corresponding with the demands of the theory, we have discovered the very opposite to be the case; hoping that the specially-selected arguments would add great force to the general statement of the theory, we have found ourselves unconvinced; anticipating some special conviction in connection with departments of nature chosen as the most favourable spheres for the illustration of the theory, we have found that they do not afford the most obvious manifestations of the action of the principle, but that, on the other hand, they are beset with difficulties of their own. If there is any force in the argument which has been urged, it follows that the transmutation of species by means of Natural Selection is not possible, either in the realm of abstract thought, which is dominated by a consistent logic, or in the actual world of nature, which lies open to the investigation of science. BOOK II. NATURAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO OTHER METHODS OF TRANSMUTATION OF SPECIES :— CAN IT COMPETE? CHAPTER I. THE STABILITY OF SPECIES. "We lift our heads-a race of other days." -SPRAGUE. Centennial Ode. where the generous hills Lift a green isle betwixt the sky and plain, To keep some Old World things aloof from change." -GEORGE ELIOT. Agatha. I HAVE hitherto endeavoured to show that it is not probable that there can have been a transmutation of species through the agency of Natural Selection. I now propose to follow an entirely different line of argument. I will assume that Natural Selection is a great law of nature, or that we know of no reason why it should not be so. Even in that case, I venture to believe that it can be proved that there are many other methods by which the transmutation of species can be effected; and that Natural Selection will not be able to hinder their emergence, or to compete with them when they come upon the scene. But before we pass on to consider the rival methods of transmutation, we should remember that it would be a great mistake to suppose that a transmutation of species must necessarily take place. We have abundant evidence to show not only that species are transmuted, but also that species either remain unaltered or die out and become extinct. We must first of all, then, consider the stability of species and the extinction of species in order to understand what bearing these phenomena have on the theory of Natural Selection; and, in dealing with these subjects, I shall be compelled to refer to the difficulties which we have seen to stand in the way of the theory of Natural Selection. Ample evidence has been adduced to show that some species have remained practically unaltered through centuries of historical ages and through æons of geological time. Cuvier compared the mummied remains of certain animals in Egypt with organisms of the same species still living in that country, and came to the conclusion that no appreciable change had taken place for 3000 or 4000 years. Shells are found in the superficial deposits which cover the rocky subsoil of Goat Island, near the Falls of Niagara, belonging to exactly the same species as those which now inhabit the still waters of Lake Erie ; and it has been thence inferred that the species has remained unaltered for 30,000 years. As we work our way through the great series of the tertiary formations, we find species identical with those which live in the present day. The lamp shells (Terebratula) of the cretaceous epoch exist unchanged or with insignificant variations to the present day. The very substance of our English chalk consists of skeletons of Globigerine which are identical with the Globigerinæ of to-day. "Among the higher animals, some types have had a marvellous duration. In the chalk, for example, there is found a fish belonging to the highest and the most differentiated group of osseous fishes, which goes by the name of Beryx. The remains of that fish are among the most beautiful and well-preserved of the fossils found in our English chalk. It can be studied anatomically, so far as the hard parts are concerned, almost as well as if it were a recent fish. But the genus Beryx is represented, at the present day, by very closely-allied species which are living in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The carboniferous formations, in Europe and in America, contain the remains of scorpions in an admirable state |