In regard to the _first_, the author of "The Vestiges" anticipates this objection, and attempts to answer it.

The objection is, that "a transition from the inorganic to the organic, such as we must suppose to have taken place in the early geological ages, is no ordinary cognizable fact of the present time upon earth; structure, form, life, _are never seen_ to be imparted to the insensate elements; the production of the humblest plant or animalcule, otherwise than as a repetition of some parental form, is not one of the possibilities of science."[44] Such is the objection; and how does he attempt to answer it?
He endeavors to show, first, that the work of creation having been _for the most part_ accomplished thousands of years ago, we have no reason to expect that the origination of life and species should be _conspicuously exemplified_ in the present day; secondly, that the comparative infrequency, or even the entire absence, of such phenomena _now_ would be no valid reason for believing that they have _never_ been exhibited heretofore, if, on other grounds, the doctrine of 'natural creation' or 'life-creating laws' can be rendered probable; and, thirdly, that even in our own times there ARE facts which seem to indicate the reality, or at least the possibility, of "the primitive imparting of life and form to inorganic elements."[45] Now, to this elaborate argument in favor of _spontaneous generation,_ or the production of life by natural law, we answer, in the first place, that the mere fact of its being adduced in connection with the Theory of Development affords a conclusive proof that it is indispensable to the maintenance of that theory, that the hypothesis would be incomplete without it, and that no account can be given of creation by the mere doctrine of a _transmutation of species_.

It is the more necessary to make this remark, because not a few who embrace the latter doctrine affect to disown the former, and seek to keep it out of view.

But the one is as necessary as the other to a complete theory of Natural Development.

The author of "The Vestiges" felt this, and virtually acknowledges it when he undertakes the task of vindicating the credibility of spontaneous generation.