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nature,” within certain limits, “to rnn into and even per- 
petuate varieties of configuration, size, and colour ”; or (in 
other cases) to drop varieties and descend to a lower character. 
And then, again, the art of producing some varieties is well 
known, and a statement of it would have been useful. 
We wish from the naturalist all the facts we can obtain, to 
assist our knowledge. He may put them in what order he 
likes : it will make no difference to the facts — really such ^ 
but as to his “reasoning” upon them, after what we have 
seen, we must not concern ourselves. It is of the same kind 
throughout Mr. Darwin’s books ; — a simple putting of the 
post hoc for the propter hoc ; though sometimes accompanied 
by suggestions which simply induce a smile. 
One illustration may suffice as to this. His theory would 
seem generally to imply that some utility to the species would 
mark the “ survival ” in the higher of any peculiarities which 
had been possessed in the lower. In some of our inferior 
“ progenitors ” the faculty of hearing is found very much 
more acute than in ourselves, and is plainly connected with 
their power of erecting their ears to catch sound. Strictly 
speaking, it looks as if this physical advantage ought not to 
have been lost to us. Mr. Darwin, while “ coveting” the erect 
ears, distinctly suggests in explanation of the untractable fact 
that we have them not, that possibly, “ during a lengthened 
period” (that never-failing resource!) some of our “proge- 
nitors ” moved their ears but little, and “ thus gradually lost 
the power of moving them ” ! 
XXYI. But we must not altogether omit the views given 
of mental and moral Evolution. We find Mr. Darwin g uppoS ed 
begins his notions on the “Mental Structure ” with evolution, in- 
these words : “ We have seen in the last chapter reason. * and 
that man bears in his bodily structure clear traces 
of his descent from some lower form.” “We have seen”! This 
probably has not surprised Mr. Darwin’s followers, dazzled 
by his skilful and valuable array of details. But we too 
“have seen,” and have no need to say more of this. If, 
however, he supposes it to be the interest of any class of 
thinkers to dispute his anecdotes which follow, — as to the 
instincts of birds and animals, — he is surely deceiving himself. 
Ear be it from any of us, scientific or not, as Sydney Smith 
expresses it, “ to envy any of the lower creatures the fragments 
of wit and tatters of understanding with which they are so hap- 
pily provided.” It were not difficult to furnish Mr. Darwin 
some remarkable examples from the Curiosities of Literature , 
the Golden Legend , and the volumes of the Bollandists, to 
