48 
PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 
as generalized types. Prof. Owen has described 
two curious creatures discovered there,— the 
echidna and ornithorhyncus,— still more primitive 
than the kangaroo. They are pre-marsupials. 
They are both egg-layers, as no other hairy quad¬ 
ruped is. Their eggs are placed, that of the 
echidna in a pouch, as the marsupials carry their 
immature young, and that of the ornithorhyncus 
in a nest, and there hatched. Like no typ¬ 
ical egg-layer, they suckle their young. The 
ornithorhyncus, which has a bill like a duck, has 
bones resembling those of birds, reptiles and seals. 
What can all this mean if not descent with mod¬ 
ification ? Professor Huxley declares : “ On the 
evidence of Palaeontology, the evolution of many 
existing forms of animal life from their pred¬ 
ecessors is no longer an hypothesis but an histori¬ 
cal fact/’ 
The links between the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms are abundant. The Rhizopod is a fine 
example. It has sensation, and seemingly purpose, 
though non-cellular and inorganic. The polyp, 
has no arterial or circulatory system. It consists 
of simple layers of cells, and is propagated by 
buds. Here is a being which eats and grows 
like an animal and yet is propagated like a vegeta- 
