I!) 
it is certainly sojnewhat startling to find that a maggot, or cater- 
pillar develops into a form from which it differs in almost every 
respect, lake the common maggot for example, and compare it 
with the perfect form, and we find a legless, wingless object, with 
scarcely any traces of organs of any kind, becoming by some pro- 
cess which eludes the most acute observer, a highly organized 
creature, with wings, legs, and internal organs highly developed ; a 
delicate respiratory and nervous system, and a tongue or proboscis 
remarkable for its complicated structure. 
I he change which takes place here appears to bo far greater 
than wouhl be necessary to dovelo}) an antliropoid ape into a man. 
We do not, however, find that this change is progre.ssive. The fly 
does not produce any form superior to itself, but only a maggot. 
Our supposed remote ancestor the Ascidian larva becomes more 
imperfect when it assumes the perfect form ; it is only during its 
larva state that it bears any resemblance to a vertebrate. 
It is somewhat remarkable that the naturalist has no difficulty 
in placing in their proper orders those forms which might be sup- 
posed to bo transitional, such as the whales, dugongs, bats, &c., or 
even the platypus. It is therefore evident that we must not look 
upon the whales as a link between beasts and fishes, or the bat as 
connecting animals with birds. 
The believers in special creation do not suppose any new forms 
have been created since man made his appearance, but they do 
believe that special creations of forms took place when certain 
changes occurred on the earth ; and although some forms survived 
through various geological epochs, yet the species peculiar to each 
period died out, and were replaced by those more adapted to the 
altered conditions that had taken place, and that this was done by 
the power and wisdom of an omnipotent Creator. 
I feel I ought to apologise for the tediousness of these crude 
remarks, particularly as they are opposed to modern ideas of the 
origin ot species. I know I am guilty of great presumption in 
demurring to a system bearing the great and honoured name of 
Darwin, who, with the humility of a true philosopher, says in every 
case, “ may it not be so.” It is left for his followers to dogmatise, 
c 1 
