■^ m mmiofiicHi . ^■9/ '%, 'if. PRINCETON, N. J. Shelf. BL 181 .M34 1878 Maclaren, James. Natural theology in the nineteenth century A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF mxt of t^c friiuipl ^rflumeiits far aii^ apinst giu-luiiiism. By JAMES MACLAREN, M.A., Barrister-at-Law. "Sufficient of the Darwinian fever still lives to make this book useful and acceptable. " — Vanity Fair. "Sums up fairly enough the arguments on either side." — Guardian. " A careful and thoughtful examination." — Manchester Examiner. " Points out, generally with considerable judicial acuteness, which has the best of the argument." — Glasgoiu Netos. "We shall be disappointed if this book is not acceptable to the general public." — Glasgow Herald. E. BUMPUS, 5 & 6, HOLBORN-BARS. Just published, Jcap. Zvo., pp. 230, price 6s. 6d. Same Cijeinical gifStuUics of ^boluttair. By J. J. MACLAREN, M.A. "The Author demurs to the conclusion of the evolution theory on purely chemical grounds. Temperately stating his case, he arranges his evidence ; and setting forth his view of the nature of chemical action, first, where life is absent, and next, where living beings are concerned in inducing the changes observed, he applies his reasoning to the doc- trine of evolution, and clearly points out the difficulties that occur to him." K. BUM PUS, 5 & 6, HOLBORN-BARS. NATUEAL THEOLOGY NINETEENTH CENTURY. NATURAL THEOLOGY |T;inc,tccntlj Ccnlurji, JA]\IES ]\IACLAREN, M.A., BARRISTER- AT-LAW. LONDON: EDWARD BUMPUS, 5 & 6, HOLBORN BARS, E.G. 1878. [All rights reserved.] '^1 u n gun: CLAV AND TAYLOR, PKIXTERS. PREFACE. Paley thought it necessary to apologize for his ' Natural Theology.' He says it will be urged that his readers leave off wliere they began ; that they never doubted tlie existence of a God ; and that it does not appear wliat is gained by researches upon a subject of which no proofs were wanted. But, he says, occurrences will arise to try the firmness of our most habitual opinions ; and upon these occasions it is matter of incalculable use to feel our foundation ; to find a support in argument for what we had taken up upon authority. Pei'haps no apology is now required for VI PREFACE. any attempt to support tlie argument from design. The University to wliicli I have the. honour of belonging, has latety conferred an honorar}' degree on Mr. Darwin, whose claim to be so distinguislied must rest upon the part which lie has taken in advocating the doctrine of evolution ; a doctrine which, in liis hands, and still more in those of other evolutionists, wliose views owe their position in public estimation in a great degree to his labours, is inconsistent with the argument from design. Mr. Darwin, to take the view of evolution which is most favourable to tlie ar;ht in the pitchers, and which the plant feeds on and digests. Now this fact is startling, as we cannot well see how tlie digestion is effected, and the case, if proved, woidd be singular amongst plants, being confined to a few species only, "which produce pitchers of some kind or other. Insects are no doubt found drowned in the pitchers, but not in great numbers ; certainly there is not any crowd of insects hovering round these pitchers as we see round ripe fruit. The pitchers indeed do not seem at all necessary to the welfare of the plants ; it is often difficult to get them to make pitchers in our hothouses, and the same thing happens in their wild state. Mr. Low says, the CuAP. III. NEPENTHES. 53 Nepenthes Ampullacea is a climbing' plant, found in thick jungles. The old stems falling from the trees become covered in a short time with leaves and vegetable matter ; they then throw out shoots which become in time new plants ; but apparently the first attempts to form the leaf are futile, and become only pitchers, which as the petioles are closely imbricated, form a dense mass, and frequently cover the ground as with a carpet of these curious formations. As it continues growing, the laminae of the leaves gradually appear — small at first, but every new one increasing in size — until the blades of the leaves are perfect, and the pitchers, which as the leaves liave developed themselves have become smaller and smaller, finally disappear alto- gether when the plant climbs into the trees. This formation of the pitcher, says Mr. Low, is perceptible in all this curious tribe, though not to the same extent in all the kinds ; the leaves of seedlings and weak plants always produce the largest pitchers. Tlie fact that weak plants have the largest pitchers, may seem to be an argument in fa- vour of the view that they provide nutriment. 54 NEPENTHES. Chap. III. as tliey are present in the greatest perfection where that seems to be most wanted. But there are some considerations which will pre- vent us from entertaining this view. How came it to be of advantage to tlie plants to lose their pitchers as they advance in age, if the pitcher afford a suj^ply of food ? We must note that the increasing laminae of the leaves cannot supply the place of the failing pitchers, for, according to the above views, their offices are different ; the pitchers are supposed to supply nitrogenous food ; tlie laminae afford carbon only. And it is another important fact, that according to the above views, the nutriment of the plant begins to fail at the very time when a large supply of it is most required, — that is, when the plant flowers and produces seed, which it does not do until it has climbed up into the trees. Imperfectly-formed leaves are not unusual in the early stages of plant development. Young palms make many leaves before the leaves assume the normal form, and when a plant is cut down and pushes very strong shoots, the first leaves of these slioots are often imperfect. It is possible that the pro- NEPENTHES RAFFLESIANA. (Borneo, &o.) PLATE III. [Reprinted, li;/ permisiion, from Williams's "Choice Stove and Qreenhov.ae Plants.'"] CuAP. Ill, nUNG ROUND WITH STOMACHS. 55 duction of these pitchers instead of leaves, as described by Mr. Low, may be a simihir case. The size of these pitchers is a strong argu- ment against their being organs of digestion. As grown by Messrs. Lucombe and Pince, of the Exeter Nurseries, tliey average from four and a half to five inches in length, with a ^iameter of between two and three inches. Tliere is notliing very gross in the habit of tlie plant indicating a great demand for nourishment. Can we then believe that it requires to be hung round by seven or eight of these great stomachs, each equal in size to that of a pretty large quadruped ; and in its native jungles the pitchers are probably much larger; Mr. Williams speaks of them as being from six inches to a foot in length.* The pitchers in this variety are highly coloured, which may seem to mark their nutritive office as being attractive to flies, but the pitchers of other varieties, and notably of the common Nepenthes Distillatoria, are green, of exactly the same tint as the leaves. The theory, then, that these pitchers supply • "Williams' ' Stove and Greenliouse Plants,' p. 255. 56 NEPENTHES. Chap. III. food to the plants, seems too doubtful to account for the great expenditure of vital force required to produce them. But waving this point, it seems clear that an incipient form of the pitcher, when it was not 3'et so comjDlete as to detain and digest insects, could not be an advantage to the plant, and there- fore could not be naturally selected as a step towards the perfect form. ^ Tlie reader must carefully distlnguisli be- tween the small pitchers of the young leaves, mentioned by Mr. Low, and incipient forms of pitchers. The small pitchers are quite complete in form, though small. The in- cipient pitchers would probably be mere fleshy lumps at the end of the leaves; the pitchers being supposed to be unusual de- velopments of the gland commonly found at the tips of leaA^es. In the Nepenthes then we have an instance of a structure quite opposed to botli prin- ciples of utilitarian evolution. There is a great expenditure of vital force in tlie form- ation of the pitchers, without any adequate benefit to the plant, and there is a form, the incipient stages of wliich must have been Chap. III. CYPRIPEDIUM CAUDATUM. 5T wholly useless; and it seems impossible to come to any other conclusion than that, difficult as it is to account for these very curious forms on the principle of special creation, they are quite incompatible with utilitarian evolution. In tlie orchid, Cypripedium caudatum, the flower-scapes rise from the centre of the plant to a heiglit of from t\Yelve to eighteen inches. The petals, when the flower expands, are only about an inch in length ; but in the space of four days, during which we may watch them grow, they extend to the length of thirty inches. It is difficult to conceive how these long tails can benefit the plant ; they look indeed like ladders let down to invite the approach of insects. But we are told* that creeping insects, though they may set flowers, are really injurious to them, as forestalling the advent of flying insects, which would insure cross-fertilization. All the varieties of Cypripedium have large cup- shaped lips ; but in no case, we believe, have these cups any liquor secreted in them. Though many orchids have very beautiful * Sir John Lubbock. ' Fdrtnigbtly Eeyiew,' April 1877. 05 ARE EVIDENCES OF DESIGN. Chap. Ill, flowers, the majority of tlie tribe are incon- spicuous weeds. Their flowers, however, though small are often strangely formed ; in many cases resembling insects and even lizards in form. Of course our ari^ument must be, that as these pitchers and strange forms of flower cannot have been formed by simple utili- tarian evolution, they must be the results of an intelligent will ; useful perhaps upon the principle of for each and for all, though we may not be able to point out their exact utility. In some cases, possibly, the liquor contained in the pitchers of the Nepenthes may be useful in affording food for insects, or perhaps a drink to some creatures. The flowers of the orchids can apparently have no end in view but beauty and variety. 59 CHAPTER IV. Structures unsuited or injurious to the organism — Upland geese, coot, and landrail — Are these forms really in a tran - sition state ? — The blubber of the sperm whale — The sting of the bee — The rattlesnake — The rattle no increase to the terror of the snake, but a warning — The roaring of lions— The white tail of a rabbit injurious to it — The black tail of the white ermine — The limitation of animals to par- ticular kinds of food onlj- — Existence of hooks in the seeds of plants before furrj' animals were in existence, and of honey without bees. Theee arc, saj's Mr. Darwin, upland g'eese in the Falkland Islands which never go near the water ; grebes and coots have not webbed feet, but merely membranes bordering their toes, yet they are eminently aquatic ; tlie water-hen and the landrail have long toes, apparently formed for walking over aquatic weeds ; yet the water-hen is nearly as aquatic as the coot, and the landrail as ter- restrial as the partridge. In these cases, says Mr. Darwin, which cannot be reconciled to GO INCOXGRTJOUS STRUCTUKES. Chap. IV, the idea of special creation, habits have changed before forms : in time the structure would conform to the habits. Now, in the first ])lace, wh}^ does not the change of structure keep pace with tlie change of habits ? But there is anotlier point. AVhy if tliese creatures flourish, formed as they are now, should their structure change? Have we any reason to suppose that the grebe or tlie coot would be benefited by webbed feet, or the landrail by having sliorter toes ? Is it not possible that these creatures are not in a state of transition of any kind, and that their structure is really of advantage to them in the particular position which they fdl in nature ? ]\Ir. Darwin is naturally inclined to con- sider creatures to be in a state of transition. He sjDeaks of that curious animal, the lepido- siren, which inhabits the marshes of the Amazons, and breathes in water by means of gills during the rainy season, and in air by means of a modified swim-bladder when the marshes are dried up, as being a " recent fossil;" as a rare survivor of species formerly abundant ; and he accounts for its persistence Chap. IY. AKE TIIEY IN A STATE OF TRANSITION ? 61 because it is an inhabitant of fresh-water, and so exposed to slighter competition in tlie battle of life than other creatures its contem- poraries, inasmuch as the area of the fresh- water lakes and rivers is much smaller than that of the land and sea. It is obvious, how- ever, that the lepidosiren may exist without any reference to past times, simply because it is well fitted for the conditions of life in Avhich it is at present placed. There is another case in which some of tlie structure of a creature does not seem to bo suited to the situation in which it is placed, and yet we can hardly suppose it to be about to change. The spermaceti whale, though it inhabits the hottest seas on the globe, is covered with a coat of blubber as thick OS that of many of those whales which live in the polar seas. Of course we don't know exactly wliy the polar whales have a coating of blubber, but it is generally sup- posed to be a defence against cold. The spermaceti whale is eminently a native of warm seas, for Mr. Beal tells us that they go with the sun, always keeping in those parts of the ocean which are calmest and warmest; 62 THE STING OF THE BEE. Chap. IV. nor can tlicy want their blubber to protect them against the cold of the deep water, ft)r they are surface creatures by habit, and tlie water in those regions which they inhabit is still at a temperature of 45° five hundred fathoms below the surface. The sting of the bee cannot be withdrawn, and so when used causes the death of the insect ; and this is a case in which we cannot see that the imperfection can be reconciled with the action of natural selection. Mr. Darwin tells us that the sting is a modified form of an ovipositor, or a boring instrument. On both these suppositions the original of the sting must have been capable of being withdrawn, or it would liave been wholly useless. Here, then, is a case in wliicli natural selection has imparted a quality to an organ whicli it had not before, and which is (naturally iniurious to it. Mr. Darwin says, if it could be proved that any part of the structure of any one species had been formed for the exclusive good of anotlier species, it would annihilate his theory ; for it could not have been pro- duced through natural selection. He adds, Chap. IV. THE RATTLE OF THE RATTLESNAKE. 68 although many statements may be found in works on Natural History to this effect, there is not even one which has any weight. It is admitted, he says, that the rattlesnake has a poison-fang for its own defence, and for the destruction of its prey ; but some authors suppose that at the same time it is furnished with a rattle for its own injury ; namely, to warn its prey. jMr. Darwin says, he would as soon believe that the cat curls its tail when preparing to spring in order to warn the doomed mouse. It is much more likely that the snake uses its rattle to frighten the many bird;^ and beasts which are known to attack even the most venomous species. Snakes act on the principle wliich makes a hen ruffle her feathers and expand her wings when a dog approaches her chickens. Upon this point we must note, that the noise made by the rattle of tlie rattlesnake is not loud ; in one deadly species, the crotalus miliaris, it is scarcely audible. This slight noise in itself has no terrors. Though dreaded as announc- ing the presence of the snake, it does not in the slightest degree increase, even apparently, the powers of the creature ; and in this 6i THE BATTLE OF THE RATTLESNAKE, Chap. IV. respect differs from tlie ruffled feathers and expanded wing of the hen. Whatever may be the intention of tlic creatm-e, it is certain that tlie rattle does give warning of tlie animal's presence, and is a protection to man, and probably to other animals. Another point is, that young snakes which have the greatest need of protection have no rattle ; the rattle increasing with the age and strength of the snake ; in other words, with its power to injure. There is not much reliable information to be found as to the habits of the rattlesnake in using his rattle. On one occasion, Mr. Bates, returning home through a narrow alley, heard a pattering noise close to him. Hard by was a tall palm tree, whose head was heavily weighted with parasitic plants. Mr. Bates supposed that the noise was a warning that it would suddenly come down, but the wind lulling for a few moments there was no doubt that the noise proceeded from the ground. '' On turning my head in that direction," says Mr. Bates, ''a sudden plunge startled me, and a heavy gliding motion be- trayed a large serpent making off almost Chap. IV. THE RATTLE OF THE RATTLESNAKE. G5 from beneath my feet." * Here there seems no appearance of the rattle being used in conjunction with any threatening attitude on the part of the snake. At another time, Mr. Bates nearly trod on a rattlesnake which lay stretched out on the bare sandy pathway. He tried to excite the sluggish reptile by throwing handfuls of sand and sticks at it, but the only notice it took was to raise its ugly horny tail and shake its rattle. This certainly is very like saying — You see what I am ; you had better let me alone. The habit of lions to roar at night is another case of a character which must be injurious to its possessor. Familiar examples are the most trustworthy and useful. We will therefore call the atten- tion of the reader to the case of the white upturned tail of the common wild rabbit, which is always displayed when the creature runs, and makes it very consj)icuous to its enemies. In all other respects the colour of the rabbit is well fitted for concealment. It has been suggested that the tail, conspicuous * ' The Naturalist on the Amazons,' p. 150. 66 THE WHITE TAIL OF THE KABBIT, Chap. IV. when the rabbit is running, may be useful as a guide to its young ones to follow it in a straight line to the family burrow. But very young rabbits, when surprised at a distance from their holes, squat, and endeavour to escape observation by remaining still, as if instinctively conscious that their strength is not sufficient to enable them to escape by flight. When older they certainly do run for their holes, but by this time they need no guide, and moreover they invite pursuit by displaying their own white tails. The case would be different if the tails of old rabbits only were white. The winter dress of the ermine is a similar case. Though the greater part of its body is white, the tail remains quite black, as if to modify the concealment afforded by the general white colour, and so to give the creature only such an amount of advantage as would not be inconsistent with its keeping its former relations to its prey and enemies. Why, on any purely utilitarian principles, should the tail have been insensible to the influence which caused the change of the Chap. IV. LIMITATION TO PECULIAR FOOD. 67 rest of the fur to white, when a similar change in the tail would be a manifest advantage ? In the economy of nature, the great majority of living beings are confined to the use of some j)articular food. Thus we see some animals are carnivorous; some her- bivorous ; some live entirely upon fish ; some upon insects. The butterfly lays her eggs upon a particular plant, as that alone can support her young ; and this principle is carried so far, that amongst dung-beetles there are species which are limited to the dung of particular animals. On the principle of natural selection, how can we account for this adaptation of each living being to its peculiar food ? We can see that it may have been of advantage to some particular living organism to acquire a taste which would be nauseous to the creatures which usually preyed upon it, as those creatures would then leave it alone and be driven to soiiio other food. But there are cases in which the liuiitation to a particular food must have arisen on the part of the consumer. This F 2 68 LIMITATION TO PECULIAR FOOD. Chap. IV. must have happened where the creature is limited to the consumption of dead food ; as are vultures, for example. How could it be of advantage to a dung-beetle to limit itself to the dung of a particular animal ? * No doubt the food existing in tlie world supports as much life as if it in all its forms was avail- able to each creature. A state of affairs in which each animal is confined to a particular kind of food is conceivable enougli, if we suppose tliat the world has been formed upon the principle of for each and for all, but difficult to realize, if we take the survival of the fittest as the only principle ; as the self- limitation of the individual to a particular kind of food would, in the first instance, to some degree, at least, be injurious until his neighbours had left his peculiar food un- touched, limiting themselves to some other kind of nutriment. The strictness with which animals and plants are sometimes confined to particular localities, seems inconsistent with the elas- ticity in this respect which we should expect * Darwin's ' Naturalist's Voyage,' p. 490. Chap. IV. THE GORILLA AND MISTLETOE. 69 to find in a world entirely formed by vari- ation and natural selection. The gorilla exists in one small district of the western coast of Africa only ; and it is said that the mistletoe, a plant which is parasitic upon trees, and therefore we should suppose was independent of the nature of soil, is found in abundance in Herefordshire, but not in the neighbouring' county of Shropshire ; so it infests the aj^ple orchards of Somersetshire, but is not found in those of Devonshire, thougli near at hand. We should have expected to find some gorilla born of a more hardy nature, more capable of bearing different kinds of food and a new climate, and so extending his range ; and in like manner, we should look for some seedlinir mistletoe acquiring the power of skipphig over the very slight barrier which at present seems to confine it to its peculiar haunts. We must note that it is not the action of any other organism which confines the gorilla and the mistletoe to their respective habitats. The manner in which each living creature 70 SEEDS WITH HOOKS. Chap. IV. seems to fit into its own proper place in the economy of nature, is no doubt a most re- markable plienomenon, and it is a most important point to ascertain whether it can be tlie result of the selfish action of tlie survival of the fittest. We may mention here two other cases in which it is difficidt to reconcile Mr. Darwin's theory with facts in nature. Many seeds are furnished with hooks to catch hold of the fur of passing animals. How could these plants have acquired this form of seed-pod before there were furry animals in existence ? — and is it not contrary to geological evid- ence, that furry animals existed before the plants on which tliey probably lived ? A still stronorer case is that of the lionev secreted by most flowers. This, says Mr. Darwin, is the result of gradual development and natural selection, and is a provision to insure the fertilization of the flower by means of bees. Here, of course, the question is obvious — How could the secretion of honey be useful to the plants until bees were in existence ? — and how could bees have Chap. IV. BEES WITHOUT HONEY. 71 existed until there was lioney for them to live upon ? This seems exactly a case in which two forms have been independently adapted to each other, and can only be the work of an intelligent will. 72 CHAPTER V. Beauty in nature — Beauty in plants — In animals— Mr. Darwin on sexual selection — The wing-feather of the Argus pheasant — The red admiral and peacock butterflies — Cannot be the results of sexual selection — Mr. Wallace on pro- tective and ■warning colours, and on mimicry — How did insects acquire the instinct to avail themselves of protective forms "when acquired ? — Mr. Wallace, colours of male birds due to their superior vitality — Objections to the views of Mr. Wallace and Mr. Darwin — No increase of fertility in brilUantly-coloured creatures though they are exposed to greater danger — Sir John Lubbock's position that birds take spotted caterpillars for snakes — Humm.ing-birds and toucans — Beauty evidence of design. We now come to one of the greatest diffi- culties in tlie way of Mr. Darwin's theory — how to account, on the principle of utilitarian evolution, for the beauty which we see in nature, whicli has no apparent connexion with the welfare of the organisms in wliich it occurs. Mr. Darwin supposes that tlie beautiful petals of flowers have been acquired througli Chap. Y. BEAUTY IN FLOWERS. 78 the agency of variation and natural selection, as a means of attracting insects, and thus insuring fertilization ; and he and Mr. Wallace point to the fact, that in the Galapagos Islands and in New Zealand, where insects are scarce, the plants in general have inconspicuous flowers. This is so much the case in the Galapagos, that Mr. Darwin says, he was not aware for some time that the bushes around him Avere in full flower. Now here we have two points to note : ( 1 ) by a scarcity of insects those naturalists may mean tliat there are but few species ; not that the numbers of any one species are small. We might have an island with only one species of insect, namely, bees, in wdiich the plants would be amply provided with instruments of fertilization ; and (2) it does not appear that the plants of those two islands, though their flowers are inconspicuous, are not amply furnished with seed. In our own gardens we find such weeds as groundsel, shepherd's purse, chickweed, and the like, very abund- ant seeders, and provided with very perfect seeds, though their flowers are remarkably inconspicuous. 74 LILIUM AURATITM. Chap. V. We may mention here a case of a plant having very showy petals, and yet almost certain not to be fertilized by insects. Let the reader examine a flower of the beautiful Lilium Auratum, common in all our gardens in the autumn, and he will find a pistil 2)rojecting far beyond the nectary of the plant, surrounded by stamens of nearly equal length; the whole so situated that a bee would not touch any of them in seeking the nectary. The flower is very large, very conspicuous, and very strongly scented, and yet to all appearance would not be set by bees, if attracted to it. We will, however, pass over the beauty of j^lants and flowers, as it may be said to be useful in attracting insects, or to be merely the result of the chemical nature of the surface acting upon light ; though neither of these explanations would account for mere beauty of form. On what evolutionary ground can we account for the beauty of such a plant as the Adiantum or maiden-hair fern? We will take the innumerable instances of splen- did colouring and beaut}^ of design, which are found amongst birds and insects, and which Chap. V. SEXUAL SELECTION. i i) have generally been considered evidences of design in nature, because tliey seem formed to adorn the world, and for that end only. Can Mr. Darwin and his followers account for these beauties as necessary results of evolution from a simple unadorned form ? Mr. Darwin endeavours to show that these beautiful colours and designs are tlie result of sexual selection ; that is, that the most beautiful males — those who had made the nearest approach to the forms we now see — were always preferred by the females, and thus in time the present beautiful forms arose. One example (taken by Mr, Darwin), is the wing-feather of the Argus pheasant. The vane on each side of the midrib Is covered with spots, fipparently at the first glance irregularly placed ; but, upon closer inspection, tlie spots form a regular and elaborate pattern. The great peculiarity of the feather, however, is, that on the right hand side of the midrib, as the feather is placed in the bird's wing, there is a row of eye-like spots, each of these spots, grey-coloured in the centre, gradually shaded off into yellow, and surrounded by a 76 ARGUS PHEASANT AND BUTTERFLIES. Cu.vp. V. dark margin, gives the idea of a ball in a socket. The whole feather is not brilliantly coloured, but the design is very elegant. Another more familiar instance of beauty is furnislied by the red admiral and peacock butterflies, very common in gardens in the early autumn. Both sides, upper and under, of the wings of these insects, are beautiful, and they are fond, when resting upon flowers, of alternately opening and shutting their wings as if to display their various charms. Now let the reader ask himself the ques- tion — Is it possible tliat a bird or a butterfly should appreciate the dawnings of these beauties? — could foresee that some slight beginning in markings or colour was capable, if encouraged, of producing the beautiful patterns which we now see; and which, or anything like which, we must remember the female Argus pheasant or butterflies could never have seen ? The answer to this question will be — It is simply incredible. So thouglit Mr. Wallace — Mr. Darwin's co-founder of the theory of natural selection — who says, that he believes Chap.Y. WALLACE ON BEAUTY. 77 that Mr. Darwin's theory of sexual selection has staggered many evolutionists, but has been provisionally accepted by them, because it was the only theory which attempted to explain the facts. Mr, Wallace, in an essay which appeared in Macmillan's Magazine for September and October, 1877, discussed at length the question of the origin of colour in animals and plants ; and he endeavoured to show that some colours are acquired by natural selection as a protection, as they afford safety by concealment ; and that other colours, which he calls warning colours, are protective, by erivinii: notice that the creatures coloured are poisonous, and thereby deterring animals of prey from molesting them. Tliere is, in South America, says Mr. Wallace, a family of butterflies, the Helicon- idie, which are very numerous and brilliantly coloured, and which have a very slow flight, and are so disagreeable to birds that they are never preyed upon by them. Along with these butterflies there is found another family, the Leptalides, which are good food for birds, but which escape them by closely 78 THE HELICONIDiE. Chap. V. iiiiitatlng the form, colours, and mode of fliglit of the HeliconidiB. Mr. Wallace sup- poses tliat these imitating butterflies have gained their present form by natural selec- tion ; those insects which approaclied the Ileliconidas in colour and habits beinff nes:- lected by the birds, and so surviving in the battle of life. And lie meets the point tliat a small variation towards the form and habits of the Heliconidee would not be sufficient to afford concealment and protection, by sup- posing that originally the Heliconidse were like other butterflies in colour and manner of flight; and tliat it was only after thoy had acquired their nauseous qualities, that they be<^an by degrees to change their form and colour, as a warning to birds to leave them alone ; and that the Leptalides began to vary, and continued to Yd^xj , pari passUj with them. It would have been of no use to the Leptalides, says Mr. Wallace, to have begun to imitate the Heliconidse in the acquisition of a nauseous taste, because any small movement in that direction would not have really acted as a safeguard, as the birds would have seized them, and so have killed or greatly injured Chap. V. THE LEPTALIDES. 79 them, althougli they might ultimately have rejected them. Here two things will strike the reader: (1) that we must have a constant succession of concurrent variations, — a most inadmissible supposition ; and (2) it would seem that the reasons which Mr. Wallace gives for the non-imitation by the Leptalides of the nauseous taste of the Heliconidse, would be fatal to the original acquisition of the nauseous taste by the Heliconidse them- selves, inasmucli as a slight degree of dis- agreeableness vfould not be sufficient to save their lives. And there is another point to be considered here. The warning colouring which these Heliconidse are said to have acquired through the action of natural selection, is more elabor- ate than would be required for their pro- tection. The colours are very various, and the patterns on the wings often very complex, generally full of spots ; while simj^le uniformly- coloured wintjs would liave answered the purpose of protection, if indeed that object would not have been amply secured by the peculiar mode of flight, of these butterflies. Wliat could have been the use of adding 80 POINTS AGAINST MR. WALLACE. Chap. V. spot after spot ? Is it possible to believe that the last spot was necessary to deter the birds ? Again, the spots on the wings would, while the insects were flying — the time of their greatest danger — not be distinctly visible as spots, but would, from the motion of the wings, produce the same effect as miiform colours. Then it seems very strange that the but- terflies which mimic the Heliconidse, should not have been content to mimic their general appearance, without, as is the case, having copied each spot and stroke on the wing. These are cases which are fatal to the theory of natural selection, because too much is done. Here we may ask — Are the caterpillars of these butterflies protected, or is the immunity confined to the perfect insects ? And we must note, that the existence of these HellconidsB in such numbers, and so protected, may be urged as an argument afj'ainst the existence of variation and natural selection ; for why should not this prlnci})le supply a race of birds to whom the Heliconidaj Chap. Y. THE KALLIMA AND IIAIR-STREAK. 81 would not be nauseous, and who would thrive on such an abundant supply of food as they would afford ? Tliere arc numerous cases of insects re- semblins" dead substances. A moth very common in this country is exactly like a chip of stone ; the liair-streak butterfly, when it is at rest, resembles the green leaf of a white thorn ; and the kallima, an Indian butterfly, which lias the upper surface of its wing brilliantly coloured, exhibits the colours and form of a dead leaf when the wings are closed. And what is the most worthy of remark in these cases is, that the instinct of the insects makes them resort to those places in which these peculiarities would protect them. Thus the moth alights upon stone walls; the hair-streak is fond of settling on thorn hedges ; and the kallima has recourse to dead bushes. Were these insects not to select these special resting-places, their peculiar colours would be of no use to them. How could they acquire this instinct by natural selection ? True, those insects which resorted to the proper places of rest would sm-vive those who neglected that precaution, but G 82 BEAUTY IN BIRDS. Cuap. V. does it follow tliat their descendants should inherit that action as a peculiarity of the species ? If we could suppose the existence of any tendency to resort to these peculiar places, we could see how that tendency could be improved, thougli here we should have to meet the difficulty of concurrent variations. But the question is — How did that tendency arise in the first instance ? It is certainly a most extraordinary fact, that in the long course of evolution from a bleb of protoplasm, which has been conducted strictly upon the princi^^le of the survival of the fittest, many creatures should be so much worse off than others, as to be glad to pre- tend to have the characteristics which tlieir neighbours have acquired in reality. Mr. Wallace allows that, after deducting all cases of protective colouring, there exists a large group of typically-coloured animals, which are brilliantly coloured in both sexes, and for whose particular colours we can assign no function or use. It comprises an immense number of showy birds, such as kingfishers, barbets, toucans, lories, tits, and starlings ; most of the largest and handsomest Chap. V. BEAUTY IN BIRDS. 83 butterflies ; and innumerable bright-coloured beetles, locusts, and dragonflies. Mr. Wallace's explanation of the existence of beauty in birds, is that the males have a greater amount of vitality than the females ; that this vitality is at its height in the breed- ing season; that it leads to expansions of growth ; that these again jDroduce a change of structure, which must be accompanied with a change of colour, inasmuch as colour depends upon the action of structure upon light.* Mr. Wallace is thus led to conclude that the most brilliantly-coloured males are the strongest; that therefore they will be naturally selected ; and we have no need of the theory of sexual selection which he says has really no place in nature — the partners of the females being determined, not by their own choice, but by the combats of the males, the victors driving the vanquished away. Here we quite agree with Mr. Wallace that the females have no choice, but we take exception to the point that the vitality of the males is greater than that of the females. Each sex has its own work to do in the • ' Macmillan's Magazine,' Sept., 1877, p. 408. G2 84 BEAUTY IN BIRDS. Chap. V. reproduction of the species ; each is fitted for its duties, and nothing more. There is no reason to suppose that tlie male has any spare vitality to expend in a display of colours. Both Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace must be aware that in proportion as creatures become more conspicuous, they are exposed to greater dangers from their enemies. In- crease of beauty would therefore be a positive evil to the creature in which it occurred ; and, therefore, at least at the first glance, could not be the result of natural selection. The charms of the Argus pheasant, when in full plumage, render him almost incapable of flight. Mr. Darwin meets the objection by sup- posing, that the preference wdiich is given to such a highly-adorned male by the female, compensates him for the increased danger to which he is exposed from his enemies. We have elsewhere shown the fallacy of this argument, and that Mr. Darwin mistakes between advantage gained by the individual and that obtained by the species. It is clear that, however much the most beautiful males Chap. Y. POINTS AGAINST MR. WALLACE. 85 may be preferred by the females, the species will not be benefited in the battle of life by such preference, unless its fecundity is increased by it to such a degree as to more than compensate it for the greater dangers to which it is exposed from its more con- spicuous appearance ; and there is no evidence whatever that this is the case. This difficulty is equally fatal to the views of Mr. Wallace. The more beautiful birds could not be naturally selected, unless it could be shown that the increased beauty which made tliem more conspicuous, aug- mented at the same time the fertility of the species. We ought to find the Argus pheasants, as they increased in beauty, and became more and more conspicuous, becom- ing also more and more prolific. We can have no evidence as to this fact, for we do not know the extent of their original fertility ; we can only suppose that it has not increased in this proportion, by observing that they are not more prolific than other birds which are more plainly clothed. We do not find that brilliantly - coloured birds are more numerous than their plainer brethren. %^ POINTS AGAINST MR. WALLACE. Chap. V. "VYe may note here that ]\Ir. Wallace's view, that the colours of the male birds are due to superior vitality, can have nothing to do with such delicate markings as those on the wing of the Argus pheasant, and of many butterflies; and tliere is a special difficulty in the way of Mr. Wallace's view. We might expect variety in the different forms of their partners, if those forms depended upon the taste of the females. Some might prefer a gaudy, some a more homely, mate. But if the adornment of the males is merely a conse- quence of their superior vital energy, it should be general in all species ; and Mr. Wallace himself says this is not the case. Even in the tropics the great majority of birds and insects are dull-coloured. No doubt the beautiful colours of male birds are found in many cases only during the nuptial season, and it is also true that male birds do display their beauties before the females ; but this does not prove that these colours are due to sexual selection. They may be a kind of halo surrounding the attribute of reproduction, the continuance of CiiAP. V. MR. WALLACE AND DESIGN. 87 the species being the chief aim of every creature's life. Mr. Wallace's ' Essay ' contains some pas- sages which are very remarkable, as showing the impression which the sight of beautiful objects in nature has made upon a mind prepared to accejDt utilitarian evolution. Speaking of the old-fashioned theory, that these beautiful objects were intended at once to please and refine mankind, he says : " And even now, with all our recently acquired knowledge of the subject, who shall say that these old-world views were not intrinsically and fundamentally sound ? — and that al- though we now know that colour has uses in nature that we little dreamt of, yet the relation of those colours to our sense and emotions may be anotlier and perha^^s more important use which they subserve in the great system of the universe." And he closes his ' Essay ' with the remark, that the emo- tions excited by colour and music alike seem to rise above the level of a world developed upon purely utilitarian principles.* * p. 384. 88 SIR JOHN LUBBOCK. Chap. V. Sir John Lubbock, in his lecture on plants and insects, says,* that the evidence already brouglit forward, however imperfectly, is at least sufficient to justify the conclusion that there is not a hair or a line, not a S2:>ot or a colour, for whicli there is not a reason ; which has not a purpose or a meaning in the economy of Nature; and he illustrates the point, amoni^st other cases, by the following anecdote : — A spotted caterpillar of large size was put into a tray in which seed was placed for birds. Soon a little flock of sparrows and other small birds assembled to feed as usual. One of them lit on the edge of the tray, and was just gi)ing to hop in, when she spied the caterpillar. Immediately she began bobbing her head up and down, but was afraid to go nearer. Another joined her, and then another, until at last there was a little company of ten or twelve birds, all looking on in astonishment, but not one ventured into the tray. When the cater- pillar was removed the birds soon attacked the seeds. These caterpillars, says Sir J. * ' Fortnightly Eeview,' April 1877, p. 492. Chap. V. BIRDS AFRAID OF CATERriLLARS. 89 Lubbock, were probably protected by their resemblance to spotted snakes. Hero we are asked to believe that the birds were afraid of being devoured by their own food. This is indeed a failure of instinct which is incredible. A much more probable explanation is, that the birds, always on the alert to avoid traps and other dangers of that kind, were scared, not by tlie caterpillar itself, but by the unusual circumstance of its being placed in tlie tray. As to the general proposition, that there is not a hair or a line, a spot or a colour, for which there is not a reason, the reader will perhaps be inclined to assent to it, if that jjurpose may be the adornment of the world ; but he will, we think, find it a difficult task to account for such beauties of colour and pattern as are displayed in the wings of the red admiral and peacock butterflies, if they are to be conducive solely to the welfare of the creature, which is what Sir John intends to imply. And there is another point to be considered in connexion with this subject, which we have already noticed more than once. The various 90 PARTIAL ACTION OF EVOLUTION. Chap. Y. spots and streaks by wliich tliese caterpillars are adorned, arc supposed to have been acquired by tlieni by the process of natural selection, as a concealment and protection against those creatures which prey upon them. This position seems to require that the action of natural selection should be one- sided only, and should be confined to the caterj)illars. Why should not the consumers have their senses sharpened by natural selec- tion in proportion as their prey became pro- tected by colour, &c. ? Thus the equilibrium between the two would be restored. We may infer that this is the case, if indeed natural selection be the guiding principle ; for we see that no one class of creatures gets such an advantage in tlie battle of life as to change its place with reference to its neighbours. If we look at a collection of humming- birds, we shall readily find two species which differ from each other only in so far as one has a crest of ruby and the otiier a crest of emerald ; and the question will naturally occur to us — How can one of these crests be of more use to the bird than the CiiAP. V. HUMMING-BIRDS. 91 other ? It Is not, however, in the crests alone of these bh*ds that we find ornament ; there are about four hundred species of them, and they exliibit every variety of beauty. " In some it is the feathers of the crown, worked into different forms of crest ; in some it is the feathers of the throat, forming gorgets and beards of many sliapes and hues ; in some it is a special development of neck-plumes, elongated into frills and tippets of extraor- dinary form and beauty. In a great number of genera tlie feathers of the tail are the special subjects of decoration, and this on every variety of plan and principle of ornament."* The toucans are another family of birds whose peculiarities are very difficult of ex- planation on purely utilitarian principles. Both sexes are highly coloured, and they have most extraordinary bills — very large, of very peculiar structure — requiring a great expenditure of vital force, and very highly coloured. The toucans in a wild state feed on fruits, and perhaps the eggs and young of birds ; but there seems nothing in their mode of feeding which can require the peculiarly- • ' Eeign of Law,' p. 231. 92 TOUCANS. CuAP. V. formed bill. Mr. Bates attempts to account for the bill by supposing it is useful in gathering fruit from the extremities of long and thin branches, but he is obliged to add that the bill of the toucan can scarcely be considered a very perfectly-formed instru- ment for the end to wliicli it is applied. And then there are the brilliancy and variety of the colouring of the bills to be explained on utilitarian principles. Mr. Darwin traces the steps of tlie evolution of the toucans as follows : — The ancestral form of the family, at first plainly coloured, gradually acquired bright colours in the male to please his mate (the first doubtful point). These colours were transmitted to botli sexes (the second doubtful point, for such transmissions are not general amongst birds, and there is no special reason why they should have occurred in this case). Then the female being in danger, through the con- spicuous colours, of becoming a 'pvey to her enemies while sitting on her nest, began to acquire the instinct of concealing herself, and finally got the habit of building her nest in Chap. V. BEAUTY EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. 93 the holes of trees, thus escaping the peculiar danger, and remaining as well off, but not better, than other birds which retained their plain dress. It is difficult to see how the principle of natural selection should have been the main agent in a series of changes leading to so poor a conclusion. We can, however, form no adequate idea of the force of the evidence for design afforded bj natural beauty from the contemplation of one or two species of birds or butterflies. The reader should take an opportunity of examining a large collection of humming- birds, or of toucans, or of tropical butterflies ; or, in the absence of such collections, he may turn to the plates in the splendid work of Mr. Gould on the Trochilidse and on the toucans, or of Mr. Hewitson on tropical butterflies ; and if he remembers that no one of the varied forms in this " ocean of beauty and variety " which he sees, can be shown to be essential to the welfare of the creature in which it occurs, or can be accounted for by sexual selection, or by exuberant vitality, or by natural selec- tion, or by chance, he will, we think, be inclined 91 BEAUTY EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. Chap. V. to admit, that though we do form our con- ception of beauty from wliat we see, it is hardly possible to reject the conclusion that these beautiful objects afford some evidence of design. 95 CHAPTER VI. The more advanced evolutionists — Views of Huxley and Tyndall — Mr. Wallace's view that growth in a living being is like the increase of a drop of dew — No analogy between the cases — Dying of old age and sexual reproduction cannot be results of spontaneous generation — Professor Tyndall's view that the brain acts solely in obedience to impressions conveyed to it by the nerves — Has the brain any power to translate or analyze these impressions ? — Case of the merchant receiving a telegram . And now we come to the opinions of the more advanced evolutionists. Professor Huxley says, that the whole analogy of natural operations furnishes so complete and crushing an argument against the intervention of any but what are called secondary causes in the production of all the phenomena of the universe, that in view of the intimate relation between the forces exerted by the living world and all other forces, there can be no excuse for doubting that all are co-ordinated terms of nature's great 96 HUXLEY AND TYNDALL. Chap. YI. progression ; from the formless to the formed ; from the inorganic to the organic ; from blind force to conscious intellect and will. Professor Tyndall shares Huxley's views, and expresses his belief that the structural power of matter is sufficient, under proper conditions, to produce living organisms. But neither of these philosophers ventures to assert that, in the present state of chemistry, living protoplasm can be produced ; and this is but a small part of the difficulty. If living pro- to23lasm could be so produced, how could it acquire the power of reproducing itself? — a power which we see that all living beings possess. We will take Mr. Wallace's sug- gestions as to this point, as his is the usual and most jolausible view. Mr. Wallace says : If a mass of matter be so constituted as to have the power of attracting to itself from the surrounding medium, matter like that of which it is composed, we have the first rudiment of vegetable life. We can conceive such an organism, and that it may be so con- stituted that any fragments whicli may be accidentally broken from it, or which may fall away when its bulk has become too great Chap. VI. THE DEW-DROP. 97 for the cohesion of all its parts, may begin to increase anew, and run tlie same course as the parent mass. This is growth and reproduction in its simplest form. The simplest con- ceivable form of such life would be the dew- drop, which owes its existence to the balance between the condensation of aqueous vajDOurs in the atmosphere and the evaporation of its substance. Here the dew-drop increases by the accre- tion of particles of water or dew floating in the circumambient atmosphere. To enable a mass of protoplasm to increase in the same way, we must suppose that there are particles of protoplasm at hand to be appropriated. We must suppose that at the dawn of life on the earth, a great quantity of protoplasm was produced at once, and that separate portions of this protoplasm joined each other, and so appeared to grow. But then the ques- tion meets us — Why did they fall to pieces again? — why did not the attractive force which brought them together keep them together ? The power of growth which would make a mass of protoplasm too large for cohesion, is evidently a very different thing 98 IS LIFE A SPECIAL POWER? Chap. VI. from mere attraction ; it seems, indeed, to bo antagonistic to that force, — in this instance, it seems to bo a special force. This indeed is the great point in all tliese inquiries — Is life a special power? Dew-drops never separate into parts from an increase of size ; they lose the form of drops and run off in streams, but there is no separation of parts from a want of cohesion. If we take another view, and suppose that the first masses of protoplasm which were formed, increased by assimilating the element whicli surrounded them, we meet the great difficulty, — that the protoplasm would have in the first place to manufacture tlie materials wliich it was to incorporate ; a very difi'erent affair from tlie mere accretion of pre-existent similar matter, as in the case of the dew-drop ; and a very elaborate process if, as we are told, protoplasm is chemically a very complex substance. This point was taken by my son, who has shown the enormous difficulties which, on chemical grounds, lie in the way of all these theories of tlie production of life from inorganic matter ; and has pointed out that the protoplasm — the bleb of living jelly Chap. YI. WHAT IS LIFE ? 99 — which is taken as tlie simple beginning of tilings, is in reality a very complex body, in which the molecules, or ultimate portions of the matter composing it, are arranged in a particular, though unknown, manner; such molecules themselves being complex structures.* And here we meet another point. We must ask these gentlemen what they mean by life. Is the protoplasm, which tliey say is the result of chemical combination, merely a mass of matter showing a certain amount of irritability ? — or has it the attributes of dying of old age, and reproducing itself by germs ? If it has not this latter faculty it cannot vary, and therefore cannot be per- fected by natural selection. No increase by fission of the original mass of protoplasm, or by budding, can lead to new kinds of creatures. This is almost self-evident, and is clearly shown by the constant practice of gardeners, who sow the seed of a plant when they want to produce new varieties, and have resort to cuttings or buds when they wish to perpetuate those kinds which they value. * ' Some Chemical Difficulties of Evolution.' h2 100 POWER OF KEPKODUCTION. Chap. YI. It is not even hinted tliat these attributes are the necessary results of chemical action. In fact, the gap between a mass of protoplasm possessing mere irritability and a living be- ing dying of old age and reproducing itself sexually by germs, is enormous, and this faculty of reproduction must have arisen all at once ; no incomplete approach to it could have been preserved as the fittest, for it would be useless until perfectly acquired ; its acquisition, then, must plainly have been in the nature of a miracle ; and, as we have seen, the continuance of the race by reproduction seems to be the great principle of organic life. We may add that, in addition to this fatal difficulty, the theories of these evolutionists are exposed to all the objections wdiich can be urcred a<2:ainst Mr. Darwin's views, for they differ from him merely by beginning at a lower stage of the progression. Professor Tyndall has lately given us his views as to the existence of a soul in the human body, which we must briefly notice. '' A merchant is sitting quietly in his easy- chair; a servant enters the room with a tele- Chap. VI. THE TELEGRAM. 101 gram, bearing the words, ' Jonas & Co. have failed.' Up starts the merchant, descends to the counting-house, dictates letters and forwards despatches, jumps into his carriage, and is immediately at the Bank or the Bourse, and among his commercial friends. Before an hour has elapsed he is once more at home, where he throws himself again into his easy-chair with a deep-drawn sigh : ' Thank God ; I am protected against the worst.' '"' This complex mass of motion — emotional, intellectual, and mechanical — is evoked," says Professor Tyndall, '^ by the impact upon the retina of the infinitesimal waves of light coming from a few pencil-marks upon a piece of paper. What caused the merchant to spring out of his chair ? — The contraction of his muscles. What caused the muscles to contract ? — An impulse of the nerves, which lifted the proper latch and liberated the muscular power." ^' Some," says Prof essor Tyndall, " maybe disposed to press upon me such considerations as these : — ^Your motor nerves are so many speaking-tubes, through which messages are 102 THE SOUL AND MODERN SCIENCE. Chap. VI. sent from tlie man to the world, and your sensor nerves are so many conduits through which the whisj^ers of the workl are sent back to the man. Who or wliat is it that sends or receives those messa":es throu^j:]! the bodily organism ? Do not the phenomena point to the existence of a self within the self, which acts through the body as through a skilfully-constructed instrument ? Are you not bound to supplement the mechanism by the assumption of an entity which uses it ? — - in other words, are you not forced by your own exposition into the liyj)othesis of a free human soul ? " This question is most clearly put, and it is one of which every one must foci the importance. Professor Tyndall answers it, by stating that this reasoning is incongruous with the knowledge of our time. "You do not," he says, " in this case, explain the unknown in terms of the known, but you explain the unknown in terms of the more unknown. Try to visualize this soul as an entity distinct from a body, and the difficulty immediately aj^pears. From the side of science all that Chap. VI. THE SOUL AND MODERN SCIENCE. 103 we are warranted in saying is, that the terror, hope, sensation, and calculation of the mer- chant are ^^sychical phenomena, produced by, or associated with, the molecular processes set up by waves of light on a previously prepared brain." "What," continues Professor Tyndall, "is the connexion between molecular motions and states of consciousness ? We can present to our minds a coherent picture of the phy- sical processes ; the stirring of the brain, the thrilling of the nerve, the discharging of the muscle, and all the subsequent mechanical motions of the organism. But we can present no picture of the process whereby conscious, ness emerges, either as a necessary link, or as an accidental by-product of this series of actions. We are here on the boundary line of the intellect, where the ordinary canons of science fail to extricate us from our difficulties. If we are true to these canons, we must deny to subjective phenomena all influence on physical processes ; we have here to deal with facts almost as difficult to be seized mentally as the idea of a soul." What does this amount to, but simplj^ that 104 ANOTHER TELEGRAM. Chap. VI. science cannot explain what life is? Tlie point is, wliether life is Avithin the canons of science, not how we are to apply tliose canons to life. The reader will have noted the expression, ''lifts up the latch; " this seems as if there were a store of force somewhere, like water in a mill-dam, to be let loose as occasion requires. What is this store, and where is it ? And now let us suppose that another tele- gram comes to the mercliant in tlie midst of his trouble, bearing- tlie words, '' Jonas & Co. have not failed ; " peace would be imme- diately restored to his mind, and all the actions set in motion by tlie former telegram would cease. Tlirough the effect of the new telegram on the nerves the latch would be put down again, the lifting of which by the former telegram caused all the disturbance. The waves of light impinging upon the retina in those two cases are very nearly alike, the only difference being those which come from the little word not. How can the waves of light coming from this little word alone, totally alter the effect of the whole telegram ? Is there not here a hint of some Chap. YI. OTHER TELEGRAMS. 105 selective action on tlie part of the brain, distinct from the mechanical effect of the mere nervous message received from the retina ? To take another case — The telegram , instead of being written in pencil, might have been written in black, blue, red, green, or yellow ink; or partly in one colour and partly in another ; again, it might liave been written in ordinary writing, or printed in types of different kinds, as in German or Greek letters ; and all those different modes of writing the telegram might be changed and combined in such a manner, that the number of different combinations of waves of light which might impinge upon the retina, and carry the message to the brain, through the nerves, would be enormous ; vet in each case the same idea of the failure of Jonas & Co. would be instantly seized and acted on by the brain. Does not this look like some power in the brain to analyze, or perhaps we may say, to translate, the messages conveyed to it by the nerves ? — and this state of the brain is very different from the " previously- prepared brain " alluded to by the Professor ; 100 POWER OF THE BEAIN. Cuvr. YI. sucli preparation being, by the nature of liis views J purely mechanical ; merely fitting the brain to receive sensation through the nerves. And now let us take yet another case — Suppose no telegram is brought to the mer- chant, but that he gets up from his easy- chair, after a quiet nap, and goes into his counting-house to see if anything requires his attention. What lifts up the latch and sets the muscles in motion on this occasion ? There is no action upon the brain from with- out ; something must have acted upon it to set the muscles in motion. What is this something? — and this mode of setting the muscles in motion by some action of the brain independent of external influence must evidently be of constant occurrence. The following answer to these queries may possibly be suggested : — Memory, or the recol- lection of former business, sets the machinery in motion, and sends the merchant to his counting-house. But then we must ask — What is this memory, according to Professor Tyndall's views ? Is it a residuum of former messages to tlie brain from the retina, which were not wholly used in setting the muscles Chap. VI. POWER OF THE BEAIN. 107 in motion in the first instance ? But how can we account for the whole of the influence of those messages on the brain not making itself felt in action at the time of their recep- tion ? By what means was any part of them kept in reserve ? Professor Tyndall goes on to say, that amid all om' speculative uncertainty, there is one practical point as clear as the day, namely, that the brightness and the usefulness of life, as well as its darkness and disaster, depend to a great extent upon our owni use or abuse of this miraculous organ. Now who are we, who are to use this organ ? Do not its actions, according to what we have just been told, depend entirely upon messages conveyed to it wdnch it is bound to obey? In wdiat sense is the brain, according to Professor Tyndall's view, entitled to be called a miraculous organ ? 108 CHAPTER YII. Evolution •with design — The world probably formed by some law of evolution — Analogy between similar parts in different creatures ; man, beasts, birds, and fishes — Humming-birds instances of probable evolution. — Evolution a form of creation — Possible change in the laws of reproduction with a change of circumstances — No hint of what the law of evolution really is — Organisms do not readily change — No change during the vicissitudes of the glacial period — Great influence of locality upon form — Extinct animals of North America — Why has not natural selection reproduced anything like them ? And now the reader will probably ask — Wliat do you mean by the terms " design " and " special creation " ? Do you maintain, what was probably Paley's view, that every spot and streak of colour upon an animal, a shell, or a plant, is the handiwork of a personal Creator whose attributes are similar, though infinitely superior, to those of man ? To tliis question we must reply, that it is more consistent with what w^e see around us in other departments of nature, that the organic Chap. VII. GENERAL PLAN OF ORGANIZATION. 109 world is also the result of some natural law ; probably some form of evolution. It is not necessary, as Dr. Asa Gray remarked, that a new species should be created out of nothing, when a slight modification of an existing form would answer the purpose. When we look at any great class of animals we see that, independently of their habits of life, they resemble each other in the general plan of their organization. Thus, in the vertebrata, the arms and legs of man corre- spond with the fore and hind-legs of beasts, with the wings and legs of bats and birds, and with the pectoral and ventral fins of fishes ; the arm of man is the fore-leg of the beast, the wing of the bird, and the pectoral fin of the fish.* Similar analogies are observable in all classes of the animal world. The reader may have observed, when examining a col- lection of butterflies, how similar the mark- ings of the wing are in each class ; the lines radiate from the same point, and the spots occupy similar situations. These analogies were attributed by Paley * ' Owen on tho Nature of Limbs,' p. 3. 110 EVOLUTION HUMMING-BIRDS. Chap. YII. to the "uniformity of plan" which the Creator has laid dowai for eacli class of creatui'es. But they can be accounted for to a very great extent by supposing, mth Mr. Darwin, that they are the results of descent from a common ancestor, and this is one of Mr. Darwin's strongest points ; though even here lie meets with difficulties, as similar structures occasionally appear in creatures which cannot be closely related by descent ; in which case he is obliged to suggest that natural selection has by chance hit upon the same device. Mr. Darwin says that when he published his ' Origin of Species' few naturalists believed in evolution; but now things are wliolly changed, and almost every naturalist believes in the great principle of evolution. There are certainly some cases in which such an origin of species appears very probable. The humming-birds are found only in America; they are quite distinct from all other birds ; there are more than four hundred sjoecies of them which closely resemble each other, though they never inter- mingle. Mr. Gould, during his long study of CiiAP. VII. POSSIBLE LAW OF ItEPRODUCTIOX. Ill these birds, saw no case of natural hybridism. It is no great strain on the imagination to suppose that all tliese species of humming- birds are modifications of one type. Evolution, in this sense, being the mode in whicli the Creator has chosen to form the world, is not at all inconsistent with design. It merely gives us a higher idea of the Designer, who has foreseen and provided for the results of the evolution ; all we contend for is, that the world has not been formed by the accumulation of hap-hazard variations. At present the law of reproduction seems to be that like should produce like ; that tlie descendants should resemble their parents. But there is no difficulty in conceiving a law of reproduction which should give rise to a succession of the same species for a long period, and then under different conditions produce a different kind. We may illustrate this point by a very homely reference : — A human artificer would find no difficulty in making a barrel-organ, whicli, at ordinary temperatures and under usual atmospheric conditions, should play a certain set of tunes, and which, without any fresh action on the 112 LAW OF EVOLUTION UNKNOWN. Ciiav. YII. part of the original maker, should play another set of tunes when the thermometer fell to zero, or the atmosphere became as moist as it is in the dense jungles of the tropics. It is obvious that the barrel of the organ, instead of being set by hand, as is usual, when a new tune is wanted, might bo moved into the required place by the con- traction in cooling of a bar of metal, or by the increased weight of any absorbent substance when exposed to damp vapours. We have no hint of what this law of evolu- tion is or how it acts. Variations of form are very rare, even when the surrounding conditions of life change considerably. It is now generally allowed that there was a period when the earth was much colder tliau it is at present ; the polar ice extending to the middle of England ; and this period was followed by a return of warmth, wliich again gave place to cold, to be again followed by the milder climate which we now enjoy. Under these circumstances, animals and j^lants were exposed to great changes of climate, and there must have been many migrations both of plants and animals to Chap. VII LAW OF EVOLUTION UNKNOWN. 113 enable them to live ; yet it Is found that from the commencement of tins cold cUmate until the present time, a period, according to Sir C. Lyell, of hundreds of thousands of years, most animals and plants have remained unchanged. Even at the present time we have instances of the same organisms living under very dif- ferent conditions of life. Sir Wy vill Thompson found the same species of coral at a depth of thirty fathoms and fifteen hundred fathoms. Tlie pressure and the darkness must liave been five hundred times as great in the latter case as in the former. Locality, however, seems to have the greatest influence upon form. In the island of Jura, one of the Hebrides, many deer are found with what are called there '' crummy horns " ; these horns are distorted, destitute of many of the points of the common antler, and turn back on the head like those of a goat. The goitres and cretins of the Alps of Switzerland and the Tyrol are instances of the same kind amongst ourselves. The valleys of those countries produce the wretched ] 14 INFLUENCE OF LOCALITY ON FORM. Chap. YII. victims of these maladies side by side with some of the finest specimens of the human race. The animals of Angora afford another mstance of the influence of locality. The}^ are distinguished by a tendency to produce long and fine hair ; this is the case with the dogs, rabbits, goats, and cats ; the beautiful Angora cats are well-known favourites. All these animals are said to lose this peculiarity after being some time in Europe. The humming-birds afford another instance of the possible influence of locality. Many of the species are extremely local ; one or two of them are confined to the craters of extinct volcanoes. It certainly seems probable that these are local modifications of neighbouring species. The influence of locality on form seems to reach its maximum in the island of Celebes, in the Indian Ocean. This island contains so many creatures peculiar to itself — though there are other islands in its neighbourhood — that Mr. Wallace is driven to account for them by the supposition that Celebes is the remains of a large continent formerly exist- CuAi>. VII. NORTH AMERICAN FOSSILS. 115 ing in that part of the earth, and probably connecting South America with Madagascar, — some of the productions of this latter island being similar to those of South America, tliough the two countries are so far apart, and part of Africa lies between them. Then it is said that there is a tendency in creatures to become black in the southern hemisphere. The black swan of Australia is a familiar instance of this tendency. But all this is too vague to give us any hint of the nature of the law of develop- ment, if there be such a law. The recent discoveries of fossil remains in North America are most interesting.* There are species of the horse, ranging from the true equus of the later deposits, through a long course of species, to animals about the size of a fox, with five toes. Then there were animals, allied to the rhinoceros, with three pairs of horns ; the first pair on the top of the head, large and perhaps p)alm- ated ; the second above the eyes ; and the third and smallest pair standing out sideways on the snout. There were also abundance * "Wallace's ' Distribution of Animals,' vol. i. p« 135. 116 NORTH AMERICAN FOSSILS. Chap. YII. of forms of the camel ; and even in the most ancient strata are found the remains of the machairodus (or sabre-toothed tiger), and the cave lion; horses and tapirs larger than any now living ; a llama as large as a camel ; great mastodons and elepliants ; and abmidance of hugemegathorieid animals of almost equal size. In South America there were these same mega- therieids in greater variety ; numerous huge armadillos; a mastodon; large horses and tapirs ; large porcupines ; two forms of ante- lope; numerous bears and felines, including a machairodus and a large monkey : all these have become extinct since the dej)osition of the most recent of the fossil-bearing strata. What great change in physical surround- ings could have caused all these forms to vanish ? But the question whicli more par- ticularly relates to our subject is — How has it happened that none of these forms, nor anything like them, has re-appeared in America from the action of variation and natural selection, if that was the process by which they were originally produced ? We must note that the soil and climate of America are now, so far at least as horses Chap. VII. OPPOSED TO NATURAL SELECTION. 117 and cattle are concerned, very well adapted to large animals, as is seen by tlie rapid increase of them when introduced by man. We are aware that it may be said that there has not been sufficient time for the reproduction of these large animals ; and also that when they were originally produced by the action of natural selection, the area of the country in which they appeared was much larger than the present continent of North America, and therefore afforded greater scope for the action of variation and natural selec- tion ; but these reasons seem totally inade- quate to account for the almost entire absence of any approach to the former state of things. These phenomena seem to point to special creation. But all we wish to maintain is that the law of development, if such a law exists, is not a mere result of self- existent matter. 118 CHAPTER VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. We have seen that the philosophers who decline to believe in a Creator, because the world is so full of misery and waste, are un- able to explain the existence of this misery and waste on their supposition that the world has been formed by a strict regard to the greatest good of each individual. We have also seen that it is highly probable that the variations winch occur in organisms neutralize each other, and therefore caiiiiot give rise to new forms. Mr. Darwin's theory requires that incipient steps towards a new form must be immediately useful, and that they must be such as require the least expenditure of vital energy. And we have examined many cases in nature, both of structure and instinct, which are inconsistent with these principles. Chap. yill. SUMMARY. ' 119 That some forms and instincts appear in tliemsclves to be actually injurious to the organisms in which they are found, and therefore totally incompatible with natural selection. We have seen that these objections to Mr. Darwin's theory are fatal to it, not because from lack of knowledge certain phenomena cannot be explained by it, but because these phenomena are incapable from their nature of explanation by it. We have seen that there are many curious and complicated forms which cannot be accounted for on any principle of utilitarian evolution ; and that one of these forms, — • that of the Coryanthes Macrantha, adduced by Mr. Darwin as strong evidence of tlie action of natural selection, — is in fact almost conclusive evidence in favour of the exercise of a guiding will. Again, Mr. Darwin and his followers wholl}'' fail to account, on utilitarian principles, for beauty of colour and form in animals. We have seen that the more advanced evolutionists, — even if we allow the sponta- neous generation of a bleb of protoplasm,— 120 SUMMARY. Chap. VIII. entirely fall to show liow difference of sex, which is so universal in nature, could have been derived from it. It has appeared probable tliat the existing forms of organic life are the results of some unknown lavi^ of evolution. But it is con- tended that such law of evolution carniot be automatic variation of self-existent matter and the survival of the fittest, but must be directed by, or have originated from, an intelligent will. Finally, the knowledge which man has acquired, and his very nature, are inconsistent with the notion of a bestial origin. To begin with our own earth. Geology has told us that it has existed in a state fit for the support of life for periods so long that we cannot realize them. Natural History has proved that the world has been, and, is now, full of life ; from the elephant to a microscopic animalcule ; from the giant oak to the smallest moss, — and all this life is of the most varied form and ada2:)tation. Turn- ing from the contemplation of the earth to that of the heavens, we see the sun, the centre of our planetary system, the source of all the forces existing on the earth, and at least CiiAP. Till. CONCLUSION. 121 essentijil to life. Man has learned tliat his earth and the other planets circle round the sun, or ratlier round tlie common centre of gravity of the wliole system ; and lie has learned this, though from the position of our earth in the system, the motions of the planets appear to be almost backwards and forwards in straight lines. Man has dis- covered, by the most abstract reasoning, the law which regulates the motion of the planets round this centre of gravity, and the complex results upon this motion of the forces exerted by the planets upon each other. So accurately are these results calcidated, that an unex- pected apparent error led to the belief that there might be another planet not yet known to us to which it was due. The supposed place of this planet was suggested, and there it was seen by means of an instrument — the achromatic telescope — made by man, and the result of most elaborate and abstract calculations in another branch of science ; a marvellous instance of the power of the human mind. Beyond our planetary system the telescope shows us more than twenty millions of stars which are suns, possibly or 122 CONCLUSION. CiiAr. VIII. perhaps probably surrounded by planets. We know tliat many of these stars are much larger than our sun, and so distant from us that the light of many of them may take thousands of years to reach us. The spectro- scope — an instrument which tells us the nature of bodies by their action in an incandescent state upon light — has shown us to some extent the materials of which those suns are made ; and we find that like our own they contain many elements, such as iron, hydrogen, chlorine, and the like, which exist in our earth. Astronomy also tells us that our sun and his attendant planets are all moving in space, and that many of the stars have proper motions. There are nebulae which may be the beginnings of suns ; and we know that there is an end of our earth — at least in its existino: state — inasmuch as the ether through which we have the sensation of sight, and which, so far as we know, pervades all space, offers a resistance, though slight, to bodies moving through it ; and must therefore in time destroy the motion of our earth round the sun, just as the friction of the tides on the earth must in time destroy its diurnal CiiAF. VIII. CONCLUSION. 123 rotation, and put an end to tlio distinction of night and day. Though indeed a mucli more rapid conclusion of the present state of humanity is perhaps to be found in the dis- sipation of our coal, iron, and other metals ; and, according to Liebig, of those chemical products which are necessary to the produc- tion of our food, and which we waste in unprofitable sewage. Grand as is the celestial world, another instrument — the microscope, also the result of abstract reasoning — 'has disclosed a scene almost as sublime in its minuteness : we are surrounded by myriads of wonderful beings too small to be visible to the "unassisted eye. Then, as was written below Franklin's bust, " Eripuit coelo fulmen," man has made the lightning his servant ; has shown by another series of abstract reasonings the identity of electricity and magnetism ; and has invented an instrument — the electric telegrapli — by which he can hold instantaneous communi- cation with his fellow-men on the other side of the globe. It is true, as observed by the writer of the article in the ' Westminster Review,' whom I'-^i CONCLUSION. CiiAv. YIII. wc have quoted, that the present state of liuman knowledge is the result of the labour, often wasted, of many generations ; and that scientific knowledge is comparatively a thing of to-day, and is progressing at a rapidly accelerating rate. But the capacity to acquire this knowledge is a thing innate in man. The lowest savages are capable of receiving instruction. It is said that the children of the native Australians, when taken into our schools, show as great an aptitude for learn- ing as white children ; and the Fueglans, mentioned by Mr. Darwin in his ' Naturalist's Journal,' after a short residence in England and on board the ' Beagle,' showed an amount of knowledge quite equal to what any average European would have acquired under the same circumstances; and the Australians and Fuegians, we are told, are among the lowest races of mankind. It has been shrewdly remarked by Mr. Wallace, that their capacity of learning shows that the brain power of savages is much beyond the requirements of their actual condition of life, and therefore could not have been acquired by natural selection, as its value Chap. Till. CONCLUSION. 125 could not have been felt — a very strong point in favour of the argument from design. This knowledge man has obtained ])artly by the most abstract reasoning, partly by observation, made by most delicate instru- ments which he has invented for the purpose ; and this is but a slight sketch of what man has done in the field of science, probably but a trifle compared with what he is capable of doing in the future. Then man, as our in- quiries have shown, has a desire to know his origin ; he has a sense of the sublime and beautiful ; he has moral attributes wMch throw his scientific powers into the shade ; and he has a deep religious belief. We are aware that it is said that savages have no religious belief, and that therefore religion is not natural to man, but is the invention of a priesthood. This position, however, is clearly untenable ; for allowing that civilized races are descended from savages, and that the lowest savages have no religion — a doubtful point, — the fact that, as mankind advanced, they have universally adopted some form of religious belief, is sufficient evidence that religion is congenial 126 CONCLUSION. Chap. VIII. to man's nature. Tliere is somctliing inliercnt to tlie intelligence of man which naturally becomes religion whenever that intelligence expands. Had this not been the case, no priestly influence could have given man his religious feeling, nor indeed could a priest- hood have ever existed. A body of men could not have been found in every country ready to inculcate a religion which they did not believe upon a people who had no sympathy with them ; they must in many cases have held erroneous views, but they sincerely believed them. The vast stones of Stonehenge, on Salis- bury Plain, which must have been brought from a great distance by a quasi-savage race, destitute of mechanical knowledge, are as conclusive evidence of the religious feeling of the people of that time, as is the S2:)lendid pile of York Minster of the devotion of their successors. And now we will lake leave of the reader with this remark, that it is difficult to believe that the mind of man, capable of discovering and understanding such marvels and pos- sessed of such feelings, is nothing, as Professor Chap. VIII. CONCLUSION. 127 Owen * seems to imply, but tlie sum of living j^lienomena wliicli are modes of force into which other forms of force have passed from potential to active states, and reciprocally. It is difficult to believe that man has no soul, or that man, such as he is, and the gorilla, which is one of the grossest of animals, have been evolved by the same process of utilitarian evolution from the same ape-like ancestor. Professor Huxley f has taken infinite pains to show that the brain of apes is anatomically very similar to that of man ; and tlie chemical difference between tliem, if any, must be very slight. How then is there such an enormous difference in tlieir powers ? We must remember that according to Mr. Darwin's view there was nothing miraculous about the variation in the ape-like ancestor which led to the production of man ; that variation must therefore have been one of those habitually occurring in the organism ; and we should expect as a natural result that there should have been many similar • Owen, ' Yertebrata,' vol. iii. p. 824. t ' Man's Place in Nature.' 128 CONCLUSION. Chap. VIII. variations, and that tlic ape family should liave cxliibited a variety of more or less close approximations to humanity ; instead of which we find, that except in so far as there is some bodily likeness, they are farther removed from man than many other beasts. They are not so intelligent as the dog or the elej^hant, and so far are evidence against any occurrence of such variations as would bo necessary to initiate the production of man. These considerations alone might perhaps justify us in rejecting the theory of automatic evolution as incapable of accounting for the origin of the organic world, but we must remember that we stand upon surer ground, that there can be no form of automatic evolu- tion but variation and the survival of tlie fittest, and that, as we have seen, tliere are some natural objects which cannot have been formed in this manner, and wliich compel us to acknowled":e the action of an intelliijrent will. THE END. INDEX. A. Adaptations, 4; imperfect, 13, 15 Ammonites, 25 Amount of life in the world, 2 Animals, number of species of, 3 Ant-lion, G Ants, instinct of, 7 Arguments, against design. 11 Argus pheasant, 75 Artificial breeds of cattle, 18 B. Bates on the rattlesnake, 04 Beal, 61 Beauty, Wallace on, 77 ; in birds, 82 ; evidence of design, 93 Bees, sting of, 62 ; before honey existed, 70 Beetle, instinct of, 7 ; limitation to particular food, 68 Belt, 7 Birds and spotted caterpillars, 88 Brain, power of, 106 ; a miraculous organ, 107 Buckland, Dr., 25 Butterflies, instinct of, 9 ; limitation to particular plants, 67 ; mimicking other.s, 77 ; dead substances, 81 ; peacock and red admiral, 89 C. Campania of Naples, 12 Cases inconsistent with evoUition, 33 Celebes, island of. 114 Chstodon, 5 130 INDEX. Colours, attractive, 74; protective, 77; of hununiiig-binlj!. 'M : of toucans, 91 CoQclusioLi, 118 Coot, 59 Coryanthes Macrantha, 23, i^^ ; Feildingii, 44 Cross-fertilization, 4G Cuckoo, 28 Cypripedium Caudatum, 57 D. Darwin, theory of evolution, 17 ; injurious variation:*, 19 ; answerf* to Mivart, 23 ; on the young cuckoo, 28 ; forms inconsistent with his theory, 38 ; different structures for the same end, 41 : cross-fertilization. 4G ; Nepenthes. .52 ; upland geese. 59 ; rattle of the rattlesnake. (1.3 ; plants of the Galapagos islands, 715 ; sexual selection and Argus pheasant, 75, 84 Deer, horns of, 35 Design, arguments against, 11 ; Coryanthes proof of, 50; instance."* of, 51 ; Wallace on, 87 ; beauty and variety evidence of, 93 ; evolution with, 108 Dew-drop, 97 Dog, sagacity of, 6 E. Kconomy of nutriment, 21 Evolution, partial action of. 90; chemical difliculties of, 99; with design, 108 ; automatic, 128 Fir-trees, pollen of, 42 ' Fortnightly Review,' 57, 88 Fossils, North American, 115 Galapagos, islands, 73 Gorilla, 09, 127 INDKX. 131 H. Hair-streak, butterfly, 81 HeliconidiB, 77 Horns of deer, 35 lluinmlng-birds, 90 Huxley, Professor, 95, 127 I. Incipient forms, 23, 27, 29, 33, ct passim. K. Kallima, 81 L. Law of evolution, unknown, 112 Lepidosiren, 60 Leptalides, 77 Lewis, Mr. G. H., 13 Liliuiu Auratum, 74 Limitation to particular food, 67 Lions, roaring at night, 05 Lubbock, iSir John, 57, 88 Megatherieid animals, lir> Mistletoe, CO Mivart. Professor, 22 Naples, the Campania of, 12 Nepenthes, 51 Orchids, forms of, 23, 43, 57 Osprey, 33 Owen, Professor, 109, 127 M. N. 132 INDEX, Paley, tendons of the liand and foot, 35 Protective colours, 77 Protoplasm, 97, Ui) R. Pvabbit, white tail of, 65 Rattlesnake, 04 lieligious belief, natural to man, 125 Tieprod action, possible laws of. 111 Sexual selection, 75, 84 Species, number of, 3 Spermaceti whale, 61 Stomachs, nepenthes hung round with, 55 Structures, different, for the same end, 41 ; incongruous, 60 Summary, 118 Toucans, 91 Tyndall, Professor, on evolution, 90 ; on the soul, 100 Vaillant, Le, 26 Variations, 17; injurious, 19 W. Wagtail, the pied, 30 Wallace, on beauty, 77 ; points against, 86 ; on design, 87 ; on dew-drop, 97 ; on colour in nature, 87 Water-spider, diving-bell of, 0, 27 ' Westminster Review,' 11 CLAV AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BUNGAY.