THE LATE MR FRANZ BUCKLAND AND EVOLUTION.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3846, 27 April 1881, Page 1

THE LATE MR FRANZ BUCKLAND AND EVOLUTION.

"We want also to know more about the balance of life, or as Professor Owen so ably called it, ' the police of Nature,' going on in the depths of the ocean—that is to say, what is the exact meaning of the ravages on sea fish by the ' firmer' whales. the grampuses, porpoises, the carnirorous fishes, and the great army of sea birds. We also want to know the times and places of the spawning of sea fish. Where do the soles lay their eggs? When and how do the plaice, turbot, brill, halibut, &c, spawn ? Do cod's eggs sink or swim? What is the form and dimensions of the young sole just hatched from the egg? We know, moreover? •• yet but rery little of the food ©£ these < fishes—of. what it consists, h6wi%hen, and where grown, obtained, &o. The subject of ocean temperature as affecting the great migratory armies of herring, cod, &c, is little if at all known, but is.yet of the utmost commercial importance. Again, how are wft to.'derise . a fiiesh of net that shall let go, the.: until soles undersized fry of other fish, keeping the marketable fish only*, allowing the others to-escape and grow-? Thus it wi]l be seen that we hare a huge field of inquiry before us, the remits of which will not assume the form of a scientific plaything, but of a key which we hope may unlock the mysteries of the rast ocean. The results obtained will also, I trust, bring out facts which will ran counter to certain modern ideas of <Jreation, prompted, I fear, by pride of intel- . lect, which cannot • humble itself enough to accept on faith itself " the fact that 'the sea is His and He made . it, and his hand, prepared the dry land.' . . . I hare another object in

writing this book: it is to endeavour to show the truth of the good old doctrines of the' Bridge wateriTxeatises/ whiah has so ably demonstrated the'power, wisdom, and goodness of God as manifested in the' Creator.' i Of late years tfhe doctrines of so-called 'Evolution' and' Development',. have seemingly gained ground amongst those interested in natural history ; but I haVe too much faith in the 'good sense and natural acumen of my fellow-country-men, to think that these tenets will be very long lived. To pat matters very straight/ I steadfastly believe that the - great Creator, as indeed we are directly told, made, all"things-perfect and very good " from the beginning i perfect and very gopd every created thing is now .found to be, and will so continue to the end of time; I am very willing to prove my cmoby holding a court at any time or place, before any number of people of any class. I would empanel ..a jury of the most eminent and sklful railway and meehani- - cal engineers, while the only witnesses I .. should call would be the fish fresh from, the deep sea trawler, the city fish market, or the fishmonger's, slab. I would adduce from them evidence of ' design, beauty, and order/ as evinced in such as the electric organs of the torpedo; the gun-lock spine of the file'fish; the water reservoirs and spectacles of the eel; the teeth of the gilthead, bream, and throatteeth of the carp, bream, &c.; the anchor of the limpsucker and reinbra; the colouring of the perch and bleak; the ichthophagous teeth of the' pike, and silvery hair tail—the tail of the fox shark; the prehensile lips of the dory and sprat; the nose of the barbel and dog-fish; the resplendence of the Arctic gymnetrus and scabbard fish; the dagger in the tail of the sting ray; the nest of the stickleback; the armour plates of the sturgeon; the nostril, breathing powers, and store of fat in the salmon ; migrations of the salmon, herring, pilchard, sprat and mackerel, &c.; and, above all, the enormous fertility of fishes useful as food to the human race. lam satisfied that I should obtain a verdict in favour of my view of the case —namely, that injall these wonderful con- . trivances there exists evidence of design and forethought, and a wondaous adaptation of means to an end. A full acknowledgement must necessarily follow that --.these,, were due _, to ..the immediate creation of the Lord and Giver of Life ! This is a school open to all: there is never any lack of subjectsno fees to pay; all that is required is a sharp knife, sharp scissors, and painstaking observation; while the mind will.reap its reward in the pleasures of original observation. I trust that these observations may lead many of my fellowcountrymen to see how far inferior the socalled works of human art are to the works of Creation. And, finally, let me assure them that they will find in the structure of animals —whether living in the water or on the land—most perfect contrivances and artistic designs, not made by the hands of man, but by . the ; Great Artificer who made man himself."— Land and Water.