364 STATE OF DEVELOPMENT OF 



that by this fundamental test of victory in the battle for 

 life, as well as by the standard of the specialization of 

 organs, modern forms ought, on the theory of natural 

 selection, to stand higher than ancient forms. Is this 

 the case? A large majority of palaeontologists would 

 answer in the affirmative; and it seems that this answer 

 must be admitted as true, though difficult of proof. 



It is no valid objection to this conclusion, that certain 

 Brachiopods have been but slightly modified from an 

 extremely remote geological epoch; and that certain land 

 and fresh-water shells have remained nearly the same, from 

 the time when, as far as is known, they first appeared. 

 It is not an insuperable difficulty that Foraminifera 

 have not, as insisted on by Dr. Carpenter, progressed in 

 organization siuce even the Kaurentian epoch; for some 

 organisms would have to remain fitted for simple condi- 

 tions of life, and what could be better fitted for this end 

 than these lowly organized Protozoa? Such objections as 

 the above would be fatal to my view, if it included advance 

 in organization as a necessary contingent. They would 

 likewise be fatal, if the above Foraminifera, for instance, 

 could be proved to have first come into existence during 

 the Laurentian epoch, or the above Brachiopods during the 

 Cambrian formation; for in this case, there would not have 

 been time sufficient for the development of these organ- 

 isms up to the standard which they had then reached. 

 When advanced up to any given point, there is no neces- 

 sity, on the theory of natural selection, for their further 

 continued process; though they will, during each succes- 

 sive age, have to h& slightly modified, so as to hold their 

 places in relation to slight changes in their conditions. 

 The foregoing objections hinge on the question whether we 

 really know how old the world is, and at what period the 

 various forms of life first appeared; and this may well be 

 disputed. 



The problem whether organization on the whole has 

 advanced is in many ways excessively intricate. The geo- 

 logical record, at all times imperfect, does not extend far 

 enough back to show with unmistakable clearness that 

 within the known history of the world organization has 

 largely advanced. Even at the present day, looking to 

 members of the same class, naturalists are not unanimous 



