Eozoon itself, however, bears some negative though damaging testimony
against evolution, and I take the liberty of repeating here a summary
of its imaginary autobiography:--"I, Eozoon Canadense, being a creature
of low organization and intelligence, and of practical turn, am no
theorist, but have a lively appreciation of such facts as I am able
to perceive. I found myself growing upon the sea-bottom, and know not
whence I came. I grew and flourished for ages, and found no let or
hindrance to my expansion, and abundance of food was always floated
to me without my having to go in search of it. At length a change
came. Certain creatures with hard snouts and jaws began to prey on
me. Whence they came I know not; I cannot think that they came from
the germs which I had dispersed so abundantly throughout the ocean.
Unfortunately, just at the same time lime became a little less abundant
in the waters, perhaps because of the great demands I myself had made,
and thus it was not so easy as before to produce a thick supplemental
skeleton for defence. So I had to give way. I have done my best to
avoid extinction; but it is clear that I must at length be overcome,
and must either disappear or subside into a humbler condition, and that
other creatures better provided for the new conditions of the world
must take my place." In such terms we may suppose that this patriarch
of the seas might tell his history, and mourn his destiny, though he
might also congratulate himself on having in an honest way done his
duty and fulfilled his function in the world, leaving it to other and
perhaps wiser creatures to dispute as to his origin and fate, while,
much less perfectly fulfilling the ends of their own existence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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