THE SEA-OTTER. 435 
Male otters have teats, but imperfectly developed. This is 
commonly the case with all mammalia. Often has the use of 
this formation been a subject of conjecture. The organs of 
animals have usually distinct functions—the wing for flight, the 
eye for sight, the ear for sound. In some circumstances, the 
want or the excess of development modifies the constitution of 
the parts, and adapts them to a different purpose. Thus, the 
wing with only one joint becomes a fin, while the fin of two 
joints becomes a wing. Frequently the modified organ retains 
the old use, while it becomes, also, capable of serving another 
purpose. The nose of the tapir and the elephant are still fur- 
nished with olfactory nerves, though they are used as arms; 
that is to say, they serve to dig or to seize. But when the 
development is arrested at an early stage, and the organ appears 
only as a rudiment, what is its object or use? Can it serve 
any purpose? What is the use of eyes covered with skin, as the 
mole’s ? or how does the leech profit by his ocular tubercles ? 
How is it we find stunted organs amongst many quadrupeds? 
Etienne Geoffroy St. Hilaire looked upon these incomplete develop- 
ments as the elements of a primitive plan of organisation, and 
therefore as the signs of general symmetry, preserved in particular 
cases. Many eminent zoologists have wished to trace in these rudi- 
ments a tendency of Nature towards some determinate end, which, 
in fact, would mean schemes abandoned and efforts unsuccessful ! 
Is this explanation preferable to that of St. Hilaire? The activity 
of Nature—in other words, creative power—does not resemble 
human intelligence, which tries and makes attempts, but does not 
always succeed. God never makes any attempt, or tries any 
experiment, even for the most transcendent combinations or the 
most ingenious organisms. With him to will is to do, both as 
he pleases and when—whether the result be complicated or 
simple, whether the effect be a union of organs or defective organs, 
or even the deceptive appearance of organs. There is, however, 
in the word ¢endency, a philosophical idea. It would be perfect 
if animals were the creation of man. What word shall we use 
to express it, as animals are the work of God? 
If it be asked, then, what is the use of these imperfect organs, 
we can only frankly acknowledge that we do not know. 
C-€ 2 
