Internalism and Laws of Form 277
breast in all males of the class of Mammalia; these and similar organs are
preserved in obedience to a certain uniformity of fundamental structure,
true to the original formula of that division of animal life, even when not
essential to its mode of existence. The organ remains, not for the
performance of a function, but with reference to a plan (pp. 9-10).Adaptation exists, of course, but only as a superficial and secondary overlay
upon unity of type—the deeper and true reflection of God's majestic order: "When
naturalists have investigated the influence of physical causes upon living beings,
they constantly overlooked the fact that the features which are thus modified are
only of secondary importance in the life of animals and plants, and that neither the
plan of their structure, nor the various complications of that structure, are ever
affected by such influences" (p. 17).
Most importantly, this deeper unity of type not only represents a natural
principle in dichotomous opposition to adaptation, but also proves that creative
thought, not mere mapping upon physical conditions, establishes organic order.
In all these animals and plants, there is one side of their organization which
has an immediate reference to the elements in which they live, and another
which has no such connection, and yet it is precisely this part of the
structure of animals and plants, which has no direct bearing upon the
conditions in which they are placed in nature, which constitutes their
essential, their typical character. This proves beyond the possibility of an
objection, that the elements in which animals and plants live... cannot in
any way be considered as the cause of their existence (p. 33).Having cleared away the notion that something so trivial as adaptation might
represent God's signature in nature, Agassiz can now complete his ultimate defense
of taxonomy as the custodian of God's presence in nature, as manifested in the
broad relationships sanctioned by unity of type. Consider how much we may know
of God's nature—a veritable volley of adjectives— once we locate his correct
signature at the appropriate pole of nature's great dichotomy:
The products of what are commonly called physical agents are everywhere
the same, (that is, upon the whole surface of the globe) and have always
been the same (that is, during all geological periods); while organized
beings are everywhere different and have differed in all ages. Between two
such theories of phenomena there can be no causal or genetic connection.
The combination of space and time of all these thoughtful conceptions
exhibits not only thought, it shows also premeditation, power, wisdom,
greatness, prescience, omniscience, providence. In one word, all these facts
in their natural connection proclaim aloud the One God, whom man may
know, adore, and love; and Natural History must, in good time, become the
analysis of the thoughts of the Creator of the Universe, as manifested in the
animal and vegetable kingdoms (p. 135).