240 Darwin, and after Darwin. 
But this allusion to Great Britain introduces us to 
another point. It will have been observed that, 
unlike oceanic islands remote from mainlands, Great 
Britain is well furnished both with reptiles (including 
amphibia) and mammals. For there is no instance of 
any oceanic island situated at more than 300 miles 
from a continent where any single species of the 
whole class of mammals is to be found, excepting 
species of the only order which is able to fly—namely, 
the bats. And the same has to be said of frogs, toads, 
and newts, whose spawn is quickly killed by contact 
with sea-watcr, and therefore could never have reached 
remote islands in a living state. Hence, on evolu- 
tionary principles, it is quite intelligible why oceanic 
islands should not present any species of mammals or 
batrachians—peculiar or otherwise,— save such species 
of mammals as are able to fly. But on the theory 
of special creation we can assign no reason why, 
notwithstanding the extraordinary profusion of unique 
types of other kinds which we have seen to occur on 
oceanic islands, the Deity should have made this 
curious exception to the detriment of all frogs, toads, 
newts, and mammals, save only such as are able to fly. 
Or, if any one should go so far to save a desperate 
hypothesis as to maintain that there must have been 
some hidden reason why batrachians and quadrupeds 
were not specially created on oceanic islands, I may 
mention another small—but in this relation a most 
significant—fact. This is that. on some of these 
islands there occur certain peculiar species of plants, 
the seeds of which are provided with numerous tiny 
hooks, obviously and beautifully adapted—like those 
on the seeds of allied plants elsewhere—to catch the 
