Origin and Primal Condition of Man. 53 



Darwinism, however, properly so-called, has been so fully 

 and beautifully refuted by Mivart in his genesis of species, 

 that it is not likely ever to be again proposed as a complete 

 solution of the problem of origin of species. He brings 

 against it at least seven indictments which form the subject 

 of as many chapters, and on each one of which he convicts 

 it of inadequacy. He thus proves it: 1. Inadequate to 

 explain incipient stages of useful structures. 2. That 

 it does not harmonize with the coexistence of closely 

 similar structures of diverse origin. 3. That there are 

 grounds for thinking that specific differences may be de- 

 veloped suddenly instead of gradually. 4. That the opinion 

 that species have definite though very different limits to 

 their variability is still tenable, though at the creation of 

 new species it is allowed that these limits are passed over, 

 as a spheroid with a certain number of facets will stand on 

 any one of them till it is turned upon another and will 

 then retain the latter position. 5. That certain transitional 

 fossil forms are absent. 6. That some facts of geographi- 

 cal distribution supplement other difficulties. 7. That 

 homologies of structure and function imply an internal evo- 

 lutionary power not identical with natural selection. Yet 

 while fully refuting Darwinism, he, at the same time, in 

 every chapter, the more fully exhibits the necessity of some 

 form of evolution of species by descent, perhaps not all 

 from the same, but from a few original ones. 



Mivart, p. 258, says : " We have seen that though the laws 

 of nature are constant, yet some of the conditions which de- 

 termine specific change [or change into species] may be 

 exceptionally absent at the present epoch of the world's 

 history ; also that it is not only possible, but highly pro- 

 bable that an internal power or tendency is an important, 

 if not the main agent in evoking the manifestation of new 

 species on the scene of realized existence, and that in any 

 case from the facts of homology, [determining symmetry 



