DARW1R AND HUMBOLDT. 



[821] 17 



indigenous productions. Considering 

 the small size of the islands, we feel 

 astonished at the number of their 

 aboriginal beings, and at their con- 

 fined range. Seeing every height 

 crowned with its crater, and the 

 boundaries of most of the lava-streams 

 still distinct, we are led to believe 

 that within a period geologically 

 recent, the unbroken ocean was here 

 spread out. Hence, both in space 

 and time, we seem to be brought 

 somewhat near to that fact — that 

 mystery of mysteries — the first appear- 

 ance of new beings on this earth." 



Next in order of time we have to 

 notice the Monograph of the Oirri- 

 pedla. This immensely elaborate 

 work was published by the Ray So 

 ciety in two volumes, comprising to- 

 gether over 1,000 large octavo pages, 

 and 40 plates. These massive books 

 (which were respectively published in 

 1851 and 1854) convey the results of 

 several years of devoted inquiry, and 

 are particularly interesting, not only 

 on account of the intrinsic value of 

 the work, but also because they show 

 that Mr. Darwin's powers of research 

 were not less remarkable in the direc- 

 tion of purely anatomical investiga- 

 tion than they were in that of physio- 

 logical experiment and philosophical 

 generalization. No one can even 

 glance through this memoir without 

 perceiving that if it had stood alone 

 it would have placed its author in the 

 very first rank as a morphological in- 

 vestigator. The prodigious number 

 and minute accuracy of his dissections, 

 the exhaustive detail with which he 

 worked out every branch of his sub- 

 ject — sparing no pains in procuring 

 every species that it was possible to 

 procure, in collecting all the known 

 facts relating to the geographical and 

 geological distribution of the group, 

 in tracing the complicated history of 

 metamorphoses represented by the in- 

 dividuals of the sundry species, in 

 disentangling the problem of the 

 homologies of these perplexing ani- 

 mals, etc. — all combine to show that 

 had Mr. Darwin chosen to devote 

 himself to a life of purely morpholog- 



ical work, his name would probably 

 have been second to none in that de- 

 partment of biology. We have to 

 thank his native sagacity that such 

 was not his choice. Valuable as 

 without any question are the results 

 of the great anatomical research which 

 we are considering, we cannot peruse 

 these thousand pages of closely-writ- 

 ten detail without feeling that, for a 

 man of Mr. Darwin's exceptional 

 powers, even such results are too 

 dearly bought by the expenditure of 

 time required for obtaining them. 

 We cannot, iudeed, be sorry that he 

 engaged in and completed this solid 

 piece of morphological work, because 

 it now stands as a monument to his 

 great ability in this direction of in- 

 quiry ; but at the same time Ave feel 

 sincerely glad that the conspicuous 

 success which attended the exercise of 

 such ability in this instance did not 

 betray him into other undertakings 

 of the same kind. Such undertak- 

 ings may suitably be left to establish 

 the fame of great though lesser mien;, 

 it would have been a calamity in the 

 history of our race if Charles Dar- 

 avin had been tempted by his own 

 ability to become a comparative anat- 

 omist. 



But as we have said — and we repeat 

 it lest there should be any possibility 

 of mistaking what we mean — the 

 results which attended this laborious 

 inquiry were of the highest import- 

 ance to comparative anatomy, and of 

 the highest interest to comparative 

 anatomists. The limits of this article 

 do not admit of our giving a summarv 

 of these results, so we shall only 

 allude to the one which is most im- 

 portant. This is the discovery of 

 "Complemental Males." The manner 

 in which this discovery was made in 

 its entirety is of interest, as showing 

 the importance of remembering ap- 

 parently insignificant observations 

 which may happen to be incidentally 

 made during the progress of a re- 

 search. For Mr. Darwin writes : 



" When first dissecting Scalpelhim 

 vulgare, I was surprised at the almost 

 constant presence of one or more very 



