THE SPINAL COLUMN OF REPTILES. 169 



exceptions, that the anterior limbs are the first 

 to bud forth, and. the tail is not absorbed, but 

 remains persistent, and is the sole organ of 

 aquatic locomotion, the hinder limbs never ac- 

 quiring the development which they do in the 

 frog. On land, the newt crawls slowly along, but 

 is extremely active and vigorous in the water. 



Here, then, we are presented mth creatures 

 which begin life with the skeleton and the 

 respiratory organs of fishes, but which gra- 

 dually lose the characters of the latter animals ; 

 they acquire lungs, and their skeleton, at the 

 same time, undergoes a wonderful alteration, 

 from the growth of parts not originally pos.- 

 sessed, and the great modification of others. 

 These examples of formative and transmutive 

 power, so clearly indicative of the omnipotence 

 of the great Creator, cannot but appeal to us 

 as proofs of design in the laws of organic 

 structure. He that investigates them, and 

 denies the existence of God, or affirms that God 

 is not manifest in the structure and changes of 

 organic beings, must wilfully blind his under- 

 standing, and harden his heart against convic- 

 tion. Nor can we think more highly of the 

 man, who, in his investigations of nature, is 

 content with the acquisition of facts, and, while 



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