DARWIN'S THEORY. 21 



the Cow, the Horse, the Tiger, the inevitable Monkey, 

 and into Man ! 



This is his conclusion, from the facts of variation, 

 under domestication. This is his reasoning, viz., given, 

 the amount of improvement observed to occur during 

 the last hundred years; and, given, the preservation 

 and accumulation of these variations by Man's Selec- 

 tion, the evolution of any of the lower forms, into any 

 of the higher, is to be considered highly probable, 

 and consistent with all of the analogies of science. 



There is no question, with a scientist, that, if his 

 reasoning holds good with the lower animals, it obtains 

 equally well with Man. 



Darwin now draws an analogy, between animals and 



plants under . domestication, and all organisms under 



nature. He declares, and adduces some evidence in 



support of his statement, that variations occur, also, 



under nature. As then, he argues, it is possible for 



such great advances in development, to take place in 



the future, with respect to the domesticated organisms ; 



so, it is likewise possible, and probable, that Nature 



has, in the past, brought about similar results ; and 



that such a progression, from simplicity to complexity 



of structure, has been gradually going on, in the past 



under nature, by means of accumulated variations, as 



to have evolved the higher animals (including Man) 



from the simplest type of structure ; or in Darwin's 



own words, " that all the organic beings which have 



lived on this earth, have descended from some one 



primordial form into which life was first breathed." 



It is here, at this point, that Darwin anticipates an 

 3 



