Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-10-13
The IheorI of Development.


third he called the theory Of development,
and this he declared, and went some way In
an attempt to show, to be as absolutely
demonstrated as the Copernican system OF
astronomy. 1t Is hardly necessary to say
that the philosophers do not all accept this
conclusion. The New York Independent
comments a. follows on the subject
Prof. Huxley has been subjected to not a
little abuse Tor calling the second theory
that Of Milton, rather than that OF Moses,
as il he had sought to escape odlum by not
auucaring to antagonize the Bible. This Is
ouite unjust According to Moses, life was
PRODUCED not only by the fat of God +; but,
also, mcdately by the earth and the sea
The ,Grth brought forth the grass and herb
Welding seed alter his kind, and the three
Welding fruit whose seed was in itself alter
his kind" And God said, let the isaisTs
hiring forth abuDdantly the moving creature
that hath lie, and fowl that may fly above
the earth in the open armament of heaven,
and "let the earth, again, bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle and
erecting thing and beast OF the earth after
his kind and it was So" This Is the
whole Mosaic record. How the earth and
waters brought forth their progeny wheth-
er all at once full grown in mighty phalanxes
of life, or whether in the egg ana germ-we
are not told But Millions language Is eI-
plicit beyond all question. His trees at the
lat rose as in dance" in sudden and mighty
forests, covering the
-''earth, till then
Desert ard tsTe, uns .ht.y. unadorned.'
His animals were produced OF fall size. IN
all their varieties The earth
-.'teemed at a birth
Inrumerous living creatures, perfect forms,
L;moed and iull- grown
All this i Millions poetical view. 1t is not
50 stated bv Moses and It would have been ut
terly unfair to charge upon the Bible theory
which not there stated. The Scriptures
DO not at ali antagonize development.
The second lecture attempted only to
break the force Of the objection against de-
velopment that Nature exists in animal king
domS, which are divided by inseparable bar
riers. lie admitted the fact. a. life at pres
eut exists but showed that within the YER
tebratcs there had existed in geologic ages
links between the reptiles and the birds.
This has long been known and Is Of great
importance bat We should have been better
pleased IT he lad made his reply more COM
plete by Indicating IN word what were
not merely the links between the classes
within the yertebrates, but also those which
connect them with the articulates Of the re
dates Indeed, it also seems to Us hardly
i1i7 20 trcat that which /, a, best, but &c
Ylv to an objection against development Is
,.-.1,. D. .. comment f.,r H.. rrurh
In his last lecture Professor Huxley passed
from what he called his "problble" to his
'.demJrStrat!ye' evidences OF DEVELOPMENT.
which proved ii, he claimed, as certainly a.
the Coporuican system Of astronomy has
been proved. /; required 10 little assurance
to make this ciaw, which puts such men a.
AgassiI aud Dawson in the position Of the
ignorant fools who YET hold that the sun and
stars revolye about the earth. Development
may in other WAYS be rendered very proha
be but it can be demonstrated only by
showing instances in which one species has
of late been produced oat Of another, or by
full geologic record, Of, al loa>t, one gradual
passage iron one culy 10 another late >re-
cies The latter. Professor Huxley attempt
ed 10 DO, and adiuced the familiar case Of
the horse.
Il was his business 10 demonstrate that
the varieties OF the EquuS family now exist
ing have either run together by easy grada
tions, or that some one Of them. by insensi-
bic gradatiuns, proceeds from some parent
form which is nOJ an EquG-. But he began
ty dcxierou>ly assuming the identity Of
horse, ass, and zebra. Now, these are not
Identical, but distinct species and the prob
lem Is to show that they came from one
source. To begia by declaring them one Is a
mere begging Ut the question.
Tie Professor tAen proceeded 10 repeat
the old illustration absolutely nothing
more), winch shows that II the Plei~t0cene
an Equu- existed very like our horse that
| in tue Plioccue one existed with the fingers
somewhat les abortye, and with teeth
little less distinct from those Of other Pachy-
derus that IN the Miocene another Equus
existed stu. les ike our horse, and IN the
/ L Gene Vet another still further removed
Al this has long been familiar, though
/ Prot Marsh has added new and corroborat-
I iug facts OF great importance but 1t l. very
far from demonstrating evolution. We stu
have nothing more than separate species,
such as might have been created DC moro.
and not links between species. The horse
and the HiYparion and the Piiohippus and
tie MlohiIplS and tho Mesohippus AMI tie
| Orohippus differ from each other great
deal IL &c than the horse and the ass and
the zci'ra and the qaagsa. We want to see
proof that four separate species OF Equus
are really one. The proof gwen consists IN
/ calling them one, and then pointing Us to
half dozen other sorts Of Eqlus much
more different from each other and between
/ which no links are known. Now, we sub
init thai. Is demonstration, tins : an utter
/ failure. We admit what probable force the
argument has but we also insist that the
creati1ni-t l. not in the least disturbed by
/ this array Of evidence. Il Is what he has
always asserted since the birth OF geology.
/ that IN each successive period new forms OF
life were produced, higher than those that
had gone before. Tie great lack still i q
/ links-n0t between kingdoms, ciasse=, or
ders, and genera, but between species. And
| this Professor Huxley does not supply.
A, the facts now stand, it appears as if
/ species had not been produced by slow gra-
dations alone but by sudden deyelopments-
/ by birth.yery likely from quite varient forms.
/ Biologists are now fond Of telling US that
| gradual changes have marked the earths
/ physical history. If so, and If, as Darwin
teaches, the Development Of species has been
/ by the slow law Of natural selection, We
| ought 10 have in the earth's strata not only
| Orohilli and McsohiPpi, but every inter
mediate ink between the two. The Ia.e-
outoligical ascent should be not by steps,
but by an Inclined plane. For that We yet
wait
Tie Cl,istian Urion says