DESIGN IN NATURE 297 



gested by the one fact may stand, otherwise it must 

 fall. 



Rudimentary organs constitute one of the principal 

 strongholds of the evolutionists against the theory of 

 design. It is evident, however, that if an organ 

 should become rudimentary by disuse, this fact is not 

 opposed to design. On the other hand, it would 

 seem to be in harmony with design, that, as a useful 

 organ becomes useless, if this ever happens, it would 

 gradually disappear. If this were true, however, it is 

 no evidence that organs can arise de novo and be 

 brought to perfection by the process of evolution. 



Again, we are told that there are defects in nature 

 which show the absence of design. The question as to 

 whether anything in nature should be regarded as an 

 imperfection or not, can arise only in regard to the 

 relation of living beings to their environments. So 

 far as the relations of the different kinds of inorganic 

 matter to each other are concerned they are equally 

 perfect, whatever they may be. 



The world is adapted in infinite ways to the exist- 

 ence of countless forms of living beings. The fact 

 that each organism is so well adapted to its environ- 

 ment shows the lack of imperfection. The great 

 length of time through which many forms have ex- 

 isted with little change in their structure — the fact 

 that animals and plants, similar to those now living, 

 have lived through the long geological ages, shows the 

 completeness of the adaptations of the earth to 

 organic beings. 



Conditions which may be perfect for some organ- 

 isms may be imperfect for others. If the million 

 species of living organisms could speak with regard to 

 the conditions most favorable to their existence, there 

 would be a great multitude of different answers. 

 Some would declare the land, others the water, and 



