"Complex now， but how much simpler and more intelligibly organised may it not become in another hundred thousand years？ or in twenty thousand？ For man at present believes that his interest lies in that direction； he spends an incalculable amount of labour and time and thought in making machines breed always better and better； he has already succeeded in effecting much that at one time appeared impossible， and there seem no limits to the results of accumulated improvements if they are allowed to descend with modification from generation to generation. It must always be remembered that man's body is what it is through having been moulded into its present shape by the chances and changes of many millions of years， but that his organisation never advanced with anything like the rapidity with which that of the machines is advancing. This is the most alarming feature in the case， and I must be pardoned for insisting on it so frequently."第一章CHAPTER XXV： THE MACHINES--concluded Here followed a very long and untranslatable digression about the different races and families of the then existing machines. The writer attempted to support his theory by pointing out the similarities existing between many machines of a widely different character， which served to show descent from a common ancestor. He divided machines into their genera， subgenera， species， varieties， subvarieties， and so forth. He proved the existence of connecting links between machines that seemed to have very little in common， and showed that many more such links had existed， but had now perished. He pointed out tendencies to reversion， and the presence of rudimentary organs which existed in many machines feebly developed and perfectly useless， yet serving to mark descent from an ancestor to whom the function was actually useful.
I left the translation of this part of the treatise， which， by the way， was far longer than all that I have given here， for a later opportunity. Unfortunately， I left Erewhon before I could return to the subject； and though I saved my translation and other papers at the hazard of my life， I was a obliged to sacrifice the original work. It went to my heart to do so； but I thus gained ten minutes of invaluable time， without which both Arowhena and myself must have certainly perished.
I remember one incident which bears upon this part of the treatise.
The gentleman who gave it to me had asked to see my tobacco-pipe；he examined it carefully， and when he came to the little protuberance at the bottom of the bowl he seemed much delighted， and exclaimed that it must be rudimentary. I asked him what he meant.
"Sir，" he answered， "this organ is identical with the rim at the bottom of a cup； it is but another form of the same function. Its purpose must have been to keep the heat of the pipe from marking the table upon which it rested. You would find， if you were to look up the history of tobacco-pipes， that in early specimens this protuberance was of a different shape to what it is now. It will have been broad at the bottom， and flat， so that while the pipe was being smoked the bowl might rest upon the table without marking it.
Use and disuse must have come into play and reduced the function to its present rudimentary condition. I should not be surprised， sir，" he continued， "if， in the course of time， it were to become modified still farther， and to assume the form of an ornamental leaf or scroll， or even a butterfly， while， in some cases， it will become extinct."On my return to England， I looked up the point， and found that my friend was right.
Returning， however， to the treatise， my translation recommences as follows：-"May we not fancy that if， in the remotest geological period， some early form of vegetable life had been endowed with the power of reflecting upon the dawning life of animals which was coming into existence alongside of its own， it would have thought itself exceedingly acute if it had surmised that animals would one day become real vegetables？ Yet would this be more mistaken than it would be on our part to imagine that because the life of machines is a very different one to our own， there is therefore no higher possible development of life than ours； or that because mechanical life is a very different thing from ours， therefore that it is not life at all？
"But I have heard it said， 'granted that this is so， and that the vapour-engine has a strength of its own， surely no one will say that it has a will of its own？' Alas！ if we look more closely， we shall find that this does not make against the supposition that the vapour-engine is one of the germs of a new phase of life. What is there in this whole world， or in the worlds beyond it， which has a will of its own？ The Unknown and Unknowable only！
"A man is the resultant and exponent of all the forces that have been brought to bear upon him， whether before his birth or afterwards. His action at any moment depends solely upon his constitution， and on the intensity and direction of the various agencies to which he is， and has been， subjected. Some of these will counteract each other； but as he is by nature， and as he has been acted on， and is now acted on from without， so will he do， as certainly and regularly as though he were a machine.
"We do not generally admit this， because we do not know the whole nature of any one， nor the whole of the forces that act upon him.
We see but a part， and being thus unable to generalise human conduct， except very roughly， we deny that it is subject to any fixed laws at all， and ascribe much both of a man's character and actions to chance， or luck， or fortune； but these are only words whereby we escape the admission of our own ignorance； and a little reflection will teach us that the most daring flight of the imagination or the most subtle exercise of the reason is as much the thing that must arise， and the only thing that can by any possibility arise， at the moment of its arising， as the falling of a dead leaf when the wind shakes it from the tree.
