a 
i. THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 69 
hands of man; and so little does he dream of 
_ there being any other destructive causes at work, 
that, in discussing the possible existence of fossil 
shells, he asks, “Pourquoi d’ailleurs seroient-ils 
-perdues dés que Vhomme n’a . opérer leur 
destruction ?” (“ Phil. Zool.” vol. i. p. 77.) Of 
the influence of selection Tania has as little 
notion, and he makes no use of the wonderful 
phenomena which are exhibited by domesticated 
animals, and illustrate its powers. The vast 
influence of Cuvier was employed against the 
Lamarckian views, and, as the untenability of 
some of his conclusions was easily shown, his 
doctrines sank under the opprobrium of scientific, 
as well as_of theological, heterodoxy. Nor have 
the efforts made of late years to revive them 
tended to re-establish their credit in the minds of 
sound thinkers acquainted with the facts of the 
case; indeed it may be doubted whether Lamarck 
has not suffered more from his friends than from 
his foes. 
_ Two years ago, in fact, though we venture to 
question if even the strongest supporters of the 
special creation hypothesis had not, now and then, 
am uneasy consciousness that all was not right, 
_ their position seemed more impregnable than ever, 
if not by its own inherent strength, at any rate by 
the obvious failure of all the attempts which had 
been made to carry it. On the other hand, how- 
ever much the few, who thought deeply on the 
