Some of the Himalayan pheasants exhibit this peculiarity to a marked
degree. Originally, it is said, the male bird, which was more brightly
coloured than the rest, got mated more easily by the preference shown to
him for his bright colour.
The question is, can we suppose all this to go on, by self-caused laws
and concurrence of circumstances, without a pre-existing design for the
forms to reach or an external guidance in the processes?
CHAPTER VI.
_THE MARKS OF CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE IN THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC FORMS_.
The heading of this chapter does not mark a new departure, for we have
been tracing existing forms of matter from the first, and have already
seen the necessity of believing in Creative Intelligence and Guidance.
We have seen that inorganic matter, with what we call its molecular or
atomic structure, cannot be reasonably regarded as self-caused; and we
have concluded with Sir J.F.W. Herschell that the sight of such a
well-arranged army, performing its evolutions in a regular and uniform
manner, irresistibly suggests a great Commander and Designer. We have
further found that the advent of LIFE demands a Power _ab extra_. We
have called attention to the gap, between plant and animal, which is
ignored or made light of, chiefly on account of the close approach of
the two kingdoms.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69