| Bombardier Beetle | | | | a bit. The speculation about a gradual mutation-led |
| One of life's little riddles is the bombardier beetle. | | | | construction of the eye is just that - speculation. |
| As far as evolution is concerned, it's a tough nut | | | | There are no partially formed eyes in the fossil |
| to crack. This small insect has a very imposing | | | | record. Different types of eyes? Yes,. But they |
| chemical defense system. When threatened, it | | | | are all complete, fully functional systems with |
| aims it's two abdomen tubes at its adversary, | | | | every component in place and accounted for. |
| often an ant or spider. Then the bombardier fires | | | | Furthermore, the eye by itself does not give us |
| off a series of miniature explosions peppering its | | | | vision. The optic nerve, the thalamus, and a series |
| victim with boiling acid. It is quite effective at | | | | of nerves linking the eye to the brain are all |
| keeping predators at bay. | | | | required. And there's more. The brain has a |
| What makes it work? The defense weapon is | | | | primary visual cortex and a visual association |
| made of two storage glands, a combustion | | | | cortex set up to decode and interpret the |
| chamber, a couple of machine-gun type of swivel | | | | incoming information. |
| tubes, and of course the bombardier's expertise | | | | See how complex it is? The eye, the optic nerve, |
| and instinct for using it. The chemicals are stored | | | | the thalamus, the nerve network, and the brain's |
| separately and are combined when used. | | | | visual processing centers all had to be in place and |
| When combined, the toxic mixture is 25 percent | | | | fully operational before sight was possible. |
| hydrogen peroxide, 10 percent hydroquinone, | | | | How do evolutionists account for these extra |
| water, and free oxygen plus enzymes which | | | | components in our visual system? They don't. |
| detonate the explosion. Of course, all of these | | | | They ignore them. Evolutionists can only say, |
| chemicals must be stored, combined, and used in | | | | "Mistake after mistake in the DNA must have |
| the right places, amounts, and concentrations. | | | | produced these essential ingredients." Incremental |
| Otherwise, this little bug could easily blow itself | | | | evolutionary steps is not a reasonable explanation |
| into extinction or boil itself alive. The fact that it | | | | for sight. Furthermore, observation and dissection |
| doesn't do either shows how well this insect is put | | | | of plants and animals have not revealed any |
| together. | | | | developing incomplete organ of any type |
| The bombardier controls, aims, and fires its | | | | presently in nature. And the fossil record has yet |
| chemical weapon through a series of specialized | | | | to show any developing, incomplete organ of any |
| nerves and muscles. Each rapid explosion is heard | | | | type in the past. |
| as a "pop." Oxygen spews out a hot jet of steam | | | | Color Vision |
| and quinone solution under high pressure. It is a | | | | Color vision, says biologist Michael Pitman in his |
| well-coordinated delivery system for firing droplets | | | | book Adam and Evolution, presents yet another |
| of boiling, burning acid at anyone who dares | | | | problem for the evolutionists. Most creatures don't |
| bother the bombardier beetle. | | | | have it. Only several bony fishes, reptiles, birds, |
| How did such an elaborate defense system come | | | | bees plus other assorted insects, and primates |
| about? Every minute detail of it had to be | | | | see in color. Yes, that does leave out other |
| programmed in the DNA. | | | | mammals such as cats, dogs, horses, and bulls, all |
| Consider what is involved here: Storage | | | | of which see in black, white, and shades of gray. |
| compartments, combination chamber, separate | | | | That's just an interesting quirk of nature unless, of |
| chemicals and enzymes, the intake of exact | | | | course, you are a protozoa-to-man evolutionist. |
| amounts of water and oxygen, plus hundreds of | | | | Then you have a problem. You find yourself |
| nerves, muscles, and fibers intricately woven into | | | | defending the following proposition: Fish evolved |
| a working system. All of these items are coded | | | | retinal cones allowing color vision. |
| and integrated into the bombardier's DNA. | | | | Evolving into amphibians, color vision was |
| To say that this extraordinary defense system | | | | somehow lost, only to resurface (maybe we |
| resulted from a series of errors is not a | | | | should call it re-evolve) in certain birds and related |
| reasonable conclusion. It's on the same level as | | | | reptiles. But when it came to mammals color |
| saying a jig-saw puzzle of a thousand pieces | | | | vision was lost again. However, color vision did |
| happened, by sheer accident, to fit together | | | | another about-face and reemerged in primates. |
| perfectly forming a complete mosaic. | | | | How's that for a twisted story? |
| That's asking too much of an accident or any | | | | Two Eyes Standard |
| series of accidents. Someone with intelligence put | | | | If you were to line up every amphibian, reptile, |
| the puzzle together; likewise, Someone with | | | | bird, and mammal, and look each one squarely in |
| intelligence put together the bombardier beetle. | | | | the face, what would you see? About the same |
| There is another reason for doubting the evolution | | | | as you see when you look at your own reflection |
| of such a complex defense system. Predators | | | | in the mirror. You find a balanced symmetrical |
| would not have allowed it. Can you imagine ants, | | | | face: two ears - one on each side, two eyes |
| spiders, and praying mantis idly standing by for | | | | overlooking a single nose in the center with a |
| millions of years patiently waiting for mutations to | | | | mouth directly below. Species after species fit |
| gradually perfect the bombardier's defense? No? | | | | that general description including the vast majority |
| Given the opportunity, you can be sure, predators | | | | of fish too. |
| would have devoured this otherwise helpless little | | | | But why two eyes? Evolutionists have an answer: |
| bug into extinction. Thus we are compelled to say, | | | | "Three dimensional vision was essential for our |
| the bombardier's chemical defense system in all of | | | | ancestors swinging through the trees." Using our |
| its complexity had to come onboard, intact as a | | | | imagination, we can see luckless one-eyed |
| single unit. It was designed. | | | | primates banging into trees due to their lack of |
| Millipede Apheloria Corrugata | | | | depth perception. |
| What's true of the bombardier is also true of the | | | | With their extinction only the two-eyed types |
| millipede Apheloria corrugata who shoots hydrogen | | | | were left to carry on. Even if we accept natural |
| cyanide at its enemies. Again incremental steps | | | | selection's bias against one-eyed tree swingers, |
| are not practical. The only reasonable explanation | | | | that still does not explain all of those other |
| for these complex, integrated chemical defenses | | | | two-eyed amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, |
| is design - design by Someone with an in-depth | | | | and fish who never had to contend with tree |
| knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and | | | | swinging. |
| microbiology. | | | | For all practical purposes, one eye should suffice. |
| Darwin Quote on Eye and Natural Selection | | | | Think of all it takes to make one eye work. Well |
| Next let's consider the eye. Here is where the | | | | over a hundred million individual parts must work |
| rubber meets the road. This is the acid test for | | | | in unison - with each other and with a nerve |
| evolution. Darwin recognized the problem and | | | | network and a specialized optic nerve section of |
| mentioned it in the Origin of the Species: "To | | | | the brain. When the whole system is in gear and |
| suppose that the eye with all its inimitable | | | | producing - you have vision. |
| contrivances for adjusting the focus to different | | | | It's next to impossible to see how evolution's |
| distances, for admitting different amounts of light, | | | | haphazard errors could ever accidentally conjure |
| and for correction of spherical and chromatic | | | | up one eye. Even so, that's far more feasible than |
| aberration, could have formed by natural selection, | | | | two eyes emerging from such a questionable |
| seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest | | | | source. One-eyed creatures, however, are |
| degree." | | | | nowhere to be found - in or out of the fossil |
| Who can argue with that? | | | | record. |
| Vision | | | | Of course two eyes are better than one. They |
| This is what we know about human vision: Light | | | | cover a wider territory, and you have a built-in |
| enters the eye through the transparent window | | | | spare should one go bad. Depth perception does |
| called the cornea which covers the pupil. The pupil | | | | assist predators in pinpointing their prey, and it |
| is an opening in the iris, the colored part of the | | | | helps the prey to avoid the predators. But if we |
| eye. Light continues through the aqueous humor, | | | | start considering evolutionary advantages, why |
| a watery substance, until it lands upon the lens. | | | | not three eyes instead of two? Wouldn't that be |
| The lens in turn focuses the light on the retina. | | | | even better? Sure, why not four or five eyes |
| On the way to the retina, light must travel | | | | while we are at it? |
| through the vitreous humor, a transparent jelly | | | | And how many times has a predator slipped up |
| which fills out the center of the eye, helping it to | | | | on the back of as unsuspecting prey? If the prey |
| keep its shape. When light hits the retina, it | | | | had an eye or two in the back of its head, |
| stimulates up to 137 million specialized cells know | | | | wouldn't it be a leg up in the evolutionary |
| as rods and cones. (Cones are the color | | | | sweepstakes? |
| detectors; rods are the black and white | | | | Yet no amphibian, reptile, bird or mammal has |
| detectors.) | | | | opted for either the evolutionary shortcut of a |
| Both rods and cones are chemical switch | | | | single eye or the evolutionary advantage of more |
| receptors. Light triggers these miniature on-off | | | | than two eyes. |
| buttons generating as estimated one billion nerve | | | | If the only thing at work here is random, |
| impulses per second. The mass of electrical | | | | haphazard, off-the-wall mutations, those persistent |
| impulses is forwarded to the cerebral cortex via | | | | two-eyed creatures extending back millions of |
| the optic nerve and a complex nerve network. | | | | years make no sense at all. On the other hand, if |
| The cerebral cortex is equipped with a visual | | | | those amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals |
| processing center which integrates data from | | | | were designed, there is a logical explanation for |
| both eyes and inverts the upside down image. | | | | the consistent pattern. The designer liked the two |
| That provides us with our three-dimensional | | | | ears, two eyes, single nose and mouth look. And |
| right-side-up picture. Exactly how the brain | | | | that's the way he made them. |
| interprets those electrical impulses and turns them | | | | Ear Components and Functions |
| into a picture is still a mystery. | | | | Turning our attention to the ear, we find a repeat |
| Eye Components and Functions | | | | of the eye story. The characters are different, |
| Just how complicated is the eye? Each human | | | | but the theme is the same. The outer ear, ear |
| eye contains over 137 million essential working | | | | canal, eardrum, eustachian tube, hammer, anvil, |
| parts. Can you imagine a machine that complex? | | | | stirrup, cochlea, cochlear nerve, and the auditory |
| Let's take a look at some of these components | | | | center of the temporal lobe - all work in harmony |
| and their functions. | | | | for a common purpose. Actually, ears serve two |
| The outside layer is called the sclerotic layer. It's | | | | purposes: hearing and balance. |
| white, semi-rigid, and gives the eyeball its basic | | | | Here is how the ear works: The outer ear collects |
| shape and provides a measure of protection as | | | | sound and funnels it into a one-inch irregularly |
| well. | | | | shaped ear canal. The canal acts as a filter. |
| The middle layer is called the choroid layer. It's a | | | | Numerous hairs plus four thousand wax-producing |
| dark pigment containing numerous blood vessels. | | | | glands keep out foreign particles and provides a |
| Its job is to prevent light from reflecting within | | | | constant moist temperature for the delicate |
| the eye. | | | | middle and inner ear. |
| The inner layer is called the retina. It contains 130 | | | | The eardrum is located at the end of the ear |
| million rods which see in black and shades of gray, | | | | canal. Sound vibrations are passed from the |
| and 7 million cones which provide sharp, clear color | | | | eardrum to a trio of linked bones in the middle |
| vision. Each cone is sensitive to only color: red, | | | | ear. They are named for their shapes: the |
| green, or blue light. Rods and cones are actually | | | | hammer, anvil, and stirrup. These three tiny bones |
| photoreceptor cells connected to sensory | | | | amplify the sound into the inner ear. Air pressure |
| neurons. The retina changes light into electrical | | | | is equalized on either side of the eardrum by a |
| nerve impulses. | | | | vent leading from the middle ear to the throat. |
| Conjunctiva - A mucous membrane which lines | | | | It's called the eustachian tube. |
| the inner surface of the eyelid and the exposed | | | | In the inner ear, we find what appears to be a |
| surface of the eye and lubricates both. | | | | small snail shell. This little device is the cochlea. The |
| Cornea - A uniformly thick, transparent nearly | | | | cochlea is only about the size of a hazelnut, but it |
| circular disc covering the lens. It serves as a | | | | has a big job. It is usually compared to one of |
| window letting light into the eye, and it also | | | | two things. Some say it is similar to a telephone |
| protects the lens. | | | | system with enough circuits to service a |
| Aqueous humor - A clear, lymph-like fluid between | | | | good-sized city. |
| the cornea and lens. | | | | Others liken the cochlea to a piano keyboard with |
| Iris- The color-pigmented membrane separating | | | | twenty thousand or so different keys. Either way, |
| the cornea from the lens. It adjusts the size of | | | | you get the idea; it is a very small but |
| the pupil regulating the amount of light admitted to | | | | extraordinarily complex structure. |
| the eye. | | | | Incoming sound frequencies which have been |
| Pupil - The black circular hole through which light | | | | amplified by the hammer-anvil-stirrup combination, |
| enters the eye. | | | | vibrate hair-like sensory cells in the cochlea. The |
| Ciliary muscles - Controls the shape of the iris | | | | cochlea's job is to translate sound waves into |
| which in turn adjusts the size of the pupil. | | | | nerve impulses. Varying sound frequencies strike |
| Lens - A transparent part of the eye that | | | | different sections of the sensory cells in |
| focuses light to form an image of the retina. | | | | numerous combinations. Nerve impulses travel |
| Vitreous humor - The transparent substance | | | | from the cochlea on to the auditory nerve and on |
| which fills the eye. | | | | into the brain. And that is what we hear. |
| Eye muscles - Six muscles attached to the eye | | | | Once again we see an organ which has all the |
| which provide movement. | | | | appearances of design. It takes a great leap of |
| Tear ducts and glands - A system for lubricating | | | | faith to claim it is an accumulation of DNA errors. |
| and protecting the eye. | | | | There is no evidence for such a claim nor facts |
| The eye also has a few accessories: | | | | to support it. The only reasonable conclusion is |
| Eyelashes and eyebrows - Both assist in keeping | | | | that Someone with a good solid knowledge of |
| out debris. Each serves as a defense mechanism | | | | physics, biology, and micro-technology designed |
| for the eye. | | | | and made this complex, intricate, and delicate |
| That is a remarkable number of parts working | | | | organ. |
| together for a common purpose. Don't forget | | | | Analogies and Conclusion |
| that each of these items must be coded into the | | | | Have you ever seen a cornfield? A cornfield is |
| DNA at its appropriate location to integrate and | | | | nothing but acre after acre of cornstalks all about |
| coordinate with all the other eye features. It has | | | | the same height, all in neat rows with little on no |
| all the appearances of design. It's difficult to see | | | | grass between. After seeing a cornfield, it would |
| how it could be anything else. The same thought | | | | never occur to you that the whole thing could be |
| occurred to Charles Darwin. The eye "with all of | | | | an accident. Nature just doesn't do that sort of |
| its inimitable contrivances" gave him second | | | | thing. Someone cleared the ground and planted |
| thoughts about his natural selection theory. | | | | the seeds. |
| Television Analogy | | | | Let's try another example. On either side of the |
| Have you ever looked inside of a television set? | | | | road you notice a row of evenly spaced dogwood |
| Inside you find a number of panels with numerous | | | | trees. And each tree is circled by a single row of |
| miniature parts seemingly all mixed together in a | | | | flowers. No one needs to tell you that somebody |
| hodge-podge collection. But that is not really the | | | | purposely planted those trees and flowers. |
| case. Those panels are circuit boards. And on | | | | We know that Mount Rushmore bears the |
| those circuit boards are carefully positioned | | | | likenesses of four U.S. presidents. If your |
| transistors, capacitors, resistors, conductors, | | | | geography teacher were to tell you that those |
| transformers, and other electronic parts all | | | | heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and |
| creating an image on the picture tube. | | | | Roosevelt were accidentally formed by natural |
| Each tiny part is exactly the correct type, size, | | | | erosion, would you believe it? If your English |
| and strength needed for that particular spot on | | | | teacher were to tell you the first unabridged |
| the circuit board. If anything is out of line, chances | | | | English dictionary resulted from an accidental |
| are you will not get a picture. Just as in the eye, | | | | explosion in a print shop, would you laugh? |
| all parts are essential. | | | | Nature is not neat. It's not symmetrical; nor is it |
| We know that television didn't just happen. It | | | | artistic or creative. No, it is just the opposite -- |
| took some intelligent people a good number of | | | | disorganized, erratic, and chaotic. You and I know |
| years to figure out the technology and put it into | | | | if nature is left to its own devices, it will grow an |
| place. The eye is considerably more complicated | | | | irregular assortment of weeds, but not a neat |
| than any TV. It has far more parts to harmonize | | | | row of crops. It will grow an odd collection of |
| than even the most expensive television set. All | | | | various trees scattered hither, thither, and yon, |
| indications are that the human eye was put | | | | but not evenly spaced dogwoods with a single |
| together by Someone whose intelligence and | | | | row of flowers circling each. |
| technology are vastly superior to our own. In | | | | Erosion will create ugly gashes in hillsides, but it |
| Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin seems to | | | | won't carve statues of presidents out of rock. An |
| agree. | | | | explosion can blow a print shop to smithereens, |
| Evolutionists' Explanation for Vision | | | | but it is not going to create a dictionary. Nature |
| How do evolutionists account for eyesight? They | | | | doesn't build things up; it doesn't create patterns; |
| believe that the eye began as a light-sensitive | | | | and it doesn't produce complex designs. |
| spot on a cell. Step-by-step, random mutation | | | | Nature did not create the bombardier's chemical |
| after mutation, light-sensitive cells folded inward to | | | | defense system, nor the millipede's hydrogen |
| form a retina. Somehow mutations made the skin | | | | cyanide system, nor the human eye or ear. Nor |
| on the surface transparent, part of which turned | | | | did nature create the extraordinary computer |
| into a lens focusing light on the newly formed | | | | called the brain, whose operation is still beyond our |
| retina. | | | | full understanding. The only logical explanation is |
| Again, random mistake after mistake after | | | | that each was designed. And where we find such |
| mistake added parts to the eye which in time | | | | clear evidence of design, it's reasonable to |
| became the fully functional, complex, detailed | | | | assume a Designer. |
| organ we have today. Evolutionists arrange a | | | | Speaking in vague generalities, evolution often |
| series of compound eyes from different | | | | seems plausible. But getting down to the |
| creatures which they claim show the evolutionary | | | | nitty-gritty of specific organs such as eyes and |
| steps leading up to the human eye. | | | | ears, we find evolution an inadequate and |
| What's wrong with the evolutionist's story? Quite | | | | impractical answer. |