114 KEVERSION, 



The finger-reading of the blind; the exalted ability 

 of an orchestral conductor, to discriminate delicate 

 differences of sound; the pronounced development of 

 a dancer's legs, and of the jockey's crural adductors; 

 the many instances of high cultivation of the senses, 

 and of the intellect, either special or general ; attest, — 

 not a development, caused by mere activity, — but the 

 reparative power, which follows, very late, upon a de- 

 generation suffered by the individual's ancient pro- 

 genitors. Had the said tactual ability of the blind, 

 and the other cases of development, been at their 

 maximum, in an individual; and had they, then, from 

 some cause, been lost; their regain, by means of the 

 nisus formativus, or reparative power, would be con- 

 sidered perfectly natural. Why, then, should their 

 restoration to full integrity, and to full power, be 

 deemed in anywise singular, when Darwin himself 

 testifies, that this reparative power is operative, with 

 the largest and most important organs, after thou- 

 sands, and even millions, of generations ? As a fact, 

 this functional and structural development does ensue 

 upon mere activity. But the activity is but the 

 mere condition. The cause is to be sought, else- 

 where. To explain it; which is the more scientific 

 and reasonable? — to refer it to "evolution," to "pro- - 

 gress," to "innate tendency,'' etc., terms which are, 

 confessedly, but the mere symbols of a cause un- 

 known; or, to ascribe it to a power, which we see 

 daily in operation, in the repair of the slightest injury 

 to the skin? 



If an individual should forswear all manner of exer- 



