15 



pollen) is taken, though quite available for another flower ! The 

 innumerable contrivances to secure intercrossing are infinitely 

 more varied and marvellous than was ever contemplated by Lin- 

 naeus, Paley, or the late Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. 



Another instance of false reasoning, which I have heard 

 brought before this Society, is the following : — " Mountain 

 grasses are viviparous (that is_, produce a kind of bulb instead 

 of flowers and seeds) in order that the winds, so prevalent at 

 high altitudes^ may not waft the seeds into the valleys below " ! 

 One other instance, and which will be found in the Bridgewater 

 Treatise of Dr. Roget [On Animal and Vegetable Physiology, 

 vol. i. p. 95, 8vo. ed.), who says : " The different kinds of 

 hairs, of down, of thorns and prickles, which are found on the 

 surface of diff'erent plants, have various uses, sonie of which 

 are easily understood (?), particularly that of defending the 

 plant from molestation by animals. The sting of the nettle is 

 of this class.'^ Dr. Roget does not seem to have been aware of 

 the fact that the caterpillars of several kinds of insects feed upon 

 nettle-leaves ! With regard to mountain grasses being vivi- 

 parous, it is an unfair statement, which might lead one to suppose 

 that all mountain grasses are so. They are rather the exception 

 than otherwise. Again it might be asked, how is it that the 

 ' creeping willows^ to the seeds of which silky hairs are attached, 

 for the express purpose of wafting them away, flourish and 

 carpet the mountain-tops of the Alps ? 



These few instances will be sufficient to show how cautious 

 we must be in assigning a use to certain organs and organisms 

 which experience may subsequently prove was never intended ! 

 It is by such hasty generalizations that teleologists only bring 

 down contempt upon themselves, which natural theology is 

 compelled to share. 



Another application of the word use " must now be con- 

 sidered. The healthy and vigorous action of any organ depends 

 upon its exercise ; and an increase of growth is the result of 

 use, while a decrease or atrophied condition is the consequence 

 of disuse. Thus when we see a bird fly, we are justified in say- 

 ing that the use of its wings is for flight ; but when we look 

 at the rudimentary condition of the wings of an ostrich or 

 apteryx, and supposing we know of no other birds, such a con- 

 clusion could never be drawn. Seeing, however, that the 

 absence of the power of flying is exceptional, we have reason to 

 believe, in accordance with the above law, that the power has 

 gone in consequence of disuse. So the wing is now useless. 

 But such uselessness is not always the case of atrophy. Take 

 the penguin. Here, too, the wing is useless for flying, but 

 observation tells us that it does admirably well for swimming. It 



