PREDOMINANT THEORY EXAMINED. 153 



that it necessitates a special fiat of the inconceiv- 

 able Author of this sand-cloud of worlds to pro- 

 duce the flora of St. Helena, we read its more than 

 sufficient condemnation. It surely harmonizes 

 far better with our general ideas of nature, to sup- 

 pose that, just as all else in this far-spread scene 

 was formed by the laws impressed on it at first 

 by its Author, so also was this. An exception 

 presented to us in such a light appears admissible 

 only when we succeed in forbidding our minds to 

 follow out those reasoning processes, to which, by 

 another law of the Almighty, they tend, and for 

 which they are adapted. 



I feel that I have dwelt long enough on this 

 part of the question, and yet there axe a few geo- 

 logical facts which here call for special comment, 

 and I am loath to overlook them. As is well 

 known, most of the large carnivores and pachy- 

 derms of the late tertiary formations very closely 

 resemble existing species ; but they are, neverthe- 

 less, determined to be distinct species by Profes- 

 sor Owen and other eminent authorities, in con- 

 sideration of certain peculiarities. The peculia- 

 rities, are, in general, trifling, such as differences in 

 the tubercles or groovings of the surface of teeth, 

 or greater or less length of body or extremities ; 

 A3 



