146 HOMO V. DAE'WIN. 



ages ago, began its journey from monkeyhood to humanity, 

 there have been none of his relatives either among the Old 

 World monkeys or the New World monkeys that have had 

 the capacity or the ambition to imitate his example ; or that, 

 if any there were, they perished in the attempt ! Perhaps, 

 as in the case of Mr. Darwin's ape, the progeny destroyed 

 the parents, in other cases the parents may have destroyed 

 the progeny. At all events, while the stem of Old World 

 monkeys and the stem of Xew World monkeys survives 

 and flourishes to the present day, no branch proceeding 

 from either of them has been so favoured, except the branch 

 that has blossomed into man. Such being the case, then. 

 Old World monkeys and New World monkeys having, on 

 Mr. Darwin's own showing, continued to be Old World and 

 New World monkeys for millions upon millions of ages, 

 in spite of the constant watchfulness and incessant and 

 powerful working of Natural Selection — Mr. Darwin's god 

 that never slumbers nor sleeps — can it be believed that this 

 ancient member of the Primates ever existed to secede from 

 their society and cross the gulf which now separates all of 

 them from man ? I should hope, for the credit of our 

 common rationality, that there are but few of " the younger 

 and rising naturalists" who possess credulity enough to 

 accept such a belief.* 



If Mr. Darwin thus fails on the field of Natm-al History, 



* The writer has just had his attention drawn to the following 

 notice in The Academy, of September Ist, 1871. The fact men- 

 tioned greatly strengthens the position taken above. " Fossil Bals. — 

 At the meeting of the British Association, Professor Van Beneden, of 

 Louvain, read a paper on ' The Bats of tbe Mammoth Period com- 

 pared with existing species.' The learned Professor, after devoting 

 much study to the remains of species collected ia the cayes of Belgium, 

 finds that they do not differ in any way from those now existing in 

 the same country." 



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