第 15 节
作者:精灵王      更新:2021-04-30 17:23      字数:9320
  instead of having like them a            walking disc; it has a free open lower end;
  with which (I know not            how) it buries itself upright in the sand; with its
  mouth      just   above     the   surface。     The    figure    on   the   left  of  the   plate
  represents      a   curious   cluster   of   papillae   which   project   from  one   side   of
  the    mouth; and are the opening of the oviduct。                 But his value consists;
  not   merely   in   his   beauty   (though   that;   really;   is   not   small);   but in   his
  belonging to what the long word…makers call an                   〃interosculant〃 group; …
  a   party   of   genera   and   species   which     connect   families   scientifically   far
  apart;    filling   up  a   fresh   link   in   the   great   chain;   or   rather   the   great
  network; of zoological           classification。     For here we have a simple; and;
  as it were; crude        form; of which; if we dared to indulge in reveries; we
  might   say     that   the   Creative   Mind   realized   it   before   either   Actiniae   or
  Holothurians; and then went on to perfect the idea contained in it                      in two
  different directions;   dividing   it   into   two   different      families;   and   making
  on its model; by adding new organs; and taking                     away old ones; in one
  direction   the   whole   family   of   Actiniae   (sea…   anemones);   and   in   a   quite
  opposite   one   the   Holothuriae;   those        strange   sea…cucumbers;   with   their
  mouth…fringe of feathery gills;           of which you shall see some anon。              Thus
  there   has   been;   in   the  Creative   Mind;   as   it   gave   life  to   new   species;   a
  development of the          idea on which older species were created; in order …
  we   may   fancy   …     that   every   mesh   of   the   great   net   might   gradually   be
  supplied; and        there should be no gaps in the perfect variety of Nature's
  forms。       This development is one which we must believe to be at least
  possible; if we allow that a Mind presides over the universe; and                        not a
  mere brute necessity; a Law (absurd misnomer) without a                      Lawgiver; and
  to   it  (strangely    enough     coinciding      here   and   there    with     the  Platonic
  doctrine of Eternal Ideas existing in the Divine                Mind) all fresh inductive
  discovery seems to point more and more。
  Let me speak freely a few words on this important matter。                       Geology
  has disproved the old popular belief that the universe was brought                         into
  being as it now exists by a single fiat。            We know that the         work has been
  gradual; that the earth
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  〃In   tracts   of   fluent   heat   began;  The   seeming   prey   of   cyclic   storms;
  The home of seeming random forms; Till; at the last; arose the man。〃
  And we know; also; that these forms; 〃seeming random〃 as they are;
  have   appeared   according   to   a   law   which;   as   far   as   we   can   judge;   has
  been on the whole one of progress; … lower animals (though we                        cannot
  yet say; the lowest) appearing first; and man; the highest                 mammal; 〃the
  roof and crown of things;〃 one of the latest in the                series。    We have no
  more right; let it be observed; to say that           man; the highest; appeared last;
  than that the lowest appeared            first。  It was probably so; in both cases;
  but   there   is   as   yet   no positive   proof   of   either;   and   as   we   know   that
  species     of  animals     lower    than   those    which    already   existed    appeared
  again and again        during the various eras; so it is quite possible that they
  may  be      appearing   now;   and   may  appear   hereafter:        and   that   for   every
  extinct   Dodo   or   Moa;   a   new   species   may   be   created;   to   keep   up   the
  equilibrium of the whole。           This is but a surmise:        but it may be       wise;
  perhaps; just now; to confess boldly; even to insist on; its              possibility; lest
  any should fancy; from our unwillingness to allow                 it; that there would be
  ought in it; if proved; contrary to sound           religion。
  I   am;   I   must   honestly   confess;   more   and   more   unable   to   perceive
  anything   which   an   orthodox   Christian   may   not   hold;   in   those      physical
  theories of 〃evolution;〃 which are gaining more and more                     the assent of
  our best zoologists and botanists。          All that they ask       us to believe is; that
  〃species〃 and 〃families;〃 and indeed the               whole of organic nature; have
  gone through; and may still be going               through; some such development
  from a lowest germ; as we know that                every living individual; from the
  lowest zoophyte to man himself;             does actually go through。          They apply
  to the whole of the living         world; past; present; and future; the law which
  is undeniably at       work on each individual of it。          They may be wrong; or
  they may be        right:    but what is there in such a conception contrary to
  any     doctrine   …   at   least   of   the   Church   of   England?   To   say   that   this
  cannot be true; that species cannot vary; because God; at the                   beginning;
  created each thing 〃according to its kind;〃 is really to               beg the question;
  which is … Does the idea of 〃kind〃 include               variability or not? and if so;
  how     much    variability?     Now;     〃kind;〃    or   〃species;〃    as  we    call  it;  is
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  defined   nowhere   in   the   Bible。       What      right   have   we   to   read   our   own
  definition   into   the   word?   …   and   that   against   the   certain   fact;   that   some
  〃kinds〃      do   vary;   and   that   widely;     …  mankind;      for   instance;    and   the
  animals      and   plants    which      he    domesticates。       Surely     that   latter  fact
  should be significant; to         those who believe; as I do; that man was created
  in the likeness of        God。     For if man has the power; not only of making
  plants   and     animals   vary;   but   of   developing   them   into   forms   of   higher
  beauty      and   usefulness   than   their   wild   ancestors   possessed;   why  should
  not    the God in whose image he is made possess the same power?                         If the
  old   theological   rule   be   true   …   〃There   is   nothing   in   man   which   was   not
  first   in  God〃     (sin;  of  course;    excluded)     …  then   why    should     not   this
  imperfect      creative    faculty    in   man    be   the   very   guarantee      that   God
  possesses it in perfection?
  Such at least is the conclusion of one who; studying certain                     families
  of plants; which indulge in the most fantastic varieties                 of shape and size;
  and yet through all their vagaries retain … as               do the Palms; the Orchids;
  the   Euphorbiaceae   … one   organ;   or   form        of   organs;   peculiar   and   highly
  specialized; yet constant throughout              the whole of each family; has been
  driven     to  the   belief   that   each    of    these   three   families;    at  least;   has
  〃sported   off〃   from   one      common   ancestor   …   one   archetypal   Palm;   one
  archetypal Orchid; one           archetypal Euphorbia; simple; it may be; in itself;
  but endowed         with infinite possibilities of new and complex beauty; to be
  developed;       not  in   it;  but  in  its  descendants。      He    has   asked     himself;
  sitting alone amid the boundless wealth of tropic forests;                    whether even
  then and there the great God might not be creating                  round him; slowly but
  surely; new forms of beauty?             If he chose to        do it; could He not do it?
  That man found himself none the worse                   Christian for the thought。          He
  has said … and must be allowed to             say again; for he sees no reason to alter
  his    words    …  in   speaking      of   the   wonderful      variety    of  forms    in   the
  Euphorbiaceae;          from    the      weedy       English     Euphorbias;       the    Dog's
  Mercuries;   and   the   Box;   to   the     prickly…stemmed   Scarlet   Euphorbia   of
  Madagascar;   the   succulent         Cactus…like   Euphorbias   of   the