So MODERN IDEAS OF EVOLUTION 



as before the period of darkness ; would we have any 

 right to recognise this as the origin of new species ? 

 Would it not rather be a convincing proof of the 

 permanence of specific types ? 



Similar evidence to this has been adduced by 

 Darwin himself in the case of pigeons, which after 

 generations of enforced varietal divergence show the 

 capacity to resume even the colouring of the wild 

 original ; and the writer has shown that changes of 

 this kind have passed upon certain marine animals 

 in the Glacial period, and that when this had passed 

 away they resumed their normal characters. 1 



The discussion of the cave animals throws light 

 on the nature of the blind species found in the 

 abysmal depths of the ocean, and also on the strange 

 modifications which befall some common crustaceans 

 when obliged to live in saline waters. It is instruc 

 tive to note that all these are of the nature of deterio 

 ration caused by unfavourable conditions of life. 



The same truths apply to the origin of organs in 



plants. It has been broadly stated by evolutionists 



jthat the beauty of flowers is due to the selective 



.action of insects in search of honey. Darwin has 



jsaid : Hence we may conclude that if insects had 



not been developed on the earth our plants would 



not have been decked with beautiful flowers, but 



would have produced only such poor flowers as we 



see on our fir, oak, nut, and ash trees, on grasses, 



1 Canadian Record of Science, January, 1889. 



