* * * * * The Darwin-development theory has of late attracted no little attention. One of our contributors favors us with _his_ views in the following 'wild-verse,' which is itself rather of the transition order:-- MODERN ANSWERS TO ANCIENT RIDDLES. 'Whar did ye come from? Who d'ye belong to!'--_Ethiops_. Philosophers say, deny it who may, That the man who stands upright so bravely to-day, Once crawled as a reptile with nose to the sod, His grandfather Monad a bit of a clod. To be sure, man's descent is not made out quite plain, But one or two _guesses_ might piece out the chain; If the chain is quite long a few links won't be missed; Or, if you must join it, _just give it a twist_. A bold Boston doctor, by stride superhuman, Makes only a step from a snake to a woman; Or, inspect your best friends by Granville's good glass, And the difference's as small 'twixt a man and an ass. 'From the company he keeps we may learn a man's nature;' If he will play with monkey, dog, cat, or such creature, The schoolmen will say, as a matter of course, 'Cum hoc ergo propter hoc.' Notice its force! If with doubts you're still puzzled, and wonder who can Answer all your objections, why Darwin's your man. He can bridge o'er a chasm both broad and profound; The last thing he needs for a theory is _ground_. Bring your queries and facts, no matter how tough; Development doctrine makes light of such stuff. One example of these will perhaps be enough:-- 'These crawlers,' for instance, 'should they be still here,' 'Not yet become bipeds?' The answer is clear: In our strangely unequal organic advance, He is the most forward who has the best chance. By braving the weather and struggling with brother, The one who survives it all gains upon t'other. The old Bible 'myth,' now, of Jacob and Esau, Is the struggle 'twixt species, the monkey and man law; One hairy, one handsome, one favored, one cursed; And sometimes the last one turns out to be first. Still, through cycles enough let the laggard persist, Let the weak be suppressed since he can not resist, And, proceeding by logic which none may dispute, Can't we safely infer there's an end to the brute? You may, if you please, supersede Revelation, By wholly new methods of ratiocination; Though, since head and heart _need be_ in contradiction, Why should reason hold faith under any restriction? Shut your eyes, and guess down heaven's good pious fiction.[P] Noah's ark was superfluous. Where were his brains, For those beasts and those sons to provide with such pains, When they might to a deluge cry Fiddle di dee, And sprout fins and scales, if they took to the sea?