Life as a Btdlder. 'J'J 



conclusions. And in passing, it is well to remark 

 that there are many points decided authoritatively 

 by scientific men, that common men can judge of 

 as well as they. Because one man knows more of 

 fossil reptiles than another, it does not follow that the 

 latter must accept all the conclusions of the former 

 on every subject. If one does not understand fos- 

 sil turtles, he may be able to understand a fair argu- 

 ment and to detect bad logic. It has more than 

 once happened that very able and learned compar- 

 ative anatomists have fancied that they have found 

 the head, of an animal where nature placed his tail. 

 But this entire misconception in regard to the 

 structure of an animal, is nothing compared to the 

 arguments that are often accepted because present- 

 ed by able men, — arguments in which every prin- 

 ciple of sound reasoning is reversed, and impassable 

 chasms are bridged over with assertions. 



Dismissing for the present further speculations 

 as to the origin and nature of life, since they are 

 only incidental, we will confine ourselves to its phe- 

 nomena, and especially, for the present, to those 

 phenomena that, like the operations of Instinct, in- 

 dicate a plan in building up a structure and keeping 

 it in repair, as well as skill in executing the plan. 

 We confine ourselves now to what takes place with- 

 in the organism by evolution. And we shall find a 

 seeming contrivance and skill shown in the selection 

 and arranging of the materials so that the structure 

 produced indicates a purpose in its several parts 

 and as a whole, and the harmony of the whole is 

 heightened by the function of each part being in 



