292 FINAL CAUSES : THEIR BEARING 



gularly prominent in geologic history is the result, occujTiea 

 apparently a similar place, as a force, in the moral dynamics 

 of the universe, and seems suited to perform a similar part. 

 Inexplicable itself, it is yet a key to the solution of all the 

 minor inexplicabilities in the scheme of Providence. 



In a matter of such extreme niceness and difficulty, shall 

 I dare venture on an illustrative example ? 



So far as both the geologic and the Scriptural evidence ex- 

 tends, no species or family of existences seems to have been 

 introduced by creation into the present scene of being since 

 the appearance of man. In Scripture the formation of the 

 human race is described as the terminal act of a series, *' good" 

 in all its previous stages, but which became " very good" then ; 

 and geologists, judging from the modicum of evidence which 

 they have hitherto succeeded in collecting on the subject, — 

 evidence still meagre, but, so far as it goes, independent and 

 distinct, — pronounce "post-Adamic creations" at least "im- 

 probable." The naturalist finds certain animal and vegetable 

 species restricted to certain circles, and that in certain foci 

 in these circles they attain to their fullest development and 

 their maximum number. And these foci he regards as the 

 original centres of creation, whence, in each instance in the 

 process of increase and multiplication, the plant or creature 

 propagated itself outwards in circular wavelets of life, that 

 sank at each stage as they widened, till at length, at the cir- 

 cumference of the area, they wholly ceased. Now we find 

 it argued by Professor Edward Forbes, that " since man's ap- 

 pearance, certain geological areas, both of land and water, 

 have been formed, presenting such physical conditions as to 

 entitle us to expect within their bounds one, or, in some in- 

 stances, more than one, centre of creation, or point of maxi- 

 mum of a zoological or botanical province. But a critical 

 examination renders evident," the Professor adds, " that in- 

 stead of showing distinct foci of creation, they have been in 



