PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 9 



statements, and that too, strangely enough, at the very time when we 

 have actually avoided drawing the whole of the conclusions capa- 

 ble of being deduced from these facts in favour of our side of the 

 question. 



It is not to be denied, that this theory of the transformation of one 

 species into another, together with all the hypotheses which flow from 

 it, will be found to be very strongly countenanced by various natural 

 phenomena. There never was a time when naturalists thought of ex- 

 plaining objects in nature without having recourse to analogy, and, 

 in the present case, it is upon analogy that we altogether rest. But 

 as, in a logical sense, we are prohibited from departing from the exact 

 import of the premises, in coming to our conclusion, so are we, 

 here, at once, interdicted from deducing from the analogies esta- 

 blished as principles, now before us, truths of a very different kind 

 from the principles incorporated in these analogies ; and there is no 

 doubt whatever, that, by neglecting this rule in all cases, where it 

 ought to have been applied, the mistake has been made which 

 we find Ourselves compelled to oppose ; and this is a work of no diffi- 

 culty whatever. We say, further, that all these faults, these fantastic 

 and confused speculations, which have been brought into vogue by 

 Naturalism, may be traced to the same cause ; namely, a complete for- 

 getfulness of the rule, without the assistance of which, the process of 

 induction, instead of being a mine of wealth, as it is at present, to 

 the sciences, would only be an instrument of confusion and endless 

 labour. 



It is well known that our domestic animals are divided into races, 

 more or less numerous, according to the species, and that these races 

 are chiefly to be distinguished by such characters as those of size, 

 bodily proportions, degrees of developement in the limbs, length of 

 their ears and hair, their colours, &c. Thus, for example, amongst 

 some of the most domestic of our canine race, we see a fifth toe de- 

 veloped in the hind paws. This toe is sometimes formed of bones 

 quite as complete iri their formation as those of the other toes, 

 and here, in my humble opinion, is presented to us, an organic 

 hereditary modification the most prominent that is supplied by 

 the animal kingdom. We may follow up this, by stating further, 

 as a permanent law, that modifications resulting from accident, 

 wnich become renewed in several successive generations, are ulti- 

 mately transmitted from father to son, as characters of the individual 

 race. 



vol. i. c 



