Ucinriific.
AGASSIZ AGAINST DARWINIANISM.
Let me say in what all men agree, and in
what all differ from monkeys. All men
agree in having four limbs, one pair of which
terminates with feet, and the other pair ter
minates with hands —all men are endowed
with the ability of standing erect; and their
constitution is such that the erect position
is not one resulting from education, is not
the result of successive change, but is one
of the constitutive peculiarities of the hu
man frame. The whole backbone is so or
ganized that man can carry with ease his
heavy, broad head only in a vertical position.
He has not, as animals have, a ligament
with which he may support the head in a
horizontal position with ease; but the head
must b on the top of the vertical
column, in order that it may be moved with
facility in every direction. Then man has
limbs on the side of the chest so organized
that ho can move them in every direction
and touch every part of his body with them.
And that pair of limbs terminates with the
most perfect hand known in nature; and
that hand is so constituted as rapidly to car
ry out the mandate of the mind. It is
brought into the service of the intellect, and
is no longer an organ of locomotion, as is
the case with the monkey. All these pecu
liarities are characteristic of all men, and
between monkeys and men there is no struc
tural transition —there is no gradation.
From the highest monkey to the lowest race
of men, all these attempts at bringing man
closer to the monkey by lower types of hu
manity, overlook these fundamental differ
ences which make man, however low and
inferior, a man, and which separate him
from the monkey, however high as a mon
key he may stand.
When wo examine the order of succession
of animals, through all geological times,
we find from the beginning to the end, a
dofinite relation to something higher and
higher, and we find that in the last geo
logical epoch only has man been intro
duced. So that, in the order of succes
sion of the living races which have at differ
ent times peopled the surface of our globe,
we see man announced from the beginning;
and we can say, as one of the scientific re
sults of the comparison of all these races,
that from the beginning man was meant to
be at the head of creation and that upon the
plan upon which animals living upon our
earth are constructed, there is no possibility
of a higher being than man himself. And
this generalization can be sustained by an
examination of the structure of the brain
alone. Without entering into an extensive
argument, T will show you that such is the
structure of the highest systems of organs
in the whole series of animals, that from the
fish to man there is one gradual gradation,
and that in the structure of man there is a
consummation which shows that he is, the
highest possible form of the series which
begins with the fish.
[Here the Lecturer used his blackboard,
and we are compelled to omit this part of the
argument.]
Now we will inquire when were these
animals called into existence. Mark that
the transmutation doctrine assumes that ani
mals are derived from one another, and that
there is a primitive cell formed from which
all animdls may have been evolved. The
doctrine is that all vertebrates are descend
ed from one primitive vertebi’ato* that all
articulates are descended from one primitive
articulate, that all mollusks are derived from
one primitive mollusk, that all radiates are
derived from one primitive radiate, and that
those four primitive types are derived them
selves from the primitive cell formed by the
combination of those fortuitous elements
which are acting wherever light, moisture
and matter are brought into contact with
one another. It is the doeti-ine professed
by Moloschott, by Carl Yogt, by Biichner,
by Czobe, and by all those who'have advo
cated the transmutation doctrine, on the
ground that everything that exists has start
ed spontaneously from the formation of a
primitive cell under the influence of light
acting upon matter. Moleschott’s paper on
the action of light upon matter in organiz
ing beings is one of the most striking pro
ductions of that school. Darwin and the
English defenders of the transmutation doc
trine present it in a somewhat different
lio-ht. They assume that the first impulse
was given by an intellectual power, and
that this impulse has resulted in an unfold
ing, in an evolution out of the first germs
created, of all that has folloAved. I say these
are interpretations. Let us see to the facts
once more and ascertain how close they
come to the translation I have presented.
Polyps have existed from the beginning.
They are found through all geological for
mations and they exist now. Acalephs
have been found in the oldest geological for
mations through all geological formations,
and they exist now; and cchinoderms have
been found in the oldest and through all
geological formations, and they exist now.
So we have three classes of radiates present
ed from the beginning.
Among mollusks we have bivalve shells
existing from the oldest time to the present
day: and univalve shells and chambered
colls existing from the oldest time to the
present day. Among worms we have those
with solid covering up to the present day;
and among Crustacea we have them from the
oldest time. Among insects the first we
find belong to the carboniferous period, and
not before. Then among vertebrates we
have, as X have shown you, fishes from the
beginning, notwithstanding the objection to
the statement I made before. Then we
have reptiles from the carboniferous period
We have birds either from the Triassic or the
Jurassic period —it is questionable wideb
and we have mammalia also from that period.
1 You see then how many classes we had
from the beginning, and how many of these
were cotemporaneous with one another.
THE AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1867.
Can it be said that animals which were co
temporaneous were descendants of one anoth
er, that animals that appeared together at
the same time were derived one from the
other? Certainly not. It is not so. We
have at least so many beginnings as are re
presentatives of these different classes in
the earliest strata.
But this is not all. The polyps have ex
isted from the beginning through all ages;
but the polyps of the earliest period are
among the lowest, while we have polyps of
a much higher grade living now. The aca
lephs of the oldest times are among the low
est, while we have acalephs of a much high
er grade living now. The echinoderms ex
isting'then were of the lowest order, while
we have echinoderms of a higher grade
now. So it seems as if all these types had
been improving; as if they had undergone
changes, and as if those changes had led suc
cessively to something higher.
So it seems, but it is not so ; because while
we have polyps now, which are superior to
those which formerly lived, we have by the
side of them, polyps which are as low as the
earliest known. The functions and struc
ture at the present time are the same as
those existing at the earliest epochs. The
crinoids to-day are as low as the earliest
known. Now I would ask, what started
these simple forms into a desire and gave
them a capacity to become something high
er and to go on becoming higher, and at the
same time what made them feel that they
had done enough in the direction of some
thing higher? What gave them the power
at the same time to remain on the lower
level ? That is the character of the facts
as we have them. We have certain lowest
forms rising gradually higher and higher,
and we have the lowest forms by the side of
the higher at the same time. So that we
should have, according to the transmutation
doctrine, beings capable of changing them
selves, and at the same time remaining as
they were; at the same time, influences
which would produce a change, and which
would prevent a change from going on.
I say that is not logical, and that a doc
trine which has facts against it so glaring,
is not a true interpretation of nature. We
have the same here with the 1 mollusks. We
have the lingula, the lowest bivalve shell
known to this day, while we have the brach
iopods, the clams, the fresh water muscles,
of a higher type. What'started the lingu
la te change to these other forms, and at the
same time secured to it a condition in which
it should not change? I do not know a
physical force, and I do not know a natural
. agency which is capable of producing such
results. But I know that mind can do it.
I know that when an author sets out to ro
cord the processes of his mind he can do it
at every stage of perfection; he can do it in
such a manner that the records may be the
evidence of his gradual progi’ess; and in
the end may be the evidence of his highest
culture, while at the same time he may re
cord, if only for memory’s sake, the doings
of his early days by the side of the produc
tions of his maturer years.
It is just that which we read in nature.
We have the earlier manifestations of
creative power, and we' have the later and
the higher productions. And we have
by the side of these later productions
the reproduction, as it were, of what had
been in the beginning. This is to be traced
in the gasteropods, of which we find the
lowest forms hei - e at present. It is the case
with eephalopods, of which the earliest forms
are here now; and by their side are the
nautili and all the variety of cephalopoda
belonging to our day. So it is with the
worms. So it is with the Crustacea. So, I
may say, it is also with the insects, though,
that class begins only in the carboniferous
period.
The fact that the insects begin only in
that age is another indication of the working
of mind in this process. For during the
earliest periods of the earth’s history the
whole of its surface was covered with water.
There was no land, no terrestrial animals.
But when vegetation began to be extensive,
especially terrestrial vegetation, we have
the first indication of land animals in the
production of insects.
Here let me call attention to another fact.
Is it because nature has' undergone succes
sive changes that animals and plants have
made their appearance ? or is it the physical
change which has called into existence these
living beings? or have the physical changes
as they have taken place been directed in
such a manner as to prepare the home upon
which living beings could be distributed in
a manner suited to the conditions prevailing
on the earth? The question is simply this :
Has the physical world in all its changes
been productive of the organic world, or has
there been an intellectual powersuperintend
ing the whole in such a manner that the
physical condition should be brought about
by which the living beings should find an ap
propriate home for their growth? In other
words, has man sprung upon earth because
our earth had become what it was, or has
the earth been prepared for man, that he
might develop in that way his capacities in
the most appropriate manner upon its sur
face ?
If we look at the order of the succession
of vertebrates, we find an answer to that
question. We find, first, that fishes have
existed as long as the surface of this earth
was in the condition during which all these
aquatic animals could alone exist. Then rep
tiles have been called into existence, just at
the time when the land above the sea had
become extensive enough to put forth a
proper abode for the large masses of reptiles
at the earliest periods. We find afterward
the introduction of birds at the time when
our atmosphere had been deprived of its
accumulation of carbon, before which birds
could not breathe. The accumulation of coal
in beds, in the eai’boniferous period freed the
atmosphere of this element which had exis
ted in such a proportion at our ealier period
that the existence of warm-blooded animals
would have been impossible. Here is a
physical fact which precedes the introduction
of these living beings which required a purer
atmosphere. Now the question is, has this
freeing of the atmosphere of the carbon,
been the cause of the coming in of the birds
and mammalia, or have the processes of na
ture been so conducted by a surprising intel
lect that at a certain time the atmosphere
should be free of its impure matter, that
higher forms of being might be called into
existence ? When we see that there is such
a gradation j and when we find that there
are no intermediate forms, it seems hardly
possible that causes and influences which are
ever acting in the same way should have
produced this result.
The physical causes are the same now as
they were before. Chemical agencies, physi
cal agencies, act now as they have acted
from the beginning. We have the evidence
of this in the identical character of the
rocks of the older and more recent forma
tions; we have evidence of"it in the chemi
cal identity of the materials of which celes
tial bodies are formed, of which the more
recent investigations of physicists have given
us satisfactory demonstrations. The physi
cal world remains the same. The laws which
govern it remain the same, and from the
beginning until now they have acted in the
same way. Are then, the different animals
which have existed at different times,, and
which differ in the most varied manner, the
result of causes which do not vary, which
act ever in the same manner? This is con
trary to all argument, contrary to any evi
dence we have. We cannot.ascribe diversi
fied results to uniform causes. We cannot
ascribe the cause of certain facts to agencies
the action of which is known to us. Physi
cists and chemists know perfectly well, what
electricity, what light, what magnetism can
produce! They know perfectly well what
are the possible combinations between chemi
cal elements; and they know perfectly Well
that these various combinations and these
various causes are different from the causes
whose effects we witness in -th.e animal king
dom.
Therefore I say that it is ; no't logical to
ascribe the diversity which exists among
living beings to causes which exhibit unifor
mity of nature and uniformity of action.
I can conceive only one possible cause, and
that is the intervention of mind in such a
way that it shall produce what we have
seen. We know perfectly well how the hu
man mind acts—how free it is; and how in
its manifestation we recognize the stamp of
him who manifests himself. , In the work
of the highest intellect, we recognize the pe
culiar inode and manner in ; which mind
manifests itself. In the poet, in the painter,
in the architect, in the sculptor, at all times
we see this manifestation. Now why should
we not have something of the. same kind in
Nature? Mind is not a manifestation of
matter. It is something independent of it.
To the extent to which we knojv its freedom,
to the extent to which we can> maintain in
dependence of certain influences, to that
extent, and in a similar, manner do I con
ceive the intervention of mind in the pro
duction of living beings for all time, upon a
plan laid out and carried out from the begin
ning, with reference to an end, and that
there is that reference to an end, and that
the end is man, is seen in the relation which
man bears to the lowest vertebrate, the
fishes. That there is a reference to man is
seen from the gradation which we observe
through all times, from the beginning to the
end.
That this cannot be the result of merely
physical conditions is further shown by the
fact, which is constantly recurring, of the
transformations reproduced every day
through the whole animal kingdom, in the
production of new individuals. And here I
come to the closing evidence I would sub
mit. All living beings are born of eggs,
and developed from eggs. All end their
growth in changes which have begun with
the egg. Every successive generation begins
anew with this egg. Since there have been
men or quadrupeds on earth, since animals
have existed, they have reproduced in every
generation all the changes in their growth
and transformation which are characteristic
of their race. Now see what this amounts to.
There are several hundred thousand different
kinds of animals living on this globe of the
different types. Every one of them has its
line of development. Every sparrow begins
with the egg, and goes through all the
changes which are characteristic of sparrow
life until it is capable of producing new eggs,
which will go through the same change.
Every butterfly comes from the egg, which
produces the caterpillar, which becomes a
ehryrsalis, and then a butterfly, laying eggs
to go through the same changes. So with
all animals, whether of higher or lower type.
In fact the animal kingdom, as it is now, is
undergoing greater changes every year than
the whole animal kingdom has passed through
from the beginning until now; and yet we
never see one of these animals swerve from
the plan pointed out, or produce anything
else than that which is like itself.
This is the great fact. Every being re
produces itself, under conditions which are
as varied as they have been from the begin
ning of the world until now; and yet they
do not change. Why is that? Because by
nature they are not changeable. That is
what we must infer. And if those which
live now are not changeable, and do not
pass from one to another, though they repre
sent all the changes which animals can pass
through, is it logical to assume that those of
early ages have become what we see now in
consequence of changes in successive genera
tions ? Have the laws of nature changed in
such a manner that what does not take place
now hat taken place in early times ? I say,
no. I say, just as the cycle which every ani
mal passes through in its development from
the egg to its perfect condition, returns to
the plan impressed upon that animal by the
Creator, just so have the various forms, the
remains of which we find preserved in the
rocks, been from the beginning, the steps
through which it has pleased the Creator to
carry the animal kingdom up to man, that
being made in His own image, who is endowed
■with a spirit akin to His, by virtue of which
alone we can understand nature. Were we
not made in the image of the Creator, did we
not possess a spark of that divine spirit which
is a godlike inheritance, why should we un
derstand nature ? Why is it that nature is hot
to us a sealed book ? It is because we are akin
to the. world, not only the physical and the
animal world, hut to the Creator himself, that
we ean : read, the world and understand that it
comes from God.— N. Y. Tribune.
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