New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-09-21
EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION.


CO"ti""O" 49,. -
most beautiful Of fossils found in our English chalk
II is an anatomical study SO teT as tne nara par
concerned almost as well rs If it were recent hsh
We find that that fish is represented at inc present
day by very closely allied species which are hvlng
I'm the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We may go SIN
further back about this evidence of closely allied
species and find, for example, as l men
toned to you yesterday, that Ine Goa al,;o ue
Ia an admirable state Of preseryation, ana those
scorpions are hardly distingushable. do not mean
to say that they are not put tey re-
duire close scrutiny to distinguish them from the
scorpions which exist at the present day..
More than that At the very bottom OF the sllurian
series, in what is by some authorities termed the
Cambrian formation, where all signs appear to be
dying out-eyen there, among the few and scanty
animal remains which exist, we find species OF mol
nscus animals which are so closely allied to existing
forms that at one time they were grouped undef the
same generic name. l refer to the well-known
LaGHa of the LiRGuld flags. 1t was subsequently,
in consequence of some slight differences, placed in
the new genus LtagHieiiG. Practically 1t belongs to
the same great generic group as the L.,lgatG when
you will find at the present day upon the shores OF
Australia. And the same thing Is eXempilhed II
we turn to certain great periods OF the
esrhs hstoTya Tor oso example 9erod bepe
are groups of reptiles which begin shortly
after the commencement OF this period, as the ich
hVosauria and the PlesiOsaafd, and they abound In
vast numbers. They disappear with the chalk, ana
throughout the whole of that great series OF rock
they present no important m9dihcatlo9. Facss OF
this kind undoubtedly fatal to any form OF the
doctrine of evolution which neceSstates the suppo-
siton that there is intrinsic necessity on the part
of animal forms which once come into existence TO
undergo modification; and they are still more DIS
tinctly opposed to any view which should lead
TO the belief that the modification IN different type
of animal or vegetable life goes on equally and
evenly The facts az have placed them before
YOU would obviously contradict directly any such
form of the hypothesis OF evolution as laid down III
Now the service that has been rendered by Mr..
Darwin in the doctrine Of evolution in general Is
this: that he has shown that there are two great
factors in the process of evolution, and one OF them
is the tendency to vary the existence OF which may
be proved by observation IN all living forms; tne
other is the influence of surrounding conditions upon
what may call the parent form and the variations
which are thus evolved from IT. The cause OF that pro
duoton of variations is matter not at all properly
understood at present. Whether it depends upon
some intricate maohinery-if may use the phrase
of the animal form itself, or whether IL
arises through the influence of conditions upon
that FORM is not certain, and the question may LOT
the present be left OPEN But the important point
then whether those variations shall survive ana
Bupplant the parent, OF whether the parent form
shall survive and supplant the variations, is mat
ter which depends entirely on surrounding GOnd',
TONS If the surrounding conditions arc Such tlitG
the parent form is more competent to deal with
them and flourish ia them than the derived forms,
then in the struggle for existence the parent form
will maintain itself and the derived forms %ll De
exterminated. But if, on the contrary, the eondl-
tons are such as TO be better for the derived than
for the parent FORM the parent form will be eXlr-
pated and the derived form will take It's place.
CHANGE OF TYPE CONSIDERED.
In the first case there will be no progression, no
aces: in the second place there viii be modification
and change of form, and thus we see that the ul-
Inense amount of evidence brought to show that
things do in this way take place in nature, puts us
in such place that the existence of these persistent
types of life is obstacle in the way OF the theory
of evolution at ALL Take the of these scorpions
to which have just referred. No doubt since the
earbOniferOus epoch conditions have existed such as
existed then when scorpions hOurshed IN winch
they ind themselves better off, more competent TO
deal with the difficulties in their way than any kind
of variation from the scorpion type; and for that
reason the scorpion has persisted and has not been
supplanted by any other form. And there no rear
son In the nature of things why, as long as tins
world exists if there be conditions more favorable
to scorpions than any variation which may arise
from them, these forms of life should not persist.
Therefore, this objection is no objection at all.
The facts of this chaTacter-and they are numerous
belong to that class of evidence which L nave
called Indifferent. That IS TO say, they may be no
direct support to the doctrine OF evolution but they
are perfectly capable of being interpreted In con.
sisency with it, There is another ORDER OF facts OF
the same kind, and susceptible OF the same luterpre
tatiOn The great group OF Lizards, which aDound
80 much at the present day, extends through the
whole series of formations far back as what Is
called the Permian epoch, which is represented by
the strata lying just above the COAL These Permlan
lizards differ astOnshingy littlein some respects
from the lizards which exist at the present day.
Comparing the amount of difference between these
Pernian lizards and the lizards of the present day
with the pTOdlous lapse of time between the Per
an epoch and the present age, 1T may be said that
there has been no appreciable change.
But the moment You carry the researches further
hack in time YOU find no trace whatever of lizards
nor of any true reptile whatever in the whole mass
of formations beneath the Permian. Now 1t Is
perfectly clear that il existing palaeOntOlOgcal
collections, our existing species OF stratahed rock,
exhaust the whole series OF events which have ever
taken place upon the surface of the globe, such a
fact this directly c0ntTayenes the whole theory
OF evolution because that pOstulates that the eX-
istence of every form must have been preceded by
that of some form comparatively little different
from il. Here, however, we have taken IN cOnsld-
Grafton that important fact well Insisted upon by
Lyell and Darwin-the impeTfectiOn of the geOOg-
ical record. 1t can be demonstrated as matter Of
fact that the geological record must be incomplete,
that il only preserve remains found In certain
favorable localities and under particular conditions
that it must be destroyed by processes Of denuda-
ton, and Obliterated by processes OF metamOTpLsls
by which mean that beds Of rock OF any thick
ness erammed full of OTs anlc remains may yet, either
by the percOlaton of water through them the in
huence of subterranean heat III they descend lar
enough toward the center OF the earth lose ala trace
of these remains and present tue appearance OF beds
of rock formed under conditions III which there was
no trace of living forms. Such metamOrphlc rocks
occur in formations OF all ages, ami we know with
have contained organic remains, and that those re-
mains have been absolutely ObliteTated
One of the most striking proofs with which am
acquainted Of the defects of the geological record
and l insist upon il the more because those who
have not attended 70 these matters apt TO say TO
themselves, " 1t is all very well, but when you get
into difficulty with your theory of evolution yog
appeal to the incOnpleteness and tue lmperiectlOn
OF the geological record and want to make IL
perfectly clear to you that that imperlectOn is a
vast fact which must be taken into account with
all oar speculations shall constantly be gong
wrong.