anon

“ Species are nob permanent, but may be transmuted—the tendency being in increasing perfection. Animals are first aquatic, then amphibious, and finally aerial; and this is more or less seen in embryology. With respect to the Origin of Species in plants, he quotes Linnæus's opinion that at first there were only as many species as there are true natural orders. He discusses the theory of man's quadumanous descent. ”

“ Darwin combated the gout in his own person at the age of forty by totally renouncing fermented drinks, and continued quite free from it till his death, though he was a gourmand in fruit and non-spiritiuous drinks of several sorts. From the hereditary tendency to disease arises the observation that "it is hazardous to marry an heiress."
We think that upon the whole we have now traced in the philosopher of the eighteenth many of the germs of thought which have been developed in the present century. ”

“ He considers instinct to be but an imperfect reason—a gradation to mind; that the race of bees is older than man, because the intelligence of the hive bee is unchangeable and arrived at perfection; that the singing of birds is more like artificial language than a naturel expression of passion, as the young bird only learns its song from its parent, or from its own kind. Man has attained his pre-eminence principally by reason of his touch and developed powers of volition, as dwelt upon in our times by Herbert Spencer and Dr. ”

“ Darwin's writings than ourselves, but it is not in us te say bow far his theory is adequate to the requirements, or whether some primus mobile, which the vitalists should supply, is wanting—some doctrine of Life as antecedent to, yet wonderfully influenced by, the simple operation of Natural Selection.
All men have not the same cast of mind. What may appear essential to one may seem impertinent to the question to another. ”

“ Nature, he says, is subject "to immutable laws impressed on matter by the Great Cause of Causes, Parent of Parents, Ens Entium." He is more generally correct in attributing some modification of species to climate and season, than to hybridity, which appears to have, on the whole, the reverse effect. ”

“ He gives due influence to a Struggle for Existence as regards the extinction and modification or improvement of animals. With respect to Sexual Selection, he observes "the final cause of this contention amongst the males seems to be that the strongest and most active animal should propagate the species, which should hence become improved." ”

“ He supposes that infants acquire the smile from the pleasure of relaxing the facial muscles after the action of suckling, and associates other pleasant feelings, as the sense of beauty, with the remembrance of the fount of infantile enjoyment. His remarks on hereditary acquirements are numerous and worthy of regard. He considers the acquired or inherited love of drink to be the frequent cause of the extinction of families, and of more than half of our chronical diseases ”

“ He believes it to be shown by the existence of rudimentary or useless parts, such as the nipples of male animals, or the useless toes of swine, that animals have undergone changes—that monsters prove the same thing, but that in some cases monstrosities may be progressive rather than retrogressive, and aim at something to come. ”

“ He lays stress on the effect of the natural or artificial cultivation of animals, hence the changes brought about in the horse, dog, sheep, rabbit, and pigeon. He also attributes an influence towards the gradual production of species to the nisus to obtain food and ensure security. ”