Another fact of like import is that varieties artificially
produced, if let alone, uniformly revert to the simple typical form. It
is only by the utmost care they can be kept distinct. All the highly
prized varieties of horses, cattle, sheep, pigeons, etc., without human
control, would be merged each class into one, with only the slight
differences occasioned by diversities of climate and other external
conditions. If in the sight of man it is important that the words of a
book should be kept distinct, it is equally evident that in the sight of
God it is no less important that the "units of nature" should not be
mixed in inextricable and indistinguishable confusion.
Fifthly. The sudden appearance of new kinds of animals is another fact
which Palaeontologists urge against the doctrine of evolution. According
to the view of geologists great changes have, at remote periods,
occurred in the state of the earth. Continents have been submerged and
the bottom of the sea raised above the surface of the waters.
Corresponding changes have occurred in the state of the atmosphere
surrounding the globe, and in the temperature of the earth. Accompanying
or following these revolutions new classes of plants and animals appear,
adapted to the new condition of the earth's surface. Whence do they
come? They have, as Dawson expresses it, neither fathers nor mothers.
Pages:
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145