STA TEMENT OF THE QUESTION A T ISSUE. 3 



In other words, shall we see something for which, as 

 Professor Mivart has well said, " to us the word ' mind ' 

 is the least inadequate and misleading symbol," as 

 having given to the eagle an eyesight which can pierce 

 the sun, but which in the night is powerless ; while to 

 the owl it has given eyes which shun even the full 

 moon, but find a soft brilliancy in darkness ? Or shall 

 we deny that there has been any purpose or design in 

 the fashioning of these different kinds of eyes, and see 

 nothing to make us believe that any living being made 

 the eagle's eye out of something which was not an eye 

 nor anything like one, or that this living being im- 

 planted this particular eye of all others in the eagle's 

 head, as being most in accordance with the habits of the 

 creature, and as therefore most likely to enable it to live 

 contentedly and leave plenitude of offspring ? And shall 

 we then go on to maintain that the eagle's eye was 

 formed little by little by a series of accidental variations, 

 each one of which was thrown for, as it were, with dice ? 



We shall most of us feel that there must have 

 been a little cheating somewhere with these accidental 

 variations before the eagle could have become so great 

 a winner. 



I believe I have now stated the question at issue so 

 plainly that there can be no mistake about its nature, 

 I will therefore proceed to show as briefly as possible 

 what have been the positions taken in regard to it by 

 our forefathers, by the leaders of opinion now living, 

 and what I believe will be the next conclusion that will 

 be adopted for any length of time by any considerable 

 number of people. 



B 2 



