226 WALTER KIDD, M.D., T.Z.S.^ ON 



Origin of Environment which makes the differentiation of species 

 evolutionally possible. Natural selection accounts for but little. 

 How many things unsought are nevertheless enjoyed ! Whence 

 the light and heat of the sun, the air we breathe, the water to 

 quench our thirst ? Even the most extreme advocate of the 

 doctrine of evolution will admit that these and many more things 

 had a prior existence to Natural Selection, and formed part of the 

 preparation for life. We can in nowise promote the beauty of the 

 stxnset-sky, bat it meets with a gratified response in the hearts of 

 most of us, and proves that there are correlations utterly beyond 

 the reach of natural selection. 



Dr. A. Neve writes : — 



It has always seemed to me that the preparation of the 

 environment for the organism, i.e., of the earth for man, was a fact 

 more impressive in its teleological aspect than the reverse, viz., 

 the adaptation of man to his surroundings ; and that the exist- 

 ence of certain useful materials with properties only becoming 

 available by the application of human intelligence is to be fairly 

 regarded as a preparation for man, and a prophecy of man. One 

 special thing I would mention is the various action of drugs. 

 Digitalis acts on the heart, opium on the nervous system. Then 

 again the specific action of quinine on the malarial organism. 

 If it should be shown that these chemical combinations which 

 in relation to ourselves we call medicines, are of primary value 

 to the plant or tree from which we obtain them, I do not see 

 that the force of the teleological argument would be in any way 

 weakened. 



Dr. Kidd's paper is so compact that it takes close reading to 

 discover his mention of the coal beds, mineral oils, and many 

 other substances prepared such ages ago for man's use. 



Professor Langhorne Orchard, B.Sc, writes : — 



We are much indebted to the able and learned author for this 



important papier which sets forth the grand Design argument in 



one of its most striking phases. 



This argument has three principal aspects, viz., the argument 



from : — 



1. Co-existence — suitability between a creature and its 

 immediate environment at any one particular time; 



