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ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES.
[Illustration]
ON THE
GENESIS OF SPECIES.
BY
ST. GEORGE MIVART, F.R.S.
London:
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1871.
[_The Right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved._]
LONDON:
R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.
* * * * *
TO
SIR HENRY HOLLAND, BART., M.D.,
F.R.S., D.C.L., ETC. ETC.
MY DEAR SIR HENRY,
In giving myself the pleasure to dedicate, as I now do, this work to you,
it is not my intention to identify you with any views of my own advocated
in it.
I simply avail myself of an opportunity of paying a tribute of esteem and
regard to my earliest scientific friend--the first to encourage me in
pursuing the study of nature.
I remain,
MY DEAR SIR HENRY,
Ever faithfully yours,
ST. GEORGE MIVART.
7, NORTH BANK, REGENT'S PARK,
_December 8, 1870._
{vii}
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
_INTRODUCTORY_
The problem of the genesis of species stated.--Nature of its probable
solution.--Importance of the question.--Position here defended.--Statement
of the DARWINIAN THEORY.--Its applicability to details of geographical
distribution; to rudimentary structures; to homology; to mimicry,
&c.--Consequent utility of the theory.--Its wide acceptance.--Reasons for
this other than, and in addition to, its scientific value. Its
simplicity.--Its bearing on religious questions.--_Odium theologicum_ and
_odium antitheologicum_.--The antagonism supposed by many to exist between
it and theology neither necessary nor universal.--Christian authorities in
favour of evolution.--Mr. Darwin's "Animals and Plants under
Domestication."--Difficulties of the Darwinian theory enumerated ... _Page_
1
CHAPTER II.
_THE INCOMPETENCY OF "NATURAL SELECTION" TO ACCOUNT FOR THE INCIPIENT
STAGES OF USEFUL STRUCTURES._
Mr. Darwin supposes that Natural-Selection acts by slight
variations.--These must be useful at once.--Difficulties as to the giraffe;
as to mimicry; as to the heads of flat-fishes; as to the origin and
constancy of the vertebrate, limbs; as to whalebone; as to the young
kangaroo; as to sea-urchins; as to certain processes of {viii}
metamorphosis; as to the mammary gland; as to certain ape characters; as to
the rattlesnake and cobra; as to the process of formation of the eye and
ear; as to the fully developed condition of the eye and ear; as to the
voice; as to shell-fish; as to orchids; as to ants.--The necessity for the
simultaneous modification of many individuals.--Summary and conclusion ...
_Page_ 23
CHAPTER III.
_THE CO-EXISTENCE OF CLOSELY SIMILAR STRUCTURES OF DIVERSE ORIGIN._
Chances against concordant variations.--Examples of discordant
ones.--Concordant variations not unlikely on a non-Darwinian evolutionary
hypothesis.--Placental and implacental mammals.--Birds and
reptiles.--Independent origins of similar sense organs.--The ear.--The
eye.--Other coincidences.--Causes besides Natural Selection produce
concordant variations in certain geographical regions.--Causes besides
Natural Selection produce concordant variations in certain zoological and
botanical groups.--There are homologous parts not genetically
related.--Harmony in respect of the organic and inorganic worlds.--Summary
and conclusion ... _Page_ 63
CHAPTER IV.
_MINUTE AND GRADUAL MODIFICATIONS._
There are difficulties as to minute modifications, even if not
fortuitous.--Examples of sudden and considerable modifications of different
kinds.--Professor Owen's view.--Mr. Wallace.--Professor Huxley.--Objections
to sudden changes.--Labyrinthodont.--Potto.--Cetacea.--As to origin of
bird's wing.--Tendrils of climbing plants.--Animals once supposed to be
connecting links.--Early specialization of
structure.--Macrauchenia.--Glyptodon.--Sabre-toothed tiger.--Conclusion ...
_Page_ 97
{ix}
CHAPTER V.
_AS TO SPECIFIC STABILITY._
What is meant by the phrase "specific stability;" such stability to be
expected _a priori_, or else considerable changes at once.--Rapidly
increasing difficulty of intensifying race characters; alleged causes of
this phenomenon; probably an internal cause co-operates.--A certain
definiteness in variations.--Mr. Darwin admits the principle of specific
stability in certain cases of unequal variability.--The goose.--The
peacock.--The guinea fowl.--Exceptional causes of variation under
domestication.--Alleged tendency to reversion.--Instances.--Sterility of
hybrids.--Prepotency of pollen of same species, but of different
race.--Mortality in young gallinaceous hybrids.--A bar to intermixture
exists somewhere.--Guinea-pigs.--Summary and conclusion ... _Page_ 113
CHAPTER VI.
_SPECIES AND TIME._
Two relations of species to time.--No evidence of past existence of
minutely intermediate forms when such might be expected _a priori_.--Bats,
Pterodactyles, Dinosauria, and Birds.--Ichthyosauria, Chelonia, and
Anoura.--Horse ancestry.--Labyrinthodonts and Trilobites.--Two subdivisions
of the second relation of species to time.--Sir William Thomson's
views.--Probable period required for ultimate specific evolution from
primitive ancestral forms.---Geometrical increase of time required for
rapidly multiplying increase of structural differences.--Proboscis
monkey.--Time required for deposition of strata necessary for Darwinian
evolution.--High organization of Silurian forms of life.--Absence of
fossils in oldest rocks.--Summary and conclusion ... _Page_ 128
CHAPTER VII.
_SPECIES AND SPACE._
The geographical distribution of animals presents difficulties.--These not
insurmountable in themselves; harmonize with other
difficulties.--Fresh-water fishes.--Forms common to Africa and India; to
Africa and South America; to China and Australia; to North America and {x}
China; to New Zealand and South America; to South America and Tasmania; to
South America and Australia.--Pleurodont lizards.--Insectivorous
mammals.--Similarity of European and South American frogs.--Analogy between
European salmon and fishes of New Zealand, &c.--An ancient Antarctic
continent probable.--Other modes of accounting for facts of
distribution.--Independent origin of closely similar forms.--Conclusion ...
_Page_ 144
CHAPTER VIII.
_HOMOLOGIES._
Animals made up of parts mutually related in various ways.--What homology
is.--Its various kinds.--Serial homology.--Lateral homology.--Vertical
homology.--Mr. Herbert Spencer's explanations.--An internal power
necessary, as shown by facts of comparative anatomy.---Of teratology.--M.
St. Hilaire.--Professor Burt Wilder.--Foot-wings.--Facts of pathology.--Mr.
James Paget.--Dr. William Budd.--The existence of such an internal power of
individual development diminishes the improbability of an analogous law of
specific origination ... _Page_ 155
CHAPTER IX.
_EVOLUTION AND ETHICS._
The origin of morals an inquiry not foreign to the subject of this
book.--Modern utilitarian view as to that origin.--Mr. Darwin's speculation
as to the origin of the abhorrence of incest.--Cause assigned by him
insufficient.--Care of the aged and infirm opposed by "Natural Selection;"
also self-abnegation and asceticism.--Distinctness of the ideas right and
useful.--Mr. John Stuart Mill.--Insufficiency of "Natural Selection" to
account for the origin of the distinction between duty and
profit.--Distinction of moral acts into material and formal.--No ground{xi}
for believing that formal morality exists in brutes.--Evidence that it does
exist in savages.--Facility with which savages may be
misunderstood.--Objections as to diversity of customs.--Mr. Button's review
of Mr. Herbert Spencer.--Anticipatory character of morals.--Sir John
Lubbock's explanation.--Summary and conclusion ... _Page_ 188
CHAPTER X.
_PANGENESIS._
A provisional hypothesis supplementing "Natural Selection."--Statement of
the hypothesis.--Difficulty as to multitude of gemmules.--As to certain
modes of reproduction.--As to formations without the requisite
gemmules.--Mr. Lewes and Professor Delpino.--Difficulty as to developmental
force of gemmules.--As to their spontaneous fission.--Pangenesis and
Vitalism.--Paradoxical reality.--Pangenesis scarcely superior to anterior
hypotheses.--Buffon.--Owen.--Herbert Spencer.--Gemmules as mysterious as
"physiological units."--Conclusion ... _Page_ 208
CHAPTER XI.
_SPECIFIC GENESIS._
Review of the statements and arguments of preceding chapters.--Cumulative
argument against predominant action of "Natural Selection."--Whether
anything positive as well as negative can be enunciated.--Constancy of laws
of nature does not necessarily imply constancy of specific
evolution.--Possible exceptional stability of existing epoch.--Probability
that an internal cause of change exists.--Innate powers somewhere must be
accepted.--Symbolism of molecular action under vibrating impulses.
Professor Owen's statement.--Statement of the Author's view.--It avoids the
difficulties which oppose "Natural Selection."--It harmonizes apparently
conflicting conceptions.--Summary and conclusion ... _Page_ 220 [Page xii]
CHAPTER XII.
_THEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION._
Prejudiced opinions on the subject.--"Creation" sometimes denied from
prejudice.--The unknowable.--Mr. Herbert Spencer's objections to theism; to
creation.--Meanings of term "creation."--Confusion from not distinguishing
between "primary" and "derivative" creation.--Mr. Darwin's
objections.--Bearing of Christianity on evolution.--Supposed opposition,
the result of a misconception.--Theological authority not opposed to
evolution.--St. Augustin.--St. Thomas Aquinas.--Certain consequences of
want of flexibility of mind.--Reason and imagination.--The first cause and
demonstration.--Parallel between Christianity and natural theology.--What
evolution of species is.--Professor Agassiz.--Innate powers must be
recognized.--Bearing of evolution on religious belief.--Professor
Huxley.--Professor Owen.--Mr. Wallace.--Mr. Darwin.--_A priori_ conception
of Divine action.--Origin of man.--Absolute creation and dogma.--Mr.
Wallace's view.--A supernatural origin for man's body not necessary.--Two
orders of being in man.--Two modes of origin.--Harmony of the physical,
hyperphysical, and supernatural.--Reconciliation of science and religion as
regards evolution.--Conclusion ... _Page_ 243
INDEX ... _Page_ 289
{xiii}
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Leaf Butterfly in flight and repose (_from Mr. A. Wallace's "Malay
Archipelago"_) ... 31
Walking-Leaf Insect ... 35
Pleuronectidæ, with the peculiarly placed eye in different positions (_from
Dr. Traquair's paper in Linn. Soc. Trans., 1865_) ... 37, 166
Mouth of Whale (_from Professor Owen's "Odontography"_) ... 40
Four plates of Baleen seen obliquely from within (_from Professor Owen's
"Odontography"_) ... 41
Dugong ... 41, 175
Echinus or Sea Urchin ... 43, 167
Pedicellariæ of Echinus very much enlarged ... 44
Rattlesnake ... 49
Cobra (_from Sir Andrew Smith's "Southern Africa"_) ... 50
Wingbones of Pterodactyle, Bat, and Bird (_from Mr. Andrew Murray's
"Geographical Distribution of Mammals"_) ... 64, 130, 157
Skeleton of Flying-Dragon ... 65, 158
Centipede (_from a specimen in the Museum of the Royal College of
Surgeons_) ... 66, 159
Teeth of Urotrichus and Perameles ... 68
The Archeopteryx (_from Professor Owen's "Anatomy of Vertebrata"_) ... 73,
132
{xiv}
Cuttle-Fish ... 75, 141
Skeleton of Ichthyosaurus ... 78, 107, 132, 177
Cytheridea Torosa (_from Messrs. Brady and Robertson's paper in Ann. and
Mag. of Nat. Hist., 1870_) ... 79
A Polyzoon, with Bird's-head processes ... 80
Bird's-head processes greatly enlarged ... 81
Antechimis Minutissimus and Mus Delicatulus (_from Mr. Andrew Murray's
"Geographical Distribution of Mammals"_) ... 82
Outlines of Wings of Butterflies of Celebes compared with those of allied
species elsewhere ... 86
Great Shielded Grasshopper ... 89
The Six-shafted Bird of Paradise ... 90
The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise ... 91
The Red Bird of Paradise ... 92
Horned Flies ... 93
The Magnificent Bird of Paradise ... 93
_(The above seven figures are from Mr. A. Wallace's "Malay Archipelago"_)
Much enlarged horizontal Section of the Tooth of a Labyrinthodon (_from
Professor Owen's "Odontography"_) ... 104
Hand of the Potto (_from life_) ... 105
Skeleton of Plesiosaurus ... 106, 133
The Aye-Aye (_from Trans, of Zool. Soc._) ... 108
Dentition of Sabre-toothed Tiger (_from Professor Owen's "Odontography"_)
... 110
Trilobite ... 135, 171
Inner side of Lower Jaw of Pleurodont Lizard (_from Professor Owen's
"Odontography"_) ... 148
Solenodon (_from Berlin Trans._) ... 149
Tarsal Bones of Galago and Cheirogaleus (_from Proc. Zool. Soc._) ... 159
Squilla ... 160
Parts of the Skeleton of the Lobster ... 161 [Page xv]
Spine of Galago Allenii (_from Proc. Zool. Soc._) ... 162
Vertebrae of Axolotl (_from Proc. Zool. Soc._) ... 165
Annelid undergoing spontaneous fission ... 169, 211
Aard-Vark (_Orycteropus capensis_) ... 174
Pangolin (_Manis_) ... 175
Skeleton of Manus and Pes of a Tailed Batrachian (_from Professor
Gegenbaur's "Tarsus and Carpus"_) ... 178
Flexor Muscles of Hand of Nycticetus (_from Proc. Zool. Soc._) ... 180
The Fibres of Corti ... 279
{1}
* * * * *
THE GENESIS OF SPECIES.
CHAPTER I.
_INTRODUCTORY._
The problem of the genesis of species stated.--Nature of its probable
solution.--Importance of the question.--Position here
defended.--Statement of the DARWINIAN THEORY.--Its applicability to
details of geographical distribution; to rudimentary structures; to
homology; to mimicry, &c.--Consequent utility of the theory.--Its wide
acceptance.--Reasons for this, other than, and in addition to, its
scientific value.--Its simplicity.--Its bearing on religious
questions.--_Odium theologicum_ and _odium antitheologicum_.--The
antagonism supposed by many to exist between it and theology neither
necessary nor universal.--Christian authorities in favour of
evolution.--Mr. Darwin's "Animals and Plants under
Domestication."--Difficulties of the Darwinian theory enumerated.
The great problem which has so long exercised the minds of naturalists,
namely, that concerning the origin of different kinds of animals and
plants, seems at last to be fairly on the road to receive--perhaps at no
very distant future--as satisfactory a solution as it can well have.
But the problem presents peculiar difficulties. The birth of a "species"
has often been compared with that of an "individual." The origin, however,
of even an individual animal or plant (that which determines an embryo to
evolve itself,--as, _e.g._, a spider rather than a beetle, a rose-plant {2}
rather than a pear) is shrouded in obscurity. _A fortiori_ must this be the
case with the origin of a "species."
Moreover, the analogy between a "species" and an "individual" is a very
incomplete one. The word "individual" denotes a concrete whole with a real,
separate, and distinct existence. The word "species," on the other hand,
denotes a peculiar congeries of characters, innate powers and qualities,
and a certain nature realized indeed in individuals, but having no separate
existence, except ideally as a thought in some mind.
Thus the birth of a "species" can only be compared metaphorically, and very
imperfectly, with that of an "individual."
Individuals as _individuals_, actually and directly produce and bring forth
other individuals; but no "congeries of characters" no "common nature" _as
such_, can directly bring forth another "common nature," because, _per se_,
it has no existence (other than ideal) apart from the individuals in which
it is manifested.
The problem then is, "by what combination of natural laws does a new
'common nature' appear upon the scene of realized existence?" _i.e._ how is
an individual embodying such new characters produced?
For the approximation we have of late made towards the solution of this
problem, we are mainly indebted to the invaluable labours and active brains
of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace.
Nevertheless, important as has been the impulse and direction given by
those writers to both our observations and speculations, the solution will
not (if the views here advocated are correct) ultimately present that
aspect and character with which it has issued from the hands of those
writers.
Neither, most certainly, will that solution agree in appearance or
substance with the more or less crude conceptions which have been put forth
by most of the opponents of Messrs. Darwin and Wallace. [Page 3]
Rather, judging from the more recent manifestations of thought on opposite
sides, we may expect the development of some _tertium quid_--the resultant
of forces coming from different quarters, and not coinciding in direction
with any one of them.
As error is almost always partial truth, and so consists in the
exaggeration or distortion of one verity by the suppression of another
which qualifies and modifies the former, we may hope, by the synthesis of
the truths contended for by various advocates, to arrive at the one
conciliating reality.
Signs of this conciliation are not wanting: opposite scientific views,
opposite philosophical conceptions, and opposite religious beliefs, are
rapidly tending by their vigorous conflict to evolve such a systematic and
comprehensive view of the genesis of species as will completely harmonize
with the teachings of science, philosophy, and religion.
To endeavour to add one stone to this temple of concord, to try and remove
a few of the misconceptions and mutual misunderstandings which oppose
harmonious action, is the aim and endeavour of the present work. This aim
it is hoped to attain, not by shirking difficulties, but analysing them,
and by endeavouring to dig down to the common root which supports and
unites diverging stems of truth.
It cannot but be a gain when the labourers in the three fields above
mentioned, namely, science, philosophy, and religion, shall fully recognize
this harmony. Then the energy too often spent in futile controversy, or
withheld through prejudice, may be profitably and reciprocally exercised
for the mutual benefit of all.
Remarkable is the rapidity with which an interest in the question of
specific origination has spread. But a few years ago it scarcely occupied
the minds of any but naturalists. Then the crude theory put forth by
Lamarck, and by his English interpreter the author of the "Vestiges of
Creation," had rather discredited than helped on a belief in organic
evolution--a belief, that is, in new kinds being produced from older {4}
ones by the ordinary and constant operation of natural laws. Now, however,
this belief is widely diffused. Indeed, there are few drawing-rooms where
it is not the subject of occasional discussion, and artisans and schoolboys
have their views as to the permanence of organic forms. Moreover, the
reception of this doctrine tends actually, though by no means necessarily,
to be accompanied by certain beliefs with regard to quite distinct and very
momentous subject-matter. So that the question of the "Genesis of Species"
is not only one of great interest, but also of much importance.
But though the calm and thorough consideration of this matter is at the
present moment exceedingly desirable, yet the actual importance of the
question itself as to its consequences in the domain of theology has been
strangely exaggerated by many, both of its opponents and supporters. This
is especially the case with that form of the evolution theory which is
associated with the name of Mr. Darwin; and yet neither the refutation nor
the demonstration of that doctrine would be necessarily accompanied by the
results which are hoped for by one party and dreaded by another.
The general theory of evolution has indeed for some time past steadily
gained ground, and it may be safely predicted that the number of facts
which can be brought forward in its support will, in a few years, be vastly
augmented. But the prevalence of this theory need alarm no one, for it is,
without any doubt, perfectly consistent with strictest and most orthodox
Christian theology. Moreover, it is not altogether without obscurities, and
cannot yet be considered as fully demonstrated.
The special Darwinian hypothesis, however, is beset with certain scientific
difficulties, which must by no means be ignored, and some of which, I
venture to think, are absolutely insuperable. What Darwinism or "Natural
Selection" is, will be shortly explained; but before doing so, I think {5}
it well to state the object of this book, and the view taken up and
defended in it. It is its object to maintain the position that "Natural
Selection" acts, and indeed must act, but that still, in order that we may
be able to account for the production of known kinds of animals and plants,
it requires to be supplemented by the action of some other natural law or
laws as yet undiscovered.[1] Also, that the consequences which have been
drawn from Evolution, whether exclusively Darwinian or not, to the
prejudice of religion, by no means follow from it, and are in fact
illegitimate.
The Darwinian theory of "Natural Selection" may be shortly stated
thus:[2]--
Every kind of animal and plant tends to increase in numbers in a
geometrical progression.
Every kind of animal and plant transmits a general likeness, with
individual differences, to its offspring.
Every individual may present minute variations of any kind and in any
direction.
Past time has been practically infinite.
Every individual has to endure a very severe struggle for existence, owing
to the tendency to geometrical increase of all kinds of animals and plants,
while the total animal and vegetable population (man and his agency
excepted) remains almost stationary.
Thus, every variation of a kind tending to save the life of the individual
possessing it, or to enable it more surely to propagate its kind, will in
the long run be preserved, and will transmit its favourable peculiarity to
some of its offspring, which peculiarity will thus become intensified {6}
till it reaches the maximum degree of utility. On the other hand,
individuals presenting unfavourable peculiarities will be ruthlessly
destroyed. The action of this law of Natural Selection may thus be well
represented by the convenient expression "survival of the fittest."[3]
Now this conception of Mr. Darwin's is perhaps the most interesting theory,
in relation to natural science, which has been promulgated during the
present century. Remarkable, indeed, is the way in which it groups together
such a vast and varied series of biological[4] facts, and even paradoxes,
which it appears more or less clearly to explain, as the following
instances will show. By this theory of "Natural Selection," light is thrown
on the more singular facts relating to the geographical distribution of
animals and plants; for example, on the resemblance between the past and
present inhabitants of different parts of the earth's surface. Thus in
Australia remains have been found of creatures closely allied to kangaroos
and other kinds of pouched beasts, which in the present day exist nowhere
but in the Australian region. Similarly in South America, and nowhere else,
are found sloths and armadillos, and in that same part of the world have
been discovered bones of animals different indeed from existing sloths and
armadillos, but yet much more nearly related to them than to any other
kinds whatever. Such coincidences between the existing and antecedent
geographical distribution of forms are numerous. Again, "Natural Selection"
serves to explain the circumstance that often in adjacent islands we find
animals closely resembling, and appearing to represent, each other; while
if certain of these islands show signs (by depth of surrounding sea or what
not) of more ancient separation, the animals inhabiting them exhibit a {7}
corresponding divergence.[5] The explanation consists in representing the
forms inhabiting the islands as being the modified descendants of a common
stock, the modification being greatest where the separation has been the
most prolonged.
"Rudimentary structures" also receive an explanation by means of this
theory. These structures are parts which are apparently functionless and
useless where they occur, but which represent similar parts of large size
and functional importance in other animals. Examples of such "rudimentary
structures" are the foetal teeth of whales, and of the front part of the
jaw of ruminating quadrupeds. These foetal structures are minute in size,
and never cut the gum, but are reabsorbed without ever coming into use,
while no other teeth succeed them or represent them in the adult condition
of those animals. The mammary glands of all male beasts constitute another
example, as also does the wing of the apteryx--a New Zealand bird utterly
incapable of flight, and with the wing in a quite rudimentary condition
(whence the name of the animal). Yet this rudimentary wing contains bones
which are miniature representatives of the ordinary wing-bones of birds of
flight. Now, the presence of these useless bones and teeth is explained if
they may be considered as actually being the inherited diminished
representatives of parts of large size and functional importance in the
remote ancestors of these various animals.
Again, the singular facts of "homology" are capable of a similar
explanation. "Homology" is the name applied to the investigation of those
profound resemblances which have so often been found to underlie
superficial differences between animals of very different form and habit.
Thus man, the horse, the whale, and the bat, all have the pectoral limb,
whether it be the arm, or fore-leg, or paddle, or wing, formed on
essentially the same type, though the number and proportion of parts may{8}
more or less differ. Again, the butterfly and the shrimp, different as they
are in appearance and mode of life, are yet constructed on the same common
plan, of which they constitute diverging manifestations. No _a priori_
reason is conceivable why such similarities should be necessary, but they
are readily explicable on the assumption of a genetic relationship and
affinity between the animals in question, assuming, that is, that they are
the modified descendants of some ancient form--their common ancestor.
That remarkable series of changes which animals undergo before they attain
their adult condition, which is called their process of development, and
during which they more or less closely resemble other animals during the
early stages of the same process, has also great light thrown on it from
the same source. The question as to the singularly complex resemblances
borne by every adult animal and plant to a certain number of other animals
and plants--resemblances by means of which the adopted zoological and
botanical systems of classification have been possible--finds its solution
in a similar manner, classification becoming the expression of a
genealogical relationship. Finally, by this theory--and as yet by this
alone--can any explanation be given of that extraordinary phenomenon which
is metaphorically termed _mimicry_. Mimicry is a close and striking, yet
superficial resemblance borne by some animal or plant to some other,
perhaps very different, animal or plant. The "walking leaf" (an insect
belonging to the grasshopper and cricket order) is a well-known and
conspicuous instance of the assumption by an animal of the appearance of a
vegetable structure (see illustration on p. 35); and the bee, fly, and
spider orchids are familiar examples of a converse resemblance. Birds,
butterflies, reptiles, and even fish, seem to bear in certain instances a
similarly striking resemblance to other birds, butterflies, reptiles, and
fish, of altogether distinct kinds. The explanation of this matter which
"Natural Selection" offers, as to animals, is that certain varieties of {9}
one kind have found exemption from persecution in consequence of an
accidental resemblance which such varieties have exhibited to animals of
another kind, or to plants; and that they were thus preserved, and the
degree of resemblance was continually augmented in their descendants. As to
plants, the explanation offered by this theory might perhaps be that
varieties of plants which presented a certain superficial resemblance in
their flowers to insects, have thereby been helped to propagate their kind,
the visit of certain insects being useful or indispensable to the
fertilization of many flowers.
We have thus a whole series of important facts which "Natural Selection"
helps us to understand and co-ordinate. And not only are all these diverse
facts strung together, as it were, by the theory in question; not only does
it explain the development of the complex instincts of the beaver, the
cuckoo, the bee, and the ant, as also the dazzling brilliancy of the
humming-bird, the glowing tail and neck of the peacock, and the melody of
the nightingale; the perfume of the rose and the violet, the brilliancy of
the tulip and the sweetness of the nectar of flowers; not only does it help
us to understand all these, but serves as a basis of future research and of
inference from the known to the unknown, and it guides the investigator to
the discovery of new facts which, when ascertained, it seems also able to
co-ordinate.[6] Nay, "Natural Selection" seems capable of application not
only to the building up of the smallest and most insignificant organisms,
but even of extension beyond the biological domain altogether, so as
possibly to have relation to the stable equilibrium of the solar system{10}
itself, and even of the whole sidereal universe. Thus, whether this theory
be true or false, all lovers of natural science should acknowledge a deep
debt of gratitude to Messrs. Darwin and Wallace, on account of its
practical utility. But the utility of a theory by no means implies its
truth. What do we not owe, for example, to the labours of the Alchemists?
The emission theory of light, again, has been pregnant with valuable
results, as still is the Atomic theory, and others which will readily
suggest themselves.
With regard to Mr. Darwin (with whose name, on account of the noble
self-abnegation of Mr. Wallace, the theory is in general exclusively
associated), his friends may heartily congratulate him on the fact that he
is one of the few exceptions to the rule respecting the non-appreciation of
a prophet in his own country. It would be difficult to name another living
labourer in the field of physical science who has excited an interest so
widespread, and given rise to so much praise, gathering round him, as he
has done, a chorus of more or less completely acquiescing disciples,
themselves masters in science, and each the representative of a crowd of
enthusiastic followers.
Such is the Darwinian theory of "Natural Selection," such are the more
remarkable facts which it is potent to explain, and such is the reception
it has met with in the world. A few words now as to the reasons for the
very widespread interest it has awakened, and the keenness with which the
theory has been both advocated and combated.
The important bearing it has on such an extensive range of scientific
facts, its utility, and the vast knowledge and great ingenuity of its
promulgator, are enough to account for the heartiness of its reception by
those learned in natural history. But quite other causes have concurred to
produce the general and higher degree of interest felt in the theory beside
the readiness with which it harmonizes with biological facts. These latter
could only be appreciated by physiologists, zoologists, and botanists;
whereas the Darwinian theory, so novel and so startling, has found a {11}
cloud of advocates and opponents beyond and outside the world of physical
science.
In the first place, it was inevitable that a great crowd of half-educated
men and shallow thinkers should accept with eagerness the theory of
"Natural Selection," or rather what they think to be such (for few things
are more remarkable than the way in which it has been misunderstood), on
account of a certain characteristic it has in common with other theories;
which should not be mentioned in the same breath with it, except, as now,
with the accompaniment of protest and apology. We refer to its remarkable
simplicity, and the ready way in which phenomena the most complex appear
explicable by a cause for the comprehension of which laborious and
persevering efforts are not required, but which may be represented by the
simple phrase "survival of the fittest." With nothing more than this, can,
on the Darwinian theory, all the most intricate facts of distribution and
affinity, form, and colour, be accounted for; as well the most complex
instincts and the most admirable adjustments, such as those of the human
eye and ear. It is in great measure then, owing to this supposed
simplicity, and to a belief in its being yet easier and more simple than it
is, that Darwinism, however imperfectly understood, has become a subject
for general conversation, and has been able thus widely to increase a
certain knowledge of biological matters; and this excitation of interest in
quarters where otherwise it would have been entirely wanting, is an
additional motive for gratitude on the part of naturalists to the authors
of the new theory. At the same time it must be admitted that a similar
"simplicity"--the apparently easy explanation of complex phenomena--also
constitutes the charm of such matters as hydropathy and phrenology, in the
eyes of the unlearned or half-educated public. It is indeed _the_ charm of
all those seeming "short cuts" to knowledge, by which the labour of
mastering scientific details is spared to those who yet believe that {12}
without such labour they can attain all the most valuable results of
scientific research. It is not, of course, for a moment meant to imply that
its "simplicity" tells at all against "Natural Selection," but only that
the actual or supposed possession of that quality is a strong reason for
the wide and somewhat hasty acceptance of the theory, whether it be true or
not.
In the second place, it was inevitable that a theory appearing to have very
grave relations with questions of the last importance and interest to man,
that is, with questions of religious belief, should call up an army of
assailants and defenders. Nor have the supporters of the theory much
reason, in many cases, to blame the more or less unskilful and hasty
attacks of adversaries, seeing that those attacks have been in great part
due to the unskilful and perverse advocacy of the cause on the part of some
of its adherents. If the _odium theologicum_ has inspired some of its
opponents, it is undeniable that the _odium antitheologicum_ has possessed
not a few of its supporters. It is true (and in appreciating some of Mr.
Darwin's expressions it should never be forgotten) that the theory has been
both at its first promulgation and since vehemently attacked and denounced
as unchristian, nay, as necessarily atheistic; but it is not less true that
it has been made use of as a weapon of offence by irreligious writers, and
has been again and again, especially in continental Europe, thrown, as it
were, in the face of believers, with sneers and contumely. When we
recollect the warmth with which what he thought was Darwinism was advocated
by such a writer as Professor Vogt, one cause of his zeal was not far to
seek--a zeal, by the way, certainly not "according to knowledge;" for few
conceptions could have been more conflicting with true Darwinism than the
theory he formerly maintained, but has since abandoned, viz. that the men
of the Old World were descended from African and Asiatic apes, while,
similarly, the American apes were the progenitors of the human beings of
the New World. The cause of this palpable error in a too eager disciple{13}
one might hope was not anxiety to snatch up all or any arms available
against Christianity, were it not for the tone unhappily adopted by this
author. But it is unfortunately quite impossible to mistake his meaning and
intention, for he is a writer whose offensiveness is gross, while it is
sometimes almost surpassed by an amazing shallowness. Of course, as might
fully be expected, he adopts and reproduces the absurdly trivial objections
to absolute morality drawn from differences in national customs.[7] And he
seems to have as little conception of the distinction between "formally"
moral actions and those which are only "materially" moral, as of that
between the _verbum mentale_ and the _verbum oris_. As an example of his
onesidedness, it may be remarked that he compares the skulls of the
American monkeys (_Cebus apella_ and _C. albifrons_) with the intention of
showing that man is of several distinct species, because skulls of
different men are less alike than are those of these two monkeys; and he
does this regardless of how the skulls of domestic animals (with which it
is far more legitimate to compare races of men than with wild kinds),
_e.g._ of different dogs or pigeons, tell precisely in the opposite
direction. Regardless also of the fact that perhaps no genus of monkeys is
in a more unsatisfactory state as to the determination of its different
kinds than the genus chosen by him for illustration. This is so much the
case that J. A. Wagner (in his supplement to Schreber's great work on
Beasts) at first included all the kinds in a single species.
As to the strength of his prejudice and his regretable coarseness, one
quotation will be enough to display both. Speaking of certain early
Christian missionaries, he says,[8] "It is not so very improbable that the
new religion, before which the flourishing Roman civilization relapsed into
a state of barbarism, should have been introduced by people in whose {14}
skulls the anatomist finds simious characters so well developed, and in
which the phrenologist finds the organ of veneration so much enlarged. I
shall, in the meanwhile, call these simious narrow skulls of Switzerland
'Apostle skulls,' as I imagine that in life they must have resembled the
type of Peter, the Apostle, as represented in Byzantine-Nazarene art."
In face of such a spirit, can it be wondered at that disputants have grown
warm? Moreover, in estimating the vehemence of the opposition which has
been offered, it should be borne in mind that the views defended by
religious writers are, or should be, all-important in their eyes. They
could not be expected to view with equanimity the destruction in many minds
of "theology, natural and revealed, psychology, and metaphysics;" nor to
weigh with calm and frigid impartiality arguments which seemed to them to
be fraught with results of the highest moment to mankind, and, therefore,
imposing on their consciences strenuous opposition as a first duty. Cool
judicial impartiality in them would have been a sign perhaps of
intellectual gifts, but also of a more important deficiency of generous
emotion.
It is easy to complain of the onesidedness of many of those who oppose
Darwinism in the interest of orthodoxy; but not at all less patent is the
intolerance and narrow-mindedness of some of those who advocate it,
avowedly or covertly, in the interest of heterodoxy. This hastiness of
rejection or acceptance, determined by ulterior consequences believed to
attach to "Natural Selection," is unfortunately in part to be accounted for
by some expressions and a certain tone to be found in Mr. Darwin's
writings. That his expressions, however, are not always to be construed
literally is manifest. His frequent use metaphorically of the expressions,
"contrivance," for example, and "purpose," has elicited, from the Duke of
Argyll and others, criticisms which fail to tell against their {15}
opponent, because such expressions are, in Mr. Darwin's writings, merely
figurative--metaphors, and nothing more.
It may be hoped, then, that a similar looseness of expression will account
for passages of a directly opposite tendency to that of his theistic
metaphors.
Moreover, it must not be forgotten that he frequently uses that absolutely
theological term, "the Creator," and that he has retained in all the
editions of his "Origin of Species" an expression which has been much
criticised. He speaks "of life, with its several powers, having been
originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms, or into one."[9] This
is merely mentioned in justice to Mr. Darwin, and by no means because it is
a position which this book is intended to support. For, from Mr. Darwin's
usual mode of speaking, it appears that by such divine action he means a
supernatural intervention, whereas it is here contended that throughout the
whole process of physical evolution--the first manifestation of life
included--_supernatural_ action is assuredly not to be looked for.
Again, in justice to Mr. Darwin, it may be observed that he is addressing
the general public, and opposing the ordinary and common objections of
popular religionists, who have inveighed against "Evolution" and "Natural
Selection" as atheistic, impious, and directly conflicting with the dogma
of creation.
Still, in so important a matter, it is to be regretted that he did not take
the trouble to distinguish between such merely popular views and those
which repose upon some more venerable authority. Mr. John Stuart Mill has
replied to similar critics, and shown that the assertion that his
philosophy is irreconcilable with theism is unfounded; and it would have
been better if Mr. Darwin had dealt in the same manner with some of his
assailants, and shown the futility of certain of their objections when {16}
viewed from a more elevated religious standpoint. Instead of so doing, he
seems to adopt the narrowest notions of his opponents, and, far from
endeavouring to expand them, appears to wish to endorse them, and to lend
to them the weight of his authority. It is thus that Mr. Darwin seems to
admit and assume that the idea of "creation" necessitates a belief in an
interference with, or dispensation of, natural laws, and that "creation"
must be accompanied by arbitrary and unorderly phenomena. None but the
crudest conceptions are placed by him to the credit of supporters of the
dogma of creation, and it is constantly asserted that they, to be
consistent, must offer "creative fiats" as explanations of physical
phenomena, and be guilty of numerous other such absurdities. It is
impossible, therefore, to acquit Mr. Darwin of at least a certain
carelessness in this matter; and the result is, he has the appearance of
opposing ideas which he gives no clear evidence of having ever fully
appreciated. He is far from being alone in this, and perhaps merely takes
up and reiterates, without much consideration, assertions previously
assumed by others. Nothing could be further from Mr. Darwin's mind than
any, however small, intentional misrepresentation; and it is therefore the
more unfortunate that he should not have shown any appreciation of a
position opposed to his own other than that gross and crude one which he
combats so superfluously--that he should appear, even for a moment, to be
one of those, of whom there are far too many, who first misrepresent their
adversary's view, and then elaborately refute it; who, in fact, erect a
doll utterly incapable of self-defence and then, with a flourish of
trumpets and many vigorous strokes, overthrow the helpless dummy they had
previously raised.
This is what many do who more or less distinctly oppose theism in the
interests, as they believe, of physical science; and they often represent,
amongst other things, a gross and narrow anthropomorphism as the necessary
consequence of views opposed to those which they themselves advocate. {17}
Mr. Darwin and others may perhaps be excused if they have not devoted much
time to the study of Christian philosophy; but they have no right to assume
or accept, without careful examination, as an unquestioned fact, that in
that philosophy there is a necessary antagonism between the two ideas,
"creation" and "evolution," as applied to organic forms.
It is notorious and patent to all who choose to seek, that many
distinguished Christian thinkers have accepted and do accept both ideas,
_i.e._ both "creation" and "evolution."
As much as ten years ago, an eminently Christian writer observed: "The
creationist theory does not necessitate the perpetual search after
manifestations of miraculous powers and perpetual 'catastrophes.' Creation
is not a miraculous interference with the laws of nature, but the very
institution of those laws. Law and regularity, not arbitrary intervention,
was the patristic ideal of creation. With this notion, they admitted
without difficulty the most surprising origin of living creatures, provided
it took place by _law_. They held that when God said, 'Let the waters
produce,' 'Let the earth produce,' He conferred forces on the elements of
earth and water, which enabled them naturally to produce the various
species of organic beings. This power, they thought, remains attached to
the elements throughout all time."[10] The same writer quotes St. Augustine
and St. Thomas Aquinas, to the effect that, "in the institution of nature
we do not look for miracles, but for the laws of nature."[11] And, again,
St. Basil,[12] speaks of the continued operation of natural laws in the
production of all organisms. [Page 18]
So much for writers of early and mediæval times. As to the present day, the
Author can confidently affirm that there are many as well versed in
theology as Mr. Darwin is in his own department of natural knowledge, who
would not be disturbed by the thorough demonstration of his theory. Nay,
they would not even be in the least painfully affected at witnessing the
generation of animals of complex organization by the skilful artificial
arrangement of natural forces, and the production, in the future, of a
fish, by means analogous to those by which we now produce urea.
And this because they know that the possibility of such phenomena, though
by no means actually foreseen, has yet been fully provided for in the old
philosophy centuries before Darwin, or even before Bacon, and that their
place in the system can be at once assigned them without even disturbing
its order or marring its harmony.
Moreover, the old tradition in this respect has never been abandoned,
however much it may have been ignored or neglected by some modern writers.
In proof of this it may be observed that perhaps no post-mediæval
theologian has a wider reception amongst Christians throughout the world
than Suarez, who has a separate section[13] in opposition to those who
maintain the distinct creation of the various kinds--or substantial
forms--of organic life.
But the consideration of this matter must be deferred for the present, and
the question of evolution, whether Darwinian or other, be first gone into.
It is proposed, after that has been done, to return to this subject (here
merely alluded to), and to consider at some length the bearing of
"Evolution," whether Darwinian or non-Darwinian, upon "Creation and
Theism."
Now we will revert simply to the consideration of the theory of "Natural
Selection" itself.
{19}
Whatever may have hitherto been the amount of acceptance that this theory
has met with, all, I think, anticipated that the appearance of Mr. Darwin's
large and careful work on "Animals and Plants under Domestication" could
but further increase that acceptance. It is, however, somewhat
problematical how far such anticipations will be realized. The newer book
seems to add after all but little in support of the theory, and to leave
most, if not all, its difficulties exactly where they were. It is a
question, also, whether the hypothesis of "Pangenesis"[14] may not be found
rather to encumber than to support the theory it was intended to subserve.
However, the work in question treats only of domestic animals, and probably
the next instalment will address itself more vigorously and directly to the
difficulties which seem to us yet to bar the way to a complete acceptance
of the doctrine.
If the theory of Natural Selection can be shown to be quite insufficient to
explain any considerable number of important phenomena connected with the
origin of species, that theory, as _the_ explanation, must be considered as
provisionally discredited.
If other causes than Natural (including sexual) Selection can be proved to
have acted--if variation can in any cases be proved to be subject to
certain determinations in special directions by other means than Natural
Selection, it then becomes probable _a priori_ that it is so in others, and
that Natural Selection depends upon, and only supplements, such means, {20}
which conception is opposed to the pure Darwinian position.
Now it is certain, _a priori_, that variation is obedient to some law and
therefore that "Natural Selection" itself must be capable of being subsumed
into some higher law; and it is evident, I believe, _a posteriori_, that
Natural Selection is, at the very least, aided and supplemented by some
other agency.
Admitting, then, organic and other evolution, and that new forms of animals
and plants (new species, genera, &c.) have from time to time been evolved
from preceding animals and plants, it follows, if the views here advocated
are true, that this evolution has not taken place by the action of "Natural
Selection" _alone_, but through it (amongst other influences) aided by the
concurrent action of some other natural law or laws, at present
undiscovered; and probably that the genesis of species takes place partly,
perhaps mainly, through laws which may be most conveniently spoken of as
special powers and tendencies existing in each organism; and partly through
influences exerted on each by surrounding conditions and agencies organic
and inorganic, terrestrial and cosmical, among which the "survival of the
fittest" plays a certain but subordinate part.
The theory of "Natural Selection" may (though it need not) be taken in such
a way as to lead men to regard the present organic world as formed, so to
speak, _accidentally_, beautiful and wonderful as is confessedly the
hap-hazard result. The same may perhaps be said with regard to the system
advocated by Mr. Herbert Spencer, who, however, also relegates "Natural
Selection" to a subordinate _rôle_. The view here advocated, on the other
hand, regards the whole organic world as arising and going forward in one
harmonious development similar to that which displays itself in the growth
and action of each separate individual organism. It also regards each such
separate organism as the expression of powers and tendencies not to be {21}
accounted for by "Natural Selection" alone, or even by that together with
merely the direct influence of surrounding conditions.
The difficulties which appear to oppose themselves to the reception of
"Natural Selection" or "the survival of the fittest," as the one
explanation of the origin of species, have no doubt been already considered
by Mr. Darwin. Nevertheless, it may be worth while to enumerate them, and
to state the considerations which appear to give them weight; and there is
no doubt but that a naturalist so candid and careful as the author of the
theory in question, will feel obliged, rather than the reverse, by the
suggestion of all the doubts and difficulties which can be brought against
it.
What is to be brought forward may be summed up as follows:--
That "Natural Selection" is incompetent to account for the incipient stages
of useful structures.
That it does not harmonize with the co-existence of closely similar
structures of diverse origin.
That there are grounds for thinking that specific differences may be
developed suddenly instead of gradually.
That the opinion that species have definite though very different limits to
their variability is still tenable.
That certain fossil transitional forms are absent, which might have been
expected to be present.
That some facts of geographical distribution supplement other difficulties.
That the objection drawn from the physiological difference between
"species" and "races" still exists unrefuted.
That there are many remarkable phenomena in organic forms upon which
"Natural Selection" throws no light whatever, but the explanations of
which, if they could be attained, might throw light upon specific
origination. [Page 22]
Besides these objections to the sufficiency of "Natural Selection," others
may be brought against the hypothesis of "Pangenesis," which, professing as
it does to explain great difficulties, seems to do so by presenting others
not less great--almost to be the explanation of _obscurum per {23}
obscurius_.
* * * * *