MR. DARWIN'S THEORY. 329 



be fully accounted for by physics alone, and without super- 

 natural agency of any kind. Helmholtz declares that 

 " Darwin's theory shows how the adaptation of structure in 

 organisms may be effected, without any interference of in- 

 telligence, by the blind operation of a natural law /" but 

 this observer seems to forget that the mode of origin of 

 structures, as well as of the variation in structure which 

 forms a cardinal point in Mr. Darwin's theory, is unknown, 

 and is inexplicable according to any law yet discovered. As 

 regards the question of interference of supreme intelligence, 

 we are as we were, for if intelligence is not required for the 

 adaptation of structure, it would yet have to be proved that 

 structure can be formed without intelligence. The phrase, 

 natural selection includes a great deal that the advocates of 

 natural selection do not venture to consider or attempt to 

 explain, and while they deny intelligence and talk of nature 

 as being blind, they attribute to " nature," the very powers 

 or endowments which imply intelligence and are not sup- 

 posable in its absence. 



The " nature " of those who maintain that the forma- 

 tion of tissues and organs is only a natural but purposeless 

 and undesigned sequence of events, must possess some 

 wonderful capacity of some kind. Although this nature is 

 asserted to be destitute of reason, destitute of designing 

 power, perfectly blind, and unable to contrive and form, it 

 possesses the capacity of differentiating, nay, " nature " 

 " differentiates herself." We are not, however, informed 

 what this self-differentiating nature is like, or whether, when 

 it performs this operation of differentiation upon itself,, the 

 change it suffers is at all like that which occurs when homo- 

 geneous matter is, as is asserted, differentiating itself into 



