EVIDENCES FROM MORPHOLOGY 141 
changed conditions of life, an organ which was previously useful 
becomes useless, it will be suffered to dwindle away in successive 
generations, under the influence of certain natural causes which we 
shall have to consider in future chapters. On the other hand, the 
theory of special creation can only maintain that these rudiments are 
formed for the sake of adhering to an ideal type. Now, here again 
the former theory appears to be triumphant over the latter; for, 
without waiting to dispute the wisdom of making dwarfed and useless 
structures merely for the whimsical motive assigned, surely if such a 
. 
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; 8. sae sen Narioyl 
‘ ; UNATION OF 
Reoimen rary Hino-Lipas AINE LIMB 
Fic, 17.—Rudimentary or vestigial hind limbs of python, as exhibited in the 
skeleton and on the external surface of the animal. Drawn from nature, } nat. 
size. (From Romanes.) 
method were adopted in so many cases, we should expect that in con- 
sistency it would be adopted in all cases. This reasonable expectation, 
however, is far from being realized. We have already seen that in 
numberless cases, such as that of the fore-limhs of serpents, no vestige 
of a rudiment is present. But the vacillating policy in the matter of 
rudiments does not end here; for it is shown in a still more aggravated 
form where within the limits of the same natural groups of organisms 
a rudiment is sometimes present and sometimes absent. For instance, 
although in nearly all the numerous species of snakes there are 
no vestiges of limbs, in the Python we find very tiny rudiments of 
the hind-limbs (Fig. 17). Now, is it a worthy conception of Deity 
that, while neglecting to maintain his unity of ideal in the case of 
