214 EVOLUTION, OLD AND NEW. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



FULLER QUOTATIONS FROM THE ' ZOONOMIA.' 



THE following are the passages in the 'Zoonomia* which 

 have the most important bearing on evolution : 



" The ingenious Dr. Hartley, in his work on man, 

 and some other philosophers have been of opinion, that 

 our immortal part acquires during this life certain 

 habits of action or of sentiment which become for ever 

 indissoluble, continuing after death in a future state of 

 existence ; and add that if these habits are of the malevo- 

 lent kind, they must render their possessor miserable 

 even in Heaven. I would apply this ingenious idea to 

 the generation or production of the embryon or new 

 animal, which partakes so much of the form and pro- 

 pensities of its parent. 



" Owing to the imperfection of language the offspring 

 is termed a new animal, but is in truth a 'branch or elonga- 

 tion of the parent, since a part of the embryon-animal 

 is, or was, a part of the parent, and therefore in strict 

 language, cannot be said to he entirely new at the time 

 of its production ; and, therefore f it may retain some of 

 the habits of the parent system. 



"At the earliest period of its existence the embryon 

 would seem to consist of a living filament with certain 

 capabilities of irritation, sensation, volition, and associa- 



