A Ptcerile Conception. 199 



a few patterns, and that by those he constructed the 

 animals which successively appeared on the globe, to 

 be in time swept off and replaced by others. If 

 answer was made that such was a puerile conception 

 of creation and that it limited the power of Deity, ex- 

 cessive anger was displayed, and its opponents called 

 infidels and atheists. But even those who doubted 

 whether the accepted views of creation were tenable, 

 hesitated to take the alternative view. An efficient 

 factor in variation remained to be discovered, and a 

 full presentation of the data had yet to be made. 



It was in 1859 ^hat the desiderata indicated were 

 supplied in " The Origin of Species by Means of 

 Natural Selection." " Variation under domestica- 

 tion " was compared and contrasted with " variation 

 under nature." The "struggle for existence" which 

 is the result of the progressive increase of living 

 beings was considered, and " natural selection " 

 was designated as the factor which determined the 

 development and existence as " species " of forms 

 which had descended, with modifications, from count- 

 less antecedent generations. With the successive 

 changes in temperature and other conditions ensuing 

 in the ever-changing world, the animals and plants 

 which peopled it were compelled to keep pace by 

 corresponding changes in structure, or to give place 

 to others who could adapt themselves to the new 

 conditions. 



So much were the views thus enunciated opposed 

 to the current ideas that a brief period of astonished 

 silence ensued, and men felt about before they could 

 realise their full purport, or that such opinions were 



