﻿THE 
  THEORY 
  OF 
  DEVELOPMENT. 
  47 
  

  

  is 
  ever 
  seen 
  to 
  exert 
  such 
  a 
  power 
  now. 
  

   There 
  are 
  many 
  indications 
  which 
  tend 
  to 
  

   show 
  that 
  all 
  organisms 
  have 
  been 
  equally 
  

   incapable 
  of 
  modification 
  since 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   monuments 
  of 
  Man. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  proof 
  that 
  

   any 
  organism 
  ever 
  did 
  fulfil 
  such 
  functions 
  at 
  

   any 
  time. 
  The 
  hypothesis 
  is 
  resorted 
  to 
  

   because 
  of 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  conceiving 
  any 
  

   method 
  of 
  creation 
  except 
  creation 
  by 
  birth. 
  

   But 
  this 
  is 
  no 
  adequate 
  standing-ground 
  for 
  a 
  

   scientific 
  theory. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  well 
  for 
  those 
  

   who 
  speculate 
  upon 
  this 
  subject 
  to 
  remember, 
  

   that 
  whenever 
  a 
  new 
  species 
  or 
  a 
  new 
  class 
  

   of 
  animal 
  has 
  begun 
  to 
  be, 
  something 
  must 
  

   have 
  happened 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  "ordinary 
  

   course 
  of 
  nature," 
  as 
  known 
  to 
  us. 
  Some- 
  

   thing, 
  therefore, 
  must 
  have 
  happened 
  which 
  

  

  