ICHTHYOLOGY. 31 



there is no more engaging study in the wide field of 

 Zoology. So many and so various are the forms of fish 

 in the mighty waters, so manifold are their structures and 

 adaptations to the conditions of their existence, that the 

 mind becomes almost lost in wonder and admiration. I 

 care not for learned disquisitions as to the origin of the 

 different types and species of the great tribe of fish, for 

 " natural selection," and the " survival of the fittest," or 

 the " gradual physical adaptation of an animal to its wants 

 and desires " (by which I suppose the Anabas Scandens 

 in the course of millions of years learnt to climb trees), 

 nor for the subtle theories of the great triumvirate of 

 modern science, Messrs. Darwin, Tyndall, and Huxley. I 

 am content to believe that " in the beginning " the great 

 types and individual species of animal life " which the 

 waters brought forth abundantly after their kind" were 

 the direct handiwork of the Great Creator, and to say, 

 " How manifold are Thy works ! in wisdom hast Thou 

 made them all." 



