Phillips. — On a Common Vital Force. 615 



the doctrine of progressive adaptation. For twenty years past 

 my friends have been bored, perhaps, by my insistence upon 

 this doctrine, as opposed to Darvv'in's theory. But, once admit 

 the possibility of the existence of hfe upon any of tlie planets 

 attending the millions of star-suns we see around us, then 

 Herbert Spencer's theory of the survival of the fittest and 

 Darwin's theory of natural selection fall to the ground as the 

 primal causes of the origin of species. The doctrine of pro- 

 gressive adaptation, founded upon a vital force common to all 

 the planets, is the only simple and reasonable one we have to 

 fall back upon. 



In horses the power of divergence is just as remarkable 

 when we think of the Arab, English roadster, carriage-horse, 

 racer, Clydesdale, Suilolk Punch, Shetland or Timor pony, 

 mustang, piebalds, creams, &c. Herein we might go on ad 

 infinitum, save that we confine ourselves as much as possible 

 to the one variety which gives us speed as racers. 



In dogs the play of divergence appears also to be limitless. 

 What possible agreement is there between a toy-terrier and a 

 giant St. Bernard ? And yet the two belong to the one species. 

 We have between these extremes all the different varieties in 

 terriers, collies, poodles, harriers, foxhounds, greyhounds, 

 dachshunds, spaniels, bulldogs, mastiffs, and all the genus mon- 

 grel. No order in nature proves the truth of this rule of the 

 common vital force better than the divergence in dogs. We 

 see before us almost thousands of varieties, from which we can 

 take any one and produce others. I do not say that all these 

 different varieties of dogs are not evolved or selected from the 

 one original type. I further do not say that this original type 

 may not have been the wolf. I will also admit, for the sake 

 of argument, that the wolf may have been, and still is, but a 

 variety of the first original wild animal which came, let us say, 

 from the fish, which was produced from protoplasm, which 

 came from microscopic bacteria in our atmosphere, or from 

 space. But what I wish to prove is that through the whole 

 gamut the power of divergence was laid strictly down in ac- 

 cordance with rigid lines of progressive adaptation, and, whilst 

 we are given the power to select different varieties, the 

 varieties themselves are fixed and certain. They cannot de- 

 part one iota from the lines laid down for them millions of 

 ages since, and in millions of other places. We can see that 

 in fowls, in dogs, in sheep, even in men. The wonder to me 

 is that the varieties are so numerous that, as I have before 

 said, we think it strange when two Englishmen are said to be 

 "like each other." But the wonder is fully accounted for 

 when we also see that the rule of the vital force appears to be 

 that no two things are exactly alike in nature. 



In plants the varieties and mutations are marvellous. Who 



