Evolution | Page 5

water-beetles, caddis-worms, and other
insect-larvae, as well as numerous small fresh-water shells. These birds,
although not far removed in structure from thrushes and wrens, have
the extraordinary power of flying under water; for such, according to
the best observers, is their process of diving in search of their prey;
their dense and somewhat fibrous plumage retaining so much air that
the water is prevented from touching their bodies or even from wetting
their feathers to any great extent. Their powerful feet and long curved
claws enable them to hold on to stones at the bottom, and thus to retain
their position while picking up insects, shells, etc. As they frequent
chiefly the most rapid and boisterous torrents, among rocks, waterfalls,
and huge boulders, the water is never frozen over, and they are thus
able to live during the severest winters. Only a very few species of
dipper are known, all those of the old world being so closely allied to
our British bird that some ornithologists consider them to be merely
local races of one species; while in North America and the northern
Andes there are two other species.
"Here, then, we have a bird, which, in its whole structure, shows a close
affinity to the smaller typical perching birds, but which has departed
from all its allies in its habits and mode of life, and has secured for
itself a place in Nature where it has few competitors and few enemies.
We may well suppose,* [[*Note characteristic phrase "We may
suppose that,--." G.]] that, at some remote period, a bird which was
perhaps the common and more generalized ancestor of our thrushes,
warblers, wrens, etc., had spread widely over the great northern
continent, and had given rise to numerous varieties adapted to special
conditions of life. Among these some took to feeding on the borders of
clear streams, picking out such larvae and mollusks as they could reach
in shallow water. When food becomes scarce they would attempt to
pick them out of deeper and deeper water, and while doing this in cold

weather many would become frozen and starved. But any which
possessed denser and more hairy plumage than usual, which was able
to keep out the water, would survive; and thus a race would be formed
which would depend more and more on this kind of food. Then,
following up the frozen streams into the mountains, they would be able
to live there during the winter; and as such places afforded them much
protection from enemies and ample shelter for their nests and young,
further adaptations would occur, till the wonderful power of diving and
flying under water was acquired by a true land-bird." ("Darwinism," p.
81-82.)
Lines of Evidence.
The evolutionary hypothesis (both in its atheistic and theistic or
"Christian" form) is understood to rest on the following lines of proof:
i. Primary: The evidence of palaeontology (the study of fossil remains
in the rocks). The surface of the earth underneath the top soil consists
of layers of rock. Some of them are made up of lime deposits, others of
the shells of shell-fish, others of sand-stone, others of dead trees of the
forest (coal), all of them turned hard by the pressure of the weight lying
on top of them. Besides these sedimentary rock there are formations
like granite, showing the influence of heat. Digging among the
sedimentary rock (limestone, sand-stone, principally) we come across
preserved remains of all sorts of animals; some just like those which
live to-day, some similar but somewhat different, others quite
dissimilar from living animals of our day. These are the fossils. Now,
evolutionists assert that the oldest and simplest animal and plant
remains are found in the oldest layers of rock. This is said to prove that
in the history of plants and animals on earth, the simplest forms are the
oldest and that later the more complex forms were developed from
these. LeConte states the matter thus: "The farther back in time we go,
the simpler the forms of animal and plant life become, and these forms
occur in the order of their origination, just as if they were developed
one from another."
2. Corroborative: a) The Argument from Morphology (Structure). The
resemblance of the structure of various animal types is asserted to

imply a community of descent. "Large groups of species, whose habits
are widely different, present certain fundamental likenesses of structure.
The arms of men and apes, the fore-legs of quadrupeds, the paddles of
whales, the wings of birds, the breast-fins of fishes, are constructed on
the same pattern, but altered to suit their several functions. Nearly all
mammals, from the long-necked giraffe to the short-necked elephant,
have seven neck-bones; the eyes of the lamprey are moved by six
muscles which correspond exactly to the six which work