The Life and Writings of Agassiz. 13 



as it remains in its natural condition. Man alone, and those 

 few species that are associated with him, are exceptions to 

 this general law ; and, as the migrations of even these species 

 take place under the direct influence of man, we may con- 

 clude that they were unknown to former epochs. 



These considerations, with others not less important, con- 

 cerning the relation which this localization bears to the tem- 

 perature and degree of elevation of continents at different 

 epochs, suggested to Agassiz some general reflections, with 

 which he closes his chapter on Classification, and which we 

 transcribe, as shewing the spirit in which this work is written. 

 " Such facts," says he, " loudly proclaim principles which 

 science has hitherto left untouched, but which the researches 

 of palaeontology urge upon the observer, with an ever-increas- 

 ing force ; those, I mean, that respect the relation of the 

 Creator to the universe. We see phenomena closely con- 

 nected in the order of succession, yet without any sufficient 

 cause within themselves for the connection ; an infinite di- 

 versity of species, without any material bond of union, so 

 grouped as to present the most admirable progressive de- 

 velopment, in which our own species is involved. Have we 

 not here the most incontestable proofs of the existence of a 

 Superior Intelligence, whose power alone has been able to 

 establish such an order of things ? The methods of scientific 

 investigation, however, are of such strictness, that what seems 

 to our feelings a matter of course, we cannot admit, unless 

 supported by numerous aud well-established facts ; on this 

 account, I have delayed expressing my convictions on this 

 subject until the last moment ; not that I have wished to 

 avoid the discussions which the announcement of such results 

 must necessarily excite, but that I have been desirous not to 

 provoke them before establishing for these results a purely 

 scientific foundation, and supporting them by rigid demon- 

 strations, rather than by a profession of faith. An acquaint- 

 ance with more than fifteen hundred species of fossil fishes, 

 has taught me that species do not pass insensibly into each 

 other, but that they appear and disappear unexpectedly, 

 without showing any immediate connection with those pre- 

 ceding them. For I do not think that any one can seriously 



