DR. DRAPER'S LECTURE ON EVOLUTION. 189 



in the case of certain snakes, placed under the skin bony representa- 

 tives of the extremities, the movements of those animals being by the 

 use of the ribs, and feet never being wanted? 



We may also turn to the vegetable world, and there we find rudi- 

 mentary organs, excesses and deficiences of development. As Trevi- 

 ranus says, adaptation to the surrounding world may be shaped either 

 by gradual development or by degeneration, which is equally effec- 

 tive. The same organ may be expanded into a compound leaf, or de- 

 generated into a scale. Development can turn a reptile into a bird ; 

 degeneration can turn it into a serpent. Any flower may be regarded 

 as a transformed branch that which might have evolved into a leaf 

 turns indifferently, as circumstances may direct, into a sepal, a petal, 

 or a stamen. 



Rudimentary organs come into existence as part of a general plan. 

 They are the manifestation of heredity in the type of life of the ani- 

 mals or plants in which they occur. They prove that the form has 

 been developing, not teleologically, or for a purpose, but in obedience 

 to law. 



Now I have answered, and I know how imperfectly, your ques- 

 tion, " How does the hypothesis of evolution force itself upon the stu- 

 dent of modern science?" by relating how it has forced itself upon 

 me, for my life has been spent in such studies, and it is by meditating 

 on facts like those I have here exposed that this hypothesis now stands 

 before me as one of the verities of Nature. 



In doing this I have opened before you a page of the book of 

 Nature that book which dates from eternity and embraces infini- 

 tude. It reveals millions of suns and worlds of surpassing glory. 

 Among its most insignificant pages are the vast rock-strata of the 

 earth. We have been looking at some of them. No Council of La- 

 odicea, no Tridentine Council, is wanted to indorse its authenticity, 

 nothing to assure us that it has never been tampered with by any 

 guild of men, to perpetuate their influence, secure their profits, or 

 otherwise promote their ends. 



Then it is for us to study it as best we may, and to obey its 

 guidance, no matter whither it may lead us. 



And this brings me face to face with the third division of my sub- 

 ject. I have spoken of the origin and the progress of the hypothe- 

 sis of evolution, and should now consider the consequences of ac- 

 cepting it. Here it is only a word or two that time permits, and 

 very few words must suffice. I must bear in mind that it is the con- 

 sequences from your point of view to which I must allude. Should I 

 speak of the manner in which scientific thought is affected, should I 

 dwell on the influence this theory is exerting on general knowledge, 

 I should be carried altogether beyond the limits of the present hour. 



The consequences ! What are they, then, to you ? Nobler views 



