22 



over the difficulty, I cannot give up my own opinion, which must 

 be right. 



I believe that as my theory must be true, the records of 

 geology are of no account. For "IF my theory be true" (as of 

 course, as I have said, it must be), " during those vast, yet quite 

 unknown periods of time, the world swarmed with living creatures," 

 but to the question why we find no remains of them, as we do of 

 others, " I can give no satisfactory answer." But what matters 

 that ? The evidence I want is not to he had, but I can do 

 equally well with or without evidence. 



I believe that all existing plants and animals " may" have been 

 " developed" from a seed of a seaweed, and if we admit this, as 

 we must, because I fancy it, then there can be no difficulty about 

 the matter ; none whatever. It may have been first " charac- 

 teristically animal," and then " unequivoc ably vegetable ;" and 

 " I cannot doubt " but that it held within it the potential exis- 

 tences of all creation, so as to develop in the end into a whale 

 and a crab, a butterfly and a tortoise, an oak tree and a man. 

 But if you ask me who were its parents, or how it was first 

 made, or how it acquired its double quality of animal and 

 vegetable, you must go to some one else than me for an answer. 

 I decline giving one, for the best of all possible reasons. I like 

 to have a good reason for all I say and do. 



I believe that it icas. That must be enough for you. What 

 was the " origin" of this u species" I cannot tell you, though all 

 my book pretends to be about it. It went " on the principle of 

 Natural Selection with divergence of character." Is not that 

 clear enough for you ? I say that it was so, though how it came 

 by Natural Selection, when there was nothing to select, is beyond 

 even my capacity to say ; nor how the next came from it, nor 

 whether the animal came first or the vegetable. Don't talk (< 

 me. All I can tell you is that there was some "divergence of 

 character" in the first seed, some "modification," some "develop- 

 ment," some "plastic" tendency, so that the first seed had to 

 "struggle for existence" with itself, for there were then no others 

 to struggle with ; and thus came out of one both male and female, 

 and so on till the process came down to man pari passu ! 



