CHAP. XT.] CONCLUSION. 397 



and perceive the full effects of many slight variations, accumulated 

 during an almost infinite number of generations. 



Although I am fully convinced of the truth of the views given in 

 this volume under the form of an abstract, I by no means expect 

 to convince experienced naturalists whose minds are stocked with 

 a multitude of facts all viewed, during a long course of years, from 

 a point of view directly opposite to mine. It is so easy to hide ,- 

 our ignorance under such expressions as the " plan of creation," 

 "unity of design," <fcc., and to think that we give an explan- 

 ation when we only re-state a fact. Any one whose disposition 

 leads him to attach more weight to unexplained difficulties than 

 to the explanation of a certain number of facts will certainly 

 reject the theory. A few naturalists, endowed with much flexi- 

 bility of mind, and who have already begun to doubt the immu- 

 tability of species, may be influenced by this volume ; but I look 

 with confidence to the future, to young and rising naturalists, 

 who will be able to view both sides of the question with impar- 

 tiality. Whoever is led to believe that species are mutable will 

 do good service by conscientiously expressing his conviction ; for 

 thus only can the load of prejudice by which this subject is over- 

 whelmed be removed. 



Several eminent naturalists have of late published their belief 

 that a multitude of reputed species in each genus are not real 

 species; but that other species are real, that is, have been in- 

 dependently created. This seems to me a strange conclusion to 

 arrive at. They admit that a multitude of forms, which till lately 

 they themselves thought were special creations, and which are still 

 thus looked at by the majority of naturalists, and which conse- 

 quently have all the external characteristic features of true species, 

 they admit that these ha^e been produced by variation, but 

 they refuse to extend the same view to other and slightly different 

 forms. Nevertheless they do not pretend that they can define, or 

 even conjecture, which are the created forms of life, and which 

 are those produced by secondary laws. They admit variation as 

 a vera causa in one case, they arbitrarily reject it in another, 

 without assigning any distinction in the two cases. The day will 

 come when this will be given as a curious illustration of the 

 blindness of preconceived opinion. These authors seem no more 

 startled at a miraculous act of creation than at an ordinary birth. 

 But do they really believe that at innumerable periods in the 

 earth's history certain elemental atoms have been commanded 

 suddenly to flash into living tissues ? Do they believe that at 

 each supposed act of creation one individual or many were pro- 

 duced? Were all the infinitely numerous kinds of animals and 

 plants created as eggs or seed, or as full grown 1 and in the case 

 of mammals, were they created bearing the false marks of nourish- 



