Evolution; Knowledge, Theory of; Philosophy and religion
During the era in which the uniformity of many quite simple inorganic
relations was still unrecognized, certain classes of organic relations,
intrinsically very complex and special, were generalized. The constant
coexistence of feathers and a beak, of four legs with a bony internal
framework, of a particular leaf with poisonous berries, are facts which
were, and are, familiar to every savage. Did a savage find a bird with
teeth, or a mammal clothed with feathers, he would be as much surprised
as an instructed naturalist; and would probably make a fetish of the
anomalous form: so showing that while the exceptional relation suggested
the notion of a personal cause, the habitual relation did not. Now these
uniformities of organic structure which are so early perceived, are of
exactly the same class as those more numerous ones later established by
biology. The constant coexistence of mammary glands with two occipital
condyles in the skull, of vertebræ with teeth lodged in sockets, of
frontal horns with the habit of rumination, are generalizations as
purely empirical as those known to the aboriginal hunter. The vegetal
physiologist cannot in the least understand the complex relation between
the kind of leaf and the kind of fruit borne by a particular plant: he
knows these and like connexions simply in the same manner that the
barbarian knows them. But the fact that sundry of the uniform relations
which chiefly make up the organic sciences, were very early recognized,
is due to the high degree of vividness and frequency with which they
were presented to consciousness. Though the connexion between the form
of a given creature and the sound it makes, or the quality of its fur,
or the nature of its flesh, is extremely involved; yet the two terms of
the relation are conspicuous; are usually observed in close
juxtaposition in time and space; are so observed perhaps daily, or many
times a day; and above all a knowledge of their connexion has a direct
and obvious bearing on personal welfare. Meanwhile, we see that
innumerable other relations of exactly the same order, which are
displayed with even greater frequency by surrounding plants and animals,
remain for thousands of years unrecognized, if they are unobtrusive or
of no apparent moment.
When, passing from this primitive stage to a more advanced stage, we
trace the discovery of those less familiar uniformities which constitute
what is technically distinguished as Science, we find the order of
discovery to be still determined in the same manner. We shall most
clearly see this in contemplating separately the influence of each
derivative condition; as was proposed in the last section.
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