XIIL] CRITICISMS ON &quot; THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.&quot; 2C5 



either as having been of special use to some ancestral form, or as being now 

 of special use to the descendants of this form either directly, or indirectly, 

 through the complex laws of growth.&quot; 



But it is one thing to say, Darwinically, that every detail 

 observed in an animal s structure is of use to it, or has been of 

 use to its ancestors ; and quite another to affirm, teleologically, 

 that every detail of an animal s structure has been created for its 

 benefit. On the former hypothesis, for example, the teeth of the 

 foetal Balcena have a meaning ; on the latter, none. So far as we 

 are aware, there is not a phrase in the &quot; Origin of Species,&quot; in 

 consistent with Professor Kolliker s position, that &quot; varieties arise 

 irrespectively of the notion of purpose, or of utility, according to 

 general laws of Nature, and may be either useful, or hurtful, or 

 indifferent.&quot; 



On the contrary, Mr. Darwin writes (Summary of 

 Chap. V.):- 



&quot; Our ignorance of the laws of variation is profound. Xot in one case 

 out of a hundred can we pretend to assign any reason why this or that 

 part varies more or less from the same part in the parents. . . . The external 

 conditions of life, as climate and food, &c. seem to have induced some 

 slight modifications. Habit, in producing constitutional differences, and 

 use, in strengthening, and disuse, in weakening and diminishing organs, 

 seem to have been more potent in their effects.&quot; 



And finally, as if to prevent all possible misconception, Mr. 

 Darwin concludes his Chapter on Variation with these pregnant 

 words : 



&quot; Whatever the cause may be of each slight difference in the offspring 

 from their parents and a cause tor each must exist it is the steady 

 accumulation, through natural selection of such differences, when beneficial 

 to the individual, that gives rise to all the more important modifi 

 cations of structure, by which the innumerable beings on the face of 

 the earth are enabled to struggle with each other, and the best, adapted to 



We have dwelt at length upon this subject, because of its 

 great general importance, and because we believe that Professor 

 Kolliker s criticisms on this head are based upon a misappre 

 hension of Mr. Darwin s views substantially they appear to us 



