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72 RUDIMENTARY ORGANS. 
of the scorpion, the stings of bees, the mandibles of 
spiders with the gland of poisonous fluid at the base, and 
the poison apparatus of serpents. All of these glands 
for secreting poison would be useless until they could 
secrete a harmful fluid. The spurs of birds present 
further difficulties to the theory of evolution. Most 
birds have no spurs. When they possess them, as a rule 
the males alone have them well-developed, while they 
are rudimentary in the females. In some cases, however, 
both sexes possess them in a well-developed form. But 
how could a spur be evolved in either sex? As a rudi- 
ment, it would for many generations be entirely useless 
fof any purpose, and consequently it would not be pre- 
served by natural selection, nor in any other possible 
way, so far as I can see. The spurs are in the best 
possible position on the legs for combat. Why did they 
appear in the best place and nowhere else? As useless 
rudiments they would be quite as likely to survive in 
one place as in another. If spurs could not have been 
preserved by natural selection through their rudimentary 
stage, why assume that they have been evolved accord- 
ing to this law? If they could survive through the criti- 
cal rudimentary period till they became of use, why not 
assume that their evolution was continued according to 
the same law? The fact is, however, that we know of 
no law according to which they could have been evolved.” © 
The bat is another highly specialized animal. In 
many respects it resembles the mole, but its hands are 
enormously expanded, and the exceedingly long fingers 
are connected by a soft membrane, making a most service- 
able wing. Is it not extremely likely, assuming the devel- 
opment theory to be true, that both the mole and the bat 
sprang from a common ancestor? And was not that 
ancestor probably a wingless, though not a legless mam- 
mal? Now,*how came the bat to acquire his wings? 
