WHAT IS DARWINISM* 153 



not in the resulting group, but in the idea or 

 potential element which is the basis of every 

 individual of the group." x Dr. Morton's defi- 

 nition of species as " primordial organic forms," 

 agrees with that given by Professor Dana ; and 

 both agree with the Bible, which says that 

 God created plants and animals each after its 

 kind. A primordial form is a form which was 

 not evolved out of some other form, but which 

 began to be in the form — subject to such va- 

 rieties as we see in the dog, horse, and man — 

 in which it continued during the whole period 

 of its existence. 



The criteria of these primordial forms or 

 species of nature, are, (1.) Morphological. 

 Animals, however, may approach very nearly 

 in their structure, and yet belong to different 

 species. It is only when the peculiarities of 

 structure are indicative of specialty of design, 

 that they form a safe ground of classification. 

 If the teeth of one animal are formed to fit it 

 to feed on flesh, and those of another to fit it to 

 feed on plants ; if one has webbed feet and an- 

 other not ; then, in all such cases, difference of 

 structure proves difference of kind. (2.) Phys- 

 iological ; that is, the internal nature, indicated 



1 Biblioiheca Sacra, 1857, p. 861. 



