1SS3.J Flank Attacks on Evolution. 253 
the sudden appearance of a living creature the origin of which 
could be with certainty attributed to inorganic matter ? 
“ 2. And how, deprived of maternal cares, could a young 
animal subsist without experience and strength ? 
“ How could the young sparrow, when commencing to 
live, preserve its existence if its parents did not bring it 
regularly either the inserts or the seeds and the fruits neces- 
sary for its support ? 
“ I see it, this frail and delicate creature : it succumbs 
after true sufferings caused by cruel hunger. If the mother 
does not keep the young swallow warm it must soon perish 
under the influence of cold ; its eyes contemplate the light, 
and darkness then infolds them ; life with a red blood cir- 
culates in its veins, in its arteries, and the icy hand of death 
soon stops it ; its brain and nerves had placed it in connec- 
tion with the external world, but deprived of their exquisite 
sensibility they cease to perceive the radiance of the sun 
and sounds full of harmony. 
“ No ! a creature at the outset of its existence cannot be 
thrown feeble and naked upon the earth, and still preserve 
there its life. 
“ There was required, at first, for every species, a being 
completely formed, a being whose body, instindts or reason 
were entirely developped ; parents were necessary created 
in their adult age. 
“ Darwinists admit consequently as true, as a fundamental 
principle of their theory, an impossible fact.” 
We have transcribed literally this passage from our . 
“ offensive ” author lest we should be suspected of wickedly 
perverting his line of argument in order to make him appear 
ridiculous. Few persons, indeed, would be able to conceive 
that a man of any education could seriously put forward 
such a misconception, not to say misrepresentation, of Evo- 
lutionist dodbrines. 
It is no part of the teachings of Darwin — as M. de Casa- 
major might see from the concluding passage of the “Origin 
of Species” — that life sprang originally from “ blind matter.” 
Nor is such an assumption in the least necessary for the va- 
lidity of the Evolutionist theory of the organic world. We 
may even go a step further, and ask how does M. de Casa- 
major know whether or no in our days a living creature, 
previously unknown, has or has not ever suddenly made its 
appearance ? How would he distinguish between such a 
creature and one which might have existed for thousands of 
years, but had hitherto escaped observation ? Darwin sup- 
poses-— whether rightly or wrongly is for the moment 
