NOTE CONCLUSORY. 275 



I gave these objections a careful study ; endeavoured to judge 

 of them dispassionately, and to allow them the utmost pos- 

 sible weight ; I deeply pondered on the consequences which 

 might flow from error in a question of such importance. 

 But to whatever cause attributable and I am quite prepared 

 to hear a derogatory one attributed so it is, that I have never 

 for a moment seen reason to doubt that the view of nature 

 presented in this volume is in the main right. 



To take these criticisms somewhat in detail. A large por- 

 tion of them referred to particular illustrations of the argu- 

 ment facts, or supposed facts in science which either were 

 incorrectly stated, or incorrectly applied, or perhaps were 

 dissented from by some scientific men while assented to by 

 others. Without the least regard to the strength of the 

 general argument, or the force of other illustrations, an ex- 

 ception was taken, on the strength of these, to the whole 

 work. What was to be expected from me in this case? 

 Surely not to abandon the general argument, which remained 

 untouched. It seemed enough to dismiss or rectify the chal- 

 lenged facts, and leave the book otherwise as it was. This I 

 have done. 



Another set of objections was of a more positive nature. It 

 was said that the highest invertebrates came at the beginning. 

 Of the fishes the highest were first. The earliest reptiles had 

 the highest kind of teeth. There was no imperfection, no 

 appearance of a rude first effort of nature, in the earliest 

 animals. The progress, too, was not uniformly shaded, but 

 contained great breaks and blanks which no theory of develop- 

 ment could account for. Was I to give way to these objec- 

 tions, presented by persons who, in their eagerness to magnify 

 them, almost sank out of sight the great facts that inverte- 

 brates preceded vertebrates, and that the latter, as far as 

 classes, at least, were concerned, came in the succession of an 

 improved organization? Holding rather to the great and 

 indubitable facts, I thought it well to examine carefully the 

 strength of those smaller ones which were thought adverse. 

 The consequence was the discovery that some of the objections 

 rested on false or partial views of science (see Note 55), and 



T2 



