affectionate to his wife, nor any less in the love of offspring, than the average modern man: That in the slums of cities and on the outskirts of civilization, there are found cases of oppression and crime affecting the domestic relations, of parallel outrage to any known among savages: That civilization, so far from changing the adaptative principle, has only changed its mode of action: That whereas primitive woman worshipped in man strength of arm and success in battle, the modern woman, for precisely the same reason, worships strength of mind and successful statesmanship, oratory, authorship, etc. That, in fine, human nature and sexual adaptation have remained substantially the same from the first appearance of man to the present time.

The Darwinian theory of descent depends very much upon the question, whether adaptation to changing conditions in organic forms is sufficient to overcome heredity. If not, such forms would physically and psychologically be held near the original types, though in many cases ia a dwarfed and deteriorated condition, in others in a more advanced condition; and others still would die out when such capacity for adaptation had reached its limits. For example, the fern which started as far back as the Devonian age, became a tree 30 to 40 feet high, but has gradually dwarfed to a plant of scant two feet. The Trilobite first appeared in the lower Silurian, reached

the Carboniferous. The horse appeared in the lower Eocene with four toes, and about the size of a fox, and has become the large, one-toed animal of the present time, the superfluous toes disappearing and the size increasing, by force of adaptation to changes in the environment.

Haeckel, however, in his "History of Creation," is positive that the existence of rudimentary and aborted organs clears up whatever mystery there may have been on the subject. His idea seems lo be that adaptation and rudimentary organs mutually explain each other; and both prove beyond a doubt Darwin's theory of descent. He says: "The widely-spread and mysterious phenomena of rudimentary organs, in regard to which all other attempts at explanation fail, is perfectly explained, and, indeed, in the plainest way by Darwin's theory of Inheritance and Adaptation." (3-1-16).

Again: "I must here repeat that even if we know absolutely nothing of the other phenomena of development, we should be obliged to believe in the truth of the theory of Descent, solely on the ground of the existence of rudimentary organs. Not one of its opponents has been able to throw even the glimmer of an acceptable explanation upon these remarkable and important phenomena" (id. 291).

Surely this is a very convenient arrangement by which "Inheritance and Adaptation" on the one hand, and "Rudimentary Organs" on the other,

cient for the purposes claimed without any collateral support. Not content, however, with these pretentious and positive assertions, the distinguished Professor is impelled to carry the war into the enemy's camp in this wise: "If its opponents, the dualists and teleologists, understood the immense significance of rudimentary organs, it would put them into a state of despair," (3-1-294). Such a specimen of partisanship naturally leads to the suspicion that the author knows much less of the significance of rudimentary organs than he pretends.

That Darwin's theory of descent is to some extent true may be safely conceded; that is, it may be conceded that subsequent to the primeval creations through protoplasmic matrices, no animal has ever appeared upon the earth in any other way than by birth from another animal. But this is the extent of the concession. In the case of a radically new species, the birth is indeed from an animal, but the conception, or influent life is from the Creator, the same as in the case of the lowest form of life from earthy matter.

Upon this theory (which is more fully presented in another place), it is not difficult to understand the significance of an important class of rudimentary organs. Instance the rudiment of a tail in man,—the embryo, in passing through the prior stages, exhibits the ape's tail; and this in further development to the human, is reduced to a rudi

As to another class, such as the mammary glands, in the male they belong to, and grow out of the peculiar and fundamental relations and distinctions of the sexes to and with each other; and these, the learned German professor is not alone in ignoring. Another class still, such as the aborted organs of sight in the cave fishes, have no significance whatever, so far as relate to the production of a new species. The organs are reduced to a rudimentary condition by simple non-use, in consequence of being deprived of light; and undoubtedly would be gradually restored, on a restoration to primal conditions.

It is well known that extra use increases an organ to a certain extent, and that disuse will diminish it. A blacksmith, by use, increases the size and strength of his right arm to a certain maximum. These modifications from use and disuse are supposed by Darwin to be inheritable (2-122; but it may well be doubted whether they are so to any permanent degree.

A child, whose ancestors for ten generations have been blacksmiths, may have a tendency to develop brawny muscles; but if he abandon the hereditary business and is of sedentary habits, his right arm will not come up to the parental standard. On the contrary, the son of a long line of effeminate ancestors, if reduced in early life to the necessity of labor, will become strong and muscular.

CHAPTER V.

WHAT IS LIFE?

Views of Buchner and others-Speculations and Definitions of Herbert Spencer-Author's Definition.

Before proceeding further, it is important to consider the question, What is Life?

From the numberless exhibitions of it that we see around us, this question may seem a very simple one; but in the treatment of it by men of science, it is found to be sufficiently complex. Some understanding of what it is, and of its relation to matter, is quite essential to any rational theory of the origin of species.

It is quite certain that there was once a period when there was no living plant or animal-a period when the earth was a nebulous mass of heated vapor. This mass became gradually cooled and condensed; and having passed through various changes and transformations, it finally reached a condition in which life could be sustained. Then it appeared in its lowest manifestations in protoplasmic organism, so shapeless as to be almost inorganic.

What it then was-how it came to be manifest