212 DESIGN IN NATURE 



cannot be set aside in favour of any theory, not even that of evolution. The constitutions of plants and animals 

 must, because of their stability and permanence, be regarded as original endowments, and the variations, of which 

 so much has been made, are, it appears to me, as nothing by comparison. That plants and animals under cultivation 

 and in certain circumstances vary within hmits, is admitted, but it is also admitted that they revert to ttieir 



originals if left to themselves. n- r, a +>, 



Given stable constitutions, it follows that plants and animals do not, of necessity, vary. If they do vary, me 



deeree of variation is not to any great extent determined by any extraneous circumstances, such as environment 



^ and artificial stimulation. Plants and ammals 



are very properly accorded a selective and self- 

 regulating power in certain directions, but these 

 they possess in virtue of a First Cause working 

 in or through them. Permanence of t)rpe for 

 thirty thousand or more years virtually shunts 

 the question of variation as a main factor in 

 evolution. If no change or adaptation is required 

 for thirty thousand years, it shows that plants 

 and ammals can get on without variation, and 

 are superior to environment. The continuity (in 

 an unchanged form) of plants and animals for 

 such protracted periods bespeaks perfect primary 

 endowment and adaptation, and this, in turn, 

 imphes design, and law and order of the highest 

 conceivable kind. 



The design, law and order are to be at- 

 tributed to the Maker of the plants and animals, 

 and not to the plants and animals themselves. 

 If this view be not adopted, intelligence must 

 be ascribed to protoplasm, to cells, to tissues, 

 and to organs, as well as to the completed plants 

 and animals, from the lowest to the highest. As 

 a man cannot add a cubit to his stature by an 

 effort of will or persistent wishing, it is reason- 

 able, and indeed necessary, to suppose that all 

 the changes, modifications, and adaptations in 

 plants and animals, when they occur, are in- 

 augurated and controlled by a power outside of 

 them — that power being the First Cause, Designer, 

 and Upholder. 



Two views are possible in this connection : 

 (a) that the Creator made plants and ammals 

 perfect from the first ; or (b) that He fashioned 

 them with a defimte trend or tendency in given 

 directions ; the trend being limited in such a way as to prevent the mixing up and confusion of types. The result 

 is practically the same. In the one case the First Cause is behind or outside the plant and animal ; in the other it 

 is practically within the plant and animal. 



It is not possible to get away from a supreme power, and from design, law and order, either in the organic or 

 inorganic kingdoms. 



The subject of one great creation confined to a defimte period, or several smaller creations embracing various 

 periods, need not be discussed further than to say, that the geologic record would lend itself to support either theory 

 equally well. Time is an element in both forms of creation. When one great creative act is spoken of, the act is 

 not to be regarded as instantaneous : it consists of stages and processes which imply duration. All that is meant is 

 that creation occupied a definite measure of time, and that when the imiverse and all it contains was made, there 

 was an end of creative activity. The amount of time required is nowhere stated. The six days mentioned in 

 Scripture may mean six thousand years or six millions years. The processes or steps of creation are equally visible 

 in the organic and inorganic kingdoms ; in the crust and rocks of the earth, and in the successive geologic flora 



Fig. 36. — Restoration of the An/uvopteryx siemensi, a rare extinct fossil liird. 

 Shows each wing to possess three fingers, each temiinating in a hook ; a long 

 bony tail with feathers spreading from either side ; and the aljsence of a proper 

 heak, &c. (Restored according to scale, from measvirenients taken from a ]ihoto- 

 gi-aph of the fossil specimen, by C. Berjeau and the Author. ) 



