40 MODERN IDEAS OF EVOLUTION 



Jesus, however, assures us that not a new species of 

 homo, but man himself, in a redeemed, sanctified, and 

 spiritual state, is to be the heir of the coming ages. 



A curious point, little thought of by most evolu 

 tionists, but deserving consideration here, is that to 

 which Herbert Spencer has given the name direct 

 equilibration, or the balance of parts and forces with 

 in the organism itself. The body of an animal, for 

 example, is a very complex machine, and if its parts 

 have been put together by chance, and are drifting 

 onwards on the path of evolution, there must neces 

 sarily be a continual struggle going on between the 

 different organs and functions of the body, each tend 

 ing to swallow up the other, and each struggling for 

 its own existence. This resolution of the body of any 

 animal into a house divided against itself, is at first 

 sight so revolting to common sense, and so hideous to 

 right feeling, that few like to contemplate it ; but it 

 has been brought into prominence by Roux and other 

 recent writers, especially in Germany, and it is no 

 doubt a necessary outcome of the evolutionary idea. 

 For why should not the struggle of species against 

 species extend to the individuals and the parts of the 

 individual ? On this view, the mechanism of an animal 

 ceases even to be a machine, and becomes a mere 

 mass of conflicting parts thrown together at random, 

 and depending for its continued existence on a chance 

 balance of external forces. It is well for us that we 

 have not in human machinery to deal with such un- 



