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diff --git a/old/vstc10.txt b/old/vstc10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5eac98 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/vstc10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8303 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation +by Robert Chambers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation + +Author: Robert Chambers + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7116] +[This file was first posted on March 11, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, VESTIGES OF CREATION *** + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk, from the +1844 John Churchill edition. + + + + +VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION + + + + +THE BODIES OF SPACE, THEIR ARRANGEMENTS AND FORMATION. + + + +It 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. + +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, alpha alpha, of the +constellation of the Centaur, {3} 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. + +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 ?, in the constellation Hercules. This has been +generally verified by recent and more exact calculations, {5} 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 FROM WEST TO EAST, 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." {6} 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. + +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 SIDES 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. + +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 nebulae; 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 BUR 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. + +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. + +It is, in the first place, remarkable, that the planets all move +nearly IN ONE PLANE, 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, {9} and the motions of all on their axes, are IN ONE +DIRECTION--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. + +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, - + +0 3 6 12 24 48 96 192, + +and add 4 to each, we shall have a series denoting the respective +distances of the planets from the sun. It will stand thus - + +4 7 10 16 28 52 100 196 +Merc. Venus. Earth. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus. + +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 FAMILY LIKENESS; 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." +{12} + +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. + +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. + +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 TO, the other throwing FROM, 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 SOLIDIFYING CRUST. 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 formulae. + +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. + +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 THAT ROTATION CORRESPONDED IN +EVERY CASE WITH THE ACTUAL SIDEREAL REVOLUTION OF THE PLANETS, AND +THAT THE ROTATION OF THE PRIMARY PLANETS IN LIKE MANNER CORRESPONDED +WITH THE ORBITUAL PERIODS OF THE SECONDARIES. 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. {17} + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The first idea which all this impresses upon us is, that the +formation of bodies in space is STILL AND AT PRESENT IN PROGRESS. 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. + +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! + + + +CONSTITUENT MATERIALS OF THE EARTH AND OF THE OTHER BODIES OF SPACE. + + + +The 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. + +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. + +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 degrees Fahrenheit, becomes ice; raise the +temperature to 212 degrees, 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 degrees, 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. + +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. + +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 POSSIBLY shades of variation with +respect to the component materials, and UNDOUBTEDLY 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +In considering the cosmogenic arrangements of our globe, our +attention is called in a special degree to the moon. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 SEAS. In some parts, bright +volcanic matter, besides covering one large patch, radiates out in +long streams, which appear studded with subordinate foci 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 Tycho, 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 AEtna. 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. + +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. + +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, {42} 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. + + + +THE EARTH FORMED--ERA OF THE PRIMARY ROCKS. + + + +Although 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 Gneiss and Mica Slate System, 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 laminae 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. + +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. {52} 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. + +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. + + + +COMMENCEMENT OF ORGANIC LIFE--SEA PLANTS, CORALS, ETC. + + + +We 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 CARBON, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 ONE-TWELFTH 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 Stone Book present no record of the +contemporaneous existence of land animals. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Above the gneiss and mica slate system, or group of strata, is the +Clay Slate and Grawacke Slate System; that is to say, it is higher in +the ORDER OF SUPRAPOSITION, 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. Zoophyta, polyparia, +crinoidea, conchifera, and crustacea, {60} are the orders of the +animal kingdom thus found in the earliest of earth's sepulchres. The +ORDERS 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 laminae of some of the slate rocks of Wales, and the +corresponding rocks of Normandy and Germany in enormous quantities. + +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 Silurian System, 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, leptaena;) 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. {62} 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 foecal 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." {64} + +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. + +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. + + + +ERA OF THE OLD RED SANDSTONE--FISHES ABUNDANT. + + + +We advance to a new chapter in this marvellous history--the era of +the Old Red Sandstone System. 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. + +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 {68} 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 SPECIES +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. + +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. + +The cephalaspis 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 buckler- +head. A range of small fins conveys the idea of its having been as +weak in motion as it is strong in structure. The coccosteus 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 pterichthys 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. + +The holoptychius 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. + +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. + +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 foetus of one of the more perfect animals. + +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. + +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. + +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, SINCE 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 Era of the Oldest Mountains, 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. + +The last three systems--called, in England, the Cumbrian, Silurian, +and Devonian, and collectively the palaeozoic 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. + + + +SECONDARY ROCKS. ERA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION. LAND FORMED. +COMMENCEMENT OF LAND PLANTS. + + + +We 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. + +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 +(coal) formed solely of vegetable matter, and some others in which +the main ingredient is particles of iron, (the iron black band.) The +secondary rocks are quite as communicative with regard to their +portion of the earth's history as the primitive were. + +The first, or lowest, group of the secondary rocks is called the +Carboniferous Formation, from the remarkable feature of its numerous +interspersed beds of coal. It commences with the beds of the +MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE, 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 (anthracite), 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 COAL BEDS, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, +(cryptogamia,) 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, (monocotyledons,) and in which the new matter is added +within, (endogenous,) of which the cane and palm are examples; +second, plants having two seed-lobes, (dicotyledons,) and in which +the new matter is added on the outside under the bark, (exogenous,) +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. + +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. + +The master-form or type of the era was the fern, or breckan, of which +about one hundred and thirty species have already been ascertained as +entering into the composition of coal. {84a} 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. {84b} 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. + +In the swamps and ditches of England there grows a plant called the +horse-tail (equisetum), 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 +(equisetaceae), 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 calamites) are +only represented on the present surface by plants of the same FAMILY: +the SPECIES 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. + +The club-moss family (lycopodiaceae) 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 +equisetaceae, 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. + +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 +sigillaria, 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 stigmaria, +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, (flabellaria and naeggerathia,) +besides a few not distinctly assignable to any class. + +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, (annularia, asterophyllites, &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 coniferae 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 coniferae 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. + +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. + +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 palaeothrissum, palaeoniscus, diperdus. + +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. + +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. {93} 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. + + + +ERA OF THE NEW RED SANDSTONE. TERRESTRIAL ZOOLOGY COMMENCES WITH +REPTILES. FIRST TRACES OF BIRDS. + + + +The 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 New Red Sandstone System 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. + +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. + +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 leptaena, 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 +palaeoniscus, catopterus, platysomus, &c., have been applied, vanish, +and henceforth appear no more. + +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. + +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. {97} 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. + +The animal to which the name ichthyosaurus 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. + +The plesiosaurus 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. + +The megalosaurus was an enormous lizard--a land creature, also +carnivorous. The pterodactyle 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. + +There were also numerous tortoises, some of them reaching a great +size; and Professor Owen has found in Warwickshire some remains of an +animal of the batrachian order, {99} 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 (sauria, chelonia, and batrachia) +are represented in this formation, the serpent order (ophidia) being +alone wanting. + +The variegated marl beds which constitute the uppermost group of the +formation, present two additional genera of huge saurians,--the +phytosaurus and mastodonsaurus. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +AFTERWARDS, 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 +cheirotherium. 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 LINK between these two classes. + +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 grallae, 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." {103} 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, ornithichnites giganteus. + + + +ERA OF THE OOLITE. COMMENCEMENT OF MAMMALIA. + + + +The chronicles of this period consist of a series of beds, mostly +calcareous, taking their general name (Oolite System) 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. + +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 Wealden +has been given, from its situation, and which, composed of sandstones +and clays, is subdivided into Purbeck beds, Hastings sand, and Weald +clay. + +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." {108a} + +The dry land of this age presented cycadeae, "a beautiful class of +plants between the palms and conifers, having a tall, straight trunk, +terminating in a magnificent crown of foliage." {108b} There were +tree ferns, but in smaller proportion than in former ages; also +equisetaceae, 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 algae, 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. + +The crustacea discovered in this formation are less numerous. There +are many fishes, some of which (acrodus, psammodus, &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. {110} To them were added new genera, the +cetiosaurus, mososaurus, and some others, all of similar character +and habits. + +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. + +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. + +The first glimpse of the highest class of the vertebrate sub-kingdom- +-mammalia--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. + +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 DIRT-BED, 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 exuviae +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. + +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 exuviae 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 exuviae." {114} 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. + +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. + + + +ERA OF THE CRETACEOUS FORMATION. + + + +The 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. + +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. Shankland or greensand, "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. +Hard 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. + +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. + +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 WITH flint abounds in the north of Europe; that WITHOUT 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 +exuviae 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. + +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? + +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 mosaesaurus, 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. + +Fuci abounded in the seas of this era. Confervae 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 cycadeae, 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. + +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. + +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. + + + +ERA OF THE TERTIARY FORMATION.--MAMMALIA ABUNDANT. + + + +The 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 Tertiary Formation 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. + +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 +plaster of Paris (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. + +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 [Greek], the dawn; +[Greek], recent;) second, the miocene, ([Greek], less;) third, older +pliocene, ([Greek], more;) fourth, newer pliocene. + + +EOCENE SUB-PERIOD. + + +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 pachydermata, {127} of a +character approximating to the South American tapir: the names, +palaeotherium, 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. + + +MIOCENE SUB-PERIOD. + + +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 dinotherium, 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 felinae, (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. + + +PLIOCENE SUB-PERIOD. + + +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 +ruminantia. + +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 felinae, 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. + +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 WAVED 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. + + + +ERA OF THE SUPERFICIAL FORMATIONS. COMMENCEMENT OF PRESENT SPECIES. + + + +We 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. + +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 +crag and tail, 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 ALL FROM THE NORTH +AND NORTH-WEST TOWARDS THE SOUTH-EAST. 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. + +Connected with the diluvium is the history of ossiferous caverns, 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. + +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. + +As the diluvium and erratic blocks clearly suppose one last long +submersion of the surface, (LAST, 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 +terraces, 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. + +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. + +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. + + + +GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED TRIBES. + + + +Thus 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. {149} + +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. + +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. {151} 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 PRESSED IN, +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. + +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 THE MODE 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 ONE of +these worlds? Surely this idea is too ridiculous to be for a moment +entertained. + +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 FROM COMMANDS AND +EXPRESSIONS OF WILL, NOT FROM DIRECT ACTS. 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 FORMED 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. + +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." + +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." {159} 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. + +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 PRESSES IN, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED +TRIBES. + + + +The 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. + +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 Arbor Dianae. 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 CRYSTALLIZATION PRECISELY RESEMBLING A SHRUB. +The experiment may be varied in a way which serves better to detect +the influence of electricity in such operations, as noted below. +{166} 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 BRUSH 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. + +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 MAKE UREA. 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. {169a} 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." {169b} 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 diastose, 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." {170} 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." + +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 minutiae 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." {171} HERE THE LITTLE CELL BECOMES DIRECTLY A PLANT, +THE FULL FORMED LIVING BEING. 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 +volvox globator, has exactly the form of the germ which, after +passing through a long foetal progress, becomes a complete mammifer, +an animal of the highest class. It has even been found that both are +alike provided with those cilia, 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. {172} It has likewise been noted that the globules of the +blood are reproduced by the expansion of contained granules; they +are, in short, DISTINCT ORGANISMS MULTIPLIED BY THE SAME FISSIPAROUS +GENERATION. So that all animated nature may be said to be based on +this mode of origin; THE FUNDAMENTAL FORM OF ORGANIC BEING IS A +GLOBULE, HAVING A NEW GLOBULE FORMING WITHIN ITSELF, 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 +GLOBULES COULD BE PRODUCED IN ALBUMEN BY ELECTRICITY. 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. + +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 DRESSING employed by the +weaver, the cloth obtains the animal matter, gelatin; 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 laminae 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 laminae 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 laminae, 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." {175} 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 laminae of its structure, and it is hence inferred that +THE ANIMAL, like the wheel, RESTS PERIODICALLY FROM ITS LABOURS IN +FORMING THE NATURAL SUBSTANCE. + +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. + +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. + +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 +petitio principii. 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, {179a} 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, {179b} 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 PROGRESSIVE ADVANCE IN THE PRODUCTIVE POWERS OF THE INFUSION, +for at the first the animalcules are only of the smaller kinds, or +monades, and afterwards THEY BECOME GRADUALLY LARGER AND MORE +COMPLICATED IN THEIR STRUCTURE; AFTER A TIME, THE PRODUCTION CEASES, +ALTHOUGH THE MATERIALS ARE BY NO MEANS EXHAUSTED. 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." {182} 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. + +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 OINOPOTA CELLARIS lives nowhere but in wine and beer, all of +these being articles manufactured by man. There is likewise a +creature called the PIMELODES CYCLOPUM, 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? + +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. + +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 IN INCREASED NUMBERS. 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 GELATINOUS MATTER, a part of +the process of considerable importance, considering that gelatin is +one of the proximate principles, 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. {187} + +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 acarus Crossii 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. + + + +HYPOTHESIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL KINGDOMS. + + + +It 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 CLASSES into which the sub-kingdoms are +subdivided, as, for instance, when we take those of the vertebrata in +this order--reptiles, fishes, birds, mammals. + +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. + +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 foetal 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 mammae 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. + +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 REPRESENTED +in the mammalia in certain white cartilaginous lines traceable among +their abdominal muscles. The struphionidae (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! + +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. {195} 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 os coccygis 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. + +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 pitcher, as this is called, is not a +new organ, but simply a metamorphose of a leaf. + +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. + +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 PERMANENT FORMS 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 foetal +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. + +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 in transitu 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 (corpora quadragemina) +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 ventricles 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 MAN." {201} And this change in time +takes place. + +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 foetus, 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. + +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 foetal 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; THEY ARE ALL +RATHER SMALL. 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; THESE ARE SO EXTREMELY MINUTE AS ONLY TO BE +DISTINGUISHABLE BY THE MICROSCOPE. 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. + +The tendency of all these illustrations is to make us look to +DEVELOPMENT 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. + +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 ADVANCES OF THE PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT, 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. {204} 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 foetal 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 A +CHEMICO-ELECTRIC OPERATION, BY WHICH SIMPLE GERMINAL VESICLES WERE +PRODUCED. 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 AN ADVANCE UNDER FAVOUR OF +PECULIAR CONDITIONS, FROM THE SIMPLEST FORMS OF BEING, TO THE NEXT +MORE COMPLICATED, AND THIS THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE ORDINARY PROCESS +OF GENERATION. + +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 +Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. 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. + +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. + +"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 WILL 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 ONE up to ONE HUNDRED +MILLION. + +"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 TEN THOUSAND and two. The +whole series from the commencement being thus, - + +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +. +. . +. . . +99,999,999 +100,000,000 +regularly as far as 100,000,001 +100,010,002 the law changes. +100,030,003 +100,060,004 +100,100,005 +100,150,006 +100,210,007 +100,280,008 +. . . +. . . +. . . + +"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:- + +10,000 +30,000 +60,000 +100,000 +150,000 +. . . +. . . + +being, in fact, the series of TRIANGULAR NUMBERS, {208} each +multiplied by 10,000. + +"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. + +"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. + +"Now it must be observed that THE LAW THAT EACH NUMBER PRESENTED BY +THE ENGINE IS GREATER BY UNITY THAN THE PRECEDING NUMBER, which law +the observer had deduced from an induction of a hundred million +instances, WAS NOT THE TRUE LAW THAT REGULATED ITS ACTION, and that +the occurrence of the number 100,010,002 at the 100,000,002nd term +was AS NECESSARY A CONSEQUENCE OF THE ORIGINAL ADJUSTMENT, AND MIGHT +HAVE BEEN AS FULLY FOREKNOWN AT THE COMMENCEMENT, AS WAS THE REGULAR +SUCCESSION OF ANY ONE OF THE INTERMEDIATE NUMBERS TO ITS IMMEDIATE +ANTECEDENT. 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." + +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 branchiae +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 PERMITS it for a time, and in +proper season interrupts and changes it. We shall soon see some +philosophical evidence for this very conclusion. + +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 foetal progress; this holds true with regard to the vascular, +nervous, and other systems alike. It may be illustrated by a simple +diagram. The foetus of all the four classes may be supposed to +advance in an identical condition to the point A. + + + M + | + | B + |/ +D + R + |/ +C + F + |/ +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 STRAIGHTFORWARD PART OF THE +GESTATION OVER A SMALL SPACE--and from species to species the space +would be small indeed--is all that is necessary. + +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. + +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 larvae 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!" {215} 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. + +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. + +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. + +Let us trace this law also in the production of certain classes of +monstrosities. A human foetus 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. + +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. {221} 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 secale +cereale is the crop reaped where the avena sativa, 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. + +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, THAT THE SIMPLEST AND MOST PRIMITIVE TYPE, UNDER A +LAW TO WHICH THAT OF LIKE-PRODUCTION IS SUBORDINATE, GAVE BIRTH TO +THE TYPE NEXT ABOVE IT, THAT THIS AGAIN PRODUCED THE NEXT HIGHER, AND +SO ON TO THE VERY HIGHEST, 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. + +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 foetal progress of one of the principal human organs. +{224} 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. + + +TABLE {226} + +Table shows: scale of animal kingdom (the numbers indicate orders); +order of animals in; ascending series of rocks; foetal human brain +resembles, in + +(The numbers indicate orders) + +Rocks: 1. Gneiss and Mica Slate system +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: RADIATA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) +Order: Zoophyta, Polypiaria +Rocks: 2. Clay Slate and Grawacke system +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: MOLLUSCA (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) +Order: Conchifera, Double-shelled Mollusks +Rocks: 3. Silurian system +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: ARTICULATA Annelida (12, 13, 14) +Rocks: 3. Silurian system +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: ARTICULATA Crustacea (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20) +Order: Crustacea, Annelida, Crustaceous Fishes +Rocks: 3. Silurian system +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: ARTICULATA Arachnida & Insecta (21-31) +Order: Crustaceous Fishes +Rocks: 4. Old Red Sandstone +Foetal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Pisces (32, 33, 34, 35, 36) +Order: True Fishes +Rocks: 5. Carboniferous formation +Foetal: 2nd month, that of a fish; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Reptilia (37, 38, 39, 40) +Order: Piscine Saurians (ichthyosaurus, &c.), Pterodactyles, +Crocodiles, Tortoises, Batrachians +Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone +Foetal: 3rd month, that of a turtle; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Aves (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46) +Order: Birds +Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone +Foetal: 4th month, that of a bird; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 47 Cetacea +Order: (Bone of a marsupial animal) +Rocks: 7. Oolite + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 48 Ruminantia +Order: (Bone of a marsupial animal) +Rocks: 8. Cretaceous formation + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 49 Pachydermata +Order: Pachydermata (tapirs, horses, &c.) +Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 50 Edentata +Order: Pachydermata (tapirs, horses, &c.) +Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 51 Rodentia +Order: Rodentia (dormouse, squirrel, &c.) +Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene +Foetal: 5th month, that of a rodent; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 52 Marsupialia +Order: Marsupialia (racoon, opossum, &c.) +Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene +Foetal: 6th month, that of a ruminant; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 53 Amphibia +Order: Marsupialia (racoon, opossum, &c.) +Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene +Foetal: 6th month, that of a ruminant; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 54 Digitigrada +Order: Digitigrada (genette, fox, wolf, &c.) +Rocks: 10. Miocene +Foetal: 7th month, that of a digitigrade animal; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 55 Plantigrada +Order: Plantigrada (bear) +Rocks: 10. Miocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 55 Plantigrada +Order: Cetacea (lamantins, seals, whales) +Rocks: 10. Miocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 56 Insectivora +Order: Edentata (sloths, &c.) +Rocks: 11. Pliocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 56 Insectivora +Order: Ruminantia (oxen, deer, &c.) +Rocks: 11. Pliocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 57 Cheiroptera +Rocks: 11. Pliocene + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 58 Quadrumana +Order: Quadrumana (monkeys) +Rocks: 11. Pliocene +Foetal: 8th month, that of the quadrumana; + +Scale: VERTEBRATA Mammalia: 59 Bimana +Order: Bimana (man) +Rocks: 12. Superficial deposits +Foetal: 9th month, attains full human character; + + +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, {229} 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. + +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. {232} Such a regularity in the +STRUCTURE, as we may call it, of the CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS, 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! + +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. + + + +MACLEAY SYSTEM OF ANIMATED NATURE. THIS SYSTEM CONSIDERED IN +CONNEXION WITH THE PROGRESS OF ORGANIC CREATION, AND AS INDICATING +THE NATURAL STATUS OF MAN. + + + +It 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. + +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. + +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. + +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, IN A CIRCULAR FORM,--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, CIRCULAR; 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 TRIBE circles composes an ORDER; a set of ORDER +circles, again, forms a CLASS; and so on. Of each group, the +component circles are INVARIABLY FIVE IN NUMBER: thus, in the animal +kingdom, there are five sub-kingdoms,--the vertebrata, annulosa, +{239a} radiata, acrita, {239b} 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, {239c} ferae, 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. + +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,--incessores, (perching birds,) +raptores, (birds of prey,) natatores, (swimming birds,) grallatores, +(waders,) rasores, (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 TYPICAL order. The second +was found to be inferior, or rather to have a less perfect balance of +qualities; hence it was designated the SUB-TYPICAL. 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. + +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 +conirostres 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 dentirostres, the notch is strong and +toothlike, (hence the name of the tribe) assimilating them to the +raptores; the fissirostres come into analogy with the natatores in +the slight development of their feet and their great powers of +flight; the tenuirostres have the small mouths and long soft bills of +the grallatores. Finally, the scansores 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:- + + +Orders of Birds. Characters. Tribes of Incessores. + +Incessores --Most perfect of their circle; Conirostres. + notch of bill small +Raptores --Notch of bill like a tooth Dentirostres. +Natatores --Slightly developed feet; Fissirostres. + strong flight +Grallatores--Small mouths; long soft bills Tenuirostres. +Rasores --Strong feet, short wings; Scansores. + docile and domestic + + +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, {242} 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 EVIL." This symbolical character is +most conspicuous about the centre of the series of gradations:- + + +Kingdom . . . Annulosa. +Sub-kingdom . . . Reptilia. +Class (Mammalia) . . . Ferae. +(Aves) . . . Raptores. + + +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 ferae 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." {246} + +The third type, (first of the three aberrant,) called by Mr. +Swainson, the natatorial, 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. + +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. + +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 ferae. 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." + +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 annulosa. In the radiated forms of the rotifera, and the simple +structure of the polypi rudes, we are reminded of the radiata. The +mollusca 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 +vertebrata. 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. + +The system of representation is therefore to be regarded as A +POWERFUL ADDITIONAL PROOF OF THE HYPOTHESIS OF ORGANIC PROGRESS BY +VIRTUE OF LAW. 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. + +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. + +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 SPECIES are nearly all different, and there is even, in a +considerable measure, a diversity of families. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"Thus, the tribes of simiae, (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." {255} + +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. + +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 proteae, compositae, leguminosae, and +myrthoideae; the larger trees all belong to the last family." {257} + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, +cebidae and simiadae, 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. + +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 ab initio 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. + +A question of a very interesting kind will now probably arise in the +reader's mind--WHAT PLACE OR STATUS IS ASSIGNED TO MAN IN THE NEW +NATURAL SYSTEM. Before going into this inquiry, it is necessary to +advert to several particulars of the natural system not yet noticed. + +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:- + + +Kingdom Animalia. +Sub-kingdom Vertebrata. +Class Aves. +Order Incessores. +Tribe Conirostres. +Family Corvidae. +Sub-family Corvinae. +Genus Corvus. +Sub-genus, or species Pica. + + +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 REPRESENTATION 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. + +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 TRIBE or SUB-FAMILY. 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. + +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 CLASS, 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:- + + +Typical Quadrumana Pre-eminently organized for grasping. +Sub-typical Ferae . . . Claws retractile; carnivorous. +Natatorial Cetacea. . Pre-eminently aquatic; feet very short. +Suctorial Glires . . Muzzle lengthened and pointed. +Rasorial Ungulata . Crests and other processes on the head. + + +He then takes the quadrumana, and places it in the following +arrangement:- + + +Typical . . Simiadae . . . (Monkeys of Old World.) +Sub-typical . Cebidae . . . (Monkeys of New World.) +Natatorial . Unknown . +Suctorial . . Vespertilionidae (Bats.) +Rasorial . Lemuridae . . . (Lemurs.) + + +He considers the simiadae 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 simiadae 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 simiadae, (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! {266} 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. + +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:- + + +Typical Bimana. +Sub-typical Simiadae. +Natatorial Vespertilionidae. +Suctorial Lemuridae. +Rasorial Cebidae. + + +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 simiadae on one +hand, and the cebidae on the other. The five tribes of the order are +completed, the vespertilionidae 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 +lemuridae into the suctorial, to which their length of muzzle and +remarkable saltatory power are highly suitable. At the same time, +the simiadae 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 cebidae 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. + +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 corvidae, 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. {270} 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 +corvidae, that they are adapted for all climates, and accordingly +found all over the world. + +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 +corvidae 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 corvidae as a +typical group is above an aberrant one, the mammalia above the aves. +Can any of the simiadae 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 corvidae. 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 simiadae rise to a +climax in his pre-eminent mental nature. His sub-analogy to the +ferae 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 corvidae, 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. + +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. + + + / / | + / / | + / / | + /| /| | + / | / | | + / | /| | | + /| | / | | | + / | | /| | | | + /| | | / | | | | + / | | | /| | | | | + /| | | | / | | | | | ++-1-2-3--4-+--a-b-c-d----+ {274} + + +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, (corvidae,) and the head type of +the mammalia, (bimana;) a. b. c. d. 5, again, represent the five +groups of the first order of the mammalia; a, 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. + +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 corvidae, 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. + + + +EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND. + + + +The 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. + +It appears from this inquiry, {278} 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. {280} + +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. + +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 BREED +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, POSSIBLE TO BE REALIZED +UNDER CERTAIN APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS, 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. + +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. + +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 GROUP or SUB-FAMILY; several groups, again, are +associated as a FAMILY, with regard to more general features of +resemblance. Six families are spoken of. + +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. + +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 pader, mader, sunu, dokhter, +brader, mand, vidhava; likewise asthi, a bone, (Greek, ostoun;) +denta, a tooth, (Latin, dens, dentis;) eyeumen, the eye; brouwa, the +eye-brow, (German, braue;) nasa, the nose; karu, the hand, (Gr. +cheir;) genu, the knee, (Lat. genu;) ped, the foot, (Lat. pes, +pedis;) hrti, the heart; jecur, the liver, (Lat. jecur;) stara, a +star; gela, cold, (Lat. gelu, ice;) aghni, fire, (Lat. ignis;) dhara, +the earth, (Lat. terra, Gaelic, tir;) arrivi, a river; nau, a ship, +(Gr. naus, Lat. navis;) ghau, a cow; sarpam, a serpent. + +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 BETTER? 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, BEHTER, with exactly +the same signification, regularly formed from its positive beh, +good." {287} + +The second great family is the Syro-Phoenician, 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. + +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 Kuliss-ut-oo- +suh. 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 Abbe 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. + +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, "kuligatschis," meaning, "give me your pretty little +paw;" the word, on examination, is found to be made up in this +manner: k, the second personal pronoun; uli, part of the word wulet, +pretty; gat, part of the word wichgat, signifying a leg or paw; +schis, 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 agglutination, 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." {291} 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." {293} 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:- + + + BISCAYAN EGYPTIAN. +New Beria Beri. +A dog Ora Whor. +Little Gutchi Kudchi. +Bread Ognia Oik. +A wolf Otgsa Ounsh. +Seven Shashpi Shashf. + + +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. + +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. + +Assuming that the human race is ONE, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. {302} 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 SETTLE IN A PERMANENT +VILLAGE, 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 MANNERS AND REFINEMENTS." 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. + +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. + +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 +DEVELOPMENT. 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." {307a} +THE LEADING CHARACTERS, IN SHORT, OF THE VARIOUS RACES OF MANKIND, +ARE SIMPLY REPRESENTATIONS OF PARTICULAR STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF +THE HIGHEST OR CAUCASIAN TYPE. 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; {307b} 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. MAY NOT +COLOUR, THEN, DEPEND UPON DEVELOPMENT ALSO? We do not, indeed, see +that a Caucasian foetus 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., {309} 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? + +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 SOUND-SIGNS 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. + +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. + +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? + +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, BECOME HABITUATED TO A +LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN. 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 IN THE COURSE OF A GENERATION THE ENTIRE CHARACTER +OF THE LANGUAGE IS CHANGED." {317} 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. + +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. + +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 foci 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." + + + +MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. + + + +It 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 DESIGN presided in the +creation of the whole--design again implying a designer, another word +for a CREATOR. + +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. + +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. {326} + +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 500l., 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?" {331} 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. + +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! + +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. {333} 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. +{335} + +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 ONCE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 SENSES, 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. + +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 DEFINITE, in the other INDEFINITE, in its range of action. +These terms would perhaps be the most suitable for expressing the +distinction. + +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; {346} 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. {347} 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 RUDIMENTAL. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 foetus 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 +foetus 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. + +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, GRAVITATION. The organic, the other great +department of mundane things, rests in like manner on one law, and +that is,--DEVELOPMENT. 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. + + + +PURPOSE AND GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ANIMATED CREATION. + + + +We 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 (vulgo, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 melee +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +NOTE CONCLUSORY. + + + +Thus 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. + +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. + + + +Footnotes: + +{3} By Mr. Henderson, Professor of Astronomy in the Edinburgh +University, and Lieutenant Meadows. + +{5} Made by M. Argelander, late director of the Observatory at Abo. + +{6} Professor Mossotti, on the Constitution of the Sidereal System, +of which the Sun forms a part.--London, Edinburgh, and Dublin +Philosophical Magazine, February, 1843. + +{9} 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 +bouleversement 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. + +{12} Astronomy, Lardner's Cyclopaedia. + +{17} 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 a priori +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."--Cours de Philosophie Positif. + +{42} The researches on this subject were conducted chiefly by the +late Baron Fourier, perpetual secretary to the Academy of Sciences of +Paris. See his Theorie Analytique de la Chaleur. 1822. + +{52} Delabeche's Geological Researches. + +{60} In the Cumbrian limestone occur "calamoporae, lithodendra, +cyathophylla, and orbicula."--Philips. 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.--Silurian +System, p. 710. + +{62} Such as amphioxus and myxene. + +{64} Miller's "New Walks in an Old Field." + +{68} June, 1842. + +{84a} The principal families are named sphenopteris, neuropteris, +and pecopteris. + +{84b} A specimen from Bengal, in the staircase of the British +Museum, is forty-five feet high. + +{93} "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."--Philips. + +{97} 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. + +{99} The order to which frogs and toads belong. + +{103} Dr. Buckland, quoting an article by Professor Hitchcock, in +the American Journal of Science and Arts, 1836. + +{108a} Murchison's Silurian System, p. 583. + +{108b} Buckland. + +{110} 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 (coprolites) 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. + +{114} De la Beche's Geological Researches, p. 344. + +{127} Thick-skinned animals. This term has been given by Cuvier to +an order in which the hog, elephant, horse, and rhinoceros are +included. + +{149} 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. + +{151} See paper by Professor Edward Forbes, read to the British +Association, 1839. + +{159} Macculloch on the Attributes of the Deity, iii. 569. + +{166} "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 Dianae, 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." + +{169a} 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. + +{169b} Supplement to the Atomic Theory. + +{170} Carpenter on Life; Todd's Cyclopaedia of Physiology. + +{171} Carpenter's Report on the results obtained by the Microscope +in the Study of Anatomy and Physiology, 1843. + +{172} See Dr. Martin Barry on Fissiparous Generation; Jameson's +Journal, Oct. 1843. Appearances precisely similar have been detected +in the germs of the crustacea. + +{175} Mr. Leonard Horner and Sir David Brewster, on a substance +resembling shell.--Philosophical Transactions, 1836. + +{179a} Dr. Allen Thomson, in the article Generation, in Todd's +Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology. + +{179b} The term aboriginal is here suggested, as more correct than +spontaneous, the one hitherto generally used. + +{182} Article "Zoophytes," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 7th edition. + +{187} See a pamphlet circulated by Mr. Weekes, in 1842. + +{195} Daubenton established the rule, that all the viviparous +quadrupeds have seven vertebrae in the neck. + +{201} 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. + +{204} 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." + +{208} The numbers 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, &c. are formed by adding +the successive terms of the series of natural numbers thus: + +1=1 +1+2=3 +1+2+3=6 +l+2+3+4=10, &c. 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 - + +. +1 +. +.. +3 +. +.. +... +6 +. +.. +... +.... +10 + +{215} Kirby and Spence. + +{221} See an article by Dr. Weissenborn, in the New Series of +"Magazine of Natural History," vol. i. p. 574. + +{224} "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 foetus 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."-- +Fletcher's Rudiments of Physiology. + +{226} [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.] + +{229} 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. + +{232} These affinities and analogies are explained in the next +chapter. + +{239a} Corresponding to the articulata of Cuvier. + +{239b} A new sub-kingdom, made out of part of the radiata of Cuvier. + +{239c} This is a newly applied term, the reasons for which will be +explained in the sequel. + +{242} 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. + +{246} Distribution and Classification of Animals, p. 248. + +{255} Researches, 4th edition, i. 95. + +{257} Prichard. + +{266} Mr. Swainson's arguments about the entireness of the circle +simiadae are only too rigid, for fossil geology has since added new +genera to this group and the cebidae, and there may be still farther +additions. + +{270} See Wilson's American Ornithology; article, Fishing Crow. + +{274} [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 degrees and the line from the a,b,c,d +being at around 60 degrees. It isn't possible to reproduce this +using normal characters. Despite what the text says there is no line +labelled 5 in the diagram.--DP] + +{278} See Dr. Prichard's Researches into the Physical History of +Man. + +{280} 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. + +{287} 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, on the Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations. "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, [Greek], [Greek], 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, hwynt, or ynt." + +{291} Schoolcraft. + +{293} Views of the Cordilleras. + +{302} 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. + +{307a} Lord's Popular Physiology, explaining observations by M. +Serres. + +{307b} Conformably to this view, the beard, that peculiar attribute +of maturity, is scanty in the Mongolian, and scarcely exists in the +Americans and Negroes. + +{309} 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. + +{317} Missionary Scenes and Labours in South Africa. + +{326} "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. + +"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 FRAUGHT MATTER ITSELF, FROM +ITS VERY BEGINNING, WITH ALL THE ATTRIBUTES NECESSARY TO DEVELOP INTO +MIND, 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? + +" * * [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."--HOPE, on the Origin and Prospects of +Man, 1831. + +{331} Dublin Review, Aug. 1840. The Guarantee Society has since +been established, and is likely to become a useful and prosperous +institution. + +{333} 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. + +{335} 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. + +{346} Phrenological Journal, xv. 338. + +{347} 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. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/vstc10.zip b/old/vstc10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..34229dd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/vstc10.zip diff --git a/old/vstc10h.htm b/old/vstc10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d41dd1d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/vstc10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7589 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation</title> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, by Robert Chambers</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation +by Robert Chambers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation + +Author: Robert Chambers + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7116] +[This file was first posted on March 11, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk, from the +1844 John Churchill edition.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<h1>VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION</h1> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<h2>THE BODIES OF SPACE, THEIR ARRANGEMENTS AND FORMATION.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>It 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">{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">{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">{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">{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>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> +<pre>4 7 10 16 28 52 100 196 +Merc. Venus. Earth. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus.</pre> +<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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>CONSTITUENT MATERIALS OF THE EARTH AND OF THE OTHER BODIES OF SPACE.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>THE EARTH FORMED - ERA OF THE PRIMARY ROCKS.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Although 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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>COMMENCEMENT OF ORGANIC LIFE - SEA PLANTS, CORALS, ETC.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>We 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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE OLD RED SANDSTONE - FISHES ABUNDANT.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>We 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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>SECONDARY ROCKS. ERA OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORMATION. +LAND FORMED. COMMENCEMENT OF LAND PLANTS.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>We 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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE NEW RED SANDSTONE. TERRESTRIAL ZOOLOGY COMMENCES +WITH REPTILES. FIRST TRACES OF BIRDS.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE OOLITE. COMMENCEMENT OF MAMMALIA.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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">{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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE CRETACEOUS FORMATION.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE TERTIARY FORMATION. - MAMMALIA ABUNDANT.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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 ’πως, the dawn; χαινος, +recent;) second, the miocene, (μειων, less;) +third, older pliocene, (πλειων, more;) +fourth, newer pliocene.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>EOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>MIOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>PLIOCENE SUB-PERIOD.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>ERA OF THE SUPERFICIAL FORMATIONS. COMMENCEMENT OF PRESENT +SPECIES.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>We 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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED TRIBES.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Thus 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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>PARTICULAR CONSIDERATIONS RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED +TRIBES.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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; after a time</i>, <i>the production ceases</i>, +<i>although the materials</i> <i>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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>HYPOTHESIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL KINGDOMS.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>It 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">{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 MAN.” <a name="citation201"></a><a href="#footnote201">{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">{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> +<p>1<br />2<br />3<br />4<br />5<br />.<br />. .<br />. . .<br />99,999,999<br />100,000,000<br />regularly +as far as 100,000,001<br />100,010,002 the law changes.<br />100,030,003<br />100,060,004<br />100,100,005<br />100,150,006<br />100,210,007<br />100,280,008<br />. +. .<br />. . .<br />. . .</p> +<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> +<p>10,000<br />30,000<br />60,000<br />100,000<br />150,000<br />. . +.<br />. . .</p> +<p>being, in fact, the series of <i>triangular numbers</i>, <a name="citation208"></a><a href="#footnote208">{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.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre> M + | + | B<br /> |/<br />D + R<br /> |/ +C + F<br /> |/<br />A +<br /> |<br /> |</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>TABLE <a name="citation226"></a><a href="#footnote226">{226}</a></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<br />Fœtal: 1st month, +that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: RADIATA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)<br />Order: Zoophyta, Polypiaria<br />Rocks: +2. Clay Slate and Grawacke system<br />Fœtal: 1st month, that +of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: MOLLUSCA (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)<br />Order: Conchifera, Double-shelled +Mollusks<br />Rocks: 3. Silurian system<br />Fœtal: 1st month, +that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: ARTICULATA <i>Annelida</i> (12, 13, 14)<br />Rocks: 3. Silurian +system<br />Fœtal: 1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: ARTICULATA <i>Crustacea</i> (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)<br />Order: +Crustacea, Annelida, Crustaceous Fishes<br />Rocks: 3. Silurian system<br />Fœtal: +1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: ARTICULATA <i>Arachnida & Insecta</i> (21-31)<br />Order: +Crustaceous Fishes<br />Rocks: 4. Old Red Sandstone<br />Fœtal: +1st month, that of an avertebrated animal;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Pisces</i> (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)<br />Order: +True Fishes<br />Rocks: 5. Carboniferous formation<br />Fœtal: +2nd month, that of a fish;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Reptilia</i> (37, 38, 39, 40)<br />Order: Piscine +Saurians (ichthyosaurus, &c.), Pterodactyles, Crocodiles, Tortoises, +Batrachians<br />Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone<br />Fœtal: 3rd month, +that of a turtle;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Aves</i> (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)<br />Order: +Birds<br />Rocks: 6. New Red Sandstone<br />Fœtal: 4th month, +that of a bird;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 47 Cetacea<br />Order: (Bone of +a marsupial animal)<br />Rocks: 7. Oolite</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 48 Ruminantia<br />Order: (Bone +of a marsupial animal)<br />Rocks: 8. Cretaceous formation</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 49 Pachydermata<br />Order: Pachydermata +(tapirs, horses, &c.)<br />Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 50 Edentata<br />Order: Pachydermata +(tapirs, horses, &c.)<br />Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 51 Rodentia<br />Order: Rodentia +(dormouse, squirrel, &c.)<br />Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene<br />Fœtal: +5th month, that of a rodent;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 52 Marsupialia<br />Order: Marsupialia +(racoon, opossum, &c.)<br />Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene<br />Fœtal: +6th month, that of a ruminant;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 53 Amphibia<br />Order: Marsupialia +(racoon, opossum, &c.)<br />Rocks: 9. Lower Eocene<br />Fœtal: +6th month, that of a ruminant;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 54 Digitigrada<br />Order: Digitigrada +(genette, fox, wolf, &c.)<br />Rocks: 10. Miocene<br />Fœtal: +7th month, that of a digitigrade animal;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 55 Plantigrada<br />Order: Plantigrada +(bear)<br />Rocks: 10. Miocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 55 Plantigrada<br />Order: Cetacea +(lamantins, seals, whales)<br />Rocks: 10. Miocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 56 Insectivora<br />Order: Edentata +(sloths, &c.)<br />Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 56 Insectivora<br />Order: Ruminantia +(oxen, deer, &c.)<br />Rocks: 11. Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 57 Cheiroptera<br />Rocks: 11. +Pliocene</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 58 Quadrumana<br />Order: Quadrumana +(monkeys)<br />Rocks: 11. Pliocene<br />Fœtal: 8th month, that +of the quadrumana;</p> +<p>Scale: VERTEBRATA <i>Mammalia</i>: 59 Bimana<br />Order: Bimana (man)<br />Rocks: +12. Superficial deposits<br />Fœtal: 9th month, attains full human +character;</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>MACLEAY SYSTEM OF ANIMATED NATURE. THIS SYSTEM CONSIDERED +IN CONNEXION WITH THE PROGRESS OF ORGANIC CREATION, AND AS INDICATING +THE NATURAL STATUS OF MAN.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>It 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">{239a}</a> radiata, +acrita, <a name="citation239b"></a><a href="#footnote239b">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre><i>Orders of Birds. Characters. Tribes of Incessores.</i></pre> +<pre>Incessores - Most perfect of their circle; Conirostres.<br /> notch of bill small<br />Raptores - Notch of bill like a tooth Dentirostres.<br />Natatores - Slightly developed feet; Fissirostres.<br /> strong flight<br />Grallatores - Small mouths; long soft bills Tenuirostres.<br />Rasores - Strong feet, short wings; Scansores.<br /> docile and domestic</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>Kingdom . . . Annulosa.<br />Sub-kingdom . . . Reptilia.<br />Class +(Mammalia) . . . Feræ.<br />(Aves) . . . Raptores.</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre>Kingdom Animalia.<br />Sub-kingdom Vertebrata.<br />Class Aves.<br />Order Incessores.<br />Tribe Conirostres.<br />Family Corvidæ.<br />Sub-family Corvinæ.<br />Genus Corvus.<br />Sub-genus, or species Pica.</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre>Typical Quadrumana Pre-eminently organized for grasping.<br />Sub-typical Feræ . . . Claws retractile; carnivorous.<br />Natatorial Cetacea. . Pre-eminently aquatic; feet very short.<br />Suctorial Glires . . Muzzle lengthened and pointed.<br />Rasorial Ungulata . Crests and other processes on the head.</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<p>He then takes the quadrumana, and places it in the following arrangement:-</p> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre>Typical . . Simiadæ . . . (Monkeys of Old World.)<br />Sub-typical . Cebidæ . . . (Monkeys of New World.)<br />Natatorial . Unknown .<br />Suctorial . . Vespertilionidæ (Bats.)<br />Rasorial . Lemuridæ . . . (Lemurs.)</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre>Typical Bimana.<br />Sub-typical Simiadæ.<br />Natatorial Vespertilionidæ.<br />Suctorial Lemuridæ.<br />Rasorial Cebidæ.</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre> / / |<br /> / / |<br /> / / |<br /> /| /| |<br /> / | / | |<br /> / | /| | |<br /> /| | / | | |<br /> / | | /| | | |<br /> /| | | / | | | |<br /> / | | | /| | | | |<br /> /| | | | / | | | | |<br />+-1-2-3--4-+--a-b-c-d----+ <a name="citation274"></a><a href="#footnote274">{274}</a></pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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</i>. <i>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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>The 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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<pre> BISCAYAN EGYPTIAN.<br /></pre><pre><i>New</i></pre><pre> Beria Beri.<br /></pre><pre><i>A dog</i></pre><pre> Ora Whor.<br /></pre><pre><i>Little</i></pre><pre> Gutchi Kudchi.<br /></pre><pre><i>Bread</i></pre><pre> Ognia Oik.<br /></pre><pre><i>A wolf</i></pre><pre> Otgsa Ounsh.<br /></pre><pre><i>Seven</i></pre><pre> Shashpi Shashf.</pre> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines1"><br /></div> +<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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>It 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 CREATOR.</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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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, GRAVITATION. +The organic, the other great department of mundane things, rests in +like manner on one law, and that is, - DEVELOPMENT. 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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>PURPOSE AND GENERAL CONDITION OF THE ANIMATED CREATION.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>We 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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<h2>NOTE CONCLUSORY.</h2> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Thus 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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines2"><br /><br /></div> +<p>Footnotes:</p> +<p><a name="footnote3"></a><a href="#citation3">{3}</a> By Mr. +Henderson, Professor of Astronomy in the Edinburgh University, and Lieutenant +Meadows.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5">{5}</a> Made by +M. Argelander, late director of the Observatory at Abo.</p> +<p><a name="footnote6"></a><a href="#citation6">{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">{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">{12}</a> Astronomy, +Lardner’s Cyclopædia.</p> +<p><a name="footnote17"></a><a href="#citation17">{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">{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">{52}</a> Delabeche’s +Geological Researches.</p> +<p><a name="footnote60"></a><a href="#citation60">{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">{62}</a> Such +as amphioxus and myxene.</p> +<p><a name="footnote64"></a><a href="#citation64">{64}</a> Miller’s +“New Walks in an Old Field.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote68"></a><a href="#citation68">{68}</a> June, +1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84a"></a><a href="#citation84a">{84a}</a> +The principal families are named sphenopteris, neuropteris, and pecopteris.</p> +<p><a name="footnote84b"></a><a href="#citation84b">{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">{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">{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">{99}</a> The +order to which frogs and toads belong.</p> +<p><a name="footnote103"></a><a href="#citation103">{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">{108a}</a> +Murchison’s Silurian System, p. 583.</p> +<p><a name="footnote108b"></a><a href="#citation108b">{108b}</a> Buckland.</p> +<p><a name="footnote110"></a><a href="#citation110">{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">{114}</a> +De la Beche’s Geological Researches, p. 344.</p> +<p><a name="footnote127"></a><a href="#citation127">{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">{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">{151}</a> +See paper by Professor Edward Forbes, read to the British Association, +1839.</p> +<p><a name="footnote159"></a><a href="#citation159">{159}</a> +Macculloch on the Attributes of the Deity, iii. 569.</p> +<p><a name="footnote166"></a><a href="#citation166">{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">{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">{169b}</a> +Supplement to the Atomic Theory.</p> +<p><a name="footnote170"></a><a href="#citation170">{170}</a> +Carpenter on Life; Todd’s Cyclopædia of Physiology.</p> +<p><a name="footnote171"></a><a href="#citation171">{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">{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">{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">{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">{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">{182}</a> +Article “Zoophytes,” Encyclopædia Britannica, 7th +edition.</p> +<p><a name="footnote187"></a><a href="#citation187">{187}</a> +See a pamphlet circulated by Mr. Weekes, in 1842.</p> +<p><a name="footnote195"></a><a href="#citation195">{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">{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">{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">{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> +<p>1=1<br />1+2=3<br />1+2+3=6<br />l+2+3+4=10, &c. 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> +<p>.<br />1<br />.<br />..<br />3<br />.<br />..<br />...<br />6<br />.<br />..<br />...<br />....<br />10</p> +<p><a name="footnote215"></a><a href="#citation215">{215}</a> +Kirby and Spence.</p> +<p><a name="footnote221"></a><a href="#citation221">{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">{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">{226}</a> +[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.]</p> +<p><a name="footnote229"></a><a href="#citation229">{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">{232}</a> +These affinities and analogies are explained in the next chapter.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239a"></a><a href="#citation239a">{239a}</a> +Corresponding to the articulata of Cuvier.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239b"></a><a href="#citation239b">{239b}</a> +A new sub-kingdom, made out of part of the radiata of Cuvier.</p> +<p><a name="footnote239c"></a><a href="#citation239c">{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">{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">{246}</a> +Distribution and Classification of Animals, p. 248.</p> +<p><a name="footnote255"></a><a href="#citation255">{255}</a> +Researches, 4th edition, i. 95.</p> +<p><a name="footnote257"></a><a href="#citation257">{257}</a> +Prichard.</p> +<p><a name="footnote266"></a><a href="#citation266">{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">{270}</a> +See Wilson’s American Ornithology; article, <i>Fishing Crow.</i></p> +<p><a name="footnote274"></a><a href="#citation274">{274}</a> +[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°. +It isn’t possible to reproduce this using normal characters. +Despite what the text says there is no line labelled 5 in the diagram. +- DP]</p> +<p><a name="footnote278"></a><a href="#citation278">{278}</a> +See Dr. Prichard’s Researches into the Physical History of Man.</p> +<p><a name="footnote280"></a><a href="#citation280">{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">{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">{291}</a> +Schoolcraft.</p> +<p><a name="footnote293"></a><a href="#citation293">{293}</a> +Views of the Cordilleras.</p> +<p><a name="footnote302"></a><a href="#citation302">{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">{307a}</a> +Lord’s Popular Physiology, explaining observations by M. Serres.</p> +<p><a name="footnote307b"></a><a href="#citation307b">{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">{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">{317}</a> +Missionary Scenes and Labours in South Africa.</p> +<p><a name="footnote326"></a><a href="#citation326">{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.” - HOPE, <i>on the Origin and Prospects +of Man</i>, 1831.</p> +<p><a name="footnote331"></a><a href="#citation331">{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">{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">{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">{346}</a> +Phrenological Journal, xv. 338.</p> +<p><a name="footnote347"></a><a href="#citation347">{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> +<div class="GutenbergBlankLines3"><br /><br /><br /></div> +<p>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, VESTIGES OF CREATION ***</p> +<pre> + +******This file should be named vstc10h.htm or vstc10h.zip****** +Corrected EDITIONS of our EBooks get a new NUMBER, vstc11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, vstc10ah.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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