Organic Evolution.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 104, 25 September 1914, Page 7

Organic Evolution.

A WELL-BASED THEORY. Xotfß of an address to tlie New I f y mouth Brotherhood by the llev. A. B. Chappell, M.A.— "1 sipplied irny heart to geek find to scurc'h out by wisdom concerning :il! that it is done under heaven: it is a sore travail tJiat God hath given to the sons of men to 'be exercised therewith.'' So groaned an old-time royal povachrr. , He was in a bad temper. 'Tlie ways ol his puzzled and annoyed him; the sustenation fund collections ; were below the mark, some of the offer- , ings wore "crooked" 'beyond recovery, j and what wag wanting seemed past ; making up. So his petulant utterance I was a 'broken light,—''light with more ( or less of shade." When 'he got we'll— . in mind, body and estate—he "bought to find out words of delight."' God's, world of men and things called forth joyous contemplation; iihe divine. s\stem of "exercise"—with its discipline and deep-breathing—ceased to leave any eoreness and was eagerly followed. That healthful spirit of earnest reverent, glad inquiry i s a characteristic of our time. (Who amongst us 'has not felt the exhilarating throb of the world's thought in its effort to explain." EXPLANATION

ioj the. goal of that systematic commonaensc that we call science. We can know nothing of anything by it si If: We understand it sufficiently for all practical purposes when we see its relations to aJI its neighbors. That setting of a tiling in its place amongst related things 13 scientific explanation, t!he arrangement of all these groups into an ordered •whole —a universeis the task of philosophy. Impelled by tilie indivitSuaSity within, we Strive, after j tJie ononoss that we are convinced must exist without. The thought of the ages—noting now one setting of affinities, now another—lias been rummaging through the ragbag of exceptions, once full to bursting, and UEDUOrXG CONFUSION TO GRDEK. Classification. law, generalisation, theory—what are they 'but the 'bringin- of the cosmos out of chaos beneath the influence of the brooding spirit? The most persistent effort to explain "the tli-ngs that are made" has been styled evolution. It is generally ■obstinate, and uniquely far-reaching. It lias been eo-eval witJh 'thought. It laughs at a "dictionary of dates." It 1 ome among the origin of things, it yet essays the roles of prophet. Leaving to metaphysics the problem of the teing of tiling*, evolution deals with the

METHOD of their becoming. It 6tands by the principle of continuity. It averts tihat tlhc complex lias been yiradually produced tout of we simple, flic snecial from the genera!, and so 'the 'higher from the lower. In 'both the realms of organic and inorganic it Is held to have had sway — from "the time when the earth was waste and void" to 'the day when the. "first man stood God-conquered with I-.Lr lace to heaven upturned.''' To treat the subject in its vaslness is utterly impossible here, and fortunately unnecessary. We all agree that EVOLUTION'

ia inorganic nature is a demorstrate.l fact, if we iliave thought about tlr.it matter at aill. Hut our interest quick- , ens, and our antipathies are aron-ed, v« we leave, that realm for the organic. Inanimate creation is believed without dmiur to have had a sW (becoming. The. furnaces »nd chisels and blushes of the. Master Artificer were doubtless in use for countless si£cs iu the production of our physical dwetil-ing-place. What of that? But vital #nd practical issues are involved in t the doctrine's application to ! TDK DOMAIN OF LIFE, j i for, if creatures that We resemble liave i been evolved from lower our view sua to whence we came and what we are may be affected. And not merely our origin, but even ouir destiny, may 'be wrapped up in this qucs- i foil. ! To organic evolution, then, we may well continue our study. It is an init- ; ial etep. For the present we may postpone the. question of the evolution of uinn, and prepare ourselves for that absorbing issue by / CLOSE AND HONEST ENQUIRY. tjonrcrnin-g' lueings Mow fliim in tlte tcale of life. For the present too, we iholl do well to turn no pages bave those of the book of Nature. The issue, then, is this

TURKLY SCIEXTIFIO ! cue—ls evolution a fact? Since spu-i's winnot liiive T>e< u ett'nwf, tliey mu»t eitiher have been specially created aa •uch or else liave been evolved by d ' •cent with modification. On the" viuw each species owes its origin to a separate creative act, all the individualoi any species being descended from <>tiv original anruitor or pair oi ancestor-; Which appeared suddenly on tins cam with bj!l the characters they now exhibit. Such species are incapable of change, and first appeared in that pail »I the world whore they are nov found, tnd wore designed for the conditions of that particular locality. 'Hie •econd view is the doctrine of "organ.,.orolutiott —Hunt organi'mj have - »ly become modified bo as to gi.e rue to new specie* All txistiuy spi «- bra are regarded 1 as MODI FTED DKSCE XDAXTS of .pTevioiirlr existing forms, on.frtal ancestor sufficient 'to a-. - Count theoretically for the existcm e Bf all Hvin.; phuiis and animals. 'flu*.' two views are nmtuaiy exclusive. At the outiet \\'e nmst TecOgnU" (ha' tlie theory of natural descent has behind it the weight of the PRINCIPLE OP CONTINUITY. We, feci thai nature. i<* nil <ir.lt r.-.l whole, having a aingle Creator. an I coining within tins sway of law, not lie anarchy of canrice. Again, it is well to I'Piocmbcv :i1 wct-ica were at fnwt

MAJIKUD jf>L" T ■ AT! KITI! All I LY hr acicnl.ijita. If no living or fossil, v/ci'i? knmvti. groups were called species. lint w!.-. iiitonncluite i n !■;- weiv diseovetv-l ' .■ fKfia bmuno to vaiirliOi ii K|>.'oic.i." T;ir[liei\ even before Darwin's (In t!>« divisions nbovo pjiweifH—families, (.'idei's mid (lie lest —.■ r ivcnynisL'il tia 00NVENTION'AL DEVICES iiii>r,-'y. F.irda and rqililcx w» to fn.se into a single type. f., i It would only be a/ 'maij .. of ti'.i'.c, «.▼«» l.elkvei.? 'in sp, <-i*:e tv- «••>»> acknowledge, when those Java. (IlvL-iUns wjld be soe;i to oit-rgc. i'l

evolutionists Hart the logical aiuuu'iy to deny the right of sp.eioa to this monopoly iai ring-fences. If the genera 'that neeies con,wer. i.nnoe.'clt ol Alien Tmmigratio i Acte. why rhould Ih st gr,Uiit p'ohibitine 'priviikffe? There was no answer. FCVB T.IAIN MN'KS C ; l< BViDEUOI* nnwt he con-suit e<l, in deciding the Ks'ie hitv/een (Sic ,".,r.'ieting t':eoriy—<hu-d----hra.ti. n, r,':r>r;.':< : o'.'/, cni.rvo'o.".", paleontology, and geographical distribution. I/t us ioolc at tho,? 1-ricfl"-Long before ! Ii« irodori! »"?.r>'anec of organic c■ ■! ,'i:'i aaiunaF! (« nofeil likenesses, ami !hev did their best to express those m :'!b! ; ance.s in their altotn'ptr-, at A NATCH \ L fLAHiSiFIC'ATIOX. They seem ■! ; liwe, too. a b"'ief in 'some cue prine';.:'.. nmnic.'/ tlm.-v-;' 1 !! the oryinv' wo'!-', - ■ i-i" to hind to""tii , . , r living things iu urours tavliordinafe 'o r,,' !.(>r ir-mii -. T":i - nve't wa." r'ached indepradently of any theory, ilo very ia,: ellif-i'ii'e re'i '.va.s advanced ."or f.lie faith that was in them, birt the fa it a was there to stay. Even Liunoeus wvs perfectly av-.ire of the artificial nature, of Ids ition, and a.ntieiV.ited its rejection, which came with ful'Y'r knowledge. Mow, this natural classification takes THE FORM OF A THEE,

■ its short trunk composed of those organisms which eaniioi properly he culled eitner animals or iplants', and dividing into the two great branches of 1.h.euihnal and vegetable kingdoms. Smaller brand)"* represent elas,.vs; those smaller stiil. orders; >and so on to th,, terminal twigs' of species, li'li. why should this r-c entilic tabulation of natura? affinities the fonn of a tree, unless tint tabulation represent a fa mil v tree? On the theory Oi fecial creation it might just as well have taken the form of a ladder or a imp. or a number of unrelated lines. Living languages we t.ra-'e to dean. fossil fornix flint. '.;ave t-tem lrri.li. Amongst ourselves faniilv likenesses poaut to common parentage. So lids' tree "f ,natural cl.'issi.fieation, with its incwa«> of dill'erentiation as We. ascend the branches, suggests organic relationship an I growth. Evi lution gives a <'leir explanation; special creation is found dumb or incoherent. The study of ■ TIIF, FORM* OF ORGANISMS ! —morphology and comparative anat- ' omv—provides huge mass of evidence. I Chief in interest are ventigiail' si natures, often loosely called rudimentary. They are structure,.; answering to full.v'donned and useful organs in related <■ re'it tires. but feebly jormed and funeI tionless in their possessors.

Om XEW ZEALAND TUATATSA, in addition to its two ordinary eyes. b:,s another in the top of hiis- jeaii. This third eye lias a nerve, retina, lens ami Wook-vesselß, but is functionless. In the adult- animal there is-such a thick layer of opaque tissue between it an 1 the surface of the Kkin. that- no liji-lit. suffieent to affect, tbe retina can reach it. Fossil Tema.ins of iiiiinials in the secondary ncriod show large apertures in th'e top of the bead. Even In animals of to-day that have no trace of this middle o.i cwe find the stalk of it—the pineal gland of the brain—serving merely to suggest a problem for anatomists. Take another New Zealand example.

THE KIWI | seems to be entirely without winirs; but. in, the skeleton there are seen the same system of bones for lie- wings as are found in other birds. These, buncu are t-o much reduced as now to be of no service whatever. What can special creation make of su-.-h enfeebled structures as these.; They are of 100 general occurrence to be canon "fivaks.* Sunpose the kiwi to have been spcvially created for -New Zealand; a set of wing bones would hav u been a poor sort of birthday nresciit in a land where he would have no Use for them, as here there were no preying quadrupeds fron which to fly. But descent with modification explains. Ills ancestors doubtless found than useful elsewhere; hut ill him they have dwindled to a imce i certificate of birrh. Comparative anai- ; omy also abounds with enigmas for the ; believer in special creation. I The youngest of the natural soieiioe-, ! omlbrvolfltrv, has brought to light- in interesting set of facts. Prom the J unicellular egg every animal higher i than, the protozoa undergoes ' DEVELOPMENT To THE ADI'I.T j STAUI'I. The embryos of many animals which ditl'er widely as adults are closely similar. The early stages of the bird, t. ■ fish -and the mammal show extraor.linary resemblance. 'Even the later | stages defy inexpert elTorls to disini ' guish them. The mammal embryo has, ill common, with the embryos of all liri breathing vertebrates, gilt-sliU and j their associated blood-vessol.», i.e., ar ' range.nients for breatliing in water. At ; the same time tie- heart is construe! <\l ■ on the lish-like principle, having but two chambers. There is a yolk sac. in connection with the mammal embryo, vnt no yolk'. The development of llie 1 skeleton, the nl-nill, the brain, senseorgans, etc., furnishes similar evidence. What say* special creation to these things'! Onlv that they ale unn-'-cou'li-able. But seienee seek.* to explain; ant evolution gives wi.nt is at least a ; ible explanation. 11l notes the close resemblance between l-hi-, developmental change -and the sin-ce-sivc appearance "I , the adult's predecessors in ;:e,-logical j time. As a zoologist has witt.lv | ii'. it. "every animal climbs up its own i jrenealogical tree."' Thai may }>.> a«tu- | allv so," or it may not. The point i- | this: special creation can give no ex- ! planation that does not allow Uial in ; the development of individual higii-o' 1 animals the Creator doe- His work I very whimsically or clumsily. f, n the 1 other hand, the view of dcrc'n-„ with modification has strong support since I these facts are just what would V -ejt- | pectcd in the transmutation of species I by natural causes. i -Paleontology simply 1 fact* j inexplicable oil the theory of s';ii -1-. 1 '.ation, hi'.t supporting the ii,.:l view. , Study of j THE STUATA OP Till: E.'.P.TH

}ia« jL'o!i« (111 rapidly in o:ir (!: mi-l PosiliviiY mi fact out of harnuvi. '.villi tin' evolutionary view Jm< favn s'scovniTil. while tin' cvids-11 ec l'or it iia- heal | added in abundantly. It ha- ■ i rei ci'iiHv >liown that, variation in ! virtual is neither in>l>-(intie ! Tior continiio-a-; lience Ithc a■ nv ii ton detailed fur l"t L ]n i:tion h;t> ) ilf ! suppiwiil wwv'.t.v f"r linJ.'.ii'.'link-" \ani-!ics. Y.'aiviii;; thai. vimi., ]i■ t in remember Mi that jilaiil l - an.l | animal.- i-an I*> fo—iii.-nM im'.v u«-!- ■' miUMial conditions. (-) that u-aa:\' oaly illo hard parts are Jir'scrved. (:.i thai, deii-.td.ition lias («>mi constantly % ! jjijj ihc-e tra>'iv. M) tSi-.it: Int. a Vwnll part of the earth's foMviM.'-.vniv> ' toA> U ncfcssililc in ami '• of this amieJi remains to V. o alaicd. , ' in view of till' c'uvmnslanccJ, tiv results of T««cnt rasefttvU (it!J '-'V more : nil.'

' ORDERLY SUCCESSION uF LIFE from lowliest to loftiest forms ia os'tablisTied heyonid fear of cavil. We have a -liorsc pedigree that would make, a jockey turn green with envy, going i :ii w.hoiH a break to a ]jnmi-Livc five-toed ancestor in earliest Eocene time. No link of that chain is now missing, though a few years ago g.ms ) were theoretically bridged. Le Conte Ogives an inistsincc of the discovery in | successive strata of mollusk shells Willi : "gradations so insensible Hint tihe wludi; | series is nothing less •Mian- a de.monstr.i----i tiou, in tliis case at least, of origin of ! »ywi(* bv derivation with imodilici- ! tionfl."'* Tin; rhinoceros and the deer (pedigrees. The link between "birds and | .'reptiles is, in fossil form, on exhibition. I Gaps aire being ra]>id'ly filled oai all | 'hands. Special creation can give no | adequate 'reason for this graduated sueI cession. Evolution gives such reason. ilThe present ;

1 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, of p'ams and animals shares with the position of chief im- | poriance in furnishing an argument for descent witih modification. On this theory the organic types living on an/ geographical area should resemble or diller from organic, types elsewfhere, according as tilie area is connected with 'or severed from oMier regions. This is just what is found to be true. The »rea of distribution is proportional tj the means of dispersal possessed toy the organism; birds, for example, are 'more widely distributed than quadrupeds. The pecula.rity o- the living creatures in an-air'ea is proportional to the length

of time thai area has been sojm rated from others; as in I lie case of Australia (separated from Ai-ia since Cretaceous (lays), where the kangaroo and l is marsupial brethren have no serious competition with other land mluminals. So iSew Zealand is m/arked by the absence of land mammals ami tihe presence of flightless birds. Then the inhabitants of any given area arc structurally a:kiu to those of adjacent areas, and as closely related to the occupiers in nearest geological periods. All this points to decent from similar but not. identical f oralis. The '', barriers- between areas—ili'mdrances to migration—are 'UNSOLVED KIDDLES TO OlTGX'liX't S of evolution. AVliv should all the hundred species of rates "separately created" on one side of the Atlantic have, .their teeth arranged on one, pattern and all the seventy specie* on the other have another pattern? If animals are "specially created" for suitalble areas, why are, thorc no ka:iga"oos on the American prairies? They would thrive 'there. Or, on that view", why did Mow 'Zealand have no raMdts till wo biot.ght them? They seem to get on pretty well. Ask the southern farmers. As an explanation of such facts, sp-jc.s' erev 'tion fails utterly, while evolution meets every problem.

OBSHIIVAT.nr supports tbe view of mtur-il descent. 'Watch a lionste eat as she stalks a bird. 'Note tbe pawing of some horses as they 'approach their "stable food. When a J dog turns Tounid deliberately before •Bottling on the door-mat be is blimliy following tbe habit of the wild ancestors who knew nothing of the cosy dignity of kemtcls, and so made a bed in 'ike grass or undergrowth by a iwtli.nl that 'had as its motto: "One good burn | deserves another." I EXPERIMENT

1 tells the panic tale. Hitlers of selective breeding simulate nature's incthodi. Change of environment makes great dif'ferences. One pedes of snail, trcuis'hited froiji Europe to Virginia, .produces I'one hundred and twenty-live varieties, 'sixty-seven, of which are unknown in Europe, l'upoe of a species of inoih were baleen from Texas to Switzerland. Tbe batched motns begun life as Texans, but their young were given a new 'diet, anil became so diil'crciit in form and coloration that they had to be classified as a distinct specicß- Feed a bull-finch on hemp seed and he wib become, black. The common green Amazonian. parrot assumes a beautiful variegation. of red and yellow if fed on the fat of siluroid fishes. 'there is one species of shrimps that inhabits brack'ish water, and another whose habitat is 'water much more salt. The spines ar.d tail-lobes ditl'er widely; yot- either species can in a. few generations be cnangred into the other bv gradually altering the saline conditions of" the water. The so-called "mud fish s," when water is plentiful, are consi-«lo'it pill-breathers. (When a dry season arrives, they become lumr-breathers. ]'or a long while these ''lijriitninjr-ehanff'!'' artists deceived naturalists. who thought they were dealing with separate. genera. Taken together, the results of this brii-i survey furnish a strong caiC a r ainst sneeial creation. Their CtUtULA'liv H EOBCE

ir, t-reineinlous. Do the bodies of facts 'represented bv tbe instances prodti ',d not mean anything at all'! Are resemblances an.l arrangement ami eoo'relitions in time and space mere devices to delude? Is Hie Creator making sport, in a sort of blind man's bur,', of tin intellect lie has given us'! Does He so 'abuse Ills advantage's as first to blindfold us and then to give misleading 'directions that we may trip over ob slack's lie placed in our way? As se.i- ---' sible and reverent men, we refuse to I believe it.

This assumption of a Creator'is not rendered untenable liv a full acceptance of the theory of evolution. To rejeet Fneoinl creations ;is not to reject, the Greater. We still need first cause, plan, mind. EVULUTION IS THE OREATOiI'S MIND,

I In such a theory we are "thinking 'Clod's thoughts after Him.'' '' The tjcriptui'i"-. l'ighily ur.dersi.ood, present nolhing in opposition to tic View that His chosen meeliod in. the organic realm has been descent with rnodilicalion. Indeed, they contain s'M-pr-rting statements. The divinely wise in all time seem to have held the view, more or less clearly.

I That snob a theory demands ar 'enormously long time need cause no misgi\ing. The recent dii-vou-ry of radium tells of AGES PPON ACES AVAILABLE for the slow development implied. .Nor decs the expenditure of immense ages In the process detract, from the Creator's jflorv. Bather, it add- to His dignity, from our point of view. Hi attnbulmg to Him the -moral excellence of exihaustIc?,n patience.

Tlioro is a etory told of an castirn walking in his garden with a wis.' 'counsellor, who was eager to convin'e the monarch of ibc existence of a Creator. ''Show me si sign!" cried, the kitiff, ''and [ will he lieve.'' "Well y<n;r .Majesty take, tnese four acorns," re']/iicd the cousellor, "|iiant them iica:' ,1 iy and then stooa io look into tills poo] The acorns were planted. and the kinj; guzod into tile [tool. ''Mow look ii|i!" exclaimed the wi-e .man; ant the kinijj lielield four line oali trees growing wh(»re iiio acorns had liee'i jilanted. ''Wondarl'ill':" Hie declared * tliia is indeed. Uie work of <j'od!" But, tho wmnsclloj asked, ''"IIow lonpj hiw your 'Majesty been gazin;,' into the pool';'' "<)h', only a second." immediately tojoined Uie king. "No no your Majesty; eighty years have passed!" Tl'.o Vmg wag incredulous, until lie noted. I Vhat his garments were thread-bare-, Mil ' tlrnt- hia fate, refleetcd in the water of

pool, was that of a very o-ld man. 'Then he got angry. "There is 110 Imirajcle here!" be stormed. "Iflic'rc : is," quietly replied the counsellor; "it i is God's work, whether lie do it ia one i scccaid oi T ill eighty years."