would be very liable to form erroneous opinions 
respecting them, and WDuld hardly be found to 
classify tlie Newfoundland dog with the Itilian 
greyhound, or the turnspit with the bulldog. 
The same remarks apply to the breeds of 
horses, in which the racer could hardly be sup- 
posed to be of the same species as the heavy 
dray horse or the Shetland pony. Cattle and 
sheep, and other domestic animals, are subject 
to the same observations ; but I shall not 
enlarge on this part of the subject, as we are all 
acquainted with most of the particulars on this 
head. Now the que.-ti »n is, what countenance 
does this remarkable fact (which we mu-t all 
acknowledge) give to Mr. Darwin’s theory ? 
Because the intelligence of man has been 
directed by isolating individuals, having 
slight and unimportant deviations from 
their progenitors, coupling them, and repeating 
this process through numberless generations, 
therefore he supposes that nature has acted 
n a similar manner, though much more slowly. 
i(He supposes 10,000 years to be required to 
bring about such a deviation from a particular 
type as to constitute a new species.) To say 
the least, this is only supposition ; and the 
proof wanting is that which Mr. Darwin is, as 
lie admits, unable to supply. Naturalists argue 
that in the process of time thus occupied in 
transmuting a species, we should surely meet 
with intermediate forms, and assert that a 
graduated series should present themseives, 
bearing more and more marks of deviation from 
the supposed form from which they have been 
derived. Of course, there is no chance at 
coming to any such conclusion with respect to 
animals now living ; but the testimony of the 
rocks ought to supply sufficient in those forms 
which are least liable to decay, as in the tes- 
tacea. Thus, we might expect to find in the 
last beds of lias and oolite, which must have 
taken tens of thousands of years to be deposited, 
typical forms belonging to the lowest portions, 
and other species derived from them, in the 
highest, with intermediate forms vey numerous 
all through the middle portions of those de- 
posits. But such is not the case. There are 
plenty species closely allied, but as cer- 
tainly distinct as those in the cabinet of 
the conchologist of to-day ; and making 
allowance for age and a moderate amount 
of diversibility, no very erroneous con- 
clusion is likely to be arrived at in the pre- 
sent state of science. Mr. Darwn argues 
strongly that the paucity of the geological 
record is sufficient to account for the lack of 
the intermediate forms, but in the prolific strata 
already alluded to, as well as m others, we 
surely ought to find these intermediate links. 
But to return. It is fully conceded that man- 
kind have succeeded in causing many singular 
changes to take place in the domesticated races 
of animals. Yet there are some singular excep- 
tions, such as the Ass and the common Gfoose. 
What are we to argue from the fact in general ? 
It appears to me that something more is 
intended to be learnt than some will be willing 
to admit, and it is this, that these use ul crea- 
tures have been specially formed for the service 
of man, having been employed by him for his 
benefit from the earliest periods of history ; 
and as recent testimony would seem to prove 
very long before. How the human race were 
enabled to select the particular animals now to 
be found in a state of domestication nearly all 
over the world, it were fruitless to enquire ; but 
there are hints that they may have been directed 
to do so from a higher source. Be that as it may 
we find, that, like the human race themselves, 
these useful creatures are nearly all capable of 
existing wherever man himself can, and it is 
not i o be wondered at, but might be anticipated, 
that animals so endowed should be capable of 
other features in their economy, fitting them 
more perfectly for the various useful offices 
they perform. A striking fact in favour of the 
view, that certain animals were formed for 
man’s exclusive use, is to be found in the 
Camel and Dromedary, of which animals, the 
wild race is totally unknown ; they, by their 
very conformation and constitution are most 
beautifully adapted for traversing the burning 
deserts of Africa and Asia, and I cannot see 
any approach to a creditable link between any 
known or extinct form, and these singular 
animals. Domesticated animals are dependent 
up >n man for protection, more particularly 
those breeds which owe their peculiar qualities 
to his care and attention ; and there cannot be 
a doubt that should they be suffered to run 
wild, the valuable qualities with which they 
are endowed would rapidly disappear, and 
the different breeds mingling together would 
canse a speedy degeneration, especially when 
introduced into a country which is not their 
natural habitat. Thus, an instance is 
given respecting the horse, by Hum- 
boldt, which is illustrative of this point. 
He says, referring to tlie descendants of the 
runaway stock originally introduced by the 
Spiniards into South America about 300 years 
ago — In the rainy season the horses which 
wander in the Savannah and have not time to 
reach the rising grounds of the Llanos, perish 
by hundreds by the overflowing of the rivers. 
The mares are seen, followed by their colts, 
swimming during a part of the day to feed 
upon the gras, the tops of which alone wave 
above the waters. In this state they are pur- 
sued by the crocodiles, and it is no uncommon 
thing to find the prints of the teeth of these 
carnivorous reptiles on their thighs. Pressed 
alternately by excess of drought or humidity, 
they sometimes seek a pool in the midst of a 
bare and dusty soil to quench their thirst ; and 
at other times flee from water and the over- 
flowing rivers, as menaced by an enemy that 
encounters them in every d potion, Harassed 
during the day by gadflies . id mosquitoes, the 
horses, mules, and cows find themselves at- 
