COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



Mr. Darwin observes, " the general absence of 

 frogs and toads from oceanic islands cannot be 

 accounted for by their physical conditions ; in- 

 deed it seems that islands are peculiarly well 

 fitted for these animals ; for frogs have been 

 introduced into Madeira, the Azores, and Mau- 

 ritius, and have multiplied so as to become a 

 nuisance. But as these animals and their spawn 

 are known to be immediately killed by sea- 

 water, there would be great difficulty in their 

 transportal across the sea, and therefore on my 

 view we can see why they do not exist on any 

 oceanic island. But why, on the theory of crea- 

 tion, they should not have been created there 

 it would be very difficult to explain." That 

 terrestrial mammals cannot cross the sea is ob- 

 vious ; but bats and birds, which can fly, are 

 found on many oceanic islands. In an admir- 

 able essay on the migrations of organisms, con- 

 sidered with reference to the Darwinian theory, 

 Professor Moritz Wagner has collected many 

 similar examples. From personal observations 

 in North Africa, in Western Asia, in Hungary, 

 and in America, this veteran naturalist educes 

 the general conclusion that the limits within 

 which allied species are found are determined 

 by impassable natural barriers. Coleoptera with 

 their wings fastened down under their wing- 

 cases are specifically different on the opposite 

 shores of small rivers ; while butterflies and 

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