288 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Jail. 



all combine to render the obloquy and scorn with which they have 

 been received in many quarters peculiarly unjust and in bad taste. 

 It should also be said of Mr. Darwin that his views on the origin 

 of species are not inconsistent with his own acceptance of the 

 doctrine of Revelation ; and that many of our best men of science 

 look upon his theory as not incompatible with the religious faith 

 which is the guide of their lives, and their hope for the future. 

 To these men it seems presumption that any mere man should 

 restrict the Deity in His manner of vitalizing and beautifying the 

 earth. To them it is a proof of higher wisdom and greater power 

 in the Creator that He should endow the vital priuciple with such 

 potency that, pervaded by it, all the economy of nature, in both 

 the animal and vegetable worlds, should be so nicely self-adjusting 

 that, like a perfect machine from the hands of a master-maker, it 

 requires no constant tinkering to preserve the constancy and 

 regularity of its movements. 



This much I have said in view of the possible acceptance of the 

 Darwinian theory by the scientific world. I should have stated 

 in limine, however, that the Darwinian hypothesis is not accepted 

 and can never be fully accepted by the student of science who is 

 inspired with the spirit of the age. From the nature of things it 

 can be proved only to a certain point, and while we accept that 

 which is proven, — and for it sincerely thank Mr. Darwin, — that 

 which is hypothesis, or based only upon probabilities, we reject, as 

 belonging in the category of mere theories, to disprove or purify 

 which the modern scientific reform was inaugurated. Much, too, 

 may be said against the sufficiency of ' natural selection in the 

 struggle of life,' from observations made upon the phenomena of 

 the economy of nature. Necessarily, the action of the Darwinian 

 principle must be limited to the individual, be literally and purely 

 selfish ; and if it can be proved that a broader influence pervades 

 the created world, that something akin to benevolence enters into 

 the organization of the individual, something which benefits others 

 and not himself, one single fact establishing this truth would hurl 

 the entire Darwinian fabric to the ground ; or rather restrict it to 

 its proper bearing upon the limits of variation, and the mooted 

 question of ' what is a species ? ' 



One^ of the most potent influences in the perpetuation of species 

 is fecundity in the individual, whereas we see in social insects the 

 economy of the community is best served by a total loss of this 

 power in the great majority of the individuals which compose it. 



