32 ON THE ORIGIN AND [CHAP. 



CHAPTER V. 



ON THE ORIGIN OF INSECTS. 



" PERSONNE," says Carl Vogt, " en Europe aii moins, 

 n'ose plus soutenir la Creation independante et de 

 toutes pieces des especes," and though this state- 

 ment is perhaps not strictly correct, still it is no 

 doubt true, that the Doctrine of Evolution, in some 

 form or other, is accepted by most, if not by all, the 

 greatest naturalists of Europe. Yet it is surprising 

 how much, in spite of all that has been written, 

 Mr. Darwin's views are still misunderstood. Thus 

 Browning, in one of his recent poems, says : 



" That mass man sprang from was a jelly lump 

 Once on a time ; he kept an after course 

 Through fish and insect, reptile, bird, and beast, 

 Till he attained to be an ape at last, 

 Or last but one. " J 



This theory, though it would be regarded by many as 

 a fair statement of his views, is one which Mr. Darwin 

 would entirely repudiate. Whether fish and insect, 

 reptile, bird and beast, are derived from one original 

 stock or not, they are certainly not links in one 



1 Prince Hohenstiel Schwangau, p. 68. 



