,,an ,,expository ,,outline  ,,of ,,the 
,,vestiges ,,of ,,the ,,natural         
,,history ,,of ,,creation2  ,,with ,a   
,,comprehensive ,,and ,,critical        
,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,arguments ,,by  
,,which ,,the ,,extraordinary           
,,hypotheses ,,of ,,the ,,author ,,are  
,,supported ,,and ,,have ,,been         
,,impugned1 ,,with ,,their ,,bearing    
,,upon ,,the ,,religious ,,and ,,moral  
,,interests ,,of ,,the ,,community4     
,,with ,a ,,notice ,,of ,,the           
,,author',s  ,,explanations3  ,a        
,,sequel ,,to ,,the ,,vestiges4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,originally printed in a ,supplement of 
,,the ,,atlas ,newspaper of ,august #cj 
and ,december #bj1 #ahde4         99    
99       99       99       99  ,,london3
 ,,effingham ,,wilson1 ,,royal          
,,exchange4 ,j4 ,,vincent1 ,,oxford2 ,g4
 ,,andrews1 ,,durham2 ,j4 ,,teppell1    
,,norwich2 ,,brodie ,,and ,,co41        
,,salisbury4 ,a4 ,,and ,c4 ,,black1     
,,edinburgh2 ,d4 ,,robertson1 ,,glasgow2

 ,a4 ,,brown ,,and ,,co41 ,,aberdeen4   
,w4 ,,curry1 ,,jun41 ,,and ,,co41       
,,dublin4  #ahdf4     ,,advertisement4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,the following tractate first appeared  
in the form of a literary review in a   
supplement of the ,,atlas2 but two      
impressions of that journal having been 
long since exhausted1 and inquiries     
still continuing numerous and urgent1   
the proprietor has granted permission   
for the article to be reprinted in a    
separate1 more convenient1 and perhaps  
enduring vehicle than that of a         
newspaper4  ,few works of a scientific  
import have been published that so      
promptly and deeply fixed public        
attention as the ,vestiges of ,creation1
 or elicited more numerous replies and  
sharper critical analysis and           
disquisition4 ,upon so vast a question  
as the evolution of universal creation  
differences of opinion were natural and 
unavoidable4 ,many have disputed the    
accuracy of some of the author's facts1 

and the sequence and validity of his    
inductive inferences2 but few can       
withhold from him the praise of a       
patient and intrepid spirit of inquiry1 
much occasional eloquence1 and very     
considerable powers of analysis1        
systematic induction1 arrangement and   
combination4  ,in what follows the      
leading objects kept in view have       
been--first1 an expository outline of   
the author's facts and argument2 next1  
of the chief reasons by which they have 
been impugned by ,professor ,,sedgwick1 
,professor ,,whewell1 ,mr4 ,,bosanquet1 
and others who have entered the lists of
 controversy4 ,these arrayed1 the       
concluding purpose fitly followed of a  
brief exhibition of the relative        
strength of the main points in issue1   
with their bearing on the moral and     
religious interests of the community4   
,it is the fourth and latest edition    
that has been submitted to              
investigation4 ,in this impression the  
author has introduced several           

corrections and alterations1 without1   
however1 any infringement or mitigation 
of its original scope and character4    
,more recently appeared his             
,explanations1 a ,sequel to the         
,vestiges of the ,natural ,history of   
,creation2 in which the author          
endeavours to elucidate and strengthen  
his former position4 ,this had become   
necessary in consequence of the number  
of his opponents1 and the inquiry and   
discussion to which the original        
publication had given rise4 ,of this1   
also1 a lengthened review was given in  
the ,,atlas1 which has been included2 so
 that the reader will now have before   
him a succinct outline of a novel and   
interesting topic of philosophical      
investigation4  ,in the present reprint 
a few corrections have been made1 and   
the illustrative table at page #cd1 and 
some other additions1 introduced4       
,london1 ,january #a1 #ahdf4     ,,an   
,,expository ,,outline  ,,of ,,the      
,,vestiges ,,of ,,the ,,natural         

,,history ,,of ,,creation4   ,it rarely 
happens that speculative inquiries in   
,england command much attention1 and the
 ,vestiges of ,creation would have      
probably formed no exception1 had it not
 been from the unusual ability with     
which the work has been executed4 ,the  
subject investigated is one of vast1    
almost universal1 interest2 for         
everyone--the low1 in common with the   
high in intellect--find enigmas in      
creation that they would gladly have    
unriddled1 and promptly gather round the
 oracle who has boldly stepped forth to 
cut the knot of their perplexities4 ,the
 first impression made1 too1 is         
favourable4 ,no very striking           
originality1 eloquence1 or genius1 is   
displayed2 yet there is ingenuity2 and  
though the author betrays the zeal of an
 advocate1 desirous of leading to a     
determinate and material conclusion1 his
 address1 like that of the apostle of   
temperance1 is mostly mild and equable1 
with occasionally a little gentlemanly  

fervour to give animation to his        
discourse4 ,his style is mostly         
felicitous1 sometimes beautiful1 lucid1 
precise1 and elevated4 ,in tone and     
manner of execution1 in quiet steadiness
 of purpose1 in the firm1 intrepid      
spirit with which truth1 or that which  
is conceived to be true1 is followed1   
regardless of startling presentments1   
the ,vestiges call to mind the          
,mecanique ,celeste1 or ,systme du      
,monde4 ,in caution1 as in science1 the 
author is immeasurably inferior to      
,,laplace2 but in magnitude and boldness
 of design he transcends the illustrious
 ,frenchman4 ,,laplace sought no more   
than to subject the celestial movements 
to the formulas of analysis1 and        
reconcile to common observation         
terrestrial appearances2 but our author 
is far more ambitious--more venturesome 
in aim--which is nothing less than to   
lift the veil of ,,isis1 and solve the  
phenomena of universal nature4 ,with    
what success remains to be considered4  

,that great skill and cleverness1 that a
 very superior mastery is evinced1 we   
have conceded1 and1 we will also add1   
great show of fairness in treatment and 
conclusion4  ,no partial opening is     
made2 the great design1 in all its      
extent1 is manfully grappled with4 ,the 
universe is first surveyed1 next the    
mystery of its origin4 ,after ranging   
through sidereal space1 examining the   
bodies found there1 their arrangement1  
formation1 and evolution1 the author    
selects our own planet for especial     
interrogation4 ,he disembowels it1      
scrutinizing the internal evidences of  
its structure and history1 and thence   
infers the causes of past vicissitudes1 
existing relations1 and appearances4    
,these disposed of1 the surface is      
explored1 the phenomena of animal and   
vegetable existence contemplated1 and   
the sources of vital action1 sexual     
differences1 and diversities of species 
assigned4 ,man1 as the supreme head and 
last work of progressive creation1      

challenges a distinct consideration2 his
 history and mental constitution are    
investigated1 and the relation in which 
a sublime reason stands to the instinct 
of brutes discriminated4 ,the end and   
purpose of all appropriately form the   
concluding theme1 which finished1 the   
curtain drops1 and the last sounds heard
 are that the name of the ,great        
,unknown will probably never be         
revealed2 that praise will elicit no    
response1 nor any word of censure be    
parried or deprecated4  ,give me1       
exclaimed ,,archimedes1 a fulcrum1 and  
,i will raise the earth4 ,give me1 says 
the author of the ,vestiges1 gravitation
 and development1 and ,i will create a  
universe4 ,,alexander',s ambition was to
 conquer a world1 our author's is to    
create one4 ,but he is wrong in saying  
that his is the first attempt to connect
 the natural sciences into a history of 
creation1 and thence to eliminate a view
 of nature as one grand system of       
causation4 ,the attempt has been often  

made1 but utterly failed2 its results   
have been found valueless1 hurtful--to  
have occupied without enlarging the     
intellect1 and the very effort has long 
been discountenanced4 ,great advances1  
however1 have been made in science since
 system-making began to be discredited2 
nature has been perseveringly ransacked 
in all her domains1 and many            
extraordinary secrets drawn from her    
laboratory4 ,astronomy and geology1     
chemistry and electricity1 have greatly 
extended the bounds of knowledge2 still1
 we apprehend1 we are not yet           
sufficiently armed with facts to resolve
 into one consistent whole her infinite 
variety4  ,efforts at generalization1   
however1 and the systematic arrangement 
of natural phenomena1 are seldom wholly 
fruitless4 ,if false1 they tend to      
provoke discussion--to lead to active   
thought and useful research4 ,a solitary
 truth1 though new and useful1 rarely   
obtains higher distinction than to be   
quietly placed on the rolls of science1 

while a bold speculation1 traversing the
 whole field of creation1 and smoothing 
all its difficulties1 satisfies for the 
moment1 and fixes general attention4 ,of
 this the ,vestiges of ,creation are an 
example4 ,without adding to our positive
 knowledge by a single new discovery1   
demonstration1 or experiment1 they have 
excited more interest than the          
,principia of ,,newton4 ,from this      
popular success1 if good do not accrue1 
no great evil need be anticipated4      
,hypotheses are most hurtful when       
accredited by an irreversible           
authority--when erected into a tribunal 
without appeal1 they become the         
arbitrary dictator in lieu of the       
handmaid of science4 ,discussion and    
invention1 in place of being stimulated1
 are then fettered by them2 the human   
mind is enslaved1 as ,europe was for    
centuries by the ,physics of            
,,aristotle1 and still continues to be  
in some of the ancient retreats and     
conservatories of exploded errors4 ,but 

these form the exceptions1 not the rule 
of the age1 which is free and equal     
inquiry4 ,errors have ceased to have    
prescriptive immunities2 and mere       
conjectures1 however sanctioned or      
plausible1 if inconsistent with         
science--with the ascertained facts of  
experiment and observation1 are speedily
 passed into the region of dreams and   
chimeras4  ,whether this will be the    
fate of our author remains to be proved4
 ,the moment selected for his appearance
 has at least been well chosen4 ,the    
,vestiges have the air of novelty1 a    
long time having elapsed since any one  
had the hardihood to propound a new     
system of ,nature4 ,in common with most 
manifestations of our time1 his effort  
exhibits a marked improvement on the    
crudities of his predecessors in the    
same line of architectural ambition4    
,science has been called to his aid1 and
 the patient ingenuity with which he has
 sought to make the latest discoveries  
subservient to his purpose challenges   

admiration1 if not acquiescence4 ,some  
of our contemporaries have been warmed  
into almost theological aversion by the 
boldness of his conclusions1 but we see 
little cause for fear1 and none for     
bitterness or apprehension4 ,more       
closely ,nature is investigated and     
deeper the impression will become of her
 majesty and might4 ,unlike earthly     
greatnesses1 she loses no power--no     
grandeur--no fascination--no prestige1  
by familiarity4 ,the greatest           
philosophers will always rank among her 
greatest admirers and most devout and   
fervent worshippers4  ,had our author   
proved all he has assumed our faith     
would not be lessened1 nor our wonder   
diminished4 ,whether matter or spirit   
has been the world's architect1 the     
astounding miracle of its creation is   
not the less4 ,what does it import      
whether it resulted direct from the fiat
 of ,omnipotence1 or intermediately from
 the properties ,he impressed1 or the   
law of development ,he prescribed8 ,he  

who gave the law1 who infused the       
energies by which ,chaos was transmuted 
into an organized universe1 remains     
great and inscrutable as ever4  ,it is  
time1 however1 that we entered upon a   
more detailed and closer investigation  
of the ,vestiges of ,creation4 ,our     
purpose is not hastily1 and without     
examination1 to deprecate1 deny1 or     
controvert2 but patiently1 and without  
prejudice1 to inquire1 to submit        
faithfully and intelligibly the outlines
 of a remarkable treatise2 describe     
briefly its scope and bearing1 the      
arguments by which they are supported1  
and the counter reasons by which they   
appear to be wholly or partially        
impugned4 ,our readers will thus be     
enabled to appreciate the merits of a   
controversy1 the most comprehensive and 
interesting that for a lengthened period
 has occupied the attention of the      
scientific and intellectual world4  ,for
 greater clearness of exposition we     
shall endeavour to follow the order     

observed by the author in the division  
and treatment of his subjects1          
commencing first with the   ,,bodies    
,,of ,,space4  ,the author opens his    
subject with a brief but luminous       
outline of the arrangement and formation
 of the astral and planetary systems of 
the heavens4 ,he first describes the    
solar system1 of which our earth is a   
member1 consisting of the sun1 planets1 
and satellites with the less            
intelligible orbs termed comets1 and    
taking as the uttermost bounds of this  
system the orbit of ,uranus1 it occupies
 a portion of space not less than three 
thousand six hundred millions of miles  
in diameter4 ,the mind cannot form an   
exact notion of so vast an expanse1 but 
an idea of it may be obtained from the  
fact1 that1 if the swiftest racehorse   
ever known had began to traverse it at  
full speed at the time of the birth of  
,,moses1 he would only yet have         
accomplished half his journey4 ,vast as 
is the solar system1 it is only one of  

an infinity of others which may be still
 more extensive4 ,our sun is supposed to
 be a star belonging to a constellation 
of stars1 each of which has its         
accompaniment of revolving planets2 and 
the constellation itself with similar   
constellations to form revolving        
clusters round some mightier centre of  
attraction2 and so on1 each astral      
combination increasing in number1       
magnitude1 and complexity1 till the mind
 is utterly lost in the vain effort to  
grasp the limitless arrangement4  ,of   
the stars astronomers can hardly be said
 to know anything with certainty4       
,sirius1 which is the most lustrous1 was
 long supposed to be the nearest and    
most within the reach of observation1   
but all attempts to calculate the       
distance of that luminary have proved   
futile4 ,of its inconceivable remoteness
 some notion may be formed by the fact1 
that the diameter of the earth's annual 
orbit1 if viewed from it1 would dwindle 
into an invisible point4 ,this is what  

is meant by the stars not having1 like  
the planets1 a parallax2 that is1 the   
earths' orbit1 as seen from them1 does  
not subtend a measurable angle4 ,with   
two other stars1 however1 astronomers   
have unexpectedly and recently been more
 fortunate than with ,sirius1 and have  
been able to calculate their distances  
from the earth4 ,the celebrated         
,,bessel1 and soon afterwards1 the late 
,mr4 ,,henderson1 astronomer royal for  
,scotland1 were the first to surmount   
the difficulty that had baffled the     
telescopic resources of the ,,herschels4
 ,,bessel detected a parallax of        
one-third of a second in the star #fa   
,cygni1 and in the constellation of the 
,centaur ,,henderson found another star 
whose parallax amounted to one second4  
,of the million of fixed glittering     
points that adorn the sky1 these are the
 only two whose distances have been     
calculated1 and to express them1 miles1 
leagues1 or orbits seems inadequate4    
,light1 whose speed is known to be      

#aib1jjj miles per second1 would be     
three years in reaching our earth from  
the star of ,,henderson2 and starting   
from ,,bessel',s star and moving at the 
same rate it could only reach us in ten 
years4 ,these are the nearest stars1 but
 there are others whose distances are   
immeasurably greater1 and whose light1  
though starting from them at the        
beginning of creation1 may not have     
reached our globe6  ,the stars visible  
to the eye are about #c1jjj1 but the    
number increases with every increase of 
telescopic power1 and may be said to be 
innumerable4 ,they are not of uniform   
lustre or form1 but vary in figure and  
brightness4 ,some of them have a        
nebulous or cloudy appearance2 and there
 are entire clusters with this dusky    
aspect1 mostly pervaded1 however1 with  
luminous points of more brilliant hue4  
,in the outer fields of astral space    
,sir ,,william ,,herschel observed a    
multitude of nebul1 one or two of which 
may be seen by the naked eye4 ,all of   

them1 when seen by instruments of low   
power1 look like masses of luminous     
vapour2 but some of them had brighter   
spots1 suggesting to ,sir ,,william the 
idea of a condensation of the nebulous  
matter round one or more centres4 ,but  
when these luminous masses are examined 
by more powerful instruments many of    
them lose their cloudy form1 and are    
resolved into shining points1 like      
spangles of diamond dust4 ,it is in this
 way several nebul have yielded to the  
gigantic reflector of ,lord ,,rosse1 and
 others with still greater optical      
resources may follow4 ,this brings us to
 the first questionable and             
controversial portion of the ,vestiges2 
namely1--the   ,,nebular ,,hypothesis4  
,it is among the gaseous bodies just    
described1 in the outer boundary of     
,nature1 which neither telescope nor    
geometry can well reach1 that           
speculation has laid its venue1 and     
commenced its aerial castles4 ,,laplace 
was the first to suggest the nebular    

hypothesis1 which he did with great     
diffidence1 not as a theory proved1 or  
hardly likely1 but as a mathematical    
possibility or illustration4 ,his range 
of creation1 moreover1 was not so vast  
as that of our author1 which assumes to 
compass the entire universe1 but was    
limited to the evolution of the solar   
system4 ,the mode in which this might be
 evolved1 ,,laplace thus explains3--    
,he conjectures that in the original    
condition of the solar system the sun   
revolved upon his axis1 surrounded by an
 atmosphere which1 in virtue of an      
excessive heat1 extended far beyond the 
orbits of all the planets1 the planets  
as yet having no existence4 ,the heat   
gradually diminished1 and as the solar  
atmosphere contracted by cooling1 the   
rapidity of its rotation increased by   
the laws of rotatory motion1 and an     
exterior zone of vapour was detached    
from the rest1 the central attraction   
being no longer able to overcome the    
increased centrifugal force4 ,the zone  

of vapour might in some cases retain its
 form1 as we still see in ,saturn's     
ring2 but more usually the ring of      
vapour would break into several masses1 
and these would generally coalesce into 
one mass1 which would revolve about the 
sun4 ,such portions of the solar        
atmosphere abandoned successively at    
different distances1 would form planets 
in the state of vapour4 ,these masses of
 vapour1 it appears from mechanical     
laws1 would have each its rotatory      
motion1 and as the cooling of the vapour
 still went on1 would each produce a    
planet that might have satellites and   
rings formed from the planet1 in the    
same manner as the planets were formed  
from the atmosphere of the sun4  ,all   
the known motions of the solar system   
are consistent and reconcileable with   
this theory of ,,laplace1 and upon it   
the author of the ,vestiges has enlarged
 and founded his wider scheme of        
physical creation4 ,he supposes the void
 of nature to have been originally      

filled with a universal ,,fire ,,mist   
7p4 #cj71 out of which all the celestial
 orbs were made and put in motion4 ,how 
this mist was put in activity1 and      
resolved into the luminous and revolving
 bodies that we now see1 and one of     
which we inhabit is the first urgent    
perplexity to surmount in the           
conjecture4 ,it is manifest that if a   
mist filled the entire region of space1 
a mist it must for ever remain1 unless  
acted upon by some cause adequate to    
give it new action and arrangement4 ,no 
sun1 no stars or planets could          
spontaneously emanate from an inert     
vapour any more than from nothing4 ,to  
meet this1 his first difficulty1 the    
author supposes that there were certain 
nuclei1 or centres of greater           
condensation1 analogous to those still  
remarked in the nebul of the heavens1   
and that these nuclei1 by their superior
 attractive force1 consolidated into    
spheres the gaseous matter around       
them3--       ,of nebulous matter1 says 

he1 in its original state we know too   
little to enable us to suggest how      
nuclei should be established in      it4
 ,but supposing that from a peculiarity 
in the constitution      nuclei are     
formed1 we know very well how1 by the   
power of      gravitation1 the process  
of an aggregation of the neighbouring   
matter to these nuclei should proceed   
until masses more or less      solid    
should be detached from the rest4 ,it is
 a well-known law in      physics1 that 
when fluid matter collects towards1 or  
meets in a      centre1 it establishes a
 rotatory motion4 ,see minor results of 
this law in the whirlpool and the       
whirlwind--nay1 on so humble a          
scale as the water sinking through the  
aperture of a funnel4 ,it      thus     
becomes certain1 that when we arrive at 
the stage of a      nebulous star we    
have a rotation on its axis commenced4  
,up to this1 however1 the author has    
proved nothing4 ,the existence of the   
fire-mist and nuclei are assumptions    

only1 and the way by which he tries to  
account for rotatory motion is clearly  
erroneous4 ,the aggregation of matter   
round the nuclei by gravitation would   
have no such tendency2 no more than a   
perfect balance would of itself have a  
tendency to move about its fulcrum1 or a
 falling stone to deviate from its      
vertical course4 ,gravitation would     
indeed compress the particles of matter1
 but its tendency and entire action is  
towards the nucleus2 it compresses them 
no more on one side of the line of their
 direction to the centre of force than  
on any other side2 and hence no lateral 
or rotatory motion would ensue4         
,rotation1 therefore1 is yet unaccounted
 for2 though the author says it is a    
well-known law in physics that when     
fluid matter collects towards1 or meets 
in a centre1 it establishes a rotatory  
motion2 and then for illustration refers
 to a whirlwind or whirlpool4 ,no such  
effect would follow the conditions      
stated1 and an entire ignorance is      

betrayed of the laws of mechanical      
philosophy4 ,in the whirlpool and the   
whirlwind the gyration is caused by the 
fluid passing1 not to the centre1 but   
through it and away from it2 in the     
whirlpool downwards through the place of
 exit1 in the whirlwind upwards to where
 the vacuum has caused the rapid        
aggregation4  ,,laplace was too able a  
mathematician to commit these elementary
 blunders2 he did not assume to account 
for rotation by inapplicable laws1 but  
took for granted that the sun revolved  
upon its axis1 and thence communicated a
 corresponding motion to the bodies     
thrown from its surface4 ,but our author
 has sought to advance beyond his       
teacher1 and in this way has shown his  
ignorance of physics by an egregious    
mistake4 ,at this point we might stop1  
without following the ulterior steps by 
which the solar system is made to evolve
 out of heated vapour4 ,having got      
rotation1 though by an impossible       
process1 the author falls into the      

illustration already given of the theory
 of ,,laplace4 ,the rotation of each    
nucleus or sun round its axis produces  
centrifugal force2 that force1 by       
refrigeration1 increases beyond the     
centripetal force of gravity2 in        
consequence rings are formed and        
detached from the surface1 whose unequal
 coherence of parts mostly causes them  
to break into separate masses or        
planets1 partaking of the motion of the 
bodies from which they have been        
separated1 and these primaries in their 
turn becoming centres of gravitation and
 centrifugal force1 throw off their     
secondaries1 or moons4  ,in this way the
 solar system and other systems upon a  
similar plan of arrangement1 it is      
conjectured1 may have been formed4      
,according to the author the generative 
process is still in progress1 and new   
worlds are in course of being thrown off
 from new suns in the confines of       
creation4 ,these nebulous stars on the  
outer bounds of space1 of varying forms 

and brightness1 are supposed to be the  
centres of new systems in different     
stages of development1 like children of 
various ages and growth in a numerous   
family4 ,this is the author's own       
illustration 7p4 #bj71 and after giving 
it he proceeds3--       ,precisely thus1
 seeing in our astral system many       
thousands of      worlds in all stages  
of formation1 from the most rudimental  
to that      immediately preceding the  
present condition of those we deem      
perfect1 it is unavoidable to conclude  
that all the perfect have      gone     
through the various stages which we see 
in the rudimental4      ,this leads us  
at once to the conclusion that the whole
 of our      firmament was at one time a
 diffused mass of nebulous matter1      
extending through the space which it    
still occupies4 ,so also1 of            
course1 must have been the other astral 
systems4 ,indeed1 we must      presume  
the whole to have been originally in one
 connected mass1      the astral systems

 being only the first division into     
parts1 and      solar systems the       
second4       ,the first idea which all 
this impresses upon us is1 that the     
formation of bodies in space is still   
and at present in progress4      ,we    
live at a time when many have been      
formed1 and many are still      forming4
 ,our own solar system is to be regarded
 as completed1      supposing its       
perfection to consist in the formation  
of a series of      planets1 for there  
are mathematical reasons for concluding 
that      ,mercury is the nearest planet
 to the sun1 which can1 according to    
the laws of the system1 exist4 ,but     
there are other solar systems           
within our astral systems1 which are as 
yet in a less advanced      state1 and  
even some quantities of nebulous matter 
which have      scarcely begun to       
advance towards the stellar form4 ,on   
the other      hand1 there are vast     
numbers of stars which have all the     
appearance      of being fully formed   

systems1 if we are to judge from the    
complete      and definite appearance   
which they present to our vision through
      the telescope4 ,we have no means  
of judging of the seniority of          
systems2 but it is reasonable to suppose
 that among the many1 some      are     
older than ours4 ,there is1 indeed1 one 
piece of evidence for      the          
probability of the comparative youth of 
our system1 altogether      apart from  
human traditions and the geognostic     
appearances of the      surface of our  
planet4 ,this consists in a thin        
nebulous matter1      which is diffused 
around the sun to nearly the orbit of   
,mercury1 of      a very oblately       
spheroidal shape4 ,this matter1 which   
sometimes      appears to our naked     
eyes1 at sunset1 in the form of a cone  
projecting upwards in the line of the   
sun's path1 and which bears      the    
name of the ,zodiacal ,light1 has been  
thought a residuum or last      remnant 
of the concentrating matter of our      

system1 and thus may be      supposed to
 indicate the comparative recentness of 
the principal      events of our        
cosmogony4 ,supposing the surmise and   
inference to      be correct1 and they  
may be held as so far supported by more 
familiar evidence1 we might with the    
more confidence speak of our      system
 as not amongst the elder born of       
,heaven1 but one whose      various     
phenomena1 physical and moral1 as yet   
lay undeveloped1      while myriads of  
others were fully fashioned1 and in     
complete      arrangement4 ,thus1 in the
 sublime chronology to which we are     
directing our inquiries1 we first find  
ourselves called upon to      consider  
the globe which we inhabit as a child of
 the sun1 elder      than ,venus and her
 younger brother ,mercury1 but posterior
 in date      of birth to ,mars1        
,jupiter1 ,saturn1 and ,uranus2 next to 
regard our      whole system as probably
 of recent formation in comparison with 
many of the stars of our firmament4 ,we 

must1 however1 be on our      guard     
against supposing the earth as a recent 
globe in our ordinary      conceptions  
of time4 ,from evidence afterwards to be
 adduced1 it      will be seen that it  
cannot be presumed to be less than many 
hundreds of centuries old4 ,how much    
older ,uranus may be1 no one can        
tell1 far less how much more aged may be
 many of the stars of our               
firmament1 or the stars of other        
firmaments1 than ours4  ,all this is    
ingenious and fluently expressed4 ,the  
author has an easy way of surmounting   
his difficulties by the use of such     
little auxiliary phrases1 as of course1 
it may be surmised1 it is reasonable to 
suppose1 and so on2 which1 though       
trifling in themselves1 help him in     
their connecting inferences through many
 embarrassing perplexities4 ,but his    
hypothesis is yet unproved2 his         
fire-mist is only a conjecture2 his     
nuclei1 scattered like so many eggs in  
space out of which future suns and      

worlds are in process of incubation1 is 
of the same description1 and rotation1  
the first step in his process of        
creation1 would not ensue under the     
conditions he has assigned4 ,without    
dwelling on these shortcomings1 we shall
 terminate this portion of the author's 
inquiry with a few general strictures4  
,first1 on its inconsistency with what  
we know of the solar system2 and1       
secondly1 on its inadequacy to explain  
the facts of which we are cognizant on  
our own globe4  ,in the first place1 for
 the hypothesis to be applicable to our 
system1 it is requisite that the primary
 and secondary bodies should revolve1   
both in their orbits and round their    
axes1 in one direction1 and nearly in   
one plane4 ,most of the bodies of the   
system observe these laws1 their orbits 
are nearly circular1 nearly in the plane
 of the original equator of the solar   
rotation1 and in the direction of that  
rotation4 ,but there are exceptions2 the
 comets1 which intersect the equatorial 

plane in every angle of direction form  
one1 and the most distant of the planets
 forms another4 ,the satellites of      
,uranus are retrograde4 ,they move from 
east to west in orbits highly inclined  
to that of their primary1 and on both   
accounts are exceptions to the order of 
the other secondary bodies4 ,our author 
is so perplexed by this inconsistency   
that he first doubts the fact1 and next 
tries to explain it by alleging that it 
may be owing to a bouleversement of the 
primary4 ,what is meant by the          
bouleversement of a planet none of his  
critics seem to apprehend1 nor do we4   
,but that the moons of ,uranus are      
contrariwise to those of the other      
planets1 ,sir ,,john ,,herschel has     
indubitably established2 so that the    
author at any rate upon this point has  
sustained a bouleversement4  ,our own   
moon forms a third exception to his     
theory4 ,according to his system1 this  
satellite is a slip or graft from our   
planet1 and in constitution1 it might be

 inferred1 would partake of the elements
 of the parent4 ,but the fact is        
otherwise4 ,the moon has no atmosphere1 
no seas1 or rivers1 nor any water1 and  
of course totally unfit for human       
inhabitants1 or organic life of any     
kind4 ,it must1 then1 have had a        
different origin1 or be in some earlier 
stage of development than that through  
which our earth has passed4  ,leaving   
these exceptions1 we may next inquire   
into the relevant purposes of the       
nebular hypothesis1 supposing its       
assumptions acquiesced in4 ,like the    
fanciful theories of the ancient        
philosophers1 it seems only to involve a
 profitless topic of controversy1       
without solving natural phenomena4 ,it  
does not unravel the mystery of the     
beginning1 brings us no nearer to the   
first creative force4 ,like a good      
chemist1 previous to analysis1 the      
author first throws all matter into a   
state of solution2 but granting him his 
fire-mist and nuclei in the midst1 how  

or whence came this condition and       
arrangement of nature8 ,what was its    
pre-existing state8 or1 if that be      
answered1 how or whence was that        
preceding state educed1 for it1 too1    
must have had one prior to it8 ,so that 
the mind makes no advances by such      
inquiries1 is lost in a maze that can   
have no end1 because it has no          
beginning2 and1 like ,noah's messenger1 
for want of a resting place1 is         
compelled to return to the first        
starting point4 ,easier1 and quite as   
satisfactory1 it seems to believe1 as we
 have been taught to believe1 that the  
celestial spheres were at once perfect  
and entire1 projected into space from   
the hands of the maker1 than that they  
were elaborated out of luminous vapour  
by gravity and condensation4 ,hopeless  
inquiry is thus foreclosed1 an          
inquisition that cannot be answered1    
silenced1 and removed out of the pale of
 discussion4  ,it is not from any       
attribute of the ,deity being impugned  

that the hypothesis is objectionable4   
,design and intelligence in the creation
 are left paramount as before1 and our  
impression of the skill exercised1 and  
the means employed1 only transferred to 
another part of the work4 ,he who       
produced the primordial condition the   
author supposes1 who filled space with  
such a mist1 composed of such materials1
 subjected to such laws1 such           
constitution1 that sun1 moon1 and stars 
necessarily resulted from them1 appears 
omnipotent as ever4 ,but it does not    
advance inquiry1 nor assist us in       
explaining the wonders we contemplate in
 our own globe4 ,suppose a planet formed
 by the author's process1 what kind of a
 body would it be8 ,something1 as       
,professor ,,whewell suggests1          
resembling a large meteoric stone4 ,how 
after wards came this unformed mass to  
be like our earth1 to be covered with   
motion and organization1 with life and  
general felicity8 ,what primitive cause 
stocked it with plants and animals1 and 

produced all the surprising and subtle  
contrivances which we find in their     
structure1 all the wide and profound    
mutual dependence which we trace in     
their economy8 ,is it possible to       
conceive1 as the ,vestiges inculcate1   
that man1 with his sentiment and        
intellect1 his powers and passions1 his 
will and conscience1 were also produced 
as the ultimate result of vapourous     
condensation8  ,one more conjecture of  
the author1 in this division of his     
subject1 we shall only notice4 ,it is   
that the formation of bodies in space is
 still in progress4 ,what may be doing  
in the nebul1 in the region scarcely    
within reach of telescopic vision1 in   
what may be considered the yet          
uninclosed and commonable waste of the  
universe1 is a subject1 we suspect1 of  
much obscurity1 and respecting which no 
precise intelligence has been received2 
but limiting attention to the solar     
system1 which is nearer home and more   
within cognizance1 the work seems       

finished1 perfect1 and unchangeable1    
and1 like the ,great ,architect1 made to
 endure for ever4 ,this was the         
conclusion of ,,laplace2 he proved that 
the state of our system is stable2 that 
is1 the ellipsis the planets describe   
will always remain nearly circular1 and 
the axis of revolution of the earth will
 never deviate much from its present    
position4 ,he also gave a mathematical  
proof that this stability is not        
accidental1 but the result of design1 of
 an arrangement by which the planets all
 move in the same direction1 in orbits  
of small eccentricity and slightly      
inclined to each other4 ,reasoning from 
analogy1 as the author of the ,vestiges 
is prone to do--extending our views from
 our solar system to other              
systems--other suns and revolving       
planets--it is fair to conclude that    
they are not less perfect in            
arrangement--subject to like conditions 
of permanency1 and alike exempt from    
mutation1 decay1 collision1 or          

extinction4  ,descending from this high 
region1 we accompany the author to his  
next and lower field--the   ,,earth     
,,and ,,its ,,geological ,,history4     
,our globe is somewhat less than #h1jjj 
miles in diameter2 it is of a spheroidal
 form1 the equatorial exceeding the     
polar axis in the proportion of #cjj to 
#bii1 and which slight inequality1 in   
consequence of its diurnal revolution1  
is necessary to preserve the land near  
the equator from inundation by the sea4 
,the mean density or average weight of  
the earth is1 in proportion to that of  
distilled water1 as #e4ff to #a4 ,so    
that its specific gravity is            
considerably less than that of tin1 the 
lightest of the metals1 but exceeds that
 of granite1 which is three times       
heavier than water4  ,descending below  
the surface1 the first sensation that   
strikes is the increase of temperature4 
,this is so rapid1 that for every one   
hundred feet of sinking we obtain an    
increase of more than one degree of     

,fahrenheit's thermometer4 ,if there be 
no interruption to this law1 and no     
reason exists to conclude there is1 it  
is manifest that at the depth of a few  
miles we must reach an intensity of heat
 utterly unbearable4 ,hence it follows  
that by no improvements in machinery can
 mining operations be carried down to a 
great depth below the surface4 ,the     
greatest depth yet penetrated does not  
exceed three thousand feet1 and forms a 
very small advance towards the earth's  
centre1 distant #d1jjj miles4           
,geologists1 however1 without           
penetrating far into the earth1 have    
found means for obtaining an insight for
 several miles into its interior        
structure1 and armed with hammer1       
chisel1 and climbing hook1 they explore 
the beetling sea-cliff1 traverse the    
deepest valleys1 and scale the highest  
mountains1 carefully examining their    
formation1 disposition1 and substance1  
and are thus enabled to obtain some     
knowledge of the earth's stomach1 as it 

were1 by scrutinising the deposits and  
eruptive ejectments on its surface4 ,for
 example1 we come to a mountain composed
 of a particular substance with strata  
or beds of other rock lying against its 
sloped sides2 we1 of course1 infer that 
the substance of the mountain dips away 
under the strata that we see lying      
against it4 ,suppose that we walk away  
from the mountain across the turned-up  
edges of the stratified rocks1 and that 
for many miles we continue to pass over 
other stratified rocks1 all disposed in 
the same way1 till we begin to cross the
 opposite edges of the same beds2 after 
which we pass over these rocks all in   
reverse order1 till we come to another  
extensive mountain composed of similar  
materials to the first1 and shelving    
away under the strata in the same way2  
we should then infer that the stratified
 rocks occupied a basin formed by the   
rocks of these two mountains1 and by    
calculating the thickness right through 
these strata could say to what depths   

the rock of the mountain extended below4
 ,in this way has the interior of the   
globe been examined1 and its contents   
and arrangement1 for several miles below
 the surface1 ascertained4 ,the result  
of such inspection we leave the author  
of the ,vestiges to describe3--         
,it appears that the basis rock of the  
earth1 as it may be called1      is of  
hard texture1 and crystalline in its    
constitution4 ,of this      rock1       
granite may be said to be the type1     
though it runs into many      varieties4
 ,over this1 except in the comparatively
 few places where      it projects above
 the general level in mountains1 other  
rocks are      disposed in sheets or    
strata1 with the appearance of having   
been      deposited originally from     
water4 ,but these last rocks have       
nowhere      been allowed to rest in    
their original arrangement4 ,uneasy     
movements from below have broken them up
 in great inclined masses1      while in
 many cases there has been projected    

through the rents      rocky matter more
 or less resembling the great inferior  
crystalline      mass4 ,this rocky      
matter must have been in a state of     
fusion from      heat at the time of its
 projection1 for it is often found to   
have      run into and filled up lateral
 chinks in these rents4 ,there are      
even instances where it has been rent   
again1 and a newer melted      matter of
 the same character sent through the    
opening4 ,finally1 in      the crust as 
thus arranged1 there are1 in many       
places1 chinks      containing veins of 
metal4 ,thus1 there is first a great    
inferior      mass1 composed of         
crystalline rock1 and probably resting  
immediately on the fused and expanded   
matter of the interior3 next1           
layers or strata of aqueous origin2     
next1 irregular masses of      melted   
inferior rock that have been sent up    
volcanically and      confusedly at     
various times amongst the aqueous rocks1
 breaking up      these into masses1 and

 tossing them out of their original     
levels4  ,this1 we believe1 is a correct
 outline of the crust of the earth1 so  
far as it has been possible to observe  
it4 ,it exhibits extraordinary signs of 
commotion and vicissitude2 the lowest   
rocks indicating a previous condition of
 igneous fusion2 those above them of    
aqueous solution4 ,fire and water have  
thus been the chief tellurian           
anarchists1 and the shaking of          
continents and the constant shifting of 
level in sea and land still continue to 
attest their restless energies4 ,that   
igneous matter has1 during many periods1
 been protruded from below--that        
mountains have risen in succession from 
the sea1 and injected their molten      
substance through cracks and fissures of
 superincumbent strata--are facts       
resting on indubitable evidence4 ,many  
masses of granite became the solid      
bottom of some portions of the sea      
before the secondary strata were laid   
gradually upon them4 ,the granite of    

,mont ,blanc rose during a recent       
tertiary period4 ,we can prove1 says    
,professor ,,sedgwick1 more than mere   
shiftings of level1 and that many       
portions of sea and land have entirely  
changed their places4 ,the rocks at the 
top of ,snowdon are full of petrified   
sea-shells2 the same may be said of some
 high crests of the ,alps1 ,pyrenees1   
and ,andes4 ,we have proof demonstrative
 that many parts of ,scotland1 and that 
all ,england1 formed1 during many ages1 
the solid bottom of the sea4 ,it may be 
true that the antagonist powers of      
nature during the human period have     
reached a kind of balance4 ,but during  
all geological periods there have been  
such long intervals of repose1 or of    
such gradual movements1 that we may     
trace the history of the earth in the   
successive deposits formed in the waters
 of the sea4 ,this is the great business
 of geology4  ,although at first sight  
the interior of the earth appears a     
confused scene1 after careful           

observation we readily detect in it a   
regularity and order from which much    
instructive light is thrown on its past 
vicissitudes4 ,the deposition of the    
aqueous rocks and the projection of the 
volcanic have unquestionably taken place
 since the settlement of the earth in   
its present form4 ,they are1 indeed1 of 
an order of events which are going on   
under the agency of intelligible causes1
 down to the present day4 ,we may       
therefore consider these generally as   
recent transactions4 ,but advancing to  
the far distant antecedent era of its   
existence1 we may consider it to have   
been a globe of its present size        
enveloped in the crystalline rock       
already described1 with the waters of   
the present seas and the present        
atmosphere around it1 though these were 
probably in considerably different      
conditions1 both as to temperature and  
their constituent materials1 from what  
they now are4 ,we may thus presume that1
 without this primitive case of granitic

 texture1 the great bulk of the matters 
of our earth were agglomerated1 whether 
in a fluid or solid state is uncertain2 
but there cannot be any doubt that they 
continue to exist in a condition of     
great heat and compression1 having a    
mean density of more than double that of
 the minerals on the surface4  ,judging 
from the results and still observable   
conditions1 it may be inferred that the 
heat retained in the interior of the    
globe was more intense1 or had greater  
freedom to act1 in some places than in  
others4 ,these become the scenes of     
volcanic operations1 and in time marked 
their situations by the extrusion from  
below of trap and basalts--rocks        
composed of the crystalline matter1     
fused by intense heat1 and developed on 
the surface in various conditions1      
according to the particular             
circumstances under which it was sent   
up2 some1 for example1 being thrown up  
under water1 and some in the open air1  
which contingencies would make          

considerable difference in its texture  
and appearance4 ,it would1 however1 be a
 mistake to infer that1 previous to     
these eruptions1 the earth was a smooth 
ball1 with air and water playing round  
it4 ,geology tells us plainly that there
 were great irregularities--lofty       
mountains1 interspersed with deep       
seas--and by which1 perhaps1 the        
mountains were wholly or partially      
covered4 ,but it is a fact worthy of    
observation that the solids of our globe
 cannot for a moment be exposed to water
 or the atmosphere without becoming     
liable to change4 ,they instantly begin 
to wear down4 ,the matter so worn off   
being carried into the neighbouring     
depths and there deposited1 became the  
components of the successive series of  
stratified rocks1 extending from the    
basal envelope of granite to the earth's
 surface1 and which it will be proper   
briefly to describe4   ,,deposits ,,or  
,,rock ,,formations4  ,the first of the 
series is the ,gneis and ,mica ,slate   

,system1 of which examples are exposed  
to view in the ,highlands of ,scotland  
and the west of ,england4 ,these        
earliest stratified rocks contain no    
matters which are not to be found in the
 primitive granite4 ,they are the same  
in material--silica1 mica1 quartz1 or   
hornblende--but changed into new forms  
and combinations1 and hence called by   
,mr4 ,,lyell metamorphic rocks4 ,some of
 them are composed exclusively of one of
 the materials of granite2 the mica     
schist1 for example1 of mica2 the quartz
 rocks1 of quartz4 ,in the metamorphic  
rocks no organic remains have been      
found1 and they are geologically below  
all the rocks that do contain traces of 
animal life4  ,from the primary rocks we
 pass into the next ascending series1   
called the ,clay ,slate and ,grauwacke  
,slate ,system1 which in some places is 
found resting immediately on the        
granite1 the antecedent bed being there 
wanting4 ,this deposit has been well    
examined1 because some of its slate beds

 have been extensively quarried for     
domestic purposes4 ,by some geologists  
it is called the ,silurian ,system1 it  
being largely developed at the surface  
of a district of western ,england       
formerly occupied by the ,silures4 ,it  
is found also in ,north ,wales and in   
the north of ,england1 in beds of great 
thickness1 and in ,scotland1 but there  
the ,silurian rocks are more feebly     
represented4  ,the ,old ,red ,sandstone1
 or ,devonian ,system1 comes next4 ,it  
forms the material of the grand and     
rugged mountains which fringe many parts
 of our ,highland coasts1 and ranges1 on
 the south flank of the ,grampians1 from
 the eastern to the western sea of      
,scotland4 ,there is no part of geology 
and science more clear than that which  
refers to the ages of mountains4 ,it is 
as certain that the ,grampian mountains 
are older than the ,alps and ,apennines1
 as it is that civilisation had reached 
,italy and enabled her to subdue the    
world1 while ,scotland was the abode of 

barbarism4 ,the ,pyrenees1 ,carpathians1
 and other ranges of continental ,europe
 are all younger than these ,scotch     
hills1 or even the insignificant ,mendip
 ,hills of southern ,england4           
,stratification tells this tale as      
plainly1 and more truly1 than ,,livy    
tells the story of the ,roman republic4 
,it tells us that at the time when the  
,grampians sent streams and detritus to 
straits where now the valleys of the    
,forth and ,clyde meet1 the greater part
 of ,europe was a wide ocean4  ,the last
 three series of strata contain the     
remains of the earliest occupants of the
 globe1 and of which we shall soon      
speak4 ,they are of enormous            
thickness--in ,england1 not much less   
than #cj1jjj feet1 or nearly six miles4 
,we have now arrived at the secondary   
rocks1 of which the lowest group is the 
,carboniferous ,formation1 so called    
from its remarkable feature of numerous 
interspersed beds of coal4 ,it commences
 with beds of the mountain limestone1   

which in ,england attains a depth of    
#hjj yards4 ,coal is altogether composed
 of the matter of a terrestrial         
vegetation1 transmuted by putrefaction  
of a peculiar kind beneath the surface  
of water1 and in the absence of air4    
,from examples seen at the present day  
at the mouths of such rivers as the     
,mississippi1 which traverse extensive  
sylvan regions1 it is thought that the  
vegetation1 the rubbish of decayed      
forests1 was carried by rivers into     
estuaries1 and there accumulated into   
vast natural rafts1 until it sank to the
 bottom1 where an overlayer of sand or  
mud would prepare it for becoming a     
stratum of coal4 ,others conceive that  
the vegetation first went into the      
condition of peat moss1 that a sink in a
 level then exposed it to be overrun by 
the sea and covered with a layer of sand
 or mud2 that a subsequent uprise made  
the mud dry land1 and fitted it to bear 
a new forest1 which afterwards1 like its
 predecessors1 became a bed of          

peat--that1 in short1 by repetitions of 
this process the alternate layers of    
coal1 sand and shell constituting the   
carboniferous group were formed4  ,the  
,magnesian ,limestone deposits succeed  
the carboniferous1 and sometimes pass   
into them by insensible gradations4 ,in 
the south of ,england they are          
represented by conglomerates1 and partly
 composed of the solid and more or less 
rounded fragments of the older strata4  
,they afford a proof of what geologists 
have often occasion to remark of the    
long periods of time during which the   
ancient works of nature were perfected2 
for the older rocks were solid as they  
are now1 and their organic remains      
petrified at the time these             
conglomerates were forming4  ,we can    
only briefly glance at the remaining    
chapters of geological history4 ,the    
,new ,red ,sandstone forms the base of  
the great central plains of ,england1   
and is surmounted by the oliferous marls
 and red arenaceous beds which pass     

under the succession of great oolitic   
terraces that stretch across ,england   
from the coasts of ,dorsetshire to the  
north-eastern coast of ,yorkshire4 ,it  
marks the commencement of an important  
era1 being the strata in which land     
animals are first found4 ,the ,oolte    
,system which follows marks the         
beginning of mammalia1 and in some of   
its beds in ,buckinghamshire are found  
the exuvi of tropical trees4 ,near      
,weymouth1 in the well-known dirt beds1 
are found trees with their silicified   
trunks growing up in the position of    
nature1 and their roots embedded in the 
soil on which they grew4  ,next we have 
the chalk or ,cretaceous ,formation1    
that makes such a conspicuous figure in 
,england4 ,the celebrated cliffs of     
,dover are of this era4 ,it forms a     
stripe from ,yorkshire to ,kent1 and is 
found in ,france1 ,germany1 ,russia1 and
 in ,north ,america4 ,the ,english chalk
 beds are #a1bjj feet thick1 showing the
 considerable depth of the ocean in     

which they were formed4 ,their origin   
has been a questionable topic2 they were
 thought to be formed from the detritus 
of coral reefs1 but ,professor          
,,ehrenberg has recently announced1 as  
the result of his microscopical         
researches1 that chalk is composed      
partly of inorganic particles and partly
 of shells of inconceivable minuteness1 
a cubic inch of the substance containing
 about ten millions of them4  ,in the   
hollows of the chalk-beds have been     
formed series of strata--clay1          
limestone1 marl alternating--to which   
the name of the ,tertiary ,system has   
been given4 ,it is irregularly          
distributed over vast surfaces of all   
our continents1 and must be considered  
as the beds of estuaries left at the    
conclusion of the cretaceous period4    
,london and ,paris rest on basins of    
this formation1 and another such basin  
extends from near ,winchester under     
,southampton1 and reappears in the ,isle
 of ,wight4  ,we hasten upward to the   

,diluvial ,system1 which brings us near 
to the present surface4 ,to this era is 
referred the erratic blocks1 or gigantic
 boulder stones1 which have been driven 
by floods across our continents1 or     
drifted in icebergs over valleys1 and   
perched sometimes on mountain tops4 ,to 
it also must be referred the till of    
,scotland and the great brown clay of   
,england1 and our vast beds of gravel   
and superficial rubbish1 connected with 
the deluvium in the history of          
ossiferous caverns1 of which that       
examined by ,dr4 ,,buckland at ,kirkdale
 is an example4 ,they occur in the      
calcareous strata1 as the great caverns 
generally do1 and have in all instances 
been naturally closed up till the period
 of their discovery4 ,at ,kirkdale the  
remains of twenty-four species of       
animals were found--namely1 pigeon1     
lark1 raven1 duck1 partridge1 mouse1    
water-rat1 rabbit1 hare1 hippopotamus1  
rhinoceros1 elephant1 weasel1 fox1 wolf1
 deer1 ox1 horse1 bear1 tiger1 hyena4   

,from many of the bones of the gentler  
of these animals being found in a broken
 state1 it is supposed that the cave was
 the haunt of hyenas and other          
predaceous animals1 by which the smaller
 ones had been consumed4  ,we come last 
to the ,modern or ,superficial          
,formation1 of which the best specimen  
is the great ,bedford level1 that       
spreads over the lower lands of         
,norfolk1 ,cambridgeshire1 and          
,lincolnshire1 consisting of            
accumulations of silt1 drifted matter1  
and bog-earth1 some of which began      
before the earliest periods of ,british 
history4 ,when these accumulations are  
removed by artificial means1 we find    
below sometimes shells of recent        
species1 and the remains of an old      
estuary1 sometimes sand-banks1 gravel   
beds1 stumps of trees1 and masses of    
drifted wood4 ,on this recent surface   
are found skulls of a living species of 
,european bear1 skeletons of the ,arctic
 wolf1 ,european beaver and wild boar1  

and numerous horns and bones of the     
roebuck and red deer1 and of the        
gigantic stag or ,irish elk4 ,they      
testify to a zoology on the verge of    
that now prevailing or melting into it4 
,in corresponding deposits of ,north    
,america are found remains of the       
mammoth1 mastadon1 buffalo1 and other   
animals of extinct or living species4   
,considering it best not to interrupt   
the description of the successive       
formations1 this is almost the only     
allusion that has been made to the      
fossils which constitute so important a 
part of geological science4 ,it is now  
to be explained that from an early      
period1 that is1 from the metamorphic   
deposit to the close of the rock series1
 each formation is found to enclose     
remains of the organic beings1 plants1  
and animals1 which flourished upon earth
 during the time they were forming2 and 
these organisms1 or such parts of them  
as were of sufficient solidity1 have    
been in many instances preserved with   

the utmost fidelity1 although for the   
most part converted into the substance  
of the enclosing mineral4 ,the rocks may
 be thus said to form a kind of history 
of the organic departments of nature    
apparently from near their beginning to 
the present time4 ,it is upon the       
commencement and progress of life under 
these circumstances that the author of  
the ,vestiges of ,creation has put forth
 some of his most startling and         
controversial propositions2 but before  
noticing them it will be useful to      
prepare the way by shortly describing   
the gradations of organic existences1   
following the same order as observed in 
the rock series1 by beginning with the  
lowest or humblest forms of             
organization4   ,,rise ,,and ,,progress 
,,of ,,plants ,,and ,,animals4  ,the    
interior of the earth reveals wonders   
not less impressive than those of the   
skies4 ,we have seen in the last section
 how the crust of our globe is composed 
of successive layers or tiers of strata1

 rising upward1 terrace upon terrace1   
till we reach the present vegetable     
mould or superficial platform of        
animated existence4 ,in the aggregate   
these formations or systems1 marking the
 several epochs in nature's development1
 may extend to a depth1 as ,dr4         
,,buckland conjectures1 of ten or       
fifteen miles below the surface1 and    
each may be considered a vast cemetery  
or graveyard1 entombing the remains of  
ages long anterior to human creation4   
,we1 in fact1 live upon a pile of       
worlds1 and anticipating the future from
 past records and from changes still    
manifest from the shallowing soundings  
of neighbouring seas1 it is not         
improbable that the existing scene of   
bustle may have heaped upon it as many  
superincumbent masses as the lowest of  
the rocks enclosing the vestiges of     
life4  ,if not with a kind of awe1 it   
must have certainly been with intense   
curiosity that the first investigators  
of fossilology looked upon the earliest 

forms of animated being of which we have
 any traces as existing upon this globe4
 ,these first denizens1 however1 seem to
 have been of a simple structure and    
humble order1 not fit to play high class
 characters4 ,no land animals are found 
among them1 none which could breathe the
 atmosphere1 none but tenants of the    
water1 and even animals so high in the  
scale as fish were wanting4 ,in popular 
language1 the earliest fossils are      
corals and shellfish4  ,but to make the 
subject generally intelligible it will  
be necessary first to define the orders 
of the animal kingdom4 ,,cuvier was the 
first to give a philosophical view of   
the animal world in reference to the    
plan on which each animal is            
constructed4 ,according to him there are
 four forms on which animals have been  
modelled1 and of which ulterior         
divisions are only slight modifications 
founded on the development or addition  
of some parts that do not produce any   
essential change of structure4  ,the    

four great branches of the animal world 
are the vertebrata1 mollusca1           
articulata1 and radiata4 ,the vertebrata
 are those animals which 7as man and    
other sucklers1 birds and fishes7 have a
 backbone and a skull with lateral      
appendages1 within which the viscera are
 excluded1 and to which the muscles are 
attached4 ,the mollusca or soft animals 
have no bony skeleton2 the muscles are  
attached to the skin1 which often       
include stony plates called shells2 such
 mollusca are shell-fish1 others are    
cuttle-fish1 and many pulpy sea animals4
 ,the articulata consist of crustacea   
7lobsters1 c471 insects1 spiders1 and   
annulos worms1 which1 like the other    
classes of this branch1 consist of a    
head and a number of successive portions
 of the body jointed together1 whence   
the name4 ,finally the radiata include  
the animals known under the name of     
zoophytes4  ,now it is fossils of the   
radiata division of the animal kingdom  
that are found in the lowest stratified 

rocks1 polypiaria and crinodia1 the     
first including various forms of these  
extraordinary animals 7corallines7 which
 still abound in tropical seas1 often   
obstructing the course of the mariner1  
and even laying the foundation of new   
continents4 ,the crinoids are an early  
and simple form of the large family of  
star-fishes2 the animal is little more  
than a stomach1 surrounded by tentacula 
to provide itself with food1 and mounted
 upon a many-jointed stalk1 so as to    
resemble a flower upon its stem4 ,along 
with these in the slate system are a few
 lowly genera of crustacea1 and of a    
higher class1 the mollusca1 and the     
existence of these imply the            
contemporary existence of certain       
humbler forms of life1 vegetable and    
animal1 for their subsistence1 forming a
 scene approaching to what is found in  
seas of the present day1 excepting that 
fishes1 nor any higher vertebrata1 as   
yet roamed the marine wilds4  ,the      
animal species of this era seem to have 

been few in number1 and almost the whole
 had become extinct before the next     
group of strata had been formed4 ,in the
 ,silurian deposit the vestiges of life 
become more abundant1 the number of     
species extended1 and important         
additions made in the traces of sea     
plants and fishes4 ,remains of fishes   
have been detected in rocks immediately 
over the ,aymestry limestone1 being     
apparently the first examples of        
vertebrated animals which breathed upon 
our planet4 7p4 #fd74 ,the cephaloda1   
represented in our era by the nautilus  
and cuttle-fish1 pertain to the         
,silurian formation1 and are the most   
highly organised of the mollusca1       
possessing in some families an internal 
bony skeleton1 together with a heart and
 a head with mandibles not unlike those 
of the parrot4  ,in the ,old ,red       
,sandstone the same marine specimens are
 continued with numerous additions4     
,several of the strata are crowded with 
remains of fish1 showing that the seas  

in which these beds were deposited had  
swarmed with that class of inhabitants4 
,the predominating kinds are of an      
inferior model to the two orders which  
afterwards came into existence1 and     
still are the principal fishes of our   
seas2 the former are covered with       
integuments of a considerably different 
character from the true scales covering 
the latter1 and which orders1 from their
 form of organization1 are named stenoid
 and cycloid4  ,up to the present we    
find proofs of the general uniformity of
 organic life over the surface of the   
earth at the time when each particular  
system of rocks was formed4 ,the types  
of being formed in the old red as in    
preceding deposits1 are identical in    
species with the remains that occur in  
the corresponding class of rocks in     
,brittany1 the ,hartz1 ,norway1 ,russia1
 and ,north ,america2 attesting the     
similarity and almost universality1 if  
not contemporary character1 of          
terrestrial changes4 ,a few other       

geological facts may be here mentioned  
for recollection1 and which throw light 
on the marine animal and vegetable forms
 of this and preceding eras4 ,first     
there was comparatively an absence of   
salt in the early ocean2 and next the   
temperature of the earth is conjectured 
to have been higher1 and perhaps almost 
uniform throughout4 ,the higher         
temperature of the primeval times is    
attributed to the greater proximity or  
intensity of the globe's internal heat1 
and which1 poured through cracks and    
fissures of the lately concreted crust1 
,m4 ,,brongniart supposes to have been  
sufficiently great to overpower the     
ordinary meteorological influences and  
spread a tropical climate all over its  
surface4  ,it must be further borne in  
mind that as yet no land animals or     
plants existed1 and for this presumable 
reason1 that dry land had not appeared4 
,it is only in the next or carboniferous
 formation that evidence is traced of   
island or continent4 ,as a consequence  

of this emergence there was fresh water2
 for rain1 instead of returning to the  
sea1 as formerly1 was collected in      
channels of the earth and became        
springs1 rivers1 and lakes4 ,it was made
 a receptacle for an advance in         
organism1 and land plants became a      
conspicuous part of the new creation4   
,according to the ,vestiges of          
,creation1 terrestrial botany began with
 classes of comparatively simple forms  
and structure4 ,in the ranks of the     
vegetable kingdom the lowest place is   
taken by plants of cellular tissue1 and 
which have no flowers1 as lichens1      
mosses1 fungi1 ferns1 and sea-weeds4    
,above these stand plants with vascular 
tissue1 bearing flowers1 and of which   
there are two subdivisions3 first1      
plants having one seed-lobe1 and in     
which the new matter is added within1 of
 which the cane and palm are examples2  
second1 plants having two seed lobes1   
and in which the new matter is added on 
the outside under the bark1 of which the

 pine1 elm1 oak1 and all the ,british   
forest trees are examples4 ,now the     
author of the ,vestiges states that     
two-thirds of the plants of this era    
belong to the cellular kind1 but to this
 one of his ablest critics 7,edinburgh  
,review for ,july7 demurs1 asserting    
that the carboniferous epoch shows a    
gorgeous flora--that the first fruits of
 vegetable nature were not rude1        
ill-fashioned forms1 but in magnificence
 and complexity of structure equal to   
any living types1 and that the forest   
approached the rank and complicated     
display of a tropical jungle1 where the 
prevalence of great heat with great     
moisture1 combined with the fact that   
the atmosphere contained a greater      
proportion of the natural food of       
plants1 must undoubtedly have forcibly  
stimulated vegetation1 and in quantity  
and luxuriance of growth1 if not        
fineness of organization1 produced it in
 rich abundance4 ,the earth1 it is      
likely1 was one vast forest1 which would

 perform a most important part for the  
good of its future inhabitants1 helping 
to purge the air of its excess of       
carbonic acid1 by which the earth's     
surface would be prepared for its new   
occupants4  ,the animal remains of this 
era are not numerous in comparison with 
those that go before or follow4         
,contrary to what the author of the     
,vestiges supposes 7p4 #aaa71 insects   
were already buzzing in the air2 there  
were1 however1 no crawling reptiles on  
the ground1 and it is a doubtful point  
whether birds cheered the ancient       
forests with their song4 ,but fishes    
reached their most perfect organic type4
 ,they were the lords of creation1 and  
had a structure in conformity with their
 high office4 ,since then the class has 
increased in its species1 but has       
degenerated to a less noble type4  ,in  
the next formation1 the ,new ,red       
,sandstone1 reptiles make their         
appearance4 ,they are considered next to
 fishes in the zoological scale4 ,so    

nearly are they sometimes connected1    
that it is doubtful to which class they 
belong4 ,many reptiles are also         
amphibious1 adapted either to water or  
land4 ,the surface of the globe abounded
 in large flat1 muddy shores1 and was   
suited to the new order of visitants    
called into existence4  ,in the ,oolite 
,system1 mostly consisting of calcareous
 beds1 mammals make their appearance4   
,some additions were made to the reptile
 form4 ,one animal 7the behemite7       
appeared1 but terminated in the next    
era4 ,in the following series of rocks  
mammals increase in abundance4 ,the     
advance in land animals is less marked1 
but considerable in the tertiary strata4
 ,the tapir forms a conspicuous type4   
,one animal of the kind was eighteen    
feet long1 and had a couple of tusks    
turning down from the lower jaw1 by     
which it could attach itself1 like the  
walrus1 to a bank1 while its body       
floated in the water4 ,many animals of a
 former period disappear1 and are       

replaced by others belonging to still   
existent families--elephant1            
hippopotamus1 and rhinoceros--though    
extinct as species4 ,some of these forms
 are startling from their size4 ,the    
great mastadon was a species of elephant
 living on aquatic plants1 and reaching 
the height of twelve feet4 ,the mammoth 
was another elephant1 and supposed to   
have survived till comparatively recent 
times4 ,the megatherium is an           
incongruity of nature1 of gigantic      
proportions1 yet ranking in a much      
humbler order than the elephant1 that of
 the edenta1 to which the sloth1        
ant-eater1 and armadilla belong4 ,the   
megatherium had a skeleton of enormous  
solidity1 with an armour-clad body1 and 
five toes1 terminating in huge claws to 
grasp the branches on which it fed4     
,finally1 beside the dog1 cat1 squirrel1
 and bear1 we have offered to us1 for   
the first time1 oxen1 deer1 camel1 and  
other specimens of the rumantia4 ,traces
 of the quadrumane1 or monkey1 have been

 found in the older tertiaries of       
,france1 ,india1 and ,england4 ,so that 
we may now be said to have arrived at   
the zoological forms not long antecedent
 to the appearance of the chief of all1 
bimana1 or man1 and shall here pause to 
consider the conclusions of the author  
of the ,vestiges of ,creation on the    
origin of the organic existences that   
have been successively exhibited4  ,it  
will be convenient1 however1 first to   
introduce a synoptic view of the        
evolutions of the earth as set forth in 
this and the preceding section4 ,for    
this purpose the author has introduced a
 parallel table1 exhibiting on one side 
a scale of animal life beginning with   
the humblest and ascending to the       
highest species2 and on the other side  
the successive series of rock           
formations1 in which their fossiliferous
 remains have been found up to the      
present superficial deposits of the     
globe4 ,objections have been made to the
 correctness of the author's analogies1 

scale1 and his classification of        
animals1 the chief of which will be     
adverted to in the next section2 but the
 table is essential1 as presenting at   
one view an outline of the hypothesis he
 has sought to establish4   ,,scale ,,of
 ,,animal ,,kingdom4                    
,,order ,,of ,,animals ,,in             
,,ascending ,,series         ,,foetal   
,,human ,,brain                         
,,of ,,rocks4                           
,,resembles1 ,,in        ,invertebrata4 
#a ,infusoria                           
,traces of ,infusoria787   #a ,gneiss   
and ,mica                               
,slate ,system            #b ,polypi    
,polypiaria                             
#e ,echinodermata                       
,echinodermata                          
#g ,brachiopoda       #ae-bj            
,brachiopoda ,crustacea    #b ,clay     
,slate ,system    #ast month1 typically1
 ,moll- #i ,pteropoda                   
,artic-,crustacea   ,pteropoda          
_/                         that of an   

usca #aj ,gasteropoda ulata #ab-ad      
,gasteropoda ,annelides _/              
_/  avertebrated animal      #aa        
,cephalopoda       ,annelides           
,cephalopoda                            
_/                                      
#c ,silurian system  _/                 
,vertebrata4                            
,remains of ,fishes    _/               
_/                                      
,fishes of low type2                    
#cb-cf ,fishes                          
heterocercal2 allied   #d ,old ,red     
,sandstone    #bnd month1 that of a     
fish2                                   
to crustacea        _/                  
_/                                      
,sauroid ,fishes              #cg       
,batrachia 7frogs1 c47                  
,batrachia                              
#e ,carboniferous       #ci ,sauria     
7lizards1 c47           ,sauria         
_/     formation       #dj ,chelonia    
7tortoises7            ,chelonia        
_/                            #crd      

month1 that of a turtle2       #da-df   
,birds                        ,footsteps
 of ,birds      #f ,new ,red ,sandstone 
#dth month1 that of a bird2       #dg   
,cetacea 7dolphins1 whales1 c47 ,bones  
of a                                    
,cetaceous ,animal        #g ,oolite    
,bones of a ,marsupial _/               
#h ,chalk       #dh ,pachydermata       
7tapirs1 c47      ,pachydermata         
#di ,edentata 7sloths7                  
,edentata                   #ej         
,rodentia 7squirrels1 hare1 c47         
,rodentia                               
#eth month1 that of a rodent2       #ea 
,marsupialia 7opossums1 c47             
,marsupialia                  #eb       
,ruminantia 7oxen1 stag1 c47            
,ruminantia                             
#fth month1 that of a ruminant2         
#ec ,amphibia 7seals7                   
#i ,tertiary       #ed ,digitigrada     
7dog1 cat1 c47     ,digitigrada         
_/                          #gth month1 
that of a digitigrade animal2       #ee 

,plantigrada 7bear1 c47                 
,plantigrada           _/       #ef     
,insectivora 7shrew1 c47                
,insectivora          _/       #eg      
,cheiroptera 7bats7                     
,cheiroptera         _/       #eh       
,quadrumana 7apes7                      
,quadrumana         _/                  
#hth month1 that of the quadrumana2     
#bi ,bimana 7man7                       
,bimana                   #aj           
,superficial deposits  #ith month1      
attains full human character4           
,,transmutation ,,of ,,species4  ,in the
 two last sections we have gone through 
the earth's geological history1 first of
 the changes in its physical structure1 
next of the mutations in the organic    
forms that have1 in serial order1       
appeared in the successive strata of its
 external envelope1 from the period of  
that far distant crisis when it was a   
molten globe on which its primitive     
granitic covering was just beginning to 
concrete1 in consequence of abating     

heat1 until we have arrived at the first
 prognostic signs of approaching human  
existence4  ,the rock upon rock of vast 
thickness1 by which the earth's crust1  
through countless ages1 has been formed1
 unquestionably constitutes a most      
extraordinary phenomenon of physical    
creation1 but hardly so marvellous and  
incomprehensible as the beginning1      
progress1 and end of the divers orders  
of marine and terrestrial beings that   
filled each world of life4 ,it is to    
geologists1 to ,,playfair1 ,,hutton1    
,,lyell1 ,,buckland1 ,,sedgwick1 ,,owen1
 and other great names1 native and      
foreign1 to whom we are indebted for    
this singular revelation of ,nature's   
works4 ,it is their unwearied research  
that has opened to us the surprising    
spectacle we have attempted briefly to  
describe of the diversified groups of   
species which have1 in the course of the
 earth's history1 succeeded each other  
at vast intervals of time2 one set of   
animals and plants wholly or partly     

disappearing from the face of our       
planet1 and others1 which apparently did
 not before exist1 becoming the only or 
predominant occupants of the globe4     
,now the great question arises--whence1 
by what power1 or by what law1 were     
these reiterated transitions brought    
about8 ,were the organized species of   
one geological epoch1 by some           
long-continued agency of natural causes1
 transmuted into other and succeeding   
species8 or were there an extinction of 
species1 and a replacement of them by   
others1 through special and miraculous  
acts of creation8 or1 lastly1 did       
species gradually degenerate and die out
 from the influence of the altered and  
unfavourable physical conditions in     
which they were placed1 and be          
supplanted by immigrants of different   
species1 and to which the new conditions
 were more congenial8  ,the last1 we    
confess1 is the view to which we are    
most inclined--first1 because we think a
 transmutation of species1 from a lower 

to a higher type1 has not been          
satisfactorily proved2 and second1      
because of the strong impression we     
entertain1 that the universe1 subject to
 certain cyclical and determinate       
mutations1 was made complete at first1  
with self-subsisting provisions for its 
perpetual renewal and conservation4 ,we 
shall advert to this matter hereafter2  
but at present it is the conclusions of 
the author of the ,vestiges that claim  
consideration4 ,he adopts the first     
interpretation of animal phenomena1     
namely1 that there has been a           
transmutation of species1 that the scale
 of creation has been gradually         
advancing in virtue of an inherent and  
organic law of development4 ,nature1 he 
contends1 began humbly2 her first works 
were of simple form1 which were         
gradually meliorated by circumstances   
favourable to improvement1 and that     
everywhere animals and plants exhibit   
traces of a parallel advance of the     
physical conditions and the organic     

structure4 ,the general principle1 he   
inculcates1 is1 that each animal of a   
higher kind1 in the progress of its     
embryo state1 passes through states     
which are the final condition of the    
lower kind2 that the higher kinds of    
animals came later1 and were developed  
from the lower kinds1 which came earlier
 in the series of rock formations1 by   
new peculiar conditions operating upon  
the embryo1 and carrying it to a higher 
stage4 ,these conclusions the author    
maintains geology has established1 and  
of the results thence derived he gives  
the subjoined recapitulation3--         
,in pursuing the progress of the        
development of both plants and          
animals upon the globe1 we have seen an 
advance in both cases1 from      simple 
to higher forms of organization4 ,in the
 botanical department      we have first
 sea1 afterwards land plants2 and       
amongst these the      simpler 7cellular
 and cryptogamic7 before the more       
complex4 ,in the      department of     

zoology1 we see1 first1 traces all but  
certain of      infusoria shelled       
animalcul2 then polypiaria1 crinoidea1  
and      some humble forms of the       
articulata and mollusca2 afterwards     
higher      forms of the mollusca2 and  
it appears that these existed for ages  
before there were any higher types of   
being4 ,the first step forward          
gives fishes1 the humblest class of the 
vertebrata2 and1 moreover1      the     
earliest fishes partake of the character
 of the lower      sub-kingdom1 the     
articulata4 ,afterwards come land       
animals1 of which      the first are    
reptiles1 universally allowed to be the 
type next in      advance from fishes1  
and to be connected with these by the   
links of      an insensible gradation4  
,from reptiles we advance to birds1 and 
thence to mammalia1 which are commenced 
by marsupialia1      acknowledgedly low 
forms in their class4 ,that there is    
thus a      progress of some kind1 the  
most superficial glance at the          

geological history is sufficient to     
convince us4  ,now this appears         
plausible and conclusive1 but the       
correctness of the recapitulation here  
made1 and its conformity to actual      
nature1 have been sharply disputed4 ,it 
may be true that sea plants came first1 
but of this there is no proof2 and of   
land plants there is not a shadow of    
evidence that the simpler forms came    
into being before the more complex3 the 
simple and complex forms are found      
together in the more ancient flora4 ,it 
is true that we first see polypiaria1   
crinoidea1 articulata1 and mollusca1 but
 not exactly in the order stated by the 
author4 ,it is true that the next step  
gives us fishes1 but it is not true that
 the earliest fishes link on to the     
lower sub-kingdom1 the articulata4 ,it  
is true that we afterwards find         
reptiles1 but those which first appear  
belong to the highest order of the      
class1 and show no links of an          
insensible gradation into fishes4 ,in   

the tertiary deposit of the ,london clay
 the evidence of concatenation entirely 
fails4 ,among the millions of organic   
forms1 from corals up to mammalia of the
 ,london and ,paris basins1 hardly a    
single secondary species is found4 ,in  
the south of ,france it is said that two
 or three secondary species struggle    
into the tertiary strata2 but they form 
a rare and evanescent exception to the  
general rule4 ,organic nature at this   
stage seems formed on a new             
pattern--plants as well as animals are  
changed4 ,it might seem as if we had    
been transported to a new planet2 for   
neither in the arrangement of the genera
 and the species1 nor in their          
affinities with the types of a          
pre-existing world1 is there any        
approach to a connected chain of organic
 development4  ,for some discrepancies  
the author endeavours to account1 and it
 is fair to give his explanation3--     
,fossil history has no doubt still some 
obscure passages2 and these      have   

been partially adverted to4 ,fuci1 the  
earliest vegetable      fossils as yet  
detected1 are not1 it has been remarked1
 the lowest      forms of aquatic       
vegetation2 neither are the plants of   
the      coal-measures the very lowest1 
though they are a low form1 of land     
vegetation4 ,there is here in reality no
 difficulty of the least                
importance4 ,the humblest forms of      
marine and land vegetation are of      a
 consistence to forbid all expectation  
of their being preserved in      rocks4 
,had we possessed1 contemporaneously    
with the fuci of the      ,silurians1 or
 the ferns of the carboniferous         
formation1 fossils of      higher forms 
respectively1 equally unsubstantial1 but
 which had      survived all            
contingencies1 then the absence of mean 
forms of      similar consistency might 
have been a stumbling-block in our      
course2 but no such phenomena are       
presented4 ,the blanks in the           
series are therefore no more than       

blanks2 and when a candid mind          
further considers that the botanical    
fossils actually present are      all in
 the order of their organic development1
 the whole phenomena      appear exactly
 what might have been anticipated4 ,it  
is also      remarked1 in objection1    
that the mollusca and articulata appear 
in      the same group of rocks 7the    
slate system7 with polypiaria1          
crinoidea1 and other specimens of the   
humblest sub-kingdom2 some of      the  
mollusca1 moreover1 being cephalopods1  
which are the highest of      their     
division in point of organization4      
,perhaps1 in strict fact1      the      
cephalopoda do not appear till a later  
time1 that of the      ,silurian rocks4 
,but even though the cephalopoda could  
be shewn as      pervading all the      
lowest fossiliferous strata1 what more  
would the      fact denote than that1 in
 the first seas capable of sustaining   
any      kind of animal life1 the       
creative energy advanced it1 in the     

space      of one formation1 7no one can
 say how long a time this might be17    
to the highest forms possible in that   
element1 excepting such as      were of 
vertebrate structure4 ,it may here be   
inquired if geologists      are entitled
 to set so high a value as they do upon 
the point in      the scale of organic  
life which is marked by the upper forms 
of the      mollusca4 ,it will          
afterwards be seen that this is a low   
point      compared with the whole      
scale1 if we are to take as a criterion 
that parity of development which has    
been observed in the embryo of      one 
of the higher animals4 ,the human embryo
 passes through the      whole space    
representing the invertebrate animals in
 the first      month1 a mere fraction  
of its course4 ,there is indeed a       
remarkably      rapid change of forms in
 such an embryo at first3 the rapidity1 
says ,professor ,owen1 is 'in proportion
 to the proximity of the ovum      to   
the commencement of its development2'   

and1 conformable to this      fact1 we  
find the same zoologist stating that1 in
 the lowest      division of the animal 
kingdom1 7the ,acrita of his            
arrangement17      there is a much      
quicker advance of forms towards the    
next above it1      than is to be seen  
in subsequent departments4 ,there is1   
indeed1 to      the most ordinary       
observation1 a rapidity and force in the
      productive powers of the lowest   
animals1 which might well suggest       
an explanation of that rush of life     
which seems to be indicated in      the 
slate and ,silurian rocks4 ,with regard 
to the so-called early      occurrence  
of fishes partaking of the saurian      
character1 ,i would      say that their 
occurrence a full formation after the   
earliest and      simplest fishes1 is1  
considering how little we know of the   
space of      time represented by a     
formation1 not early3 their being later 
in      any degree is the fact mainly   
important4 ,the subsequent rise of      

new orders of fishes1 fully piscine in  
character1 may be explained      by the 
supposition of their having been        
developed1 as is most      likely1 from 
a different portion of the inferior     
sub-kingdom4 ,in      short1 all the    
objections which have been made to the  
great fact of      a general progress of
 organic development throughout the     
geological      ages1 will be found1 on 
close examination1 to refer merely to   
doubtful appearances of small moment1   
which vanish into nothing      when     
rightly understood4  ,upon some of the  
chief points here involved1 it may be   
remarked that the most eminent          
physiologists are not agreed2 they are  
not agreed that animals can be arranged 
in a series1 passing from lower to      
higher2 nor that animals of a higher    
kind in the embryo state pass through   
the successive stages of the lower      
kinds2 the character of these stages1 in
 the asserted doctrine1 being taken from
 the brain and heart1 and man being the 

highest point of the series4 ,there are 
physiologists too who deny that the     
brain of the human embryo at any period1
 however early1 resembles the brain of  
any mollusk or of any articulata4 ,it   
never1 they assert1 passes through a    
stage comparable or analogous to a      
permanent condition of the same organ in
 any invertebrate animal2 and in like   
manner the spinal cord in the human     
vertebr at no period agrees with the    
corresponding part of the lower kind of 
animals4 ,the moment it becomes visible 
in the human embryo1 it is entirely     
dorsal in position2 while in mollusks   
and articulatas a great part1 or nearly 
the whole1 is ventral4 ,the same is true
 of the heart1 or centre of the vascular
 system1 which has always a different   
relative position in the great nervous  
centre in the human embryo from what it 
has in any articulate animal1 and in    
most mollusks4  ,a second position in   
the ,vestiges appears not to have been  
established--namely1 as to the uniform  

geological arrangement of different     
organic structures4 ,it is not true that
 only the lowest forms of animal life   
are found in the lowest fossiliferous   
rocks1 and that the more complicated    
structures are gradually and exclusively
 developed among the higher bands in    
what might be called a natural ascending
 scale4 ,on the contrary1 the predaceous
 cephalopods and the highly organized   
crustaceous are among the oldest        
fossils4 ,such appears to be the order  
of nature as evidenced by facts1 and it 
must be admitted1 however repugnant to  
preconceived notions or mere mortal     
conjectural amendments4  ,in the third  
place the evidence seems to preponderate
 in favour of permanency of species4    
,there can be no doubt that both plants 
and animals may1 by the influence of    
breeding1 and of external agents        
operating upon their constitution1 be   
greatly modified1 so as to give rise to 
varieties and races different from what 
before existed4 ,but there are limits to

 such modifications1 as in the different
 kind and breed of dogs2 and no         
organized beings can1 by the mere       
working of natural causes1 be made to   
pass from the type of one species to    
that of another4 ,a wolf by             
domestication1 for example1 can never   
become a dog1 nor the ourang-outang by  
the force of external circumstances be  
brought within the circle of the human  
species4  ,in this opinion ,mr4 ,,lyell1
 ,dr4 ,,prichard1 and ,mr4 ,,lawrence1  
concur4 ,the general conclusion at which
 they have arrived is1 that there is a  
capacity in all species to accommodate  
themselves to a certain extent to a     
change of external circumstances2 this  
extent varying greatly according to the 
species4 ,there may thus be changes of  
appearance or structure1 and some of    
these changes are transmissible to the  
offspring2 but the mutations thus       
superinduced are governed by certain    
laws1 and confined within certain       
limits4 ,indefinite divergence from the 

original type is not possible1 and the  
extreme limit of possible variation may 
usually be reached in a short period of 
time2 in short1 ,professor ,,whewell    
concludes 7,indications of ,creation1 p4
 #ef71 that every species has a real    
existence in nature1 and a transmutation
 from one to another does not exist4    
,thus for example1 ,,cuvier remarks     
that1 notwithstanding all the           
differences of age1 appearance and      
habits1 which we find in the dogs of    
various races and countries1 and though 
we have 7in the ,egyptian mummies7      
skeletons of this animal as it existed  
#c1jjj years ago1 the relation of the   
bones to each other remains essentially 
the same2 and with all the varieties of 
their shape and size1 there are         
characters which resist all the         
influences1 both of external nature1 of 
human intercourse1 and of time4  ,what  
varieties1 again1 in the forms of the   
different breeds of horses and horned   
cattle2 racers1 hunters1 coach horses1  

dray horses1 and ponies2 short-horns and
 long-horns1 ,devons and ,herefords1    
polled galloways and ,shetlands2 how    
unlike are the unimproved breeds of     
cattle as they existed a century ago    
before the march of agricultural        
improvement began1 and how different    
were most of these as then existing in  
what may be called the normal state from
 the wild cattle produced in            
,chillington ,park4 ,it has been found1 
however1 when external and artificial   
conditions are removed1 and these       
different breeds are allowed to run     
wild1 as in the ,pampas and ,australia1 
no matter what the diversity of size1   
shape1 and colour of the domestic       
breeds1 they reverted in their wild     
state1 in these respects1 to their      
primitive types4  ,so again with regard 
to cultivated vegetables and flowers4   
,how different are the species of the   
red cabbage and the cauliflower2 who    
would have expected them to be varieties
 of the wild brassica oleracea8 ,yet    

from that they have been derived by     
cultivation4 ,they have1 however1 a     
tendency like animals to revert to the  
original type1 or1 in the gardener's    
phrase1 to degenerate1 which it requires
 the utmost care on his part to         
counteract4 ,when left to a state of    
nature1 they speedily lose their        
acquired forms1 properties and          
character1 and regain those of the      
original species4  ,if species be       
permanent--if no education or training  
can educe new kinds--if the higher      
classes of animals are not the results  
of meliorations of the lower--whence did
 they come8 ,this question we are not   
bound to answer4 ,it might be as        
reasonably asked1 whence did the lower  
classes come8 ,geology1 like other      
sciences1 does not conduct us to the    
beginning1 it only takes up creation at 
certain ulterior stages of development4 
,the changes and construction of the    
globe may have been different in        
different parts2 it has not been proved 

that geological revolutions have been   
either universal or contemporary4 ,there
 may have been climates and regions     
adapted to the existence of the higher  
class of land animals1 while            
contemporarily therewith other portions 
of the globe might be undergoing changes
 beneath the ocean4 ,it is not          
improbable that the human species dwelt 
nearly stationary for ages on the old   
continents of ,africa and ,asia1 while  
,europe and ,america were covered with  
water4 ,supposing these new continents  
formed1 either by the gradual subsidence
 of the sea or the rising of its bed1   
successive inhabitants would follow in  
the order presented by existing organic 
remains4 ,while covered by the sea1 what
 now form ,europe and ,america could    
only be peopled by marine animals2 but  
as the land rose or the waters subsided 
into their ocean channels1 and dry land 
appeared1 reptiles and amphibi might    
become the occupants2 next1 as the earth
 became drier and more salubrious1 the  

new continent would be resorted to by   
terrestrial animals2 in a still more    
advanced stage of purification and      
salubrity1 man himself1 as the lord of  
all the preceding classes of immigrants1
 would take possession1 and as he still 
continues the living occupant it is     
premature to look for his petrifaction4 
,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,animated ,,tribes4
  ,science has mastered many            
perplexities1 but is almost powerless as
 ever in generation4 ,all that lives1   
and still more all that moves1 must have
 a pre-existing germ formed             
independently of the created being1 but 
which is essential to its existence1 and
 fixes the type of organization4 ,the   
old adage--omne animal ab ovo--may be   
taken as generally true4 ,but though    
every animal has its primordial egg or  
germ1 all germs are not identical4 ,in  
the beginning of life there are other   
organic elements besides the ovum4      
,partly on direct proof and partly on   
good analogy1 it may be inferred that   

these differ in different species--that 
each in the first stages of existence is
 bound by a different and immutable mode
 of development--and1 if so1 there can  
be no embryotic identity4 ,by no change 
of conditions1 says ,dr4 ,,clarke1 can  
two ova of animals of the same species  
be developed into different animal      
species2 neither by any provision of    
identical conditions can two ova of     
different species be developed into     
animals of the same kind4 ,if these     
views be right1 and we believe them to  
be so1 there cannot be a transmutation  
of species under the influence of       
external circumstances4  ,baffled in the
 effort either to create species or     
organically to change them1 attempts    
have been made to approach nearer to the
 source of vitality1 and explain the    
chemical1 electric1 or mechanical laws  
by which the vital principle is         
influenced4 ,for this purpose various   
hypotheses have been put forth2 one is  
the noted conjecture of ,lord           

,,monboddo1 that man is only an advanced
 development of the chimpanzee or       
ourang-outang4 ,a second explanation is 
that given by ,,lamarck1 who surmised1  
and with much ingenuity attempted to    
prove1 that one being advanced in the   
course of generations into another1 in  
consequence merely of the experience of 
wants calling for the exercise of       
faculties in a particular direction1 by 
which exercise new developments of      
organs took place1 ending in variations 
sufficient to constitute new species4   
,in this way the swiftness of the       
antelope1 the claws and teeth of the    
lion1 the trunk of the elephant1 the    
long neck of the giraffe have been      
produced1 it is supposed1 by a certain  
plastic character in the construction of
 animals1 operated upon for a long      
course of ages by the attempts which    
these animals make to attain objects    
which their previous organization did   
not place within their reach4 ,this is  
what is meant by the hypothesis of      

progressive tendencies1 and which       
requires for its validity not only the  
assumption of a mere capacity for       
change1 but of active principles        
conducive to improvement and the        
attainment of higher powers and         
faculties4 ,more recently ,,st4         
,,hilaire has published a paper in which
 he speaks of the immutability of       
species as a conviction that is on the  
decline1 and that the age of ,,cuvier is
 on the close4 ,carried away by what    
,professor ,,phillips has called a      
poetical conjecture that cannot be      
proved1 this writer propounded the      
speculation that the present crocodiles 
are really the offspring of crocodilian 
reptiles1 the difference being merely   
the effect of physical conditions1      
especially operating during long        
geological periods upon one original    
race4 ,the human species1 he contends1  
are but an advanced development of the  
higher order of the monkey tribe1 and   
that the negroes are degenerating       

towards that type again4 ,according to  
him the sivatherium--a fossil animal    
that had been found in the ,himalaya    
mountains--was the primeval type that   
time had fined down into the giraffe    
from long-continued feeding on the      
branches of trees4 ,dr4 ,,falconer and  
,capt4 ,,cautley1 however1 have shown   
that anatomical proofs are all against  
this inference1 but if any doubt        
remained it must yield to the fact1 that
 among the fauna of the ,sewalik hills  
the sivatherium and the giraffe were    
contemporaries4  ,the author of the     
,vestiges of ,creation has put forth an 
hypothesis founded on the preceding     
conjectures1 but more compact and       
conclusive4 ,he is1 as we have seen1 in 
favour of the progressive change of     
species1 adopting the notion that men   
once had tails1 and that the rudiments  
of this condal appendage are found in an
 undeveloped state in the os coccygis   
7p4 #aii47 ,his leading idea of the     
progress of organic life is that the    

simplest and most primitive type under a
 law to which that of like production is
 subordinate1 gave birth to the type    
next above it2 that this again produced 
the next higher1 and so on to the very  
highest1 the stages of advance being in 
all cases very small--namely1 from one  
species only to another2 so that the    
phenomenon has always been of a modest  
and simple character4 7p4 #bca47 ,the   
arguments by which the author endeavours
 to prove his hypothesis may be thus    
compressed4  ,according to him foetal   
development is a science1 illustrated by
 ,,hunter',s great collection of the    
,royal ,college of ,surgeons1 and       
established by the conclusions of ,,st4 
,,hilaire and ,,tiedmann4 ,its primary  
positions are--#a4 ,that the embryos of 
all animals are not distinguishably     
different from each other2 and1 #b4     
,that those of all animals pass through 
a series of phases of development1 each 
of which is the type or analogue of the 
permanent configuration of tribes       

inferior to it in the scale4 ,higher the
 order of animals1 the more numerous its
 stages of progress4 ,man himself is not
 exempt from this law4 ,his first foetal
 form is that which is permanent in the 
animalcule2 it next passes through      
ulterior stages1 resembling successively
 a fish1 a reptile1 a bird1 and the     
lower mammalia before it attains its    
specific maturity4 ,the period of       
gestation determines the species2       
protract it1 and the species is advanced
 to a higher class4 ,this might be done 
by the force of certain conditions      
operating upon the system of the mother4
 ,give good conditions and the young she
 produces will improve in development2  
give bad conditions and it will recede4 
,cases of monstrous birth in the human  
species are appealed to1 in which the   
most important organs are left          
imperfectly developed2 the heart1 for   
instance1 having sometimes advanced no  
further than the three-chambered or     
reptile form1 while there are instances 

of that organ being left in the         
two-chambered or fish-like form4 ,these 
defects arise from a failure of the     
power of development in the mother1     
occasioned by misery or bad health1 and 
they are but the converse of those      
conditions that carry on species to     
species4 ,the differences of sexes is   
the result of foetal progress only one  
degree less marked than that of a change
 of species4 ,sex is fully ascertained  
to be a matter of development4 ,all     
beings are at one stage of the embryotic
 progress female4 ,a certain number of  
them are afterwards advanced to the more
 powerful sex4 ,for proof of this1 the  
economy of bees is cited2 when they wish
 to raise a queen-bee1 or true female1  
they prepare for the larva a more       
commodious cell1 and feed it with       
delicate food4 ,but we shall here stop  
to remark on the author's argument up to
 this point4  ,it is manifest1 according
 to his hypothesis1 that neither sex nor
 species depend on the ancestral germ1  

but simply on physical conditions and   
mechanical development4 ,but eminent    
physiologists deny that the facts are   
such as he has stated2 they deny1 as we 
have stated in a former section1 that   
the foetal progress is such as the      
,vestiges represent them to be2 they    
deny that the human embryo1 for example1
 exhibits in successive stages the form 
of fish1 lizard1 bird1 beast3 on the    
contrary1 they contend that it is only  
in the earliest period of the organic   
germ1 when the manifestations are almost
 too obscure for microscopic sense1 that
 any resemblance exists2 that           
immediately the organic germ becomes    
sensible to observation1 sex and species
 are found to be fixed4 ,take1 for      
example1 the vertebrata2 in these1 by   
some mysterious bond of union1 the      
organic globules are seen to arrange    
themselves into two nearly parallel     
rows4 ,we may then say that the keel of 
the animal is laid down1 and in it we   
have the first rudiments of a backbone  

and a continuous spinal chord4 ,but     
during the progress and completion of   
this first organic process no changes   
have been observed assimilating the     
nascent embryo to any of the inferior   
animals4 ,the next series of changes in 
the germinal membrane are of two        
kinds--in one the nervous system1 the   
organs of motion1 the intestinal canal1 
the heart and blood-vessels are         
manifested2 the other set of changes1   
which are subsequent1 produce the       
perfection of the animal and determine  
its sex4 ,all these manifestations      
result from germinal appendages that    
cannot be severed or changed without    
ruin to the embryo1 and the conditions  
essential to life as the structure      
advances are due temperature1 due       
nutriment of the nervous organs1 and due
 access to the atmospheric air4         
,without1 therefore1 pursuing further   
this part of the inquiry1 we shall      
remark that the question at issue       
between the ,vestiges and its opponents 

is one of facts--of conflicting         
evidence--to be tried by the jury of the
 public1 or rather by those who1 from   
science or professional pursuits1 are   
competent to form an authoritative      
opinion4 ,our own conclusion is1 that in
 face of the testimony adduced against  
it1 the author's hypothesis is not yet  
established4  ,for proof that species do
 change1 and that even new species have 
been actually and recently produced1 the
 author has adduced statements certainly
 as questionable and little satisfactory
 as his representation of foetal        
phenomena4 ,we can only briefly         
enumerate them4 ,first we are told that 
oats sown at midsummer1 if kept cropped 
down1 so as to be prevented shooting    
into ear1 and then allowed to remain in 
the ground over winter1 will spring up  
next year in the form of rye 7p4 #bbf74 
,this need not be disputed about2 the   
experiment can be easily tried2 but if  
rye were the result1 it would be no     
conclusive proof of a translation of    

species4 ,perhaps the oat-plants        
perished under the operation of repeated
 cuttings1 and the rye seed was dormant 
in the earth and sprung up in its place2
 or1 if not so1 oats and rye may not be 
different species1 only varieties of the
 same species4 ,they are scarcely more  
dissimilar than the primrose1 the       
cowslip1 and the oxlip1 which have all  
been raised from the seed of the same   
plant1 and are now regarded by botanists
 as varieties instead of species4  ,when
 lime is laid on waste ground we are    
told that white clover will spring up   
spontaneously1 and in situations where  
no clover-seed could have been left     
dormant in the soil 7p4 #ahb74 ,but how 
is this to be proved8 ,it is certain    
that seeds will remain dormant in the   
soil for centuries1 and then spring up  
the first year the soil is turned up by 
the plough4 ,some seeds have retained   
their vitality for thousands of years in
 the old tombs of ,egypt2 they have been
 repeatedly brought to ,england1 sown1  

and produced good wheat4  ,we are next  
told that wild pigs never have the      
measles1 they are produced by a hyatid  
and the result of domestication2 that a 
tinea is found in dressed wool that does
 not exist in its unwashed state2 that a
 certain insect disdains all food but   
chocolate1 and that the larva of        
oinopota cellaris only lives in wine and
 beer4 ,all these are articles          
manufactured by man1 and are adduced as 
proofs of animal life1 independent of   
any primordial egg4 ,the entoza are     
dwelt upon2 they are creatures living in
 the interior of other animals1 of which
 the tape-worm that infests the human   
body is a melancholy instance4 ,in these
 illustrations we think the author has  
some show of reason1 for we feel        
convinced that there is such a thing as 
spontaneous generation from the         
inorganic substance1 wisely provided for
 clearing the earth of noxious effluvia 
and putrid matter1 and converting them  
into new elements conducive to health   

and life4 ,we believe in this source of 
vitality from its wisdom and necessity1 
its necessity and wisdom1 in our        
estimate1 being strong presumptive      
proofs of its existence in harmony with 
the general forecast and economy of     
nature4 ,of the self-originating spring 
of life1 some of the examples adduced by
 the author are proofs1 and of which we 
have familiar illustrations in          
cheese-mites1 maggots in carrion1 and   
the green fly that breeds so profusely  
in weak and decaying vegetation2 in all 
which by some inscrutable law the       
organic germ1 without an antecedent1    
appears to evolve from the dead or      
putrifying mass for its riddance and    
transmutation4  ,conceding1 however1    
thus far to the author1 we are not      
prepared to admit that the creative     
powers of ,messrs4 ,,crosse and ,,weekes
 has been established4 ,these gentlemen 
are said 7p4 #aij7 to have introduced a 
stranger in the animal kingdom1 a       
species of acarus or mite amidst a      

solution of silica submitted to the     
electric current4 ,the insects produced 
by the action of a galvanic battery     
continued for eleven months are         
represented as minute and               
semi-transparent1 and furnished with    
long bristles4 ,one of the creatures    
resulting from this elaborate term of   
gestation was observed in the very act  
of emerging1 in its first-born nudity1  
and sought concealment in a corner of   
the apparatus4 ,some of them were       
observed to go back into the parent     
fluid and occasionally they devoured    
each other2 and soon after they were    
called to life1 they were disposed to   
multiply their species in the common    
way6 ,so much for the experiment2       
against its verity it is alleged1 first1
 that the ,acarus ,crossii are not a new
 species1 or if new1 that neither ,mr4  
,,crosse nor ,mr4 ,,weekes1 who repeated
 ,mr4 ,,crosse',s experiment1 produced  
them1 but only aided by the voltaic     
battery the development of the insects  

from their eggs4 ,such a mode of        
generation is contrary to all human     
experience1 and can only be believed in 
on the strongest corroborative proof4   
,neither by chemistry nor galvanism can 
man1 we apprehend1 be more than         
instrumental and co-operative1 not      
originally and independently creative4  
,in almost every form of life1 whether  
animal or vegetable1 art can multiply   
varieties1--can train1 direct--but      
cannot form new species4 ,this is the   
mockery of science4 ,with all its       
invention and resource1 it cannot       
produce organic originals4 ,it can rear 
a crab-apple into a golden-pippin1 or   
wild sea-weed into a luxuriant cabbage2 
it can raise infinite varieties of      
roses1 tulips1 and pansies1 but can     
create no new plant1 fruit1 or flower4  
,man can make a steam-engine1 or a      
watch1 but he cannot make a fly1 a      
midge1 or blade of grass4 ,he is an     
ingenious compiler1 but not a creator2  
and his powers of manufacture and       

conversion are restricted within narrow 
boundaries4 ,he cannot wander far in the
 indulgence of his fancies without being
 recalled1 and compelled to return to   
the first models set by the ,great      
,architect4 ,the further he strays from 
primitive types in the effort to        
improve1 by crossing1 cutting1 and      
grafting1 and proportionably less       
becomes the procreative force4 ,hybrids 
are notoriously sterile4 ,garden fruit  
is not permanent1 and requires to be    
renewed from seed4 ,the law seems       
universal in plants and animals1 that   
the vital energy or germ is less        
forcible and prolific in the pampered   
and artificial1 than in the natural and 
wild races4   ,,hypothesis ,,of ,,the   
,,vital ,,principle4  ,it is ascertained
 that the basis of all vegetable and    
animal substances consists in nucleated 
cells--that is1 cells having granules   
within them4 ,nutriment is converted    
into these before being assimilated by  
the system4 ,it has likewise been noted 

that the globules of the blood are      
reproduced by the expansion of contained
 granules2 they are1 in short1 says the 
,vestiges1 distinct organisms multiplied
 by the same fissiporous generation4 ,so
 that all animated nature may be said to
 be based on this mode of origin2 the   
fundamental form of organic being is a  
globule1 having a new globule forming   
within itself1 by which it is in time   
discharged1 and which is again followed 
by another and another1 in endless      
succession4 ,it is of course obvious1   
that if these globules could be produced
 by any process from inorganic elements1
 we should be entitled to say that the  
fact of a transit from the inorganic to 
the organic had been witnessed4 7p4     
#agf47 ,globules1 the author continues1 
can be produced in albumen by           
electricity4 ,if1 therefore1 these      
globules be identical with the cells    
which are now held to be reproductive1  
it might be said that the production of 
albumen by artificial means is the only 

step in the process wanting4 ,this has  
not yet been effected4 7p4 #agg47       
,these are the advances towards         
generation by chemistry and electricity4
 ,the process1 however1 according to    
this detail1 appears still far from     
complete4 ,albumen is to be produced by 
artificial means2 and even then we      
should doubt entire success4 ,chemists  
have long commanded the power to resolve
 the seeds of animal and vegetable life 
into their elements2 they have analysed 
them1 and shown the exact weight and    
proportion of each constituent2 but they
 never could put them together again1   
or1 by any similar compound produce the 
primordial egg or organic germ1 from    
which a living being would arise4 ,a    
connecting link--a vital spark1 or      
animating soul--is always wanting to    
complete the existence of the           
,prometheus of the laboratory4 ,mark1   
too1 the if1 and the might1 in this most
 lame and impotent hypothesis3--,if1    
therefore1 these globules be identical  

with the cells which are held to be     
reproductive1 it might be said1 c4      
,globules can be easily produced2 the   
passage of the electric fluid through   
water will produce aerial globules in   
rapid and expansive movement2 boys can  
produce them with suds and a            
tobacco-pipe in rapid succession1 each1 
for aught we know1 containing a granule 
that multiplies by fissiporous          
generation4 ,but these are not organic  
globules1 and the author has committed  
the great perversion in language or     
logic of confounding the organic globule
 of life with the inorganic globule of a
 chemist4 ,his theory is more fanciful  
than that of ,,lamarck1 from whom it is 
derived1 and who had1 at least1 his     
petit corps gelatineux to begin with--to
 commence weaving organic tissue        
from--but our author's organic globule  
is not so substantive a conception2 and 
as he does not pretend to be able to    
produce even this by physical means1 he 
has not made a single step in           

generation4  ,this we consider the least
 satisfactory and successful portion of 
the author's work4 ,it assigns no       
intelligible cause for the origin of    
life--it only begs the question1 by the 
substitution of one mystery for another4
 ,his law of ,,development is of the    
same description1--without sense or     
significancy1 unsupported by applicable 
facts1 and is not so comprehensible a   
cause of vital changes as ,,lamarck',s  
assigned progressive tendencies of      
animals to master the appliances        
essential to their wants4   ,,animal    
,,affinities1 ,,instinct1 ,,and         
,,reason4  ,the scheme of the ,vestiges 
is uniformly and consistently worked    
out2 all phenomena are resolved into    
gravitation and development--the first  
as the law of inorganic1 the latter of  
organic matter4 ,by the last1 however1  
no new principle is revealed1 only a new
 phrase devised1 by the amplified       
application of which the author's entire
 system may be said to be begged rather 

than proved2 since development is used  
in a sense implying an indefinite power 
of animate and inanimate creation2 so   
that at last we make no new discovery1  
only grasp a new nomenclature4  ,but the
 author is always interesting1 either by
 the novel display of facts or the      
ingenious concatenation of              
plausibilities4 ,consistently with his  
fundamental notion of animal            
transmutation1 he tries to prove a      
family likeness or affinity from the    
humblest to the highest species4 ,in    
this way he seeks to explain the marvel 
with respect to the huge bulk of many of
 the tertiary mammalia--the mammoth1    
mastadon1 and megatherium2 they were in 
immediate descent from the cetacea1 or  
whale and dolphin tribe4 7p4 #bfg47     
,again1 human reason is considered no   
exclusive gift2 it exists subordinately 
in the instinct of brutes1 and is       
alleged to be nothing more than a mode  
of operation peculiar to the faculties  
in a humble state of endowment1 or early

 stage of development4 ,,cuvier and     
,,newton are only intellectual          
expansions of a clown2 and this notion  
is extended to moral obliquities1 the   
wicked man being characterised as one   
whose highest moral feelings are        
rudimental4 7p4 #ceh47 ,from a like     
principle the writer concurs with ,dr4  
,,prichard1 that mankind may have had a 
common origin2 that there exists no     
diversities of colour or osseous        
structure not referable to climatable or
 other plastic agencies influencing the 
development of the different races1     
commencing with the lowest1 or ,negro   
tribe1 and ascending upward through the 
intermediate aboriginal ,american1      
,mongolian1 and ,malay1 to the last and 
most perfect stage of the ,caucasian    
type4  ,into the verity of these        
conclusions we are not called upon to   
enter2 they have been long in           
controversy1 involve a great array of   
facts and inductive inferences1 and we  
have only referred to them as           

corollaries or collaterals of the       
author's hypothetical fabric4           
,,religious ,,and ,,moral ,,tendencies4 
,we have no charge of impiety to bring  
against the ,vestiges4 ,final causes1 or
 to express ourselves more intelligibly1
 a purpose in creation1 is nowhere      
impugned4 ,the ,deity is not degraded by
 impersonification in the form and      
frailties of mortality1 but everywhere  
the author reverently bows to that      
august and unsearchable name1           
acknowledges the grand and benevolent   
design--the admirable adaptation of     
every created thing to its end and      
place1 and finally concludes in a strain
 of grateful and exulting ,optimism1    
that we confess we have not fully       
arrived at--namely1 that everything is  
very good4 7p4 #chg47 ,from this        
impression we have only one constructive
 drawback to notice in the author's     
mechanical but fanciful constitution of 
the universe1 by which a special        
,providence in the government of the    

world seems to be dispensed with1 and   
the ,almighty is placed in the sinecure 
position of the ,grand ,elector of the  
,abbe ,,sieyes1 with nothing to do4 ,but
 no divine attribute is abscinded--no   
glory of ,omnipotence dimmed--whether it
 pleases him to rule by direct          
interpositions of power1 or his own     
pre-ordained eternal laws4  ,still less 
can we detect in the speculative        
inquiries of the ,vestiges conclusions  
hostile to the moral and social         
interests of the community4 ,men are    
formed to be what they are2 vice and    
crime are the fruits of malorganization1
 and malorganization is the result of   
the unfavourable conditions in which the
 subject of it has been placed1 prior or
 subsequent to birth4 ,these are the    
author's leading metaphysical           
inculcations4 ,they impose grave duties 
upon individuals and upon society1      
rightly understood and applied1 but we  
cannot discern a hurtful tendency in    
them4 ,they are useful knowledge1       

knowledge that it would be well for     
parents and rulers to master1 by showing
 the importance of education1 of        
favourable circumstances1 and of good   
moral and physical training1 for rearing
 happy1 well-ordered1 and virtuous      
members of the community4 ,supreme in   
intelligence1 man1 we firmly believe1 is
 not less supremely blessed in the means
 of felicity1 provided his real nature  
and position in the scheme of creation  
were understood1 recognised1 and carried
 out4 ,he has his place1 his office1 and
 his destiny2 he is no enigma but as an 
individual2 in the mass1 as the author  
emphatically remarks1 he is a           
mathematical problem4 ,his conduct is   
uniform and consistent2 the result of   
known and ascertainable causes--causes  
calculable and predicable in their      
consequences1 as the statistics of crime
 have incontestibly established4        
,,general ,,conclusions ,,on ,,the      
,,vestiges4  ,the heavens are wonderful1
 and the earth is wonderful1 and man1   

who1 by force of intellect1 has sought  
to comprehend the immensity of one and  
unravel the formation of the other1 is  
hardly less wonderful than either4      
,still the great mystery remains        
unriddled2 our researches have brought  
us no nearer the beginning1 and the     
first cause of all continues            
unapproachable and undefinable as ever4 
,instead of explaining physical         
creation1 we begin with it2 we take the 
existence of matter for granted1 and its
 attributes for granted1 and forthwith  
begin to fabricate a universe1 without  
first ascertaining whence was matter1 or
 whence the laws by which it is         
impressed1 and has been governed in its 
evolutions4  ,nature's greatest         
phenomena are the celestial spaces and  
the bodies that fill them2 our own      
planet and its living occupants4 ,upon  
each of these1 their commencement and   
subsequent vicissitudes1 the ,vestiges  
of ,creation have propounded an         
hypothesis1 but one mystery is only     

sought to be explained by another still 
more mysterious4 ,for the fiat of a     
,creator chemical affinities and        
mechanical laws have been substituted1  
but aided by these the author has failed
 to produce a world such as we find it4 
,hence we are again driven upon the old 
tradition1 the old sacred authority1    
that the world was created out of       
nothing2 and this is as easy to         
comprehend as the solution of the       
,vestiges1 that it sprang from that     
which is certainly next to nothing--a   
heated fog or universal fire-mist4      
,when the author deals with the facts of
 science he interests and instructs1 but
 when he speculates he only amuses or   
perplexes1 without advancing knowledge4 
,his terse and luminous description of  
the astral firmament deeply impresses   
with the might and the magnitude of the 
vast design2 but when he attempts to    
account for the elimination of suns and 
worlds1 their formation and arrangement1
 we are struck by the puerile folly of  

his conjectural presumptions4           
,descending from this august and        
glittering canopy to our own planet1 we 
are not less astonished by the          
exhibition of the extraordinary         
revolutions it has undergone4 ,geology  
is the true historian of the earth4     
,conducted by the lights it affords1 we 
see an eternity of ages has rolled      
before us2 we discover a series of      
worlds rising through the depths of     
ocean from the central sphere of heat1  
amidst boiling floods and volcanic      
fires1 each new platform of existence1  
that countless periods of time had been 
requisite to form1 peopled with its own 
congenial forms of organic life1 mostly 
commencing with the simpler1 and        
ascending by almost imperceptible       
gradations to the higher and more       
complex structures of being4 ,we are    
struck by the correspondence1 by the    
pari passu development and formation of 
the earth's crust and organic           
existences1 and we are apt hastily to   

conclude that a relation has subsisted  
between them1 that contemporary changes 
have been cause and effect1 and that the
 improvement of the earth produced the  
correlative improvement in animals and  
plants4  ,this forms the author's second
 questionable hypothesis2 it is         
plausible1 but false--repugnant to fact 
and correct observation4 ,we have no    
credible evidence that species have     
changed1 or are changeable by the utmost
 efforts of art or favouring conditions2
 all we can effect is to improve them   
within definite limits1 but not alter   
their characteristic types2 and we have 
certain proof that neither man nor the  
animal nearly next to him in            
organization1 has changed either in     
habits1 disposition1 form1 or osseus    
structure during the last #c1jjj years4 
,resemblance is no proof of identity2   
and hence1 though species run into each 
other by almost inappreciable shades of 
difference1 it is no proof that they are
 derivative1 or other than isolated and 

self-dependent creations4 ,that they are
 such1 and shall continue such1 seems a 
fixed canon of ,nature1 who1 apparently1
 has prescribed to each its circle of   
amendment and range1 that like shall    
beget like--that nought organic shall   
exist without ancestral germ--and that  
the variety of species which constitutes
 the beauty and order of nature shall by
 no chance1 contrivance1 or mingling of 
races1 be confounded4  ,geological facts
 are in favour of this conclusion4 ,they
 attest the appearance of new species1  
not their improvement4 ,in each species 
a gradation of improvement1             
approximating from a lower to the next  
higher organism1 is not perceptible2 but
 each seems to have been made perfect at
 first1 and most suited to the          
co-existent state of the earth4 ,the    
earliest reptiles were not reptiles of  
inferior structure2 nor the earliest    
fishes1 birds1 or beasts4 ,they were    
adapted1 as we now find them1 to their  
precise sphere of existence1 without    

progressive aptitude1 preparatory to a  
higher and translated condition of      
being4 ,geology rather points to the    
extinction and degeneracy of species    
than their improvement2 and the fossils 
of the old red sandstone1 and of the    
carboniferous formation1 attest a       
loftier and more magnificent creation of
 both marine and land products than any 
now subsisting4  ,for these and other   
reasons before adduced1 we dismiss the  
hypothesis of animal transmutation as   
unproved and untenable4 ,it pleases and 
satisfies superficial views1 but        
confronted with the facts of nature1 it 
vanishes like a baseless vision4 ,man is
 sui generis1 sole and exclusive in     
organization1 without pre-existing type 
or affinity to other species2 and his   
alleged recent metamorphosis from a     
monkey1 and his first and far more      
distant one from a snail or a tadpole1  
are paradoxes only worthy of idle       
debating clubs4  ,having attempted to   
unfold the progression of species by his

 law of development1 the author next    
essays to explain the commencement of   
the vital principle itself4 ,but here1  
too1 he must have a beginning1 and his  
organic globule answers a similar       
purpose1 in deducing the mystery of     
life1 as his nuclei in the nebular      
hypothesis4 ,in both the perplexity and 
real difficulty is not solved or        
mastered1 but evaded4 ,but we have      
already remarked on the point1 and shall
 only observe that when the author can  
elicit thought from inorganic matter1   
either by chemistry or galvanism1 we    
shall think he has made a step in       
creation4 ,until then he does not       
advance1 only deceives himself and      
readers by verbal subtleties and        
baseless suppositions4  ,apart from its 
hypotheses1 the ,vestiges form a        
valuable and interesting work4 ,it is   
the most complete1 elaborate1 and--with 
all its faults of detail1 logic1 and    
inference--the most scientific expositor
 of universal nature yet offered to the 

world4 ,but its hypotheses are          
unwarranted1 not inductively derived1   
and can have no hold on men of science1 
supported as they mostly are by fanciful
 analogies1 facts misunderstood or      
misstated1 and illustrations selected   
without discrimination or applicability4
 ,theories do sometimes conduce to the  
discovery of truth1 but are often       
obstructive2 occupy the mind1 like      
theological controversy1 without        
advancing science2 and are viewed with  
the same aversion by the philosopher    
that the political abstractions tendered
 to the multitude by the demagogue are  
viewed by the patriotic legislator4     
,the work1 however1 will live1 and      
deserves to live4 ,the temple of nature 
has been looked into1 not profoundly1   
perhaps1 nor always successfully2 but in
 a fearless spirit1 and with a          
highly-accomplished mind4 ,had the      
divine ,,cosmos been more fully dwelt   
upon and depicted--had the harmony1     
beauty1 and beneficence of creation been

 more fully and exclusively             
displayed--we should have been more     
gratified2 but we are thankful1 in the  
main1 for what we have received4 ,an    
impulse has been given to popular       
inquiry1 and a vast field for discussion
 opened1 from which we can prospectively
 discern neither less love for man1 nor 
reverence for ,god4  ,who the author is 
we have no certain knowledge4 ,it is    
not1 we suspect1 ,lord ,,king1 nor ,lord
 ,,thurlow1 nor ,lady ,,byron2 but it   
may be the author of the ,essay on the  
,formation of ,opinions1 and of the     
,principle of ,representation4 ,mr4     
,,bailey1 of ,sheffield1 though little  
known1 possesses the fine reasoning     
powers1 intellectual grasp1 independence
 of research1 abstract analysis1 and    
attic style1 that would qualify him to  
produce the ,vestiges of ,creation1     
though we never heard that he is a great
 natural philosopher4 ,but1 as just     
hinted1 deep science is not evinced by  
the ,vestiges1 only an able1 systematic1

 and tasteful arrangement of its distant
 and recent advances4                   
,,explanations3  ,a ,,sequel ,,to ,,the 
,,vestiges ,,of ,,the ,,natural         
,,history ,,of ,,creation4  7,from the  
,,atlas of ,december #bj1 #ahde47   ,so 
many strong objections had been arrayed 
against the ,vestiges of ,creation1 that
 the author was called upon to elucidate
 and reinforce his argument1 or abandon 
the ground he had taken up4 ,the more   
candid and equitable of his             
judges--those who were disposed to try  
him upon the merits1 and independently  
test the claims of his inquiry1 as in   
fairness it ought to be1 as strictly a  
scientific speculation1 regardless of   
any constructive bearings it might have 
on current opinions or prejudices--could
 not arrive at any more favourable      
conclusion than that he had failed to   
establish his hypotheses4 ,indeed this  
was the only verdict that could be      
safely delivered in4 ,the impugners of  
the work were in the same helpless      

predicament as its author1 who had1     
however1 more venturously presumed to   
unravel unsearchable mysteries1         
concerning which1 in the existing state 
of science1 men can only conjecture1    
wonder1 and adore1 utterly unable to    
affirm or deny aught respecting them4   
,what1 for instance1 with the remotest  
semblance of certainty1 can be          
predicated of the stellar orbs8 ,is it  
not idle almost to speculate on the     
impenetrable secret of their origin when
 their very existence is                
undefinable--when their end1 their      
glittering discs1 and all but           
immeasurable distances are wholly       
unapproachable8 ,nor hardly less beyond 
our grasp is the commencement of organic
 existences4 ,we do pride ourselves on  
recent advances to the sources of       
entity2 we tear up the dead1 we torture 
the living1 and sedulously chronicle    
every beat of the heart and vibration of
 the brain to slake an insatiable       
curiosity1 yet how unsatisfactory our   

reach towards the hidden springs of     
life--how limited our attainments1 when 
the creation of a single blade of grass1
 the humblest worm1 a poor beetle1 or   
gadfly1 would baffle the utmost         
structural skill of the greatest        
philosopher6 ,into the fathomless depths
 of our own globe we have also essayed  
to penetrate4 ,poor beings6 of three    
score and ten1 whose utmost historical  
span extends only to some thousands of  
years1 have sought to trammel up the    
terrene vicissitudes of millions of ages
 anterior to their own existence6 ,does 
not this savour of a vain research1 or  
of a laudable thirst for knowledge8     
,over all these dark and solemn         
inscrutabilities1 however1 the ,vestiges
 undertook to throw a glare of light1 to
 reveal their beginning1 progression1   
order1 relations1 and law of            
development4 ,although daring in aim1   
the attempt was not to be wholly        
deprecated4 ,while religious freedom had
 been secured1 philosophy had become    

timid1 official1 and timeserving2       
retentive as ,,fontenelle of the truths 
within its grasp1 and fearful to give   
utterance to aught that might disturb   
the stillness of the temple1 the        
lecture-room1 or fashionable auditory4  
,modern teachers had been used so long  
to the ,baconian go-cart1 that they had 
become as apprehensive of losing the    
inductive clue as the ,,palinuruses of  
old of the sight of the directing shore4
 ,but the time had arrived when it      
seemed expedient to relax the strictness
 of the investigative rule1 and afford  
scope for a more systematic1 if not     
speculative research4 ,science had made 
great acquisitions1 and it seemed       
desirable1 if only for experiment sake1 
to see what kind of ,,frankenstein would
 result from the architectural union of 
her scattered limbs4 ,this formed the   
scope of the ,vestiges of ,creation2    
novelties were not propounded1 only a   
portentous skeleton raised from the     
truths physical astronomy1 geology1     

chemistry1 physiology1 and natural      
history had established4 ,does the      
author recoil from his work8 ,no2 these 
,explanations attest that he is         
steadfast in the worship of the idol of 
his brain4 ,he retracts nothing1 he     
re-asserts1 elucidates1 and often       
dexterously turns the weapons of the    
most formidable and orthodox of his     
adversaries against them1 by showing    
from their writings that they had1 in   
detail at least1 acquiesced in the      
truths that they now1 in a generalised  
form1 seek to controvert and repudiate4 
,so much adroitness and pertinacity in  
the author can hardly fail to provoke   
resistance1 if not asperity1 despite of 
the imperturbable temper in which he    
maintains the combat4 ,the learned have 
been disturbed in their daily routine1  
by the discharge from an unknown hand1  
of a massive pyrites1 that has diffused 
as much consternation among the herd of 
modish elocutionists1 college tutors1   
and chimpanzee professors1 as ,jove's   

ligneous projectile among the lieges of 
the standing pool4 ,for this commotion  
we have1 on a former occasion1 conceded 
that there existed valid reasons1 and we
 hasten to see the way in which they    
have been met in the rejoinder before   
us2 contenting ourselves1 as we needs   
must1 by briefly noticing some of the   
salient points of the controversy4      
,first of the ,nebular ,hypothesis4 ,the
 chief objection to this theory is1 that
 the existence of nebulous matter in the
 heavens is disproved by the discoveries
 made by the telescope of the ,earl of  
,,rosse4 ,by the reach of this wondrous 
tube1 masses of light1 rendered         
apparently nebulous by their vast       
distance1 have been resolved into       
clusters of stars1 and thence the       
assumption seemed unwarrantable that any
 luminous matter1 different from the    
solid bodies composing planetary systems
 existed in the heavenly spaces4 ,but to
 this the author replies1 that there are
 two classes of nebul--one resolvable   

into constellations--another            
comparatively near1 that remains        
unaffected by telescopic power1 and that
 until this last description can be     
separated1 the nebular hypothesis is not
 disproved4 ,it is thus brought to an   
issue of facts1 both as to the existence
 of nebul of this latter kind1 and the  
optical power to resolve them into      
distinct stars4  ,but the author can    
hardly claim this negative success in   
grappling with a second                 
objection--namely1 his assumed origin of
 rotatory motion4 ,according to him1 a  
confluence of atoms round a spherical   
centre of attraction1 would cause the   
agglomerated mass to revolve upon its   
axis in the manner of our earth4 ,this  
was denied by everybody the least       
acquainted with the laws of motion2 and 
thus did one of his imaginary solutions 
of a great phenomenon of the universe   
fall dead to the ground4 ,this he now   
seems to concede1 but in a sentence     
unintelligible to us1 in which an       

undoubted physical law is spoken of as  
only an abstract truth 7p4 #bj74 ,he    
obviously still clings to his first     
mistaken inference1 and calls to his aid
 ,professor ,,nichol1 whom he has also  
pressed into his service to help him    
over the last-mentioned difficulty by   
the ,professor's affirmation of a       
diversity of nebulous clusters4 ,but the
 ,professor does not commit himself to  
the extent of the author2 his aqueous   
whirlpool is cited from ,,herschel1 only
 in illustration1 and correctly said to 
be produced by the unequal force of     
convergence of a fluid to a common      
centre4 ,but the author's nuclei1       
disposed in his notable fire-mist1 did  
not act with unequal force on the       
ambient vapour1 and whose central       
convergence in consequence1 would not   
produce rotation or motion of any kind4 
,this was the real matter in question1  
the author was taken up on his own      
premises1 and the results he assumed to 
follow from them proved to be           

inconsistent with the unquestionable    
laws of gravitating matter4  ,he has    
gone over the geological portion of his 
subject with much care1 but if          
competent1 it would be impossible within
 our narrow limits to accompany him2 nor
 could the discussion be made either    
interesting or intelligible except to   
the scientific1 who have devoted        
attention to an extremely curious1 but  
still obscure and unsettled field of    
investigation4 ,he has elaborately      
cleared up many points1 and             
successfully1 we think1 answered some   
weighty objections1 but we are not yet  
converts to his theory of organic       
development4 ,one passage we shall      
extract2 after adverting to the facts   
established by powerful evidence1 that  
during the long term of the earth's     
existence1 strata of various thickness  
were deposited in seas composed of      
matter worn away from the previous      
rocks2 that these strata by volcanic    
agency were raised into continents1 or  

projected into mountain chains1 and that
 sea and land have been constantly      
interchanging conditions4 ,he           
continues3--       ,the remains and     
traces of plants and animals found in   
the      succession of strata show that1
 while these operations were going      
on1 the earth gradually became the      
theatre of organic being1 simple        
forms appearing first1 and more         
complicated afterwards4 ,a time         
when there was no life is first seen4   
,we then see life begin1 and      go on2
 but whole ages elapsed before man came 
to crown the work of      nature4 ,this 
is a wonderful revelation to have come  
upon the men of      our time1 and one  
which the philosophers of the days of   
,newton      could never have expected  
to be vouchsafed4 ,the great fact       
established by it is1 that the organic  
creation1 as we now see it1      was not
 placed upon the earth at once2 it      
observed a ,,progress4 ,now      we can 
imagine the ,deity calling a young plant

 or animal into      existence          
instantaneously2 but we see that he does
 not usually do      so4 ,the young     
plant and also the young animal go      
through a series      of conditions1    
advancing them from a mere germ to the  
fully      developed repetition of the  
respective parental forms4 ,so1 also1 we
      can imagine ,divine power evoking 
a whole creation into being by      one 
word2 but we find that such had not been
 his mode of working in      that       
instance1 for geology fully proves that 
organic creation      passed through a  
series of stages before the highest     
vegetable and      animal forms         
appeared4 ,here we have the first hint  
of organic      creation having arisen  
in the manner of natural order4 ,the    
analogy      does not prove identity of 
causes1 but it surely points very       
broadly to natural order or law having  
been the mode of procedure      in both 
instances4  ,to the allusion in the last
 sentence there can be no demur2 that   

there is natural order or law in        
creation who will contest8 ,but it is   
the author's law and the author's order 
that are in dispute--his transmutation  
of species1 the higher classes emerging 
from and partly annihilating the lower1 
under meliorated conditions of being4   
,that the simpler form of organic life  
should first appear2 that remains of    
invertebrated animals should be first   
found2 then1 with these1 fish1 being the
 lowest of the vertebrated2 next1       
reptiles and birds1 which occupy higher 
grades2 and finally1 along with the     
rest1 mammifers1 the highest of all--all
 this appears natural enough4 ,how could
 it be otherwise8 ,when the earth was a 
slimy bed1 what but the lowest forms of 
life--the mollusca1 and other soft      
animals1 without bony structure--could  
possibly live in or occupy it8 ,during  
the carboniferous era1 when the earth   
was enveloped in an atmosphere of       
hydrogen1 vegetation might thrive2 but  
man1 and animals like him1 dependent on 

vital air1 could not exist2 nor are     
remains of them found in this epoch of  
the globe's vicissitudes4 ,all this is  
comprehensible4 ,but the perplexing     
inquiry is1 whence did the successive   
grades of animals emerge8 ,that they    
could not contemporaneously exist2 when 
the whole earth was a shoreless sea1 and
 that animals could not live is certain2
 but were they created in succession by 
the ,divine fiat1 or did they emerge1 as
 our author supposes and elaborately    
tries to prove1 from the humblest       
primitive forms1 by an inscrutable law  
of progression--evidenced1 he contends1 
by geological facts--though by some his 
facts are disputed--and certainly not   
confirmed by any animal changes         
observable within the limits of human   
experience8  ,there is another          
alternative offers1 which would dispense
 both with the author's hypothesis and  
the need of successive organic creations
 by a special ,providence4 ,is it a     
geological fact1 since life began1 that 

the earth has simultaneously undergone  
throughout its entire surface the       
revolutions assigned to it8 ,may it not 
always1 from that period1 have          
consisted1 as it now does1 of water and 
dry land1 alternately changing their    
sites1 but always apart1 and allowing of
 the contemporary existence on some     
portion of its surface of all the       
varieties of tribes ever found upon it8 
,the fossiliferous rocks that formed the
 primeval sea-beds could only be        
deposited by the abrasion from the      
anterior and higher rocks4 ,it has      
always appeared to us that this         
conjecture is worthy of consideration1  
and1 if found tenable1 would reconcile  
many perplexities4  ,upon subjects so   
obscure1 and to which the human         
intellect has been only recently        
directed1 it is not surprising that men 
of science have not arrived at          
uniformity of conclusion4 ,unable to    
reconcile phenomena with positive       
knowledge1 there are names of no mean   

repute who would reserve certain domains
 of creation as the fields of special   
interventions4 ,to this class ,dr4      
,,whewell appears to belong1 who assumes
 that events not included in the course 
of nature have formerly taken place4 ,in
 the same way ,professor ,,sedgwick1 to 
account for the appearance of certain   
animals1 says1 ,they were not called    
into being by any law of nature1 but by 
a power above nature4 ,he adds1 they    
were created by the hand of ,,god1 and  
adapted to the conditions of the period4
 ,to this the author of the ,vestiges   
assents1 with the explanation 7p4 #acd7 
that their existence was not the result 
of a special exertion of power to meet  
special conditions1 but of an antecedent
 and primitive law of development suited
 to the new exigencies1 and emanating   
from the ,creator4 ,this1 he contends1  
does not lower our estimate of the      
,divine character2 and1 in proof1 cites 
,dr4 ,,doddridge1 who cannot be         
suspected of irreverence4 ,when we      

assert1 says the pious and amiable      
author1 a perpetual ,divine agency1 we  
readily acknowledge that matters are so 
contrived as not to need a ,divine      
interposition in a different manner from
 that in which it had been constantly   
exerted4 ,and it must be evident that an
 unremitting energy1 displayed in such  
circumstances1 greatly exalts our idea  
of ,god1 instead of depressing it2 and1 
therefore1 by the way1 is so much more  
likely to be true4 ,against constructive
 inferences it is urged1 in the         
,explanations--       ,as to results    
which may flow from any particular view 
which reason      may show as the best  
supported1 ,i must firmly protest       
against any      assumed title in an    
opponent to pronounce what these are4   
,the first      object is to ascertain  
truth4 ,no truth can be derogatory to   
the      presumed fountain of all truth4
 ,the derogation must lie in the        
erroneous construction which a weak     
human creature puts upon the      truth4

 ,and practically it is the true infidel
 state of mind which      prompts       
apprehension regarding any fact of      
nature1 or any      conclusion of sound 
argument4  ,the writer then quotes ,sir 
,,john ,,herschell as having some years 
ago announced views strictly conformable
 to those subsequently taken of organic 
creation in the ,vestiges3--       ',for
 my part1' says ,sir ,john1 ',i cannot  
but think it an inadequate              
conception of the ,creator1 to assume it
 as granted that his      combinations  
are exhausted upon any one of the       
theatres of their      former exercise1 
though1 in this1 as in all his other    
works1 we are      led1 by all analogy1 
to suppose that he operates through a   
series      of intermediate causes1 and 
that1 in consequence1 the origination   
of fresh species1 could it ever come    
under our cognizance1 would be          
found to be a natural1 in               
contradistinction to a miraculous       
process1--although we perceive no       

indications of any process      actually
 in progress which is likely to issue in
 such a result4 ,in      his address to 
the ,british ,association at ,cambridge1
 7#ahde71 he      said with respect to  
the author's hypothesis of the first    
step of      organic creation--',the    
transition from an inanimate crystal to 
a      globule capable of such endless  
organic and intellectual                
development1 is as great a step--as     
unexplained a one--as                   
unintelligible to us--and in any sense  
of the word as miraculous1      as the  
immediate creation and introduction upon
 earth1 of every      species and every 
individual would be6'  ,the ,rev4 ,dr4  
,,pye ,,smith is next adduced3--        
',our most deeply investigated views of 
the ,divine ,government1'      says he1 
'lead to the conviction that it is      
exercised in the way of      order1 or  
what we usually call law4 ,god reigns   
according to      immutable principles1 
that is by law1 in every part of his    

kingdom--the mechanical1 the            
intellectual1 and the moral2 and it     
appears to be most clearly a position   
arising out of that fact1      that a   
comprehensive germ which shall          
necessarily evolve all      future      
developments1 down to the minutest      
atomic movements1 is a      more        
suitable attribution to the ,deity1 than
 the idea of a      necessity for       
irregular interferences4'  ,lastly1 the 
reviewer of the ,vestiges in            
,blackwood's ,magazine1 who is          
understood to be a naturalist of        
distinguished ability1 expresses himself
 in an equally decided manner3--        
,to reduce to a system the acts of      
creation1 or the development of      the
 several forms of animal life1 no more  
impeaches the authorship      of        
creation1 than to trace the laws by     
which the world is upheld1      and its 
phenomena perpetually renewed4 ,the     
presumption naturally      rises in the 
mind1 that the same ,great ,being would 

adopt the same      mode of action in   
both cases4444 ,to a mind accustomed1 as
 is every      educated mind1 to regard 
the operations of ,deity as essentially 
differing from the limited1 sudden1     
evanescent impulses of a human          
agent1 it is distressing to be compelled
 to picture to itself1 the      power of
 ,god as put forth in any other manner  
than in those slow1      mysterious1    
universal laws1 which have so plainly an
 eternity to      work in2 it pains the 
imagination to be obliged to assimilate 
those operations1 for a moment1 to the  
brief energy of a human      will1 or   
the manipulations of a human hand4444   
,no1 there is nothing      atheistic1   
nothing irreligious1 in the attempt to  
conceive      creation1 as well as      
reproduction1 carried on by universal   
laws4  ,we have dwelt so much upon this 
matter because it is one in which       
popular feelings are likely to be most  
deeply interested4 ,we shall give the   
author1 too1 the benefit of his         

,explanations on another point1         
elucidating his former statement of the 
transmutation of a crop of oats into a  
crop of rye3--       ',at the request1' 
says ,dr4 ,lindley1 'of the ,marquis of 
,bristol1      the ,reverend ,lord      
,arthur ,hervey1 in the year #ahdc1     
sowed a handful      of oats1 treated   
them in the manner recommended1 by      
continually      stopping the flowering 
stems1 and the produce1 in #ahdd1 has   
been      for the most part ears of a   
very slender barley1 having much the    
appearance of rye1 with a little wheat1 
and some oats2 samples of      which    
are1 by the favour of ,lord ,bristol1   
now before us4' ,the      learned writer
 then adverts to the 'extraordinary1 but
 certain      fact1 that in orchidaceous
 plants1 forms just as different as     
wheat1 barley1 rye1 and oats1 have been 
proved by the most rigorous             
evidence1 to be accidental variations of
 one common form1 brought      about no 
one knows how1 but before our eyes1 and 

rendered      permanent by equally      
mysterious agency4 ,then says ,reason1  
if they      occur in orchidaceous      
plants1 why should they not also occur  
in      corn plants8 for it is not      
likely that such vagaries will be       
confined to one little group in the     
vegetable kingdom2 it is more           
rational to believe them to be a part of
 the general system of      creation4444
 ,how can we be sure1 that wheat1 rye1  
oats1 and      barley1 are not all      
accidental off-sets from some           
unsuspected      species8'  ,it may be  
so2 but this would only prove that the  
unsuspected species included greater    
varieties1 not that a really defined    
species was transmutable into another4  
,but it is a point upon which no        
satisfactory result can be arrived at1  
since naturalists are not agreed in the 
classification of species1 nor what     
attributes constitute one4  ,the        
,broomfield experiment is again brought 
forward1 as decisive of the power to    

originate new life from inorganic       
elements4 ,it will be remembered that   
,mr4 ,,weekes1 of ,sandwich1 continued  
during three years to subject solutions 
to electric action1 and invariably found
 insects produced in these instances1   
while they as invariably failed to      
appear where the electric action was not
 employed1 but every other condition    
fulfilled4 ,in a letter to the author of
 the ,vestiges--two are inserted1 one on
 the independent generation of          
fungi--,mr4 ,,weekes says--       ,one  
hundred and sixty-six days from the     
commencement of the      experiment--the
 first acari seen in connexion          
therewith1 six in      number and nearly
 full-grown1 were discovered on the     
outside of the      open glass vessel4  
,on removing two pieces of card which   
had been      laid over the mouth of    
this vessel1 several fine specimens were
      found inhabiting the under        
surfaces1 and others completely         
developed and in active motion here and 

there within the glass4      ,making my 
visit at an hour when a more favourable 
light entered the      room1 swarms of  
acari were found on the cards1 about the
 glass      tumbler1 both within and    
without1 and also on the platform of the
      apparatus4 ,at this identical hour
 ,dr4 ,j4 ,black favoured me with a     
call1 inspected the arrangements1 and   
received six living specimens      of   
the acarus produced from solution in the
 open vessel4  ,specimens of the insect 
were sent to ,paris1 when they set a    
whole conclave of philosophers          
a-laughing1 because they were found to  
contain ova4 ,other specimens were sent 
to ,london1 but there their fate was    
sealed by their being found to be1 not a
 new species1 but one then abundant in  
the country4 ,for ourselves we think the
 experiment not conclusive4 ,we adopt   
,,hume',s principle4 ,all but universal 
experience having established that life 
is ex ovo only1 we must have a          
proportionate body of counter evidence  

to establish a different mode of        
generation4 ,at all events1 ,mr4        
,,weekes',s protracted gestation of #aff
 days by his galvanic battery is not    
likely1 in the existing rage for        
despatch1 to supersede the existing     
routine of reproduction4   ,,london3    
,,printed ,,by ,c4 ,,whiting1 ,,beaufort
 ,,house1 ,,strand4     ,,the ,,atlas1  
,a ,general ,family ,newspaper and      
,journal of ,literature4         99     
99       99       99       99  ,this    
,periodical1 which may be justly called 
a ,weekly ,cyclopdia of ,politics1      
,literature1 ,arts1 and ,science1 is    
published every ,saturday afternoon1 in 
time for the post1 containing the ,news 
of ,saturday4         99       99       
99       99       99  ,,the ,,atlas     
,,is ,,divided ,,into ,,two ,,principal 
,,departments1  ,,news ,,and            
,,literature1  ,and these are subdivided
 and classified with care and industry  
into heads of easy reference1 so that   
each particular subject is preserved    

distinct and entire4 ,the dimensions of 
the sheet1 which folds into sixteen     
large quarto-sized pages1 containing    
forty-eight columns1 afford this        
classification facilities which few     
other publications possess4         99  
99       99       99       99  ,,news4  
,,parliamentary ,,debates reported on a 
scale of magnitude far exceeding other  
weekly ,journals4  ,,parliamentary      
,,papers1 a digest of all ,parliamentary
 documents of obvious reference and     
popular utility4  ,,foreign ,,news1 the 
current events in foreign countries1    
arranged in the form of historical      
narrative1 collated carefully from      
contemporary authorities1 and           
distributed under the heads of the      
different countries and colonies to     
which they belong4  ,,british ,,news1 a 
clear epitome of all domestic           
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,public ,meetings1 ,trade1 ,agriculture1
 ,accidents and ,offences1 ,police1     
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,intelligence1 ,military and ,naval     
,affairs copiously given1 the ,money    
,market1 and the miscellaneous news of  
the week up to midnight on ,saturday4   
,the ,local ,news of ,ireland and       
,scotland1 under separate heads4 ,in the
 conduct of this department of the      
,,atlas recourse is had to many         
exclusive sources of information1 and   
correspondents have been established who
 furnish expressly the latest           
intelligence4 ,the ,gazettes and ,tables
 of ,markets1 and all matters           
interesting to the ,commercial ,world1  
are especially attended to4 ,preserving 
an independence in its editorial        
capacity1 the ,,atlas affords a faithful
 reflection of the opinions and         
proceedings of all political parties4   
,the attention that is observed in the  
purity of language and selection of     
subjects1 down to the minutest paragraph
 in the ,,atlas1 recommends it          

especially to the use of families and   
the guardians of youth2 and the copious 
details it affords of ,military and     
,naval ,affairs1 invest it with valuable
 attractions for the members of these   
professions1 and the residents in the   
,colonies4   ,,literature4  ,the        
,contributions to this department are   
from the pens of ,professors and        
,gentlemen of acknowledged reputation1  
and are classified under the following  
heads3--  #a4--,,original ,,essays ,,on 
,,men ,,and ,,things1 embodying a lively
 commentary on passing events and men   
and manners4  #b4--,,theatrical         
,,criticisms upon the written and acted 
,drama1 in which both are reviewed in a 
spirit of truth and perfect candour4    
#c4--,,reviews of all new works of      
ability1 with numerous extracts4        
,independent and free from all literary 
and personal prejudices1 the opinions of
 the ,reviewers in the ,,atlas may be   
consulted with confidence in their      
integrity4  #d4--,,literary ,,memoranda1

 notes of all novelties in literature   
abroad and at home1 and summary         
criticisms on all works of minor        
importance4  #e4--,,music ,,and         
,,musicians1 or scientific criticisms on
 vocal and instrumental performers1     
operas1 and new music1 on the ,continent
 as well as in ,england1 with occasional
 engraved illustrations4  #f4--;,,fine  
,,arts1 ,weekly notices of pictorial    
exhibitions1 and critical descriptions  
of paintings1 drawings1 and engravings1 
with commentaries on all new works of   
art4  #g4--,,scientific ,,notices1 or   
descriptions of improvements in         
,mechanics and the experimental         
,sciences1 illustrated occasionally by  
diagrams1 with an account of ,new       
,patents1 ,meteorological ,tables1      
,proceedings of ,literary and           
,scientific ,institutions1 c4  ,the     
,literary division of the ,,atlas in the
 various branches has formed an era in  
the class of publications in which it   
ranks2 and exhibits a remarkable union  

of the essential features of the more   
elaborate ,reviews1 with the popular and
 practical objects of the ,general      
,newspaper4         99       99       99
       99       99  ,published for the  
,proprietor1 at the office1 #f1         
,southampton-street1 ,strand1           
,london4--,price ,eight ,pence4 ,orders 
received by all ,newsmen throughout the 
,kingdom4     ,in one volume octavo1    
cloth lettered1 price ,five ,shillings1 
,,national ,,distress1  ,,its ,,causes  
,,and ,,remedies2  ,a ,prize ,essay     
,,as ,,originally ,,published ,,in ,,the
 ,,atlas4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,by ,,samuel ,,laing1      
,esq41 ,jun41  ,late ,fellow of ,st4    
,john's1 ,cambridge4         99       99
       99       99       99  ,,part ,i4 
,chap4 ,i4--,general                    
,considerations--,absence of the usual  
,historical ,symptoms of ,national      
,decline--,definition of the ,evils     
which ,threaten ,society4  ,chap4       
,,ii4--,official ,pauperism and         

,unrecognised ,destitution--,evidence   
respecting the ,condition of the ,lower 
,classes in ,large ,towns4  ,chap4      
,,iii4--,extent of ,destitution in      
,large ,towns--,condition of ,hand-loom 
,weavers and other ,classes of          
,unskilled ,manufacturing ,operatives4  
,chap4 ,,iv4--,condition of ,class of   
,agricultural ,labourers4  ,chap4       
,v4--,condition of ,classes of          
,labouring ,population employed in      
,mines1 ,fisheries1 ,canals1 ,railways1 
c4  ,chap4 ,,vi4--,condition of ,classes
 ,superior to ,common                   
,labourers--,general ,view of ,society  
in ,great ,britain4   ,,part ,,ii4      
,chap4 ,i4--,general ,views--,modern    
,theories of ,society--,effect and      
,paramount ,importance of ,moral        
,causes4  ,chap4 ,,ii4--,economical     
,causes--,population--,theory of        
,malthus4  ,chap4 ,,iii4--,economical   
,causes1 continued--,revolution in the  
,course of ,industry effected by        
,machinery--,extension of               

,manufactures--,factory ,system1 c4     
,chap4 ,,iv4--,foreign ,competition4    
,,part ,,iii4  ,chap4 ,i4--,free ,trade1
 ,corn ,laws4  ,chap4 ,,ii4--,free      
,trade1 continued--,new ,tariff1        
,provisions1 ,sugar1 c4 ,reciprocity    
,system--,commercial ,treaties4  ,chap4 
,,iii4--,taxation4  ,chap4              
,,iv4--,currency and ,banking4  ,chap4  
,v4--,emigration4  ,chap4 ,,vi4--,poor  
,laws4  ,chap4 ,,vii4--,sanitary and    
,building ,regulations1 c4  ,chap4      
,,viii4--,education4  ,chap4            
,,ix4--,conclusion4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,,london3         
,published by ,longman and ,co42        
,simpkin and ,marshall2 ,and ,whittaker 
and ,co4  also1  ,at the ,atlas ,office1
 #f1 ,southampton-street1 ,strand4