162 THE FALLACIES OF NATURAL SELECTION. 



in his endeavor to show, that Natural Selection may- 

 accumulate them, ad infinitum. 



Exception to this assumption of variations occurring 

 "in the course of thousands of generations," may be 

 taken, only on the ground that it is gratuitous; and 

 that (as with variations under domestication), he terms 

 these variations " spontaneous," and gives no law by 

 which their appearance is governed. 



Fourth: Now, as to his theory, that Natural Selec- 

 tion may accumulate these assumed variations indefi- 

 nitely : It begs the whole question ; and begs it, too, 

 in the face of a strong presumption, arising from the 

 .very requirements of the theory itself, and begs it, in 

 the face of what Darwin has explicitly shown to be the 

 actual effects of the operation of Natural Selection, the 

 main factor of the theory. 



The said presumption is the one, upon which we 

 have already commented at length, namely, The pre- 

 sumption, of previous degeneration, arising from the 

 unfavorable conditions under nature, which absolutely 

 require to be 4mfavorable, upon Darwin's theory of 

 Natural Selection, in order to bring about this very 

 Selection. 



The alleged, actual effects of the operation of 

 Natural Selection, are, namely, the " rudimentary 

 organs," and "long-lost characters," adduced, so fre- 

 quently and abundantly, by Darwin himself. 



Therefore, it is clear that Darwin's argument, from 

 Natural Selection, is a petitio principii. Nay, more, 

 the premises of such argument rebut its conclusion. 

 For, the presumption, from Darwin's own argument, 



