THEORIES AS TO THE ORIGIN OF LIFE. 73 



away from the original type ; and that while 

 all organized beings may be traced up to ele- 

 mentary cells, the cell of every plant and 

 animal is peculiar to itself, and never develops 

 itself into that of another. 



3. The " Law of the Alternation of Genera- 

 tions," as it has been termed, may present us 

 with facts which, at first sight, appear startling, 

 and inconsistent with the generally received laws 

 of organic life. But these phenomena, when fol- 

 lowed out and fully considered, instead of shut- 

 ting out the thought of the Creator and Pre- 

 server of all living things, only give us new 

 views of that Being whose works are as mani- 

 fold as they are great. One fact connected 

 with the " Alternation of Generations" seems 

 undoubted ; namely, that whatever be the de- 

 gree or duration of the alternation, the original 

 type of existence eventually re-appears. We 

 at once admit that the changes under this law 

 are not to be explained satisfactorily, by com- 

 paring them with the metamorphoses of certain 

 insects and crustaceans. In the latter cases, 

 as Mr. Gosse observes, one individual passes 

 through a succession of forms by casting off a 



