DISTINCT ACT OF CREATION. 67 



that in each germ was the power to reproduce its kind, and, 

 as the globe went on progressing, it had the power to throw 

 ofif, at just the right time, the kinds of plants that ought to 

 be found on the earth : and therefore from these germs we 

 have, by a regular law, all the different forms that now exist, 

 just as from a single seed you have growing up the wood, the 

 leaf, the flower, and the fruit, all parts appearing just at their 

 proper time. Who would suppose, in examining a germ, and 

 tracing it back to the original cell, and the cell of pollen that 

 comes in, — who would suppose, I say, from the development 

 of that cell, or from that germ if you please, you would 

 have all these parts, — the roots striking down into the 

 earth, the branches stretching out into the air, with leaf and 

 flower and fruit ? Nobody would expect such a result, unless 

 he had seen it. We should believe that such a phenomenon 

 as that was something that came under law, and that there 

 was some power which determined when the flower should 

 appear, and put all these parts together. Now, according 

 to the true evolution theory, all these germs had the same 

 relation to all plants that a seed has to a tree, and throw 

 off all these forms at the proper time. When they are 

 thrown off, of course they must be distributed ; and here 

 comes in a whole line of argument and illustration in regard 

 to distribution, and in regard to the operation of " natural 

 selection " again. 



Now, the third theory. And please to understand that I 

 do not give these three as being the three that would be 

 given by everybody ; but they are, in my judgment, the three 

 that include every theory that has been broached. The third 

 theory is, that every one of these separate forms was a 

 distinct act of creation. This was what Professor Agassiz 

 always held. I have been indignant at some of the articles 

 I have seen in certain publications in regard to him since his 

 death. I worked with Professor Agassiz for a long time, 

 and I talked all these matters over with him. He has 

 told me what he believed over and over again, and, if ever 

 any man in the world believed any thing, Professor Agassiz 

 believed that every single species was a distinct creation. 



Now, those tliree theories account, in their way, for the 

 introduction of plant-life on the globe, and the production of 

 the present species as we find them. But, when we trace all 



