plicable" (p. 292); and his explanation of the absence of the transitional forms which must have existed, according to his theory of "minute modifications in time," between such forms as the elephant, the giraffe, the galeopithecus, the bats, and the ordinary quadrupeds, is very unsatisfactory. His theory of rudimentary organs, also, is extremely imperfect. He accounts for all such from the disuse of previous perfect organs (p. 408); but he nowhere hints at the far more essential question as to how these original organs became perfect; for upon his own general hypothesis they must have been rudimentary in the beginning. With regret, and after the closest and most sincere examination of all his remarks upon this subject, we confess that we have rarely seen such an absolute lack of logical argument as is evinced in the section upon rudimentary and functionless structures. In fact, the immense amount of evidence which he has collected does not seem to us to bear upon the main point, the origin of species, at all, but only upon the preservation of favourable individual variations. We have not space for further presentation of our own difficulties or those which others have urged against the theory of natural selection, and will simply quote the general grounds upon which Prof. Mivart has been led, with no prejudice against it, to regard that theory as playing only a subordinate part in the production of new species (p. 21): "Natural selection is incompetent to account for the incipient stages of useful structures. It does not harmonize with the coexistence of closely similar structures of diverse origin." "Certain fossil transitional forms are absent which might have been expected to be present; and some facts of geographical distribution supplement other difficulties. There are many remarkable phenomena in organic forms upon which natural selection throws no light whatever." "Still other objections may be brought against the hypothesis of 'pangenesis which, professing as it does to explain great dif ficulties, seems to do so by presenting others not less greatalmost to be the explanation of obscurum per obscurius.” These difficulties, which are set forth with equal cogency and fairness in the earlier chapters of the "Genesis of Species," have Propounded at the close of the work upon Variation under Domestication." 66 led its author to a view which he alludes to throughout his work, but presents in detail in the chapter entitled "Specific Genesis." According to this view, an internal law presides over the actions of every part of every individual, and of every organism as a unit, and of the entire organic world as a whole. It is believed that this conception of an internal innate force will ever remain necessary, however much its subordinate processes and actions may become explicable. That by such a force, from time to time, new species are manifested by ordinary generation, these new forms not being monstrosities, but consistent wholes. That these 'jumps' are considerable in comparison with the minute variations of 'natural selection'-are, in fact, sensible steps, such as discriminate species from species. That the latent tendency which exists to these sudden evolutions is determined to action by the stimulus of external condition." The part assigned to natural selection is stated as follows: "It rigorously destroys monstrosities, favours and develops useful variations, and removes the antecedent species rapidly when the new one evolved is more in harmony with surrounding conditions." Professor Mivart has so frankly admitted the essential coincidence of the above view with the one expressed by Professor Owen in 1868,* that we do not hesitate to call his attention to the similar views previously advanced by Professor Parsons, of Harvard University, and by the anonymous author of "Vestiges. of Creation;" believing that his own conclusions were reached in entire independence of all of them, as is said of Professor Owen's. The author of the "Vestiges" expresses himself as follows: † "My idea is, that the simplest and most primitive type, under a law to which that of like-production is subordinate, gave birth to the type next above it, that this again produced the next higher, and so on to the very highest, the stages of advance being in all cases very small, namely, from one species only to another. Yet in another point of view, the phenomena are wonders of the highest kind, in so far as they are direct effects of an Almighty will, which had provided beforehand that everything should be very good." "Comp. Anat. and Phys. of Vertebrates," vol. iii. p. 808. VOL. VI. B No. 1. Professor Parsons* writes as follows: "Suppose the time to have come when there is to be a new creation, and it is to be a dog, or rather two dogs, which shall be the parents of all dogs. How shall they be created? The fifth view is, they will be created by some influence of variation acting upon the ova, of some animal nearest akin—a wolf, or a fox, or a jackal-and the brood will come forth puppies, and grow up dogs to become dogs." Besides the above, several other authors (Gray, Argyll, and Neales) had already hinted at the necessity of admitting the sudden production of new specific forms, in some cases at least; and Darwin himself, as we shall see hereafter, appears to have a dim idea that something of the kind might happen in defiance of natural selection. Nothing like direct evidence can be given in support of this theory of "specific genesis;" but the question really is, as stated by Parsons, whether, as a provisional hypothesis, it is not on the whole, less improbable than any other, and open to fewer objections. Those who, like Spencer, are unwilling to admit the action of any but known physical laws and agencies, may say, and truly, that the supposition of an "innate internal tendency" only removes the difficulties one step further back, and is at best merely re-stating the case in a general way; but little more can be said of the theory of gravitation. ON A NEW FOSSIL CRUSTACEAN FROM THE DEVONIAN ROCKS OF CANADA. Extract from a paper in the Geological Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 3, "on some new Phyllopodous Crustaceans from the Paleozoic Rocks. BY HENRY WOODWARD, F.G.S., F.Z.S. Amongst a series of Crustacean remains, from the collection of Prof. Bell, of Canada, obtained in the Middle Devonian of Gaspé, and left with me for examination by the kindness of Principal Dawson, F.R.S., of McGill College, Montreal, is a portion of a • American Journal of Science, July, 1860. † Am. Journ. of Science, March, 1860; Atlantic Monthly, July, Aug., Oct., 1860. "Reign of Law" p. 237. § Froc. Zool. Soc. of London, Jan. 18, 1861. |