The Three Barriers. 179 



for the benefit of society, there was one remark- 

 able exception. One female there was who, by 

 a long preconcerted scheme, though by a most 

 occult and undiscoverable process, was all the 

 while prodigiously increasing her fertility in 

 order to become the sole Mother and Queen of 

 the whole hive! We should have to imagine 

 fertile animals agreeing to produce, and actually 

 producing, sterile offspring ! " The fertile males 

 and females flourished ; and transmitted to 

 their fertile offspring a tendency to produce 

 sterile members ! " Fertile parents transmit, 

 through fertile progeny, a tendency to produce 

 sterility incapable of further production ! " Hu- 

 morous " ? Not at all. The theory requires it, 

 and therefore, quite seriously, Mr. Darwin "be- 

 lieves it." 



By one of his earliest and acutest critics it 

 was justly observed, that " If we except a pass- 

 ing cavil at the imperfect knowledge of optics 

 displayed in the mechanism of the eye, Mr. 

 Darwin can scarcely be said to have touched 

 the evidence for design deduced from the feli- 

 cities of fabric and deep-lying adjustments, so 

 profusely exemplified throughout the animal 

 Kingdom. He tells us indeed how the pigeon's 

 feather may be varied, but not how the pigeon 

 came to be feather-clad at all. He leaves us 



N 



