OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 415 



are to be reconciled with special design, (with the advantage of offering 

 the only scientific, though hypothetical, solution of the question,) along 

 with the wider philosophical question, as to what is the relation be- 

 tween oi'derly natural events and intelligent efficient cause, or Divine 

 agency. In respect to which, we have only to adopt Pi-ofessor Bo wen's 

 own philosophy of causation, — viz. " that the natural no less than the 

 supernatural, the continuance no less than the creation of existence, 

 the origin of an individual as well as the origin of a species or a 

 genus, can be explained only by the direct action of an intelligent 

 cause," — and all special difficulty in harmonizing a theory of the 

 derivation of species with the doctrine of final causes will vanish. 



Professor Parsons made a communication upon the general 

 subject. He remarked that : — 



The new theory rested wholly on the assumption that the changes 

 or variations by which the author supposed that species were estab- 

 lished, were always minute, and effiscted their purpose only by accu- 

 mulation through ages. But Mr. Parsons regarded this as wholly 

 unnecessary. The records of monstrosity show that aberrant variation, 

 in the direction of loss or degradation, may go very far indeed. And 

 we have no reason whatever for holding it to be a law, that aberrant 

 variation may not, possibly, in some instances, go equally far in the 

 direction of gain and improvement. Supposing this to be possible, 

 we reconcile the theories of Darwin and Agassiz. Admitting all the 

 new creations which Agassiz requires, the question then occurs, How- 

 are these creations created? We must choose, either chance, and 

 chance is a word only and not a thing, or creation at once out of noth- 

 ing, by creative will ; or from earth and water and chemical elements 

 summoned to a proper place, at a proper time, in proper proportions, 

 by the same exertion of Omnipotence. One of these we must choose, 

 or else accept the theory that these new creations were created by 

 means of some influence of variation exerted upon the ovum of some 

 existing kindi'ed creature, either before or at conception, or during 

 uterine nutriment. This last supposition Mr. Parsons deemed by far 

 the most reasonable and philosophical. Thus, if we suppose that the 

 time had come for a dog to exist for the first time, and become the 

 father of all dogs, it is far easier to believe that he was born of a wolf, 

 a fox, a hyena, or a jackal, than that he suddenly flashed into exist- 



