Chapter II: The Persistence of Species (6)

"Hence it follows, that, when we... see an object of the calculated distance at which one of these very remote nebulæ may still be perceived... the rays of light which convey its image to the eye must have been more than nineteen hundred and ten thousand, that is, almost _two millions_, of years on their way; and that, consequently, so many years ago, this object must already have had an existence in the sidereal heavens, in order to send out those rays by which we now perceive it."[107]

The notion has been amplified, with some interesting details, by a writer in the _Scottish Congregational Magazine_ for _January 1847_; who thus throws the statements into a tabular form, and comments on them.

"From the Moon, light comes to the earth in 1-1/4 second
" the Sun " " in 8 minutes
" Jupiter " " in 52 "
" Uranus " " in 2 hours
" a fixed Star of 1st magnitude -- 3 to 12 years
" " 2d " 20 "
" " 3d " 30 "
" " 4th " 45 "
" " 5th " 66 "
" " 6th " 96 "
" " 7th " 180 "
" " 12th " 4000 "

"Now, as we see objects by the rays of light passing from those objects to our eye, it follows that we do not perceive the heavenly bodies, _as they are_ at the moment of our seeing them, but _as they were_ at the time the rays of light by which we see them left those bodies. Thus when we look at the moon, we see her, not as she is at the moment of our beholding her disc, but as she was a second and a quarter before; for instance, we see her not at the moment of her rising above the horizon, but 1-1/4 second after she has risen. The sun also when he appears to us to have just passed the meridian, has already passed it by 8 minutes. So, in like manner, of the planets and the fixed stars. We see Jupiter, not as he is at the moment of our catching a sight of him, but as he was 52 minutes before. Uranus appears to us, not as he is at the moment of our discovering him, but as he was 2 hours previously. And a star of the 12th magnitude presents itself to our eye as it was 4,000 years ago: so that, suppose such a star to have been annihilated 3,000 years back, it would still be visible on the earth's surface for 1,000 years to come: or, suppose a star of the same magnitude had been created at the time the Israelites left Egypt, it will not be perceptible on the earth for nearly 700 years from this date."

Beautiful, and at first sight unanswerable as this argument is, it falls to the ground before the spear-touch of our Ithuriel, the doctrine of prochronism. There is nothing more improbable in the notion that the sensible undulation was created at the observer's eye, with all the pre-requisite undulations prochronic, than in the notion that blood was created in the capillaries of the first human body. The latter we have seen to be a fact: is the former an impossibility?

It may perhaps be said:--"The traces of prochronism you have adduced in created organisms may be granted, because they are inseparable from the presumed condition of those organisms respectively. The blood in the vessels, the hair, the teeth, the nails, may afford evidences of past processes; but then those are only past stages of what yet exists. The case, however, is not parallel with the fossil skeletons, many of which have no connexion with anything now existing. The concentric rings of a timber-tree are essential to its adult state; but how is the existence of the _Pterodactyle_ or the _Megatherium_ essential to that of the recent _Draco volans_, or the South American Sloth? Can you show in the new-formed creature any trace of some organ which does not come into its present condition of being,--of something which has quite passed away?"

Perhaps I can. The very concentric rings of the tree are considered by botanists as, in some sense, dead. The paradoxical dictum of Schleiden,--"No tree has leaves,"[108]--is grounded on this circumstance, that the woody portion of the mass is the inert result of former generations, and that the present race of leaves is growing, not out of the woody portion of the tree, but out of its herbaceous extremities, "which grow upon the woody stem _as upon a ground_, formed by the process of vegetation. This common ground, namely, the woody stem, _which is almost lifeless_ in comparison with the herbaceous parts engaged in active growth, is annually covered with a vigorous sheath under the protecting bark; and this sheath is the ground of the nourishment of all the vegetating herbaceous extremities."[109]

The polygonal plates into which the bark of the _Testudinaria_ divides, not only show many superposed laminæ, at any given moment of its adult condition, but also bear witness, in the broad existent surface of each one, to former laminæ, yet older than the oldest now present, which have disintegrated and dropped off.

The Palm and the Tree-fern show, in their trunk-scars, evidences of organs which have completely died away and disappeared; while, between these scars and the generation of living fronds, there is, at any given moment of the tree's history, a series of fronds which are quite dead and dry, but which have not yet disappeared.

The _Nerita_, a genus of beautiful shells from the tropical seas, dissolves away and removes, in the progress of growth, the spiral column, which originally formed the axis of development; so that, in adult age, the spiral direction of the whole testifies to the past existence of a column which has quite disappeared.

In that species of _Murex_,[110] which, on account of the long and slender rostellum, and the spines with which it is covered, is known to collectors as the Thorny Woodcock (_M. tenuispina_), the shelly spines of the earlier whorls would interfere with such as came, in process of development, to be superposed on them; for they cross the area which is to be the cavity enclosed by the advancing lip. They are, however, removed by absorption; but not so completely but that traces may still be discovered where they formerly existed: evidences of the quondam existence of what exists no longer.

Towards one side of the upper surface of the pretty Star-fish, _Cribella rosea_, (as in many other species of Star-fishes,) there is a curious little mark, known as the _madreporic plate_, the use of which has greatly puzzled naturalists. Sars, the Norwegian zoologist, has unveiled the mystery.[111] The young larva, before it assumes the stellar form, is furnished with a sort of thick column, divided into four diverging clubbed arms, which are adhering organs, ancillary to locomotion. In the process of development, however, new locomotive organs are formed; and this four-fold column, being no longer needed, sloughs away; and that so completely, that not a trace of its existence remains, _except this scar_, or "_madreporic plate_;" which is therefore a permanent record of something that has quite passed away.

But the closest parallel to the relation borne by the skeleton of an extinct species to an extant one, is presented by that of the hilum to a seed, or of the umbilicus to a mammal. Each of these is a legible and undeniable, record of a being, whose individuality was totally distinct from that of the being by which it is presented, and of which all vestiges have disappeared, _save this record_. Nor is the parallel founded on obscure or rare examples; both the umbilicus and the hilum are generally conspicuous; and both are extensively found in their respective kingdoms, the former pervading the viviparous Vertebrata, the latter characterising the whole of the cotyledonous types of vegetation.

Once more. An objection may arise to the reception of the prochronic principle, on the ground that the examples I have adduced are not to be compared, in point of grandeur, with the mighty revolutions, which are presumed to have written their records in the crust of the globe; and that hence no analogy can be fairly drawn from one to the other. To the philosopher, however, there is no great or small, as there is none in the works of God. We have every reason to believe that He has wrought by the same laws in all portions of his universe: the principle on which an apple falls from the branch to the ground, is the same as that which keeps the planet Neptune in the solar system. I have shown that the principle of prochronic development obtains wherever we are able to test it; that is, wherever another principle, that of _cyclicism_, exists; whether the cycle be that of a gnat's metamorphosis, or of a planet's orbit. The distinction of great or small, grand or mean, does not apply to it. If it cannot be proved to be universal, it is only because we are not sufficiently acquainted with some of the economies of nature to be able to pronounce with certainty whether they are cyclical or not. I am not aware of any natural process, in which its existence can be absolutely denied.

And this makes all the difference in the world between my position and that of the old simple-minded observers, with which a superficial reader might think it to possess a good deal in common. A century ago, people used to talk of _lusus naturæ_; of a certain _plastic power_ in nature; of abortive or initiative attempts at making things which were never perfected; of imitations, in one kingdom, of the proper subjects of another, (as plants were supposed to be imitated by the frost on a window-pane, and by the dendritic forms of metals). Still later, many persons have been inclined to take refuge from the conclusions of geology in the absolute sovereignty of God, asking,--"Could not the Omnipotent Creator make the fossils in the strata, just as they now appear?"

It has always been felt to be a sufficient answer to such a demand, that no reason could be adduced for such an exercise of mere power; and that it would be unworthy of the Allwise God.

But this is a totally different thing from that for which I am contending. I am endeavouring to show that a grand LAW exists, by which, in two great departments of nature at least, the analogues of the fossil skeletons were formed without pre-existence. An arbitrary acting, and an acting on fixed and general laws, have nothing in common with each other.

Finally, the acceptance of the principles presented in this volume, even in their fullest extent, would not, in the least degree, affect the study of scientific geology. The character and order of the strata; their disruptions and displacements and injections; the successive floras and faunas; and all the other phenomena, would be _facts_ still. They would still be, as now, legitimate subjects of examination and inquiry. I do not know that a single conclusion, now accepted, would need to be given up, except that of actual chronology. And even in respect of this, it would be rather a modification than a relinquishment of what is at present held; we might still speak of the inconceivably long duration of the processes in question, provided we understand _ideal_ instead of _actual_ time;--that the duration was projected in the mind of God, and not really existent.

The zoologist would still use the fossil forms of non-existing animals, to illustrate the mutual analogies of species and groups. His recognition of their prochronism would in nowise interfere with his endeavours to assign to each its position in the scale of organic being. He would still legitimately treat it as an entity; an essential constituent of the great Plan of Nature; because he would recognise the Plan itself as an entity, though only an ideal entity, existing only in the Divine Conception. He would still use the stony skeletons for the inculcation of lessons on the skill and power of God in creation; and would find them a rich mine of instruction, affording some examples of the adaptation of structure to function, which are not yielded by any extant species. Such are the elongation of the little finger in _Pterodactylus_, for the extension of the alar membrane; and the deflexion of the inferior incisors in _Dinotherium_, for the purposes of digging or anchorage. And still would he find, in the fossil forms, evidences of that complacency in beauty, which has prompted the Adorable Workmaster to paint the rose in blushing hues, and to weave the fine lace of the dragonfly's wing. The whorls of the _Gyroceras_, the foliaceous or zigzag sutures of the _Ammonites_, and the radiating pattern of _Smithia_, are not less elegant than anything of the kind in existing creation, in which, however, they have no parallels. In short, the readings of the "stone book" will be found not less worthy of God who wrote them, not less worthy of man who deciphers them, if we consider them as prochronically, than if we judge them diachronically, produced.

* * * * *

Here I close my labours. How far I have succeeded in accomplishing the task to which I bent myself, it is not for me to judge. Others will determine that; and I am quite sure it will be determined fairly, on the whole. To prevent misapprehension, however, it may be as well to enunciate what the task was, which I prescribed, especially because other (collateral, hypothetical) points have been mooted in these pages.

All, then, that I consider myself responsible for is summed up in these sentences:--

I. The conclusions hitherto received have been but inferences deduced from certain premises: the witness who reveals the premises does _not_ testify to the inferences.

II. The process of deducing the inferences has been liable to a vast incoming of error, arising from the operation of a _Law_, proved to exist, but hitherto unrecognised.

III. The amount of the error thus produced we have no means of knowing; much less of eliminating it.

IV. The whole of the facts deposed to by this witness are irrelevant to the question; and the witness is, therefore, out of court.

V. The field is left clear and undisputed for the one Witness on the opposite side, whose testimony is as follows:--

"IN SIX DAYS JEHOVAH MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IN THEM IS."

INDEX.

Agave, 147.

Ammonites, appearance of, 58.
profusion of, 65.

Amphibia, foot-prints of, 52, 56.

Anoplotherium, 69.

Antediluvian hypothesis, 9.
untenable, 51.

Babbage, Mr., opinions of, 25.

Babiroussa, 262.

Bamboo, 134.

Banyan, 164.

Barnacle, development of, 217.

Basalt, formation of, 66, 91.

Beaches, raised, 83.

Beard, 284.

Beetle, egg of, 310.

Belemnites, 58.

Bignonia, 168.

Birds, earliest, 69.
gigantic, 82.
feathers of, 253.

Blackwood, opinions of, 9.

Blocks, transport of, 78.

Blood, 275, 285.

Bones, structure of, 279.

Botryllus, metamorphoses of, 222.

Brachionus, eggs of, 321.

Bracts, development of, 166.

Brown, Rev. J. M., opinions of, 9.

Bulbs, growth of, 153, 156.

Buprestis, 214.

Butterflies, eggs of, 307.

Butterfly-flower, 150.

Cabbage-palm, 144.

Carboniferous deposits, 44.

Case-flies, 209.

Cassowary, 252.

Caverns, bone, 76, 88.

Ceiba, 174.

Cephalaspis, 44.

Chalk formation, 64.

Chalmers, Dr., opinions of, 19.

Chronology of globe, 30, 339.

Circularity of organic life, 113, 336, 351.

Clavagella, 225.

Coal, age of, 50.
extent of, 46.
origin of, 47.

Coccus, economy of, 315.

Cockburn, Rev. Sir W., opinions of, 14.

Cockroach, egg-case of, 318.

Conybeare, Dr., opinions of, 20.

Coprolites, 60.

Coral polypes, 40, 41, 45.
activity of, 86.

Couch-grass, 135.

Cow, circular life of, 121.

Cowry, 231.

Crab, metamorphosis of, 216.

Crag and tail, 55.
formation, 75.

Crinoids, abundance of, 58.

Creation, extent of, 22.
fact of, 110.
law of, 337, 368.
periods of, 15.
What is it? 123.

Cribella, metamorphosis of, 321.

Crocodile, 248.

Cuckoo-fly, egg of, 309.

Cumbrian formations, 36.

Currents, oceanic, 356.

Cuttlefish, shell of, 237.

Cycads, 60.

Cyclicism, 336, 351.
of the globe, 354.
of inorganic nature, 355.
of celestial orbs, 359.

Cysticercus, 196.

Daphnia, economy of, 325.

Dauber, economy of, 320.

Days of creation, 15.

Deductions, fallible, 2.

Deer, Irish, 84.

Deltas, 85.

Deposits, earthy, 87.

Depressions and elevations, 81.

Development hypothesis, 111.

Devonian formations, 42.

Diachronism, 125, 346.

Diatomaceæ in chalk, 64.

Dinotherium, 72, 370.

Dione, 228.

Disturbances of strata, 54, 66.

Dodo, 84.

Double cocoa-nut, 296.

Earth-pea, germination of, 299.

Echinus, 190.

Eggs of fowl, 328.
of insects, 306.

Elephant, dentition of, 266.
fossil, 73.

Elevations and depressions, 81.

Encephalartos, 161.

Euphorbia, 164.

Erythrina, 297.

Fairholm, Mr., opinions of, 12.

Feather, growth of, 253.

Feather-star, 193, 305.

Fig, Australian, 162.
Indian, 164.

Fishes, cycloid, 68.
earliest, 44.
sauroid, 52.

Fishes, scales of, 242.

Foetus of kangaroo, 333.

Footprints, 57.

Foraminifera, 64, 70.

Frog, 57.

Gall-fly, egg of, 310.

Ganges, delta of, 85.

Geography, changes of, 60, 66,70.

Geology, in need of caution, 4.

Germs, hypothesis of, 294.

Gilt-head, 241.

Glaciers, theory of, 79.

Gladiolus, 152.

Globe, chronology of, 30.
cyclicism of, 354.
density of, 37.

Gnats, egg-raft of, 207.

Goliathus, 205.

Granite, 37.
decomposition and reconstruction of, 38.

Grass-tree, 154.

Gray, Mr., opinions of, 20.

Grit, 46.

Gulf-stream, 356.

Gyroceras, 371.

Hair, growth of, 278.

Harris, Dr., opinions of, 19.

Hawkmoth, 118.

Hertfordshire, strata of, 33.

Hippopotamus, 263.
fossil, 73.

Hitchcock, Dr., opinions of, 21.

Horns of ibex, 257.
stag, 258.

Horse, 260.

Hylæosaurus, 62.

Hypotheses, variety of, 27.

Ibex, 257.

Ichthyosaurus, 59.

Iguanodon, 62.

Infusoria in chalk, 64.

Insects, eggs of, 306.

Iriartea, 139.

Julus, 212.

Kangaroo, foetus of, 333.

Kirkdale cave, 77.

Labyrinthodon, 57.

Lace-fly, egg of, 311.

Lady-fern, 116.

Law of creation, 337, 368, 371.

Leaf-scars of fern, 130.

Lepralia, 219.

Lias, 58.

Light, velocity of, 360.

Lily, 156.

Limestone coral, 45.

Locust-tree. 177.

London clay, 67.

Loranthus, 169.

"_Lusus Naturæ_," 368.

Macbrair, Mr., opinions of, 10.

Madrepore, 183.

Mammal, earliest, 63.

Mammoth, 73.

Man, introduction of, 83.
structure of, 275.

Mangrove, 173.
germination of, 301.

Marsupials, 82.

Mastodon, 73.

Medusa, 188, 304.

Megalosaurus, 61.

Melicerta, 210.

Miller, Hugh, opinions of, 15.

Millepore, 183.

Moa, 84.

Moho, 84.

Moon, cyclicism of, 359.

Mosasaurus, 65.

Moth, eggs of, 314.

Mountains, upheaving of, 66, 70.

Murex, 233, 365.

Nails, growth of, 277.

Nature, circularity of, 113.
plan of, 345, 369.

Nautilus, 235.

Navel, evidence from, 289, 334.

Nerita, axis of, 365.

Noah's flood, 6.

Oestridæ, economy of, 309.

Oolitic system, 58, 60;
duration of, 63.

Opossum, 63.

Organ-pipe, 185.

Organic life a circle, 113, 122.

Organisms, earliest, 40.

Orchis, 152.

Palm-leaf, young, 145.

Penn, Mr., opinions of, 11.

Phenomena, evidence of, delusive, 337.

Plants of London clay, 67.

"Plastic power," 368.

Plates of tortoise, 250.

Plesiosaurus, 59.

Plumularia, 119.

Powell, Professor, opinions of, 26.

Prickly pear, 172.

Prochronism, 125, 346, 368.
dependent on cyclicism, 354.

"Protoplast," opinions of, 23.

Pterodactyle, 62, 370.

Raindrops, 58.

Rattan, 145.

Rattlesnake, 247.

Reptiles, Marine, 16, 59.

Rhinoceros, fossil, 73.

Roots, aerial, of fig, 163.
of iriartea, 139.
of mangrove, 173.
of pandanus, 138.

Rotifera, viviparous, 322.

Sackcloth of palms, 141.

Sandstone, age of, 50.
new red, 56.
old red, 42.

Saw-fly, eggs of, 317.

Scale of fish, 242.

Scarlet-runner, economy of, 113.

Screw-pine, 136.

Scripture, efforts to reconcile with geology, 5.
literal sense of, 4.

Sea-urchin, 191, 305.

Sea-pen, 182.

Secondary epoch, 66.

Sedgwick, Professor, on past time, 98.
opinions of, 17.

Selaginella, 133.

Senses, evidence of, 1.

Serpent, earliest, 68.

Serpula, 198, 305.

Sharks, 52, 58, 243.
egg of, 326.

Shells, now fossilizing, 89.

Shore-crab, 216.

Silk-cotton tree, 174.

Silurian formations, 40.

Skeleton, human, 286.

Skeletons, evidence from, 105, 340.

Sloths, fossil, 82.

Smith, Dr. Pye, opinions of, 22.

Smithia, elegance of, 371.

Species, persistence of, 110.

Spider, eggs of, 313.

Stag, 258.

Star-fish, madreporic plate of, 366.

Stars, light from fixed, 361.

Stature of man, 284.

Strata, disturbances of, 54.
number of, 37.

Strombus, 230.

Sugar-palm, 141.

Sumner, Dr., opinions of, 19.

Surinam toad, 327.

Sword-fish, 240.

Tapeworm, 195.

Tapir, 69.

Teeth of babiroussa, 262.

Teeth of crocodile, 249.
elephant, 268.
hippopotamus, 263.
horse, 261.
man, 281, 285.
shark, 243.

Termes, 203.

Terebella, 201.

Tertiary epoch, 66.
fauna, 76.

Testimony, divine, 2;
dear to many scientific men, 5;
by some rejected, 8.

Testudinaria, 158.

Thames Tunnel, strata of, 32.

Thyroid cartilage, 284.

Timber, rings of, 178, 342, 349.

Tortoise, 250.

Tour of inspection, 127.

Traveller's tree, 148.

Tree-fern, age of, 128.

Tree-frog, 246.

Trilobites, 41.

Truth, value of, 7.

Tulip, seed of, 298.

Tulip-tree, 165.

Turner, Sharon, opinions of, 18.

Tusk of elephant, 266.

Ure, Dr., opinions of, 10.

Venus, prickly, 228.

"Vestiges," hypothesis of, 27, 111.

Volcanic action, 55, 66, 86.

Weevil, economy of, 308.

Whalebone, 255.

White ant, 203.

World, projected history of, 351.

Yorkshire, strata of, 33.

Young, Dr., opinions of, 13.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Dr. Lardner; Museum of Science and Art, vol. i. p. 81.

[2] As Cuvier, Buckland, and many others. On the question whether the phenomena of Geology can be comprised within the short period formerly assigned to them, the Rev. Samuel Charles Wilts long ago observed: "Buckland, Sedgwick, Faber, Chalmers, Conybeare, and many other Christian geologists, strove long with themselves to believe that they could: and they did not give up the hope, or seek for a new interpretation of the sacred text, till they considered themselves driven from their position by such facts as we have stated. If, _even now, a reasonable, or we might say_ POSSIBLE _solution were offered, they would_, we feel persuaded, _gladly revert_ to their original opinion."--_Christian Observer_, August, 1834.

[3] Reflections on Geology.

[4] Geology and Geologists.

[5] New System of Geology.

[6] Mineral and Mosaic Geologies, p. 430.

[7] Geology of Scripture.

[8] Scriptural Geology, _passim._

[9] Letter to Buckland, 15, _et seq._

[10] Origen, Augustine, &c.

[11] Testimony of the Rocks, p. 144

[12] Discourse (5th Ed.), 115.

[13] Sac. Hist. of World.

[14] Rec. of Creation.

[15] Nat. Theology.

[16] Pre-Adamite Earth.

[17] Harmony of Scripture and Geology.

[18] Christian Observer, 1834.

[19] Religion of Geology, Lect. ii.

[20] Scripture and Geology.

[21] I am not _replying_ to any of these conflicting opinions; else, with respect to this one, I might consider it sufficient to adduce the _ipsissima verba_ of the inspired text. Not a word is said of Adam's being "nine hundred and thirty years _old_;" the plain statement is as follows:--"And _all the days that Adam lived_ were nine hundred and thirty years." (Gen. v. 5.)

[22] "Protoplast," pp. 58, 59; p. 325; 2d. Ed.

[23] Unity of Worlds (1856), pp. 488, 493.

[24] "A geological truth must command our assent as powerfully as that of the existence of our own minds, or of the Deity himself; and any revelation which stands opposed to such truths _must be false_. The geologist has therefore _nothing to do with revealed religion_ in his scientific inquiries."--_Edinb. Review_, xv. 16.

[25] Ansted's Ancient World, 18.

[26] Ansted's Ancient World, 30.

[27] Scripture and Geology, 371. (Ed. 1855.)

[28] "It is by no means unlikely that some beds of coal were derived from the mass of vegetable matter present at one time on the surface, and submerged suddenly. It is only necessary to refer to the accounts of vegetation in some of the extremely moist, warm islands in the southern hemisphere, where the ground is occasionally covered with eight or ten feet of decaying vegetable matter at one time, to be satisfied that this is at least possible."

[29] Ansted's Anc. World, 75.

[30] M'Culloch's System of Geology, i. 506.

[31] Origin of Coal.

[32] Testimony of the Rocks, p. 78.

[33] Mr. Newman suggests that they were "marsupial bats" (Zoologist, p. 129). I have adopted his attitudes, but have not ventured to give them mammalian ears.

[34] In Tennant's "List of Brit. Fossils" (1847), but two species--a Brachiopod and a Gastropod--are mentioned as common to the Chalk and the London Clay. They are _Terebratula striatula_, and _Pyrula Smithii_.

[35] Ansted's Anc. World, 267.

[36] Reliquiæ Diluvianæ.

[37] Travels through the Alps, p. 19.

[38] Prof. Owen, in his admirable account of the _Mylodon_, has mentioned a fact which brings us very vividly into contact with its personal history. He shows that the animal got its living by overturning vast trees, doing the work by main strength, and feeding on the leaves. The fall of the tree might occasionally put the animal in peril; and in the specimen examined there is proof of such danger having been incurred. The skull had undergone two fractures during the life of the animal, one of which was entirely healed, and the other partially. The former exhibits the outer tables of bone broken by a fracture four inches long, near the orbit. The other is more extensive, and behind, being five inches long, and three broad, and over the brain. The inner plate had in both these cases defended the brain from any serious injury, and the animal seems to have been recovering from the latter accident at the time of its death.

[39] Naturalist's Voyage, _passim_.

[40] The Indians of North America knew that the Mastodon had a trunk; a fact which (though the anatomist infers it from the bones of the skull) it is difficult to imagine them to be acquainted with, except by tradition from those who had seen the living animal.

[41] Ansted; Phys. Geography, 82.

[42] An interesting fact relating to the Brazilian caves was communicated to Dr. Mantell. "M. Claussen, in the course of his researches, discovered a cavern, the stalagmite floor of which was entire. On penetrating the sparry crust, he found the usual ossiferous bed; but pressing engagements compelled him to leave the deposit unexplored. After an interval of some years, M. Claussen again visited the cavern, and found the excavation he had made completely filled up with stalagmite, the floor being as entire as on his first entrance. On breaking through this newly-formed incrustation, it was found to be distinctly marked with lines of dark-coloured sediment, alternating with the crystalline stalactite. Reasoning on the probable cause of this appearance, M. Claussen sagaciously concluded that it arose from the alternation of the wet and dry seasons. During the drought of summer, the sand and dust of the parched land were wafted into the caves and fissures, and this earthy layer was covered during the rainy season by stalagmite, from the water that percolated through the limestone, and deposited calc-spar on the floor. The number of alternate layers of spar and sediment tallied with the years that had elapsed since his first visit; and on breaking up the ancient bed of stalagmite, he found the same natural register of the annual variations of the seasons; every layer dug through presented a uniform alternation of sediment and spar; and as the botanist ascertains the age of an ancient dicotyledonous tree from the annual circles of growth, in like manner the geologist attempted to calculate the period that had elapsed since the commencement of these ossiferous deposits of the cave; and although the inference, from want of time and means to conduct the inquiry with precision, can only be accepted as a rough calculation, yet it is interesting to learn that the time indicated by this natural chronometer, since the extinct mammalian forms were interred, amounted to many thousand years."--(_Petrifactions and their Teachings_, p. 481.)

[43] Bibliothèque Univers., March, 1852.

[44] "It is now admitted by all competent persons, that the formation even of those strata which are _nearest the surface_, must have occupied vast periods, probably millions of years, in arriving at their present state."--BABBAGE, _Ninth Bridgewater Treatise_, p. 67.

[45] Geology of Central France.

[46] "Though perfect knowledge is not possessed, yet there are reasons for believing that the duration of life to testacean individuals of the present race is several years. But who can state the _proportion_ which the average length of life to the individual mollusc or conchifer, bears to the duration appointed by the Creator to the species? Take any one of the six or seven thousand known recent species; let it be a _Buccinum_, of which 120 species are ascertained, (one of which is the commonly known _whelk_;) or a _Cypræa_, comprising about as many, (a well-known species is on almost every mantel-piece, the _tiger-cowry_;) or an _Ostrea_ (_oyster_), of which 130 species are described. We have reason to think that the individuals have a natural life of at least six or seven years; but we have no reason to suppose that any one species has died out, since the Adamic creation. May we then, for the sake of an illustrative argument, take the duration of testacean species, one with another, at one thousand times the life of the individual? May we say six thousand years? We are dealing very liberally with our opponents. Yet in examining the vertical evidences of the cessations of the fossil species, marks are found of an entire change in the forms of animal life; we find such cessations and changes to have occurred MANY times in the thickness of but a few hundred feet of these late-rocks."--DR. J. PYE SMITH, _Scripture and Geology_, 5th Ed. p. 376.

[47] "One of the laminated formations [in Auvergne] may be said to furnish a chronometer for itself. It consists of sixty feet of siliceous and calcareous deposits, each as thin as pasteboard, and bearing upon their separating surfaces the stems and seed-vessels of small water-plants in infinite numbers; and countless multitudes of minute shells, resembling some species of our common snail-shells. These layers have been formed with evident regularity, and to each of them we may reasonably assign the term of one season, that is a year. Now thirty of such layers frequently do not exceed one inch in thickness. Let us average them at twenty-five. The thickness of the stratum is at least sixty feet; and thus we gain, for the whole of this formation alone, eighteen thousand years."--DR. J. P. SMITH, _Scripture and Geology_, 5th Edition, p. 137.

[48] "This fact has now been verified in almost all parts of the globe, and has led to a conviction that at successive periods of the past the same area of land and water has been inhabited by species of animals and plants as distinct as those which now people the antipodes, or which now co-exist in the arctic, temperate, and tropical zones. It appears that from the remotest periods there has been ever a coming in of new organic forms, and an extinction of those which pre-existed on the earth; some species having endured for a longer, others for a shorter time; but none having ever re-appeared, after once dying out."--LYELL'S _Elements of Geology_, p. 275.

[49] J. Pye Smith, Scripture and Geology, 5th Ed., p. 69.

[50] In Dr. Pye Smith's Scripture and Geology, p. 382, (Ed. 1855.)

[51] I would venture respectfully to suggest that the following argument by Mr. Babbage is vitiated throughout by a confounding of the phenomena observed with the conclusions inferred from them.

"What, then, have those accomplished, who have restricted
the Mosaic account of the creation to that diminutive
period, which is, as it were, but a span in the duration of
the earth's existence, and who have imprudently rejected
_the testimony of the senses_, when opposed to their
philological criticisms? The very arguments which
Protestants have opposed to the doctrine of
transubstantiation, would, if their view of the case were
correct, be equally irresistible against the Book of
Genesis. But let us consider what would be the conclusion of
any reasonable being in a parallel case. Let us imagine a
manuscript written three thousand years ago, and professing
to be a revelation from the Deity, in which it was stated
that the colour of the paper of the very book now in the
reader's hands is _black_, and that the colour of the ink in
the characters which he is now reading is _white_. With that
reasonable doubt of his own individual faculties which would
become the inquirer into the truth of a statement said to be
derived from so high an origin, he would ask all those
around him, whether to their senses the paper appeared to be
_black_, and the ink to be _white_. If he found the senses
of other individuals agree with his own, then he would
undoubtedly pronounce the alleged revelation a forgery, and
those who propounded it to be either deceived or
deceivers."--_Ninth Bridgewater Treatise_, p. 68.

[52] Dr. Pye Smith calls the hypothesis of progressive development "the crude impertinence of a few foreign sophists,"--and he states as a fact, "that all the great geologists repudiate such a notion with abhorrence, and give physical evidence of its falsehood."--_Scripture and Geology_, (5th Ed.) p. 420. See also Professor Owen in "Rep. Brit Assoc." 1842; Professor Sedgwick, in "Discourse on Stud. of Camb.;" Professor Whewell, in "Hist. of Inductive Sciences;" Professor Ansted, in "Anc. World;" &c.

[53] Wallace's "Palms of the Amazon," p. 35.

[54] Roxburgh.

[55] Rumph, v. 100.

[56] My observations rest on the fine specimen of this plant preserved in the British Museum. Dr. Harvey, however, says, "The growth of the trunk in _Kingia_ is very slow, and a specimen about ten feet high may probably be some hundreds of years old." Report of Dubl. Univ. Zool. and Bot. Assoc. for Feb. 25, 1857. See the note _infra_ on page 188.

[57] Gaudichaud: Recherches Gén. sur l'Organographie, p. 129.

[58] On the development of _Loranthus_, &c. Linn. Tr. xviii p. 71, (_abridged_).

[59] "Each and every plant is at first a cell."--"New cells can never be formed externally to, but only within, other cells already formed." (A. Braun, on the Veg. Indiv.)

"The process of the propagation of cells, by the formation of new cells in their interior, is an universal law in the vegetable kingdom." (Schleiden; Grundzüge).

"Cell-formation in plants takes place only in the cavities of older cells." (Mohl, on the Veg. Cell)

[60] See Von Martius, on the Brazilian Locusts.

[61] The origin of coral-stocks is minutely described by Ehrenberg, in the Abhandl. for 1832, where he makes the following remarks:--"The coral mass is neither a mere structure composed of many animals arbitrarily conjoined, as Ellis supposed; nor one single animal with many heads, or with simple furcations, as Cavolini maintained; nor a vegetable stem with animal flowers, as Linnæus expressed it; it is a body of families, a _living_ tree of consanguinity; the single animals belonging to it, and continually developing _upon the primary ancestor_, are entirely isolated within themselves, and capable of complete independence, _although unable to achieve it_."

[62] This is not quite in accord with Lamouroux's account; but it is more consistent with what we know of polype-growth.

[63] We lack precise data on which to found conclusions as to the actual rate of growth of many animals. Sir John Dalyell's famous Actinia, now in the possession of Dr. Fleming, affords us a proof that the Zoophytes are long-lived, and slow in attaining maturity. It will be readily seen, however, that the argument in the text does not depend on the actual period evolved. The lapse of _a_ period of time, no matter how long, is the only essential point.

[64] "All the component cells of any one organism may be considered as the descendants of the primordial cell in which it originated." (_Dr. Carpenter_; Comp. Physiol.; p. 396. 4th Ed.)

[65] I conclude so; because I have kept specimens of _Echinus_, not full grown, in healthy condition, for nearly a year, without any perceptible increase in their dimensions.

[66] I am not aware that this stage of the Entozoon has been actually observed; but from what we know of its previous and subsequent history, the correctness of the statement in the text will scarcely be disputed. (See Prof. Owen: Comp. Anat. of Inverteb. Ed. 2. p. 74.)

[67] See Notes to "Marmion."

[68] Report on Brit. Annelida, p. 194.

[69] We have no direct observations, that I am aware of, on the larval state of the African _Goliathi_; but their near ally, the _Cetonia aurata_ of Europe, passes four years in the grub condition, as does also the _Melolontha vulgaris_, another lamellicorn beetle. The _Lucanus cervus_, or Stag-beetle, continues a larva for six years.

[70] Fabre; Ann. d. Sci. Nat.; iii. 1855.

[71] _B. splendida_, has been ascertained to have existed, as an inmate of the wood of a table, for _more than twenty_ years. (Linn. Trans.; x. 399.)

[72] The rate of increase in dimensions shown by specimens of this species, now so frequently kept in Aquaria, warrants this assertion; though _how many_ years a Crab takes to attain adult size, no exact observations, so far as I know, testify.

[73] The exuvia of the cirri are sloughed from the _Balanidæ_ about every week in summer; and perhaps this process is coetaneous with an addition to the valves.

[74] Mr. Broderip supposes it to have had the power of swimming freely, and of seeking its future habitation, _as a bivalve_; but Lovèn had not then made known to us the embryogeny and metamorphosis of the _Conchifera_. It is much more probable that the case is as I have ventured to assume in the text.

[75] Bennett.

[76] Rumphius.

[77] The periodical formation of these septa in the progress of growth, is analogous to that of the projecting external plates in the Wendletrap, and of the rows of spines in the _Murex_; but those external processes consist of the opake calcareous layer of the shell, whilst the internal processes in the _Nautilus_ consist of the nacreous layer, like the septa in the _Turritella_. Thus the embryo _Nautilus_ at first inhabits a simple shell, like that of most univalve Mollusca, and manifests, according to the usual law, the general type at the early stage of its existence; although it soon begins, and apparently before having quitted the ovum, to take on the special form.--Prof. Owen's _Lect. on Invertebrate Anim._ p. 593, 2d Ed.

[78] Woodward's "Manual of the Mollusca," p. 83.

[79] Carpenter, on the Microscope, &c., p. 602.

[80] Grant's Comp. Anat., 53.

[81] See Jones's General Outline, p. 506. (Ed. 1841.)

[82] Such is the common statement. Dr. Harlan, however, observes that "the rattle is cast annually [with the sloughed skin], and, _consequently_, no inference as to the age of the animal can be drawn from the number of pieces which compose the rattles." (_Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci._; v. 368.) I confess this appears to me to be a _non sequitur_; for is it not quite possible that one may be added to the _number_ annually, without involving the actual perpetuity of the preceding ones? It is evident that the increase must take place at some time or other, and it seems to me more likely to occur at the sloughing of the skin, that is, annually, than either oftener or seldomer.

[83] Martin "On the Horse," p. 111.

[84] Professor Owen's "Odontography:"--to which splendid work I am indebted, for the engravings of these skulls.

[85] Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopædia.

[86] Owen's Odontogr. p. 631.

[87] Penny Cyclopædia; _art._ BONE.

[88] Dr. Carpenter's Human Physiol. p. 916. (Ed. 1855.)

[89] Sir Thomas Browne, indeed, denies Adam a navel; I presume, however, physiologists will rather take my view. Sir Thomas did not know that the prochronism which he thought absurd pervaded every part of organic structure. The following is his verdict:--

"Another Mistake there may be in the Picture of our first Parents, who after the manner of theyre Posteritie are bothe delineated with a Navill: and this is observable not only in ordinarie and stayned peeces, but in the Authenticke Draughts of Vrbin, Angelo, and others. Which, notwythstandynge, cannot be allowed, except wee impute that vnto the first Cause, which we impose not on the second; or what wee deny vnto Nature, wee impute vnto Naturity it selfe; that is, that in the first and moste accomplyshed Peece, the Creator affected Superfluities, or ordayned Parts withoute all Vse or Offyce."--_Pseudodoxia Epidemica_, lib. v.; cap. v.

[90] Blackwood, in an excellent article on Johnston's _Physical Geography_ (April, 1849), says:--"Adam _must_ have been created in the full possession of manhood; for if he had been formed an infant, he must have perished through mere helplessness. When God looked on this world, and pronounced all to be 'very good,'--which implies the completion of his purpose, and the perfection of his work--is it possible to conceive that he looked only on the germs of production, on plains covered with eggs, or seas filled with spawn, or forests still buried in the capsules of seeds; on a creation utterly shapeless, lifeless and silent, instead of the myriads of delighted existence, all enjoying the first sense of being?"

And an eminent Geologist considers the position indisputable, as regards man:--"To the slightest rational consideration it must be evident, that the first human pair were created in the perfection of their bodily organs and mental powers."--(Dr. J. P. Smith; "Script. and Geol.;" 219.)

[91] Gen. i. 12, 21, 26, 27.

[92] Penny Cyclop.; _art._ ARACHIS.

[93] Linn. Trans. iii. 23.

[94] Introd. to Entom.; Lett. xi. § 2.

[95] Jones; Nat. Hist. Anim.; ii. 151.

[96] Cf. Mr. Lubbock (Proc. Roy. Soc. viii. 354), with Dr. Baird (Brit Entomostr. p. 82).

[97] Dr. Carpenter: Comp. Phys.; p. 615.

[98] Dr. Alex. Braun, "On the Veget. Individual." (Ann. N. H. Nov. 1855.)

[99] It may be objected that _Elephas primigenius_ is absolutely distinct from _E. Indicus_. I answer, Yes, _specifically_ distinct; and so am I distinct from my father,--_individually_ distinct. But as individual distinctness does not preclude the individual from being the exponent of a circular revolution in the life-history of the species, so specific distinctness may not preclude the species from being the exponent of a circular revolution in some higher, unnamed, life-history.

[100] "We may assert of the individual, as well as of the species, that it completes the cycle of its existence in a succession of subordinate generations; while, on the other hand, we may affirm of the species, that, like the individual, it exhibits a determinate cycle of development." "The species itself may be regarded as an inferior 'momentum' of a still more comprehensive cycle of development."--_Dr. A. Braun_, "_On the Vegetable Individual._"

"The species is an individual of a higher rank."--_Link: Elements of Botanical Science_, vi. 11.

"Species, like individuals, have a certain limited term of existence. It is the fact, that, _according to some general law_, species of animals are introduced, last for a limited period, and are then succeeded by others performing the same office."--_Ansted's Ancient World_, 52, 54.

[101] "The unity of the plan of organization, and the regular succession of animal forms, point out a _beginning_ of this great kingdom on the surface of our globe, although the earliest stages of its development may now be effaced: and the continuity of the series though all geological epochs, and the _gradual transitions_ which _connect_ the species of one formation with those of the next in succession, distinctly indicate that they form _the parts of one creation_, and not the heterogeneous remnants of successive kingdoms begun and destroyed: so that, while they present the best records of the changes which the surface of the globe has undergone, they likewise afford the best testimony of the recent origin of the present crust of our planet, and of all its organic inhabitants."--_Dr. Grant, in Br. Sci. Annual for 1839._

[102] Dr. Harris has the following observations:--

"Why might not God have created the crust of the earth, just as it is, with all its numberless stratifications, and diversified formations, complete? And the analogy for such an exercise of creative power is supposed to be found in the creation of Adam, not as an infant, but as _an adult_; and in the production of the _full-sized_ trees of Eden. To which the reply is direct: the maturity of the first man, and of the objects around him, could not deceive him by implying that they had slowly grown to that state. His first knowledge was the knowledge of the contrary. He lived, partly, in order to proclaim the fact of his creation. And, could his own body, or any of the objects created at the same time, have been subjected to a physiological examination, they would, no doubt, have been found to indicate their miraculous production in their very destitution of all the traces of an early growth; whereas the shell of the earth is a crowded storehouse of evidence of its gradual formation. So that the question, expressed in other language, amounts to this: Might not the God of infinite truth have enclosed in the earth, at its creation, evidence of its having existed ages before its actual production? Of course, the objector would disavow such a sentiment. But such appears to be the real import of the objection; and, as such, it involves its own refutation."--_Pre-Adamite Earth_, p. 83.

Now this reasoning appeared, doubtless, very triumphant to the worthy Doctor: and yet a very little acquaintance with physiology would have taught him that he was enunciating an absurdity. The very supposition which he considers as self-refuting, is an indubitable physiological fact. I have abundantly shown, in the text, that the _cells which compose_ the tree or the animal are as undeniable evidences of past processes as the concentric cylinders of timber, or the superposed layers of bone and scale.

[103] I here assume the life-history of the globe to be represented by a straight line, because I cannot _prove_ it to be a circle. I cannot even _imagine_ its circularity. I do not mean the possibility;--I can imagine _that_: but the _mode_ I cannot conceive. This, however, does not disprove the possibility. If man's science extended not beyond the accumulated observations of his own life, he would probably be quite incompetent to conceive how the life-history of such a tree as the Oak could be a circle; if he had never seen more than one individual, which was a tree when he was born, and continued to flourish till his death.

[104] The existence of Coprolites--the fossilized excrement of animals--has been considered a more than ordinarily triumphant proof of real pre-existence. Would it not be closely parallel with the presence of fæces in the intestines of an animal at the moment of creation? Yet this appears to me demonstrable. It may seem at first sight ridiculous, and will probably be represented so; but truth is truth. I have already proved that blood must have been in the arteries and veins of the newly-created Man (_vide_ p. 276, _supra_), and that blood presupposes chyle and chyme; but what became of the indigestible residuum of the chyme, when the chyle was separated from it? Would it not, as a matter of course, be found in the intestines? If the principle is true, that the created organism was exactly what it would have been had it reached that condition by the ordinary course of nature, then fæcal residua must have been in the intestines as certainly as chyle in the lacteals, or blood in the capillaries.

[105] _Blackwood_; April, 1849; p. 412.

[106] Strictly speaking, the current is a lagging behind of the water, which cannot keep pace with the speed communicated to the solid crust of the globe at its equatorial regions. The trade-wind is owing to the same cause.

[107] Philos. Trans. for 1802; p. 498.

[108] Beitrage, p. 152.

[109] Dr. A. Braun, On the Veg. Indiv.

[110] See _ante_, p. 233.

[111] Fauna Littor. Norveg.; i. 47.

* * * * *

MARINE

NATURAL HISTORY CLASS.

In the summer of 1855, I met, at Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon, a small party of ladies and gentlemen, who formed themselves into a Class for the study of Marine Natural History. There was much to be done in the way of collecting, much to be learned in the way of study. Not a few species of interest, and some rarities, fell under our notice, scattered as we were over the rocks, and peeping into the pools, almost every day for a month. Then the prizes were to be brought home, and kept in little Aquariums for the study of their habits, their beauties to be investigated by the pocket-lens, and the minuter kinds to be examined under the microscope. An hour or two was spent on the shore every day on which the tide and the weather were suitable; and, when otherwise, the occupation was varied by an indoors' lesson, on identifying and comparing the characters of the animals obtained, the specimens themselves affording illustrations. Thus the two great desiderata of young naturalists were attained simultaneously; they learned at the same time how to collect, and how to determine the names and the zoological relations of the specimens when found.

A little also was effected in the way of dredging the sea-bottom, and in surface-fishing for Medusæ, &c.; but our chief attention was directed to shore-collecting. Altogether, the experiment was found so agreeable, that I propose to repeat it by forming a similar party every year, if spared, at some suitable part of the coast.

Such ladies or gentlemen as may wish to join the Class should give in their names to me, early in the summer; and any preliminary inquiries about plans, terms, &c. shall meet the requisite attention.

P. H. GOSSE.

MARYCHURCH, TORQUAY, _Oct. 1857_.