Men tell us that, from one attempt to another, from progress to progress, under the stimulus of necessity, animals end by acquiring this or that organ. No other creative intervention is accepted than that of need. This, for instance, is the way in which the Locusts went to work, in particular those whom I see fluttering over the ridges of the Ventoux. From their niggardly larval flaps they are supposed to have extracted wings and wing-cases, by virtue of secret and mysterious labours rendered fruitful by the centuries.
Very well, O my illustrious masters! And now tell me, if you please, what reasons persuaded the Pedestrian Locust not to go beyond his rude outline of a flying-apparatus. [[377]]He also, surely, must have felt the prick of necessity for ages and ages; during his laborious tumbles amid the broken stones, he must have felt the advantage that it would be for him to be relieved of his weight by means of wing-power; and all the endeavours of his organism, striving to achieve a better lot, have not yet succeeded in spreading bladewise his incipient wings.
If we accept your theories, under the same conditions of urgent necessity, diet, climate and habits, some are successful and manage to fly, others fail and remain clumsy pedestrians. Short of resting satisfied with words and passing off chalk for cheese, I abandon the explanations offered. Sheer ignorance is far preferable, for it prejudges nothing.
But let us leave this backward one who is a stage behind his kinsmen, no one knows why. Anatomy has its throwbacks, its halts, its sudden leaps, all of which defy our curiosity. In the presence of the unfathomable problem of origins, the best thing is to bow in all humility and pass on. [[378]]
[1] Alphonse Tousserel (1803–1885), author of a number of interesting and valuable works on ornithology.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[2] Also known as the Stone-chat, Fallow-chat, Whin-chat, Fallow-finch and White-tail, which last corresponds with the Cul-blanc of the Provençal dialect. The French name for this Saxicola is the Motteux, or Clod-hopper.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[3] Wormlike Millepedes.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[4] General Eugène Daumas (1803–1871), the author of several works on Algeria.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[5] More correctly the Locust, not to be confused with the true Grasshopper, who carries a sabre.—Author’s Note. [↑]