CHAPTER I. 
THE STABILITY OF SPECIES. 
“We lift our heads—a race of other days.” 
—Sprague. Centennial Ode. 
“ . . . where the generous hills 
Lift a green isle betwixt the sky and plain, 
To keep some Old World things aloof from change.” 
—George Eliot. Agatha. 
I HAVE hitherto endeavoured to show that it is not 
probable that there can have been a transmutation of 
species through the agency of Natural Selection. I now 
propose to follow an entirely different line of argument. 
I will assume that Natural Selection is a great law of 
nature, or that we know of no reason why it should not 
be so. P2ven in that case, I venture to believe that it 
can be proved that there are many other methods by 
which the transmutation of species can be effected ; and 
that Natural Selection will not be able to hinder their 
emergence, or to compete with them when they come 
upon the scene. But before we pass on to consider the 
rival methods of transmutation, we should remember that 
it would be a great mistake to suppose that a transmu 
tation of species must necessarily take place. We have 
abundant evidence to show not only that species are 
transmuted, but also that species either remain unaltered 
or die out and become extinct. We must first of all, 
then, consider the stability of species and the extinction