PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
150 NATURAL SELECTION vnits purpose so effectually. Nothing but a mind could have soexactly adapted the slopes of the channels, their capacity, andfrequency, to the nature of the soil and the quantity of therainfall. Again, he would see special adaptation to the wantsof man, in broad, quiet, navigable rivers flowing through fertileplains that support a large population, while the rocky streamsand mountain torrents were confined to those sterile regionssuitable only for a small population of shepherds and herdsmen.He would listen with incredulity to the geologist whoassured him that the adaptation and adjustment he so admiredwas an inevitable result of the action of general laws ;thatthe rains and rivers, aided by subterranean forces, hadmodelled the country, had formed the hills and valleys, hadscooped out the river beds and levelled the plains and it;would only be after much patient observation and study,after having watched the minute changes produced year byyear, and multiplying them by thousands and ten thousands,after visiting the various regions of the earth and seeing thechanges everywhere going on, and the unmistakable signs ofgreater changes in past times, that he could be made tounderstand that the surface of the earth, however beautifuland harmonious itmay appear, is strictly due in every detailto the action of forces which are demonstrably self-adjusting.Moreover, when he had sufficiently extended his inquiries,he would find that every evil effect which he would imaginemust be the result of non-adjustment does somewhere or otheroccur, only it is not always evil. Looking on a fertile valley,he would " perhaps say: If the channel of this river were notwell adjusted if for a few miles it sloped the wrong waythe water could not escape, and all this luxuriant valley, full ofhuman beings, would become a waste of waters." Well, thereare hundreds of such cases. Every lake is a valley "wastedby water," and in some cases (as the Dead Sea) it is a positiveevil, a blot upon the harmony and adaptation of the surfaceof the earth. Again, he might say "If rain did not fallhere, but the clouds passed over us to some other regions,this verdant and highly cultivated plain would become adesert." And there are such deserts over large portions ofthe earth, which abundant rains would convert into pleasantdwelling-places for man. Or he might observe some great
vii CREATION BY LAW 161navigable river, and reflect how easily rocks, or a steeperchannel in places, might render it useless to man ;and alittle inquiry would show him hundreds of rivers in everypart of the world, which are thus rendered useless fornavigation.Exactly the same thing occurs in organic nature. We seesome one wonderful case of adjustment, some unusual developmentof an organ, but we pass over the hundreds of cases inwhich that adjustment and development do not occur. Nodoubt when one adjustment is absent another takes its place,because no organism can continue to exist that is not adjustedto its environment ;and unceasing variation, with unlimitedpowers of multiplication, in most cases, furnishes the meansof self-adjustment. The world is so constituted that by theaction of general laws there is produced the greatest possiblevariety of surface and of climate ;and by the action of lawsequally general, the greatest possible variety of organisms hasbeen produced, adapted to the varied conditions of every part ofthe earth. The objector would probably himself admit thatthe varied surface of the earth the plains and valleys, thehills and mountains, the deserts and volcanoes, the winds andcurrents, the seas and lakes and rivers, and the variousclimates of the earth are all the results of general lawsacting and reacting during countless ages and that the;Creator does not appear to guide and control the action ofthese laws here determining the height of a mountain, therealtering the channel of a river here making the rains moreabundant, there changing the direction of a current. Hewould probably admit that the forces of inorganic nature areself-adjusting, and that the result necessarily fluctuates abouta given mean condition (which is itself slowly changing), whilewithin certain limits the greatest possible amount of varietyis produced. If then a " contriving mind " is not necessaryat every step of the process of change eternally going on inthe inorganic world, why are we required to believe in the continualaction of such a mind in the region of organic nature ?True, the laws at work are more complex, the adjustmentsmore delicate, the appearance of special adaptation moreremarkable ;but why should we measure the creative mindthe machine tooby our own? Why should we suppose
- Page 115 and 116: THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTSDo Me
- Page 117 and 118: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 10
- Page 119 and 120: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 10
- Page 121 and 122: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 10
- Page 123 and 124: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 10
- Page 125 and 126: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 10
- Page 127 and 128: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 11
- Page 129 and 130: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 11
- Page 131 and 132: v THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS 11
- Page 133 and 134: thev THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS' NESTS
- Page 135 and 136: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 119Chan
- Page 137 and 138: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 121thei
- Page 139 and 140: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 123whil
- Page 141 and 142: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 125the
- Page 143 and 144: 'vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 12720.
- Page 145 and 146: A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTSnatural phe
- Page 147 and 148: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 131most
- Page 149 and 150: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 133Real
- Page 151 and 152: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 135form
- Page 153 and 154: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 137of c
- Page 155 and 156: vi A THEORY OF BIRDS' NESTS 139ence
- Page 157 and 158: VIICREATION BY LAW 1AMONG the vario
- Page 159 and 160: vii CREATION BY LAW 143the whole or
- Page 161 and 162: CREATION BY LAW 145occur to him as
- Page 163 and 164: CREATION BY LAW 147inches, and was
- Page 165: vii CREATION BY LAW 149the growth o
- Page 169 and 170: vii CREATION BY LAW 153sifted, and
- Page 171 and 172: CREATION BY LAW 155ments of beauty
- Page 173 and 174: CREATION BY LAW 157met with. On thi
- Page 175 and 176: CREATION BY LAW 159determined at th
- Page 177 and 178: vii CREATION BY LAW 161cannot be fu
- Page 179 and 180: CREATION BY LAW 163into a gull with
- Page 181 and 182: CREATION BY LAW 165the Eocene Anopl
- Page 183 and 184: VIIITHE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACESN
- Page 185 and 186: vni THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 187 and 188: vin THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 189 and 190: THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES 173D
- Page 191 and 192: via THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 193 and 194: vin THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 195 and 196: viii THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 197 and 198: vin .THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 199 and 200: vin THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 201 and 202: vin THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RACES
- Page 203 and 204: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
- Page 205 and 206: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
- Page 207 and 208: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
- Page 209 and 210: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
- Page 211 and 212: LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN MAN
- Page 213 and 214: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
- Page 215 and 216: ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN M
vii CREATION BY LAW 161navigable river, and reflect how easily rocks, or a steeperchannel in places, might render it useless to man ;and alittle inquiry would show him hundreds of rivers in everypart of the world, which are thus rendered useless fornavigation.Exactly the same thing occurs in organic nature. We seesome one wonderful case of adjustment, some unusual developmentof an organ, but we pass over the hundreds of cases inwhich that adjustment and development do not occur. Nodoubt when one adjustment is absent another takes its place,because no organism can continue to exist that is not adjustedto its environment ;and unceasing variation, with unlimitedpowers of multiplication, in most cases, furnishes the meansof self-adjustment. The world is so constituted that by theaction of general laws there is produced the greatest possiblevariety of surface and of climate ;and by the action of lawsequally general, the greatest possible variety of organisms hasbeen produced, adapted to the varied conditions of every part ofthe earth. The objector would probably himself admit thatthe varied surface of the earth the plains and valleys, thehills and mountains, the deserts and volcanoes, the winds andcurrents, the seas and lakes and rivers, and the variousclimates of the earth are all the results of general lawsacting and reacting during countless ages and that the;Creator does not appear to guide and control the action ofthese laws here determining the height of a mountain, therealtering the channel of a river here making the rains moreabundant, there changing the direction of a current. Hewould probably admit that the forces of inorganic nature areself-adjusting, and that the result necessarily fluctuates abouta given mean condition (which is itself slowly changing), whilewithin certain limits the greatest possible amount of varietyis produced. If then a " contriving mind " is not necessaryat every step of the process of change eternally going on inthe inorganic world, why are we required to believe in the continualaction of such a mind in the region of organic nature ?True, the laws at work are more complex, the adjustmentsmore delicate, the appearance of special adaptation moreremarkable ;but why should we measure the creative mindthe machine tooby our own? Why should we suppose
Change language