SIXTH DAY'S SITTING. 135 



acquiring its long neck, and other corresponding peculi- 

 arities of its frame, from having to stretch its body in order 

 to feed on the lofty branches of trees ; and monkeys, I 

 presume, acquiring their powers of climbing by having to 

 ascend still higher to find the fruit. S^ pass over Lord ^^ 

 Monboddo's opinions on the origin of man. Mr. Darwin's 

 own grandfather. Dr. Erasmus Darwin, is known to have 

 entertained somewhat similar views. Mr. Darwin has ad- 

 vanced on these ideas by introducing Natural Selection as 

 the primary modifying agent. Starting from the position 

 of Malthus, with regard to man, Mr. Darwin maintains 

 that many more living creatures are produced on this earth 

 than can possibly survive. It is well known, moreover, 

 that, by what may be called the law of variation, each 

 living creature produced differs, to some extent, from every 

 other of its kind. No two human beings are exactly alike, 

 and these variations extend, not only to the features, but 

 every separate member and portion of the frame. So it is 

 with the lower animals. Mr. Darwm supposes that those 

 individuals, in which the variations are of a favourable 

 character, will be more vigorous, or, at least, more fit for 

 the conditions in which they are placed ; and that, conse- 

 quently, in the struggle for existence with their own kind, 

 with other animals, and with external circumstances, they 

 will survive in greater numbers, and that, by the laws of 

 inheritance, they will transmit their peculiarities to their 

 offspring ; and that thus the struggle for existence, and 

 the survival of the fittest being continually renewed, by the 

 gradual accumulation of favourable peculiarities, through 

 numerous generations, separate and distinct species are 

 eventually produced. 



The lengthened time — 3,000 years at least — during which 

 cosmological speculations have been cherished, has given 



