XIL] THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. 247 



time ; the singular phsenomena brought to light by the study of 

 development ; the structural relations of species upon which our 

 systems of classification are founded; the great doctrines of 

 philosophical anatomy, such as that of homology, or of the 

 community of structural plan exhibited by large groups of 

 species differing very widely in their habits and functions. 



The species of animals which inhabit the sea on opposite 

 sides of the isthmus of Panama are wholly distinct ; l the 

 animals and plants which inhabit islands are commonly distinct 

 from those of the neighbouring mainlands, and yet have a 

 similarity of aspect. The mammals of the latest tertiary epoch 

 in the Old and New Worlds belong to the same genera, or 

 family groups, as those which now inhabit the same great 

 geographical area. The crocodilian reptiles which existed in the 

 earliest secondary epoch were similar in general structure to 

 those now living, but exhibit slight differences in their vertebrae, 

 nasal passages, and one or two other points. The guinea-pig 

 has teeth which are shed before it is born, and hence can never 

 subserve the masticatory purpose for which they seem contrived, 

 and, in like manner, the female dugong has tusks which never 

 cut the gum. All the members of the same great group run 

 through similar conditions in their development, and all their 

 parts, in the adult state, are arranged according to the same 

 plan. Man is more like a gorilla than a gorilla is like a lemur. 

 Such are a few, taken at random, among the multitudes of 

 similar facts which modern research has established ; but when 

 the student seeks for an explanation of them from the sup 

 porters of the received hypothesis of the origin of species, the 

 reply he receives is, in substance, of Oriental simplicity and 

 brevity &quot; Mashallah ! it so pleases God ! &quot; There are different 

 species on opposite sides of the isthmus of Panama, because 

 they were created different on the two sides. The pliocene 

 mammals are like the existing ones, because such was the plap 

 of creation ; and we find rudimental organs and similarity of 



1 Recent investigations tend to show that this statement is not strictly 

 accurate. 1870. 



