MR. PATRICK MATTHEW. 323 



tinuation of reproduction for several generations by the 

 females alone in some of these tribes, tends to the pro- 

 bability of the greater continuity of existence; and the 

 subdivisions of life l>y cuttings (even in animal life), at 

 any rate, must stagger the advocate of individuality. 



"Among the millions of specific varieties of living 

 tilings which occupy the humid portions of the surface 

 of our planet, as far back as can be traced, there does 

 not appear, with the exception of man, to have been 

 any particular engrossing race, but a pretty fair 

 balance of power of occupancy or rather most 

 wonderful variation of circumstance parallel to the 

 nature of every species, as if circumstance and species 

 had grown up together. There are, indeed, several races 

 which have threatened ascendancy in some particular 

 regions ; but it is man alone from whom any general 

 imminent danger to the existence of his brethren is to 

 be dreaded. 



"As far back as history reaches, man had already 

 had considerable influence, and had made encroach- 

 ments upon his fellow denizens, probably occasioning 

 the destruction of many species, and the production 

 and continuation of a number of varieties, and even 

 species, which he found more suited to supply his 

 wants, but which from the infirmity of their condition 

 not having undergone selection Inj the law of nature, 

 of which we have spoken cannot maintain their ground 

 without culture and protection. 



"It is only however in the present age that man 

 has begun to reap the fruits of his tedious education, 

 and has proven how much ' knowledge is power.' He 



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