212 SPECIES NOT 



supposition to stand upon. Why should the 

 wisdom tooth remain dormant in the human jaw 

 until the age of puberty? Is man, therefore, 

 descended from an animal which had its wisdom 

 tooth developed in early life with the rest, and 

 Avhich is now becoming obliterated by disuse? 

 We may build, if we like, any hypothesis, how- 

 ever absurd, upon this fact, but without a shadow 

 of proof or probability, it would be the height 

 of folly to expect others to believe it. 



And here I may make one or two remarks, 

 upon the strictures of the opponents to Mr. 

 Darwin's doctrines, by the ingenious, but often 

 wild and imaginative author of "Studies in 

 Animal Life," in the "Cornhill Magazine," for 

 April, 1860. "There are three modes," says this 

 writer, "of combating a doctrine. The first is 

 to point out its strongest positions, and then shew 

 them to be erroneous or incomplete. The second 

 is to render the doctrine ridiculous, by pretend- 

 ing that it includes extravagant propositions. 

 The third is to render the doctrine odious by 

 forcing on it certain conclusions which it would 

 repudiate, but which are declared to be the 

 "inevitable consequences of such a doctrine." 



Well, now let us apply this to Mr. Darwin's 

 theory. 1st. I never could discover the slightest 

 evidence of a "strong position" from the begin- 

 ning to the end of Mr. Darwin's book. 2nd. 

 If such visions are indulged in, as the de- 

 velopment of a goose from an oyster, or a whale 

 from a bear, the statement itself carries so much 



