandans.</p> +<p>The most conclusive argument against the original civilization +of mankind is to be found in the fact that we do not now see +civilization existing anywhere except in certain conditions +altogether different from any we can suppose to have +existed at the commencement of our race. To have +civilization, it is necessary that a people should be numerous +and closely placed; that they should be fixed in their +habitations, and safe from violent external and internal +disturbance; that a considerable number of them should be exempt +from the necessity of drudging for immediate subsistence. +Feeling themselves at ease about the first necessities of their +nature, including self-preservation, and daily subjected to that +intellectual excitement which society produces, men begin to +manifest what is called civilization; but never in rude and +shelterless circumstances, or when widely scattered. Even +men who have been civilized, when transferred to a wide +wilderness, where each has to work hard and isolatedly for the +first requisites of life, soon shew a retrogression to barbarism: +witness the plains of Australia, as well as the backwoods of +Canada and the prairies of Texas. Fixity of residence and +thickening of population are perhaps the prime requisites for +civilization, and hence it will be found that all civilizations +as yet known have taken place in regions physically +limited. That of Egypt arose in a narrow valley hemmed in +by deserts on both sides. That of Greece took its rise in a +small peninsula bounded on the only land side by mountains. +Etruria and Rome were naturally limited regions. +Civilizations have taken place at both the eastern and western +extremities of the elder continent—China and Japan, on the +one hand; Germany, Holland, Britain, France, on the +other—while the great unmarked tract between contains +nations decidedly less advanced. Why is this, but because +the sea, in both cases, has imposed limits to further migration, +and caused the population to settle and condense—the +conditions most necessary for social improvement. <a +name="citation302"></a><a href="#footnote302" +class="citation">[302]</a> Even the simple case of the +Mandans affords an illustration of this principle, for Mr. Catlin +expressly, though without the least regard to theory, attributes +their improvement to the fact of their being a small tribe, +obliged, by fear of their more numerous enemies, to <i>settle in +a permanent village</i>, so fortified as to ensure their +preservation. “By this means,” says he, +“they have advanced farther in the arts of manufacture, and +have supplied their lodges more abundantly with the comforts and +even luxuries of life than any Indian nation I know of. The +consequence of this,” he adds, “is that the tribe +have taken many steps ahead of other tribes in <i>manners and +refinements</i>.” These conditions can only be +regarded as natural laws affecting civilization, and it might not +be difficult, taking them into account, to predict of any newly +settled country its social destiny. An island like Van +Dieman’s land might fairly be expected to go on more +rapidly to good manners and sound institutions than a wide region +like Australia. The United States might be expected to make +no great way in civilization till they be fully peopled to the +Pacific; and it might not be unreasonable to expect that, when +that even has occurred, the greatest civilizations of that vast +territory will be found in the peninsula of California and the +narrow stripe of country beyond the Rocky Mountains. This, +however, is a digression. To return: it is also necessary +for a civilization that at least a portion of the community +should be placed above mean and engrossing toils. +Man’s mind becomes subdued, like the dyer’s hand, to +that it works in. In rude and difficult circumstances we +unavoidably become rude, because then only the inferior and +harsher faculties of our nature are called into existence. +When, on the contrary, there is leisure and abundance, the +self-seeking and self-preserving instincts are allowed to rest, +the gentler and more generous sentiments are evoked, and man +becomes that courteous and chivalric being which he is found to +be amongst the upper classes of almost all civilized +countries. These, then, may be said to be the chief natural +laws concerned in the moral phenomenon of civilization. If +I am right in so considering them, it will of course be readily +admitted that the earliest families of the human race, although +they might be simple and innocent, could not have been in +anything like a civilized state, seeing that the conditions +necessary for that state could not have then existed. Let +us only for a moment consider some of the things requisite for +their being civilized,—namely, a set of elegant homes ready +furnished for their reception, fields ready cultivated to yield +them food without labour, stores of luxurious appliances of all +kinds, a complete social enginery for the securing of life and +property,—and we shall turn from the whole conceit as one +worthy only of the philosophers of Utopia.</p> +<p>Yet, as has been remarked, the earliest families might be +simple and innocent, while at the same time unskilled and +ignorant, and obliged to live merely upon such substances as they +could readily procure. The traditions of all nations refer +to such a state as that in which mankind were at first: perhaps +it is not so much a tradition as an idea which the human mind +naturally inclines to form respecting the fathers of the race; +but nothing that we see of mankind absolutely forbids our +entertaining this idea, while there are some considerations +rather favourable to it. A few families, in a state of +nature, living near each other, in a country supplying the means +of livelihood abundantly, are generally simple and innocent; +their instinctive and perceptive faculties are also apt to be +very active, although the higher intellect may be dormant. +If we therefore presume India to have been the cradle of our +race, they might at first exemplify a sort of golden age; but it +could not be of long continuance. The very first movements +from the primal seat would be attended with degradation, nor +could there be any tendency to true civilization till groups had +settled and thickened in particular seats physically limited.</p> +<p>The probability may now be assumed that the human race sprung +from one stock, which was at first in a state of simplicity, if +not barbarism. As yet we have not seen very distinctly how +the various branches of the family, as they parted off, and took +up separate ground, became marked by external features so +peculiar. Why are the Africans black, and generally marked +by coarse features and ungainly forms? Why are the +Mongolians generally yellow, the Americans red, the Caucasians +white? Why the flat features of the Chinese, the small +stature of the Laps, the soft round forms of the English, the +lank features of their descendants, the Americans? All of +these phenomena appear, in a word, to be explicable on the ground +of <i>development</i>. We have already seen that various +leading animal forms represent stages in the embryotic progress +of the highest—the human being. Our brain goes +through the various stages of a fish’s, a reptile’s, +and a mammifer’s brain, and finally becomes human. +There is more than this, for, after completing the animal +transformations, it passes through the characters in which it +appears, in the Negro, Malay, American, and Mongolian nations, +and finally is Caucasian. The face partakes of these +alterations. “One of the earliest points in which +ossification commences is the lower jaw. This bone is +consequently sooner completed than the other bones of the head, +and acquires a predominance, which, as is well known, it never +loses in the Negro. During the soft pliant state of the +bones of the skull, the oblong form which they naturally assume, +approaches nearly the permanent shape of the Americans. At +birth, the flattened face, and broad smooth forehead of the +infant, the position of the eyes rather towards the side of the +head, and the widened space between, represent the Mongolian +form; while it is only as the child advances to maturity, that +the oval face, the arched forehead, and the marked features of +the true Caucasian, become perfectly developed.” <a +name="citation307a"></a><a href="#footnote307a" +class="citation">[307a]</a> <i>The leading characters</i>, +<i>in short</i>, <i>of the various races of mankind</i>, <i>are +simply representations of particular stages in the development of +the highest or Caucasian type</i>. The Negro exhibits +permanently the imperfect brain, projecting lower jaw, and +slender bent limbs, of a Caucasian child, some considerable time +before the period of its birth. The aboriginal American +represents the same child nearer birth. The Mongolian is an +arrested infant newly born. And so forth. All this is +as respects form; <a name="citation307b"></a><a +href="#footnote307b" class="citation">[307b]</a> but whence +colour? This might be supposed to have depended on climatal +agencies only; but it has been shewn by overpowering evidence to +be independent of these. In further considering the matter, +we are met by the very remarkable fact that colour is deepest in +the least perfectly developed type, next in the Malay, next in +the American, next in the Mongolian, the very order in which the +degrees of development are ranged. <i>May not colour</i>, +<i>then</i>, <i>depend upon development also</i>? We do +not, indeed, see that a Caucasian fœtus at the stage which +the African represents is anything like black; neither is a +Caucasian child yellow, like the Mongolian. There may, +nevertheless, be a character of skin at a certain stage of +development which is predisposed to a particular colour when it +is presented as the envelope of a mature being. Development +being arrested at so immature a stage in the case of the Negro, +the skin may take on the colour as an unavoidable consequence of +its imperfect organization. It is favourable to this view, +that Negro infants are not deeply black at first, but only +acquire the full colour tint after exposure for some time to the +atmosphere. Another consideration in its favour is that +there is a likelihood of peculiarities of form and colour, since +they are so coincident, depending on one set of phenomena. +If it be admitted as true, there can be no difficulty in +accounting for all the varieties of mankind. They are +simply the result of so many advances and retrogressions in the +developing power of the human mothers, these advances and +retrogressions being, as we have formerly seen, the immediate +effect of external conditions in nutrition, hardship, &c., <a +name="citation309"></a><a href="#footnote309" +class="citation">[309]</a> and also, perhaps, to some extent, of +the suitableness and unsuitableness of marriages, for it is found +that parents too nearly related tend to produce offspring of the +Mongolian type,—that is, persons who in maturity still are +a kind of children. According to this view, the greater +part of the human race must be considered as having lapsed or +declined from the original type. In the Caucasian or +Indo-European family alone has the primitive organization been +improved upon. The Mongolian, Malay, American, and Negro, +comprehending perhaps five-sixths of mankind, are +degenerate. Strange that the great plan should admit of +failures and aberrations of such portentous magnitude! But +pause and reflect; take time into consideration: the past history +of mankind may be, to what is to come, but as a day. Look +at the progress even now making over the barbaric parts of the +earth by the best examples of the Caucasian type, promising not +only to fill up the waste places, but to supersede the imperfect +nations already existing. Who can tell what progress may be +made, even in a single century, towards reversing the proportions +of the perfect and imperfect types? and who can tell but that the +time during which the mean types have lasted, long as it appears, +may yet be thrown entirely into the shade by the time during +which the best types will remain predominant?</p> +<p>We have seen that the traces of a common origin in all +languages afford a ground of presumption for the unity of the +human race. They establish a still stronger probability +that mankind had not yet begun to disperse before they were +possessed of a means of communicating their ideas by conventional +sounds—in short, speech. This is a gift so peculiar +to man, and in itself so remarkable, that there is a great +inclination to surmise a miraculous origin for it, although there +is no proper ground, or even support, for such an idea in +Scripture, while it is clearly opposed to everything else that we +know with regard to the providential arrangements for the +creation of our race. Here, as in many other cases, a +little observation of nature might have saved much vain +discussion. The real character of language itself has not +been thoroughly understood. Language, in its most +comprehensive sense, is the communication of ideas by whatever +means. Ideas can be communicated by looks, gestures, and +signs of various other kinds, as well as by speech. The +inferior animals possess some of those means of communicating +ideas, and they have likewise a silent and unobservable mode of +their own, the nature of which is a complete mystery to us, +though we are assured of its reality by its effects. Now, +as the inferior animals were all in being before man, there was +language upon earth long ere the history of our race +commenced. The only additional fact in the history of +language, which was produced by our creation, was the rise of a +new mode of expression—namely, that by <i>sound-signs</i> +produced by the vocal organs. In other words, speech was +the only novelty in this respect attending the creation of the +human race. No doubt it was an addition of great +importance, for, in comparison with it, the other natural modes +of communicating ideas sink into insignificance. Still, the +main and fundamental phenomenon, language, as the communication +of ideas, was no new gift of the Creator to man; and in speech +itself, when we judge of it as a natural fact, we see only a +result of some of those superior endowments of which so many +others have fallen to our lot through the medium of an improved +or advanced organization.</p> +<p>The first and most obvious natural endowment concerned in +speech is that peculiar organization of the larynx, trachea, and +mouth, which enables us to produce the various sounds required in +the case. Man started at first with this organization ready +for use, a constitution of the atmosphere adapted for the sounds +which that organization was calculated to produce, and, lastly, +but not leastly, as will afterwards be more particularly shewn, a +mental power within, prompting to, and giving directions for, the +expression of ideas. Such an arrangement of mutually +adapted things was as likely to produce sounds as an Eolian harp +placed in a draught is to produce tones. It was unavoidable +that human beings so organized, and in such a relation to +external nature, should utter sounds, and also come to attach to +these conventional meanings, thus forming the elements of spoken +language. The great difficulty which has been felt was to +account for man going in this respect beyond the inferior +animals. There could have been no such difficulty if +speculators in this class of subjects had looked into physiology +for an account of the superior vocal organization of man, and had +they possessed a true science of mind to shew man possessing a +faculty for the expression of ideas which is only rudimental in +the lower animals. Another difficulty has been in the +consideration that, if men were at first utterly untutored and +barbarous, they could scarcely be in a condition to form or +employ language—an instrument which it requires the fullest +powers of thought to analyse and speculate upon. But this +difficulty also vanishes upon reflection—for, in the first +place, we are not bound to suppose the fathers of our race early +attaining to great proficiency in language, and, in the second, +language itself seems to be amongst the things least difficult to +be acquired, if we can form any judgment from what we see in +children, most of whom have, by three years of age, while their +information and judgment are still as nothing, mastered and +familiarized themselves with a quantity of words, infinitely +exceeding in proportion what they acquire in the course of any +subsequent similar portion of time.</p> +<p>Discussions as to which parts of speech were first formed, and +the processes by which grammatical structure and inflections took +their rise, appear in a great measure needless, after the matter +has been placed in this light. The mental powers could +readily connect particular arbitrary sounds with particular +ideas, whether those ideas were nouns, verbs, or +interjections. As the words of all languages can be traced +back into roots which are monosyllables, we may presume these +sounds to have all been monosyllabic accordingly. The +clustering of two or more together to express a compound idea, +and the formation of inflections by additional syllables +expressive of pronouns and such prepositions as of, by, and to, +are processes which would or might occur as matters of course, +being simple results of a mental power called into action, and +partly directed, by external necessities. This power, +however, as we find it in very different degrees of endowment in +individuals, so would it be in different degrees of endowment in +nations, or branches of the human family. Hence we find the +formation of words and the process of their composition and +grammatical arrangement, in very different stages of development +in different races. The Chinese have a language composed of +a limited number of monosyllables, which they multiply in use by +mere variations of accent, and which they have never yet attained +the power of clustering or inflecting; the language of this +immense nation—the third part of the human race—may +be said to be in the condition of infancy. The aboriginal +Americans, so inferior in civilization, have, on the other hand, +a language of the most elaborately composite kind, perhaps even +exceeding, in this respect, the languages of the most refined +European nations. These are but a few out of many facts +tending to shew that language is in a great measure independent +of civilization, as far as its advance and development are +concerned. Do they not also help to prove that cultivated +intellect is not necessary for the origination of language?</p> +<p>Facts daily presented to our observation afford equally simple +reasons for the almost infinite diversification of +language. It is invariably found that, wherever society is +at once dense and refined, language tends to be uniform +throughout the whole population, and to undergo few changes in +the course of time. Wherever, on the contrary, we have a +scattered and barbarous people, we have great diversities, and +comparatively rapid alterations of language. Insomuch that, +while English, French, and German are each spoken with little +variation by many millions, there are islands in the Indian +archipelago, probably not inhabited by one million, but in which +there are hundreds of languages, as diverse as are English, +French, and German. It is easy to see how this should +be. There are peculiarities in the vocal organization of +every person, tending to produce peculiarities of pronunciation; +for example, it has been stated that each child in a family of +six gave the monosyllable, fly, in a different manner, (eye, fy, +ly, &c.) until, when the organs were more advanced, correct +example induced the proper pronunciation of this and similar +words. Such departures from orthoepy are only to be checked +by the power of such example; but this is a power not always +present, or not always of sufficient strength. The able and +self-devoted Robert Moffat, in his work on South Africa, states, +without the least regard to hypothesis, that amongst the people +of the towns of that great region, “the purity and harmony +of language is kept up by their pitchos or public meetings, by +their festivals and ceremonies, as well as by their songs and +their constant intercourse. With the isolated villages of +the desert it is far otherwise. They have no such meetings; +they are compelled to traverse the wilds, often to a great +distance from their native village. On such occasions, +fathers and mothers, and all who can bear a burden, often set out +for weeks at a time, and leave their children to the care of two +or three infirm old people. The infant progeny, some of +whom are beginning to lisp, while others can just master a whole +sentence, and those still farther advanced, romping and playing +together, the children of nature, through the live-long day, +<i>become habituated to a language of their own</i>. The +more voluble condescend to the less precocious, and thus, from +this infant Babel, proceeds a dialect composed of a host of +mongrel words and phrases, joined together without rule, and +<i>in the course of a generation the entire character of the +language is changed</i>.” <a name="citation317"></a><a +href="#footnote317" class="citation">[317]</a> I have been +told, that in like manner the children of the Manchester factory +workers, left for a great part of the day, in large assemblages, +under the care of perhaps a single elderly person, and spending +the time in amusements, are found to make a great deal of new +language. I have seen children in other circumstances amuse +themselves by concocting and throwing into the family circulation +entirely new words; and I believe I am running little risk of +contradiction when I say that there is scarcely a family, even +amongst the middle classes of this country, who have not some +peculiarities of pronunciation and syntax, which have originated +amongst themselves, it is hardly possible to say how. All +these things being considered, it is easy to understand how +mankind have come at length to possess between three and four +thousand languages, all different at least as much as French, +German, and English, though, as has been shewn, the traces of a +common origin are observable in them all.</p> +<p>What has been said on the question whether mankind were +originally barbarous or civilized, will have prepared the reader +for understanding how the arts and sciences, and the rudiments of +civilization itself, took their rise amongst men. The only +source of fallacious views on this subject is the so frequent +observation of arts, sciences, and social modes, forms, and +ideas, being not indigenous where we see them now flourishing, +but known to have been derived elsewhere: thus Rome borrowed from +Greece, Greece from Egypt, and Egypt itself, lost in the mists of +historic antiquity, is now supposed to have obtained the light of +knowledge from some still earlier scene of intellectual +culture. This has caused to many a great difficulty in +supposing a natural or spontaneous origin for civilization and +the attendant arts. But, in the first place, several stages +of derivation are no conclusive argument against there having +been an originality at some earlier stage. In the second, +such observers have not looked far enough, for, if they had, they +could have seen various instances of civilizations which it is +impossible, with any plausibility, to trace back to a common +origin with others; such are those of China and America. +They would also have seen civilization springing up, as it were, +like oases amongst the arid plains of barbarism, as in the case +of the Mandans. A still more attentive study of the subject +would have shewn, amongst living men, the very psychological +procedure on which the origination of civilization and the arts +and sciences depended.</p> +<p>These things, like language, are simply the effects of the +spontaneous working of certain mental faculties, each in relation +to the things of the external world on which it was intended by +creative Providence to be exercised. The monkeys +themselves, without instruction from any quarter, learn to use +sticks in fighting, and some build houses—an act which +cannot in their case be considered as one of instinct, but of +intelligence. Such being the case, there is no necessary +difficulty in supposing how man, with his superior mental +organization, (a brain five times heavier,) was able, in his +primitive state, without instruction, to turn many things in +nature to his use, and commence, in short, the circle of the +domestic arts. He appears, in the most unfavourable +circumstances, to be able to provide himself with some sort of +dwelling, to make weapons, and to practise some simple kind of +cookery. But, granting, it will be said, that he can go +thus far, how does he ever proceed farther unprompted, seeing +that many nations remain fixed for ever at this point, and seem +unable to take one step in advance? It is perfectly true +that there is such a fixation in many nations; but, on the other +hand, all nations are not alike in mental organization, and +another point has been established, that only when some +favourable circumstances have settled a people in one place, do +arts and social arrangements get leave to flourish. If we +were to limit our view to humbly endowed nations, or the common +class of minds in those called civilized, we should see +absolutely no conceivable power for the origination of new ideas +and devices. But let us look at the inventive class of +minds which stand out amongst their fellows—the men who, +with little prompting or none, conceive new ideas in science, +arts, morals—and we can be at no loss to understand how and +whence have arisen the elements of that civilization which +history traces from country to country throughout the course of +centuries. See a Pascal, reproducing the +Alexandrian’s problems at fifteen; a Ferguson, making +clocks from the suggestions of his own brain, while tending +cattle on a Morayshire heath; a boy Lawrence, in an inn on the +Bath road, producing, without a master, drawings which the +educated could not but admire; or look at Solon and Confucius, +devising sage laws, and breathing the accents of all but divine +wisdom, for their barbarous fellow-countrymen, three thousand +years ago—and the whole mystery is solved at once. +Amongst the arrangements of Providence is one for the production +of original, inventive, and aspiring minds, which, when +circumstances are not decidedly unfavourable, strike out new +ideas for the benefit of their fellow-creatures, or put upon them +a lasting impress of their own superior sentiments. +Nations, improved by these means, become in turn <i>foci</i> for +the diffusion of light over the adjacent regions of +barbarism—their very passions helping to this end, for +nothing can be more clear than that ambitious aggression has led +to the civilization of many countries. Such is the process +which seems to form the destined means for bringing mankind from +the darkness of barbarism to the day of knowledge and mechanical +and social improvement. Even the noble art of letters is +but, as Dr. Adam Fergusson has remarked, “a natural produce +of the human mind, which will rise spontaneously, wherever men +are happily placed;” original alike amongst the ancient +Egyptians and the dimly monumented Toltecans of Yucatan. +“Banish,” says Dr. Gall, “music, poetry, +painting, sculpture, architecture, all the arts and sciences, and +let your Homers, Raphaels, Michael Angelos, Glucks, and Canovas, +be forgotten, yet let men of genius of every description spring +up, and poetry, music, painting, architecture, sculpture, and all +the arts and sciences will again shine out in all their +glory. Twice within the records of history has the human +race traversed the great circle of its entire destiny, and twice +has the rudeness of barbarism been followed by a higher degree of +refinement. It is a great mistake to suppose one people to +have proceeded from another on account of their conformity of +manners, customs, and arts. The swallow of Paris builds its +nest like the swallow of Vienna, but does it thence follow that +the former sprung from the latter? With the same causes we +have the same effects; with the same organization we have the +manifestation of the same powers.”</p> +<h2><a name="page324"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +324</span>MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> has been one of the most +agreeable tasks of modern science to trace the wonderfully exact +adaptations of the organization of animals to the physical +circumstances amidst which they are destined to live. From +the mandibles of insects to the hand of man, all is seen to be in +the most harmonious relation to the things of the outward world, +thus clearly proving that <i>design</i> presided in the creation +of the whole—design again implying a designer, another word +for a <span class="smcap">Creator</span>.</p> +<p>It would be tiresome to present in this place even a selection +of the proofs which have been adduced on this point. The +Natural Theology of Paley, and the Bridgewater Treatises, place +the subject in so clear a light, that the general postulate may +be taken for granted. The physical constitution of animals +is, then, to be regarded as in the nicest congruity and +adaptation to the external world.</p> +<p>Less clear ideas have hitherto been entertained on the mental +constitution of animals. The very nature of this +constitution is not as yet generally known or held as +ascertained. There is, indeed, a notion of old standing, +that the mind is in some way connected with the brain; but the +metaphysicians insist that it is, in reality, known only by its +acts or effects, and they accordingly present the subject in a +form which is unlike any other kind of science, for it does not +so much as pretend to have nature for its basis. There is a +general disinclination to regard mind in connexion with +organization, from a fear that this must needs interfere with the +cherished religious doctrine of the spirit of man, and lower him +to the level of the brutes. A distinction is therefore +drawn between our mental manifestations and those of the lower +animals, the latter being comprehended under the term instinct, +while ours are collectively described as mind, mind being again a +received synonyme with soul, the immortal part of man. +There is here a strange system of confusion and error, which it +is most imprudent to regard as essential to religion, since +candid investigations of nature tend to shew its +untenableness. There is, in reality, nothing to prevent our +regarding man as specially endowed with an immortal spirit, at +the same time that his ordinary mental manifestations are looked +upon as simple phenomena resulting from organization, those of +the lower animals being phenomena absolutely the same in +character, though developed within much narrower limits. <a +name="citation326"></a><a href="#footnote326" +class="citation">[326]</a></p> +<p>What has chiefly tended to take mind, in the eyes of learned +and unlearned, out of the range of nature, is its apparently +irregular and wayward character. How different the +manifestations in different beings! how unstable in all!—at +one time so calm, at another so wild and impulsive! It +seemed impossible that anything so subtle and aberrant could be +part of a system, the main features of which are regularity and +precision. But the irregularity of mental phenomena is only +in appearance. When we give up the individual, and take the +mass, we find as much uniformity of result as in any other class +of natural phenomena. The irregularity is exactly of the +same kind as that of the weather. No man can say what may +be the weather of to-morrow; but the quantity of rain which falls +in any particular place in any five years, is precisely the same +as the quantity which falls in any other five years at the same +place. Thus, while it is absolutely impossible to predict +of any one Frenchman that during next year he will commit a +crime, it is quite certain that about one in every six hundred +and fifty of the French people will do so, because in past years +the proportion has generally been about that amount, the +tendencies to crime in relation to the temptations being +everywhere invariable over a sufficiently wide range of +time. So also, the number of persons taken in charge by the +police in London for being drunk and disorderly on the streets, +is, week by week, a nearly uniform quantity, shewing that the +inclination to drink to excess is always in the mass about the +same, regard being had to the existing temptations or +stimulations to this vice. Even mistakes and oversights are +of regular recurrence, for it is found in the post-offices of +large cities, that the number of letters put in without addresses +is year by year the same. Statistics has made out an +equally distinct regularity in a wide range, with regard to many +other things concerning the mind, and the doctrine founded upon +it has lately produced a scheme which may well strike the +ignorant with surprise. It was proposed to establish in +London a society for ensuring the integrity of clerks, +secretaries, collectors, and all such functionaries as are +usually obliged to find security for money passing through their +hands in the course of business. A gentleman of the highest +character as an actuary spoke of the plan in the following +terms:—“If a thousand bankers’ clerks were to +club together to indemnify their securities, by the payment of +one pound a year each, and if each had given security for +500<i>l.</i>, it is obvious that two in each year might become +defaulters to that amount, four to half the amount, and so on, +without rendering the guarantee fund insolvent. If it be +tolerably well ascertained that the instances of dishonesty +(yearly) among such persons amount to one in five hundred, this +club would continue to exist, subject to being in debt in a bad +year, to an amount which it would be able to discharge in good +ones. The only question necessary to be asked previous to +the formation of such a club would be,—may it not be feared +that the motive to resist dishonesty would be lessened by the +existence of the club, or that ready-made rogues, by belonging to +it, might find the means of obtaining situations which they would +otherwise have been kept out of by the impossibility of obtaining +security among those who know them? Suppose this be +sufficiently answered by saying, that none but those who could +bring satisfactory testimony to their previous good character +should be allowed to join the club; that persons who may now hope +that a deficiency on their parts will be made up and hushed up by +the relative or friend who is security, will know very well that +the club will have no motive to decline a prosecution, or to keep +the secret, and so on. It then only remains to ask, whether +the sum demanded for the guarantee is sufficient?” <a +name="citation331"></a><a href="#footnote331" +class="citation">[331]</a> The philosophical principle on +which the scheme proceeds, seems to be simply this, that, amongst +a given (large) number of persons of good character, there will +be, within a year or other considerable space of time, a +determinate number of instances in which moral principle and the +terror of the consequences of guilt will be overcome by +temptations of a determinate kind and amount, and thus occasion a +certain periodical amount of loss which the association must make +up.</p> +<p>This statistical regularity in moral affairs fully establishes +their being under the presidency of law. Man is now seen to +be an enigma only as an individual; in the mass he is a +mathematical problem. It is hardly necessary to say, much +less to argue, that mental action, being proved to be under law, +passes at once into the category of natural things. Its old +metaphysical character vanishes in a moment, and the distinction +usually taken between physical and moral is annulled, as only an +error in terms. This view agrees with what all observation +teaches, that mental phenomena flow directly from the +brain. They are seen to be dependent on naturally +constituted and naturally conditioned organs, and thus obedient, +like all other organic phenomena, to law. And how wondrous +must the constitution of this apparatus be, which gives us +consciousness of thought and of affection, which makes us +familiar with the numberless things of earth, and enables us to +rise in conception and communion to the councils of God +himself! It is matter which forms the medium or +instrument—a little mass which, decomposed, is but so much +common dust; yet in its living constitution, designed, formed, +and sustained by Almighty Wisdom, how admirable its character! +how reflective of the unutterable depths of that Power by which +it was so formed, and is so sustained!</p> +<p>In the mundane economy, mental action takes its place as a +means of providing for the independent existence and the various +relations of animals, each species being furnished according to +its special necessities and the demands of its various +relations. The nervous system—the more comprehensive +term for its organic apparatus—is variously developed in +different classes and species, and also in different individuals, +the volume or mass bearing a general relation to the amount of +power. In the mollusca and crustacea we see simply a +ganglionic cord pervading the extent of the body, and sending out +lateral filaments. In the vertebrata, we find a brain with +a spinal cord, and branching lines of nervous tissue. <a +name="citation333"></a><a href="#footnote333" +class="citation">[333]</a> But here, as in the general +structure of animals, the great principle of unity is +observed. The brain of the vertebrata is merely an +expansion of one of the ganglions of the nervous cord of the +mollusca and crustacea. Or the corresponding ganglion of +the mollusca and crustacea may be regarded as the rudiment of a +brain; the superior organ thus appearing as only a farther +development of the inferior. There are many facts which +tend to prove that the action of this apparatus is of an electric +nature, a modification of that surprising agent, which takes +magnetism, heat, and light, as other subordinate forms, and of +whose general scope in this great system of things we are only +beginning to have a right conception. It has been found +that simple electricity, artificially produced, and sent along +the nerves of a dead body, excites muscular action. The +brain of a newly-killed animal being taken out, and replaced by a +substance which produces electric action, the operation of +digestion, which had been interrupted by the death of the animal, +was resumed, shewing the absolute identity of the brain with a +galvanic battery. Nor is this a very startling idea, when +we reflect that electricity is almost as metaphysical as ever +mind was supposed to be. It is a thing perfectly +intangible, weightless. Metal may be magnetized, or heated +to seven hundred of Fahrenheit, without becoming the hundredth +part of a grain heavier. And yet electricity is a real +thing, an actual existence in nature, as witness the effects of +heat and light in vegetation—the power of the galvanic +current to re-assemble the particles of copper from a solution, +and make them again into a solid plate—the rending force of +the thunderbolt as it strikes the oak; see also how both heat and +light observe the angle of incidence in reflection, as exactly as +does the grossest stone thrown obliquely against a wall. So +mental action may be imponderable, intangible, and yet a real +existence, and ruled by the Eternal through his laws. <a +name="citation335"></a><a href="#footnote335" +class="citation">[335]</a></p> +<p>Common observation shews a great general superiority of the +human mind over that of the inferior animals. Man’s +mind is almost infinite in device; it ranges over all the world; +it forms the most wonderful combinations; it seeks back into the +past, and stretches forward into the future; while the animals +generally appear to have a narrow range of thought and +action. But so also has an infant but a limited range, and +yet it is mind which works there, as well as in the most +accomplished adults. The difference between mind in the +lower animals and in man is a difference in degree only; it is +not a specific difference. All who have studied animals by +actual observation, and even those who have given a candid +attention to the subject in books, must attain more or less clear +convictions of this truth, notwithstanding all the obscurity +which prejudice may have engendered. We see animals capable +of affection, jealousy, envy; we see them quarrel, and conduct +quarrels, in the very manner pursued by the more impulsive of our +own race. We see them liable to flattery, inflated with +pride, and dejected by shame. We see them as tender to +their young as human parents are, and as faithful to a trust as +the most conscientious of human servants. The horse is +startled by marvellous objects, as a man is. The dog and +many others shew tenacious memory. The dog also proves +himself possessed of imagination, by the act of dreaming. +Horses, finding themselves in want of a shoe, have of their own +accord gone to a farrier’s shop where they were shod +before. Cats, closed up in rooms, will endeavour to obtain +their liberation by pulling a latch or ringing a bell. It +has several times been observed that in a field of cattle, when +one or two were mischievous, and persisted long in annoying or +tyrannizing over the rest, the herd, to all appearance, +consulted, and then, making a united effort, drove the troublers +off the ground. The members of a rookery have also been +observed to take turns in supplying the needs of a family reduced +to orphanhood. All of these are acts of reason, in no +respect different from similar acts of men. Moreover, +although there is no heritage of accumulated knowledge amongst +the lower animals, as there is amongst us, they are in some +degree susceptible of those modifications of natural character, +and capable of those accomplishments, which we call +education. The taming and domestication of animals, and the +changes thus produced upon their nature in the course of +generations, are results identical with civilization amongst +ourselves; and the quiet, servile steer is probably as unlike the +original wild cattle of this country, as the English gentleman of +the present day is unlike the rude baron of the age of King +John. Between a young, unbroken horse, and a trained one, +there is, again, all the difference which exists between a wild +youth reared at his own discretion in the country, and the same +person when he has been toned down by long exposure to the +influences of refined society. On the accomplishments +acquired by animals it were superfluous to enter at any length; +but I may advert to the dogs of M. Leonard, as remarkable +examples of what the animal intellect may be trained to. +When four pieces of card are laid down before them, each having a +number pronounced <i>once</i> in connexion with it, they will, +after a re-arrangement of the pieces, select any one named by its +number. They also play at dominoes, and with so much skill +as to triumph over biped opponents, whining if the adversary +place a wrong piece, or if they themselves be deficient in a +right one. Of extensive combinations of thought we have no +reason to believe that any animal is capable—and yet most +of us must feel the force of Walter Scott’s remark, that +there was scarcely anything which he would not believe of a +dog. There is a curious result of education in certain +animals, namely, that habits to which they have been trained in +some instances become hereditary. For example, the +accomplishment of pointing at game, although a pure result of +education, appears in the young pups brought up apart from their +parents and kind. The peculiar leap of the Irish horse, +acquired in the course of traversing a boggy country, is +continued in the progeny brought up in England. This +hereditariness of specific habits suggests a relation to that +form of psychological demonstration usually called instinct; but +instinct is only another term for mind, or is mind in a peculiar +stage of development; and though the fact were otherwise, it +could not affect the postulate, that demonstrations such as have +been enumerated are mainly intellectual demonstrations, not to be +distinguished as such from those of human beings.</p> +<p>More than this, the lower animals manifested mental phenomena +long before man existed. While as yet there was no brain +capable of working out a mathematical problem, the economy of the +six-sided figure was exemplified by the instinct of the +bee. Ere human musician had whistled or piped, the owl +hooted in B flat, the cuckoo had her song of a falling third, and +the chirp of the cricket was in B. The dog and the elephant +prefigured the sagacity of the human mind. The love of a +human mother for her babe was anticipated by nearly every humbler +mammal, the carnaria not excepted. The peacock strutted, +the turkey blustered, and the cock fought for victory, just as +human beings afterwards did, and still do. Our faculty of +imitation, on which so much of our amusement depends, was +exercised by the mocking-bird; and the whole tribe of monkeys +must have walked about the pre-human world, playing off those +tricks in which we see the comicality and mischief-making of our +character so curiously exaggerated.</p> +<p>The unity and simplicity which characterize nature give great +antecedent probability to what observation seems about to +establish, that, as the brain of the vertebrata generally is just +an advanced condition of a particular ganglion in the mollusca +and crustacea, so are the brains of the higher and more +intelligent mammalia only farther developments of the brains of +the inferior orders of the same class. Or, to the same +purpose, it may be said, that each species has certain superior +developments, according to its needs, while others are in a +rudimental or repressed state. This will more clearly +appear after some inquiry has been made into the various powers +comprehended under the term mind.</p> +<p>One of the first and simplest functions of mind is to give +consciousness—consciousness of our identity and of our +existence. This, apparently, is independent of the +<i>senses</i>, which are simply media, and, as Locke has shewn, +the only media, through which ideas respecting the external world +reach the brain. The access of such ideas to the brain is +the act to which the metaphysicians have given the name of +perception. Gall, however, has shewn, by induction from a +vast number of actual cases, that there is a part of the brain +devoted to perception, and that even this is subdivided into +portions which are respectively dedicated to the reception of +different sets of ideas, as those of form, size, colour, weight, +objects in their totality, events in their progress or +occurrence, time, musical sounds, &c. The system of +mind invented by this philosopher—the only one founded upon +nature, or which even pretends to or admits of that necessary +basis—shews a portion of the brain acting as a faculty of +comic ideas, another of imitation, another of wonder, one for +discriminating or observing differences, and another in which +resides the power of tracing effects to causes. There are +also parts of the brain for the sentimental part of our nature, +or the affections, at the head of which stand the moral feelings +of benevolence, conscientiousness, and veneration. Through +these, man stands in relation to himself, his fellow-men, the +external world, and his God; and through these comes most of the +happiness of man’s life, as well as that which he derives +from the contemplation of the world to come, and the cultivation +of his relation to it, (pure religion.) The other +sentiments may be briefly enumerated, their names being +sufficient in general to denote their functions—firmness, +hope, cautiousness, self-esteem, love of approbation, +secretiveness, marvellousness, constructiveness, imitation, +combativeness, destructiveness, concentrativeness, adhesiveness, +love of the opposite sex, love of offspring, alimentiveness, and +love of life. Through these faculties, man is connected +with the external world, and supplied with active impulses to +maintain his place in it as an individual and as a species. +There is also a faculty, (language) for expressing, by whatever +means, (signs, gestures, looks, conventional terms in speech,) +the ideas which arise in the mind. There is a particular +state of each of these faculties, when the ideas of objects once +formed by it are revived or reproduced, a process which seems to +be intimately allied with some of the phenomena of the new +science of photography, when images impressed by reflection of +the sun’s rays upon sensitive paper are, after a temporary +obliteration, resuscitated on the sheet being exposed to the +fumes of mercury. Such are the phenomena of memory, that +handmaid of intellect, without which there could be no +accumulation of mental capital, but an universal and continual +infancy. Conception and imagination appear to be only +intensities, so to speak, of the state of brain in which memory +is produced. On their promptness and power depend most of +the exertions which distinguish the man of arts and letters, and +even in no small measure the cultivator of science.</p> +<p>The faculties above described—the actual elements of the +mental constitution—are seen in mature man in an indefinite +potentiality and range of action. It is different with the +lower animals. They are there comparatively definite in +their power and restricted in their application. The reader +is familiar with what are called instincts in some of the humbler +species, that is, an uniform and unprompted tendency towards +certain particular acts, as the building of cells by the bee, the +storing of provisions by that insect and several others, and the +construction of nests for a coming progeny by birds. This +quality is nothing more than a mode of operation peculiar to the +faculties in a humble state of endowment, or early stage of +development. The cell formation of the bee, the +house-building of ants and beavers, the web-spinning of spiders, +are but primitive exercises of constructiveness, the faculty +which, indefinite with us, leads to the arts of the weaver, +upholsterer, architect, and mechanist, and makes us often work +delightedly where our labours are in vain, or nearly so. +The storing of provisions by the ants is an exercise of +acquisitiveness,—the faculty which with us makes rich men +and misers. A vast number of curious devices, by which +insects provide for the protection and subsistence of their +young, whom they are perhaps never to see, are most probably a +peculiar restricted effort of philoprogenitiveness. The +common source of this class of acts, and of common mental +operations, is shewn very convincingly by the melting of the one +set into the other. Thus, for example, the bee and bird +will make modifications in the ordinary form of their cells and +nests when necessity compels them. Thus, the alimentiveness +of such animals as the dog, usually definite with regard to +quantity and quality, can be pampered or educated up to a kind of +epicurism, that is, an indefiniteness of object and action. +The same faculty acts limitedly in ourselves at first, dictating +the special act of sucking; afterwards it acquires +indefiniteness. Such is the real nature of the distinction +between what are called instincts and reason, upon which so many +volumes have been written without profit to the world. All +faculties are instinctive, that is, dependent on internal and +inherent impulses. This term is therefore not specially +applicable to either of the recognised modes of the operation of +the faculties. We only, in the one case, see the faculty in +an immature and slightly developed state; in the other, in its +most advanced condition. In the one case it is +<i>definite</i>, in the other <i>indefinite</i>, in its range of +action. These terms would perhaps be the most suitable for +expressing the distinction.</p> +<p>In the humblest forms of being we can trace scarcely anything +besides a definite action in a few of the faculties. +Generally speaking, as we ascend in the scale, we see more and +more of the faculties in exercise, and these tending more to the +indefinite mode of manifestation. And for this there is the +obvious reason in providence, that the lowest animals have all of +them a very limited sphere of existence, born only to perform a +few functions, and enjoy a brief term of life, and then give way +to another generation, so that they do not need much mental +guidance. At higher points in the scale, the sphere of +existence is considerably extended, and the mental operations are +less definite accordingly. The horse, dog, and a few other +rasorial types, noted for their serviceableness to our race, have +the indefinite powers in no small endowment. Man, again, +shews very little of the definite mode of operation, and that +little chiefly in childhood, or in barbarism or idiocy. +Destined for a wide field of action, and to be applicable to +infinitely varied contingencies, he has all the faculties +developed to a high pitch of indefiniteness, that he may be ready +to act well in all imaginable cases. His commission, it may +be said, gives large discretionary powers, while that of the +inferior animals is limited to a few precise directions. +But when the human brain is congenitally imperfect or diseased, +or when it is in the state of infancy, we see in it an approach +towards the character of the brains of some of the inferior +animals. Dr. G. J. Davey states that he has frequently +witnessed, among his patients at the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, +indications of a particular abnormal cerebration which forcibly +reminded him of the specific healthy characteristics of animals +lower in the scale of organization; <a name="citation346"></a><a +href="#footnote346" class="citation">[346]</a> and every one must +have observed how often the actions of children, especially in +their moments of play, and where their selfish feelings are +concerned, bear a resemblance to those of certain familiar +animals. <a name="citation347"></a><a href="#footnote347" +class="citation">[347]</a> Behold, then, the wonderful +unity of the whole system. The grades of mind, like the +forms of being, are mere stages of development. In the +humbler forms, but a few of the mental faculties are traceable, +just as we see in them but a few of the lineaments of universal +structure. In man the system has arrived at its highest +condition. The few gleams of reason, then, which we see in +the lower animals, are precisely analogous to such a development +of the fore-arm as we find in the paddle of the whale. +Causality, comparison, and other of the nobler faculties, are in +them <i>rudimental</i>.</p> +<p>Bound up as we thus are by an identity in the character of our +mental organization with the lower animals, we are yet, it will +be observed, strikingly distinguished from them by this great +advance in development. We have faculties in full force and +activity which the animals either possess not at all, or in so +low and obscure a form as to be equivalent to +non-existence. Now these parts of mind are those which +connect us with the things that are not of this world. We +have veneration, prompting us to the worship of the Deity, which +the animals lack. We have hope, to carry us on in thought +beyond the bounds of time. We have reason, to enable us to +inquire into the character of the Great Father, and the relation +of us, his humble creatures, towards him. We have +conscientiousness and benevolence, by which we can in a faint and +humble measure imitate, in our conduct, that which he exemplifies +in the whole of his wondrous doings. Beyond this, mental +science does not carry us in support of religion: the rest +depends on evidence of a different kind. But it is surely +much that we thus discover in nature a provision for things so +important. The existence of faculties having a regard to +such things is a good evidence that such things exist. The +face of God is reflected in the organization of man, as a little +pool reflects the glorious sun.</p> +<p>The affective or sentimental faculties are all of them liable +to operate whenever appropriate objects or stimuli are presented, +and this they do as irresistibly and unerringly as the tree sucks +up moisture which it requires, with only this exception, that one +faculty often interferes with the action of another, and operates +instead by force of superior inherent strength or temporary +activity. For example, alimentiveness may be in powerful +operation with regard to its appropriate object, producing a keen +appetite, and yet it may not act, in consequence of the more +powerful operation of cautiousness, warning against evil +consequences likely to ensue from the desired indulgence. +This liability to flit from under the control of one feeling to +the control of another, constitutes what is recognised as free +will in man, being nothing more than a vicissitude in the +supremacy of the faculties over each other.</p> +<p>It is a common mistake to suppose that the individuals of our +own species are all of them formed with similar +faculties—similar in power and tendency—and that +education and the influence of circumstances produce all the +differences which we observe. There is not, in the old +systems of mental philosophy, any doctrine more opposite to the +truth than this. It is refuted at once by the great +differences of intellectual tendency and moral disposition to be +observed amongst a group of young children who have been all +brought up in circumstances perfectly identical—even in +twins, who have never been but in one place, under the charge of +one nurse, attended to alike in all respects. The mental +characters of individuals are inherently various, as the forms of +their persons and the features of their faces are; and education +and circumstances, though their influence is not to be despised, +are incapable of entirely altering these characters, where they +are strongly developed. That the original characters of +mind are dependent on the volume of particular parts of the brain +and the general quality of that viscus, is proved by induction +from an extensive range of observations, the force of which must +have been long since universally acknowledged but for the +unpreparedness of mankind to admit a functional connexion between +mind and body. The different mental characters of +individuals may be presumed from analogy to depend on the same +law of development which we have seen determining forms of being +and the mental characters of particular species. This we +may conceive as carrying forward the intellectual powers and +moral dispositions of some to a high pitch, repressing those of +others at a moderate amount, and thus producing all the varieties +which we see in our fellow-creatures. Thus a Cuvier and a +Newton are but expansions of a clown, and the person emphatically +called the wicked man, is one whose highest moral feelings are +rudimental. Such differences are not confined to our +species; they are only less strongly marked in many of the +inferior animals. There are clever dogs and wicked horses, +as well as clever men and wicked men, and education sharpens the +talents, and in some degree regulates the dispositions of +animals, as it does our own. Here I may advert to a very +interesting analogy between the mental characters of the types in +the quinary system of zoology and the characters of individual +men. We have seen that the pre-eminent type is usually +endowed with an harmonious assemblage of the mental qualities +belonging to the whole group, while the sub-typical inclines to +ferocity, the rasorial to gentleness, and so on. Now, +amongst individuals, some appear to be almost exclusively of the +sub-typical, and others of the rasorial characters, while to a +limited number is given the finely assorted assemblage of +qualities which places them on a parallel with the typical. +To this may be attributed the universality which marks all the +very highest brains, such as those of Shakespeare and Scott, men +of whom it has been remarked that they must have possessed within +themselves not only the poet, but the warrior, the statesman, and +the philosopher; and who, moreover, appear to have had the mild +and manly, the moral and the forcible parts of our nature, in the +most perfect balance.</p> +<p>There is, nevertheless, a general adaptation of the mental +constitution of man to the circumstances in which he lives, as +there is between all the parts of nature to each other. The +goods of the physical world are only to be realized by ingenuity +and industrious exertion; behold, accordingly, an intellect full +of device, and a fabric of the faculties which would go to pieces +or destroy itself if it were not kept in constant +occupation. Nature presents to us much that is sublime and +beautiful: behold faculties which delight in contemplating these +properties of hers, and in rising upon them, as upon wings, to +the presence of the Eternal. It is also a world of +difficulties and perils, and see how a large portion of our +species are endowed with vigorous powers which take a pleasure in +meeting and overcoming difficulty and danger. Even that +principle on which our faculties are constituted—a wide +range of freedom in which to act for all various +occasions—necessitates a resentful faculty, by which +individuals may protect themselves from the undue and capricious +exercise of each other’s faculties, and thus preserve their +individual rights. So also there is cautiousness, to give +us a tendency to provide against the evils by which we may be +assailed; and secretiveness, to enable us to conceal whatever, +being divulged, would be offensive to others or injurious to +ourselves,—a function which obviously has a certain +legitimate range of action, however liable to be abused. +The constitution of the mind generally points to a state of +intimate relation of individuals towards society, towards the +external world, and towards things above this world. No +individual being is integral or independent; he is only part of +an extensive piece of social mechanism. The inferior mind, +full of rude energy and unregulated impulse, does not more +require a superior nature to act as its master and its mentor, +than does the superior nature require to be surrounded by such +rough elements on which to exercise its high endowments as a +ruling and tutelary power. This relation of each to each +produces a vast portion of the active business of life. It +is easy to see that, if we were all alike in our moral +tendencies, and all placed on a medium of perfect moderation in +this respect, the world would be a scene of everlasting dulness +and apathy. It requires the variety of individual +constitution to give moral life to the scene.</p> +<p>The indefiniteness of the potentiality of the human faculties, +and the complexity which thus attends their relations, lead +unavoidably to occasional error. If we consider for a +moment that there are not less than thirty such faculties, that +they are each given in different proportions to different +persons, that each is at the same time endowed with a wide +discretion as to the force and frequency of its action, and that +our neighbours, the world, and our connexions with something +beyond it, are all exercising an ever-varying influence over us, +we cannot be surprised at the irregularities attending human +conduct. It is simply the penalty paid for the superior +endowment. It is here that the imperfection of our nature +resides. Causality and conscientiousness are, it is true, +guides over all; but even these are only faculties of the same +indeterminate constitution as the rest, and partake accordingly +of the same inequality of action. Man is therefore a piece +of mechanism, which never can act so as to satisfy his own ideas +of what he might be—for he can imagine a state of moral +perfection, (as he can imagine a globe formed of diamonds, +pearls, and rubies,) though his constitution forbids him to +realize it. There ever will, in the best disposed and most +disciplined minds, be occasional discrepancies between the amount +of temptation and the power summoned for regulation or +resistance, or between the stimulus and the mobility of the +faculty; and hence those errors, and shortcomings, and excesses, +without end, with which the good are constantly finding cause to +charge themselves. There is at the same time even here a +possibility of improvement. In infancy, the impulses are +all of them irregular; a child is cruel, cunning, and false, +under the slightest temptation, but in time learns to control +these inclinations, and to be habitually humane, frank, and +truthful. So is human society, in its earliest stages, +sanguinary, aggressive, and deceitful, but in time becomes just, +faithful, and benevolent. To such improvements there is a +natural tendency which will operate in all fair circumstances, +though it is not to be expected that irregular and undue impulses +will ever be altogether banished from the system.</p> +<p>It may still be a puzzle to many, how beings should be born +into the world whose organization is such that they unavoidably, +even in a civilized country, become malefactors. Does God, +it may be asked, make criminals? Does he fashion certain +beings with a predestination to evil? He does not do so; +and yet the criminal type of brain, as it is called, comes into +existence in accordance with laws which the Deity has +established. It is not, however, as the result of the first +or general intention of those laws, but as an exception from +their ordinary and proper action. The production of those +evilly disposed beings is in this manner. The moral +character of the progeny depends in a general way, (as does the +physical character also,) upon conditions of the +parents,—both general conditions, and conditions at the +particular time of the commencement of the existence of the new +being, and likewise external conditions affecting the fœtus +through the mother. Now the amount of these conditions is +indefinite. The faculties of the parents, as far as these +are concerned, may have oscillated for the time towards the +extreme of tensibility in one direction. The influences +upon the fœtus may have also been of an extreme and unusual +kind. Let us suppose that the conditions upon the whole +have been favourable for the development, not of the higher, but +of the lower sentiments, and of the propensities of the new +being, the result will necessarily be a mean type of brain. +Here, it will be observed, God no more decreed an immoral being, +than he decreed an immoral paroxysm of the sentiments. Our +perplexity is in considering the ill-disposed being by +himself. He is only a part of a series of phenomena, +traceable to a principle good in the main, but which admits of +evil as an exception. We have seen that it is for wise ends +that God leaves our moral faculties to an indefinite range of +action; the general good results of this arrangement are obvious; +but exceptions of evil are inseparable from such a system, and +this is one of them. To come to particular +illustration—when a people are oppressed, or kept in a +state of slavery, they invariably contract habits of lying, for +the purpose of deceiving and outwitting their superiors, +falsehood being a refuge of the weak under difficulties. +What is a habit in parents becomes an inherent quality in +children. We are not, therefore, to be surprised when a +traveller tells us that black children in the West Indies appear +to lie by instinct, and never answer a white person truly even in +the simplest matter. Here we have secretiveness roused in a +people to a state of constant and exalted exercise; an over +tendency of the nervous energy in that direction is the +consequence, and a new organic condition is established. +This tells upon the progeny, which comes into the world with +secretiveness excessive in volume and activity. All other +evil characteristics may be readily conceived as being implanted +in a new generation in the same way. And sometimes not one, +but several generations, may be concerned in bringing up the +result to a pitch which produces crime. It is, however, to +be observed, that the general tendency of things is to a +limitation, not the extension of such abnormally constituted +beings. The criminal brain finds itself in a social scene +where all is against it. It may struggle on for a time, but +the medium and superior natures are never long at a loss in +getting the better of it. The disposal of such beings will +always depend much on the moral state of a community, the degree +in which just views prevail with regard to human nature, and the +feelings which accident may have caused to predominate at a +particular time. Where the mass was little enlightened or +refined, and terrors for life or property were highly excited, +malefactors have ever been treated severely. But when order +is generally triumphant, and reason allowed sway, men begin to +see the true case of criminals—namely, that while one large +department are victims of erroneous social conditions, another +are brought to error by tendencies which they are only +unfortunate in having inherited from nature. Criminal +jurisprudence then addresses itself less to the direct punishment +than to the reformation and care-taking of those liable to its +attention. And such a treatment of criminals, it may be +farther remarked, so that it stop short of affording any +encouragement to crime, (a point which experience will +determine,) is evidently no more than justice, seeing how +accidentally all forms of the moral constitution are distributed, +and how thoroughly mutual obligation shines throughout the whole +frame of society—the strong to help the weak, the good to +redeem and restrain the bad.</p> +<p>The sum of all we have seen of the psychical constitution of +man is, that its Almighty Author has destined it, like everything +else, to be developed from inherent qualities, and to have a mode +of action depending solely on its own organization. Thus +the whole is complete on one principle. The masses of space +are formed by law; law makes them in due time theatres of +existence for plants and animals; sensation, disposition, +intellect, are all in like manner developed and sustained in +action by law. It is most interesting to observe into how +small a field the whole of the mysteries of nature thus +ultimately resolve themselves. The inorganic has one final +comprehensive law, <span +class="GutSmall">GRAVITATION</span>. The organic, the other +great department of mundane things, rests in like manner on one +law, and that is,—<span +class="GutSmall">DEVELOPMENT</span>. Nor may even these be +after all twain, but only branches of one still more +comprehensive law, the expression of that unity which man’s +wit can scarcely separate from Deity itself.</p> +<h2><a name="page361"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +361</span>PURPOSE AND GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ANIMATED +CREATION.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have now to inquire how this +view of the constitution and origin of nature bears upon the +condition of man upon the earth, and his relation to +supra-mundane things.</p> +<p>That enjoyment is the proper attendant of animal existence is +pressed upon us by all that we see and all we experience. +Everywhere we perceive in the lower creatures, in their ordinary +condition, symptoms of enjoyment. Their whole being is a +system of needs, the supplying of which is gratification, and of +faculties, the exercise of which is pleasurable. When we +consult our own sensations, we find that, even in a sense of a +healthy performance of all the functions of the animal economy, +God has furnished us with an innocent and very high +enjoyment. The mere quiet consciousness of a healthy play +of the mental functions—a mind at ease with itself and all +around it—is in like manner extremely agreeable. This +negative class of enjoyments, it may be remarked, is likely to be +even more extensively experienced by the lower animals than by +man, at least in the proportion of their absolute endowments, as +their mental and bodily functions are much less liable to +derangement than ours. To find the world constituted on +this principle is only what in reason we would expect. We +cannot conceive that so vast a system could have been created for +a contrary purpose. No averagely constituted human being +would, in his own limited sphere of action, think of producing a +similar system upon an opposite principle. But to form so +vast a range of being, and to make being everywhere a source of +gratification, is conformable to our ideas of a Creator in whom +we are constantly discovering traits of a nature, of which our +own is but a faint and far-cast shadow at the best.</p> +<p>It appears at first difficult to reconcile with this idea the +many miseries which we see all sentient beings, ourselves +included, occasionally enduring. How, the sage has asked in +every age, should a Being so transcendently kind, have allowed of +so large an admixture of evil in the condition of his +creatures? Do we not at length find an answer to a certain +extent satisfactory, in the view which has now been given of the +constitution of nature? We there see the Deity operating in +the most august of his works by fixed laws, an arrangement which, +it is clear, only admits of the main and primary results being +good, but disregards exceptions. Now the mechanical laws +are so definite in their purposes, that no exceptions ever take +place in that department; if there is a certain quantity of +nebulous matter to be agglomerated and divided and set in motion +as a planetary system, it will be so with hair’s-breadth +accuracy, and cannot be otherwise. But the laws presiding +over meteorology, life, and mind, are necessarily less definite, +as they have to produce a great variety of mutually related +results. Left to act independently of each other, each +according to its separate commission, and each with a wide range +of potentiality to be modified by associated conditions, they can +only have effects generally beneficial: often there must be an +interference of one law with another, often a law will chance to +operate in excess, or upon a wrong object, and thus evil will be +produced. Thus, winds are generally useful in many ways, +and the sea is useful as a means of communication between one +country and another; but the natural laws which produce winds are +of indefinite range of action, and sometimes are unusually +concentrated in space or in time, so as to produce storms and +hurricanes, by which much damage is done; the sea may be by these +causes violently agitated, so that many barks and many lives +perish. Here, it is evident, the evil is only +exceptive. Suppose, again, that a boy, in the course of the +lively sports proper to his age, suffers a fall which injures his +spine, and renders him a cripple for life. Two things have +been concerned in the case: first, the love of violent exercise, +and second, the law of gravitation. Both of these things +are good in the main. In the rash enterprises and rough +sports in which boys engage, they prepare their bodies and minds +for the hard tasks of life. By gravitation, all moveable +things, our own bodies included, are kept stable on the surface +of the earth. But when it chances that the playful boy +loses his hold (we shall say) of the branch of a tree, and has no +solid support immediately below, the law of gravitation +unrelentingly pulls him to the ground, and thus he is hurt. +Now it was not a primary object of gravitation to injure boys; +but gravitation could not but operate in the circumstances, its +nature being to be universal and invariable. The evil is, +therefore, only a casual exception from something in the main +good.</p> +<p>The same explanation applies to even the most conspicuous of +the evils which afflict society. War, it may be said, and +said truly, is a tremendous example of evil, in the misery, +hardship, waste of human life, and mis-spending of human +energies, which it occasions. But what is it that produces +war? Certain tendencies of human nature, as keen assertion +of a supposed right, resentment of supposed injury, +acquisitiveness, desire of admiration, combativeness, or mere +love of excitement. All of these are tendencies which are +every day, in a legitimate extent of action, producing great and +indispensable benefits to us. Man would be a tame, +indolent, unserviceable being without them, and his fate would be +starvation. War, then, huge evil though it be, is, after +all, but the exceptive case, a casual misdirection of properties +and powers essentially good. God has given us the +tendencies for a benevolent purpose. He has only not laid +down any absolute obstruction to our misuse of them. That +were an arrangement of a kind which he has nowhere made. +But he has established many laws in our nature which tend to +lessen the frequency and destructiveness of these abuses. +Our reason comes to see that war is purely an evil, even to the +conqueror. Benevolence interposes to make its ravages less +mischievous to human comfort, and less destructive to human +life. Men begin to find that their more active powers can +be exercised with equal gratification on legitimate objects; for +example, in overcoming the natural difficulties of their path +through life, or in a generous spirit of emulation in a line of +duty beneficial to themselves and their fellow-creatures. +Thus, war at length shrinks into a comparatively narrow compass, +though there certainly is no reason to suppose that it will be at +any early period, if ever, altogether dispensed with, while +man’s constitution remains as it is. In considering +an evil of this kind, we must not limit our view to our own or +any past time. Placed upon the earth with faculties +prepared to act, but inexperienced, and with the more active +propensities necessarily in great force to suit the condition of +the globe, man was apt to misuse his powers much in this way at +first, compared with what he is likely to do when he advances +into a condition of civilization. In the scheme of +providence, thousands of years of frequent warfare, all the +so-called glories which fill history, may be only an exception to +the general rule.</p> +<p>The sex passion in like manner leads to great evils; but the +evils are only an exception from the vast mass of good connected +with this affection. Providence has seen it necessary to +make very ample provision for the preservation and utmost +possible extension of all species. The aim seems to be to +diffuse existence as widely as possible, to fill up every vacant +piece of space with some sentient being to be a vehicle of +enjoyment. Hence this passion is conferred in great +force. But the relation between the number of beings, and +the means of supporting them, is only on the footing of general +law. There may be occasional discrepancies between the laws +operating for the multiplication of individuals, and the laws +operating to supply them with the means of subsistence, and evils +will be endured in consequence, even in our own highly favoured +species. But against all these evils, and against those +numberless vexations which have arisen in all ages from the +attachment of the sexes, place the vast amount of happiness which +is derived from this source—the basis of the whole circle +of the domestic affections, the sweetening principle of life, the +prompter of all our most generous feelings, and even of our most +virtuous resolves—and every ill that can be traced to it is +but as dust in the balance. And here, also, we must be on +our guard against judging from what we see in the world at a +particular era. As reason and the higher sentiments of +man’s nature increase in force, this passion is put under +better regulation, so as to lessen many of the evils connected +with it. The civilized man is more able to give it due +control; his attachments are less the result of impulse; he +studies more the weal of his partner and offspring. There +are even some of the resentful feelings connected in early +society with love, such as hatred of successful rivalry, and +jealousy, which almost disappear in an advanced stage of +civilization. The evils springing, in our own species at +least, from this passion, may therefore be an exception mainly +peculiar to a particular term of the world’s progress, and +which may be expected to decrease greatly in amount.</p> +<p>With respect, again, to disease, so prolific a cause of +suffering to man, the human constitution is merely a complicated +but regular process in electro-chemistry, which goes on well, and +is a source of continual gratification, so long as nothing occurs +to interfere with it injuriously, but which is liable every +moment to be deranged by various external agencies, when it +becomes a source of pain, and, if the injury be severe, ceases to +be capable of retaining life. It may be readily admitted +that the evils experienced in this way are very great; but, after +all, such experiences are no more than occasional, and not +necessarily frequent—exceptions from a general rule of +which the direct action is to confer happiness. The human +constitution might have been made of a more hardy character; but +we always see hardiness and insensibility go together, and it may +be of course presumed that we only could have purchased this +immunity from suffering at the expense of a large portion of that +delicacy in which lie some of our most agreeable +sensations. Or man’s faculties might have been +restricted to definiteness of action, as is greatly the case with +those of the lower animals, and thus we should have been equally +safe from the aberrations which lead to disease; but in that +event we should have been incapable of acting to so many +different purposes as we are, and of the many high enjoyments +which the varied action of our faculties places in our power: we +should not, in short, have been human beings, but merely on a +level with the inferior animals. Thus, it appears, that the +very fineness of man’s constitution, that which places him +in such a high relation to the mundane economy, and makes him the +vehicle of so many exquisitely delightful sensations—it is +this which makes him liable to the sufferings of disease. +It might be said, on the other hand, that the noxiousness of the +agencies producing disease might have been diminished or +extinguished; but the probability is, that this could not have +been done without such a derangement of the whole economy of +nature as would have been attended with more serious evils. +For example—a large class of diseases are the result of +effluvia from decaying organic matter. This kind of matter +is known to be extremely useful, when mixed with earth, in +favouring the process of vegetation. Supposing the +noxiousness to the human constitution done away with, might we +not also lose that important quality which tends so largely to +increase the food raised from the ground? Perhaps (as has +been suggested) the noxiousness is even a matter of special +design, to induce us to put away decaying organic substances into +the earth, where they are calculated to be so useful. Now +man has reason to enable him to see that such substances are +beneficial under one arrangement, and noxious in the other. +He is, as it were, commanded to take the right method in dealing +with it. In point of fact, men do not always take this +method, but allow accumulations of noxious matter to gather close +about their dwellings, where they generate fevers and +agues. But their doing so may be regarded as only a +temporary exception from the operation of mental laws, the +general tendency of which is to make men adopt the proper +measures. And these measures will probably be in time +universally adopted, so that one extensive class of diseases will +be altogether or nearly abolished.</p> +<p>Another large class of diseases spring from mismanagement of +our personal economy. Eating to excess, eating and drinking +what is noxious, disregard to that cleanliness which is necessary +for the right action of the functions of the skin, want of fresh +air for the supply of the lungs, undue, excessive, and irregular +indulgence of the mental affections, are all of them recognised +modes of creating that derangement of the system in which disease +consists. Here also it may be said that a limitation of the +mental faculties to definite manifestations (<i>vulgo</i>, +instincts) might have enabled us to avoid many of these errors; +but here again we are met by the consideration that, if we had +been so endowed, we should have been only as the lower animals +are, wanting that transcendently higher character of sensation +and power, by which our enjoyments are made so much +greater. In making the desire of food, for example, with us +an indefinite mental manifestation, instead of the definite one, +which it is amongst the lower animals, the Creator has given us a +means of deriving far greater gratifications from food +(consistently with health) than the lower animals appear to be +capable of. He has also given us reason to act as a guiding +and controlling power over this and other propensities, so that +they may be prevented from becoming causes of malady. We +can see that excess is injurious, and are thus prompted to +moderation. We can see that all the things which we feel +inclined to take are not healthful, and are thus exhorted to +avoid what are pernicious. We can also see that a cleanly +skin and a constant supply of pure air are necessary to the +proper performance of some of the most important of the organic +functions, and thus are stimulated to frequent ablution, and to a +right ventilation of our parlours and sleeping apartments. +And so on with the other causes of disease. Reason may not +operate very powerfully to these purposes in an early state of +society, and prodigious evils may therefore have been endured +from disease in past ages; but these are not necessarily to be +endured always. As civilization advances, reason acquires a +greater ascendancy; the causes of the evils are seen and avoided; +and disease shrinks into a comparatively narrow compass. +The experience of our own country places this in a striking +light. In the middle ages, when large towns had no police +regulations, society was every now and then scourged by +pestilence. The third of the people of Europe are said to +have been carried off by one epidemic. Even in London the +annual mortality has greatly sunk within a century. The +improvement in human life, which has taken place since the +construction of the Northampton tables by Dr. Price, is equally +remarkable. Modern tables still shew a prodigious mortality +among the young in all civilized countries—evidently a +result of some prevalent error in the usual modes of rearing +them. But to remedy this evil there is the sagacity of the +human mind, and the sense to adopt any reformed plans which may +be shewn to be necessary. By a change in the management of +an orphan institution in London, during the last fifty years, an +immense reduction in the mortality took place. We may of +course hope to see measures devised and adopted for producing a +similar improvement of infant life throughout the world at +large.</p> +<p>In this part of our subject, the most difficult point +certainly lies in those occurrences of disease where the +afflicted individual has been in no degree concerned in bringing +the visitation upon himself. Daily experience shews us +infectious disease arising in a place where the natural laws in +respect of cleanliness are neglected, and then spreading into +regions where there is no blame of this kind. We then see +the innocent suffering equally with those who may be called the +guilty. Nay, the benevolent physician who comes to succour +the miserable beings whose error may have caused the mischief, is +sometimes seen to fall a victim to it, while many of his patients +recover. We are also only too familiar with the +transmission of diseases from erring parents to innocent +children, who, accordingly suffer, and perhaps die prematurely, +as it were for the sins of others. After all, however +painful such cases may be in contemplation, they cannot be +regarded in any other light than as exceptions from arrangements, +the general working of which is beneficial.</p> +<p>With regard to the innocence of the suffering parties, there +is one important consideration which is pressed upon us from many +quarters, namely—that moral conditions have not the least +concern in the working of these simply physical laws. These +laws proceed with an entire independence of all such conditions, +and desirably so, for otherwise there could be no certain +dependence placed upon them. Thus it may happen that two +persons ascending a piece of scaffolding, the one a virtuous, the +other a vicious man, the former, being the less cautious of the +two, ventures upon an insecure place, falls, and is killed, while +the other, choosing a better footing, remains uninjured. It +is not in what we can conceive of the nature of things, that +there should be a special exemption from the ordinary laws of +matter, to save this virtuous man. So it might be that, of +two physicians, attending fever cases, in a mean part of a large +city, the one, an excellent citizen, may stand in such a position +with respect to the beds of the patients as to catch the +infection, of which he dies in a few days, while the other, a bad +husband and father, and who, unlike the other, only attends such +cases with selfish ends, takes care to be as much as possible out +of the stream of infection, and accordingly escapes. In +both of these cases man’s sense of good and evil—his +faculty of conscientiousness—would incline him to destine +the vicious man to destruction and save the virtuous. But +the Great Ruler of Nature does not act on such principles. +He has established laws for the operation of inanimate matter, +which are quite unswerving, so that when we know them, we have +only to act in a certain way with respect to them, in order to +obtain all the benefits and avoid all the evils connected with +them. He has likewise established moral laws in our nature, +which are equally unswerving, (allowing for their wider range of +action,) and from obedience to which unfailing good is to be +derived. But the two sets of laws are independent of each +other. Obedience to each gives only its own proper +advantage, not the advantage proper to the other. Hence it +is that virtue forms no protection against the evils connected +with the physical laws, while, on the other hand, a man skilled +in and attentive to these, but unrighteous and disregardful of +his neighbour, is in like manner not protected by his attention +to physical circumstances from the proper consequences of neglect +or breach of the moral laws.</p> +<p>Thus it is that the innocence of the party suffering for the +faults of a parent, or of any other person or set of persons, is +evidently a consideration quite apart from that suffering.</p> +<p>It is clear, moreover, from the whole scope of the natural +laws, that the individual, as far as the present sphere of being +is concerned, is to the Author of Nature a consideration of +inferior moment. Everywhere we see the arrangements for the +species perfect; the individual is left, as it were, to take his +chance amidst the <i>mêlée</i> of the various laws +affecting him. If he be found inferiorly endowed, or ill +befalls him, there was at least no partiality against him. +The system has the fairness of a lottery, in which every one has +the like chance of drawing the prize.</p> +<p>Yet it is also to be observed that few evils are altogether +unmixed. God, contemplating apparently the unbending action +of his great laws, has established others which appear to be +designed to have a compensating, a repairing, and a consoling +effect. Suppose, for instance, that, from a defect in the +power of development in a mother, her offspring is ushered into +the world destitute of some of the most useful members, or blind, +or deaf, or of imperfect intellect, there is ever to be found in +the parents and other relatives, and in the surrounding public, a +sympathy with the sufferer, which tends to make up for the +deficiency, so that he is in the long run not much a loser. +Indeed, the benevolence implanted in our nature seems to be an +arrangement having for one of its principal objects to cause us, +by sympathy and active aid, to remedy the evils unavoidably +suffered by our fellow-creatures in the course of the operation +of the other natural laws. And even in the sufferer +himself, it is often found that a defect in one point is made up +for by an extra power in another. The blind come to have a +sense of touch much more acute than those who see. Persons +born without hands have been known to acquire a power of using +their feet for a number of the principal offices usually served +by that member. I need hardly say how remarkably fatuity is +compensated by the more than usual regard paid to the children +born with it by their parents, and the zeal which others usually +feel to protect and succour such persons. In short, we +never see evil of any kind take place where there is not some +remedy or compensating principle ready to interfere for its +alleviation. And there can be no doubt that in this manner +suffering of all kinds is very much relieved.</p> +<p>We may, then, regard the globes of space as theatres designed +for the residence of animated sentient beings, placed there with +this as their first and most obvious purpose—namely, to be +sensible of enjoyments from the exercise of their faculties in +relation to external things. The faculties of the various +species are very different, but the happiness of each depends on +the harmony there may be between its particular faculties and its +particular circumstances. For instance, place the +small-brained sheep or ox in a good pasture, and it fully enjoys +this harmony of relation; but man, having many more faculties, +cannot be thus contented. Besides having a sufficiency of +food and bodily comfort, he must have entertainment for his +intellect, whatever be its grade, objects for the domestic and +social affections, objects for the sentiments. He is also a +progressive being, and what pleases him to-day may not please him +to-morrow; but, in each case he demands a sphere of appropriate +conditions in order to be happy. By virtue of his superior +organization, his enjoyments are much higher and more varied than +those of any of the lower animals; but the very complexity of +circumstances affecting him renders it at the same time +unavoidable, that his nature should be often inharmoniously +placed and disagreeably affected, and that he should therefore be +unhappy. Still unhappiness amongst mankind is the exception +from the rule of their condition, and an exception which is +capable of almost infinite diminution, by virtue of the improving +reason of man, and the experience which he acquires in working +out the problems of society.</p> +<p>To secure the immediate means of happiness it would seem to be +necessary for men first to study with all care the constitution +of nature, and, secondly, to accommodate themselves to that +constitution, so as to obtain all the realizable advantages from +acting conformably to it, and to avoid all likely evils from +disregarding it. It will be of no use to sit down and +expect that things are to operate of their own accord, or through +the direction of a partial deity, for our benefit; equally so +were it to expose ourselves to palpable dangers, under the notion +that we shall, for some reason, have a dispensation or exemption +from them: we must endeavour so to place ourselves, and so to +act, that the arrangements which Providence has made impartially +for all may be in our favour, and not against us; such are the +only means by which we can obtain good and avoid evil here +below. And, in doing this, it is especially necessary that +care be taken to avoid interfering with the like efforts of other +men, beyond what may have been agreed upon by the mass as +necessary for the general good. Such interferences, tending +in any way to injure the body, property, or peace of a neighbour, +or to the injury of society in general, tend very much to reflect +evil upon ourselves, through the re-action which they produce in +the feelings of our neighbour and of society, and also the +offence which they give to our own conscientiousness and +benevolence. On the other hand, when we endeavour to +promote the efforts of our fellow-creatures to attain happiness, +we produce a re-action of the contrary kind, the tendency of +which is towards our own benefit. The one course of action +tends to the injury, the other to the benefit of ourselves and +others. By the one course the general design of the Creator +towards his creatures is thwarted; by the other it is +favoured. And thus we can readily see the most substantial +grounds for regarding all moral emotions and doings as divine in +their nature, and as a means of rising to and communing with +God. Obedience is not selfishness, which it would otherwise +be—it is worship. The merest barbarians have a +glimmering sense of this philosophy, and it continually shines +out more and more clearly in the public mind, as a nation +advances in intelligence. Nor are individuals alone +concerned here. The same rule applies as between one great +body or class of men and another, and also between nations. +Thus if one set of men keep others in the condition of +slaves—this being a gross injustice to the subjected party, +the mental manifestations of that party to the masters will be +such as to mar the comfort of their lives; the minds of the +masters themselves will be degraded by the association with +beings so degraded; and thus, with some immediate or apparent +benefit from keeping slaves, there will be in a far greater +degree an experience of evil. So also, if one portion of a +nation, engaged in a particular department of industry, grasp at +some advantages injurious to the other sections of the people, +the first effect will be an injury to those other portions of the +nation, and the second a re-active injury to the injurers, making +their guilt their punishment. And so when one nation +commits an aggression upon the property or rights of another, or +even pursues towards it a sordid or ungracious policy, the +effects are sure to be redoubled evil from the offended +party. All of these things are under laws which make the +effects, on a large range, absolutely certain; and an individual, +a party, a people, can no more act unjustly with safety, than I +could with safety place my leg in the track of a coming wain, or +attempt to fast thirty days. We have been constituted on +the principle of only being able to realize happiness for +ourselves when our fellow-creatures are also happy; we must +therefore both do to others only as we would have others to do to +us, and endeavour to promote their happiness as well as our own, +in order to find ourselves truly comfortable in this field of +existence. These are words which God speaks to us as truly +through his works, as if we heard them uttered in his own voice +from heaven.</p> +<p>It will occur to every one, that the system here unfolded does +not imply the most perfect conceivable love or regard on the part +of the Deity towards his creatures. Constituted as we are, +feeling how vain our efforts often are to attain happiness or +avoid calamity, and knowing that much evil does unavoidably +befall us from no fault of ours, we are apt to feel that this is +a dreary view of the Divine economy; and before we have looked +farther, we might be tempted to say, Far rather let us cling to +the idea, so long received, that the Deity acts continually for +special occasions, and gives such directions to the fate of each +individual as he thinks meet; so that, when sorrow comes to us, +we shall have at least the consolation of believing that it is +imposed by a Father who loves us, and who seeks by these means to +accomplish our ultimate good. Now, in the first place, if +this be an untrue notion of the Deity and his ways, it can be of +no real benefit to us; and, in the second, it is proper to +inquire if there be necessarily in the doctrine of natural law +any peculiarity calculated materially to affect our hitherto +supposed relation to the Deity. It may be that while we are +committed to take our chance in a natural system of undeviating +operation, and are left with apparent ruthlessness to endure the +consequences of every collision into which we knowingly or +unknowingly come with each law of the system, there is a system +of Mercy and Grace behind the screen of nature, which is to make +up for all casualties endured here, and the very largeness of +which is what makes these casualties a matter of indifference to +God. For the existence of such a system, the actual +constitution of nature is itself an argument. The reasoning +may proceed thus: The system of nature assures us that +benevolence is a leading principle in the divine mind. But +that system is at the same time deficient in a means of making +this benevolence of invariable operation. To reconcile this +to the recognised character of the Deity, it is necessary to +suppose that the present system is but a part of a whole, a stage +in a Great Progress, and that the Redress is in reserve. +Another argument here occurs—the economy of nature, +beautifully arranged and vast in its extent as it is, does not +satisfy even man’s idea of what might be; he feels that, if +this multiplicity of theatres for the exemplification of such +phenomena as we see on earth were to go on for ever unchanged, it +would not be worthy of the Being capable of creating it. An +endless monotony of human generations, with their humble +thinkings and doings, seems an object beneath that august +Being. But the mundane economy might be very well as a +portion of some greater phenomenon, the rest of which was yet to +be evolved. It therefore appears that our system, though it +may at first appear at issue with other doctrines in esteem +amongst mankind, tends to come into harmony with them, and even +to give them support. I would say, in conclusion, that, +even where the two above arguments may fail of effect, there may +yet be a faith derived from this view of nature sufficient to +sustain us under all sense of the imperfect happiness, the +calamities, the woes, and pains of this sphere of being. +For let us but fully and truly consider what a system is here +laid open to view, and we cannot well doubt that we are in the +hands of One who is both able and willing to do us the most +entire justice. And in this faith we may well rest at ease, +even though life should have been to us but a protracted disease, +or though every hope we had built on the secular materials within +our reach were felt to be melting from our grasp. Thinking +of all the contingencies of this world as to be in time melted +into or lost in the greater system, to which the present is only +subsidiary, let us wait the end with patience, and be of good +cheer.</p> +<h2><a name="page387"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 387</span>NOTE +CONCLUSORY.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Thus</span> ends a book, composed in +solitude, and almost without the cognizance of a single human +being, for the sole purpose (or as nearly so as may be) of +improving the knowledge of mankind, and through that medium their +happiness. For reasons which need not be specified, the +author’s name is retained in its original obscurity, and, +in all probability, will never be generally known. I do not +expect that any word of praise which the work may elicit shall +ever be responded to by me; or that any word of censure shall +ever be parried or deprecated. It goes forth to take its +chance of instant oblivion, or of a long and active course of +usefulness in the world. Neither contingency can be of any +importance to me, beyond the regret or the satisfaction which may +be imparted by my sense of a lost or a realized benefit to my +fellow-creatures. The book, as far as I am aware, is the +first attempt to connect the natural sciences into a history of +creation. The idea is a bold one, and there are many +circumstances of time and place to render its boldness more than +usually conspicuous. But I believe my doctrines to be in +the main true; I believe all truth to be valuable, and its +dissemination a blessing. At the same time, I hold myself +duly sensible of the common liability to error, but am certain +that no error in this line has the least chance of being allowed +to injure the public mind. Therefore I publish. My +views, if correct, will most assuredly stand, and may sooner or +later prove beneficial; if otherwise, they will as surely pass +out of notice without doing any harm.</p> +<p>My sincere desire in the composition of the book was to give +the true view of the history of nature, with as little +disturbance as possible to existing beliefs, whether +philosophical or religious. I have made little reference to +any doctrines of the latter kind which may be thought +inconsistent with mine, because to do so would have been to enter +upon questions for the settlement of which our knowledge is not +yet ripe. Let the reconciliation of whatever is true in my +views with whatever is true in other systems come about in the +fulness of calm and careful inquiry. I cannot but here +remind the reader of what Dr. Wiseman has shewn so strikingly in +his lectures, how different new philosophic doctrines are apt to +appear after we have become somewhat familiar with them. +Geology at first seems inconsistent with the authority of the +Mosaic record. A storm of unreasoning indignation rises +against its teachers. In time, its truths, being found +quite irresistible, are admitted, and mankind continue to regard +the Scriptures with the same respect as before. So also +with several other sciences. Now the only objection that +can be made on such ground to this book, is, that it brings +forward some new hypotheses, at first sight, like geology, not in +perfect harmony with that record, and arranges all the rest into +a system which partakes of the same character. But may not +the sacred text, on a liberal interpretation, or with the benefit +of new light reflected from nature, or derived from learning, be +shewn to be as much in harmony with the novelties of this volume +as it has been with geology and natural philosophy? What is +there in the laws of organic creation more startling to the +candid theologian than in the Copernican system or the natural +formation of strata? And if the whole series of facts is +true, why should we shrink from inferences legitimately flowing +from it? Is it not a wiser course, since reconciliation has +come in so many instances, still to hope for it, still to go on +with our new truths, trusting that they also will in time be +found harmonious with all others? Thus we avoid the damage +which the very appearance of an opposition to natural truth is +calculated to inflict on any system presumed to require such +support. Thus we give, as is meet, a respectful reception +to what is revealed through the medium of nature, at the same +time that we fully reserve our reverence for all we have been +accustomed to hold sacred, not one tittle of which it may +ultimately be found necessary to alter.</p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3" +class="footnote">[3]</a> By Mr. Henderson, Professor of +Astronomy in the Edinburgh University, and Lieutenant +Meadows.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> Made by M. Argelander, late +director of the Observatory at Abo.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6" +class="footnote">[6]</a> Professor Mossotti, on the +Constitution of the Sidereal System, of which the Sun forms a +part.—<i>London</i>, <i>Edinburgh</i>, <i>and Dublin +Philosophical Magazine</i>, February, 1843.</p> +<p><a name="footnote9"></a><a href="#citation9" +class="footnote">[9]</a> The orbitual revolutions of the +satellites of Uranus have not as yet been clearly scanned. +It has been thought that their path is retrograde compared with +the rest. Perhaps this may be owing to a +<i>bouleversement</i> of the primary, for the inclination of its +equator to the ecliptic is admitted to be unusually high; but the +subject is altogether so obscure, that nothing can be founded on +it.</p> +<p><a name="footnote12"></a><a href="#citation12" +class="footnote">[12]</a> Astronomy, Lardner’s +Cyclopædia.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17"></a><a href="#citation17" +class="footnote">[17]</a> M. Compte combined +Huygens’s theorems for the measure of centrifugal force +with the law of gravitation, and thus formed a simple fundamental +equation between the duration of the rotation of what he calls +the producing star, and the distance of the star produced. +The constants of this equation were the radius of the central +star, and the intensity of gravity at its surface, which is a +direct consequence of its mass. It leads directly to the +third law of Kepler, which thus becomes susceptible of being +conceived <i>à priori</i> in a cosmogonical point of +view. M. Compte first applied it to the moon, and found, to +his great delight, that the periodic time of that satellite +agrees within an hour or two with the duration which the +revolution of the earth ought to have had at the time when the +lunar distance formed the limit of the earth’s +atmosphere. He found the coincidence less exact, but still +very striking in every other case. In those of the planets +he obtained for the duration of the corresponding solar rotations +a value always a little less than their actual periodic +times. “It is remarkable,” says he, “that +this difference, though increasing as the planet is more distant, +preserves very nearly the same relation to the corresponding +periodic time, of which it commonly forms the forty-fifth +part,”—shewing, we may suppose, that only some small +elements of the question had been overlooked by the +calculator. The defect changes to an excess in the +different systems of the satellites, where it is proportionally +greater than in the planets, and unequal in the different +systems. “From the whole of these comparisons,” +says he, “I deduced the following general +result:—Supposing the mathematical limit of the solar +atmosphere successively extended to the regions where the +different planets are now found, the duration of the sun’s +rotation was, at each of these epochs, sensibly equal to that of +the actual sidereal revolution of the corresponding planet; and +the same is true for each planetary atmosphere in relation to the +different satellites.”—<i>Cours de Philosophie +Positif</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote42"></a><a href="#citation42" +class="footnote">[42]</a> The researches on this subject +were conducted chiefly by the late Baron Fourier, perpetual +secretary to the Academy of Sciences of Paris. See his +<i>Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur</i>. 1822.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52"></a><a href="#citation52" +class="footnote">[52]</a> Delabeche’s Geological +Researches.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60"></a><a href="#citation60" +class="footnote">[60]</a> In the Cumbrian limestone occur +“calamoporæ, lithodendra, cyathophylla, and +orbicula.”—<i>Philips</i>. The asaphus and +trinucleus (crustacea) have been found respectively in the slate +rocks of Wales, and the limestone beds of the grawacke group in +Bohemia. That fragments of crinoidea, though of no +determinate species, occur in this system, we have the authority +of Mr. Murchison.—<i>Silurian System</i>, p. 710.</p> +<p><a name="footnote62"></a><a href="#citation62" +class="footnote">[62]</a> Such as amphioxus and myxene.</p> +<p><a name="footnote64"></a><a href="#citation64" +class="footnote">[64]</a> Miller’s “New Walks +in an Old Field.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote68"></a><a href="#citation68" +class="footnote">[68]</a> June, 1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84a"></a><a href="#citation84a" +class="footnote">[84a]</a> The principal families are named +sphenopteris, neuropteris, and pecopteris.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84b"></a><a href="#citation84b" +class="footnote">[84b]</a> A specimen from Bengal, in the +staircase of the British Museum, is forty-five feet high.</p> +<p><a name="footnote93"></a><a href="#citation93" +class="footnote">[93]</a> “Some of the most +considerable dislocations of the border of the coal fields of +Coalbrookdale and Dudley happened after the deposition of a part +of the new red sandstone; but it is certain that those of +Somersetshire and Gloucestershire were completed before the date +of that rock.”—<i>Philips</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote97"></a><a href="#citation97" +class="footnote">[97]</a> The immediate effects of the slow +respiration of the reptilia are, a low temperature in their +bodies, and a slow consumption of food. Requiring little +oxygen, they could have existed in an atmosphere containing a +less proportion of that gas to carbonic acid gas than what now +obtains.</p> +<p><a name="footnote99"></a><a href="#citation99" +class="footnote">[99]</a> The order to which frogs and +toads belong.</p> +<p><a name="footnote103"></a><a href="#citation103" +class="footnote">[103]</a> Dr. Buckland, quoting an article +by Professor Hitchcock, in the American Journal of Science and +Arts, 1836.</p> +<p><a name="footnote108a"></a><a href="#citation108a" +class="footnote">[108a]</a> Murchison’s Silurian +System, p. 583.</p> +<p><a name="footnote108b"></a><a href="#citation108b" +class="footnote">[108b]</a> Buckland.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110"></a><a href="#citation110" +class="footnote">[110]</a> In some instances, these fossils +are found with the contents of the stomach faithfully preserved, +and even with pieces of the external skin. The pellets +ejected by them (<i>coprolites</i>) are found in vast numbers, +each generally enclosed in a nodule of ironstone, and sometimes +shewing remains of the fishes which had formed their food.</p> +<p><a name="footnote114"></a><a href="#citation114" +class="footnote">[114]</a> De la Beche’s Geological +Researches, p. 344.</p> +<p><a name="footnote127"></a><a href="#citation127" +class="footnote">[127]</a> Thick-skinned animals. +This term has been given by Cuvier to an order in which the hog, +elephant, horse, and rhinoceros are included.</p> +<p><a name="footnote149"></a><a href="#citation149" +class="footnote">[149]</a> Intervals in the series were +numerous in the department of the pachydermata; many of these +gaps are now filled up from the extinct genera found in the +tertiary formation.</p> +<p><a name="footnote151"></a><a href="#citation151" +class="footnote">[151]</a> See paper by Professor Edward +Forbes, read to the British Association, 1839.</p> +<p><a name="footnote159"></a><a href="#citation159" +class="footnote">[159]</a> Macculloch on the Attributes of +the Deity, iii. 569.</p> +<p><a name="footnote166"></a><a href="#citation166" +class="footnote">[166]</a> “A glass tube is to be +bent into a syphon, and placed with the curve downwards, and in +the bend is to be placed a small portion of mercury, not +sufficient to close the connexion between the two legs; a +solution of nitrate of silver is then to be introduced until it +rises in both limbs of the tube. The precipitation of the +mercury, in the form of an Arbor Dianæ, will then take +place, slowly, only when the syphon is placed in a plane +perpendicular to the magnetic meridian; but if it be placed in a +plane coinciding with the magnetic meridian, the action is rapid, +and the crystallization particularly beautiful, taking place +principally in that branch of the syphon towards the north. +If the syphon be placed in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic +meridian, and a strong magnet brought near it, the precipitation +will commence in a short time, and be most copious in the branch +of the syphon nearest to the south pole of the magnet.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote169a"></a><a href="#citation169a" +class="footnote">[169a]</a> Fatty matter has also been +formed in the laboratory. The process consisted in passing +a mixture of carbonic acid, pure hydrogen, and carburetted +hydrogen, in the proportion of one measure of the first, twenty +of the second, and ten of the third, through a red-hot tube.</p> +<p><a name="footnote169b"></a><a href="#citation169b" +class="footnote">[169b]</a> Supplement to the Atomic +Theory.</p> +<p><a name="footnote170"></a><a href="#citation170" +class="footnote">[170]</a> Carpenter on Life; Todd’s +Cyclopædia of Physiology.</p> +<p><a name="footnote171"></a><a href="#citation171" +class="footnote">[171]</a> Carpenter’s Report on the +results obtained by the Microscope in the Study of Anatomy and +Physiology, 1843.</p> +<p><a name="footnote172"></a><a href="#citation172" +class="footnote">[172]</a> See Dr. Martin Barry on +Fissiparous Generation; Jameson’s Journal, Oct. 1843. +Appearances precisely similar have been detected in the germs of +the crustacea.</p> +<p><a name="footnote175"></a><a href="#citation175" +class="footnote">[175]</a> Mr. Leonard Horner and Sir David +Brewster, on a substance resembling shell.—<i>Philosophical +Transactions</i>, 1836.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179a"></a><a href="#citation179a" +class="footnote">[179a]</a> Dr. Allen Thomson, in the +article <i>Generation</i>, in Todd’s Cyclopædia of +Anatomy and Physiology.</p> +<p><a name="footnote179b"></a><a href="#citation179b" +class="footnote">[179b]</a> The term aboriginal is here +suggested, as more correct than spontaneous, the one hitherto +generally used.</p> +<p><a name="footnote182"></a><a href="#citation182" +class="footnote">[182]</a> Article “Zoophytes,” +Encyclopædia Britannica, 7th edition.</p> +<p><a name="footnote187"></a><a href="#citation187" +class="footnote">[187]</a> See a pamphlet circulated by Mr. +Weekes, in 1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195"></a><a href="#citation195" +class="footnote">[195]</a> Daubenton established the rule, +that all the viviparous quadrupeds have seven vertebræ in +the neck.</p> +<p><a name="footnote201"></a><a href="#citation201" +class="footnote">[201]</a> Lord’s Popular +Physiology. It is to Tiedemann that we chiefly owe these +curious observations; but ground was first broken in this branch +of physiological science by Dr. John Hunter.</p> +<p><a name="footnote204"></a><a href="#citation204" +class="footnote">[204]</a> When I formed this idea, I was +not aware of one which seems faintly to foreshadow +it—namely, Socrates’s doctrine, afterwards dilated on +by Plato, that “previous to the existence of the world, and +beyond its present limits, there existed certain archetypes, the +embodiment (if we may use such a word) of general ideas; and that +these archetypes were models, in imitation of which all +particular beings were created.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote208"></a><a href="#citation208" +class="footnote">[208]</a> The numbers 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, +28, &c. are formed by adding the successive terms of the +series of natural numbers thus:</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p>1</p> +</td> +<td><p>= 1</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>1+2</p> +</td> +<td><p>= 3</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>1+2+3</p> +</td> +<td><p>= 6</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>l+2+3+4</p> +</td> +<td><p>= 10, &c.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>They are called triangular numbers, because a number of points +corresponding to any term can always be placed in the form of a +triangle; for instance—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: center">.</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">.<br /> +..</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">.<br /> +..<br /> +...</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">.<br /> +..<br /> +...<br /> +....</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p style="text-align: center">1</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">3</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">6</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: center">10</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p><a name="footnote215"></a><a href="#citation215" +class="footnote">[215]</a> Kirby and Spence.</p> +<p><a name="footnote221"></a><a href="#citation221" +class="footnote">[221]</a> See an article by Dr. +Weissenborn, in the New Series of “Magazine of Natural +History,” vol. i. p. 574.</p> +<p><a name="footnote224"></a><a href="#citation224" +class="footnote">[224]</a> “It is a fact of the +highest interest and moment that as the brain of every tribe of +animals appears to pass, during its development, in succession +through the types of all those below it, so the brain of man +passes through the types of those of every tribe in the +creation. It represents, accordingly, before the second +month of utero-gestation, that of an avertebrated animal; at the +second month, that of an osseous fish; at the third, that of a +turtle; at the fourth, that of a bird; at the fifth, that of one +of the rodentia; at the sixth, that of one of the ruminantia; at +the seventh, that of one of the digitigrada; at the eighth, that +of one of the quadrumana; till at length, at the ninth, it +compasses the brain of Man! It is hardly necessary to say, +that all this is only an approximation to the truth; since +neither is the brain of all osseous fishes, of all turtles, of +all birds, nor of all the species of any one of the above order +of mammals, by any means precisely the same, nor does the brain +of the human fœtus at any time precisely resemble, perhaps, +that of any individual whatever among the lower animals. +Nevertheless, it may be said to represent, at each of the +above-mentioned periods, the aggregate, as it were, of the brains +of each of the tribes stated; consisting as it does, about the +second month, chiefly of the mesial parts of the cerebellum, the +corpora quadrigemina, thalami optici, rudiments of the +hemispheres of the cerebrum and corpora striata; and receiving in +succession, at the third, the rudiments of the lobes of the +cerebrum; at the fourth, those of the fornix, corpus callosum, +and septum lucidum; at the fifth, the tubor annulare, and so +forth; the posterior lobes of the cerebrum increasing from before +to behind, so as to cover the thalami optici about the fourth +month, the corpora quadrigemina about the sixth, and the +cerebellum about the seventh. This, then, is another +example of an increase in the complexity of an organ succeeding +its centralization; as if Nature, having first piled up her +materials in one spot, delighted afterwards to employ her +abundance, not so much in enlarging old parts as in forming new +ones upon the old foundations, and thus adding to the complexity +of a fabric, the rudimental structure of which is in all animals +equally simple.”—<i>Fletcher’s Rudiments of +Physiology</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote226"></a><a href="#citation226" +class="footnote">[226]</a> Project Gutenberg note: the +table in the book is very wide. Since it won’t fit +within the normal Gutenberg margins, and cannot be reproduced +typographically, the rows of the table have been broken out as +follows.—DP.</p> +<p>Table shows: scale of animal kingdom (the numbers indicate +orders); order of animals in; ascending series of rocks; +fœtal human brain resembles, in</p> +<p>(The numbers indicate orders)</p> +<p>Rocks: 1. Gneiss and Mica Slate system</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Radiata</span> (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)</p> +<p>Order: Zoophyta, Polypiaria</p> +<p>Rocks: 2. Clay Slate and Grawacke system</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Mollusca</span> (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, +11)</p> +<p>Order: Conchifera, Double-shelled Mollusks</p> +<p>Rocks: 3. Silurian system</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Articulata</span> <i>Annelida</i> +(12, 13, 14)</p> +<p>Rocks: 3. Silurian system</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Articulata</span> <i>Crustacea</i> +(15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)</p> +<p>Order: Crustacea, Annelida, Crustaceous Fishes</p> +<p>Rocks: 3. Silurian system</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Articulata</span> <i>Arachnida +& Insecta</i> (21–31)</p> +<p>Order: Crustaceous Fishes</p> +<p>Rocks: 4. Old Red Sandstone</p> +<p>Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Pisces</i> +(32, 33, 34, 35, 36)</p> +<p>Order: True Fishes</p> +<p>Rocks: 5. Carboniferous formation</p> +<p>Fœtal: 2nd month, that of a fish;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Reptilia</i> +(37, 38, 39, 40)</p> +<p>Order: Piscine Saurians (ichthyosaurus, &c.), +Pterodactyles, Crocodiles, Tortoises, Batrachians</p> +<p>Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone</p> +<p>Fœtal: 3rd month, that of a turtle;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Aves</i> (41, +42, 43, 44, 45, 46)</p> +<p>Order: Birds</p> +<p>Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone</p> +<p>Fœtal: 4th month, that of a bird;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +47 Cetacea</p> +<p>Order: (Bone of a marsupial animal)</p> +<p>Rocks: 7. Oolite</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +48 Ruminantia</p> +<p>Order: (Bone of a marsupial animal)</p> +<p>Rocks: 8. Cretaceous formation</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +49 Pachydermata</p> +<p>Order: Pachydermata (tapirs, horses, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +50 Edentata</p> +<p>Order: Pachydermata (tapirs, horses, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +51 Rodentia</p> +<p>Order: Rodentia (dormouse, squirrel, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Fœtal: 5th month, that of a rodent;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +52 Marsupialia</p> +<p>Order: Marsupialia (racoon, opossum, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Fœtal: 6th month, that of a ruminant;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +53 Amphibia</p> +<p>Order: Marsupialia (racoon, opossum, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Fœtal: 6th month, that of a ruminant;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +54 Digitigrada</p> +<p>Order: Digitigrada (genette, fox, wolf, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 10. Miocene</p> +<p>Fœtal: 7th month, that of a digitigrade animal;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +55 Plantigrada</p> +<p>Order: Plantigrada (bear)</p> +<p>Rocks: 10. Miocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +55 Plantigrada</p> +<p>Order: Cetacea (lamantins, seals, whales)</p> +<p>Rocks: 10. Miocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +56 Insectivora</p> +<p>Order: Edentata (sloths, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +56 Insectivora</p> +<p>Order: Ruminantia (oxen, deer, &c.)</p> +<p>Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +57 Cheiroptera</p> +<p>Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +58 Quadrumana</p> +<p>Order: Quadrumana (monkeys)</p> +<p>Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Fœtal: 8th month, that of the quadrumana;</p> +<p>Scale: <span class="smcap">Vertebrata</span> <i>Mammalia</i>: +59 Bimana</p> +<p>Order: Bimana (man)</p> +<p>Rocks: 12. Superficial deposits</p> +<p>Fœtal: 9th month, attains full human character;</p> +<p><a name="footnote229"></a><a href="#citation229" +class="footnote">[229]</a> Some poor people having taken up +their abode in the cells under the fortifications of Lisle, the +proportion of defective infants produced by them became so great, +that it was deemed necessary to issue an order commanding these +cells to be shut up.</p> +<p><a name="footnote232"></a><a href="#citation232" +class="footnote">[232]</a> These affinities and analogies +are explained in the next chapter.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239a"></a><a href="#citation239a" +class="footnote">[239a]</a> Corresponding to the articulata +of Cuvier.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239b"></a><a href="#citation239b" +class="footnote">[239b]</a> A new sub-kingdom, made out of +part of the radiata of Cuvier.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239c"></a><a href="#citation239c" +class="footnote">[239c]</a> This is a newly applied term, +the reasons for which will be explained in the sequel.</p> +<p><a name="footnote242"></a><a href="#citation242" +class="footnote">[242]</a> This is preferred to +grallatorial, as more comprehensively descriptive. There is +the same need for a substitute for rasorial, which is only +applicable to birds.</p> +<p><a name="footnote246"></a><a href="#citation246" +class="footnote">[246]</a> Distribution and Classification +of Animals, p. 248.</p> +<p><a name="footnote255"></a><a href="#citation255" +class="footnote">[255]</a> Researches, 4th edition, i. +95.</p> +<p><a name="footnote257"></a><a href="#citation257" +class="footnote">[257]</a> Prichard.</p> +<p><a name="footnote266"></a><a href="#citation266" +class="footnote">[266]</a> Mr. Swainson’s arguments +about the entireness of the circle simiadæ are only too +rigid, for fossil geology has since added new genera to this +group and the cebidæ, and there may be still farther +additions.</p> +<p><a name="footnote270"></a><a href="#citation270" +class="footnote">[270]</a> See Wilson’s American +Ornithology; article, <i>Fishing Crow</i>.</p> +<p><a name="footnote274"></a><a href="#citation274" +class="footnote">[274]</a> Project Gutenberg note: in the +diagram the triangles extending from the 1,2,3,4 and the a,b,c,d +meet at the same point—the line from the 1,2,3,4 being at +around 45° and the line from the a,b,c,d being at around +60°. Despite what the text says there is no line +labelled 5 in the diagram.—DP.</p> +<p><a name="footnote278"></a><a href="#citation278" +class="footnote">[278]</a> See Dr. Prichard’s +Researches into the Physical History of Man.</p> +<p><a name="footnote280"></a><a href="#citation280" +class="footnote">[280]</a> Buckingham’s Travels among +the Arabs. This fact is the more valuable to the argument, +as having been set down with no regard to any kind of +hypothesis.</p> +<p><a name="footnote287"></a><a href="#citation287" +class="footnote">[287]</a> Wiseman’s Lectures on the +Connexion between Science and Revealed Religion, i. 44. The +Celtic has been established as a member or group of the +Indo-European family, by the work of Dr. Prichard, <i>on the +Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations</i>. +“First,” says Dr. Wiseman, “he has examined the +lexical resemblances, and shewn that the primary and most simple +words are the same in both, as well as the numerals and +elementary verbal roots. Then follows a minute analysis of +the verb, directed to shew its analogies with other languages, +and they are such as manifest no casual coincidence, but an +internal structure radically the same. The verb +substantive, which is minutely analysed, presents more striking +analogies to the Persian verb than perhaps any other language of +the family. But Celtic is not thus become a mere member of +this confederacy, but has brought to it most important aid; for, +from it alone can be satisfactorily explained some of the +conjugational endings in the other languages. For instance, +the third person plural of the Latin, Persian, Greek, and +Sanscrit ends in nt, nd, ντι, ντο, +nti, or nt. Now, supposing, with most grammarians, that the +inflexions arose from the pronouns of the respective persons, it +is only in Celtic that we find a pronoun that can explain this +termination; for there, too, the same person ends in nt, and thus +corresponds exactly, as do the others, with its pronoun, +<i>hwynt</i>, or <i>ynt</i>.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote291"></a><a href="#citation291" +class="footnote">[291]</a> Schoolcraft.</p> +<p><a name="footnote293"></a><a href="#citation293" +class="footnote">[293]</a> Views of the Cordilleras.</p> +<p><a name="footnote302"></a><a href="#citation302" +class="footnote">[302]</a> The problem of Chinese +civilization, such as it is—so puzzling when we consider +that they are only, as will be presently seen, the child race of +mankind—is solved when we look to geographical position +producing fixity of residence and density of population.</p> +<p><a name="footnote307a"></a><a href="#citation307a" +class="footnote">[307a]</a> Lord’s Popular +Physiology, explaining observations by M. Serres.</p> +<p><a name="footnote307b"></a><a href="#citation307b" +class="footnote">[307b]</a> Conformably to this view, the +beard, that peculiar attribute of maturity, is scanty in the +Mongolian, and scarcely exists in the Americans and Negroes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote309"></a><a href="#citation309" +class="footnote">[309]</a> Of this we have perhaps an +illustration in the peculiarities which distinguish the Arabs +residing in the valley of the Jordan. They have flatter +features, darker skins, and coarser hair than other tribes of +their nation; and we have seen one instance of a thoroughly Negro +family being born to an ordinary couple. It may be presumed +that the conditions of the life of these people tend to arrest +development. We thus see how an offshoot of the human +family migrating at an early period into Africa, might in time, +from subjection to similar influences, become Negroes.</p> +<p><a name="footnote317"></a><a href="#citation317" +class="footnote">[317]</a> Missionary Scenes and Labours in +South Africa.</p> +<p><a name="footnote326"></a><a href="#citation326" +class="footnote">[326]</a> “Is not God the first +cause of matter as well as of mind? Do not the first +attributes of matter lie as inscrutable in the bosom of +God—of its first author—as those of mind? Has +not even matter confessedly received from God the power of +experiencing, in consequence of impressions from the earlier +modifications of matter, certain consciousnesses called +sensations of the same? Is not, therefore, the wonder of +matter also receiving the consciousnesses of other matter called +ideas of the mind a wonder more flowing out of and in analogy +with all former wonders, than would be, on the contrary, the +wonder of this faculty of the mind not flowing out of any +faculties of matter? Is it not a wonder which, so far from +destroying our hopes of immortality, can establish that doctrine +on a train of inferences and inductions more firmly established +and more connected with each other than the former belief can be, +as soon as we have proved that matter is not perishable, but is +only liable to successive combinations and decombinations.</p> +<p>“Can we look farther back one way into the first origin +of matter than we can look forward the other way into the last +developments of mind? Can we say that God has not in matter +itself laid the seeds of every faculty of mind, rather than that +he has made the first principle of mind entirely distinct from +that of matter? Cannot the first cause of all we see and +know have <i>fraught matter itself</i>, <i>from its very +beginning</i>, <i>with all the attributes necessary to develop +into mind</i>, as well as he can have from the first made the +attributes of mind wholly different from those of matter, only in +order afterwards, by an imperceptible and incomprehensible link, +to join the two together?</p> +<p>“ * * [The decombination of the matter on which mind +rests] is this a reason why mind must be annihilated? Is +the temporary reverting of the mind, and of the sense out of +which that mind developes, to their original component elements, +a reason for thinking that they cannot again at another later +period, and in another higher globe, be again recombined, and +with more splendour than before? * * The New Testament does not +after death here promise us a soul hereafter unconnected with +matter, and which has no connexion with our present mind—a +soul independent of time and space. That is a fanciful +idea, not founded on its expressions, when taken in their just +and real meaning. On the contrary, it promises us a mind +like the present, founded on time and space; since it is, like +the present, to hold a certain situation in time, and a certain +locality in space. But it promises a mind situated in +portions of time and of space different from the present; a mind +composed of elements of matter more extended, more perfect, and +more glorious: a mind which, formed of materials supplied by +different globes, is consequently able to see farther into the +past, and to think farther into the future, than any mind here +existing: a mind which, freed from the partial and uneven +combination incidental to it on this globe, will be exempt from +the changes for evil to which, on the present globe, mind as well +as matter is liable, and will only thenceforth experience the +changes for the better which matter, more justly poised, will +alone continue to experience: a mind which, no longer fearing the +death, the total decomposition, to which it is subject on this +globe, will thenceforth continue last and +immortal.”—<span class="smcap">Hope</span>, <i>on the +Origin and Prospects of Man</i>, 1831.</p> +<p><a name="footnote331"></a><a href="#citation331" +class="footnote">[331]</a> Dublin Review, Aug. 1840. +The Guarantee Society has since been established, and is likely +to become a useful and prosperous institution.</p> +<p><a name="footnote333"></a><a href="#citation333" +class="footnote">[333]</a> The ray, which is considered the +lowest in the scale of fishes, or next to the crustaceans, gives +the first faint representation of a brain in certain scanty and +medullary masses, which appear as merely composed of enlarged +origins of the nerves.</p> +<p><a name="footnote335"></a><a href="#citation335" +class="footnote">[335]</a> If mental action is electric, +the proverbial quickness of thought—that is, the quickness +of the transmission of sensation and will—may be presumed +to have been brought to an exact measurement. The speed of +light has long been known to be about 192,000 miles per second, +and the experiments of Wheatstone have shewn that the electric +agent travels (if I may so speak) at the same rate, thus shewing +a likelihood that one law rules the movements of all the +“imponderable bodies.” Mental action may +accordingly be presumed to have a rapidity equal to one hundred +and ninety-two thousand miles in the second—a rate +evidently far beyond what is necessary to make the design and +execution of any of our ordinary muscular movements apparently +identical in point of time, which they are.</p> +<p><a name="footnote346"></a><a href="#citation346" +class="footnote">[346]</a> Phrenological Journal, xv. +338.</p> +<p><a name="footnote347"></a><a href="#citation347" +class="footnote">[347]</a> A pampered lap-dog, living where +there is another of its own species, will hide any nice morsel +which it cannot eat, under a rug, or in some other by-place, +designing to enjoy it afterwards. I have seen children do +the same thing.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF +CREATION***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 7116-h.htm or 7116-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/7/1/1/7116 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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