and it is said, the spawn of fishes. Mr. Weir stated his conviction 

 that no NaturaHst could ever have deduced the aquatic habits of 

 these birds from an examination of their structure. In the weasel 

 group we find that the stoats and polecats are ground animals, the 

 martins arboreal, and the otters thoroughly aquatic. Mr. Weir 

 gave a large number of such examples, and said that, on the theory 

 of a community of descent with modification, all the cases were clear ; 

 but on the liypothesis of special creations, he did not see that they 

 could be explained. Want of space prevents any report on 

 geographical distribution, into which the Lecturer entered at con- 

 siderable length. 



Dr. Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. — The 

 Darwinian theory — "The origin of species by means of Natural 

 Selection, or the preservation of Favoured Kaces in the Struggle for 

 Life " — is something quite distinct from the theory of the Evolution 

 of Life. Natural Selection is, hj the Darwinian theory, held to 

 act in producing species, much in the same manner as artificial 

 selection acts in producing diJBferent herds of domesticated animals : 

 man, by selection, has produced from one species, animals differing 

 as a race-horse does from a cart-horse ; as pouter, carrier, and 

 tumbler pigeons differ from each other, and from a blue-rock their 

 ancestor ; a greyhound from a bull-dog ; a cochin-china fowl from 

 a bantam ; and a lop-eared rabbit from the Avild species. 



Mr. Weir illustrated the preservation of favoured races by the 

 modes of escaping destruction in the case of the hare, and of the 

 riibbit. The hare produces its young perfect and quite capable 

 when a few liours old of running with considerable swiftness ; this 

 power of escaping from its enemies has increased to such an extent 

 tliat the hare has no wild enemy that can overtake it, and man is 

 obliged to proeluce a swift breed of dogs to render its capture by 

 animal aid possible. Tlie rabbit, on tlie other hand, produces its 

 young underground blind and feeble, and when mature the creature 

 habitually resorts to its Inirrow for security. Here we find that 

 the struggle for existence has brought about two quite different 

 modes of escaping destruction. 



As another illustration, crabs were mentioned. Some of these 

 have swimming legs and live at a distance from the shore. Others 



