| → for 1869 |
| but in this case we can see that 1866 |
|
| → likewise be fatal to my view if 1869 |
| be fatal to my view if 1866 |
| likewise be fatal, if the above 1872 |
|
| → Brachiopods 1866 1869 |
| the above Brachiopods 1872 |
|
| → the changing conditions of life. 1869 |
| their changing conditions of life. 1866 |
| slight changes in their conditions. 1872 |
|
| → really know how old 1869 1872 |
| have any sufficient knowledge of the antiquity of 1866 |
|
| → is, and at what periods 1869 |
| and of the periods when 1866 |
| is, and at what period 1872 |
|
| → whether organisation on the whole has advanced is 1866 1869 1872 |
| is 1861 |
|
| → as I believe, 1861 1866 1869 |
| OMIT 1872 |
|
| → are 1861 1866 1869 |
| ought to be ranked as 1872 |
|
| → to be ranked as highest: 1866 1869 |
| highest: 1861 1872 |
|
|
fresh-water shells, as Professor Phillips has
have remained almost unaltered from the time when they first appeared to the present day;
→for
these shells will have been subjected to less severe competition than the
the
more extensive area of the sea with its innumerable inhabitants. Such objections as the above would be fatal to
included advance in organisation as a necessary contingent. They would
→likewise be fatal to my view if
Foraminifera, for instance, could be proved to have first come into existence during the Laurentian epoch, or
→Brachiopods
during the
for
this
there would not have been time sufficient for the development of these organisms up to the standard which they
then reached. When
advanced up to any given point, there is no
on the theory of natural
for their further continued progress; though they will, during each successive age, have to be slightly modified, so as to hold their places in relation to
→the changing conditions of life.
objections hinge on the question whether we
→really know how old
the world
→is, and at what periods
the various forms of life first appeared; and this may
disputed. |
|
| The problem
→whether organisation on the whole has advanced is
in many ways excessively intricate. The geological record, at all times imperfect, does not extend far enough back,
→as I believe,
to show with unmistakeable clearness that within the known history of the world organisation has largely advanced. Even at the present day, looking to members of the same class, naturalists are not unanimous which forms
→are
→to be ranked as highest:
thus, some look at the selaceans or
from their approach in some important points of structure to
as the highest fish; others look at the teleosteans as the highest. The ganoids stand
|
