REVIEWS—OUON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. Ore 
ment, the greater number are only apparent, and those that are real are not, [ 
think, fatal to my theory. 
These difficulties and objections may be classed under the following Reads: — 
Firstly, why,. if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine 
gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is 
not all nature in confusion instead of the species being, as we see them, well 
defined ? 
Secondly, is it possible that an animal having, for instance, the structure and 
habits of a bat, could have been formed by the modification of some animal with 
wholly different habits? Can we believe that natural selection could produce, on 
the one hand, organs of trifling importance, such as the tail of a giraffe, which 
serves as a fly-flapper, and, on the other hand, organs of such wonderful structure, 
as the eye, of which we hardly as yet fully understand the inimitable perfection ¢ 
Thirdly, can instincts be acquired and modified through natural selection ? 
What shall we say to so marvellous an instinct as that which leads the bee to make 
eells, which have practically anticipated the discoveries of profound mathematic- 
ians # 
Fourthly, how can we account for species, when crossed, being sterile and 
producing sterile offspring, whereas, when varieties are crossed, their fertility is 
= paired ? 
The first objection is met on Mr. Darwin’s part by several pleas, of 
which we give the author’s own summary below, merely stating our 
personal inability to see clearly the force of his replies. We 
should remember, in this connection, that our present knowledge is 
not confined to a few limited areas, but extends over almost the 
whole surface of the globe; and imperfect as the geological record 
may be, ib is at least exceedingly surprising that neither dead nor 
existing nature in any part of the world should be capable of afford- 
ing direct support, however slight, to the author’s views. We cannot 
but think, consequently, that he asks us here to accord him too 
much. The following are the arguments—as given in a condensed 
form by the author himself—by which the first of the above most 
serious objections is attempted to be overcome :— 
ih To sum up, I believe that species come to be tolerably well-defined objects, 
and do not at any one period present an inextricable chaos of varying and inter- 
mediate links: firstly, because new varieties are very slowly formed, for variation 
is a very slow process, and natural selection can do nothing unti! favourable 
variations chance to occur, and until a place in the natural polity of the country 
can be better filled by some modification of some one or more of itsinhabitants. And 
such new. places will depend on slow change of climate, or on the occasional 
immigration of new inhabitants, and probably, in a still more important degree, on 
some of the old inhabitants becoming slowly modified, with the new forms thus 
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