62 BOOK OP NATURE LAID OPEN. 



But if the individual itself remain unchanged 

 under every possible variation, how are we to con- 

 ceive that a change in this respect can affect the 

 progeny ? Can any one believe that if a greyhound 

 bitch, while with young, were allowed to bring forth 

 her litter in one place (in Britain suppose, the place 

 of her nativity,) she would produce true grey- 

 hounds, but if she were carried to Norway, the lit- 

 ter would turn out to be mastiffs; in Turkey long- 

 haired pointers ; and in other countries hounds, 

 terriers, and all the other varieties of dogs? At 

 the bare mention of such a position the mind revolts 

 from it, as from a self-evident absurdity : but if the 

 litter were not brought forth in these states in dif- 

 ferent climates, the puppies must be changed in- 

 stantaneously after they come into the world ; for, 

 as we have seen, they are not changed by it at any 

 other period of their life, it must be now that the 

 change is effected, (like tadpoles into frogs,) or 

 never. But who has ever heard of such a meta- 

 morphoses ? We all know that no such thing takes 

 place. Yet this, and more, must have happened 

 were there the smallest foundation for this hypo- 

 thesis These changes must have happened not 

 once only, but often ; not casually, but invariably; 

 of course it would have been utterly impossible to 

 propagate a greyhound in one country, or a beagle 

 in the other; in short, every country would have 

 had its own particular variety of dogs, and none 

 other. But this we know is contradicted by the 

 clearest facts, and the universal experience of man- 



