118 EXPLANATIONS. 



hare, has been answered by Professor Owen, 

 with a reference to the fact, that the tailless hare 

 (Lagomys Spelaeus) is found as early in the ter- 

 tiaries as any species of the true genus, Le- 

 pus.* Now it is an assumption on the part of 

 those who oppose the transmutation theory, 

 that the original animal shall perish when the 

 new one is produced; and therefore the diffi- 

 culty is entirely of their own making. The pro- 

 bability is that the modification takes place in 

 an offshoot of the original tribe, which has re- 

 moved into a different set of circumstances, these 

 circumstances being the cause of the change : 

 thus there is no need to presume that the original 

 tribe is at all affected by any such modification. 

 The case is precisely analogous to that of a colony. 

 We see, for example, the New Englanders change 

 from the original English type, without any neces- 

 sary effect upon the parent stock. Just so might 

 the giraffe be a changed sivatherium, and yet the 

 sivatherium continue to exist. And in point of 

 fact, there are many animals now living along with 

 their supposed modified descendants. Unless, 

 therefore, it could be proved that the supposed 

 descendant actually preceded in date the animal 

 * British Fossil Mammalia and Birds, p. 215. 



