296 CONCLUSION. [Chap. XV 



certain number of facts will certainly reject the theory. 

 A few naturalists, endowed with much flexibility of 

 mind, and who have already begun to doubt the immu- 

 tability of species, may be influenced by this volume ; 

 but I look with confidence to the future, — to young and 

 rising naturalists, who will be able to view both sides of 

 the question with impartiality. Whoever is led to believe 

 that species are mutable will do good service by con- 

 scientiously expressing his conviction ; for thus only can 

 the load of prejudice by which this subject is over- 

 whelmed be removed. 



Several eminent naturalists have of late published 

 their belief that a multitude of reputed species in each 

 genus are not real species ; but that other species are 

 real, that is, have been independently created. This 

 seems to me a strange conclusion to arrive at. They 

 admit that a multitude of forms, which till lately they 

 themselves thought were special creations, and which 

 are still thus looked at by the majority of naturalists, 

 and which consequently have all the external character 

 istic features of true species, — they admit that these 

 have been produced by variation, but they refuse to 

 extend the same view to other and slightly different 

 forms. Nevertheless they do not pretend that they can 

 define, or even conjecture, which are the created forms 

 of life, and which are those produced by secondary laws. 

 They admit variation as a vera causa in one case, they 

 arbitrarily reject it in another, without assigning any 

 distinction in the two cases. The day will come when 

 this will be given as a curious illustration of the blind- 

 ness of preconceived opinion. These authors seem no 

 more startled at a miraculous act of creation than at an 

 ordinary birth. But do they really believe that at innu- 



