Contributions to the theory of natural selection. A series of essays ... By Alfred Russel Wallace ...

CREATION BY LAW. 281
ture, instead of being above, is far below our highest
conceptions of it. I, for one, cannot believe that the
world would come to chaos if left to Law alone. I
cannot believe that there is in it no inherent power
of developing beauty or variety, and that the direct
action of the Deity is required to produce each spot
or streak on every insect, each detail of structure in
every one of the millions of organisms that live or
have lived upon the earth. For it is impossible to
draw a line. If any modifications of structure could
be the result of law, why not all? If some self-adaptations could arise, why not others? If any varieties of
colour, 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 the illogical deduction that they could
only have arisen from the direct action of some mind,
because the direct action of our minds produces similar " contrivances "; but it is forgotten that adaptation, however produced, must have the appearance
of design. The channel of a river looks as if made
for the river, although it is made by it; the fine layers
and beds in a deposit of sand, often look as if they had
been sorted, and sifted, and levelled, designedly; the
sides and angles of a crystal exactly resemble similar
forms designed by man; but we do not therefore conclude that these effects have, in each individual case,.required the directing action of a creative mind, or see
any difficulty in their being produced by natural Law.