216 \h' Daubeny 0)i the Writings and 



stances, in which we do not perceive it, it would be presump- 

 tuous to deny. 



Nevertheless, it does not seem requisite for the argument 

 as to final causes, to contend, that every organ must have a 

 definite use in all the individuals in which it occurs, since its 

 existence may be regarded, as being nothing more than a con- 

 sequence of that general law of nature above stated, the wis- 

 dom of which there is no ground for impugning. 



" If,'' says M. DecandoUe,* " on a subject so grave and so 

 elevated, I may be permitted to avail myself of a comparison 

 somewhat mean and trivial, I shall perhaps render my views 

 on this subject somewhat better understood. 



" I will suppose myself seated at a splendid banquet, and 

 certainly the repast which Nature sets before us may well merit 

 this appellation, 



" I endeavour to discover what evidence can be afforded 

 that this banquet is not the result of chance, but has been due 

 to the will of an intelligent being. No doubt, I should remark, 

 that each of the dishes is in itself well prepared (this is the 

 argument of the anatomist), and that the selection of them 

 implies a reference to the wants of the individuals who partake 

 of them. (This is the reasoning of the physiologist.) But may 

 I not likewise observe, that the dishes that constitute this re- 

 past are arranged in a certain symmetrical order, such as is 

 agreeable to the eye, and in itself announces design and 

 volition ? 



" Now, if on examining the above arrangement, I should 

 find certain dishes repeated, as for instance in double rows, 

 for no other apparent reason, than that the one might in a 

 manner correspond to the other ; or observe, that the places 

 which they should occupy vpere filled with imitations of the 

 real dishes, which seem of no use with reference to the object 

 of the repast, ought I, on that account, to reject the idea of 

 design ? 



" So far from this, I might infer from the very circumstances 

 stated, an attention to symmetrical arrangement, and conse- 

 quently the operation of intelligence. 



"Nowthis is precisely what happens on the great scale in na- 



* Tlieorie Element aire. 2cl edition, page 18.">. 



