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Title: On the Genesis of Species

Author: St George Mivart

Release Date: March 14, 2007 [EBook

#20818]

Language: English

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ON THE GENESIS OF SPECIES ***

Produced by Steven Gibbs, Keith Edkins and the Online

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ON THE GENESIS OF

SPECIES.

ON THE

GENESIS OF SPECIES.

R CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL.

TO

SIR HENRY HOLLAND,

Bart., M.D.,

F.R.S., D.C.L., ETC ETC.

My dear Sir Henry,

In giving myself the pleasure to dedicate,

as I now do, this work to you, it is not myintention to identify you with any views of

my own advocated in it

I simply avail myself of an opportunity ofpaying a tribute of esteem and regard to

my earliest scientific friend—the first toencourage me in pursuing the study ofnature

I remain,

My dear Sir Henry,Ever faithfully

yours,ST

GEORGEMIVART

7, North Bank, Regent's Park,

December 8, 1870.

bearing on religious questions.—Odium

theologicum and odium antitheologicum.

—The antagonism supposed by many toexist between it and theology neithernecessary nor universal.—Christianauthorities in favour of evolution.—Mr.Darwin's "Animals and Plants underDomestication."—Difficulties of the

Darwinian theory enumerated Page 1

Natural-These must be useful at once.—Difficulties as to the giraffe; as tomimicry; as to the heads of flat-fishes; as

to the origin and constancy of thevertebrate, limbs; as to whalebone; as tothe young kangaroo; as to sea-urchins; as

to certain processes of metamorphosis; as

to the mammary gland; as to certain apecharacters; as to the rattlesnake and cobra;

as to the process of formation of the eyeand ear; as to the fully developedcondition of the eye and ear; as to thevoice; as to shell-fish; as to orchids; as toants.—The necessity for the simultaneousmodification of many individuals.—

Summary and conclusion Page 23

CHAPTER III.

THE CO-EXISTENCE OF CLOSELY SIMILAR STRUCTURES OF DIVERSE

ORIGIN.

Chances against concordant variations.—Examples of discordant ones.—Concordant variations not unlikely on anon-Darwinian evolutionary hypothesis.—Placental and implacental mammals.—Birds and reptiles.—Independent origins

of similar sense organs.—The ear.—Theeye.—Other coincidences.—Causesbesides Natural Selection produceconcordant variations in certaingeographical regions.—Causes besidesNatural Selection produce concordantvariations in certain zoological andbotanical groups.—There are homologousparts not genetically related.—Harmony in

respect of the organic and inorganicworlds.—Summary and conclusion .

Early specialization of structure.—Macrauchenia.—Glyptodon.—Sabre-

toothed tiger.—Conclusion Page 97

CHAPTER V.

AS TO SPECIFIC STABILITY.

What is meant by the phrase "specific

stability;" such stability to be expected a

priori, or else considerable changes at

once.—Rapidly increasing difficulty ofintensifying race characters; allegedcauses of this phenomenon; probably aninternal cause co-operates.—A certaindefiniteness in variations.—Mr Darwinadmits the principle of specific stability incertain cases of unequal variability.—Thegoose.—The peacock.—The guinea fowl

—Exceptional causes of variation underdomestication.—Alleged tendency toreversion.—Instances.—Sterility ofhybrids.—Prepotency of pollen of samespecies, but of different race.—Mortality

in young gallinaceous hybrids.—A bar tointermixture exists somewhere.—Guinea-

pigs.—Summary and conclusion Page

113

CHAPTER VI.

SPECIES AND TIME.

Two relations of species to time.—Noevidence of past existence of minutelyintermediate forms when such might be

expected a priori.—Bats, Pterodactyles,

Dinosauria, and Birds.—Ichthyosauria,

Chelonia, and Anoura.—Horse ancestry.

—Labyrinthodonts and Trilobites.—Twosubdivisions of the second relation ofspecies to time.—Sir William Thomson'sviews.—Probable period required forultimate specific evolution from primitiveancestral forms.—-Geometrical increase

of time required for rapidly multiplyingincrease of structural differences.—Proboscis monkey.—Time required fordeposition of strata necessary forDarwinian evolution.—High organization

of Silurian forms of life.—Absence offossils in oldest rocks.—Summary and

conclusion Page 128

CHAPTER VII.

SPECIES AND SPACE.

The geographical distribution of animalspresents difficulties.—These notinsurmountable in themselves; harmonizewith other difficulties.—Fresh-waterfishes.—Forms common to Africa andIndia; to Africa and South America; toChina and Australia; to North Americaand China; to New Zealand and SouthAmerica; to South America and Tasmania;

to South America and Australia.—Pleurodont lizards.—Insectivorousmammals.—Similarity of European andSouth American frogs.—Analogy betweenEuropean salmon and fishes of NewZealand, &c.—An ancient Antarcticcontinent probable.—Other modes ofaccounting for facts of distribution.—

Independent origin of closely similar

forms.—Conclusion Page 144

CHAPTER VIII.

HOMOLOGIES.

Animals made up of parts mutually related

in various ways.—What homology is.—Itsvarious kinds.—Serial homology.—Lateral homology.—Vertical homology.—

Mr Herbert Spencer's explanations.—Aninternal power necessary, as shown byfacts of comparative anatomy.—-Ofteratology.—M St Hilaire.—ProfessorBurt Wilder.—Foot-wings.—Facts ofpathology.—Mr James Paget.—Dr.William Budd.—The existence of such aninternal power of individual development

diminishes the improbability of ananalogous law of specific origination .

Page 155

CHAPTER IX.

EVOLUTION AND ETHICS.

The origin of morals an inquiry not foreign

to the subject of this book.—Modernutilitarian view as to that origin.—Mr.Darwin's speculation as to the origin ofthe abhorrence of incest.—Cause assigned

by him insufficient.—Care of the aged andinfirm opposed by "Natural Selection;"also self-abnegation and asceticism.—Distinctness of the ideas right and useful

—Mr John Stuart Mill.—Insufficiency of

"Natural Selection" to account for the

origin of the distinction between duty andprofit.—Distinction of moral acts intomaterial and formal.—No ground forbelieving that formal morality exists inbrutes.—Evidence that it does exist insavages.—Facility with which savagesmay be misunderstood.—Objections as todiversity of customs.—Mr Button'sreview of Mr Herbert Spencer.—Anticipatory character of morals.—SirJohn Lubbock's explanation.—Summary

and conclusion Page 188

CHAPTER X.

PANGENESIS.

A provisional hypothesis supplementing

"Natural Selection."—Statement of the

hypothesis.—Difficulty as to multitude ofgemmules.—As to certain modes ofreproduction.—As to formations withoutthe requisite gemmules.—Mr Lewes andProfessor Delpino.—Difficulty as todevelopmental force of gemmules.—As totheir spontaneous fission.—Pangenesisand Vitalism.—Paradoxical reality.—Pangenesis scarcely superior to anteriorhypotheses.—Buffon.—Owen.—HerbertSpencer.—Gemmules as mysterious as

preceding chapters.—Cumulativeargument against predominant action of

"Natural Selection."—Whether anythingpositive as well as negative can beenunciated.—Constancy of laws of naturedoes not necessarily imply constancy ofspecific evolution.—Possible exceptionalstability of existing epoch.—Probabilitythat an internal cause of change exists.—Innate powers somewhere must beaccepted.—Symbolism of molecularaction under vibrating impulses ProfessorOwen's statement.—Statement of theAuthor's view.—It avoids the difficultieswhich oppose "Natural Selection."—Itharmonizes apparently conflictingconceptions.—Summary and conclusion

Page 220

CHAPTER XII.

THEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION.

Prejudiced opinions on the subject

—"Creation" sometimes denied fromprejudice.—The unknowable.—Mr.Herbert Spencer's objections to theism; tocreation.—Meanings of term "creation."—Confusion from not distinguishing between

"primary" and "derivative" creation.—Mr.Darwin's objections.—Bearing ofChristianity on evolution.—Supposedopposition, the result of a misconception

—Theological authority not opposed toevolution.—St Augustin.—St ThomasAquinas.—Certain consequences of want

of flexibility of mind.—Reason andimagination.—The first cause and

demonstration.—Parallel betweenChristianity and natural theology.—Whatevolution of species is.—ProfessorAgassiz.—Innate powers must berecognized.—Bearing of evolution onreligious belief.—Professor Huxley.—Professor Owen.—Mr Wallace.—Mr.

Darwin.—A priori conception of Divine

action.—Origin of man.—Absolutecreation and dogma.—Mr Wallace'sview.—A supernatural origin for man'sbody not necessary.—Two orders ofbeing in man.—Two modes of origin.—Harmony of the physical, hyperphysical,and supernatural.—Reconciliation ofscience and religion as regards evolution

—Conclusion Page 243

INDEX Page 289

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Leaf Butterfly in flight and repose (from

Mr A Wallace's "Malay Archipelago" )

31

Walking-Leaf Insect 35

Pleuronectidæ, with the peculiarly placed

eye in different positions (from Dr.

Traquair's paper in Linn Soc Trans., 1865) 37, 166

Mouth of Whale (from Professor Owen's

"Odontography") 40

Four plates of Baleen seen obliquely fromwithin (from Professor Owen's

"Odontography") 41

Dugong 41, 175

Echinus or Sea Urchin 43, 167

Pedicellariæ of Echinus very muchenlarged 44

Rattlesnake 49

Cobra (from Sir Andrew Smith's

"Southern Africa") 50

Wingbones of Pterodactyle, Bat, and Bird

(from Mr Andrew Murray's

"Geographical Distribution of Mammals") 64, 130, 157

Skeleton of Flying-Dragon 65, 158

Centipede (from a specimen in the

Museum of the Royal College of

Surgeons) 66, 159

Teeth of Urotrichus and Perameles 68

The Archeopteryx (from Professor Owen's "Anatomy of Vertebrata" ) 73,

132

Cuttle-Fish 75, 141

Skeleton of Ichthyosaurus 78, 107, 132,

177

Cytheridea Torosa ( from Messrs Brady

and Robertson's paper in Ann and Mag.

Antechimis Minutissimus and Mus

Delicatulus (from Mr Andrew Murray's

"Geographical Distribution of Mammals") 82

Outlines of Wings of Butterflies ofCelebes compared with those of alliedspecies elsewhere 86

Great Shielded Grasshopper 89

The Six-shafted Bird of Paradise 90

The Long-tailed Bird of Paradise 91

The Red Bird of Paradise 92

Horned Flies 93

The Magnificent Bird of Paradise 93

(The above seven figures are from Mr A Wallace's "Malay Archipelago")

Much enlarged horizontal Section of the

Tooth of a Labyrinthodon ( from Professor

Dentition of Sabre-toothed Tiger (from

Professor Owen's "Odontography") .

110

Trilobite 135, 171

Inner side of Lower Jaw of Pleurodont

Lizard (from Professor Owen's

"Odontography") 148

Solenodon (from Berlin Trans.) 149

Tarsal Bones of Galago and Cheirogaleus

(from Proc Zool Soc.) 159

Squilla 160

Parts of the Skeleton of the Lobster 161

Spine of Galago Allenii (from Proc Zool.

Pangolin (Manis) 175

Skeleton of Manus and Pes of a Tailed

Batrachian (from Professor Gegenbaur's

"Tarsus and Carpus") 178

Flexor Muscles of Hand of Nycticetus

(from Proc Zool Soc.) 180

The Fibres of Corti 279

of the question.—Position heredefended.—Statement of theDarwinian Theory.—Itsapplicability to details ofgeographical distribution; torudimentary structures; to

homology; to mimicry, &c.—Consequent utility of the theory.

—Its wide acceptance.—Reasons for this, other than, and

in addition to, its scientificvalue.—Its simplicity.—Itsbearing on religious questions

—Odium theologicum and

odium antitheologicum.—The

antagonism supposed by many

to exist between it and theologyneither necessary nor universal

—Christian authorities in favour

The great problem which has so longexercised the minds of naturalists, namely,that concerning the origin of differentkinds of animals and plants, seems at last

to be fairly on the road to receive—perhaps at no very distant future—assatisfactory a solution as it can well have.But the problem presents peculiardifficulties The birth of a "species" hasoften been compared with that of an

"individual." The origin, however, of even

an individual animal or plant (that whichdetermines an embryo to evolve itself,—

a s , e.g., a spider rather than a beetle, a

rose-plant rather than a pear) is shrouded

in obscurity A fortiori must this be the

case with the origin of a "species."

Moreover, the analogy between a

"species" and an "individual" is a veryincomplete one The word "individual"denotes a concrete whole with a real,separate, and distinct existence The word

"species," on the other hand, denotes apeculiar congeries of characters, innatepowers and qualities, and a certain naturerealized indeed in individuals, but having

no separate existence, except ideally as athought in some mind

Thus the birth of a "species" can only becompared metaphorically, and veryimperfectly, with that of an "individual."

Individuals as individuals, actually and

directly produce and bring forth otherindividuals; but no "congeries of

characters" no "common nature" as such,

can directly bring forth another "common

nature," because, per se, it has no

existence (other than ideal) apart from theindividuals in which it is manifested.The problem then is, "by whatcombination of natural laws does a new'common nature' appear upon the scene ofrealized existence?" i.e how is an

individual embodying such new charactersproduced?

For the approximation we have of latemade towards the solution of thisproblem, we are mainly indebted to theinvaluable labours and active brains ofCharles Darwin and Alfred Wallace.Nevertheless, important as has been theimpulse and direction given by thosewriters to both our observations and

speculations, the solution will not (if theviews here advocated are correct)ultimately present that aspect andcharacter with which it has issued fromthe hands of those writers.

Neither, most certainly, will that solutionagree in appearance or substance with themore or less crude conceptions whichhave been put forth by most of theopponents of Messrs Darwin andWallace

Rather, judging from the more recentmanifestations of thought on oppositesides, we may expect the development of

some tertium quid—the resultant of forces

coming from different quarters, and notcoinciding in direction with any one ofthem

As error is almost always partial truth,and so consists in the exaggeration ordistortion of one verity by the suppression

of another which qualifies and modifiesthe former, we may hope, by the synthesis

of the truths contended for by variousadvocates, to arrive at the one conciliatingreality

Signs of this conciliation are not wanting:opposite scientific views, oppositephilosophical conceptions, and oppositereligious beliefs, are rapidly tending bytheir vigorous conflict to evolve such asystematic and comprehensive view of thegenesis of species as will completelyharmonize with the teachings of science,philosophy, and religion

To endeavour to add one stone to this

temple of concord, to try and remove afew of the misconceptions and mutualmisunderstandings which opposeharmonious action, is the aim andendeavour of the present work This aim it

is hoped to attain, not by shirkingdifficulties, but analysing them, and byendeavouring to dig down to the commonroot which supports and unites divergingstems of truth

It cannot but be a gain when the labourers

in the three fields above mentioned,namely, science, philosophy, and religion,shall fully recognize this harmony Thenthe energy too often spent in futilecontroversy, or withheld throughprejudice, may be profitably andreciprocally exercised for the mutual

benefit of all.

Remarkable is the rapidity with which aninterest in the question of specificorigination has spread But a few yearsago it scarcely occupied the minds of anybut naturalists Then the crude theory putforth by Lamarck, and by his Englishinterpreter the author of the "Vestiges ofCreation," had rather discredited thanhelped on a belief in organic evolution—a

b e l i e f, that is, in new kinds beingproduced from older ones by the ordinaryand constant operation of natural laws.Now, however, this belief is widelydiffused Indeed, there are few drawing-rooms where it is not the subject ofoccasional discussion, and artisans andschoolboys have their views as to the

permanence of organic forms Moreover,the reception of this doctrine tendsactually, though by no means necessarily,

to be accompanied by certain beliefs withregard to quite distinct and verymomentous subject-matter So that thequestion of the "Genesis of Species" is notonly one of great interest, but also of muchimportance

But though the calm and thoroughconsideration of this matter is at thepresent moment exceedingly desirable, yetthe actual importance of the question itself

as to its consequences in the domain oftheology has been strangely exaggerated

by many, both of its opponents andsupporters This is especially the casewith that form of the evolution theory