CREATION BY LAW. 255 



all. Now what are these ? Can they be traced 

 or even guessed at ? Mr Darwin has a whole 

 chapter on the Laws of Variation ;* and it is here 

 if anywhere that we look for any suggestion as to 

 the physical causes which account for the Origin 

 as distinguished from the mere Preservation of 

 Species. He candidly admits that his doctrine of 

 Natural Selection takes cognisance of variations 

 only after they have arisen, and that it regards 

 those variations as purely accidental in their origin, 

 or in other words, as due to chance. This, of 

 course, he adds, is a supposition wholly incorrect, 

 and only serves " to indicate plainly our ignorance 

 of the cause of each particular variation." Accord- 

 ingly, the Laws of Variation which he proceeds 

 to indicate are merely, for the most part, certain 

 observed facts in respect to Variation, and do not 

 at all come under the category of Laws, in that 

 higher sense in which the word Law indicates a dis- 

 covered method under which Natural Forces are 

 made to work. There is, however, in this chapter 

 one Law which approaches to a Law in the higher 

 sense. Mr Darwin, whilst candidly confessing our 



* Origin of Species, chap. v. 



