DARWINISM. 



of species at large. He applies it to the animal as well 

 as to the vegetable kingdom. He extends it by con- 

 sidering genera themselves as species of the orders which 

 contain them, and orders as species of the great classes 

 to which they as orders respectively belong. In a word, 

 he considers that all living forms whatsoever are de- 

 scended from a very few original ancestors of the 

 simplest type, and that this primaeval group itself had, 

 probably, a common parentage. Wildly improbable, 

 ludicrously absurd, degrading to humanity, and ir- 

 religious, no doubt this hypothesis has appeared to 

 many, and will continue so to appear till it has been 

 studied with attention, and studied without prejudice. 

 To rescue it from the prejudice which would make it 

 in the eyes of some a pernicious and forbidden study, 

 is the hope which underlies the object of the present 

 lecture. 



Round Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square there 

 are four colossal statue lions, the conception of a great 

 artist. They look unnatural, not because of their size, 

 or their position, or the material of which they are 

 made, but because they are all so exactly alike; and 

 exact likenesses are scarcely ever found in animate 

 nature, unless it be among the very simplest organisms. 

 When we speak of a striking likeness between two 

 human beings, we evidently imply that a high degree 

 of similarity is uncommon, and, therefore, noteworthy. 

 What is true of even the most highly organized animals, 

 is true, as far as observation goes, of all below them. 

 Horses, dogs, sheep, kine, afford familiar illustrations 



