ifa (28) 



wonderful interdependence shown by Darwin to exist 

 between insects and plants in the fertilization of the lat- 

 ter, or between animals and their food-plants, would al- 

 most induce one to believe that it were the true expres- 

 sion of the whole law of development. 



But the following are serious objections to its univer- 

 sal application : 



First : The characters of the higher groups, from gen- 

 era up, are rarely of a character to fit their possessors 

 especially for surrounding circumstances ; that is, the 

 differences which separate genus from genus, order from 

 order, etc., in the ascending scale of each, do not seem 

 to present a superior adaptation to surrounding circum- 

 stances in the higher genus to that seen in the lower 

 genus, etc. Hence, superior adaptation could scarcely 

 have caused their selection above other forms not exist- 

 ing. Or, in other words, the different structures which 

 indicate successional relation, or which measure the 

 steps of progress, seem to be equally well fitted for the 

 same surroundings. 



Second : The higher groups, as orders, classes, etc., 

 have been in each geologic period alike distributed over 

 the whole earth, under all the varied circumstances of- 

 fered by climate and food. Their characters do not 

 seem to have been modified in reference to these. Spe- 

 cies, and often genera, are, on the other hand, eminently 

 restricted according to climate, and consequently vege- 

 table and animal food. 



The law of development which we seek is indeed not 

 that which preserves the higher forms and rejects the 

 lower after their creation, but that which explains why 

 higher forms were created at all. Why in the results 

 of a creation we see any relation of higher and lower, 



