Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-10-25
THE "oR1a1N OF SPECIES"

theory OF Charles Darwin on INC oi's'A
of Species, by means Of natural selection
it i, perhaps worth all the labor 1t has
cos, him to have written the few lines
with which the Atlantic Monthly closed q
sketch Of his theory: Whoever hesi-
ta,es to utter that which he thinks the
hishes, truth lest it should be too wueh
in advance Of the time, may reassurs him.
self by looking at his acts from an impeE-
sonsl point OF view. Opinion is the
agency by which character adopts e1-
ternal arrangements to itself. His opin-
ion rightly forms part Of thi, agency, is o
unit Of force, constituting, with other
such units, the general power which
works out social changes-so that be may
properly give full uttersncs to his inner
most conviction, leaving it to produce
what effect i, may. Isiis not for nothing
tina. he has in him these s~ympashies with
some principles and repugnance to others.
He is a descendant of the pass-a parent
of the future. The highest truth he secs,
he will fsarlsssly utter, knowing, that let
what may come Of it, he is thus playing
his right part in the world"
When, twenty years ago, The Vestiges
Of Creation frat appeared, it wal deridsd
and abused ever by such men a. Lord
Brougham, in the Edinburg Rerieso. as
quite asheistic. It's real and supposed
errors in science were severely criticised,
and its fundamental principle Of creation
by law, waS regarded with dets,tation By
many. Yet there were many Others to
whom il came home as . new revelation OF
scientific truth, and as giving the highest
and noblsss conceptions possible Of q per-
sonal Creator. No one doubted the au-
thor's sincerity, and in writing it he only
uttered the highest truth he could see or
conjecture. But he did that, and OAR
wins theory is the legitimate result.
Twenty years had Darwin spent in a pa
tent and laborious study Of nature, hav-
ing special reference to this ~topic-ths
"Origin OF Species" There are apparent
ly three great agencies at work, producing
all the changes that occur-hrss, the ten
dency Of all animals to transmit their Pc
culiari,ies to their offspring; second. the
tendency Of all animals to vary from their
progsnisors under varying cireumstancss
around them and third, the constant
changes taking place in their surroundings.
In this way, Mr.. Darwin thinks that in q
sufficient number Of generations he can
aecoun. for all the changes in the forms OF
animal life.
The power of nature to adapt her pro-
geny to different circumstances is no
doubt very great. The varieties Of pigeons
produced by u pigeon-brseders form
one OF the most remarkable illuItrationi
of this. But then there lisa grand consor.
vativs principle in nature, and whom va
risties come to that point Of permanent
difference that we call species, they DO.
como 6xed and cannot be interbred. There
10 much, therefore, that Darwin's theory
leaves imperfect at least, while yet as the
mos. scientific, indeed the only scientific
theory before the world, it cannot fail to
be regarded with profound attention.
That some animal organs can be greatly
developed BY favorable circumstances, and
that they will nearly disappear BY those Of
an opposite character, We have the most
abundant demonstration. Probably the
oysless or blind fsh in the darkness Of the
Mammoth Cave Of kentucky, form n Of
the most remarkable instances Of this.
There are several species, and even varis-
ties Of fsh in Green River, those outside
the cave having eyes, while those inside
have tho optic nerves so dried up from
generations Of seclunion from the light
tia, II Is hardly to be detected by the
microscope. Traces Of eyes exist, but
only OF the faintsss kind.
The question here naturally occurs, how
far it 10 wise to utter all imperfect scientific
spscula,ions on those subjectss And va
believe fully that Nj. Darwin is right,
when he pleads for men uttsring their pro-
found thoughts without fear. That i, to
say, they may and should be fsarlsssly
proclaimed. but only as thoughts and
conjecsures, while they are such. and not
a. demonstrations. Scientific men must
not shrink from thinking aloud. The
only danger is that they should give more
certainty to such thoughts than belongs to
them. A new conjecture always looks q
grea, deal more like established truth than
it does after being tested and tried. Evils,
too, will arise from half truths being re-
csiyed a. complete ones and from half
understood theories being misapplied and
brought into seeming contradiction to
certain veritiss. But, with all those diff
culties, truth will live, while error will
die out.
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