266 MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. CHAP. X. 



tribes or races (species) which once flourished, but have 

 now totally perished, did not die because a ' germ of death ' 

 had from the first been present in each, but suffered extinc- 

 tion in consequence of the great geologic changes which the 

 earth had undergone, such as have changed tropical into 

 arctic climates, land into sea, and sea into land, rendering 

 their existence impossible. Each species, itself an aggregate 

 of mortal individuals, came thus from the hands of God, 

 inherently immortal ; and when He saw fit to remove it, it 

 was slain through the intervention of such changes ; and 

 replaced by another. The longevity, accordingly, of the 

 existing races can, according to this view, be determined 

 (in so far as it admits of human determination at all) only 

 by a study of the physical alterations which await the globe ; 

 and every organism has thus, through its connexion with 

 the brethren of its species, a retrospective and prospective 

 history, which must be studied by the naturalist who seeks 

 fully to account even for its present condition and fate. 



" Those canons were applied by Edward Forbes to the 

 humbler creatures ; he was unfailing in urging that the des- 

 tinies of man are guided by other laws, having reference to 

 his possession individually of an immaterial and immortal 

 spirit. 



" The following lines, embodying these ideas, contemplate 

 his death, solely as it was a loss to his fellow-workers left 

 behind him ; their aim is to whisper patience, not to enforce 

 consolation : " 



Thou Child of genius ! None who saw 



The beauty of thy kindly face, 

 Or watched those wondrous fingers draw 

 Unending forms of life and grace, 

 Or heard thine earnest utterance trace 

 The links of some majestic law, 

 But felt that thou by God wert sent 

 Amongst us for our betterment. 



