E VIDENCES OF E V OL U TION. \ 23 



creatures subsequently perfected, or tentative and 

 unfinished efforts toward the creation of organisms 

 which were never endowed with vitality because the 

 Creator was not satisfied with His work. This is, 

 certainly, as we shall see in the sequel, not the Au- 

 gustinian view of creation, and, to those who are 

 familiar with even the elementary facts of embry- 

 ology, it cannot be the scientific view. From the 

 point of view of embryology the great body of 

 facts make for the theory of Evolution, as against 

 the theory of special creation, and it is not surpris- 

 ing, therefore, to find that those who are most com- 

 petent to interpret the facts of the case, are disposed 

 to regard the argument from embryology as of itself 

 sufficient to demonstrate the derivation theory of all 

 forms of animal life. 



Geographical Distribution of Organisms. 



There yet remains another testimony to be con- 

 sidered, and that is the argument based on the dis- 

 tribution of organisms in space and time, or in other 

 words, the argument based on the facts of geograph- 

 ical distribution and geological succession. 



One of the most striking facts of natural history 

 is that which regards the marked diversity of the 

 fauna and flora of regions widely separated, or of 

 adjacent regions separated by impassable natural 

 barriers. Thus, the animals and plants of Europe 

 are to a great extent unlike those of America, while 

 those of Africa and Australia are entirely different. 

 Even in passing from one portion of the continent 

 to another, the observant traveler cannot help being 



