,transcribed from the #aiad ,a4 ,c4 ,fifield edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,picture3 ,public domain cover ,,canterbury ,,pieces ,by ,samuel ,butler ,author of 8,erewhon10 8,the ,way of ,all ,flesh10 etc4 99 99 99 99 99 ,edited by ,r4 ,a4 ,streatfeild 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,a4 ,c4 ,fifield #aiad ,,contents ,,page ,darwin on the ,origin of ,species #adi ,a ,dialogue #aee ,barrel-,organs #afd ,letter3 #ba ,february #ahfc #afg ,letter3 #ad ,march #ahfc #aga ,letter3 #ah ,march #ahfc #agc ,letter3 #aa ,april #ahfc #age ,letter3 #bb ,june #ahfc #agg ,darwin ,among the ,machines #agi ,lucubratio ,ebria #ahf ,a ,note on 8,the ,tempest0 #aie ,the ,english ,cricketers #aih ,darwin on the ,origin of ,species ,prefatory ,note ,,as the following dialogue embodies the earliest fruits of ,butler's study of the works of ,charles ,darwin1 with whose name his own was destined in later years to be so closely connected1 and thus possesses an interest apart from its intrinsic merit1 a few words as to the circumstances in which it was published will not be out of place4 ,butler arrived in ,new ,zealand in ,october1 #ahei1 and about the same time ,charles ,darwin's ,,origin ,,of ,,species was published4 ,shortly afterwards the book came into ,butler's hands4 ,he seems to have read it carefully1 and meditated upon it4 ,the result of his meditations took the shape of the following dialogue1 which was published on #bj ,december1 #ahfb1 in the ,,press which had been started in the town of ,christ ,church in ,may1 #ahfa4 ,the dialogue did not by any means pass unnoticed4 ,on the #agth of ,january1 #ahfc1 a leading article 7of course unsigned7 appeared in the ,,press1 under the title 8,barrel-,organs10 discussing ,darwin's theories1 and incidentally referring to ,butler's dialogue4 ,a reply to this article1 signed ,a4,m41 appeared on the #bast of ,february1 and the correspondence was continued until the #bbnd of ,june1 #ahfc4 ,the dialogue itself1 which was unearthed from the early files of the ,,press1 mainly owing to the exertions of ,mr4 ,henry ,festing ,jones1 was reprinted1 together with the correspondence that followed its publication1 in the ,,press of ,june #h and #ae1 #aiab4 ,soon after the original appearance of ,butler's dialogue a copy of it fell into the hands of ,charles ,darwin1 possibly sent to him by a friend in ,new ,zealand4 ,darwin was sufficiently struck by it to forward it to the editor of some magazine1 which has not been identified1 with the following letter3-- ,down1 ,bromley1 ,kent1 ,s4,e4 ,march #bd #ahfc4 7,private74 ,mr4 ,darwin takes the liberty to send by this post to the ,editor a ,new ,zealand newspaper for the very improbable chance of the ,editor having some spare space to reprint a ,dialogue on ,species4 ,this ,dialogue1 written by some sic quite unknown to ,mr4 ,darwin1 is remarkable from its spirit and from giving so clear and accurate a view of ,mr4 ,d4 sic theory4 ,it is also remarkable from being published in a colony exactly #ab years old1 in which it might have sic thought only material interests would have been regarded4 ,the autograph of this letter was purchased from ,mr4 ,tregaskis by ,mr4 ,festing ,jones1 and subsequently presented by him to the ,museum at ,christ ,church4 ,the letter cannot be dated with certainty1 but since ,butler's dialogue was published in ,december1 #ahfb1 and it is at least probable that the copy of the ,,press which contained it was sent to ,darwin shortly after it appeared1 we may conclude with tolerable certainty that the letter was written in ,march1 #ahfc4 ,further light is thrown on the controversy by a correspondence which took place between ,butler and ,darwin in #ahfe1 shortly after ,butler's return to ,england4 ,during that year ,butler had published a pamphlet entitled ,,the ,,evidence ,,for ,,the ,,resurrection ,,of ,,jesus ,,christ ,,as ,,given ,,by ,,the ,,four ,,evangelists ,,critically ,,examined1 of which he afterwards incorporated the substance into ,,the ,,fair ,,haven4 ,butler sent a copy of this pamphlet to ,darwin1 and in due course received the following reply3-- ,down1 ,bromley1 ,kent4 ,september #cj #ahfe4 ,my dear ,sir1--,i am much obliged to you for so kindly sending me your ,evidences1 etc4 ,we have read it with much interest4 ,it seems to me written with much force1 vigour1 and clearness2 and the main argument to me is quite new4 ,i particularly agree with all you say in your preface4 ,i do not know whether you intend to return to ,new ,zealand1 and1 if you are inclined to write1 ,i should much like to know what your future plans are4 ,my health has been so bad during the last five months that ,i have been confined to my bedroom4 ,had it been otherwise ,i would have asked you if you could have spared the time to have paid us a visit2 but this at present is impossible1 and ,i fear will be so for some time4 ,with my best thanks for your present1 ,i remain1 ,my dear ,sir1 ,yours very faithfully1 ,charles ,darwin4 ,to this letter ,butler replied as follows3-- #ae ,clifford's ,inn1 ,e4,c4 ,october #ast1 #ahfe4 ,dear ,sir1--,i knew you were ill and ,i never meant to give you the fatigue of writing to me4 ,please do not trouble yourself to do so again4 ,as you kindly ask my plans ,i may say that1 though ,i very probably may return to ,new ,zealand in three or four years1 ,i have no intention of doing so before that time4 ,my study is art1 and anything else ,i may indulge in is only by-play2 it may cause you some little wonder that at my age ,i should have started as an art student1 and ,i may perhaps be permitted to explain that this was always my wish for years1 that ,i had begun six years ago1 as soon as ever ,i found that ,i could not conscientiously take orders2 my father so strongly disapproved of the idea that ,i gave it up and went out to ,new ,zealand1 stayed there for five years1 worked like a common servant1 though on a run of my own1 and sold out little more than a year ago1 thinking that prices were going to fall--which they have since done4 ,being then rather at a loss what to do and my capital being all locked up1 ,i took the opportunity to return to my old plan1 and have been studying for the last ten years unremittingly4 ,i hope that in three or four years more ,i shall be able to go on very well by myself1 and then ,i may go back to ,new ,zealand or no as circumstances shall seem to render advisable4 ,i must apologise for so much detail1 but hardly knew how to explain myself without it4 ,i always delighted in your ,,origin ,,of ,,species as soon as ,i saw it out in ,new ,zealand--not as knowing anything whatsoever of natural history1 but it enters into so many deeply interesting questions1 or rather it suggests so many1 that it thoroughly fascinated me4 ,i therefore feel all the greater pleasure that my pamphlet should please you1 however full of errors4 ,the first dialogue on the ,,origin which ,i wrote in the ,,press called forth a contemptuous rejoinder from 7,i believe7 the ,bishop of ,wellington--7please do not mention the name1 though ,i think that at this distance of space and time ,i might mention it to yourself7 ,i answered it with the enclosed1 which may amuse you4 ,i assumed another character because my dialogue was in my hearing very severely criticised by two or three whose opinion ,i thought worth having1 and ,i deferred to their judgment in my next4 ,i do not think ,i should do so now4 ,i fear you will be shocked at an appeal to the periodicals mentioned in my letter1 but they form a very staple article of bush diet1 and we used to get a good deal of superficial knowledge out of them4 ,i feared to go in too heavy on the side of the ,,origin1 because ,i thought that1 having said my say as well as ,i could1 ,i had better now take a less impassioned tone2 but ,i was really exceedingly angry4 ,please do not trouble yourself to answer this1 and believe me1 ,yours most sincerely1 ,s4 ,butler4 ,this elicited a second letter from ,darwin3-- ,down1 ,bromley1 ,kent4 ,october #f4 ,my dear ,sir1--,i thank you sincerely for your kind and frank letter1 which has interested me greatly4 ,what a singular and varied career you have already run4 ,did you keep any journal or notes in ,new ,zealand8 ,for it strikes me that with your rare powers of writing you might make a very interesting work descriptive of a colonist's life in ,new ,zealand4 ,i return your printed letter1 which you might like to keep4 ,it has amused me1 especially the part in which you criticise yourself4 ,to appreciate the letter fully ,i ought to have read the bishop's letter1 which seems to have been very rich4 ,you tell me not to answer your note1 but ,i could not resist the wish to thank you for your letter4 ,with every good wish1 believe me1 my dear ,sir1 ,yours sincerely1 ,ch4 ,darwin4 ,it is curious that in this correspondence ,darwin makes no reference to the fact that he had already had in his possession a copy of ,butler's dialogue and had endeavoured to induce the editor of an ,english periodical to reprint it4 ,it is possible that we have not here the whole of the correspondence which passed between ,darwin and ,butler at this period1 and this theory is supported by the fact that ,butler seems to take for granted that ,darwin knew all about the appearance of the original dialogue on the ,,origin ,,of ,,species in the ,,press4 ,enough1 however1 has been given to explain the correspondence which the publication of the dialogue occasioned4 ,i do not know what authority ,butler had for supposing that ,charles ,john ,abraham1 ,bishop of ,wellington1 was the author of the article entitled 8,barrel-,organs10 and the 8,savoyard0 of the subsequent controversy4 ,however1 at that time ,butler was deep in the counsels of the ,,press1 and he may have received private information on the subject4 ,butler's own reappearance over the initials ,a4,m4 is sufficiently explained in his letter to ,darwin4 ,it is worth observing that ,butler appears in the dialogue and ensuing correspondence in a character very different from that which he was later to assume4 ,here we have him as an ardent supporter of ,charles ,darwin1 and adopting a contemptuous tone with regard to the claims of ,erasmus ,darwin to have sown the seed which was afterwards raised to maturity by his grandson4 ,it would be interesting to know if it was this correspondence that first turned ,butler's attention seriously to the works of the older evolutionists and ultimately led to the production of ,,evolution1 ,,old ,,and ,,new1 in which the indebtedness of ,charles ,darwin to ,erasmus ,darwin1 ,buffon and ,lamarck is demonstrated with such compelling force4 ,a ,dialogue ,from the ,press1 #bj ,december1 #ahfb4 ,f4 ,so you have finished ,darwin8 ,well1 how did you like him8 ,c4 ,you cannot expect me to like him4 ,he is so hard and logical1 and he treats his subject with such an intensity of dry reasoning without giving himself the loose rein for a single moment from one end of the book to the other1 that ,i must confess ,i have found it a great effort to read him through4 ,f4 ,but ,i fancy that1 if you are to be candid1 you will admit that the fault lies rather with yourself than with the book4 ,your knowledge of natural history is so superficial that you are constantly baffled by terms of which you do not understand the meaning1 and in which you consequently lose all interest4 ,i admit1 however1 that the book is hard and laborious reading2 and1 moreover1 that the writer appears to have predetermined from the commencement to reject all ornament1 and simply to argue from beginning to end1 from point to point1 till he conceived that he had made his case sufficiently clear4 ,c4 ,i agree with you1 and ,i do not like his book partly on that very account4 ,he seems to have no eye but for the single point at which he is aiming4 ,f4 ,but is not that a great virtue in a writer8 ,c4 ,a great virtue1 but a cold and hard one4 ,f4 ,in my opinion it is a grave and wise one4 ,moreover1 ,i conceive that the judicial calmness which so strongly characterises the whole book1 the absence of all passion1 the air of extreme and anxious caution which pervades it throughout1 are rather the result of training and artificially acquired self-restraint than symptoms of a cold and unimpassioned nature2 at any rate1 whether the lawyer-like faculty of swearing both sides of a question and attaching the full value to both is acquired or natural in ,darwin's case1 you will admit that such a habit of mind is essential for any really valuable and scientific investigation4 ,c4 ,i admit it4 ,science is all head--she has no heart at all4 ,f4 ,you are right4 ,but a man of science may be a man of other things besides science1 and though he may have1 and ought to have no heart during a scientific investigation1 yet when he has once come to a conclusion he may be hearty enough in support of it1 and in his other capacities may be of as warm a temperament as even you can desire4 ,c4 ,i tell you ,i do not like the book4 ,f4 ,may ,i catechise you a little upon it8 ,c4 ,to your heart's content4 ,f4 ,firstly1 then1 ,i will ask you what is the one great impression that you have derived from reading it2 or1 rather1 what do you think to be the main impression that ,darwin wanted you to derive8 ,c4 ,why1 ,i should say some such thing as the following--that men are descended from monkeys1 and monkeys from something else1 and so on back to dogs and horses and hedge-sparrows and pigeons and cinipedes 7what is a cinipede87 and cheesemites1 and then through the plants down to duckweed4 ,f4 ,you express the prevalent idea concerning the book1 which as you express it appears nonsensical enough4 ,c4 ,how1 then1 should you express it yourself8 ,f4 ,hand me the book and ,i will read it to you through from beginning to end1 for to express it more briefly than ,darwin himself has done is almost impossible4 ,c4 ,that is nonsense2 as you asked me what impression ,i derived from the book1 so now ,i ask you1 and ,i charge you to answer me4 ,f4 ,well1 ,i assent to the justice of your demand1 but ,i shall comply with it by requiring your assent to a few principal statements deducible from the work4 ,c4 ,so be it4 ,f4 ,you will grant then1 firstly1 that all plants and animals increase very rapidly1 and that unless they were in some manner checked1 the world would soon be overstocked4 ,take cats1 for instance2 see with what rapidity they breed on the different runs in this province where there is little or nothing to check them2 or even take the more slowly breeding sheep1 and see how soon #ejj ewes become #ejjj sheep under favourable circumstances4 ,suppose this sort of thing to go on for a hundred million years or so1 and where would be the standing room for all the different plants and animals that would be now existing1 did they not materially check each other's increase1 or were they not liable in some way to be checked by other causes8 ,remember the quail2 how plentiful they were until the cats came with the settlers from ,europe4 ,why were they so abundant8 ,simply because they had plenty to eat1 and could get sufficient shelter from the hawks to multiply freely4 ,the cats came1 and tussocks stood the poor little creatures in but poor stead4 ,the cats increased and multiplied because they had plenty of food and no natural enemy to check them4 ,let them wait a year or two1 till they have materially reduced the larks also1 as they have long since reduced the quail1 and let them have to depend solely upon occasional dead lambs and sheep1 and they will find a certain rather formidable natural enemy called ,famine rise slowly but inexorably against them and slaughter them wholesale4 ,the first proposition then to which ,i demand your assent is that all plants and animals tend to increase in a high geometrical ratio2 that they all endeavour to get that which is necessary for their own welfare2 that1 as unfortunately there are conflicting interests in ,nature1 collisions constantly occur between different animals and plants1 whereby the rate of increase of each species is very materially checked4 ,do you admit this8 ,c4 ,of course2 it is obvious4 ,f4 ,you admit then that there is in ,nature a perpetual warfare of plant1 of bird1 of beast1 of fish1 of reptile2 that each is striving selfishly for its own advantage1 and will get what it wants if it can4 ,c4 ,if what8 ,f4 ,if it can4 ,how comes it then that sometimes it cannot8 ,simply because all are not of equal strength1 and the weaker must go to the wall4 ,c4 ,you seem to gloat over your devilish statement4 ,f4 ,gloat or no gloat1 is it true or no8 ,i am not one of those 8,who would unnaturally better ,nature ,by making out that that which is1 is not40 ,if the law of ,nature is 8struggle10 it is better to look the matter in the face and adapt yourself to the conditions of your existence4 ,nature will not bow to you1 neither will you mend matters by patting her on the back and telling her that she is not so black as she is painted4 ,my dear fellow1 my dear sentimental friend1 do you eat roast beef or roast mutton8 ,c4 ,drop that chaff and go back to the matter in hand4 ,f4 ,to continue then with the cats4 ,famine comes and tests them1 so to speak2 the weaker1 the less active1 the less cunning1 and the less enduring cats get killed off1 and only the strongest and smartest cats survive2 there will be no favouritism shown to animals in a state of ,nature2 they will be weighed in the balance1 and the weight of a hair will sometimes decide whether they shall be found wanting or no4 ,this being the case1 the cats having been thus naturally culled and the stronger having been preserved1 there will be a gradual tendency to improve manifested among the cats1 even as among our own mobs of sheep careful culling tends to improve the flock4 ,c4 ,this1 too1 is obvious4 ,f4 ,extend this to all animals and plants1 and the same thing will hold good concerning them all4 ,i shall now change the ground and demand assent to another statement4 ,you know that though the offspring of all plants and animals is in the main like the parent1 yet that in almost every instance slight deviations occur1 and that sometimes there is even considerable divergence from the parent type4 ,it must also be admitted that these slight variations are often1 or at least sometimes1 capable of being perpetuated by inheritance4 ,indeed1 it is only in consequence of this fact that our sheep and cattle have been capable of so much improvement4 ,c4 ,i admit this4 ,f4 ,then the whole matter lies in a nutshell4 ,suppose that hundreds of millions of years ago there existed upon this earth a single primordial form of the very lowest life1 or suppose that three or four such primordial forms existed4 ,change of climate1 of food1 of any of the circumstances which surrounded any member of this first and lowest class of life would tend to alter it in some slight manner1 and the alteration would have a tendency to perpetuate itself by inheritance4 ,many failures would doubtless occur1 but with the lapse of time slight deviations would undoubtedly become permanent and inheritable1 those alone being perpetuated which were beneficial to individuals in whom they appeared4 ,repeat the process with each deviation and we shall again obtain divergences 7in the course of ages7 differing more strongly from the ancestral form1 and again those that enable their possessor to struggle for existence most efficiently will be preserved4 ,repeat this process for millions and millions of years1 and1 as it is impossible to assign any limit to variability1 it would seem as though the present diversities of species must certainly have come about sooner or later1 and that other divergences will continue to come about to the end of time4 ,the great agent in this development of life has been competition4 ,this has culled species after species1 and secured that those alone should survive which were best fitted for the conditions by which they found themselves surrounded4 ,endeavour to take a bird's-eye view of the whole matter4 ,see battle after battle1 first in one part of the world1 then in another1 sometimes raging more fiercely and sometimes less2 even as in human affairs war has always existed in some part of the world from the earliest known periods1 and probably always will exist4 ,while a species is conquering in one part of the world it is being subdued in another1 and while its conquerors are indulging in their triumph down comes the fiat for their being culled and drafted out1 some to life and some to death1 and so forth ad infinitum4 ,c4 ,it is very horrid4 ,f4 ,no more horrid than that you should eat roast mutton or boiled beef4 ,c4 ,but it is utterly subversive of ,christianity2 for if this theory is true the fall of man is entirely fabulous2 and if the fall1 then the redemption1 these two being inseparably bound together4 ,f4 ,my dear friend1 there ,i am not bound to follow you4 ,i believe in ,christianity1 and ,i believe in ,darwin4 ,the two appear irreconcilable4 ,my answer to those who accuse me of inconsistency is1 that both being undoubtedly true1 the one must be reconcilable with the other1 and that the impossibility of reconciling them must be only apparent and temporary1 not real4 ,the reconciliation will never be effected by planing a little off the one and a little off the other and then gluing them together with glue4 ,people will not stand this sort of dealing1 and the rejection of the one truth or of the other is sure to follow upon any such attempt being persisted in4 ,the true course is to use the freest candour in the acknowledgment of the difficulty2 to estimate precisely its real value1 and obtain a correct knowledge of its precise form4 ,then and then only is there a chance of any satisfactory result being obtained4 ,for unless the exact nature of the difficulty be known first1 who can attempt to remove it8 ,let me re-state the matter once again4 ,all animals and plants in a state of ,nature are undergoing constant competition for the necessaries of life4 ,those that can hold their ground hold it2 those that cannot hold it are destroyed4 ,but as it also happens that slight changes of food1 of habit1 of climate1 of circumjacent accident1 and so forth1 produce a slight tendency to vary in the offspring of any plant or animal1 it follows that among these slight variations some may be favourable to the individual in whom they appear1 and may place him in a better position than his fellows as regards the enemies with whom his interests come into collision4 ,in this case he will have a better chance of surviving than his fellows2 he will thus stand also a better chance of continuing the species1 and in his offspring his own slight divergence from the parent type will be apt to appear4 ,however slight the divergence1 if it be beneficial to the individual it is likely to preserve the individual and to reappear in his offspring1 and this process may be repeated ad infinitum4 ,once grant these two things1 and the rest is a mere matter of time and degree4 ,that the immense differences between the camel and the pig should have come about in six thousand years is not believable2 but in six hundred million years it is not incredible1 more especially when we consider that by the assistance of geology a very perfect chain has been formed between the two4 ,let this instance suffice4 ,once grant the principles1 once grant that competition is a great power in ,nature1 and that changes of circumstances and habits produce a tendency to variation in the offspring 7no matter how slight such variation may be71 and unless you can define the possible limit of such variation during an infinite series of generations1 unless you can show that there is a limit1 and that ,darwin's theory over-steps it1 you have no right to reject his conclusions4 ,as for the objections to the theory1 ,darwin has treated them with admirable candour1 and our time is too brief to enter into them here4 ,my recommendation to you is that you should read the book again4 ,c4 ,thank you1 but for my own part ,i confess to caring very little whether my millionth ancestor was a gorilla or no2 and as ,darwin's book does not please me1 ,i shall not trouble myself further about the matter4 ,barrel-,organs ,from the ,press1 #ag ,january1 #ahfc4 ,dugald ,stewart in his ,dissertation on the ,progress of ,metaphysics says3 8,on reflecting on the repeated reproduction of ancient paradoxes by modern authors one is almost tempted to suppose that human invention is limited1 like a barrel-organ1 to a specific number of tunes40 ,it would be a very amusing and instructive task for a man of reading and reflection to note down the instances he meets with of these old tunes coming up again and again in regular succession with hardly any change of note1 and with all the old hitches and involuntary squeaks that the barrel-organ had played in days gone by4 ,it is most amusing to see the old quotations repeated year after year and volume after volume1 till at last some more careful enquirer turns to the passage referred to and finds that they have all been taken in and have followed the lead of the first daring inventor of the mis-statement4 ,hallam has had the courage1 in the supplement to his ,history of the ,middle ,ages1 p4 #cih1 to acknowledge an error of this sort that he has been led into4 ,but the particular instance of barrel-organism that is present to our minds just now is the ,darwinian theory of the development of species by natural selection1 of which we hear so much4 ,this is nothing new1 but a rchauffe of the old story that his namesake1 ,dr4 ,darwin1 served up in the end of the last century to ,priestley and his admirers1 and ,lord ,monboddo had cooked in the beginning of the same century4 ,we have all heard of his theory that man was developed directly from the monkey1 and that we all lost our tails by sitting too much upon that appendage4 ,we learn from that same great and cautious writer ,hallam in his ,history of ,literature that there are traces of this theory and of other popular theories of the present day in the works of ,giordano ,bruno1 the ,neapolitan who was burnt at ,rome by the ,inquisition in #afjj4 ,it is curious to read the titles of his works and to think of ,dugald ,stewart's remark about barrel-organs4 ,for instance he wrote on 8,the ,plurality of ,worlds10 and on the universal 8,monad10 a name familiar enough to the readers of ,vestiges of ,creation4 ,he was a ,pantheist1 and1 as ,hallam says1 borrowed all his theories from the eclectic philosophers1 from ,plotinus and the ,neo-,platonists1 and ultimately they were no doubt of ,oriental origin4 ,this is just what has been shown again and again to be the history of ,german ,pantheism2 it is a mere barrel-organ repetition of the ,brahman metaphysics found in ,hindu cosmogonies4 ,bruno's theory regarding development of species was in ,hallam's words3 8,there is nothing so small or so unimportant but that a portion of spirit dwells in it2 and this spiritual substance requires a proper subject to become a plant or an animal02 and ,hallam in a note on this passage observes how the modern theories of equivocal generation correspond with ,bruno's4 ,no doubt ,hallam is right in saying that they are all of ,oriental origin4 ,pythagoras borrowed from thence his kindred theory of the metempsychosis1 or transmigration of souls4 ,but he was more consistent than modern philosophers2 he recognised a downward development as well as an upward1 and made morality and immorality the crisis and turning-point of change--a bold lion developed into a brave warrior1 a drunken sot developed into a wallowing pig1 and ,darwin's slave-making ants1 p4 #bai1 would have been formerly ,virginian cotton and tobacco growers4 ,perhaps ,prometheus was the first ,darwin of antiquity1 for he is said to have begun his creation from below1 and after passing from the invertebrate to the sub-vertebrate1 from thence to the backbone1 from the backbone to the mammalia1 and from the mammalia to the manco-cerebral1 he compounded man of each and all3-- ,fertur ,prometheus addere principi ,limo coactus particulam undique ,desectam et insani leonis ,vim stomacho apposuisse nostro4 ,one word more about barrel-organs4 ,we have heard on the undoubted authority of ear and eyewitnesses1 that in a neighbouring province there is a church where the psalms are sung to a barrel-organ1 but unfortunately the psalm tunes come in the middle of the set1 and the jigs and waltzes have to be played through before the psalm can start4 ,just so is it with ,darwinism and all similar theories4 ,all his fantasias1 as we saw in a late article1 are made to come round at last to religious questions1 with which really and truly they have nothing to do1 but were it not for their supposed effect upon religion1 no one would waste his time in reading about the possibility of ,polar bears swimming about and catching flies so long that they at last get the fins they wish for4 ,darwin on ,species ,from the ,press1 #ba ,february1 #ahfc4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press4 ,sir--,in two of your numbers you have already taken notice of ,darwin's theory of the origin of species2 ,i would venture to trespass upon your space in order to criticise briefly both your notices4 ,the first is evidently the composition of a warm adherent of the theory in question2 the writer overlooks all the real difficulties in the way of accepting it1 and1 caught by the obvious truth of much that ,darwin says1 has rushed to the conclusion that all is equally true4 ,he writes with the tone of a partisan1 of one deficient in scientific caution1 and from the frequent repetition of the same ideas manifest in his dialogue one would be led to suspect that he was but little versed in habits of literary composition and philosophical argument4 ,yet he may fairly claim the merit of having written in earnest4 ,he has treated a serious subject seriously according to his lights2 and though his lights are not brilliant ones1 yet he has apparently done his best to show the theory on which he is writing in its most favourable aspect4 ,he is rash1 evidently well satisfied with himself1 very possibly mistaken1 and just one of those persons who 7without intending it7 are more apt to mislead than to lead the few people that put their trust in them4 ,a few will always follow them1 for a strong faith is always more or less impressive upon persons who are too weak to have any definite and original faith of their own4 ,the second writer1 however1 assumes a very different tone4 ,his arguments to all practical intents and purposes run as follows3-- ,old fallacies are constantly recurring4 ,therefore ,darwin's theory is a fallacy4 ,they come again and again1 like tunes in a barrel-organ4 ,therefore ,darwin's theory is a fallacy4 ,hallam made a mistake1 and in his ,history of the ,middle ,ages1 p4 #cih1 he corrects himself4 ,therefore ,darwin's theory is wrong4 ,dr4 ,darwin in the last century said the same thing as his son or grandson says now--will the writer of the article refer to anything bearing on natural selection and the struggle for existence in ,dr4 ,darwin's work8--and a foolish nobleman said something foolish about monkey's tails4 ,therefore ,darwin's theory is wrong4 ,giordano ,bruno was burnt in the year #afjj ,a4,d42 he was a ,pantheist2 therefore ,darwin's theory is wrong4 ,and finally1 as a clinching argument1 in one of the neighbouring settlements there is a barrel-organ which plays its psalm tunes in the middle of its jigs and waltzes4 ,after this all lingering doubts concerning the falsehood of ,darwin's theory must be at an end1 and any person of ordinary common sense must admit that the theory of development by natural selection is unwarranted by experience and reason4 ,the articles conclude with an implied statement that ,darwin supposes the ,polar bear to swim about catching flies for so long a period that at last it gets the fins it wishes for4 ,now1 however sceptical ,i may yet feel about the truth of all ,darwin's theory1 ,i cannot sit quietly by and see him misrepresented in such a scandalously slovenly manner4 ,what ,darwin does say is that sometimes diversified and changed habits may be observed in individuals of the same species2 that is that there are eccentric animals just as there are eccentric men4 ,he adduces a few instances and winds up by saying that 8in ,north ,america the black bear was seen by ,hearne swimming for hours with widely open mouth1 thus catching--almost like a whale--insects in the water40 ,this and nothing more4 7,see pp4 #bja and #bjb47 ,because ,darwin says that a bear of rather eccentric habits happened to be seen by ,hearne swimming for hours and catching insects almost like a whale1 your writer 7with a carelessness hardly to be reprehended in sufficiently strong terms7 asserts by implication that ,darwin supposes the whale to be developed from the bear by the latter having had a strong desire to possess fins4 ,this is disgraceful4 ,i can hardly be mistaken in supposing that ,i have quoted the passage your writer alludes to4 ,should ,i be in error1 ,i trust he will give the reference to the place in which ,darwin is guilty of the nonsense that is fathered upon him in your article4 ,it must be remembered that there have been few great inventions in physics or discoveries in science which have not been foreshadowed to a certain extent by speculators who were indeed mistaken1 but were yet more or less on the right scent4 ,day is heralded by dawn1 ,apollo by ,aurora1 and thus it often happens that a real discovery may wear to the careless observer much the same appearance as an exploded fallacy1 whereas in fact it is widely different4 ,as much caution is due in the rejection of a theory as in the acceptation of it4 ,the first of your writers is too hasty in accepting1 the second in refusing even a candid examination4 ,now1 when the ,saturday ,review1 the ,cornhill ,magazine1 ,once a ,week1 and ,macmillan's ,magazine1 not to mention other periodicals1 have either actually and completely as in the case of the first two1 provisionally as in the last mentioned1 given their adherence to the theory in question1 it may be taken for granted that the arguments in its favour are sufficiently specious to have attracted the attention and approbation of a considerable number of well-educated men in ,england4 ,three months ago the theory of development by natural selection was openly supported by ,professor ,huxley before the ,british ,association at ,cambridge4 ,i am not adducing ,professor ,huxley's advocacy as a proof that ,darwin is right 7indeed1 ,owen opposed him tooth and nail71 but as a proof that there is sufficient to be said on ,darwin's side to demand more respectful attention than your last writer has thought it worth while to give it4 ,a theory which the ,british ,association is discussing with great care in ,england is not to be set down by off-hand nicknames in ,canterbury4 ,to those1 however1 who do feel an interest in the question1 ,i would venture to give a word or two of advice4 ,i would strongly deprecate forming a hurried opinion for or against the theory4 ,naturalists in ,europe are canvassing the matter with the utmost diligence1 and a few years must show whether they will accept the theory or no4 ,it is plausible2 that can be decided by no one4 ,whether it is true or no can be decided only among naturalists themselves4 ,we are outsiders1 and most of us must be content to sit on the stairs till the great men come forth and give us the benefit of their opinion4 ,i am1 ,sir1 ,your obedient servant1 ,a4 ,m4 ,darwin on ,species ,from the ,press1 ,march #adth1 #ahfc4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press4 ,sir--,a correspondent signing himself 8,a4 ,m40 in the issue of ,february #bast says3--8,will the writer 7of an article on barrel-organs7 refer to anything bearing upon natural selection and the struggle for existence in ,dr4 ,darwin's work80 ,this is one of the trade forms by which writers imply that there is no such passage1 and yet leave a loophole if they are proved wrong4 ,i will1 however1 furnish him with a passage from the notes of ,darwin's ,botanic ,garden3-- 8,i am acquainted with a philosopher who1 contemplating this subject1 thinks it not impossible that the first insects were anthers or stigmas of flowers1 which had by some means loosed themselves from their parent plant2 and that many insects have gradually in long process of time been formed from these1 some acquiring wings1 others fins1 and others claws1 from their ceaseless efforts to procure their food or to secure themselves from injury4 ,the anthers or stigmas are therefore separate beings40 ,this passage contains the germ of ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin's theory of the origin of species by natural selection3-- 8,analogy would lead me to the belief that all animals and plants have descended from one prototype40 ,here are a few specimens1 his illustrations of the theory3-- 8,there seems to me no great difficulty in believing that natural selection has actually converted a swim-bladder into a lung or organ used exclusively for respiration40 8,a swim-bladder has apparently been converted into an air-breathing lung40 8,we must be cautious in concluding that a bat could not have been formed by natural selection from an animal which at first could only glide through the air40 8,i can see no insuperable difficulty in further believing it possible that the membrane-connected fingers and forearm of the galeopithecus might be greatly lengthened by natural selection1 and this1 as far as the organs of flight are concerned1 would convert it into a bat40 8,the framework of bones being the same in the hand of a man1 wing of a bat1 fin of a porpoise1 and leg of a horse1 the same number of vertebr forming the neck of the giraffe and of the elephant1 and innumerable other such facts1 at once explain themselves on the theory of descent with slow and slight successive modifications40 ,i do not mean to go through your correspondent's letter1 otherwise 8,i could hardly reprehend in sufficiently strong terms0 7and all that sort of thing7 the perversion of what ,i said about ,giordano ,bruno4 ,but 8ex uno disce omnes0--,i am1 etc41 8,,the ,,savoyard40 ,darwin on ,species ,from the ,press1 #ah ,march1 #ahfc4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press4 ,sir--,the 8,savoyard0 of last ,saturday has shown that he has perused ,darwin's ,botanic ,garden with greater attention than myself4 ,i am obliged to him for his correction of my carelessness1 and have not the smallest desire to make use of any loopholes to avoid being 8proved wrong40 ,let1 then1 the 8,savoyard's0 assertion that ,dr4 ,darwin had to a certain extent forestalled ,mr4 ,c4 ,darwin stand1 and let my implied denial that in the older ,darwin's works passages bearing on natural selection1 or the struggle for existence1 could be found1 go for nought1 or rather let it be set down against me4 ,what follows8 ,has the 8,savoyard0 7supposing him to be the author of the article on barrel-organs7 adduced one particle of real argument the more to show that the real ,darwin's theory is wrong8 ,the elder ,darwin writes in a note that 8he is acquainted with a philosopher who thinks it not impossible that the first insects were the anthers or stigmas of flowers1 which by some means1 etc4 etc40 ,this is mere speculation1 not a definite theory1 and though the passage above as quoted by the 8,savoyard0 certainly does contain the germ of ,darwin's theory1 what is it more than the crudest and most unshapen germ8 ,and in what conceivable way does this discovery of the egg invalidate the excellence of the chicken8 ,was there ever a great theory yet which was not more or less developed from previous speculations which were all to a certain extent wrong1 and all ridiculed1 perhaps not undeservedly1 at the time of their appearance8 ,there is a wide difference between a speculation and a theory4 ,a speculation involves the notion of a man climbing into a lofty position1 and descrying a somewhat remote object which he cannot fully make out4 ,a theory implies that the theorist has looked long and steadfastly till he is clear in his own mind concerning the nature of the thing which he is beholding4 ,i submit that the 8,savoyard0 has unfairly made use of the failure of certain speculations in order to show that a distinct theory is untenable4 ,let it be granted that ,darwin's theory has been foreshadowed by numerous previous writers4 ,grant the 8,savoyard0 his ,giordano ,bruno1 and give full weight to the barrel-organ in a neighbouring settlement1 ,i would still ask1 has the theory of natural development of species ever been placed in anything approaching its present clear and connected form before the appearance of ,mr4 ,darwin's book8 ,has it ever received the full attention of the scientific world as a duly organised theory1 one presented in a tangible shape and demanding investigation1 as the conclusion arrived at by a man of known scientific attainments after years of patient toil8 ,the upshot of the barrel-organs article was to answer this question in the affirmative and to pooh-pooh all further discussion4 ,it would be mere presumption on my part either to attack or defend ,darwin1 but my indignation was roused at seeing him misrepresented and treated disdainfully4 ,i would wish1 too1 that the 8,savoyard0 would have condescended to notice that little matter of the bear4 ,i have searched my copy of ,darwin again and again to find anything relating to the subject except what ,i have quoted in my previous letter4 ,i am1 ,sir1 your obedient servant1 ,a4 ,m4 ,darwin on ,species ,from the ,press1 ,april #aath1 #ahfc4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press4 ,sir--,your correspondent 8,a4 ,m40 is pertinacious on the subject of the bear being changed into a whale1 which ,i said ,darwin contemplated as not impossible4 ,i did not take the trouble in any former letter to answer him on that point1 as his language was so intemperate4 ,he has modified his tone in his last letter1 and really seems open to the conviction that he may be the 8careless0 writer after all2 and so on reflection ,i have determined to give him the opportunity of doing me justice4 ,in his letter of ,february #ba he says3 8,i cannot sit by and see ,darwin misrepresented in such a scandalously slovenly manner4 ,what ,darwin does say is #8that ,,sometimes diversified and changed habits may be observed in individuals of the same species2 that is1 that there are certain eccentric animals as there are certain eccentric men4 ,he adduces a few instances1 and winds up by saying that in ,north ,america the black bear was seen by ,hearne swimming for hours with widely open mouth1 thus catching1 ,,almost ,,like ,a ,,whale1 insects in the water4' ,,this1 ,,and ,,nothing ,,more1 pp4 #bja1 #bjb40 ,then follows a passage about my carelessness1 which 7he says7 is hardly to be reprehended in sufficiently strong terms1 and he ends with saying3 8,this is disgraceful40 ,now you may well suppose that ,i was a little puzzled at the seeming audacity of a writer who should adopt this style1 when the words which follow his quotation from ,darwin are 7in the edition from which ,i quoted7 as follows3 8,even in so extreme a case as this1 if the supply of insects were constant1 and if better adapted competitors did not already exist in the country1 ,i can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered by natural selection more and more aquatic in their structure and habits1 with larger and larger mouths1 till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale40 ,now this passage was a remarkable instance of the idea that ,i was illustrating in the article on 8,barrel-organs10 because ,buffon in his ,histoire ,naturelle had conceived a theory of degeneracy 7the exact converse of ,darwin's theory of ascension7 by which the bear might pass into a seal1 and that into a whale4 ,trusting now to the fairness of 8,a4 ,m40 ,i leave to him to say whether he has quoted from the same edition as ,i have1 and whether the additional words ,i have quoted are in his edition1 and if so whether he has not been guilty of a great injustice to me2 and if they are not in his edition1 whether he has not been guilty of great haste and 8carelessness0 in taking for granted that ,i have acted in so 8disgraceful0 a manner4 ,i am1 ,sir1 etc41 8,the ,savoyard10 or player on ,barrel-organs4 7,the paragraph in question has been the occasion of much discussion4 ,the only edition in our hands is the third1 seventh thousand1 which contains the paragraph as quoted by 8,a4 ,m40 ,we have heard that it is different in earlier editions1 but have not been able to find one4 ,the difference between 8,a4 ,m40 and 8,the ,savoyard0 is clearly one of different editions4 ,darwin appears to have been ashamed of the inconsequent inference suggested1 and to have withdrawn it4--,ed4 the ,press47 ,darwin on ,species ,from the ,press1 #bbnd ,june1 #ahfc4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press4 ,sir--,i extract the following from an article in the ,saturday ,review of ,january #aj1 #ahfc1 on the vertebrated animals of the ,zoological ,gardens4 8,as regards the ducks1 for example1 inter-breeding goes on to a very great extent among nearly all the genera1 which are well represented in the collection4 ,we think it unfortunate that the details of these crosses have not hitherto been made public4 ,the ,zoological ,society has existed about thirty-five years1 and we imagine that evidence must have been accumulated almost enough to make or mar that part of ,mr4 ,darwin's well-known argument which rests on what is known of the phenomena of hybridism4 ,the present list reveals only one fact bearing on the subject1 but that is a noteworthy one1 for it completely overthrows the commonly accepted theory that the mixed offspring of different species are infertile inter se4 ,at page #ae 7of the list of vertebrated animals living in the gardens of the ,zoological ,society of ,london1 ,longman and ,co41 #ahfb7 we find enumerated three examples of hybrids between two perfectly distinct species1 and even1 according to modern classification1 between two distinct genera of ducks1 for three or four generations4 ,there can be little doubt that a series of researches in this branch of experimental physiology1 which might be carried on at no great loss1 would place zoologists in a far better position with regard to a subject which is one of the most interesting if not one of the most important in natural history40 ,i fear that both you and your readers will be dead sick of ,darwin1 but the above is worthy of notice4 ,my compliments to the 8,savoyard40 ,your obedient servant1 ,may #agth4 ,a4 ,m4 ,darwin ,among the ,machines 8,darwin ,among the ,machines0 originally appeared in the ,christ ,church ,,press1 #ac ,june1 #ahfc4 ,it was reprinted by ,mr4 ,festing ,jones in his edition of ,,the ,,note-,,books ,,of ,,samuel ,,butler 7,fifield1 ,london1 #aiab1 ,kennerley1 ,new ,york71 with a prefatory note pointing out its connection with the genesis of ,,erewhon1 to which readers desirous of further information may be referred4 ,to the ,editor of the ,press1 ,christchurch1 ,new ,zealand1 #ac ,june1 #ahfc4 ,,sir--,there are few things of which the present generation is more justly proud than of the wonderful improvements which are daily taking place in all sorts of mechanical appliances4 ,and indeed it is matter for great congratulation on many grounds4 ,it is unnecessary to mention these here1 for they are sufficiently obvious2 our present business lies with considerations which may somewhat tend to humble our pride and to make us think seriously of the future prospects of the human race4 ,if we revert to the earliest primordial types of mechanical life1 to the lever1 the wedge1 the inclined plane1 the screw and the pulley1 or 7for analogy would lead us one step further7 to that one primordial type from which all the mechanical kingdom has been developed1 we mean to the lever itself1 and if we then examine the machinery of the ,great ,eastern1 we find ourselves almost awestruck at the vast development of the mechanical world1 at the gigantic strides with which it has advanced in comparison with the slow progress of the animal and vegetable kingdom4 ,we shall find it impossible to refrain from asking ourselves what the end of this mighty movement is to be4 ,in what direction is it tending8 ,what will be its upshot8 ,to give a few imperfect hints towards a solution of these questions is the object of the present letter4 ,we have used the words 8mechanical life10 8the mechanical kingdom10 8the mechanical world0 and so forth1 and we have done so advisedly1 for as the vegetable kingdom was slowly developed from the mineral1 and as in like manner the animal supervened upon the vegetable1 so now in these last few ages an entirely new kingdom has sprung up1 of which we as yet have only seen what will one day be considered the antediluvian prototypes of the race4 ,we regret deeply that our knowledge both of natural history and of machinery is too small to enable us to undertake the gigantic task of classifying machines into the genera and sub-genera1 species1 varieties and sub-varieties1 and so forth1 of tracing the connecting links between machines of widely different characters1 of pointing out how subservience to the use of man has played that part among machines which natural selection has performed in the animal and vegetable kingdoms1 of pointing out rudimentary organs #ahj which exist in some few machines1 feebly developed and perfectly useless1 yet serving to mark descent from some ancestral type which has either perished or been modified into some new phase of mechanical existence4 ,we can only point out this field for investigation2 it must be followed by others whose education and talents have been of a much higher order than any which we can lay claim to4 ,some few hints we have determined to venture upon1 though we do so with the profoundest diffidence4 ,firstly1 we would remark that as some of the lowest of the vertebrata attained a far greater size than has descended to their more highly organised living representatives1 so a diminution in the size of machines has often attended their development and progress4 ,take the watch for instance4 ,examine the beautiful structure of the little animal1 watch the intelligent play of the minute members which compose it2 yet this little creature is but a development of the cumbrous clocks of the thirteenth century--it is no deterioration from them4 ,the day may come when clocks1 which certainly at the present day are not diminishing in bulk1 may be entirely superseded by the universal use of watches1 in which case clocks will become extinct like the earlier saurians1 while the watch 7whose tendency has for some years been rather to decrease in size than the contrary7 will remain the only existing type of an extinct race4 ,the views of machinery which we are thus feebly indicating will suggest the solution of one of the greatest and most mysterious questions of the day4 ,we refer to the question3 ,what sort of creature man's next successor in the supremacy of the earth is likely to be4 ,we have often heard this debated2 but it appears to us that we are ourselves creating our own successors2 we are daily adding to the beauty and delicacy of their physical organisation2 we are daily giving them greater power and supplying by all sorts of ingenious contrivances that self-regulating1 self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race4 ,in the course of ages we shall find ourselves the inferior race4 ,inferior in power1 inferior in that moral quality of self-control1 we shall look up to them as the acme of all that the best and wisest man can ever dare to aim at4 ,no evil passions1 no jealousy1 no avarice1 no impure desires will disturb the serene might of those glorious creatures4 ,sin1 shame1 and sorrow will have no place among them4 ,their minds will be in a state of perpetual calm1 the contentment of a spirit that knows no wants1 is disturbed by no regrets4 ,ambition will never torture them4 ,ingratitude will never cause them the uneasiness of a moment4 ,the guilty conscience1 the hope deferred1 the pains of exile1 the insolence of office1 and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes--these will be entirely unknown to them4 ,if they want 8feeding0 7by the use of which very word we betray our recognition of them as living organism7 they will be attended by patient slaves whose business and interest it will be to see that they shall want for nothing4 ,if they are out of order they will be promptly attended to by physicians who are thoroughly acquainted with their constitutions2 if they die1 for even these glorious animals will not be exempt from that necessary and universal consummation1 they will immediately enter into a new phase of existence1 for what machine dies entirely in every part at one and the same instant8 ,we take it that when the state of things shall have arrived which we have been above attempting to describe1 man will have become to the machine what the horse and the dog are to man4 ,he will continue to exist1 nay even to improve1 and will be probably better off in his state of domestication under the beneficent rule of the machines than he is in his present wild state4 ,we treat our horses1 dogs1 cattle1 and sheep1 on the whole1 with great kindness2 we give them whatever experience teaches us to be best for them1 and there can be no doubt that our use of meat has added to the happiness of the lower animals far more than it has detracted from it2 in like manner it is reasonable to suppose that the machines will treat us kindly1 for their existence is as dependent upon ours as ours is upon the lower animals4 ,they cannot kill us and eat us as we do sheep2 they will not only require our services in the parturition of their young 7which branch of their economy will remain always in our hands71 but also in feeding them1 in setting them right when they are sick1 and burying their dead or working up their corpses into new machines4 ,it is obvious that if all the animals in ,great ,britain save man alone were to die1 and if at the same time all intercourse with foreign countries were by some sudden catastrophe to be rendered perfectly impossible1 it is obvious that under such circumstances the loss of human life would be something fearful to contemplate--in like manner were mankind to cease1 the machines would be as badly off or even worse4 ,the fact is that our interests are inseparable from theirs1 and theirs from ours4 ,each race is dependent upon the other for innumerable benefits1 and1 until the reproductive organs of the machines have been developed in a manner which we are hardly yet able to conceive1 they are entirely dependent upon man for even the continuance of their species4 ,it is true that these organs may be ultimately developed1 inasmuch as man's interest lies in that direction2 there is nothing which our infatuated race would desire more than to see a fertile union between two steam engines2 it is true that machinery is even at this present time employed in begetting machinery1 in becoming the parent of machines often after its own kind1 but the days of flirtation1 courtship1 and matrimony appear to be very remote1 and indeed can hardly be realised by our feeble and imperfect imagination4 ,day by day1 however1 the machines are gaining ground upon us2 day by day we are becoming more subservient to them2 more men are daily bound down as slaves to tend them1 more men are daily devoting the energies of their whole lives to the development of mechanical life4 ,the upshot is simply a question of time1 but that the time will come when the machines will hold the real supremacy over the world and its inhabitants is what no person of a truly philosophic mind can for a moment question4 ,our opinion is that war to the death should be instantly proclaimed against them4 ,every machine of every sort should be destroyed by the well-wisher of his species4 ,let there be no exceptions made1 no quarter shown2 let us at once go back to the primeval condition of the race4 ,if it be urged that this is impossible under the present condition of human affairs1 this at once proves that the mischief is already done1 that our servitude has commenced in good earnest1 that we have raised a race of beings whom it is beyond our power to destroy1 and that we are not only enslaved but are absolutely acquiescent in our bondage4 ,for the present we shall leave this subject1 which we present gratis to the members of the ,philosophical ,society4 ,should they consent to avail themselves of the vast field which we have pointed out1 we shall endeavour to labour in it ourselves at some future and indefinite period4 ,i am1 ,sir1 etc41 ,,cellarius ,lucubratio ,ebria 8,lucubratio ,ebria10 like 8,darwin ,among the ,machines10 has already appeared in ,,the ,,note-,,books ,,of ,,samuel ,,butler with a prefatory note by ,mr4 ,festing ,jones1 explaining its connection with ,,erewhon and ,,life ,,and ,,habit4 ,i need therefore only repeat that it was written by ,butler after his return to ,england and sent to ,new ,zealand1 where it was published in the ,,press on ,july #bi1 #ahfe4 ,from the ,press1 #bi ,july1 #ahfe4 ,,there is a period in the evening1 or more generally towards the still small hours of the morning1 in which we so far unbend as to take a single glass of hot whisky and water4 ,we will neither defend the practice nor excuse it4 ,we state it as a fact which must be borne in mind by the readers of this article2 for we know not how1 whether it be the inspiration of the drink or the relief from the harassing work with which the day has been occupied or from whatever other cause1 yet we are certainly liable about this time to such a prophetic influence as we seldom else experience4 ,we are rapt in a dream such as we ourselves know to be a dream1 and which1 like other dreams1 we can hardly embody in a distinct utterance4 ,we know that what we see is but a sort of intellectual ,siamese twins1 of which one is substance and the other shadow1 but we cannot set either free without killing both4 ,we are unable to rudely tear away the veil of phantasy in which the truth is shrouded1 so we present the reader with a draped figure1 and his own judgment must discriminate between the clothes and the body4 ,a truth's prosperity is like a jest's1 it lies in the ear of him that hears it4 ,some may see our lucubration as we saw it1 and others may see nothing but a drunken dream or the nightmare of a distempered imagination4 ,to ourselves it is the speaking with unknown tongues to the early ,corinthians2 we cannot fully understand our own speech1 and we fear lest there be not a sufficient number of interpreters present to make our utterance edify4 ,but there6 7,go on straight to the body of the article47 ,the limbs of the lower animals have never been modified by any act of deliberation and forethought on their own part4 ,recent researches have thrown absolutely no light upon the origin of life--upon the initial force which introduced a sense of identity and a deliberate faculty into the world2 but they do certainly appear to show very clearly that each species of the animal and vegetable kingdom has been moulded into its present shape by chances and changes of many millions of years1 by chances and changes over which the creature modified had no control whatever1 and concerning whose aim it was alike unconscious and indifferent1 by forces which seem insensate to the pain which they inflict1 but by whose inexorably beneficent cruelty the brave and strong keep coming to the fore1 while the weak and bad drop behind and perish4 ,there was a moral government of this world before man came near it--a moral government suited to the capacities of the governed1 and which unperceived by them has laid fast the foundations of courage1 endurance1 and cunning4 ,it laid them so fast that they became more and more hereditary4 ,horace says well fortes creantur fortibus et bonis1 good men beget good children2 the rule held even in the geological period2 good ichthyosauri begot good ichthyosauri1 and would to our discomfort have gone on doing so to the present time had not better creatures been begetting better things than ichthyosauri1 or famine or fire or convulsion put an end to them4 ,good apes begot good apes1 and at last when human intelligence stole like a late spring upon the mimicry of our semi-simious ancestry1 the creature learnt how he could of his own forethought add extra-corporaneous limbs to the members of his own body1 and become not only a vertebrate mammal1 but a vertebrate machinate mammal into the bargain4 ,it was a wise monkey that first learned to carry a stick1 and a useful monkey that mimicked him4 ,for the race of man has learned to walk uprightly much as a child learns the same thing4 ,at first he crawls on all fours1 then he clambers1 laying hold of whatever he can2 and lastly he stands upright alone and walks1 but for a long time with an unsteady step4 ,so when the human race was in its gorilla-hood it generally carried a stick2 from carrying a stick for many million years it became accustomed and modified to an upright position4 ,the stick wherewith it had learned to walk would now serve to beat its younger brothers1 and then it found out its service as a lever4 ,man would thus learn that the limbs of his body were not the only limbs that he could command4 ,his body was already the most versatile in existence1 but he could render it more versatile still4 ,with the improvement in his body his mind improved also4 ,he learnt to perceive the moral government under which he held the feudal tenure of his life--perceiving it he symbolised it1 and to this day our poets and prophets still strive to symbolise it more and more completely4 ,the mind grew because the body grew2 more things were perceived1 more things were handled1 and being handled became familiar4 ,but this came about chiefly because there was a hand to handle with2 without the hand there would be no handling1 and no method of holding and examining is comparable to the human hand4 ,the tail of an opossum is a prehensile thing1 but it is too far from his eyes2 the elephant's trunk is better1 and it is probably to their trunks that the elephants owe their sagacity4 ,it is here that the bee1 in spite of her wings1 has failed4 ,she has a high civilisation1 but it is one whose equilibrium appears to have been already attained2 the appearance is a false one1 for the bee changes1 though more slowly than man can watch her2 but the reason of the very gradual nature of the change is chiefly because the physical organisation of the insect changes1 but slowly also4 ,she is poorly off for hands1 and has never fairly grasped the notion of tacking on other limbs to the limbs of her own body1 and so being short lived to boot she remains from century to century to human eyes in statu quo4 ,her body never becomes machinate1 whereas this new phase of organism which has been introduced with man into the mundane economy1 has made him a very quicksand for the foundation of an unchanging civilisation2 certain fundamental principles will always remain1 but every century the change in man's physical status1 as compared with the elements around him1 is greater and greater4 ,he is a shifting basis on which no equilibrium of habit and civilisation can be established4 ,were it not for this constant change in our physical powers1 which our mechanical limbs have brought about1 man would have long since apparently attained his limit of possibility2 he would be a creature of as much fixity as the ants and bees2 he would still have advanced1 but no faster than other animals advance4 ,if there were a race of men without any mechanical appliances we should see this clearly4 ,there are none1 nor have there been1 so far as we can tell1 for millions and millions of years4 ,the lowest ,australian savage carries weapons for the fight or the chase1 and has his cooking and drinking utensils at home2 a race without these things would be completely fer natur and not men at all4 ,we are unable to point to any example of a race absolutely devoid of extra-corporaneous limbs1 but we can see among the ,chinese that with the failure to invent new limbs a civilisation becomes as much fixed as that of the ants2 and among savage tribes we observe that few implements involve a state of things scarcely human at all4 ,such tribes only advance pari passu with the creatures upon which they feed4 ,it is a mistake1 then1 to take the view adopted by a previous correspondent of this paper1 to consider the machines as identities1 to animalise them and to anticipate their final triumph over mankind4 ,they are to be regarded as the mode of development by which human organism is most especially advancing1 and every fresh invention is to be considered as an additional member of the resources of the human body4 ,herein lies the fundamental difference between man and his inferiors4 ,as regard his flesh and blood1 his senses1 appetites1 and affections1 the difference is one of degree rather than of kind1 but in the deliberate invention of such unity of limbs as is exemplified by the railway train--that seven-leagued foot which five hundred may own at once--he stands quite alone4 ,in confirmation of the views concerning mechanism which we have been advocating above1 it must be remembered that men are not merely the children of their parents1 but they are begotten of the institutions of the state of the mechanical sciences under which they are born and bred4 ,these things have made us what we are4 ,we are children of the plough1 the spade1 and the ship2 we are children of the extended liberty and knowledge which the printing press has diffused4 ,our ancestors added these things to their previously existing members2 the new limbs were preserved by natural selection and incorporated into human society2 they descended with modifications1 and hence proceeds the difference between our ancestors and ourselves4 ,by the institutions and state of science under which a man is born it is determined whether he shall have the limbs of an ,australian savage or those of a nineteenth-century ,englishman4 ,the former is supplemented with little save a rug and a javelin2 the latter varies his physique with the changes of the season1 with age and with advancing or decreasing wealth4 ,if it is wet he is furnished with an organ which is called an umbrella and which seems designed for the purpose of protecting either his clothes or his lungs from the injurious effects of rain4 ,his watch is of more importance to him than a good deal of his hair1 at any rate than of his whiskers2 besides this he carries a knife and generally a pencil case4 ,his memory goes in a pocket-book4 ,he grows more complex as he becomes older and he will then be seen with a pair of spectacles1 perhaps also with false teeth and a wig2 but1 if he be a really well-developed specimen of the race1 he will be furnished with a large box upon wheels1 two horses1 and a coachman4 ,let the reader ponder over these last remarks and he will see that the principal varieties and sub-varieties of the human race are not now to be looked for among the negroes1 the ,circassians1 the ,malays1 or the ,american aborigines1 but among the rich and the poor4 ,the difference in physical organisation between these two species of man is far greater than that between the so-called types of humanity4 ,the rich man can go from here to ,england whenever he feels inclined1 the legs of the other are by an invisible fatality prevented from carrying him beyond certain narrow limits4 ,neither rich nor poor as yet see the philosophy of the thing1 or admit that he who can tack a portion of one of the ,p4 and ,o4 boats on to his identity is a much more highly organised being than one who cannot4 ,yet the fact is patent enough1 if we once think it over1 from the mere consideration of the respect with which we so often treat those who are richer than ourselves4 ,we observe men for the most part 7admitting1 however1 some few abnormal exceptions7 to be deeply impressed by the superior organisation of those who have money4 ,it is wrong to attribute this respect to any unworthy motive1 for the feeling is strictly legitimate and springs from some of the very highest impulses of our nature4 ,it is the same sort of affectionate reverence which a dog feels for man1 and is not infrequently manifested in a similar manner4 ,we admit that these last sentences are open to question1 and we should hardly like to commit ourselves irrecoverably to the sentiments they express2 but we will say this much for certain1 namely1 that the rich man is the true hundred-handed ,gyges of the poets4 ,he alone possesses the full complement of limbs who stands at the summit of opulence1 and we may assert with strictly scientific accuracy that the ,rothschilds are the most astonishing organisms that the world has ever yet seen4 ,for to the nerves or tissues1 or whatever it be that answers to the helm of a rich man's desires1 there is a whole army of limbs seen and unseen attachable2 he may be reckoned by his horse-power1 by the number of foot-pounds which he has money enough to set in motion4 ,who1 then1 will deny that a man whose will represents the motive power of a thousand horses is a being very different from the one who is equivalent but to the power of a single one8 ,henceforward1 then1 instead of saying that a man is hard up1 let us say that his organisation is at a low ebb1 or1 if we wish him well1 let us hope that he will grow plenty of limbs4 ,it must be remembered that we are dealing with physical organisations only4 ,we do not say that the thousand-horse man is better than a one-horse man1 we only say that he is more highly organised and should be recognised as being so by the scientific leaders of the period4 ,a man's will1 truth1 endurance1 are part of him also1 and may1 as in the case of the late ,mr4 ,cobden1 have in themselves a power equivalent to all the horse-power which they can influence2 but were we to go into this part of the question we should never have done1 and we are compelled reluctantly to leave our dream in its present fragmentary condition4 ,a ,note on 8,the ,tempest0 ,act ,,iii1 ,scene ,i ,the following brief essay was contributed by ,butler to a small miscellany entitled ,,literary ,,foundlings3 ,,verse ,,and ,,prose1 ,,collected ,,in ,,canterbury1 ,n4,z41 which was published at ,christ ,church on the occasion of a bazaar held there in ,march1 #ahfd1 in aid of the funds of the ,christ ,church ,orphan ,asylum1 and offered for sale during the progress of the bazaar4 ,the miscellany consisted entirely of the productions of ,canterbury writers1 and among the contributors were ,dean ,jacobs1 ,canon ,cottrell1 and ,james ,edward ,fitz,gerald1 the founder of the ,,press4 ,,when ,prince ,ferdinand was wrecked on the island ,miranda was fifteen years old4 ,we can hardly suppose that she had ever seen ,ariel1 and ,caliban was a detestable object whom her father took good care to keep as much out of her way as possible4 ,caliban was like the man cook on a back-country run4 8',tis a villain1 sir10 says ,miranda4 8,i do not love to look on40 8,but as 'tis10 returns ,prospero1 8we cannot miss him2 he does make our fire1 fetch in our wood1 and serve in offices that profit us40 ,hands were scarce1 and ,prospero was obliged to put up with ,caliban in spite of the many drawbacks with which his services were attended2 in fact1 no one on the island could have liked him1 for ,ariel owed him a grudge on the score of the cruelty with which he had been treated by ,sycorax1 and we have already heard what ,miranda and ,prospero had to say about him4 ,he may therefore pass for nobody4 ,prospero was an old man1 or at any rate in all probability some forty years of age2 therefore it is no wonder that when ,miranda saw ,prince ,ferdinand she should have fallen violently in love with him4 8,nothing ill10 according to her view1 8could dwell in such a temple--if the ill ,spirit have so fair an house1 good things will strive to dwell with 't40 ,a very natural sentiment for a girl in ,miranda's circumstances1 but nevertheless one which betrayed a charming inexperience of the ways of the world and of the real value of good looks4 ,what surprises us1 however1 is this1 namely the remarkable celerity with which ,miranda in a few hours became so thoroughly wide awake to the exigencies of the occasion in consequence of her love for the ,prince4 ,prospero has set ,ferdinand to hump firewood out of the bush1 and to pile it up for the use of the cave4 ,ferdinand is for the present a sort of cadet1 a youth of good family1 without cash and unaccustomed to manual labour2 his unlucky stars have landed him on the island1 and now it seems that he 8must remove some thousands of these logs and pile them up1 upon a sore injunction40 ,poor fellow6 ,miranda's heart bleeds for him4 ,her 8affections were most humble02 she had been content to take ,ferdinand on speculation4 ,on first seeing him she had exclaimed1 8,i have no ambition to see a goodlier man02 and it makes her blood boil to see this divine creature compelled to such an ignominious and painful labour4 ,what is the family consumption of firewood to her8 ,let ,caliban do it2 let ,prospero do it2 or make ,ariel do it2 let her do it herself2 or let the lightning come down and 8burn up those logs you are enjoined to pile02--the logs themselves1 while burning1 would weep for having wearied him4 ,come what would1 it was a shame to make ,ferdinand work so hard1 so she winds up thus3 8,my father is hard at study2 pray now rest yourself--he's safe for these three hours40 ,safe--if she had only said that 8papa was safe10 the sentence would have been purely modern1 and have suited ,thackeray as well as ,shakspeare4 ,see how quickly she has learnt to regard her father as one to be watched and probably kept in a good humour for the sake of ,ferdinand4 ,we suppose that the secret of the modern character of this particular passage lies simply in the fact that young people make love pretty much in the same way now that they did three hundred years ago2 and possibly1 with the exception that 8the governor0 may be substituted for the words 8my father0 by the young ladies of three hundred years hence1 the passage will sound as fresh and modern then as it does now4 ,let the ,prosperos of that age take a lesson1 and either not allow the ,ferdinands to pile up firewood1 or so to arrange their studies as not to be 8safe0 for any three consecutive hours4 ,it is true that ,prospero's objection to the match was only feigned1 but ,miranda thought otherwise1 and for all purposes of argument we are justified in supposing that he was in earnest4 ,the ,english ,cricketers ,the following lines were written by ,butler in ,february1 #ahfd1 and appeared in the ,,press4 ,they refer to a visit paid to ,new ,zealand by a team of ,english cricketers1 and have kindly been copied and sent to me by ,miss ,colborne-,veel1 whose father was editor of the ,,press at the time that ,butler was writing for it4 ,miss ,colborne-,veel has further permitted to me to make use of the following explanatory note3 8,the coming of the ,all ,england team was naturally a glorious event in a province only fourteen years old4 ,the ,mayor and ,councillors had #8a car of state'--otherwise a brake--#8with postilions in the ,english style4' ,cobb and ,co4 supplied a six-horse coach for the ,english eleven1 the yellow paint upon which suggested the #8glittering chariot of pure gold4' ,so they drove in triumph from the station and through the town4 ,tinley for ,england and ,tennant for ,canterbury were the heroes of the match4 ,at the ,wednesday dinner referred to they exchanged compliments and cricket balls across the table4 ,this early esteem for cricket may be explained by a remark made by the ,all ,england captain1 that #8on no cricket ground in any colony had he met so many public school men1 especially men from old ,rugby1 as at ,canterbury4'0 ,to the ,editor1 the ,press1 ,february #aeth1 #ahfd4 ,,sir--,the following lines1 which profess to have been written by a friend of mine at three o'clock in the morning after the dinner of ,wednesday last1 have been presented to myself with a request that ,i should forward them to you4 ,i would suggest to the writer of them the following quotation from 8,love's ,labour's ,lost40 ,i am1 ,sir1 ,your obedient servant1 ,s4,b4 8,you find not the apostrophes1 and so miss the accent2 let me supervise the canzonet4 ,here are only numbers ratified2 but for the elegancy1 facility1 and golden cadence of poesy1 caret 4 4 4 ,imitari is nothing4 ,so doth the hound his master1 the ape his keeper1 the tired horse his rider40 ,love's ,labour's ,lost1 ,act ,,iv1 ,s4 #b4 ,,horatio 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the whole town rose ,eyes out to meet them2 in a car of state ,the ,mayor and all the ,councillors rode down ,to give them greeting1 while the blue-eyed team ,drawn in ,cobb's glittering chariot of pure gold ,careered it from the station4--,but the ,mayor-- ,thou shouldst have seen the blandness of the man1 ,and watched the effulgent and unspeakable smiles ,with which he beamed upon them4 ,his beard1 by nature tawny1 was suffused ,with just so much of a most reverend grizzle ,that youth and age should kiss in't4 ,i assure you ,he was a ,southern ,palmerston1 so old ,in understanding1 yet jocund and jaunty ,as though his twentieth summer were as yet ,but in the very ,june o' the year1 and winter ,was never to be dreamt of4 ,those who heard ,his words stood ravished4 ,it was all as one ,as though ,minerva1 hid in ,mercury's jaws1 ,had counselled some divinest utterance ,of honeyed wisdom4 ,so profound1 so true1 ,so meet for the occasion1 and so--short4 ,the king sat studying rhetoric as he spoke1 ,while the lord ,abbot heaved half-envious sighs ,and hung suspended on his accents4 ,,claud4 ,but will it pay1 ,horatio8 ,,hor4 ,let ,shylock see to that1 but yet ,i trust ,he's no great loser4 ,,claud4 ,which side went in first8 ,,hor4 ,we did1 ,and scored a paltry thirty runs in all4 ,the lissom ,lockyer gambolled round the stumps ,with many a crafty curvet3 you had thought ,an ,indian rubber monkey were endued ,with wicket-keeping instincts2 teazing ,tinley ,issued his treacherous notices to quit1 ,ruthlessly truthful to his fame1 and who ,shall speak of ,jackson8 ,oh6 'twas sad indeed ,to watch the downcast faces of our men ,returning from the wickets2 one by one1 ,like patients at the gratis consultation ,of some skilled leech1 they took their turn at physic4 ,and each came sadly homeward with a face ,awry through inward anguish2 they were pale ,as ghosts of some dead but deep mourned love1 ,grim with a great despair1 but forced to smile4 ,,claud4 ,poor souls6 ,th' unkindest heart had bled for them4 ,but what came after8 ,,hor4 ,fortune turned her wheel1 ,and ,grace1 disgracd for the nonce1 was bowled ,first ball1 and all the welkin roared applause6 ,as for the rest1 they scored a goodly score ,and showed some splendid cricket1 but their deeds ,were not colossal1 and our own brave ,tennant ,proved himself all as good a man as they4 99 99 99 99 99 ,through them we greet our ,mother4 ,in their coming1 ,we shake our dear old ,england by the hand ,and watch space dwindling1 while the shrinking world ,collapses into nothing4 ,mark me well1 ,matter as swift as swiftest thought shall fly1 ,and space itself be nowhere4 ,future ,tinleys ,shall bowl from ,london to our ,christ ,church ,tennants1 ,and all the runs for all the stumps be made ,in flying baskets which shall come and go ,and do the circuit round about the globe ,within ten seconds4 ,do not check me with ,the roundness of the intervening world1 ,the winds1 the mountain ranges1 and the seas-- ,these hinder nothing2 for the leathern sphere1 ,like to a planetary satellite1 ,shall wheel its faithful orb and strike the bails ,clean from the centre of the middle stump4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mirrors shall hang suspended in the air1 ,fixed by a chain between two chosen stars1 ,and every eye shall be a telescope ,to read the passing shadows from the world4 ,such games shall be hereafter1 but as yet ,we lay foundations only4 ,,claud4 ,thou must be drunk1 ,horatio4 ,,hor4 ,so ,i am4 ,footnotes #ahj ,we were asked by a learned brother philosopher who saw this article in ,,ms4 what we meant by alluding to rudimentary organs in machines4 ,could we1 he asked1 give any example of such organs8 ,we pointed to the little protuberance at the bottom of the bowl of our tobacco pipe4 ,this organ was originally designed for the same purpose as the rim at the bottom of a tea-cup1 which is but another form of the same function4 ,its purpose was to keep the heat of the pipe from marking the table on which it rested4 ,originally1 as we have seen in very early tobacco pipes1 this protuberance was of a very different shape to what it is now4 ,it was broad at the bottom and flat1 so that while the pipe was being smoked the bowl might rest upon the table4 ,use and disuse have here come into play and served to reduce the function to its present rudimentary condition4 ,that these rudimentary organs are rarer in machinery than in animal life is owing to the more prompt action of the human selection as compared with the slower but even surer operation of natural selection4 ,man may make mistakes2 in the long run nature never does so4 ,we have only given an imperfect example1 but the intelligent reader will supply himself with illustrations4