esign, without beauty; that there is not (and
therefore we may presume that there could not be) any self-developing
power in the universe. I believe, on the contrary, that the universe is
so constituted as to be self-regulating; that as long it contains life,
the forms under which that life is manifested have an inherent power of
adjustment to each other and to their surroundings; and that this
adjustment necessarily leads to the greatest amount of variety and
beauty and enjoyment, because it does depend on general laws, and not on
a continual supervision and rearrangement of details." (p. 268) "The
strange springs and traps and pitfalls found in the flowers of Orchids,
cannot," he says, "be necessary _per se_, since exactly the same end is
gained in ten thousand other flowers which do not possess them. Is it
not then an extraordinary idea, to imagine the Creator of the universe
contriving the various complicated parts of these flowers, as a mechanic
might contrive an ingenious toy or a difficult puzzle? Is it not a more
worthy conception, that they are the results of those general laws which
were so cooerdinated at the first introduction of life upon the earth as
to result necessarily in the utmost possible development of varied
forms." (p. 270) "I for one," he says, "cannot believe that the world
would come to chaos if left to law alone.... If any modification of
structure could be the result of law, why not all? If some
self-adaptations should arise, why not others? If any varieties of
color, why not all the varieties we see? No attempt is made to explain
this except by reference to the fact that 'purpose' and 'contrivance'
are everywhere visible, and by an illogical deduction they could only
have arisen by the direct action of some mind, because the direct action
of our minds produce similar 'contrivances;' but it is forgotten that
adaptation, however produced, must have the appearance of design." (p.
280)[17] After referring to the fact that florists and breeders can
produce varieties in plants and animals, so that, "whether they wanted a
bull-dog to torture another animal, a greyhound to catch a hare, or a
bloodhound to hunt down their oppressed fellow-creatures, the required
variations have always appeared," he adds: "To be consistent, our
opponents must maintain that every one of the variations that have
rendered possible the changes produced by man, have been determined at
the right time and place by the Creator.