TRANSMUTABLE. 209 



Those with five toes to all four feet, have the 

 widest distribution, and yet are so scattered, that 

 no single zoological province presents anything 

 like a complete series. On the contrary, the 

 mix turd of some of the representatives with per- 

 fect feet, with others which have them rudimentary 

 in almost every fauna, excludes still more de- 

 cidedly the idea of any influence of physical 

 agents upon this development" 



Now it will be observed that to make the 

 above series uniform, there are wanting those 

 (1st.) with one toe to each of the four legs; 

 (2nd.) those with three toes to the fore feet and 

 two to the hind feet; (3rd.) with three and four 

 toes either in the fore or hind feet. 



Mr. Darwin would doubtless tell us that this 

 speaks for his natural selection theory. What 

 says Agassiz, "Similar series, though less con- 

 spicuous, and more limited, may be traced in 

 every class of the animal kingdom, not only among 

 living types, but also among the representatives 

 of past geological ages; which adds to the interest 

 of such series, as shewing that such combinations 

 include not only the elements of space, indicating 

 omnipresence, but also that of time, which involves 

 prescience" 



Again, it is clear that these series indicate 

 selection, but not in the sense used by Mr. Dar- 

 win. It is the selection of a thoughtful creative 

 mind; for "the series is not built up of equiva- 

 lent representation in its different terms, some 

 combinations being richly endowed, others num- 



