tit's n It of Variation. 175 



comes, we arc not only bound to receive it, but are 

 ready to do - 



We \\elcome all labors of the development the- 

 orists, and feel thankful for them. We welcome 

 them as contributions to seience. 



We never read a more convincing work on natu- 

 ral theology than Darwin's book on the Fertilization 

 of Orchids. We have no doubt that he and his 

 colaborers are accumulating weapons that will yet 

 batter down his philosophy and the leading theory 

 upon which it rests. "We heartily ad>pt," says a 

 distinguished scientific man, " the seience of Darwin, 

 but not his philosophy." 



The distinction is a just one; and such a spirit 

 will guide us safely. The subject of variations, 

 which we have been discussing, has ( i;iven rise to 

 the development theory. We accept the facts of 

 variation and the influence of " natural selection," 

 but not the inferences that are drawn from them. 



We see the need of variations for tin- best good 

 of the world, for man himself. If provided for in 

 the creation of certain species, and those species 

 most useful to man, we see in this a mark of wis- 

 dom as much as in the adaptation of the parts of 

 our bodies to each other, or of our bodies to the 

 external world. 



We regard, then, the law of variation as a means 

 of preserving the species under certain circum- 

 stances, and as a means of better fitting beings for 

 their various uses, and not as the creator of the 

 being, nor in any sense the originator of the species, 



